Hello all,

I hope you are all doing well today.

I look forward to attending Maris Liepa Gala in Kremlin this evening.

Special Guests form the world's major ballet companies and principal dancers from The Bolshoi and Mariinsky will participate.

Director of this Gala Andris Liepa still works in close collaboration with scenographer Anatoly Nezhny. The “Return of Firebird” DVD is one of the results of this cooperation.



Artists

Special Guests
Vladimir Derevianko
Roberto Bolle
Greta Hodgkinson
Ramon Thielen
Pedro Benavente

Bolshoi Ballet
Ilze Liepa
Nicolay Tsescaridze
Svetlana Zaharova
Andrey Uvarov
Sergey Filin
Natalya Osipova (was replaced by Olesya Novikova)
Ivan Vasilyev (was replaced by Mikhail Lobuhin)
Gennady Yanin
Ekaterina Shipulina
Nelly Kobahidze

Mariinsky Ballet
Farouk Ruzimatov
Irma Nioradze
Evgeniya Obraztsova
Vladimir Shkliarov

Keep fingers crossed for no casting changes.

Very good seats were not available. First 21 rows tickets were not available for sale and booked for Special Guests. I managed to buy 22nd row at $40 each.
Can you just imagine 21 rows packed of Special Persons in a huge Kremlin Palace? I try but failed.
Have a great day!

Natalia Osipova and Evgenia Obraztsova in the same Gala ? Should be something quite special, apart from all the big stars. Enjoy, and please tell us how it went if you have time !

The 22nd row doesn't sound so bad!

I hope you return with a report on this all-star event, delz! May readers will be reading with envy.

You’re right.
Osipova and Vasiliev are in Havana right now, participating in Ballet Festival. Probably their performance in Liepa Gala was canceled due to Schedule conflict.
So other dancers performed Don Quixote Pas de Deux in this Gala. Olesya Novikova was partnered by Mikhail Lobuhin (Mariinsky Ballet).
Have a great day!

Hello all!

Let me provide you the Program of Maris Liepa Gala/ Moscow, Kremlin/ October 31, 2006

PROGRAM


1. Laser Show
2. Ilze Liepa/ Bolshoi Ballet/ “Dedication”/ Music by Khachaturian/ Choreography by Smoriginas
3. Evgeniya Obraztsova and Vladimir Shkliarov/ Mariinsky Ballet/ Sleeping Beauty Pas de Deux/ Music by Tchaikovsky/ Choreography by Petipa
4. Ekaterina Shipulina and Sergei Filin/ Bolshoi Ballet/ Swan Lake Adagio/ Music by Tchaikovsky/ Choreography by Petipa
5. Ramon Thielen/ Harlem Ballet/ “Swan”/ Music by Orf “Karmina Burana”/ Choreography by Nahat
6. Nelly Kobahidze and Andrey Uvarov/ Bolshoi Ballet/ Giselle Pas de Deux by Adan /Choreography by Coralli and Perrot
7. Svetlana Zakharova/ Bolshoi Ballet/ “Revelation”/ Music by Williams/ Choreography by Hiroyama
8. Ilze Liepa and Pedro Benavente/ “Tango”/ Music by Matvienko/ Choreography by Benavente
9. Irma Nioradze/ Mariinsky Ballet/ “Swan” by Sen-Sans/ Choreography by Fokin
10. Olesya Novikova and Mikhail Lobuhin/ Mariinsky Ballet/ Don Quixote Pas de Deux by Mincus/ Choreography by Gorsky
11. Ilze Liepa and Nicolay Tzescoridze/ Bolshoi Ballet/ “The queen of spades” by Tchaikovsky/ Choreography by Petit
12. Ramon Thielen/ “Rivers”/ Music by Tailor/ Choreography by MacAulay
13. Marcella Soltan/ “Oscar Schlemmer Museum”/ Choreography by Doctor Da
14. Vladimir Derevianko/ “Firebird”/ Music by Stravinsky/ Choreography by Sholtz
15. Sophia Gumerova and Farouk Ruzimatov/ Mariinsky Ballet/ “Bhakti”/ Traditional Indian Music/ Choreography by Bejart
16. Roberto Bolle and Greta Hodgkinson/ “Petit Mort”/ Music by Mozart/ Choreography by Kilian
17. Ilze Liepa and Gennady Yanin/ Bolshoi Ballet/ Egor Drujinin /“Wordless City” Music by Piazzolla, Prima, Shelkloper/ Choreography by Drujinin

Unfortunately I can’t post my impressions right now because of lack of time.
I’ll be back ASAP.
Hope other members who were there have an opportunity to post their experience prompt.
Have a good day!

Hello all!
Sorry for the delay with response.
Please find my impressions below.

The Kremlin Palace was overcrowded; even the orchestra pit was covered with a special lid for extra seats. The background of the stage has been designed as the colonnade of The Bolshoi Theatre.

The Festival of Ballet (as this Gala was indicated by Andris Liepa in his brief speech) wowed me with an outstanding level of dancers performed.

My most memorable moments of the evening are bellow.

The evening began with Ilze Liepa of The Bolshoi Ballet in Dedication. Ilze wearing in white tunic with black organza in her hands dedicated this dance to her father. She was looking like she was having a contact with him at that moment; it seemed that she try to tell him in this way something that she never told him. There were memories, sorrow and hope in her dance that evening. It was a good way to start.

“Revelation” of Svetlana Zakharova numbed me.
This was a dance that makes you feel for a moment that you are somewhere else and no audience around you.
I admire her in classical ballets, but this modern work exceeded all expectations. Svetlana’s dance fits its name. It was a revelation to me.

Roberto Bolle and Greta Hodgkinson danced to Kylian’s “Petit Mort”. This couple makes me feel happy.
Their technique was perfect. They were tender and sunny. The afterglow is still with me.
Could someone provide me please the link of Kylian Official Site?

All other dancers were great. It was astonishing to watch them all perform and I have fond memories of this performance.

However, I have some negative impressions too.
- Some technical issues caused the delay opening of this Gala.
- I’ve got a good look-see in advance, and this decision was right because of lots of special effects on stage that stand in the way of watching dancers performed.
- I could not quite understand why if we had such brilliant choreography on stage that evening why would directors think of putting Drujinin choreography to conclude this Gala, right after Kilian “Petit Mort” performed by Bolle & Hodgkinson? It was half past 11 and see this (early performed in Russian variant of “American Idol” Show, if I’m not mistaken) good, but not enough ballet work was extremely hard.

Have a great day!

You can see photos from the gala here:

http://divanna.livejournal.com/146749.html