Mariinsky + Bolshoi | Watch Ballerinas dance ODILE Variation! 

It's funny how Lopatkina isn't very technical and yet those pirouettes are so spot-on and tight, one hardly notices the technique because she's so artistic with her hands, arms and face. She's really incredible

I really liked Zakharova’s version but Lopatkina’s artistry is just amazing. Lopatkina has the technique but she doesn’t need to add a double attitude because it isn’t about how many turns you can do but the portrayal of the character. She is such an amazing artist and the younger generation need to look to her to see that less is sometimes more when it allows you to add more nuance to a part.

Lopatkina is pure classical ballet!

wonderful video. I really appreciate how Isabella highlights the strengths and differences between the dancers, who are all amazing in their own way. so respectful and professional!!

Do recent Skorik next time! (Last 3 or 4 years) She really is excellent

Lopatkina is just magical

Honestly for me Zacharova is an half mile forward. I' ve seen her live in Rome a decade ago and still remember it as a dream

What do you think about Polina Semionova in Odile? I love her. Otherwise, yes I agree with you, Lopatkina is amazing in the role!

Maria Khoreva….new at Mariinsky , from Vaganova.

Team Svetlana 100%, the way she embraces Odile whilst also engaging and exciting the audience. She is the epitome of the "hard and soft" in both movement and body postures, the way she folds her arms demurely but strongly, every movement conveys confidence, seduction, and calculated manipulation. I disagree with you considering Odile evil; Odile embodies confidence, sex appeal (embracing one's femininity), and most importantly; strategy (and survival instinct), she has a game plan to nab herself the love of her life and she'll be da*n if she is going to lose out to the "ingenue".

Ulyana Is a goddes, but to me, maybe because I am old, Odile Is still Maya. She still owns It.

Smirnova!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of these, I really enjoyed Lopatkina’s interpretation.The subtle raising of her chin, those shoulders at the end and her lovely musicality. I can believe in her Odile as a more complex character, who has her own frail side, her own beauty as well as evil. But Zakharova uses her precision technique and wonderful extensions to great effect to portray Odile’s wicked intentions, with a rare and fleeting reference in her gestures to poor Odette. Like she’s trying to impersonate Odette but the mask is always slipping. They are all stunning, of course but these two were the ballerinas I enjoyed the most.

I feel that I must lack subtlety because Osipova is my preferred performer of these four. I also preferred Zakharova. to Lopatkina. If I didn't know the story and I was watching these clips as my introduction to the character at a party, I would know within seconds that Osipova's Odile was a schemer; I wouldn't have a clue with Lopatkina. I felt her style was almost languid compared to Osipova's fierce energy and Zakharova's steely elegance and that does not really convey the essence to me.

Really enjoying these videos. I'm hoping you'll continue with them. It's difficult to pick, but if pushed I would have to go for Osipova. The freedom of spirit and passion she brings coupled with her control enthrals me. Would you consider reviewing Cojocaru at some point? She's my all time favourite ballerina and I would love to hear your views on her. To me she seems to be absolutely present in the moment and her acting along with her musicality for me make her artistry second to none.

request: nikiya comparison/analysis🤍

Natalia is one of my favorites for this role. She is amazing overall but this and Coppelia is the best for her skills

For me, Lopatkina and Zakharova are the best here. I found Osipova a bit muted, and those straps falling were very distracting. As for Smirnova, Idk but she tells me nothing. Neither as Odette nor as Odile. I don't know about technique. I'm just a ballet lover not a ballerina, but I find her very bland. She def. wouldn't be in my top 5.

Between Zakharova and Lopatkina, i can't decide whom i prefer. Smirnova comes second and Osipova last, albeit her technical prowess. It would be interesting to compare a few old time ballerinas with our contemporaries. For example, Makarova and Plisetskaya, representing mariinsky and the Bolshoi school.

