The “My Maya” production, created with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives along with a team of professionals and dedicated to what would be Maya Plisetskaya’s 100th birthday this November, took place ahead of other celebrations in mid-September at the Bolshoi Dramatic Theatre in Saint Petersburg. Produced by Sergey Velichkin, the gala concert evening included 11 short ballets by leading dancers from all across Russia. Shaped by artistic director Alexander Sergeev, known for creating multiple successful ballets including “Not on Time,” “12”, “Concert Dances”, and his full-length Coppelia (2024) set for the Mariinsky, the evening focused on both the classical works in which Plisetskaya herself excelled, and new pieces that underscored her openness to new genres and choreographies.
The two most iconic works on the bill – “Carmen” set to Rhodion Schedrin’s score, and Saint-Saens’ “Dying Swan” – were both danced by Mariinsky prima Ekaterina Kondaurova, who has become in fact an icon in her own right on the Petersburg stage. Alongside Sergeev’s sharply handsome, smoldering José, Kondaurova’s exacting yet sultry Carmen drew him in and pushed him away in Alicia Alonso’s still modern choreography (“still” because it is not new), yet with a cool resolve that was at time chilling and persuasively convincing in its certitude. Sergeev, a master of modern steps, makes the Alonso footwork seem second nature despite its non-classical bent.
Maxim Sevagin, about whom I first wrote when he began choreographing as a student prior to his 2015 graduation, is now the youngest artistic director in Russia in his third year heading Moscow’s Stanislavsky Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre. He presented “The Person Who Disagrees” using two couples, one dressed in black and one in white, to music by Prokofiev, an obvious choice for this modern choreographer with classical roots. Sevagin’s choreographic style has evolved decidedly since his initial attempts at classical structures over a decade ago. Now he veers toward neoclassical presentation with plentiful use of undulating head and neck movements, large “windmill” arms and swivel turns, but this all coalesces with precise partnering: paddle turns with the ladies in coup de pied en pointe, and a sudden penché en pointe with head dipped and arms crossed at the wrists in a sudden nod to Balanchine’s “Diamonds”. The utter mastery of his complex style was expertly danced by Polina Zayarnaya, Daria Yurchenko, Ivan Mikhalev and Denis Dmitriev. It’s a treat to have such dancers to Petersburg for a couple of nights.
Anastasia Smirnova is a name that has been discussed much of late in Russia. The stunning ginger blonde graduated from the Vaganova Academy, quickly became prima at the Mikhailovsky and left for the Bolshoi. How exciting then to watch her in Plisetskaya’s flying jeté variation from “Laurencia”, and later alongside Bolshoi whippersnapper Dmitry Smilevsky in the Don Quixote “Grand Pas”. These two Bolshoi talents offered electricity and stunning turns (from both of them) in the last piece of the evening.
But prior to that, Alexander Sergeev, the project’s brainchild, offered his own ode to Maya dancing a piece entitled “Lebed’” but spelled backwards in mirrored lettering. To an on-screen projection of Plisetskaya’s “Dying Swan”, he curled, twisted and stretched with vigor and steely determination in a deconstructed version of Saint-Saens by composer Ivan Alexandrov. Edgy, novel, unusual, it echoed the Desyatnikov-Miroschnichenko piece done years back on Sergeev and Diana Vishneva, but with the focus here on Plisetskaya’s legacy,viewing an old theme with a new gaze.
The utmost pleasure came from the pairing of former prima ballerina of the Mariinsky and Honored Artist of Russia Daria Pavlenko alongside former Eifman Ballet principal dancer and also Honored Artist Oleg Gabyshev in Roland Petit’s “Death of a Rose”. Though both are over age 40, their youthful, immaculately toned bodies emitted sensitivity, yearning, love and release in this epically touching duet set to Mahler’s haunting notes. Pavlenko’s deliciously curled arches completed the slow legato lines in the choreography, while Gabyshev’s attentive partnering emitted an energetic feedback that balanced the focus of the duet to the interplay of love between them. From tender caresses to a moment of panic before Pavlenko’s final breath, the symbolic duet attested to the depth of artistry within the hearts of these two expert dancers. If Pavlenko was a dying rose, the man holding her was equally broken by the finish. Gabyshev in recent months has been choreographing and guesting all over Russia, while Pavlenko has pursued a nonstop schedule of independent projects. She next appears on September 27th at the Stanislavsky alongside Bolshoi principal Vladislav Lantratov in “Until the Train Leaves”, a new drama/dance interpretation of “Anna Karenina”. The rare delight of seeing these two Honored Artists together in Petersburg made this evening extra special.
Another set of Bolshoi favorites, Petersburg native and prima ballerina Alyona Kovaleva (see my interview with her from 2017) and principal dancer Artemy Belyakov performed the challenging Black Swan pas de deux at the start of Act II. Confined to a stage that is exponentially smaller than what they’re used to, these Moscow stars nonetheless charmed the audience with their nuanced performance and sparkling costumes.
Ivan Kuznetsov presented “Often the Tribute of the Gods is God‘s Punishment,” featuring two of his dancers from the Rostov Theatre, Svetlana Martinkevich-Solovtsova and Igor Kochurov, set to Massenet’s music. The dramatic agony presented in this couple adorned in black velvet costumes offered both a complex classical base with dramatic – if dark – undertones.
Lighter in spirit was Maria Mashkina from Novosibirsk who danced choreography by Alexander Omar to a piece by Chaplin. Mashkina’s fluid, ethereal lyricism filled her movements as she interacted with Plisetskaya’s projection on screen as Sergeev had done in Act one, and left the stage ultimately bowing to the legend.
The academically and intellectually driven Maxim Petrov, now artistic director of the Ekaterinburg “Ural Opera Ballet” Theatre, created a multi-layered, complex combination of light, sound and movement using Dmitry Maxurov’s music and a bright strobe light on stage. Eleva Vorobieva, a compact, precise dancer dressed in just a black leotard with a tall, starched white collar, etched lines through the challenging steps alongside Alexander Merkushev’s expert timing and partnering. The culmination in a lift with her reaching skyward, seemed an ode to eternity.
This two-evening extravaganza served to demonstrate the not just the breadth of Russia’s dancing talent, but the depth of its choreographic promise and legacy. Roman Karmanov, Sergey Velichkin and of course Alexander Sergeev, along with, of course, Maya herself, all deserve a standing ovation for their dedication to the art of ballet.
All the gorgeous photos above are by Sila Avvakum, From top: Daria Pavlenko with Oleg Gabyshov in “Death of a Rose”; Ekaterina Kondaurova with Alexander Sergeev in “Carmen Suite”; Dmitry Smilevsky with Anastasia Smirnova in “Don Quixote Grand Pas de Deux”, and Alexander Sergeev in “NAWS (Swan)”.