The traditional Christmas Ballet Gala took place in the Kremlin Palace and was sold out, this time it was dedicated to the great Russian ballet dancer of the XX century Ekaterina Maksimova. 1 February is the birthday of Ekaterina Sergeevna, and last year she would be eighty. The party was conducted under the patronage of the other great dancer of the XX century – the partner of Ekaterina Sergeevna on the scene and in life – Vladimir Vasiliev, who open the party by his lyrics written many years ago in her honor: “A chain of days, hours, nights, a chain of years, decades, tied us with one fate. And everything that you and I have done on this Earth – is indissoluble’…

The highest paid dancer in the world, Roberto Bolle, performed at the gala concert in the Kremlin in Russell Maliphant’s act Two. Photo: Valery Logachev.
– This concert is a great gift to me personally. Therefore, I think that her name itself, and what Katia did for our Russian and, of course, world ballet, should affect the performance of those who continue the glory of the Russian classical ballet today, – Vladimir Vasiliev says to me before the concert. – And it doesn’t matter where these or those artists work. Because Roberto Bolle, who is performing at the concert, also took over our Russian school in many ways. I want all the artists who will perform today, each in its own fragment, to be at the very highest level. Otherwise, if this is not the case, why do we need gala concerts at all? After all, they are only needed when these are absolutely first-class performances.

A short film shown at the beginning of the concert set an unattainable level for the evening – after all, the footage showed the audience the brilliant and unforgettable dance of Ekaterina Sergeevna herself. Therefore, fragments from the famous ballets staged by Vladimir Vasiliev for Maximova about forty years ago (“Anyuta” and “Fragments of a Biography”), although accompanied at the concert with the paintings of the maestro himself (Vladimir Viktorovich is also an excellent artist!) highlighted on the backdrop as decorations excellently suited today’s performers (I especially remember the adagio from ballet “Anyuta”, subtly and tenderly performed by the prima and premier of the Bolshoi Theatre Evgenia Obraztsova and Artemy Belyakov), still forced ballet addicts to recall Maximova’s performances with nostalgia.

However, not only the choreography of Vladimir Vasiliev set the tone for the evening. Playing on the title of the concert to the Christmas and New Year themes, it referred to the pas de deux from ballet “The Nutcracker”, which finished the first part and was beautifully performed by the artists of the Bolshoi: Nina Kaptsova, who was accurate in her dance, and Denis Rodkin, who had lost his weight (the performers showed pas de deux from “Raymonda” a little worse). The second part of the gala was effectively opened by Nacho Duato’s ballet “Without Words”, soulfully danced by the prima of Berlin State Opera Polina Semionova and premier of Mikhailovsky Theater Ivan Zaitsev. And Vladislav Lantratov, who appeared on the stage after almost a year’s absence due to injury, together with Ekaterina Krysanova, showed the duet of Jean-Christophe Maillot from ballet “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Artemy Belyakov and Evgenia Obraztsova in pas de deux from ballet “Don Quixote”. Photo: Valery Logachev.
Another duet from ballet “Phantom Ball”, although it was lost on the gigantic stage of the Kremlin Palace, Natalia Somova and Georgy Smilevsky, who set a high degree of sensuality with their performance, looked great in it. And elegant and technical Artemy Belyakov was absolutely irresistible in the role of Basil in the pas de deux from ballet “Don Quixote”, which concluded the Christmas Ballet Gala. In the background of the crown jewels of the world choreography only Ivan Vasiliev’s new creation – ballet “Dracula. The Beginning ” looked as “fake teeth”, hastily inserted into the concert to replace the performance of the artists who had suddenly not arrived.

In addition to the names of two legendary dancers of the XX century, Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev, the biggest attraction of the evening was, of course, the performance of the famous and most highly paid dancer in the world, Roberto Bolle, whose photo adorned the poster of the ballet gala. In all likelihood, it was his name that made the evening sold-out, and this despite the fact that such ballet stars as Lucia Lacarra, Matthew Golding could not take part in it. Needless to say – Roberto is a universal favorite and this performer is adored not only in his native Italy, but all over the world.

He danced a fairly famous act at the Christmas Ballet Gala: ballet Two was performed in Moscow many years ago by Sylvie Guillem, and more recently famous Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta brought it to Chekhov Festival … Now we saw this short 10-minute act of Russell Maliphant performed by another ballet megastar …

Roberto Bolle and Polina Semionova in “Serenade” by Mauro Bigonzetti’s. Photo Valery: Logachev
Actually, in Two, everything is built on the interaction of the dancer’s body with the light pouring from the grates and forming a “light box”. The contours of the body, arms and legs in movements gradually accelerating, like a dervish, seem to blur in the light and evaporate. However, for Roberto’s act the light was set somewhat differently, which did not make it possible to fully enjoy the magnificent (like Michelangelo’s “David”) sculpting of the body of this performer. To my bewildered question after the concert whether the people responsible for the lighting design in the Kremlin had messed up the act, Bolle calmly replied: “No. The choreographer directed this act for me in such a way, and the light was put on by the specialists who came to Moscow with me.”

Of course, Roberto Bolle is Roberto Bolle, and in Moscow they love this performer in any light. At the same time, the 44-year-old dancer is still in excellent shape and in every movement of his flexible and at the same time powerful naked body, in the waves of his arms, turns of muscular shoulders, head, despite the dim light, one could see perfection. In an uncomplicated act, practically off the reel, the dancer bewitched the audience of the Kremlin palace with his hands alone and put it into a trance. However, the same as in Mauro Bigonzetti’s “Serenade” performed by Bolle together with Polina Semionova in the second part. Here, the energy of the famous Italian not only did not get lost in the endless expanses of the Kremlin stage, on the contrary, it even went off scale, giving “Serenade” (the performance in Russia is familiar from the performance of Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev) a new content.