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Fleurdelis

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Everything posted by Fleurdelis

  1. Fleurdelis

    Joy Womack

    Balanchine eventually developed and taught his own style, which had to take into account the available talent, traditions and schooling that he had to work with wherever he was. But, of course, his foundation was the Imperial Russian style, which then evolved under the influence of the iconoclastic Les Ballets Russes, and then through his own experience and creativity. Vaganova did two restagings of classical ballets, and yes, she did shorten the use of mime, since it looked archaic and unintelligible to the more modern audiences. The dancing in the scene where Siegfried meets Odette that we see in most versions of Swan Lake today is Vaganova's creation, before than it was all mimed. But the Petipa style was never defined by the mime in his ballets, rather by the grand corps scenes and iconic PDDs. In any case, staging a new version of a ballet is not the same as distorting a style. And as for tricks, they were well liked by Petipa as well, one of his favorite ballerinas Legnani was famous for her 32 fouettes, which she inserted into Petipa's works, even though many ballet purists frowned upon them as circus-like. Vaganova's method directly stems from the Imperial style, since she was, after all, a ballerina of Imperial Theaters during their heyday when Petipa was creating ballets for them, and the likes of Kschessinska, Legnani, Preobrajenska, Karsavina and Pavlova graced their stage. And this is also the style on which Balanchine and Fokine were originally brought up, so they both knew it very well, though chose to move into new innovative directions. Vaganova codified and systematized this classical ballet schooling and experience, but she did not invent it.
  2. Fleurdelis

    Joy Womack

    Once again, she was not "creating" a methodology. She was systematizing the lessons and knowledge that had already existed at the school and at the theater, and which she had herself learned from Vazem, Legat, Cecchetti and Pavel Gerdt (who, incidentally, was Balanchine's teacher too). Of course, she added and expanded on that, but as far as her "distorting" Petipa's choreography, I think that's a bit outlandish to claim. In fact, she helped preserve this classical tradition against the influences of Soviet acrobatic folk-infused ballet, an incredible feat indeed at the time, given how alien (and quite frankly odious) the courtly, lavish and aristocratic imperial ballet tradition must have looked from the point of view of Communist ideology and aesthetic.
  3. Fleurdelis

    Joy Womack

    LOL! Of course the Vaganova Academy and the old Imperial Theatrical School are the same. Just like Istanbul was Constantinople and old New York was once New Amsterdam. And Vaganova's key achievement was in systematizing and codifying the teaching tradition that had already existed at the school while she had been a student there (and later when Balanchine was there), fusing the influences of the French and Italian schools with distinctive features of Russian dance that she learned from Ekaterina Vazem, a great 19th century Russian ballerina. So Balanchine's and Vaganova's styles have ultimately diverged, but they directly originate from the exact same foundational and methodological tradition, no questions about it.
  4. Volcanohunter, I am just curious, why do you think Alena's Etudes debut was a disaster? I too saw the YouTube videos, maybe she did not deliver a historic performance, but I thought she was very technically proficient, especially given that she is only 18 years old and fresh out of school. I admit, I am not the one to judge technique (though I do notice obvious flops, like Dorothee Gilbert coming off pointe in Saturday's Emeralds), but I found no such obvious mishaps with Kovaleva. And how would you view her performance in the context of the generally under-rehearsed outings by the Bolshoi in Etudes, including the global broadcast of the first lineup? I don't mean to start a debate, just trying to figure some things out, and would appreciate an educated viewpoint.
  5. Fleurdelis

