Okay, triple O/O debuts at Bolshoi.
Konovalova was unbelievable. The strongest technically, and a strong actress. Her Odette reminded me of Lopatkina (yes, I said it). She was soft, tender, esoteric, spiritual, pure. Her Odile made was more courtesan than seductress, she was more playful and should be more "aggressive," but she is what? 19? 20? Paired with a much older dancer, so to me, it makes sense she's not quite comfortable giving it all. But her interpretation made me very curious to see her in something like Marguerite and Armand, she is prima material. Her musicality was also exemplary, you can see her speeding up and slowing down within her steps to stay with the music, you can see she (or her coach, who's her coach?) talked about tempo and tempo changes with the conductor. Prima material.
Next in my ranking is Moseeva. She was a spectacular Odile, in the black entrance pas de trois she was such a diva, you couldn't take your eyes off her, she was HER. Adagio is very obviously not her strong suit, but she did well, although unstable in some parts of the white variation. Her acting as Odette was also very strong, she portrayed that melancholy, but without the "suffering eyebrows," so many dancers suffer from (pun intended). Generally, I feel she could have done a lot better, if she was paired with a more experienced Prince... not to throw shade at Mikhalkin, but dude did not support her at all. Maybe it was an off day for him, but his partner suffered for it. Incident 1 - at the end of the black entrance he's on one knee, holding her from the waist, she's in arabesque holding Rothbart's hands. She's supposed to let go of Rothbart and bend back in attitude, normal, easy simple. She could not let go because she was placed too far forward. Incident 2 - when Odette appears on the window during the black pd2, he shifted her so far to the side she almost fell over. It looked like he lost his grip. I understand that being a partner is an incredibly difficult role, but you can't be Ziegfried if you're unreliable. I like Mikhalkin and I want to see him flower in BT, and this is not the way. They should give him less demanding pd2s and start him on a serious weight training program. You can't have people doing lifts like that.
Lastly, don't hate me, Kuprina. I just don't connect to Kuprina's dancing or acting at all. I don't see it. Yes, she has beautiful arms, but she was stumbling in both colours and kept the same expression throughout the ballet; the same she had in Sleeping Beauty. I don't get the hype. It wasn't bad by any means, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't go to her next performance, she doesn't intrigue me at all. Mark Chino was great from what I saw, his stature, movement quality, and mood really fit the Grigorovich Ziegfried.
Overall, this triple whammy was fantastic for BT debut standards. Management seems to focus more on proper preparation and less on giving big name roles as soon and as much as possible. I will say, for all of them, fouettes were massively under-rehearsed, but fouettes are not a make or break thing for me. As long as Odile does her 32 counts, I'm good. Next time, the 19 year old will have more time to practice them.
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner
