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I would disagree with this: while I wouldn't call her uniformly great in everything, she was stellar in some roles, like "Firebird," "Allegro Brillante," and Sugar Plum Fairy, and she danced one of the most beautiful "Theme and Variations" pas de deux I've seen. I'd also never seen her in anything where I thought, "Why was she cast? What were they thinking?" She was good in the T&V pas de deux--like a lot of physically beautiful dancers, she was best suited to that part of the role. It was the only time she looked tranquil and completely relaxed. very long and svelte lines there. I'm surprised she got Allegro Brillante, which was usually a 'diva' role reserved for superstars. could well have been necessity/exigency, but I can imagine her dancing it well. The only thing I saw her in which was 'what were they thinking' was Glinka Pas de Trois, which was utterly beyond her, but it was also utterly beyond Stephanie Saland, sadly, who was a lovely dancer as well.

Great photo; Delgado burns up the stage in Tarantella. it would be nice to see her in it weekly. As far as Lopez's dancing, I recall her in several roles: the Firebird everyone seems to remember, in which she was indeed good; Theme and Variations, which was slightly too hard for her (not the combination of punctiliousness and dazzle which Ashley and Nichols gave in this role); no disgrace, as it's FAR too hard for most.. it was honorable but not stellar. Sanguinic, in which she looked very uncomfortable (a part so much harder than most viewers understand in any way) and the Glinka Pas de Trois during the 93 Balanchine Celebration, which was WAY too hard for her (this is a ballet that HAYDEN said was 'so difficult NO ONE could dance it'....if Old Ironsides thought it was too hard, fageddaboutit now.) She was cast often, as you can see, in virtuoso roles by default (i.e. when Ashley, Nichols, Kistler, etc., were injured) and was better in some (FIrebird) than others; she was technically proficient, with a good jump, in her prime, but not a brilliant speed demon or divine technical goddess in the line of Ashley, Nichols, Bouder.

Attended several of the CDF events, which seem to feature topnotch dancers from excellent companies. Ballet Arizona: I was impressed by Jillian Barrell as the 'Rubies' ballerina; she has considerable poise and finish, and I assume that her relative coolness is her choice, which goes well with the score, actually. Nothing on earth is worse than a Heather Watts turning 'Rubies' into a porn show. Kenna Draxton was assured and sexy as the soloist; she made many moments sharp and clear, and the exit with plies in second was good. SF Ballet: Sofiane Sylve is a magnificent dancer (more about that later); however, Aurora is not ideal for her long, elegant, legs-for-days body, and this rather trite choreography of the wedding pas de deux does not match her expansive temperament. Vito Mazzeo, as he was on Saturday, was an estimable partner. PNB: Seth Orza is completely wrong for the Faun; although Lesley Rausch is usually wonderful, the wrong partner hampered her performance considerably. Orza is miscast; why on earth not Jonathan Porretta or the incredible James Moore? The Graham piece 'Chronicle' was extremely interesting. As is well known, the Graham company has been through the esthetic, artistic, and emotional equivalent of Hurricane Katrina several different times, and I do not think what we see now bears any resemblance to what Graham had in mind. The movement vocabulary could be seen relatively clearly; the subtexts, the actuality, were utterly absent, sadly. these dancers do not understand the past, the Thirties, or even Graham technique from that period. The Saturday performance had a wide variety of ballets and modern dances-- Houston Ballet danced Mark Morris' 'Drink To Me Only...', which is a lovely ballet to a fascinating score (sadly massacred by pianist Katherine Burkwall-Ciscon, who literally omits any difficulty she finds too great in pieces literally called Etudes and who is incapable of producing decent articulation or any tone whatsoever) but probably not ideal for a gala-type program as it is long, rather serious, and has a slow and profound ending. An outdoor summer potpourri-type audience gets restive even in a performance as good as that of Houston Ballet here. SFBallet: 'Continuum' (Christopher Wheeldon), with Sylve and Matteo, was the best thing on the program. I had expected to give that designation to Ana Sophia Scheller in the Don Q pas de deux, which I was eagerly anticipating (more on that anon), but Sylve was so lithe, so stretched, so ravishing (it is impossible to believe she is pushing forty, if not there) in every moment that she appeared to have had the pas de deux choreographed on her. NYCB: Don Q pas de deux (how bizarre is it to write THAT? lol) Well, Gonzalo Garcia may be okay in certain Balanchine roles, although I'm not even sure about this, but a bravura exhibition pas de deux is utterly out of his depth and beyond his capabilities. I thought of nothing but Vasiliev, Baryshnikov, Villella, Bissell, etc, as Garcia danced one inadequate step after another. This pas de deux calls for, in the words of Kirkland, 'a spectacular arsenal of technical fireworks', and Garcia possesses none of them: not the jetes, not the barrel turns, not the multiple a la seconde pirouettes. This, of course, affected the usually superb Scheller a bit. She is a magnificent turner, a very fine jumper, but as this role reveals sustained balances are her Achilles' heel. She did improve as the ballet went along, but these kind of balances are not something she often has to deal with in the NYCB repertory.... Scheller did ALL double fouettes for the first half of the coda set, then alternating single-doubles, which is impressively difficult and rare. I theorized that she has worked on the doubles for the turning role in My One and Only. :-) Scheller also really WORKED her fan, which was both hilarious and charming; she doesn't get to do that much at NYCB!

