Here are the clips of the aforementioned ‘INTENSIO’ performance in Athens, December 2009:

I know I’ve been absent more than a year. A lot of changes, a lot of things happening, a lot of work. I am sorry the only possibility I had was to keep you up-to-date over my Twitter account.

But just two things. I my INTENSIO project happening on December 11, 12 and 13 in the Pallace Theatre in Athens. Join me if you want/have the possibility!

The list of appearing dancers include:

• Daniil SIMKIN – American Ballet Theatre
• Alina COJOCARU - The Royal Ballet
• Lucia LACARRA – Bayerisches Staatsballett (Munich)
• Cyril PIERRE – Bayerisches Staatsballett (Munich)
• Daria KLIMENTOVÁ – English National Ballet
• David MAKHATELI – The Royal Ballet
• Irina KOLESNIKOVA – St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre
• Semyon CHUDIN – Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet Theatre
• Marie LINDQVIST – The Royal Swedish Ballet
• Dragos MIHALCEA – The Royal Swedish Ballet

Furthermore, a new website is in the making by GNV& Partners. It will feature a re-do of my current wordpress theme, but the general concept of Blog/website will stay the same. Stay tuned.

Last but not least, you can become a ‘fan’ or better said a friend now on my Facebook Page. I have reached 5000 friends on my actual profile and therefore have to relocate my friends to my page. If you are not one yet, please join!

Greetings from Guadalajara, Mexico.

got a new video (technically it’s 2) up on Youtube:

Well, I’ve been pretty busy the last days preparing everything for my travelling and especially for New York Just so you have it, here is my schedule for the next weeks before joining American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal period on September 29:
September 12-14: Athens, 3 shows at the MEGARO MOUSIKIS stage
September 15-18: London, rehearsals
September 19-22: Paris, Théatre des Champs-Elysées, 4 galas
September 26: Guadalajara, Mexico, Auditorio Telmex, gala

Anyway, I have to leave now for rehearsals. Just so you know, there will be some more videos up on Youtube soon .
Hope all is well with all of you!

By the way I have good news for my Mexican followers and friends. As it is planned I will be very probably performing in Guadalajara on September 26. Stay tuned for updates and news concerning that show.

Anyway I’ll write again, I just don’t know when

Bye and wish me a good flight!

…shows on different countries I am stopping by at my parents place in Frankfurt, Germany, as I currently am. Since my last post one month ago I’ve been around quite a lot. I’ve been to Seoul in Korea, Taipei in Taiwan and to Astana in Kazakhstan. Tomorrow I’m leaving for 4 performances in Italy: Roma, Florence, Treviso and Acqui.

After all that I will relax and enjoy myself in Varna, Bulgaria for two weeks watching the competition and swimming in the black sea. I repeat, I will not dance in Varna, not in the competition, nor in the gala.

PS: Photo was taken by the New York based dance photographer Eduardo Patino

Another flight. A lot of time to spend as useful as possible.
Well, I am in the plane from Franfurt to Korea and actually I kinda get really used to fly these days lol. Some twenty hours ago I was in St. Petersburg Russia dancing Les Bourgeois in an Openair gala performance. Performance went fine, but for the first time I experienced what the people call the white nights in Russia.

White Nights

First what comes to my mind is of course the infamous hollywood-cold war-anti-soviet-kitchy-love story-movie ‚White Nights‘ with our beloved Mikhail Baryshnikov, which probably saw a lot of people not because of the wonderful story, but because of the actors playing in it.
Anyway here is the probably most famous excerpt of the movie:

When it’s bright in the night the night(-life) itself feels different, more alive (I know this sounds weird). But anyway I think I just got a small ‚touch‘ what the White nights are about.
Anyway of course this night I didn’t sleep due to the fact that I was picked up at 3:30 in the morning which was 1:30am in Frankfurt (where I travelled from the day before.) I flied back to Frankfurt, where I slept and repacked my things. And now I am back in the plane flying to Seoul where I will be performing in two Galas and staying almost for a week.

