Video shows ballet Gayane performed on Vaganova graduation performance 2010, with two very special graduates. They are not as talked about as 2011 grads, Olga Smirnova and Kristina Shapran, but they are equally or even more remarkable.
First one, Oksana Marchuk is easy to recognise because of her irresistable smile, which can't be missed even if you sit in in the balcony of Mariinsky Theatre. I can swear that everything is getting brighter when she smiles. But even her smile can't outshine her other qualities - contagious joy of dancing and musical sensibility which allows her to express all nuances of the music. These are things that can't be taught, even in Vaganova Academy. It is her personality what makes her so special.
The other is Valeria Zapasnikova, who has everything that ballerina should have: she's musical, emotional and expressive. In Gayane she performed two different roles and in both she was remarkable. In famous Sabre Dance she was like fire, in Aishe's adagio she was tender and lyrical, but not less expressive than in Sabre. In both roles she was incredibly feminine. That can't be taught either.
Oksana Marchuk is now in Mariinsky corps de ballet but let's hope that her future is as bright as her smile. She would be outstanding in Amour variation in Don Quixote, Manu from Bayadere, Princess Florine, Syumbike from Shurale and in many many other roles. Valeria Zapasnikova is rising star of Mikhailovsky ballet, which she joined after graduation as a coryphee. In her first year she danced many roles, including Lilac Fairy from Sleeping Beauty.
Video contains fragments of two performances.
1. Oksana Marchuk as Noune, entrance and variation (begins in 3:00)
2. Valeria Zapasnikova in famous Sabre Dance (begins in 4:50)
2nd performance
1. again Oksana Marchuk as Noune (begins in 7:37, variation in 10:43)
2. Valeria Zapasnikova as Aishe's dance (begins in 12:33)