tigger

I may have missed the topic - anybody see the Innovation program this week? Any thoughts? tigger

La ronde, anyone? Or is that more jaded than erotic? I've never seen the ballet The Lesson but Ionesco's play was not even remotely sexy. The professor is seriously disturbed, but not in that way. I wonder where this journalist is getting his or her facts from?

I thought she went by Suki before joining NYCB? At least, Joan Brady always calles her Suki in her autobiography and doesn't say anything about the name change. There's an interesting perspective of Ms Schorer in the Unmaking of a Dancer. The two went to school together in San Francisco, both ballet and academic, and eventually ended up in New York together.

Chan Hon Goh is expecting, and will be taking time off this season. She's going to be returning in time for the 2006/7 season. Link to media release below: http://www.national.ballet.ca/Media/showPr...p?id=20050909-1 "Principal Dancer Chan Hon Goh Expecing her First Child" ps. sorry about my last attempt to post this

I was surprised by the low-key treatment too. There was more in the media about Italian Straw Hat than about Lamy's retirement. It's too bad her last performance was on Mother's Day, because many people would have already made other plans. Last year Rex Harrington got a large picture on the front of the Arts and Entertainment page when he retired... although as I recall, his last performance was also a Sunday afternoon? Also, why can't the company afford to keep one of their biggest stars when they have the money to expand the company when they move in 2006? It's sad. I saw her on Thursday, and she was wonderful! There was a very long standing ovation. She is indeed a consummate actress--as soon as she steps on the stage, she commands your attention. She also has a marvellous voice. I hope she keeps performing (in Canada.) She mentioned in one article an interest in dancing in Europe.

I saw the Sat evening perfomance, I'm glad I finally got to see Cinderella. It was very very enjoyable, thoroughly absorbing. The whole left side of the orchestra section was practically empty though. I was expecting it to sell out too. I am curious why Molina was called in as a replacement. Has he danced Kudelka's version before? Wouldn't it have been easier to train one of the other soloists, or something? (Unless they're all busy on the other two spring programs)

Paquita's review -- this link should take you there. (And what a thoughtful review it was too!) It's from spring of 2002, for some reason I thought The Contract was created last year.

:shhh: psst moderators! just wondering why this post (about national ballet of canada) is in the cuban forum... i mean, political relations are friendly and all, but still... (feel free to delete this post if inappropriate).

I'm back! There wasn't much dance to see, after all. I saw the Fonteyn exhibit--small, but very nice. There were short video clips of her at the barre (and talking), Romeo and Juliet, etc, lots of pictures and clippings, and actual costumes and evening wear. One of the more interesting pictures was a series of twelve photos showing mime. I got an access card but didn't have time to watch anything. Movin' out was too expensive, sadly, but at least Hairspray is playing up here. I also took two (ballet) classes, and one of them had a most amazing accompanist! He played concert-worthy repertoire! I had dinner on Mott St. It was the worst Chinese food I've ever eaten, so bad in fact that I'm sure it was an anomaly. (That it was half-empty should have been a clue). The Frick was nice. I particularly liked the muted pinks and greys of the Whistlers ("Mme Meux was actually chubbier than Whistler depicted..." says the audio guide), and the gorgeous Vermeers of course. There's even a ballet connection: a Degas (called The Rehearsal, I think?) with three ballerinas looking like "puppets on strings" and a violinist looking "wonderfully pathetic," according to the audio guide. I was staying right across from Madison Square Gardens, and boy was it crowded. It was kind of neat seeing just how many police there are in NYC.

Oh, goody, more (cheap) things to do! Well, I'm heading out tomorrow morning. Thank you all so much for your help.

Thanks for those calendars, Alexandra. They're exactly what I'm looking for. I don't know about that experimental program, hmm...maybe... but I'll definitely look into that exhibit, NextStage. Republican Convention? Horror of horrors. (Reminder to self: read newspaper before planning trips.) I have a question about museums, actually. Do they accept (Canadian) university student cards as proof of student status? Or ISIC (international student identity cards) ? Another thought--are there still any bookstores that specialize in dance? I remember reading about one that went out of business last year. Food, yes, that would be a good idea. With that sort of statement I just have to see if NYC has any decent Asian food, lol. Leigh, have you ever tried the Chinese restaurants in Scarborough and Richmond Hill?

gracey, you're so lucky to have seen Ogden's Aurora! Leigh--you're welcome! Writing it down helps me remember what I saw ;) Reading Paquita's review made me wonder: what makes a good Aurora? To me, Greta Hodgkinson on Tuesday was good, but not spectacular (my apologies to any of her admirers out there, it might have been the bad seats). My main quibble is that when she looked down at her hand during the balances, that made them look difficult.

