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June 26, 2016
Russian Ballerina
It is has been a long time since I've posted on Joy Womack. Since the last time, she has been promoted to lead dancer with the Kremlin Ballet.
It is hard to gauge how much of an impact Womack is making in Russian dance circles. Her videos are strictly centered on the process she undergoes to prepare for her appearances. No doubt due to personal preferences and other professional factors, she no longer films her fellow dancers. Despite a few shots of curtain calls, she cuts away from those for time factor. So the films are in a sort of vacuum and many times Womack relates her fears that her dancing is not progressing fast enough or she isn't working hard enough. The one thing I love about her videos is that it shows the kind of work ethic required to be a dancer. It is never easy and it gets harder as a dancer's body ages.
However I do think the fact that she is now a lead dancer in a big company (on par with the Joffrey Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest etc. here), shows that the Russian ballet circles have accepted her. She danced a few weeks ago for President Putin himself, and THAT is not small potatoes at all. Still it is hard to get Russian reviews, so a fan outside of Russia can't judge the reception. I do see that Womack has improved enormously in the past year. She has a Russian polish on her dancing now that was rough last year. She looked more American then as she powered through the steps. But now the mix is more settled and her professionalism is a testimony to her hard work and the attentiveness of the Ballet Masters at the Kremlin.
In her last video, Womack's father has visited Russia in order to see her dance Swan Lake. The film is a bit fuzzy but it shows how good she is and the appreciation of the audience. When taking her father on a tour of Moscow a few fans stop her for her autograph and picture. So clearly she is well known.
Eventually I think she wants to move on to a European or American company. However I'm not sure if she would be entirely happy with that arrangement. Western companies are no longer truly classical but really modern dance companies with classical elements. Where would she fit in? Russia is on the rise and perhaps she should stay to ride the zeitgeist wave. Unlike Western companies, it is rare for Russian ballet companies to accept foreigners into their ranks. I'm not sure if Womack fully realizes yet that she achieved something close to the impossible.
Below is a short video of the Kremlin Theater. It is huge, with a curious mix of classical and modern architectural styles. A very impressive place to dance!
I think Womack has improved technically, but her artistry is still lacking. A true principal becomes the role. With Joy, all I see is Joy Womack. I kind of wonder what she would have been like if she took a slower path that she would have had to take if she danced at a company like the Mikhailovsky or Stanislavsky-Nemerovich and she cut her teeth in variations and Demi -biologist roles rather than immediately dancing principal roles that, artistically, she's not ready for
ReplyDeleteAs for her place in Russian ballet, she is really not well-known. Go in any of the Russian forums, nobody talks about her. The Kremlin ballet is not what it used to be (if it was anything to begin with) and they seem to really be struggling to keep their soloists. One left to focus on her Ballet Insider project and another left to dance in the corps at the Stanislavsky. As a consequence, nobody reviews the company as none of the balletomanes have any interest in going to their performances.
Also, I don't think Joy's initial struggles had as much to do with her being an American. Other Americans and foreigners have gotten soloist and principal jobs. Maria Beck is a first soloist with the Stanislavsky, Mario Labrador a soloist with the Mikhailovsky. Korean Kimin Kim is a principal with the Mariinsky. And not to mention Hallberg. I think Joy's initial problem was being absolutely clueless as to what was expected of her. She signed a production contract and should have known what it entailed.
ReplyDeleteI also recall talking about her auditioning for a variation, the acting director at the time saying it would be a good role to her, and then complaining a friend of Filin's wife mysteriously got the role. A quick look at the Bolshoi roster for that block would show that the role actually went to the three women who already danced the previous block and the friend had been dancing it since 1996!
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteOn one hand you are claiming Russian dance superiority (I don't see it quite frankly) and on the other you are stating they don't know a thing (Womack a principal). Well what is it? Womack is barely out of her early twenties. She has room to grow. Most dancers in the West are still toiling in the Corps at her age.
Forums, any internet forums, are a small subset of a subset of fans. I wouldn't base anything on them. Also the Russian Ballet Insider is a Russian dancer project. It was started by one of the dancers that Womack knew in her company, Alisa Aslanova. They have only done a video on Womack once, twice at the most. The rest of the videos are about Russian dancers. The majority of Womack's affiliation with them is through video work (she filmed Alisa's retirement).
Ok so Kremlin Ballet are a bunch of nobodies. So why then did they dance for Putin? Why not have Stanislavsky or the others? You aren't making any sense. You are filled with such invective against Womack that you are simultaneously downgrading Russian Ballet as well as holding it up to the highest standard.
We don't know what happened to Womack while she was in the Bolshoi. What do we know? That the AD was attacked due to casting skullduggery and professional resentment. So, tell me, when taking that into consideration does that make Womack's story less or more believable? It is believable in my opinion. And the fact that she has a career in Russia at all tells me that many believe her.
If no one attends Kremlin Ballet performances, again why did Putin see them? Why are their dancers invited to guest star with other companies? Why do Bolshoi and Mariinsky dancers guest star with them? All these people in the audience shown in Womack's videos (not only her performances), are they illusions?
Lately I have my questions regarding Balletomanes. When they celebrate melodramatic simps like Skorik or automatons like Kochetkova that tells me they don't know the first thing about ballet. Womack is as good as either plus she has growing years to do. You don't like her, that is valid. But it doesn't negate what she has accomplished, what Kremlin ballet has accomplished and the fact that audiences do attend their performances.