#nina kaptsova

[elegantballetalk]

Today’s watch:

Nina Kaptsova, Sugar Plum Fairy, Bolshoi theatre.

[ballet-symphonie]

There's plenty of criticism for the young generations, the likes of Denisova, Sergeenkova (from BT), Khoreva, Ilyushkina (from MT), etc, and saying how they don't compare to the old(er) generations, Zakharova, Obratsova, Krystanova, Kaptsova,Novikova, Kondaurova... etc etc. So I'm wondering, how did the old generations do when they were new graduates around 20 years old? Were they having the same issues back then as these new dancers are having now (technical sloppiness? lack of artistry? lack of preparation for big roles?...) How do these young gen dancers compare to them when they were young?

The obvious comparison is Zakharova, this is the woman who was admitted directly into the graduating class at VBA and never spent a second in the corps. She has still set the record for speed and made principal at 18. Absolutely ridiculous. But then again, she came out of school looking like this. While she certainly didn't have the emotional depth and soulful lyricism that she developed later, she had beautifully sustained lines and nearly impeccable turnout.

Many of today's graduates have similar body types to her, but nowhere NEAR her precision or control of those extraordinarily long legs. The level of emotional depth perhaps wasn't quite there, but the technical proficiency is simply insane. But even then, that's her Nikiya at age 20...we've seen far worse in recent years.

Kondaurova is a totally different case. It's difficult to find old performance videos of her...likely because she wasn't doing anything that people deemed worthy of filming. She was not considered a prodigy at graduation, at 26 years old she was still a second soloist and it took her 12 years to get to prima- with some serious lobbying by her coaches and outside choreographers. Today's 'star' grads aren't fighting like Kondaurova. No one wanted to give her classical roles, she and her coach, then Chenikova had to battle for her to be given chances. It's maddening because we have 20-year-old first soloists and 22-year-old primas and no one bats an eye. Ratmansky was quite impressed with her, "She is more spontaneous on stage than most of her colleagues. And everything that often looks like improvisation is actually well rehearsed." That's a key difference between her and a lot of today's grads, she put in the work to appear so spontaneous and carefree- not to look technically perfect.

While there are minimal videos, I can definitely see how much she improved in the early years of her career. The clarity of pointework, stability of turnout, and general presence are much improved in the later video.

Krysanova is someone who I think had a well-paced career, but by today's pace, it looks like she was sleepwalking. She graduated BBA with a handful of prizes, and she had attention from the start. She did 3 solid years in the corps and then took another 5 years to get to prima under the detailed preparation of one of the Bolshoi's best coaches: Svetlana Adyrkhaeva. Again, Ratmansky pushed and praised her along with Osipova and she was a principal at 26- the youngest at the time. She was and continues to be, the go-to ballerina at BT for new choreographers, featured in premiere after premiere because everyone wants to harness her versatility, but that took time to develop. The older videos of her are quite good, but not mind-blowingly so in my opinion.

Obratzsova did indeed graduate to a big fuss and her star only continued to rise. She is similar to the current age of graduates, as she got loads of big roles early. By reading old reviews, there's pretty much an overwhelmingly positive consensus. She was a sensation to audiences with her Juliet, the youngest ever to dance it at MT, expertly guided by Ninel Kurgapkina. Her confidence and lightness was just irresistible, you couldn't not fall in love with her. From day one, she had the charm, the poise, and the style. Her presence was what got her roles, despite being a bit undersized. If she graduated today, I'm not sure she'd have the same opportunities. Similarly to Iliushkina, she won the gold medal at Moscow, and while reports suggest she went against administration in doing so, she proved that she could handle herself in a huge variety of repertoire. Only three years after graduating, people like Carla Fracci and Pierre Lacotte were creating work specifically for her, inside and outside of Mariinsky. This current young generation is definitely less sought after, with the exception of Khoreva, for freelancing/media/creations- although a lot of that can be blamed on COVID and then the war.

Marina Vasilyeva really struck gold in 2002 with both Novikova and Obratsova in the same class. Novikova arrived at the theatre with splendid port de bras and an organized presentation, in addition to snatching the top prize at the Vaganova International Ballet Competition in her graduating year. Additionally remarkable is her phrasing, looking blissfully effortless in addition to the intricacies of her upper body even from a young age. Every step was always clear, although not quite as luminous as she later became. I think today's graduates should be watching more videos of her and taking note of her fluidity. It took her far too long to get to principal, but she was a first soloist in 6 years, a well paced timeline in my opinion.