As an ex-gymnast, I have always loathed Ponor--she is a classic example of what we used to call a 'tit-shaker', lubricious enough to be doing a pole dance instead of an Olympic floor routine. I'll admit she has FINALLY upgraded her tumbling (the fact that she won an OGM in an event final with a full-in her hardest pass is beyond embarrassing--it is mortifying and unconscionable; Daniela Silivas and Elena Shoushounova, to name only two examples, did tumbling TWICE as hard sixteen years earlier) but the awful hootchy-kootchy is worse than ever. This is what has come to be called 'choreography' in gymnastics, unfortunately... Raisman, by contrast, is forthright, strong, graceful if not Kristina Ballerina, and dazzling in every gymnastics move, with a large edge in difficulty and amplitude (particularly in the sky-high split after her last tumbling pass) to die for. No one now begins to approach Caslavska, Tourischeva, Comaneci, Kathy Johnson, Laschenova, Omeliantchik, Silivas, etc. ad infinitum, in terms of grace, coordination, and fluidity on floor, but if it must be this sort of routine I vastly prefer brilliant tumbling to sex-kitten behavior.

I couldn't disagree more on the scores of Suite en blanc and Giselle; I think Giselle's score is one of the tritest, most cliche-ridden exercises in corn ever perpetrated, virtually devoid of ideas, almost completely devoid of 'energy', and something one is forced to enjoy the ballet in spite of. Suite en blanc, on the other hand, has a lovely, eminently 'dancy' score, with opportunities for many soloists and no stultifying crowd scenes or endless sections in which the composer seems ignorant of any harmonies but tonic, subdominant, and dominant. I was utterly delighted to see such lovely dancing in Suite and bored to death with the tedium in Giselle.

