pherank

I like your list, Helene, but as far as present day performers go, I was wondering why Macaulay didn't mention any PNB dancers.

From the Marina Harss interview of Nancy Reynolds comes this fascinating exchange regarding Tanny:

When did you start taking ballet?
It was a total coincidence. I was enrolled in an after-school program at the King-Coit School, which offered a little dance, a little acting, and a little painting. We studied Duncan dancing. Tanaquil LeClercq’s mother was the receptionist and she said “I have a daughter who is a leading dancer with NYCB, and she’s never taught before and she’d like to give it a try.” So my first ballet lessons, about 40 minutes each, were with Tanny. As I look back it was absolutely amazing to have this gorgeous young teacher – she was about twenty-one then – who spoke excellent English. I say that because later on I had a lot of Russian teachers who had heavy accents and were way past it as far as being able to move goes. I don’t know what did it, whether it was studying with Tanny, or the fact that I happen to have very high insteps, but between the two, after about five months, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

What happened next?
I think maybe those classes lasted about a year, but by the end of that year I was dying to study ballet intensively. I was twelve. By then I knew about the School of American Ballet. But SAB required attendance three times a week and my mother thought that was much too much. So we asked Tanny whom she would recommend, and she recommended Vera Nemchinova, who was teaching at Ballet Arts. I went once a week. By the end of that year I was insistent on going to SAB. And by then I knew who Balanchine was, and I’d seen lots of NYCB performances. I saw Tanny when La Valse was new. She asked me to come backstage and showed me her dress. As for the coat, she said, “Look at those jets,” [the stones decorating the dress] “I think Karinska got them off an old dress.” As you can imagine, I was over the moon.

What was she like?
She had a great sense of humor, and she was absolutely unpretentious, breezy, with nothing of the grande dame. She was sort of a cutup. She didn’t philosophize about dance, at least not verbally. She was down to earth and American, with no airs. A lot of that showed onstage.

I'm curious what people think about the Marina Harss article regarding Suzanne Farrell Ballet and the Balanchine Preservation Initiative (date of publish is not displayed).

http://www.thefastertimes.com/dance/2011/10/20/on-suzanne-farrell-and-other-things/

"The staging of lost Balanchine works is one of Farrell’s aims, formulated in her Balanchine Preservation Initiative. A noble goal, even if one sometimes wonders if ballets like “Pithoprakta” and “Clarinade” really needed to be revived."

Since I have a natural affinity for Balanchine's work, I don't really question the need to revive forgotten or semi-lost ballets/dances. And to my mind, it is always interesting to see the development of a significant artist, and the artist's works over time, and to see the interrelationships (or discontinuities) within the oeuvre. Harss (perhaps inadvertently) draws a line between ballets that can be deemed significant (but by who exactly?), and ballets presumed to be less successful and thus not worth paying money for. Reviving rare works of a master choreographer, to me, is not very different from the discovery of minor works by a master painter, or discovering previously unheard recordings by important jazz musicians in an attic somewhere. And I think the comparison works especially well in Balanchine's case - he was an important 20th century Modern artist, and went about his work in a manner that fits well within that category.

I'm wondering how many people find this preservation effort of importance, and how many would rather attention was paid to other things.

"The rest of the evening had its highs and lows. The reconstruction of 'Haieff Divertimento' (a mediocre work, in my opinion) was notable mainly for the way it foreshadows phrases from 'Square Dance,' made thirteen years later...It’s interesting to see once, and helps us understand how Balanchine honed re-cycled and discarded elements of older works, but it’s not indispensable viewing."

Ah, but does it need to be "indispensable"? Harss plainly places a high value on a ballet's ability to 'entertain', and tied to that, a high level of execution: "Farrell’s dancers just didn’t seem quite ready for the big time". Although she doesn't come right out and say it, I think she had major reservations about the entire evening - both the execution and the concept.

Admin note: this thread is to discuss the inclusion of SFB dancers in Alastair Macaulay's article. A general discussion of the article can be found here:

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/37481-macaulay-on-all-american-ballerinas/

Thank you, Helene - good job re-organizing the thread(s).

Anyone looked through the ballet photos at the Library of Congress? Many seem to be available only at the LOC, but there are large online images for a certain percentage of the catalog -

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=ballet

There are some unusual finds, such as this Ballet Russe image from 1916:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005685094/

To get back to Mr Macauley's point, he is referring to the US-born ballerina style of dancing - that sense of freedom on stage that is unique. Maybe our friend studying in Russia will pursue a post-doc to expand on the topic?

