ShesnoFonteynsMom Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 ...for the world premiere of "Lost Language of the Flight Attendant"/performed by ABT Studio Company/choreography by Brian Reeder/music by W.A. Mozart. Did anyone else see this last night? Please jump in!! Help out! I have to go to a meeting plus I'm too shy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrell Fan Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 Dear Shesno... Please try to overcome your shyness and tell about this. As someone who saw PAMTGG, Mr. B's extraordinary flop, I have a real need to know. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cargill Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I saw it, and enjoyed it very much. It reminded me of Robbins much more than Balanchine, but without the excessive coyness that he sometimes has. It was a lyrical fantasia on airline flight, and I thought the girl playing the stewardess (I don't remember her name) was terrific, very deadpan and very funny. I have no idea how she managed to keep a straight face with the audience laughing so hard. I never thought of oxygen masks and flotation devices as springboards for pas de deux, but Brian Reeder (the choreographer) must be a hoot to travel with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leigh Witchel Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 Would it be possible for someone to post some basic details about the performance. I'm chagrined I didn't even know when ABT Studio Company's performance was. I thought I was on every performing arts mailing list in this entire town - evidently I am not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cargill Posted April 20, 2002 Share Posted April 20, 2002 Leigh, I got an email message from ABT a few weeks ago, but I don't remember any formal announcement, I'm afraid. I don't have my program here so don't have names, but it began with a new piece to Mozart by a 17 year old member of the ABT Studio company, for 4 couples plus a lead couple, which was classical, with tutus (slightly elongated in the back which I thought was a bit destracting when the girls turned). I thought it used steps beautifully, lots of little shimmering moves, and no overly complicated virtuosity. What struck me most was the musicality, it really seemed part of the score. At one point the lead man whipped off a series of fast turns which some complicated footwork around the corps girls (if 4 girls can be called a corps), but it didn't seem like a technical feat, and flowed so well into the next part of the music that the audience did not burst into applause, which I thought was the most amazing compliment. The overall structure of the piece was more important that a few technical tricks. He used the mail couple very well too, in that the choreography suited their age--no pseudoemotions, just a very charming dance for two young people. It is a piece I would love to see again. There was a pas de duex by Robert Hill, to live piano, which was not as successful, I thought--a bit alienated and cold, and the middle ballet, too (by William Tuckett to Stravinsky's Pulchinella) was confused and difuse--too many characters rushing around. The final piece was the airplane one which as I said, I loved. Comedy is so hard to do, and it caught exactly the right tone, quirky without being coy. The girl who danced the stewardess was so funny and so vivid, very prissy about the rules, but with quite an eye for the men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShesnoFonteynsMom Posted April 20, 2002 Author Share Posted April 20, 2002 When I spied the Flight Attendant Ballet on the program for ABT Studio Company Thursday night (Kaye Playhouse)--I thought-- oh no PAMTGGing to Mozart. But it was clever and well-crafted, and it did remind one of Jerome Robbins. No lucite suitcases here. The eight dancers are passengers on a long flight. They begin with the men on one knee, the ladies seated on the other knee, tilted backward and along comes the attendant (totally groomed, totally efficient, totally authoritative) who flicks each ballerina on the head to bring them up into take-off position. The passengers alternate between boredom and cutting up. They smoke in the back of the plane, canoodle in the bathroom, always to be reined in by the attendant, whose clipped manner lets them know there is no fun allowed (except when she decides it's time to flirt). Sometimes things got muddled and I didn't get "it", but in the end it was light, airy fun. These young company members were very well rehearsed and that alone made the entire evening a pleasure to watch. Leigh, there were two performances, Wed. & Thurs. It was listed in the calendar section of last Friday's Post. (Symphony #23/chor. Tobin Eason/music Mozart; Toccare/chor. Robert Hill/music Magnussen; Pulcinella/chor. William Tuckett/music Stravinsky) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrell Fan Posted April 20, 2002 Share Posted April 20, 2002 Thanks, Shesno and Cargill. Sounds like a lot more fun than an actual flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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