Analysing Maria Khoreva Graduation Exam Vaganova
Hello Everyone!
A lot of you asked me to react to this exam video! I admire Maria and her work ethic a lot as she spent many hours alone in the studios as did I. I am keen to share my thoughts on this exam with you all in a respectful way of course as I know how much hard work goes in.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below in a respectful way and please subscribe!
I don't own these videos and they are for educational purposes only. They belong to the rightful owners
Enjoy! Like and subscribe!
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Ppl often criticize her lacking artistry and that extra something in her dance. I occasionally agree and sometimes disagree, depending on the roles. But one thing I am sure is that she is CONSTANTLY improving. It’s kinda insane…you can literally see her getting visibly better and better in one season dancing the same role for a few times. I can’t imagine how much work she’s put in every thing she dances. not a ride or die fan but I really respect her.
I respect her too but I think she does lack artistry and I think it’s because she has grown up in the age of social media and the internet. People like Sveltana and the rest of them grew up in reality. They grew up living with real emotions and experiences. Maria is a power house but I think she just needs to be more real.
@@rachelo8294 I am not sure I understand. Be more real as in stop posting because you think she is distracted by social media from her training? Or break her online persona and open up more about her on socials to fans? Or you just mean she should channel her daily real emotions more in her dance? How do you think she can learn to be "more real"? Sorry I just really struggled to understand. Thank you for the reply though!
I think people expect her to be PERFECT from day 1, when she has shown to be a really hard worker and, honestly she's still so young! She will improve a lot and we are already seeing it, as you pointed out.
I saw her live in Mariinsky, she was a substitute of Renata Shakirova in the leading part of SB, I would have never bought a ticket to watch Maria live on stage, but the substitution was late, we had to see Maria, her reputation among professionals from ballet world is awful, I knew it, but what we saw on stage was shocking indeed, my friend, not from music or theater or ballet field was also shocked and angry - awful dancing, a robot with no love for music and ART, I call it sequence of poses. Ilushkina was Lilac Fairy and May Nagahisa Florina - both were amazingly charming and charismatic, you can feel it live only, this difference
@@user-kr7hf8bo2l oh no ☹️
i just wish i could borrow Maria's body for a day to know what it feels like to dance with a body so apt for ballet.. i don't have her technique but i certainly also don't have her body type, and she makes it look so.. so natural and correct. Like, that's how Vaganova technique is supposed to work. i wish i could feel that with my poor turnout and my inflexible back.
yup I agree. my body is pretty short ans will not look "right" even with proper technique. regardless Maria is extremely talented as well
Yes, Maria has been quite open that she has worked extremely hard, the tipping point I think for her was that someone else got the same score as her sometime in the first couple of years and that really woke her up to the fact that she couldn’t rest on her laurels! She is very diligent and disciplined in working on herself, she just keeps getting better and better!
Very interesting video!! I'd love to see a comparison of the Vaganova back then vs now.
Me too!
Yes! Me three! :)
And me
seconded
It’s coming and it’s a long one! Haha
She's divine! What I like about her is her humility and sometimes goofy side.
Does anyone at this level ever fail an exam like this? Do you think Maria's physical proportions film better than the other girls'? She has large eyes, a longer neck, longer limbs, a longer waistline, slightly broader shoulders, and an upper body carriage that makes her torso appear to float above those graceful legs.
I have similar knees, and it is so nice to hear someone say something positive about them. I was constantly getting yelled at to straighten my legs/knees when they already were straight.
Claudia Dean had her body scrutinised pre- ballat company. She won a place with Royal Ballet and was with them for several years before retiring. She had an interview with Maria, from memory.
This group was filled with so many personalities. Bulanova, Ivanova!
I love bulanova and ilyuskina more at the beginning, but now starting to love each time more also khoreva
The reason I think I'm so absolutely freaking obsessed with your content, in the best of ways, is that as a westerner, non Russian speaker, with a love and admiration for Russian ballet, I've never seen anyone explain or make this wisdom of Russian ballet so accessible. I've had a lovely, very wise Russian teacher from the (she taught Malakhov when he was a child) who escaped the Soviet union in the 90s. She helped.me.unlearn a lot of bad habits and restored my love for ballet; and the belief that I'm more capable than I thought, despite the fact that my body isn't naturally gifted. With her guidance and the technique she taught me, I discovered Ii had more turn out and flexibility than I thought I did, because the technique opened me up, and made everything lighter, and more "possible" if it makes sense. I think i I've always seen some similarities with vaganova, but also differences as well, so I was always fascinated about that. I've always had my presumptions and analysis about the technique, things I observed but that had no one to confirm or validate for me. And the fact that you do that, in such a simple, broken down, straight forward way, is so meaningful to me. So really, thank you Isabella!
