bcash
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Posts posted by bcash
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6 hours ago, yukionna4869 said:
It’s this one with Mira Nadon.
Oh Thanks! It's this Speaking in Dance thing. I didn't find anything on NYT website yesterday other than a photo of him in Scene de Ballet.
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13 hours ago, Amy Reusch said:
Wendy Whelan?
I think the criterion on "success with running an artistic organization" (paraphrase) would rule her out.
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On 6/5/2018 at 7:00 PM, cobweb said:
It appears from Davide Riccardo’s instagram (public-facing!) that he has an apprenticeship. Very glad - he was fantastic.
He's the one on whom NYT did a small feature on (with his dance partner) a couple years ago right?
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Wow, a lot of new works. I share the excitement over Cojocaru and Rhapsody. But I have no idea what Rennie Harris and American Street Dance Theater are about.
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The track of Mary, Don't You Weep embedded in this piece is quite extraordinary.
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I like her from her youtube videos and I've actually adopted some of her exercise routines. I agree that Martins seems to have been a big supporter of her career and now with him gone I'm not sure she established herself enough before she left (which was very young) to the extent that no one has been able to fill her spot for all this long.
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If the board does care about maintaining and invigorating Balanchine repertoire as they claim to, Boal and Lopez would be great candidates. Credentials as Balanchine dancers and artistic directors of companies that dance Balanchine excellently. No distractions or questionable episodes in their tenures.
I know Woeztel has an excellent track record as well and is very popular guy, with past and current dancers as well as with donors (important). His obligation to Julliard is obviously a hurdle if he is to move. I just don't know anything about his ambitions--if he considers leading NYCB the ultimate professional fulfillment or if he wants to go to bigger things outside the ballet world, using Julliard as a building step.
If we are talking about people in their 70s, Thomasson doesn't elicit much passion from me, just based on what I've seen of his coaching and choreographing. I'm curious what other people think of the quality of SFB's Balanchine repertoire. Rereading an old New Yorker profile of Suzanne Farrell lately, I thought, as Acocella seemed to suggest, Farrell would make a pretty excellent director, or ballet master at the very least. The way she coaches Balanchine ballets and teaches in class, as described in the article, leaves no doubt about her commitment to Balanchine and her intelligence in coaching dancers as unique individuals.
If we are considering younger candidates. I know Justin Peck is quite ambitious and bidded for Pennsylvania Ballet's directorship a few years ago. Maybe the board would be willing to take a leap and give the rein to him. But judging from that documentary Ballet 422, he really is not a good communicator with non-dancers and lacks fineness when it comes to social skills expected of a director. (A nerdy, talented dance-maker is how I see him.) Speaking about overall leadership style and innovative drive, I really think Millepied, from two documentaries on his short-lived tenure at POB, would make a great director. He might have ruffled a few feathers at POB but the decisions Dupont as the director has been making suggests to me that Millepied's vision and initiatives are actually being carried out and carried on.
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Will Marcelo dance in tomorrow's performance as well? (And is that one sold out too?)
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1 hour ago, dirac said:
I can't recall where now, but I remember reading an item about people somewhere freaking out over use of the term "masterly."
I tend to think "ballet master" is a considerably less grandiose title than "artistic director." Even "Ballet Master in Chief" suggests someone who is first among equals.
I thought that too when I read the "grandiose" description in the article. It's slightly archaic but more humble and less corporate-sounding.
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From Wikipedia:
QuoteEspecially during the early centuries of ballet troupes and ballet companies from the 18th century until the early 20th century, the position of First Ballet master, referred to traditionally as the Premier Maître de ballet en Chef or more simply as the Maître de ballet, was the undisputed head of the company who acted as chief choreographer and Artistic Director.
I hope they listened to a wide enough range of voices and take the "wish list" seriously.
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43 minutes ago, miliosr said:
The top ranks of the Paris Opera Ballet would be a very fruitful avenue of exploration for ABT considering how "contemporary" so much of the repertory is at the Opera. Francois Alu, in particular, might light up the Met with his big, boisterous style. Now might be the time to sound him out as he is far from being on the best of terms with the POB's management. (I would also add Hugo Marchand's name to the list.)
My wild card pick: Zach Catazaro. Whatever one might think of the Peter Martins productions of the classics, Catazaro has danced them so the parallel ABT productions wouldn't be completely alien. He also cared enough about them to seek out Marcelo Gomes' help with Swan Lake. Finally, he's expressed an interest in dancing Manon and Mayerling, which indicates he might work in all the other "bodice rippers" ABT performs.
