puppytreats

I've never understood why people say they are surprised that dance is hard work. Getting up out of my chair requires effort. Running down the block requires stamina, strength, and energy. Ballet dancers make movement look beautiful, sometimes airy, and often meaningful, but do not convey a lack of physical and other types of preparation.

Please don't overlook several outstanding men -- Gomes and Hallberg are my favorites. Great artists, technicians, and partners. But Cornejo and Bolles are also quite wonderful.

Sir Bolle, now, California.

I watched this on Monday before the power went out at home due to the hurricane (it is still out, but I am elsewhere), and Jerome Tisserand's performance merits special praise. His dancing was beautiful. I am curious as to how he is received by audiences at home.

Helene, I saw the dance skating team on tv today. Why do lifts seem so much more smooth on ice than on the ballet stage?

Ballet theatre

Sorry for the stupid question, but how does a tour a la seconde differ from a fouette?

Also, a lot of reviews discuss the collapse of Herman/Matthew at the end of No. 9, after his tours. I remember the collapse of the main couple, followed by Marcelo's finger in the air, and the collapse of the corps, but not the final collapse of Herman, when everyone is on stage. Can someone describe the ending?

The music is more dangerous to one's health than steam, haze, or smoke. It gave me such a headache.

Gomez/Cornejo/Salstein and Bolle/Matthews/Radetsky are performing the new Ratmansky in the Fall, so, maybe they will in the Spring season.

Mr. puppytreats highly approved of Gemma Bond, in "Leaves", of course. And Hee Seo.

He was surprised by the range of bodies sizes displayed, as well.

Didn't Ratmansky say on Works and Process that Bejart had a big following when he was still in Russia?

Did Farrell's relationship with Bejart while in exile from Balanchine have any impact on Bejart's acceptance in the US?

Did anyone see this in Paris? I am thinking of leaving ABT's performance at City Center early, to catch the second half of this in NYC.

Sometimes I think Giselle is a willi and she can fly, as can the sylphs.

Friday's performance by the New York City Ballet of "Apollo", "Orpheus", and "Agon" represented an eagerly awaited lesson in IIIs and IVs. Peter Martins merits praise for putting these three ballets together on the same bill. They informed each other.

I have seen many different representations of the Orfeus myth, including the Paris Opera Ballet's version of Pina Bausch's "Orfeus", the Australian Opera's DVD version of Gluck's "Orfeo", Balanchine's "Chaconne", and, on Friday, Balanchine's "Orfeus". I did not notice any reference to Paradise or Elysian Fields in the Friday performance. I admit to experiencing some distractions. Did I miss it, or did the black hut represent this plane? Did Eurydice emerge from the black hut? Could Orpheus possibly have reunited Eurydice in the Underworld in this version?

In "101 Stories", Balanchine writes that Apollo tried to, but could not, retrieve the music or the lyre (I forget which). In the end, the lyre ascends by a prop that appears to be a rope/fish symbol/ broken figure 8/loop/near infinity image. Does that indicate the lyre was trapped and inaccessible? In the absence of Balanchine's explanation, I would have interpreted the image as perhaps hopeful. Usually a raising, elevation, ascension, or eternity indicates a form of salvation, not a failure. However, in light of Balanchine's writing, one must presume that the promise of retrieval or rebirth does not offer the benefits desired. Perhaps a souless, empty lyre, without Orpheus or Eurydice, offers little solace. The conductor explained the passage of music as similar to running in place, which I did not observe, but which would lend support to the conclusion contained in Balanchine's writing. However, this would appear to offer a negative commentary on Apollo's apparent triumph, in the previous ballet (which could be viewed as Act I in Friday's program), of his (a) birth/rebirth, (b) ascension, and © having conquered (i) his powers; (ii) his muses; (iii) his gifts; (iv) other levels or planes; and/or (v) time (?).