Yes, I realize that, but my point was that to many Latin Americans the term "US" is not synonymous with "American". It's been voiced enough times in the Latin community that the people of the US of A essentially usurped the term "American". The Americas are one loooooooong stretch of land.

If you reverse these ideas -- turning them into their opposites -- you get a fairly good idea, of what Macaulay thinks a "real ballerina" ought to be. I can't say that I disagree.

And that's why I bother to read his critiques: he has good ideas - he just needs to avoid being quite so 'personal'. No one dances to offend the critics/public, so why should Macaulay write as if he IS being offended?

Soto missed his chance to challenge Macaulay:

Are you able to write a column that doesn't simply crush one dancer's spirits while inflating the ego of your more preferred dancer?

A dance critic is, for better or worse, in the education business, and not just a part of the entertainment industry. Criticism is not primarily entertainment. It's easy enough to show that people read these columns for information, to learn more, and not only to get a good laugh.

It was noted that when Nikolai Tsiskaridze appeared at the Bakhrushin Theatrical Museum last week he seemed to be in a very good mood and strangely undistressed about his dismissal from the Bolshoi. A few journalists speculated that he must have known something everyone else did not.

http://www.ng.ru/week/2013-07-07/7_culture.html

Perhaps he felt like an enormous gorilla had been removed from his back. ;)

...while Macaulay took a few of his usual hobbyhorses out for a gallop.

Ha! Very nicely put, Dirac.

As Quiggin mentions, Macaulay and the Times do seem to be devoting a lot of space (including photos, web slideshows, etc.) to ballet, which is a plus. He's able to develop his thoughts at length, unlike just about every other newspaper reviewer. Having lots of space is a luxury. But it can also be a disadvantage if the writer is tempted to drop in things that may not always be relevant to his topic or serious enough to be worth mentioning. With the article in question, however, such criticisms are relevant, imo, since we are talking about an overview of a week of many different casts. I always appreciate the chance to read about a number of casts for a series of performances I cannot see, whether Macaulay is doing the writing or one of our excellent Ballet Alert members.

Drew makes an interesting point about Macaulay's NYCB reportage which has definitely shown a willingness to say rather negative things about some NYCB dancers, almost as a way of reinforcing his preference for those other dancers he admires. He does the same with choreographers. The article we are discussing is not the first time that he has singled out a number of female principals for negative attention. I remember another review from about a month ago in which he praised some NYCB principal women and skewered others. I can't find the reference right now, but I recall that article only because his preferences AND disllikes in dancing are rather similar to mine.

I suspect that Macaulay has in idealized image in his head of what makes a "ballerina" and that this is quite different from the way that others may use the term. I don't have references in front of me, but he often writes about the "ballerina's" ability to hold the attention of the audience -- even while remaining still -- and about an element of total commitment to the role and/or choreography -- and in a wide range of choreographies. He uses the word "interesting" a lot. I suspect that a dancer who interests Macaulay in a range of roles is one he looks at more closely and works hard to appreciate. (Thus his criticism of Whelen, who he sees as great in some things, not so special in others. He has mentioned Bouder in this category, as well). Macaulay has also referred on a number of occasions to the "arc" of a performance (most recently in reference to Gillian Murphy in ABT's recent "Sleeping Beauty"), and he frequently associates ability with the artistic "intelligence" of the dancer he likes.

The space Macaulay has allows him to focus on detail. He often comments on beautiful finishes, as in Alban Lendorf's "luscious depth and fluency of [... ] plie on landing" during a solo in a recent ABT "Sleepling Beauty." Macaulay has the eye to notice these things, the experience to value them, and the time and space to remind us that they are important. But if these gorgeous moments are not part of a larger "arc" of sustained, linked, intelligent dancing, he will mention that too. That's quite valid, I think, but others may not feel the same.

And you too, Bart - very well put. And I think an accurate analysis of Macaulay's approach/thinking. "I remember another review from about a month ago in which he praised some NYCB principal women and skewered others..." Perhaps it was this one?

Mr. Martins’s policies are at their most perplexing in the way the company dances Balanchine. It’s baffling that several dancers — Megan Fairchild, Rebecca Krohn, Ask La Cour, Abi Stafford and Jonathan Stafford — were made principals. Useful executants, they’re not remotely authoritative. They neither own their own space nor light up the space beyond themselves. (I would add the generally bland Ana Sophia Scheller to that list but for the élan she brought to the “Embraceable You” role of “Who Cares?” on Friday.)

