by Sasha De Sola As Told To Claudia Bauer | Jul 15, 2019 | Instagram, Profiles, Technique
The first time I saw Sleeping Beauty was on video, the Kirov version with Larissa Lezhnina. The music for the first entrance gave me butterflies. Aurora comes out, and it captured my heart. Larissa coached me for my first season of Aurora, and just the fact that we...
by Julia Rosica | Jun 5, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
Fairies crop up everywhere in classical ballet, from sylphs to dryads to, of course, the ranks of fairies who attend Aurora’s christening in The Sleeping Beauty. These delicate and mystical creatures stretch the reaches of ballet technique, forcing dancers to...
by Julia Rosica | May 15, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
The Soviet Union redefined standards in classical ballet in the 1960s, producing opulent story ballets and dancers with refined, yet daring technique. Dancers like Natalia Makarova and Valery Panov, who were among the leading performers with the Kirov Ballet (now the...
by Julia Rosica | Jan 23, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
Irina Kolpakova, currently a ballet mistress at American Ballet Theatre at age 85, is a living dance legend. She studied under Agrippina Vaganova and went on to dance as prima ballerina at the Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky). In the ’60s, she astonished...
by Laura Cappelle | Dec 21, 2018 | Profiles
The luminous Olesya Novikova has become one of St. Petersburg’s best-kept secrets. Pushed into leading roles early, the 34-year-old has been out of the limelight in recent years, partly because she has given birth to three children with husband Leonid Sarafanov....
by Chava Pearl Lansky | Jun 3, 2018 | News
Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve pulled together some highlights. ABT’s New Harlequinade is Finally Here The long wait for Alexei Ratmansky’s Harlequinade for American Ballet Theatre is finally over. June 4-9, catch ABT at the...
by Julia Rosica | May 30, 2018 | Profiles, Viral Videos
It’s been an exciting few weeks in New York City with both American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet in the midst of their respective seasons at Lincoln Center. With so many homegrown stars in the spotlight, it’s wonderful to remember the past...
by Chava Pearl Lansky | Feb 25, 2018 | News
This week is bursting at the seams with ballet. Earlier this month multiple companies performed the same ballet (think Romeo and Juliet), but this week brings a truly eclectic mix of new works, company premieres and old classics all around the U.S. and Canada....