Several performances of POB--two 'Giselles' and three mixed programs. Jack Reed is quite correct about the abominable lighting on both Tuesday and Wednesday, sadly; I imagine that this greatly affected his, and the audience's, impression of the performance. The white act should be spectral, not invisible. This was particularly annoying because the superb Marie-Agnes Gillot as Myrthe appears , of course, only in Act II. Tuesday's performance, with the wonderful Isabelle Ciaravola as Giselle, was also simulcast live in Grant Park. Ciaravola, who was an extremely late addition to the roster of etoiles, is so lovely, vibrant, expressive, and deeply engaging that it is absurd--especially with etoiles like Emilie Cozette (!!!!!!!!)-- she was not promoted to the rank years ago. She is one of the rare Giselles who actually makes the hackneyed plot convincing, and who seems to change instantaneously, mercurially, in her mad scene. She also has a tragic mask of a face when required. Clairemarie Osta, who danced Wednesday, has already had a tremendous farewell in Paris (she sadly has 'aged out', it seems--apparently POB still has that age rule) so this American tour is a unique chance to see this great dancer once more. Her hops on pointe were miraculous for a woman of 42 (they would be good for anyone) and the lightness, sparkle, and brilliance she has always set forth are still there. She was a more subdued, subtle Giselle than many, making small gestures enormously telling (particularly ports de bras and small ballonnes); her Albrecht was the still sterling Nicolas le Riche, who has been an etoile for nearly half his life and who is great at age forty. I would say that Ciaravola was an innocent destroyed; Osta was an old soul wrecked by a tragedy she almost foresaw yet still could not prevent. Fabien Revillon, the man in the Peasant Pas, is one to watch; his bearing is exemplary. Charline Giezendanner, his partner in PP, is a strong, clean, and skillful dancer whose stage face, unfortunately, is hard with a fixed and too-broad grin. She appears to be smirking most of the time. Gillot as Myrthe was remarkable even with lighting that would have disgraced a junior high school play; her amplitude, severity, and implacability are of a degree hardly seen since Martine van Hamel. The voyagees! The dancing in the mixed repertory program was of an even higher standard; it is a pleasure to see Suite en blanc, which is rarely ever done in the US, and never done with this sort of French perfection. The outre and mannered little port de bras, wrist-flicks, hops, and capricious changes in epaulement which are beyond most American dancers are tossed off by one and all here with nary a hitch and no self-consciousness. Although nearly every dancer in a solo or demi-solo role distinguished him or herself, there were several standouts: Sarah Kora Dayanova as one of the three graces in 'La Sieste'; Alice Renavand in the pas de cinq, with entrechats and other beats DAZZLING and easy (this is also a pas where the men do beats for days, and Renavand was every bit as brilliant as they); Nolwenn Daniel's turns in the 'Serenade'; the sterling Karl Paquette in the 'Mazurka', with great off-balance angles and poses; Gillot in 'La Cigarette', Parisian beyond belief, with excellent fouettes in the later coda. Then there was Aurelie Dupont in the 'Adagio'...Dupont's maniacal control is, if possible, even smoother and more finished than it was in her younger days--the Gallic nonchalance of her face before and during her several perfect , motionless balances was worth the price of admission all by itself. Ciaravola was beautiful in this part as well (best choreography of the ballet, by far) but Dupont was magisterial. I was particularly impressed by this because I recall the horrendous miscasting (cross-casting, really) in the POB Jewels DVD, with Dupont horribly out of place and character in Rubies (she would be lovely in Emeralds) and Osta, who danced Rubies constantly at one time, instead in the Verdy part, which she did admirably but WHY??? Happily, that was only miscasting, and Dupont is great in anything which even slightly suits her (most things excepting American showgirls....) Cozette continues to be a cipher; she is a good technical dancer and one of the most boring women ever to set foot on stage. her etoile ranking boggles the mind. "L'Arlesienne" had three different casts, all good; Stephane Bullion danced so all-out it was reckless, and stirring. His physical abandon and fire were overwhelming, but I think the audience responded more deeply to Jeremie Belingard: slightly less breathtaking, but more modulated and subtle as an actor, both facially and choerographically. He also had the benefit of the incredibly sympathetic and moving Ciaravola as his fiancee; Amandine Albisson was also excellent in this role, although it's the man's ballet, with an extended descent into madness and a final mad scene culminating in a suicide leap through a window. Mary Stolper, the principal flutist of Grant Park Symphony (which played for POB) , distinguished herself in many flute soli and obbligati (flute variation in Suite, the Menuet in L'Arlesienne, etc); sadly the rest of the wind section was far, far below her level. "Bolero", which has several versions (Jorge Donn did it surrounded by men only--the original--and then, much later, by women only, a Bejart resetting), was done here by le Riche, Dupont, and Gillot in different performances. They were all excellent, and the difference with a male or female central figure is mesmerizing. The audience went most berserk, to my surprise, for Gillot, who was terrific but to my mind slightly less amazing than the other two. I would not have expected such sinuous, hypnotic, sensual intensity from Dupont, who made the entire ballet a seamless crescendo beginning to end (which the orchestra was supposed to do with the music and did not come close to...). le Riche burned up the stage in every way; the male corps' pounding the table was FERAL in his performance, in response to his own savage energy. His slide to a split followed by a burning stare at the audience was unforgettable. This becomes either 'ballet is woman' (Balanchine) or 'ballet is man' (Bejart) depending on the casting, which is a remarkable experience.

That Tchaik Pas variation is marvelous. and such an honor roll to be listed on!! Too young for Verdy, alas, but I saw Loscavio and Nichols do it often. I am jealous--Ms Feijoo and Sarabia. *drool* two dancers whom one sees all too infrequently now. Do you mean to tell me, cubanmiamiboy, that Boston Ballet never put on Theme and Variations for her?!?!??!??! Are they insane?

Faux Pas, I know some of them. however, imbecilically, the casting is still not available--the day before opening night in NY. Inexcusable.

