Birdsall

I believe so. He hasn't been dancing there for a while (maybe two seasons now). It is unfortunate. I liked his dancing although he rarely got big roles from what I remember.

I don't disagree at all that balance is a dynamic process and adjustments are made as body parts are moved. I agree that raising an arm without adjustments is a recipe for disaster. Someone who is good at balancing has a knack for adjusting constantly as body parts move without necessarily knowing what she did. I even adjust when I do tree pose in yoga and that is much simpler. I am just mainly responding to the original question at the very top of this thread, and I don't think crowning the head with fifth position is necessary or a must. Many Russian dancers do not do that (although some do), and I don't think that makes them lesser dancers. I do think the crowning of the head is pretty, and I like it, though, but I have had someone tell me that the Russians' ankles are too weak so they can't support crowning the head, and that isn't true. Two Russians who do crown the head are Novikova and Kolegova. Probably others do too. I had that in the back of my mind as I wrote what I wrote above. I think it is more mental than physical, but since it is movement, yes, there is a physical component also. However, I still tend to think it is more mental than physical. I do not think the actual physical act of moving the arms up ALONE causes the person to fall out. I think it is the fear of all the minefields that causes the worry and the loss of balance. The fear or doubt or whatever the mind says causes the person to lose focus on where their center is as they move. Simply moving the arms up becomes worrisome b/c you have people watching you and different people partnering. I think if someone is centered and balanced and has a natural ability to adjust as he/she moves, and doesn't have the worries of what the audience is thinking (maybe in a rehearsal with just a coach and a male), the person can move the arms up without a problem or with less worries. I would be interested to know the statistics of how much wobbling occurs in a Rose Adagio during rehearsal and how much occurs in an actual performance. I suspect there is much more potential for wobbling in an actual performance and more potential for wobbling if someone you admire is watching you in a rehearsal. But alone without any eyes I bet the Rose Adagio is much easier when practicing all alone, but I can not prove this. Maybe I am wrong. Anyway, we are human beings, so an audience is immediately going to freak us out. Having 4 different partners, as Fraildove mentions, is going to freak someone out because they can actually physically cause you to lose balance if they move in an unexpected way, so that is a worry and an actual physical issue.....I do agree with that......so that is why probably dancers find the Rose Adagio a minefield. There definitely are minefields. But then you have some dancers like the Cuban dancer Viengsay Valdes who seems like she could have 100 cavaliers line up and give her their hand and maybe actually shake her hand vigorously and she would do it without wobbling or worrying. I think she actually refuses one hand from one of the suitors when she does the Rose Adagio. To me it seems like some people are better at balances than others and I believe looking inward and using intuitive senses that are really near impossible to put into words enables someone to maintain a balance. I think the wobbling and loss of balance stem from worries and fears and who wouldn't be worried when doing the Rose Adagio? So, I guess, from that perspective it is harder to raise the arms, because it is a freakier and scarier situation probably. So it is not black and white. How much is actually physical and how much is mental is hard to say, in my opinion.

It must be different for each dancer then, because two dancers actually convinced me that it does not matter where your arms move and one of them showed me a video of the Royal Ballet dancers moving their arms every which way and even drinking tea as they balance on one leg. Originally I voted above that Auroras SHOULD do the balances or not dance the role and I thought the 5th position for the arms was important. But after two dancers explained about balance and one showed me the Royal Ballet video on balancing and then I compared it with my experiences in yoga I decided to change my view, and I came to the conclusion that putting arms in 5th is not as important as I originally thought. They both said it is mainly a mental thing. In my above posting I did say that I have only experienced balancing with flat foot (although I have done tree rising up to tip toes as well) and pointe is probably different. But now I wonder if it is different for each person b/c each person has a different body. Maybe some bodies are just built to balance easier than others so some have to work at balance much harder or something. No idea.

