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I thought it was beautiful last night.... wonder how others felt....

There WAS a problem at the opening night gala, but it was the darkness - they hadn't "finalized" the lighting design, and it was way too dark. Alex Nichols has lit it poetically, but by day -- maybe late afternoon, he's suggested some melancholy somehow, but you can really SEE it.....

they also changed the black tights and shoes to pink, which makes HER look more beautiful -- and her hair is up, ditto....

when I saw it last night, it was SO moving, so subtle, so expressive, so full of the experience of dancing, the life of a dancer, classes, rehearsals, ballets -- some of her lines are oh, so beautiful -- like memories of ballets, there's a releve croise with a wonderfully cocked head, looking down the downstage arm (as if there was scent of violets coming from that direction, or something.... you could hear her coach placing her head)

very nuanced, poignant, but not sad -- I kept thinking of the MArschallin talking about how you must let things go when it's time, "mit leichtem Hande..... today or tomorrow, the day is coming, it will come entirely on its own, , but it will come...... hold and let go, with light hands, let it be easy, hold and let go.... If you don't, life will punish you, and God will have no mercy....."

I'm going back tonight to stand... I hope everybody goes. Even if you don't like it, it'll be interesting why not....

Not everybody likes Berman -- though I remember David Howard telling me how much he DID.... SHe's not diamantine, even at top speed she's soft and creamy..... I love her quality, I love the way she tastes the movement.....

Paul

PS Just got in, it was not so good tonight, or maybe I wasn't so god....... But it's tuypical for me, the second time, nothing's ever as good as it was the first time.......

The stage seemed darker -- the audience was restless, the people weren't receiving it...... My back was hurting....

Funny, I went to the ballet once after burning myself, Macleary and Park made me forget it entirely; when I came out of hte theater, I noticed a red blotch on my arm and realized I had had betterthings to think about....

It was still beautiful, but did not feel so momentous -- until hte end, which was suddenly even more powerful than last night......

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Thanks for writing that, Paul. I must confess that Berman is not a dancer who ever moved me -- I've seen her only, perhaps, a dozen times over the past 15 years, and that's not much to go on. But I do enjoy reading the way you describe her :D

I hope others did see this and post about it.

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Berman's first performance of Later was at the Opening Night Gala, and while everybody loved the music and Berman's floaty quality, most of us thought it was a bit long and choreographically sparse. I'm sure it was meant to be simple, but I don't think it really spoke to the audience that night. That and her costume was a bit distracting! I'm glad to hear that her hair has gone up and the tights are pink!

I'll be at the performance tonight, and I'm anxious to see how I feel about it this time :D

Susan

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I understand some work was done on the choreography as well.

The placement of Later after Light Rain on the Gala did it a great disservice. It was better scene on this program.

Joanna Berman's subtelty and wonderful ability to interpret is amply displayed in this ballet.

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I liked Later so much better this time around! I saw it on 4/5. I liked Joanna's slight costume/hair change, and her dancing was so soft and beautiful. It really looked like she had grown wonderfully into the role. I felt like her dancing was absorbing me, instead of only the great music (that's what happened to me during the Gala performance).

I might as well add what I thought about Helgi Tomasson's new work Chi-Lin. Well, what a showpiece for Yuan Yuan Tan! She is my favorite ballerina at SFB, so I was more than happy to see her featured. Her arms are amazing. In one of her dances, her arms almost did more dancing than her feet! I didn't know whether there was supposed to be a plotline to the whole thing, but I found that I really didn't care. The roles chosen for the other creatures were very well chosen. I particularly liked Parrish Maynard's Phoenix. That man has an amazing extension and flexibility, not to mention a great piercing gaze that befit the Phoenix well. Also, I though Yuri Possokhov's Dragon headpiece made him look somewhat Rastafarian! :P What fun. The Corps did a great job, too.

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