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The judging was beyond ridiculous this week. The three teams wound up in a numerical tie! What is the point of having a judging panel if they cannot or will not make distinctions between teams?

I would have put the three teams in the same order that the judges did but I would have put a little more distance between the teams.

... it looks like this season will come down to a battle of the fan bases.

I agree with you completely re the judging. And it seems everyone on the show is being coached hard on being appealing, exciting, to the audience (PR) rather than focusing on realistic judging and dancing for the purpose of dancing *ballroom* styles well. This isn't *real* ballroom dancing... It has the flavor, but it isn't the real thing. Anyone who has studied and/or performed ballroom (socially or professionally) knows how much is missing in all of these performances of much personality and little technique / connection. Except for Mario, the other "stars" would barely qualify for an average pro-am competition.

Whatever next week's winner result, the TV audience seems interested in social dancing again, and that's great news!

Leaving Mario/Karina and Emmitt/Cheryl to compete for the final round.

I haven't watched much of this show, but it sure was lots of fun last night!

And although I really don't care who wins - can't they both win?! - I'm hoping it'll be Mario! His Tango performance with Karina was hot, hot, hot (and very well danced...)!!!

I read that article and noted the same thing. I've seen this kind of exaggeration/boasting/bloating in lots of articles I've come across via Google Alerts for Balanchine or NYCB. Mr. B apparently had more muses and principals than any of us knew!

Some lasted longer than others... Some were muses for only a week, some lasted over decades. Depends how you define a muse, I suppose... But Mr. B did take inspiration from many dancers for many different ideas, and often dancers took on principal parts for one, maybe two, performances. Then never again seen in that part, all the while listed as corps.

Ok, not moving on yet...

At the gala we only saw the first movement of SC, primarily allegro.... so I'm only speaking of that movement.

I'm hoping the gala was a dress-rehearsal-type performance for SC, and that in the later performance Part felt more confident in this newest ballet (for her). I agree Part, is beautiful and can be very musical and can be sublime in certain parts (much like Allegra Kent & Suzanne Farrell)... I've never seen Kim Highton....

But Kent and Farrell didn't hold back on performances, none that I've seen.... and btw both Kent and Farrell have done this Sym in C turn many, many times. Not that it makes them the great ballerinas that they were, but it shows the audience that these women rose to many a good challenge. I can't think of any ballet where Suzanne or Allegra didn't take risks that many other dancers wouldn't. I think that's an important part too, not the entire picture, of what makes a fine dancer great and fascinating.

Tiger Woods is a beauty, and golf is an impossibly difficult sport, but Woods is not artistic in the way that dancers, singers, etc., are. Dancing goes far beyond beautiful technique. And Part is definitely in that category of soulfully artistic. But I think I'm beginning to get impatient with her, perhaps ABT too for giving her too many White Swan parts.... instead of challenging her.

Of course one has to look closely at the details ... but this can also be a distraction from appreciating

the whole picture and (perhaps) getting the whole point. On the other hand, a serious artist SHOULD be very concerened about such matters.....That people above did find something distracting

I think an educated audience should be looking at both the big picture and the details. I don't care if a dancer executes 3 or 10 pirouettes, 32 or 24 fouettes, as long as the turns are gorgeous and the overall performance is generous with 100% effort. At the gala, Veronika Part didn't even attempt the pirouette-to second-and back to passe.... and her overall performance was tenative (jumps included). If Part was an inexperienced corps dancer given this part on short notice, I'd still expect her to give it 100%, fall to her fanny (a la Bouder) trying, but go for the high Cs.

Moving on....

I think Irina and Gillian will be quite interesting with high voltage when placed opposite each other....

My only previous live encounters with Symphonie Concertante was with Cynthia Gregory and Martine Van Hamel in the leads.

WOW!

I am seeing Irina Dvorovenko and Gillian Murphy in "Symphonie Concertante" on November 2nd.

I'll be at ABT that night too. What an odd but interesting pair these two ladies might be! I can't wait to see them!

I attended the Saturday matinee on October 21st....My question is whether the ballerinas are supposed to be complementary or contrasting. I know that Tanaquil LeClerq and Maria Tallchief created the ballet (two very different dancers) and I saw it about a decade ago at ABT....But I am not sure "meshing" is what Balanchine wanted. The women are constantly mirroring each others movements...

