Bolshoi Means ‘Big’…

By Victoria Looseleaf

Too bad in this case, it also means big…disappointment-wise.

Who doesn’t love that bastion of beautiful ballet, the Bolshoi, the iconic Russian troupe that’s been around for nearly 250 years. I certainly do. And taking their cues from the celebrated The Three Tenors, the Kings of Dance also scored a coup in 2006 (read my Los Angeles Times article here), going on to successfully raise the testosterone barre with follow-up shows in succeeding years.

But the truth is: the gig didn’t cut it when a trio of women warblers got together, dubbing themselves The Three Sopranos. Hmm. Perhaps if beloved mob boss Tony Soprano had somehow been worked into the act, with one of the songbirds crooning, O mio babbino caro (Oh, My Dear Pappa), the trio might have, er, killed. Seriously, this Bolshoi concert (which will also play its hometown, Moscow), had big ideas and a big budget – not only commissioning new works and then managing to get seven primas in the same room at the same time to both rehearse and perform, as well as schlepping the Bolshoi Orchestra, no less, to accompany only a smattering of the pieces – it had a whiff of, dare I say, self-congratulatory bravado about it.

Pantsuits should be worn by Hillary Clinton, not by Polina Semionova, especially en pointe.

Alas, click here to read my Dance Magazine review on this collaboration between the Bolshoi and the newly named Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts. In the interim, the year is still young, and with so many more concerts, plays, films, operas, art openings, wine tastings – and the list goes on – to attend and relish, The Leaf is still filled with boundless hope and lots of good cheer.

This entry was posted in ASZURE BARTON, BALANCHINE, BOLSHOI BALLET, DANCE MAGAZINE, KAROLE ARMITAGE, LUCINDA CHILDS, NATALIA OSPIVOA, POLINA SEMIONOVA, THE KINGS OF DANCE, THE THREE TENORS, TONY SOPRANO. Bookmark the permalink.