Birdsall

I wonder how anyone could find the first half of Sleeping Beauty boring (comment you overheard during intermission). If nothing else the music is just so glorious, even apart from the dancing. I love the fairy dances and then the Rose Adagio of Act 1. For me the second act is a bore until the actual vision. I get bored during the Prince's hunting scene. But then the Vision scene is lovely. And the last act is just a lot of fun with fun variation after variation and beautiful music also. I do think costumes and sets can be a big disappointment (or the opposite too) even if the dancing "should" be the main thing. Luckily, ballet seems to be a little more immune to ugly, crazy sets/costume, but in opera it is quite common to have crazy concept productions that are usually ugly, and despite wonderful singing it simply ruins the performance for some of us. So I think comments on costumes and other superficial aspects of a ballet are probably normal. Just playing Devil's Advocate. Not trying to be argumentative.

I agree about some of the cases being a case of spoiled brats. I used to work in the public schools and some kids had a reputation that they can NOT sit still, and some teachers accepted that, but get an old fashioned, strict teacher who has that strict aura in every gesture she makes and that kid who everyone claims can't stay quiet and sit still suddenly transforms into a well behaved child. They will try to get away with what they can. For Cristian and Marga above, I hope you two (and Natalia) weren't offended by my confusion about applauding at the movies. It was more of a "What is going on?" question and wanting to know how others think and feel. Also, I just reread my post. Cristian, I meant it was cute that you applaud with your cats, I wasn't trying to be condescending and say it was "cute" to applaud. I visualized you with your cats. I just reread and realized that it could be interpreted wrong. I am also glad you all explained why you applaud. So it is the same as my father going nuts at a televised football game! LOL I understand it better. I thought that might be it, but I wasn't sure. I have to say even when I see a performance of a lifetime like Nina Stemme's Brünnhilde in SF this past summer I sort of get overwhelmed and become silent. The audience applause actually pulls me out of it and then I realize, "Oh, time to clap. Let me applaud her since she really deserved it!" That's even in a live performance. So in a move theater I still get that but then the applause breaks in and I have time to realize it is just a screen. I guess it is a different way of reacting to joy at seeing something extraordinary. I am usually speechless and quiet and think, "Wow!" I guess it is just a case of different people reacting to beauty in different ways.

Well, that is cute! But I never really understood my father screaming at the tv when he watched football. I have cried or been very moved, but I don't usually applaud unless I am in the same room as the performers. But I guess to each his own LOL Btw, will be at the Kravis Center on Friday with my mother seeing MCB's Program 1. I will be applauding there! LOL

This is terrible! These tweet seats need to be in a separate room and the people can watch the show from a movie screen. I don't understand why people attend a performance and don't want to actually watch it. You can't watch it while typing! I also wonder why people at the HD transmissions of opera and ballet applaud. I believe in applauding performers but not a movie screen. Applause is for the performers, so when they can't hear it, what is the point? It is no big deal, b/c it is always at the end and not disruptive, but I just wonder what is going on in these people's minds.

From a fairly new person's perspective I have two conflicting thoughts about it. On the one hand, it has very thrilling moments that make you think, "Wow! Look what they just did!" but on the other hand some of the "wow" movements do seem jarring and not very beautiful, just acrobatic and wild compared to what I think of as traditional, classical ballet. So there are pros and cons to this choreography. Overall it is a fun piece for a gala. I understand why some people hate it while others love it. I suspect it will always divide people.

I agree that the dancing in the first part was much more beautiful when the little mermaid was in the water. Even though the later "clumsy" and "painful" dancing was amazing and thrilling in its own way I did wish we could see the Mermaid return in the water with the tail. But she was too "in love" to kill the prince to regain her tail just like in the original tale! LOL This is a timeless tale of how people fall for the wrong guy! About 90% of my friends do that!!!

I am more like Waelsung in his feelings about the ballet. I think it played in Hamburg and in Copenhagen previously. I wonder who danced the title role those times. I am sure it would fail if you don't have a good dancer dancing Little Mermaid as Pamela says, but I think most ballet companies would never stage this without someone who was a good dancer and totally committed to learning the part both dramatically and choreography wise. That is what I think. I do see why the golfing and other things are distracting, but I still enjoyed it.

I saw that too! Looks exciting!!! Giselle with Hallberg and Osipova should be exciting too!

Maybe, that will be Ethan's ABT farewell performance? if it is Ethan's farewell, couldn't think of a better cast/ballet for it to be Also, does anyone find it a little strange/scary that ABT is ending the MET season with Le Corsaire...not to get ahead of ourselves, but considering what happened last season with the men...(i'm going to refrain from actually finishing that thought) spinning2night, what happened? I don't know about that!

