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☆ Russian ballet star Vladimir Shklyarov found dead after falling from apartment balcony
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Investigators in Russia are looking into the death of Vladimir Shklyarov, a principal dancer at the world-famous Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, after he fell from an apartment block balcony and died at the age of 39. Police in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second city, say initial information suggests his fall, which was discovered early on Saturday morning, was the result of an accident, state media have reported. Shklyarov was famous outside Russia too, having danced at the Royal Ballet in London and at the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich. “He went out onto the balcony to get some air and smoke, lost his balance (it’s a very narrow balcony) and fell (from the fifth floor). The father of two young children was reportedly divorced from his ballerina wife Maria Shirinkina, a first soloist at the Mariinsky.

Persons: Vladimir Shklyarov, “, Shklyarov, Irina Bartnovskaya, ”, “ Volodya, Vladimir, ” Shklyarov, Maria Shirinkina Organizations: Mariinsky Ballet, Police, Mariinsky, Royal Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet Locations: Russia, St . Petersburg, Russia’s, Russian, London, Munich

☆ Vladimir Shklyarov, Russian ballet star, dies after falling from building
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Vladimir Shklyarov, a world-renowned Russian ballet star, has died after falling from the fifth floor of a building on Saturday. His death was confirmed by the Mariinsky Theater, a venue in the city of St. Petersburg where Shklyarov was the highest-ranking dancer. “This is a huge loss for the entire Mariinsky Theater team,” it said. Shklyarov died two days before he was due to undergo complex spinal surgery and had been taking “serious painkillers” for some time, Russian media reported. Born in Leningrad — now St. Petersburg — Shklyarov studied at the prestigious Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and graduated in 2003.

Persons: Vladimir Shklyarov, Shklyarov, ”, “, It’s, Diana Vishneva, Instagram, Petersburg — Shklyarov, —, ” “ Romeo, Juliet ”, “ Don Quixote, Alexei Ratmansky, Ratmansky, Maria Shirinkina Organizations: CNN, Mariinsky Theater, RIA Novosti, Mariinsky, Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, London’s Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Russia, Bolshoi Ballet Locations: Russian, St . Petersburg, Leningrad —, St, Petersburg, Swan, Russia, New York, Ukraine, Ukrainian

The Director of Russia's Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev, Is Also Put in Charge of the BolshoiThe Russian government has named the renowned director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg to also lead Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre

Persons: Valery Gergiev Organizations: Russia's Mariinsky Theatre, Bolshoi, Mariinsky Theatre Locations: St . Petersburg

REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, no longer welcome in Western concert halls since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was named on Friday as director of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. After performing for decades on the world's biggest classical stages, Gergiev has been shunned in the West since the start of the war in February 2022. The following month he was fired as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra after the city's mayor said Gergiev had declined to "clearly and unambiguously" distance himself from the invasion. Gergiev, also a former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, has long been controversial outside Russia because of his support for President Vladimir Putin. He spoke out in favour of Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Persons: Valery Gergiev, Lisi Niesner, Gergiev, Vladimir Urin, Urin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, we're, we've, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, REUTERS, Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, Munich, Orchestra, Bolshoi, London Symphony Orchestra, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Russian, Vienna, Austria, Ukraine, St Petersburg, West, Russia, Crimea, Palmyra, Syria, Islamic State, China

"Giselle," the Romantic ballet whose title role Alonso is best known for and performed through her 70s, will cap a special gala on Oct. 28, the anniversary date, at the National Theater of Cuba. "Ballet was never (for the) elite in Cuba," said Leonardo Vinageras, a Havana resident and ballet aficionado who attended a recent anniversary event. A ballet dancer warms up backstage before performing "Giselle" during the 27th Alicia Alonso International Ballet Festival of Havana, at the National Theatre, in Havana, Cuba, October 30, 2022. Alonso founded her namesake National Ballet Academy in Cuba in 1948 soon after becoming a star in the New York company that would become the American Ballet Theatre. Inspired by Fidel Castro, Alonso identified herself with his 1959 revolution and moved permanently to Cuba, becoming allies in popularizing ballet with strong government support for the renamed National Ballet of Cuba.

