Farrell Fan

I'm with kfw and bart about the lack of abandon in today's NYCB. And as a dinosaur who has attended NYCB performances regularly since 1965, I don't expect nycdog to have any idea of what I'm talking about either.

You're so right, Ari. That's why I haven't joined in this discussion.

There was a pleasant surprise in the Week in Review section of today's NY Times. An article on aptly-named people was illustrated with photos of the first baseman Cecil Fielder, the pitcher Rollie Fingers, the poet William Wordsworth, the writer Francine Prose, the press secretary Larry Speakes, the gambler Chris Moneymaker, and...the dancer Benjamin Millepied. As the article says, once you start collecting these "aptronyms," you can't stop. But after Yvonne Borree, I'm stumped. Are there other aptly-named dancers?

From an email from my friend Sarah, who used to follow NYCB when she lived in New York years ago: "I've enjoyed looking at the beautiful photographs in the brochure they send me." She didn't specify whether she meant the subscription brochure or the individual ticket one.

The cast of the 1974 disaster movie, Earthquake, includes an actor named Walter Matuschanskwyasky, who became better known as Walter Matthau.

From a review by Guillermo Perez of Miami City Ballet's production, posted in today's links: "The ballet turned this strange couple into resurrection figures, granting them heavenly ascent after the sleepwalker took the dead poet, cradled in her arms, into a tower. Her light -- in fact their spirits -- rose, not just to the top tier, glimpsed through windows, but beyond, through the moonlit clouds." At NYCB this scene used to be done that way too, with the light ascending into the sky. In recent years, the light has stayed in the upper rooms. The former carries the suggestion of transcendence; the latter, of necrophilia. Does anyone know how it was done originally, in Ballet Russe "Night Shadow" days or in the early NYCB days? And which version do you like better?

I don't know the ballet, but "Il Pipistrello" means "The Bat" in Italian, which is what "Die Fledermaus" means in German. I saw Massimo Murru dance a couple of times when La Scala Ballet was last in New York, and I liked him a lot. And of course La Ferri is in a class by herself.

In Repertory in Review, Balanchine is quoted as telling Francisco Moncion, "No one is tall enough to play Don Quixote." Moncion interpreted this to mean no one has enough inner dignity. As those who have seen the ballet will remember, the Don grows impossibly tall at the end as he rises from his deathbed, before collapsing back onto it. I doubt either Charles Askegard or Ask La Cour would be available though. But maybe "Balanchine" could do it again, in the person of Robert Tewsley.

I think d'Amboise would be perfect! I'm old enough to do it myself except that I'm shaped more like Sancho Panza.

As though this mediocre book hadn't sold enough copies over the last two years -- now comes the marketing boost of a publisher's dreams -- condemnation by the church!

I don't think things are that bad. I agree the Peter Boal-as-Apollo photograph isn't so good, but the subscription brochure (as opposed to the single-ticket one described here) has a stunning full-page photo of him in the part. I don't understand the objections to the Bouder photos -- that's how she looks. The Albert Evans Midsummer photo makes him look a little weird, I agree, but I find the cover photo of Labean and Reichlen extremely appealing. Maybe I have a thing for nylon nightgowns.

My favorite ballet ending is that of Ashton's Fille Mal Gardee in which things turn out happily for everyone, including for the dorky Alain, blissfully reunited with his umbrella. As for Balanchine, I too like the ending of The Four Temperaments, and, even more, that of Symphony in Three Movements, which is always thrilling. Even though I've had years to think about it, I still don't know which ending to Apollo I prefer -- the "sunburst" arabesques of the truncated version, or the original stairway to Mount Olympus.

For those who don't read the Sunday Styles section in the New York Times -- Andrew Kirtzman, a political reporter for WCBS-TV in New York, and Kyle Froman, NYCB corps dancer, were married on Tuesday in Toronto. I don't know how to post the link, but I hope someone will, because these days the Times marriage announcements are framed as cute short stories.

Paul Taylor used the second and third movements of the Bach double violin concerto for "Esplanade," while Balanchine had used the entire score for "Concerto Barocco." Taylor's work is actually longer, because he incorporated another Bach violin ccncerto, the one in E major. Is there another example of the same piece of music being used for what are undoubtedly two masterpieces of dance?

I hope Mr. B fares better with these "ultimate" champions than another NYCB choreographer did a couple of weeks ago. In a category titled "JR" not one of them was able to identify the dancer in a sailor suit as Jerome Robbins.

At the risk of identifying myself forever as a dirty old man, I must say that looking at a woman's crotch in ballet, particularly in Balanchine ballets, while not the first thing on my mind, is definitely not the last. I never look through opera glasses, however.

This is easy. I'd invite Balanchine, Tamara Geva, Danilova, Vera Zorina, Maria Tallchief, and Tanaquil LeClercq. Suzanne Farrell would be my date.

It depends on whether we're talking about performance photographs, studio portraits, or head shots. In the last of these categories, the photos of the principal dancers in the NYCB program too often resemble police mug shots.

from me too, Watermill. Was Maria Calegari in the audience?

The photos of Boal as Apollo at the Unisphere and Kyra in Pavane at the World Trade Center were by Richard Corman, who also had a stunning one of Helene Alexopoulos in her Red Angels costume at Coney Island, and Wendy and Philip Neal in Diamonds in front of the Chrysler Building. I love those photographs. I'm not sure about the others you mention, and I have no idea what happened to Richard Corman.

It was a sad day for NYCB when Bart Cook and Maria Calegari disappeared from the company. (Or "were disappeared.") Last night I saw Glass Pieces, which was given a perfectly acceptable performance in the Facades pas de deux by Maria Kowroski and Philip Neal. But no couple I've seen in that piece since Calegari and Cook has been able to "levitate" as they did. I still miss them and hope someone will report on what Bart has to say.

I saw "Sweet Smell of Success" and though I liked the show, I thought the choreography was undistinguished and completely forgettable.

GWTW -- I've seen Susan Stroman's "Double Feature" twice this season, after seeing it once last year, and I still enjoy it very much. I also enjoyed the fact that on Tuesday night the theater was filled with a large and enthusiastic audience. That night Sofiane Sylve and Janie Taylor stepped into the roles previously filled by Maria Kowroski and Ashley Bouder and were equally good. Tom Gold still gives the performance of his life in the "Makin' Whoopie" half, as does the unnamed dog. The dog's trainer, however, does rate a line in the Playbill: William Berloni. I'm looking forward eagerly to Wheeldon's "An American in Paris." In my opinion, what makes him interesting as a choreographer is his wide range. The comparison may be uncalled for, but it's worth remembering that Balanchine's ouevre did not consist entirely of leotard ballets.

Nearly ten years later, I still remember the unholy racket made by Susan Jaffe's pointe shoes in the Preghiera section of "Mozartiana" at "Suzanne Farrell Stages Balanchine." It was an otherwise lovely performance.

I know I posted something on this before, but it seems worth recalling again that many years ago around February 14 I bought my wife a button with a heart-shaped design which read "Be My Balanchine." That made little sense unless you pronounced the name "Balanshine."