I watched a Harlequinade from the Mikhailovsky on YouTube, and I enjoyed it very much despite blurred picture and it was fairly short (read history online too and understand it is often cut to one act). What was wild is that at one point a group beats up Harlequin (I assume that is the character) and then throw him off a balcony and then tear him limb from limb. It is obviously a dummy at that point, but I never thought any ballet would be so violent! LOL

Drew, I think hard-core Wagnerites like myself love Lohengrin even if Tristan und Isolde, the Ring, and Parsifal are my favorites! There is much to love in Lohengrin.

I just watched the Chemiakin/Shemyakin version for the Mariinsky. What do people think of that choreography? Very modern dance moves at times that I was not expecting. I did enjoy it for something different, and I did not find it so dark and ugly as some reviewers on Amazon did. Still I am not sure I would recommend it as someone's only Nutcracker. I actually enjoyed watching it. Loved the green snake (Arabian dance). I don't understand everything that happened in this version. I will have to watch it again. It seems like Drosselmeyer was guiding everything to happen. I understand why some people find this to be an "ugly" production, b/c it does have a sort of "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to it in some scenes especially the sets for the snow storm scene. But it is very entertaining. Never thought I would see the snowflakes going down on their butts and shaking their legs.....overall my favorite parts were the green snake and the Snow Queen. I also liked how the Dance of the Flowers had the dancers moving in unison but at different moments, so their arms and movements were like a wave effect. But what in the world was going on with Mother Gigogne and the children????? Grown men or some sort of beings came out of her skirt and beat up on babies. That was pretty bizarre!!! LOL What did that mean???

Pamela, I was worried about the fact that I read it was Neumeier's vision of Hans Christian Anderson viewing himself as the Little Mermaid (in love with someone who didn't love him back). I thought the concept of framing the piece as a creation of a man who is part of the ballet would not work for me (thought it would end up seeming silly), but it actually worked okay. I liked it. It gave it a layered meaning. Like you I loved the Little Mermaid story growing up. I was always touched that she loved the prince so much that it felt like walking on glass when she gained legs. It meant her love for him was so great. I also interpreted it to mean that it is agony to try to be someone you are not. I would like to know what others think about the dancing for the title character, b/c it is intriguing that the dancer who dances the Little Mermaid has to use all of her skill to demonstrate awkward steps (to portray agony at walking). On paper that sounds like a really ridiculous idea for the title character in a ballet! LOL But it works for me. And like I said I think Yuan Yuan Tan does an amazing job portraying both the physical and emotional pain of the role. Funny enough, the opera Rusalka which is essentially the same story has the character Rusalka give up her ability to speak to become human (so the soprano is mute for part of the opera), which is also sort of funny!

ITA with Aurora. If she'd been at another school, I would say yes. But SAB was IT in those days, especially if you were in New York. I can certainly imagine being dismissed from SAB as demoralizing enough to crush even a very driven young dancer. She evidently wasn't getting a lot of support at home, which could have made a big difference. Add in the fact that she was famous for being an SAB student, and I don't think it's surprising she just quit ballet. I think most people have made decisions as a young adult that they regret later on. She just happened to be well-known for the path she was leaving. That makes sense. I also liked hearing Aurora's comments. It really is true that you can't completely understand until you've walked in a person's shoes!

Just watched the dvd of The Little Mermaid that came the other day. I had no expectations whatsoever and approached it with an open mind. I have to say as a theater piece I enjoyed it. If I had expected a classical ballet, I would have been disappointed, although there are some classical ballet moves. For the most part it is very modern dance. It intrigues me that the main character has to be awkward and clumsy (the exact opposite in most roles in ballet), because it hurts when she walks once she gains legs. Yuan Yuan Tan is terrific as the Little Mermaid showing her pain and hurt when she realizes the Prince will not love her in the same way. I bet it is hard to dance in such a way that purposely makes you look clumsy when trained as a ballet dancer. Some of the choreography is very dissonant. Not sure what the right word is. Non-flowing movements. Maybe there are ballet terms. So this would never become a favorite ballet for most of us. But it is a fascinating one. I think I liked the first part where she still had her fish tail (actually silky cloth that symbolizes a fish tail). Her dancing was very beautiful. Then, later when she gains legs, of course, the dancing is impressive but not beautiful. To me this is a very modern piece, so not for everyone. Some of the moves look like yoga moves that I attempt to do in my yoga classes to give you an idea. The music is atmospheric, but I will have to listen more times to know whether I like it a lot or not, b/c so far it is not bad, not great either. Overall, it is something different that works as a theater piece. I don't think it is a work anyone would fly somewhere to see like people here flew to Italy to see Raymonda! LOL But if it were playing near me I think I would go to it. Although I understand why some people warned me it is not for children I did not really see anything that would prevent me from taking a child to see it if I had a child. I know my parents would have taken me to something like this at any age without any hesitation or regret. No, it's not Disney, but it is not offensive at all, in my opinion.