Nina Kaptsova really had a strong start to her career. She was dancing solo roles from her first season at the Bolshoi. In 1999, only 3 years after graduating, she was nominated for the prestigious Benois de la Danse prize. A year later, she won it. Even so, she wasn't named principal until 2011. These dancers are simply part of a different timeline, it seems like it's becoming more and more common to see dancers graduate and become principals in 5 years or less, particularly at the Bolshoi.

[tikitania]

i just found out in one of the recently graduate profile and currently bolshoi corps darina moseeva that she is coached by nina kaptsova

What a lucky dancer to have Kaptsova as a coach! Here she is as Aurora:

[balletomaneblog]

is it safe to say that sofia maymuka kindaaaa remind me nina kaptsova?

Ahhh yes you are so right!! Kaptsova is a little less . . . fragile looking in her dancing if that makes sense. She feels more anchored. But yes, they both have a similar kind of classic elegance. And also a springiness and energy to them! Maymula is such a bright young dancer and Kaptsova is one of my all-time favorite Bolshoi ballerinas so thanks for this comment!!

[rocksof]

december is nutcracker season!! and i just wanna say yuri grigorovich/bolshoi’s version is just so so so artistic and i love it sm. alsonhow can u not fall in love with nina kaptsova as marie or artem ovcharenko as the prince???

[princesssarisa]

Well, if you want one that particularly highlights Clara's romance with the Nutcracker Prince and her coming-of-age journey, the 1977 Mikhail Baryshnikov version is a classic, with Baryshnikov himself as the Prince and Gelsey Kirkland as Clara.

Another version I especially enjoy is the Bolshoi staging, choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich. It makes several creative choices, including: (a) making the nutcracker doll a child-sized, dancing mechanical toy, not just a regular nutcracker, (b) having the "international" dancers be dolls from under the Christmas tree, who don't just appear in Act II to perform, but are companions to Marie and the Nutcracker Prince throughout their adventures, (c) having the Mouse King only flee at the end of the big battle, then come back to attack again in Act II and only then be killed, and (d) having Marie and the Prince get married near the end.

It's been filmed multiple times with different casts. For the version with the best picture quality, I'll share the 2010 video.

Christmas is coming, and I need some good recommendations of recordings of the Nutcracker ballet.

The Nutcracker is one my favorite ballets of all time and I love it during the Christmas season. But there's two problems.

I'm very picky with my staging of the Nutcracker

I TRULY HATE, LOATHE, THE STANDARD AMERICAN STAGING

I understand the American stagings are more to train younger dancers so that's why they are mostly observers during the second act, but I love so much the stagings that depict the ballet as a true coming of age romance between Clara/Marie and the Nutcracker.

So, do you all know where I can find some beautiful recordings of the Nutcracker?

@ariel-seagull-wings @princesssarisa @angelixgutz @amalthea9 @thealmightyemprex @natache

[patricedumonde]

Deep Dive: Maria Koshkaryova’s Debut as Marie

December 2023 — Maria Koshkaryova debuted as Marie in Bolshoi Theatre's The Nutcracker, as a first year member of the company. In what is arguably the hardest interpretation of the Sugarplum Fairy Variation, Masha can let out a sigh of big relief as she had a strong, technical performance.

Some of the clips from Masha's interpretation will be analyzed side-by-side Nina Kaptsova's. Growing up watching the Ovation special (US television special where all Nutcracker versions are compared every December), I grew familiar of Nina Kaptsova's interpretation, so we will be using her as reference.

I, firstly, want to say that Masha did a wonderful job in her debut. This is, in my opinion, her strongest debut of the season. There are very minor corrections in this deep dive. In my comparison to Nina, I think she just needed more confidence and perhaps this is something that only comes with time. With her abilities though, that kind of "head held high" presence could make a noticeable impact on her performances.

Props to Masha for these sections of the variation. These are movements that are seemingly simple but the bourrée moving back was very finely done, and she had a beautiful port de bras where she also engaged her whole torso into the movement. The same thing with the arabesque to the bourrée, she does a beautiful twist with her torso. To me, this is ballet! I don't know how to explain it, it's the parts that look and feel sublime.

