California

I was at the final performance Sunday afternoon, with Shevchenko, who was wonderful, of course. I gather it was sold out days ago. I was going to look up some names on the digital programs on the KenCen site, but they're already gone. The main annoyance today: a one-woman Shevchenko fan club who applauded and screamed very loudly at everything Shevchenko did. When Shevchenko appeared from the wings with an armful of lilies and started handing them to Albrecht, Fan Club Lady started clapping and cheering, all by herself! Yikes. And on impressive sequences (like the hops on pointe and the rapid-fire changements in Act II), she started clapping and screaming at the beginning. She applauded virtually nothing else -- Albrecht, peasant, Hilarion, Wilis chug, you name it. Did she think Shevchenko needed the encouragement? Or was that to educate the rest of us to support her? She was seated in fourth row orchestra on the left. Ratmansky was actually over on the right this time, but he couldn't avoid noticing. Now I have to wonder what's next for these dancers. From instagram, it sounds like they're putting together a mixed bill, with one piece by Ratmansky. But it seems unlikely we'll see them again in North America. I found the national anthem, all those flags, and the applause and cheers from the audience very, very moving. I'm glad several of us got to see it.

Yes, the hops on pointe were a problem with both Gogidze Thursday night and Zhalovsky at the Friday matinee. Zhalovsky did just a few and then switched to a releve on her right leg to finish. She improved at the Saturday matinee and finished. Ratmansky has been in the audience at every performance (audience left about 6 rows back). He ducks out before the end and, from Instagram, it appears he's in the wings singing the anthem with the company. Presumably he doesn't need to be there for any more coaching after so many performances. Many corps men from Act I, now in street clothes, appear in the back with more flags to sing the anthem. The entire audience stands for this although we don't know the words and then breaks out into loud cheers and applause. It's very emotional every time I see this and I assume the company sees how much love and support they have in the US.

Finally, somebody wrote an actual review of the United Ukrainian Ballet at the Kennedy Center -- but it appeared today (according to Google alert), when the last performance is already sold out. If dance criticism is mostly gone from major papers like the Washington Post, there's not much hope for its future. https://mdtheatreguide.com/2023/02/dance-review-united-ukranian-ballet-presents-giselle-at-the-kennedy-center-opera-house/

Oh, I'm so sorry for all these complications! Saturday afternoon, two couples were seated very late in Act I again in the orchestra pretty far down. It's one thing if thing if they're on the aisle. But these have been people in the middle of the row, so people are standing up blocking people behind them. I assume ushers think they're being "nice" to seat people late, but still...

I have to admit I am glad at least some of the ushers are adhering to the "no late seating" rule, although you got caught in it! On Friday night, front orchestra, several couples were seated late in prime orchestra seats, crawling over several others. Maybe that's acceptable during the overture, but not well into the first act! And a very young child (2?) was seated on the lap of the woman in front of me, squirming and making noise. They left at intermission. Too bad they don't have a sound-proof room for crying babies, like you see at the Met Opera! And while I'm complaining, I talked to several of those "helpers" for the digital program. I was told KenCen is trying to save money by eliminating print programs and a lot of people are complaining. Selling ads didn't cover it? The digital things seem to work on iPhones, but I have an Android phone and it never works. How about a poster in the lobby with casting and we could take a picture of it instead. European theaters sell beautiful, glossy, full-color programs, but I guess American audiences can't be counted on to buy those after getting free ones all these years. One helper suggested opening a browser on my phone, going to the KenCen site and there are digital programs there. Yes, but pretty clumsy and small.

