| In 1995, a 16 year old student from the Kiev, Ukraine ballet school, known as Kiev Choreographic School, entered the Vaganova Prix ballet competition. First prize went to Vaganova graduating student, Maya Dumchenko. Second prize went to the youngest prize winner,Svetlana Zakharova and to another Vaganova graduating student, Alisa Sokolova. Dumchenko got off to a great start in her professional career at the Kirov, now Mariinsky, but her certainty as a principal ballerina has never happened and is not likely to happen, having been stuck in first soloist level for what might seem to her as eternity. Alisa Sokolova stood at the barre in Ludmila Kovaleva's class with Diana Vishneva next to her. Sokolova was an exceptionally talented ballerina with the definite talent to become a principal ballerina, but the new director of the Kirov Ballet, Makhar Vaziev, did not take a liking to Sokolova and what should have been a brilliant career as a famous principal ballerina, has resulted in16 years in the Mariinsky Kirov Ballet corpse ( the correct word is corps, but she probably felt like a corpse) de ballet. Of interest, the 3rd best student in Sokolova's class, behind Vishneva and Sokolova, was Sofia Gumerova, who Vaziev gave solo and principal roles to immediately out of school. Like Dumchenko, Gumerova has been a first soloist for many years. It is interesting to contrast the careers of Sokolova and Gumerova. Vaziev liked Gumerova and she has danced Odette/Odile and Nikiya around ... |
