Blondie

I also saw the Saturday night performance. I was seated in Left Center Row K, and it was hard to see some of the action that was based on the floor. It was a bit of a culture shock to see the languid movements in Chopiniana. For me, it was a little sugary, although well danced. When the Kirov dancers move, they move as one - unlike Boston Ballet dancers, who are less synchronous. I liked the staging of Scherazade, but I agree that the Zobeide dancer wasn't particularly appealing. Slinky, but somehow not right. The Golden Slave, on the other hand, was terrific. Does anyone remember who played the Golden Slave? It was announced over the loudspeaker at the beginning, but I didn't catch it. He was very sexy - bold and powerful in his leaps. I loved how he leaped over the scimitar in the murder scene. He was a big man, but I could see Nijinsky and Nureyev in the role through his dancing. The Kirov does well in the big scenes - the orgy scene in Scherazade and the devil scene in Firebird. The choreography and the costumes were magnificent. The Firebird started off awkwardly, I thought. The Firebird was played by a very tall woman, and the Ivan character by a rather short, squat man. He seemed to have a little trouble stretching high enough to turn the Firebird, but he did better next to the petite Princess. All in all, a very passionate, vibrant evening. Well worth seeing.

I go to opera and to ballet. Ballet is my first love, but I'm also a big opera fan - particularly the Paris Opera. There was an interesting exhibition this summer here at Harvard at the Busch Reisinger Museum on Natalia Goncharova's designs for Le Coq d'Or. I was most intrigued to discover that it was originally staged (1913, 1914?) as a ballet/opera. The set design featured two huge bleachers on either side of the proscenium with 80 singers stacked on on top of the other! Apparently, when it was revived after the war, the Rimsky-Korsakov family (I hope I'm getting this right) objected to the combination of ballet and opera, so it was performed only as a ballet. I was told, though, that it is not a particularly interesting ballet. Is that true? My source of information was uniquely qualified to judge.

This is slightly off topic, but I'm wondering if anyone saw the Stravinsky program at the Metropolitan Opera that featured Kirov Opera singers and dancers from the NYC Ballet. It was conducted by the Kirov's Valery Gergiev. I didn't see anything listed on our topics under NYC Ballet, so I'm raising it under the Kirov section. I read about it in the New Yorker recently and was fascinated that they are reviving the tradition of combining ballet and opera. They performed Le Sacre du Printemps, Le Rossignol and Oedipus Rex. Apparently Le Rossignol was the most successful of the three. Damian Woetzel danced the Fisherman, and the Nightingale was danced by Julie Kent. It was my favorite children's story growing up, and I am so curious about the ballet. It's Balanchine. Did anyone see the Kirov perform it?

I went to the panel discussion on Monday night, and I am going to the Kirov on Saturday. I thought that Mr. Vasiev really dominated the conversation, and Mikko could barely get a word in crosswise. Since they have such differences in perspective, I would have wanted to hear more from Mikko. Or at least more point /counterpoint, particularly on the subject of ballet in the 21st Century. Mr. Vasiev seems to be a guardian of the past, while Mikko is very interested in advancing the art form into the 21st century by commissioning new works and staging contemporary ballets. He touched on it briefly when he spoke about Fokine and how Isadora Duncan's tour of Russia in the early part of the last century had a profound effect on him. Once Fokine had seen the freedom of movement Duncan brought to dance, it struck such a chord in him that he couldn't forget it. His view of dancing was forever changed. Mikko demonstrated a little the difference in movement. He mentioned Picasso, and how once you've seen the Cubist paintings, you can't forget their difference to representational art. He said that dance must evolve organically from new influences. You don't so much reject the past as grow from it. Mr. Vasiev couldn't or wouldn't address the future, while Mikko seems to be bringing the future to us in Boston in the form of such works as The Grey Area.

I'm wondering what, if anything, any of the local Boston Ballet fans have done to register their indignation with the Wang Center Board of Trustees over their decision to evict the Nutcracker? I've written a letter to the Board, which I am also sending to Mayor Menino's Office and to the Boston Globe and Herald. I've also been telephoning friends of mine on the Wang Center Board and registering my opinion. I know it's not going to do much more than give me an opportunity to vent, but it can't hurt to express an opinion. I was appalled to read in Sunday's Globe that the touring company of the Rockettes has caused a severe downturn in Nutcracker sales to regional ballet companies throughout the United States. In turn, the regional directors have downplayed the "high culture" aspect of the Nutcracker, which I think is a grave mistake. One friend on mine on the Wang Board suggested that the Ballet should alternate years in Boston and go to Providence and Worcester in between times to build audiences. There has been a lot of talk about the expense of taking a production on the road, but does anyone have a clear sense of how much it actually would cost to take a large scale production such as Boston Ballet's Nutcracker on the road? I need to marshall my facts in order to respond!

I saw Lorna Feijoo on opening night of Don Quixote, and I was blown away by her charm and personality in the role. She was technically proficient, as well, but it was not a cold performance by any means. Her proficiency only served to underscore her acting ability in the part of Kitri. I also was struck by Sarah Lamb that evening as the Street Dancer. She had a sinuous elegance to her dancing. I was particularly impressed by The Grey Area on the Stars and Stripes evening. I saw it on the Friday night - the day the Wang Center/Nutcracker debacle hit the press. Some dancers I wasn't wild about in Don Quixote really hit their stride during The Grey Area and gave a performance of transcendant lyricism and beauty. Overall, I'd say we're just beginning to see the levels of artistry the dancers and Mikko have in store for us!

Hi Everyone! This is my first posting, but I received an announcement yesterday that Mikko Nissinen will be participating in a panel discussion for the FleetBoston Celebrity Series and the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. The title of the discussion is "Dancing Through Time: The Kirov, St. Petersburg, and Ballet into the 21st Century." The discussion is on Monday, November 10 at 7 PM at the Schubert Theatre. It's free and open to the public. In addition to Mikko, other participants are Makhar Vaziev, Director of the Kirov Ballet; Julie Buckler, Harris K. Weston Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at Harvard University; and Harlow Robinson, Professor of History and Modern Languages at Northeastern University. Should be interesting! Blondie