Thank you so much for sharing this with me and I completely understand what you are saying about your teacher seeing that you had more and pushing you to use that! Amazing. Thank you for your support ❤
How could she have escaped the Soviet Union in the 90s? There was no Soviet Union by then, it had dissolved.
Yes, please ! Would love to hear your thoughts on Tsiskaridze approach. Thank you for the lovely commentary on the exams
I would love to see an analysis of the changes through the years of Vaganova!
I would love to learn more about Vaganova. It would be nice for both of you, to speak about each of your experiences.🥰
Yess I've been waiting for this video ever since you've reacted to maria koshkaryova
i love your analysis videos!! theyre my favourite ❤ keep it up izzy
Been waiting for this video!
would love to see a video on how Vaganova has changed over the years! Thanks so much for your interesting videos!
Enjoyed the commentary. So lucid and perceptive. Bravo!
I had never watched a ballet exam before, but I watched whole of your video because you made it so interesting!
I really enjoy your commentary videos and the variation analysis ones. I started to watch your channel after getting into ballet, because I was somewhat forced to become a little estranged from figure skating, my main serious sport. I was very sad about having to distance myself from it, and started distracting myself with ballet and trying it out as cross-training because I was very accustomed to jumping and being hyperflexible, plus artistry. I still miss the ice (though I still cross-train consistently and skate every once in a while) but I am happy to say that you've motivated me over the year or so of doing ballet. You make ballet so accessible, and simultaneously educate people on it and motivate them. I love to watch your videos when I'm recovering after a class. ! Love Maria, her placement and epaulment are beautiful. Точно!!
Thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you Isabella. I love watching exam classes , so interesting. They’re all such lovely dancers. I’d love any video you care to share . 🙏🙏👵🇦🇺. 🩰🩰🩰🩰 🩰
Adding my comment to agree with one below, find some videos from the 80s and '90s and see how things have changed. I actually love the video where you analyzed this year's exam and in passing compared it with your own exam. Just have things have changed. Would be fascinating. This video was absolutely wonderful. Thank you.
I clicked on the thumbnail instantly😂 Thanks for this video, its very interesting and educational to watch. Definitely would love to see more content like this. A comparison about Vaganova then and now as you suggested would be very nice. Maybe a collaboration between you and a more recent graduate to discuss the differences and understand the choices behind them better would be absolutely top notch 😄🙏
What!? They are so gorgeous. Do all the girls become professionals? This is random, but it would be interesting to see some American principal dancers trying to do this barre and center!
Insane how synchrone they are , its like the Girl behind Maria is her Shadow lol Very satisfying and calming to watch thank you for your professional commentation and insight :D
I would love a video about the evolution of the Vaganova!
I discovered Maria when I first stumbled upon her graduation exam videos on KZhead and without a doubt she is the "best" student in that class. Her technique is impeccable! She really stood out there. However, when I watch other videos of her performing on stage in recent years, she was not nearly as impressive as when she was in class. When I watch most principal dancers, they give me a "wow" factor", like this is why they are principals! Granted Maria is not a principal yet, she is lacking that extra something that makes her stand out, whether that be her acting or artistry. I know she is still very young and has plenty of time to develop, but I think I was really hoping she would be another Zakharova or Osipova for this generation.
You are absolutely right. She is more like decreased now then she was back at time of graduation.
But will the dancers last? I imagine working harder and doing more jumps en pointe also means more stress fractures. Especially if you try to be as thin as the top girls like Maria who has a very slight build to begin with.
It’s a good question. One that’s due a discussion for sure ❤
Wow. Comparing this one to the grade 7 one you recently posted is pretty shocking. All this grace has been lost to speed (posting this comment in May 24).
Yes to video on Vaganova now vs then!!!! Please😊❤
Maria is so beautiful- and Ludmilla Valentinovna is absolutely a genius teacher, her combinations are breathtaking, especially her grand adagio! Thank you for this gorgeous video! It was a great watch for extra motivation whilst I am stretching haha 😄
This is so exciting!!! I’ve been really enjoying watching her growth as a dancer and artist. And her personality in her KZhead videos seems so sweet!
Insightful and interesting commentary throughout. I’m a first-time viewer to your channel and I watched captivated from start to finish. Please do make the Vaganova video you spoke of.
I would really love a video about how the system in Vaganova has changed over the years! If possible, please talk about all the fun things like how was the dress code in your days VS nowadays, do you get pointe shoes fitting in the school, or do you get to experiment different shoes and buy them outside of the school shops? And just overall the direction of the ballet education in Vaganova and your opinion 🥰🫶🏻
Do you know how excited I am to see this?!!!!
