KarenAG

11 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

With all due respect to the Balanchine-era artists we love and admire, it's time for NYCB to embrace the contributions of a new generation when it selects its next AD*. It's no longer sufficient to have once worked closely with Balanchine. He's been dead for 34 years and a lot has happened to ballet, to dance, to the arts, to the media, to our society, and to the world in the interim. Those artists still have valuable, indeed invaluable, roles to play — as teachers, as mentors, as sources of first-hand knowledge, as touchstones, as keepers of the flame — but running a company isn't necessarily the best way to fulfill them. I say this as an aging Boomer who's delighted, excited, and charmed by the energy and creativity of the generation that's come after mine, and well aware of the things they are alert to, both good and ill, that I am not until they tell me. 

And, with all due respect to the younger, up-and-coming talent we love and admire, that AD has to come on board with a full portfolio of well- tested skills, including both artistic judgment and managerial expertise. Being an emerging choreographer isn't enough; running a pick-up company in the off-season isn't enough. Running a dance program at a university isn't enough. (One might argue that the opening decade or so of Martins' tenure shows what happens when someone is selected on promise rather than achievement, but i digress ...) 

A successful AD needs to be able to present a coherent artistic and organizational vision to the Board and convince them to 1) pay for it and 2) trust that he or she can and will make it happen, especially when there are setbacks. It's not job that can be handed to a novice or even a relative novice, especially given NYCB's financial and organizational scale, its position as one of Lincoln Center's resident companies, and the firepower of its Board and major donors. 

A successful AD needs to be a leader. And although a clear artistic vision is paramount, managerial and organizational savvy is not something that can be dismissed lightly: all one has to do is look at the PA Ballet's various personnel and PR debacles in the Corella era to see what ill can be wrought by an indifference to the niceties of sound leadership. 

Finally, if Martins is relieved of his position for reasons related to harassment or fomenting a hostile work environment or toxic culture, the Board may well elect to look outside the organization for his replacement.

* Even if Martins survives the current firestorm, he is 71 and in the twilight of his NYCB tenure. If we aren't discussing his replacement now, we will be soon enough. 

Kathleen, that is about as eloquent, sound and elegant a statement I've read on this subject and I thank you for it.   

22 hours ago, yukionna4869 said:

This is my nightmare.

Oh, me, too.  Thank you, yukion4869.

23 hours ago, aurora said:

How about no.

May I 'like' this?  

This is distressing news, but why am I not surprised with sexual harassment allegations surfacing almost daily. My feeling is Martins will almost certainly step down.  And it worries me - what direction will a new AD take our beloved company? 

Who to replace Peter Martins?  I would love to see Suzanne Farrell, Kyra Nichols, Edward Villella or Damien Woetzel come on board, but perhaps except for Kyra, they're all longshots. Perhaps Heather Watts?  

Loved this. I have always loved Joni Mitchell's music - amazing, glass-like, poetic lyrics, vocals unlike any other and wild, gorgeous tunes- what an artist! I, too, am sad that Ms Mitchell is not in good health. Thank you for posting this, Pherenk. 

Rest in Peace, Jerry.  

12 hours ago, DanielBenton said:

If memory serves (?) I think Merrill Ashley coached the Bolshoi in Diamonds a few years ago, and Karin von Aroldingen is still an active coach.  In coaching music, a good teacher is able, while remaining true to the essence of a piece, to dissociate themselves from the way they learned a piece and thus have a fresh perspective when listening to students perform.  Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Paris Opera and NYCB are so different in their training and presentation, and thus it would be fascinating to get their views.  Balanchine (like Beethoven, Bach, or Shakespeare), has a universal message such that his compositions can be presented in these really different traditions.     

Hi Daniel - thank you. An interesting and provocative thought because many of us can view interpretations of Balanchine through the lens of 'how should the piece look' or 'is it being performed in Balanchine's style', or 'does the company understand Balanchine?'.  As for Merrill Ashley coaching Diamonds a few years ago, yes, I remember that and it was discussed in an issue of Ballet Review. Also, the program from the LC Jewels performance I attended (Bolshoi performing Diamonds) states that the staging is by Merrill and Paul Boos. 

On 8/13/2017 at 3:19 PM, DanielBenton said:

It would be interesting to know what the original generation of dancers (I am thinking of Allegra Kent, Karin von Aroldingen, Jacques d'Amboise etc.) who may have seen this summer's performances thought about it.  Their thoughts on how Balanchine's works are being passed down and out of New York City to other companies would be most welcome.

 

Daniel, I would LOVE to hear their thoughts about how Balanchine is performed today, by both NYCB and other companies.  I wonder if they still coach, as Merrill Ashley, Maria Calegari and others do.     

