During the Australian Season the Bolshoi ballet demonstrated their sense of style in Balanchine’s neoclassical "Jewels". The Bolshoi version was accepted warmly by both the audience and critics. Artem and his partner Ekaterina Krysanova received a very encouraging press for the lead couple in "Rubies" — the second part of the triptych.

Before that came Rubies, cheekily playing off Stravinsky’s music with a good chunk of Broadway pizazz – at its most fun with a group of men pacing through ballet, football and stage musicals. Everyone worked hard but it was the mercurial Artem Ovcharenko who really got it.

 — Brisbane Times & The Sidney Morning Herald

The dancers could inject a snappier sense of Broadway pizzazz into the movement, but they radiated a playful sense of fun, with Artem Ovcharenko a standout.  — Limelight

<…> lead couple Ekaterina Krysanova and Artem Ovcharenko competed for virtuosic supremacy, in a light-hearted but dazzling pas de deux of plunging penchés, high extensions and flying jetés.  — Dance Australia

Rubies was made to Stravinsky’s irresistibly propulsive, restless Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. There were moments when a little more Broadway-style fizz and snap would have been welcome from the corps. There was more than enough compensation, though, from Ekaterina Krysanova and Artem Ovcharenko in their dramatically large-scaled pas de deux and Ovcharenko’s quiet wit as the men delightfully jogged as if on a run in New York’s Central Park.

 — The Australian

Like the early throes of adolescent love, this piece was enticing, playful and uplifting. Cheeky hip thrusts and passionate leaps imbued the work with jazz-like textural hues. Lively spins by the male dancers at the crescendo quickened the heart and offered amazing visuals. —  ArtsHub


Photo © Darren Thomas — Ekaterina Krysanova and Artem Ovcharenko as Lead Couple in "Rubies" at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane — June 6, 2019