I was at opening night at the Kennedy Center of the United Ukrainian Ballet. (So were some other BalletAlerters and I'll be interested in their first impressions.) My biggest disappointment: the fact that there is nothing in the Washington Post (as of 9 am) about an important event, both artistically and politically. I thought they might at least have Sarah Kaufmann do some free lance writing, but apparently not. I hope I'm wrong! Christine Shevchenko was glorious. This Giselle is very spirited and fun and she captured that wonderfully. Her technique was quite impressive throughout. She will also do the final performance on Sunday. Oleksii Tiutiunnyk was a powerful Albrecht, with fabulous balloon in his jumps and numerous entrechats. He seemed genuinely in love with Giselle at the end of Act II. Sets and costumes are the ones they borrowed from Birmingham UK, which surprised me. I thought they'd borrow something from ABT or Pittsburgh. That bizarre three-story peasant "hut" with windows is just strange. Lots more mime than we are used to, but it was understandable. The ordering of things is rather different in many details from more familiar versions, but okay. I just love the Wiis Fugue - the choreography by Ratmansky is genius for consistency with the overall dance style and narrative. And watch for the moment when Giselle and Albrecht run through the crowd and he "flies" her across the entire front of the stage. I saw an interview with Hallberg long ago looking at that passage and he just gasped. I wondered if they'd include the contraption on the stage where Giselle is swallowed up by the earth and they did! Through most of Act II, all we saw was a little bit of rock formation poking out audience right, but as Giselle and Albrecht enjoyed their final dance moments on the opposite side of the stage, the rock started sliding forward onto the stage until the whole contraption was on stage. I guess the KC stage is a little too small to leave it out through Act II. Shevchenko and Tiutiunnyk ran out for bows carrying a Ukrainian flag with "Support Ukraine." Then Ratmansky came on with another flag. Then half a dozen more hoisted up by the corps and singing of the Ukrainian anthem. Very, very moving. Lots of press in the foyer but I didn't recognize famous people. Perhaps they slipped into the boxes when lights came down. I'm always puzzled at the red roses Albrecht brings to the grave (instead of lilies) and the red roses Shevchenko got during bows. Why not yellow roses for Ukraine? I do urge anybody in the vicinity to go see it. Performances through Sunday with three lead casts. This version casts wonderfully new light on more familiar versions. EDITED TO ADD: photo of the final bows when they all sang the Ukrainian national anthem. The audience stood, although almost nobody knew the anthem. https://www.instagram.com/p/CoKsXV3IsSL/

For lunch/brunch, I recommend Maison Danel: https://www.maisondanel.com/

Recently on this site, people noticed that the choreographer's name for some of Ratmansky's work had been omitted in Bolshoi performances. Looks like he is being obliterated for Giselle, too!

Is the Bolshoi using the Ratmansky reconstruction we saw in the movie theaters in January 2020? That's the version the United Ukrainian Ballet showed in London in September 2022 and presumably will show again at the Kennedy Center February 1-5. It's interesting to think through the rights to this and we don't know what was in Ratmansky's contract with Bolshoi for this. In the publicity for London, they said he was developing a special version for the Ukrainians, but to my untrained eye, it looked like the January 2020 reconstruction. Key give-aways: the inclusion of the Wilis Fugue, the expansive mime, the return of Bathilde at the end, the earth swallowing Giselle at the end.

I saw a few performances of ENB's Swan Lake at the London Coliseum this week. Iana Salenko: I had never seen her in the theater, but the many YouTube clips (often with Daniil Simkin) were impressive. I saw both of her performances this week. The main problem was the lack of convincing expression and the apparent lack of any chemistry at all with her partner, Francesco Gabriele Frola, a Lead Principal with ENB. She knocked out the fouettes better than anybody, though, with doubles and triples all through. I suppose I was expecting something superhuman in the overall performance and it wasn't there. Frola is a handsome Siegfried, but he is utterly expressionless and flat. Brooklyn Mack: Formerly with Washington Ballet and a guest a few years ago with ABT at the Met, he's a guest principal at ENB this year. In the one performance I saw, he knocked it out of the park -- very solid and impressive technique, a reliable and attentive partner. Natascha Mair: Mack's Odette/Odile, she was far more impressive than Salenko -- expressiveness, technique, just gorgeous. She travelled a lot on the fouettes, but her technique otherwise was compelling. A Principal at ENB. Precious Adams: This American, now a soloist at ENB, did the pas de trois in Act I and Spanish in III. Very nice. Ashton's Act IV: This production overall was by Derek Deane ("after Petipa') but they credit Ashton with Act IV. I couldn't figure out from program notes if the entire act was Ashton's or just parts of it. Very nice ensemble choreography for the swans that didn't seem familiar to me, so I'll credit Ashton. But the ending was a disappointment. Odette and then Siegfried disappeared up a low ramp and were gone. If you didn't already know, you couldn't be sure they jumped into a lake or just needed to get away somewhere. Nothing beats the high-flying swan dives at the end of ABT's version! Trivia from the Royal Opera House: I took the backstage tour and the guide revealed an interesting tidbit. The huge velvet curtain in the Opera House has "EII R" in big gold letters. The guide said they're not going to change them to CIII R and just leave the ER in tribute to a much-loved Queen. Well, that should help the budget!

