Yearly Archive: 2025

New Takes

Stravinsky. Puppets. Dances”
Ballet of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Moscow, Russia

April 20, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. D.Dmitriev (Moor), E.Zhukov (Petrushka), and O.Kardash (Ballerina); “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina The Stanislavsky Ballet’s new double bill, Stravinsky. Puppets. Dances, attracted large crowds, especially because they scheduled only five performances over three consecutive days. The two ballets, Petrushka and The Firebird, were originally choreographed by Michel Fokine for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1911 and 1910, respectively. Both are set to compositions by Igor Stravinsky. The Stanislavsky Theatre presented new interpretations by Kirill Radev (The Firebird)—a former choreographer of the Barcelona Ballet—and Konstantin Semenov (Petrushka)—a dancer-cum-choreographer from the company’s own ranks, whose one-act piece, Through the Looking-Glass I saw in 2023. Both teamed up with stage director Alexey Frandetti (a Tashkent native who later moved to Moscow) and set designer Viktor Nikonenko. The internationally awarded Nikonenko is a puppet maker at Moscow’s State Academic Central Puppet Theater S.V. Obraztsov, which cooperated with the Stanislavsky Theatre for the first time (an exhibition of puppets and photos from the S.V. Obraztsov museum was shown at the Stanislavsky as well).
3. E.Zhukov (Petrushka) and ensemble, “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina2. D.Dmitriev (Moor), “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina Ekaterina Gutkovskaya and Anastasia Pugashkina designed the costumes; Ivan Vinogradov ran the lighting; Ilya Starilov contributed videos. Stravinsky. Puppets. Dances was part of the open art festival, Chereshnevy Les, which features various theater performances, concerts, and art exhibitions.

