Bertrand Normand's film BALLERINA is playing in NYC at the Quad down on 13th. The film details the rise to ballerina status of five dancers associated with the Kirov; interviews, rehearsal segments and beautiful performance footage make watching it a real pleasure. The film is short (80 minutes) and appears to date from 2006.
Of the five ballerinas, Ulyana Lopatkina (above) was at a tricky point in her career when the film was made; she had sustained a serious injury in 2003 and had not danced for two years (during which time she married and had a baby daughter). At the time of the filming, Lopatkina was making a return to dance and there is some especially lovely footage of her in SHEHERAZADE, as well as a scene of her practicing in Swan-mode, back-lit in a dim interior: nice chiaroscuro effect.
Svetlana Zakharova (Pascal Perich photo above) is one of Wei's favorite dancers; at the time of this film she was making a move from Kirov to Bolshoi. Wei & I were fortunate to see her dance Nikiya with ABT a few years ago and we love her La Scala DVDs of SWAN LAKE, GISELLE and BAYADERE with Roberto Bolle. Always so serious and seemingly untouchable onstage, she come off in the documentary as more girlishly warm than one might expect; she admits to being very shy offstage and pouring all her emotions into her dancing.
Diana Vishneva (above) made a very swift rise to prima ballerina status; she is very serious about her art but with a good-natured and warm personality. Beautiful sequence of her guest appearance as Manon with the Paris Opera Ballet; her des Grieux was Manuel Legris who comments throughout the film about the Kirov ballerinas and the different aspects of their achievements. With all her success in the classics, Vishneva interestingly says she wants new choreography.
Alina Somova is seen in class and rehearsal footage from the start of her early rise up the ranks. Candid and attractive, Somova is quite controversial for her enormous extension. The film shows her preparing for her debut as Swan Queen at age 18; the ballet masters are pretty tough on her. But she perseveres to have a notable success.
Evgenia Obraztsova (photo: Razina) is a delight in the interview segments with her pretty green eyes and girlish glow. As a dancer, she makes an especially appealing Juliet. The film shows her charmingly greeting a group of avid fans who make a great fuss over her.
Recently Wei and I watched the film RUSSIAN DOLLS, not realizing that Ms. Obraztsova was a real ballerina. She's a natural on-screen.
And it's nice to see Altynai Asylmuratova, now director of the Vaganova Academy, again. She speaks of the various ballerinas who have risen to fame, following the same path she once chose.
You could wait for BALLERINA to be released on DVD but if you're like me: why wait?
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