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Thank you, Charlieloki, for your comments about Shambards. I too was just as upset you and passed on Vienna Waltzes after seeing the new Wheeldon. My post about Shambards is in the weekly comments section. I know that there were several others on Saturday evening who felt the same, and I'm glad you posted.

There have been some wonderful things these past two weeks but I didn't get around to posting them so I am sorry to have to be negative for my first post of the spring season. But, hey, what the heck!! You guy/gals understand how much ballet as an art can mean to a fan. This post is about the new Wheeldon ballet called Shambards with music by James MacMilian which was commissioned by NYCB. Now, first let me accentuate the positive: The opening tableau of a large corp was stunning, and I can report that there were gasps of approval and applause. Also on the plus side: Wheeldon has great talent for moving groups on stage. The sections were divided -- and called -- The Beginning, the Middle, and the End (how cute!). The Beginning section had Carla Korbes and Ask la Cour in an inter-twining duet (what I call "pretzel" ballet) which kept your interest. The End section was a stunner too: two couples: Ashley Bouder with Daniel Ulbricht and Megan Fairchild with DeLuz along with an excellent corp. There were space eating steps, lively Scotish motifs in the music. Very enjoyable. Now, on to what the program called the Middle. However, I would re-name it An Episode of Misogyny. This was a duo with Jock Soto and Miranda Weese. Perhaps Weeldon was aware how harsh this section was because Miranda was the only female to wear a tuto skirt. The costume, however, didn't hide the violence of the pas. This culminated at the end of the ballet with Miranda being dragged on the floor by Jock -- by one arm no less -- the length of the stage from front to the back. All that was missing was a club held in Jock's upheld arm; you get the image of a Neanderthal man dragging his prey back to his cave. It was appalling. In this season of Balanchine to have a female dancer treated with such degradation and disrespect was outrageous. I know I have railed on before about this aspect of Wheeldon's work, and all of the reply posts suggested that I was way off base. But I'm sticking to my guns here: This section should be dropped or reworked. It should not be allowed in the House that Balanchine built. The only blessing was that the stage was darkly lit -- which seems to be the current fashionable trend for lighting these days.

One of the places where applause irks me the most is in the middle of Apollo, just as Apollo rests his head on the palms of hands of the three muses. It's the very moment when he sees his destiny as a god. Why people applaud there I will never know: if people are really paying attention to the music they should be able to hear that it's not over. In Balanchine's day (at least from the time I started viewing NYCB), there used to be just a smattering of applause -- from the newbies -- but it quickly died out. Nowadays, it's the other way around: more people applaud at that moment than don't. I'm sure you can all come up with other moments of inappropriate applause in other Balanchine ballets, but this I find really irksome.

One more film coaching session that I remember with delight was the one of Allegra Kent coaching Janie Taylor in Bugaku. At one point, Allegra says to Janie, "I like what you did with you foot." The clip didn't have much more dialogue that I could hear. But both of them seemed to be on the same wave length. And how amazingly similar the two are in body type! It made me recall the great things about Allegra's dancing that I recall (and I only saw Allegra dance sporatically at the end of the sixties and early seventies in Episodes, Brahms and Bugaku) was her great flexibility and her sense of abandonment and total commitment. These seem to be the very same qualities that Janie Taylor possesses. I had never associated the two before, but now I know why I so enjoy Janie's dancing! Amy, I too thought Violette's comments were fascinating. I took them to mean that SAB trains the kids for the Balanchine rep (but can still do the Petipa), whereas the other major schools -- to modernize their reps -- must now dance some Balanchine but without the required training for speed. And as she coaches around the world, Violette must see the consequences of that first hand.

