Leigh, thanks for the edits. I, too, ventured across the plaza to the final 'Midsummer Dream' of NYCB...which turned out to be the most felicitous offering on my dance card this weekend. (Woah! who is this amazing Teresa Reichlen as Hypolita??? I can't wait to see her again in St Petersburg!
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Sneds - i'm happy that you were impressed by the gold medalists and the IBC competitors. Sorry to differ but, in a nutshell, this was -- by far -- the least impressive field of finalists to have ever ventured onto a stage, in my 20-year history of attending competitions of this sort around the world.
What we saw last night, with the awarding of not one, but two, rarely-achieved gold medals to two equally-mediocre young men, is beyond reason and logic. Even the most impressive of the men -- DC's Jonathan Jordan -- was not of gold medal standard. I would have given Jordan -- who achieved a bronze medal, behind FOUR men deemed better-or-equal than he (two golds, one silver & a shared bronze) -- a silver. And I may have tied Jordan with a Japanese dancer who earned no medal whatsoever -- the tall, elegant, lyrical Takuma Oshiba.
What were these judges thinking? [Whatever they thought...I couldn't help but notice how "P-O'd" Jury Chairman Natalia Makarova looked while slouching down in her seat on the stage, during the naming of the prize winners...if looks could talk (or "kill")...]
Instead, here were the prizes for the men:
GOLD - shared by Turkey's agressively-in-your-face Ogulcan Borova and Chile's lightweight modernist Cesar Morales.
Borova's Bayadere solo in the finals (repeated at last night's gala) earned him my sobriquet "Mr. Chop-Chop" because, during the cabrioles and brises, he does not lightly beat his feet together butm rather, "scissors" his legs far apart and CLAP-CLAPS them like a machine. Maybe he impressed some in the audience -- including, undoubtedly some judges -- by the agressive dynamo style but, in my book, Solor is a role of elegance and classical purity, not an all-guns display performed with the countenance of a World Wrestling Federation fighter.
As for Morales, I can forgive an earth-bound Solor solo, when balanced off with a truly stylish, slinky, sexy modern solo to a techno beat (repeated last night, from round 2), "Rock Your Body," by choreographer Bernard Courtot. But GOLD??? [To put this into context, the last time that the NY-IBC awarded any man a gold medal was in 1989 -- Jose Manuel Carreno. 'Nuf said.]
SILVER - Denmark's dark-haired, personable Kristoffer Sakurai. A nice surprise...after a mediocre Solor in Friday's Round III (due to his lack of expension in splits and less-than-pliant torso). Last night's gala showed me why he won a medal - dazzling footwork in 'Kermesse in Bruges pas de deux" (repeated from Round I) and lots of personality in his modern solo (from Round II) "When Without" by Chor. Louise Midjort.
BRONZE - another tie - USA/Washington Ballet's Jonathan Jordan -- the overwhelming crowd favorite -- and Russia's Alexei Agoudine.
OK, so Jordan's placement disappointed many people...just as his partner, Kathleen Breen Combes (also of Wash Ballet), failed to make the finals, although many knowledgeable attendees crowned her their unofficial Ladies Gold Medalist after her stunning Nikiya in Round III. Jordan was, to me, the only man to perform Solor with brilliance last Friday - steps, personality/cool classical demeanor (not World Wrestling Federation style), and partnering of Ms Combes. So he is a bit more demi-caractere in his heigth, perhaps? Even I wouldn't have quite given him a gold medal...but he was the best among all the finalist men...and to deem him FIFTH among a pack of mediocre gents is a huge slap, IMO. But Jordan's talent is now known...and he will soar above it all, in the end. [It's a shame that, in tonight's gala, Jordan could not show off his forte - his virtuosic classical style but, rather, danced an impersonation of an Alvin Ailey Dancer in an afro-beat solo from Round II, "Possession," by Ire Macintire.