4. O.Kardash (Ballerina), Moor, and ensemble; “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina5. D.Dmitriev (Moor), Ballerina, and ensemble; “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.GubinaFor Petrushka, Semenov for the most part kept Alexandre Benois’s original libretto but dropped the reference to a fair. Instead, he zoomed in on a puppet theater stage, upon which the loves and jealousies of the ballet’s three puppet protagonists—Petrushka (Evgeny Zhukov), the Ballerina (Oxana Kardash), and the Moor (Denis Dmitriev)—play out. A black-and-white video showed their puppeteer walking through a backstage corridor. His face wasn’t discernible, and, later, we only saw his hands on a backdrop video manipulating the puppets. The moment the curtain rose, the video’s puppets turned into huge, real ones. Their living souls (and, simultaneously, their puppeteers) were dancers who rolled them around and moved their arms. Once they stepped from behind their puppet shells, 6. D.Kazimirov and M.Skorlygin (Barrel Organ), “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubinathe puppeteers jumped and swirled vigorously across the stage. Stravinsky’s throbbing percussion beat the rhythm of the flutter of their wide, black skirts. They lunged onto the floor, spiraled in the air, and swirled their arms dynamically. At times, their movements and facial expressions resembled those of puppets.
The puppet shells surrounded the protagonist like a silent audience, closed in on the desperate Petrushka like a wall, or chased their puppeteers off stage. They turned their heads to look sideways and, depending on the atmosphere, changed the colors of their caps, floor-length robes, and faces. Similarly designed puppets were lowered several times on strings from the fly loft into the air. Other puppets joined them: a huge, rollable bear sewed from various pink-patterned fabrics; a horse head made of the same fabric that was mounted on the handlebar of a tricycle (its long, red reins served as skipping ropes for the puppeteers); two short puppet drummers; a barrel organ on four legs (whose pert feet substituted for the lack of sight); and a flying, golden-faced demon with a fiery-red, gauzy tail.
7. D.Dmitriev (Moor), “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina8. D.Dmitriev (Moor), O.Kardash (Ballerina), and E.Zhukov (Petrushka); “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.GubinaZhukov’s Petrushka was a hapless softie whose nature was as unblemished as his white outfit. His heart was generous but lacked the strength to realize its desires. As much as he clenched his fist toward his master, he remained feeble. His arms continued to swing in overlong sleeves as if boneless, his backbone seemed made of rubber, and his woolen cap resembled a bedcap. It was no wonder that Kardash’s Ballerina fled his advances. Very blonde and wearing a voluptuous, bright pink petticoat, she looked (and strutted) like Barbie incarnate. Her affection was lavished on the Moor, a narcissistic Ken doll in golden armor and with a golden head of hair. Apart from admiring himself in the mirror, posing like a bodybuilder, patting his steely muscles, and kissing his biceps, he was potent enough to dominate the terrain.
10. E.Zhukov (Petrushka), and O.Kardash (Ballerina); “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina9. E.Zhukov (Petrushka) and Ballerina; “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.GubinaUnlike Petrushka, the Ballerina and the Moor had life-size puppet doubles, each moved by three puppeteers. The face of the Moor’s puppet seemed modeled after Sergei Obraztsov’s (1901-1992), the namesake of the Obraztsov Puppet Theater who established puppet theater as an art form in the Soviet Union. At times, the puppet doubles replaced Kardash and Dmitriev, dancing together or flying across the stage like figureheads of a ship’s bow.
11. E.Zhukov (Petrushka), “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina12. E.Zhukov (Petrushka), O.Kardash (Ballerina), D.Dmitriev (Moor), and ensemble; “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.GubinaOnly once, when the Moor was distracted by self-adulation, did Petrushka have the chance to flirt with the Ballerina and her puppet double. But the second the Moor noticed them, he confronted Petrushka like a boxer in a ring. He rained down punches and kicks upon Petrushka. Both twirled the Ballerina like a wheel of fortune. Petrushka even boxed the Moor’s ears, but—alas! One breath later, he crawled out of the combat zone on all fours. His defeat was thorough. As he pulled out the red ribbon that symbolized his 13. Ensemble, “Petrushka” by K.Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina heart and handed it to the Ballerina and the Moor, he lost his lifeblood. Upon the puppet master’s hands gesturing “Finito!” in the backdrop video, the onstage puppeteers disassembled Petrushka and piled his body parts into a heap.
His spirit returned in a video after the curtain had gone down. The video rotated images of the faces of different performers of Petrushka, whose expressions wavered between seriousness and a smile. There was nothing to pity, being Petrushka was just fate.

Unlike Petrushka’s, Frandetti’s libretto for The Firebird has little in common with the original. Its Ivan (Artur Mkrtchyan) isn’t a prince but rather an employee in a construction company’s all-glass penthouse office. (Perhaps the penthouse hinted at the palace “all of glass” in Yakov Polonsky’s 1844 poem, A Winter’s Journey, which is said to have inspired the original ballet?) A bespectacled guy in sneakers, brooding over his laptop, Ivan worked overtime. But he 14. A.Mkrtchyan (Ivan), Firebird, and ensemble; “The Firebird” by K.Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubinaracked his brain in vain. Presumably, he was still challenged by work projects projected from his laptop onto the curtain near the end of the break: construction sketches of the BRUSOV house, an iconic Moscow residence constructed by VOS’HOD, an official partner of the Stanislavsky Theatre for two years. But whatever the task, Ivan’s mind was as gray as his outfit and the office. The latter had just been cleaned by diligent cleaning staff in gray overalls. In the meantime, Ivan’s desperation deepened. But suddenly, a spark of inspiration in the form of red light flew by like a firefly, immediately attracting his attention. It played cat-and-mouse with him until he discovered that it was just a red-lit dust mop. As he contemptuously threw it away, the mop morphed into a gleaming firebird. Helped by its puppeteers, it rested briefly on Ivan’s hand, but he could neither catch it nor get hold of a single feather. The bird flew off, but upon searching (and as if to prove that trash can be turned into treasure), Ivan found it in the trash can left behind by the cleaners. The firebird he pulled out had adopted a human nature (that of Elena Solomyanko), had a fiery red mop of hair, and was wearing pants, socks, and a top in the same color. Wavering between trust and shyness, the bird stayed elusive and wayward. It even made Ivan hide under the office’s long working table. Only after some back and forth did the firebird crawl over to Ivan and rest its head in his lap.