In this season’s best performances, four highly individual ballerinas — Sterling Hyltin, Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck, and Teresa Reichlen — kept extending their range, reaching new peaks of musicality, stage artistry and individual style. Among the company’s men, Robert Fairchild has become one of the most lovable and impressive dancers in America. Among the company’s other men, the young Chase Finlay — a principal since February — is evidently still learning, but his blend of seriousness, bloom, nobility and amplitude make him continually eye-catching.

But is there a single woman beneath principal rank who could light up Balanchine’s most exalted roles? These roles depict elusive, independent, challenging and inspiring women. Yet for the women in the City Ballet of Mr. Martins, few hurdles are harder than the task of shaking off girlishness. He allows a handful of them to grow into true artists, but elsewhere he gives us a company in which many dancers inhabit a state of perpetually arrested development. After 30 years it seems unlikely that Mr. Martins wants it otherwise.

That piece stood out for me, so I copied out that section.

I thought the article was good, and Drew's comment that Sara Mearns, Odette/Odile might not go over in Russia interesting, and that American dancers and Americaness, which seems neutral to us here, might have a different character value in Europe – like the American girl in Massine/Satie's Parade or Jean Seberg in Breathless. I used to find Tina LeBlanc who was so wonderful in Balanchine too American in San Francisco Ballet's Swan Lake. Maybe that's what Macaulay was taking into account with his comment about Balanchine dancers not being accepted as real ballerinas.

Certainly the definition of a 'prima ballerina', or a prima ballerina assoluta varies not only with the culture (and we should include regional culture in that), but from person to person.

The term "American Ballerina", as used by Macaulay, is rather a misnomer. With regards to SFB, Lorena Feijoo is a great American ballerina who was born in the Americas. It just happens that she was born in the Cuban "Americas".

Always interesting for me to hear about the top ballerinas in San Francisco--though alas I have only ever seen the company once and that some years ago.

I heartily agree that it is nice to hear something good about the SFB company, which is why I mentioned Macaulay's recent remarks. He is in fact one of the few east coast critics that takes the time to praise SFB dancers, and the company in general. So I can't be totally down on him. ;)

[Admin note: this question was originally in a thread to discuss Alastair Macaulay's article All-American Goddesses and merits a discussion of its own.]

More importantly - who would be on your list (I'm asking the BalletAlert Universe)? I know it's difficult to see all of the companies, but who else needs a name check?

Great question, and for that maybe we should create a thread for it in the appropriate place. Feel free to start one up, and I'll add my suggestions. ;)

Oh yes, Macaulay stuck his neck out on this one, but I kind of feel like it is timely. I do wish he had made this an in-depth piece, and really explored the topic, but it reads like a typical Sunday dance column critique rushed to make the deadline.

Soto asking for Macauley's head is just dumb - and how many times have we heard that regarding a critic? (especially New York critics). This is just my opnion of course, but I find Macaulay says a lot of true things, he just says them in a less than delicate manner. Newspapers love controversy, so Macaulay will stay.

New York Times Dance Critic Alastair Macaulay has recently published an article regarding the Amercian-born Ballerina:

All-American Goddesses
U.S. Ballerinas Redefine an Art, but What About History?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/arts/dance/us-ballerinas-redefine-an-art-but-what-about-history.html

"Just now there are at least 11 prodigious American-born young women dancing in six different American companies, who deserve to be called ballerinas."

"I can only say that their dancing already matters greatly and is full of yet greater potential. Set these 11 women against their European counterparts, and you find an energy, an open audacity, a rhythmic complexity, and an assertiveness that helps to define them as excitingly American."

"San Francisco Ballet has Vanessa Zahorian and Sarah Van Patten...

Ms. Zahorian and Ms. Van Patten are complex women who often light up San Francisco Ballet’s repertory with multifaceted authority. Both can be striking in dramatic roles: Ms. Zahorian has mature sophistication, while Ms. Van Patten is capable of wildness and sweep."

I want to congratulate Macaulay on his good taste. ;)

And I congratulate Ms. Zahorian and Ms. Van Patten on their musicality, artistry and theatrical individuality.

Read it, Buddy. And click on all of the video clips.

Yes, the video clips alone are worth the price of admission.

"I feel like I’ve been culturally deprived for twenty-five years"

[Miami]- "It’s a resort town, a clubbing town, it’s very shallow culturally"

Oh, we all know that. It is just a little hard to realize that there's never a step forward about changing such vision-(one that I happen to share, BTW). At the end of every story you end up knowing that, once again, real, deep rooting never happens over here...even after 25 years...(sight in frustration)

I now live in an area that is culturally similar to Miami - San Diego, so I concur. I'm amazed at how little SD has really changed in the last 30 years. I keep my mind and spirit in the San Francisco Bay area, just to stay sane. And of course, it is possible to carry your 'culture' with you, if you're mindful.

