sandik

Thank you indeed. I was talking with a friend earlier this week about the need to act as a witness in life -- to see and remember good things, no matter how small. This is by no means small, but it is unexpected, and so is even more wonderful. I'm so grateful to have read it.

The general trend in subscription sales is towards more flexibility, and to re-offer shorter packages as the season progresses. Perhaps that will happen with NYCB -- it seems counter-intuitive to require people to sign up for the entire year in these times, but perhaps they have something else going with this.

The new Soviet school of Method Ballet! Many thanks for the link!!

Thanks so much for the original casting information!

Oh, this is one of my favorite places in the whole world! You will have a wonderful time. My biggest suggestion is to use their online catalog to choose what you want to look at before you go. Don't waste your library time browsing if you're on a schedule. Here are some details about the facility. I'm not absolutely sure what the current procedure is, since the libraries have had budget cutbacks recently that have limited the staffing -- I think I've heard that now you have to file your request on one floor and then go up to the viewing stations on the next floor.

You bring up an interesting perspective on this program. I'm pretty familiar with the application of Newtonian mechanics to human movement in general (biomechanics) and its specific applications in ballet training. This is a relatively new development in the field -- we came to this much later than the sports people did. There was some resistance from ballet teachers who felt that this kind of knowledge tipped the emphasis from the interpretive to the anatomical, and they certainly have a right to those opinions. But there were also a group of teachers who had been working all along with an incorrect understanding of human anatomy, and in fact were training at cross-purposes with the body, which would often result in injury in the near term and a shortened career in the long term. It's taken several years to affect these changes in teaching (and we are still making them) but I certainly don't regret pursuing this knowledge myself and encouraging other teachers to apply it as well.

And first week casting is posted on the website here It's just the big roles, but there's lots to think about. There are more repeats in the 3rd act casting than I would have thought initially -- Rausch does Dawn three times and Eames dances Spinner three times as well. Vinson does Golden Hours twice and Swanhilda once, a busy girl. Tisserand dances War to Dec's Discord on the Saturday matinee, while Reid does Spinner in the same performance. And that's what I could get from the drop down menus. They still make me crazy Second week's not up yet, but hopefully soon.

Well, we're getting Giselle next year, so I suppose the other big 19th c works could be in the offing. Honestly, though, if we get another program-length work, I'd much rather it were Ashton's Fille.

Big chunks of folk/ethnic dance, especially from Eastern Europe, comes in 5s, 7s, 9s or 13s. One of the reasons that Mark Morris' choreography is often tied fluently to the rhythmic structure of the score is his apprenticeship with Koleda, a Balkan dance group in the Seattle area when he was young.