Anyway, there were no technical bobbles on Saturday afternoon....I think the killer passage that eluded Veronika at the Gala may have been simplified or removed from the choreography...

Yes, a bit of the choreography in Symphonie Concertante was removed after Veronika's fumble at the gala. Seems she was not the only ballerina who was having trouble with a certain turning sequence... Whatever. It's a turn that repeats a couple of times in Balanchine's Symphony in C for its lead ballerinas.

I don't think the two ballerinas in Concertante were ever meant to be identical bookends, but as with the two demis in the first movement of Symphony in C, they ought to balance the stage instead of one side weak, while the other side dancing boldly strong and solid. Tani and Maria were both strong dancers although different in style. That's not what was going on at ABT.

The only dancer I could see dancing opposite Veronika Part would be the lovely, long-lines, Kristi Boone. And what a treat it would be to see Herrera opposite Murphy! Or Murphy with Wiles. And opposite Dvorovenko.... how about the thin and very strong, and under used, Yuriko Kajiya!

Well... what a difference two days can make! And Cornejo hasn't been seen in Upper Room since the gala... Sinatra Suite on Saturday (10/21/06) night was wonderful fun to watch with Herman Cornejo and Sarah Lane. Like comparing night to the gala's day... Saturday night's Sinatra was all high energy, high chemistry and such charming joy. Cornejo was once again at his best, as was Lane. The audience even applauded in the middle of a song or two because of the spontaneous, sexy, That's Life/love play was at times too much to just sit there quietly throughout.

As for the new Elo... Well, on Saturday night, it was a completely new cast from Thursday's premiere. All the dancers were individually strong, happy to be dancing something demanding... but the choreography was nothing very special, and the stage was a bit too dark the entire time. Still, watching dancers including Herrera, Hallberg, Pastor, Lane, Lopez, with full-out showmanship, was pretty darn exciting.

: I'll also be there Saturday night so maybe I'll like it better the 2nd time around.

I hope I'll like Sinatra Suite better too the second time around. At first viewing, I thought the choreography was extremely awkward for most of the piece. There were lots of moves in the pas de deux where I couldn't help notice that the lady's arms were about to be pulled out of their sockets - unnecessarily ugly. Drops almost to the floor looked without purpose - nothing seductive going on. The choreography, for me, didn't seem to enhance or compliment the music whatsoever. Perhaps Corella will have a better time with it.

Klavier, NYSusan,

Thanks for posting. I'll be seeing Elo's on Saturday night, so I was curious to hear how the premiere went. Sounds like it may be interesting.... I just can't imagine ABT dancing anything like Slice to Sharp... The girls last night in Elo's wore pointe shoes, right??!!

Anybody see ABT last night (10/19/06) and the new Elo work?

Symphonie Concertante was a lovely opener, eg, pale, pretty tutus, a fairly large group of ladies wearing them. Pretty music. Balanchine choreography. Worked for me! However, Michelle Wiles and Veronika Part did not compliment each other. Wiles was very strong, gutsy, but also messy. Part was beautiful physically but danced tentatively.

I hope to see Symphonie Concertante again at the large Met stage. It was rather cramped at City Center, as was the corps of white swans decorating the stage during the Swan Lake 2nd act pas de deux with Paloma Herrera in the fine partnering hands and elegance of Maxim Beloserkovsky.

That was not at all the case for Herman Cornejo who completely terrified me while watching him try to partner Irina Dvorovenko and others in Upper Room. Irina and David Hallberg were such fun, fabulously sexy in this silk-pajama romp, but the others looked too forced and tough yet smiling at each other at every opportunity. Didn't really work. And I started giggling every time Irina did her best to obviously avoid executing anything too "full out" with Herman's partnering... yet while dancing with the other men, she was complete abandon - a terrific part for Irina. After awhile it became very clear, sadly, that Herman really should be taken out of this ballet before someone is seriously injured.