Yes. The Renard was performed by dancers from the Kansas City Ballet: Christopher Barksdale, Sean Duus, Matthew Donnell and Paris Wilcox. Again, Balanchine always surprises me; there I thought I had seen all his combinations for men and yet those in Renard were totally different from any other Balanchine ballet I can remember. Each one was quite in character with the animal named (fox, rooster, cat and ram). Special mention must go to the rooster (Christopher Barksdale); whether it was the costume or the way he moved his head (i.e., the choreography), the dancer really came off as a rooster!! It is a charming and engaging piece that could be paired with Steadfast on triple bill program. Kids would love it. By the way, the Apollo of Rasta Thomas from the Dance Theatre of Harlem was very interesting and I thought well done. This was a "premiere" of the old uncut version of Apollo, which was introduced by Jacques (who set it) and Arthur Mitchell. Thomas danced it more as a demi-character fashion before the "becoming a god" segment. You really saw the growth of child to man before Apollo's apotheosis. Other things that are coming back to me: (1) How spectalur the television and archival footage looks on a big screen; you almost got the feeling of a live performance. (2) Suki Shorer's class with SAB level C girl students was a delight. She is a treasure (and there quite a few very talented "comers" to look forward to, particularly one tall blonde whose name I think is Caitlin). (3) The final clip of Patricia McBride and Jacques in Stars (although black and white and a bit grainy) was very special because it was performed on the opening night of the State Theater. The clip included a brief interview of Balanchine, Kirstein, and Philip Johnson on the promenade of the Theater: a priceless treat. (4) The clip of Alicia Alonso coaching Herrara and Corella in T&V. Alonzo was trying to get Herrara to move her arms in the spirit of the music. Alonzo demonstrated it perfectly (but I'm not so sure Herrara really absorbed the lesson). But just seeing Alonzo do that one particular arm movement (even while sitting down) was memorable. There was so much going on at this event that I hope other Alertniks chime in, but I wish it had been seen by all the Balanchine-lovers on this board.

Thanks, Hal, for starting off with post-marathon comments. I did last the entire 12 hours so I'm a bit tired, but am a thoroughly happy camper. It was quite a day. I'll just comment on some of the live dance and coaching portions, but please don't think I'm giving short shrift to the other portions of the program. (And I even enjoyed the David Hays!!) First of all, the producers of this event had to do some fast shuffling because neither Hayden nor Tallchief was able to make it. So Merrill Ashley -- as she has done so many times during her dancing career -- filled in and did yoeman duty. She coached Ashley Bouder (BE STILL MY HEART!!) and Askegard in the pas from Stars & Stripes. (There was no explanation, or I didn't hear one, why the scheduled Alexandra Ansanelli was not able to make it.) Anyway, Merrill pointed out and made some small corrections for some connecting steps, which Ashley B, picked up right away. Merrill noted that there were a variety of ways to do certain combinations in the Stars pas, as Balanchine gave dancers leeway to to do what makes them look best. In any event, the part that was coached went smooth as silk, but the beginning of the pas (which Merrill did not coach) had a few snags only because it was so last minute that Askegard and Ashley B. had not rehearsed at all. In fact, Nancy Reynolds commented at the end that timing in partnering was so important. But it was a joy to watch. Ashley B. also appeared in the closer Who Cares. But the extra special, special treat for me was seeing Violette Verdy coach Maria K. in firebird. (And, Hal, I agree about the rehearsal costume.) If you didn't "know" Verdy by her roles, after listening to her, you know that this lady exudes charm, charm, charm. She gave corrections in the most sensitive yet constructive way. Seeing Verdy was one of the highlights of the marathon. Other highlights: seeing and hearing from Allegra Kent, Jacques D'Amboise and Eddy Villela again!! There was so, so very much more that was wonderful, but it was exhausting. . .

Patricia McBride was the prime reason I started going to New York City Ballet regularly. In the late sixties, when I was just learning about the performing arts, I had only heard about Giselle and Swan Lake. Then one night I saw a program at NYCB that included the Brahms-Schoenberg. The magic that was Patricia McBride -- particularly the Intermezzo section of that ballet -- started me on my journey of exploring the Balanchine rep. She was sui generis. She is still my favorite dancer of all time. Perky, if you just look at the ballets that were created on Patti, you will know what kind of dancer she was. Previous posters have mentioned some of her repetory, so I won't reiterate it here. Without her, we literally would not have had a good portion that is the glory of the Balanchine opus. Characteristics of her dancing: sheer joy, drama, magic. She is the one dancer who, in my opinion, who has been irreplaceable. (I know, FF, you will say Suzanne!) I've seen very satisfying renditions of SF's roles, but no one (with the possible exception at times of Nichole Hlinka) has done true justice to Patti's roles. For those of you who were at NYCB in the seventies, you will remember that Patti was always called back by the applause at least two -- and often three times -- during Who Cares after her Fascinatin' Rhythm solo. When have you heard that kind of enthusiam at NYCB in the last twenty years?

