Ray

I wonder, though, what dancer would want to portray a massive round object.

Haha, I can imagine! Looking forward.

Thank you for this...it's so easy just to stop at one's potted definitions (i.e., adage is just short for adagio, a musical term for slow). A ballet teacher I had once stressed the importance of uncovering the basic meaning of the terms we used, and how they describe the movement quality of the steps they stand for in fundamental ways. Something I thought about all of my career.

Actually, Drew, I always considered Cragun to be the epitome of European ballet sexiness--extraordinary for a boy from Sacramento! But I can see what you mean, also. I remember him from a mid-80s PBS filming of Ruth Page's Fledermaus, in Joliet, IL. I was just a corps dog in the production, but I remember him making the effort to be nice to everyone--no big ego there, just loveliness. (In contrast to the Panovs, who were not particularly interested in mixing with the rabble!) So, so sad!

Also, Koch is not subsidizing ticket prices, as funders did in Balanchine's heyday, which might soften audiences hearts to these duds. And they're hyped up as masterpieces before the first step is even choreographed. I think the problem here too is not so much that Ratmansky made a bad ballet within a trajectory of a mostly successful career, but that ABT, with all its history and expertise, produced yet another high-priced clunker. If I were a patron I'd be thinking of all the starving children I could save...

From the book Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America by Christopher Bram (Hachette, 2012): "In 1946, shortly after he started ballet lessons for the rheumatoid arthritis he'd developed in the Aleutians during the war, Gore Vidal became involved with handsome dancer Harold Lang" (p. 3).

One older gentleman who had worked with de Valois questioned her effectiveness as a teacher, and felt that the conference was making her out to be a saint.

It'll be interesting to see if they include some of the surprisingly critical commentary that emerged during the conference....

The Helpmann Trousers?

I took away a completely different impression from the performance. Firebird seemed uninspired; it was not clear to me why Ratmansky made the choices that he did (he was fairly rigid about sticking to the libretto: why?); the costumes seemed silly and overdone; the music does so much more work than the choreography (example: the men's choppy jumps at the very ending of the ballet to that glorious, familiar music). Thirteen Diversions, while of course not the best choreography on a program that included Apollo, was actually the most theatrically cohesive piece on the program. Apollo was a bit of a work in progress: interesting but not yet satisfying in all regards to see Hallberg tackle the role, and some PDD misjudgments and lax musicality from the women all around. And the sense of ensemble among the women did not feel strong.