16. E.Solomyanko (Firebird) and A.Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by K.Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina15. E.Solomyanko (Firebird) and A.Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by K.Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina The eight female workmates who simultaneously arrived at the office shortly afterward might have been inspired by the virgins in the original libretto who are held captive by the evil sorcerer Koschei. All wore floor-length, stiff, gray skirts and gray headscarves, hid behind dark sunglasses, and carried a laptop under their arm. Toward Ivan, they behaved like harpies toward an underling. One woman condescendingly handed him the sneakers that he had doffed when meeting the firebird. Given the female superiority, Ivan squirmed like a worm. Yet the women’s in-sync showmanship was superficial and dragged on. After slipping out of their skirts (revealing gray pant suits beneath), they knelt in line at the front stage and, for whatever reason, squiggled their silver pumps with their hands as if to imitate the snakes of a snake charmer.
17. E.Solomyanko (Firebird) and A.Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by K.Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina The next time the firebird appeared, it induced dystopian visions in Ivan that turned the office into a witch’s cauldron. Wafts of mist mingled with flashes of strobe lights, gray men overpowered Ivan and, accompanied by thundering percussion, a huge kraken (presumably a modern version of Koschei) lowered itself onto the worktable. Its head’s blinking lights looked like warning lights at a construction site, and its grabby, flexible arms were assembled from plastic pipes. The chaos intensified when some dubious gray men crawled out of the trap door (i.e., the underground). Ivan had already dodged behind a concrete pillar when Solomyanko’s firebird wriggled herself like a sexy icon on the worktable. Red glinting sparks revolved around her. As suddenly as the nightmare had begun, calm set in. The flames that ate the skyline outside were silent. Despite the inferno, Ivan shouldered the firebird and made it fly. Still, it wasn’t clear if the magic 18. E.Solomyanko (Firebird) and A.Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by K.Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina creature supported or harmed him. The answer to this question was made clear when Solomyanko kissed him and continued to kiss him until he suffocated. Framed by licking flames, she strolled off stage in satisfaction.
Parts of the ballet had felt lengthy and labored until then. But matters took a surprising twist when the Firebird and Prince Igor from Diaghilev’s time appeared (Anfisa Oschepkova portrayed Tamara Karsavina; Evgeny Dubrovsky danced the role of Michel Fokine). The energy sprang back to life like a spring fountain. Maybe gray and dreary times are essential to prepare the phoenix for its next rise from the ashes.
Conductor Roman Kaloshin and the Orchestra of the Stanislavsky Theatre proved that Stravinsky’s music has consistent punch.
19. A.Mkrtchyan (Ivan) and E.Solomyanko (Firebird), “The Firebird” by K.Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025 © Stanislavsky Ballet/Y.Gubina

Links: Website of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
“Stravinsky. Puppets. Dances” (video)
“Stravinsky. Puppets. Dances”- The Puppets
Photos: 1. Denis Dmitriev (Moor), Evgeny Zhukov (Petrushka), and Oxana Kardash (Ballerina); “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
2. Denis Dmitriev (Moor), “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
3. Evgeny Zhukov (Petrushka) and ensemble, “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
4. Oxana Kardash (Ballerina), Moor, and ensemble; “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
5. Denis Dmitriev (Moor), Ballerina, and ensemble; “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
6. Dmitry Kazimirov and Maxim Skorlygin (Barrel Organ), “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
7. Denis Dmitriev (Moor), “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
8. Denis Dmitriev (Moor), Oxana Kardash (Ballerina), and Evgeny Zhukov (Petrushka); “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
9. Evgeny Zhukov (Petrushka) and Ballerina; “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
10. Evgeny Zhukov (Petrushka), and Oxana Kardash (Ballerina); “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
11. Evgeny Zhukov (Petrushka), “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
12. Evgeny Zhukov (Petrushka), Oxana Kardash (Ballerina), Denis Dmitriev (Moor), and ensemble; “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
13. Ensemble, “Petrushka” by Konstantin Semenov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
14. Artur Mkrtchyan (Ivan), Firebird, and ensemble; “The Firebird” by Kirill Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
15. Elena Solomyanko (Firebird) and Artur Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by Kirill Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
16. Elena Solomyanko (Firebird) and Artur Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by Kirill Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
17. Elena Solomyanko (Firebird) and Artur Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by Kirill Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
18. Elena Solomyanko (Firebird) and Artur Mkrtchyan (Ivan), “The Firebird” by Kirill Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
19. Artur Mkrtchyan (Ivan) and Elena Solomyanko (Firebird), “The Firebird” by Kirill Radev, Stanislavsky Ballet 2025
all photos © Stanislavsky Ballet/Yulia Gubina
Editing: Kayla Kauffman

