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Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema: LA BAYADERE
Broadcast Recording

December 7, 4 pm (Paris time)
Cast (the day of recording)

SCHEDULE

In the leadind parts — Svetlana Zakharova (Nikia), Vladislav Lantratov (Solor), Maria Alexandrova (Gamzatti)


Svetlana Zakharova as Nikia, Vladislav Lantratov as Solor.
Photo by Damir Yusupov.

"Nureyev’s 1993 re-staging of the ballet for the Paris Opera was reprised in a “Ballet in Cinema” performance by that company last year and revealed the Russian’s fondness for flamboyance and theatricality. But I preferred the more subtle and refined reading of longtime Bolshoi Ballet director Yuri Grigorovich, created 20 years ago and given fresh costumes and a stellar cast for its filming for a recent broadcast. <...>

Svetlana Zakharova, the Bolshoi prima, is breathtaking as Nikiya, her hyperextended legs lifting as effortlessly as a helium balloon, her languid musicality filling every phrase beyond the count. She has such a lushly flexible and fluid upper body you would think she has no skeleton — were it not for the midriff-bearing costumes, which revealed the lines of every bone in her chest and ribcage. (I felt I should skip dessert for a week — and send it to her instead.) <...>

Though a tad feminine-looking, Vladislav Lantratov is equally impressive as Solor, not only technically, but in artistic interpretation. He is never less than believable, even when appearing to defy gravity. Maria Alexandrova as Gamzatti has a harder edge (as Gamzatti should), full of spunk and determination.

As Solor and Nikiya shared a long stretch of chiffon in their final pas de deux, I found myself moved in a way I hadn’t been before. And I especially appreciated that there was no attempt to punctuate the story by sending the lovers off to eternal bliss in the afterlife. Some things are better left unsaid.

By Carrie Seidman,
Herald-Tribune, February 18, 2013