martykihn

alexandra and leigh- you're right, of course; the last-minute substitution was to blame for any idiosyncracies, particularly in martins' performance. my apologies.

Nikolaj Hubbe was injured, so Martins' "Jeu de Cartes" was replaced on the program by "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" (w/ Nilas Martins replacing Hubbe). though an incomparably superior work to "Cartes," of course, the last-minute shuffle conspired to make this one of the most ragged performances I've ever seen delivered by a visibly rattled NYCB. Martins appeared to be watching Albert Evans very closely, as though for cues to steps he had forgotten (though in his defense Martins rose to the occasion and did some beautiful stuff). and what's with Monique Meunier? her jumps are awfully low to the ground... "Morgen" was also on the bill. the second time through (for me) brought out the paucity of its choreographic pallette: it's a ballet made up of men lifting women and spinning slowly in a clockwise direction, like a sink drain. boo again.

I just read this book, written by Greg Lawrence (he collaborated w/ his g.f. Gelsey Kirkland on the memorable "Dancing on My Grave"). it's quite long, stylistically what you'd call "chatty" -- the product of a prodigious number of rather revealing interviews w/ those who knew Robbins, often shoehorned into the text w/out much editing or interpretation on the part of Lawrence. as a piece of prose it may be deficient, but thought of as a chronologically-arranged series of interviews (a la Peter Manso's "Mailer" or George Plimpton's "Edie") it's very interesting. Lawrence got many, many people to talk, and it's a good -- if not entirely thoughtful -- read. how does Robbins emerge? in fact, he doesn't. we get a picture of a nasty, tortured, brutal man who was capable of stunning acts of kindness; a man who had sadistic quirks of personality but appears to have been the only person on earth to awe Balanchine; a man who loved kids and dogs, but not himself. p.s., it contains some more texture to the ongoing "Did Balanchine want Martins to succeed him?" controversy. the answer appears to be no. (see p.450-55) NYCB manager Betty Cage is quoted calling the Board "stupid" and the chairman "dumb", picking Martins before G.B.'s death basically because he looked the part. another great quote (from Wilma Curly), regarding G.B.: "George hated the school [s.A.B.]. He wouldn't go there. And every time I hear the quote, 'First a school,' I want to throw up. He hated the school."

and again I would remind you of the great Jerome Robbins, who went back and forth between ballet and B'way for years and years, even starting his own company at one point (Ballet: USA) before abandoning it; even trying his hand at straight plays ("Dad Poor Dad" by Arthur Kopit) before abandoning them; even trying films (w/out joy). he didn't settle down with Balanchine et al until he was pushing 50. I can't imagine at his age Wheeldon would be wise to restrict his stylistic options or collaborative options in any way ...

it's great news i think; the best news being that Martins has the knowing confidence to hire on a young man who's already better than he is. the gala premiere last thursday appeared, from my seat in the audience, to be a rousing vindication of Wheeldon's ability to excite a crowd; the enthusiasm for his lite but interesting "variations serieuses" was realer than the tepid hand-claps that greeted Martins' "Morgen." (the NYT's Kisselgoff disagrees of course.) everyone knows that NYCB is the greatest company int he world, but what it needs is a fresh supply of great dances that can somehow stand alongside balanchine and robbins; martins is unable to provide these. wheeldon looks like he might. remember also, lest we get too too excited, jerome robbins came and went into NYCB until finally settling down for good when he was almost a half-century old.

The spring break seems to have done its usual work on the company's precision -- a factor particularly apparent during the classical footwork of Divertimento. Jerome Robbins' "Concert" suited the back-to-school mood better, with an almost crazed slapdash Weese driving the bus of clowns. (Much funnier than "The Producers" on B'way, which I saw yesterday.) I'm very much looking forward to Christopher Wheeldon's ballet tonight (5/10). My favorite review of Ash: "I can not talk about Ash." (who can?)