Michael

Megan Lecrone Dewdrop on Sunday Afternoon. How good.

Thank everyone for the very considered responses, which are humbling. I shot from the hip on this and continue to shoot from the hip; or perhaps the shots are "off hand"? (Mel appreciates the difference I am sure). Something that occurred to me today on the drive into NY from New England was that nationalism arrived late in both the United States and in Russia -- almost simultaneously in fact, on either end of the long balance of power see-saw (with Europe in the middle and Germany in the middle of Europe). Both the US and Russia became continental and imperial powers at nearly the same moment by consolidating their territories away from the center during the 19th century. The Russian court had a tradition of ballet patronage, but largely imported French ballet from Paris from the Taglioni era onward. We, starting late, imported the Russian tradition. Elsler toured here, but I'm not aware of any consistent resident company in the 19th century. Robert will know something about this. The competition between the US and the Soviets played a role in the 60's ballet boom, I think, and this probably helped make ballet more main-stream and popularly legitimate. Even when Kirstein was succeeding in finding a home for his company in the 50's, he probably never achieved the mainstream notoriety for ballet that arrived after Nureyev defected and people were standing in line for days to see Nureyev and Fonteyn perform. If the Russians had it and took it seriously; if the cultural competition was important; we had our Americanized Russian -- Georgi Balanchivadze -- and our "American" style, and could send it right back in their faces, etc. Then there's the role of "Dance in America" which I haven't really considered. But probably (that word again) putting classical dance on TV had an effect as well. Some of this cultural momentum has been lost; Ballet is probably once again more marginal today for the popular main stream audience than it was at that moment. But how would you measure that and what do I mean by it exactly? It's good that there is a devoted audience that knows and loves the subject; that you can sell 2 to 5,000 seats on any given night here for the right kind of thing; more than that, can you really hope for? Should you really hope for?

Three things strike me about how ballet flowered in New York/USA during the 50's and 60's. 1. The first is nationalism - which was a potent factor in the blossoming of the arts in each of the Napoleonic and post Napoleonic European cultures. In the US it came last and latest. Reading Lincoln Kirstein's life, I was struck last spring by how he is best understood as nearly an apostle of artistic nationalism in America, of how the word "American" as in American Ballet became almost of mystic value to him. The story of the founding of the great US ballet companies now reads like a kind of manifest destiny, which Kirstein believed in every bit as much as Albert Beveridge believed in the conquest of the west. Let's not forget Martha Graham. And reading Victoria's references to ABT's whistlestop tours of the west in the fifties and sixties, this also resonated - the kind of covered wagon approach to touring; and you also feel this wind blowing in some of Robert's photos; the American themes and the very ideas of "Rodeo," or "Fancy Free" for example. The cold war context of the building of Lincoln Center and ABT's ensconcement in the Metropolitan Opera house, the founding of NYCB and its home across the plaza fit here too. 2. The second is the paradox of the first -- that the Stalin regime in Russia, the Nazis in Germany, and the 2d World War drove the artistic refugees from Russia, Germany, France and the other European n nations (except Britain) here, and particularly to New York -- and this was the great enabler of what followed. Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Igor Stravinsky, Kurt Weil, George Balanchine, Alexandra Danilova, etc. -- were the European avant garde. They washed up here and leavened the loaf. Their tradition, means, styles and innovations were applied to our material, funded with our money, and fueled by our imperial ambition. 3. In the 50's, while NYCB was at City Center, there was apparently a good deal of artistic collaboration across the boundaries. Isamo Noguchi's designs for City Ballet's seminal Orpheus are an example. But it's my impression that this pretty much ceased when NYCB got to the State Theater. The thesis of painting and sculpture, post war, has been to be avant garde, cutting edge. Once City Ballet and ABT became the institutions they now are, collaboration with artists on the edge became in principle very difficult. Robert Rauschenberg, who made his first big splash erasing a De Kooning drawing and then signing the erased image as his own, collaborated with Merce Cunningham, not the great ballet companies. It was thereafter modern dance that attracted the self proclaimed artistic revolutionaries.

It's not a "negative" message, as you put it. But it is certainly a departure from the usual hype we see on these occasions. What I wonder is Wheeldon's goal? A week at City Center once a year with dancers on break from other companies, and a couple of similar weeks in London later in the year? Or a company of his own, employing dancers nearly full time -- a sort of Paul Taylor or Merce Cunningham model? He's going to have to decide this.