But let's be carefull. This could be Gigorovitch's infamous production with all that bizarre candelabra business during the Grand Pas de deux and the praying-like poses. If so, I won't even try to see it. It is what you mention after going back and looking! No wonder it looks so different (photos) than the traditional Nutcrackers I have seen. It lists different characters also like he-devils and she-devils or Chinese dolls, etc. Is the dancing totally different from regular Nutcrackers also, or is it just the production that is odd? Bart...it s an odd production. I own a DVD with the late great Mme. Maximova and Vasiliev on this, and saw it only once. And then, there's the darn candelabri... I'm glad you warned me. I was disappointed I couldn't see the Bolshoi's live Nutcracker, but now I am okay with it and happy the NYCB will present their Nutcracker live. So is the Mariinsky Vainonen dvd a good one to purchase? I have heard the brand new Mariinsky version is a horrible production. What about the dancing?

A mite harsh, perhaps? She was just a kid. You could be right that I am being too harsh. I just feel like she obviously has regrets from the sound of it, so why did she quit? Can't a young girl enter another school and have a chance at proving herself there and maybe return to the original school? Or maybe still become a professional dancer after attending a totally different school? I take the attitude that for every door that closes, another opens, so I think if she had the drive, she would have stuck to dancing, but I am not in her shoes and in her life, and I bet you are right that there is more to the story. It is definitely strange her father didn't seem to know what happened. I did work in middle school (ages 11-14 although some failed and stayed longer), so I guess I have seen so many children shooting themselves in the foot with behavior that I might be a bit harsh.

Totally agree with this!!! If I ran the Bolshoi I would feel robbed! It is like they plundered the Paris production and tried to make it work for the Bolshoi, when the Bolshoi deserves a production all its own created completely new and specifically for the re-opening. It is like the design team went on auto-pilot and did not want to think too hard. I suppose it could be worse. The new Sleeping Beauty could have been some weird concept production. I am enjoying how ballet seems to be fairly immune (knock on wood) to wild, crazy productions. The opera world has lost its mind. I do enjoy some crazy productions that make me think, but things have gone too far in that direction in opera. Ballet seems to be much more traditional (as far as sets go). I'm glad. Hope that continues. I don't want a Sleeping Beauty where Aurora makes her entrance in a 60s mini-dress and the Prince is a hippie!!! LOL

Jayne, You are probably right. Your theory makes me happier, b/c it makes sense and means that live HD presentations will not dilute the audience for opera and ballet. I really hope it doesn't. I have gone to NY just for opera and everything else is icing on the cake, same with other trips to other places, but I am nuts! Most people would not plan a trip just to see opera. Bart

But let's be carefull. This could be Gigorovitch's infamous production with all that bizarre candelabra business during the Grand Pas de deux and the praying-like poses. If so, I won't even try to see it. It is what you mention after going back and looking! No wonder it looks so different (photos) than the traditional Nutcrackers I have seen. It lists different characters also like he-devils and she-devils or Chinese dolls, etc. Is the dancing totally different from regular Nutcrackers also, or is it just the production that is odd?

I agree about the sets, or should I say "set," b/c it was basically the same set throughout. A disappointment. First time the Lilac Fairy's boat did not work for me, b/c it felt like it was just gliding on land right in front of Aurora's palace which didn't make sense! You are so lucky to see the Bolshoi's Nutcracker coming up. For some reason the only place that is playing in Florida is Key West, and I don't want to drive down there!!! I looked at the pics on the Ballet in Cinema site, and the Bolshoi Nutcracker looks totally different from the Nutcrackers in the U.S. or at the Royal Ballet in London!