I cannot quibble with the honor accorded Russia's Agoudine...as I originally had him pegged for the bronze (with only Jordan and, possibly, Japan's Oshiba above him, in my book). Agoudine has a crisp, sharp -- yet gently classical -- style. Alas, the gala crowd did not get to enjoy the classicism tonight, as Agoudine danced, instead, his Round II self-choreographed sinewy solo, "Time".
Last night's gala featured one more amazing male dancer - Mikhail Ilyn of Miami City Ballet, an alumnus of the 2000 competition (silver medalist), who danced Glen Miller's "St. Louis Blues March" chor'd by Edward Vilella. Too bad that this year's competition has no Mikhail Ilyns.
As for the ladies...
They were, on the whole, weaker than the men. Of the six ladies who made the finals, I would have given a medal -- and only a bronze, at that -- to Argentina's Ludmila Pagliero, a long-limbed, perfectly proportioned beauty with the feet of a Paris Opera Ballet danseuse. [Remember -- Washington Ballet's Kathleen Combes did not make the finals...so, among the remaining six, Pagliero was tops.] I will never forget the impact of her "singing" line and phrasing in Friday's Round III 'Bayadere pdd' adagio section. Gorgeous! [It's too bad that, on Friday, she botched every one of her pirouettes in the 'scraft solo'...and elected to do only 'clean singles' tonight...and even THEY were not truly clean...but her poses and adagio technique are gorgeous.]
So how did Pagliero actually fare? On top of the 'best-after-Kathleen Combes' group, thank goodness. Pagliero earned the top ladies medal, a silver, as well as a special honor -- the Igor Youkevich Prize, including a one-year stint with ABT.
As with the men, two dancers shared bronze medals: Georgia's long-limbed beauty (with a bit of a Nina Ananiashvili countenance), Victoria Jaiani, and the USA's brunette dynamo, Caitlin Valentine.
I admired Jaiani and partner Temur Suluashvili's pliant romanticism in the Round II modern 'Duet' to Chopin, from Jose Limon's 'Mazurkas.' Last Friday, I considered their 'Bayadere' adagio to have the most beutiful lines -- a 'best couple' of sorts. This is a couple with true artistry and charisma although, based just on Friday night's solo work, I would not have given either one a medal. yet, they are lovely as a pair.
The Lefkowitz Award "for a dance or dancers with special attributes" went to one dancer this year -- Kathleen Breen Combes of the Washington Ballet...and the audience cheered like crazy when her name was announced...as if to yell "Thank Goodness"! In tonight's gala, Ms Combes was every bit as impressive as she had been in Friday's Round III 'Bayadere,' this time displaying her ballet-perfect proportions and pliancy in a purple unitard, dancing Septime Webre's "And So It Goes."
The gala featured many other dancers -- other non-prize-winning competitors from this year PLUS four alumni-medalists from previous years. Time & space does not allow me to mention all but, among the 2003 competitors, I loved Takuma Oshiba's humorous-yet-suave personality in "Smoking"; on the other hand, alumnus Venti Petrov's literal characterization of a typewriter -- to the clicking music "The Typewriter" -- struck a typo.
*****
The best moments of the gala, however, took place at the very start, in Part I, when the curtain was raised to reveal a galaxy of former and present luminaries from the world of ballet -- from judges Makarova, Kain, Eifman, Platel, Van Dantzig, Andersen. Merle Park, to competition officials/faculty Martine Van Hamel, Eva Kloborg, Eleanor D'Antuono -- who made me think of Manhattnik's words about her...I couln't stop laughing...Manhattnik, you devil, you have forever 'tainted' my thoughts of this poor woman!!!
But, best of all, a special Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement was presented to one of my all-time grandest-of-grand ballerinas -- Cynthia Gregory. I had goosebumps as she got up to claim her medal from the presentor, her long-time friend and colleague Roni Mahler. All in the audience at Alice Tully Hall stood up and cheered this icon of American ballet. So, in the end, it is this positive impression that I will keep in my heart.
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