SAB Workshop 2008

[Farrell Fan]

Outside, all was chaos as the reconstruction of Lincoln Center continues apace. but within the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, where Miriam Pellman, another longtime dancegoer and I greeted each other by comparing canes, everything was beautiful at the ballet, as she said. It was an extremely satisfying performance, begun by 48 girls, ages 8 to 14, in "Circus Polka," with Jock Soto as enthusiastic ringmaster. After a pause, the Robbins celebration continued with his "2 & 3 Part Inventions." This ballet to Bach is in the repertory of NYCB, but was originally choreographed for SAB students in 1994. The excellent dancers last night were Lauren Lovette, Francisco Estevez, Lillian Watkins, Alexander Peters, Sara Adams, Ryan Cardea, Caroline Beach, and Price Suddarth.

After the first intermission, a piece choreographed by Jock Soto "Showcase for Young Male Dancers," was exactly that, with enough leaping and turning so that I thought of the topic that frequently appears in this forum -- is ballet a sport? Perhaps, but these young men displayed plenty of artistry as well. The music was by Johann Strauss, Jr, vigorously played by Arkady Figlin. The dancers were Barry Molina, Joseph Gordon, Spartak Hoxha, Austin Bachman, Alex Forck, Lars Nelson, Trevor Naumann, Eric Trope, Michal Wozniack, Alex Real, Price Suddarth, Josh Brown, Harrison Ball and Peter Walker. One of Balanchine's most sublime ballets, "Concerto Barocco" followed, with Sara Adams and Kristen Segin, along with Caroline Beach, Lillian DiPiazza, Holly Donger, Chaelee Kim, Grace McLaughlin, Adriana Piercy, Shoshana Rosenfeld, and Ryoko Sadoshima. As the lone male, Chase Finley acquitted himself supremely well.

There was another intermission, after which came an exhilarating performance of "Fanfare," in which, as usual, the percussion trio (Harrison Ball, Ryan Cardea, and Slawomir Wozniak) were audience favorites.

[Ray]

Here in Philly students' recitals at the Curtis Institute are broadcast on a public TV affiliate. Oh for the day when the SAB workshop is televised! And why shouldn't it be--I don't believe there are any unions involved. But who knows what the Balanchine Trust would say...

[printscess]

What a difference casting must make.

I was at the Saturday afternoon performance and found the cast of "2 & 3 Part Invention" to be overly rehearsed. I could almost hear them counting in their head. If dancers can over enunciate, I thought that is what they were doing. Since I have not seen "2&3 Part Inventions" before, perhaps it was the choreography?

I enjoyed Concerto Barocco and thought that Megan Johnson was outstanding and had a lot of charisma on stage. The music and dancing were wonderful.

I liked the piece for the intermediate men and jr. advanced men. It is about time that they had their place in the Workshop although I found the choreography a bit of a cliche. There are some outstanding young men coming up the ranks.

I was embarrassed to be sitting in the audience watching the performance of "Fanfare." It must have been hard for the students who were there "forever" to end their SAB career with that. That was all I could think about watching it....as well as what they must have thought when they went for costume fittings?!?!? I wondered when the last time NYCB performed that piece?

I am glad that Ryan Cardea was featured as the Percussion (matinee and evening) and in 2 & 3 Part (evening). In the afternoon he was only in Fanfare and I was sad to think that that was all he was in after 11 yrs at SAB.

I would like to extend my congratulations to all students for hard work and wonderful dancing and good luck in all of their future careers.

And merde to the cast of "Concerto Barocco" going to The Kennedy Center.

[Mel Johnson]

Oh for the day when the SAB workshop is televised! And why shouldn't it be--I don't believe there are any unions involved.

Does the theater have more than 299 seats? You better bet that there are unions involved!

[printscess]

Oh for the day when the SAB workshop is televised! And why shouldn't it be--I don't believe there are any unions involved.

Does the theater have more than 299 seats? You better bet that there are unions involved!

and of course there is the Balanchine Trust.

[Mel Johnson]

Sorry, the Trust doesn't hold even a candle in influence and raw power to IATSE and Local 801 AF of M! For one thing, they couldn't. It would require a pyrotechnician. And music is recorded? You still have to hire two musicians to be "walkers" in any union house in NYC, even for a straight play. One producer actually put them to work playing in the men's room!

