Farrell Fan

I'm being big about this: Peter Martins.

Just as in his ballet Eifman tried to make Balanchine fit the stereotype of tortured artist, it's equally wrong to make him out to be a paragon of conservative refinement. Just during this season, NYCB had in its repertory Kammermusik No. 2, Episodes, Variations pour un Porte et un Soupir, Ivesiana, and Symphony in Three Movements. These ballets can't be neatly categorized, nor in fact can The Four Temperaments, Apollo, Orpheus, Agon. They still have the power to shock and surprise in ways undreamed of in Eifman's choreography.

The works of Angelin Prejolcaj and Mauro Bigonzetti at NYCB paved the way for the Eifman (although I thought both of those were somewhat more successful than "Musagete.") I dread to think what next season will bring.

As recently as Sunday, June 13, Sylviane Gold, previewing "Musagete" in the NY Times, wrote, "In fact, Ms. Whelan is not one of the women; she plays a cat." But after the opening, Dale posted that Robert Johnson's preview piece had mentioned Whelan as Zorina. And this morning's Times makes the transformation from Mourka to mate official in this choice bit of Kisselgoffian prose: "Whether she represents Zorina, Balanchine's second wife and an actress dancer who wrote a remarkably frank memoir, is more than possible." Huh? Who says so? Eifman? The NYCB press office? What is there about Wendy's performance that suggests Zorina?

I had to reread your sentence more than once before I got your point, Kathleen. That's what Eifman will do to the brain. Thanks for the lesson in logic.

In a program note, Eifman denies any biographical intent. Nevertheless, his ballet attempts to force Balanchine into the mold of misunderstood, tormented genius. This stereotype is irrelevent to Balanchine, but it drew cheers from many in the audience -- not just the Russians. The program corroborates Eifman's disclaimer. The dancers are listed only by name. Nowhere does it say that Wendy Whelan is Mourka, a cat; Alexandra Ansanelli, Tanaquil, a wife; or Maria Kowrowski, Suzanne, a muse. Or for that matter that Robert Tewsley is Balanchine. We have given them these identities because of pre-performance publicity and our own familiarity with NYCB's past. But what of casual balletgoers? What was their reaction to Musagete? I suspect they loudly enjoyed it because significant things seemed to be happening onstage all the time, along with some strange choreographic stunts. That seems the secret of Eifman's appeal -- flashy surface brilliance which creates an illusion of profundity.

Echo has a place in NYCB history becuse Peter Martins got Suzanne back to dancing on point again following her hip replacement. It was the last time she did so. With all due respect, she could never look like a "clone" of Heather Watts or anyone else.

Without disagreeing with anything that's been posted so far, I must say I enjoyed this 22-year-old Martins ballet very much. It seemed so much fresher and more inventive than many of the things he's choreographed since.

It may be fun for us to speculate on this subject, but last night at ABT provided a strong dose of reality. The applause and cheering for "Swan Lake" was deafening, prolonged, and bestowed on principals, soloists, and corps alike. This was in sharp contrast to the audience conduct on the Balanchine evening I attended, when the applause was, at best, polite. But what really got me at the end was the comment by an old geezer* sitting behind me, who announced exultantly to everyone around, "That was real ballet, not like that Balanchine stuff." I'll be glad to get back to the State Theater tonight. *It's okay to call him that; I'm a geezer myself.

The Eifman ballet is being shown on July 17 at the annual gala of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (along with The Four Temperaments and Barber Violin Concerto). Given NYCB's continued tenuous condition in Saratoga, will this help or hurt?

Is Peter Martins doing the choreography?

Friday, June 11 -- These days, it's as good as it gets: Ringer's Raymonda, Whelan's novice in The Cage, and Ansanelli's extraordinary Firebird. The exception was Duo Concertant, which was nicely danced by Darci and Nilas, but inevitably seemed like another episode of The Martinses -- A Family Saga, instead of two dancers discovering Stravinsky and themselves. The lighting seemed a little off in The Cage and Firebird. As a result, Chagall's painting at the beginning of Firebird failed to generate the customary applause. Is it me, or are the Robbins monsters gentler than they used to be? They seemed very careful not to treat James Fayette's prince too roughly or upset him in any way.

