Jayne

Yesterday I drove to Bellingham to see the re-broadcast. Due to unforseen delays for my friend, we arrived 40 minutes into the production, just as Nikiya is dancing her her "fall in love" ppd with Solor. It's such a long production that we were squirming during the final 10 minutes. We decided on the drive home that maybe it wasn't so bad to miss the first 40 minutes - because we had seen so much dancing anyway, and most of it is variations. Ms. Zakharova is so secure and lyrical in her movements - and yet she left me emotionally vacant. Honestly I was rooting for Gamzatti throughout the production. But I did love her in the 3rd act and understand why her Odette is so amazing. I think all credit goes to Ms. Alexandrova for her performance. Her acting draws you in, and she's so exciting to watch dance, that you can't help but be on her side. The "cat fight" scene surprised me because it involved so much dancing. I've seen a DVD of the Royal Ballet version, so I guess I expected something similar. I liked Mr. Lantratov more than I expected to. He didn't over-act or push hyper panache that other dancers choose. His dancing was very pure, without any fussiness and everything looked effortless. His partnering was secure and he made his divas shine. The blackface is really bad form, and I've heard the excuses about this in Dutch culture - where Black Peter helps Sinter Klaus. In Latin America, making slit eyes with your hands is considered acceptable to imitate Asian eyes, but I still cringe at that too. Eventually this is going to become a big deal for the Bolshoi - they will put on La Bayadere when the Obamas visit, or Kofi Annan visits. But eventually it's going to blow up on them. I don't think the Russians have an equivalent stereotype to fight against - except maybe the Russian gangsters in many the Hollywood movies. I was prepared for the Shades to make me cry, but it left me a bit cold. There was some wobbling, but mostly I think the detatchment from the 2nd act made me unemotional in the 3rd act. I did really enjoy Ms. Zakharova and the 3 soloists. Ms. Z is built in the Sophie Guillem mold. If you met in person you would probably think "human sized asparagus ectomorph". Alexandrova's musculature mesomorph is more pleasing to my eye, so I guess Cubanaboy and I agree on our aesthetic preferences (please, more meat on their bones!) But they are both strong, secure dancers. I wish I could have seen all the interviews. My seatmate is an ethnic Russian with a Ukranian passport. She was very, very uncomfortable during the interview with Ms. Alexandrova. I enjoyed the interview (well the translation). After the performance I asked her why she was fidgeting so much. Ms. Alexandrova, she said, was very "fake" in her interview. It was too exaggerated, and her comments seemed cloying. My friend said she thought Alexandrova was trying too hard to pull heartstrings. I noted that I really like Katarina Novikova as the MC for these events. My friend felt Bolshoi should get a different MC, with a better English and French accent. I think my friend would prefer a professional broadcaster in the role, as she expects this person to "represent" Russia to the US. I, on the other hand, don't mind Novikova's accented English, and find her broadcast manner is more authentic than someone with more polish. Plus she always wears wonderful clothes! The stage workers behind the scenes are fascinating, and some of the stage hands are great eye candy. Do they always wear English T-shirts with "STAGE" and other labels? Just for the broadcast nights?

good to read that Sarah Mearns is healthy enough to take on Lilac Fairy. Probably best that she has this short role now, and not take on the marathon Aurora until she is 100% healed.

I am so jealous of that Symphony in C casting - sounds fantastic. I reviewed the Kampa videos an she lacks the speed, charm, vim and vigor of a Spanish Kitri. That said, I think her adagio dancing could be pretty terrific - if developed. Dancers are that rare combination of art and athletics. Just like artists and athletes - some blossom quite young, others come into their own with experience and time. I think she is being pushed too fast and into the wrong genre of ballet.

and....thus spake Alastair Macauley...I was rather expecting this, as his preferences for neo classical dance are very clear. I posted the link here because of his praise of the Nakamura / Moore matinee. Some of you were worried about missing Carla Korbes in this role, and as it turns out the 2nd cast received higher praise. I still lament the lack of Carrie Imler in NYC casts, surely they could have crammed in 1 additional Balanchine night to show her off? I second the earlier preference for her Square Dance. The Lady's feet would make even Fred Astaire cry in envy. My dream 2nd night would be PNB's Blue period, and include Square Dance (Mr B), Sum Stravinsky (Gaines), Million Kisses (Dawson) and more Balanchine - maybe something a little slower, after all that allegro dancing, so I'll pick Serenade. Poor Ms Imler, I'd cast her in everything and she'd die from exhaustion. For a 3rd night I'd go Red, and include Rubies (Mr B), Piano Dances (Gibson), Red Angels (Dove) and finish up with La Valse (Mr B) So each program would have 2 balanchines, 1 pnb choreographer and 1 outside choreographer.