Definitely all of Valse-Fantaisie, one of the prettiest ballet scores ever the opening waltz from La Source the man's variation from Baiser (Balanchine) the English horn variation (SUBLIME) from Theme and Variations, equalled by the choreography ditto the Adagio of Symphony in C the finale ('Tenor Lead') from Drink to Me Only WIth Thine Eyes 'Nein, Geliebter, setze dich' from Liebeslieder Part II Coffee/Arabian from Nutcracker, and the B minor episode from Flowers Most of Tchaik Pas, but particularly the girl's variation and her F# minor turning sequence (pizzicati) in the coda the Elegie, particularly the ending, from Tchaik Suite #3 the Third Theme from The Four Temperaments most of the Shades music from Bayadere the little lute-mandolin waltz from the ball scene in Romeo, and the balcony scene the Rose Adagio the 'Russian' variation from Swan Lake, particularly the opening Verdy's variation from Emeralds ('La Fileuse') , the pas de trois, and the finale almost everything in both Minkus and Glinka Pas de Trois (corny but irresistible) ALL of Roma, which is sadly a lost masterpiece--which almost no one still living has seen. beautiful score. the Adagio of Symphonie Concertante the Menuets from Sonatine and Tombeau the opening movement and 'girls' dance' from Square Dance the finale ('Dithyrambe') of Duo Concertant virtually every aria in the Morris 'L'Allegro'... every note of Serenade the Berceuse from Firebird the opening cadenza of Chausson Poeme (Jardin aux Lilas) the galop from Ballo della Regina the finale of Donizetti Variations the slow movement of Divertimento no. 15 the czardas variation (cimbalom or similar) from Raymonda the main theme of Valse-Scherzo the divertissement pas de deux from Midsummer everything in Who Cares?, but particularly Stairway to Paradise

Hi Jayne. Saw several performances this weekend and yes, it was clean...the demis were wonderful yesterday in the corps variation without the principals; all four ended their final double pirouettes to the knee RIGHT on the beat. they looked quite pleased. This was an interesting program, with a new ballet to a new commissioned score, and the Morris 'Drink To Me Only' as curtain-raiser. I like the Morris better every time I see it: funny, playful, ironic, parodic, occasionally tender, and with remarkable role reversals like the men doing the adagio extensions rather than the women...Dreadful, tone-free, leaden 'piano playing' but the final adagio was beautifully danced in spite of it. Sara Webb was hilarious in the 'dance lesson' with the echappes and passes--the perfect insipid smirk on her face at the start of this was all by itself worth the ticket price. Joseph Walsh, one of the company's superb young principals, was picture-perfect in the tango (originally made on Baryshnikov). 'Seek', the Nicolo Fonte premiere, grew on me, though the derivative and lamentably predictable score by Anna Clyne did not. (And the horrible lighting--wandering and swinging spotlights which more than once were aimed straight into the audience; glaring harsh dirty white light which would make work lights look good by comparison, and which made the dancers' hard-won contortions and body shapes very difficult to see exactly--was actionable...) Choreography was inventive, though. highly acrobatic, crotch-sprung, stretchy, fast, sharp. Melissa Hough, excellent in everything as usual (she danced every leading role, the only woman to do so), has as one of her specialties this sort of quick, edgy 'modern ballet', and she was great in the pas de deux, partnered by the also excellent Connor Walsh. Jessica Collado was very fine in the pas de trois. the 14 dancers, whom Fonte picked mostly from the corps and soloist ranks, had enviable unison in the difficult passages, particularly the ones with all the men. Kelly Myernick, in one of the two smaller pas de deux couples, was her usual briliant, athletic, soaring self. 'Theme', a horrendously difficult ballet in so many ways, came off well. Saw three sets of principals; Connor Walsh's ballon in the jumps was remarkable. Melissa Hough, a dazzling virtuosa, looked most at home in the terrifying first variation; all three of the ballerinas whom I saw did the gargouillades added in 1970 for Gelsey Kirkland, but only Hough's were clear and clean. (Danielle Rowe and Katharine Precourt are both taller, so one admired them for trying...) Rowe and Precourt, both dark, long, and svelte, were both lovely in the pas de deux; Rowe's entrechat voles in the lifts were ethereal. Precourt, who is a young soloist with the company, had a radiant smile during her most difficult passages, looked truly joyous to be dancing the role, and distinguished herself in every way in her first attempt. Rowe looked tense (and who would blame her) at the beginning, but was gorgeous in the English horn chorale partnered by the women, and had the most beautiful bows (really reverences...) I have seen in many years--sweeping, gracious, grand in every way. to see a ballerina bow that exquisitely is an experience in itself.

sandik, you are right--a very odd trend. Houston Ballet, which added the entire ballet a couple of years ago, seems to be the only one which recently has acquired it entirely at once. 'Rubies' is showy so perhaps it's understandable why it's done alone, but the triptych is far more compelling as its intended artistic whole. there are all sorts of correspondences and linkages in choreography, body shapes, patterns in the three ballets, and 'Rubies' works far better between its more lyrical bookends...

