Alexandra Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 [NOTE: I split this off from the original Revivals thread, as that was devoted generally to NYCB rep, and this is more specifically aimed at Balanchine works and how they might be revived for his approaching Centennial.] Back to City Ballet's rep, here's a suggestion that's bound to be popular: invite every living Balanchine ballerina to come in and stage, or at least help coach, a ballet in which she created or embodied a role. A sort of living bouquet for Mr. B. Link to comment
rkoretzky Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 Alexandra, what an idea! What a magnificent idea for the 100th anniversary of Mr. B's birth in January 2004. Who has Peter's ear? Who would he listen to? Link to comment
dirac Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 What a nice idea. Would love to see Marie-Jeanne's Barocco. Link to comment
cargill Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 I would love to see Tallchief's Scotch Symphony. She coached Judith Fugate in it for the Balanchine archives, and apparently there have been some changes since it was first done. And what about Verdy getting a hold of Emeralds! Link to comment
Guest kb Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 Kirkland restaging Firebird, anyone? Link to comment
Alexandra Posted June 25, 2002 Author Share Posted June 25, 2002 Hi, kb. That would certainly be interesting......not likely to happen, but interesting Link to comment
Nanatchka Posted June 26, 2002 Share Posted June 26, 2002 I don't know about Gelsey, but I wouldn't want to try restaging Firebird with Tallchief in the wings waiting for Scotch to go on....(She was the original.) Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted June 26, 2002 Share Posted June 26, 2002 Farrell coaching Monumentum/Movements. I've seen her do it, but would love to see her get world-class dancers in the leads. Kent coaching La Sonnambula. How about letting Suki Schorer do something with the company? Her stagings for the school are so full of musical detail. If magic were possible, to see how Leclercq would have coached. Link to comment
Farrell Fan Posted June 26, 2002 Share Posted June 26, 2002 This is a wonderful idea, but it requires a personality-change on the part of the Ballet Master in Chief. Let us pray. I'd love to see Suzanne stage Metastaseis and Pithoprakta. I saw this only once, 34 years ago, and have been waiting ever since to see it again. Link to comment
Roma Posted June 26, 2002 Share Posted June 26, 2002 Farrell Fan, you mean The Ultimate Authority in Chief?;) I long to see Liebeslieder Waltzer staged by Verdy and/or Farrell. I can dream, can't I? Link to comment
Juliet Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 Anyone who says OK to Eifman for a celebration is not going to say OK to Farrell. Think about this for a minute. Can you believe it? At this point, I can......... Link to comment
BW Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 Between this wishful thinking and The New Yorker article, I'm getting depresssed. Not about having all the former ballerinas come, etc. but the idea that this is only a pipe dream. And, I really can't imagine the Eifman deal happening! Although I've not actually seen his work, I have to believe you all in that it would be totally wrong for the company, past, present or future. On another thread, Leigh, you explained how the ballet company hierarchy works... So is it really only up to the Ballet Master in Chief how to handle the upcoming season? Are prayer and supplication the only route? Does the Board of Directors have any serious input and/or control? Link to comment
Roma Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 Juliet, I agree with you. Eifman and Farrell are definitely mutually exclusive, though I am sure she will figure hugely in his "life of Balanchine" ballet. Martins is very skilled at saying all the right things (ie "This is Balanchine's House, blah, blah, blah"), but he was never a believer--he simply wanted the director's chair. If Balanchine ever mistreated him, he has avenged himself well, and perhaps there is some of that in commissioning Eifman. I can't explain inviting that bombast in any other way. And when he does come, Martins will say, " here is a choreographer from Balanchine's native city. Like Balanchine he is an innovator; how else can we honor a great choreographer but with a new ballet, blah, blah, blah". Kisselgoff will clap like a happy little seal over at the Times. It's too depressing. Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 I'm curious, has there ever been any official word or announcement from NYCB about these plans? Link to comment
Alexandra Posted June 27, 2002 Author Share Posted June 27, 2002 I can't answer that question specifically, Leigh, but I was once called to fact check a New Yorker piece and the questions were exremely thorough. It wasn't just "was the ballet choreographed in 1955 or 1956" but "do you agree with the metaphor that that section of that city is like Brooklyn"? And when I said yes, I had to defend it as though I had written it. So I'd be surprised if such a statement would have passed such dragons without back up Link to comment
Ari Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 When did that happen, Alexandra? I ask because the magazine's fabled fact-checking has gotten more careless in recent years. Typical was John Lahr's statement, in his review of the current Broadway production of Oklahoma, that the leading actress was the first ever to dance the role of Laurey as well as act and sing it. In fact, an actress named Susan Watson did that in 1964. (This caused quite a ruckus on a theater bulletin board I visit.) Link to comment
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