Nutcracker Reviews, 2006

[carbro]

Damian Woetzel is tall?

Tall enough to be considered tall. He's partnered such tall ballerinas as Kyra Nichols, Darci Kistler, Monique Meunier and looked just fine partnering them on pointe.

[Farrell Fan]

and conductor Quinn who was the beginning of the fast, too fast, tempi craze....

Anyone here remember Hugo Fiorato?

[sz]

SaunderO,

I was at the NYCB Christmas Eve matinee as well.... and that performance (Karoui's conducting) was better than usual. A more normal tempi for NYCB.... You must have been sitting really close to notice Reichlen had red (pink?) ears??!!!! Did I miss something there? I've never noticed.... Maybe there was some weird lighting coming from the wing(s)?... But I did love Reichlen's gorgeous huge stag leaps once again just after her solo. They float endlessly in the air....light as a feather... seeming done without one bit of force or effort. Amazing!!! And she seemed much more confident and sparkly this time with Ask LaCour as her very attentive, sensitive partner.

Ask LaCour is just getting back from a lengthy injury absence, so he's not quite back in shape... but he seems more grown up, manly, than last I saw him, and I really loved his very attentive partnering. Even if he wasn't completely on balance, or bobbled a bit during some of the partnering, he sacrificed his own comfort to make sure his Sugarplum was in a secure place. Ask is going to get better and better, I have a feeling, and he is on his way to being one of those tall male dancers that partner well, and all the taller ballerinas will want him as partner!

Saw Fairchild as Dewdrop.... nice but not exciting. Paradisio as Tea was absolutely fantastic. Suozzi in Hoops, a very male, intense, high-energy performance. And Hyltin, lovely and bright in Marzipan. Oh, and once again noticed Pereira was in the corps of Spanish looking very fresh and pretty. I hope one day soon to see her again in Square Dance, this time with NYCB instead of SAB.... This girl can dance(!!!) jumps, et al., while still being very feminine!

Woetzel is about 5'10" I think... He's considered a medium tall dancer. Hallberg is a bit taller.... and yes, I like them both very much!!! Damian more so in years past.... while Hallberg is just beginning his fabulous career. If you want to see what the NYCB's Nutcracker Cavalier is capable of doing, check out NYCB's DVD of Nuts. Damian is at his best!!!

Kavlier,

>If indeed Martins favors conductors who move things along

>like a high-speed train and has hired MDs like Quinn and Karoui

>on such a basis, and if the rank-and-file dancers feel

>(understandably) unwilling to challenge the speeds set by these

>directors, this goes a long way towards explaining the current

>situation. I don't know enough about the internal politics....

You said it, not me!!!!! Yes, and yes!! It's definitely not a democracy at NYCB.... with a large food chain waiting in the wings (and SAB).... Perhaps smaller companies and companies that need big imported stars to sell tickets ask for input from their stars... NYCB does not....

>Is there, however, a correlation between a dancer's height and the

>speed at which he or she moves?

Taller dancers require a little more time to get those longer legs and arms and their bodies into jumps, etc., whereas a smaller dancer is built closer to the ground...with less expansion required to reach the top end of movements. Enough said?!

>....but I take it from your post that you would not dismiss an artist

>of the caliber of Herman Cornejo.

I love Herman Cornejo!!! and some other shorter dancers. Watched Gelsey last night in all awe on PBS (ABT's Nuts)..... She was a shorter dancer but had l-o-n-g lines and movements that belonged somewhere in the heavens..... Takes my breath away every time I see old films of her.....

I wish Herman had been given some bigger leads years ago.... He seems a bit uninspired lately because he keeps getting all the second-banana roles, when he should be dancing much more, and there are shorter, very capable females in the company who would compliment him as a partner.... But that company (ABT) is another ball of wax as they say.....

>If Martins is indeed behind the tendency to hyperfast tempos, that

>would seem to relate more to some artistic insensitivity on his part

>than to a tendency to use shorter dancers.

