36 replies to this topic

[bart]

Bart said

It wouldn't hurt Pennsylvania to look into its own history

Just for the record, that was Leigh.

This planning of a relatively small company's rep isn't so easy, it seems. There are so many different routes a company can take. Amy's post points how that there are arguments in favor of any number of possible routes.

About developing new choreography from within the company: I agree with all the advantages mentioned. However, when you have just 5 programs a year (excluding Nutcracker) you don't -- alas -- have lots of time and room for experimentation and failure. There's also the danger of developint a company style that does not reinforce or support the other works in the repertory. Or attempting too many styles with too little time and preparation.

The example of Miami might be appropriate here. In the early days of the company, Villella relied quite a bit on a company choreographer -- Jimmy Gamonet de los Heroes -- whose work was quite popular, apparently, with local audiences. (Those "standing ovations," everyone talks about.) However, as the company expanded its goals, and increased its touring, Villella claims he found that Gamonet's choreography did not travel well. Nor did it stretch and strengthen the company's technical skills when it came to its basic Balanchine rep, or to new works by Taylor, Tharp, etc.. In the end, the Gamonet ballets disappeared from MCB's rep.

It would seem that an AD might need the wisdom of Solomon to balance all the possibilities, each of which comes with its own set of dangers.

[Ray]

[SNIP]
About developing new choreography from within the company: I agree with all the advantages mentioned. However, when you have just 5 programs a year (excluding Nutcracker) you don't -- alas -- have lots of time and room for experimentation and failure. There's also the danger of developint a company style that does not reinforce or support the other works in the repertory. Or attempting too many styles with too little time and preparation.
[SNIP]
It would seem that an AD might need the wisdom of Solomon to balance all the possibilities, each of which comes with its own set of dangers.

Exactly--and still, they put Neenan on as just another choreographer. And yes, an AD has a tough job; that's why he gets the big bucks. But I do think there are models out there an AD can learn from, and I question how hard this AD looks for solutions--or that he even sees the kinds of issues we're talking about as problems to be solved.

[Dale]

I think something to consider is PA Ballet's shaky financial history. It's almost gone under several times. So considering the way Kaiser could have gone to keep the company going (pop ballets or ballet lite, like Pittsburgh Ballet recently), I think the AD has done a good job so far.

[bart]

So considering the way Kaiser could have gone to keep the company going (pop ballets or ballet lite, like Pittsburgh Ballet recently) [ ... ]

Just wondering, does this "ballet lite" approach -- NOT the route Pa Ballet is taking -- actually work when it comes to box office, at least? Are there any examples of it actually "saving" an American company's finances in the long term? Or is this just another anti-"elitism" fantasy?

[Ray]

Another review of Neenan's Carmina, by Lisa Kraus, the Inquirer's part-time dance critic (although this review was written for danceinsider.com):

http://www.danceinsi...07/f0329_3.html

[richard53dog]

Another review of Neenan's Carmina, by Lisa Kraus, the Inquirer's part-time dance critic (although this review was written for danceinsider.com):

http://www.danceinsi...07/f0329_3.html

Thanks Ray.

Not exactly a rave was it?

[Ray]

Another review of Neenan's Carmina, by Lisa Kraus, the Inquirer's part-time dance critic (although this review was written for danceinsider.com):

http://www.danceinsi...07/f0329_3.html

Thanks Ray.

Not exactly a rave was it?

No, but I thought she was critical in a careful way--she bases her criticism both in details of Neenan's (young) career and in the context of his current interests, as can be seen here:

"Past works have shown Neenan to be intensely tuned to musical phrasings; here the dancers dash in or out and gesture with little connection to the music's rhythms or structural arcs. The dance's relationship to Orff's bulwark seems distracted and removed, as if the music's thickly cascading sonics are too loaded or daunting for Neenan to play off in a significant or consistent way. He seems to be fascinated instead with a gestural language that functions in its own time -- all sharp shifts and arm hinges, perhaps an influence from recent work with Jorma Elo. Certain Neenan-isms -- the bum stuck out and arms gesticulating, the legs spread wide and torso lurched forward at a right angle -- grow tiresome here with their air of skittish insubstantiality."