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pherank

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Posts posted by pherank

  1. 17 hours ago, dirac said:

    I was more puzzled by the treatment of Farrell, who is accused of "wily manipulations" that go undescribed and with "unerring instinct" helps herself to a choice place at the barre occupied by a "rising young dancer," which readers of Merrill Ashley's "Dancing for Balanchine" will identify readily, since Ashley complained therein that when Farrell came back she took Ashley's favorite spot at the barre. (Farrell says in her own book that she just wanted to stand next to her old comrade and partner d'Amboise for support, as they had always stood together, a perfectly reasonable explanation.) 

    All of which could have been cleared up with a few words of explanation to Ashley. Certainly lends credence to the old assumption that dancers aren't great communicators (with words).

  2. On 5/27/2023 at 3:07 AM, volcanohunter said:

    Or take a look at the DVD of the Vainonen Nutcracker and the very sloppy exit of the snowflakes, presumably because the tempo was all wrong. The corps had their backs to the hall and couldn't see what he was doing, but they were clearly confused by what they were hearing.

    I rather thought he only had one tempo: fast.

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    After a decade of providing free access to our online articles, to protect our work and maintain our standards, a few changes are necessary. Dance Digest articles will remain free to access this week, however after that, you will need a subscription to access our full article and podcast library. 
     
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  4. 2 hours ago, Marta said:

    I agree with all your comments.  "Plain-faced" Diana Adams made me wonder if we were talking about the same Adams.  I found a lot of Homans' writing gossipy, and she seemed positively  hostile toward some dancers, e.g., van Aroldingen.  Mindy Aloff has also written a critique of the Homans book:

    https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2023/02/george-balanchine-mindy-aloff.html

    I too had a similar reaction to the book. The absence of information about Alexandra Danilova was another one of those head scratchers for me. We still need to go to Elizabeth Kendall's book and the various autobiographies to get a decent picture of Balanchine's early school days (and the various important relationships).

  5. 1 hour ago, Phrenchphry11 said:

    Are they doing any additional promotions this year?  At the very least, I would have expected Jimison to get promoted.

    Promotions generally come at a different time of year/season. Of course, it's all up to Rojo now, as to how she wants to handle it. Jimison was promoted to Soloist in 2021, I think.

    Great to hear that Pascal Molat is going to be on stage again.

  6. As Volcanohunter mentioned, Froustey is in her final few years as a dancer, so it's really a shame she couldn't finish things on a high note at SFB. But a collection of problems conspired against her.

    At this point, I think Tamara Rojo would be more of an excuse than a catalyst for the various leavings/retirements. It's simply a time of change. Every company that brings in a new A.D. sees some upheaval. At other companies, there have been A.D.'s that massively restructured things and let go of a lot of dancers, but I doubt Rojo is looking to do that - she has enough open positions to work with. I would think that she would want her first year to have as little drama as possible since there's so much for her to learn. Too much craziness and the board members quickly become disenchanted.

  7. Things did seem to get messed up for Mathilde over the last 3 years (as happened for various dancers around the world). Likely her marriage is kaput. She's going back to her 'home town' basically - an area of France she continues to love.

  8. 14 minutes ago, naomikage said:

    And here is Froustey’s post. She says she will leave SFB and return to France.(I think she was from Bordeaux) 

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr1X1N2vd-2/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

    I must have looked at her Instagram page 5 minutes before she posted.  😉
     

    14 minutes ago, Roseann said:

    Sad to see her go.  She was one of my favorites.

    Yes, it's more sad news. Her generation of dancers is disappearing from SFB in any case. I believe Mathilde's favorite partner was Tiit Helimets, and he's gone now. And there's been plenty of outward signs that her life had been totally disrupted during the pandemic and U.S. visa hassles. We don't know officially what the state of her marriage is, but there are few good signs there. Who knows what all happened.

  9. 5 hours ago, naomikage said:

    It seems Mathilde Froustey is joining Bordeaux Opera Ballet, according to Danses Avec La Plume. (journalist Amelie Bertrand) She will be dancing Kitri on June 30th there.

    Although I've heard nothing official on this side of the Atlantic, this announcement would make it official:

    "Mathilde Froustey previously held the position of Principal Dancer at the San Francisco Ballet and we are delighted with the return to France of this great artist."

    https://www.opera-bordeaux.com/nomination-de-deux-etoiles-au-ballet-de-lopera-national-de-bordeaux-37542

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