Hi, I'm not sure where to post this because it's not really about any specific ballet company, and a search under "new york city performances" turned up 7,000 posts... I'm going to be in NYC next week (Weds Sept 1-Sat Sept 4) and, well, how can one visit the dance mecca of North America and not do something dance-related? However, it looks like neither NYCB nor ABT are performing (so much for cheap student tickets, darn). Dance Theater of Harlem's schedule doesn't go beyond July. 1. Does anyone know of any performances during that time? Ballet preferably, but I love modern/contemporary too. (Ok, even broadway... I've heard "Movin' Out" is good?) 2. Are there any special exhibits or anything like that? I know the public library has lots of videos and things, but I don't know if watching all the Balanchine I can get my hands on is the best use of such a short visit. 3. Is there anything else in particular you'd recommend doing in NYC? (I'll be shopping at Capezio of course and maybe taking class somewhere, but my family doesn't like dance). Aside from the obvious touristy statue of liberty and times square, which we saw briefly before. I'm sure there have been tons of posts like this before, so if someone could point me in the right direction (such as better keywords for searching) that would be great! Also, I remember seeing a locked thread a while ago about "this week in NYC" which listed events (not just links)? It got updated regularly. Maybe written by Ari? I can't find it anymore. Thanks!

The third and last feature on the programme was excerpts from Nureyev's "Sleeping Beauty." We saw the fairies bestowing gifts, from the prologue; the rose adagio; the pussycats; the bluebird pdd; and the wedding pdd. A quick glance at the program notes shows that Ormsby Wilkins will not be conducting on Thursday (rather, Norman Reintamm). I noticed before the show that even with the more delicate Vaughan Williams, Mr. Wilkins was putting his head and whole upper body into the conducting. But I digress. The fairies in their gorgeous tutus and silly feathered headpieces were: Tanya Howard, Je-an Salas and Jillian Vanstone, Rebekah Rimsay, Lisa Robinson, Alejandra Perez-Gomez, and Julie Hay as the lead fairy in powder blue, who gets two cavaliers to stand and watch as she dances her variation, compared to only one for everyone else. I always enjoy watching Ms Hay, and she was very nice in the group sections, but by the time she did her solo, a majestic one full of long lines and pirouettes, things started getting shaky. But of course, she had been on stage for a very long time already and was probably tired. The suitors, btw, were Richard Landry, Avi Silverman, Colau, Kevin Bowles (I think), Lavoie, Stanczyk, and Etienne Lavigne. Next was Greta Hodgkinson as Princess Aurora, and Antonijevic as Prince Florimund, along with three of the the other suitors (I think one of them was Landry, here?). It's too bad they couldn't include a few more excerpts, to see Princess Aurora transforming from a young girl into someone ready to become queen. The audience started clapping wildly as soon as she let go of her suitor in the last promenade. A very appreciative audience, made up largely of the knowledgeable more mature folk (seniors), a couple of families with very young children (who were clearly not appreciated when they started crying), plus several rows of the college-age-ish standing in the back. The pussycats, Tanya Evidente and Daisuke Ohno, were a crowd pleaser, as usual. I particularly liked the way they stayed in character, afterwards--even when partially hidden by other dancers in the finale, he kept nibbling her arm and she kept batting him away. Bluebird was danced by Keiichi Hirano and Princess Florine by Stacey Shiori Minagawa. They dance well together. Unfortunately this was not one of Keiichi's better days, as he stumbled once (maybe the stage was slippery?) and seemed more cautious afterwards. And finally there was the wedding pdd, a version of which, incidentally, you can see on Greta's home page (http://www.gretahodgkinson.com). The audience loved this too. All in all, it was well worth the wait! Many thanks go to the dancers and the musicians who took time off from their summers to put on these performances.

Next up on the programme was "there, below," a shorter Kudelka work (from 1989). I had seen it already last season and loved it. The music was "Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis" by Ralph vaughn Williams, primarily strings, and has a transcendental quality. The costumes were unfortunate for such a chilly evening--nude unitards/tights (gold coloured, with the lighting), with wavy fronds of sparkly blue-green. Very otherworldly. "there, below" has many slow, sustained passages, like wading through water, like stretching out time. According to an old programme, some of the poses are taken from Greek vases (eg one where a couple is half-crouching, holding on to each other with arms outstretched, heads down, torsos hollowed out and feet close together so that they almost form the shape of a heart, or an apple). These may be Greek statues brought to life, but they aren't human either, they don't move at human speed (or lack of it), they don't have human expressions, and that is a marvellous thing to behold. The first couple was Heather Ogden and Guillaume Côté, a wonderful way to begin. Their section was quite exuberent. The second couple was Alejandra Perez-Gomez and Patrick Lavoie; she looked very Sphinx-like. The third couple was Sophie Letendre and Richard Landry, who appeared to be struggling with the lifts. They enter with her curled up on his shoulder, and their section included several turns with her hanging off of his outstretched arm. Kudelka never fails to supply us with original ideas and dazzlingly difficult tricks, and it worked well here. Actually, all of the couples had very athletic lifts and turns, etc, and when juxtaposed with the moments of stillness, the tricks didn't overwhelm the dancing or the mood. The fourth couple was Martine Lamy and Piotr Stanczyk, who had their own cheering section over by stage left Their section started off with a fully extended lift (legs _and_ arms stretched on both of them, very impressive) and had a lot of (squeaky) floor work. Very hard to see unless perhaps you were in the third row, unfortunately, as the stage is very high. Then there was a section for all ten dancers, followed by a duet with the last couple, Jennifer Fournier and Ryan Boorne. Mr. Boorne needs a haircut, but the dancing was lovely.