Terry

Ballet nut -- Oh, I don't think your comments will offend other people at all; isn't this what "ballet alert" is supposed to be about? I will say though that I've always liked Lacarra better in Petit's pieces; her "Aurora" was not quite up there yet. I think she'll need more time to really develop herself into a real Aurora. Speaking of SFB dancers, who do you think is a pure "classical" dancer at SFB? I find a few of principal dancers in SFB better in contemporary roles (IMO, such a dancer would be Tan Yuan Yuan), so I'd like to know what people think. Once again, thank you!!

I've always liked Lucia Lacarra, ever since I first saw her with Marseille Ballet, but I've also read some mixed reviews. For some people she is THE star of SFB, and of course, she was nominated at the Nijinsky Awards in Monte-Carlo last year (along with Guillem, Lopatkina, Dupont, etc...) as "Best female dancer." She seems much more famous in Europe than in the States, but anyways, what do you REALLY think of this ballerina (who I think is world-class)?

Many Many thanks for all the wonderful information. I think the adagio, male variation, and the coda from Tchaikovsky pdd is used in Bourmeister's version of Swan Lake (there's a recording of it by POB with Patrick Dupont and Marie Claude Pietragalla -- a great recording). Luka, are you talking about the one that Yoko Morishita does with her company Matsuyama? I actually like the Tchaikovsky pdd music used in the Black Swan pdd. I think it works. (It doesn't work with the female variation music, but everything else seems to work!)

I'm sorry to interupt the discussion going on about "Coppelia" but I would like to ask some NYCB fans something about Tchaikovsky pdd. I understand that there isn't really a plot to this pdd, but when Balanchine created it, did he perceive at least somekind of a "relationship" between the female and the male performer? It seems to me like it could be a sort of "love" pas de deux, where the couple is having fun, glancing at each other, chasing each other, simply playing together...I'm just curious to know -- what do you think it is or it could be? Thank for all your help.

Alexandra, I completely agree with you. The repertory in companies in SF is simply amazing and so rich. To be honest, and IMO, I think they are much more "interesting" there than over here in NY. I'm especially glad to hear that they challenge themselves in many avante-garde European choreographies too. Has ABT or other dance companies here ever done Forsythe? Ek? Kirian? I hope they will soon... [ 06-22-2001: Message edited by: Terry ]

Carla Korbes gets two nominations from 2 principals! Amazing! I would love to see her in Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream. Isn't this her first major role?

Because there's a lot of controversies raised for ballet competitions, I wonder what people think about choreographic competitions? Anyway, I thought this news might be of interest for some people. The 2nd Don Perignon, a world choreographic competition, will be hosted by the Hamburg Ballet on July 12th. I personally think this competition will be a great opportunity to allow young choreographers (who often don't get the opportunities to have their works seen by major artistic directors of the work and have them show-cased) to really enter the market of choreography making. And we need more choreographers these days than dancers!! This competition looks very very high in standard -- here is the list of the judges for the competition: Reid Anderson, Director, Stuttgart Ballet Dinna Bjørn, Director, Norwegian National Ballet Boris Eifman, Director and Choreographer, St.Petersburg Ballet Theater Carla Fracci, Director, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome Daniela Kurz, Director and Choreographer, Ballett Nürnberg Brigitte Lefèvre, Director, Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris Giorgio Mancini, Director, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève John Neumeier, Director and Choreographer, The Hamburg Ballet Makharbek Vasiev, Director, Ballet of The Mariinsky Theater AND here are the finalists: Emanuele Soavi - "Last resort" Jirí Bubenícek - "Fragile Vessels" Gustavo Ramirez Sansano - "Weight on my back" Glaudi Bombardo - "Geste(e)" Yaroslav Ivanenko - "Morning Prayers" Jérôme Delbey - "Al Santo Sepolcro YHWH684" Susanna Leinonen - "Babolat" Yukich Hattori - "Piece" Daniel Zaboj - "What keeps Mankind alive!" Jirí Bubenícek , Yaroslav Ivanenko, and Yukichi Hattori are all dancers of the Hamburg Ballet. Jirí Bubenícek is a principal dancer. I don't know much about Ivanenko, but Bubenícek also has a twin brother, Otto Bubenícek, who is also a principal with them!! Yukichi Hattori is a rising dancer/choreographer in Japan. In Neumeier's last work, "Nijinsky," Neumeier created the role "Stanislav" (Nijinsky' mentally-ill brother) especially for him. Lastly, what is the prize? Well, it definitely seems like a FANTASTIC opportunity: * 1st Prize: DM 15.000.- In addition the ballet will be taken over into the repertory of THE HAMBURG BALLET and be danced by members of THE HAMBURG BALLET. Their will be no additional fee for the setting of the piece for THE HAMBURG BALLET. * Honorary "Encouragement Prize" as well as an unendowed "Public's Choice ". * Live performance of those creations chosen by the pre-selecting Jury (max. eight) on July 12, 2001, at the Hamburg State Opera in connection with the 27th Hamburg Ballet Days. [ 06-20-2001: Message edited by: Terry ]

