Golden Idol

Thank you, California--lovely piece about Calvin Royal and, secondarily, Ethan.

Now, I'm going to repeat something I've posted on this site at least two or three times before. Kevin isn't going anywhere. Remember the performance a couple of years ago that celebrated his anniversary as AD? At that time, he was signed to another ten-year contract. Barring some kind of financial debacle that the board attributes to him, and he is compelled to leave, he's here for another eight years. Got that, everyone? Complain all you like, and I agree with most of you, but he isn't going anywhere.

Ethan, do you think you can wait eight years? I hope so.

Let me tell you all about something I did years ago when the Metropolitan Opera used to call me at my office. These were the days when we still had a receptionist, not voicemail, and he'd yell over to my desk, "John, the Metropolitan Opera is calling!" This alone got a laugh from the staff, but I topped it when I picked up the phone and quickly said, in my best diva's voice, "I'm sorry, but I cannot sing tonight!" Stopped the telemarketer dead in their tracks.

Try it with ABT. If you know it's them calling, just pick up the phone and instantly declare, in high dudgeon, "I'm sorry, but I cannot dance tonight!" And hang up. You'll feel so good.

Don't know about Misha; Bujones is credited in the clip on YouTube, but the images are so blurry, damned if you can actually identify anyone in it! Maybe it's unfair to judge from such a poor video, but to me Sarasota's performance was superior to ABT's in every way--certainly their (borrowed) production is much prettier.

Regarding Simkin: I had him on my mind yesterday at Fall for Dance. If ABT ever did Ashton's Les Patineurs--performed by the Sarasota Ballet, and it was TOTAL bliss--there's a role that's absolutely made for him, the blue boy whose variations include multiple jumps, cartwheels, lots of pirouettes. Of course, the part would also be perfect for City Ballet's Danny Ulbrecht and Antonio Carmena, but Simkin might even outdo them. Did anyone else see this?

You're not kidding, Abatt. I have never seen the like of Misty's claque. Whenever she is performing, there are big groups of black girls and women cheering and whooping and yelling for her, and they gather together at intermissions all atwitter about their heroine/role model/spokesperson. One wonders if they even know what they're watching onstage, just as long as it's... HER. Very strange.

I saw a program by Intermezzo at the 92nd St Y about a year ago. Have they done anything since? (On a side note, I must admit that during that evening at the Y, it was fun to see a number of ABT dancers in the audience in mufti, so to speak. I even ran into one of them in the bathroom. No, nothing scandalous! And if you kept your ears open at intermission, you could hear some interesting gossip.)

Although the physical production of On the Town (seen Friday last) is ugly--glaring, clashing colors and crude video projections, and my friend (who knows about these things) said the costumes were poorly constructed and didn't fit properly--it's a very entertaining show, though the scenes often play like quasi-burlesque skits. First time for me, too, hearing Megan's voice, and I don't know if she really sounds like that in person, but she projected a charming kewpie-doll voice to match her kewpie-doll face. I don't think there are any star-making performances in the show--Megan's already a principal and Jackie Hoffman already an accomplished comic (she got the biggest laugh of the night on Friday, ad libbing "I'm not supposed to work on Yom Kippur!")--but the ensemble is excellent and HIGHLY athletic! Two of the three principal sailors strip down to their shorts in one scene, if you like eye candy, and who doesn't?

...change their names to appear more "Russian" (Mark Platt became Mark Platoff)...

Ditto opera singers. Recall that Zinka Kunc became Zinka Milanov. And--sort of tangentially, I admit--Diana Fluck was asked to change her name, and she did, to Dors, because if her name were up in lights and one of the bulbs blew out... ah well..

Aww, Barbara, you just wanna see Marcelo in those feathered pants and bare-chested, yes? Don't blush: these are not inconsiderable pleasures!

Yes, I saw Adam Cooper many years ago, and he was a sensation. BUT! That Bourne Swan takes one absolutely terrific idea--all-male swans, sexually ambiguous prince devolving into madness--and drowns it in a mess of vulgar cavortings and puerile sight gags. And yes, I know, I'm so utterly in the minority; at the City Center revival a few years back I must have been the only person not only not clapping, but scowling in sheer dismay. So you see, a Bourne Swan with Marcelo would cut no ice with me at all. However, if it kicked his career up a notch, and somehow turned him into the international household word he deserves to be, then more power to him. He won't care that I didn't buy a ticket.

Not even to see Marcelo--and that's saying something--would I ever sit through Bourne's Swan again.

I've said it before on this site: Sascha is a very good writer. He deserves a permanent column and some smart editor should give it to him.

The best thing I can say about Spartacus (seen Friday evening), and I'm not faulting the dancers, is to quote Pauline Kael on the 1935 version of She: "Hilarious, terrible, essential....Camp like this is a rarity."

