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cargill

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    Writer
  • City**
    New York
  • State (US only)**, Country (Outside US only)**
    New York

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  1. I think Marina is one of the best dance writers out there.
  2. In case anyone isn't aware, Marina Harss has started posting reviews on a new substack site. There are a couple of her writings on NYCB up now. This link should workl https://marinaharss.substack.com
  3. Thanks so much, I'm really looking forward to it. Though I must say, after reading her blog post, I hope she doesn't have too much to do with writing the captions! She starts off with On the one hand, the casings or trappings of ballet– the pointe shoes and tutus of the ballerina, the tights of the male dancers, the strict code of proscribed steps– serve as signifiers of an art form considered too niche or set in its ways to ever truly speak, freely and meaningfully, to an audience. And later, despite the fact that Diageliev did include parts of "Swan Lake" in some of his programs and that his "Sleeping Beauty" had such a major effect on 20th century ballet, she says Diaghilev did away with the traditional tutus and tights, proving that ballet could meet the other artistic mediums head-on, surpassing them in expressive and theatrical terms.
  4. "Surface" is certainly a good name for the magazine! It seems they just augmented a press release, and the idea that Wes Gordon is the first fashion designer NYCB ever had designing their costumes is so historically wrong. Karinska designed women's dresses--I remember seeing one of her designs from the 1920's in an FIT exhibit.
  5. I find La Sonnambula absolutely mesmerizing, but hard to perform. I guess the old Dorothea Tanner costumes would be hard to put over, but I do wish there was more feeling of oddness, of something hidden and threatening, rather than just a fun romp for the guests. And I can remember the previous design, where the light at the end rose up to the sky, rather than staying in the castle, which I miss. It was just so magical. I must say, though I didn't see it, that I don't understand the tightless look for "Who Cares" at all. It looks so tacky in the pictures.
  6. I think it's a Balanchine joke on a grand pas de deux, so should be danced nobly (though with tounge in cheek). I do remember an interview (I can't remember where or if I read it or heard it) with Melissa Hayden saying that Balanchine told her it should be danced like the Black Swan.
  7. I'm not sure if Victor is reading this, so he may not be answering. I sent him a copy last week. Mary
  8. He was such a special dancer. I first saw him as Lensky when he was very young, just so pure and elegant. I also remember him as the Prince in Ashton's Cinderella. Yes, he did have partnering issues (the final lift as I recall was eliminated) but he gave the ballroom scene such wistfullness, polite but isolated, and the radiance when he met Cinderella was so overwhelming.
  9. I think this is very unfortunate. I enjoyed Shayer's dancing very much in the past and had hoped he would be made a soloist several years before he was finally promoted, but post-pandemic he has looked out of shape. The title is strange too, since that picture doesn't say ABT principal in any way; for me he was a character dancer in the glorious tradition of Alexander Grant, etc. It's too bad (for many reasons!) that ABT has done so little Ashton recently, because there are a number of good roles he might do--Puck obviously, or Alain, or perhaps the skater in Les Patineurs.
  10. I remember a gala a number of years ago where Frederica van Stade sang "The Man I Love"--I don't remember who danced it (maybe MacBride), but I think it was a stand alone performance, since I don't remember other songs. I found the singing distracting and the lyrics didn't really match the choreography, since the song is about someone who hasn't turned up yet. ( I just looked it up, and yes, it was MacBride, in 1988, to open the American Music Festival. )
  11. I miss the older style, when there were usually no set programs, and there were more interesting and unexpected combinations. It seemed then that there was more unexpected casting too, but now if ballerina X does a ballet there is little chance she will also dance in another one if it is consistently programed with the one she is assigned. I guess doing things in chunks makes rehearsals easier to schedule but I agree with Drew that sometimes the programs are a bit monotonous. I think it really started with the Balanchine in black and white phase--I seem to remember a couple of weeks of that about 10 years ago, when evenutally the ballets just seemed like a blur. Contrast is important!
  12. I was there. It was very pink! La Source, the little girls in Coppelia, and the third movement of Brahams/Schoenberg, then finally the pas de six and tarantella of Napoli. I really was impressed by the Napoli. It was coached by Petrusjka Broholm, who I remember from an earlier Bournonville festival, I forget which one. She was a very stylish dancer, with a great stage presence, and she appears to be a wonderful coach. They got a lot of the details, like the head positions and the low arms and springy jumps and really looked like they were having fun. She also brought the traditional Danish men's shoes, black with a white inset which really makes the feet pop. Unfortunately, one boy had trouble with the fit, and it fell off during the pas de six, but he kept dancing without any hesitation--very professional. I was very impressed by Veronica Hanson as the La Source soloist, very elegant, and Natalie Glassie as the Spinner in Coppelia and one of the soloists in Napoli, but everyone looked good.
  13. Cobweb, I agree--I skipped Square Dance this go round. I remember her dancing it in the SAB workshop (I think I am right!) and for me she always seemed like the best dancer in class--never extending beyond the footlights.
  14. Faux Pas, thanks so much for the detailed write up. I am so glad you mentioned Cy Doherty's Don Quixote. I was simply amazed by it, and absolutely stunned to see that he was so young. Here is what I wrote about him, and I'm happy that I wasn't the only one who noticed him! it was surprising to see how the tall, lean Cy Doherty commanded attention in the opening scene, staring at the vision of Dulcinea with a befuddled but awestruck sincerity as his creaking, aged body reached for her in vain. His Don never faded completely into the background once the dancing started; there was a hint of anger as he used his lance to protect himself and to attack that windmill and a stubborn determination to reach the dream Dulcinea, no matter what the Dryad Queen said. His final exit, trembling with determination to keep seeking for the ideal the audience knows he will never find, had a hint of both comedy and tragedy. It was even more surprising to discover that Doherty is an apprentice; the vivid character he created with so much sympathy and understanding seemed to come from a much older man.
  15. The Wallace Collection is hosting a free lecture by Marina Warner on Ashton which is available on zoom as well. https://www.wallacecollection.org/whats-on/events/out-of-this-world-dancing-into-fairylands/
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