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For a hilarious and merciless dissection of what is pretty obviously yet another dreadful 'ballet movie', see: http://www.artsjournal.com/tobias/2010/12/they_lost_it_at_the_movies.html Tobi Tobias leaves nothing standing, quite rightly. If John Waters had only made this movie, perhaps starring the inimitable DIVINE....

Krystin, thanks so much--I had missed this interesting story. "I just did not want to be facing this demon in my forties..." is extremely acute, rather like Ansanelli's dancing was. While her many fans and admirers miss her, it sounds as if she was absolutely correct in her decision, doesn't it? So many dancers have been to PCS, if that, or been home schooled, and are hyperconscious of the stereotype of 'beautiful and dumb' which still pervades the public view of them. I remember every instant of an Allegro Brilliante with Ansanelli which was indeed so brilliant that I was reminded of Ashley. It wasn't just the dancing, either; it was the mind.

I don't mind purple prose from Bentley when she's writing about ballet. From some writers, it reads like cliches in the place of smart description and analysis. From her, for me, it reads like emotion layered onto smart description and analysis. I violently object to purple prose from both Bentley and Homans, who do themselves and their subjects no favors by such swank self-indulgences. Homans' 'doomsaying' little 'conclusion' reminds me of nothing so much as the latest forecast of apocalypse by a 'religious leader' giving us the day, the minute, the hour...let's see, how many of these farcical pronunciamentos have we had? Rather the same with Homans' unfortunate epilogue--has she never encountered things like Yvonne Rainer's manifesto "NO to spectacle NO to virtuosity NO to theatrical magic...." from the mid-sixties, or similar things since? Recycled and manque, which is sad because the book is a nice dance history until the ending. As for Bentley, whose Winter Season is one of my all-time favorites in every way and whose Costumes by Karinska is almost as good, the transformation of this marvelous writer into an epic and campy sacred monster is a tragedy. The clarity, simplicity, and UTTER lack of pretension which made Winter Season such a masterpiece (and at such a young age) have been replaced by purple and pornographic prose both literal and figurative.

Fraildove, although I was too young fully to comprehend her brilliance, I did see Kirkland a few times live. Multiply the greatness by a power of 10,000 (from the video) and you have some idea. BTW, there are a few clips of her on YouTube--one in the Giselle Act 1 variation which is jawdropping...the attitude turns are beyond beyond. She, like several other great artists, had a ravishing unreality, a quality of evanescence which is impossible even to describe in words.

Well, to mangle a quote from Barry Goldwater, "Extremism in the preservataion of beauty is no vice." Indeed--and just what good is accomplished by this particular wild extremism? Denying both the knowledgeable public, which is starving for performances like Kirkland's in T&V which literally can no longer happen live, and the potential public which might, enraptured by such ravishing accounts of Balanchine, become balletgoers? Ludicrous and deeply wrong. Balanchine, by the way, called his own ballets 'butterflies', and said that no one wanted to see last year's butterflies. Apparently the Foundation is determined that no one see them except at steep prices in a few cities a few times a year. Not coming soon to a theatre near you.

Actually, Allegra Kent at her best (which was erratic) had a very fine and even an excellent technique, from all reviews and eyewitness accounts of anyone who saw her. It is unfair to compare anyone to Ashley or even Hayden in terms of 'technique' as far as cleanliness, exactitude, and strength; there are many reviews of Kent from the fifties and sixties which put her on a par with Tallchief (in the Minkus Pas de Trois, no less), Wilde (Glinka Pas de Trois, which is even more arduous), and other whiz-bang ballerinas. I think 'Lolita-ish' and 'child-like' are incorrect and very misleading in describing her presence, which was in fact delicate, mysterious, ethereal, sexual yet asexual. Kent was anything but a nymphet or a child; no child has that sort of felt life, inner existence, or persona on stage (almost no adults ever do, which made her extraordinary), and there was no immaturity about her in any way. it was the remoteness and inward aspect of her dancing which Balanchine captured so perfectly in many roles including Bugaku. Kent in fact coached these casts at MCB, and while no one, I'm sure, can possibly equal Kent and Villella, it is encouraging.

EEEK. Murphy is by far the strongest technician at ABT at the moment, and one of only two or three ballerinas who look even vaguely comfortable in Balanchine roles! (I am thinking of ABT's 'regular ballerinas', not of guest stars Osipova and Vishneva, who are lamentably rarely seen-- much less in Balanchine)...This is jarring. Stiefel's career was much closer to its end than Murphy's is; I hope she is planning on a lot of those flights from hell. As Katherine Mansfield once observed, (paraphrased) it's a long way to New Zealand.

