Great news! Wondrous Daria Pavlenko will return to the stage of the Mariinsky after her long maternity leave. Check this out:

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbi...09/1/29/1_1900/

Edited to add: She first dances in Steptext on January 9 - thanks to Marc (below) for this correction. La Valse will follow on the 29th.

Another January '09 highlight will be a Jan. 26 gala in honor of the former ballerina and great coach Olga Moiseyeva. Many of 'her' dancers will be performing, including guest-star from the Bolshoi, Svetlana Zakharova, and Mariinsky primas Yulia Makhalina and Irma Nioradze.

Yahoo!!!!! Finally!! Thanks for the news, Natalia. Here's hoping for a smashing return to the stage, and a return to touring soon (I'm selfish, we miss her here in NY)

Pavlenko's "comeback" performance should be Steptext on Jan 9.

Thanks for the update, Marc! That was not apparent in the Mariinsky playbill when I checked. Even better news!

This is indeed most welcome news! May she be given the chance
to reclaim her roles on regular basis!