#russian theater

[vintage-russia]

Russian actress V.Istomina as Vasilisa Melentyevna in the play of the same name,Saint Petersburg

[regina-del-mare]

Praskovya Kovalyova-Zhemchugova, born a slave of counts Sheremetyevs, she was chosen to join a troupe of her owners' private serf theater and became its star. Family's heir fell in love with her, freed her and they married despite all obstacles. Praskovya died of tuberculosis and complicated childbirth of their first son. According to legend Praskovya was the author of folk song "Late evening I walk from the forest..." in which slave girl meets handsome nobleman and they start romance.

[aglaiamanno]

home theater in the yusupov palace, st. petersburg

[huariqueje]

Chinese Theater - Alexander Evgenievich Yakovlev

Russian , 1887-1938

Watercolor and gouache on paper , 21.3 x 34 cm. 8 3/8 x 13 3/8 in.

[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.

[captain-price-unofficially]

Soviet tanks during the 1945 Invasion of Manchuria, in the backround there are three T-26s. By then the T-26 had become a rare sight, having been withdrawn from the European front in 1944 after most were already destroyed in 1941

[nevui-penim-miruvorrr]

Why is Rostislav Kolpakov so Beautiful i'm cryinggg

Rosti as Herbert von krolock and Graf Von Krolock in Bal Vampirov

[laferelady]

Anne of Austria & brilliants/pendants

[muttonchopsalley]

@rhetthammersmith

An episode of "Project Popcorn", a Russian homage/ripoff of MST3K (Turn on the captions for the English translation)

[fentanyl-rabbits]

Hanna Rowina as Lea in "The Dybbuk" 1922

[vintage-russia]

Russian actress Yelizaveta Sadovskaya as Ariel in the play "The Tempest",Moscow (1905)

[regina-del-mare]

Ivan Mozzhukhin in "Queen of Spades"

[empirearchives]

“François-Joseph Talma, the prominent French actor and theatre reformer, addressed the tsar with a line from a play: ‘Friendship of a great man is a gift of the gods’. The tsar rose to his feet, politely pointing at Napoleon, and the two embraced to a thunder of applause. Talma was one of Napoleon’s favourite actors — the emperor frequently employed the thespian as a coach to teach him onstage postures, especially since contemporaries believed they much resembled each other in appearance.”

— Alexander Bogatyrev (source)

[piroshky]

Costume designs for Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Nicholas Roerich, 1913.

[curiouselleth]

Made some DM reaction gifs from Skazki’s Last Trial!

[alexxx-malev]

Russia. Kazan. Puppet theater Казань. Татарский государственный театр кукол «Экият»