In ballet I use the term as meaning the dancer is emotionally expressive and interpretive instead of being athletic, physically exciting, propulsive or kinetic. (Of course, some dancers can do both). I wouldn't speak of a "big jump" or a series of fouettees as lyrical things for a dancer to do. I'd say, though, that someone who appeared deeply to feel and to respond to music was a lyrical dancer, especially if they made me feel that they were expressing their personal emotions in conjunction with exploring the music. By analogy, as Webster's puts it in its defintion of "Lyric Poetry": "Having the form and musical quality of a song, and especially the character of a songlike outpouring of the poet's own thoughts and feelings." To illustrate one more time, I'd say: "At NYCB these days, it's the athletic girls who get ahead and not the lyrical ones." MP

Giselle is long enough and meaty enough for an entire evening's program. Emotionally it's also catharctic for the audience, so if it were well performed, I can't really imagine wanting to see anything else afterwards. Among the classics, the problem of splitting a bill is more common with La Sylphide, a ballet just enough shorter than Giselle that it seems to need something else to make the right length for a program. Traditionally, in Denmark, it shared the evening with an opera, or at least I think so. In a purely ballet context, it would be interesting to see it paired with Balanchine's Scotch Symphony, though the idea is a bit schematic.

I admire Bouder tremendously and always have. So I was surprised not to be more excited by yesterday's performance. I'm also very happy with Macauley's review -- It was an important one for him and for her -- I don't think Macauley has put a foot wrong since taking over at the Times. I'll try to explain: What I missed is in Bouder in the first two movements was, in the first movement, something more Regal -- a sense of more weight, command and of social authority among the other dancers. I look on that role as that of the Queen or Czarina in the imperial court of Ballet Imperial, while the second role is that of the Princess: when the Queen circles the stage and the others tendu to her in reverence, I want that authority. I didn't think Bouder had as much of it as, for example, Ms. Sylve had in the same moment two weeks ago. Although that performance (two weeks ago) by the ensemble as a whole was a much weaker one. Physically, I want something similar: more sweep in the opening series of pirouettes; more extension in some of whipped turns into arabesque. In the second Movement adagio, similar things, both emotional and physical: there, the role as I see it is that of an elusive romantic heroine. When the Leading Woman comes up the line of parting corps dancers and bends over her hero in a deep penchee and embraces him, I wanted a bigger, more emotional moment than Bouder offered. More emotional weight. Again, that moment had more sadness and lyricism, to me, with Ms. Sylve two weeks ago, and much of it because of Sylve's greater size. I actually also liked that same moment two years ago at ABT with Gillian Murphy and one of the Latin Men, for the same reason. I do hope this won't infuriate you Bobbi. I don't consider these to be "quibbles." I also fully respect your different reaction to the performance. I'm not right, you're not wrong: I just saw it differently.

Kyra Nichols' final Mozartiana this afternoon was very moving; a clean and above all an honest performance. Her honesty will not be the the least of the qualities that will be missed. In TP2, it was the Bouder cast, her second performance. Her size will take a little getting used to for me in this, it changes the architecture of the ballet, particulary in the first two movements. Though her 3d movement was stunning, wild and loose. Teresa Reichlen's perfomance, on the other hand, was astoundingly good. The absolute best I've ever seen her, a breakout performance in how she presented herself, especially the strength and presence in her upper body and in the joy she projected in just being on stage. This is the one we've been waiting for for a couple of years.

Act I is the classic comic book version of the ballet. It's mildly entertaining. Act II is a disaster. Long, tedious, boring, trite, in bad taste, dramatically at cross purposes. Things start to go wrong in the bedroom scene. Love how R & J get back under the covers and start to hump away, and Gina comes in to take a peek. Remember, at this point, Romeo has just killed Juliet's brother, a sense of doom and tragedy should begin to intrude. Instead a carnal reprise of the balcony. After that, one liners just occur to the viewer non stop. Hubbe as the Monk from Napoli gone astray. Great performances by Fairchild and Hyltin. But they create the old problem one always has praising dancers in Martins: "This dancer requires great applause, she has danced her heart out. But how can you, with a whole heart, applaud a dancer for doing this?"

Besides the RDB repertory he grew up in, I think he should also be able to direct Balanchine and Robbins very well.

What about the Divertissement? Act I was pretty well danced here last year, but Act II (classical demands) was very much worse for the wear -- What news from DC? Watching the video of D'Amboise and Kent in the divertissement pas last week, and the incredibly light mood and tone with which the corps re-enters at the end of the pas; and the wedding march with Gloria Govrin, et al., I had to say that this part of the production has fallen away slowly but surely more than the other over the years. The divertissement as a whole in that filmed performance is one of Balanchine's greatest moments. In recent years the greatness was reduced to the pas de deux and last year that too started to go with the casting.

