Farrell Fan

tortis: As far as I can tell no names were dropped. Those added were Tyler Angle, Likolani Brown, Maya Collins, Lauren King, Sara Mearns, and Ana Sophia Scheller. Janie Taylor did indeed dance Eros Piano in Saratoga. I saw her do it twice and thought she did beautifully. In the brochure, I particularly like the Paul Kolnik performance photo of her in Afternoon of a Faun with Robert Tewsley. Tewsley looks a bit like the young Nureyev.

As part of "Saratoga Remembers Balanchine" at the National Museum of Dance, there is a very interesting video in which Leslie Stahl interviews, among many others (including Suzanne Farrell), Peter Martins. Martins tells of being awakened by a phone call from Balanchine one long-ago morning in Saratoga Springs and asked to meet him for breakfast. He recalls the place as probably a coffee shop on the site of what is now Sperry's Restaurant. During the course of their breakfast, Balanchine instructed Martins on all the many responsibilities involved in running a ballet company -- from marketing to programming to getting rid of over-the-hill dancers. At the end, Balanchine said something like, "Okay?" and asked for the check. I had never heard this story, which seems to have, as its point, the legitimization of the Martins succession to head NYCB. I'm not questioning it, just wondering if anyone has heard this or something similar.

I always see transcendent performances of Theme and Variations in my imagination, but seldom onstage.

I was there for the final week of the season. Originally it had seemed that would be THE final week of the NYCB residency at SPAC, but thanks to a grass-roots outcry and some political help, a 2005 season is assured. The future beyond that is still unclear. It is inexplicable to me that after the original announcement, the New York Times has not covered this story at all. It's been a big deal in the Albany, Schenectady, and Glens Falls papers, as well it should be. The opinion in those papers (not The Saratogian) seems to be that SPAC president Herb Chesbrough must go if NYCB is to have a future at SPAC. The "Save the Ballet" people I spoke to felt the same way. Is that a fair statement, rkoretzky? Attendance seemed slightly up most nights from last year when it was slightly up over the year before. It was WAY up on Thursday and Saturday. The Thursday program was Who Cares?, Eros Piano, Tarentella, and I'm Old Fashioned. Closing night on Saturday, we had Who Cares? I'm Old Fashioned, and Stars and Stripes. I pointed out to rkoretzy that while the line "Dedicated to Fred Astaire" before I'm Old Fashioned never fails to bring down the house, I wished there was also applause for "Danced by New York City Ballet." The next time, there was applause for "New York City Ballet Presents" thanks to rkoretzky. I preferred Joaquin de Luz to Daniel Ulbricht in Tarentella with wonderful Megan Fairchild. Similarly, I thought the Fancy Free cast of de Luz, Higgins, and Millepied preferable to Orza, Ramasar, and Ulbricht. But both casts were fine and the audience loved them. I have to disagree slightly with rkoretzy about Musagete. I think the SPAC audience ate it up, and Robert Tewsley got real ovations both times. There was also applause during the ballet, which for me made it even harder to bear. Anyhow, Saratoga has proved it clearly loves NYCB and wants the company to stay. I'm told that Peter Martins has been much moved at how the community has taken NYCB to its heart. Same time next year!

I'll go along with Calcium Light Night and Morgen. I'd definitely add Barber Violin Concerto. The problem is there are so many ballets by Peter Martins that fall into a great middle ground, it's hard for me to remember which is which. Ash and Fearful Symmetries seem almost interchangeable, so I'll pick them both. Most recently I've seen a number of performances of Eros Piano; while it's fresh in my mind, I'll pick that one, too.

Thanks for the post, rkoretzky. I've always enjoyed your reviews from Saratoga and hope you continue to post them this season despite the situation at SPAC.

It's that open, sunny look Alexandra mentioned. During the era of NYCB I'm most familiar with, Patricia MacBride was the All-American girl, or alternatively, "the girl next door." But during that time I never heard anybody refer to Suzanne Farrell, a former tomboy from Cincinnati, as either one of those.

Another Eifman confession: I enjoyed "Who's Who," his grandiose attempt to link the music of Duke Ellington and Rachmaninoff, and the American immigrant experience with the plot of "Some Like it Hot." It was the only Eifman I'd seen until "Musagete," about which nothing more needs to be said.

It's a safe bet that the majority of people in a given audience haven't read reviews. But I believe that critics like Accocella and Gottlieb who criticize NYCB do so out of love for the company and its great repertory -- not because they want to see it shut down. It awful that Chesbrough is using the Accocella piece for his own purposes, but I'd hate to have to watch what I say because of him.

It's reprehensible that Acocella's article, with which I mostly agree, is being put to this underhanded use by Chesbrough and his numbers-crunching lackeys. Has this character no shame? I'm sure he couldn't care less how Balanchine is being danced by NYCB. It seems to me he's trying to salve his wounded pride and salvage his grossly-inflated salary.

Thanks, Leigh. Not everyone liked Balanchine's company class either.