Shorter dancers are more reliably comfortable with the very fast tempi. Peter likes it.... for some reason.....so he hires dancers that can dance fast tempi, eg, shorter dancers. There are far fewer tall and medium tall girls in the company today than in Balanchine's time though much of Balanchine's choreography was made for taller dancers. Lack of artistic sensitivity??!!! You bet.... Go see one of Peter's ballets (a ballet he's choreographed....) sometime....

Farrell Fan,

Yes, I remember Fiorato.... He was a bit speedy too, and often corrected by Mr. B during performances. But Fiorato's tempi were more like Karouis' on a sane day.... Quinn is the one that began the out of control speed and nobody it seems ever corrected her... I've never seen Fiorato ruin a performance though he frustrated many of us dancers.... Can't say the same about Quinn....

[ViolinConcerto]

>Is there, however, a correlation between a dancer's height and the

>speed at which he or she moves?

Taller dancers require a little more time to get those longer legs and arms and their bodies into jumps, etc., whereas a smaller dancer is built closer to the ground...with less expansion required to reach the top end of movements. Enough said?!

There was a book, "The Physics of Dance" by Kenneth Laws (c1984;Schirmer Books) The dancer he chose to illustrate his points was Sean Lavery -- a good 6', perhaps 6'2".

(I got the name of the author by Googling "The Physics of Dance," and came up with lots of interesting links. Check 'em out!)

[volcanohunter]

Damian Woetzel is tall?

Tall enough to be considered tall. He's partnered such tall ballerinas as Kyra Nichols, Darci Kistler, Monique Meunier and looked just fine partnering them on pointe.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm a big fan of his and always make a point of seeking out his performances when I'm in New York. But he's never struck me as particularly tall. Of course, I speak from the perspective of a 5'9"-tall woman who always had trouble finding sufficiently tall dancing partners. For me a male dancer has to top six feet to qualify as tall. Hallberg, Charles Askegard, Jean-Guillaume Bart and José Martinez are what I'd call tall dancers.

[carbro]

There was a book, "The Physics of Dance" by Kenneth Laws (c1984;Schirmer Books) . . . (I got the name of the author by Googling "The Physics of Dance," and came up with lots of interesting links. Check 'em out!)

Thanks so much, VC!

Here's what perplexes me:

We all assume that a tall dancer cannot move as quickly as a shorter one, all other things being equal. It "feels" correct. But the limbs move from the joints, like the hands of a clock move from their fulcrum. It takes just as long -- five minutes, in fact -- for the hands on your wristwatch to mark five minutes as the hands of Big Ben. The limbs work on angles, and a movement of 45 degrees should take the same time for two dancers of equal ability but unequal height, right? Why should it take Ask LaCour longer to do a series of steps than it does Danny Ulbricht? With all other things being equal, that is. Isn't that the phenomenon behind pendulum theory?

Or maybe I should read some search results before I hit "Add Reply."

What the hey. I'll let you know if I find an answer.

[Leigh Witchel]

I'm far from a physicist, but maybe a good metaphor is the pinwheel formation you might see in dance or skating? It takes the same amount of time for the outermost person to travel 360 degrees as the ones at the center, but the velocity at which they have to go is exponentially faster, while the central people are barely moving - and if not fixed to a spoke sometimes they aren't able to make it.

[Klavier]

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm a big fan of his and always make a point of seeking out his performances when I'm in New York. But he's never struck me as particularly tall. Of course, I speak from the perspective of a 5'9"-tall woman who always had trouble finding sufficiently tall dancing partners. For me a male dancer has to top six feet to qualify as tall. Hallberg, Charles Askegard, Jean-Guillaume Bart and José Martinez are what I'd call tall dancers.

When I wrote this --

I gather you prefer the taller dancer of the David Hallberg or Damian Woetzel type, but I take it from your post that you would not dismiss an artist of the caliber of Herman Cornejo.

-- I wasn't implying Woetzel should contemplate a second career as a basketball player. I was using the word "taller" in relative terms, in contrast to a smaller guy like Cornejo or DeLuz. By all means substitute Askegard for Woetzel if you prefer; it was just an example.