Yes, Novikova is "simply breathtaking" and "touching and beautiful" as meunier fan and Madame P. say. She's terrific in every role she does!!!!

In the end we are products of our culture so it is totally normal for some Americans to be shocked by black face performance even when done in a historical context. And nobody should be mad at someone who is shocked because most Americans grow up being told it is not the thing to do. It is practically a taboo in American culture nowadays (you have a right to argue whether it should or should not be a taboo, and that is a debate for another place, but I believe it is basically close to being a taboo currently and will always result in some ruffled feathers). So it is totally understandable in American society for some people to react to black face painted faces with a variety of emotions (surprise, shock, upset). That is going to happen regardless of how much they read beforehand, in my opinion. I was not shocked or offended by Sarasota Ballet's performance (I expected to see a black face painted Moor) and simply noted what I witnessed but I am also not upset by someone nearby gasping or some people's feathers being ruffled either. That is simply going to happen whenever black face performance happens in America, in my opinion regardless of historical significance. As I said, you can debate why that shouldn't be the case but the fact remains that it is sort of a taboo.

I have never met anyone who is truly color blind. All my black friends want to discuss hair texture, various skin hues, etc. Even within my own family my dad joked and called my mother, sister, and me "Japs" (but he said it stood for Japanese American Princesses....and I am male), and we laughed at my dad's white legs. Race is a normal thing to discuss within mixed families because since there is love between everyone we give each other more rights to crack jokes and discuss issues of race without getting offended, but we are NOT color blind. And I do NOT believe color blindness is most people's desire. People want to be seen for who they are and loved/liked for who they are. I think if I told black friends that I don't see them as black they would respond with, "WTF?" But this is going off on a tangent. Getting back to Sarasota Ballet's production.,,.I enjoyed it, hope they revive it, and I would see it again, don't really feel offended by it, but I think audiences have every right to respond to art the way they want (someone who was offended by Sarasota Ballet's production does not upset me....why would it?) and Drew's suggestion of addressing possible negative reactions or explaining the context is not an unreasonable suggestion.

That is interesting, Drew. Now that you mention about those gestures, I think some similar gestures occur with the Moor in the Vainonen Nutcracker.

Diane, the black face is because the one character is a Moor. If black face hadn't been used to make fun of blacks in the past, and if America did not have the history it has it might not be controversial. KarenAG, Sarasota Ballet is fabulous in Ashton! Graziano is their up-and-coming young choreographer as well as a principal dancer.i think you will enjoy the company!

