Svetlana Zarkarova doesnt do that mad little dance in this version. Does anyone know why? It is the Markarova production but this dance is omitted. Could it be because her body -type is wrong for such a dance? Asylmuratova and Guerin look wondrous doing this variation but maybe Zarkarova is just too long and elegant to sway her hips so fetchingly.

I assume you are referring to the coda of Nikiya's slow dance in the betrothal scene--Asylmuratova is another long-limbed (although not tall) ballerina, so I don't think it's a problem with body type.

Maybe Zakarova is afraid it would get out on youtube and ruin her career in politics?

She shouldn't worry -- there are nude photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger up on the net, and it didn't keep him from getting elected governor of California, and when he runs for president, he'll succeed in laughing it off....

It seems Makarova allowed her version to be chopped & changed at the drop of a hat. I've also just started another related thread about the different Lanchbery versions that have been used. It was that very same "mad dance" you refer to that started me thinking...

For my money, the La Scala DVD version is simply not competitive. The principles are good, and the video quality is certainly superior to both the Paris & RB versions, but the smaller roles and corps simply are no match. Until something better comes along (from say.. St.Petersburg!), I'd stick with the Paris and RB versions, and in addition I'd recommend the "Dancers Dream" documentary, with fascinating rehearsal footage and insights from the dancers preparing for a revival of Nureyev's version. It really is a must-see!

As for A.Schwarzenegger and the Neo-Cons, all I can add is, Hasta la vista, baby!

Jack

As rg has said on another thread, this little dance was not in the version Makarova set for the Royal Ballet - it had not been done until Asylmuratova came along and the other Nikiyas didn't do it. It shows, I'm afraid, one of the problems of videos - all they show is that dancer in that performance.

Svetlana Zakharova has danced the uptempo coda when it was required, eg. the Kirov/Mariinsky and the Paris Opera versions, numerous times. Nothing to do with body type, just a matter of following the choreography of the production she is in.

Nor did she include it when she staged it on ABT, which she set prior to RB. The RB & ABT stagings are, as far as I recall, identical. The omission may have been a matter of taste, or possibly an accommodation to streamlining.

I think that Makarova felt that the music was too folk dancey in sound and the steps were too jaunty for Nikiya. So Lanchbery came up with that lyrical whirling theme and more liquid, sinuous choreography. I think it was a personal taste of Makarova's having danced the original jaunty uptempo theme at the Kirov to change it for her version in the West which seems to be the standard version outside of Nureyev's version for the POB (which follows the Kirov 1940 template very faithfully).