Goldberg is 84 minutes. https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/the-goldberg-variations/ But Goldberg isn't performed alone. Don't they usually have one other ballet on the program? With a 7:30 curtain, we'll be out at 8:40. Will that seem like a full evening? This reminds me of the season fall 2021 when they did brief pauses, but no intermissions, apparently so people wouldn't congregate in the lobby areas or lines at the restrooms.

The National Endowment for the Arts announced new grants today, including 132 grants to dance organizations, totaling $2,605,000. The complete list: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/FY23-Round-One-Grant-Announcement-Discipline-List.pdf

The National Endowment for the Humanities just announced $28.1 million in grants, including several in dance scholarship. The complete list: https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/NEH January 2023 grants state by state list.pdf Grants of interest in dance: Kara Leaman Outright: $60,000 [NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication] Oberlin College Project Title: Analyzing the Connections Between Choreography and Music in Ballets by George Balanchine Project Description: Research and writing leading to a website analyzing the musicality of George Balanchine’s choreography. Anthea Kraut Outright: $60,000 [Awards for Faculty] University of California, Riverside Project Title: Hollywood Dance-ins and the Reproduction of Corporeality Project Description: Research and writing leading to a book about Hollywood film musicals of the 1940s to the 1960s and the “dance-in,” a dancer who rehearsed a star’s choreography prior to filming. Elisa Oh Outright: $40,000 [Awards for Faculty] Howard University Project Title: Choreographies of Race and Gender: Dance, Travel, and Ritual in Early Modern English Literature, 1558–1668 Project Description: Research and writing to complete a book analyzing race and gender hierarchies through representations of dance and movement in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature. Jennifer Graber Outright: $60,000 [Fellowships] University of Texas, Austin Project Title: A New History of the Ghost Dance Project Description: Research and writing leading to a book on the history and cultural influence of the Ghost Dance (1870s–1970s). Rebecca Rossen Outright: $60,000 [Fellowships] University of Texas, Austin Project Title: Moving Memories: Representations of the Holocaust in Contemporary Dance Project Description: Research and writing leading to a book about representations of the Holocaust in contemporary dance, from 1961 to the present, through consideration of works by Jewish and non-Jewish choreographers working in eight countries.

In the Ratmansky reconstruction, neither the brises nor the entrechats are used at that music. Ratmansky in interviews said familiar steps weren't in the original, so he didn't interpolate them. See 9:00

Patricia Barker has just announced her retirement as Artistic Director of the New Zealand Ballet. https://artsair.art/2023/01/09/royal-new-zealand-ballet-artistic-director-patricia-barker-announces-retirement-after-43-years-in-ballet/

For those who don't already know, Rahm Emanuel majored in dance at Sarah Lawrence College and turned down a scholarship at Joffrey Ballet. https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/john-kass/ct-rahm-emanuel-dancer-kass-0407-20170406-column.html

I was late to appreciating Whiteside. He really came into his own in Tharp's Deuce Coupe in 2019. https://www.abt.org/ballet/deuce-coupe/

Thanks again - very interesting. I prefer Baryshnikov's flying brises on the diagonal, but that wasn't in the original either. When I asked a (now retired) Russian principal at Colorado Ballet why he prefers the brises, he said he remains under Myrtha's spell heading straight towards her, while the entrechats would have him turn away from her so the audience could see the full effect. Makes sense to me dramatically.

