#Salenko

[lovelyballetandmore]

Marian Walter | Iana Salenko | Staatsballett Berlin | Ballet International Gala | Photo by Ashley Lean | En Pointe Productions

[dance-world]

Iana Salenko and Herman Cornejo - photo by Nikolay Pisarev

[tikitania]

Nutcracker Nirvana

I'm a fan of ballet reconstructions. I enjoy peeling back the layers of choreography and discovering what was jettisoned and what endures. It's always a process of seeing ballet from a new perspective. While some reconstructions are more successful than others, I've recently come across this Yuri Burlaka & Vasily Medeydev reconstruction of The Nutcracker for the Stattsballett Berlin featuring Iana Salenko and Marian Walter. It's enchanting! But this has to be prefaced with my relationship to The Nutcracker and how it's changed recently. For most of my life, I simply considered it a treacly moneymaker. It was a cynical take and one based on absolute ignorance. I have been schooled and that started last year when I watched Alastair Macualey, the esteemed ballet historian and former NYT Dance Critic, lead a step-by-step demonstration of the Act 2 PDD with NYCB dancers at NY City Center. It was a comparison of the original Ivanov choreography as danced by Fonteyn in the 1950s (it had already changed somewhat from the 1892 original) and Balanchine's version. It was a revelation. This supposedly treacly ballet was about something far more moving and mysterious. It's a ballet about childhood and imagination, and the fleeting nature of wonderment. It's utterly soaring at times, the crescendos in the PPD keep building and building — but there's an underlying melancholy girding this PDD, reminding us that this world of imagination will all come to an end — the predominant minor key down scales following those soaring crescendos….I learned that Tchaikovsky's beloved younger sister died a year prior to writing this score, and I cannot help but think this ballet is a tribute to her in a way. I was lucky enough to see Sarah Lane and Chun Wai Chan perform the PDD recently with a local ballet company and it brought me to goddamn tears. I'm not ashamed to admit it. That demonstration at City Center is no longer available on YouTube, but you can hear Alastair Macauley talk about the connection between Balanchine's Nutcracker and the Ivanov version that premiered in 1892 in this podcast: Conversations on Dance.

But what I enjoyed so much about this Burlaka-Medyedev reconstruction is that it's not really a step-by-step reconstruction at all, but an homage to the original Imperial libretto and staging. The one that Balanchine grew up with, performed in as a child, and it's the inspiration for the NYCB's version. You can see Ivanov's fingerprints all over Balanchine's Nutcracker. Pointe Magazine wrote about the comparison back when it premiered, noting a couple similarities and differences.

This reconstruction is gorgeously lush. I love the transformations from the parlor into the wintry landscape, the swan sleigh, the pageantry upon entering the Kingdom of Sweets, the focus on Clara/Marie as the central character….and the costumes! The costumes are all based on the original sketches, which were also documented in photographs. The ornate details are what pull me in and I would love to return to this ballet over and over again. I think the only part that really falls short for me is the scarf trick in the PDD. NYCB now does this with a floating disk and even now, it's an aspect of the ballet that still feels disjointed and out of place. Here's a link to the ballet via the TG Channel, the King Dancers. It's a Chinese streamer with the fussiest interface. But you can also stream it via Belaireclassiques for a small fee.

And if you've made it this far, here are some photos from the original 1892 Imperial St. Petersburg Ballet premier also courtesy of the TG channel, the King Dances.

[thedeadbelle]

Ballerina Iana Salenko

Photo by Carlos Quezada Fotografia

[enchanted-keys]

Iana Salenko as Aurora (Staatsballet Berlin 2023)

photo by Yan Revazov

[r-h-e-t]

In a rather strange crossover between my current interests, I've just realized that the music of a Nutcracker-themed ballet Christmas commercial from 2013 featuring Steven McRae was composed by none other than Nicholas Britell, who a few years later would compose the soundtrack for Succession.

(And yes, the track is still available for purchase on iTunes.)

