Leigh Witchel

I wouldn't say candor. I'd say rancor. I'm not sure anyone is telling the whole truth here.

Wow. It is something. I guess it's important to realize we're not seeing it unedited, and also that oral histories aren't necessarily corroborated. It sounds like there was, as Stretton says, bad blood everywhere.

I intend to go - I've only seen a few full-evening Forsythe pieces, and they're generally quite partisan affairs. Many of us have seen Part 2 of Impressing the Czar as "In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated" I believe the other parts have more theater and less dance in them.

Oh my. It sounds like we should have popcorn ready as we watch this drama unfold, Marc?

This is veering off into Kirkland, but there exists the possibility she assumed that what Balanchine said to her he said to everyone else, and he may not have. And if there ever was a dancer who overthought just about everything, it was Kirkland.

I'd be cautious about Kirkland's descriptions and opinions of Balanchine. He certainly had faults, but her viewpoint is very skewed.

Per the Ken Cen Press Office: By process of elimination, the male soloist was James Hay.

I only know Wuorinen's music through what I've heard at NYCB, but it does make me ask - with Gustavo Santaolalla's soundtrack now so associated with the story, will Wuorinen incorporate or ignore those associations? What do people think, is he the right man for the job?

I think I cut some slack not just because I like the dancers/movement but for me the big reason is I know the body of work. Because there's Last Look or Big Bertha, I overlook The Sorceror's Sofa. Looking at your friend's comments again, it wouldn't hurt her to think that maybe she's being a touch dismissive of someone with a career that's probably longer than her life? What else doesn't she give a second look? That's one thing I think I have learned from reviewing - be very wary of dismissing anyone's work outright that you've seen only once.

It reminds me of a similar experience I had with an educated friend seeing one of the 19th century classics for the first time. He found the language stilted and hopelessly old-fashioned - it just wasn't for him. I've seen Changes as done by SF Ballet. I didn't hate it, but it's not great Taylor - it's one of his pieces to popular music like Black Tuesday or Blades of Grass (sorry - I'm on a bus to DC and may have totally blown the title.) Is it wrong to say, "This just isn't your cup of tea." though? I'm not sure that either she or Taylor should change in some way.

I'm going to let Alexander Meinertz defend it I have no more love for ABT's production of the ballet than you, but we may not be seeing what Etudes was meant to be, or what it is in better productions.

Le Riche has been dancing Suite of Dances for a while. I'm pretty certain I saw him do it in Paris in '04.

If you love the Bausch, I think you owe it to yourself to go. I saw the Orphee in Paris the February and I'm no Bausch man, but I thought it was always visually arresting and often moving. It's going to be so much different than seeing a recording - see it live. I mostly concur with Carbro on the Taylor. I'm not mad for Promethean, but if Michael Trusnovec dances, it would be worth it.

And impressions are different for everyone, because when I saw Vanlessen at the same performance, I enjoyed his performance as much, but pegged him as short.

If you were pitching an article cold, you didn't pitch to Gwen Smith but to Diane Nottle, the deputy editor, and she has also accepted a buyout. With Smith gone, I wonder if performance assignments will now simply be done by the writers themselves.

Though I agree with your good advice, I will say I've occasionally thought that very thing about those very dancers. Usually it isn't their dancing though - it's that they've been miscast.

Wow. What a way to find out I'm losing an employer

Make that three. But I've never met a Jorma Elo ballet I liked. I disliked this one less than Brake the Eyes, if that is any improvement.

Folks - I apologize for my silence during all of this, but because I'm writing for Ballet Review (London-Paris) and Dance Now (Ghent) most of my observations are owed to them first. I saw most of the same programs as Helene but also the Mats Ek program in Paris. I have to admit that for me, though the ballets were worth seeing, the best parts of the trip were dinners with Ami and Lynette, the Tate Britain and lunches with Alexander and Effy, walking through the Marais with Helene and the Promenade Plantee with Jane and Roy, eating at Chez Clement with Cygneblanc , laughing in the dressing room with Alexandra . . . I think that's why we travel. I'm cooling my heels before my flight at Heathrow (I wonder how much this online access is costing me. . . ) and when I get home tonight I get to sleep about 5-6 hours before I go back to JFK for a flight to SF for the new ballets festival (Paul, which nights are you there?)

I am saying that their discussion is part of the purpose of the board. If you have further questions about board policy, please either read our terms and mission, or PM one of the administrators. Don't discuss it within this thread. Thank you.

Speaking not as a participant in the discussion, but as one of the administrators of the board, a reminder that one of the stated purposes of Ballet Talk is for the discussion of these distinctions. Kindly don't inhibit or belittle that here.

It was told to press that she did not dance on Friday night because she had hurt her foot. The extent of the injury was not discussed.

Leigh came up with the blond analogy --- I'm just riffing on it. I did? It's really scary when you don't remember your intermission jokes. I'm working on my piece for Danceview Times (actually, I'm in the office trying to get all real life work out of the way before I can write that piece before I can go to London ) I can't say I was thrilled with the Kirov in Balanchine, but I'll explain further in the piece proper. There were times when their "accent" illuminated the choreography (Ballet Imperial in particular), but mostly not. Some liked the tempos. It sounded to me like the orchestra was playing inside a vat of Marshmallow Fluff.

Yeah - I'm there too (on duty for Danceview Times) I have a feeling this performance will be a *major* scene - and that's completely discounting what happens onstage!

Strawberry blonde = Kondaurova. Dark hair = Tereshkina.