Farrell Fan

Good grief! Would this kind of vituperation be permitted on Ballet Talk if the subject was ballet? It's ridiculous.

I enjoyed Scherr's review of "Frandieses," which she calls Martins's "best work in years." That was also the prevailing opinion among NYCB fans at last week's premiere and it's one I share. (Of the reviews I've read, only Jennifer Dunning's found it "a disappointment." A disappointment compared to what?) At any rate, in attempting to explain this sudden Martins burst of creativity, Scherr mentions as one possibility "having nothing to lose, now that the last of his defenders among critics had given up on him." Anybody know what she's talking about?

The March-April issue of Kennedy Center News, a bimonthly publication mailed to patrons, looks forward to the March appearance of NYCB. A subheadline refers to it as "the venerable New York City Ballet;" the first sentence calls it "the legendary New York City Ballet." In my opinion, both these adjectives make the company sound ready for the embalmer. But, as a former copywriter, I realize how hard it is to characterize NYCB in a word or two. "Balanchine's New York City Ballet?" No longer applicable. "Innovative NYCB?" "Controversial NYCB?" Not quite right. The best I can come up with is "Exciting New York City Ballet," although that is not exactly inspired. Any ideas?

I've been searching my (failing) memory trying to remember if I ever saw Suzanne fall. The closest I can come is seeing Jacques d'Amboise fall. I don't remember the ballet but he was dancing solo at the time.

With Balanchine and Kirstein, absolutely yes. Didn't "Union Jack" come out of the U.S. Bicentennial?

And to call "Stars and Stripes" a "Cold War piece" is idiotic.

May the beauty of her life abide among us as a loving benediction.

I plan to enjoy Divertimento No. 15 tonight as well, and am grateful it is in the repertory of both NYCB and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet. But it would have been nice if someone had thought to revive Balanchine's Symphonie Concertante from 1947 (original cast: Tanaquil LeClercq, Diana Adams). John Martin called it "perhaps Balanchine's most boring work." But then, he also famously failed to appreciate another work on tonight's program: Bizet's Symphony in C.

I hope that someone who was also there tonight will post soon and explain what I missed. The ballet had an all-star cast: Wendy Whelan, Sebastien Marcovici, Miranda Weese, Albert Evans, Pauline Golbin, Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Melissa Barak, Sean Suozzi , Andew Veyette. It was applauded long and vociferously at the final curtain. The music, the adagio from Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 106, was well-played by Cameron Grant. There seemed to be something significant going on. But I didn't get it. It just looked like a lot of dimly-lit lifting and hauling. Please help.

This article made me want to pick up an editorial pencil. For instance, a couple of sentences after "the legendary ballerina Suzanne Farrell" we are let down with "the well-known ballerina Karen Von Aroldingen." Still, there's a lot to like. "Often in ballet the soul begins to wax only as the body starts to wane, and many dancers ready to converse with God find they are physically unable to keep from mumbling." But I was unprepared for the last sentence, a quote presumably uttered by Wendy: "Every life is a death." What are we meant to think?

No small consideration, if you ask me! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Another consideration is that there's no competition from NYCB on Monday nights.

drb -- I viewed the Swan Lakes strictly in a NYCB context, and very much enjoyed Bouder's performance even though she seemed a particularly nervous Odette in the first act. I agree with most others that the last act of this production is the best and had tears in my eyes at the ending of all three performances. The other two both had Wendy and Damian as the leads. (I have three subscriptions and never made it to the box office to exchange tickets.) I didn't really like the first one. As soon as the curtain went up all my antipathy for the costumes, decor, and underpopulated stage came flooding back and the Jester did nothing to alleviate the feelings. I was thus disgruntled all evening, despite the best efforts of the leads. By contrast, the next time I saw it the Jester was Daniel Ulbricht and his exhilarating bravura performance put me in a good mood which lasted. As Gottlieb says, "Never underestimate the power of cute." But Ulbricht is more than cute -- he's an exciting dancer.

Thank God for Robert Gottlieb. His review is helping me recover from Oberon's request for more Swan Lakes in the spring. (I trust Oberon's plea was meant jocularly, to rile people like me.) For the record, I saw three of the Swan Lakes and liked two out of three. The performances were everything. The production has not improved with age, although critical reaction to it (except for Gottlieb's) seems to have grown numb.

