Kirov's Alina Somova in Queen of the Dydrads Variation!

[Dancerprostobe]

beautiful extensions

[BeluLizzie]

I'm doing this variation next Saturday 10th. Watching this is not good for my ego or self confidence.

[IRINAPASATA1992]

In this clip you can see Somova doing this variation perfectly: "Extreme Flexibility Of PrimaBallerinas (Somova,Osipova,Zakharova)"

[IRINAPASATA1992]

Weird... I think I saw her perform this on dvd perfecty, sweet and breathtaking and here she seems, I don't know, not focused somehow (if that is at all possible if you're a pro) it's a pity for she was my absolute favourite for this variation. If you compare her to the queen of the dryads from the Opéra de Paris ( where Aurélie Dupont is Kitri) she is pure smoothness and ease

[dansergurrl123]

1:00 looked painful :( where are the italian fouettes???



[PequenaLilaGz]

someone cut off the italian fouettes part in which she performs much worse xD

[egnaldogomes1]

técnica perfeita e uma interpretação deslumbrante

[egnaldogomes1]

técnica perfeita e uma interpretação dislumbrante

[thefourandonly1]

Such beautiful extensions!!!!

[tutus4life]

i cant believe she is in the same company as Lopatkina and share the same rank...oh how ballet has changed. I do admit that I can kind of watch her now that she has toned it down a bit

[BalletTapJazz]

so many mistakes in this one

[ilia0708]

She is a DIVA!

[kfmcmahon]

she is so adorable!!

[missiheartballet]

I consider us all lucky that her grande fouettes got cut off the end of this clip.....if you get my gist.

[TheQT101]

shes good!!!!!! like scary good!!!!!!

[chun25011]

Third a la second is awesome!!!!! but the forth one is scary............

[zaragozacutie]

alina is amazing...

[lavinder11]

I love the costume. I wish I could wear a dress like that every day without weird looks... :(

[DreamsontheWater]

Why does everyone seem to hate Somova so? I don't think her dancing seems so awful...

Surely if she was her dancing was as bad and untrained as some people's comments make her out to be, she wouldn't be dancing for the Marinsky ballet?

[MMcrurox]

yeah ... no shit .

[thesnowhitequeen]

I LOVE her.

[dancingbutterfly26]

me2!!!!!

[balletrocksmyworld]

i think she is pretty amazing... she just does the dance with too much energy. a little ott. her hands could be more lenthened and she could hold her lines a wee bit longer but essentially she is great

[Kiarpb]

Most of the people don't like Kirov's Alina Somova... But she has improved this variation, i have watched a Somova's video once that was worse then this one!

[MMcrurox]

OH WOW . ummm that is really awful dancing

1. You hands are like sticks

2.there isn't any flow

3. no expression it just seems your just dancing cause you have to ....

[dancingbutterfly26]

can you do it better?

[godsjoyfuldancer]

I actually think it was quite pretty, but that she needs to use her hands correctly to lengthen the line of her arms. But well done, far better than I did in rehearsal last week. :)

[DearJack02]

I really not like this dancer but I think she's good in this video.

However, I kind of expect her to give you more, I don't know how to say, I would like her to hold her positions longer so that she could just be the music. She doesn't get carried enough, she is charming but I feel she is before the music a little, like if she didn't really listen to it. Maybe she was a little stressed or just excited.

[camille32087]

hmmm, i don't think i like her, she's too..flimsy. yea she can get her leg up 180 degrees but her stage presence is kinda lackluster. granted she is young so i'm sure she has alot of growing to do, i just wouldn't call her "amazing" quite yet, hopefully she'll reach her full potential!

[donquixote444]

And, do you dance???

Judging by your comment, CLEARLY, you don't!!!

[donquixote444]

Ok, well, she is young in this video, but in just a year, she grew a LOT.

Sorry bout the comment, btw. I was watching it with my friend, and I said "I love Alina Somova. I think she did well!"