OBT -- Duets program If we’re being picky, this isn’t really a program of duets. There’s plenty of fascinating partnering work here, but only one of the five ballets is specifically about a couple. Still, the company probably needed a theme to hang their marketing campaign on, and “Five Ballets by Five Different Choreographers” doesn’t really have the same pithy quality, so I shouldn’t complain. Christopher Stowell is doing the same thing here that his father did at Pacific Northwest Ballet – making works that fit the dancers in the company and filling in different parts of the repertory. Tolstoy’s Waltz is mix of Russian composers (including Balanchine!) that sort out into two different sections, both about relationships. Initially, a solo woman dances with a series of three men, with the main exploration being about movement rather than character. Anne Muller and Yuka Iino were both excellent here, very fastidious and clear in choreography that flirts with the twisty side of neo-classical work without distortion. The stage at the Newmark Theater is smaller than the standard opera house, and the audience sits closer as well -- the movement was pitched to this more intimate range so that we could really see its sculptural elements. Lucas Threefoot (and I’m sure he’s gotten all kinds of comments about his name from his colleagues in the dance world) was quite fine, especially in one duet where, at the end of a long, twining phrase, he let go of his partner in a ‘look, no hands’ moment. Stowell has made a solo for Javier Ubell (to Balanchine’s Valse Lente) that points up the virtues of being small and swift -- I understand that Ubell does an excellent job in Stowell’s Midsummer Night’s Dream as Puck, and I can see that in his work here. About halfway through the ballet the tone shifts -- a gauzy curtain is pulled part way on stage and we have a mini-drama with a blind woman and a menacing man. She drifts across the stage, seeming to avoid him, but never quite escaping. He’s dressed in leather, with gloves (which really add to the tension -- what is it about leaving no fingerprints?) and doesn’t really manhandle her, but we’re still apprehensive. At one point he steps on her train (costume as drapey as the curtain) to stop her momentum, and it’s an awkward moment. This whole section has a kind of “La Sonambula” feel to it, and like when PNB performed that ballet a couple of years ago, the audience wasn’t really sure if this was drama or comedy. I was sitting with a colleague who was convinced to start with that this section was comedic, and there was an awkward titter in the audience when he stepped on her skirt, but Stowell insisted in a later conversation that it was dead serious, and indeed the music (Georgy Sviridov) was from a very dramatic film score with all kinds of doom and gloom. Seeing it again the next day with this knowledge I could recognize the dramatic elements, but I still think it could be read either way, and have been wondering since then how we “know” that something is supposed to be funny. Gavin Larsen and Kathi Martuza were both appropriately wafty in this part, and Adrian Fry was especially looming (with Larsen) -- using his height to emphasize the drama. Tharp’s Known By Heart duet has a kind of “golly gee” quality to it -- it doesn’t tell a story, or even really describe two complex characters but they do have a lively and blithe relationship as they speed through the tricky choreography. This is Tharp’s vernacular virtuosity – she toe taps, he shadow boxes – at the end you think she might snap her gum. But as often happens with Tharp’s work the patterns underneath the breezy exterior are complex and exciting. Yuka Iino performed so cleanly that you could really see that the personality is built into the material, not layered on top. As her partner Christian Squires was right in sync with her rhythms. At another performance Anne Muller and Chauncey Parsons were a bit more actorly, like Archie and Betty, or Little Abner and Daisy Mae. Emery Lecrone is a young choreographer just starting her career, and so we’re likely to be generous as we look at her work. Divergence is a multi-section dance where the parts don’t necessarily add up to a whole. Her first section is a group work with some nice close-quarters dancing, moving people around each other and through the space with assurance. This is not faint praise – the traffic cop aspect of dance making is tough to learn and can trip up what is otherwise professional work. The central duet specializes in the pretzelly twining aspects of partnering, with a nice sense of increasing tension that resolves in an exhausted flop at the end. The ensemble comes back together for the last section, but it’s dynamically very similar to the opening, so there doesn’t seem to be a change or sense of growth over the course of the work. There are some mild references to Egypt (a pyramid-shaped sculpture on stage, some sphinx-like poses) but Divergence is not an investigation of traditional or contemporary Egyptian culture. Lecrone can build a phrase and move a group – both important skills. Now she needs to find a reason for us to care about the dancers in those groups. Balanchine’s Duo Concertant looked particularly fine in this intimate theater. With the musicians on stage, this has always felt more like a quartet than a pas de deux to me. The opening section, with the dancers “listening” to the piano and violin duo, can sometimes feel a bit contrived and self-conscious, but both the couples I saw danced this with great believability. Kathi Martuza had a mischievous quality to her dancing that came from some sharp accents and deliberate focus choices. Watching her, I couldn’t tell if she was pointing out the moments where Balanchine quotes himself (Apollo, Prodigal Son) or if she was just very clear, and so the references pop out. Gavin Larsen had a softer quality to her work, especially in her relationship with her partner. Artur Sultanov danced the male role in both performances, and was very natural in the folk dance references. He’s quite tall, and uses that height difference to great effect, especially with Larsen. This was her last performance (she’s retiring to teach and coach children’s roles) so the transformation moment where the woman becomes a goddess was even more fraught than usual. After this duet, the company staged a special curtain call for her, with former partners and students joining her on stage. Like a Samba is an appropriate title for Trey McIntyre’s send-them-home-happy ballet. It isn’t really a samba, in the same way that the Girl-From-Ipanema score isn’t traditional samba music either. Both are sleekly crafted variations on the primary source material. McIntyre starts with his quintet of dancers each outlined in their own square spotlights upstage next to the drop curtain. They are busy, busy people, hips twitching and shoulders shimmying, and they flash on and off stage, including an ultra-bouncy male solo, until they get to the Ipanema moment, when McIntyre pulls everything back in an extremely exposed adagio sequence. Kathi Martuza was especially effective pacing through that familiar song, and Lucas Threefoot turns up again with great buoyancy in the jumping solo. Every time I see the company, they’re just a little better than they were before. Congratulations to everyone concerned.

I've no idea really what role he's dressed for here, but I do love the way his tail wraps around his ankle!

You're right -- The Lesson and Konservatoriet

It's safe to say they had a photo shoot with her as Coppelia. Several years ago they ran a promotion for an all-Balanchine program with a photo of Oliver Wevers as Apollo, but alas, he did not perform.

Oh ouch! Indeed and indeed. We used to refer to the comment he often made at the end of the opening scene as a "Lenny Line."

Oh this news makes me very sad -- we've watched the various incarnations of this show since its premiere, and my son (now 16) is a regular viewer of the reruns. They are running when he gets home from school, and he uses the time to decompress. My mother had a similar connection to the Perry Mason series. She'd watched them when they were first broadcast, and then watched them again when they were rerun, several years later. I was living at home at the time, and was always tickled when she claimed that she couldn't remember "who did it" until the final reveal. But now I often say the same thing to my son, as we watch Law and Order reruns.

