Traditionally the International World Ballet Stars Festival features masters of choreography and talented new dancers. This year Dmitry Simkin, the principal dancer of the Wiesbaden Ballet and winner of many prestigious ballet competitions, finished his concert tour of Ukraine in Kyiv. He was presented with the Golden Ballerina figurine to remember the festival.
During the gala concert Dmytro put on an excellent performance with his young partner Danielle Severyn from Brazil and danced several contemporary choreographic numbers (the impassioned “Without Love” and the subtly humorous “Feed Birds”). Dmytro’s further career will be that of a teacher and choreographer. That evening he presented his son Daniil, who is also a ballet dancer and a soloist with the Vienna Opera, who performed the humorous “Moorhuhh” set to Mussorgsky’s music and Simkin, Sr.’s choreography. The concert program was designed to present various choreographic trends and schools. Pleasant surprises have become a fine tradition at the festival. This time the fiery Ukrainian hopak was performed by an international trio of soloists: Yoshito Kinosita (Japan), Yaroslav Salenko (National Opera of Ukraine), and Andrii Pysarev (Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater).
Classical, neoclassical, modern rhythms were presented by dancers from Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Germany, Kazakhstan, Japan, Turkey, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, and Ukraine. The festival allowed our choreographers to compare notes on guiding principles with their foreign colleagues, rejoice in new discoveries, and use their imagination when it comes to planning new numbers.
The festival’s artistic director, Vadym Pysarev, admitted that he was satisfied with its results. “This festival wasn’t easy for us, there were problems. Unfortunately, more attention is being paid to sports and rock music in Ukraine and ballet is being pushed into the background. However, I’m sure this situation won’t last forever. Slavic ballet will be reborn in time. Our task is to preserve the best of everything, especially classical ballet as the foundation of choreography, and to share our knowledge and experience with the younger generation. We must create conditions in which various ballet schools can evolve. During the gala concert we tried to present the canon: classical pieces and the results of modern creative quest by dancers and choreographers. There is no doubt that ballet is changing and such festivals make it possible to observe trends, directions, even fashion, if you will. Our teachers and dancers are working in many countries. Some have found their place in the sun, others haven’t. I believe that the classical ballet school is the soil from which diverse creative shoots emerge. I am gratified to see that the Ukrainian ballet school is on the rise and that our dancers win the most prestigious international competitions. This means that our work is effective.
IMPRESSIONS
“I don’t think anyone in Ukraine but Vadym Pysarev could have organized such a festival. He brought together dancers from so many countries and in a single concert presented various ballet schools and personalities,” says choreographer Alla Rubina. “For ballet devotees this festival is a chance to see and analyze the direction in which ballet is moving, what new phenomena have occurred in world ballet. For ballet lovers such soirees are an opportunity to experience positive emotions from watching dance as a high art. The gala concert included a variety of numbers and we were all happy to watch our young dancers. Considerable professional progress was shown by Nadia Honchar (currently soloist with the Mariinsky Theater). Together with Ilia Kuznetsov she did an excellent job of performing a fragment from Manon. However, the way their colleagues Sofia Gumerova and Ihor Kolb interpreted Chopin’s “In the Night” was not entirely convincing. In contrast, “Feed the Birds” by our guests from Brazil and Germany, Danielle Severyn and Dmytro Simkin, was light and performed with a sense of humor.
“Dancing to Alfred Schnittke’s music is very difficult. The dance “Pink Depth” offered by Rebecca King (US) was somewhat illustrative. It failed to convey the philosophical meaning of the music. Choreography is not just a set of steps and rhythms; it is a symbiosis of music and the dancer. Here every nuance must be worked out to perfection.
“Despite certain shortcomings, the concert was very good. Vadym Pysarev ought to be congratulated for staging the World Ballet Stars every year and giving the public this festive opportunity.”
