Segerstrom Center Favorites Win Dance Awards

Winners of the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards 2010 were announced earlier this week and a few of Segerstrom Center favorites were included – Bolshoi Ballet superstars Natalia Osipova won for Best Female Dancer, Ivan Vasiliev received the award for Best Male Dancer and the Bolshoi Ballet nabbed Best Foreign Dance Company. Natalia and Ivan appeared in Reflections, a joint project with the Bolshoi Ballet, which received its world premiere here in Segerstrom Hall last Thursday. Both dancers will return to the Center to star in Tour de Force II: A Gala Dance Extravaganza this coming May as well as a special commission dance event in the Fall of 2012. Audiences at Tour de Force I in 2009 were blown away by the pair's performance of a pas de deux from Flames of Paris.
The National Dance Awards were established by the Critics Circle in 2000 to highlight the astonishing range of dance on offer in the United Kingdom. A big congratulations to everyone!

Photo: Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev in Serenata (Reflections); by Steve Dawson

Learning from the Bolshoi Master

Talented young dancers from Academy of Dance, Anaheim Ballet, Cal State University, Long Beach, California Conservatory of Dance, Chapman University, Irvine Valley College, Maple Conservatory of Dance, Pacific Coast Academy of Dance and UCI participated in a special master class conducted by Bolshoi Ballet dance coach Victor Barykin, above with pianist Svetlana Sokolova. The photo was taken on part of the set of Bolshoi’s Don Quixote in Segerstrom Hall.

Bolshoi Wows Opening Night Audience!

Exuberant Center ballet fans said last night’s opening of the Bolshoi Ballet’s Don Quixote was unlike any they could recall in Segerstrom Hall in many years. As the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Before you could say fouetté, opening night of the Bolshoi’s six-day run turned into a high voltage evening of spectacular dancing, temperamental artistes, and hollering from the balconies.” It was the sort of performance that does remain long in one’s memory. Following the opening, the cast, Center donors and Dance Series underwriters gathered at Scott’s for a celebratory party hosted by the restaurant. Among the crowed were Center President Terry Dwyer and his wife Amy, seen below with Ivan Vasiliev, and Center Executive Vice President Judy Morr with his co-star, Natalia Osipova. Performances run through Sunday, February 28.

The Bolshoi Ballet and Lady Gaga?

That's right! It's an unlikely match but the Bolshoi Ballet and Lady Gaga performed together this past weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art's 30th anniversary gala in Los Angeles. Click on the video below to see the performance of "Speechless." The Bolshoi Ballet will make its highly anticipated visit to the Center February 24 - 28.