Last night I went to the Sarasota Ballet's "The Ballets Russes: A Tribute to Nijinsky" program which included Les Sylphides, L'Apres-midi d'un Faune, and Petrushka. This is a small, regional American company which continues to grow in strength. I really enjoy the shows I have seen there. I especially love their past Ashton works, and I think upper body fluidity seems to be something stressed in the company. However, Les Sylphides revealed a few weaknesses, in my opinion. Here I was hoping for lots of flowing arms among the corps girls, but they seemed stiffer than usual. With that said I think that this was an admirable performance for such a small company. L'apres-midi d'un Faune is famous for causing a scandal mainly due to the final moment, and Ricardo Graziano downplayed the auto-eroticism of the moment although anyone with a brain would still figure out what is going on. It was a treat to see this live in person, since I never thought I would see this short ballet (the Robbins version seems to be performed much more often). I suspect that Graziano (or whoever made the decision for him) played down the lewd aspect of the faun due to the fact that Sarasota Ballet's audience is a fairly mature crowd who probably prefer less shock and more beauty. However, I think a mature crowd could have handled it. I think we often underestimate the older crowd. There isn't much to the ballet (for viewers at least), so the designs by Leon Bakst were nice to see. Graziano made the faun as interesting as one can. For me hearing the music with a live orchestra, the sets, costumes, and the novelty of seeing the work made it all worthwhile. Dr. Ann Hutchinson Guest and Dr. Claudie Jeschke staged this from Nijinsky's dance notation. I have never liked Petrushka very much, but seeing this version as close to the original version as possible was really nice. The designs were by Alexander Benois and staged by Margaret Barbieri and Iain Webb (the assistant director and director respectively.....a husband and wife team). To my surprise the staging was so well done that this Petrushka flew by scene by scene. It was truly entertaining from beginning to end. It was also nice to see St. Isaac's Cathedral painted on the backdrops. Ricki Bertoni was a fabulous floppy Petrushka who conveyed plenty of sadness. He is listed as the company's Character Principal and he was really good as the Widow in La Fille mal Gardee earlier in the season. Great actor!!! Ricardo Rhodes was an exciting Devil. All the other roles are fairly small and everyone did a great job! There was some controversy about David Tlaiye's Moor in the original blackface after rehearsal pictures were posted on social media, according to reports, and I heard a gasp near me when he first appeared. I am not sure if there is a perfect solution for this issue when a company wants to perform it exactly as the original. America's problem with black face performance will continue to exist, especially since many incidents concerning race have happened in recent months. I find it interesting that they were daring to remain faithful to the original concept of Petrushka and include black face but they did not remain 100% faithful to the L'apres-midi d'un faune masturbation moment. However, maybe reports of the original Afternoon have been exaggerated (in the movie on Nijinksy's life it shows the scene and Nijinsky is very life-like in his movements in that final moment). Maybe the way Sarasota Ballet presented Afternoon is exactly how it was originally. It just seems hard to believe it was scandalous in that case, but, of course, sexuality is less shocking in the 21st century. All in all it was a wonderful evening of 3 Ballets Russes ballets. I could tell they prepared all 3 ballets with loving care. I think the company can be truly proud of what they accomplished. Even though I would prefer more flowing arms in Les Sylphides they did stay in sync and I am sure they charmed people who had never seen this ballet before. Ormsby Wilkins was the conductor, and I loved hearing the Sarasota Orchestra play these pieces. The orchestra and Wilkins helped make it a special evening.

True. Fateyev does seem to have one particular type for O/O in mind.

In my opinion, Novikova is a great Romantic and classical ballerina. She can do almost anything. I have seen her as the Sylph in La Sylphide, in Giselle, in Raymonda, in Sleeping Beauty, in Swan Lake (her only one), as Masha in Nutcracker, and as Kitri. To me she has the best artistry of almost any Mariinsky ballerina. Her arms are out of this world. So I think she goes beyond the soubrette type. But that is my opinion. I agree with many of the other dancers mentioned above who deserve Principal status. I actually like Kolegova due to her physical beauty better, but I see objectively that Novikova has better artistry.

Not trying to argue, but I personally think there is a big difference between starring as Kitri and as Raymonda in dvds (yet remaining First Soloist) and starring in a mixed bill dvd as Firebird or the "artsy/crazy" Nutcracker (which doesn't seem to be danced by any Principals that I have noticed....maybe I missed noticing) or Rubies. Kondaurova was Principal when the Swan Lake was piped live into theaters. She was made Principal in 2012 and then the live Swan Lake was aired live in movie theaters in June 2013. I guess what I am trying to convey, which you probably agree with, is that it is strange to have a high profile dancer with two major title roles preserved on commercial dvds and more than likely she will never become a Principal......but, I guess, you never know........I think if this were the case in any other company she would be promoted.

I wonder if there are any other First Soloists around who star in leading roles in two commercially released dvds like Novikova's case. It seems like most leading roles in dvds would go to Principals.

Novikova's status (never getting Principal) is to me a great scandal. Her Giselle, Masha, Sylph, Raymonda, Aurora, one Swan Lake ever, and Kitri are delicate, exquisite, artistic achievements of the rarest kind unlike anything you see in a lifetime. She is the lead in two commercial dvds (Don Quixote and La Scala's Raymonda), so she has name recognition too. I think in any other company she would be a Principal. I suspect there are limited funds to pay the top amount for Principals, so these two men being promoted probably means no one else will get Principal status in a while.