Greetings, orangerose and welcome to Ballet Alert!  Ah, Giselle - what a great introduction to live ballet!  Giselle is one of my absolute favorite ballets and ballet heroines (and a favorite to sooooo many others here on BA ) - you will find many interesting and intelligent opinions and comments on this gem of a ballet.   I hope to hear more from you soon.     

Rest in Peace, Mr Campbell. I loved your music, your great guitar playing, and  your warm, sad voice. Wichita Lineman! We'll remember you in your songs. Thank you. 

On 7/25/2017 at 9:57 PM, vipa said:

For a great Diamonds pas check out Alexandra Ansanelli for what I think of as the right mood and feeling - simple but complex!

 

Oh my word!  What beauty.  Alexandra is stunning, fragile but imperial, her dancing is so lovely and she has such presence.  This is really special.    Thank you, vipa.   

On 7/23/2017 at 7:25 PM, abatt said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/arts/dance/understanding-george-balanchine-jewels-new-york-city-ballet.html?_r=0

 

 I thought this might be of interest re Jewels.

On 7/23/2017 at 7:40 PM, nanushka said:

 

Thanks, abatt. I strongly recommend Nancy Goldner's long analysis in Balanchine Variations and, somewhat less strongly, Laura Jacobs' essay "Balanchine's Castle."

Thanks, nanushka and abatt, for these links.  I have the Goldner essays but I'll read the other two.   

1 hour ago, sandik said:

 

Last thing first -- your English says what you want it to say.  Which means it's far better than my Italian, German, French, or Japanese. 

 

I agree that in the US we tend to frame diversity in terms of black and white, when in fact we are a much more colorful country.  I live in the Pacific Northwest, and around here, our Asian and First Peoples populations are sometimes more numerous than our African American.  But even though those groups have a long history of unfair treatment from the white majority, we still, as a country, are grappling with the after effects of slavery.  And these struggles play themselves out in almost all parts of our culture.  It's messy, it's painful, and in some cases it does push other peoples aside, which also makes it unfair.  But honestly, it is such a stain on our heritage, that we really do need to do this work, as strange as it may seem to someone looking at it from the outside.

 

Explanations are not excuses, but they are explanations.

Beautifully stated, Sandik. 

2 hours ago, Gnossie said:

 

I actually wasn't able to hold some tears while reading your question, Jayne...

It would require to drop the awful pastiche of a method that is being passed down in the Academy now, It would require to go back to the REAL French ballet method of dancing, It would require a true balletic encyclopedia, a true classicist...in short someone with the capacities to run the school properly, to take over.

it would require a goverment that cared about it, but the ones in charge really don't care about who they appoint, that's the problem in France, everyone brags about "the tradition" when actually they don't know heck about the tradition, à plaurer 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, Karen, you pretty much got it all right, Park and O'Neil  aren't French trained so obviously their dancing is completely different to those of the POB educated girls, my problem with outsiders in the company is that it makes the ensamble lose its homogeneity.

 

 
They are part of the company and they see how everyone else dances but they're never going to dance like a French girl.

 

They have a different training, its like having a non Vaganova graduate at the Mariinsky, you notice the difference right away, same here,  it's a different training, a different placement, a different technique, a different way of breathing on stage, the differences are too huge.

 

 

Because they are and to be honest I also don't see understand what's the point of allowing outsiders to join the company when POB has the oldest and most illustrious academy on earth, if the company is going to do a casting  open to everybody then why keep the academy? What makes POB, RDB and Mariinsky special is the training of it's dancers and the homogeneity of their ensamble, without  those things then the companies are just a name, and in the case of POB, the mother of all companies, seeing how the French ballet tradition is being sacrificed thanks to the ignorance of the people in command, thanks to globalization and in order to be "politically correct" it's desperately  annoying, it's also a practical thing, I don't understand why a company with such an enormous academy has to bother doing an open casting to outsiders instead of allowing more POB graduates into 
the company, but that's another topic and I'm rambling. 

 

 

Thank you, Gnossie, for your answers to my questions and your opinions - I have some thoughts and will respond later. 

5 minutes ago, KarenAG said:

I saw Murphy and Gomes dance this at the Fisher Center at Bard several years ago and they were wonderful.  Interestingly, the next summer at SPAC, NYCB danced it and I thought it looked so different.   

I'm almost certain it was Tiler Peck, but I don't know who the male was.  But that would explain, in part, my feeling that I wasn't seeing (at SPAC) the ballet I had seen at Bard the previous fall.  They're such strong and talented, but very different, dancers.

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 11:19 AM, fondoffouettes said:

 

 

 

I can't believe they're bringing back Millepied's dreadful Daphnis and Chloe. I'm happy to see the return of Other Dances (I remember Murphy and Hallberg being delightful in it, during that weird fall season at Avery Fisher Hall). Symphonic Variations is another welcome return; we'll see if the company looks more comfortable in it this time around. 

