DuMonde

This is an ART FORM not an exhibition of tricks. Please. I’m in disbelief with what I saw as I really enjoyed her performance at Lausanne.

Anyway. Came here to also say that I’ve been so busy at work but a Yaroslavna Kuprina Swan Lake debut review is coming out while I’m on vacation so yay.

Posting her video compilation here

Thank you dear anon! Fun fact, I’ve never watched Sylvia so I will do a marathon on this.

I love Alina Cojocaru! She’s so stable and consistent is how I would describe it. Every movement is just picture perfect. Pause at any given moment and she’s yeah, picture perfect. I remember when I was younger, I would always watch her Voices of Spring PDD with Johan Kobborg. It was so magical to me then, I might rewatch it now.

I’ve been noticing something in competitions like YAGP lately, and maybe you have too: they’ve become less about artistry and more about exhibition. It’s dazzling with dancers pulling their legs up to 180 degrees, balancing forever, spinning like a top. It’s impressive, but I keep asking myself: is this what ballet is supposed to be?

Don’t get me wrong, we need dancers who push boundaries. That’s how the art form evolves. Sylvie Guillem did this, and she changed ballet forever. She took risks, stretched what was possible, and inspired generations. We need that spirit of daring. But here’s the thing, Guillem was more than her extensions. She was musical, nuanced, unpredictable. She actually made us feel something.

What I worry about is that in chasing these “wow” tricks, we’re losing something essential. Musicality. Soul. The way a dancer breathes with the music, bends a phrase, or takes a risk that isn’t about height or turns, but about meaning. When everyone is trained to deliver the same hyper-extensions, the same oversplits, the same pirouette sequences, it all becomes standardized. Dancers start to look like carbon copies, polished but interchangeable. Where is the personality and fun in that?

And here’s the bigger question: how do dancers even learn personality if we don’t make space for it? If the training, coaching, and judging all reward uniformity, then individuality becomes a liability instead of a gift. It’s heartbreaking

So maybe the real challenge is not just pushing the physical boundaries of ballet, but pushing the artistic ones too. How do we empower dancers to be themselves? To make choices, to interpret, to surprise? Maybe we need to stop asking them only for tricks and start asking them for voice. Because ballet without personality isn’t art, it’s acrobatics in pointe shoes.

Also who do you think you should debut in o/o in Bolshoi (Both newer and older dancers)?

I think we are all tired to say that things are moving too fast in bolshoi but seriously tho at this point they are all gonna be prima next season

I've been working too hard I have not kept up with russian ballet news and I am so terribly sorry.

So yes!! It was actually an entire proper show, not a recital with different numbers. This had an entire storyline and original choreography. Tl;dr is we are a circus traveling and it's about our adventure!

I was a tightrope walker and when I say it was probably the hardest dance in the performance, I am not lying! It was very challenging and as someone who just restarted point, our AD had too much faith in me to deliver lmao.

It turned out well! I didn't fall, I didn't trip! I remembered the choreography and my group was in sync. I nailed my penche en pointe so that was exciting. I'm thinking I'll write about the whole experience here but I'm not sure if anyone's interested in my moonlighting as a dancer with an adult ballet company when all I write about here is russian ballet.