Birdsall

Laurencia is a very nice ballet, although very Soviet-like, in my personal opinion. It is a bit much at the end when they behead the commander and then break into joyous dance! LOL It actually made me laugh out loud! Subtle it is not!!!! But it is a lot of fun. The Mikhailovsky's Flames of Paris is also GREAT! I personally think it is MUCH better than the Bolshoi's version. Much more exciting.

The problem is that American ballet companies are probably struggling to survive and having to program hodge podge shows that include modern dance. You can't really blame the ballet companies. This culture prefers pop stuff. Classical music stations have a hard time surviving in most areas. Regional opera companies have to program the bread and butter operas (Rigoletto, Butterfly, Boheme, Carmen) over and over and throw in ONE rarity occasionally (that usually doesn't sell well). This is a pop culture country. I think New York is an exception, because you have so many people from all over concentrated in one city, so NY can have a huge opera company and two main ballet companies and then a lot of smaller troupes and touring companies and everything sells well. But in most parts of the country people simply don't care about classical music, ballet, or opera. There are always SOME people in each area but not enough. You also have music in general de-valued (some schools no longer have any music education program at all). You have to have exposure to see value in it, and there is very little exposure to classical music, ballet or opera for the average American. Even gay men who have always loved the classical arts in the past are changing. Not sure why. Most gays my age and younger only know Madonna and Beyonce and any number of singers who can't sing. I know Madonna's older stuff but I have no idea what Beyonce sings. I used to read Perez Hilton daily simply to know the names of current pop culture so I could hold a conversation with other human beings, but I have given that up now that I am working and so busy. I have no clue who any current pop singer or any new actors are, and I really don't care. I have discovered that your life goes on when you have no clue who the current stars of anything are. I come home and put on ballet videos and watch them. My free time is so limited. I do not want to eat it up with junk culture. There is no fighting this. People here are much more interested in watching reality tv and listening to pop music (if you can even call it music). You have to find your own way to find pleasure. Ballet is never going to be the most popular art form. So go on trips and resort to videos both commercial and otherwise.

They are doing Ashton's Sylvia for the first time. Anna Trevien and Susan Jones are listed as coaches for the Mariinsky's production.

Okay, not as bad as I pictured! LOL

I wish someone could have snuck a pic of this bubble wig and posted it here! I can't picture it! It sounds ridiculous! I don't think the Mariinsky usually puts a wig on Siegfried, so it is very strange.

Forgot to say that Penteado and Tricia Albertson made Chutes and Ladders look good. I think a lot had to do with them. With the Delgado sisters out Albertson stands out more.

Concerto Barocco is hard to resist because of the gorgeous music of Bach welded with Balanchine's choreography which looks so precise. It looks like such a hard ballet for dancers because if they are out of sync with this music even by a hair it shows! To me it looked like there were very minor mess ups (one corps girl was out of line at one point), but overall I loved getting a chance to see this ballet again. The middle section has to be the most elegant music ever written, and luckily it goes on and on. This little ballet has all the Balanchine trademarks (interweaving people, speedy footwork at times, etc.). Loved it! Peck's pas de deux Chutes and Ladders was nice and classically based with quirky playful moments. Not sure it will ever be something I will run to see, but I won't mind if it is on a program I am seeing in the future. Supposedly Peck is going to create a bigger work for MCB next season, according to Lourdes Lopez in her letter in the program. Judging by this short work he has promise, but I hope some of the quirky modern moves are due to Chutes and Ladders being based on a children's game (that I never played so didn't see any connection to the game in the choreography). Jardi Tancat: looks like the dancers worked hard. Symphonic Dances: I like this work a lot. I had to keep reminding myself to stop looking for a story and just watch the choreography. Ratmansky even says it is plotless, but it doesn't feel plotless. There seems to be an "outsider" in each of the three sections. This work has a very Russian look to it. I don't know if this was intentional on Ratmansky's part, but so many moments had what I consider Russian style to it. Turns, falls into men's arms, fouettes, turns in air for males, drama, etc. The final moment had Arja (who created that role) crouch like a tiger, run, and leap into the male's arms reminiscent of Kitri's leap into Basilio's arms in the tavern scene of Don Quixote. There is a little too much "running" at times as Cristian says, but overall I like this work a lot! It has many beautiful moments. The style of Symphonic Dances gives me hope for MCB's Don Quixote later in the season! I hope they use this more Russian-ish style for that!