 

A Farewell Triplet

“Pathétique” (“Divertimento No. 15”/“Summerspace”/“Pathétique”)
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
April 09, 2025 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “Divertimento No. 15” by G.Balanchine © George Balanchine Trust, Vienna State Ballet 2025 © Vienna State Ballet/A.TaylorTriple bills have become a trademark of the Vienna State Ballet since Martin Schläpfer took over as artistic director in 2020. The latest, Pathétique, is titled after Schläpfer’s newest and last creation. As on previous occasions, the program’s safe and well-tested base was a Balanchine followed by Cunningham’s Summerspace. (more…)

Much story, little dance

“Édith Piaf – La vie en rose”
Finnish National Ballet
Opera House
Helsinki, Finland
March 15, 2025 (video)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

 1. T.Myllymäki (Édith Piaf), “Édith Piaf – La vie en rose” by R.Wäre, Finnish National Ballet 2025 © J.Lundqvist 2. T.Myllymäki, L.Haakana, H.J.Kang, and S.Kunnari (Édith Piaf); “Édith Piaf – La vie en rose” by R.Wäre, Finnish National Ballet 2025 © J.Lundqvist Two weeks after its world premiere, the Finnish National Ballet streamed its latest piece, Édith Piaf – La vie en rose, live on the online platform Stage 24. Sami Sykkö presented the live stream and conducted several interviews during the break. I was able to watch a recording a few days later.

Javier Torres, the company’s artistic director, assembled an entirely Finnish artistic team for Édith Piaf – La vie en rose. It is choreographer Reija Wäre’s (whose previous work stretches various genres, including opera and street dance, TV shows, and sports events) first full-length production. Composer Jukka Nykänen also has a reputation as a pianist. Jani Uljas designed the set; Erika Turunen, the costumes. (more…)

Family Feeling

“Dream Team” (“Jardi Tancat”/“The Blue Brides”/“Lickety-Split”/“High Moon”)
Gauthier Dance Juniors
Theaterhaus Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany
March 15, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “Jardí Tancat” by N.Duato, Gauthier Dance Juniors 2025 © J.BakIs it the laid-back, feel-good attitude of Eric Gauthier, director and choreographer of Gauthier Dance, that makes his company’s performances feel like family gatherings? A sense of family also unites his junior company, which was founded in 2022 and comprises six dancers (three men and three women) from Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, and Taiwan. Their latest mixed bill, Dream Team, premiered in January. It includes two podcasts that fill the breaks the performers take to change costumes. In them, Gauthier chats with his juniors and the choreographers. When talking about their group spirit, the young dancers call Gauthier their boss whereas Gauthier seems like a proud daddy.

