Kevin Ng

Manhattnik, I agree with you. Kyra Nichols is indeed divine in "Mozartiana". When I was in New York in the spring season of 1996, I had the good fortune of seeing her "Mozartiana" three times. I also saw her in this ballet back in 1991.

Manhattnik, I am glad to read your comments about Andrian Fadeyev. I saw very little of him 2 years ago in London. Presumably you are going to see his Albrecht later this week. Jeannie, your description in the earlier thread about this Kirov "Beauty" was most moving - that it was a summation of your theatre-going experiences, and that it reflected the highest values and gentility of the human race. Oh dear, I have to wait for 1 year to see this splendid "Beauty" in London next summer - assuming they will bring it to London with other ballets. What a long wait! [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited July 01, 1999).]

Angela and Manhattnik, I agree that Malakhov is one of the greatest male dancers today. I was told that he is the favourite and highest paid guest star in Japan. I can still remember my first viewing of Malakhov in London in the summer of 1988, when he danced Siegfried with the Moscow Classical Ballet of which he was then a member. He had such an effortless high jump. I saw his Siegfried again in 1990 when Moscow Classical returned to Sadler's Wells in London. I saw relatively little of him in recent years. I saw him once with ABT in New York in 1996. Last year (1998), I saw him in "Giselle", "Etudes", and "La Sylphide" Act 2 with ABT. His Albrecht was most moving. I can still remember one highlight of his amazing virtuosity. In his Act 2 solo, it was unforgettable to see Malakhov, after each cabriole, land on the ground arching his body so far backward - I hadn't seen this step from any other danseur before. I read in the Japanese monthly "Dance Magazine" that Malakhov is to dance Giselle with Alessandra Ferri in Tokyo in early Sept. However, since I don't know Japanese, I cannot figure out with which ballet company they are dancing.

Tay, if you are so keen about Patrick Armand, who is now a principal of English National Ballet (ENB), you should follow the company's performances in Britain. I saw a lot of his performances in London in the 1980s when he was with ENB before he joined Boston Ballet. I last saw him perform Siegfried during the ENB's tour to Hong Kong, and was quite impressed. However I have always found his line too lumpy for my taste. I prefer a danseur noble with a purer line, such as those I have mentioned above.

It seems that nobody has mentioned here the several etoiles of Paris Opera Ballet who I think are among the greatest danseurs in the world today - Laurent Hilaire, Nicolas Le Riche, Manuel Legris. What star quality they all have, especially the first two.

Angela, I wasn't that impressed by the Kirov's Danila Korsuntsev when I saw him as Siegfried in Hong Kong last Dec. partnering Makhalina. But I am glad to hear about Ilya Kuznetsev dancing with Lopatkina, who in Hong Kong was partnered instead by Evgeny Invanchenko. I remember Ilya Kuznetsev from the 1997 London season of the Kirov. He made a wonderful debut as Albrecht. As for the Bolshoi, I have seen a photo of Tsiskaridse in the brochure of its London season in July.

I saw Anna Polikarpova in Hong Kong in February during the Hamburg Ballet's short season. She was a moving Helena in Neumeier's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Her Kirov training showed in her expressive upper body. In "Bernstein Dances" she danced as one of the friends of Bernstein. Before Polikarpova left the Kirov Ballet, I remember only seeing her once in Washington as one of the 3 muses in Balanchine's Apollo. However I cannot find the Kirov programme to verify this.

Cargill, I wish I could see Kyra Nichols in "Stars and Stripes" as well! Actually, I just remember a review in the "New Yorker" of 8 July 1996, in which Arlene Croce described Kyra Nichols. I like to quote Croce. "Nichols has now reached the privileged moment in a dancer's career when she is doing less and giving more. I remember that moment in Fonteyn, in Tallchief, in Kolpakova, in Farrell; it's the ultimate refinement of classical style, the crowning achievement of a lifetime in dance.......she's not a model for steps; she's a vision of dance. An artist of sterling technique and shadowless temper, she is passing just now through unaccustomed territory; the romantic side of Balanchine..... Of the generation of ballerinas born by the end of the sixties, Kyra Nichols is the only one with a completely formed, articulate technique and a distinguished repertory in which to deploy it. She ripened on the vine while her two great NYCB contemporaries, Darci Kistler and Maria Calegari, and the Kirov's Asylmuratova, the Bolshoi's Ananiashvili, the Paris Opera's Sylvie Guillem, and the Royal Ballet's Darcey Bussell all suffered disruptions and cancellations of one sort or another..."

