Check out my latest YouTube video, an analysis of Leonid Sarafanov’s Don Quixote solos from a 2006 Mariinsky Ballet performance in Vienna. The solos, captured on a 2009 DVD from Decca, are some of the finest representations of the iconic work with stellar leaps, intricate turns, gorgeous extension, all done with impeccable technique and form. This is an all around great example of the male solos from Don Quixote with Leonid flashing considerable razzle dazzle and bravura with no technique compromises. I also look at Olesya Novikova’s Kitri stellar fouettés. Olesya and Leonid are a pair off stage, married with three children.
I have seen Leonid live in New York in 2014 in Giselle and Flames of Paris when the Mikhailovsky Ballet visited Lincoln Center and when he was a guest artist at American Ballet Theatre’s La Bayadére in 2015 with Maria Kochetkova. I am impressed with his great line, leaping, and turning skills. Check out photos of Leonid from notmydayjobphotography.com.
Check out my YouTube channel with a ballet video dictionary and analysis of solos from Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ivan Vasiliev, and Herman Cornejo. With performances cancelled until at least the fall, I hope to post more videos.