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bobbi

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Everything posted by bobbi

  1. Thank you, Vipa, for your post. I left before Diamonds so I could catch the Yankees (even though I'm a Mets fan). I had a feeling that Wendy (who has done this role spectacularly in the past) might not be on top of her game. And I am looking forward to Mearns' Diamonds this coming Tuesday. I agree that the Emeralds was given one of the best performances ever. This ballet demands two female leads with superb musicality and phrasing -- both of which Tiler and Sara have in spades. Those of you on this board know I am a huge Ashley B. fan but I really wish Patricia McBride would come back and coach this role. IMHO, it's nothing like it used to be.
  2. I too was thrilled by the impressive array of talent in this year's crop -- both those "graduating" and those coming up in the ranks. And not since Ashley Bouder graduated over ten years ago have I been enthused about a dancer as much as Angelica. She's another one with instinctive musicality and has the innate ability to phrase, and all that is coupled with a solid technique. We will be seeing lots of her (I hope) in the future.
  3. An item on my ballet wish list finally came true: I got to see Ashley Bouder in Square Dance last night! It was a match made in ballet heaven: A dancer with great technique and musicality. But the added pleasure was her young partner, Taylor Stanley. Wow! He matched Ashley step-for-step but the surprise was in the great male solo. The entire variation just flowed beautifully, as it should. Terrific. I hope the two of them get to do this again before they retire.....
  4. It was a very nicely balanced evening at NYCB last night. The program included Dances Concertantes, Tschaikovsky Pas, Barber Violin and the new Estancia. Ashley Bouder and Andrew Veyette were marvelous in the Tschai Pas -- both bravura and elegant at the same time. (Too few couples achieve this.) They were called back four times in front of curtain by a totally captivated audience. (But did I see my favorite Ashley slightly out of breath at the end?) Next came the Barber and all hands -- Megan Fairchild, Sara Mearns, Jared Angle and Charles Askegard -- were terrifc. Megan has a sly sense of humor which she gets to display in this piece, and Sara's creamy line and legato look really work here. The guys were very good too. A nice start to the week.
  5. I too was at yesterday's matinee performance and -- with a few quibbles -- thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Ramdon thoughts: Best hair award goes to Janie Taylor. I too wished I didn't know about the 8-count opening. Special kudos to the male corps in Who Cares. As one who has watched this ballet from its premiere, it's so nice not to have a "white knuckle" experience when the guys do their turns. Some posters gave a "thumbs down" to Interplay as a ballet, but they should have heard the little girl behind me in Row B of the Second Ring, giggling at the movements, and thoroughly engaged by what she was seeing. Maybe she'll enjoy coming back again with her grandma. This is a ballet that can grab newbies and -- if it's demystification NYCB is aiming for -- Interplay does the trick. Although I too very much enjoyed Tiler in McBride's role, I do wish Ashley would given a shot at it. Alas and alack, AB's career will be over before she's in all the ballets I want to see her in.....
  6. As an early music fan, I think it's a marvelous idea and, knowing that Christie is involved in the project, I'm sure it will be a high quality, classy event.
  7. Michael, I absolutely agree about Ashley's Donizetti. I had a smile on my face throughout the whole ballet. And now on to Scotch!!! I happened to spot Peter Martins across from Lincoln Center yesterday, and resisted the urge to thank him for casting her in Scotch -- one of my favorites. It only took 10 years!! Now I'm hoping she'll do La Source too.
  8. I have two Second Ring, Row A subscriptions and plan to drop one of them. I'm not doing this because of the new scheme or the prices. It's just that it's very hard to find a complete evening of ballets to sit through. Even some of the All Balancbine programs are very odd programming. Some programs end with Episodes. What planet are the programmers on? In Balanchine's day, Episodes was a middle ballet -- never a closer. The concept of appetizer, entree and dessert type of programming seems to have gone the way of the dodo. There is even a program where Slaughter is first! Have the programmers ever seen these ballets, or are they just names to them?
  9. I think Katie is on to something about Marzipan. It's the role I always look to to see who's cast (as a possible up and comer) and who succeeds in it (not that many). And about that "ungainly skirt," I've heard tell that these are still the originals and are constantly being repaired because they would be too costly to replace. By the way, count me in to see Katie's Aurora. I'm looking forward to her second one on Saturday evening.
