Simone Messmer

[California]

27 minutes ago, Jack Reed said:

I'm glad for reports of difficulties with access that I can bring to the attention of B.C.'s administration.  

I had no problems with access to the program last evening and enjoyed it very much.

But I've unsuccessfully tried to send them a donation on two different laptops over the last two days -- from the link on the program page and another from their home page. I keep getting the same message: please close your browser and try again. I've used that credit card successfully on several other things today, so I'm mystified. I normally use my auto-fill but tried typing everything in from scratch, in case that's the problem. Nope -- still doesn't work. 

[Buddy]

1 hour ago, California said:

I had no problems with access to the program last evening and enjoyed it very much.

But I've unsuccessfully tried to send them a donation on two different laptops over the last two days -- from the link on the program page and another from their home page. I keep getting the same message: please close your browser and try again. I've used that credit card successfully on several other things today, so I'm mystified. I normally use my auto-fill but tried typing everything in from scratch, in case that's the problem. Nope -- still doesn't work. 

Are you using your billing address ? That finally worked for me.

Jack, thank you for your input. Your personal interest and enthusiasm are always welcome. I know that you were also a fan of Edward's Miami City Ballet and I think that these young dancers have some of that vibrance and spontaneity that gives works by George Balanchine more life and meaning and less of a museum piece feel. The challenge for these young dancers is to get on top of what they're doing, as does Simone Messmer so admirably. Experience will probably help a lot and I do like the direction that the school seems to be going in. One of the things that I really appreciate about George Balanchine's choreography is that he often highlights and merges the background dancers with the 'stars.' This probably makes it a lot more fun and rewarding for all these young dancers.

Added: Jack, do you know why Simone Messmer chose the school to work with ?  Do you, or they, think that anything more might come of it ?  Hopefully she has a lot of performing year left, but later on she might want to help younger dancers. I read somewhere that she seems quite good at this and is very supportive of those that she's helping.

And: Although I wrote above that the challenge for these young students is to get on top of what they're doing, their youthful 'lack' of perfection does have a lovely charm of its own that makes the work all the more enjoyable at times. It's youth having fun and trying new things that gives new life.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Buddy

[Drew]

Very happy to learn about this--thank you @Buddy-- I have just had time to watch the adagio. I thought it was a lovely performance (and that music!!!) and agree with the spirit of @Jack Reed's earlier comments, the ones to which he linked; Messmer gives an unshowy and for that reason all the more beautiful and effective performance (at least as best one can judge on this less-than-ideal video).  To my eyes, she has always been a genuinely compelling ballerina....here, the same.

[Quiggin]

And so Messmer was in San Francisco in first year of Ratmansky's Shostakovich Trilogy – with the original cast – compelling and unshowy, as Drew puts it.

[Buddy]

On 3/7/2021 at 3:28 PM, Drew said:

To my eyes, she has always been a genuinely compelling ballerina....here, the same.

Drew, to muse on this for a moment, what does make her this way ?  From the Ballet Chicago  video I get a sense that she's made many, many conscious decisions on how she's going to present herself at any given moment, and most importantly they work, often remarkably well. Yet, more important, is how it all comes together, a definite case of the whole being more important than the elements. It supersedes description and becomes, perhaps, more meaningful as a sensual experience. The parts that I really enjoy are when she seems to lose herself in what she's created. It becomes a selfless, natural flow that's precious in its feminine poetry and loveliness.

Once again, the actual video. She appears in the opening work, George Balanchine's Concerto  Barocco.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnhdQuMn7UE&t=3s
 

[Buddy]

There was a discussion that referred to lyricism versus tempi in the performances of works by George Balanchine. This can be seen in my post from March 12.

https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/46063-new-york-city-ballet-2021-season/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-432320

In the video with Simone Messmer's and the Ballet Chicago school's performance of  Concerto  Barocco, accessible in the previous post, I'm not sure about tempi, but the way that she floats through parts of the adagio, with what I'd call lyricism, is, for me, -- breathtaking !