Hmmm. Not sure that Bubbles, who apparently never forgot a slight and harbored grudges with energy, is the ideal to follow in this context. Villella's remarks about Miami do sound a bit Sills-like. I would hope that ADs share credit and acknowledge help where credit is due and help received, while not forgetting where the buck stops.

I haven't seen any evidence yet that Villella has been angry with anyone other than the MCB board. He generally does give credit where credit is due, he just delivers it in his New York manner. He is a 77 year old man from Queens, 'How much graciousness you want?' ;)

Looks like the July 3rd performance didn't exactly bomb - no one gets booed or 'praised' with silence:

I have to agree - when you are the one that is forced to figure out every aspect of an enterprise, and come up with the '5 year plan', then it's natural to think that it is your project - to take both credit and blame for. And he was willing to take that responsibility on - at least for the first 25 years.

Or as Beverly Sills liked to say, "I don't share credit. I don't share blame. I don't share desert."

LOL - I believe in Edward's case that would be a bottle of wine or whiskey.

Villella created the hand from scratch. His words might not be gracious, but he wasn't hired to lead an established institution, and he gave far more to MCB, in my opinion, than he got. If the board decided at the end that the trade-off was no longer worth it or that he was endangering the institution, it certainly had the right make the choice it did, but I'm not sure why he has any more obligation to be loyal to it than Balanchine, who, when crossed, would say he'd leave NYCB and move to Switzerland to start a little company.

I have to agree - when you are the one that is forced to figure out every aspect of an enterprise, and come up with the '5 year plan', then it's natural to think that it is your project - to take both credit and blame for. And he was willing to take that responsibility on - at least for the first 25 years. Naturally, Villella was having to raise and spend other people's money, but don't we all do that in one way or another? So I don't think it's really a case of "biting the hand that feeds".

He obviously has some anger still about the split, regardless of what he says. Having to start all over again is demoralizing to be sure.

I was touched by the way he talks about the triumphant two weeks in Paris -- as a kind of summation of everything he had been trying to build since arriving in Miami. I think they were. His comment regarding Lopez is generous, and also wise. Miami and MCB are out of his hands now, and he seems okay with that and is signalling to the ballet world that he still knows a lot and has much that is unique and valuable to offer. Good for him.

It's interesting how the Paris perfromances have become their high-water mark, kind of their "Stravinksy Festival" moment. At least Villella got to experience that. But in recent interviews he seems to imply that he was running out of 'vision', and maybe that was a big part of the issue - how to then become something more than a company that dances Balanchine really well. As you say, "he still knows a lot and has much that is unique and valuable to offer", and Villella is one of those people who keeps demanding that the people with knowledge be given as many opportunities as possible to pass it on. However, it's never been all that easy to pass on the knowlege adn skills, especially regarding the Balanchine ballets.

Thanks, pherank. But for the record, it's perfectly okay to ask how to pronounce a dancer's name, and even make a joke or two.

Oh absolutely, Dirac. I was just refering to the fact that there wasn't anything else in the thread about Tan. She's worth talking about as a dancer too.

I agree about ABT's rep. Part of the reason I love ABT is because we (the audience) are able to watch multiple versions of the classics ("workhorses") each year. I like that ABT's rep is different than NYCB's. If they were to adopt the more variety program for their long Met season, why bother having 2 separate companies?

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.

One more note about Kochetkova - I guess part of the reason I was dissatisfied by her performance is that I expected so much more from a "guest artist." If McKenzie is going to spend extra money on a guest from another company, I want the guest to be exceptionally dazzling. I didn't think Kochetkova delivered performances (I saw both of hers this season) that exceeded what some of ABT's soloists (i.e. Sarah Lane, Stella Abrera, or Simone Messmer) could have done if given the chance.

I have a feeeling that you represent the core audience of ABT pretty well. I'm glad that there IS an American company that is able to devote time and energies to the classic, traditional story ballets. Keeping tradition and history alive is a necessary part of this artform: someone's got to do it. And it's good to know that ABT is out there; I just happen to really enjoy mix-bill programs and seeing latest developments in the art as well. And as I mentioned before, I don't think the ABT model makes for a good learning and 'nurturing' environment for the general company - dancers trying to work their way up through the ranks seem to find it a more unforgiving and tempermental environment than they would see at a regional company. So there are pluses and minuses with this company model, for sure.

"If McKenzie is going to spend extra money on a guest from another company, I want the guest to be exceptionally dazzling. I didn't think Kochetkova delivered performances (I saw both of hers this season) that exceeded what some of ABT's soloists (i.e. Sarah Lane, Stella Abrera, or Simone Messmer) could have done if given the chance."