Yes exhaustion is a factor and so are injuries, and, yes, Leigh you are right it's nothing new. Five weeks of Nutcracker, often two performances a day; nearly two weeks of Sleeping Beauty; then seven or eight weeks of repertory. Let us assume for the sake of argument, only speculation here of course, that the staging process involves, let us say, teaching the corps de ballet Square Dance for four hours the very afternoon of the first performance, or teaching Piano Concerto the evening of the performance itself, the rehearsals proceeding to an hour before curtain -- A young woman's foot is not designed to spend five hours a day in a toe shoe. At this point in the Winter Season, it's a question of who is left standing to perform. Re Tuesday Night -- I'd come down somewhere in the middle. I thought Russian Seasons looked signficantly weaker than it did last Spring, the substitution of Krohn for Sylve in one of the central roles does not help this ballet and much of the choreography is built on making Whelan look dramatic and semi-narrative when that's a questionable idea at best, one would much rather see a stronger ballerina in this role. (Ratmansky did make it on her all the same, thus the responsibility is his). 4Ts looked, like many things this season, like the first performance was a dress rehearsal; and . . . Tom Gold dancing Melancholic? Savannah Lowery, Sanguinic? Time was Peter Boal danced the one role and Jenny Somogyi the other at the height of their strengths. If this is the standard of comparison (the recent past in fact), Ms. La Rocca has a point.

I'd go even further than Carbro in how much I've enjoyed Dybbuk this week and how highly I think of this work. It's a tough piece to be sure. Not pretty pretty. Tough for the audience, forceful and a bit difficult. Like there are pieces of sculpture that people don't want in their apartments, but that are very serious works nonetheless. The evocation of an entire foreign magical folklore world and the sustaining of it throughout is a major achievement by Robbins. If Nijinska's and Robbins' respective Les Noces are worthy of respect and have integrity, this has as much or more in the case of Robbins' prior creation. You also have the strength and, again, integrity of Bernstein's score and what an advantage is that. Few contemporary or nearly contemporary ballets have the like. Then too Robbins' ease with handling narrative is very evident here; the blocking for the corps de ballet vis-a-vis the principal characters and events is masterful. While the expressive pas d'action have big force. Funny that Tobias said that abut Ringer -- I thought the same thing or nearly. That it was the most intensely serious dramatic performance of her life and I think very highly of Millepied too, it was by far the most I've seen him immerse himself in a character, he was every bit as responsible for the success of this as her. Everyone involved has done themselves honor in this -- I actually thought it was Max Van Der Sterre turning those bent knee pirouettes as one of the messengers (though the program said otherwise, who knows?); Christian Tworszyanski showing compression and plasticity in the more prominent messenger role; the fine duet for Tyler Angle and Adam Henrickson; And then that group of men -- giving a full sense from the outset that there is a community out there with it's own rules and being, coherant -- Sean Suozzi, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Jonathan Stafford, Antonio Carmenta, etc. -- the individual variations were to die for, and the ensemble work full of drama and force, very masculine. The corps de ballet of women had a similar sense of solidarity -- Stephanie Zungre, Gina Pascoguin, Glen Keenan, Amanda Hankes and company. It is a long time since I've seen such a committed and serious performance from this company. Perhaps I can't remember one in fact. I wouldn't have missed this for the world; and I'm happy for once that there's something for everyone at that theater, me included. There's other stuff I might choose to skip, personally, but I wouldn't want to let this season pass without recording my great pleasure at the revival of this ballet.

Bouder and Kowroski are not really comparable. They're two different physical types suited to dancing two different groups of roles in the repertory. It's comparing apples and oranges. Kowroski is very beautiful, about the tallest woman in the company. You'd never in your right mind cast her in "Theme," "Piano Concerto," "Ballo," "Square Dance," "Allegro Brilliante," etc. -- the core, gut wrenching, allegro-tutu roles in the repertory. Those were the roles sz and I were talking about I believe. Weese used to dance them but she's leaving. Sylve and Bouder can dance them right now at a very high professional level, whatever you think about the artistic expression. I do not see anyone else in the company right now whose skills are quite on their level. For those on the other side: who else specifically do you suggest? What's the standard of comparison? Sure, if you could bring an Aurelie Dupont in and teach them to her -- Bang, you'd have no problem. But that's the point. That Sylve and Bouder are the two women at NYCB at the moment in that class and on that level.