I also received some information that there were some other SPECIAL prizes that were offered at the closing of the competition as well (Jeannie -- did you receive news of this?): *Prize for BEST TEACHER: Marina Semenova (I wonder who her students were?) *Prize for SPECTATOR AWARD (this was voted by spectators): Alexei Borsov *Prize for the BEST DUET PARTNERS: Leonid Sarafanov and Natalia Domratcheva *Prize for the HOPE OF THE WORLD BALLET (the name of the prize sounds a little awkward as it was directly translated from Russian): Misa Kuranaga *Prize for the BEST YOUNGEST COMPETETOR: Milena Sidorova *Prize from the UNION OF RUSSIAN WOMEN: Anastasia Kurkova and Marianna Sedova *Prize for the BEST NON-COMPETING PARTNER: Bon-Kuk Li *Prize for SPECIAL AWARD (this one really didn't have a "title," except a huge bottle of champagne was delivered to the winner): Tiago Soares-Pinto CONGRATULATIONS!! [ 06-20-2001: Message edited by: Terry ]

Jeannie -- Once again, thank you for such wonderful reviews. I am so thrilled to read the list of the prize winners; it must have been an exciting evening!! Ilya -- I do agree with your point. I think there are many things that go "behind" the panel of judges and financial reasons (whether it be lack of money, or perhaps, even bribery -- though I really hope not). In fact, I am absolutely confused as to why Ochi Tomonori won a bronze medal. Although I've never seen Han Po (another bronze medalist) before, could Ochi (whom I have seen in Japan...) really have been at the same level as the Chinese dancer, a gold medalist at Helsinki? Well, I think this partially explains it: Ochi Tomonori's father was the Japanese judge for this competition, and his mother, Ochi Kumiko, won the bronze medal in the 1977 Moscow International Ballet Competition. Still, these are my "assumptions." Finally, I would like to thank you Jeannie for providing these wonderful reports ALL the way from Moscow. Thank you SO much. Have a safe trip home -- PLEASE take care!!

I would love to dance: *Balanchine's Tchaikovsky pdd, Sylvia pdd, Tarantella, Who Cares?, La Sonnambula -- well, anything, really!! *Robbin's Other Dances, The Cage *Ashton's Thais pdd *Petipa's Raymonda, Giselle *Macmillan's R&J, Manon *Cranko's R&J *Pdds: Grand pas classique, La Esmeralda, Diana and Actaeon *Lander's Etudes *Bournonville's La Sylphide *Mats Ek's Giselle *Petit's Carmen *Forsythe's In the Middle Somewhat Elevated *Neumeir's Nijinsky