Somehow flying becomes for me to be something special, something more and more useful. I can feel how I can use my time every time better and better with things I still have to do or want to do. I learn how to keep my efficiency up on a high level and it feels good therefore.
This is one thing I admire flying for and what brings me to talk about dance.
The same thing happens with my dancing. Every time I perform a step, every time I execute an exercise, or I perform a variation or an excerpt, it leads my body to heighten its efficiency. Well of course not every time. I was a little exaggerating. There are days the body cannot improve anything, some days it just has to keep the current status of shape, of control, of efficiency. I don’t think any dancers likes these days, since these days are unproductive.

Anyway I’m gone to watch another episode of House M.D. … anyway I’ll write again soon!

Dear readers and followers. I am on the road. After being to Toronto (it went ok), Malaga (good experience with my new partner Maria Kochetkova), I am sitting in the plane from Kazan, Russia back to Frankfurt.

Kazan was a great experience for me (except the horrible hotel with no broadband Internet connection…wahhh!) . First of all I danced the second full Don Quixote performance of my life there. It went great and I am happy for this. Furthermore I was able to dance two more galas there dancing Les Bourgeois and Don Quixote PDD. I am normally a person becoming better and better if I dance in the same conditions, so I especially liked the feeling of familiarity after the first performance. Furthermore I was able to watch some performances in the Nureyev Festival (which gave me a lot), like Gracheva – Uvarov in La Bayadere and Osipova – Merkuriev in Giselle. I met so many old friends… .

Anyway now I am staying for 3 days in Frankfurt to regenerate my body & mind. After this I am off for one day and a show of Les Bourgeois in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 31 and from there I am flying with a stop in Frankfurt (to eat my mothers‘ pelmeni one more time) to Seoul, Korea. I am kinda worried about Korea… I am definately coming, but I am not sure with who I will be dancing with…anyway it is not your problem.

That should be enough for now. I am sorry for not keeping you updated so often, but I’ll try to do it more often than I did in the last days…

By the way. I am working on a new design for my blog. It will take some time…

Dear readers, followers and friends. It is now finally official. As of fall 2008 I am joining American Ballet Theatre as a soloist.

Beside this I am currently in Toronto for the Gala Stars of the 21st Century.
Everything is fine and I will get back to my blog when I have some more time

From Wikipedia:

“Le Spectre de la Rose is a ballet of the Ballets Russes based on a choreographic poem by Théophile Gautier. The music, by Carl Maria von Weber, was taken from his short piece Invitation to the Dance. Choreography was by Michel Fokine and set and costume design by Léon Bakst. It premiered on April 19, 1911 by the Ballets Russes in the Théâtre de Monte Carlo.

The story is about a debutante who falls asleep after her first ball. She dreams that she is dancing with the rose that she had been holding in her hand. Her dream ends when the rose escapes through the window. The dancers at the original performance were Vaslav Nijinsky as the Rose and Tamara Karsavina as the Girl. …”

Youtube was a great help. I was able to watch so many great dancers performing that piece. I could see, compare and decide what I like and what I don’t like in every performance. You get a couple of clips right beside here, so you can get an idea about the piece:

Manuel Legris:

Baryshnikov:

Nureyev:

Ruzimatov:

These are just a few and there are even more on Youtube to watch.

This piece of dance is pretty delicate to dance since it’s pretty different from what I’ve done. It’s far more important how you move and involve your arms and hands.
What is really dangerous is that all the big names of ballet history (starting with Nijinsky) danced that piece already and as an audience it is really tempting to just be lazy and start comparing. Who is jumping higher, who is doing which version etc…, but in the end please keep in mind there is no perfection possible in any art form and therefore comparison is useless.
I don’t know how about you, but for me it’s important if a performance/photo/painting/show, plainly said any art piece, gives something or not. This giving may be private or public, strong or weak, delicate or bold, but if you’re satisfied with this ‘present’ please be satisfied. There is no need for comparison.

Oups, I got kinda drawn away from my main subject, but whatever…just my two cents .

If everything goes right I will be able to perform it the first time in Taipei on June 20th and 21st.