{They also seem to have reinstated the block programming, at least for the Fall Season. Each season also has a night when all tickets are $29. The programs seem to be designed to tell the old-time NYCB audience, "Not for you."} One of the worst atrocities of the Martins reign of terror, back again--just when you thought it was safe to breathe a sigh of relief at the demise of 'block programming.' Not just designed to tell the 'old-time' NYCB audience 'not for you', but any audience with taste and standards. That sort of audience, of course, does not interest Martins. abatt, I believe Ballet West did Emeralds alone a couple of years ago (very bizarre thought, isn't that?), and several companies have done Diamonds on all-Tchaik programs, sometimes all-Balanchine Tchaik as well.

Balanchine: Metamorphoses Roma (!!!!!!!!!) a marvelous score and what was sometimes said to be LeClercq's best role Opus 34 The Figure in the Carpet PAMTGG (all right, yes, this one is necrophilia...) Divertimento Brilliante, simply for the Villella-McBride pdd Modern Jazz: Variants the original versions of many ballets, including Marie-Jeanne's Barocco (much, much more strenuous) and Ballet Imperial; Hayden's Donizetti Variations; the first cast of Agon; Kent's Seven Deadly Sins (with LENYA!) ; Wilde's Square Dance (dazzling even on a kinescope, but....) and Raymonda Variations; Paul in Valse-Fantaisie (the photos are maddening); the first Valse with its trinity of goddesses; Don Quixote with the cast of the premiere, Liebeslieder likewise, Episodes ditto, esp. Paul Taylor! Ashton: Lament of the Waves Nocturne Jazz Calendar (similar corpse-sniffing to PAMTGG....) Ondine, with Fonteyn (apparently similar to Meditation with Farrell--undoable without its original ballerina) Patineurs with Harold Turner, Mary Honer, Elizabeth Miller, et al Enigma Variations with Beriosova Symphonic Variations with Fonteyn, Shearer, and May Sylvia with Grant as Eros Taras: Piege de Lumiere Most of Martha Graham's choreography (particularly Letter to the World, Errand into the Maze, Herodiade, Night Journey, Frontier, Primitive Mysteries, El Penitente, Every Soul is a Circus) WITH GRAHAM

Although the privilege of seeing Nerina was before my time, she has always been famous not only for balances but most particularly for her astounding jumping. Her Ashton variation in Birthday Offering (each of the seven was precisely tailored to the strengths of its original ballerina) is still one of the hardest single things in the Royal canon, as dancers of the caliber of Deborah Bull have ruefully attested. There is also a DELICIOUS story about her--at a certain point-- having had more than enough of Nureyev's bad behavior, and doing (instead of the thirty-two fouettes, which she indeed whipped off with the greatest of ease) thirty-two entrechats six one night as a little nonverbal communique to Rude Rudi. Needless to say, most ballerinas even today could not possibly manage thirty-two entrechats six after three acts of Swan Lake; Nerina was not only a charmer but a powerhouse virtuosa.

This is a good topic and it's been years--should be revived. ergo-- Polyhymnia from Apollo the 'polka' variation from Ballo della Regina the man's variation from the 'Baiser' Divertimento My One and Only from Who Cares? everything from La Source Oberon (the Scherzo) from Midsummer (Balanchine) the 'jumping variation' (Nerina's) from Birthday Offering the Third Shade from Bayadere the sixth variation (the presto, more or less) from Divertimento no. 15 Verdy's (La Fileuse) from Emeralds LeClercq's (third, I think) from the first Valse-Fantaisie the 'alternative' Black Swan variation (minor, oboe or perhaps EH solo, far more brilliant) often done by Russian ballerinas in place of the 'Sound of Music' one everything in Glinka Pas de Trois Balanchine's Dewdrop and Sugar Plum Romeo's Act I solo at the ball (MacMillan) several from Winter Dreams (MacMillan) ballerina in The Concert Flower Festival (both) etc....

