carbro

I think that in its way, Agon resembles Liebeslieder. Much has been made of the transition in Liebeslieder from public (part 1) to private (part 2), and the same seems to be implied in Agon. It opens with the full cast (public), then the two lighthearted pas de trois (not really public or private), and devolves into the (private) erotic encounter of the pas de deux. If there is any trace of preclassical dancing in the pas de deux, it is well hidden, but here again is a microcosm of the history of dance from people's everyday movements into a ritualization of same, into folk/social forms, into theatricalized forms. Only it's in reverse in Agon. Until the full cast returns. I'm beginning to feel that I'm going pretty far out on a limb here. Help! Does this make sense? :confused: I'm gonna go think some more on this.

Ari made the point that in order to succeed these works have an especially strong need for masterful structure. Balanchine can, Tudor can, Tharp can but doesn't always (Sinatra Songs fails here). Without the solid underlying structure, song ballets do seem to be series of tenuously related events. While it isn't strictly speaking a song ballet, "Dances at a Gathering" suffers from this problem. I always wondered what it was about "Dances" that bothered me. :confused: After reading this thread, I now know. Thanks for raising the issue, Leigh. It might be worth pointing out that "Revelations" fits the genre. Anyone think that doesn't work?

I was at City for Kip Houston's final bow. Quite sad , but it was time. I have consistently enjoyed his earnestness and presence (denoting both persona and sense of BEING THERE). He's been a caring partner and -- I know this is often used disparagingly, but not here -- reliable. Wednesday, he was clearly in savor-the-moment mode, which was very sweet. If he's less agile than he might have been, he was as poetic a Second Sailor as one could wish, sweeping the vast stage space with those lateral port de bras, holding the releve a breath longer after pirouettes. It was interesting to see a City cast in Fancy Free again, in view of the incredible level ABT has taken it to. It wasn't quite up there technically or theatrically, but this felt "friendlier," due perhaps to the occasion. Apparently Damian has heard (if not seen) how Latin Jose had made his the Third Sailor (appropriately), and decided to "de-Latinize" him. Well, it can't be done completely, because that's the character of the music and the steps, but it was an interesting, baseballish take. Pascale in the pas de deux hit a good balance of ballet/jazz. "Symphony in Three Movements" (with Kip in a secondary role) opened the program, and it was fabulous. Really. Top to bottom. Three Movements seems to be Peter Martins's favorite Balanchine ballet (you can find pieces of it in almost all of his works). Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto did the quirky central pas as wonderfully as I have ever seen it done. The less said about the middle piece (Bigonzetti's "Vespro") the better. I really hated to see another link to the Balanchine era leave. Part of the institutional memory is lost. Be well, Kip. All best to you, and thanks for all those years of really fine dancing.

I have often wondered about that myself. Why are you more qualified to be Artistic Director because you were a famous principal dancer? It may be a fundraising asset, but if the company presents a dreary face due to your ill chosen rep or depressed dancers or both, that is not an asset in the long run. I think that people who can observe from a corps dancer's or soloist's point of view might have a broader appreciation of some of the nuts and bolts of the operations. p.s. I realize I used the word "nut" in the previous post. These two usages are clearly separate and distinct. Just so there's no confusion. ;)

Off topic, Alexandra, but you asked: When my friend was at Fordham Law, a classmate of hers complained that Ethics was graduation requirement. :rolleyes: That student was the son of a famous lawyer (initials GGL) who was a central Watergate figure, later a notorious radio talk show host, and proof personified that such a course should be required. I guess the nut falls not far from the tree.

I have seen all except Laing and Eglevsky. I voted for Youskevitch because I saw him -- partnering Alonso in Giselle adage at an ABT gala (forget which year, but some of you must have been there). What a partnership was that! The electricity filled the house. A veteran balleto remarked that in the '50s, they were like that at every performance. Whew!

