18 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

WOW!!...I just read the upcoming season announcement....Bravo, Eddie!!!  


Program I
Balanchine after Ivanov. "Swan Lake" Act II
Balanchine/Hindemith. "The Four Temperaments"
Tharp/Glass.  "In the Upper Room"  (   Oh, well...)"

Program II
Villella/ Carmichael, Parish, Ellington.  "The Fox Trot: Dancing in the Dark"
Taylor/Schubert. "Mercuric Tidings"
Balanchine/Tchaikowsky. "Ballet Imperial"

Program III
Balanchine after Petipa/Minkus . "Don Quixote"  

Program IV
Balanchine/Bach. "Concerto Barocco"
Robbins/Chopin. "In the Night"
Balanchine/Bizet. "Symphony in C"

[bart]

Both In the Night and Mercuric Tidings are company premieres.  The Robbins piece will join Dances at a Gathering, premiered two seasons ago.  The Taylor piece joins Arden Court, last performed 3 seasons ago.

I'm glad to see so many Balanchine classics:  Four T's, Concerto Barocco, Ballet Imperial, Sonnambula, Symphony in C, and the Act II of Swan Lake.  They are all reprisals, but there are new dancers in the company, and Villella's adventurous casting is one of the special pleasures of the way the company functions nowadays.

We have a lot to look forward to.

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart, on Apr 23 2008, 04:20 PM, said:

I'm glad to see so many Balanchine classics:  Concerto Barocco, Ballet Imperial, Sonnambula, Symphony in C, and the Act II of Swan Lake.

Bart, i'm so excited with the upcoming season!  I'll have a full set of new Balanchine  toys  (well, vintage in relation at the dates they were created but still,news for me) to play with .  For the most, i'm truly looking forward to "The four Temperaments" (right,Leigh...?    and the recently Youtubized Symphony in C.  Now, i have a couple of  questions for the living ballet encyclopedias of the board:
1-"Ballet Imperial" a la Karinska or fallowing the latter version that Mr B made omiting sets and costumes...?
2-Balanchine's "Swan Lake"...the famous condensed 2nd Act that newyorkers seem to feel so nostalgic about...? Interesting...so, won't feel the need for Odile...? Let's see.  

You're right, bart...

bart, on Apr 23 2008, 04:20 PM, said:

We have a lot to look forward to.

[carbro]

Cristian, I think it's helpful not to think of the Balanchine Swan Lake as Swan Lake, rather more as his take on the essence of Ivanov's lakeside choreography.  He seems to be saying "Swan Lake?  It felt sort of like this,"  just more poetically   .  During Balanchine's lifetime the ballerina did not seem to inhabit the role of Odette but was a dancer conveying the idea of Odette.  (That aspect of the B'chine version is less apparent these days.)   The whole thing is a step removed from the source of its inspiration.

I never missed Odile , and I never missed the cygnets   .

About Program IV, I have long believed that if you open a program with Barocco and close it with Symphony in C, you could put anything in the middle and still have surefire winner.   I trust MCB's dancers will do it proud.

[cubanmiamiboy]

carbro, on Apr 23 2008, 09:23 PM, said:

Cristian, I think it's helpful not to think of the Balanchine Swan Lake as Swan Lake, rather more as his take on the essence of Ivanov's lakeside choreography.  He seems to be saying "Swan Lake?  It felt sort of like this,"  just more poetically   .  During Balanchine's lifetime the ballerina did not seem to inhabit the role of Odette but was a dancer conveying the idea of Odette.  (That aspect of the B'chine version is less apparent these days.)   The whole thing is a step removed from the source of its inspiration.

I never missed Odile , and I never missed the cygnets   .

About Program IV, I have long believed that if you open a program with Barocco and close it with Symphony in C, you could put anything in the middle and still have surefire winner.   I trust MCB's dancers will do it proud.

Thanks for your thoughts, Carbro!.  I'll keep in mind that of "Balanchine's take on the esence of Ivanov's lakeside choregraphy".  But yes, i'll miss Odile , and the drama, and all the courtiers running nowere in circular motion like maniacs while an overdramatic fainting Queen steals the very last part of the show...(oh, and last but nor less...yes, Carbro, i'll really miss those 32 steps...you know...those,,, )

[bart]

carbro, on Apr 24 2008, 01:23 AM, said:

During Balanchine's lifetime the ballerina did not seem to inhabit the role of Odette but was a dancer conveying the idea of Odette.