Speaking of Sleeping Beauty (and the Three Ivans, ugggggggo), not only the cats and the Ivans but Aurora's variation in the wedding scene-- pure tedium after the Act I variation, the Rose Adagio, and the Vision scene.

Two performances of Cinderella... Stanton Welch's view of Cinderella is not standard; he makes her a tomboy who puts up her dukes whenever her stepsisters pick on her, and who more than holds her own. He also has her fall in love not with the Prince, who is a vain, uppity, epicene peacock, but with the Prince's valet/man Friday, 'Dandini.' This is interesting, and offers the opportunity for Cinderella to display some acting ability; Welch also gives Cinderella several taxing dance seqences (a turning manege in Act One and a very difficult full circle of jumps in Act Two which the brilliant Melissa Hough ended with a double saut de basque!) , so the demands are considerable. The stepsisters are men on pointe, so her 'fight scenes' with them are difficult as well.. Unfortunately, although the company is doing everything asked of it and more, what is asked here is simply not up to Prokofiev's score or to what would make a great production of Cinderella. I realize the difficulty of producing such a ballet, having never seen a version which succeeded (which includes Baryshnikov's production, both with him and other dancers), but Welch's choreography here is not only inadequate in all the pas de deux/big love music, it is inadequate and irritating. Choreographed tics, mannerisms, and schticks do NOT help the problem of how to express adequately such large, grand, sometimes somewhat overwrought music, and the paucity of inspiration leaves the huge Act Two and Three duets dreadfully boring. Fonteyn's Cinderella was well before my time, but I did see Farrell's star turn in Chicago once when very young; Farrell was marvelous, the choreography was not, and there it wasn't. The Houston production also suffers from the lack of funny/clearly difficult choreography for the stepsisters; they show no differences in personality or characterization, and I have always heard that one of the greatest things in the Royal production (possibly better than Fonteyn) was Ashton and Helpmann as the sisters. apparently they, in the British grand-drag-dame tradition, brought the house down every time. The lack of 'fairies' or soloist variations/divertissements is also grievous here; there are only two bits where other women beside Cinderella dance to speak of, and they are brief and unmemorable, displaying no classical technique or choreography. the other roles are all comedic cameos. Houston Ballet's dancing is first-rate: Melissa Hough continues to scintillate, sparkle, and dazzle in everything she does, and she makes an utterly convincing tomboy as well. Danielle Rowe, a recent Australian import, is taller so this role is not an ideal fit to her physique, but she is more than competent. Rowe is a dancer who seems to have an extremely wide range, technically and theatrically. Christopher Coomer, one of this company's most underestimated and sterling men, displayed his quiet sinewy elegance to great effect as Dandini; he and Hough are an excellent pairing. Joseph Walsh was quite funny as the Prince, and appeared to enjoy himself as well. Mireille Hassenboehler, a ballerina who has been away from the company for some time, appeared as the ghost of Cinderella's beautiful mother; she was warm, touching, and extremely affecting.

Can't picture her as Myrtha, but it's just all those years of Tall Myrthas when no one short was allowed in that role, lol. I know it was Program II, but how was Beaux? how were the gentlemen?

Yes, I saw it as well, sadly without Chung (my favorite dancer in SFB). before getting to Francesca, though, I completely agreed about de Sola (why doesn't she get more parts?) and Genshaft, whose feet were at their best. Carnival is such a charming score it's hard to go completely wrong with it. Speaking of scores, Tchaikovsky is not the problem with Francesca, to say the least. this was a barely adequate performance by the orchestra, but that is also not the problem... I'm not even sure I'd call the PDD 'beautiful', Peggy. It certainly tries hard to impress, and it borrows lots and lots of cliches from Forties and Fifties acrobatic-pop-adagio which I assume the choreographer hopes no one remembers, LOL, but I thought the gargoyles were almost the only fun thing in the entire ballet. I'm glad you now see lyricism in Chung, who to my mind is one of the only two or perhaps three real ballerinas in the company now. I was , as always, appalled at any comparison to Kochetkova, who is probably my least favorite Russian-trained dancer ever. I find Kochetkova shallow, trivial, contrived beyond belief, artificial, phoney, and anything but punctilious technically. It amazes me that she is cast at all, much less fawned over; Chung's technique, for one, makes Kochetkova look very amateurish indeed. Saw them both in Theme and Variations; Chung was dazzling, Kochetkova almost embarrassing. some serious relaxation of Balanchine standards went on for her to dance THAT role. I don't think Chung is by any means eternally cheerful and sunny; she can even scowl when it is required. If you want a ballet REALLY to put you off the color red (I hope nothing could ruin Italy, lol), try the horrendous Martins Swan Lake.