A valid criticism given ABT's approach - you should be able to 'expect' 1st-rate performances from the principlas (though things do go wrong). I'm sorry that Kochetkova didn't deliver for you in this environment. It's going to be REALLY interesting to see just how well Messmer matches Kochetkova on Masha's home turf. I think Messmer will be a good fit at SFB, but you never know what will happen with personal chemistries. And then there's the city life - How will Messmer take to SF in general?

Haunting Beauty - Dance Magazine

http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/December-2009/Haunting-Beauty

Ask Yuan Yuan Tan if she is a big deal in her own country and watch her choreographed response. In a display of modesty any Giselle might envy, the Shanghai native softens her shoulders and lowers her chin demurely but her eyes cannot dissemble. The effect is endearing. You bet, she’s a big deal. “Not to disappoint,” Tan says with typical understatement, “is part of the Chinese character.”

Q & A with Yuan Yuan Tan (from Indianapolis City Ballet)

http://vimeo.com/37854455

CNN TalkAsia segment on Tan Yuan Yuan

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/25/ta.yuanyaun/

It's been interesting reading everyone's comments. I was wondering how Kochetkova might fare thrown into the Lion's Den. ;) She's generally a brave dancer, and constantly looking for new opportunities and new challenges. But it sounds as if she was fairly tentative at least in Act I. I can't say I'm totally surprised by the feedback because Masha just does not have the kind of experience with "old war horse" ballets like Sleeping Beauty that the ABT principals are expected to have. I would have to agree that it is unlikely she has had the time to think through the Aurora character. Sometimes being game is just not enough. And I know her rehearsal time was quite short.

It's very interesting that she attempted little with the Rose Adagio, and I wonder if, as others have said, that the Russian trained ballerinas tend to drop the difficult bits in the Adagio. Was she still dancing it similar to this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8mudeY4jss

I see that choreography was by "Kevin McKenzie, Gelsey Kirkland, Michael Chernov" but I wonder who was leading the rehearsals for Kochetkova and Cornejo.

I'm so used to seeing Masha in neoclassical ballet and modern dance pieces (think Forsythe, McGregor, Paul Taylor) that I'm used to hearing how she eats up the space and really commands the stage, but obviously, before this audience, she faltered a bit. And sadly, she will get only one shot at it. Or maybe not sad, as it isn't necessarily her world. But I know she will want to improve each of her weaknesses - a defeat just makes her work like a demon.

I agree with mimsyb that all those full-length ballets at the Met contribute to the casting problems. And to fill such a big theater, those full-length warhorses seem to be a necessity with today's audiences. The two-week fall season, with nothing but mixed bills across the plaza in a smaller house, should help provide more opportunities for soloists and corps members. It will be a test case, as it were, to see if they can sell well. Let's hope they do.

Did someone mention that the ABT contract with the Met only runs through 2015? Perhaps that will be the opportunity to move to the you-know-who Theatre for a summer season once NYCB closes -- most of June, all of July. That's not ideal either, but it might be more realistic financially, especially if fund-raising woes continue. I suppose a March-April season would be a possibility, but not great either.

This echos my feeling that it is actually enervating for a company to become overly reliant on star vehicles. It's a problem at the big Russian companies and its a problem at the ABT. I can't say I really envy the current ABT repertory. In fact I would be really unhappy to have SFB and ABT swap programs. ;)

But I'm not the sort to want to see Swan Lake each year with multiple casts. There's just too much more to explore...

Yeah, the 'watching it on all platforms' thing didn't resonate with me - I wouldn't watch it on a mobile phone, I'd watch it on my computer, or on a TV via USB or what have you. I agree that high-quality video is a must for this.

I don't like the logo, either.

I have to think that these online Ballet "channels" are going to be a big part of the future of the art. All the large companies, with adequate budgets (if there is such a thing) should be exploring online performances - both live and archived versions. It's seemingly the only effective way to insinuate ballet into everyday life.

Here's their web site, which includes a short trailer.

Timely idea, I suppose. And if all the digital videos are made available in HD (like the trailer), then the experience would not be too bad. I almost want to insist on 3D cameras for this, since no one is going to see it live, ever. ;)

"The US choreographer Susan Marshall has created elegant small-scale works to be viewed on mobile phones"

Watching dance on an iPhone or iPod is simply dumb though. OK, if you're at the airport, to kill time, but it is simply a bad visual experience - give the art and your brain a chance!

Tremendously ugly logo. Hurts me to see such things.