7 replies to this topic

[Paul Parish]

I did NOT see the triple saut de basque, alas....

sauts de basque are SUCH dangerous steps.. seems like people twist their knees in them all the time....

Yes, I Saw Guennadi standing in the aisle, too -- he didn't look uncomfortable --

But this role isn't one a person could undertake if he wasn't in prime shape -- it's like Tristan, it makes SUCH heavy demands -- 3 (or is it 4?) acts. virtuoso pirouettes, virtuoso jumps you've never seen before, one-arm press lifts -- walking AROUND with her up in a one-arm press lift, not to mention tours in that turned-in bent-kneed position, and arabesque swivels on high half-toe with the knee bent -- and nearly everything finishes to hte knee, with a back-bend yet.....

Boada made all that look like a kid on a skateboard -- with such high spirits, such good nature, such sweet rascality.... It was a phenomenal performance....

But I have to say, since people are getting  -- me too, I am also -- getting all fired up about the irony of his getting fired on the eve of such a triumph, HIS EXPRESSIVE RANGE IS LIMITED. THis is not personal -- in fact, i've been at a dinner party he came to and his demeanor that night was so modest and gracious, I can hardly imagine anybody famous handling themselves better these days.

I'm talking about his stage personality. There's no doubt he'd be delightful in Coppellia (but that's not in the SFB rep). He's a top dog -- heroic all right, but it's got to be very earthy. Don Q is almost the first thing he's done since Etudes (which was the first hting I saw him in) in which he looked right -- and what made Etudes all right was that way he put  the pedal to the metal and pulled those pirouettes together and pushed the finale over hte top. He was NOT great in Prodigal Son, though he could jump big, he was prosaic and heavy as the character. He was NOT any good AT ALL in that Baryshnikov piece (can it have been Vestris?)... He WAS fabulous in Magrittomania, bu he couldn't have done the lead.... (I don't mean the steps, I mean the affect would have been all wrong, it's way too dark and alienated.)

[Paul Parish]

I did NOT see the triple saut de basque, alas....

sauts de basque are SUCH dangerous steps.. seems like people twist their knees in them all the time....

Yes, I Saw Guennadi standing in the aisle, too -- he didn't look uncomfortable --

But this role isn't one a person could undertake if he wasn't in prime shape -- it's like Tristan, it makes SUCH heavy demands -- 3 (or is it 4?) acts. virtuoso pirouettes, virtuoso jumps you've never seen before, one-arm press lifts -- walking AROUND with her up in a one-arm press lift, not to mention tours in that turned-in bent-kneed position, and arabesque swivels on high half-toe with the knee bent -- and nearly everything finishes to hte knee, with a back-bend yet.....

Boada made all that look like a kid on a skateboard -- with such high spirits, such good nature, such sweet rascality.... It was a phenomenal performance....

But I have to say, since people are getting  -- me too, I am also -- getting all fired up about the irony of his getting fired on the eve of such a triumph, HIS EXPRESSIVE RANGE IS LIMITED. THis is not personal -- in fact, i've been at a dinner party he came to and his demeanor that night was so modest and gracious, I can hardly imagine anybody famous handling themselves better these days.

I'm talking about his stage personality. There's no doubt he'd be delightful in Coppellia (but that's not in the SFB rep). He's a top dog -- heroic all right, but it's got to be very earthy. Don Q is almost the first thing he's done since Etudes (which was the first hting I saw him in) in which he looked right -- and what made Etudes all right was that way he put  the pedal to the metal and pulled those pirouettes together and pushed the finale over hte top. He was NOT great in Prodigal Son, though he could jump big, he was prosaic and heavy as the character. He was NOT any good AT ALL in that Baryshnikov piece (can it have been Vestris?)... He WAS fabulous in Magrittomania, bu he couldn't have done the lead.... (I don't mean the steps, I mean the affect would have been all wrong, it's way too dark and alienated.)

[dirac]

The timing of the firing could certainly be better, but there is never a good time for such things.  Boada will be missed, we should not inflate him into the Second Coming of Nijinsky.  I'm afraid I found his Prodigal dull.  (I should note for the record that under other circumstances I'd never go out of my way to say anything bad about someone who's just lost his job, but some corrective may be needed at this point.)

I'm looking forward to seeing Zahorian and Garcia, too, if I can.  So much ballet, so little time.

