puppytreats

Looking at theof NYCB, there are other interesting things to see besides Swan Lake. For a newbie "leaning in" to Ballet, these might be the most fun to see. Not sure if you're ready for the modern / astringent stuff, so I'm sticking with the accessible programs:

October 5: 3 short stories: La Sonnambula, Prodigal Son, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

January 22, 23 25, 28, 30, February 2, May 23, 24, 25: Jewels

January 24, February 1, 6, 9: Dances at a Gathering, Union Jack

February 14, 15, 16,17, 22, 23: Coppelia

May 6, 7, 10, 11, 12: Raymonda, Tin Soldier, Le Tombeau, Symphony in C

May 14, 15, 17, 20: Davidsbündlertänze”, Union Jack

June 3,4,5,6,7,8: Midsummer Night's Dream (the 2nd act is a bunch of divertissements without any storyline, but the ppd is worth it)

I wouldn't send a newbie to Davidsbundlertanze. I love it, but many people find it tedious. I would send a newbie to a Black & White program (or a program that contained at least one B&W ballet) because I think that it is essential viewing to have an understanding of Balanchine's neoclassical ballets.

Is the Raymonda in the mixed bill an abstraction/distillation or a pdd?

I'm not sure I would send a newbie to a B&W evening during their first year - maybe wait for the 2nd year. I think the choices on the menu are a little too astringent for a rookie. I'd stick with the more accessible programs to start out. The first time I saw a B&W Balanchine ballet my eyes glazed over from boredom. I would start out a newbie Symphony-goer with Mozart and Gershwin - not Glass or Shostakovich. Those can come later.

I think the astringent (great word for it) stuff has more immediate appeal to a lot of young listeners and viewers than "stuffy old" classical music and tutus do. They'd have to work back to those.

Yes. I don't think young newbies would necessarily be interested in Gershwin.

Which version was performed last year?

I don't find it surprising that the dancers didn't know about Balanchine, since perestroika and glasnost were only several years before her visit, and there was no YouTube or legitimate outlet in Russia for the Dance in America tapes at that time, but Russell understood the importance of teaching them and used the rehearsal time to explain, which must have taken a lot of patience since it had to be translated. I doubt this would be the emphasis of stagers who had never or barely worked in the studio with Balanchine.

In "Bringing Balanchine Back", I believe, the dancers discuss the absence of the pictures on the wall of various leaders in the field who left for the West, and a failure to study them. I think this was fictionalized in Misha's movie "White Knights", too.

Boal quotes Balanchine: "He said, My ballets are like butterflies - beautiful today, and one day they'll be gone,' and then adds on her own 'But I hope he's wrong. Not on my watch." Are the stagers doing him a favor in preserving his legacy or going against what he believed ballet should be - a work of the present?

Does Mr. B say he does not want them to be preserved, or that he accepts that they are of the present and maybe could not be preserved? Does he say he believes they "should be" a work of the present, or lament their passing?

Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s staging and choreography pare back the traditional elaborations to restore psychological directness to the relationships.

???

We have seen ballets in which dancers dance different variations of the same story, ballets in which choreographers offer different interpretations of the same story, and stories in which artists present different interpretations in different media, such as books and poems made into movies, plays, and ballets with different endings. Has anyone created a ballet in which Raymonda makes a different choice, and how is the White Lady treated in this regard?

They have different (opposing?) starting points, but do they reach the same point?

Does it matter?

I was wondering what to do when NYCB and ABT Spring seasons ended. You have reminded me to go to the NYPL. (I have been spoiled by some local library tapes and YT.)

Did anyone see the Ashton broadcast in Europe yesterday?

How is one characterized as "biting the hand that feeds him" if he has already been fired and is not being fed by that hand?

Maybe he was not gracious or burned bridges or was rude to the inhabitants or judgmental about the inhabitants or the board, or even truthful (I do not know), but I have not heard that expression used in connection with someone who has terminated a relationship, or has been exiled, fired, or punished by the person who fed him.

1. A star baseball play only gets a hit 3/10 times, in general. Must every dance be a grand slam?

We don’t judge baseball players by the standards of ballet dancers, or ballet dancers by the standards of baseball players. Three out of ten hits is a great average (I guess). But some dancers deliver great performances most of the time, and are capable of great performances in everything they dance. Those are the ones we refer to as ballerinas and judge the others by.

2. In what parts of their rep do Wendy, Ashley and the other NYCB part-timer's not excel, then?

What they do or don’t excel in doesn’t bear on what the standard is, which is why I wrote “Leaving aside the question of the accuracy of his judgments of the dancers he mentions”

Yes, I was just trying to get an idea of why he thought they did not excel or when....

"I think Macaulay is clear when he writes of certain dancers that they are "extraordinary artists in only parts of their repertory" (emphasis mine). The operative word in this regard is "their." He's not saying that to be a ballerina a dancer must excel across the ballet repertory. He's saying that they must excel in their own repertory. Leaving aside the question of the accuracy of his judgments of the dancers he mentions, I think his standard is fair and sensible: an excellent dancer is excellent in every ballet he or she dances. "

1. A star baseball play only gets a hit 3/10 times, in general. Must every dance be a grand slam?

2. In what parts of their rep do Wendy, Ashley and the other NYCB part-timer's not excel, then?

So can one speculate or infer that Wendy is Ballerina in Robbins but not in Wheeldon, but Muse in Wheeldon, according to AC?