Yes, and I have done that too WHEN it was possible--for example during the Balanchine Celebration at NYCB in 93 (they did an entire season of nothing but Balanchine, including several rarities which apparently will never be revived again... ), when I saw twenty-seven performances--but as I don't live in Miami (nor Seattle for that matter) I can't go to every performance of every rep so I can finally see Ms. J. Delgado in T&V. NOR should I be forced to, I hasten to add. The fact is that any ballet company has 'utility' dancers--dancers who are just fine as far as they go, which is not very, and whom I never need or want to see in demanding principal roles in masterpieces. Tricia Albertson of MCB is one example. she's fine; she does the steps; I'm always disappointed and unimpressed with her in a big part. It is simply Realpolitik that there will be stars in companies, that there will be dancers whom almost no one cares to see (to say the least) who will be inflicted on the public anyway (Eleanor d'Antuono, Heather Watts, Yvonne Borree, Nilas Martins--the list from the past is endless...), and that advance casting informantion allows the balletgoer to avoid as many of these unfortunate circumstances as possible--and to go more often. Sadly, most of us do not have the option of attending most or all performances of a given ballet or ballets, and are not about to subject ourselves to The Somova Show. LOL!

Yes. Ballet Alert was a hilarious New Yorker article by Arlene Croce in the late Seventies. The parody is so dry and so straight that many people apparently took it seriously! Tallchief indeed said exactly that... Just imagining blowing plane + hotel + tickets and getting Somova... !!!!!!!!!! I think that ABT publishes casts ages in advance for exactly the reasons mentioned by many posters here: ABT, except in rare cases like their all-Balanchine evening or Tudor revivals, is attended for the stars, not for the rep. That's the way Lucia Chase designed and ran the company and it has never changed. This is why it is imperative they import Vishnevas and Osipovas, etc. Helene, as one who loves Lallone, Imler, AND Korbes, I am of course delighted to see any of their names in the program, surprise or not. However, were I deciding whether or not to attend an evening with a ballet or ballets on which I was--shall we say, lukewarm, LOL--the advance knowledge of any of those dancers' presence (or that of Pantastico, whose absence will never be okay--GOD, what a loss, as bad as Loscavio leaving SFB--) would be the deciding factor, period. This--among many other things-- is what MCB is losing out on. There is also the fact that, for example, the unique and irreplaceable Lallone is retiring this season, as the divine Seay retired last season from MCB. I would hate, if trying to see some of Lallone's last dances, to be forced to suffer what I endured to see even one or two of Seay's final performances, which I saw basically through dumb luck and maniacal persistence--all because of Mr. Villella's insane and completely baseless policy re casting. Amen to the comment re: people who are upset because they are Not Seeing A Principal and who would always rather see Sheezno Fonteyn than Ima Buddinggoddess. However, I don't think having alphabetical casting and no principal listings will solve this problem. Sadly, people love pecking orders and rankings, even in the arts where such things should be viewed as anathemata, and they need to learn about the art form in order to get past this at all. if it requires healthy doses of Diva Rediviva to get them into the house in the first place, well, perhaps that's okay. Nureyev, Makarova, and Baryshnikov by their 'stardom' popularized ballet in a new way, and I prefer even the Cult of Personality to the pure-CHEEZ WHIZ so-called 'marketing' used by many big companies now. Shudder.

Well..... Osipova's is 'harder' , what with the a la seconde turns, but if you notice that leg ain't exactly at 90 and I think if you're going to do a man's step you should do it comparably. She also ends her fouettes in a dreadful position for which any decent ballet teacher would cream her in class, lol.looks like to me Valdes is steadier, more in control, and therefore, in a way, more dazzling. Forgot to mention that Kirkland, who could do anything, used to occasionally attempt triples (yes, triples) a la seconde in her Black Swan coda, and they didn't come off as they were intended either...

Jack, actually, NYCB has ALWAYS listed casting at least a week in advance, sometimes more--Balanchine never , so far as I know from empirical experience and a great deal of reading, deprived audiences entirely of advance knowledge of who was dancing. (yes, he did toy with alphabetical listings, prompting the immortal Tallchief remark upon her resignation in 1965, lol) Too smart. People want to see Patty and Eddie, Suzanne, Allegra, Gelsey and Helgi, Mikhail, Erik, Maria, Wendy--yes, Wendy-- etc, and MCB would do well to attempt to cultivate more of this sort of awareness on the part of its audiences. Quite true that they get a LOT of NYCB stalwart/fanatics (Bart and yours truly, among others) and they should be making people want to see Deanna Seay (oh, wait, she's gone... ) or Catoya or J. Delgado, and getting the point across that these ballerinas' dancing is as brilliant and marvelous as that taking place anywhere in the country--indeed, more so in most cases.