Baryshnikov is not what I would call a musical dancer per se, but I did see a few performances in which he was -- those nights -- pretty darned musical. Makarova is a more complicated issue, because I do feel she was musical, but that her ear was a bit . . . eccentric? Individualistic? She really asked the audience to meet her on her terms musically. A post on another topic cited Assylmuratova saying something to the effect that the Vaganova School airms to teach the dancers how to "let the body sing." That is the same phrase Makarova once used in a tv interview, and it was so vivid, that I was struck when I saw the younger product of the same schooling (sort of) repeat it. I suspect it may be oft repeated in those studios. And I think Makarova achieved it.

I, too, would love to see Ringer in Second Movement Bizet. Also (and it's a sure bet this will never happen ) as the lead in Barocco. It seems that the "rules" for body types in certain roles apply strictly to everyone except Borree.

. . . and then there are instances where one miscasting is exacerbated by other cast members. I'm recalling Sonnambula, with a very young Kistler as the Sleepwalker and Saland as the Coquette. It was hard to be convinced that the poet would be so much more fascinated by the virginal innocence of this all-American, frank and open girl-next-door than by the dark, mysterious allure of the seductress.

Some people have "it." Others don't. (A new thought.) My first sight of the then-student Jenifer Ringer in Serenade told me this was someone really special, but it took 10 years for her to become officially a ballerina. And during the whole time she was "in the corps," the eye was always drawn to her. And there are ballerinas who have been ballerinas for 20 years and do very competent, very pretty work, but you watch them only because that's where the spotlight is. The aura and the title are not one and the same; neither necessarily confers the other. Sorry if I've veered off-topic. It seemed germaine to a subtext here.

There are two kinds of miscasting: prospective and retrospective. Some years ago Judith Fugate was cast in "Chaconne." "Chaconne??" Fugate?? Trust me, she and it were both gorgeous. Also "Push??" Dvorovenko?? She was the only member of her cast who "got" it. Seen with my own eyes at NYCB: Suzanne Farrell in "La Source" and "Who Cares?" (Fascinatin' Rhythm, Man I Love). Lauren Hauser as the "Big Girl" in "Rubies." Barocco cast: Elise Flagg and Nichol Hlinka, surrounded by women twice their height. I'm not sure it would have worked even with a short corps. Most of the dancers in the various stagings of Bournonville bits (as has been alluded to). Alexopoulos in Green in "Dances." Yes, there've been plenty at ABT, too. The worst that comes to mind right now was Kirkland in "Great Galloping Gottschalk."

Nureyev??? Not when I've seen him!!! It is hard to gauge people's musicality based on films alone, unless they record the music and dancing as they occurred at the time. Some films may have had the music dubbed over the dancer (the Farrell DonQ among these), after the dancing was done. Those (and they are usually identifiable, with a little attention) cannot give an indication of a dancer's musicality, as the viewer and the dancer are not hearing the same thing. Other films, especially in the last 20 or so years, have been synched to fit the dancing to the music (harder to detect), also giving us a false impression. I think musicality requires the dancer to surrender her/himself to the music. I found that in van Hamel. I see it by the bucketful in Corella. Woetzel has his moments. Helgi Tomasson. Heather Watts described herself as unmusical, but during a brief period before she decided it was okay to mark her performances, driven perhaps by this perceived shortcoming, did some very musical dancing. Melinda Roy, Dierdre Carberry, Johan Renvall -- all exquisitely musical. Of course Farrell, of course Verdy. Not ballet, but no one has ever surpassed the great Astaire. Aaah! Do I contradict my criticism of films as a reliable medium? Perhaps. But here is also Croce's Astaire and Rogers book, the corners of which flip one way to show one dance, and the other to show another. It was obvious that one was a waltz -- the waltz, in fact, from "Swing Time"!

This was an example of the whole being even greater than the sum of its mind-boggling parts. What was amazing, though, was the balance of the cast: Each sailor outshone the others equally. ;) Just incredible fun. Anyone who can, go see this cast! (Actually, I liked Julie in the pas. But if I hadn't, I don't think I would have minded.)

