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Suzanne Farrell on Kennedy Center honors list.


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I would particularly recommend Robert Schumann's Davidsbundlertanze, which was on LD and VHS.

But what a good group! Everything I was going to say has been said! It's a pleasure to be among you.

Well, almost everything. Does anyone want to know who's who, among the principals, anyway? I've had fun working it out from my S-VHS tape of the broadcast (not the sharpest image): Shannon Parsley and Matthew Prescott enter first and dance; she exits and Bonnie Pickard enters and dances with Prescott. Where all three dance side by side before exiting ahead of the next entrances, Pickard is (our) left and Parsley is right. Then Alexandra Ansanelli enters alone, dances, and Momchil Mladenov enters and they dance. Finally Erin Mahoney-Du, Runqiao Du, and Natalia Magnicaballi enter in that order; they keep that left-to-right order until the other principals start to re-enter.

(It may be worth pointing out that in the fine, brief Dance View Times review which I posted a link to above, George Jackson, for all his intelligent perspective and so on, pairs Ansanelli with Du instead of Mladenov and misspells Pickard's last name.)

Speaking of saying what I was going to say, Arthur Mitchell, off mike, said, when Tallchief had finished, "Maria said everything I was going to say." I was sorry they were excluded from the broadcast program; I think d'Amboise's - performance is the right word for it, I think - may have been trimmed; and the television audience was denied the opportunity we had in the theatre to compare Farrell's costume in Tzigane with Byonce's at the end when this clip was eliminated from the documentary part. But the whole performance ran about two hours and forty minutes; maybe someone who has edited out the commercials, as I understand you can do with some DVD recorders now, will tell us just how long the performance content of the broadcast is, but it's much less than two hours. A lot was cut.

Speaking of cuts, isn't the beginning of the Divertimento Finale a little odd? I haven't been able to find my recording of the music, so I haven't worked out whether something's missing. But never mind! What dancing there is there! To add a little perspective to the dancers' accomplishment, remember what the repertory was Thanksgiving week? La Source, Clarinade, Duo Concertant, and La Valse. I had thought one reason they performed just a week before the Honors was so that they would be secure in whatever was selected from that repertory. And so they worked up this piece instead, and were secure in it! As I sometimes tell others, never underestimate dancers!

(BTW, redesigning the medal might run into a problem when previous honorees turn up wearing theirs; for example, IIRC, Edward Villella wore his to the dinner afterward. At least when watching television, you can reduce the garishness by turning down the Color control a little; I always look for natural skin tones when I adjust my TV.)

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But the whole performance ran about two hours and forty minutes; maybe someone who has edited out the commercials, as I understand you can do with some DVD recorders now, will tell us just how long the performance content of the broadcast is, but it's much less than two hours.  A lot was cut.

Jack, you may find this Washington Post article interesting -- The Honors, Take 2. Thanks for your comments.

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Thanks for the LINK, kfw. I was astounded by this:

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QUOTE: "(T)he people in the 2,300-member audience are paying as much as $6,250 for a prime seat. (The second balcony can be had for a mere $200, and there are long waiting lists for that.)"

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The Dark Gray Fairy (of Humiliating Mental Lapses) was at work again that evening, so I forgot to set our recorder. As a consequence, this discussion is creating very mixed emotions.

Incidentally, I was at a gathering yesterday evening where just about everyone saw it. The people I talked to (all pretty frequent consumers of the performing arts, but none of them ballet fans) were quite impressed by the Farrell segment. Several ranked the Farrell dancing component right after Tina Turner.

GOOD FOR BALLET! :lightbulb:

Does anyone know if CBS does a late-night (or even summer) re-run at any point? -- or if DVDs or downloads will available????

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Well here's something ironic and interesting: every morning I stop in a little old-fashioned bakery (for coffee) near work. It's in a working class, ethnically mixed neighborhood, and I've gotten friendly with some of the local patrons.

One woman, a retiree, always has her hair done but dresses very plainly (and doesn't look to have a lot of money), surprised me by mentioning a while back that she goes to many galas and performances at the opera, ABT, the Met museum, the modern, and NYCB.

This a.m. I asked her if she'd watched the Kennedy Center honors, and she said yes. I asked her how she felt about Suzanne. She said that she loved the Company, expecially Alexandra, but that Suzanne herself seemed very cold, unfriendly and unsmiling, as if she didn't want to be there. I was stunned.

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Suzanne herself mentions in her autobiography that what seems to many as aloofness on her part is actually shyness. I think sometimes people mistake a reserved nature for coldness. She actually seems to have a very funny, warm personality that might not be evident at first.

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The look on Suzanne's face when her company was performing in "Divertimento No. 15" was one of concentration, not unhappiness. Way back when she was new at NYCB, she never smiled during curtain calls. It was a combination of her seriousness, shyness, and perhaps the hard time others in the company were giving her for being Balanchine's favorite. She was much looser in this respect when she returned from her years with Bejart -- she smiled at curtain calls, and the audience warmed to her, really for the first time. I'm surprised this discussion about her supposed aloofness has resurfaced so many years later. Her students adore and respect her -- just check the threads on Ballet Talk for Dancers on the subjects of Cedar Islands and her "Exploring Ballet" Kennedy Center program. Perky is absolutely correct about her funny, warm personality. I would only add that during the Kennedy Center Honors events, Mr. B and her late mother must have been much on her mind.

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Farrell is one of the subset of people whose mouth corners are downturned, which can be interpreted as a frown or unhappy expression. I always watch her eyes, which are more "active" than the bottom of her face.