Carbro, that's a wonderful way of putting it.  Even with strong dramatic dancers like Hayden, Odette became a kind of ideal type of a ballerina dancing within, but not acting out, a famous role:  a captive Swan Princess, deeply sad, fearful but capable of yearning and even a distant kind of warmth.  This Odette seemed to exist in a kind of perpetual present with no past (other than her captivity by Rothbart) and no real future.

I am trying to find a way to describe the facial expression -- or lack of it -- that Balanchine's original Odettes all seemed to have mastered.  "Blank" is too negative; "creaturelike," which I've heard attributed to Balanchine, is not quite right either.  Maybe we have to think of an actual swan, the main facial features unchanging in all circumstances, but the eyes alert and reactive, suggesting a depth that humans cannot possibly plumb.  It's pure movement that tells her story and that captivates Siegfried.

A good preparation for seeing the Balanchine is a exposure to a production featuring a really big Russian (or Cuban?     )star.  The contrast is enormous and quite revealing.  Each is effective ... but they are worlds apart in style.

[Natalia]

cubanmiamiboy, on Apr 23 2008, 07:13 PM, said:

Program I
Balanchine after Ivanov. "Swan Lake" Act II
........

Thanks for posting, cubanmiamiboy. This Balanchine one-act Swan is a real rarity and has me contemplating a possible trip to Miami.  When will this be? Fall '08? After hurrican season, I hope.

[bart]

Natalia, the performances of Program I will be on three separate weekends in three different cities.  Based on Villella's track record and the current status of the ballerina ranks, there should be 2 and possibly 3 different Odettes at each city.  (Anyone want to speculate on the casting?)

Arsht Center, Miami
Oct. 17-19

Broward Center, Fort Lauderdale
Nov. 7-9

Kravis Center, West Palm Beach
Nov. 14-16

Hurricane season technically runs into November, though the last couple we had here in Palm Beach County were in late September and early October.  Fort Lauderdale and West Palm are your safest bets.  

For the record:
-- Hurricane Andrew devastated the area south of downtown Miami on August 24, 1992
-- Hurricanes Frances  (September 5) and Jeanne (September 25) passsed right over our house in Palm Beach County in 2004, followed by Katrina on August 25, 2005.

[Ray]

cubanmiamiboy, on Apr 23 2008, 07:13 PM, said:

Program III
Balanchine after Petipa/Minkus . "Don Quijote"  

Just for the record, MCB isn't doing Balanchine's Don Q; from the press release:

Program III will feature the return of the 19th century classic Don Quixote set to
music by Léon Minkus. Miguel de Cervantes’ famous novel mesmerized Spain and the
rest of the world for four hundred years – inspiring major works of art, plays, and ballets.
There have been many dance enactments of the tale of the man from La Mancha – and
Miami City Ballet’s full-length production is based on some of the best – from the famed
19th century choreographers Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, with some exciting
and lively enhancements. This work is filled with plenty of ballet action and Spanishstyle
dancing and is one of the largest productions ever performed by Miami City Ballet,
featuring nearly 50 dancers.

[Jack Reed]

What a season!

With regard to Balanchine's Swan Lake, carbro's characterisation of it is spot on, as usual.  I think that's why  Balanchine himself didn't add the phrase Act II; his half-hour ballet was a reflection or distillation of the original.  In that sense, MCB's designation is misleading, as though people need to be told they're not getting the original version plus "4T's" and In the Upper Room.

Textually, though, it owed more to the original than just some of the musical score:  I began seeing his "version" in the mid-70's, I think, when Hayden and Verdy were alternating in it, and around that time the Royal showed their version of the original, next door.  I was surprised to discover how many of the sequences Mr. B had apparently taken over!  It seemed like every other one of his matched theirs, and he had interpolated more brilliant ones than what I saw in the Met (speaking here only of where the music was the same in both productions).

Yeah, Ray, good going, and I don't think bart* will mind too much if I speculate in public that he got a little carried away by the news!  I don't blame him one bit!  Roll on, MCB!

*Oops!  Just noticed it wasn't bart, but never mind, I think we're all a little out of our heads over the news!

Edited by Jack Reed, 26 April 2008 - 11:52 AM.

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart, on Apr 24 2008, 08:14 AM, said:

... there should be 2 and possibly 3 different Odettes at each city.  (Anyone want to speculate on the casting?)

