| This was from a ballet festival for ballet schools with the top two Vaganova students in 2010, Olga Smirnova and Viktor Lebedev. Viktor graduated a few months later,in June, and instead of going to the Mariinsky corps de ballet, he chose a soloist with the Mikhailovsky Ballet. Viktor is one of the best students in Vaganova history and will probably be the world's top male dancer in a few years. Olga graduates next June when the Vaganova School will have two amazing dancers graduating from the same class taught by Ludmila Kovaleva, the teacher of Diana Vishneva. Ludmila hit the jackpot with two students, Olga and Kristina Shapran,both with the potential to become future superstars. Last October, Olga won Grand Prize in the Mikhailovsky Grand Prix competition, defeating her class mate, Kristina Shapran, and also the Bolshoi School's top student, Anastasia Soboleva, who had won the junior gold medal at the June 2009 Moscow International Ballet Competition. So Olga defeated two exceptional competitors in winning Grand Prize. Olga is known for her technical brilliance, while her class mate, Kristina, is known for her great artistry. Two very different styles, but jurors went with the technician over the artist. They perform the adagio from the Nutcracker with music by Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Vainonen. |