I get the feeling Osipova is not one of your favorites. I believe her performances at times lately are less astonishing than at other times earlier in her career. It may be harsh to say but in the last few years since COVID she may not be at the apex of her career any longer. I think about her past partnership with Hallberg and other greats. Nobody gives more of herself in rehearsal and I think about how she leaves everything on the stage. (I also marvel at her practically dead and scuffed pointe shoes). Lately Ithink she can be a little too “cutesie” in certain roles but that doesn’t prevent me from thinking she’s always an extraordinary force of nature. , Lopatkina has the most beautiful body (and delicate face )of all the dancers and she’s in a class by herself in the way she dances. She’s not really someone you can compare in a quantitative way…sort of like there is nobody who is remotely like her (like Sylvie Guilliam but not quite to that degree). Although you didn’t show Nela I agree to disagree about her…a technical Queen but a dancer who has plotted her pathos through her head. Another bit of a handicap Osipova has - she doesn’t have the height or bodies of these other dancers. Zakharova is just physically beautiful and, of course, textbook…sometimes when she does swan lake I feel as if her shoulders are a bit too broad (obviously there’s nothing she can do about that). I’m not sure I get the reference of Osipova with American dancers.I see her legs up as développées and not as kicks. Her renversées were gorgeous. The only American ballerinas I really respect today are Bella Boylston and Skylar Brandt. (I’m not happy with the standards at NYCB lately). Both Boylston and Brandt did amazingly well in Swan Lake. The huge drawback ABT has is that it has no real home. They’re always traveling and their classical productions are a bit dated in their staging. Also the corps never feels fully rehearsed and even some of the soloists lack polish due to under rehearsal. Even the four cygnets and the four big swans, the trio, and other variations lacked some polish. I ADORE your videos - one of very view on RU-vid and Instagram really worth following. I so much wish I could pick up ballet again but my back is soooo tight. My turnout, glutes and flexors work but not my back, oh well. I should have never stopped taking class! Thank you for bringing so much to the ballet world.

Svetlana Z is THE most beautiful and most swanlike Odile….. enchanting and intense! I love watching her in Swan Lake.

Really enjoyed your excellent analysis which was so to the point. Lopatkina is representing an era when it wasn't all about technique and I liked your highlighting of these still poses and calmness that are so expressive. My all time favourite is still Svetlana Zakharova, because she is just one in a million on so many levels. Her technique and physique are unmatched and she has this Ìce - Princess' energy. Whenever I see her perform or videos from her in class, you couldn't see any insecurities. Love her coolness ... She is it.

Zakharova and Lopatkina will always be the best swans ❤

Those beautiful attitudes of Lopatkina's - she was a wonderful ballerina. Stunning. Beautiful arms and upper body. One of the greatest ballerinas I ever saw on Mariinsky stage - if not THE greatest.

Truly great dancers! But the best Odile that I've seen, albeit on the video only, is that of Galina Mezentseva. Her dramatic gifts are formidable. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yjrGFrnAndc.html Watch how lovingly she accepts the bouquet from the Prince and then throws it in his face... One can almost hear her diabolical laugh. Absolute evil!

Zakharova is perfect for this role. Divine hand movements, elegance, great physique and facial expressions.

One of the many things that amaze me about Osipova is the fact that she accomplishes these incredible feats on shoes that look past dead. She's a superior technician. I always want to believe the powerful technicians are the better Odiles, but that's just me. Definitely Odette is no easy walk either, so don't quote me on that :)

As you said all of them are amazing, but I liked especially Zakharova and Lopatkina.

Lopatkina followed by Svetlana, the others don’t have the body to create a regal look needed for this role

This was so much fun to watch! I can't wait to go check out your Odette video! I'd be curious to see what you think of Angelina Vorontsova. She is one of my FAVORITES. Both her Odette and Odile are so beautiful, and she's an excellent actress. Very convincing! I'd love to see more videos like this. Thank you, Isabella!

