The Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerina has been awarded this prestigious title by the respected German publication for the best debut last season. This was the high ranking afforded to Alina Somova for her first performance as Raymonda in the eponymous ballet by Alexander Glazunov (choreography by Marius Petipa) which took place on 10 May this year at the Mariinsky Theatre. This role is known as one of the most challenging in the classical ballet repertoire, both in terms of the dance language (in the ballet the dancer performs five variations) as well as the emotional colour of the dance – each of the solo variations depicts different facets of the character’s personality.
It was these aspects that drew particular admiration from the critics and influenced the magazine’s choice in its traditional summing-up of the season’s results: “The ballerina’s refined technique allowed her to focus on the development of the image of Raymonda entirely, her portrait glimmering with the colours of genuine emotions. Somova convincingly demonstrated the awakening of the female soul. And Glazunov’s music did not sound like an external effective accompaniment to the dance; quite the reverse, its sounds literally blended in and melted into the ballerina’s movements. It is indeed rare to witness such unique and enchanting debuts.”
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