Boal is unrivaled in the full-length Apollo, just as Peter Martins was the best in the version which starts with Apollo ready to strum his lute. It's a breathtaking pose and Martins already looked godlike when the curtain went up. This truncated version seemed made to order for him. He never looked convincing in swaddling clothes or trying out his god powers, unlike Boal. I liked d'Amboise and Villella in the part too, a couple of wild boys, but I saw them much less often. With the current crop of Apollos, I wish NYCB would restore the full-length version.

Standing there with his arms folded was a pose Corelli struck more than once with Nillson. At the end of a Met Turandot I attended, Corelli, arms folded, looking bored and unhappy, waited for her to descend the long staircase to his side. When she got there, he vigorously kicked the train of her dress out of his way and started singing gloriously. As did she. They were true golden-age singers in both voice and temperament.

Both in her autobiography and in the "Elusive Muse" film, Suzanne Farrell recalls that when she auditioned at SAB for Balanchine on her fifteenth birthday, to ease the tension and silence in the room, she hummed and sang Glazunov's The Seasons. Mr. B made no comment either on her dancing or singing, but a couple of days later she was offered a scholarship.

Thanks for posting this. I'm sorry I didn't see it at the Dance on Camera festival, particularly since the documentary's producer, Delia Peters, was one of the most charming NYCB dancers ever.

carbro, I beg to differ on Farrell's Flower Festival pdd, which I saw (but I'd differ even if I hadn't seen it.) She could dance anything by any choreographer whose name begins with B.

How about the Preghiera from Mozartiana -- danced by someone with quiet pointe shoes.

I don't know what was done about rehearsals, but in recent years "Divertimento No. 15" has become a sort of signature piece for the Farrell Ballet.

I didn't know Charles France, who died on Christmas Day, but I knew what he looked like and who he was. For me, his presence at a performance always implied that something important was taking place.

I agree with Dale that a pas de deux works best on these occasions. The most memorable of all IMO was the one performed for Honoree Jacques d'Amboise by his children Charlotte and Christopher. The reaction shots of the proud papa were, for once, integral to the performance. It remains my favorite Kennedy Center moment.

GeorgeB fan -- When Suzanne returned to NYCB from her Bejart years, the first new role she danced was Robbins's "In G Major" with Peter Martins. They were also memorable in "Afternoon of a Faun."A Max Waldman photo of them in Faun sold for years at the gift counter on the promenade. Other noteworthy Robbins roles she danced included "Dances at a Gathering," "Other Dances," "In Memory of...," and, believe it or not, "The Cage."

The look on Suzanne's face when her company was performing in "Divertimento No. 15" was one of concentration, not unhappiness. Way back when she was new at NYCB, she never smiled during curtain calls. It was a combination of her seriousness, shyness, and perhaps the hard time others in the company were giving her for being Balanchine's favorite. She was much looser in this respect when she returned from her years with Bejart -- she smiled at curtain calls, and the audience warmed to her, really for the first time. I'm surprised this discussion about her supposed aloofness has resurfaced so many years later. Her students adore and respect her -- just check the threads on Ballet Talk for Dancers on the subjects of Cedar Islands and her "Exploring Ballet" Kennedy Center program. Perky is absolutely correct about her funny, warm personality. I would only add that during the Kennedy Center Honors events, Mr. B and her late mother must have been much on her mind.

What was included were film clips of her childhood and early career, most of which came from the film "Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse." As in that film, Jacques d'Amboise could not consistently say "Suzanne." Most often he called her "Susan Farrell." At least he never said "Suzahnn" as he does in the film. I'm not complaining -- Jacques is endearing, whatever he does or says. There was no mention made of her other, less-endearing NYCB partner, Peter Martins, but he was seen in a snippet from "Chaconne." Aside from that, her company performed part of the finale of 'Divertimento No. 15." Unless one had a huge TV screen, this was a bit frustrating to look at, but I loved the two reaction shots of SF watching her dancers. You could understand why they go all-out for such a boss.