jsmu

... The exception I would want to point out, which I think is pretty obvious, is in the film of 'Appalachian Spring'. Not only was she not statuesque enough to do the Pioneer Woman herself and seem the one partially immortal character in the dance, Turney clearly dominates the film, perhaps along with Stuart Hodes. ... Indubitably. That's the one Graham role which was not quite typical--not a cauldron, not epic in scope--and I think it was less suited to her than any of the others. Matt Turney, a goddess, indeed dominates and owns that performance. I would give anything to have seen her live in many roles (She of the Ground, Errand into the Maze, whichever role she danced in Diversion of Angels...the list just goes on) she danced. I believe the stage probably loved her too--who wouldn't? miliosr, I think you're right--sadly, something like Clytemnestra requires the great star, in fact perhaps the sacred monster, to hold it together. It isn't Primitive Mysteries or Letter to the World--it's no masterpiece.

Miliosr, there are some Graham vehicles from the Sixties in which she did nothing but stand onstage as a totem/symbol/deity while dancers surrounded her. At least Clytemnestra doesn't fall into that category... As a semi-Balanchine 'cultist', I admit you have a point about the Gospel of George; he himself referred to his ballets as 'butterflies' and was famous for such remarks as 'there are no mothers-in-law in ballet'; 'la danse, Madame...c'est une question morale'; and 'God creates: I only assemble'--clearly he put on no airs about his own work. He also had the advantage over Graham of being an artist who did NOT like to perform (by every account a great dancer who did not like to dance himself) and who was not indelibly linked with the performance of virtually every great role he created. Graham, even on film, burns up the stage and comes right through the camera; she was undoubtedly one of the great presences and dancers of her time, and it has always put subsequent dancers of the caliber of Elisa Monte, Mary Hinkson, Yuriko, Matt Turney (to name only a few of many stellar Graham company members) at a huge disadvantage to be inevitably, and unfavorably, compared with Graham herself. Graham was of the artistic and esthetic stature of a great classical actress; they have great roles in which to express their gifts--she did not, and in attempting to make such roles she turned to classical mythology and, indeed, classical theatre (Phedre, for example), as well as the lives of great female artists like Dickinson. alas, some of the information she asked dancing to impart is beyond the scope of the art form, as you say, but what a magnificent creator she was.

Amen to Simon G's and papeetepatrick's posts. "attract younger audiences" is pure emesis, especially when linked with the worst programming of any NYCB season in living memory. Valse Triste was made passable by its brilliant and charismatic original cast and by the lovely Sibelius score. You definitely don't want to see it sans McBride.

Yes. I see you noticed the deliberate omission of any comment on the score. sigh. it was lamentably predictable, cliche-ridden, and loud. Hardly the formal, controlled, or complex expression called for. The choreographer did well under the circumstances...

Bart, it was a commissioned score, as was that for The Song of the Dead, by Mark Scearce, who is the head of the music department at North Carolina State University. Guernica was for piano solo; Song of the Dead for violin, clarinet, and piano. Salome was the Dance of the Seven Veils, and Picasso's Harlequins used various Satie including Relache. O'Brien was remarkable in Guernica.

Although the production was in no way worthy of her, Nichols was a wonderful Lilac--regal, with grandeur and delicacy and tremendous attention to detail, including gesture. I imagine Lallone would be good in this role as well. Lucky viewers who got to see Adams (!) and Bergsma, by all accounts one of the most wonderful dancers ever at RB, in this role. Bergsma talks-- in the interview in Striking a Balance-- about the role, the solo, and how nervous it made her, especially when she was first cast in the New York run. She seems similar to Adams in more than one way: self-effacing, modest, characterizing herself as a 'nervous' dancer, and not quite convinced of her own overwhelming virtue.

Nunez's Myrtha is superb: icy, vengeful, remorseless, and with an equal sang-froid in her technical command. it is a shame she is criticized , implicitly or otherwise, for having such a strong technique...

This mixed bill was inspired by a show of Picasso works at Duke University; Robert Weiss choreographed three of the four ballets, with the fourth-- Guernica--by Attila Bongar, a principal dancer in the company. Margaret Severin-Hansen seems to become more brilliant and scintillating with the passage of time; her technique in Picasso's Harlequins, the most 'classical' ballet of the evening, was beyond exemplary and well into the realm of 'how on earth does she make that difficult enchainement look so nonchalantly perfect?' She has a captivating ease and unforced charm in addition to the fastidious refinement of her dancing. Lara O'Brien, the principal in Guernica (with five men), danced with a rare passion, ardor, and abandon. Her hunger to be onstage is palpable; she ate this part up, literally flinging herself into falls and dives (including a kind of fish, off the shoulders of four of the men into the arms of the fifth man ,which had the audience gasping) with complete authority. Alicia Fabry showed beautiful epaulement in the trio from The Song of the Dead, and Barbara Toth a remarkable openness and lift in her sternum and upper body in the quartet from this ballet. Gabor Kapin was hilarious and virtuosic in Picasso's Harlequins, (to Satie) which also featured marvelous Twenties-style corps costumes by David Heuvel.

Hardly anything could be added to that wonderful evocation of Nichols in Tchaik Pas, except perhaps that to bravery and virtuosity and humor she added candor and utter honesty. I also saw Feijoo do it, as well as Ashley, and both were as dazzling as one could wish, but aside from that tape of Verdy and Villella (and the other montage of Hayden, Verdy, McBride, etc, which was shown on a PBS Balanchine special--remarkable in every way) Nichols is still my favorite. I imagine Delgado is marvelous in it, judging from her Tarantella...