I saw Murphy and Gomes dance this at the Fisher Center at Bard several years ago and they were wonderful.  Interestingly, the next summer at SPAC, NYCB danced it and I thought it looked so different.   

4 hours ago, canbelto said:

 

Karen, thanks for your thoughts! I'm so happy you got to see this Superjewels! I think maybe in retrospect I'm being too hard on the POB's Emeralds. In recent years NYCB has had Tiler Peck do the Violette Verdy role and dancers like Ashley Laracey and Sara Mearns the Mimi Paul role. But I do remember when Peter Martins himself seemed to have trouble casting this ballet in a way that he never did for Rubies and Diamonds. I remember some real miscasts as well. 

 

I was thinking that some of the oddities of the Bolshois' Rubies seemed to come from a place of being overly scrupulous. It's as if they wanted to avoid ANY accusation that they were overacting, hamming it up, distorting the music or steps, so it was as if they were afraid to actually dance. But risk-taking is part of Rubies' DNA -- it's not supposed to look tasteful.

Thank you, Canbelto. These are good points!  Rubies is not a 'polite' ballet .   

29 minutes ago, Fleurdelis said:

 

We need to remember that the Bolshoi's costumes were made with a different background in mind. In the videos from the Bolshoi's performances, Diamonds are performed against a deep sky blue background with a constellation of diamond-like stars. Which makes the dancers and their white costumes stand out a lot more. By comparison, the NYCB's background I found dated, a bit tacky, and distracting from the dancers. The background for Rubies, however, was right on target.

 

As for the white gloves, I found them god-awful, would have much rather preferred to see the beautiful long expressive arms of the Russian ballerinas. The Bolshoi did not always have these gloves, if I recall correctly, where have they come from here? 

I agree about the gloves- I really dislike them.  If the women were wearing tea-length tutus (like in La Valse), they would work.  But this is a classical, imperial ballet.

Diamonds:  I'm not sure where to begin. I thought the performance was breathtaking, stunning, despite a few problems.  Visually, the company is gorgeous. I agree with many posts about their look, their uniformity of height, their long legs, arms and necks, etc. They are so beautiful!    I really liked the tutus, especially the gorgeous bodices with capped sleeves.  They were very white, but it didn't bother me.  Karinska's original costumes are the best, but since this was a Russian company, they were dressed in their Imperial Russian ballet finery. I seem to remember the style of the tutu skirts to be similar or maybe even the same style as the tutus in the dream scene of their Don Quixote. 

I didn't have a problem with the tempo and I am usually sensitive to tempos that are too slow for a particular ballet (I'm thinking of some Russian Sugar Plum Fairy or Swan Lake Act II PDD videos where the tempo is agonizingly slow). The company danced quite beautifully and classically with amazing and solid technique, they just don't look like Balanchine and I don't think they can, despite the coaching by Merrill Ashley (and Paul Boos, whom I don't know).  This is where Kovaleva, who was both physically and technically gorgeous, had some issues, I think.   I agree with Kaysta's comments about her dramatic presence. I'm sure she will grow into this role, but for now, I think she lacks a kind of aloof and impassive grandeur, a you-can-look-but-you-cannot-possess me quality that the role demands. Some key moments were too soft and lacked the drama associated with the music.  First, the moment in the PDD where she bourees and then pirouettes(?) into the cavalier's arms and almost looks trapped and she must get away - it's a single unbelievable pose wherein she establishes she can't be there (in his arms). (On the YouTube video with Farrell and Martins it starts at 8:02 for those who may want to see what I'm talking about).   The other underwhelming moment yesterday happened when the ballerina sort of marches forward on point with her arms over her head, his arm protectively around her waist.   Both of these moments, at least from my seat, which was very good, seemed under-expressed.  These are iconic Balanchine choreographic moments. There is such tension in this PDD.  The  cavalier pursues her, they walk as if in love, they dance, but it's fleeting because she is ultimately  unattainable, regardless that there is something in her that wants to be possessed.  Those two moments, I believe,  help to establish that unattainability. 

Tissi was lovely, but the hand kiss was, IMO, not properly executed. For me, that kiss is the cavalier's resignation and acceptance that he cannot posses  her, and he bows down in reverence and kisses her hand   Tissi's seemed to me a stolen kiss. 

I have often thought - did Balanchine have Diana the Huntress in the back of his mind when he choreographed this PDD?   Those port de bras, iconic and beautiful, where her arms are over her head, one bent behind, the other outstretched above and forward, doesn't she looks like a statue of Artemis, imaginary bow in her exquisite hands?.

13 minutes ago, nanushka said:

 

Very nicely put!

Thank you, nanushka.

2 minutes ago, kbarber said:

Hannah is from New Zealand.

Yes, you're right - she trained, at least in part, in Australia.  Thanks for the correction, Katherine.