Yes.....wry smile. Apparently AC is a rarity in this among men: Markova and Kirkland, among other famous ballerinas, contended in print that jumping 'ruined' the fluidity of a passage, while Franklin, La Fosse, and many other principal men have said that women who won't jump are like a ton of bricks to lift. La Fosse says Cynthia Gregory, probably the biggest-size ballerina of her period, was a breeze because she really jumped for every lift.

I'm fairly sure Catoya knows Theme and Variations, because I think she danced it the last time MCB did the ballet. I can't imagine that she wouldn't, as one of the two strongest technicians in the company. Perhaps she is injured. Sadly, Mr. Villella, who has so many virtues, persists in his hideous practice of refusing to allow an audience ever to know who is dancing even a week in advance -- or to plan to see a specific dancer. This is invidious and very bad for box office besides. Even NYCB under Balanchine, who was extremely anti-'star', announced casting a week in advance!

Who already has a diadem full of stars for Repertory in Review alone...

Vasiliev, even on film, was a magnificent partner, especially with Maximova. Their Don Q pas de deux was virtually unsurpassable (especially on the occasions, though I've only seen it on film, when Maximova whipped off 32 fouettes with her hands on her waist the ENTIRE TIME...! Talk about core strength!), and Vasiliev gave the impression of endless strength and capacity--almost like Ludlow. Two NYCB imports who are rarely given anything like enough credit either as brilliant soloists or as sympathetic and subtle partners were Helgi Tomasson and Ib Andersen. Kirkland has many times rhapsodized in print over Tomasson's grace and elegance in partnering, and Andersen was wonderful with everyone from Farrell and Ashley to Mazzo and Hlinka (from tallest to shortest).

GWTW, what were Ashley's lengthy answers to the 'technical' questions-- and what did she say, if anything, when 'floored' by the question about the hops in Ballo and padding in shoes?

Did Ms. Delgado do the gargouillades?

ViolinConcerto, I'd very much like to read the full essay. See the post that I just made about gargouillades (LOVE 'little eggbeater steps', lol). These were added for Kirkland, who of course could do anything, and were not in the original choreography; as such, they are optional (can't imagine the Trust or a repetiteur would force anyone to do them as they were added later--and since the sauts de basque almost NEVER appear in the Tschaikovsky Concerto finale any more....uggggghhh....) and I'm surprised that a) Rojo had trouble with them and b) perfectionist that she usually is, that she didn't just omit them given that.

Delgado's Sugar Plum Fairy at Arsht last season shows she is starting to develop real ballerina "glamour and radiance." She's not just a technician or a can-do girl any more. Ashley and Nichols were THE T&V ballerinas of their period (after Kirkland), as Ashley once (correctly) implied in an interview. (Cynthia Gregory was also great, I'm sure, though I never saw her dance it, alas) Croce also discusses the fact (in another book) that the T&V adagio is in fact a 'supported allegro'--perfect not only for Alonso but for Ashley. I imagine Delgado would be fab in this ballet--she has indeed become far more radiant with time--and hope to see her gargouillades in person (I assume, being the jumper she is, she does them? They were added for Kirkland, btw--not in Alonso's choreography) I like Kronenberg tremendously, but find her MUCH more convincing in parts other than Big Tutu Ballerina Roles; T&V and Bizet don't suit her well.