[Ray]

Sorry, the Trust doesn't hold even a candle in influence and raw power to IATSE and Local 801 AF of M! For one thing, they couldn't. It would require a pyrotechnician. And music is recorded? You still have to hire two musicians to be "walkers" in any union house in NYC, even for a straight play. One producer actually put them to work playing in the men's room!

I'm sure all this is true, but if there were an institutional will, there could be a way. Unions if they're involved (and do we even know that for sure? I mean maybe the theater was designed for under 300 just b/c of this issue...does anyone know?) can be negotiated with; there are models out there. SAB is, after all, an educational institution, and we're not talking about producing money-making DVDs here. It takes someone who thinks this would be important to at least get a conversation started.

I also wonder, though: does SAB have an investment in keeping this a limited-audience-only event? Knowing the ethos of the place, I wouldn't be surprised.

[SingerWhoMoves]

As much as I would LOVE to be able to watch Workshop on TV, can you imagine the added pressure for these students? This is already a HUGE event for them. I think it's merciful that the audience is intimate.

[Ray]

As much as I would LOVE to be able to watch Workshop on TV, can you imagine the added pressure for these students? This is already a HUGE event for them. I think it's merciful that the audience is intimate.

I'm not talking a national broadcast here, nor would there be any question of post-production or distribution. The goal would be, as with the broadcasts of the Curtis students, to raise public awareness of the art form--an awareness that, outside of our little BT world, needs all the help it can get.

[Mel Johnson]

We're talking about the Sharp here, not the State Theater, but even though the Sharp is rated at 128 seats, there are other forces at work. In NYC, black box theaters are built and utilized with an understanding from the several unions in ancillary disciplines to theater, music or dance that, "OK, you can run it, as long as you DON'T...." (Follows a list of things you can't do, many of which would be involved in recording or broadcast of a student performance.) And you will have a very, very hard time bucking these restrictions. The unions don't care about the good of humanity, the benefit to art, or anything but the protection of musicians' "rights" (some of which are special privileges). You cross swords with Mary Landolfi at your own peril. The AF of M plays rough.

[carbro]

Mel, I think you checked the Peter J. Sharp Theater on Theater Row (West 42nd St.), as opposed to a completely different Peter J. Sharp Theater at the Juilliard School (West 65th), for which I cannot find a link, probably because it is part of a school and not a freestanding institution. (Even Juilliard's website seems to mention it only as an address for events -- no details or photos). PJS at Juilliard seems to have larger capacity than the smallest Broadway theaters and is definitely not a black box.

[Farrell Fan]

The Peter J. Sharp Theater where the SAB Workshop took place used to be known as the Juilliard Theater. When it was, the seating capacity was said to be 933. I don't think it's changed since it became named for Mr.Sharp.

[bart]

Arlene Croce called the Juilliard theater a "small-scale opera house." She considered it one of the best dance theaters in New York City, perfect for smaller and mediium-sized companies.

[Mel Johnson]

That simply remakes my case. Theaters in NYC attached to educational institutions and churches are even more closely watched than black boxes. A few decades ago, AF of M national president Jimmy Petrillo tried to shut down the Cathedral of St. John the Divine over jurisdiction. It didn't work.

[bart]

Picking up on SingerWhoMoves's point:

Last weekend I attended 2 end-of-term performances of a prestigious residential ballet school. The students were probably between 13 and 17. Their performances -- two one-act classical divertissements and 2 shorter contemporary works -- were impressive and delightful.

However, I don't have a lot of experience watching student dancers -- even talented students of the top rank. I don't know the standards that one might realistically apply. Thus I found myself a bit confused about what to look for and how to evaluate it. Releasing a video of such a performance to the general public -- or even the ballet-loving portion of it -- might be unfair to the students if those watching expect something equivalent to a professional performance.

[Ray]

Picking up on SingerWhoMoves's point:

Last weekend I attended 2 end-of-term performances of a prestigious residential ballet school. The students were probably between 13 and 17. Their performances -- two one-act classical divertissements and 2 shorter contemporary works -- were impressive and delightful.

However, I don't have a lot of experience watching student dancers -- even talented students of the top rank. I don't know the standards that one might realistically apply. Thus I found myself a bit confused about what to look for and how to evaluate it. Releasing a video of such a performance to the general public -- or even the ballet-loving portion of it -- might be unfair to the students if those watching expect something equivalent to a professional performance.