The original title of the program (Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue—quoting a traditional English wedding rhyme that details what a bride should wear for good luck) referred to the selection of pieces. (more…)

Brimful

“Cipollino”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
March 08, 2025 (matinee and evening performance)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

 1. S.Maymula (Little Radish), I.Sorokin (Cipollino), A.Vinokur (Mother Radish), and E.Besedina (Mother Cipolla), “Cipollino” by G.Mayorov, Bolshoi Ballet 2025 © Bolshoi Theatre/E.FetisovaThe boy Cippolino (Little Onion), the hero of Gianni Rodari’s 1957 children’s book Adventures of Cipollino, enjoyed an international career. He was especially popular in eastern countries and a famous cartoon and film figure in the Soviet Union. A ballet adaption by Genrikh Mayorov (1936-2022) entered the Bolshoi Ballet’s repertory three years after its Kiev premiere. Cipollino was revived at the Bolshoi earlier this season and still attracts crowds. Though a children’s fairy tale, adults can appreciate the production, especially when danced at top quality. I saw a matinee attended primarily by children and their parents as well as a sold-out evening performance.

The young Cipollino and his family are members of jovial townsfolk who are anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables—Cobbler Grape, Professor Pear, Godfather Pumpkin, and the Radish family, whose daughter, Little Radish, becomes Cipollino’s best buddy. They’re ruled by the high-handed, eccentric Prince Lemon whose court includes an acerbic guard, ludicrous knights, and the two overexcited Countesses Cherry. (more…)

Dreams versus Reality

“The Seagull”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
March 06, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. A.Putintsev (Konstantin Treplev), “The Seagull” by Y.Possokhov, Bolshoi Ballet 2025 © Bolshoi Theatre/M.Logvinov Almost four years after its premiere in summer 2021, I finally saw Yuri Possokhov’s The Seagull at the Bolshoi Theatre. It was his sixth creation for the company (his seventh and latest, The Queen of Spades, premiered in 2023), and the fourth time, he teamed up with composer Ilya Demutsky. The artistic team included costume designer Emma Ryott (a longstanding collaborator of choreographer Christian Spuck) and set designer Tom Pye (who also created the designs for Possokhov’s Anna Karenina). David Finn contributed the lighting, Sergei Rylko the video design.

Chekhov’s The Seagull is labeled as a comedy, but its humor is bitter at best. Not a single protagonist leads a fulfilled life. Everybody runs after a dream world or tries to construct their realities. Family relationships are strained, and love is unrequited, quickly exhausted, or phony. Possokhov’s interpretation throws more light on some characters, and less on others, and differs in some respects from the original. Irina Arkadina (Kristina Kretova)—an actress in Chekhov’s version, a renowned ballerina in Possokhov’s—is not merely a fashionable yet greedy diva and dysfunctional mother. She shows her empathetic side when she recalls childhood memories with her elderly brother, Pyotr Sorin (Mikhail Lobukhin), whose unrealized dreams of marriage and artistic career Possokhov omitted. Like in the text, events largely unfolded at Sorin’s country estate. (more…)

Human Striving

“Homage to Uwe Scholz”
Leipzig Ballet
Forum Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg, Germany
February 15, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “Seventh Symphony” by U.Scholz, Leipzig Ballet 2025 © I.Zenna The Stuttgart-bred Uwe Scholz was in his early thirties when he became the Leipzig Ballet’s artistic director and chief choreographer in 1991. Scholz’s ballets were substantial and had depth, but the extent of his choreographic talent has been undiscovered due to his premature death in 2004. Last weekend, the Leipzig Ballet toured Homage to Uwe Scholz at the Forum Ludwigsburg. The double bill comprised two of Scholz’s symphonic pieces, Seventh Symphony, set to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (1811-1812), and Second Symphony, set to Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 (1847).

For the first time, Leipzig Ballet isn’t led by a choreographer, but by artistic director Rémy Fichet. Fichet, who took the reins from Mario Schröder just this season, danced in Leipzig under Scholz and intends to keep his ballets in the repertory. However, he’s realistic. The company’s standard does not yet meet the requirements of every Scholz piece, he admitted, and the dancers will need time to hone their technique. Perhaps, Fichet can prevent Scholz’s work from sinking deeper into oblivion. (more…)

