Hans

As it turns out, Baltimore Opera's performances of Norma with Hasmik Papian in the title role and Ruth Ann Swenson as Adalgisa were its last. From the Washington Post: Really terrible news.

According to what I've read in the press: NYCB has a tricky situation with the Kennedy Center because NYCB's orchestra's contract requires them to play whenever the company is touring within a 250-mile radius of NYC, and the Kennedy Center orchestra's contract requires them to play for visiting companies. They have, fortunately, worked out an arrangement: NYCB's orchestra plays one tour, and the KC's orchestra plays the next.

It is very interesting to read this thread from beginning to end. It appears that as a soloist, Wiles showed a lot of potential dramatically. So what happened?

This photo? I love it, too.

To my untrained eye, it's difficult for me to see how Wiles' figure doesn't conform to ballet standards. What is the ideal physique for Vaganova training? Michele Wiles is a beautiful dancer with incredibly strong bravura technique. However, she does not have the long lines and sky-high extensions that are so popular these days. She has a more old-fashioned classical look that I find very appealing--in fact, I'd love to see her as Aurora. She definitely has the look and technique for that. EDIT: I really enjoyed her Odette/Odile, too, as I hope my review made clear. I don't know if one could say that an ideal physique for Vaganova training exists outside of the balletic ideal, but vrs would know more about that. As vrs has said in the past, the true Vaganova method is only really taught at the Vaganova Academy. It includes much more than just ballet classes. Therefore, it is difficult to use the term 'Vaganova' when referring to other schools (note that in my quoted post above, I did not say 'Vaganova' at all) even if the teachers come from the Mariinsky Ballet. That said, KAB is well known for having very high training standards as well as for achieving the 'Petersburg look' with its students. Unfortunately, unlike the Vaganova Academy, it does not have the ability to choose 'perfect' bodies from thousands of auditioning children. It must therefore balance high standards with less than ideal circumstances, and sometimes that can be difficult for both students and teachers. Please note, I am not saying that anything in particular happened with Wiles; I did not arrive at KAB until after she had finished her training there. I was very happy with the training at KAB, but I know others who were not. If you have been trained elsewhere previously, the training can seem very rigid, and that works well for some, not so much for others. It is perfectly understandable that although it makes you a very strong dancer, its strict expectations and particular aesthetic might make one feel stifled or placed into a mold. If it's an aesthetic the student likes, great! If not, I could see how it would feel uncomfortable.

Sandik, if you look at the bottom left of each post in a thread, next to the "Report" button, there is a "Top" button, and if you click it, it returns you to the top of the page. I don't blame you for not noticing it--I just found it today, and I've been reading the board for over ten years!

I am surprised to read that she found the KAB training and style so uncomfortable given that she began her training there at age ten and remained there for seven years according to her bio on ABT's site. However, she does not have what that school would probably consider an ideal body for ballet, so maybe that was part of it, although they have successfully trained other dancers who do not have an ideal physique. I suppose it is just that not every method is appropriate for every dancer. They helped her dance well enough to get into ABT, anyway.

Alicia Markova is another ballerina who was quite composed and articulate.

I don't see the techniques for ballet and classical (opera) singing as incompatible, but perhaps musical theatre vocal technique is different. As ballet is a silent art, it is only natural that few professional ballet dancers would have vocal training.

"What's Opera, Doc?" is amazing!

It is perfectly possible to correct bow legs with straight knees. See Gretchen Ward Warren, page 69.

Sandik, that reminds me of going to see movies back in Switzerland--the long ones did have intermissions, and I find myself missing those breaks, especially as film times seem to be getting longer.

I don't really know how long Dutchman is, but could the lack of an interval have allowed them to save on overtime for the stage technicians?

I was in high school (and ballet school) with them, too, and I have two things to add--one is that in addition to dancing so much, they often would not eat much at all. Once they stopped dancing, they went off their diets. Also, teenagers are often growing, and so they can sometimes eat more without gaining weight. This would be different from the situation of an adult dancer. Although I don't know what things were like in the 70's, it appears to me that thin is still in. Natalia makes a good point with the Mariinsky, and ABT is also very thin, although not to the Mariinsky extreme. Ballet dancers are always going to be thinner than average, but I think they are still thinner than really necessary.

The name of the fourth cygnet on the announcement sounded like Jacquelyn Reyes to me.

Absolutely, kfw. That was one heck of a jump!

I recall thinking, of the Stiefel/Murphy 'Flames' that they were not well matched. Murphy is so statuesque and Stiefel so light and weightless that it just didn't work for me. My first choice for a male dancer to do that pas de deux at ABT would be Herman Cornejo, but I'm not sure who he ought to be partnered with.