Putting aside the access issues and focusing on this...Bart, I don't think this is a good criteria by which to preclude broadcasting. Again, I use the Curtis music students as a good example, perhaps musicians in general, who have to perform for all sorts of audiences (with wildly varying degrees of musical competency) from a very early age. My wish, as always, is that the ballet world become a little less mystified.

And, from the looks of the pic in the NY Times, I imagine the performance approached and maybe even surpassed professional levels.

[Welsely]

Pardon me as I switch the conversation back to the actual topic: the workshop.

I saw both casts last weekend, Sat. and Mon. night. It was quite interesting to see how different the casts are, and it was quite delightful to see some of my favorites from last year again!

As was said, the opener was Robbins' endearing Circus Polka, with Jock Soto as Ringleader. Both he and all of the children appeared to have a fun time on stage. After the pause was another Robbins' work, 2 & 3 Part Inventions. Remembering the original cast for this ballet when it premiered for the workshop fourteen years ago, I was beside myself to see how this new generation was going to present it. Each cast consisted of eight students, so there were too many people to remember specifically about, though a couple did stand out. Francisco Estevez and Chase Finlay shared the role as the "solo" boy as I like to call him (Estevez Sat. and Finlay Mon.). They were both very compelling, though I found that Finlay matched the raw energy and vigor that Benjamin Millepied presented to the role when he originated it. Another stand out was Lillian Watkins who did the girl's solo Sat. night. Despite her short stature, she displayed the lyricism and beauty of any adagio amazoness. A couple more were Kristen Segin, who once again did not fail to give a very crisp and clear performance, and Alexander Peters (I forgot how old he was, but considering how young he looks, he dances very maturely and well for his age).

After the intermission, the second part opened with something called Interlude: Showcase for Young Male Dancers. This piece took the term of Showcase to a whole new level. The cast entirely consisting of boys from the Intermediate and junior Advanced Men divisions of the school, the work displayed exactly what kind of young talent that the school is producing. Leaping back and forth on the stage, occasionally stopping to do multiple turns followed by maneges, I could not help but wonder how these young gentlemen were getting through it. Being about ten minutes long in its entirety, with waltz music by Strauss and choreography by Jock Soto, this work gave a lot for ballet watchers to look toward to in the future.

The second part of the second section was one of my favorite Balanchine ballets, Concerto Barocco. One of his most ingenious and splendid ballets, this work presents a corps of eight girls lead by two principle girls, each representing a violin in the music. Saturday night leads were two familiar faces from last year's workshop, Kristen Segin as the 1st violin/solo girl and Sara Adams as the 2nd violin/pas de deux girl. It was interesting to see these two dance along side each other, keeping in mind that they both had shared the role as the principle girl in Balanchine's Gounod Symphony the previous year. Now seeing them side by side, I realize how distinctly different they are from one another. Kristen, who also gave a very memorable Sanguinic last year, once again displayed her veracity and attack of the music without forgetting the graceful part as well. Her diagonal in the last movement, though short, was powerful, reminding the audience that she was still there and ready to give us a performance we would never forget. Adams, who did the 2nd movement pas de deux alongside Chase Finlay, almost brought me to the point of tears. You would never guess with her being so short that she would have the longest pair of legs, oh-so beautiful with every developpe and arabesque that she did (i.e. Maria Kowroski). I find her so much more memorable and striking this year than last, probably because of the excellent SAB training making her technically more proficient. I have to say the only thing that I did not like were the occasional cheesy grins on their faces. It was not until they were caught up in the performance that their faces finally relaxed. The Monday night cast presented two of this year's Wein winners, Lydia Wellington as the 1st violin and Megan Johnson as the 2nd violin. Obviously being a taller cast, it meant requiring a taller partner, being Mark Wax. I can not remember seeing her last year, but Johnson is another wonderful talent and stunning beauty. Her adagio was perfect, though her movement quality seemed a bit stiffer compared to Adams. Wax, being a giant, was a very supportive partner, however I feel that, despite the fact that he never leaves the girl's side, he forgot that he was still dancing and did not bring the presence that a great partner would. Wellington did a fine job as the soloist, though she came off a little too academic for my taste, along with dancing through the music, not with it. A question that came to mind when I saw this ballet was "where is Callie Bachman?" I figured that the infamous angelic Juliet from last year would be ideal for this ballet. However, she never even made an appearance in workshop at all. Did she already join a company without my knowing?