This is fascinating. Thanks for posting. Is there any information about the historical sourcing for Fracci's version or who was involved in the staging? The choreography by Ratmansky for the Wilis' fugue is wonderful. He said in an interview that there is no record of what the original looked like, so it's Ratmansky's own. He also noted that the entrechat sequence was not in the original, so perhaps the Fracci version wasn't striving for historical accuracy. Ratmansky's choreography for the fugue starts at 3:50:

I was most intrigued by this in the article: Here is another hope: That City Ballet will replace his [Martins'] version of “Swan Lake” with Ratmansky’s. It glows, it’s urgent and its pathos and fantasy doesn’t feel so removed from the present moment.

Shevchenko did Giselle three times in London in September. Ratmansky was in the audience all week, so we might reasonably guess that he helped with coaching that week. Of the KenCen casting, the only one not in London is Zhavlova. I believe this troupe did this production in Paris in the fall, but I know nothing about that casting. Both Albrecht's were in London. They will be getting a real work-out in DC! Five performances in five days for Tutuniqe! London principals not on the KenCen casting: Katja Khaniukova, Alina Cojocaru, Alexander Trusch, Oleksii Kniazkov My favorite Giselle in London was actually Gogidze (somebody I'd never heard of before) so I'm glad to see her scheduled for three performances in DC. Both her technique and interpretation were more compelling (for me) than Shevchenko or Cojocaru. A small detail: several dancers have changed the spelling of their name for the Kennedy Center. Tiutiunnyk is now Tutuniqe. Olshanskyi is now Olshansky. I wonder how that got decided? (I remember some early news reports in 1974 that spelled Baryshnikov as "Barishnikov," but that quickly disappeared.)

Looking at the complete list of Ratmansky's work for ABT, I'm struck by how few returned as box office successes: https://www.abt.org/people/alexei-ratmansky/?type=archive The Golden Cockerel was a one-season wonder in 2016. It's been a long time since Sleeping Beauty debuted in 2015. The Tempest (Ugh!). I loved Symphony #9, but it hasn't returned either. His Nutcracker might be the most enduring long-term on that list.

As others noted when we wondered if ABT might acquire the Ratmansky reconstruction, it seems likely that Miami has exclusive North American rights for at least a few years! But it would be great if they brought it to the Kennedy Center or Lincoln Center someday! Is NYCB a Giselle kind of company? I saw Joseph Gordon do the second act PdD at Vail a few years ago, but I don't see the entire company doing it! I have to think NYCB is hoping for more new work, not reconstructions seen elsewhere.

An update on on-line ticketing for NYCB this spring: For the last several days, I have tried unsuccessfully to buy some tickets for the spring season. I was able to pick out seats, but when I went to pay, I got a message that I was being blocked for "suspicious activity." After this happened a few times, I exchanged email with CustomerCare email at NYCB. Apparently, after the cyber-attacks at the Met last month, Koch upgraded their security and they seem to have gone overboard. She reassured me that I would be cleared after a few hours. Nope! Calling the box office didn't work either -- very long wait times, then gobbledygook and I was cut off. This morning everything worked perfectly! All the seats I had picked on Monday were still available and I have to wonder if others were having the same problem. I hope the Met has everything fixed by March when ABT tickets go on sale for their Met season. As you know, ABT uses the Met site for ticketing. Here's the story on the Met problems, if you missed this: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/arts/music/met-opera-cyberattack.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/arts/music/met-opera-cyberattack.html As if the performing arts don't have enough problems right now! UPDATE: Seems they still have some strict security in place. When I tried to log into my Friends account just now, I was immediately blocked: "suspicious activity." So, apparently, logging into their site twice in the same day is suspicious?

An interesting new interview with Jaffe on YouTube focusing on programming decisions for the next few years.