Copied from the Company's press release. Especially notable (to me, anyway) is Jermel Johnson, an amazing dancer. Pennsylvania Ballet Announces Promotions for 2012-2013 Season Fadeley, Hussey, Johnson, and Moore promoted to Principal Philadelphia, PA (May 24, 2012) – Pennsylvania Ballet announces four promotions from within to Principal Dancer. Soloists Lauren Fadeley, Ian Hussey, Jermel Johnson, and Brooke Moore will ascend to the Company’s highest tier for the 2012-2013 Season. “Each of our new Principal Dancers has developed their own unique artistry while here at Pennsylvania Ballet,” Artistic Director Roy Kaiser says. “I am so pleased to honor their talent and dedication with these promotions.” In addition to the promotions above, Company Members Evelyn Kocak and Jong Suk Park will be promoted to Soloist. Apprentices Alexandra Hughes, Elizabeth Mateer, Alexander Peters, and Eric Trope will be promoted to the Corps de Ballet. Pennsylvania Ballet II dancers Amy Holihan and Harrison Monaco will be promoted to Apprentice. All of the promoted artists can be seen onstage next in the finale to Pennsylvania Ballet’s 2011- 2012 Season, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, May 31-June 3, 2012 at the Merriam Theater. Tickets are available online at paballet.org, by phone at 215.893.1999, or in person at the Kimmel Center Box Office. Lauren Fadeley was born in Orlando, FL, where she began her dance training at age four. She studied at The Rock School for Dance Education and The School of American Ballet. At age 16, Ms. Fadeley was invited to join New York City Ballet. In May 2007, she graduated Cum Laude from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an outside field in Kinesiology. Ms. Fadeley joined Pennsylvania Ballet in fall 2007 and was promoted to Soloist for the 2011-2012 Season. She has performed principal roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake (Odette/Odile); Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan (Wendy); and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ (Sugarplum Fairy and Dewdrop), Agon (Pas de Deux), and The Four Temperaments (First Theme). She has originated featured roles in works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Peter Quanz, and Matthew Neenan. Ms. Fadeley was one of fourteen Pennsylvania Ballet dancers who performed in the Academy Award-winning film Black Swan. She is married to Principal Dancer Francis Veyette. Ian Hussey was born in Westmont, NJ and began his ballet training at age nine at The Rock School for Dance Education. Mr. Hussey continued his training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary and at various prestigious summer intensives. Mr. Hussey was a member of Pennsylvania Ballet II and an apprentice before being promoted to the Corps de Ballet for the 2007-2008 Season. He was promoted to Soloist for the 2010-2011 Season. Since joining the Company, Mr. Hussey has danced featured roles in ballets such as Matthew Neenan’s Carmina Burana, Val Caniparoli’s Lambarena, Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove and Nine Sinatra Songs, Paul Taylor’s Company B, Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake (Pas de Quatre), Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée (Alain), and George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments (Melancholic) and Agon (First Pas de Trois). He has also danced the title role in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and Cavalier in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™. Mr. Hussey has originated leading roles in ballets such as Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose and Jorma Elo’s Pulcinella. Jermel Johnson began his dance education at the Baltimore School for the Arts’ after school program. He went on to study at The School of American Ballet under such choreographers as Peter Martins, Peter Boal, Jock Soto, and Andrei Kramerevsky. Mr. Johnson joined Pennsylvania Ballet II in September 2003 and rose through the ranks of the Company to a promotion to Soloist in 2009. He has performed featured roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake (Pas de Trois), George Balanchine’s The NutcrackerÔ (Cavalier), and Robert Weiss’s Messiah. During the 2007- 2008 Season, Mr. Johnson received audience and critical acclaim for his performances at City Center in Manhattan and in the world premiere of Matthew Neenan's Pampeana No. 2 in Philadelphia. In October 2008, Mr. Johnson received a prestigious Ballet Fellowship from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, which supported his salary for the season and will support his choreographic endeavors in the future. Brooke Moore was born in Latrobe, PA, where she began studying ballet at age eight with Laurel Youth Ballet. She went on to study at Chautauqua Institution, American Ballet Theatre, and San Francisco Ballet School. Ms. Moore earned an apprenticeship with San Francisco Ballet and danced with the company for eight years. She joined Pennsylvania Ballet in 2007 and was promoted to Soloist for the 2008-2009 Season. Ms. Moore has performed featured roles in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ (Dewdrop, Sugarplum Fairy, and Coffee), The Four Temperaments (Second Theme), Concerto Barocco (2nd Violin), and Agon (First Pas de Trois); Ben Stevenson's Cinderella (Fairy Godmother); William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; and Matthew Neenan's As It’s Going. In 2011, she performed the principal role of Odette/Odile in Christopher Wheeldon's Swan Lake.

To pull away from brises/entrechats for a moment, did anyone else notice how in one part of his variation in Act 2, Hallberg ended his double tours with his head thrown back? The feat--and the theatrical effect--were stupendous; I can't say that I've seen that ever before, esp. done with such surety.

I can only echo the praise for Osiopova and Hallberg; I feel lucky to have been able to see that. Still, I envy those who were able to see the Triple Crown of Giselles (soon to be a quartet when POB comes in July). I have a more mundane couple of questions, probably born out of my ignorance or forgetting: (1) The woman's first variation music in the Peasant PDD was completely unfamiliar to me--am I just forgetting? And, (2) doesn't Albrecht usually do a series of brises in Act 2? And do they come during the music where Hallberg did his amazing entrechats sixes (that seemed to get stronger and higher as he did them)? Again, maybe I'm just forgetting...

Article re Lepage's Ring by a NY Times art critic, who focuses on the role of video in the production.