The following deserve special praise:

1. Ana Sophia Scheller, for her clean, beautiful performance as Calliope in "Apollo";

2. Amar Ramasar, for his beautiful lines, lyricism, and moving performance as the Dark Angel in "Orpheus";

3. Wendy Whelan, for being the incomparable Wendy Whelan, always on a different level, again on Friday as Eurydice in "Orpheus";

4. Megan LeCrone, for her self-reflective, thoughtful approach in "Agon"; and

5. Maria Kowroski, for her particular strength, athletic skill, ability to create dramatic tension, and near-flawless execution in the pdd in "Agon.

I wanted to see this program since it was first announced, and I waited until the last minute to buy tickets. Luckily, I obtained a $31.00 seat in the Fourth Ring. The same approach failed me with respect to the opera at BAM today, and so far, with respect to the upcoming ABT and Ratmatsky workshop at the Guggenheim. How early does one need to get on line to obtain canceled tickets to Works and Process generally?

Lastly, are Apollo's feet supposed to be sloppy, to convey his developing of mastery over his body, or do some dancers perform the steps in a neat fashion?

I threw away my coupon code. Does anyone have a code to use for a discount?

"vulnerability, playfulness, rebellion; characteristics repressed daily by the requirements of her trade."

Those characteristics didn't seem terribly repressed when MK danced in Giselle, Emeralds and Rubies.

vulnerability - any of the dying or tragic heroes -Swan Queen, Giselle, R&J, Tatiana, Marguerite...

playfulness - Sylphide, Giselle before madness, Manon ...

rebelliousness - Rubies, R&J, Siegfried ...

Being lean is desirable, but, even beyond the question of capability to parter appropriately, is a skinny male aesthetically pleasing to most? I can't imagine selecting against someone like Roberto Bolle for aesthetic reasons.

Skinny males are certainly not aesthetically pleasing, and I think most would agree that neither are skinny females. Back in 1989 I went to visit my friend in New York to see the Kirov Sleeping Beauty. During the long curtain calls for Galina Mezentseva, two woman behind me said that they do not like looking at anorexic ballerinas. At that time, the only other Kirov ballerina who enters my mind as being comparably skinny to Mezentseva, was Elena Evteyeva. Now changes in body types would make Mezentseva's skinny appearance be about average, although she had a big bone structure. You could go through every ranking level at Mariinsky today and see many girls even skinnier than Mezentseva. Lopatkina has maybe the most similar body type with her large bone structure and Lopatkina is probably skinnier. If you see these ballerinas backstage at all levels from corps to principals it is shocking - their dresses literally hang off their bodies like there is nothing there. I think most ballet fans around the world do not like looking at anorexic looking ballerinas. However, people at Vaganova and Mariinsky and also some ballet critics and fans in SPB, will look at what the general public would call a skinny ballerina, and call her fat.

Regarding women, I think maybe a generational issue may exist, in addition to the generally existing diversity of opinion. I certainly do not enjoy the aesthetics of larger, more fleshy or even more large boned female dancers. Occassionally, but very rarely, I will find a female dancer too thin and experience distaste. (I am thinking in particular of one NYCB female dancer from the Balanchine 2-part studio tape, who danced 4 Ts, I believe. [The series had Chaconne, Tsigane, 4Ts, Emeralds and Diamonds, and some others.] She had a body that reminded me of Laraine Newman.) I look at the shape and physique of Svetlana Zakharova as an inspiration.

Being lean is desirable, but, even beyond the question of capability to parter appropriately, is a skinny male aesthetically pleasing to most? I can't imagine selecting against someone like Roberto Bolle for aesthetic reasons.

Personally, I don't agree with teaching in that way. I think if you hold a strong position publicly you should attempt to be beyond reproach.

No human being is "beyond reproach".

