carbro

Paul touched on engagement in his reference to modesty as a desirable asset in a dancer. I think the missing word in this discussion may be conviction. There have been dancers who -- even in the waning years of their careers -- have caused me to wonder, "Why does s/he bother?" There is no joy, no passion, no sense of any purpose whatsoever in their being on stage. God knows, there are easier ways to earn a living! The description of Joanna Berman's Aurora -- which must have been as transporting for the audience as it was for the ballerina -- reminded me of some of Farrell's performances that appeared to involve such a profoundly private journey that it was almost embarrassing to watch. Ultimately, they were deeply moving and courageous exposures into the soul of an artist with an enormous capacity to invest her work with conviction. Of Balanchine's famous maxim, "Don't act, just do," I think that he knew that all the elements for expression were there, but by laying artificial emotion on top of them, they would be smothered. They had to be allowed to emerge from within; by putting the ego aside, the dance's meaning (whether narrative or not) would emerge and the dancer could become her truest self. And here we are -- back at modesty.

Of larger significance, how about the Board of NYCB for allowing the continuation of an artistic team bent on removing all signs of life from the Balanchine rep?

Xiomara Reyes for insisting on double sauts de basque in Symphony in C, 3rd Mvt., despite her obvious difficulty with them and their violation of the music. Her "achievement" was doing so many without injuring her ankle.

Even in Balanchine's oh-so-innocent evocation of childhood, we can see how Marie feels something new and special for Drosselmeyer's nephew in Act I. In Act II, as she dreams, he has taken her to the Land of the Sweets, filled with exotic (if childlike) pleasures. It's all very indirect, no heavy Freudian hand at work here. Still, the subtext of the girl contemplating her future womanhood can be drawn.

With a little more passion, a little more focus, she'll have earned her "colors." :rolleyes: Sorry. I am already turning blue, holding my breath in anticipation of her Nikiya here this spring.

Are we limited to the dear departed? Or can we clone the alive but retired and/or alive and dancing? I'd nominate Carolyn Adams, who left such a huge void when she retired. Farrell, Vilella, Makarova, van Hamel. A clone of Gelsey Kirkland would probably require a second (back-up) clone, maybe a third, just to be sure. One of Jose Carreno for the coming generation, and one for the next and the next, etc. And Angel, although he appears likely to dance magnificently well into the future. Are there any administrators whose cloning we should lobby to prohibit?

NYCB: Ringer's debut in Act II pas in Midsummer was THE single great highlight of 2002 for me. Evans' Puck consistently hits the funny/poignant intersection with incredible accuracy. ABT: La Wiles. Always Carreno. The bursting into flower of Murphy (especially during City Center season, where each performance seemed to gain in authority over the previous one). Dvorovenko & Beltoserkovsky in 2nd Mvt. Bizet. Kent's wonderfully ditzy Titania. Steifel's incredibly rich and detailed 2nd Sailor (Fancy Free). Also his solo in Harrison tribute. Promise of Hallberg. Finally seeing Misty Copeland on stage. Kirov: Ayupova in Emeralds. (Had to use green here, right?) Runner-up: Cojocaru's Giselle.

Yes, as a matter of fact. Very shortly after his arrival in the US, Baryshnikov danced the Don Q pas with Kirkland at a benefit for Pennsylvania Ballet at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Audience response was so loud and sustained, they were compelled to repeat the coda. Also saw Ailey -- on the 10th -- and had the same experience with Revelations as you did. Company looked fantastic throughout: Winter in Lisbon, The River (with guests in honor of Chaya's 30 years w/ Ailey), and Revelations.

As an idea these costumes are intriguing. They certainly evoke snowballs. I can't help but wonder (before watching the trailer) about losing the line of those lovely torsos, though. I imagine that the legs look cut off from everything else. I like the backdrop. It reminds me of the one for the posthumous staging of Balanchine's Swan. So, with that in mind, black snowflakes would make perfect sense!;) Sometimes I think that the distinction between "different" and "good" is lost.

And that was what?

And isn't that (ideally) the paradox in Bugaku?

No? Just wait until the copyright expires!

"I don't have an accent, but you talk funny." ;) Right? We absorb a style to such an extent that we don't perceive it, and anything different deviates from the "norm."

Robbins made a timid suggestion in Goldberg, Part I, didn't he, with two men? Clearly, with two women, partnering would be a definite problem. But wouldn't the possibilities expand in one for two men? So much more can be described by mutual and/or alternating partnerings. I think the Lubovitch is beautiful and so moving.

Kirkland would take that run to Albrecht, take that last step before flying into his arms and visibly "die" before he caught her. How the hell did she do that????

Dvorak's "American" Quartet, which is so pretty, suggests endless expanses and, like so much of Dvorak, is sublimely danceable. (I'll admit the Scherzo is problematical for me. I may just lop it off). I've seen it choregraphed a few times, but haven't seen on stage what I'd heard in the score. My "American Quartet" is intimate in scale, with simple costumes (women are skirted). The dominant motif of my second movement is renverse. It's a modest little piece -- happy and sweet.

Oh My God! What an inspired combination! I can see how that's keeping you up!

Ringer as Giselle J.M.Carreno in everything (Imagine a partnership of him w/ Kirkland! Whew!) Wiles as Aurora Ansanelli as Caroline, in pdd from Stars & Stripes, Kitri Sandy Brown in Leaves Corella as Apollo, Balanchine's Oberon Real-Life Big Regret: Missed Jeppesen's Sylph:(

If Aurora's costumes have traditional colors (other than white for Act III), I've been unaware of it.

I know I'm being greedy. Glebb asked for ONE moment, and I've already posted 3 or 4, depending how you count the Tchaikovsky pas. Here Goes: Sleeping Beauty, Vision pas de deux (adage), when Aurora does the reverse fouettes (from arabesque to fourth front). I don't know why it's so affecting, but I love it.

It left me breathless. And in her first reappearance after a -- what? four-year? -- absence! That moment transformed her from a really lovely dancer into a Ballerina in my eyes.

A lost favorite moment: The original finale of Chaconne, with the dancers advancing in such a way as to make us in the audience feel as though they were about to swallow us up. I get giddy recalling the feeling. I can understand Balanchine changing it for the camera, but then why didn't he change it back?

She is an extraordinarily eloquent dancer -- always worth watching closely. This was far from her best performance, though.

Tchaikovsky Pas, Woman's variation: The three ecarte developes (with the third reeeeeaaaalllllly slow), into the tiny gargouillade. Also, in the adage, the arm business in the supported, slow turns into the fish. What? No Peter Martins fans out there? Anyone? Hello? (Not me.)

I do so love glebb's moment. Well, the Reel is wonderful, even without the magical flight of Sylph. My favorite is toward the end of 2nd movement of Concerto Barocco. It is the only time all 11 dancers are on stage, and there is a confluence of opposing energies. The corps is doing the soutenu-tombe combination, the second soloist is doing her grand jetes, releve, releve in the opposite direction -- up against the corps' down, down against the corps' up --and the man is helping the ballerina do her slides into those fabulous fouettes into arabesque. My idea of heaven. In recent years, NYCB's rendering of Barocco has robbed that moment of its inherent dramatic impact :eek:, so I now boycott their perfomances of it. Too heartbreaking -- in the bad sense.