As someone who not only drools over Farrell but sometimes over myself, I don't understand the significance of this remark. Would you mind explaining? Thanks.

In 1954, I saw "On the Waterfront" roughly a dozen times. I thought then, and still do, that Brando's Terry Malloy was the best screen performance I'd ever seen. I loved everything about the movie, including Eva Marie Saint, Rod Steiger, Karl Malden, and the Leonard Bernstein score. The most quoted line from it is "I coulda been a contender." But my own favorite I suppose reflected my East Harlem upbringing: "I don't like the country. The crickets make me noivous." Marlon Brando wasn't a contender. He was the champ.

This story has a familiar ring. Peter Martins didn't think Suzanne Farrell was capable of coaching either.

Hear, hear

You doubtless know that Peter Martins is a New York "Living Landmark." I couldn't make that up. As for a Living National Treasure, I'll ignore the advanced age requirement and nominate Suzanne.

I generally enjoy my evenings at NYCB. Nevertheless, I don't disagree with anything Acocella says, including what she says about the ABT program. I wish she'd write on dance more often.

In my own mind I'm disqualifying from consideration the biomuses Eifman chose for Balanchine -- Wendy Whelan, Alexandra Ansanelli, and Maria Kowroski. This is too bad, I know, but as my Aunt Vita says, "What are you gonna do?" Balanchine might be interested in how Sofiane Sylve could be better integrated into his company. He'd see possibilites for creating new ballets for the talents of Ashley Bouder and Rachel Rutherford. And despite his avowed preference for big dancers, he might decide to develop Megan Fairchild into something more that a little girl with a great big smile. This is an interesting topic.

Yes, Ferri's Juliet was as girlish, romantic, and tragic a figure as ever last night. It's amazing how after "owning" this role for years, it has not congealed into mannerism. She was heartbreaking. Corella was her perfect Romeo. Their balcony scene was marred for me only by the loud, insensitive applause which greeted his dancing and killed the mood. The cast was uniformly excellent. Gennadi Saveliev even managed to make something noble out of Paris. As a matter of fact, it was such a wonderful performance that even MacMillan's three harlots (Erica Cornejo, Stella Abrera, Kristi Boone) were likable.

On counting my Playbills, I discovered I'd been to thirteen performances in the Spring season. It was a pleasant enough season, highlighted by the evening honoring Hugo Fiorato. I enjoyed many individual performances, but was the season everything I'd hoped for? Not by a long shot. NYCB acted like the U.S. Postal Service which, instead of a Balanchine centennial postage stamp, gave us stamps for Graham, De Mille, Ailey, and Balanchine. During the Balanchine centennial season, Vision Division, NYCB also gave us Robbins, Wheeldon, Tanner, Martins, and, egregiously, Eifman. Like Drew, I'd harbored some hope that Suzanne would unexpectedly return to the State Theater. It was more fantasy then hope, really. What we got was business as usual.

Robbins's "In Memory Of..." was originally danced by Suzanne Farrell, Adam Luders, and Joe Duell. Farrell's role, together with the ellipsis in the title, suggested an homage to Balanchine, although the choreographer didn't acknowledge it. The Berg violin concerto was originally composed in memory of a young family friend. In the ballet, it is the Farrell character who is claimed by Luders's death figure. She is transported to a sort of ballet heaven where she is reunited with her boyfriend Duell and is escorted off by him and Luders. I always found the ballet extremely poignant because I regarded it as Robbins's memorial to Balanchine. Farrell called it "a ballet of welcome substance." I don't regard the more conservative catches in "Dances at a Gathering" as a deterioration of the Robbins repertory as much as a general tendency toward less risk-taking on the part of NYCB. For balletgoers with long memories, this phenomenon can be clearly seen in Balanchine's "Scotch Symphony" where the throws of the ballerina have been eliminated.

Sorry to delay getting back on topic, but I like the idea of two Siegfrieds, to go with ABT's two Rothbarts.

Benny, both Kisselgoff's and Gottlieb's reviews were predictable. Though very knowledgeable, Anna Kisselgoff seems reluctant to express strong opinions, particularly unfavorable ones. Gottlieb, on the other hand, has a long history with NYCB and thinks the company has fallen on hard times under Peter Martins. There is also the difference, often pointed out, between a daily reviewer and one who has a week or more to think about things. All that being said, I understand the import of your question. How is it possible for two intelligent, experienced critics to disagree so drastically? I guess when all is said and done there's no accounting for taste.

Bobbi, I got that audience feedback email the day after my last three nights at NYCB. In a typical bit of survey stupidity the choices given for attending a performance did not include "Because it was on my subscription." Be that as it may, I chose not to recommend the Eifman ballet to a friend. Or even to my worst enemy.

I agree completely, Ray. She's never going to get anybody riled up the way Bob Gottlieb does or Clive Barnes occasionally used to. She can be scholarly, but mostly her writing is as murky as the lighting you describe. I too would really like to hear from anybody who enjoys reading her.