My two cents: I respect Gottlieb's opinions very much; he always makes me think about the validity of my own opinions. But sometimes I still hold my own "take" on dancers, especially about Ringer who is a dancer -- although certainly no technican -- I always enjoy watching because of her lyricism and phrasing. I share his reservations about Weese, yet I very much enjoyed her Emeralds this season. But what I took away from Gottlieb's latest review is that he too noted with praise a corps girls whom I mentioned on this board before: Sterling Hyltin (and I think poster Michael did too in his season wrap-up).

Thank you Leigh (and Farrell Fan) for letting me know the correct way to pronounce her name. If she can "get it right on stage," I feel I owe it to her as an audience member to at least get her name right.

On Ashley's second Aurora, I'm with Amanda: Wow! From debutante on Tuesday night to full-fledged Ballerina on Thursday. And it's not just balletomanes who are thrilled with her. You could hear the applause start to build even before she reached the fourth cavalier in the Rose Adagio. Her strength, authority and balance were so pronounced that the audience just started to clap before it was over, and clap they they did. Alexandra, could you please check with the NYCB press office on which is the right way to pronounce her name. Is the "ou" in Bouder pronounced as in "powder" or as the "u" in "tutor"? Since we will be talking about her for many years, I'd like to pronounce the name the way she prefers. By the way, Adam Hendrickson as Bluebird was terrific, and as mentioned by another poster, Carla Korbes makes a wonderfully aristocratic Countess; her shrug as she exits speaks volumes. And I do think I like Merrill Ashley's Carabosse the best: she really conveys anger/outrage (evil) as opposed to just hurt/annoyance, and Sleeping Beauty as a ballet is all about good triumphing over evil. The contrast with the benevolent Lilac Fairy should be very real.

Thank you, Leigh, for using the exact words I was struggling for: not an orthodox Aurora. I enjoyed every single second of Ansanelli's debut while at the same time feeling she wasn't exactly looking as it should have looked in every classic Aurora pose and variation. The is an Aurora without the expected classic turn-out, yet she inhabited this role as if to the manor born. The audience was delighted with her. How lucky we are now that we have two new Auroras (Bouder of course) to treasure in the coming years! By the way, the Bluebird pas (with Fairchild and DeLuz) was everything it should have been (unlike Tuesday night's). DeLuz was just fabulous (and I'm glad to see that he has cut back on the ABT-type (applause milking) bows after each of his variations. And a special word for the Court Jesters (Carmena, Hendrickson and Ulbricht): they were outstanding and, it seemed to me, totally enjoying themselves and conveying that to the audience. They were a big hit. In fact, all of The Wedding's cast was more enjoyable than on Tuesday. Up and comers: Seth Orza may turn into a danseur noble in due time (if he can find a way to land more silently), and little elegant Sterling Hyltin with her exquisite carriage and thousand-watt smile is a joy to watch. I'll be there tonight again for Bouder's second Aurora (and really looking forward to it).

Well, for a 20-year-old in a benchmark role, I thought Ashley Bouder made a superb debut. As Oberon mentioned, there was one dip (with a quick seamless recovery) in the Rose Adagio, but aside from that, it was a beautifully danced and well-thought-out interpretation. I for one -- who have been going to the ballet for more than 36 years -- cannot take my eyes off her when she's dancing. She has that dancing-on-the-edge quality of Suzanne which takes my breathe away. Everything for me is right: the articulation of her feet; the way she slowly (or quickly) arcs her leg in a developpe in an exquisite motion suitable to the musical phrase; sensitive musical phrasing and with that rare quality of rubato; and all with her neck and shoulders beautifully and elegantly presented. I'm looking forward to Thursday just to see her dance her second Aurora. It can only get better. I just totally enjoy watching this young lady dance, and I will try to see her in everything. That's the way I felt about all the major dancers of the past.