I voted for Karsavina, the only one I've never seen at least on film (and until I read this board, believed that none existed of). Her still photos suggest intelligence and warmth, and a sense of humor comes through even in her technique book! Ari, I hope you were able to see the footage of LeClerc included in the "NYCB: 50 Years" (or whatever the title was) at the New-York Historical Society. For those who expected to be enlightened, it was a revelation. She has no comparison. I saw the exhibit twice, but viewed the "Barocco" segment about six times. Had to be chased out of the museum at closing times. Second choice would probably be Kirkland, whom I've seen dozens of times, but she owes me for all those cancellations.

I bemoan the blurring of national styles. In old ballet photos, it's easy to tell by the bearing, or the angularity of an elbow, or the arabesque line, the nationality, if not the exact company, of the subject. Now, if I'm flipping channels and see someone unfamiliar in pointe shoes, I sometimes have to watch for several phrases before I can feel confident guessing which hemisphere they represent! It is my hope that Monica Mason will restore to the RB some of its former, courtlier style, having been so steeped in it herself. (I.e., perhaps Dowell's international career was not an asset to the the company.) I'm hopeful, but not optimistic.

. . . which would certainly be no worse than sitting through Martins' Swan. Meunier made that more than worthwhile. Stunning! Is there a Smiley for "Aaaaah!"?

A painful lesson learned by many who bought tickets for Gelsey Kirkland's second performance in a role but not for her first.

ME! Because someone's gotta be there to see Nijinsky II and Fonteyn II in the new ballets by Balanchine II, and then report back to Alexandra II and her circle at Ballet Alert II! ;)

Alexandra, these are even more wonderful than I had imagined! The photos seem to pulsate with energy. Thank you so much! A Happy New Year to all!

You got it! That's the one.

Thank you.

Fascinating, Alexandra! The Brits always brought something theatrically special to their ballets (eg., in R&J, the arrival of the guests to the ball seemed to pass so much more quickly when done by the RB). Are they performance shots? Or posed in the photographer's studio? Do you recall the name of the book, and do you think it might be at the Dance Collection at NYPL/Lincoln Center?

I was very disappointed to see the programming for ABT's Spring '03 season. I was especially disheartened to see how often the wonderful Angel Corella is dancing with a particular soloist whom I find quite annoying. I am disappointed that some of my younger pets do not seem to be getting the opportunities I want for them, and that some partnerships I would like to see are not paired. I look at this spring as an opportunity to have more free time and more pocket money than I usually do that time of year. On the bright side, though, like Petite, I am looking forward to seeing Cojocaru's Nikiya, as I am Wiles' Gamzatti. Oh, but I wish Michele were doing Odette/Odile with Marcelo! I don't understand why no one consults me to help plan the season!;)

My knee-jerk response would be "abstract." But that's not how I voted. I'm thinking of the exquisite Act II pas de deux from La Sylphide, how it advances the story as much as any mime sequence, its interweaving of dance and gesture. When recently asked which among the classics (which I define as anything up to and including Les Sylphides, but that may need to be moved forward), is my favorite ballet I immediately cited La. If I were completely wedded to abstract, I probably would have replied Beauty, whose story I see as more a pretext for the gorgeous dances than the ballet's basis. Btw, and intending no criticism here, for myself, I really dislike the term "abstract." It is too ambiguous. Is "Dances at a Gathering" abstract? It has no story, just suggestions of feelings and relationships. Is "Serenade"? There is a difference between plotless or non-narrative on the one hand, and abstract on the other.

Hey! No Fair! I didn't even have a computer when you closed this poll! Anyway, I think Peter Martins has sunk City Ballet to a level poor Mr. B could never have imagined. The values exhibited by the company during Balanchine's lifetime, such as spontenaiety, musicality, stylishness, are in diminishing supply. Most ballets look as if they are being performed by rote. There are still artists in the company who know that ballets are more than mere steps, but it seems as if much effort goes into discouraging that kind of performing. His prediction that "They will be doing my steps, but not my ballets" was sadly prescient. I guess Balanchine had seen what the Maryinsky had done to Petipa in his time there. Oh, for the days of a corps of 24 different girls doing 24 different things at 24 different times!