For several years, the Mariinsky, still known in Europe and the United States by its Soviet-era name, the Kirov, seemed petrified. Talk about its dance company centered on the sameness of the repertoire, a suffocating devotion to classical ballet. Now it has Lopatkina. We can dance everywhere. We can experience new choreography.
Nothing is forbidden.
So I can be here and also in the world. A British critic has called her a gift from God. For Russian ballet, Lopatkina's look is new and startling. Wide eyes dwarf a little mouth. Now 26, Lopatkina graduated from the prestigious Vaganova ballet school, where she'd studied since age 9.