And I just left the room for a second, and I guess she posted it, so sorry!

Oh, and Im sorry about your knee.... happened to one of my friends... very sad.

I hope you find a new passion, or that your knee gets well enough to continue dancing!!

[Beam261]

I agree.

[anzdf]

Excelente, fantastica.

[somethingmrraculous]

Ooh this is gorgeous! Absolutely enchanting. If only her shoes didn't clunk the floor!

[kdub10009]

Alina got some of the most dreadful reviews I've ever read during the Maryinsky's tour of Europe last year. I guess she's one of those polarizing dancers - love her or hate her.

[gracebalenceBALLET]

She is so amazing! Her lines are perfect and expression enchanting...

[hahaha2531]

how peety!!!!!!!! she is so gorgeous!

[dancingfish2220]

Alina has such control throughout this variation. She's amazing!!

[eric20010303]

Thank you, StangGirl4. I am going to Canada just to see Alina dance!

[dancercrazy232]

Lets see u dance it! Then lets see how we feel about u! Do not make such mean comments, it will come back to haunt you. This comment is so not appropriate because good dancers and nice people look at these. I guess no one taught you manners! TOO BAD FOR YOU!! ! !

[LaKimmois]

Ahhhh little retarded dancercrazy232. Good dancers and NICE people.

Somova is neither a good dancer and I have no idea of her "niceness" but I do know a retarded stupid little cunt when I see one. and that's dancercrazy232.

No taste, no brain, a retard a fucking handicapped retarded cunt.

[ballerinababy1]

wow, someone's jelous

[StangGirl4]

she's coming to dance here in toronto....she's doing nutcracker in december

[AGirlWhoLovesBallet]

@StangGirl4 just sad I'm not in Toronto in december ;m; T^T

[calipso1010]

mariinka org has lots of high quality pictures of Somova as well as other great Mariinsky dancers. Go to Forum and then click on the title "Mariinsky above the World".

[balanchinedancer]

I on the other hand love the costumes for their original value. Dryads are forest nymphs who inhabit forests, woods and parks. This color scheme faithfully represent early fall.

[LePetitDanseur2010]

alina is a gorgeous dancer...but the costumes in this scene are ridiculous. aren't they supposed to all be uniform and like a pale blue?

[Firestarjude]

LePetitDanseur2010: no, they aren't.  The Mariinsky has always costumed it using these colors. It helps to show the patterns in the choreography.

[yonjooheero]

I loved how Somova seemed to 'flow' through the variation. (: that was wonderful to watch. However, Guillem is more 'stronger' and 'secure' in her dancing whereas when Somova dances, I literally get scared she might fly away like a leaf if a wind blows across while she's dancing. I think Somova will be an absolutely stunning dancer when she gets stronger. (:

[onenumberone]

I also happen to prefer Somova to Guillem in this piece for she is pure poetry in motion, while Sylvie is more of a sturdy work horse where classics is concerned.

[calipso1010]

I have tremendous respect for the sheer technical brilliance of Sylvie Guillem, but in this particular piece I prefer Alina. There's that certain vulnerability in her movements which reminds me of a young Julia Roberts. It's hard to explain.

[MylenaBallerina]

I think Sylvie has deterministic manner of dancing, while Somova is more lyrical by far.

[chrisrowsc]

definitely not better than Sylvie Guillem's. Her arms are funky and she falls out of her releves and her feet are not as good either.

[laurucs]

were did you get all these videos?

[marisha74]

The most beautiful female ballet dancer i have ever seen!!!!

[dj080607]

Listen you, go back to you British Empire and check into Royal institution for mentally challenged. Somova rejected you? Well, you didn't really think that a girl like that will give a second thought to the looser like you?

[MylenaBallerina]

Ian Palmer, you need to grow up and stop polluting public places with ... you know what.

[VaranasiBaby91]

oh she scares me. she's awesome

[letsskitri]

susan jaffe is beeeeeeaaaautiful, and alina somova is beeeeeeaauutiful, too!!