I think Kolegova is the most beautiful ballerina at the Mariinsky, and she is solid from my standpoint. The only thing is, like someone mentioned above, that she is sometimes introverted rather than extroverted in her onstage persona. However, in many things this works wonderfully for me, and she even can muster enough temperament for Odile and when I saw her as Medora her way of protecting Conrad when he has fallen asleep after the flowers, showed that she can be quite powerful in her personality at times. I think her beauty does have an extra effect. I am glad to hear good things about her, because she is one of my favorites, but I could not make the DC tour due to my new job. I hope to see her again this summer when I return to Russia.

Russian companies do use Hans instead of Hilarion. At least the Mariinsky does, and it looks like the Bolshoi does too. I think the Bolshoi has two versions of Giselle also.

Just saw this tonight and enjoyed it overall. Albertson impressed me the most as Dewdrop. She had the best upper body movements which I tend to like. My favorite parts of Balanchine's Nutcracker are the snow scene and Dewdrop and the flowers scene. The thing I dislike is almost zero dancing in Act 1 until the snow scene! But I knew this was the case but we were finally about to see dancing and then technical difficulties caused a long pause before the snow scene. I hate that they perform this without orchestra. More people probably see this than any other show they do all year. I'm sure it is difficult and expensive, but to me it is embarrassing for a company whose reputation is pretty high in the U.S. to perform this to a recording. With that said I could tell everyone was giving their all. Callie Manning was a sexy Coffee, and Shimon Ito worked the candy cane hoops!!! I do think MCB excels at the short Balanchine ballets. I am looking forward to Concerto Barocco at the end of January!

Last season Sarasota Ballet did Ashton's La Fille mal Gardee and it was the same sets and costumes as the Royal Ballet.

This is exactly the problem. You can try to enforce non-discrimination like we do here in the U.S., but then discrimination goes underground. In SOME ways it might be better to have it out in the open (although then you need a thick skin), because you at least know exactly what you are dealing with. Another point is that my experiences living in Western Europe (Germany and Austria) back in the late 80s to early 90s showed me that the concept of political correctness and being shocked by stereotypical depictions tend to be an American thing regardless if you think it should be worldwide or not. I could not explain to my German or Austrian friends why a candy bar wrapper with a black face on it was shocking to me. Their attitude was, "Get over it!" no matter how I explained it. They simply could not relate to my shock, and these were university students who were very educated and very liberal-minded and were not prejudiced from what I could tell.

Not always, but sometimes speaking out actually protects you. It is hard to get the press interested in an individual's plight, but once the press is actually interested, it will do follow ups, and there are people and/or organizations who fear negative press, so they totally leave you alone once you become a person the press has interest in. At least that was my personal experience years ago.

Drew, Shurale is really wonderful...an exciting show!

Jack, yes, everything you say makes sense, and I will probably return to the video with more admiration for Ballo now and enjoy the video version more than I did b/c now I know it is quite gorgeous on stage.

Drew, I obviously agree since I experienced that and said it, but I do feel videos are the next best thing to being there if you can't be there. LOL Not arguing at all. I do think seeing a ballet live in the flesh is the absolute ideal. There is a je ne sais quoi element to a live performance that can not be captured on video (maybe our excitement plus having the performers in the same room). On that Balanchine video I always felt Ballo della Regina was ho hum as a ballet, but in person it was quite beautiful even with lesser dancers. So I think a ballet can move you differently in person. However, once you know a ballet and have seen it live and know the choreography well, I think a video can give much joy and excitement also. I will be the last person to say video watching is bad. I love that too!

It will be Interesting to see if Arja dances Ratmansky's Symphonic Dances in Program II because she was a spitfire in the almost tiger-like role she created in that work. I think she does better in leaping aggressive roles.