I think it is probably a "mental" thing caused by nervousness. Granted I tested this without an audience and without being on pointe, but I just got into tree pose, found my balance and giving my hand to 10 or 20 or 30 cavaliers by simply moving my hand to the next imaginary one or raising my arms above my head in 5th and bringing them down each time did not make any difference at all for me. Of course, I was on a flat foot. But ballerinas should be so used to being on pointe that I would think that they can easily find their balance and stay on pointe the way I can stay on one flat foot. I will say that I am sure that being on pointe and staying there is much harder than tree pose in yoga. I really do think any wobbling or fear, however, is actually caused in their minds by an expectant audience sitting there watching them. If you are balanced (found your center) and good at balancing (and all ballerinas are probably much better at finding their balance than I am), this is really smoke and mirrors. It looks incredibly hard to the audience but it really isn't to a dancer (but maybe dancers could chime in here if they have something to say), I suspect EXCEPT for their fear of messing up in front of an audience and the fear that one of the cavaliers might move their hand as she takes it and throw her off accidentally. So what I am saying is that, yes, anything can throw someone off balance (thoughts, the cavalier's hand moving, stage fright, etc), but just by itself the crowning of the head does not make the move/pose harder except for a ballerina who is freaking out about her balance already. I think the fact it is such an exposed moment. It is a static moment for the ballerina, so moving around the stage can not hide a slight mistake. She is standing still and balancing and just moving her arm.....very exposed during a very iconic moment in the ballet, and that creates nerves, b/c, yes, people can lose balance when they least expect it, but I have come to believe it is a mental thing. I don't believe moving the arm up into a crown messes the ballerina up. I think her own thoughts or fears causes it, and if she falls out putting her arms into a crown, she would also fall out simply passing her arms from one cavalier to the next because the state of mind she is in. I think staying balanced is a weird thing. It is very mental and it is less about strength and much more about being in an almost zen moment and feeling your body find its center of gravity and just mentally staying in that place in your mind. I think I watched a video once and it showed all these Royal Ballet dancers doing zany things while balancing on one leg like drinking tea while staying balanced. They were moving their arms in many different ways. They were all rock solid as they moved their arms all over the place. However, put them in front of an audience where there are no re-takes and make it one of the "important" moments of the ballet, and THAT is what plays with their mind and causes them to worry about falling out. Not where their arms are moving. I have given advice to people who constantly fell out of tree pose during yoga class, and I told them to stop trying to use the strength of their leg, grow tall and reach the top of their head to the sky and somehow find your center and suddenly balancing becomes incredibly easy. It is actually more about "letting go" than muscling into and holding the balance as weird as that sounds. Hard to describe, but once you find your balance it feels like nothing can throw you off except someone pushing you down. Hands and arms can move all over the place in every direction if they are well balanced.

The thing about balance is that if you have a knack for finding your balance/finding your center I think the arms in 5th is not necessarily better than simply passing the arm to the next cavalier without putting the arms up in 5th (many Russians do not put the arms in 5th, although some do). I know yoga is not the same as ballet, but as a yoga practitioner I have better than average balance and can go into tree pose and often hold it forever and even sway arms and torso back and forth (swaying tree pose). It is hard to explain, but if you find your center of gravity you can move the arms almost anyway and all over the place and not fall out. So just putting the arms above your head does not make it more difficult unless you let moving the arms up distract you or make you worry about your balance. Now, in contrast, the way the ballerinas in Cuba hop backwards and throw their arms above and behind them in the black swan coda......now THAT is, in my opinion, a truly exciting balancing act, b/c moving backwards and throwing your arms back forcefully could easily make someone fall out or lose balance, in my opinion (too many distractions to your balance). But simply raising arms above your head is not really more difficult than keeping them in a handshake position. If a person has good balance I do not believe raising arms in 5th makes it more difficult. I suppose any little thing could potentially cause a person to lose his/her balance, but the simple act of raising arms into 5th should not really cause a ballerina to fall out. I think the arms in 5th is probably more impressive to the audience as a "show" b/c it gives the illusion of being more difficult, but I can't imagine it being more difficult from my experience of body movement. But ask me to hop backwards on one leg and fling my arms back......I would probably fall out......raising arms in 5th, in contrast, is no big deal at all.....