I would love to hear your thoughts on the evolution of the Vaganova training over time, especially now under Tsiskaridzde!
Incredible displays of control of the body, grace, flexibility n strength! I adore watching this. Thank you! Commentary was great too! Xo
Please talk about arms and head and Vaganova and why it is so important. I think that this is a factor that Maria excels in. I love when the arms and head go together.
Thank you very much! Can you please do an analysis of male Vaganova dancers?🙏🏻
You could do Olesya Novikova exam analysis as well!!!
Thank you so much Isabella! It was really motivating and an exciting video. I have a russian ballet teacher at my ballet school and i feel my purpose to go to Vaganova just like you. You are helping me so much with your platform. If there will be more Isabella in the planet iw would be a wonderful place!❤🩰🩰🩰🥰
Maria é maravilhosa 👏👏👏😍
when will they finally buy a normal camera there in Vaganovka
definitely would like to see a video on then and now
Her épaulement can be recognized from miles away✨✨
Then vs. now--YES
it's coming!
I would really like to see a video about the Vaganova then vs now! ❤
It's coming :-)
So lovely. I love your videos. I'd love your opinions on Vagonova then & now ... :)
I wish I knew everything you are talking about, I really haven’t a clue but oh, how beautiful to watch nevertheless. Mesmerising! ❤
❤ thank you for speaking about beauty of russian ballet especially now when politicians trying to cancel great russian culture and throw people into darkness of ignorance
Really interesting to watch with your comments! There is a reason why she was put in the middle, but I must say I was also constantly checking the girl on the right (on Maria's left side) , she is beautiful! I would love to know what has changed through the years and also why. I am doing a Master's in Dance Teaching and a lot is mentioned on the different methods - Russian, French, Royal - but I would love to know the whys behind the differences.
I think it’s her head in the pirouettes. If you watch her fouettés, she almost snaps her head back to the front right before she goes to complete the turn… almost like a little reverb.
These students are just amazing to watch as a whole group. I've never seen something like this in any American school. It's just so different. Maria is just stunning. I love watching her.
Please do a video on the Vaganova "now and then"! Don't you think they've also changed the selection criteria a bit? You've mentioned that the girls are even skinnier now, I think that there are other things in which girls at Vaganova now look different from those who were admitted, say, 20 years ago.
Was there a character component of the exam? I’d love to hear your thoughts/commentary on this - thank you for the video 🎉
As soon as the barre started we could notice where Maria was 💫
Your videos are so interesting...
Bulanova is even more amazing
I’ve never experienced a foot cramp worse than when we did our grand adagio for my schools exam. I love it though.
I would love to hear your perspective on the historical Vagonava, and todays', under the direction of N,. Tsitskaridze. Thanks for excellent coverage of O. Smirnov and M. Khorover
Nikolai has made many changes... He's incredible...in so many ways. He considered his dancers his children... He not only educates in ballet...but insists each dancer read, travel...etc...expand themselves besides just shrinking themselves to dance.
повзрослела ❤️🌷
"And if you don't u - Thats a nice.movement Kovaleva put in!" Haha, I adore you 😂❤️
I believe Maria said she’d been ill for the entire week before and still wasn’t feeling well for this exam. Amazing how beautifully she dances even so. Do dancers work through illness? or does it vary depending on school/company?
It's interesting, I remember someone else saying that Maria didn't know really how to use her turnout. Like she has it naturally but she hadn't quite figured out how to fully use it - I know she has worked hard on it since
A very interesting video, thank you for posting it. However, the amount of pronation and turning out from the knee is mind boggling. I get that 180° turnout is the ideal, but I can't imagine that this level of forced turnout is healthy or sustainable in the long run. They are all beautiful dancers (I certainly wish I looked even 10% as good as them) but I find myself wondering how many of them are still able to dance. p.s. I tried your foam roller video yesterday and really like it. Thanks for sharing that, as well!
You're confused about what is going on here. None of them are 'pronating' if they're reached the last year of the Vaganova academy, they're simply turned out and strong enough to hold it. You've been made to be scared of turnout by western teachers who don't know what they're doing.
Idk I’m not a super experienced ballet dancer but I can naturally stand and dance like that, it’s WAY harder for me to dance and walk parallel so maybe some people’s bodies are trained that way or naturally that way since they start training so young?
Thankyou I really enjoyed this. Are all of theses students dancing professionaly?
So in the beginning...the girl on the right barre in front with the extreme hyperextension...As we know scientifically know that it's bad to sit in the hyperextension, why is she obviously being trained to still use it this way? She als keeps lifting her right heel in a lot of the pliés. Was she injured (achilles?) and still had to do the exam?