The big finale this year was yet another Robbins' ballet, Fanfare, one of his most charming works. All the dancers represent different instruments in an orchestra, presented by a Major Domo (David Lowenstein) before they present a short dance. In its entirety, there are four different sections: Woodwinds (Flutes and Piccolo, Oboe, Clarinets, Bassoons), Strings (First Violins, Second Violins, Violas, Cellos, Double Bass, Harp), Brass (Horns, Trumpets, Tuba and Trombones), and Percussion (three male dancers represent all of the different instruments within this category). At the end, they all come together for a rousing Fugue. Not necessarily the most impressive ballet for the dancers to present, it is nothing but pure enjoyment but if its done wrong, it could really ruin the effect of the work. Both casts did a good-hearted job; each variation is so short there is not much of a chance for a dancer to stick out, though a few did. Specifically Sara Adams and Craig Hall as the Violas on Mon. night, giving a very short but sweet pas de deux; both casts of Double Bass (Joshua Brown Sat. night and Samuel Greenberg Mon. night), each so tall with very good jumps; Amy Barker, a startling beauty and giantess who did both performances as the Harp; and Ryan Cardea as the lead/central/main Percussion, who gave the most humorous rendition I have ever seen.

As usual, I like to give my opinion of who I would hope join the rank as apprentice with New York City Ballet. Disappointed with the fact the Peter Martins did not take any of the talented ladies from last year, I can only hope that he does not make that mistake again, which would almost be impossible considering the talent does nothing but grow. With highest regards to all the dancers, I feel those who would be prime choices are Kristen Segin, Sara Adams, Megan Johnson, Lillian Watkins, and Chase Finlay. Good luck to them, and all of their peers!

Oh p.s., the other two Wein winners this year were Samuel Greenberg and Michael Tucker.

[jimmattimore]

Megan Johnson and Lydia Wellington were spectacular, but Megan had a bit more elegance in her dancing.

Wonderfully enough , my wife and our friends ran into her by P.J. Clarke's at about 4:30 on Saturday and hugged and kissed her with highest praise; she was still in makeup and bun for the evening performance; she is a beauty

[harpergroup]

Since the Workshop, Megan Johnson and Lydia Wellington have both been dancing with NYCB in 3rd movement of Brahms-Schoenberg.

[harpergroup]

They're now listed in the program as dancing in B-S.

Also, while there has not been a press release to that effect, they are now shown as apprentices in the company's roster.

[jdribbons]

"Concerto Barocco" followed, with Sara Adams and Kristen Segin, along with Caroline Beach, Lillian DiPiazza, Holly Donger, Chaelee Kim, Grace McLaughlin, Adriana Piercy, Shoshana Rosenfeld, and Ryoko Sadoshima. As the lone male, Chase Finley acquitted himself supremely well.

To correct the spelling of one dancer; Holly Dorger, currently in the corps de ballet of the Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen Denmark.

[drb]

To correct the spelling of one dancer; Holly Dorger, currently in the corps de ballet of the Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen Denmark.

Thanks. From the Professional Children's School site, in addition to Ms. Dorger's position, many other dancers have also gained employment:

(August 1, 2008) Six members of the PCS Class of 2008 have deferred their college acceptances to join major professional dance companies in the U.S. and abroad. Holly Dorger has been invited to dance in the corps de ballet of the Royal Danish Ballet in Copehagen. Megan Johnson has been named a New York City Ballet Company apprentice. Grace McLoughlin and Slawomir Wozniak will be dancing with the Los Angeles Ballet Company. They all received their dance training at the School of American Ballet. Jacob Bretton-Granatoor will join Montréal's Le Jeune Ballet du Québec dance company. Kathryn Vasilopoulos, who trained at Ballet Academy East, joins the Nashville Ballet Company.

Joining Megan Johnson, recent PCS graduates Amy Barker, Kristen Segin, Sara Adams and Michael Tucker were also named New York City Ballet apprentices. They all trained at the School of American Ballet and will be dancing with the company this season at Lincoln Center. Congratulations to all!

http://www.pcs-nyc.org/subpage.cfm?tbl=29&sct=43