  10. I find Maria to be a gorgeous dancer, with beautiful turn-out and a languid and leisurely way about her. It's not that I don't think she's beautiful; it's just -- IMHO -- she's changes the intent of the choreography. There was a story about Balachine's giving McBride an image of a gypsy woman begging for money when McBride did her turns and gestured with her hands. The way McBride did it, it was a series of very quick gestures -- speedy -- commanding -- regal. I don't get that sense from Maria at all. Watching Maria -- for me -- is like watching the ballet in slo-mo. It's beautiful alright, but my image of McBride is so strong, that I had wished this revival had gone to Ashley with her superb technique. That would have made me very happy. By the way, I too was at the premiere of this ballet with Hadyen -- and saw Balanchine being the "flower boy."
  11. Well, I guess I get to start the comments about the new ballet. First off, though, what a pleasure it was to watch Agon last night after all the story ballets. I felt like I was at NYCB again!! And a very good Agon it was. Wendy is always terrific in this role, and knowing that this would be one of Albert's last Agons made is especially nice. On to the new ballet. I'm not sure I understood what was happening. I do know that I want to read the Chekhov's story now though. I will say that I liked the sets, costumes and the little dog (who I learned is actually Sterling's). The dancing itself was excellent. One thing I did like very much was that the ballet vocabulary was used. There was very little of the "pretzel" stuff so fashionable these days. I'm not good at descriptions but I will see it again; it's not at all boring, and there is even some very creative partnering. A definite plus for NYCB. There were two high points for me in Cortege Hongrois: the dancing of Jonathan Stafford and Sean Suaozzi. Jonathan, in particular, is well on his way to being a danseur noble in the best tradition. He was simply wonderful. Sean was incredibly energetic and convincing in the character dancing. Both the demis -- Ana Sophia Scheller and Gwyenth Muller -- turned in good variations. Maria is always a delight to watch, but I strongly feel that she is very miscast here. This was a great McBride role, and Maria makes it something very different. The audience is short-changed.
  12. One of my favorite memories is of a stage rehearsal by Balanchine of Jean-Pierre Frohlich in the role of Apollo. As long-time NYCB goers know, Jean-Pierre was not the Nordic looking god we were used to because of Peter Martins. I remember this vividly (and forgive me if I've told this story on this board before) because during the rehearsal, I heard Jean-Pierre say -- after missing a part of the choregraohy -- something like, "nobody told me to do it that way." And Balanchine replying, "Nobody told me either." Jean-Pierre went on with the rehearsal, but it's a memory I treasure.
  13. The Second Ring ladies' room on NYCB's opening was out of order, and I was directed to go to the First Ring. How long has the theater been open that this should happen? And for those of us who eschew bottled water, I was dismayed to find that the water fountain on the right side of the Second Ring spewed the same old tepd water. (And I was told that this was the only fountain actually working!!) Why couldn't something so very basic be fixed? Grumble, grumble....
  14. Ditto on all that's been said above. I just want to add that it was a bit much to have the video of Martins and Adams preceding the new ballet. It seemed to me that the message the audience was meant to get was that we were seeing the 21st century version of the Balanchine/Stravinsky collaboration. I don't buy it.
  15. Well, it was worth the nine-year wait: Ashley -- and Andrew Veyette's -- first T&V. It's been so many, many months that I had seen Ashley dance that I almost forgot why she has so enthralls me. But it all came roaring back last night. The one word that encapsulates it all is: musicality. There was no rushing through any dance phrase and her incredible rubato shone through. She manages that trick that only the greatest dancers do: even in allegro work you see every movement as smoothly as silk and crystal clearly. There is no rushing here: time and images stand still in your mind. Andrew did a very nice job indeed in his own killer variation. There could have been a little improvement in the partnering area. I'm sure he was going for some soaring lifts but they didn't look clean. Hopefully, this will be fixed in today's performance. Stay well and healthy, dear Ashley. Your performances bring great joy to the ballet world. There was great applause and bravos (bravas) last night. It was also the debut of Megan Johnson in Barocco. Very nice indeed. She seemed to have her own fan club already in place -- or maybe most of SAB was there but loads of applause for this up-and-comer. On a bit of a sour note, I know the audience seems to like Oltemare, but I can't take another one - despite it's being dance wonderfully. Tastes change over time. This is just not my thing.
  16. Yes, Farrell Fan, my hangout is still the Second Ring. These days I do a lot of trading tickets based on how many Balanchine ballets are on a program. I hope to see you at Ashley's first T&V this coming Saturday night (which only took 9 years)!!