R&J opening night montage, just posted on the PNB facebook scroll:

I think the looseness is part of the PNB style - it reflects the late 1950's - 1960's decade when Francia Russell danced / was ballet mistress and Kent Stowell danced for NYCB. Obviously NYCB cherry picks their best students from summer programs to attend year round, and then cherry picks them again when they graduate from SAB. They *should* dance Balanchine well, and I think the reviews over the past 2 seasons especially indicate that they are raising the barre (no pun intended) even higher. I enjoy this forum, but I enjoy the dancing even more. Watching various companies dance should be similar to visiting a variety of museums in NYC. The Met is always going to be the Met. I love it, especially the American wing. But I also love to visit the Gugenheim, MoMa, etc. I can appreciate Monet's art and still enjoy the Picassos, Van Goghs, etc. It's a shame that the Republicans demonize the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS. Those institutions bring art - especially dance art - to the masses through television and sponsorship of tours. I wish I could see MCB, Houston, Ailey and all the others every year on tours and Dance in America programs. I'll step down from my soap box now. ;) PNB posted this video on FB today, if you watch the 2nd half you can see some of the 1st night show, as filmed from just off stage.

Here's a little Symphony in C with Allegra Kent / Conrad Ludlow, with voice over from the master himself:

Not really, Duato says this is an important step in his career (per the quote). He will depart the Mik in January 2014 and assume the Berlin position on the 1st of August, 2014. Duato praised Malakhov's work as a dancer and choreographer to unite the 3 companies into the current single company. The article covers Duato's biography, and the rocky final months of Malakhov's tenure (the politicos didn't like him). Sasha Waltz's departure from Berlin is reviewed and the mayor pitied the lack of funding for the arts to keep Sasha in the city, but the city has a very heavy debt load. The Green Party criticized the mayor for making this decision to hire Duato without the assistance of "experts". My spanish isn't perfect, but that's the best synopsis I can offer at 11:30 at night.

I think this just comes down to professional conduct. I am forgiving of a 21 year old athlete or dancer who makes incendiary comments. But a 39 year old dancer who has considerable on-camera experience is expected to measure his words, use diplomacy, act above board and know better than to defame his managers. The man was dishonest when he organized a failed backdoor coup of Mr. Iksanov. He made defamatory insinuations that Mr. Filin was having "love life" problems. He is entirely lacking in professional conduct. I have no confidence that he could manage a small village dance school. I cannot imagine what he would be like as the dictator of the Bolshoi, which is clearly his greatest wish. President Putin, of course, must relish all the sturm and drang. It distracts the Russian populace from the appalling government corruption. Have you read the reports that the Sochi Olympic site construction will cost more than the Beijing Summer Games construction?

how much are tickets to see the Miami Heat?

Well, it might *all* be true. Her husband might have done something shady *and* they might face real threats when they are in Russia. The article notes that she's had the same house for a while, so I imagine if anyone wanted to find her, they could look her address up on the internet pretty easily. I mean if they can figure out her tel# and hack her facebook account, I think they can look up property records too. I doubt they need to read a Canadian magazine interview. She probably is safer in suburban Canada. If an eastern european thug shows up in a small town, he will stand out like a sore thumb. If she had moved to NYC, the locals would think the thug is just a Brighton Beach immigrant.

Patricia Barker was PNB's unofficial etoile, and quite a blonde ice maiden. She danced Titania very beautifully: Lopatkina will be fine

well, don't hold back, Natalia, tell us how you really feel! If the Mikhailovsky has full houses, then they will probably continue with Duato's works.

the lawsuits are coming, and in Russia, I think the judiciary is compromised towards the bureaucracy in place. I don't think this is going to go Nikolai's way. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/arts/dance/bolshoi-ballet-considers-suing-one-of-its-dancers.html?ref=dance&_r=0

Remember that sets will have to get there as well. I certainly hope Nemo is friendly to the east coast and all the snow is cleared away quickly. The Groundhog already announced an early spring, this is no time to be fashionably late.

