bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Natasha Rogai

Raymonda
Kiev Ballet
Sha Tin Town Hall
Reviewed: Sept 18
The Kiev Ballet made its Hong Kong debut with Raymonda, originally created by Marius Petipa in 1898 to a magnificent score by Alexander Glazunov.  Medieval Hungarian countess Raymonda is engaged to French knight Jean de Brienne. When dashing, if dastardly, Saracen  Abdurrahman falls in love with her, she is torn between the two men but ends up marrying her fianc?after he kills Abdurrahman in a duel. 
Raymonda is chiefly known for its  third act, a musical and choreographic tour de force. Kiev Ballet's artistic director Victor Yaremenko has condensed the work into two acts, keeping the best and most authentic parts of Petipa's choreography while jettisoning narrative longueurs. 
The well-designed production moves briskly and  focuses on the dancing rather than the thin plot.
The principal performances were impressive. Natalia Matsak was scintillating in the title role; her speed, strength and virtuosity matched with a delightful stage presence. Sergei Sidorsky's Jean de Brienne had elegance of line, good jumps and beautiful finishing, although his partnering seemed uncertain at times, while Maksym Motkov  made a splendidly  bravura Abdurrahman.
Raymonda is a benchmark ballet that demands rigorous purity of style and excellence of technique in even its smallest roles. The troupe scored strongly on the former - they are impeccably schooled, with an innate understanding of classical style. But it was disappointing that only 51 of their total 140 dancers had come to Hong Kong. The grandeur of scale Raymonda calls for was lacking and there was a disparity among the ensemble that suggested the company wasn't fielding its first team. 



Raymonda