[Paul Parish]

Woetzel is a fabulous dancer. But he does not have ideal proportions -- his face and everything about his body makes him look a little rough-hewn.

Whatever a dancer's height, if (s)he has a small head and proportionally long legs, s/he will LOOK tall from the stage unless there are other people onstage to rank them against.

And then there's projection. Plisetskaya just comes to my shoulder (I got her autograph once, she wrote her name up the side of her leg in the photo of her as Carmen) -- but she took the stage with such incredible personal authority I was shocked to see how short she was in real life.

[Helene]

I think Woetzel is in that strange middle height range, where sometimes he looks tall and sometimes he doesn't. I noticed this about Ballet Arizona's Astrit Zejnati, who doesn't tower over Paola Hartley, and I think he must be short, but then when he partners the taller Natalia Magnicaballi, he looks to be in proportion to her, and I think he must be tall.

[volcanohunter]

Woetzel is a fabulous dancer. But he does not have ideal proportions -- his face and everything about his body makes him look a little rough-hewn.

It's true that proportion is very important to how a dancer is perceived. Woetzel's big head conspires against him. I was simply surprised to read that he is considered tall because at 5'10" Manuel Legris is one of the POB's smaller étoiles.

But getting back to the relationship between size and speed. I'm not a physicist either, but looking at carbro's clock analogy I can only point out that the mechanism required to run Big Ben is a whole lot bigger than the one inside a wrist watch. Leigh Witchel's pinwheel analogy illustrates a similar point.

[SanderO]

Smaller dancers and skaters can turn faster! It is physics. At the body gets larger since it is a volume the forces require and not linear. This why huge animals move slowly and hummingbirds dart about in such rapid movements.. it takes so much less energy with small volumes. The really fast stuff is much harder for taller people.. it's physics!

[sz]

What??!! Woetzel does not have a big head!! Check out that NYCB Nuts DVD.

But I agree with you that a dancer's proportions can influence the audience's perceptions. Someone with longer limbs (eg, Hyltin) looks a bit taller than another dancer her same height who might have shorter, stockier limbs... But we're talking about only two or three inches here...

[Paul Parish]

And a dancer like Sean Lavery, who IS tall, looks REALLY tall because of the length of his legs -- while Peter Martins, who is certainly tall, did not look so much so because his legs don't take up so much of his body.

I've been looking for a full-length portrait of Woetzel to check my impressions against, but can't find one. So I'll go on my memory. I'm picturing him in Stars and Stripes. He seems to have a big head because he DOES have a large FACE, SUCH cheekbones. It also seems that his torso is though not long, not short-waisted, and his pelvis is large, which will make him look shorter than he is. Also, he was dancing in that video with Margaret Tracey, who IS short but has super-long legs and doesn't look it next to him.

But that is demi-caractere dancing, and he's divine in it -- so for him to project the right qualities, he needs to look broad-shouldered, cute, and cocky, but temper all that with a lot of care.

I saw him once take class from Stanley Williams, well, it was the boys' class at SAB, and he took it as well. Williams of course corrected in whispers, and with Woetzel he didn't even say anything, he just looked at him affectionately and then at the standing leg with a slight roll of the eye. It was almost a conspiracy, the bond between them seemed so clear. What a privelege to see that.

[volcanohunter]

While we're still talking about height, here is a notice about forthcoming auditions for the Royal Danish Ballet. The basic requirements are:

• Applicants must have strong classical ballet technique and be on an advanced level as a dancer.

• Applicants must be 16 - 24 years of age.

• Height/Ladies: 1.62 m – 1.68 m or 5.4 – 5.6 ft

• Height/Men: 1.80 m – 1.95 m or 5.11 - 6.5 ft

• The audition will include pointe work for ladies

http://www.kglteater.dk/site/OmKunstartern...ons%202007.aspx

What I found was strange was the height restrictions for women. If the RDB is seeking to recruit only tall men, why not also hire women taller than 5'6"?

[Paul Parish]

(volcanohunter)

What I found was strange was the height restrictions for women. If the RDB is seeking to recruit only tall men, why not also hire women taller than 5'6"?