The problem is that the situation with the principal women is critical right now at NYCB. Sylve is de facto a guest star. You are right sz, she is the best in all those roles. But she's dancing this winter about once a week or less, about the amount that a Vishneva does at ABT in the Spring. Bouder can't dance everything. She's the other world class woman in her prime. Behind them you've got Whelan and Nichols doing all the Mozartianas; Whelan half of the Piano Concertos. And behind them: Megan Fairchild dancing Square Dance? She's miscast and makes Abi Stafford look major, expansive, musical by comparison (take nothing away from Abi though -- a most talented girl but not one to carry a company evening). Yvonne Borree -- lucky to get through Duo Concertante with a round of applause; Sterling Hyltin -- young, talented -- major talent even -- but raw, not ready, don't push her too hard. Jenny Somogyi -- since the Achilles Tendon not the most physical dancer, not one for Piano Concerto ... Tiler Peck -- Just turned 18, needs a lot of styling, enough said; Better hope Janie Taylor recovers soon. Ana Sophia Scheller is ready and needs to dance more, she's not raw, she's fnished, and should be cast. Where is Jennifer Ringer in the Tutu roles these days, who knows? One really doesn't know where this is going but it's a most difficult situation and it's the story of this winter.

Joel Lobenthal is an inciteful critic and a fine writer -- I am though uneasy about his tone in this. A critic reviewing a second critic who is more eminent and successful in his very field has to be very careful to be cool and balanced in tone. If you are not, if the tone comes off as a little bitter or personal, you lay yourself open to the charge that some level of professional jealousy of the "Olympian God" who is your target has entered into the attack. As the Ray Charles' song goes: "It should have been me driving that Cadillac." Michael Popkin

Stars was indeed good last night -- unusually well rehearsed for a first performance: Ulbricht and the young men in the third regiment. Also Sterling Hyltin was very strong leading the first. It struck me also, if I'm not mistaken, that Andrew Veyette partnered Bouder at her workshop performance of this years ago -- that it's a reprise of that for both of them.

My impressions of the Stravinsky program are quite like those of Violin Concerto except that I think Albert Evans unsuited to the Agon pas de deux -- He's not classical enough to be unclassical, or neoclassical, or angular or modern. He can't establish classicism in order to vary it. You suspect he's doing things the way he is because he can't, not because the choreography has modern lines. And he doesn't get those lines right anyway. He's too soft and round for this. Soto didn't have a classical body, but he had a very clean and well schooled approach. Jenny Somgyi did not look good in the costume for Symph in 3, it is not a flattering role for her. And I thought Rebecca Krohn had a very difficult week across the board and that both Monumentum and Movements were disappointing. To my thinking, Monumentum and Movements were the major casualties of the Stravinsky programs.

Re In Vento -- Tiler Peck showed that she can indeed dance without smiling. What an amazing sense of weight she had in that (weight-iness or weighted-ness might be better words), just walking or standing on the floor even, she sank down into her hips but with the torso still pulled up, a great sense of how to do that. And just turned eighteen years old this past week I believe.

I'd love to see Teresa Reichlen dance the first role in Piano Concerto - She'd be capable of it very well. Her expression and the placement of her upper body and shoulders vis-a-vis her neck and head have also been very much improved; it's a very strong and natural presentation now. I don't think there are any basic issues left with her.

I thought the artistic impression was weak. As I said, the ballet did not seem beautiful to me last night. I found the performance physically very impressive but more on the athletic side than on the musically interpretive one. I'd have no problem chosing the Miranda Weese performances of two or three years ago -- I didn't think the costume suited Sylve, she'd have been better in the tutu for the Ballet Imperial Version (and in fact would be better dancing the whole thing as Ballet Imperial). Piano Concerto # 2 is a different ballet I think and the degree to which Sylve is suited to it or not suited to it by physical nature marks exactly the difference. She looked over muscled, particulary the thighs and shoulders. She doesn't have the plumb lines for some Balanchine ballets as I've heard a friend opine and I agree with (I like her in others), though she jumps like she's shot from a circus canon, for sure. I did love the way she came down the line of girls and pencheed to Askegaard in the 2d movement, and the last running retreat backward from it on demi point too (beautiful timing) -- And those tour jetees, my God. But you know I'm really working backwards here: how do you explain perceived lack of Beauty, it's first of all subjective and also arguing from a negative is to some degree faulty reason. But I've had this experience with Sylve before -- of watching her debut in a very familiar Balanchine ballet (Bizet 2d movement or Serenade for example) and feeling uneasy and asking myself, "this looks different, it feels different, something's wrong, what is it?" So then -- Michael Popkin