    Joy Womack

    It's sweepstakes time! I wonder which world ballet company will be fast and lucky enough to snag her. My bet is between POB, where they certainly know a talent when they see one, or the Bolshoi, under its new dynamic leadership. Maybe, just maybe, she gets the recognition she deserves back home in the US. Or is it too much to ask of plodding US ballet theater management teams?
  6. Ouch! I think this seals the deal for Maillot in America. Interestingly enough, FT was kinder to this Taming a year ago, giving it four stars out of five, as opposed to the current two. Unless there were important changes made to the ballet (and I am not aware that there would have been), or unless the dancers really laid an egg last night (wasn't there, so can't tell), it goes to show how narrowly do critical reviews represent the specific writers' own beliefs and biases, if there was such a difference in opinion between two critics writing for the same newspaper. Kind of makes you think that reviews are better given by teams of two or three persons, to get a broader impression, like Siskel and Ebert. The way it looks: given the amount of troubling issues this play contains, its staging nowadays has to have enough redeeming features to make up for them. And this particular staging has fallen short.
  7. I think it is because very few Americans have heard of, let alone read Lermontov. And even those who have read him would still find it hard to follow the plot, it is pretty densely and confusingly staged. The choreography itself is very impressive, however.
  8. Interesting. It is a shame that he does not like ABT's Corsaire, I saw it once and really enjoyed it.
  9. They would need to freshen up Raymonda. The decorations there are really awful, something out of a bad 1970s science fiction movie, the scenographer was probably undergoing a major creative crisis at the time. Esmeralda and Le Corsaire are so overwrought that they would put even Spartacus to shame in that department. Macaulay would have a field day with them. They are really mainly worth seeing for a couple of iconic solos and PDDs, and, of course, the two grand scenes: Animated Garden and the castle of Aloise de Gondelaurier (my personal favorite). But the rest consists of tediously endless back-and-forth walking and mime. Would US audiences have the patience to sit through that? Perhaps, if MacMillan's R&J is any indication.
  10. I think you hit the nail right on the head when you explain it in terms of the Anglo-American vs the "continental" traditions, although I would disagree with the way you characterize the differences. P.S. Perhaps a bit surprisingly, Londoners seemed to love Taming last year, and you'd think the nation of Shakespeare would jealously protect its heritage. Though maybe not so surprisingly, given how closely integrated the UK and the rest of Europe have become in the last several decades.
  11. Spartacus in a "kitschy schlocky" kind of way?
  12. Judging by all the comments on this forum from the Bolshoi's last visit to New York, it was not the dancers, but rather the American viewers who were unhappy about the warhorses. Swan Lake was too depressing and dated, Spartacus was too brash and Communist, and the repertoire overall deemed too old-fashioned and lacking creativity. So the Bolshoi decides to change it up and bring fresh, modern, Western works, and still gets panned, this time for the opposite reasons. Looks like it should either just stop touring in the US completely, or change its name to the Don Quixote Ballet Company and become a one-show wonder. Except that the DQ production that New Yorkers saw last time has since been sent to the heap in favor of one with cartoonish decorations and garish costumes.
  13. I was talking about my impression of Maillot's work, where he takes many liberties with the Shakespearean plot and characters, and I think the subjugation bit is really downplayed here. I get a sense that even though Katherine may appear to submit to some of Petruchio's whims (like the imaginary fire), she does so with such obvious condescension and sarcasm, that it is really she who is "taming" him. So, keeping Shakespeare's original title of the play may be a mockery in itself. Maillot himself said in his interviews that he wanted to move the play away from the "macho" thing and make it more about two extraordinary people meeting and falling in love with each other. And I think everyone who surrounds Katherine while she is at her father's home is shown as having some reprehensible trait, Maillot takes his time in exploring every character.
  14. I cannot see how skin tone would be a distraction, but uniformity in terms of build and height is something that I would find aesthetically pleasing. I had no idea that Mathias Heymann had Moroccan heritage, he always looked to me like the typical French heartthrob (or, at least, my concept of one). And if I see someone as gorgeous as Calvin Royal III in the role of Prince Siegfried, or any other classical role for that matter, all I would say would be: "Oh yes!!!!!!!!" Would I like to see him among, say, the Bolshoi's uniform ranks? Oh, yes, please!!!!
  15. Interesting how you saw this. I saw it totally differently. I too saw Kate as frustrated, but not sexually, rather emotionally from being surrounded by hypocrites and imbeciles, having a sister who is hiding treachery behind niceness, and a spineless excuse for a father. Then she finds someone as liberated and strong-willed as she is, her worthy match, which at first feels a bit unusual or even painful, but then, what's wrong with letting yourself go if you start feeling it? A kind of a coming of age story.
  16. I think that Eric and Bruna were selected to the Bolshoi because of their merit and ability. To think that this may have been because of someone's attempt at racial diversity would be an insult to these wonderful dancers, and I certainly will have no part of that. I am glad that people are finally agreeing that there is nothing wrong with the composition a Russian company being predominantly Russian + the various ethnicities that inhabit Russia.
  17. We need to remember that the Bolshoi's costumes were made with a different background in mind. In the videos from the Bolshoi's performances, Diamonds are performed against a deep sky blue background with a constellation of diamond-like stars. Which makes the dancers and their white costumes stand out a lot more. By comparison, the NYCB's background I found dated, a bit tacky, and distracting from the dancers. The background for Rubies, however, was right on target. As for the white gloves, I found them god-awful, would have much rather preferred to see the beautiful long expressive arms of the Russian ballerinas. The Bolshoi did not always have these gloves, if I recall correctly, where have they come from here?
  18. My mistake, I was only reciting from memory the ethnicity questionnaire from the multiple forms one gets to fill out in the USA. But I never encountered a box for "Tatar" or "Georgian" on any of those forms. Wonder why this may be. Is it because there is not enough diversity in America?
  19. That's Turazashvili. Couple of more examples: Eric Swolkin and Bruna Cantanhede Gaglianone from Brazil. Both were among the Bolshoi cast in Diamonds yesterday, too bad some people here have missed them. The Bolshoi was apparently more diverse than the NYCB last night. Though their path has not been an easy one. Bruna with Brazil's then-president Dilma Rouseff
  20. The issue is, in the old Soviet Union, people were forced to declare their ethnic group and stick to it, so something like what you suggest could have been easily done back then. Thankfully, this practice has been abandoned since the 1990s, and now people are free to choose for themselves what type of ethnicity they feel they most belong to, and to even refuse to be categorized and judged based on their ethnicity. You can still more or less figure out people's backgrounds based on their names (except for the ladies who get married, and take their husbands' last names), as well as sometimes (and this is a VERY slippery slope) their appearance. But you may find that this topic is a lot more complex and diverse than simply slotting people into white, black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander boxes, which, unlike some people in the US might think, does not come even close to covering all the ethnic diversity that exists in the world.
  21. You can see in my other comment that the Bolshoi dancers that you saw could actually be a lot more diverse when you might think once you actually look deeper into who they are and their backgrounds. I suggest we leave it at that.
  22. One simply has to dig deeper and learn about the different ethnic groups that inhabit Russia, and also learn a bit about the individual Bolshoi dancers and which ethnic groups they come from. Thankfully, the internet provides ample opportunity for this. Then, perhaps, these "Russians" will all of a sudden stop looking the same and lacking individuality and, yes, diversity, to the enlightened American public.
  23. If you were referring to racial diversity after all, then you should perfectly understand and accept the reason I have provided.
  24. No, I made a point that it is ridiculous to expect a ballet company from another country to have the same ethnic makeup as a US company. Because their histories, and, therefore, implications on current ethnic makeup are quite different.
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