Jayne

Giants are falling to earth. Who is next? 

I am hoping that Harry’s marriage works out better than Mayerling’s.  

Boston can be a tough place if you don’t ready have a social network. 

Wasn’t Renko fairly recently promoted to soloist? 

The problem with the “little pat on the bum” is that if we treat it too lightly, molesters think they can go much further, and have, without penalty.  

Would Prince William put up with his testicles fondled in an elevator as a minor tresspass of his personal space?

On 5/4/2018 at 3:41 AM, Laurent said:

While talking about "hype", Olga Smirnova may have been the most heavily promoted and hyped dancer in living memory. It took her an enormous effort to live up to that hype as she is most definitely not a naturally born dancer. From the very beginning her other qualities were far outweighing her ability to harmoniously move her limbs...”

"The era of Vishneva/Lopatkina/Zakharova" existed, I think, only for Russian expatriates writing on various ballet fora. I am not sure how much either one of them will be remembered, say, in 30 years.”

I certainly would not put Ms. Smirnova in the same gangly category of the young Alina Somova - who Mr.Vaziev himself prematurely promoted to principal.  I fault Ms. Smirnova for the dearth of acting skills (a must at Bolshoi)  but I do not find her ungraceful or unmusical.  

That was fabulous!

69 seems far too young to go. For an enjoyable trip down memory lane, I recommend Mel’s choice grievances about Nutcrackers:  

Well, we shall have another royal wedding in 13 days.  Alas, without the contributions of Mel Johnson.  May he rest in peace and enjoy the proceedings at a great gathering of snarky dancers in the sky.   

Shall we start a new thread?  If nothing else, the eye candy of fashionable guests should keep us entertained.  

BBC is reporting that the husband of a board member groped Crown Princess Victoria at a 2016 meeting, in addition to other (less powerful) women.  A female security service person intervened, and there were 3 witnesses.  

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43942106

On 4/26/2018 at 8:04 AM, mille-feuille said:

Last night gave me a headache because I loved it so much and got too overwhelmed with happiness and excitement. 

May we all have such wonderful audience problems!

I think Kindle might provide the perfect format in the future for books with video clips.  If he writes a dance analysis I will buy it. 

I think we could treat it like opera singing: best mezzo, soprano, etc.  But the best Grigoeovich specialist might botch Balanchine badly (and the reverse might apply).  

Anothee analogy might be sculpture: I like da Vinci and Rodin for very different reasons.  But I think they both should be shown to the public and new artists also given showcases.  

Well, thr director is also tall, and shown beautifully in Balanchine roles, and danced well into her 40’s. Vera should get some great “tall girl” roles. 

Goodness, this thread has strayed from the original topic!  

If not Dupont, then who?  And who would want it???

On 4/19/2018 at 11:53 PM, pherank said:

Did Martins' retirement really cure what ails NYCB company culture? The bigger problem there may be that bad behavior was so often tolerated or simply ignored.

I cannot recall criticisms of NYCB outside of Peter Martins’ behavior and management choices.  Can you enlighten us?  

A company as large as POB really needs a larger management team.  I lament that Madame Dupont did not hire an Associate AD with more management experience to help light the way forward.  

Hopefully they have time to right the ship before the autumn announcements.  

On 4/14/2018 at 3:15 PM, mnacenani said:

Just landed - no contest except for Le Parc :  if this is "ballet" I am Apollo !!

You’re not Apollo, I assure you Le Parc leaves many viewers cold. 

She may wish to be in Europe, anchored to acompany or just guesting, so her family can more easily see her dance.  These careers are short, and opportunities to have friends snd family nearby are more important as you (and your parents) get older. 

Those are some fire cracker fouettes! 

The video is a cheap shot, and the bobbles happen to all dancers.  Especially the devilishly difficult Petipa works.  

That said, she built up expectations of superior abilities with her PR machine and people expect a full technical show for their inflated ticket prices. 

Ms. Copeland should focus on the roles that she can successfully dance.  I would buy a regular priced ticket to see her in the right role.  (Firebird, etc)

But she should stop trying fouettes if the results look poor on the stage.  

I hope she can return to private life and move forward in a healthy way.  

14 hours ago, Drew said:

Given what you say about her Video blogging in Russia...perhaps she has just decided to approach her job in Korea differently? 

One can only hope!

She is just 23 years old, and has no outside professional work experience to give her perspective.  Apparently her parents haven’t given her any either (or have been unsuccessful to influence her).  

Will have to list this out tomorrow, hmmmmm....

Eduardo - that cast at BsAs Teatro Colon sounds superior than your ABT options. 

Good to learn Paloma can attract top talent.  

Addendum:  skip ABT and go see New York City Ballet’s All Robbins program at 7:30pm.  

     In G Major

     Afternoon of a Faun

     Antique Epigraphs

     The Concert (or, the perils of everybody)