Part 8 of 15 Kirov Mariinsky Ballet Raymonda Lopatkina Korsuntsev Osmolkina Ostreikovskaya

[pointeoflife]

I do not like the interpretation of Lopatkinas variation.. In my opinion it should be a lot less ...greasy. Not at all the right world, but I feel like she lacks some simplisity.

[mariinskyfan]

MT needs this in the repertoire more than twice a year. They should also bring this on tour once in a millennium.

[Pearlaceous]

Ostreikovskaya's variation is beautiful - such elegance!

[mariinskyfan]

Parts 7 & 8 are both remarkable. Such beauty! However, it has always bothered me how Lopatkina does her chaine turns in 5th position instead of 1st. Anyways, all the of the dancers in this are top-notch. Thank you!

[Firestarjude]

@mariinskyfan Chaines are really supposed to be done in 5th. They look much better, and they are actually easier, so it's a win-win. :)

[jimmydzie]

Actually the Vaganova method teaches chaines in a non-turned out 1st position. Watch almost any other Mariinsky ballerina and you will see. Lopatkina just does them differently :-)

[Firestarjude]

Actually, I was trained at the Kirov Academy, and we always did them in 5th. Other Mariinsky ballerinas do them in 5th, too.

[mariinskyfan]

I'm not sure what they teach at the Kirov Academy, but the Vaganova school in St. Pete teaches them in an unturned-out 1st position. You can check out Vera Kostrovitskaya's book "School of Classical Dance." It spells out every step in the Vaganova Syllabus. I love this book & highly recommend it :-)

[Firestarjude]

@mariinskyfan Yes, I have that book. It is too bad that they teach it that way at the Vaganova Academy, as it is so ugly and does not work as well.  I would never teach it that way to my students.

[mariinskyfan]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I love the way they look in first. I guess the same is true for fouetté turns. I prefer the Russian style with the leg opening directly to the side, but you will see that some Russian ballerinas do their fouettés with the rond de jambe, instead.

[Firestarjude]

@mariinskyfan A word of caution re: Kostrovitskaya--her book may be out of date in some areas. The Vaganova Academy syllabus is perpetually revised/updated, so one cannot always rely on K for current practice. I don't doubt you re: chainés, just wanted to note that for other readers.

[bachandbark]

Gosh she is amazing - such long limbs and such control - wow!!

[TikvahS87]

Not the most impressive variation from Ostreikovskaya. Everything else is just lovely though. Thank you so much for posting!

[russianballetvideo]

The two of us happen to have very different opinions. This is one of the most difficult variations in all ballet. It requires great control, which she exemplified. Her arm movements flowed very beautiful throughout.

I was very impressed by her, but people will always have different opinions. That is life.

[tutus4life]

@TikvahS87 I think it's the choreography, not the dancer. I agree it wasn't very smooth but the choreography wasn't very "dancy" or "danceable" to start with which made it kind of awkward and hard. very hard actually