Alu seems like a good potential candidate. I've never seen him dance live but his personality and style as shown on social media suggest he might be a fit. Interesting to hear that he's not on best terms with POB's management. Does Dupont not like him?
Someone here mentioned Finlay before and I thought he would be a better fit for those princely roles than his good buddy Catazaro. Looking at them side by side Finlay's superior carriage and stage presence is more than evident. Though he's prone to injuries and might not want to grind his body more.
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2 hours ago, bingham said:
Paris Opera Etoiles, Matthew Ganio and Matthias Heyman should be considered as possible guest for the Met season.Matthias was a guest before and M Ganio partnered Isabella Boylston when she guested in DQ. Soloist Paul Marque and Francois Alu are also very good dancers. Just a thought.
I seem to remember that the POB season lasts well into June which overlaps with ABT's Met season.
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1 hour ago, nysusan said:
I would LOVE to see Sarafanov or Shklyarov guest with ABT but based on their family situations I don't think either of them are likely. Maybe as 1 offs here or there but not even for a full Met season.
My number 1 pick would be Friedmann Vogel - tall and an absolutely gorgeous dancer!I was just thinking about Vogel. North American audiences see this gorgeous danseur noble too little!
Shklyarov would be a great guest for ABT. Both New York companies are kind of lacking in exciting male talent in the principal ranks lately.
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ENB's Giselle would be the most interesting thing for me in this lineup.
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I remember seeing the clips Cirio posted on Instagram and found them intriguing. I definitely would love to see this in cinemas but the ENB, unlike the RB, doesn't to cinema broadcast in the US it seems.
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To call it "disgusting" is certainly a modern-day American reaction. I would say the make-up choice is somewhat debatable.
I mean, it's not just about the history of racism or slavery, it's more about how "black-face" make-up was used in American performance culture in the past, isn't it?
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4 hours ago, sidwich said:
As I said before, Carousel is very hard to do well, and the subject is problematic, especially to modern audiences. But even in its original run, it only did about half the run of the other "big" R&H musicals.
More generally, musicals are expensive to run, and it's hard to make profit on Broadway. A big reason why "Chicago's" been able to run so long is that it's orchestrated for a handful of musicians, and sets and costumes are so minimal. (Also, the Weisslers are notoriously cheap, but that's a whole other thing).
I took a quick peek at the Broadway grosses, and Carousel's only running at a little over 40% of potential gross and trending down. It makes total sense that they close after summer tourist season, and get the show on the road in a tour as quickly as possible to try to recoup their losses on tour. I'm sure they want to open the house to another show that has potential to do better. (40%? Yeesh!)
Wow did not expect that, with a (to me and people around here) stellar cast and quite some publicity, Tony awards and all.
But yes I echo other's sentiment re. Ramasar's return. NYCB principal men's rank is very depleted at the moment.
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On 8/3/2018 at 9:05 PM, Quiggin said:
Well put, Drew. It's an absolute conflict of interest. I thought of Clement Greenberg, the Nation art critic, who got in trouble for changing the colors on David Smith's sculptures – and other interventions.
Also I'm of the opinion that Apollo is simply about the steps and 1920's acrobatics, not about the sets of myths that has encrusted the ballet over the years. "Twelve gods, eternity, transcendence" is for a Sunday school lesson, not for a witty ballet.
That's a very interesting take. I'm tempted to view it that way. But it's also been said that Balanchine would tell stories and give specific suggestions for what to think when rehearsing Apollo, unlike most other ballets of his.
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On 8/1/2018 at 4:34 PM, nanushka said:
I have to say I completely agree with his criticisms of Xander’s hand placement (is he stopping traffic? wholly lacking in poetry) and the muse’s hand on her knee. It sounds like he and Xander have a relationship and that the latter is genuinely grateful (not just being polite and brushing him off).
As often before, though, I’m struck by how AM views his role as a critic to be one of a directly intervening advice-giver to dancers — not at all the only (or predominating?) way of viewing the enterprise.
I mean, I would probably have commented on that hand too. It's just so jarring. I initially thought it was a random, casual rehearsal moment caught on camera but then the way Parish posted it and the way he responded to Macaulay made it seem like he really didn't notice the "problem"? The whole thing is a little confusing.
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On 7/19/2018 at 4:00 PM, FPF said:
I also saw the Tuesday night performance.
FYI: tickets to pre-performance talks are free this year although registration is required (but several people without tickets were able to get in on Tuesday). Deborah Jowitt spoke. For me, the most interesting thing was her discussion of the 4Ts and how the elements corresponding to each humor relate to the quality of movement in the choreography (e.g., fiery for Choleric, watery for Phlegmatic).