I felt the most with Osipova - there's a twinkle there that feeds Odile and gives her dimension that I don't necessarily feel as much with the others. I was lucky enough to be invested in ballet during the 1970s and 80s, in New York, and was able to see Baryshnikov and Markarova, and I feel safe in saying that these two were more than instrumental in sparking interest and investment in ballet in the US. Here is Makarova in her Odile variation: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-85tTKiLejRo.html. And for context, her Odette variation: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nZnalsyAFvU.html. I will grant that, perhaps her technique isn't as advanced as the younger dancers, but she is fully invested.

What Lopatkina does with her shoulders is just so incredible. It's interesting that this detail works so well because in class you hear a lot of "keep your shoulders down!" (or maybe it's just me, my shoulders get tense easily) but here at a high level you see great artists who have such control and can use their body to amazing effect, which adds so much to the portrayal of a character.

The second musical variation is charming - I'e never found it on recorded versions all the dancers are fabulous but Lopatkina IS Odile

Would love an analysis on Marianela Nunez

I love both Zakharova's and Lopatkina's interpretations, but Lopatkina's ending pose has a special place in my heart.

Lopatkina kills it ! Black or white, she embodied a swan, the others are also remarkable, but she has something very special ! About Osipova, you said something about her pointe shoes, that I had already noticed many times, I don't know if it comes from the shape of her feet, but I find her pointe shoes very different from the other top ballerinas. I don't know how she can perform with it ....

Конечно, Лопаткина и Сильвия Гилем, которой здесь нет. Захарова, вообще вне амплуа чёрного лебедя. Зато отличный белый Одетта. Осипова пусть занимается спортом) Смирнова тоже не плохо.

Ha! l came back to this because l love the haunting music of the first version, and cant get it out of my head. ...Neither can l get that Svetlana's dance out bc what she does with her hands and wrists at the ends of that great music! Thank you lsaballa!

Would you explain something about the different versions or variations. I don’t understand why they are different.

I loved this video. Thank you for the very interesting guided tour to "Odile".

Honestly, I love all of these ballerinas. Each one of them brings her unique personality to the role and that's what makes it so exciting to watch these classics again and again. Lopatkina is a total goddess! She is a trailblazer in a sense: the other three were artistically 'growing up' looking up to her.

i could watch lopatkina like 100s of times and wouldn’t get tired of it 😍😍 also im really loving these videos isabella, its great to hear and learn from your insights!!

Omg thank you so much again for answering my wishes 😊😊 can't wait!

What a compilation.. So amazing.. Although zakharova is not my kind of ballerina she embodies a swan.. Then my favorite is lopatkina.. But I love also so much Olga and Natalia..

thank you for this wonderful explanation about odile's variation, i totally agree with you that lopatkina is wonderful, i was lucky to be able to see her live in Saint Petersburg in 2011, it was a great success. In any case, my favorite is from Moscow, alla mikhalchenko is the most extraordinary final coda that I have seen in all the countries that I have seen, for me, it is unique

Lopatkina! She is the complete artist, beautiful line, legato, epaulement, port de bras, and she becomes the character. Yekaterina Kondaurova is also a great Odile, as was Veronika Part. In this group, my second place would go to Smirnova. Zakharova and Osipova are both formidable in different ways but to me are not satisfying. Nice compilation, thank you.

My favourite Odile is Sylvie Guillem.

i love these commentaries, please keep them coming ❤

Just learning about ballet in my middle age. Dont know much but videos like this help me to know what to look for. Thank You.

I’m Isabela with one L because I’m a half Brazilian and half Portuguese ballerina trained at the Bolshoi. My favorite version is Olga’s, but Ulyana BECOMES every role she dances. She’s Odile like she’s every other part. Her port de bras, head and hands add so much. Her musicality and as you said the pauses take your breath away. Nobody remembers to judge her technique because she’s transcends all that. She’s one in a generation prima ballerina. Brava!🇧🇷🇵🇹🇷🇺🇺🇦🇷🇴🩰👏🏻

There was a moment with the first cancer where she showed a little gesture appropriate to Odette. It just conveyed her deceit. So beautiful.