The mixed rep Joffrey is currently presenting is an unusually good program (Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Tarantella, After the Rain, and The Concert), and the two performances I saw featured many youngish and promising dancers. Sadly, the orchestra is even worse than most modern orchestras; the soloist in the Stravinsky is utterly unequal to any of the piece's varied demands, from fingered tenths (which became out of tune ninths) to G-string acrobatics to accents, and Tarantella was played at a tempo so execrably slow and dull--it was essentially a PRACTICE tempo-- that I'm not sure even Villella and McBride could have saved it. That said--the dancing is good and worth seeing even under these circumstances. The gorgeous, opulent, and extraordinarily gracious Auditorium Theater would be worth seeing just for itself, in fact. Wheater, who purged several 'older' dancers shortly after his arrival two years ago, is giving many of his younger dancers opportunities: the first week featured five (yes, five) different women as the Tarantella ballerina. I saw Anastacia Holden with John Mark Giragosian, who were both horribly impeded by the dreadful lack of speed (her turning sequence of piques and front attitudes was completely hung out to dry, for example) and who wisely decided near the end to forgo trying to be 'on the music'; I was sorry not to see more of the virtuosity of which I suspect Holden is particularly capable. The brief applause was the most lukewarm reception I have ever heard this ballet given, and it was not the dancers' fault. Allison Walsh and Derrick Agnoletti in the same roles were more brilliant (Walsh is perhaps the company's best woman jumper, and has strong feet as well), and I belive would be dazzling with an acceptable musical partnership--but again, we certainly did not see everything they had. Agnoletti has the kind of fire which is eminently appropriate in a Villella role. After the Rain is a ballet which I have trouble imagining without Wendy Whelan in its central pas de deux; Victoria Jaiani, however, was nearly as good as Whelan: stretchy, long, elastic, daring, with beautiful line and bearing. Tall and prepossessing Fabrice Calmels was an admirable partner in every way and even made the stupid costume (modified sweat pants and bare chest) look less silly. Jaiani and April Daly danced leading roles in three of the four ballets (Jaiani in the Mazzo role in Stravinsky, Daly in the von Aroldingen) and Daly was also excellent in one of the supporting roles in the Wheeldon. Daly was less good in the difficult gymnastics of the von Aroldingen role (this requires a steely technique)than Valerie Robin; Robin showed more attack and a bit more of the angularity of the accents. Christine Rocas was lovely in the Mazzo role, but she holds her shoulders badly, which is extremely noticeable in a part made on a dancer whose upper body was ravishing. Jaiani, much taller than Mazzo, had lyricism to spare in the part, and looked great in the passage with the four men; Mauro Villanueva, dancing the Martins role opposite Rocas, was brilliant in his opening 'variation' and showed tremendous verve. This is such a great ballet that one wishes profoundly for performers of the stature of Samuel Dushkin and Serge Koussevitzky with the Boston Symphony, who gave the American premiere. The Concert is fairly sure-fire, but it can often be funnier and this was the case in both performances here. Jaiani has a willowy quality much like photos of Tanaquil LeClercq; she is very appealing and engaging as a slightly swacked 'diva' ballerina, especially in the opening penche on the piano and when she clings to the piano after her chair is summarily removed. Daly was good in the Queen of the Wilis bit near the end; Miguel Angel Blanco was EXCELLENT as the Husband and clearly has wonderful technique both comedically and balletically. The ensemble missed several opportunities for hilarity, notably in the Mistake Waltz, which requires split-second correct timing to work properly, and the umbrella passage to the E minor Prelude. However, the audience was warm, amused, and vocal in its appreciation of the humor, and this program is something worth a trip to see.