Sarah Lane sparkled with warmth and played sexily with her role in Sinatra Suite. She was radiant and womanly (tough for a small body), and also did a fine job covering up for the sometimes awkward partnering. Her Sinatra, Herman Cornejo, looked tired (from rehearsing Upper Room all day?) but he seemed to warm up to his role by the end of his solo which is how Sinatra Suite ended last night. I'm not sure the audience saw the entire piece. I'll see it again this weekend, and perhaps by then Herman will have less on his plate. I think he'll be better in Sinatra next time when he doesn't have Upper Room on the same program. Upper Room's non-stop-allegro moves looked exhausting this time around rather than fresh, the impact it had at last season's first viewings.

In Diana and Acteon, Reyes punched out all the tricks with confidence and attack. Carreno was also in good form, but this was not an artistically satisfying pas de deux. There was much that was rough and sloppy except for the brilliantly executed tricks. Carreno's turns were too many to count, all smooth and done with such ease. They really are something! Reyes also did some of the most solid fouette turns ever with doubles thrown in at nearly every opportunity, but overall their pas de deux just lacked magic - and there's that word again, freshness. I'm sure Reyes and Carreno have danced these roles since childhood, but.... How exciting it will be one day to see Cornejo dance this with ________? It would be a ballet he'd be well matched in.

So excellent performances were seen, but better casting could have made this special gala an unforgettable event.

I was at last night's gala too. I'll add comments at the other thread...

Re Veronika Part.... Last night I thought she danced nicely in Symphonie Concertante but too tentatively.

Part is beautiful, tall, curvey, but not technically strong. In slow adagios her lines are huge and she is wonderfully emotional. She's also gorgeous in parts, such as Emeralds, wherein she captures perfectly the bedroom feel of the lush choreography. Her Emeralds performance while visiting here with the Kirov a few years ago was unforgettable.

Symphonie Concertante craves two female principals who are strong, clean, bright, elegantly lovely, skilled in allegro (jumps as well as turns). Neither Michelle Wiles or Veronika Part were well cast in this ballet.

Apparently there's much improvement needed at ABT.

I really don't see why the principals through demi soloists for every ballet couldn't be listed in the Times and/or ABT's website a week or more in advance. It certainly wouldn't hurt advance sales at the box office!! Why shouldn't the audience see in advance almost as much as what's listed in the program they receive at the theater?! Those programs are generally printed weeks in advance with buckslips added for any prominent last minute changes.

To put Sarah's name up on the casting for a couple of weeks, then take it off, only created bad feelings all around. But as they say, there are no small roles in the hands of a fine actor/dancer.

Vipa,

My vote's with you re Sarah Lane!

There are many in the corps who ought to be given more solo/principal opportunities, but, as you said, the opportunities are too few for everyone at ABT. Rep at ABT is definitely limited in this way when compared to a company like NYCB where there never seems to be enough dancers to fill all the demanding roles. ABT needs to expand their rep, and NYCB needs to hire many more dancers!!! I can dream can't I?!!

I'll agree with everyone, that it is VERY odd ABT doesn't list any female leads (only the males) for Sinatra Suite.... But, as I've never seen the piece, perhaps the females are not listed because "Sinatra" is the only big part.... We'll all soon see!

I was there last night. Thought Part and Hallberg were both beautiful, physically, in the Swan Lake Act II pas de deux. Made me think of the years Suzanne and Martins graced the stage with their absolutely stunning physical beauty. However, Part and Hallberg seemed to share very little chemistry, and Hallberg was working awfully hard, harder than seemed needed for such a lyrical pas de deux, to lift and keep his partner well supported. And Part seemed to be concentrating too much on making her partnering moves safe and secure for Hallberg to handle. The pas de deux was very good but it lacked freedom and magic and drama. It was an excellent dress rehearsal that I hope to see performed better next time. It's also extremely difficult to successfully perform Act II pas without the corps and mood, sets, etc. I thought about all of these things during their pas de deux... but finally concluded that I think these two seem somehow more interesting individually than together, and how I wish I had seen them in Afternoon of a Faun instead -- a piece that would have flattered these two artists greatly.

Herrera and Carreno danced a nice version of Black Swan pas de deux complete with variations and coda, but it seemed again without magic and chemistry and risk taking. All the technique was there, but it didn't reach the seductive/darker side of this pas de deux. Herrera and Carreno kept smiling sweetly at each other... I wanted to hold up a sign, "This isn't Theme!"

