Lovebird Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 This year I was not able to go and I think I will regret it since the lineup sounded spectacular.I would like to hear the opinions of anyone who went to see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leigh Witchel Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 I'm not much on galas, so my opinion is rather jaundiced, but I'd have to say I hadn't lived until I had witnessed the onstage chaos they called a defile. First Charles Askegard (a very sweet man who will goodnaturedly put up with anything) comes out and does a section of the coda of Stars and Stripes to the wrong music. Then Ansanelli follows. In bounds Desmond Richardson wearing nothing but short shorts. This is quickly followed by Svetlana Lunkina dressed as the Sylph and Svetlana Zakharova dressed as the Dying Swan. In ambles Jose Martinez, repeating Forsythe choreography from In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, only newly improved to Sousa. At this point I was on my feet cheering. It couldn't have been more berserk. The only thing that would have made it better was if the Dying Swan had attacked the Sylph with an axe. Maybe next year. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BW Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 Oh come on Leigh, you can't leave us hanging like that! Tell me more...please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calliope Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 Was the theater filled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted February 13, 2002 Share Posted February 13, 2002 The theater was well filled but judging from the number of very young dancers in the most expensive seats down front it would appear that very many were comp tickets. It is an understatement to say that it was a very mixed evening performance-wise, even for a Gala. Lucia Lacarra and Cyril Pierre were the best received performers of the evening and performed two expressionistic pieces, The Lady of the Camelias and Belong. In things like this she's stunning, but that is a very complex statement. The idea from the other thread that she's no pure classical ballerina but amazing in things where she belongs was well demonstrated. More purely classical dancing did not fare generally well. Dmitri Gudanov and Svetlana Lunkina, however, gave a performance of Spectre de la Rose which I am happy to have seen. And, oh yes, Zacharova in Dying Swan. Short, complete Fokine ballets worked well, maybe because they were dramatically complete and made some sense and were not just circus? About the rest of the program -- particulary Ansanelli and Askegaard in a bit of Stars and Stripes, Rut Miro and Lars Van Cauwenberg in Don Q pdd, and Jose Martinez and Agnes Letestu in Black Swan -- it is better to say nothing. A young Portuguese/Brazilian dancer named Daniela Severian made a strong impresson in a fast turning piece, full of fouettes and flowing attitude pirouettes, with sharp hand movements to an Edith Piaf song. She also I'm happy to have seen. [ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: Michael1 ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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