I saw the West Palm opening night last night and enjoyed it very much. I only knew Ballo Della Regina from the DVD of Balanchine choreography, and even though that video is a better overall performance, I found this ballet to be absolutely beautiful to see in person (and also without the 70's looking backdrop in the video)! Compared to the famous video Arja does come up short like everyone has reported, but I expected much worse after reading the reviews on here, and maybe she has gotten more comfortable, but to me it looked like she did all the steps including all the hops on pointe. I was actually amazed how much more I liked this ballet and its effect in person compared to just watching the studio taped video. Polyphonia is a nice work, but I honestly can not imagine any ballerina or danseur saying, "I long to dance Polyphonia!" after having seen it. In contrast, I can picture a ballerina saying that about the other two works on last night's program. I feel like the Kravis Center Friday night performances have more and more empty seats. I know the matinees are much more popular, but Friday night (Opening Night) used to be better attended, if memory is correct. Maybe I have become spoiled watching videos of the precise Mariinsky corps and even seeing them in person in Russia, because I was shocked a couple of times at the corps being sloppy in Serenade. Some thoughts on individual dancers: Cerdeiro looks meatier than before and has grown as a dancer. He used to have a "new born horse" look (all legs). He is looking much more like a man to me, although he was always very talented. To my eyes he keeps getting better and looks more confident and his physical beefing up helps. Of all the males Rebello has more flow to his upper body than the others which is a fetish of mine. He has always caught my eye because of that. In my mind (and this is a personal taste) more flowing up top looks more elegant. Kronenberg is the big surprise. Personally, I have always thought she was decent but boring. Maybe having a baby has changed her, because she lived the part in Serenade. I have heard having a baby changes the way a dancer dances, and it sure seems that way. I never considered her very passionate, but she was last night! Very strong emotionally and technically. Her husband Guerra has always been the "hottest" male at MCB (talking about his looks), so I understand why some have commented about a little weight gain. He's probably still great looking walking down the street compared to other men, but on stage he is definitely no longer jaw droppingly attractive.

I find it crazy for them to ask us to subscribe without any info at all about what ballets they will perform. I think it would be fine to have a few TBD ballets but SOME of the works should be listed. We shouldn't have to purchase blindly with zero idea of what might play.

I just noticed that the casting in DC has changed slightly. The Kennedy Center website now lists Esina....Tereshkina is no longer listed..... PRINCIPAL CASTING (subject to change) Tue., Jan. 28, Fri., Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. & Sun., Feb. 2 at 1:30 p.m. Alina Somova, Vladimir Shklyarov Wed., Jan 29 at 7:30 p.m. & Sat., Feb. 1 at 1:30 p.m. Anastasia Kolegova, Maxim Zyuzin Thu., Jan. 30, Sat., Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Olga Esina, Timur Askerov

Alberich is honest about what he wants and his greed. True. I still think it would be great for one of the Regietheater directors to dress up Alberich looking like Gergiev. That's how I feel since Gergiev's greed for power seems very open at this point.

I would think he identified with Alberich! If Gergiev were an opera singer I would want him to play Alberich!!!

I thought that myself. I thought that the Vaganova Academy would always be there to replenish what was lost at the Mariinsky if things got worse at the Mariinsky. But now it looks like the Vaganova Academy could change. If Tsiskaridze views the Vaganova style as "Cemetery" style as Smekalov has said he said, then I think there will definitely be changes even if someone like Lopatkina is in charge of artistic decisions at least on paper. I actually think Lopatkina cares about the Mariinsky and the traditions judging from her performances, but she is the exact opposite of Tsiskardze at least in public. So I can picture him bulldozing through any decisions she were to make. Asylmuratova's temperament seems like a better match for Tsiskaridze if a power struggle were to ensue. I laughed at the idea that Gergiev might want to turn the Vaganova into a hotel. But maybe one day I will be crying about it. I do wonder if Gergiev is like the televangelists. I think those types start out meaning well, but then they see they can get money and power and the masses viewing them as great and it all goes to their head and they become totally corrupt and start wanting more and more and more. Same with billionaires. Why the need for billions? Isn't millions enough? They should at that point be donating like crazy to worthy causes so much that it actually hits them in the pocket book. I try to save up enough so I can make a donation to St. Francis House every year at Christmas time and I deny myself some things in life so that I can give to others who are more needy each Christmas. I think that is the whole point of living in this world. Hoarding billions is ridiculous. Hoarding power is ridiculous. People like Gergiev have totally lost track of what is important in life.

The irony is that Gergiev seems to love to conduct Wagner's Ring, but he seems to miss the point of the work completely. Gold (money) and power corrupts and causes greed to consume the person who has the power and leads to destruction. Is he even listening to what he is conducting???

I wonder if this means that they will put pressure on Ulyana Lopatkina to retire from the stage. Or maybe they did not expect the uproar all this has created, so they are backpedaling and maybe there is hope Asylmuratova will stay.