But a few nights ago, my first night at the Festival, I had the pleasure of watching Riolama Lorenzo who left NYCB to dance with Pennsylvania Ballet. Although the Neenan piece shown did not include pointe shoes for the women, Riolama was outstandingly gorgeous, strong, sensual and sexy... trim too. She's dancing better than ever, and looking very happy with her success.

Just noticed the removal of Sarah Lane's name in the Sinatra Suite casting in the ABT website.I hope she is not injured. Joe

Sarah Lane is not injured, but the ABT CC casting cards are being shuffled so that seasoned principals and soloists take priority.

Edwin Denby, without comparison. Joan Acocella, Leigh Witchel, and sometimes Robert Gottlieb (Observer) or Eric Taub (Ballet.co), depending on what sort of review I'm in the mood for. While I enjoy reading many other reviewers too, I do hope someday soon Leigh Witchel will be writing for the NYTimes instead of Rockwell.....

Well, I've danced many parts, over many years, in Jewels, and I've seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of performances of the ballet. All I kept thinking last night was why, oh why, didn't they film the Kirov instead during their last Met visit dancing Jewels. POB's was a huge disappointment both in production and interpretation. I did however very much enjoy watching that tall, muscular, lots of hair, fine-looking, male lead in Emeralds... When will Peter Martins hire somebody like him??!!!!

A deal was also made with New York City Ballet; you will be glad to know that for every DVD purchased, $2 will be contributed to New York City Ballet.

Until 5 pm (EDT) on September 12, 2006, the Film Forum in New York City is offering DVD copies of Ballet Russes to NYCB patrons at a 25% discount off the list price of $29.99. NYCB patrons may purchase the Ballet Russes DVD for $22.49 (inclusive of sales tax, shipping and handling is an additional fee).

With an eye to the upcoming holiday season... Orders will be shipped not later than September 13 and will be sent by regular USPS mail.

Use this link to order:

http://boxoffice.printtixusa.com/filmforum...tem=GmnAeM1ZPeg

I don't know if they will promote any corp member up to soloist but if they do, individuals I'd like to see promoted would be Fang, Lane, and Stappas. Richard

Great new pics!

I'll bet Kajiya and Salstein will be promoted, if there are corps promotions... though I'd like to pick two from yours above....

I brought this up with a friend the other day. Where are all the former dancer women in choreographic roles today, and director roles? I still am keeping my fingers crossed for Melissa Barak... She choreographs small pieces on SAB students from time to time, and those pieces I've seen were all quite good. Why? Because she understands women's technique (avec pointe shoes) far better than most of the new male choreographers out there. I hope to see more from Melissa at NYCB one day as a choreographer when she isn't dancing her tail off every day/night....

As far as ballet company directorships. Women may have a harder time, because of the nature of our society, but of course it's possible. We all often wonder what NYCB would be like today if Mr. B had given his company to Suzanne Farrell to artistically direct. If Mr. B had opened the door for Suzanne, and it was a good transistion, successful, Mr. B would have opened the door for many other women in ballet companies. National Ballet of Cuba, The Royal Ballet have opened doors... I think in time, women here too will take on more leadership roles, and not just in ballet.

Ballet's women don't run away.... Many retired ballet women have settled into the nurturing roles of ballet's mentors, teachers, coaches, and motherhood. They are professional writers too!

This is nonsense about ballet being infantilizing and mechanizing.... Yes, there is youth among dancers, but better directors are the answer. And dancers do contribute more than you may think towards the process of creating a ballet, maintaining a ballet.

In simplest form, I'm with Betsy Krut of Santa Monica who wrote to the LATimes re Segal: ".............put him out of his misery. Then you could hire a dance critic who actually enjoys dance and would have the ability to write an informative review."

I'm still reading and enjoying everyone's comments here on Ballet Talk. They are SO informative and SO passionate, and all ring true in their individual ways. Any of you could have written a better article for the LATimes.

Alexandra hit every nerve in my body when she wrote what Segal should have, including: "Every artist wants/hopes/tries to do new work. What I'm objecting to is the notion that they do so MERELY FOR THE SAKE OF DOING SO TO GET ATTENTION or for marketing purposes."

Everything Segal wrote was shameless, uninformed bashing.

As usual, I was pleased to see Rockwell's attempt to write something supportive of ballet in return, but it doesn't have the depth that most of the Ballet Talkers share here.

Bravo to you all of you for caring so much!!!