Kennedy Center Honors for 2014

[dirac]

I think Villella and “The Man I Love” are both obvious choices. Would love to see Tiler Peck dance it. Baryshnikov would be nice for name recognition value even if it wasn’t a partnership made in heaven.

McBride and Helgi Tomasson danced quite a bit together before the hiring of Baryshnikov. Tomasson probably isn’t enough of a name but it would be nice to see a tribute from him.

Completely agree with all of the above--and I always found Mcbride-Tomasson a wonderful partnership!

I wish I had seen them together.Tomasson has spoken warmly about dancing with McBride. I really do hope he is included in some way.

[lmspear]

My hunch, lmspear, is that both "slights" to McBride and Mazzo meant........absolutely nothing.

I completely agree.

[lmspear]

My hunch, lmspear, is that both "slights" to McBride and Mazzo meant........absolutely nothing.

I completely agree.

[canbelto]

I follow Farrell Ballet on twitter as well. I don't think Suzanne is the one involved in the twitter handle. It's weird to see the twitter pix of her and see her with short hair now.

[kfw]

I follow Farrell Ballet on twitter as well. I don't think Suzanne is the one involved in the twitter handle.

I agree. I think it's clear from the way she's referred to in the third person that she doesn't write the tweets.

[Jack Reed]

I wish I had seen them together...

There was a well-shot 1978 PBS Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of their wonderful Coppelia, so you may get some of your wish, if that comes your way. Maybe we'll see a clip from it in the Honors broadcast.

[rg]

the one who likely didn't think COPPELIA was well shot was Balanchine.

it was the first and last "Live From Lincoln Center" project he agreed to.

'dancing matchsticks' is how i recall GB described the look of the ballet on the tube.

o'course there were close-in moments on McBride and Tomasson, etc.

[Jack Reed]

Point taken, rg. We've seen better - not least when Mr. B was behind the camera, with Merrill Brockway or Emil Ardolino, in Nashville, but IMO we've seen much, much worse, most recently in my memory, the 2011 PBS broadcast of NYCB's rendition of Mr. B's Nutcracker, soundly (and roundly) criticized in these forums for chopped-up camerawork, and much earlier from a studio in Germany - in Munich? - in the early 70s.

"Dancing matchsticks" is a helpful comment I hadn't heard before; I remember hearing at the time that he pleaded with them not to put a camera so high in the house that another moment, seen almost directly from above, was reduced entirely to its patterns and put a friend in mind of "a half-time entertainment at a football game."

But yes, fortunately there are other moments, scenes where we get to see McBride and Tomasson's dancing, together or solo, which are good enough to give spectators of today, like dirac, a taste of the delights they gave us then.

[rg]

the German films were done in Berlin, in '73, and mostly likely gave Balanchine even more displeasure than the Live from Lincoln Center COPPELIA.

not, btw, that past negativity from Balanchine should prevent re-release of any of these 'vintage' films now that time has marched on and the dancers and dancing recorded in them, however less than ideal, are part of history that deserves revisting.

[sandik]

not, btw, that past negativity from Balanchine should prevent re-release of any of these 'vintage' films now that time has marched on and the dancers and dancing recorded in them, however less than ideal, are part of history that deserves revisting.

Your lips to the gods' ears.

[kfw]

the German films were done in Berlin, in '73, and mostly likely gave Balanchine even more displeasure than the Live from Lincoln Center COPPELIA.

I always wonder where Balanchine was when, for example, they were shooting the piano lid during Duo Concertant.(Maybe tied down). As Jack notes, at least the camera work in Coppelia is straightforward and we don't lose the choreography in some fancy pants shot.

[Helene]

Retweeted today by the Dance Critics' Association:

Rebecca J. Ritzel ‏@rjreporter Sep 4

Were Sting, Tom Hanks and Al Green greeted by a cheering corps when they got to work today? #KenCenHonors #Patty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrUW0uhMbq0&feature=youtu.be …

[Helene]

Alex Ross with biting commentary in The New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/kennedy-center-honors-go-pop

He quotes Frank Rich from nearly 20 years ago:

“It takes ingenuity to make the Kennedy Center Honors more mortifying with each passing year,” Frank Rich wrote in the Times in 1995, observing that Georg Solti and Stephen Sondheim had been “serenaded by a band playing what sounded like a Tijuana Brass rendition of ‘America’ from ‘West Side Story’—in blissful ignorance of the facts that Mr. Solti conducted Beethoven and Mahler for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, not show tunes for the Boston Pops, and that Mr. Sondheim wrote the lyrics of ‘America,’ not the music.”

He also gives Deborah Rutter, the new head of the Kennedy Center, a shoutout:

The Kennedy Center Honors may not be a lost cause. At the beginning of the month, Deborah Rutter, the former president of the Chicago Symphony, took over as the head of the Kennedy Center, replacing Michael Kaiser, whose artistic vision lacked urgency. Rutter, as Anne Midgette reports in the Washington Post, is a serious, able, ambitious administrator, who might be able to restore some rigor to the Honors.

Rutter headed the Seattle Symphony through the construction of Benaroya Hall. I met her at the time, and I wanted to be her when I grew up.