Completing these series of turns is a feat in itself. I believe this is an improvement since her Gamzatti. She looks more self-assured in these turns and you can tell that her shoulders are no longer going up during the turns. My favorite part here is the extra cambré after the last Italian fouetté.

In a variation like this, I think there's more than enough time for embellishments. Especially, with the music being slow, there was time to really relish this arabesque. As we can see with Nina Kaptsova's side where she stays in arabesque slightly longer. While Masha does linger a bit, I think an ever so slightly higher arabesque could have prolonged her balance en pointe here.

However, I actually prefer the choice of a mini cambré instead of a straight torso, so kudos to Masha for this choice.

The strong turner that she is, Masha elevates the pirouette in the last diagonal by finishing on only one standing leg instead of the conventional fourth position. Again, you can see her self-assurance here and I believe turns are her forte so this was a perfect variation for her.

After a very impressive series of pique manege turns around the Bolshoi stage, she finishes in a clean and stable tendu devant. No preference here for the ending, I liked these endings equally but what about you?

Overall, this performance excites me and this was surely a boost to Masha. This is the kind of performance everyone expects from her and what an absolute gift this was! Congratulations to Masha on this debut!

Credits to Maria Koshkaryova who posted her variation via Instagram.

[thewanderlast]

Nina Kaptsova - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

This is one of my favorite variations the way she ends it with this face :D is amazing. 

[mariolaszyszkiewicz]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Nina Kaptsova Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

[danzadance]

NINA KAPTSOVA & IVAN VASILIEV - "Spartacus" (Music by Aram Khachaturyan) https://youtu.be/89hzJnLAAfk?si=wvpgvl3hlcjJQjsE

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

Nina Kaptsova in The Nutcracker.

[balletroyale]

Nina Kaptsova in The Nutcracker (Bolshoi Ballet) 

[ballet-symphonie]

Which famous dancers do you consider to be short, average, or tall?

Short (under 5’6): Skylar Brandt, Misty Copeland, Evgenia Obratsova, Nina Kaptsova, Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Makarova, Ektaterina Krysanova, Tiler Peck, Maria Kochetkova, Iana Salenko, Osipova

Average (not too small or tall): Maria Alexandrova, Nela, Olesya Novikova, Diana Vishneva, Polina Semionova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Maria Khoreva

Tall (over 5’7): Zakharova, Ekaterina Shipulina, Lopatkina, Olga Smirnova, Alina Somova, Isabella Boylston

5'6" (167cm) is the average height, particularly in Europe. It's also quite common here for companies to post a minimum requirement of 165cm for women- certainly not always followed though. I think the bar for being a 'short' dancer needs to be dancers under that minimum.

Short (under 5’4 / 165): Skylar Brandt, Misty Copeland, Evgenia Obratsova, Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Makarova, Tiler Peck, Maria Kochetkova, Iana Salenko, Natalia Osipova

Average (5'5-6"/ 167) Maria Alexandrova, Marianela Nunez, Diana Vishneva, Ekaterina Krysanova, Nina Kaptsova

Tall (5’7+ / 170+): Viktoria Tereshkina (I think she's just 170, looking at pictures with her and Vishenva) Svetlana Zakharova, Ekaterina Shipulina, Ulyana Lopatkina, Olga Smirnova, Alina Somova, Olesya Novikova, Isabella Boylston, Polina Semionova (definitely over 170), Maria Khoreva (also right about 170)

[tikitania]

hi! I often see dancers being described as soubrettes, and I think I know what that means just based on the names of dancers being described as soubrettes (correct me if I'm wrong, but short and charismatic and maybe couquettish?) but what are the alternative types for those who don't fall into the soubrette category? is there a whole lexicon of names for performer types? I would love to know if there are existing ballet vocabulary words for descriptions like "leggy adagio types" or whatever because that just sounds silly

To be honest, I don’t know if there are other labels. I’ve only read about soubrette! Given that most dancers are in the long-limbed category, I think Russia (in particular) has singled out soubrette dancers who tend to be more petite, fast jumpers and turners. Think of Amour in Don Quixote. (Obratzsova is my fave here.)

[balletomaneblog]

Just felt like revisiting this iconic performance with Christmas around the corner. Nina Kapstova is THE Sugar Plum Fairy. 

[mtdtsxhoef]

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