Ah, miliosr, you reminded me of one of the main things I love to hate about this production: the awful prologue with that ridiculous toy swan. Not even five minutes into the ballet, and that thing ruins my suspension of disbelief. There is also the matter of Swamp Thing running up onto the cliff right after Siegfried throws himself in as if to say, "Swimming, what fun! Cannonbaaaaall!"

Yet another amazing performance of "Swan Lake" today, this time by Michele Wiles. We were treated to innumerable balances (never so long as to be off the music, though), multiple impressive pirouettes, including triples à la seconde during Odile's variation, detailed, beautifully expressive port de bras and hands, and a poetic, moving interpretation. I am very, very glad to have been able to see this performance. While both her Odette and Odile were technically brilliant, she did not rely on 'tricks' to carry her through the ballet. Her Act II Odette was nervous and jumpy, slow to trust Siegfried, which made it all the more touching when she finally did. While her Act III fouettés included doubles and triples, it was, surprisingly, the final diagonal of arabesques voyagés en arrière that were the real climax. Every single relevé in arabesque was perfectly still, right on balance, hypnotising Siegfried and drawing him toward her. In Act IV, she overcame the bland, drama-free choreography to deliver a scene of noble sadness. David Hallberg was very good as Siegfried. He suffers a bit from what I call 'Ethan Stiefel Syndrome'--beautiful lines, but no weight. Marcelo Gomes, as seen Friday night, has a very noble gravitas to his movements that I prefer. Still, the interpretation was convincing, and as Hallberg still seems fairly young, the 'inexperienced youth' approach works. I could really see his Paris Opéra training in the velvety smooth articulation of his feet. Marcelo Gomes continues to make it difficult to complain about the tawdry 'Dance of the Purple Pimp' because he does it so well! As much as I would love for that part to be removed, he performs it perfectly. The pas de trois had some notable moments--Hee Seo danced with a sunny, bright manner, graceful port de bras, and agile footwork, and Renata Pavam performed the tricky pirouette sequence at the end of her variation with ease and confidence. The character dancing in Act III was, as before, a problem for two reasons: the choreography is not very good, and most of the dancers don't have the ability to save it. The czardas and mazurka made me long for the Mariinsky, and while the sparkling Maria Bystrova tried (essentially singlehandedly) to rescue the Spanish dance, she just wasn't given enough to work with. The bouncy Neapolitan dance was a welcome relief, although it is still not very well constructed. It is quite unfortunate that all this excellent classical dancing does not have an appropriate setting. This production, although the sets and costumes are lavish and beautiful, has too many problems to name. The combination of such excellent dancing with a really good staging would make this a "Swan Lake" to be reckoned with. Oh--I nearly forgot to mention (imagine that) one more standout: Veronika Part as one of the two big swans in Act II. Not that it wasn't nice to see her again, but putting her in a demi-soloist role after that Prima-quality performance on Friday seems unjust. Her performance proved that you can take the dancer out of the role, but you can't take the role out of the dancer--while dancing on the music, exactly in step with Kristi Boone (who was lovely by the way), Part remained every inch the haunting swan queen. No curtain calls at this performance even though the 'shower curtain' worked fine, so I wonder if they just don't do them with this production. It does not really seem fair to deprive Ananiashvili of that in her final Kennedy Center performance with ABT.

What is it with ABT and shower curtains?

Susan, I didn't see Siegfried 'swear' his love to Odette, either, and I was in the 2nd tier, so my view was not blocked by the swans. I agree with you about the production, of course. What they did to Act I is pretty egregious, and I didn't find the staging for the swan corps in Act IV very effective. Re: Part's extensions--extreme extensions and an overstretched look are something I am very sensitive to, and I don't think she took anything too far in that area. Her extensions never had an uncontrolled look about them, and she always kept her body upright and did not let her leg get too close to her torso or interfere with her arms. The 180º penchée, as you noted, seems to be expected of everyone now, and I thought it looked all right on her. She kept it at a perfectly straight line, unlike some who crank it into a slight oversplit. It is surprising how just two or three degrees make a big difference!

Actually, I do have one thing to add. This was the evening I brought a group of my ballet students to see Swan Lake, so they were also able to see this performance of a lifetime. I believe for most of them it was their first time seeing the ballet live--a very good introduction indeed!

I have nothing to add to Natalia's excellent review. It was truly an exceptional evening, a real triumph for Part, and one I will remember.

All the negative reviews of Martins' R&J have made me long to see it, so I welcome the opportunity, especially considering that I won't have to pay for the, uh, privilege.

Yes, I would really like to see her again, in something else. She was perfectly lovely in the less flashy parts of her variation. I could imagine her being very beautiful in T&V and Sleeping Beauty, as you mentioned.