Like many people here a bit late to the party I didn't see the original clip, but if the one above is similar I can understand the hubbub. I thought it was a bit odd that several of the gestures were obviously designed to refer to breasts when the young dancers here aren't developed yet, but in general I thought the choreography was pretty dull structurally, and thin expressively. They've certainly been coached to simulate overt sexuality, but that part of it is so disconnected from any actual sensual content that it feels almost perfunctory. I was more unhappy with the fact that they're lip syncing the lyrics than with the shimmys and hip rolls. I was, however, impressed with some of their technical skills. If they are indeed 7 years old, they're pulling off some very impressive turns. Somewhere there's a choreographer who could really do something interesting with that group. And the Lady Gaga tribute was a nice giggle! What all that skill is being used for is a different matter.

Local small company had a donkey in their recent Don Q -- I don't know that it added much to the production, but the program insert about the owner had more biographical information than the listings for the dancers.

Just a reminder -- this is coming up!

Oh, I love Flanders and Swann -- I first heard them when I was in high school, and their songs were so different than my suburban, white bread experience. Along with Tom Lehrer, their songs were witty and pointed -- you felt a little smarter for understanding the references. I loved their version of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. "Heat can't move from a cooler to a hotter, you can try it if you like, but you're far better not to." I must go listen again!

We're getting Giselle here next year and I'm almost having more fun speculating about who will dance Myrtha than who will dance the title role.

And now that you mention it here, it reminds me of the factory scenes in Chaplin's Modern Times.

Well, tastes vary, but I've seen several different edits of Metropolis (though only once with the Moroder score!) and have always liked it. My son and I are very excited about this new version, and hope that it gets a theatrical showing here in Seattle before it goes to DVD

Well, there's Roland Petit's Coppelia, where the doll is literally a doll, attached to Dr C at the wrists and feet so that he waltzes with her in perfect synchrony! and considering how some Romeos really drag the dead Juliet around, you could make a case for combat pay, not just prop status.

A little late, but here are some observations about the program Choreographer’s Showcase The program was very well attended this year, with what seemed like a large contingent of parents and dancers from the school, from the ‘friends and family’ category. In the past, the company has tried several different formats for this project, using student dancers or dancers from the company, shifting the venue, emphasis and marketing, and they have each had their strengths, but it seems they might stick with this approach for a while. On the plus side, this gives some of the advanced and professional division students another opportunity to work in a creative process, which isn’t always a part of their standard curriculum. And for the nascent choreographers, working with students forces them to grapple with the small details of dance making, the little fixes that their professional colleagues might make for them during rehearsals. I did miss the extra zing of seeing company dancers performing in their colleague’s work, sometimes moving outside their usual style or exploring a different part of their skills. I am a greedy girl – I’d like to see all of it, but at this point, this may be the best compromise. Spring Waltz Each dance is preceded by a little video profile, projected on a downstage scrim. This made for a great deal of watching curtains rise and fall, but it was nice to get a look at some rehearsal footage and disingenuous interviews with the choreographers. (alas, the videos don’t seem to be credited in the program, which is an unfortunate gaffe) During his interview, Jonathan Poretta talked about his desire to make a “pretty dance” but in fact, he made two. Although both works were waltzes, and some of the cast overlapped in parts, there wasn’t a real throughline or deep connection between the two sections. It’s tricky to work with different composers within the same dance – the more natural connections between sections aren’t necessarily there. But he gave his dancers some lovely things to do and they repaid him with a blithe performance. Anxiety Variations Barry Kerollis is continuing to challenge himself with these opportunities. In the past, he’s used a wide variety of material, but had had some difficulty organizing it and moving his dancers on and off stage coherently. This time around he’s got a five section work with some real thematic development and interesting use of non-standard vocabulary. In his pre-show video, he spoke about breathing and discomfort. As an asthmatic, he’s used his own physical reaction to breathlessness to create a very nice set of gestures. He’s still got more ideas going on than space to really develop them, but his use of pointe work is becoming more fluid. Fragment Orza mentions in his little interview that he feels more adept making dance for men than for women, and that does seem to be so. This is a good start – he moves people on and off stage cleanly, introduces ideas and follows up on them, gives the performers movement they’re capable to making look good – now he needs to do this several more times so it becomes second nature. If I could make a suggestion, I’d like to see what he would make with music that has a more assertive structure. In general, film scores are created with the visuals of the film already in place – they can be quite thrilling, but they are responding to someone else’s editorial decisions. When choreographers use them, they often come off seeming like aural wallpaper, but unlike the Brian Eno ambient work, they aren’t really meant for that. Shatter Andrew Bartee and Margaret Mullin have worked together before, on a duet for themselves, and they’ve made the transition to working with other people and working with a larger group very well. Their piece was witty, kinetic, musical – a pleasure to watch. They aren’t so very far from the world that their dancers are experiencing, and that seemed to color their choices – they asked a lot from their performers, but they didn’t ask for anything that they weren’t really capable of doing.

I totally forgot that was her -- a fabulous performance.