° Chi è questo bel ragazzotto? Si chiama Mikhail Sharkov, è ballerino col Bolshoi da molto tempo. You can google him all you like, you'll find a series of "empty" biographies. And these fotos, taken from the 1989 dvd collection The Bolshoi Ballet (Arthaus Musik, Euroarts Music International), are the only ones I have found on the internet.
° Why am I such a fan?
° First, I'm a sentimental fan of the Bolshoi. The Bolshoi has survived everything so far: tsarism, revolution, Lenin, Stalin, Cold War, dissolution of Empire, rebirth of Empire. And it has survived without any great cross-pollenisation with Western dance. So it remains pure at best, idiosyncratic at worst. Idiosyncratic’s good too.
° One might think that 1989 was a particularly harsh time of transition. But it doesn't show.
° True, there're barely any sets in the Swan Lake, just immense darkness outside the spots, even the principal dancers are often only slightly illuminated. But what rich costuming! Alla Mikhalchenko, Yuri Vasyuchenko, the outrageously sinister Aleksandr Vetrov.
° And whirling across the stage like a perpetual motion automaton, the scene-stealing Court Jester, il nostro Mikhail Sharkov.
° An old-fashioned Nutcracker, with Clara dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy numbers. A proto-Nutcracker, perfect for children forever. Enchanting use of that oldest of special effects, the trap door. Natalya Arkhipova, Irek Mukhamedov. Mikhail Sharkov billed as Devil (with Witch), don't blink or you'll miss him.
° Sleeping Beauty. Sets, costumes, dancers--I can't imagine a more perfect production, down to the original Petipa special effects for the boat trip. The dvd notes, by the way, are the freshest and deepest I’ve ever come across. Nina Semizorova, Aleksei Fadeyechev, Nina Speranskaya, the perfect Carabosse of Yuri Vetrov. The erstwhile sinister Aleksandr Vetrov all glamoured up as the lithe and elegant Blue Bird.
° Mikhail Sharkov unbilled, except in the final credits. But I recognised his legs. You will too.
° Romeo and Juliet, with more of Prokofiev's music than we hear in the West. Natalya Bessmertnova, Irek Mukhamedov, and a pugnaciously swaggering Aleksandr Vetrov as Tybalt. Hard to seduce on stage the boss's (Yuri Grigorovich) wife. Hard not to be Nureyev and Fonteyn. Nobody's fault, unless Nureyev and Fonteyn's. (The very first well-mounted ballet I ever saw was the 1965 film version of MacMillan's R & J, screened at the British Embassy in Rome. Tea and scones afterwards.)
° Mikhail Sharkov, as Mercutio, steals the show. Just watch it and you'll see.
° So yes, a fan.
° What has become of him? No bios, as I say, but he danced Petrouchka with the Bolshoi tour this year. And is apparently a "trainer" at the Korea Ballet.
° An athletic guy, with huge charisma, and easily the handsomest of the lot, has he never been used as a danseur noble?
° I noticed in Sleeping Beauty that Puss was possibly shorter than White Cat. Probably, in fact.
° So what. Worth breeding up some short prima ballerinas if that was all the problem.--Giac.
° Why am I such a fan?
° First, I'm a sentimental fan of the Bolshoi. The Bolshoi has survived everything so far: tsarism, revolution, Lenin, Stalin, Cold War, dissolution of Empire, rebirth of Empire. And it has survived without any great cross-pollenisation with Western dance. So it remains pure at best, idiosyncratic at worst. Idiosyncratic’s good too.
° One might think that 1989 was a particularly harsh time of transition. But it doesn't show.
° True, there're barely any sets in the Swan Lake, just immense darkness outside the spots, even the principal dancers are often only slightly illuminated. But what rich costuming! Alla Mikhalchenko, Yuri Vasyuchenko, the outrageously sinister Aleksandr Vetrov.
° And whirling across the stage like a perpetual motion automaton, the scene-stealing Court Jester, il nostro Mikhail Sharkov.
° An old-fashioned Nutcracker, with Clara dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy numbers. A proto-Nutcracker, perfect for children forever. Enchanting use of that oldest of special effects, the trap door. Natalya Arkhipova, Irek Mukhamedov. Mikhail Sharkov billed as Devil (with Witch), don't blink or you'll miss him.
° Sleeping Beauty. Sets, costumes, dancers--I can't imagine a more perfect production, down to the original Petipa special effects for the boat trip. The dvd notes, by the way, are the freshest and deepest I’ve ever come across. Nina Semizorova, Aleksei Fadeyechev, Nina Speranskaya, the perfect Carabosse of Yuri Vetrov. The erstwhile sinister Aleksandr Vetrov all glamoured up as the lithe and elegant Blue Bird.
° Mikhail Sharkov unbilled, except in the final credits. But I recognised his legs. You will too.
° Romeo and Juliet, with more of Prokofiev's music than we hear in the West. Natalya Bessmertnova, Irek Mukhamedov, and a pugnaciously swaggering Aleksandr Vetrov as Tybalt. Hard to seduce on stage the boss's (Yuri Grigorovich) wife. Hard not to be Nureyev and Fonteyn. Nobody's fault, unless Nureyev and Fonteyn's. (The very first well-mounted ballet I ever saw was the 1965 film version of MacMillan's R & J, screened at the British Embassy in Rome. Tea and scones afterwards.)
° Mikhail Sharkov, as Mercutio, steals the show. Just watch it and you'll see.
° So yes, a fan.
° What has become of him? No bios, as I say, but he danced Petrouchka with the Bolshoi tour this year. And is apparently a "trainer" at the Korea Ballet.
° An athletic guy, with huge charisma, and easily the handsomest of the lot, has he never been used as a danseur noble?
° I noticed in Sleeping Beauty that Puss was possibly shorter than White Cat. Probably, in fact.
° So what. Worth breeding up some short prima ballerinas if that was all the problem.--Giac.
3 commenti:
Alexander Vetrov as a very menacing Tybalt. The lighting on the DVD is abysmal especially when the principal dancers are on stage! And some scenery would have been nice. I tried to find out something about Sharkov, but as you say there is nothing on the web. Vetrov is Artistic Director of a ballet company in Texas - I would have loved to see him and Sharkov live. Oh well.
Here is a review from the Seattle Times, of the 1990 Bolshoi tour: Saturday night, there were a number of ballets that touched off the West's lasting love affair with the Russian ballet. The wondrously sweet Mikhail Sharkov, the coy Maria Bylova, angry Andrei Melanyin and sly Yuri Vetrov, starring in Michel Fokine's Nijinksy vehicle, ``Petrouchka'' (1911, but revived in 1982 by K. Boyarsky).
And a review from the NY Times of the recent Bolshoi tour: Yet even this pale version of ''Petrouchka'' has virtues. Mikhail Sharkov, in a red wig and red mittens, is made to look like Raggedy Andy, but he gives a moving and saddened portrayal in the title role.
I found "Mikhail Sharkov" on facebook, but it was not the dancer.
ya,i'm also curious about where he is and what he is doing now...
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