In no way – Newspaper Kommersant No. 32 (7477) dated February 21, 2023

Another day of debuts took place on the Historical Stage of the Bolshoi Theater (Kommersant wrote about the debuts in Giselle on January 24, 2023). In two performances of “La Bayadère” the main role – bayadere Nikiya – was performed by two classmates, Arina Denisova and Eva Sergeenkova. Tatyana Kuznetsova believes that the Bolshoi Theater hastened to present a new generation of ballerinas.

Arina Denisova and Eva Sergeenkova, students of the rector of the Moscow State Academy of Arts Marina Leonova, have been working at the Bolshoi Theater since September 2021 under the guidance of various mentors. The first is rehearsing with former prima prima of the Mariinsky Theater Olga Chenchikova, the second with former prima prima of the Bolshoi Maria Allash. It seemed that this circumstance could provide a curious intrigue for the double opening. In any case, this was the case in 1991, when Yuri Grigorovich for the first time after the war showed La Bayadère in Moscow in its entirety. Then the main Nikiyas were Galina Stepanenko and Nadezhda Gracheva, Marina Semenova and Galina Ulanova rehearsed with them. And although the students of the great ballerinas themselves were already accomplished, technically strong actresses, the features of teachers could still be seen in these dissimilar Nikiyas, which gave the creative competition a special urgency.

Nothing like this has been found in the current openings. Young ballerinas (Eva is still in the rank of leader, Arina is the first soloist) are very similar – in terms of psychophysics, appearance and natural data. Both are well-built, long-legged, with long strides, high insteps, good eversion and rather modest jumps. Both girls – with rounded faces, big eyes and an innocent expression on their faces – are classified as “lyricists”, have a very moderate temperament and, so far, a modest acting range. By temperament, they are rather exemplary students than masterful rebels. Both have a similar, rather rich track record, leading roles include Odette-Odile and Diamonds in Balanchine’s Jewels. It seems that it was the performances of the girls in the “white” ballets that prompted the artistic director Vaziev to entrust them with “La Bayadère” with its famous “white” act “Shadows”.

Meanwhile, the heroine of this ballet – even in the hypostasis of a shadow – is by no means an ephemeral creature. No wonder Marina Semyonova, Alla Shelest, Galina Mezentseva were reputed to be the best bayadères of the 20th century – such queens in exile with the smoldering Vesuvius of secret passions. Indeed, from the very first scene of the ballet, Nikiya behaves extremely resolutely: referring to her temple service, she sharply rejects the harassment of the all-powerful Brahmin and immediately goes on a date with the noble warrior Solor. Fighting for his beloved, he rushes with a knife at the daughter of the raja himself, and then runs to her engagement in mourning to appeal to the conscience of her beloved perjurer. Even behind the coffin, having appeared to Solor in a narcotic dream, the poisoned bayadère is not inclined to forgiveness. The militant “Shadow of Nikiya” with its strong-willed rotations and violent coda is just as different from the forced Odette and the sad ghost of Giselle, as the motor quickie Minkus (no matter how slow his pace) is from the gentle Adan and even more so from the Wagnerizing romantic Tchaikovsky. In a word, the role of a bayadère requires not only professional, but also human maturity, and therefore it could be assumed in advance that the outbursts of rage and grief of the debutante will soften to quiet sadness.

Eva Sergeenkova played the role of the victim with predictable meekness: the scene with the Gamzatti rival turned out to be the weakest – the dagger in the hands of this Nikiya could not frighten even a child. The second part of the “dance with the snake” (the one where the bayadère rejoices, having decided that the basket of flowers is a gift from Solor) also came out unconvincing: the girl was not so happy as to justify the powerful wide movements of the final part of the variation as an actor, and her limping padebasques on pointe shoes looked completely too easy. The debutante was saved by expressive long arms, an eloquently suffering body, marvelous lines in the adagio (fortunately, her constant partner Artemy Belyakov is a warning cavalier) and a natural sense of proportion in mimicry. There is still a lot of work with technique, especially in the painting “Shadows”: the variation with a scarf was deliberately adapted (instead of three rounds in arabesque, the ballerina did two), but even in this version it turned out unclean. Yes, and modest double pirouettes with a stop in an arabesque looked very uncertain, despite the fact that maestro Alexei Bogorad preventively slowed down the pace. But the final coda – rapid diagonal rotations and equally violent “pancakes” back into an arabesque – was a success. And the end, as you know, is the crown of the whole thing.

It would be unfair to say that it was this coda that ruined the debut of Arina Denisova (the girl, having cheerfully unscrewed the glissade en tournant, did not calculate the balance on the arabesques, leaving her supporting leg on the second “pancake” and constipating the entire diagonal), it would be unfair. Technical blunders (moreover, the stupidest ones – like slipping out of the blue, in a stable fourth position before a pirouette with a partner) marked her entire performance. It is difficult to write off such a thing on naughty nerves: nevertheless, there is more than one leading party in the track record of the first soloist. Perhaps school mistakes are affecting (you definitely need to do something with understretched toes) or a lack of coordination (especially noticeable at the beginning of the “dance with a snake”, when Arina first carefully attached her working leg to the floor near the supporting one, and only then began to bend over with her body) . Maybe the girl lacks stamina, and in any case, she lacks technical equipment, which, in principle, can be overcome. It is more difficult to fight the actor’s helplessness: in the very first scene, this Nikiya pouted her lips, lowered her eyes, made her eyebrows look like a house and no longer changed her facial expression under any circumstances.

The competition did not happen: Arina Denisova lost to Eva Sergeenkova in all respects. And it’s not the tutors, not the difference between their methods – St. Petersburg and Moscow. Just with the outward similarity of classmates, their talents are of a different caliber. Not every obedient girl with long legs and a big step can grow a ballerina. Especially in Moscow, where from time immemorial it was not the letter that was valued, but the spirit, where the best Nikiya of the 21st century is considered the “substandard” Natalia Osipova. Which, by the way, was given this role for the sixth year of work at the Bolshoi.