Finger turns?

By the time a woman is on pointe, she's a "foot" taller. Certain moves, such as finger turns, with hand overhead, are very awkward if the man is not tall enough for his hand to be above hers when her arm is outstretched. of course, a great deal depends on the length of the arms.

[Leigh Witchel]

Perhaps they already have a group of taller women who need partners?

[volcanohunter]

By the time a woman is on pointe, she's a "foot" taller. Certain moves, such as finger turns, with hand overhead, are very awkward if the man is not tall enough for his hand to be above hers when her arm is outstretched. of course, a great deal depends on the length of the arms.

Of course a woman on pointe wouldn't actually grow her entire foot size because her instep is contracted. Isn't the rule of thumb that a man ought to be four inches taller than his partner? A 5'6" woman, unless she's got really long feet, probably wouldn't need a partner taller than 5'10". But then I suppose the RDB isn't really expecting to hire any men 6'5" tall. I see your point. Being pretty tall myself, I have bad memories of very awkward finger turns. Leigh Witchel's point about the company's particular needs at the moment is also very sound.

I found this notice interesting in the NYCB context and the discussion about Martins hiring short dancers to cope with hyper-fast tempi. How odd that NYCB, which always had a reputation of showcasing tall dancers, should grow progressively shorter while the RDB, tiny stage and all, grows taller.

[sz]

Paul Parish,

>I've been looking for a full-length portrait of Woetzel to check

>my impressions...

Check out NYCB's website: click on "The Company" then "Repertory."

I didn't go through the entire, lengthy list, but I knew there'd probably be some pics of Damian under:

An American in Paris

Opus 19/The Dreamer

Prodigal Son

Theme and Variations

Fancy Free

As for the Royal Danish Ballet's preference for smaller women.... that goes back a long time doesn't it?.... because shorter women tend to handle best the jumps and those tiny, complicated, beating jumps -- a major requirement in all those Bournonville ballets.

As for tall men, well.... men tend to have stronger jumps than women, at whatever size, because of their natural, more muscular builds. And in the ballet world, seeing those jumps and beating jumps on men with muscular, long legs and tallness I'd think would make the dancing that more exciting....

And, yes, partnering between a taller guy and a smaller female would function better overall. But at 6'5"?? -- it's a little extreme isn't it?!!

[Klavier]

Paul Parish,

>I've been looking for a full-length portrait of Woetzel to check

>my impressions...

Check out NYCB's website: click on "The Company" then "Repertory."

Or you can just Google "Damian Woetzel" and select "Images."

I played parts of the NYCB Nutcracker DVD tonight, and I wouldn't say DW has a "large head." He's not the most attractive man, having a somewhat long neck and pointed chin, and he doesn't have the good looks and graceful build of (say) Philip Neal, but he looks decently proportioned and he partners Darci Kistler beautifully. Very good performances elsewhere on that DVD as well (I don't even mind Macaulay Culkin, who is young enough to still be cute), with Nilas Martins in Hot Chocolate better than I've seen him recently and Wendy Whelan a slinky Coffee. Tom Gold as CC then is no match for Danny today, but Gen Horiuchi is definitely my cup of Tea. Zinman's tempo for Waltz of the Flowers is too fast even back then in 1993. But seeing the DVD costs a lot less than going to the theater.

(I haven't seen it live this season, but I'll try for this Saturday's matinee, as I'd like to see Wendy and Damian together, as well as Suehara as CC and sultry Gina Pazcoguin's Coffee.)

One question about the DVD and NYCB's use of the music: I see they have moved the Sugarplum Fairy's solo with the celesta close to the start of Act Two, whereas in the original score it is the ballerina's solo variation following the PDD. This re-arrangement also means a brief variation for the danseur is omitted just after the PDD. Is this the way NYCB has always done it, and is this re-ordering typical in other companies?