This is very sad news indeed. Although I am saddened, I am not shocked: I understand that attendance was down; times have changed and ballet boom of the 70s is long gone. That's a huge place to fill for weeks on end: think of filling the New York State Theater two times over for each performance -- as that's what it takes. I will remember fun times up in Saratoga in a beautiful setting. But NYCB (with its great aesthetic) added a type of class that the those other types (the four-legged ones) of thoroughbreds couldn't give. Now Saratoga will just be another racing town -- without any real class.

I am just thrilled about all the promotions. I just returned from the Coppelia matinee with Megan as Swanhilda, and she was just wonderful. She is not only strong technically and musically but also has a fine acting ability. And what can I say about Ashley Bouder!?! Ever since I saw her graduation performance as Liberty Bell at the SAB Workshop, I knew she was a star in the making. And Hanna did a wonderful job in Emeralds. Happy news and congratulations to all of them (and lucky us in the audience).

A small note about omitting the Scherzo section of Diamonds: During the 70s there were many, many a time when Peter and Suzanne omitted it, particularly at the old 1 p.m. Sunday matinee performances. I don't know why. It certainly wasn't because they weren't "up to it." But it used to be a running bet with other balletomanes whether they would do the scherzo or not.

I too very much enjoyed last night's Jewels. The new scenery was absoutely wonderful in Emeralds, evoking an elegant world; I felt the opera Pelleas et Meliasande could be sung with this scenery. The Rubies scenery was stunning (and the audience appropriately gasped and applauded as the curtain went up). The scenery for Diamonds didn't appeal to me as much only because I associate Diamonds with the lost world of the Winter Palace, etc. (in other words, indoor grandeur). The new set was more of a celestrial world; more disturbing, the side scrims imposed limits on the corps. But overall kudos to Peter Harvey. Jennie Ringer and James Fayette turned in as wonderful a performance as I have ever seen in the walking pas de deux in Emeralds. Truly mesmermizing. I thought Miranda did well, but I don't think she's ideal for this role, which calls for exquisite phrasing (but maybe it will stretch her). Both Damian and Alexandra were just terrific in Rubies. I am persnickety about any Patricia McBride role (because she's my all-time favorite ballerina), and last night I found that Alexandra gave an excellent rendition of this role. I agree with DancingFan that the Diamonds needed more rehearsal, but I do think the new scenery constricted the dancers (particularly in the pollinase). Maria had a very respectable debut in Suzanne's role, and I only expect here to get better as time goes on. See this revived Jewels: you'll have a wonderful evening of ballet.

Well, I'll add my two cents. I enjoyed the evening more than Uncrossed Fifth, mainly because I wasn't expecting much and was relieved that no dancers were dragged across the floor (my particular bug-a-boo these days). First off, the costumes were absolutely wonderful -- both in design and execution. See this ballet for them alone. The scenery was clever and utilitarian. As far as the choreography itself goes, it was Broadway, and I agree that the vocabulary was indeed limited. (You secretly longed for Mr. B himself to do something original.) But all the dancers made the most of what they were given and turned pedestrian steps into a charming and, I thought, relatively involving evening. I agree that the standouts were Damian Woetzel and Ashley Bouder. At the very end of evening Ashley was actually given some meaty steps to work with and things came alive. Now, you all know I am a big Bouder fan, but I can see that Janie Taylor (who was originally cast in this role) would have looked especially stunning in this type of choreography because of its heavy emphasis on posing and plastique (not much in the way of space-eating movement). The corps, however, was given some lovely work, and they were delightful. The other standouts were Kyra (who ever would have "thunk" she could be wicked?), Megan Fairchild (pretending and pulling off being an awkward dancer), Tom Gold (just outstanding as a Broadway man), Carla Korbes (as a great vamp who still managed to be charming), Dana Hanson (being her expansive self even while posing as a prim young lady with eye glasses), Jessica Flynn (as an under-aged potential bride), both Albert Evans and Seth Orza. Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed all of Ansanelli's performance; she totally held your attention. Oh dear, I forgot to mention Maria K., who turns out to be a good little actress. Try to see it yourself, and you may be won over. Certainly it showed off the acting abilities of NYCB dancers, and gives them a chance to expand their horizons. And, yes, the dog was great fun!!

