Nouvelles du Ballet de l'Opéra de Vienne

[Gabriele Steidler]

Sophia, Raymonda has been in the repertoire of the Staatsoper since 1985 in the costumes and settings of Nicholas Georgiadis (very similar or even identical to those in Paris) and fortunately no changes will be made here.
The première took place on January 26, but première B on the following day was certainly the more exciting one with Rudolf Nureyev as Jean de Brienne, Jean Guizerix as Abderahman, Sylvie Guillem as Clémence, Isabelle Guérin as Henriette, Laurent Hilaire as Bernard and Manuel Legris as Béranger. The role of Raymonda was danced by Brigitte Stadler, a 20year old Austrian dancer, who is now the personal coach of Liudmila Konovalova.
Until 1989 many guest dancers from Paris Opera Ballet such as Elisabeth Platel, Florence Clerc, Charles Jude, Manuel Legris and Laurent Hilaire performed in the leading roles. If you are interested, you'll find here all the dates and casts from 1985 to 1999: https://db-staatsoper.die-antwort.eu/search/work/904/production/1428

[sophia]

Thank you for the precisions. At least, it looks like a revival.

[Gabriele Steidler]

Yes, I think it will be all right. The only problem may be that there is apparently a lack of female dancers in the corps at the moment. It was announced today by the Staatsballett that an audition for the current season will be held on October 23 offering short term contracts from November 1st:
http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/staatsballett_neu/audition/Audition.en.php

[Gabriele Steidler]

Here are some pictures of yesterday's performance of Le Corsaire with Vadim Muntagirov, Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/WienerStaatsballett/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1162261770497649

[Gabriele Steidler]

[Gabriele Steidler]

Here's a short video with Thierry Malandain on the occasion of the upcoming première of his ballet Cendrillon at the Volksoper Vienna on November 13.
http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/staatsballett_neu/aktuelles/Cendrillon-Malandain-Interview.en.php

[Gabriele Steidler]

Principal dancers Nina Poláková, Davide Dato and Denys Cherevychko as well as all four newly promoted soloists Nikisha Fogo, Natascha Mair, Nina Tonoli, Jakob Feyferlik and newly promoted demi-soloist James Stephens will be dancing at the Gala un destin...La danse in Tokyo from Aug. 22 - 25.

Thanks Mizuko for this information.

[Gabriele Steidler]

After Don Juan and Mozart à 2, Cendrillon was the third choreography by Thierry Malandain to be premiered at the Volksoper Vienna. The piece has been discussed in detail in Nouvelles du Ballet Biarritz but one was eager to know how the dancers of the Volksoper would cope with it. Although officially members of the Staatsballett, the company is not identical with the well known dancers of the Staatsoper. Usually, they perform in musicals and operettas and only very rarely in full-lentgh ballets. Fortunately, the main couple could seize the opportunity to distinguish themelves in a leading role.
I have noticed Andrés Garcia Torres, who danced te role of the prince, three years ago when he was still at school. In his class there may have been a few others who were technically more brillliant but his coordination and the maturity in his upper body were rather unusual for a boy of his age. Yesterday he showed a nice sense of épaulement, which immediately reveals the natural dancer. Mila Schmidt who danced Cendrillon very sweetly with a certain poetic quality is definitely a talented actress. She was quite present from the very beginning and totally credible in the role of the girl in love. It was a pleasure to see her dance so freely in the last pas de deux.
Kristina Ermolenok had stepped in for her collegue Elena Li in the role of the fairy at relatively short notice. Very pretty, but not too tall and still girlish, she appeared more like a princess than the fairy godmother.
Not quite unexpectedly, the favourites of the audiences were Lázló Benedek as the stepmother and Samuel Colombet and Keisuke Nejime as the two ugly sisters Javotte and Anastasia. They earned a great deal of laughter for their performance en travestie. Especially French dancer Samuel Colombet, who is also répétiteur of this production, was quite funny with his vivacious face while Keisuke Nejime showed accurateness in his movements.
Yesterday’s show was a quite successful one. It remains to be seen how the audience of the Volksoper will react in the following performances.
Here are some pictures. There are also some short videos on the website of the Volksoper (scroll down).

[sophia]

Le ballet de l'Opéra de Vienne met actuellement en ligne sur son compte YT des portraits, tous très personnalisés (et certains bien plus longs que d'autres), de ses danseurs (je ne sais pas s'ils y sont tous, mais je pense qu'il s'agit uniquement des solistes et demi-solistes).
C'est plutôt bien réalisé et c'est à découvrir ici : https://www.youtube.com/user/wrstaatsoper/videos

[Gabriele Steidler]

[Gabriele Steidler]

[Gabriele Steidler]

Sonia Paramo's documentary Celestial Attraction will be broadcast today on the Austrian tv at 9:05 a.m. followed by Nureyev's Don Quixote with Maria Yakovleva (Kitri), Denys Cherevychko (Basilio), Olga Esina (Queen of Dryads), Roman Lazik (Espada), Ketevan Papava (Street Dancer), Kiyoka Hashimoto (Cupid), Mihail Sosnovschi (Gipsy King), Alice Firenze+Nina Tonoli (Kitri's friends)and Natascha Mair (First Bridesmaid) at 9.50 a.m.
http://tv.orf.at/program/orf2/20161208/789777801/story
http://tv.orf.at/program/orf2/20161208/762022801/story

[sophia]

Si je puis me permettre, ce documentaire sur Noureev est vraiment faiblard, il y en a de bien meilleurs.

[Gabriele Steidler]

Tonight, Liudmila Konovalova and Jakob Feyferlik will dance at the Maya Gala, dedicated to Maya Plisetskaya, in Zurich. Liudmila Konovalova will also perform at the Kremlin Gala in Moscow on Dec. 16.
Also today, Alice Firenze and Davide Dato will dance at the Red Cross Charity Gala in Udine, Italy. In course of the performance Alice Firenze will receive the Premio Giuliana Penzi.

[Gabriele Steidler]

Here's the first trailer of Raymonda mainly with Nina Poláková and Jakob Feyferlik but there are also three very short appearances of Maria Yakovleva, Liudmila Konovalova and Denys Cherevychko.