Kyra Nichols is in my opinion the greatest classical ballerina in the world at present, and certainly the most musical. I am privileged to have followed her career since 1985, though I always regret not being able to see enough of her performances in New York. I have happy memories of her over the years in many Balanchine ballets, especially in "Mozartiana", "Vienna Waltzes", "Cortege Hongrois", "Raymonda Variations", the Rondo section of "Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet", "Donizetti Variations", "Theme and Variations" of "Tchaikovsky Suite No.3", "Diamonds", "La Sonambula", "Serenade", "Walpurgisnacht". In January this year, I saw her in "Liebeslieder Walzer" and "Concerto Barocco". In "Barocco" Nichols' dancing, which has a beautiful cantabile tone like a Stradivarius violin, was so heart-meltingly pure that it seemed to cleanse one's senses. Nichols also imparted an ineffable spiritual dimension to her exemplary dancing. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited May 01, 1999).]

Alexandra, to answer your question in the last paragraph, I think "Onegin" is somewhere between a grand idea of ballet and the end of civilisation. I am fortunate to have seen some truly great casts of Tatiana in "Onegin" in London with the then London Festival Ballet in the 1980s - Marcia Haydee (the creator of the role), Natalia Makarova, Eva Evdokimova, Maximova, Lynn Seymour. My favourite among this short list is Lynn Seymour who in 1988 (the weekend before the Kirov's London season) gave the most moving interpretation.

Jeannie, the Kirov should have already premiered in St. Petersburg "Jewels" by now. Do you know what the actual cast list was? I'd also love to see your cast list for "Jewels".

Jeannie, I am well aware of these 3 weekly magazines that you mentioned. I greatly respect these 3 distinguished writers too. Arlene Croce's writings in the New Yorker in the past were like a bible to me! I only mentioned about the daily newspapers in response to the last paragraph in Dale's message.

Dale, I always find it strange that in New York which is after all the leading financial centre in the world, there are so few quality daily newspapers - only NY Times, and Wall Street Journal of which Robert Greskovic is the distinguished dance critic. (I don't think NY Post being a tabloid counts as a quality newspaper.) And I understand that Wall Street Journal does not publish as many dance reviews as NY Times, nor does it publish the reviews timely 1 or 2 days after a performance. In Hong Kong, where I am a resident, there are also 2 English daily newspapers which publish reviews regularly. (I myself write for the Hong Kong Standard.) But in London, it is far better - 4 quality daily newspapers besides the Financial Times. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited March 25, 1999).]

I too would be loathe to see the Balanchine "Swan Lake" disappear from NYCB's repertory. But I guess Peter Martins is not the person who would show Balanchine's version alongside his new full-length version in the same season, as he would not welcome the inevitable comparisons between both versions. We can all too easily conclude which is the superior version.

Paul, I am glad you have also seen the Balanchine version of Swan Lake. Giannina, the programme of NYCB on the weekend of 29 May looks heavenly, with these Balanchine masterpieces like "Mozartiana", "Diamonds ,"Serenade", "Theme and Variations". I hope you can catch the divine Kyra Nichols in most of these ballets. I envy you being able to see them.

Juliet, I didn't take detailed notes from the single performance of Peter Martins' Swan Lake danced by Royal Danish Ballet, led by Silja Schandorff and Kenneth Greve. But I found the choreography generally over-fussy, like Martins' ballets for NYCB. There were plenty of technically difficult steps busily strung together which formed no coherent shape. On the whole, the Martins choreography did not improve on the traditional choreography, or indeed the Balanchine choreography in Mr. B's one-act version. To be fair, the sets and costumes designs were however colourful enough and quite good.

Paul, I also love the Balanchine version of Swan Lake. I last saw it danced by NYCB in 1996 with Kyra Nichols. After the Kirov Sergueyev version, this Balanchine version is my second favourite. I dread the new Peter Martins production of Swan Lake that NYCB is going to premiere this summer. I saw this Martins version once in 1997 danced by Royal Danish Ballet. It is awful!

I am happy as long as I can see the Kirov Ballet dancing in the Sergueyev version of Swan Lake. Everything in this production is right in scale and tone. Every performance of Swan Lake by the Kirov is like a ritual to me!