I agree completely--and this is something that one DOES notice in the live performance (and sitting up, as I am, in nosebleed territory): by constantly keeping the singers downstage the singing is always clear and audible. Ironically, however, in light of all the scenic machinations, this leads to some "park and bark" staging. In this production those moments sometimes come as a relief! BTW, the singers seem more comfortable now than the early descriptions report. But again this may be an effect of how far away I am sitting.

Update, post-Siegfried: Voigt was out sick, so we got to hear the excellent Katarina Dalayman who, I have to say, really has a richer sound than Voigt. Stephen Gould was great as Siegfried, after an inauspicious (to my ears) start. He's really got the chops for that demanding role. Terfel excellent, again. I'm amazed, as always, how the Ring music seems to get more and more exciting as the cycle progresses. The Act 1 music as Siegfried forges his sword had me on the edge of my seat; then the "forest murmurs" in Act 2 and the music familiar from Siegfried Idyll in Act 3 (amazing, too, that it has such a small cast of singers--but 6 harps, though!). Gotterdammerung really is just an orgy of musical excess, and I can hardly wait for it (trying to keep Alex Ross's description of it out of my mind). The machine, while artistically problematic for many reasons (under the general heading of "not meeting expectations" or "good on the drawing board/screen, not so great on stage") seems to be working fine, and the singers seem more used to it than reported in early reviews.

Anyone attending the Ring or parts thereof? I've seen Rheingold and Walküre so far. I won't discuss the problematic set, but instead focus on the singing, which is uniformly excellent: Bryn Terfel: Best. Wotan. Ever. Stephanie Blythe (as Fricka): To paraphrase NY Times critic Anthony Tomassini, she rules! She can sing anything, and she's only 38. Can't wait to hear her in Giulio Cesare next seasion. Stewart Skelton, substituting for an ailing Jonas Kaufman, as Siegmund in Walkure: Authoritative. Deborah Voigt: solid, if not the stellar Brunhilde of our dreams. Onward to Siegfried and Gotterdammerung!

I disagree; and often it's really just about proper attribution, even if the respect is there in intent. I find that program books that are careful to list the specific piece of music (i.e., rather than just "Music: Beethoven"), are the exception; additionally, I've seen very few program notes (for ballets to canned music) that tell us who's playing and what the recording is. That's just unethical. I will concede that dance is of course often overlooked in music and art discussions (i.e., Big Art Books about the Ballets Russes will sometimes neglect to say anything about the choreographers involved).

In a recent Philadelphia Inquirer piece on PA Ballet's new Peter Pan by Trey McIntyre, music critic Peter Dobrin takes on some of the ballet world's bad habits in re music adaptation, arrangement, and crediting. From the article: "Ballet companies routinely slight the music (as do many critics in reviews), so Pennsylvania Ballet isn’t the first to commit this small crime. But isn’t it reasonable to expect one art form to be respectful of another? 'Music is the floor we dance on,' said Balanchine. Do the musicians in the pit contribute less to the experience than dancers on stage?" The interview with the Company's PR person and with the music arranger/composer show them in a poor light.

Well, the cigarettes helped too, I'm sure!

Well, I'd like to say that I knew all of this already, but that would be another April Fool's joke. I think my appropriation--er, inspiration--for "the hatching scene from Swan Lake" comes from Woody Allen.

If Lopez is good at her job, then it sounds like a great fit: a Latina--a Cuban emigree, no less!--a Balanchine pedigree, and experience outside of the NYCB bubble. And she doesn't seem to have the urge to choreograph.

Thanks for the links! I've heard this said about blue many times, yet year after year companies all over the world do blue just fine in Balanchine's Serenade.

Well if there's anything encased in plastic (to paraphrase Gelsey Kirkland on B's Coppelia), it's Martins's choreography.

Dance historians working in a remote Siberian outpost of Russia's esteemed National Center for Ballet Research are reported to have uncovered a remarkable document in papers left behind by an imprisoned Ballet dissident from the early Soviet era: the libretto for a lost scene from Swan Lake. Early reports are that it describes an elaborate prelude to the ballet's second act, containing a solo for the so-called "white" swan; its title is being loosely translated as the "hatching variation." Sketches of an ornate, ballerina-sized shell from Fabrege are also allegedly among the cache of documents, but those reports cannot be confirmed by the NCBR's chief investigator, Aprille Füells.