She also seems to have a droll, understated sense of humor, in which facial understatement, not a "get it?" smile, is most effective.

bart: I, too, forgot to set the TiVo, and by the time I got home, it was too late :lightbulb:

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I recorded the Farrell segment (all but the first couple seconds) on DVD as well as everything that came afterwards. Bart and Helene, I can send you each a copy if you really want it. :lightbulb:

I worried that the general audience wouldn't "get" Farrell's expressions and I'm sad to hear that some people found her cold. To me, she looked shy and maybe a little nervous. When she was watching her dancers, she was clearly concentrating hard as any consummate teacher would. To me, that was when it felt like I was really seeing her personality.

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I got a sense Suzanne Farrell was clearly enjoying herself. If anyone was a stone face it was Tony Bennett. During his honor when Quincy Jones was speaking about him, Farrell keep trying to interact with him - smiling at him whenever Jones made a kind remake about Bennett, but Bennett made no expression in fact he looked as if he was totally disregarding her. It wasn't until the performing aspect of his tribute did Mr. Bennett came to life. Farrell also interacted with Julie Harris. It was endearing when Kevin Spacey told about one of Harris' fellow acting students said to the teacher after asking why do you wish to act and said that its better then ballet, both Harris and Farrell turn to each other and laugh. As for her segment, when Caroline Kennedy introduce her dancers to perform Divertimento No. 15, the camera gave us a side shot of Farrell with her hands to her mouth. Clearly she was surprise her dancers was going to perform in her honor. The two shots we got of Farrell during their performance was obviously a teacher watching her students perform. I felt she was deeply moved and clearly enjoyed herself thoughout the evening.

So sad I didn't get to hear Arthur Mitchell and Maria Tallchief speak about Farrell. I especially would have loved to hear what Tallcheif had to said. Wasn't she the dancer who made the infamous statement upon leaving NYCB, "I don't mine being listed alphabetically, but I do mine being treated alphabetically." Wasn't that the statement that made the dance press aware that something was amiss at NYCB back in the mid-sixties concering Balanchine's "obsession" over Farrell? Clearly Tallchief has come around.

One thing I could've help but notice was that during the film segment of Farrell's I saw that she performed Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun. TOTAL SURPRISE!! When I think of Farrell, I only view her in Balanchine. I know that Robbins made 2 or 3 ballets on her, but I just don't see Farrell in Faun. How was she in that ballet and whatever ballets did she perform in of Robbins??

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I stand by my opinion (stated on a different thread) that the finale of Divert. was the wrong choice for TV. If only because the directors/camera people did not seem to know how to shoot it -- the camera kept playing catchup whenever a soloist bounded out. I figured the one place to see the soloists is when the five principal women line up and each perform a solo combination -- but that was just the time the director decided to show Farrell watching. In the past (especially when Balanchine was alive and himself was honored), pas de deuxs have worked best. Even though it was shortened, the Sylvia pas for Tallchief is still one of my favorite Kennedy Center performances.

That said, what could be seen was lovely. We got the "good" Alexandra Ansanelli, rather than the "drama" Alexandra Ansanelli. The corps (and the other soloists) also were clean and snappy.

The big bonus for me was the "bio" part. I had expected to just see a rehash of the Elusive Muse film, but we got so many rare stills. Fabulous.

I adore Farrell and would much rather see her looking intense than grinning like she was in some beauty contest. She looked so glamorous with her gloves, and behaved so naturally in enjoying the other tributes. So did Redford, who seemed to take great pleasure in Farrell's segment.

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GeorgeB fan -- When Suzanne returned to NYCB from her Bejart years, the first new role she danced was Robbins's "In G Major" with Peter Martins. They were also memorable in "Afternoon of a Faun."A Max Waldman photo of them in Faun sold for years at the gift counter on the promenade. Other noteworthy Robbins roles she danced included "Dances at a Gathering," "Other Dances," "In Memory of...," and, believe it or not, "The Cage."

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I agree with Dale that a pas de deux works best on these occasions. The most memorable of all IMO was the one performed for Honoree Jacques d'Amboise by his children Charlotte and Christopher. The reaction shots of the proud papa were, for once, integral to the performance. It remains my favorite Kennedy Center moment.

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But never mind!  What dancing there is there!  To add a little perspective to the dancers' accomplishment, remember what the repertory was Thanksgiving week?  La Source, Clarinade, Duo Concertant, and La Valse.  I had thought one reason they performed just a week before the Honors was so that they would be secure in whatever was selected from that repertory.  And so they worked up this piece instead, and were secure in it!  As I sometimes tell others, never underestimate dancers!

Great point about the company, Jack. When do you think the dancers found time to put this piece together? Would they bar Ms. Farrell from the rehearsal room when they were working on it?

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When do you think the dancers found time to put this piece together?  Would they bar Ms. Farrell from the rehearsal room when they were working on it?

When PNB were working on their goodbye tribute to Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, they were both barred from the studios.

--Andre

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Although it's not a piece associated with Farrell by any means (and in fact the title according to Gottlieb was widely thought to refer to Farrell leaving the company), I think the finale of "Who Cares?" would have been perfect for this event. Bubbly, fun, familiar music, everyone has a good time.

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I was thinking that Tzigane, with Farrell's own Natalia Magnicaballi, might have been perfect for this occassion. Add a star male dancer for the audience to clap at when he enters to partner Magnicaballi, and you have a gala tribute. Tzigane is sexy and fun, a wonderful Farrell role, and the company has danced it on many occassions - including on the KC's Millenium Stage this past September. Plus, Natalia is ravishing in it. It would have been a stunning tribute to Farrell.

But perhaps Tzigane would have been more difficult to pull off without Farrell in the rehearsal room (doesn't she own the rights to this particular piece?).

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