I wonder if they will hire free lancers for 2 month contracts to cover Nut.

Yes, I think Ms. Theron could pull it off. I saw a picture of her recently with her hair shaved down to about 1cm length, her natural color is quite dark and I think she could pull off the role. She is very tall, though, and would need a tall Vronsky.

I just received an email newsletter from OBT announcing their next season. Here is the weblink: http://www.obt.org/13-14/ a world premier by Interim AD Anne Mueller and former AD Christopher Stowell Revival of Bolero (Nicolo Fonte) Revival of The Lost Dance (Matjash Mrozewski) Revival of Midsummer Night's Dream (Christopher Stowell) Le Corsaire ppd Almost Mozart (James Kudelka) Liturgy (Christopher Wheeldon) Adin (Christopher Stowell / Rachmaninoff) In the Works - similar to PNB's educational series Return of Balanchine's Nutcracker Sounds like an exciting program!

I finally saw this film on Monday night and I've been chewing it over ever since This is usually a good sign! I like movies that make me think. I've also seen Joe Wright's "Atonement" and "Pride and Prejudice", movies with the same female star. I've concluded that Mr. Wright is Britain's Stephen Spielberg for costume dramas. His films have inventive, visually gorgeous cinematography, costumes to die for, top notch screen writers, one or two casting revelations, one or two horribly miscast actors, one or two very long tracking shots, and end product films that make you feel like you just ate desert, when you wanted a savory main course. Matthew Macfadyen was dead-on wonderful as Oblonsky, I liked that he played against type and "disappeared" into the role. The mustache was a minor character of its own. The entire supporting cast was well cast, Kitty was appealing without being cloying, and her romance with Levin was given a deft, light touch. Jude Law made Karenin into a deeply sympathic character. I know some envision a greying, more elderly man. But this depiction of a tightly wound man, with deep convictions, carrying the weight of heavy responsibilities really resonated. My heart went out to Karenin and I felt next to nothing for Vronsky. Which brings to me to my great, gaping hole of casting mistakes: Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Vronsky. In my mind's eye, Vronsky is a full blooded man of action who lights Anna Karenina's passion in opposition to her technocrat husband's rectitude. The bleach blonde hair looks like they used cheap Sun-In, and this characterization is merely a callow dandy that even teenagers would see through. Based on the positive reviews on this thread and from co-workers, I tried to see Keira Knightley with new eyes. While she avoids some of her usual habits, the character just never develops, and I felt nothing of her despair when she finally commits suicide. It's really sad when you're sitting in the cinema trying to re-cast roles before the movie ends. I think of Anna as more passionate, with a curvier figure of a full grown woman who has already given birth. Her descent to suicide wasn't well developed or convincing. Long before credits rolled, I decided Rachel Weisz would have been the perfect fit for Anna. I liked the theatrical setting, it helped me suspend reality and jump into that world, and accept that not every single line from the book would go into this movie. This would be a re-imagining of the Tolstoy story. I was game, and all the theatrical set changes were fascinating to watch. I was still in that frame of mind during the waltz scene, but it got rather tiresome and by the end of the dance I wished they had axed the extraneous hand choreography. Over time, the inventive in-theatre staging seemed to peter out and the movie switched from the model train to regular trains, offices in the upper portions of the theatre gave way to more traditional looking offices, etc. Did they run out of ideas for the theatrical transformations? Or did they run out of time and money? The staging of the horse race was the expected revelation, along with Mr. Macfadyen's affectionate scoundrel Oblonsky. So the movie wasn't a failure, or a total success. It was a flawed feast for the eyes. Go see it, but pay matinee price.

