puppytreats

....

PS: Nina's second swan died facing the "traditional direction".

Second? Nina must have been tired by the time she got to DC; no encore here.

To her credit, Nina ceded her Bizet Variations role to a younger dancer...and the new interpreter cut the matronly long sleeves that used to be on her costume. (Remember the long sleeves in Brooklyn-2008?) But Nina looked fantastic in her 'red snake' unitard and red pointes; let's give credit where credit is due!

Her encore was better than the first time.

Nina looked great, in terms of her body, but she looked like a woman toward the end of a career. It must have taken a lot of courage and sense of duty to dance next to younger women.

^{The NY audience was filled with Georgians and Russians. I went at the last minute, having seen "First Position" at a film festival in NY in the afternoon. I had no time to change my clothing, so I went in jeans, but the entire audience was all dressed up. I felt really out of place. It was quite different from the way New Yorkers and tourists dress at the State Theatre or the Met.}

^{Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center is not meant for ballet -- so many of the seats had obstructed views. Still, I was lucky to be there.}

^{I felt the first piece, "Charms", was rather vacant, even though it received good reviews. I disliked some of the repeated hand movements, and found two many open spaces in the choreography. The program improved as it proceeded.}

^{The audience was passionate and wild. I have not seen anything like this in my travels through ballet world.}

Prince Charming

see above

I have not yet watched this version. I have a general question about the story. The prince expresses his sadness and longing before the vision that Lilac provides. What is the basis for this? Does he have any other relationship to Aurora? Also, different versions have different names for the prince. What is the derivation of this?

I'm still confused about the correlation between the Dec 13 'live in cinema' Nutcracker and the Dec 14 'live from Lincoln Center' TV edition. Are we talking about the exact-same cast and performance, shown twice...or two separate & distinct performances?

Somebody above seems to think that the Dec 14th TV showing will be a tape of the previous night's cinemas showing. That concerns me because (a) it's not the 'live' performance that PBS has been promising TV viewers and (b) there's no guarantee that the TV public may see the entire ballet uncut and unedited, e.g., what's to keep the Balanchine Trust from judiciously snipping and re-editing portions so that TV viewers cannot tape the entire experience. Between the 13th & 14th, will dancers be able to re-film flubbed portions (although I would not expect the need for that with top-flight dancers)?

On the other hand...

If the Dec 13 performance will be only for the cinema public AND the Dec 14 performance, with a different cast, will be also TOTALLY LIVE and UNCUT/UNEDITED for the TV public, then it would be a WIN-WIN situation. However, I still find it amazing that, after so many years of NYCB not showing live uncut performances, they would allow the airing of TWO separate and distinct performances -- with, say, Bouder leading on the 13th and Reichlen on the 14th -- to be shown live via two different media. Miracles could come true. Let's see what transpires.

re. Watching Live in a Theater vs via media/YouTube, etc. - I agree with dirac that there's absolutely no substitute for being in the theater. For ex., I would never trade my recent experience of having been inside La Scala seeing the Raymonda live had I known ahead of time that it would soon be available on YouTube/TV. No matter how sharp the picture and well filmed, YouTube/TV/DVD do not convey the energy of the moment...sitting in that red-and-gold box...looking out into the auditorium...witnessing a 3-dimensional live spectacle...being in Milano! TV, cinemas, DVDs, YouTube do not come close to being in a grand theater, no matter how wonderful it is to be able to see the ballet without having to spend round-trip int'l airfare, hotel room, and 180 Euros-a-show ticket, not to mention planning the wardrobe, etc. I would not be worried about TV/DVDs/cinemas keeping people away from wanting to experience the same ballet in the grand theater...because going to the theater is so much more than just 'viewing' a show. It's great to have seen the Bolshoi Reopening 'live in cinemas' but, if I could have, I would have much prefered to have been there in person.

I can barely watch ballet on youtube. Even compared to a dvd of the same production, not even a live performance, the youtube excerpts are fuzzy and uncomfortable to watch.