María is a wonderful dancer, with beautiful lines and a refined sense of musicality; perhaps her excellent training as a pianist has something to do with the latter. And for those who critisise her for supposedly lacking artistry, how I wish they would have seen her mesmerising Giselle at the Mariinsky. Vaganova, what a magnificent academy, such a dream place!
Do a comparison of Vaganova in Soviet period. I live in the Soviet Union as an English teacher in late 1980s. Was really hard living there in terms of very different teacher culture and living conditions. No laundry soap or washing machines. No meat. Bread and cheese basically.
Like Natalia Osipova, Maria is an incredibly fast turner. I wonder if that's whats off about her turning?
I'm in pain just watching this combinations LOL
Vagonova then &now, please.
I studied vaganova for 8 years, so I know this is very complicated.
Cool
I can’t look at her IG, anymore. It’s just her lifting her right leg. Over and over. She’s a STUNNING dancer. Truly. But it’s just beyond irritating. She was teaching a class in some video, and felt the need to do a full on developpe to her ear. In all my years of training and professional career, I don’t think any teacher EVER did that. It was like she was making it more about her, than her students.
Is the Olga Smirnova video out already? Or is it coming soon?
coming soon!!
Could someone tell me why professional / trained ballerinas still do trainings, exams etc. at the bar? I thought its only there to better learn the movements in the beginning but when you learned the technique you only do them in the center (as you would do in perfomances) since you know the movement and how to execute it and done it many times in a way you can do it without the bar.
Ive never heard anyone else mention knees that almost dont look straight. I have those knees and it always felt so discouraging to just.. not have that line.. and to be told often to straighten my leg.. wish I had different knees 🤣
Does anyone know the music at 16:00?
Maria's videos came up randomly...can you sh are more about her?? How old are the girls in the exam?? Where was it filmed?? Your presentation was most enjoyab le..yes do a then and now
What would cause someone to fail the exam. What would differentiate a good from not good dancer, they nearly all seem good but in different ways.
I wonder why does it look like at times María is keeping a different tempo than the rest of her class mates?
Does anyone know the music for the center adagio ? It’s killing me❤❤
12:14
Are you allowed to attend Summer Intensives while at Vaganova?
There was an amazing student from Vaganova university a video at MBA in one of Eva (the photographer’s) videos, she was head and shoulders above (no pun intended) the others when it came to balance and control…YT won’t let me post the link, I will try to go back and comment with the first name, she’s clearly well known already and amazing, of course!
@@Emm325 Cool. Thank you.
15:25 for the bourres
which one is she?
Beautiful … but the over rotation at the barre seems crazy exaggerated 🥺
Is this exam on youtube?
at 25:00. Isnt it called being COMPETITIVE. ??
i actually think this level of virtuosity at the bar hurts the girls to some extant. thank you for emphasizing the fact that it wasnt always so intrequete. i think bar exercises should remain a warm up and a fram work for whats ahead.
Which one is Maria? My rotators hurt just watching this. Actually sweating.
Would love to learn how Vaganova is changing. We’re creating such athletic new dancers, extensions, turns, jumps loftier than our classic choreographers imagined. The question this really begs is musicality and how to train it. You look at a young Khoreva and see the athleticism, but also that nascent musicality. It makes me wonder how we develop that, how do we keep that jaw dropping athleticism IN SERVICE to the storytelling of the dance.
Its diferent colour of leotard for diferent year...
Yes I know 😊 I’m talking about the last few years as before we could choose what we wanted to wear as well as colour ❤
Maria definitely stood out while being a senior student. But she doesn't as the first soloist at all(( obviously, she works hard, she works a lot, however the results are beyond modest. Probably, the main problem is that she was expected to become a dancer like another Zakharova, but it is obvious now that she isn't one, she has been dealing with a lot of difficulties and problems that she isn't able to overcome yet, her progress is very slow - especially for someone who became the first soloist so quickly. As a result you can't but find her performances (which are ok but not really impressive) rather disappointing.
Why are the girl's technical requirements so much harder than the guy's??
Nothing can beat Russian ballet
I guess it’s personal preference, I much much prefer the French style, I find it more elegant and less over the top
Maria is excellent; she's the world's ballerina who can relate her art to those of us still learning about it. But I can't help but think some things don't allow her to shine through. It's either the roles given her, the costumes, or something. I don't like her costumes; they are either too big or seem to weigh her down. She is tall yet her presence on stage doesn't convey that..
U mumble too much, and talk too much when music is on! We do not care about what u think, we want to watch ballet!!!
Feel free to go and watch many other videos KZhead has to offer. We are hear to share thoughts and constructive opinions. 😊
I do like them with their little skirts on. Seems more ‘private’ Looks like I’m watching this again. Shows how much I like them 🙏🙏👵🇦🇺🩰🩰🩰