dancefan88

I have been reading ballet alert for quite some time. I felt the need to join to share my two cents. My personal opinion is, a lot people I know seem to have a problem with NYCB. I think it was great to see MCB's take on Balanchine. Edward Villela is a legend, and since he is coming to end of his career, it was nice to see his work expressed and documented for the historical purposes. I tried to enjoy and not compare to NYCB, ABT or SFB because they are not. However, there has to be a reason PBS wanted to film the company. They could have done it live in a theater like other companies but for some reason they filmed it like the old Balanchine works in the studio. Maybe for historical purposes? Maybe because Edward is coming to an end? Insight into 2nd generation Balanchine? For me, in time it will be great look into Balanchines legacy. Saying that, goes for the Golden Section. Not many companies do it, because not many companies have the ability to. It may not be everyones style or cup of tea. How many people want to forget what they wore in the 70's or 80's? How any ballerinas can do 'Theme' and then rock out to 70's jazz? It is a stylistic, period piece... instead of judging that it is cheap, not a show stopper or for everybody.. maybe we could think about why they chose to film this or how amazing that these young dancers can try to mimic this point in time like no one else. Doesn't the New York Times always try to accuse NYCB of not being like old-school city ballet? Balanchine is clearly more respected, however at the end of the day, Balanchine dancers are also following dancers from that era. I give credit to these dancers for giving it a go even if this piece or period is not well respected. For historical purposes, I think it has significance. As for the grins and sets.. Different people show all sorts of emotions when they dance. Miami dancers are known for their passion, youth, joy, speed. Maybe they just love to dance and are having fun? Maybe they are compensating for things they lack? Jeanette Delgardo made the top 10 cultural events of the year from the New Yorker after bringing Square Dance to City Center. She is known for being warm, open, engaging and inviting. Imagine you take away the grin, replace her with someone that is showing you amazing feet but doesn't give anything else.. would that be engaging for tv? For the sets, to me it would not be very interesting for tv to see a typical Balanchine blue screen. Not only do you see how dancers look today, you also see how technology has progressed with the angles and projected sets. I believe that this program wasn't that impressive when compared to things like Cirque. The leg can only go so high, the body can only stretch that much. Not trying to project my opinion.. but I fear that most people don't realize is that they filmed MCB because they brought qualities rarely seen or appreciated these days such as speed, precision, movement and joy. Any other major company, the focus is on the physical. Congratulations MCB! As for the program choice.. Maybe it was up to the Balanchine trust and not MCB or PBS?