He was among the greatest artists to appear during the American Music Festival at NYCB in 1988, performing onstage in "A Fool for You," choreographed by Peter Martins. Nobody who was there that night will ever forget it.

So do I! I think she does in DTH's version.

I kind of like the title -- it seems all-encompassing to me, maybe even extending to snippets of biography, where Balanchine and Ballet seems more limiting in that respect.

It has a title! That's promising.

Since no one else has chimed in, I'll add that Tara Sorine and Isabella Tobias, who were so good this past winter in Susan Stroman's "Blue Necklace" at NYCB, were two of the four Pierrettes in the "Harlequinade" excerpts. The others were Ojela Burkhard and Beatriz Stix. But really, everyone in all four pieces deserves to be mentioned, except it would make for dull reading and difficult typing. I felt the "Serenade" came off least well, perhaps because of nervousness. But everything after that was terrific. Even the printed program was better this year, a nicely-bound booklet that was much easier to handle. It had Balanchine's self-caricature on the cover. Inside were 1974 remarks by Lincoln Kirstein about student performances; a dedication by Peter Martins; and short articles about Nathalie Gleboff and Albert C. Bellas, to whom this year's workshop performances are dedicated. Ms. Gleboff is also the winner of the Mae L. Wien Award for Distinguished Service. Winners of this year's Wien Awards for Outstanding Promise are Kaitlyn Gilleland, Tiler Peck, Daniel Applebaum, and William Lin-Yee.

I was there on Saturday night too, and had a great time. (I was waiting for Bobbi to go first because she's better at identifying the dancers.) As leader of the WRENS in "Union Jack" Kaitlyn Gilleland brought back memories of Suzanne to such an extent that I started feeling weepy. At the end, instead of spelling out "God Save the Queen" with their hand flags, the dancers spelled out "George Balanchine," and a blowup of the Cartier-Bresson photograph of Mr. B. descended yet again, to a mighty ovation.

I suspect I'm the member who said he liked the sunburst ending. If so, I've changed my mind and prefer to see the full Apollo every time -- with the Stravinsky score intact. The ending going upstairs to Mount Olympus is good, too.

I agree with Sonora. For me, ABT's program was a welcome alternative to "the vision thing" at NYCB this spring, and a highlight of the Balanchine centennial year. I'd like ABT to do "Sonnambula" next.

It's very odd that the men were listed as "carriers." At the performance of June 1, they were accorded no such designation, but just listed by name: Jared Angle, Stephen Hanna, Seth Orza, Henry Seth. The misidentification must have been some kind of joke, or maybe an audience test for night vision. I'm impressed anyone was able to recognize those guys. The program might have listed Conrad Ludlow, Jacques d'Amboise, Edward Villella, and Peter Martins and I wouldn't have known the difference.

Just as an aside: there used to be a radio program called "First Hearing" on WQXR in New York on which three music critics reviewed new recordings. Sometime in the early eighties, they played portions of Robert Schumann's Davidsbundlertanze. A critic named Bert Wechsler held forth not so much on the recording as on how much he disliked the music and added "But at least we didn't have to watch that awful Balanchine choreography." I was surprised that he even knew about the ballet, since most music critics then and now are oblivious of the art. But I thought his opinion idiotic on both counts.

Thanks, Nanatchka. I recall experiencing similar feelings in 1968, when I saw her in Synesthesia and Pithoprakta. :rolleyes:

It seems to me I run into this more and more -- so-and-so's perfume. Can this elusive quality be pinned down? What do people mean when they use the expression?

In a generally murkily-written review on May 29 of ABT's Balanchine program, this sentence stands out: "Balanchine would not be Balanchine if he did not end ballets like 'Theme and Variations' and 'Ballet Imperial' without an exuberant finale." Huh?