Another twist: NYCB does not have stars, such as at ABT, but has Muses, so does NYCB have Ballerinas, which many define here as Stars?

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Can anyone recommend any tapes or dvds of "Rite"?

What could be meant by the phrase, "part-time" ballerina, especially in connection with NYCB dancers? Does the author suggest it means someone who only has star power at times? Or does it mean one who dances in classical ballerina-type roles only at times? Or does it mean one who shares a job with others?

A ballerina could have good and off days, but is still a ballerina. For example, Veronika Part is not a part-time ballerina, even if she has trouble with pirouettes. Ashley Bouder does not lose her stars every time she falls.

Articles like this provoke for certain purposes, such as to advance an agenda or stir controversy, or even to fill space, but they also diminish credibility and can be self-defeating. The loss of credibility, in turn, hurts the goals that the writer seeks to advance. Seemingly, the author seeks to promote someone, but believes he must do so at the expense of another, which is untrue and unnecessary. Often, statements have no relationship to the truth. Any observer of the same scene can readily discredit the reporter. Many comparisons exist without validity, solely as devices to promote an alternative. For example, one does not have to criticize Ashley Bouder to praise Tiler Peck. Sometimes mean and untruthful things are said, suggesting even maliciousness, pettiness, or vendettas (or a bad mood and the absence of an editor).

The New York Times critic is not the only one guilty of this. For example, a recent article summarizing the ABT season described Roberto Bolle as appearling solely like a circus strongman carrying a ballerina from one point to another. I believe Roberto Bolle can communicate more than many of the acrobats spinning and jumping who do nothing to advance a plot or convey emotion, such as the nuanced movement of his pinky in "Onegin", the careful shift of his gaze in "Sylvia" or "Romeo", the revelation of his inner warmth through the appearance of a soft smile in "Romeo", or the pained lift of his leg into arabesque in "Manon", But, for some reason, the writer of that article believed that to promote David Hallberg or Marcello Gomez (or other personal favorites), he had to disregard these qualities in Mr. Bolle and criticize him instead, which was unnecessary. One may, of course, criticize anyone for a valid purpose, but the criticism lacked necessity or validity in this context. Can't one like X without shooting down Y?

The topic in the New York Times itself seems odd. Many complain about "home grown" artists not receiving adequate opportunities, roles, or promotions, such as at ABT, but the "home grown" artists often are not American or from the United States. One may hope for opportunities to see a local company favorite, but the local, long-term dancers often do not come from America.

How is the discussion about Alonso/Cubans v. MCB any different from efforts to combine or keep separate and maintain different styles in ABT and NYCB? I am not familiar with the Florida companies.

So it is like Maria, Masha, and Clara in "Nutcracker"?

Are Blue Bird's feet supposed to flex and not point during the beats, like the jesters' in Act II of "Sylvia"? Or did the dancer that I saw just have floppy, unpointed feet?

You suggestion to watch the clip should contain a warning. I finally watched it, listened to Edward complain about his leg cramps, thought about Gelsey's second book, and proceeded to roll around in pain trying to work off sudden onset leg and foot cramps. Ouch.

Is the story different when it uses Prince Florimund as opposed to Prince Desire, or are they supposed to be the same character?

I agree with and will not repeat the above comments about Veronica Part. I add that watching her, I kept thinking, "So this is what a Ballerina is." She has the ability to enchant and mesmerize. Her main skill is performing adagio, where she uses every part of her body to draw the viewer inside of the music, even when the playing of the music disappoints, as it did last night. This effect reminds me of a mobius form or the St. Louis arch. No one uses arms, hands, back, shoulders, head, legs, and feet to such effect at ABT. I don't really care that she tilts during her pirouettes, or makes one hold her breath until the spins finish. Every lift of her leg or arm makes her deficits worth enduring.

I wonder whether the conductor added an extra bar of music to let Veronica finish her last balance in the Rose Adagio. Does anyone familiar with the music know?

Is Carabosse supposed to be an immortal or was she sleeping, too? What power did Lilac have against her? How was she vanquished?

Hee Seo's body does not seem to me to look like Ferri's or Kent's. Kent is very slight, willowy, and very thin. Ferri is also extremely thin and slight, but with a curvier line. Seo is broader, and more solid in physical appearance. If you are talking about dance style, that may be a different thing.

I would not prefer to give up a meaningful work of art (e.g., "workhorses") so more people get a chance to dance (e.g., like "across the plaza".) I don't think the emotional impact is the same.

" I believe that she was promoted (somewhat but not totally - she had proven herself in some roles) on body type. It is look that the AD favors. "

Whom does she look like?

I want to see Veronica Part on Sat., but I want to see Herman Cornejo on Fri. Mr. Puppytreats prefers that I go on Friday, but I think Veronica would be a beautiful Aurora, and Stella would be a wonderful fairy, and I have a front row ticket. Is the part for Prince Desire very small in ABT's production? If Herman has a small part, such as he did in "Corsaire", that could weigh in favor of seeing Veronica.

Is Paloma too tall for Herman?