[sandik]

Thanks for the link to the profile of Rutter as she moves into the job. She did indeed accomplish a lot here in Seattle, not the least of which (for dance) was helping to build the concert hall that let the symphony move out of the Opera House at the Seattle Center, which freed up considerable time for the ballet and opera.

Ross doesn't really say anything (in the New Yorker article) that hasn't already been discussed at length, here and elsewhere, but does bring all the concerns together in one place (as he so often does) Yes, the awards have become much more broad than I think they were originally designed to be, and yes, the telecast is often what in academia we call a gut course as an example of why these artists should be recognized. And although the awards is a fairly small part of what the Kennedy Center does, it is really the only aspect of the organization that is nationally known.

[kfw]

Sadly, one has to wonder whether if the high arts still dominated the KC Honors (as I wish they did), CBS would still broadcast it. At least McBride will get a bigger audience than she probably would on a cable channel.

[Helene]

I wonder what the economics of it are, i.e, what the Kennedy Center earns, compared to having it available on live streaming, with archives, possibly at a small fee.

Presumably SFB's $30K budget for World Dance Day for much rougher quality and fewer edits is a lot less than for HD quality, but the quality of PNB's video camera work is quite high, and dance is the only one of the traditional arts where the movement isn't relatively static. Plus they might be able to tie in a local film school for a stream.

I doubt this would happen, but I do wonder if the KC earns enough from the show to make it worthwhile.

[volcanohunter]

Sadly, one has to wonder whether if the high arts still dominated the KC Honors (as I wish they did), CBS would still broadcast it. At least McBride will get a bigger audience than she probably would on a cable channel.

In 1992 Canada established the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, pretty much as a carbon copy of the Kennedy Center Honors, and the relevant gala takes place annually at the National Arts Centre, which is an awful lot like the Kennedy Center. The CBC stopped broadcasting the gala years ago, despite the fact that the bulk of its funding comes from the federal government (and despite the organizing committee shamelessly trying to keep the network interested by giving awards to CBC personalities who weren't actually involved in the performing arts). The only way to see the gala now is to attend in person. I'm not in the least surprised that the KC Honors have become so heavy on pop culture. Any telecast is preferable to no telecast.

http://nac-cna.ca/en/special/event/8470

[Jack Reed]

... I do wonder if the KC earns enough from the show to make it worthwhile.

A good question.

If you want to understand what's being done, or why, "follow the money," right? I wonder whether the KC earns any money directly from the broadcast, though the event is the largest fundraiser it has, i.e. it brings in the most money. The audience for the show pays $1,000 or more for a seat, if I remember correctly, and the additional charge for the following "gala" was in the same price range.

I'd guess CBS puts it on when nobody's watching TV anyway, so they're not losing a lot of advertising revenue. The sponsor mix they do have looks odd, too, typically luxury cars and pharmaceuticals, as I remember, which may be a clue about who they think is watching, except I don't know how to interpret it. I hope it reimburses CBS their costs, at least.

... Any telecast is preferable to no telecast.

"There's no such thing as bad publicity." Though I think that some publicity is better, some less good. It's better if what's being promoted is fairly represented, on however small a scale.

Maybe the benefit of the broadcast to the KC is less tangible, somehow to reinforce in people's minds that there's a variety of entertainment to be had there. How to infer dollar-amount benefits from this is way beyond me.

[volcanohunter]

Yes, we've already discussed how the televised tributes have shortened in length, but they haven't been completely debased yet. As long as network television is broadcasting the event, I fear that squeezing in a ballet dancer or opera singer in between a movie star and a rock band is probably the best we can hope to expect.

[Jack Reed]

Can we also hope that the dancing is visible as such? Sometimes I wonder whether the bad "camerawork" on the dance segments (of any television show) that we've raked over (on other threads) is deliberate, a tease, to show people something is happening, but not what, so they'll get curious and pursue it. That doesn't so much debase the art, as the viewer. I'm for respecting the viewer by showing the dancing.

I don't necessarily mind if there are other "genres" of performance in the broadcast, film stars, rock bands, whatever. That may lead to some good chance encounters with dance among the audience members.

[kfw]

I'd guess CBS puts it on when nobody's watching TV anyway, so they're not losing a lot of advertising revenue. The sponsor mix they do have looks odd, too, typically luxury cars and pharmaceuticals, as I remember, which may be a clue about who they think is watching,

LOL. Old well-to-do people.

[sandik]

Maybe the benefit of the broadcast to the KC is less tangible, somehow to reinforce in people's minds that there's a variety of entertainment to be had there. How to infer dollar-amount benefits from this is way beyond me.

Honestly, I think part of it is advertising for the Center itself -- this is a national broadcast, seen by many people who probably still don't remember that there is such a place in Washington DC.

[kfw]

Speaking of the Kennedy Center and pop culture, they are, most unusually, having a pop star there Sunday night. Jackson Browne. I wonder what that's about.

[sandik]

Speaking of the Kennedy Center and pop culture, they are, most unusually, having a pop star there Sunday night. Jackson Browne. I wonder what that's about.

Is the KC presenting him, or is it a one-off rental?

[lmspear]

It's a rental. The full title of the event is Live Nation Presents: Jackson Brown.