An Opening Salute

“The Sleeping Beauty”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
September 07, 2024 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2024 by Ilona Landgraf

The Bolshoi Ballet opened its 249th season with a revival of Yuri Grigorovich’s The Sleeping Beauty, which has been absent from the stage for four years. Because of the thorough change of décor, the production was announced as a premiere. It swapped the opulent (and often criticized) sets and costumes that Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino designed for the 2011 revival (celebrating the reopening of the theater’s Historic Stage after six years of refurbishment) for the restrained décor that Simon Virsaladze (1909–1989) created for Grigorovich’s second version of the ballet in 1973. The subdued hues and aquarelle-ish style of its courtly surroundings direct the gaze toward the colorful costumes (recalling French court fashion from King Louis XIII’s to the Sun King, Louis XIV’s, reign), beautiful flower garlands and bouquets at Aurora’s birthday party, and, most importantly, the dancers and their performances. Raising the curtain didn’t elicit oohs and aahs from the audience as, for example, Jürgen Rose’s décor for Marcia Haydée’s Sleeping Beauty regularly has done on Western stages.
But in stern times like these, focusing on the substance—inner values and beauty—rather than on pompous veneer seems the right choice. The substance lies in Petipa’s choreography upon which Grigorovich built his interpretation. An epitome of the classics, The Sleeping Beauty has always been a pillar of the Bolshoi Ballet’s repertory since Alexander Gorsky brought Petipa’s production from St.Petersburg’s imperial stage to Moscow in 1899.

Makhar Vaziev, the Bolshoi Ballet’s artistic director, is notorious for his top-notch standards, and his confidence in the dancers was such that the premiere was streamed live. There were no warm-up performances, but it began at full-throttle as if the paragon of Russian culture opened the new season with a nationwide salute. That this culture is treasured in Russia was not least underscored by the Minister of Culture, Olga Lyubimova, who delivered words of welcome to the online audience during the break. Other audience interviewees included Sergei Novikov, Chief of the Presidential Directorate for Social Projects, and Kirill Kleimyonov, member of the board of directors of Russia’s Channel One, who accompanied his two little children to the performance.
From behind the curtain, Katerina Novikova, head of the press office, contributed further interviews with Vaziev and several dancers. Valery Gergiev, general director of the Bolshoi, also welcomed the online audience and conducted Tchaikovsky’s score himself. The camera caught him during the prologue, every nuance of which seemed to emanate from the maestro’s gaze and fingers before being realized perfectly by the orchestra.
Several dancers made their debut during the first run of The Sleeping Beauty. At the premiere, Elizaveta Kokoreva stepped on stage as Princess Aurora for the first time. As she descended the stairs to join her birthday party, she resembled the sunrise incarnate, her charm and kindness warming everyone’s heart. Though slightly tense at times, Kokoreva’s Aurora confirmed that she must have been born for dance. The beauty that lies within her is so perfect that it feels precious.
As Prince Désiré, Artem Ovcharenko dashed out of the autumnal forest like a winged arrow. His ease and prowess were mind-boggling, and he clearly enjoyed being back on stage.
An epitome of the eternal good, Alyona Kovalyova’s Lilac Fairy was unfazed by any worldly hardship. Her spacious, unpretentious movements and calm smile left no doubt of her generosity. Her counterpart Carabosse, fabulously danced by Denis Savin, swaggered across the stage, hunchbacked but agile. The moment Carabosse, full of scorn and spite, left behind Aurora’s baby cradle, it was apparent that she would not make out well at the end of this fairy tale. However, the good outweighed the evil from the start, as the Lilac Fairy was supported by an entourage of five. The wide port de bras of the Fairy of Tenderness (Daria Khokhlova) bestowed kind warmth on the newborn. Fleur de Farine (Stanislava Postnova), boisterous and cheeky, seemed to tell her “Life is joy—go for it!” while the Fairy of Generosity (Uliyana Moksheva) suggested taking life easily because it has much in store.
The sheer joy of Ekaterina Klyavlina’s Fairy of Playfulness was infectious even on screen. She was the giddiest canary I’ve ever seen. The precision with which Maria Koshkaryova’s Fairy of Audacity gazed along her sharply pointed fingers confirmed what had been obvious throughout: this Sleeping Beauty had been prepared with painstaking attention to detail.

Perhaps that was the reason Margarita Shrayner’s Fairy of Diamonds seemed busy performing exact steps at the wedding ceremony rather than molding her solo into a graceful whole. The other jewels—Ekaterina Varlamova (Sapphire), Kristina Petrova (Gold), and Uliyana Mokhseva (Silver) formed a fleet-footed unity. Klim Efimov drew on all his resources to present a flawless Bluebird alongside Anastasia Stashkevich’s capricious Princess Florine. Igor Gorelkin portrayed the lucky prince who found the shoe that freed Cinderella (Daria Khokhlova). The unsuspecting Little Red Riding Hood of Maria Mishina inevitably ended in the clutches of Nikita Kapustin’s Gray Wolf, but White Pussy Cat (Stanislava Postnova), sometimes prickly, sometimes cuddly, ditched the hapless Puss in Boots (Georgy Gusev).
Alexei Loparevich and Anastasia Meskova played King Florestan and his Queen. Their master of ceremonies, Catalabutte, whose forgetfulness determined Aurora’s fate, was danced by Yuri Ostrovsky. The four princes (Alexander Vodopetov, Mark Orlov, Mark Chino, and Egor Khromushin) who vied for Aurora’s hand couldn’t be distinguished by their robes, but all seemed reputable. The corps was in fine, but not yet splendid, shape.

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