20.06.2013
Oksana Bondareva wins Moscow gold
Oksana Bondareva has won first place and the gold medal at the 12th International Ballet Competition and Contest of Choreographers, held in Moscow from 10–19 June. Throughout the three rounds of the marathon competition, the dancer showed her confident technique, artistic talent, and determination to win. The smile never left her face as she performed virtuoso pas de deux from Le Corsaire, The Flames of Paris, and Don Quixote. Ivan Zaytsev proved himself to be a reliable partner. He was not a participant in the competition, but was awarded a special prize as the best partner. The entire Mikhailovsky Theatre ballet company applauds Oksana on her success. The promising young dancer is respected for her devotion to ballet, the amazingly hard work she puts in, and her willingness to dance under any conditions.
In 2009, Mikhail Messerer, Principal Guest Ballet Master of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, entrusted Oksana Bondareva with the pas de deux in Swan Lake, although she had only just joined the company. “Some of my colleagues weren’t sure that I’d done the right thing”, admits the choreographer, but nobody now doubts his decision. Four years later, Oksana Bondareva’s repertoire includes classic roles such as Kitri in Don Quixote, Medora in Le Corsaire, Gamzatti in La Bayadère, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, and, on the very eve of the competition, she made her debut as Juliet to great acclaim. The dancer managed to combine competition preparations and her debut in Romeo and Juliet by rehearsing practically around the clock.
“Oksana works hard. She doesn’t give herself a second’s rest”, says Mikhail Messerer. “There are two groups in the dance class, and Oksana works in both of them without a break. She always puts everything she has into the dance class, even if she has a stressful rehearsal afterwards and an evening performance.” The choreographer considers Oksana Bondareva’s great virtue to be her ability to create a special, life-affirming atmosphere on stage. “She transmits her love of life to the audience. If I had to describe Oksana’s dancing in one word, I would call it ‘alive’. There is a sense of something real and sincere about it.”
In 2009, Mikhail Messerer, Principal Guest Ballet Master of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, entrusted Oksana Bondareva with the pas de deux in Swan Lake, although she had only just joined the company. “Some of my colleagues weren’t sure that I’d done the right thing”, admits the choreographer, but nobody now doubts his decision. Four years later, Oksana Bondareva’s repertoire includes classic roles such as Kitri in Don Quixote, Medora in Le Corsaire, Gamzatti in La Bayadère, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, and, on the very eve of the competition, she made her debut as Juliet to great acclaim. The dancer managed to combine competition preparations and her debut in Romeo and Juliet by rehearsing practically around the clock.
“Oksana works hard. She doesn’t give herself a second’s rest”, says Mikhail Messerer. “There are two groups in the dance class, and Oksana works in both of them without a break. She always puts everything she has into the dance class, even if she has a stressful rehearsal afterwards and an evening performance.” The choreographer considers Oksana Bondareva’s great virtue to be her ability to create a special, life-affirming atmosphere on stage. “She transmits her love of life to the audience. If I had to describe Oksana’s dancing in one word, I would call it ‘alive’. There is a sense of something real and sincere about it.”