Once again, for those of you who are interested, here is the website for the competition: http://www.russianballet.ru/competition/about.htm Because this site is in Russian, you can view the website under this translator: http://translation2.paralink.com/urlmode.asp Also, since we're talking about competitions, I thought I would just provide the links to the upcoming IBCs: * 2nd Shanghai International Ballet Competition: www.chinaballet.com *4th Modern and Ballet International Ballet Competition in Nagoya (Japan): www3.ocn.ne.jp/~ibc00ngo/ Enjoy!! [ 06-17-2001: Message edited by: Terry ]

Jeannie -- thank you for the wonderful reports!! I, too, would love to see them perform "Tarantella" -- is there any way we can also get video tape copies of the competition?! I also thought that Domracheva had already made her "contract" with the Hamburg Ballet after her winning the Prix de Lausanne apprenticeship scholarship this year? But if her partner is going to RDB...well then, perhaps she might follow him too? Once again, thank you for the wonderful reports, and I will be very excited to hear about the finals!!

I also see it in this way: Some dancers, when they are young, concentrate on their "techinique" because they have the energy and the power to dance technically. When they can't use that technique anymore, some dancers become true actors/actresses on stage by trying to focus more on their artistry. I think this is what is happening to Guillem at the moment. I actually think it's great that a young artist can use his/her technique all the way, as long as we see the artist "developing" into a real dancer as he/she grows older.

So those "rankings," Jeannie, are not true then? Oooo, this is getting exciting!

dancersteven -- you can also use one of the free "online translators" to read the Russian reviews in English. It's pretty good too! Here is the link: http://translation2.paralink.com/urlmode.asp

Jeannie -- Thank you so much for all the information. Just from looking at the list, the senior category looks very very competitive; perhaps more so than the junior category. It's a little to bad that this competition doesn't have as much diversity as the other IBCs. No dancers from Spain or Cuba, which have been producing many medal winners in the past?! Once again, many thanks for the information!! Oh, one question: I've looked at the list of medals that will be awarded in this competition and I was surprised that there were 2 categories of medals: soloists and duets for both junior and the senior division. Does this mean that there will be 2 gold medals (for e.g.) in the junior/senior division -- one to a competitor who performed as a soloists and one to a duet dancer? That's a lot of medals to give!! [ 06-13-2001: Message edited by: Terry ]

Oh I found the varied opinions wonderful. When someone tells me a completely different opinion, I tell myself: " oh ! that's a way to look at it -- I've never realized that before!" And then I realize that I've gotten so much more in-depth look at a dancer/performance after reading everyone's opinions. I also think there is a time factor involved with these opinions. I think I've seen Yoshida since about 7 years ago and to be very honest, I wasn't very impressed with her in the beginning. And then I saw her in Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, and then I began to really see her wonderful qualities that I hadn't realized before. Of course, it could go the other way around. It also depends on the role too. If I had seen Sylvie Guillem perform Lise for the first time, I don't think she would've left much of an impression on me. Anyway, back to the heart of the question. What makes the difference on a particular dancer/performance that specific night/matinee? I think a lot of it has to do with what kind of certain qualities you are looking for in a dancer. If you're focus is to look at the dancer's acting capabilities, then you might find Yoshida dull. On the other hand, if you were looking more keenly at Yoshida's footwork and her port-de-bras, you might find her brilliant. The seating might have a little to do with it. I always envy someone who can sit in the orchestra because I think it's a little more easier for the audience to be totally absorbed into a performance that way. I know I'm forgetting some other factors too, but I'll leave that to other members so that we'll have 10 different outlooks or even more! [ 06-13-2001: Message edited by: Terry ]