Last night I attended Miami City Ballet's "Points of Departure" (final show of the season) at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. I was glad this show coincided with a trip to visit my parents there, since I have been unable to attend any of MCB's shows this season.Last night's show included Balanchine's Raymonda Variations, Justin Peck's world premiere Heatscape, and Robbins' The Concert. Watching Raymonda Variations I kept thinking, "This is why I go to ballet!" The ballet really has nothing to do with Petipa's Raymonda except that it uses excerpts of Glazunov's lush score. Balanchine totally choreographed his own thing but kept a very classical and elegant look which harks back to Imperial Russia. The structure is like a grand pas with 2 variations for each lead (male and female). It was announced that Jennifer Lauren and Kleber Rebello were the leads instead of the printed sheet that listed Catoya and Penteado. I was actually thrilled by this change, because I consider them to be exciting young dancers in the company. Both had wonderful flowing arms that I like. In fact, Glazunov's glorious music seems to have inspired a more Russian style to Miami City Ballet's upper bodies. Arms unfurled and lingered on phrases. At moments it almost felt like I was watching Mariinsky dancers. Not quite but almost. The big difference is that Mariinsky dancers tend to have a much prouder stance when arms are in third position. The American style seems to have more forward shoulders and less arched backs. Even the corps at MCB had more flowing arms than I have seen in the past. Justin Peck's Heatscape was a world premiere set to Martinu's Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, and I enjoyed it. Very beautiful and pleasant. My only complaint is that it was so fast and busy at times that you felt you were missing things. This seems to be common among new choreography. Ratmansky often does this too. As much as I enjoyed this piece I had the feeling it was not adding much to the ballet vocabulary. It was definitely grounded in classical ballet with little modern moves applied here and there. A fairly "conservative" piece which pleases people like me but Balanchine actually seems more avant garde than Peck!!!! It is contemporary ballet for people like me who dislike modern dance, but are works like this really saying anything new? New works should say something new! Of course, I probably would have hated it then!!! LOL Robbins' The Concert looks like great fun for the performers and was probably fun for Robbins to create, but I hate it! I find it so silly and not funny at all. The audience roared as I sat there wondering, "People find this slapstick funny?" It simply isn't my taste in comedy at all. So blatant and over the top. I can tell I am in the minority by hearing all the laughter around me. I feel Robbins showed great skill choreographing this and MCB's dancers executed it very well, but I hate this work. Anyway, a nice show but Raymonda Variations made it a great night. More of this grand Balanchine, Lourdes Lopez!!!!

Smekalov is basically an established choreographer in Russia. His Presentiment of Spring and Bolero Suite are in the Mariinsky's repertoire. His full length Moidodr premiered at the Bolshoi and is listed in the Bolshoi's repertoire. He has done other short pieces also. So it makes sense his work looked more established as you described. He still dances at the Mariinsky and is not a big choreographer name internationally so that is probably why they included him in this program, but I think of him as sort of "established" or already a "professional" choreographer.

http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article13511477.html

It would be a great improvement on the reconstruction if all the roles could be filled with Mariinsky dancers including the corps, since I find the La Scala dancers very stiff especially in arm movements. The only things I like about the reconstruction dvd are the sets and Novikova and the chance to see the original, but other than that, the actual dancing (except for Novikova) for me personally is a total waste of time (for me) to view. Meanwhile I have seen Raymonda live in person at the Mariinsky and many times with all the dancers mentioned on video in the full role (not clips), and I absolutely adore the Sergeyev version and the style of the Vaganova trained dancers in this ballet. For me Shirinkina was impressive in what she accomplished but she seems like a soubrette. To me it is comparable to watching Kathleen Battle sing Bellini's Norma.