On Superbowl Sunday I skipped the celebration of sporting commerce, and bought tickets to see ACT Theatre's new production of "The Seagull". The actors spent 9 months preparing for their roles. You can learn more about this process here: http://www.theseagullproject.org/ This production has been showered with praise, but I deliberately avoided reviews or re-reading the play. I wanted to be surprised by as the production unfolded. There are light, deft touches of humor in this production and it was well worth the $35 ticket price. If you're in or near Seattle, it is playing until Feb.10. I am not sure if they are taking it on the road. The set is simple, the costumes are beautiful and appropriate to the time and setting. Afterwards, we went to Sullivan's Steakhouse (across the street from the theatre), where we ate top grade hamburgers for $5 and drank $4 happy hour drinks. Best burger I've had in a long time. We saw several of actors stop by, and complimented them as we were leaving. They said they were shocked anyone came to the play on Superbowl Sunday, but the house was 90% full. Haha! Chekov was my act of rebellion against corporate commercialism that day.

I've amended my post, per the reminder.

I didn't give a full review from this performance, but to expand on my earlier comments (for the Kaori Nakamura / James Moore cast). The orchestra made Prokofiev roar, gleam and tenderly reach out for your heart. I didn't attend the pre-performance lecture, but my seatmate did. She related that the PNB orchestra will travel to NYC. The lecturer stated this is cheaper than hiring an NYC orchestra (go figure!). I'm not a huge fan of Batkhurel Bold's acting skills, but he was well cast as the "heavy" playing Tybalt. Being serious and playing on his physicality worked well for the character. I thought he was particularly menacing and you could see his anger building as Benvolio (Ben Griffiths) and Mercutio (Jonathoan Porretta owns this role) played practical jokes on him. Their scenes really show the family rivalries - essentially they are hooligans egging each other on, and things get out of control. Tybalt's death scene was the most engrossing moment of the show. The joking becomes insults, then pushing, then punching, and finally death and retribution death. Then the grief dancing by Lindsi Dec and the corps just blows the audience away. In fact the audience was entirely silent until the end of each act, there was no applause after short solos. I sat near some Russians who told me they expected a traditional version, and were disappointed. But the rest of the audience was pretty happy. I think William Lin-Yee is miscast as Paris, he lacks the "princely nobility" to carry off the cookie cutter Mr. Right that Juliet rejects and Lady Capulet flirts with. Even A++++ actress Meryl Streep couldn't pull off a latin american teenager in "House of the Spirits". Lin-Yee is a wonderful comic actor, but this role should be been cast by someone else (Joshua Grant comes to mind). Karel Cruz is growing into Friar Laurence, but his movements lack the total commitment, strength and anguish that made Olivier Wevers so memorable. Before he retired, I was rather hoping Stanko Milov would get a shot at this role if it became available. Margaret Mullin was very sweet as nurse, but she lacks the comic ditziness that others bring to the role. Kylee Kitchen's Rosaline was sensual and had fun with her role. I sat on the orchestra floor, 3rd row on the left side, which gave me wonderful sightlines for the acting, but I think I missed seeing some of the lighting design and corps dance formations that are visible from a higher perspective. I wish I had more funding to see all the performances, but this is my 4th or 5th viewing since PNB brought the production to Seattle in 2006. For anyone seeing the show in NYC, you will get full value with this cast.

I watched the Jan.30 show on Xfinity with my mom. Honestly this show could be about the sport of lacrosse and it would still be the same show, with the same banter, setups, etc. It just happens to be about ballet. That said, I liked this episode because it was a miniature version of board members' attempts to influence artistic directors in less than appropriate ways.

I read the second article en espanol, and also found this article auf deutsch: http://www.welt.de/n...tsballetts.html It's official. Per your 2nd spanish article; Malakhov declined a contract extension, the position was offered to Sasha Waltz, who declined it as well. Then the position was offered to Nacho Duato and the official announcement was made today by the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit. Having lived among Germans, they relish any opportunity to seem culturally above it all and hypercritical. I wish Mr. Duato luck, but he's been through criticism before in Spain and Russia, so this will be more of the same. Now, what will become of Mr. Malakhov?

Just back from the matinee with Nakamura / Moore and it was pretty amazing. Nakamura doesn't have the ethereal quality of Korbes. But she offers an earthier character for Juliet: a spunky, sometimes socially awkward teenager who falls in love for the first time, and blossoms into a young lady. The chemistry between James Moore and Kaori Nakamura is very believable. One thing to keep in mind: this production is not just about 2 dancers, in fact the scenes that most remain in my mind involved the entire corps. You will get your money's worth at the matinee.