So is anyone in NY going to do a triple play of NYCB (movie, pbs, and live performance), and then a comparison of ABT, NYTB, Eglevsky, and other local productions? I am still trying to decide what to do.

Peter Gelb of the Met Opera was recently asked about the issue of diluting the in house audience in an interview. He noted that ticket sales in house declined last year, but he intends to proceed with HD broadcasts of the operas. Personally, I don't think that the HD broadcasts of the opera are the reason for generally declining ticket sales at the Met. I think it has more to do with weak casts and poor productions. Tickets for operas with "A" list cast members still sell very well.

Yes, but didn't he say that he saw a net gain in revenues and a surplus from this?

Is this display still up at the library for viewing as an installation?

"Solid gold dancers" -- that encapsulates the image perfectly, and makes me feel old, too.

"Real women" -- maybe I watch too many tapes of Svetlana and the Vaganova classes?

First, I am really grateful for the gift of these ballets. I truly enjoyed watching them. My criticism below should be taken in the context of a positive overall review, and as a response to the above comments.

I felt the editing really distorted the understanding and viewing of the ballets. For example, one movement in "Square Dance" ends in a seated position, and the editing deleted the presentation of the transition to the next movement. The result was jarring and distracting, influencing the viewing of the remainder of the show. The early editing caused an immediate distrust that affected the viewing and enjoyment of the rest of the ballets. The poor editing disrupted the remainder of the show.

In "Square Dance", I admired the dancers, but believed that many looked like they were students (albeit, top level students). I don't know if that was intentional and part of the interpretation. However, it was not what I expected. Learning that RC was recently an apprentice, from the above postings, was an "aha" experience. I did not think the women looked like Balanchine ballerinas. I know the tv distorts heights and widths, but I came away with the feeling that MCB wanted to show tall, extremely thin men with thicker, short women. I really admire these women, but the pairing creating emphases and distortions, perhaps. I want to bake some cookies and send them to Renan. I also did not think the costumes fit some of the dancers. The choreography was very understandable, and the music was extremely attractive, making this a very complete ballet, for me.

Tharp's disproportionate popularity still makes no sense to me. Watching ABT perform a Tharp excerpt on "Works and Process" caused me not to buy City Center tickets. With the MCB performance, I felt like I was watching a pole dancing competition, or a stripper, or show girl. Admittedly, I am prejudiced because I do not enjoy Broadway musicals or other musical theater. I respect the different opinions of people with disparate interests and tastes, but this style of dance makes me think of watching workout videos and bad movies in the 70s and 80s. I do not come away feeling elevated or otherwise affected by any grace.

I saw NYCB perform "Western Symphony" a few weeks ago, and I preferred its performance to that of MCB. I felt the music was somehow off in the MCB performance. The sets made more sense at NYCB, too. The girl who performed the hat sequence was very appealing, as was RC.

RAI doesn't always release what it streams :< :< :<

The concert thing is interesting. I remember seeing Madonna around 2005, and there was still a policy about cameras, they'd check bags, etc. Of course some snuck in, but... A few years later, they had basically completely given up, I guess as they can't take away everyone's cell phone--and it's true the concerts all end up youtube now--I think most promoters have realized it, if anything, makes more people go to them. Most who watch the low quality clips end up buying the pro DVDs, or going to the tours anyway. (That said, thank God most people haven't taken to filming things with their phones in theatre-- and it still is mainly frowned upon--I find it distracting even in a pop concert situation). But that's a good point.

I have only used a camera inside the theatre during curtain calls. It is too distracting to use the camera during the performance. I have stopped using the camera during concerts for this reason. I would rather be in the moment.

Anyone would be grateful to have Natalia as an office manager. Her skills are unmatched.

Which should I see on Saturday: (a) New York Theatre Ballet (per an earlier posting by miliosr, repertory will include Richard Alston's "A Rugged Flourish", Antony Tudor's "Trio Con Brio" and Jose Limon's "The Moor's Pavane"), (b) Forsythe's "I don't believe in Outer Space" at BAM, or © Morphoses's "Bacchae" at the Joyce?

