Farrell Fan

I'm reminded of a story my wife used to tell about the time her grandmother was taken to a production of "The Taming of the Shrew" and came home horrified that the audience had been laughing at Shakespeare. If I'm not mistaken, the photo shows the moment when the muses have discovered the joy of movement. Soon Apollo will be swinging two of them through the air on his arms. Grinning seems an appropriate reaction. I will admit that out of context the photo looks a little odd.

I've always had fond feelings for the twin cities, or at least since I started listening to Garrison Keillor years ago, but this statistic gives me a headache.

I've seen many great ballet and opera performances at the Met, but I can't stand the place. I hate its performing chandeliers, hidden restrooms, and grand staircase that leads nowhere. I've always loved the promenade at the New York State Theater, although I've been alarmed in recent years by the encroachment of dinners and receptions that restrict its vast expanse for the benefit of various rich folks. Did Lincoln Kirstein mean for the place to smell like a deli? As for the Kennedy Center, I love everything about it, because it has given a home to Suzanne Farrell. You were expecting me to be objective?

There's plenty of good stuff in the Winter Ballet Review and I wasn't bothered by the coverage of Naruse, even though I wasn't interested. I regarded it like the frequent Ballet Talk threads on the subject of film.

It's interesting to note that when this thread was new and most of us were Viewing With Alarm the arrival of John Rockwell as chief dance critic of the Times, Bart was already alerting us to the sterling qualities of Alistair Macauley. Now that the Times has caught up with Bart, congratulations are in order for him and all the other prescient posters who keep Ballet Talk ahead of its time.

Thanks, Dale. Let us not forget that the Farrell Ballet will also be at the Opera House of the Kennedy Center friom this June 6 to 10 with two mixed repertory programs of Balanchine and Bejart. Can you kindly provide details? Thanks again.

Thanks for the response, drb. I agree it's a good idea to differentiate this R&J from others. And the comparison to Martins's Swan Lake is apt, since this production is also designed by Per Kirkeby.

I understand that in Peter Martins's Romeo & Juliet, the title characters will be portrayed by students at the School of American Ballet. Has there been any official word on this?

So did I, especially since the first dancer he cited in this regard was Suzanne Farrell.

The women's wigs that come immediately to mind are the short helmet for the novice in The Cage and the fright wigs for the corps in Orpheus who tear him limb from limb.

A baby ballerina?

I can only echo that it was a truly extraordinary hour of television. Misha did the world of dance, and himself, proud. This program demands to be seen more than once.

If there were a Michelin Guide for ballet, I could see where a lot of excitement and turmoil would be created if one of the top five companies were to be dropped one year. I think since Balanchine's death, this might have happened to NYCB once already, but the company improved and regained its place. In the current winter of our discontent, with all the comments about how "tired" the company looks, it is in danger of falling out of the top five again.

I'm glad dirac mentioned "the Diaghilev-Nijinsky-Romola dustup," because, without wishing to indulge in gossip, I can't help thinking of all the same-sex couples affected, adversely or otherwise, by heterosexual partnerships. But of greater interest are the great onstage partnerships which carried no hint of off-stage relastionships. Just in my primary area of interest: Farrell and d'Amboise, Farrell and Donn, Farrell and Martins.

Those are good initials too, drb!

I'm neither a deleter nor a decider, but it is nice to see a post from you again, BW. Yes, the discussion is already well under way and has moved past excitement to rancor and resentment. Macauley is a good critic and once his stuff starts appearing, acceptance will surely follow, and maybe even enthusiasm.

Some unpleasant things one overhears at the ballet tend to stay with one for life. In my case I was never able to look at Edward Gorey or his works in the same way again after I overheard him holding forth one intermission on what was wrong with Mr. B's "awful" Mozartiana.

Thanks for the link, Ray. That's an amusing article and it's instructive to note that these usage disinctions are often only temporary.

Excuse the grammatical quibble, but a critic should always be disinterested (impartial). However, he should never be uninterested (indifferent).

Excellent news. Mr. Macauley should bring eome necessary coherence to Times dance reviews.

I can scarcely remember a more devastating paragraph in a ballet review than the last one by Claudia La Rocco about The Four Temperaments, one of NYCB's signature works. "But much of that 1946 ballet's frighteningly well-rendered structure was reduced to a blur of steps. 'The Four Temperaments' may be a ballet without a plot, but it's not without ideas. And visionary or not, choreographers are always, on some level, at the mercy of their translators. If the dancers don't know what they're saying, there's no way the audience will." That's a criticism that goes beyond the company's supposed exhaustion.

That was no rant, that was brilliant. Brava!

The text of a death notice in the Jan 28 NY Times: Peter Martins and the New York City Ballet mourn the passing of Joelyn Fiorato, beloved wife of our long-time Music Director and our current Conductor Emeritus, Hugo Fiorato. An author and artist, Joelyn had a larger-than-life spirit that made her a treasured member of the New York City Ballet family. We extend our deepest condolences to Hugo and the family. She will be missed.

The opening of Symphony in Three Movements is always a thrill, as drb says, but on Friday night (Jan 19) for me the thrill was considerably diluted. The curtain went up on the "space age Wilis" as usual, but before the music started, the audience broke into polite applause. The music started after that. I don't know whether to blame the audience or conductor Fayçal Karoui, but I hope this doesn't become a habit.

I enjoy Joel Lobenthal's ballet reviews in the New York Sun, but a simile in today's review of NYCB's "Tradition and Innovation" program struck me as not right. "The 'variations' musical material is mostly given to the ballerina's role, which was appropriate for Ms. Farrell, who might be called the Billie Holiday of ballet." I wouldn't call her that. I might call her the Ella Fitzgerald of ballet, if I didn't already know that Farrell will always remain incomparable.