The current issue of Time Out St. Petersburg has a generous article in its theater section about Veronika Part's return to the Mariinsky after an eight year absence. She will dance Odette/Odile opposite Danila Korsuntsev in Swan Lake this Saturday evening. The locals remember Veronika well. The evening performance is nearly sold out whereas the matinee (Somova) doesn't seem to be selling as well.
The Time Out article is in Russian. The Google translation software makes an English mess of it, but it's clear that the writer fondly recalls Veronika's performances as Myrta, the Lilac Fairy, in Raymonda, The Fountain of Bakhchisara, Apollo, and Swan Lake, and is looking forward to this Saturday evening.
Who would be surprised if the Mariinsky offered her a principal position to go along with her ABT gig – or maybe instead of it since ABT of late seems to mostly cast her with its most inexperienced partners. Who would blame her for making the return trip a permanent one?
I'll bet they switch the casting. Do they do that as much at home as they do on tour?
I hope Veronika reminds them of their heritage, although, they looked very good last week in Giselle at KenCen (at least the Tereshkina/Shklyarov/Kondaurova cast did), better than they have looked in a few years. I wonder if Part will be able to generate the same heat that she generates with Gomes. Korsuntsev is considerably less... Brazilian.
Posted by: dc | February 18, 2011 at 07:05 PM
LOL! The ticket buyers in St. Petersburg probably get just as angry the ones here.
Korsuntsev "is considerably less...Brazilian" than Gomes, but we haven't seen Veronika's Swan Lake with Gomes for a while. This year Siegfried is Stearns who "is less...Brazilian" than just about anyone. Last year, it was Stearns and Hallberg because supposedly Bolle was injured and Gomes didn't want to stress his back. The year before that it was Bolle. Things are not getting better here.
Posted by: Haglund | February 18, 2011 at 09:50 PM