On the subject of Nutcracker, in my opinion Balanchine's production is the greatest, far superior to Peter Wright's both productions for the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the Kirov Vainonen production seen in London 2 years ago. I remember that I was so taken by Alastair Macaulay's (now critic of Financial Times) analysis of its merits in "Dance Theatre Journal" that I flew to NY to see it one Christmas when I was still resident in London. The best cast I saw was Darci Kistler as Sugar Plum, in 1989. Marc mentioned Walt Disney. Actually the Nutcracker Suite in the Walt Disney cartoon "Fantasia" offered me far more kinaesthetic and visual excitement as well as poetry than many dull productions nowadays, e.g. Stephen Jefferies' production for Hong Kong Ballet. I urge dance-lovers to rewatch "Fantasia"! Arlene Croce wrote that Disney employed ballet dancers to model the steps for 'Dance of the Hours' - Irina Baronova, David Lichine, Tatiana Riabouchinska. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited 03-11-99).]

I only read Kirkland's first book "Dancing On My Grave". I thought that it was most unfair of her to blame all her personal problems on Balanchine as well as Baryshnikov. I didn't feel like buying her second book to read.

I only saw Gelsey Kirkland twice, in Sleeping Beauty in November 1986 with the Royal Ballet partnered by Stephen Jefferies (now artistic director of Hong Kong Ballet). Her musicality was astounding, and her rubato phrasing in the Act 3 pas de deux was unusual yet exciting. I also remember her highly developed acting at that late stage of her career. Kirkland was due to return the following summer to guest in Ashton's "The Dream" with Dowell, but pulled out because of injury. I never saw her again in London.

In my resident city of Hong Kong, which is impoverished in terms of dance programmes, the greatest performances of 1998 came from the Kirov Ballet's 5 performances of Swan Lake in early December. In particular, the opening and closing performances led by Uliana Lopatkina and Evgeny Ivanchenko were the best. I am glad to have seen the Kirov, which has now cancelled its London season this summer. I have done a fair bit of travelling abroad. In Europe, the greatest performance that I saw was Pacific Northwest Ballet in Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the Edinburg Festival in August, especially with Patricia Barker as Titania. It was a real Balanchine experience, and most life-enhancing. In New York, the greatest Balanchine performances in the Spring Season that I saw were N.Y.C.B in "Union Jack" and "Divertimento No. 15". The greatest individual performaces were Kyra Nichols in "Serenade", and Vladimir Malakhov as an impassioned Albrecht in A.B.T.'s "Giselle".

Thomas Edur, the Estonian former principal of English National Ballet, is a rare danseur noble. He has such innate nobility and such a pure classical line. No wonder Clement Crisp, Financial Times critic, described him as being descended from the Sun Kings. In January, I saw him as the Prince in Cinderella in Michael Corder's production for English National Ballet, where he returned as a guest partnering Liza Pavane from Australian Ballet.

As I wrote in reply to the other topic 'Who is the greatest ballerina?', I think that Kyra Nichols is the greatest classical ballerina at present. Nichols embodies the sheer joy of classicism. My other favourite are: Sylvie Guillem (a wonderful Ashton Cinderella last winter), Diana Vishneva of the Kirov (I saw her as Aurora and Kitri), Uliana Lopatkina (in second movement of Symphony in C), Patricia Barker (as Titania in Balanchine's Midsummer in Edinburgh in Aug.), Miranda Weese of NYCB. I do feel however that Bussell is over-rated, and much prefer Guillem.

Kyra Nichols is in my opinion the greatest classical ballerina in the world at present, and certainly the most musical. I am privileged to have followed her career since 1985, although I always regret not being able to see enough of her performances in New York. I have happy memories of her over the years in many ballets, especially in 'Mozartiana', 'Vienna Waltzes', 'Cortege Hongrois', final movement of 'Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet', 'Donizetti Variations', 'Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3 - Theme and Variations', 'Diamonds', 'Walpurgisnacht Ballet', 'La Sonambula', 'Swan Lake', 'Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux'. During my trip to New York this past spring, I remember her final scene in 'Serenade'. The sight of her borne aloft by her cavalier was most reassuring in hope. She was like a much needed beacon of light in our darkness. Her virtuosity was still undimmed in 'Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux', and in 'Raymonda Variations'.