Of course, the dialogue balloons don't help at all.

I often watch a dance clip and wish that it was captioned, like foreign films or films for the hearing-impaired. Cabriolet, pique turn, fouette, ....

Cameras used to be prohibited in concert halls and stadiums. (Don't ask how I used to sneak cameras into stadiums to get pictures for my personal memories and pleasure). Now, video of every rock and pop concert appears in whole or part on the internet, and pictures abound. The shows are still packed. The audience has not disappeared.

Sandik, it's not so much 'June Taylor' or Busby Berkeley (directly overhead & stationary) as it is a camera that is 'floating' or skimming across the stage, sometimes weaving between dancers. One never knows where it's going to stop. I've seen this 'skycam' -- literally set up on thin wires strung up across a stage or an arena, tiny camera can zoom on the wires, every which way -- method employed at figure skating events. It's ridiculous above the ice and it's ridiculous here, too.

ITA with Cygnet that the Mariinsky (and NYCB and ABT) have missed the boat here due to 'closed door' policies & not jumping on the 'live ballet in cinemas' bandwagon. Very soon, if not already, the American public at large will be able to claim the Bolshoi or POB as their preferred 'home company' because of the accessibility via the cinema events AND their often-available DVDs. America knows and loves the POB and Bolshoi dancers probably more than those of NYCB and ABT...certainly more than NYCB. For cryin' out loud, there's even been more DVD releases with La Scala Ballet in the past 6 years than there's been of NYCB and ABT (and the Mariinsky?) combined. (OK, so NYCB has agreed to throw hoi poloi a bone in the form of that 'rarity' from the Balanchine oeuvre...Nutcracker! Wowee! That one has never been seen! How about Live on PBS/Cinemas performances of Symphony in C, Agon, Concerto Barocco, Dances at a Gathering, Goldberg, West Side Story Suite, etc?)

What,exactly, is the reason of NYCB and ABT not doing the live screening? Is it too expensive to do so?

Especially since they film so much of it and just stick it in the library :<

I watched the Bolshoi version of this ballet and was disappointed by the choreography, the male dancer, and, mostly, the music. I usually am brought to tears by Chopin. Does anyone have an opinion on this piece?

Because the only thing I would have been able to see if I would had decided to look for another way to downtown was the very end of the performance, "In the Upper room", and frankly, I wasn't gong to get into that much aggravation in Miami's crazy traffic-(which I suspect is not as civilized as NYC's)-for Miss Tharp.

I saw five minutes of this on Guggenheim's Works and Process, and really did not get it. No one has written about the ABT program. Did anyone see it? It only convinced me not to see the Fall series.

I wasn't gong to get into that much aggravation in Miami's crazy traffic-(which I suspect is not as civilized as NYC's)

So there really are different levels of hell?

On that note, has anyone made a ballet based on Dante?

Christian,

I've had a car accident on the way to ballet, impatiently waited for the cops to arrive and write a report, gotten back into traffic in mid-town Manhattan on a Friday night, and still made it for Act II. I thought you were a culture trooper. Why so down?

-PT

The $2.50 total spent on a round-trip DC-NY-DC Megabus ticket yesterday more than paid off:

Is this something new??? How long is the trip? Where do you catch it and where are you left off? Is it worth the time to see the Degas exhibit?

I truly saw the music when I watched this. I never thought I would really understand that phrase before. It was amazing.

....Marta Romagna (2nd cast in Milan) danced with exactly the same port de bras as Novikova,

How was she?

I've been waiting for your reviews, annamicro.

Does dropping a wrapper make one "bad" and holding a door make one "good"? I know white collar thieves who would steal your last dollar while you were starving and they were feasting, or sue you for decades merely for pleasure and vindictiveness, who always smile to your face and say "please" and hold the door open when you pass. Manners are welcomed and supported, and they permit smoother interactions in society, but having them does not lead to any conclusion regarding one's ethics, morals, or character. Con men are always charming and mannerly. Sometimes poor manners are called for, as well, as a manner of sending a message nonverbally.