#classical ballet
Okay, so when it comes to the Yuri on Ice!!! costume discourse, everyone turns to Seung-Gil Lee first.
Which is fairly understandable. The man looks like the lovechild of a parrot and a feather duster with an ambition to become a male stripper.
But at least the costume vaguely reflected the mood of his program (even if his face didn’t). My main costume grievance is with Otabek Altin’s short program costume. As a former classical ballet dancer, and as in the case of every classical ballet dancer I know who saw this costume, I immediately thought of the ballet La Fille Mal Gardee. I mean, look at this:
(minus the grey coat)
and this:
That’s not necessarily terrible though, La Fille Mal Gardee has an aesthetic… Mind you, whoever designed this boy’s costume has some questionable color and style choices but the overall aesthetic could work. I’m just fairly sure the La Fille farm-youngsters-frolicking-through-the-fields aesthetic wasn’t what his choreographer and he were going for. I mean, it’s Otabek, who seems like the kind of guy always going for drama and strength in his programs. His nickname is literally the “Hero of Kazakhstan.”
To give you an idea of the aesthetic and mood of this ballet, have a few more pictures:
I call this one “The Horse Part.” Also some other names that probably shouldn’t be used in front of your ballet master.
The “Mama” is a humorous, dramatic, flamboyant character, often played by a man. She really doesn’t want her daughter marrying the horse impersonator dude.
And last but not least, the characters everyone in ballet probably think of first when they hear this ballet mentioned. The iconic, the notorious, the extraordinary, the unmistakable…
…chickens.
And yes, this is a real, serious, historic ballet.
So yeah, I’m not sure this is what Otabek Altin, Hero of Kazakhstan is trying to convey.
tldr: Please get this boy a wardrobe upgrade. He looks like a character from a classical ballet about a farm, which, among other things, involves men in full chicken costumes, on-stage mother daughter spanking, and the lead girl hitching the lead guy up with ribbons and prancing him around the stage like a horse.
(On a side note, Seung-Gil’s costume would not look out of place in this ballet.)