_{For once I found myself agreeing with the Times: the Bolshoi's Swan, seen Friday evening, was indeed "dismal." Ugly in the extreme. However, I don't fault any of the dancers, all of whom were lovely; in particular, O/O seemed a much better fit for Smirnova than Nikiya at ABT some weeks ago, but that may be because in this production of SL there is so little human interaction between the characters that she wasn't called upon to "act" in any way. And although at first I thought it would be interesting to see the princesses each actually do some extended dancing (as opposed to ABT, where they are for the most part ancillary to the national dances), it quickly became apparent that the choreography was repetitive: in each national dance you have one ballerina and the corps dancing around her. By the third princess, this scenario became a bore. And that bloody "Fool." Yes, he's called upon to do some bravura stuff, but again it's terribly repetitive--get the hook! Say what you will about ABT's SL, it's colorful when the mood calls for it, and it tells a reasonably coherent narrative. By contrast, the Bolshoi's is part abstract. If you were a newbie coming to the ballet for the first time, you really might not be able to make sense of it all. I could go on, but let me just say that if the Russians are insulted that New Yorkers don't care for the Bolshoi's SL, too bad.}

Really excellent, intelligent, sensitive analysis throughout. Well done, Faux Pas, and actually not a "faux" step anywhere.

Yes, must've been old photos mixed in with the Sascha farewell pix. Thank you abatt and nanushka.

I just saw some photos on another website of Saturday night's perf. Did Gillian replace Paloma (who is still listed on ABT's site)? She's seen in the pix taking her bows with Jared.

Impossible to know how much he was edited (and Vogue didn't catch a couple of errors; it's rock star and Navy SEAL), but it seems Sascha's a good writer--strong and very personal voice. I'd love it if he started a blog as our newest dance critic! I'd rather read him than... oh well, I won't name names.

I'm not sure that a lesser dancer could steal the show in the role of puck. Cornejo really outdid himself. Comparing his performance to that on the dvd, his turns were faster last night, especially the chainé turns. I agree that Murphy was really delightful.

I think they should have performed the Tempest first and the Dream second. I'd much rather end the evening with the Dream. I wish they'd shorten their intermissions. I think the intermission length has more to do with selling concessions than changing sets.

Except performing "The Dream" first allows us (if we wish) to leave early! It's something I've always hated about the Peter Martins ballets at NYCB. He always places them in the middle of two superior works, so one either has to endure his ballet to get to the last one on the bill, or spend the time in the lobby and drink! So, go see "The Dream", leave before the lengthy intermission and go home with beautiful thoughts!

That's what I did two nights in a row

Me too. The Tempest isn't terrible terrible, but I didn't think it was worth a second look. Lovely just to spend an hour with The Dream and head home. And, yes, over at NYCB I've been known to time the middle piece, go out for coffee or a drink, and return.

For the most part enjoyed Program II but Bella Figura was absolutely wretched. Pointless silent warmup prologue and epilogue, noisy slapping of body parts, idiotic comings and goings of curtains, that stupid fire at the end. So there were a few brilliant red chamises twirling about? This is impressive? Very, very hard for me to believe such a piece is taken seriously, as it looked like sophomoric posturing on an undergraduate choreographer's level. On the plus side, I must say, however, that despite what others have remarked above about the company possibly being exhausted after a long season, the corps looked extremely well rehearsed in the Balanchine. I won't presume to compare them to NYCB, but ABT's corps should look that neatly in synch all the time.

Does anyone know what Corella is up to these days after the demise of his company in Spain?

If nanushka liked Hee's balance, I'm glad. I won't be there on Saturday evening (conflict w/Boston Ballet), but if she tries it again, after being properly warmed up, I hope she makes it, and with full strength. I think it may still be a work in progress, and if she can really master it, do it securely, it will make her Black Swan even more exciting. And, by the way, just as Caballe's famous pianissimos were the high water mark for that effect, I do think Cojocaru's balances are likewise. Perhaps not the "standard"--she's exceptional in this regard.

Thank you, abatt, for explaining how ABT manages covers; I'd wondered if they were stationed in the house if needed. Although I was very pleasantly surprised by how, overall, Hee managed on short notice, I must say that contra what someone else wrote above, her extended balance was more than a bit wobbly, hardly in the Cojocaru league of breathtaking balances. Nevertheless, nice try, Hee! And it's too bad she ran out of steam on the fouettes, but again, she is forgiven. Did you really hear the point at which she sprained her foot? I was in front row Fam. Circ., so heard nothing and was unable to tell anything happened--unlike the time two years ago when Hallberg did the ballroom Rothbart (and it was amazing--fascinatingly reptilian!), injured himself visibly, and was limping at the curtain call. I've read (here and elsewhere) about onstage accidents that incapacitate a dancer and force them to leave the stage, but thankfully I've never witnessed one. On the contrary, whenever someone has slipped and fallen, or done a little sit-down on his bum, I'm astonished at how INSTANTLY they pop back up and keep going. I guess that speaks to just how strong they are!

As I didn't see the 2007 performances, I'm intrigued to read that this year's perfs use a "new" production and costumes. I see in the program they were borrowed from Houston. Can anyone tell me whose production was used in 2007? As for this year's, the sets were serviceable, nothing special, but the costumes were really quite beautiful. (And yes, I was at the Saturday matinee, and everything everyone has said is true: performance of a lifetime.)

I must agree with Mimsy. This was an extremely low-wattage pairing for Bayadere, which is really all about passion and passion thwarted. Although I thought both Olga and Vadim were very elegant dancers, there was little or no emotional conviction behind the steps. He, in particular, was expressionless throughout; if you told me he was jet-lagged, I'd believe you. His manege in the Shades act had a great finish, but until then it was on autopilot. Oddly, their mutual lack of...what was the term used above...sizzle--made them seem like a well-matched couple, since neither outdid the other, neither injected their roles with "that little something extra," and both gave very fluid, if detached, performances.