Sylve's performance and the Ballet were everything except Beautiful

Our loss is your gain. I love Weese and my assessment of her strengths is much wider than what's been posted above. I consider her to have been the single most important Ballerina here for the last ten years or so ... because she's so classical. Beautiful proportions; beautiful face; surpassingly lovely musicality. The definitive performances in my mind in recent years: 2 performances of Theme and Variations to die for (before her hip injury) about five years ago. 2 or 3 performances of Piano Concerto # 2 I'll never forget -- She had everything, the lyricism, entrance, turns -- this most difficult of demanding of all roles. An amazing Allegro Brilliante last Winter. La Source Emeralds The Rubies Leigh mentioned Goldberg Variations, Part II, the role with the swivels in balance I could go on and on. So many memories. Basically though you'll see that I see her in the Balanchine to Tschaikovsky repertory, in the tutu and tiara roles. She is the most musical of dancers. I disagree that she doesn't do adagio, I love her in those. She will be gravely missed. MP

The level of a Student Performance is what I'd compare it to. I thought I was suddenly back at the Youth America Grand Prix and not watching the winning couple either. Very tense, very rocky. But gosh, it's just one performance, it's no huge knock on anybody. I agree with Gia Kourlas that Sterling Hyltin is a superb dancer with an unquestionably successful future in this company, she's shown so much already that one rocky pas de deux can make no difference. Another clear thing from watching her on Saturday is how tough a performer she is: to get this far at NYCB she's already shown that she can step up to the plate in the big leagues night in, night out.

I can't understand why the pirouettes have been dropped in the State Theater performances -- I saw two more performances this week -- Melissa Barak and Gwyn Muller in Arabian -- and during their re-entrance at the end (I hestitate to call it a Coda -- see below) it's been the same noodle about, take two two steps and pose for a second in attitude rear on pointe, take two more steps and relevee into the same attitude rear, possibly develop to the side on pointe. It's aimless and appears to have been made up on the spot. This matters and effects the entire performance. A Coda has to add excitement and compression to what has gone before. That's the reason for a Coda -- Otherwise, in fact, it's not really a Coda at all, just a boring re-entrance for the groups of dancers and the Ballet peters out instead of building to a conclusion. Now there are two difficult things in the Coda that do add excitement -- those pirouettes for Coffee and the whipped attitude turns for Dewdrop. And when you let Coffee just aimlessly noodle around you thus take some of the air out of the end of the Ballet. If the girls can't do the steps they shouldn't be dancing the role. If they can do them and management tells them not to, shame on them. A note on the Family Benefit performance today -- It was a promising debut for Sterling Hyltin as the Sugarplum Fairy, particularly at the outset when her first variation was excellent and she then showed strong presence (and a rich upper body) and held the stage well when "listening" to the mime. Also the Coda to the Grand Pas was superb -- Hyltin did two beautiful tours of the stage, one with lovely spring to her Sautes de Basques, and then some very strong Picques Turns. Veyette's solo was likewise very impressive. The Grand Pas on the other hand fell flat or worse. Hyltin will, hopefully, develop as an adagio dancer. This afternoon, though, she didn't have a chance because her partner, Andy Veyette, was so very weak. (Hopefully this was an aberration, I don't remember him being such a poor partner before). Be that as it may, and for whatever reason it happened, Hyltin appeared to have no confidence in him today and for good reason. He nearly dropped her in the Fish Dive Pose at the end of the Pas. On a couple of other occasions, when putting her down after lifts he appeared to pull her out of verticle and then visibly struggle to get control. Always either too close to her or too far away, he was late coming in on the unsupported arabesques to take her by the wrists. It was a hairy, sketchy experience watching this, I must say, and it got hairier as it went along and as you could see her lose confidence in what was happening. It's crucial for a Ballerina to know that her partner is going to be there. It was a great debut for Ashley Laracey as lead Marzipan, that has to be mentioned. What a talent there -- a tall girl with a big extension, long and high arched feet, yet she has a feathery battery, is fleet footed, has a big jump, and is very lyrical. She's not quite as tall as Kowroski, but not really far off, I think. (I wouldn't call her a Middle girl, she's bigger than that). She ought to get more and here's someone too who is a natural adagio dancer. Tiler Peck has got to learn to stop smiling so much. She can dance the hell out of Dewdrop (or anything else), no question about that (though, Sandy, you are so right about what Bouder has been doing to some of the phrasing in that role, and the trouble is that now the other women are copying it -- they make some of the things look almost spastic) but her expression is a problem. I don't care if you can do the most difficult things with ease; the overall impression is what matters. MP