[dirac]

Well, I'd rather not comment at length,if only to avoid even the implication that some dancers are expendable (I might feel that way, but never say it in print, even Internet print.  However, I'm sure you mean no harm, Ballet Nearby, and welcome aboard, by the way.)  I can say in reference to dancers that have already taken their leave that I miss Lacarra more than I thought I might, but have experienced no wistful yearning for her other half.  The next time Giselle comes around, I'll definitely miss Roman Rykine.  

When Maffre leaves, I'll go into elaborate Victorian mourning.

[dirac]

Well, I'd rather not comment at length,if only to avoid even the implication that some dancers are expendable (I might feel that way, but never say it in print, even Internet print.  However, I'm sure you mean no harm, Ballet Nearby, and welcome aboard, by the way.)  I can say in reference to dancers that have already taken their leave that I miss Lacarra more than I thought I might, but have experienced no wistful yearning for her other half.  The next time Giselle comes around, I'll definitely miss Roman Rykine.  

When Maffre leaves, I'll go into elaborate Victorian mourning.

[Paul Parish]

Wel, I miss Tina already -- she'd have been a fiery Kitri. THough she may not be as interested in dacing such aggressive roles now as she used to be -- since hse had her first baby, she's become a softer, more reflective dancer..... I guess all I mean is, she's really expanded her expresive rnge. Ballet Nearby, I too will never forget those lifts in Giselle -- I didn't see the particular effct you're describing, for I was following the line of her back as she arc'd through hte air -- it was comparable to Vasiliev and Maximova, how hig, soft, effortless, poetic.... they were wonderfully attuned....

And i agree, I miss Julia Adam -- she was ALWAYS interesting, and never hte same -- so versatile. She could be an exquisitely delicate fairy one evening and a brassy dance hall girl another, with very sexy legs.....



But I agree with Dirac, it feels like bad magicv to talk about who you're going to miss......

Roman Rykine must be in town visiting -- I'd swear I saw him in hte audience the other night (I saw MAkarova, too, for sure, but she lives here.)

PS BalletNearby, I HAVE had a similar experience watching the light gleam on a dancer's shoes -- it was watching a video, and I was watching Allegra kent in one of my all time favorite things, hte grand pas de deux from the second act of Midsummer Night's Dream - -when I came to (that's the only way to put it) I realized I'd just been watching her HEELS -- one minute she was in second position, the next in fourth, back to second, back to fourth..... I was mesmerized....I guess i'm bragging, but it feels preposterous to admit paying such devoted attention to such a thing -- but it was as if my life depended on it.... But it's TRUE, that's what we do -- we're just watching ,and sometimes these visionary things happen, when the phenomena seem to go numinous;  you think 'there must be a better world, for I think I've just seen it')

we should maybe make this a thread of its own....

[Paul Parish]

Wel, I miss Tina already -- she'd have been a fiery Kitri. THough she may not be as interested in dacing such aggressive roles now as she used to be -- since hse had her first baby, she's become a softer, more reflective dancer..... I guess all I mean is, she's really expanded her expresive rnge. Ballet Nearby, I too will never forget those lifts in Giselle -- I didn't see the particular effct you're describing, for I was following the line of her back as she arc'd through hte air -- it was comparable to Vasiliev and Maximova, how hig, soft, effortless, poetic.... they were wonderfully attuned....

And i agree, I miss Julia Adam -- she was ALWAYS interesting, and never hte same -- so versatile. She could be an exquisitely delicate fairy one evening and a brassy dance hall girl another, with very sexy legs.....



But I agree with Dirac, it feels like bad magicv to talk about who you're going to miss......

Roman Rykine must be in town visiting -- I'd swear I saw him in hte audience the other night (I saw MAkarova, too, for sure, but she lives here.)

PS BalletNearby, I HAVE had a similar experience watching the light gleam on a dancer's shoes -- it was watching a video, and I was watching Allegra kent in one of my all time favorite things, hte grand pas de deux from the second act of Midsummer Night's Dream - -when I came to (that's the only way to put it) I realized I'd just been watching her HEELS -- one minute she was in second position, the next in fourth, back to second, back to fourth..... I was mesmerized....I guess i'm bragging, but it feels preposterous to admit paying such devoted attention to such a thing -- but it was as if my life depended on it.... But it's TRUE, that's what we do -- we're just watching ,and sometimes these visionary things happen, when the phenomena seem to go numinous;  you think 'there must be a better world, for I think I've just seen it')

we should maybe make this a thread of its own....