It's interesting - you said that Osipova was more "theatre acting" and Lopatkina was more "camera acting" but for me - I felt the reverse. I love Osipova and I feel that she really brings an emotional investment into every role she preforms as well as being technically amazing. She is very free with her dancing so it looks so natural - like breathing - even when doing these difficult variations. I wouldn't say this clip is her best dancing, but even so it was by far the best out of all of them. I felt like Lopatkina's was too rehearsed, Zakharova was a little weird musically, and Smirnova couldn't completely keep up with the choreography. But major respect to all of them.

Thank you Isabella for this wonderful selection, and sharing your thoughts.

Lopatkina said about evil that it is different and theres open evil and the one which you cant figure out at first glance, seductive, beautiful, educated, but with secret evil intentions.

I’m going to vote for Natalia Obispova for Odieall for her technical performance and She really nail it with her turn out pliers. My favorite Swan is Galina Mezensova from Kirov ❣️🩰🙇🏻‍♀️🙀🎭

Yulia Stepanova is my absolute favorite Odile!

Zakharova is my favorite. Strong, wicked, elegegant, gorgeous. Love them all. Osipova is so dynamic as is Lopatkina. All four are dreamy

Perfect Swan requires in addition to technical skills and artistry also a stunning physical look. Short neck, chunky legs and arms are not for this role.

For me when I watch Natalia Osipova it feels like gymnastics. She acts with her face but her body does gymnastics. However when I watch Ulyana Lopatkina every time I know that I am watching a ballet! She dances with her everything. She is my favourite. Her facial expressions are very appropriate, not too much not less. For example some facial expressions of Marianela nunes is too much for me. She is so great and some facial expressions of her, hides her dancing. I can not watch her entirely. From some point I just watch her face and I think it is not a good thing in ballet.

What a wonderful video. I am not up to the standard of making learned comments on any of these outstanding dancers; I can however say that I occasionally watch television and it is obvious to me that those persons in charge and many that take part in what I have seen are totally deluded. Although far from an expert in dance, I damned well know that all of the ladies in this video are first rate dancers and most talented. Many I have seen on the television would not know where to start: I am tempted to say hopeless. Also, speaking as a man, all of these ladies in this video have the most beautiful and desirable figures. Many I have seen on the television, in contrast, are vulgar and hideous, and yet are put over as attractive. I suppose I am feeling it is good to be exposed to high standards and a right way of thinking.

Lopatkina 😍 I felt it

Would love to see a video of sleeping beauty act 3 variation! Olga shines in that in role my opinion, same with Fumi Kaneko and I would love to know your thoughts!

I saw Marie Claude pietragalla dancing the first variation it was in Paris opéra ballet bastille I think 1992 , I like that coreographie a lot👍😊

My favourite Odile of all time is Maya Plissetskaya

Olga loses energy during her dance.

My favourite Odile of all time is Natalia MAKAROVA. A ballerina of three generations ago, her reading of Odile is the only one that had me on the edge of my seat, gripping my armrests, until she vanished in a flash of lightning. She literally took our breath away. No ballerina has even come close, and over the course of forty years, I’ve seen many, many Odiles.

I love how Osipova’s interpretation of Odile kind of vacillates between her looking unapproachable to approachable because of the alluring sly smile. Like regardless, deep down you know she’s evil but on some levels she’s still unreadable because she has the perfect balance of charm and reticence

Thanks again for this video and I totally agree that Lopakina out wins in Odile the Black Swan I hope in the near future She will do the Coaching preferably with the Marinsky New Principles or Solorists to brings her torch where she learned through Vaganova tradition 💜🩰🦢💎💎👍🏼🩷🙏🎉