[krylzkvi]

Iana Salenko

[dddima]

[balletthebestphotographs]

Iana Salenko Яна Саленко

Iana Salenko Яна Саленко (Staatsballett Berlin) as “Diana” (Roman Goddess of Wild Animals and the Hunt), “Diana and Acteon”, choreo by Agrippina Vaganova Агриппина Ваганова, music by Cesare Pugni, 2013 Dance Open Ballet Festival, Oktyabrsky Concert Hall Большой Kонцертный зал Октя́брьский, Saint Petersburg, Russia (April 22, 2013).

Note I: This blog is open to receiving and considering any suggestions, contributions, and/or criticisms that may help correct mistakes or improve its content. Comments are available to any visitor.

Note II: Original quality of photographs might be affected by compression algorithm of the website where they are hosted.

Source and more info at: Photographer Nikolay Krusser on Facebook Photographer Nikolay Krusser on Facebook (page) Photographer Nikolay Krusser on Instagram Photographer Nikolay Krusser on VKontakte Photographer Nikolay Krusser on Fine Art America

[pbwaffl]

A sketch I started based off this picture I found on Pinterest.

If the link doesn't work then it is Iana Salenko and Marian Walter in "Romeo and Juliet" with Staatsballett Berlin. Photo taken by Yan Revazov.

I kept seeing the photo on Pinterest when looking for pose references for various things over they years. Finally I decided to draw something with it. I didn't get very far before I abandoned the sketch but I was pretty happy with what I'd gotten at least. It's such a magnificent pose that always makes me think of wings.

[meowyjean]

holy fuck i have been frantically going through ballet videos on youtube, trying to find the ballerina i was idolizing over back when i used to do ballet. i finally fucking found her by searching "russian ballerina aurora" AND SHE ISNT EVEN RUSSIAN, SHE'S UKRANIAN mb, iana salenko. my deepest apologies.

[lovelyballetandmore]

Iana Salenko | Murilo Gabriel | Berlin State Ballet (Staatsballett Berlin)

[quitschekaetzchendebugging]

I already did the pose and background, so I decided that I migth as well use it more than once

[ballet-symphonie]

hi love! i’m so sorry if this is a dumb question or one that you’ve touched on before, i’ve been really interested in ballet lately and your account has been a gold mine of information haha xx

i’m just wondering, does the title of prima / principal ballerina carry over between companies? i’m not too sure if that makes sense given that i have no idea how these dancers are chosen or anything.

But say a dancer were to be a principal / prima at the Bolshoi, and then transfer to the Royal Ballet in London. Would they still be recognised as that position at the RB, or would they have to start from the Corps and work their way back up? Is prima a universally recognised position in the ballet world?

thank u :)

Hello thank you for the kind words!

Think of transferring from one ballet company to another exactly the same as changing jobs in any other field. You're not guaranteed to get the same title or position. But most often, if you become a principal and want to change companies, you're unlikely to effectively take a demotion. Many top principal dancers have done this, Iana Salenko, Jurgita Dronina, Olga Smirnova, Natalia Osipova, Roberto Bolle, and even Svetlana Zakharova early in her career.

There are cases of dancers working at smaller/less prestigious companies and joining a bigger one at a lower rank. Some more recent ones are:

Betsy McBride- Principal at Texas Ballet Theater, took a corps de ballet contract with ABT, and has since been promoted to soloist.

Chun Wai Chan: Longtime Houston ballet principal, was hired by NYCB as a soloist, before soon becoming a principal

Jeffery Cirio: Principal at Boston, took soloist contract at ABT before being promoted to principal there

There is one big exception, and that's the Paris Opera. Everyone has to audition to be accepted; even then, you must start at the bottom. This is currently whats happening to Shale Wagman, he was a Bayerisches Staatsballett first soloist but is now in their corps. Granted, I don't imagine he will stay there long, but that is their process.

[gorbigorbi]

Iana Salenko (Berlin Staatsballett)

[kolourking]

Kiss the night

Pose ref from