I enjoyed it too. It is so amazing that we can watch a performance at the Bolshoi live as it is happening in our own city. I thought Zakharova took a little time warming up both physically and in character, but overall I liked her. I think you are right, Eileen, that she got better as the ballet progressed. She seems so tall and lanky for Aurora. I thought most Auroras were more petite. Or am I wrong? Hallberg created excitement, since it is such a high profile debut. The audience loved him. He is not only athletic but very artistic in his movements. I wanted a bit more force in the Violante fairy also, although I thought the dancer was good. I felt like the production, although lavish looking, was disappointing b/c it was practically the same set throughout the entire ballet. The set was very similar to the Paris Opera Ballet, but I think the POB version (by same design team) had more set changes or the illusion of more changes. I could be wrong. I will have to go back and re-watch the Paris Sleeping Beauty. Also, I thought the mime especially when the Lilac Fairy says, "No, she won't die, rather she will fall asleep..." was too subtle. Most productions make the mime much more clear, although I guess Sleeping Beauty is so well known that we really don't need the mime to be so clear. I am surprised that I wanted more mime. The other part I hated about the set was that the Lilac Fairy came to pick up Hallberg in a boat after the Vision Scene just like in most productions, but Aurora's palace was right there staring us in the face and there was no water. The boat was floating on land. Rolling out mist did not help me think of it as water. It was the most jarring boat scene I have seen in a Sleeping Beauty. I wonder why the set designers and director did not think up something better.

I think you're right that the casts are the important thing regardless of HD presentations, although I find myself planning fewer trips to NY now that the Met transmits a lot of their operas into movie theaters. Of course, live opera with performers in the same room is always the best, but when you add up the cost of flight, hotel, possible cancellations by singers, possible flight delays, etc......well, unless it is a really good cast and one of my favorite operas I am not planning to fly up. I think I would have still flown up to see two Anna Bolenas this year if I had not had a personal conflict. I wanted to compare and contrast Anna Netrebko and Angela Meade in the role. I also would attend the Ring Cycle but I hate the new "machine" so far from the transmissions. So I decided to save money and stay home. Anyway, my point is that I am not sure if the HD transmissions have kept me home and I don't know if I actually would make more of an effort to fly to NY if there were no HD transmissions. I didn't mean to go on about opera, but I think this all applies to ballet. Are these live in movies performances keeping people at home or helping the art form overall? I am torn about my feelings about ballet in cinema. I am so glad that I can see Bolshoi performances live as they are happening, but if many ballet companies started transmitting live, I think it might keep me at home instead of traveling to NY or Russia to see anything. I do think seeing actual performers in the same room is the best and most ideal and most exciting, but when it comes to ballet you tend to get basically everything in the movies unlike opera. In opera you can not tell how big or small the voice is at the movie theater. Everyone sounds the same level of loudness in the movie theater. So there is a bigger incentive to see singers live in an actual opera house as opposed to dancers. I imagine some dancers might have a charisma on stage that doesn't always translate to a movie screen. Not sure. This is all fascinating to try to figure out if these movie transmissions are good or bad for business for these companies. I suspect there will always people who want to make the pilgrimage to the Bolshoi, the Mariinsky, La Scala, etc. On the other hand I have talked myself out of flying up to see things the past few years since the Met transmitted what I wanted to see into the movies. With all that said I have a subscription to my local ballet company. So I think there are no easy cut and dry answers. I think companies are probably feeling their way through these new technological advancements and how to profit from them.

As a newbie to ballet, I find all the critiques and comments I read here very helpful as opposed to a NY Times review of a performance. What happens is that you read so many opinions, and you compare with what you felt when you saw the ballet or video or YouTube clip, and I find it very educational. I don't think criticism will ever die. Whenever you get die hard fans of a particular art form, there will be criticism. I am a 20 year veteran opera attendee and the same thing applies. Parterre Box, to give one example, has quite critical people on it and I am sure the opera singers who read the site have to have very thick skin. There is no holding back. You also can't post your thoughts on an opera performance without backing up your view or you as an audience member and amateur reviewer will be torn to shreds on the site as well. But you learn by comparing your views with those of many others. I think the blogs are wonderful! They have made it normal to read many people's differing views on a production or performance. I find that professional reviews of operas often seem like puff pieces, b/c usually the critic hobnobs with the singers, General Directors, etc. I can read an opera review sometimes and read between the lines and tell that a reviewer thought it was horrendous, even though his review is quite polite. There must be a reason for being polite, and I think that is because the professional reviewers face all the people involved in a performance literally face to face often, and it is harder to be critical of artists when you know them and like them as people and know your words will hurt their feelings. So I believe professional critics are forced into being more polite and less harsh and less honest as they would actually like to be.

Difficult situation. Something for parents to consider before giving their consent to this sort of thing. Thanks for posting this new info. Although I feel for her to some extent after reading the article about her, it sounds like she missed a lot of classes. I hate to say it, but it sounds like she may have done this to herself. You can't keep having lots of unexcused absences and think a school is going to keep you just b/c you are high profile. That's my opinion. Couldn't she have joined another school or continued ballet lessons elsewhere after being dismissed? The article actually leaves a lot of my questions unanswered. It appears that her dismissal from ballet school was upsetting to her, but then she should have continued in another school. I am still totally confused by the article.