In what role has Somova done 180 degree extensions recently? I know she used to do that in the past, but in recent times (I suspect due to Terekhova being her coach now) she hasn't done that in classical ballets, so it surprises me that "they're back." What role is she doing 180 degree extensions in currently?

Yes, I forgot Shirinkina even though I actually saw her in Raymonda. However, she only danced it that one time, I believe. The ones I named above, in my opinion, are the most likely candidates to dance (although Novikova hasn't been given the role at the Mariinsky very much). Outside of Novikova the others I named have danced it the most in recent seasons. Also, I think that Esina was mentioned in the Mariinsky's press conference as debuting as Raymonda this season (I suspect the May 9 Raymonda scheduled at the Mariinsky will be hers), so she might be on the tour even though she continues to be a guest soloist (she was on the DC Swan Lake tour). So hypothetically we could get three alternating casts of Skorik, Esina, and Kondaurova..... Personally, I vote for Lopatkina, Novikova, and Kolegova. Tereshkina would be fine too. She always gives her all....strikes me as one of the hardest working dancers at the Mariinsky. She has won me over in roles I did not think she was suited for, because she is totally committed everytime you see her. She is apparently unable to phone anything in and simply coast.

Terrific news! I love Raymonda! Chances are that the casting should be decent most performances, because very few dance it. Lopatkina, Tereshkina, Kondaurova, Kolegova, Novikova, and recently Skorik have been the only ones who have danced it in recent seasons at the Mariinsky. Most of those will be very good in it, although it does depend on your tastes. I am hoping Novikova gets to dance it, because she has danced it the least.

I agree about the "soft touch' rendering of Apollo. I am very hesitant to be critical of a small company like Sarasota Ballet, b/c it is probably doing its best with the resources it has. I, too, was surprised that Apollo's mother did not open her legs wider, but maybe that was a choice by the company.....maybe they were scared it would look vulgar to the mostly retired crowd? Just trying to figure out why. Apollo's first variation was less explosive than what I have seen at Miami City Ballet. Tiny things seemed to have been simplified. Even the two handmaidens.....when they come out to give Apollo his instrument, the one sort of pushes the other as she crosses a leg over the other and the leg did not turn out as much as I have seen. 
 
 But these are small details. Considering what they were aiming for and the delight they did give.....I was not disappointed. It was fun to see the birth of Apollo included. 
 
 Jazz Calendar was so much fun as you relate above. I think for me Danielle Brown made Wednesday's Child sexy (I thought she was in control of the men and loving the attention) and the slow movements of the men along with the music created a mood I was not expecting. At the Friday night performance Elizabeth Sykes was a very cute and vivacious Sunday's Child (in the Cookie Monster outfit you described...LOL).....She had a smile and personality that was impossible to ignore. 
 
 I wonder if when Nureyev staged the Act III of Raymonda as a ballet all on its own he decided to add those variations to make the grad pas grander and longer. That was all I could figure out. Maybe someone knows, b/c I too was surprised. I think the audience loved the lavish sets for Raymonda b/c Sarasota tends to do mostly mixed bills and often the sets are sparse in mixed bills, so they were excited to see the Royal Ballet's sets. 
 
 Looking forward to Sarasota Ballet's The Ballets Russes program on May 1!


By the way, most may know this already, but Nureyev's Raymonda variation does the clapping very loudly. It is a bit jarring but more realistic than the silent clap. I remember seeing a documentary on his full length Raymonda and a dancer talks about how he wanted it loud and forceful. I had forgotten about that so was shocked when the first clap came in the choreography and it was loud! LOL