I thought that Square Dance was just OK. Erica Pereira danced well but didn't project strongly (I prefer to sit in the balcony). Taylor Stanley was good.
In 4Ts, Sara Mearns and Jared Angle looked a bit off to me--as though there might have been some sort of misstep toward the beginning of Sanguinic, soon after they've met and are moving together. I agree with Griffie that Megan LeCrone's Choleric was a highlight.
There were a lot of cast changes in Symphony in C. If I have it correctly, first movement was Ashley Bouder and Joseph Gordon, Second Movement was Teresa Reichlen and Russell Janzen, Third was Indiana Woodward and Sebastian Villarini-Velez, and Fourth (I think this was the only movement with the listed principals) was Lauren King and Andrew Scordato. All were excellent. I'm not sure if I've seen Villarini-Velez in a principal role before, but he made a fantastic impression here, with excellent ballon. I am still not crazy about the floppy newer costumes-- when Reichlen did the deep penche, her tutu completely inverted. I don't think I'd ever seen that with the Karinska tutus.
I've always liked LeCrone's Choleric. There's a mix of angularity and a hint of seductiveness. Although she doesn't seem to be a loved dancer among some of the long-time City Ballet goers I've talked to.
I'm so happy to hear that S. V-V was given another principal role after Melancholic in 4T. I've long deemed him my favorite corps dancer, smooth, fluid movement and light-hearted musicality. I hope to see him dance more senior roles soon!
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On 7/6/2018 at 11:36 AM, abatt said:
Yes, I was also struck by Macaulay's remarks about Hallberg, especially since Macaulay has been such a Hallberg cheerleader over the years.
I remember talking to him last fall after the ABT two-week season in which Hallberg danced Other Dances, and he remarked then that he felt Hallberg had danced it with a "look at how elegant and beautiful a dancer I am" air, which felt in line with what he wrote in this summary piece(that Hallberg didn't inhabit the roles/choreography etc.).
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On 7/1/2018 at 8:25 AM, Birdsall said:
And concerning “due process”: My gut feeling is that Webb threw that comment out to mean he’s not judge and jury. He’s not going to “not hire” someone simply due to unsubstantiated issues. I think all he probably meant was that he’s not going to assume Gomes is in the wrong without hardcore evidence.
And apparently everyone is hushing. The resignation at ABT ended the issue in the news. We may never know what exactly happened, but I personally can’t imagine ever resigning from a job if I were innocent. I would let them fire me and then sue, but each person is different. I do like Gomes as a dancer.
I assumed too that's what Webb meant to convey. He probably didn't mean to imply that ABT didn't follow due process. Just that from a hiring point of view he would not refuse to hire someone because of an unsubstantiated piece of news.
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4 hours ago, abatt said:
I received an email from NYCB with the program info for the DeLuz farewell. The program is:
Theme and Variations
Concerto Barocco
A Suite of Dances
Todo Buenos Aires"Joaquin is scheduled to appear in Theme and Variations, A Suite of Dances, and Todo Buenos Aires."
Wow heavy duty. I have no knowledge of Todo Buenos Aires. Is it Balanchine? And, is this program in October?
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On 2/27/2017 at 11:06 PM, abatt said:
Hi cobweb. I agree with you about Troy. He's been in the corps for over a decade, and I'm having trouble remembering a single role he performed. My take on the Schumacher promotion is that Martins tends to promote in-house choreographers to the soloist level regardless of whether their dancing skills merit the promotion. Martins did the same for J. Peck and Wheeldon, neither of whom were distinguished dancers. Leigh Witchel a few months ago aptly referred to NYCB as a sausage factory with respect to new choreography. They just keep churning out the product (new ballets) and Troy seems to be one of the new sausage makers. His two works for NYCB were generally well received in the NY Times. Every year Martins seems intent on presenting a large number of new works, and the big three (Wheeldon, Peck and Ratmansky) have so many other gigs going that they are not readily available to NYCB every season. I think Martins may envision more ballets to be created by Troy in future seasons, and promoting him to soloist gives him more credibility.
I agree with this view. I thought this was the case with J Peck when he was promoted, because his dancing certainly didn't improve (and imo has deteriorated since his promotion). Soloists dance less than Corps members so I thought it logical that they want to give him more time to choreograph. Schumacher's choreography seems to be well liked, so the same reasoning for promotion may apply, but interestingly he is not being commissioned a new work for the 18-19 season, and he choreographs much less than Peck anyway.
Job posting for artistic director
in New York City Ballet
Posted
Yes I've noticed that as well. It's in almost all of his posts. I think many people choose to indulge him a little bit on that given his relationship with the company and the materials he's been posting.