I think a major part of "what makes a good corps" is from the ballet company's school training. Nevertheless, IMO, I think NYCB's corps isn't really a great corps (neither is ABT's). They all seem to have great technique, I often find the dancers to be sloppy and unclean. But who says that the corps need to be "clean" and "precise"? Perhaps, the heart of the question is, what IS a corps de ballet? The best corps at the moment, IMO is the POB. The standard is so high that you don't see any individuals really stick out, unless they dance individually. Another amazing quality of the POB corps are the men. IMO, the RB, the ABT, etc., have a few nice men, but the standard varies greatly amongst a few of the dancers that the dancers don't seem to come together. The women may look fine in these corps, but I'm always disappointed not with the women, but mostly with the men when I see these companies. One of the most important elements I always look for in a corps is "uniformity." Even if there is one spectacular dancer in the corps, if she/he looks as if she/he is trying so desperately to "stick-out," I find the dancer less attractive. I think this "corps" issue is a difficult problem b/c uniformity in the corps could mean that there is less of a unique personality for each of the dancers. If the corps is meant to possess the uniformity, the precision, and a refined quality of dancing, then perhaps a dancer's originality may happen to be sacrificed, as I see with some of the POB dancers. I think some of the SAB students and students of other schools should be able to have more opportunities to watch (on-live) other companies abroad. Perhaps the problem of idolization is coming from the fact that they only often see their home companies and fail to see many others. Or perhaps it is the Balanchine style which makes it easier for the soloists/principals to be more impressive than the corps -- I really don't know. I'm sorry if I'm making a bold statement, but I'm also curious to know how others view this issue. [ 06-12-2001: Message edited by: Terry ]

1) Anyuta with E. Maximova 2) Swan Lake with Makarova and Dowell 3) Giselle with Fracci and Bruhn 4) Romeo and Juliet with Fontyn and Nuryev 5) La Bayadere (POB) with Platel, Guerin, Hilaire 6) Swan Lake (POB) with Pietragalla and Dupond and there's a lot more!!

I absolutely adored Yoshida as Lise Friday on Friday night. She really does wonderfully in these kinds of comical works, and I enjoyed watching her lovely lovely smiles on stage. And what lovely lovely "light as feather" footwork!! Yoshida doesn't have the most beautiful arch but she makes her feet look gorgeous with her crispy footwork. Persson really didn't leave much of an impression on me I must say...but the ballet was just great!! It's a beautiful masterpiece and a comedy that I would love to see again and again.

This was my first RB in Washington tonight, and I enjoyed the performance. The leading dancers looked strong. My favorite was Yoshida in "Les Rendevous." She's not particularly "showy" but that genuineness in her dancing always appeals to me because she's so honest and natural. Of course, her technique is impeccable. Symphonic is not my favorite choreography, but I think the dancers came together well. Cojocaru is not yet a "star," but all I can say at the moment is that she has a very bright future ahead of her. One of my "revelations" was Jonathan Cope tonight. He never left any strong impressions on me previously (but previously was about 5 years ago...) but tonight, I thought he was just simply beautiful. Now I can see why Guillem always praises him so much. Guillem's acting was strong but her partnership with Cope really became the "heart" of the performance. And Soupirs was so so touching -- I just wanted to see more!! It's really too bad I couldn't see them during their prime years.

Jeannie - I would have to agree! Yoshida was absolutely delightful tonight. I've seen her do many roles, but the simplicity, lightness, YET the sharpness, and the cleanliness of her dancing always always impresses me. Guillem's acting was touching, and Cojocaru showed so much potential. I look forward to Yoshida in Lise -- this is probably one of her best and favorite roles.

Actually, there's a great news for BB even though some dancers were fired. Herve Courtain, a sujet of the Paris Opera Ballet, will be joining BB from next season. POB's hierarchy is extremely severe so most dancers in the sujet/premier danseurs category would fit into the first soloist or even principal category in many other major companies...Watch out for Herve! He's really an exciting dancer -- with sharp movements and a fresh personality on stage!

Drew -- why is Onegin a lightweight ballet? (Just curious.) I saw Onegin tonight and I absolutely loved the choreography. Cranko really is one of the best narrative ballet choreographers of this century, IMO.

16. I remember her from some performances in Japan as well as from the Prix de Lausanne last year, in which she won the scholarship to the school.