  17. To regular readers of this board, you know that I often post my gripes here. But I just have to report what a ballet "high" yesterday's matinee was. It started out with a luminous performance of Balanchine's Swan Lake with a stalwart Askegard as her prince. I always loved this version of Swan Lake, and everybody danced it beautifully. I do have a question though for those with long memories. At the end of ballet, as Von Rotbart is pulling the swans to him, didn't there used to be lighting effects that simulated lightening? And didn't the swans twirl individually rather that follow in a group? I know I'm explaining this badly but maybe someone can figure out what I'm asking. Another thing: someone asked why the black costumes for the swans. The story I heard ages ago was that NYCB had a lot of extra unused black tulle, and that was the reason for the black swans. Can anyone corroborate that? Now I'm going to commit heresy: In the Steadfast Tin Soldier, I enjoyed Megan and Danny more than Patty/Helgi or Misha!! Shocking, I know. But there it is. Megan and Danny were absolutely mesmerizing here. The next piece was Sean Lavery's Romeo and Juliet with Kathryn Morgan and Tyler Angle. They were as perfect a romantic partnership as one could wish for on Valentine's day. They were wonderful. And the last heresy on this post: I thought Maria K. was better as the Striptease Girl than Suzanne. (Sorry, Farrell Fan.) Now I've shocked you, I'm sure. But Maria's interpretation was "hot" sexy whereas Suzanne's was "cool" sexy -- and it worked. Thank you, NYCB, for a great afternoon at the ballet -- better than any chemically induced "high"!!!
  18. I too am glad -- and relieved -- Ashley is being cast again. However, I have so been looking forward to her first T&V in New York. My gold standard in T&V is still Gelsey but I was hoping that Ashley would be her equal in that role. I hope Ashley gets cast in T&V before her retirement performance; she's almost nine years out of SAB now. When will we see her in T&V?
  19. Here it is the season of joy, and I'm griping again... Why, oh, why, do we have Darci in Vienna? I'm beyond dismayed now. The times are such that spending big bucks to see a dancer way past her prime is just outrageous.
  20. Yes, Farrell Fan, that is a good quote. But do you think that the Powers That Be at NYCB really believe that (as discussed the Times article from which the quote was taken)?
  21. Is anyone else dismayed by this program as an opener? I understand and applaud the effort to get NYCO on board, but what about Liebesleider excerpts? Why is there so little Balanchine? I think ABT does more Balanchine than NYCB. And in the economic climate we are in, where I'm giving extra thought on whether I want to spend money on a night at the ballet -- even after being a fan for over 40 years -- I find that I don't even want to sit through this program much less pay for it.
  22. It was indeed a very nice evening. It was a special treat to see -- one more time -- Damian's turning exit in Rubies. He really made that his own. And it was a great tribute to Damian personally that so many of his fellow dancers were both on stage and in the audience for his farewell. Can anyone identify who the very tanned dancer was standing to Jeny Ringer's left (stage left that is) at the end of the parade of ballerinas?
  23. drb, so glad you are feeling better. I had missed your wonderful posts. Certainly last night's Ballo was as perfect a tonic as anyone could get. It was exhilerating. As drb pointed out, Ashley somehow managed to be lyrical in this fast-paced ballet. For me, last night's demis (Laracey, Sheller, Periera and Morgan), three of whom were new the roles, were fabulous. They danced with the spirit and technique of the originals (Borne, Saland, Ware and Austin). There was only one strange thing at the end of the performance, where the orchestra didn't seem to be in sync with the dancers. But this is a cast not to be missed. But what's with this "new" audience? Although Ashley and Ben (who was good too) were called out for a curtain call, it seemed (despite the scattered bravos) to be grudging. Hey, folks, you won't see dancing like this any place else in the world.
  24. I can confirm that the dancers sailed through the noise with great aplomb -- and for this to happen during Katie Morgan's Marzipan debut was quite annoying (more to me than to her). Her secure dancing was a model of gorgeous phrasing. Unfortunately I will not be able to see her Sugar Plum debut Saturday (as I'm at a Met R&J) but I hope someone posts about it. Damian continues to marvel at the high level of his bravura dancing and Wendy, of course, is Wendy. She so reminds me of my feelings about Suzanne' s Sugar Plum (i.e., it wasn't your mother's Sugar Plum bu, boy, was it great). Troy Schumacher did a fine Candy Cane.
  25. Include me in the "hate 'em" in ballet crowd. I bought into the ethic that a dancer's body is a temple. And my feeling about tats is probably why I've never cottoned to Marcovici no matter how good he dances at times. I just can't get past that tear drop.
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