[puppylove0808]

Who in the heck is susan jaffe? This girl is destined for greatness.

[mydiorella]

Former principal at ABT. I have her Black Swan PDD on my page. She's a great Kitri actually.

[Nykoinlove]

i don't like her..susan jaffe is the queen od dryad 4 excellence!!!

[Mashka8888]

She seems to glide over, never really touching the floor. She must have elastic feet and knees. Love it!

[PlanetBallet]

She is the unreachable ideal of what modern ballet dancer should look like. Sigh!

[balanchinedancer]

One of the most beautiful episode in all ballet. And Alina Somova is the Queen par excellence. She is simply amazing!

[leslieal]

This is the epitome of tacky.

[onenumberone]

Maria Eichwald is the epitome of tacky. Yuk!

[dancingtoes394]

it's not only that her extensions are amazing, but it's the way she développés so effortlesly. She is such a gorgeous dancer!

[onenumberone]

I agree. She is so extraordinary that I have no doubt that one day she would become one of the greatest dancers of the 21st Century!

[PlanetBallet]

I think she has the facility of becoming the best dancer of all times, not just the 21st Century.

[saritisimayo]

I don´t agree with you, I think there are better dancers than her, though she´s pretty good, I don´t deny that...

[marietoday]

She is absolutely exquisite. One in a million!

[panyatna]

Yes, I believe this is a quality bred in St petersburg.She is stunning, and I suppose my questioning is more directed to the demands of the audience that the physical facility of the dancer; but I think the extentions are too much.

[panyatna]

As beautiful -and kirov- as she is, does anyone else not find her a little bit gymnastic in her attack?

[Natasha050187]

If you refer to high extensions, then yes, they are almost gymnast like. But this is not why I have watched this clip at list 100 times :) Notice, that there are almost no accents in her dance, no boundaries between separate pas, as if she executes the whole variation with a single breath. Her motions flow like a stream, smooth and clear!

[balletbabe1999]

This is the best Queen of Dryads ever!!!

[bigposercroise]

Why end it before the Italian fouttes? The essence of this variation is leaps; with such high extension I would expect grander jetes. Somova is very good, but my favorite is Sisova in 1958, using this variation in Le Corsair PDD (with Nureyev) as a graduation piece. Sisova's leaps are higher, and her balance is perfect... no hops. Sisova in Sleeping Beauty is a vision, never surpassed.

[calipso1010]

I agree. Sizova's jete are unsurpassed. The most spectacular balon that I've seen in either men or woman. Sizova's dance is natural like air. But it is the arms where Alina wins unconditionally in this variation, for her arms are beautiful to the extreme.

[KirovFan]

Yes, this is the best Queen of Dryad I have ever seen. Fantastic!

[calipso1010]

Marius Petipa's choreography is beautiful beyond what words can say and both dancers - Olessya Novikova and Alina Somova do it justice!

[icyjenny1987]

I saw Alina in Moscow in this role. SHE is BEATYFULL. She`s amazing. I have never seen such a beautyfull queen of the dryads.

[balletdancer00]

alina somova is really a big rival for svetlana zakharova!!! and sylvie guillem is "notthing" about the all russian dancers!!!!!!! russian ballet i love you! you are the best $ever!

but alina is better in this variation in search: mariinka in moscow

[calipso1010]

Sylvie is awesome, of course, but I rather prefer Somova in this variation, because of her extraordinary lightness.  She'd make a wonderful Sylphide!

[Grisi93]

ya sylvie is better.

[heyyouarestupid]

i like sylvie guillems version better

[ABTBluebird]

OMG! I wish the whole thing was there. amazing and very musical.

[calipso1010]

I have the whole Dream scene and it is one of my very FAV recordings EVER!!! Unfortunately I don't know how to share it with you, since once can't include URL in the body of the comment :(

[BalletFlower]

I love her tutu :)

[marisha74]

She is dancing SO BEAUTIFULLY! :)