Effervescent

“The Merry Widow”
Hungarian National Ballet
Hungarian State Opera
Budapest, Hungary
February 8-9, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. M.Takamori (Valencienne), M.Bäckström (Camille), and D.Zhukov (Njegus), “The Merry Widow” by R.Hynd, Hungarian National Ballet 2025 © V.Berecz 2. M.Radziush (Count Danilo Danilovitch) and T.Melnyik (Hanna Glawari), “The Merry Widow” by R.Hynd, Hungarian National Ballet 2025 © V.Berecz The brisk beats that opened last Saturday’s revival of The Merry Widow at Budapest’s opera house promised a peppy performance, and the following two and a half hours delivered brio indeed. Franz Lehár composed the music in 1905 for his popular eponymous operetta, and John Launchbery and Allen Abbot were the first to edit it for the dance stage in 1974. Both worked on behalf of the British choreographer Ronald Hynd who in 1975 adapted the comic operetta into a three-act ballet for the Australian Ballet. Since then, many ballet companies have added it to their repertory. The Hungarian National Ballet premiered The Merry Widow in 2014 with new sets and costumes by the Brit Peter Docherty.

Docherty designed a long workbench stuffed with books and champagne (shadowed by a wall-sized replica of the national coat of arms) where the staff of the Pontevedrian embassy in Paris shuffled papers, boozed, and stood at attention as soon as the anthem sounded. The small Balkan state of Pontevedrian was bankrupt, but its geriatric ambassador, Baron Zeta, had a bailout plan. If his first secretary, Count Danilo Danilovitch, married the Pontevedrian millionaire’s widow, Hanna Glawari, her money would refill the state coffers. (more…)

As It Should Be

“Peter and the Wolf”
Jugendkompanie of the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera
NEST (Künstlerhaus Vienna)
Vienna, Austria
January 26, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. A.Martelli (Peter) and S.E.Schippani (Bird), “Peter and the Wolf” by M.Schläpfer, Jugendkompanie of the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera 2025 © M.Furnica2. E.Renahy (Cat), “Peter and the Wolf” by M.Schläpfer, Jugendkompanie of the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera 2025 © M.Furnica 3. A.Martelli (Peter), Y.Kato (Grandfather), and S.E.Schippani (Bird); “Peter and the Wolf” by M.Schläpfer, Jugendkompanie of the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera 2025 © M.Furnica Last December, the Vienna State Opera opened a new venue for its young audience in a side wing of the Künstlerhaus, around 550 yards from the Vienna State Opera. The venue was previously a home for the city’s independent companies but was rebuilt thanks to private funding and a grant from Austria’s Ministry of Education, Science, and Research. The theater’s steep auditorium ensures visibility of the stage for even the shortest audience members. Although I was told that its name, NEST, is an abbreviation of “New State Opera,” it reminded me of a bird’s nest.

Despite sunny early spring weather, last Sunday’s matinee was well attended by both children and grown-ups to see the premiere of Peter and the Wolf, (more…)

Striking Similarities

“kaiserRequiem”
Vienna State Ballet & Volksoper Wien
Volksoper Wien
Vienna, Austria
January 25, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1.D.Schmutzhard (Emperor Overall) and ensemble, “kaiserRequiem”, directed and choreographed by A.Heise, Vienna State Ballet/Volksoper Wien 2025 © A.Taylor kaiserRequiem, the Volksoper Wien’s latest premiere, is a joint production of the State Ballet Vienna and the singers, choir, and orchestra of the Volksoper. The piece intertwines the sixty-minute chamber opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis (The Emperor of Atlantis), composed by Viktor Ullmann in 1943/44, with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem in D minor (K. 626). Both pieces feature death, which overtook both composers while working on them. Mozart died in December 1791 before finishing Requiem. Requiem had been commissioned, and when Mozart died, his wife, Constanze, assigned its completion to Franz Xaver Süßmayr, her husband’s former pupil. Being of Jewish parentage, Ullmann and his wife were deported to the Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt (in today’s Czech Republic) in September 1942. It was a showpiece ghetto to promote the allegedly successful resettlement of Jews, so Theresienstadt had a department for so-called “leisure activities,” such as sports, theater, lectures, and reading. Ullmann worked there as a composer, music critic, and musical event organizer. The premiere of his opera The Emperor of Atlantis was scheduled for Theresienstadt’s stage but was canceled after the general rehearsal. Perhaps the piece’s highly political sarcasm, though subtle, did not slip the notice of the ruling powers, but that’s only speculation. (more…)