Going down memory lane, I remember that Cynthia Gregory and Peter Martins danced a Tschaikovsky Pas at the Library Gala in 1978. This is the same event that saw the premiere of Other Dances. The reason I remember is that at the time I thought about why I always had reservations about Gregory's dancing. Matched against Peter's bred-in-the-bone musicality, Gregory just didn't have the same innate phrasing as Peter, and it really showed in a Balanchine ballet (and not in Gregory's usual rep).

Be warned, fellow Ballet Alerters!, I am still in a snit because of last night's cast changes. Mid-afternoon yesterday, on-line casting still listed Ansanelli as Columbine and Sylva as the Good Fairy so I bought a last-minute ticket without checking lobby casting. The casting turned out to be Borree and Hubbe as the leads and Reichlen as the Good Fairy. First, the Piano Concerto was still Somogyi as the lead. Maybe I was expecting too much here. I admire Somogyi's dancing for her musicality and attack. It was indeed a very respectable performance but no where near my personal gold standards (McBride for sheer drama; Ashley for her in-your-face bravura; and Nichols for understated elegance). Somogyi got through the cadenza okay but without the top-tier ballerina authority and ease. Reichlen I had seen a couple of times before as the second lead and I had given her a pass because of the difficulty of this role. But last night, I felt she has not grown in the role; in fact, there was no attempt whatsoever at any kind of phrasing. Is anybody coaching her? Is anybody looking at how she dances this? When Lourdes Lopez danced this role you "saw the piano music" when she rocked on her pointes in her solo. Reichlen offered nothing at all. The positive things from the Hardequinade: (1) the children were very well rehearsed and danced with joy and it was a pleasure to see them; (2) the three Les Sbires (Ramasar, Severini and Veyette) were alive last night and gave an outstanding performance; (3) Carla Korbes was a beautifully polished Scaramouche, the music just fracturing through her charming presence; and (4) Ashley Bouder and all of the Alouettes made you wake up with their delightful work. I have mentioned before on this board that I find (with the exception of Duo Concertante) that Borree consistently under-dances roles. She did last night. I kept muttering (silently to myself) "hold this longer," "don't show the transition from one step to another," "it should be one long continuous motion," etc. And Hubbe was a major disappoinment. He usually can get by on his extraordinary musicality and stage presence. But, I'll say it outright, he looked "lumpish" last night. Fairchild and De Luz were just fine in their roles. Well, I warned you that this would be a grumpy review. . . .

Last night (Tuesday, 1/13) the triple bill of Apollo, Donizetti and Slaughter was an absolutely delightful evening. In Apollo, Peter Boal just out did himself and turned in a specular performance -- full of artistry and nuance. You can always tell when a performer is giving a riveting performance by the "cough level" in the audience -- and there was nary a sound during his solos. (Do you think he's picking up extra pointers working with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet? It can't hurt.) Anyway, he was wonderful: a great dancer at his peak. Of course, he was helped with his muses -- Ansanelli as Terpiscore, Ashley Bouder as Polhymnia (who were both making their debuts) and Pascale van Kipnis as Calliope. A special standout for me was Ashley Bouder -- I haven't seen such technical assurance in years in this role. This kid's got it all (and, no, she didn't grin for those of you on this board who are bothered by her expression of the sheer joy of dancing). Jennifer Ringer turned in a technically assured and charming (isn't she always) Donizetti. Philip Neal (replacing Damian) matched her turn for turn and gave a very polished and exciting performance. Let me say here that the corps this season seems to be dancing with special vigor. They needed it last night to keep up with the tempo; but they all managed. Sometimes the point-counterpoint work can just look sloppy in this work if it's not done exactly right by the girls, but it worked last night. The Slaughter was great fun. The leads were Damian (replacing Neal) and Maria K. (replacing Sofiane). The central pax was just what it should be: sexy and fun. A very good night at NYCB!!

It was a very nice little -- and I mean little -- performance. Tom Gold did the company proud, as did Janie. But what stood out for me was that Janie didn't have her usual heavy, heavy eye makeup on. And I thought she looked just perfectly fine without the black eyelashes. What a difference!! It will be interesting to see whether Janie gets the lead in the upcoming Harlequinade. In my mind, I had tapped her more for the Good Fairy role (which the 1970's corps girl Nina Fedorova did so memorably). We'll see. I'll take either.