Saw five performances of Jewels, and was tremendously chuffed, impressed, and sometimes dazzled by the ballet's depth of casting and depth of commitment to these beautiful roles. The first cast (Melody Herrera in the Verdy role, Amy Fote in the Paul; Melissa Hough, Connor Walsh, and Kelly Myernick in Rubies; Mireille Hassenboehler and Jun Shuang Huang), although very good, was by no means the best except possibly for the Rubies. Hough, brand new to the company (just arrived from Boston Ballet), is an absolute pistol in this role: brilliant, razor sharp, frighteningly clean and clear, fast, edgy, sexy--the second best Rubies ballerina EVER right behind McBride. Her technique is already approaching the rarefied virtuosity--and control!-- of an Ashley or a Nichols; the triple pirouette/double piques sequence and the hyperextended off-balances were phenomenal, and her command of Diamonds (extremely rare for the same ballerina to do both the McBride and Farrell roles...) was equally magisterial. Hough is so clean and assured, and so quick, that she often has time to play with the music, time to relax, luxuriate, or finish a phrase with greater breadth; this reminds me a bit of Bouder at her best. Walsh was excellent although the notorious running double sauts de basque don't suit him a bit better than any other Rubies danseur I've seen except Ib Andersen, who could do anything... (I'm sure Villella was his overwhelming self in this as well--sadly, was too young to see him). Myernick, who is one of the company's most underrated, strong, and marvelous dancers, was good but her triumph came in another role, of which more later. Herrera and Fote (who danced both principal roles) were good as well; Charles-Louis Yoshiyama, who partnered Fote in the Verdy role and is a recent company addition, was extremely handsome, dashing, and possessed of a rare courtliness as a cavalier and partner. Hassenboehler was lovely, coolly self-possessed, and easy to watch in everything; her third performance was, not surprisingly, more profound and more complex. Huang, her new partner (just arrived from China), is still very, VERY new to complicated partnering of the Balanchine variety but appears to be a quick study. The second and third casts were revelatory (including the Emeralds pas de trois, where every cast--and there were four or five--distinguished itself greatly, particularly new soloist Karina Gonzalez (from Caracas), Christopher Gray, Nozomi Iijima (who has also recently danced Ballo and Rubies!), Emily Bowen, Allison Miller, Lauren Ciobanu, and Joseph Walsh.) Herrera was the abstraction of wit and surprise in Rubies; this brilliant performance was more playful and piquant but just about as technically assured as that of Hough, which is astounding. Joseph Walsh was attentive and charismatic with her; Jessica Collado, one of the company's best and most versatile dancers, danced the Verdy role, the Neary role, and a demi in Diamonds--good in all, outstandingly lyrical and entrancing in the beautiful Verdy variation to La Fileuse. Except for Hough's Rubies, the best performances were all given by second or third cast members, two of whom were dancing their debut and ONLY shows! Nao Kusuzaki is perhaps the company's most lyrical and graceful woman, and her dancing of the Paul role--especially the Sicilienne--was the loveliest I have ever seen (again, sadly, I was too young to see Paul in it.) This role often seems rather superfluous compared to the Verdy part; in Kusuzaki's version one missed her whenever she was offstage. Katharine Precourt, a young dancer who has had several very large parts (Faun, etc) already, danced the soloist in the last Rubies, and ate it up; she is tall with legs for days and she was one of the strongest, sexiest, and most irresistible showgirls I've ever seen in the role. There was nothing tentative in this debut, absolutely nothing careful; the bravura and risk, as in Hough's Rubies, were as if the dancer had done the role many times before. The flatfooted penchees in the first movement exit were unreal, especially the last and the final nanosecond pose; Precourt knocked off triple pirouettes as if she does them before breakfast. The scene with the four men manipulating her limbs was hilarious because there was no question who was in charge; Precourt looked at all the men with a wonderful air of nonchalance and total superiority throughout. And, last and perhaps best, Myernick's one performance of Diamonds--This dancer has been quoted in interviews as saying she worries about her line a lot and doesn't think she is nearly 'classical' enough. She's classical enough in this role and then some; it was one of the grandest, warmest, and most gracious Diamonds in history. Myernick HELD the balance at the end of the pas de deux, which is a rarity these days--it was breathtaking--and the audience began clapping well before the final curtain, screamed when the curtain went down, and leapt to their feat (a real standing ovation--what a concept now) when she appeared for her first bow. it was well deserved. Such variety of casting and such gorgeous dancing from so many is one of the many things a wonderful Jewels can give us--thanks to Stanton Welch and his wonderful company, which outdid itself.

'the noble one', as many times discussed before on Ballet Talk and elsewhere, is completely wrong for Balanchine's intentions; Balanchine himself said (verbatim) that Apollo was a 'devil' and a 'rascal', and it is transparently clear from the iconic and amazingly innovative man's choreography that this is not intended to be the Apollo Belvedere. That said, Bouder or Scheller as Polyhymnia, and how about Morgan as Terpsichore?

Helene, Katrina Killian was one of the original ballerinas (the other being Shawn Stevens) for the SAB Workshop--and she also alternated as Lise with Kistler for NYCB at least during the first run of the ballet. This may explain why the role is so demanding technically: the ballerina has a 'fan dance', so to speak, which is long and HARD, and I seem to remember both the principals having at least two variations. The woman's part is somewhat derived from Bournonville--a lot of tricky petit allegro. I think Sean Savoye was one of the men who danced Martins' part at SAB. To answer the original question which prompted the thread-- fluffy, insubstantial, a divertissement, but with some serious technical dancing, which makes it more palatable for adults.

The absence of the divine Seay will always be felt, sadly. I'm very sorry to see that the extremely interesting, vivacious Noelle is gone. I saw d'Addario's debut in the second ballerina role of Barocco and was very taken with her; as Bart says, national TV without all these excellent and experienced company members?!?

During the recent Picasso program I was somewhat surprised that the artistic director chose, Lola Cooper, a newly hired apprentice, to perform a demi solo and pas de deux during "Harlequins" in lieu of casting this role with a more seasoned dancer. arts subscriber, I saw Cooper in 'Harlequins' and also think she's extremely promising. She is still young and, I believe, will grow tremendously in the next few years--