[Helene]

Originally the Sugar Plum Fairy solo was in its usual place after the grand pas de deux, followed by the Cavalier's variation and the coda. Maria Tallchief spoke about how terrified she was coming on after the ovation Tanaquil Leclerq got as Dewdrop, when she was about to do her first real dancing. According to Choreography by George Balanchine in the "Revisions" section for "302: The Nutcracker":

1958: Grand Pas de Deux (Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, end of Act II), replaced by Pas de Cinq with the Cavalier omitted and Sugar Plum Fairy supported in adagio by men from Chocolate, Coffee, Tea, Candy Canes; variation for Sugar Plum Fairy moved to beginning of Act II from traditional placement at climax of Grand Pas de Deux.

1959: adagio and coda of Grand Pas de Deux restored with Cavalier, replacing Pas de Cinq, but without variation for Cavalier; Sugar Plum Fairy variation retained at beginning of Act II.

From Repertory in Review (p.157):

Over the years Nutcracker has become entrenched, but with Balanchine, things are never static, and he has made many changes from time to time. One of the earliest (1958) was also one of the most controversial: he removed the grand pas de deux, substituting for it a dance for the Sugar Plum Fairy supported not by a cavalier (who disappeared completely) but by four soloists from other divertissements -- Chocolate, Coffee, Tea, and Candy Cane. The result of this, according to Terry, "is something like the Rose Adagio from The Sleeping Beauty in form, but this new adagio is not nearly as exciting as the Rose Adagio nor is it, to my mind, as stirring as the now abset Grand Pas de Deux, with its entree, adagio, two solos, and coda."

[and]

In another departure, the Fairy danced her variation in the beginning of the second act, welcoming the children. This feature has remained; by 1959 the Cavalier reappeared as support for the pas de deux, although to this day he is variationless.

For PNB Kent Stowell placed the solos for both Clara -- there's no Sugar Plum Fairy in his version -- and the Prince at the beginning of the second act, during the scenes in which they are introduced to Pasha and his court and in which they perform the mime to tell the court about the fight with the Mouse King's troops. The coda for the Grand Pas de Deux opens with the children from the Toy Theater (similar to the Polichinelles in Balanchine's version, but without Mother Ginger), who are joined by Clara and the Prince.

[lillydoll]

Everybody may be at the same party, but they all have their own agendas, from Drosselmeier’s peculiar mission to Fritz’s need to make chaos out of order. Even the maids can be fascinating. What are they thinking as they come and go?

Thanks Flipsy, I find the party scene chaotic, but fascinating. So true that everyone has their own agendas, and have found that the more I see Balanchines version the more I watch each part separately, but also see it as each dependent on each other with Fritz being the important ribbon that weaves the party scene together. By the way the little boy who played Fritz: Jonathan Alexander, was terrific. Not only cute but his movements and facial expressions seemed as if he was really plotting "what can I do next", and not just practiced steps.

[sz]

>Originally the Sugar Plum Fairy solo was in its usual place after

>the grand pas de deux, followed by the Cavalier's variation

>and the coda. Maria Tallchief spoke about how terrified she

>was coming on after the ovation Tanaquil Leclerq got as

>Dewdrop, when she was about to do her first real dancing.

Very interesting. I didn't know. I've only seen that old film with Diana Adams, as Sugar, being partnered (a la Rose Adagio, sort of) by the four male soloists of Coffee, Spanish, etc. Adams was very beautiful. As was Allegra Kent in Dewdrop of Flowers. Also in that same film, do you remember Arthur Mitchell in Coffee/Arabian?! I'm very happy that part got changed... And I too prefer the current version with the Grand Pas as a pas de deux right after the Waltz of the Flowers while the Sugar Plum's solo is at the beginning of the 2nd Act. Musically, it's so perfectly set up now after greeting the little angels. The Sugar Plum doesn't have to walk out on stage in silence and to begin her variation.

[justafan]

Here's a link to a story in this Sunday's Times about Damien -- with the news that he plans to retire in 2008! The accompanying photos clearly show his proportions.

Although his pending retirement is far from a surprise, it is not welcome news!

[Dale]

Thanks justafan. I'm going to put up a separate thread on Woetzel, so we can discuss him on the other thread.