Dancers: Iana Salenko & @daniilsimkin. A rehearsal of the Act 2 Pas de Deux between Giselle and Albrecht. Filmed and documented by Jubal Battisti at the @StaatsballettBerlinOfficial studios in October 2020.
This is the best version of this pas de deux I've ever seen. Your connection is stunning. You make her float and she brings out the best in you. Wonderful acting and dancing.
Utterly beautiful! Your dancing has matured and grown a lot in Berlin, and you really make Iana look weightless in your lifts and supported balances. It's just magical and so subtle. Bravo to both of you! You partner marvellously together!
Exceptional. So wonderful to see. The arabesque lifts toward the end of the pas de deux are what one dreams of: goodbye penchees, hello floating and yearning, which I haven't seen since Ulanova and Fadeyechev. Thank you, Iana Salenko and Daniil Simkin.
This breathtaking, achingly beautiful Giselle PD of Iana and Daniil is reminiscent to me of the extraordinary 1998 Bolshoi Giselle duo: the incomparable Nicolai Tsiskaridze and Svetlana Lunkina .
Darn, I was hoping the film would get to Albrecht's variation! Gorgeous! I think even if I didn't know what was going on in this part of the libretto, I would understand the drama because of the acting. Giselle leaving Alb to dance in his place is especially tender, as is the little embrace just before the supported developpe into 4th. Iana's temps possions are beautifully shaped---so many Giselles just schmaltz through that. I can only imagine what the performance must have been like!