AMEN, stinger and Eileen (in Eileen's case, to several points, including 'low cost alternatives'... Sadly, Martins' behavior has constantly been as insecure, jealous, and juvenile as the Boal story makes clear. Firing Farrell was bad enough; refusing to hire the creators of great Balanchine roles to coach dancers in those roles is beyond the pale. The two best 'Jewels' versions--by LIGHT YEARS--I have seen for a decade or two are MCB's and PNB's. In both cases, Boal and Villella hired the entire original cast (possibly Villella did not have Paul, but Boal did...) of ballerinas--Verdy, McBride, and Farrell--to work with their dancers. The results are not an accident. Meanwhile, NYCB's 'Jewels' staggers along with an occasional bright spot (Bouder's and Reichlen's dancing is so brilliant that even in an uninspired production it shines) and people wonder aloud 'what the big deal' is with this great triptych. UGH.

To answer a couple of questions--the Scherzo, originally for Patricia Wilde, was dropped because at the time Balanchine felt he had no woman with a strong enough jump for this role. Carolyn George, Allegra Kent, etc., used to dance it... Sadly, most companies do Western without it to this day, including NYCB. NYCB did the Scherzo for a while in the late 80s and early 90s with Nichols in the Scherzo (she used to do not only turning roles but jumping ones as well), and I saw a performance once with Katrina Killian/David McNaughton there. The freeze at the end , hats thrown in the air and pose, doesn't work at all, nor did the way the end of Golden Section was handled. I had to explain to my partner what the respective endings are in fact; he was quite surprised and disappointed. How is it possible that the union is not all over MCB and Great Performances like flies on excrement for the APPALLING omission of any principal casting in the entire broadcast, either verbal or visual? This is beyond inexcusable. I recognized, of course, Jeanette Delgado in Square Dance, Jennifer Kronenberg and I believe Carlos Guerra? in Western I, and Callie Manning in Western III-- but otherwise, who knows? With corps parts as demanding as those in Square Dance, we should have known the names of ALL the dancers. I have yet to find the info, by the way, anywhere online. Perhaps MCB's website has it buried somewhere?

I agree entirely with Cargill's response to this. 7 Deadly Sins is an example of the sub-genre of Balanchine theater pieces. Anna II was NOT a dance role in any conventional sense. The character must act, though using mimetic and dance movement. More, she must be able to hold the spotlight even when a vast amount of interesting (or distracting, depending on your point of view) stuff is going on around her. My point , which apparently was entirely lost, was made by my placement of the word 'acting' in quotations. That means ballerina mannerisms, posturing, crotchets, schticks, and so much of what is now seen on stage both in ballet and in theater. We clearly disagree ENTIRELY on the esthetics of Seven Deadly Sins, on the period, and on Balanchine choreography whether or not it is 'neoclassical' and involves 'steps'...and on the impact of ANY Balanchine choreography with a great dancer in it.

Thank you, Stecyk. This is an excellent company which most Americans, sadly, know nothing of....

Fascinating, and completely disheartening. The cold rigidity, superficial 'technique', and diva mannerisms which make Lopatkina's dancing so mediocre are also, it is clear, deeply ingrained in her personality. Resistance is not the word; willful rigidity and an utter refusal to be COACHED or TAUGHT is the phrase. Does she think Makarova was born yesterday and has no pedigree? is she really ignorant enough to think she has nothing to learn from one of the great Russian ballerinas of the 20th century? Now I understand why Lopatkina was so DREADFUL in the Bizet Adagio I saw her dance--she has not a clue, and thinks she knows everything.

I thought so too--in my opinion as good as any I saw anywhere. I saw her a lot, though not as much as I'd have liked--I too remember alternate venues. remember the Palace of Fine Arts shows especially well, when Loscavio was the company's young virtuoso and they still had Allemann, Adam, Cisneros (another great dancer), Legate, etc. What roles did you like her best in?