This was a delightful event. The most memorable part for me was when the two SAB students -- Cassia Phillips and Abigail Simon (who were both in last night's NYCB opening in the first movement of Serenade) -- did a barre side by side to the same live piano music. One did a "routine" from SAB and the other a barre devised by a Vagonova teacher. To see the differences was a real treat and an eye opener. It was not a question of one being "better" than the other, just a different emphasis in each style. The Vagonova routine seemed to me to be infused with more "drama" and was more performance oriented; the SAB routine was all about building speed and techinque. It would have been great if this were videotaped. The third part of the morning was an interview by Elizabeth Kendall of Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky. What a charming couple!! There was a cute story of how their coach -- the great Kirov ballerina Irina Kopalkova (sp?) -- abhors the hand clap that the Raymonda ballerina does in recent productions and she made it verboden in ABT's upcoming Raymonda. (But I must say I still have fond memories of Patti McBride doing the hand clap, and if Balanchine okayed it. . . well . . .)

Yesterday's Saturday matinee brought the first performance in more than twenty years of Ashton's Le Rossingol to the MET opera house. It was done in one act, with three scenes. The dancers were NYCB's Damian Woetzel as the Fisherman and ABT's Julie Kent at the Nightingale. What a charming, charming work!! It's basically an allegory about the power of music: the Emperor of China falls for a mechanical nightingale (think a large Neiman Marcus type bird with moving parts) and bans the nightingale from his kingdom. Big mistake. Only when he is gravely ill does he realize that it's the sound of the real nightingale that gives him back his power, kingdom and indeed his life. He gives the highest honor to the nightingale (the first "environmental protection" act?). Well, the ballet "parts" (for lack of a better word) were solos and pas de deux with Damian and Julie -- a truly well-matched pair. The movements had all the signature choreography of Ashton's work: beautifuly flowing movement, seemless transitions from one pose to another, lunging arabesques for the nightingale, long-held poses for the fisherman (think Anthony Dowell's elegance), tatseful overhead lifts, the fisherman holding the nightingale in exquisite horozintal holds, etc. Both Damian and Julie gave their whole artistry to this work, and it was just glorious. At the same time as they were dancing, the singers (Olga Trifonova for the nightingale) and Barry Banks (for the fisherman) were singing. Glorious. For me it was a real delight to have my twin obsessions (ballet and opera) coming together at once. I think it worked for the MET audience too because there was not the usual coughing; people were totally engaged. For those of you out there who are opera fans, the Oedipus Rex was also given the deluxe treatment. It was a very stylized version with the actor Philip Boxco as the speaker with top-notch singing by Stephanie Blythe (as Jocasta), Robert Gambill as Oedipus, and Barry Banks back as the Shephard. The world's first recorded dysfunction family would have been proud that their story was so well told! The less said the better about the Rite of Spring, which opened the afternoon. Over thirty-five years of ballet going, I've never seen this done without being vulgar. My feeling is that it should just be done in concert version so each audience member can use his imagination as to what is primitive. Even closing my eyes didn't help because I heard the grunting the dancers and the heavy feet crossing the stage (which really interfered with the music). Dance lovers: Go for the Le Rossignol. Opera lovers: go for the Le Rossignol and the Oedipus Rex.

Amanda, the Guggenheim event -- which according to the museum's website (and as Alexandra has already posted) is already sold out -- sounds really nice. But sometimes there are last-minute returned tickets; these two dates (November 16 and 17) may be worth the effort though. Fred Franklin and Maria Talchief are re-creating Balanchine's lost choreography to Mozartiana and Baiser de la Fee using Hubbe and other NYCB dancers. The tickets are not pricey ($18). I'm particularly looking forward to it because of the Baiser de la Fee, which is one of my favorite ballets and which sadly is not being done during the Balanchine Centennial at NYCB. (Boo hoo, but that's another story. . .) I will be there on November 16, and I hope there are other Ballet Alertniks there too.

Yippee!! I see that Bouder is dancing with DeLuz in the third movement of Bizet on Sunday. And there I thought she had dropped off the radar screen :sweating: What a relief. I am hoping our Danish correspondents will post on that one.l