Aerial Ballet

“Möbius”
Compagnie XY
Forum Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg, Germany
January 10, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “Möbius”—a collective artwork by Compagnie XY in collaboration with R.Ouramdane, Compagnie XY 2025 © C.R.De LageThe northern French company Compagnie XY is a group of forty acrobats who specialize in lifts. Nineteen of them perform in Möbius, the troupe’s fifth and latest piece created in collaboration with the French choreographer and dancer Rachid Ouramdane. Last weekend, it toured at the Forum Ludwigsburg.
Möbius opened sedately and silently. One by one, the barefooted artists walked on either side of the auditorium toward a stage equipped only with gray-greenish flooring. They stood scattered across it, motionless, gazing sternly at the audience. The first percussive beats set them in motion. They stretched their arms sideways like birds ready for take-off, and a blink of an eye later, the first bodies soared in the air. Pushed by multiple interlocked arms that served as a living trampoline, they flew from one group to the other, often adding extra thrilling saltos and other aerial acrobatics. (more…)

Back in 1892…

“The Nutcracker”
Perm Ballet
Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre
Perm, Russia
December 31, 2024 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

Like all Russian ballet companies, Perm Ballet, one of the country’s leading troupes, presented The Nutcracker during the Christmas season. Their version is by Alexey Miroshnichenko, artistic director of the Perm Ballet since 2009, and premiered in December 2017. I watched the live stream of the performance on New Year’s Eve.

Miroshnichenko relocated the fairy tale to the St. Petersburg of 1892 (where Petipa’s The Nutcracker had its world premiere at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre) where the dusky streets were bustling. Traders with vendors’ trays offered hot drinks and sweets, sleighs crossed pedestrians’ paths, and anticipation put a spring in everyone’s step.

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The Hub

“The Nutcracker”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
December 31, 2024 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. E.Kokoreva (Marie) and ensemble, “The Nutcracker” by Y.Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet 2024 © Bolshoi Ballet/D.Yusupov2. A.Ovcharenko (Nutcracker Prince), “The Nutcracker” by Y.Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet 2024 © Bolshoi Ballet/D.Yusupov During this year’s Christmas sermon, my pastor asked which moment should best represent Christmas. The Christmas dinner? The lighting of the candles? Or, perhaps, unwrapping the presents? For me, this moment was the moment during the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker when the newlywed Marie (Elizaveta Kokoreva) and the Nutcracker Prince (Artem Ovcharenko) were lifted by their court toward the star at the top of the Christmas tree. It was the climax of their spiritual journey and of Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography for which I had been waiting since I last saw his Nutcracker live in Moscow in 2022.

Two live streams on December 30th (evening performance) and December 31st (matinee) enabled a vast audience to follow the heroes’ journey. To meet the demand, the number of cinemas offering live broadcasts grew from one hundred to three hundred in December. Most were located in Russia, but cinemas in Belarus, Armenia, and the United Arab Emirates also participated. I was able to watch the matinee on the Bolshoi’s vk video platform. (more…)

An Endeavor

“La Bayadère”
Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón
Teatro Colón
Buenos Aires, Argentina
December 28, 2024 (stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “La Bayadère” by M.Galizzi after M.Petipa, Ballet Estable des Teatro Colón 2024 © Prensa Teatro Colón/A.Colombaroli The Teatro Colón wrapped up its 2024 season with a stream of La Bayadère, which had been recorded a few days earlier. The choreography is by Mario Galizzi, the company’s artistic director for the past three years. His new version stays faithful to Petipa’s original and, like in Yuri Grigorovich’s rendition for the Bolshoi Ballet, Act III ends with Solor’s breakdown after he recognizes Nikiya among the Shades. Solor’s and Gamzatti’s wedding, the destruction of the temple, and the apotheosis were omitted. (more…)