Persons: Alicia Alonso, Giselle, Alonso, Leonardo Vinageras, Alexandre Meneghini, King Louis XIV, Viengsay Valdés, Carlos Acosta, José Manuel Carreño, Fidel Castro, Grettel Morejon, Anett Rios, Alien Fernandez, Richard Chang, David Sherwood, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Ballet, Communist, National Theater of Cuba, Company, of, National Theatre, REUTERS, Bolshoi, Mariinsky, National Ballet of, National Ballet Academy, New York, American Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, Thomson Locations: HAVANA, Cuba, Havana, of Havana, National Ballet of Cuba

☆ North Korea's Kim inspects Russian nuclear-capable bombers, hypersonic missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Summary Kim inspects nuclear-capable bombersKim shown hypersonic missilesPutin's defence minister greets KimKim inspects war ship of Russia's fleetVLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept 16 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on Saturday, accompanied by President Vladimir Putin's defence minister. Shoigu showed Kim Russia's strategic bombers - the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 - which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and form the backbone of Russia's nuclear air attack force, Russia's defence ministry said. "It can fly from Moscow to Japan and then back again," Shoigu told Kim of one aircraft. Putin told reporters Russia was "not going to violate anything", but would keep developing relations with North Korea. While in Vladivostok, Kim watched the first act of the ballet "Sleeping Beauty", staged by St Petersburg's Mariinsky theatre, the RIA news agency reported.

Persons: Kim, Kim Kim, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin's, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Kim Russia's, Alexander Matsegora, Oleg Kozhemyako, Nikolay Yevmenov, Shaposhnikov, KIM, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Washington, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, William Mallard, Mark Potter, Nick Macfie Organizations: Russian, Defence, North, Russia's, Navy, Russian Pacific, RUSSIAN PACIFIC, Pyongyang, Kim's, West, Russia, Kremlin, St, Mariinsky, Reuters, Thomson Locations: VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Knevichi, Pacific, Vladivostok, United States, South Korea, Pyongyang, Ukraine, Moscow, Japan, North Korea, Vladivostok's Primorye, Russian, Primorsky, RUSSIAN, Russian Pacific, Soviet Union, Washington, U.S

☆ The Star Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky on Russia’s Cultural War
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Javier C. Hernández | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alexei Ratmansky was scrolling through social media recently when he came across a startling post. A video showed rehearsals from a production of “The Pharaoh’s Daughter” at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, that Ratmansky, the renowned ballet choreographer, had worked on before Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Ratmansky had severed ties with the Mariinsky at the start of the war. But the video suggested that the company was still using some of his choreography, though his name had been removed from the production, a version of the 19th-century ballet by Marius Petipa. Ratmansky, who is of mixed Russian and Ukrainian descent and grew up in Kyiv, posted a statement on social media last month calling the episode “the most painful professional experience in my life.” He accused the artistic team that replaced him, including the Italian choreographer Toni Candeloro, of choosing “to become tools of Putin’s propaganda.”The Mariinsky, where “The Pharaoh’s Daughter” is playing through early May, did not respond to a request for comment.

They are demanding steep spending cuts to tame the deficit at a time when the United States is pumping billions of dollars in military and other aid into Ukraine. For now, Republican leaders in Congress, who fiercely oppose Biden on most issues, support aid for Ukraine's defense, even calling for Washington to send more powerful weapons, more quickly. "Americans' support for Ukraine is reflected in strong bipartisan support Ukraine assistance has received in both houses of Congress," Watson said. A global Ipsos poll late last year found that majorities in NATO members including Canada, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Poland back continued military support to Ukraine. Only in Hungary and Italy did more oppose than support it, and those countries' leaders have fallen in line with European initiatives to support Ukraine.

☆ Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Kyiv in Show of Support for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Sabrina Siddiqui | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KYIV—President Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine and met with the nation’s leader President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital city of Kyiv just ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In joint remarks with Mr. Zelensky in Mariinsky Palace, he reflected on the resilience of the Ukrainian resistance, noting how the international community had initially feared Kyiv would fall in the face of Russia’s invasion.

☆ Ballet dancers who fled Russia reunite on California stage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Rollo Ross | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Mike BlakeCOSTA MESA, Calif., Nov 11 (Reuters) - Xander Parish is a British-born ballet dancer who was a principal dancer at the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Other international dancers based in Russia also fled, leaving behind their lives, jobs and belongings. Now, for one night, the dancers from the Mariinsky, the Bolshoi and other elite Russian companies are reuniting with a performance on Saturday in Costa Mesa, California. Although the corps de ballet will be together only for one night's performance, Parish already has plans for them to do more. "Reunited in Dance" will be performed at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa.

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