This is my 500th post!  It took me some time to get there as I hardly posted last year.   Continuing with my thoughts on Jewels.....

Rubies:  Not sure I have anything much to add that hasn't been said already about NYCB's fantastic Rubies at yesterday's matinee.  Except they had to repeat the performance in the evening. Wow!  I thought they were spectacular.  Tess Reichlen is a fabulous tall girl, scintillating and sexy.  She's so cool and contained but definitely in charge. It's apparent she really loves to dance this role. I'm increasingly delighted with Megan Fairchild's dancing these days.  I find her more musical and her technique is lovely.  Perhaps that long stint on Broadway contributed to growth and maturity in her classical dancing.  She is more assured, perhaps more daring even. She looked like she was having the time of her life yesterday.    When I saw her at Saratoga in Jeu de Cartes, she was the best thing in it; she was commanding and dynamic and truly fun to  watch in an otherwise problematic ballet (for me) . Back to Rubies, Joaquin is amazing!  I can't believe he's 41.  He has so much energy and joy in his dancing.  He was the same in Tarantella a couple of weeks ago.  The whole performance Rubies, I mean) was just sublime and I loved it.

19 minutes ago, canbelto said:

Farrell/Martins at least in the video are also very remote and chilly.

 

Actually Mearns' take on Diamonds isn't even the orthodox NYCB take on Diamonds. Wendy Whelan, Teresa Reichlen, Maria Kowroski also all less emotive than Mearns.

I absolutely agree with this statement.  I have seen each of these dancers, as well as Suzanne Farrell years ago, dance the role and Mearns' interpretation is not quite the chilly, remote goddess.  She is a queen, however, but with more fire than ice.   I love her interpretation, but also love Tess Reichlen's. Farrell's will probably always be the standard. 

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 3:53 AM, Gnossie said:

 

 

.Park and O'Neill are outsiders.

Hello, Gnossie, 

I referenced this in my post about Emeralds in the LC thread. Is your statement a reference to what some have stated is a neglect of the French style at POB?  I know Hannah is from Australia and received her training there, and I surmise with Park, it's a similar situation, but aren't they learning the French style by being company members?  What do you see as the impediment?  Why do you think of them as outsiders?  I am curious because I don't know the French school much at all and I'd like to better understand now that I've had the pleasure of seeing them yesterday. Thank you.

22 hours ago, canbelto said:

Anyone see the afternoon cast with Kovaleva in Diamonds?

I did. Was kicking myself that I didn't plan to take in a performance and missed the opportunity, but on Friday evening a couple of seats miraculously opened up (donated back, I suppose) and I grabbed one. I'm thrilled that I did.  I have never seen POB and I saw the Bolshoi only once, at Saratoga for DQ three years ago; I also saw Eugenia Obratzsova in R&J at ABT.   So this was a real treat, regardless that the two guest companies had some issues with Balanchine's choreography, which IMO is to be expected - Balanchine is not in their DNA, although it is indeed unfortunate that the Russians' Rubies was as bad as it was.  I read everyone's comments here and I must say, what interesting and provocative observations and insights, as always.  Canbelto, I also enjoyed your review in your blog and title - Superjewels - what fun!   My husband took to calling it The Supernova, as an in a very bright celestial event. 

Emeralds:  I agree that this was the weakest section, although I cannot quite put my finger on why, probably because I don't intimately know the French style.  The dancers were impeccable and all elegance, but without that Balanchine look.  Ould-Braham is a beautifully lyrical dancer - I  loved her dancing in the Pelleas and Melisande Sicilienne - that music is so gorgeous!  I agree about  the odd moves of Pujol, but she is lovely.  Fabian Revillion danced the Pas De Trois in Francois Alu's place.  I've been casually following Hannah O'Neill since her win at Prix de Lausanne in 2009 and it was great have the opportunity to see her.  Both she and Park were lovely and I thought the trio had good chemistry.  Gnossie mentioned in the POB discussion that 'Park and O'Neill are outsiders' - does that speak to the discussion of the French style being neglected at POB?  I'll ask that on the thread Gnossie posted with a quote.  These are things I can't readily discern, however, any dancer coming into a company with a distinct style and training (e.g., the French school, or Balanchine's)  from the outside must learn that company's style.  Perhaps O'Neill and Park aren't there yet? Although I didn't see anything wrong with their dancing - I thought they were soft and elegant and fit into the company's aesthetic and style, which seems to be cool, classical, refined and very restrained. 

I didn't really like the costumes - too much turquoise and forest green (someone else mentioned these colors, too, here) - they actually jarred with the emerald green NYCB set, and I didn't like the bodices of the tutus. Perhaps they look better with POB's sets.  Other than that, I enjoyed the performance very much and I am thrilled to have finally seen the  French!  On to the other reviews of this unique event.