In "Where Snowflakes Dance and Swear," Carla Korbes described how when she was at NYCB, Peter Martins would tell her she needed to lose weight, she would, he would reward her with roles, and she would become weak and get injured, a vicious cycle that lasted until she moved to Seattle to join PNB. (Not that she's been injury-free since she's been here, but she looks gorgeous.)

At the end of Wiseman's "La Danse," Brigitte Lefebvre is giving a career review to a young corps member who looks like she'd snap from blowing out a birthday candle, and that dancer happily tells her boss how she's lost weight as she was told, much to Mme. Lefebvre's satisfaction. My stomach did a 360 at that one.

I rather watch "barrels" and "tanks" dance.

Gosh, I don't recall her saying "as she was told," although I recall that she received praise.

But not CC :<

Also, selection for taller and skinnier females means selection for tall, cavalier-type male dancers,

How successful are they in achieving this? I often read complaints about a lack of adequate partners. Therefore, one can question the benefits of selection.

The image from Bart's link to the Danza Ballet's Phèdre / Psyché entry: Tamara Toumanova et Serge Lifar à la création / photo Lipnitzki

What does the grafitti say?

What does Esmerelda write on the wall with chalk in the Bolshoi version?

Farrell's book contains sparse details about her personal relationships, I thought. She was a frustrating narrator, in that regard.

I remember pages and pages about the dance she and Balanchine did, his courting through her mother and "poor Eddie Bigelow," her decision to marry Mejia, Balanchine's reaction, etc. She might have been frustrating in what she chose to disclose and her point of view, and she didn't give details about her later relationship with Mejia, but a big chunk of the book before she left the company was about relationships. (Emphasis added by puppytreats)

Yes, she told us that had omelettes with and brought danish to Mr. B., but she really did not discuss her feelings as events occurred or in retrospect, except to express some anxiety about the pressure.

Suzanne Farrell's autobiography (with Toni Bentley), Holding On to the Air, is quite informative as well, though it does contain an awful lot of family and love relationship angst, which isn't my cup of tea. But I loved to hear details of the various ballets in her repertoire. I didn't realize that Farrell and Jacques d'Amboise had worked together so much and that they were good friends (at least as good as Farrell generally had). It made me realize that the Jacques d'Amboise DVD is quite incomplete without ANY dances with Farrell shown. It's hard for me to believe that they were never filmed when dancing together.

Farrell's book contains sparse details about her personal relationships, I thought. She was a frustrating narrator, in that regard. She also did not fully describe her artistic or philosophical beliefs, other than to express conclusorily her belief in Balanchine. She declared him infallible, even after he apologized to her for what he expressed that he came to believe was his mistake that caused her enormous pain (unless he apologized to let her feel better or make peace, but I did not get that impression). I respect her privacy, as well as her decision regarding what she chose write about and what she chose to keep to herself, but I found her to be a somewhat unreliable narrator based on this statement, or a person lacking in self-awareness.

I enjoyed the description of her history and ballets, however. I learned a great deal about the company, its dances, and its dancers from her book, as well as about Beijart and his company

Toni Bentley's first memoir describes the dancers as brushes and paint in an artwork. This gave me a greater understanding of a dancer as artist.

Farrell seemed to me to express a more spiritual and physical side of dance, which I really appreciated. She did not really ascribe words to dance, which may be appropriate for a wordless art, but left me wanting to know more, and feeling unfulfilled. I did, however, really admire her from what I learned in her book.

Thanks, all, for these clips and comments. The fuzziness of the video is more than made up by the great clarity and detailing of the dancing.

I made a quick comparison with the Kistler/Zelensky performance in the 1993 Balanchine Celebration tape. I have always liked that, but Kirkland/Baryshnikov, dancing the same steps, show us ... more.

The Kistler/Zelensky performance was exquisite and truly beautiful. Kistler had so much control, more than in other ballets I have seen her in. Her body looked suited for this ballet. Zelensky partnered her with such elegance and matched her in beauty.

Does anyone have recommendations for viewing additional work by Zelensky?