Yeeeeeeeees!!!!.
If there's someone i want to see doing Odette, that would be Deanna Seay.  She has to be in...
...and then the rest...

[cubanmiamiboy]

Jack Reed, on Apr 24 2008, 12:03 PM, said:

With regard to Balanchine's Swan Lake, carbro's characterization of it is spot on, as usual.  I think that's why  Balanchine himself didn't add the phrase Act II; his half-hour ballet was a reflection or distillation of the original.  In that sense, MCB's designation is misleading, as though people need to be told they're not getting the original version plus "4T's" and In the Upper Room.

Jack's observation on the Act II designation left me thinking.  The thing is that i would find even more misleading if i see a "Swan Lake" announcement and then i end up not having Odile.  See, i get the fact of Balanchine wanting to recreate the SL instead of reproducing it in its whole, due to what he saw as a silly plot.  I also recognize that the most of the balletomanes know about the particularities behind Mr.B works.  But, there is a problem.  What about the rest of the population...? Wouldn't be possible that some people who are not that familiar with Balanchine's choreographies be confused, (if not disappointed) if they discover that this won't be the "standard" version of the SL right at the night of the performance...? In other words.  You know SL.  You've seen it many times, and you love Act III.  Then, right at the performance you suddenly realize that there won't be any Black Swan to be found anywhere here...( maybe even before the music starts while reading the program).  Shocking, i would say.  That would have been me, wouldn't i have read about Mr. B production specifics here at the board.  While i understand that the "Act II" adding kind of "breaks" the magic of how Balanchine envisioned and offered the work, i also think that is safer.  Alternative solutions like renaming the ballet are also excellent ways of alerting future audiences to look in a different direction on what to expect ; e.g "The Sleeping Princess" or "The Magic Swan" .

[Jack Reed]

I agree, Cristian; I realize the south-Florida audience of today is unlike the New York audience of long ago, and Balanchine pitched to his audience (to some extent).  In a way, for Villella's audience, "Swan Lake" could well be more misleading than "Swan Lake Act II", and what Villella's audience needs is to be led into what they're going to look at, not misled.

And as for dream casting, I hope to see Catoya at least once more (with all respect to the others in the company) in Ballet Imperial (known more accurately but more intimidatingly for some as Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, as it is Balanchine's later version, without the pantomime) and I think Seay might be particularly good in In the Night; but the same guy (or people) who cooked up this schedule know(s) how to cast it!

[bart]

Jack Reed, on Apr 26 2008, 04:52 PM, said:

I think Seay might be particularly good in In the Night; but the same guy (or people) who cooked up this schedule know(s) how to cast it!

  

Any chance that Violette Verdy will be available to coach In the Night?  Watching her coach Elisabeth Platel and Nicolas LeRiche as the second couple  (originally danced by herself and Peter Martins) was eye-opening.  Even more so was her work with Lucia Lacara and Cyril Pierre in Liebeslieder Walzer.  (DVD:  Violette and Mr. B)

MCB has greater depth and experience for this kind of ballet among the women than among the men.  You need dancers who can express a range of genuine -- and often quickly changeable -- emotions through the choreography.  

Here's a totally off-the-wall shot at  casting:

1)  First couple :  Jennifer Kronenberg and ?  

2)  Second couple:   Deanna Seay and Rolando Sarabia

3)  Third couple:  Patricia Delgado and Isanusi Garcia-Rodriguez.  I would also like to see Catoya give this a try, though it's against her usual type.  How about Catoya/Sarabia?

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart, on Apr 26 2008, 06:03 PM, said:

1)  First couple :  Jennifer Kronenberg and ?

...Carlos Guerra.  

bart, on Apr 26 2008, 06:03 PM, said:

2)  Second couple:Deanna Seay and Rolando Sarabia

Yes, YES!

bart, on Apr 26 2008, 06:03 PM, said:

3)  Third couple:  Patricia Delgado and Isanusi Garcia-Rodriguez.

You know bart...?, you're totally right!... what a great pairing !

bart, on Apr 26 2008, 06:03 PM, said:

I would also like to see Catoya give this a try, though it's against her usual type.How about Catoya/Sarabia?

Maybe better Catoya/Panteado...?

and then i would add...

4) Tricia Albertson and Jeremy Cox

5) Mary Carmen Catoya and Renato Panteado.  ( Jack, I know i'm being probably unfair about not mentioning great classical Catoya more often, but i still remember her Aurora...