Hans

I think silence is much more effective and dignified than booing. I also don't think a staging should ever be booed unless the stager has misrepresented the choreographer's intentions. Staging is not choreography; it is an attempt to reproduce what someone else has designed. Therefore, booing a stager is like shooting the messenger.

I just saw the Kirov and yet I'm still jealous of Londoners--what a lot of wonderful casts to choose from!

From the tiny bit that I've seen, I think Carla Fracci had this quality. However, I also think that if the music "describes" the choreography, and the dancer fully inhabits his/her role, that type of unity with the music will just happen. While I doubt that I ever expressed the music deeply in my own performances, I do know that it is more important to listen to the music as a melody/melodies rather than counts. Obviously, the counts are important, especially in terms of communicating clearly when staging a ballet, but it's usually easy to tell which dancers onstage are thinking, "one, two, three, four," and which are going beyond that so they sing with their bodies. Counting obsessively immediately makes the dancing (I don't really know how to put this, but "cerebral" comes to mind), whereas really moving dancing is much more primal--the music and movement connect on a physioemotional (I think I just made up a word!) level with the brain being involved in a different way. At least that's how it seems--more "right-brained" (creative, emotional) as opposed to "left-brained" (analytical). I think it would be really interesting to do a study on dancers to find out which parts of their brains are active while dancing, especially to find out if there's a difference between those who dance to counts as opposed to those who dance directly with the music. There's also the issue of the purely technical performance that is moving because by virtue of being so stripped down it allows only the emotion inherent in the choreography to come through, but that's another thread. Editing to add a little anecdote regarding how dancers approach music: I remember a story one of my friends told me from when she was a student at the Royal Ballet School. She was choreographing a piece for the RBS choreography competition to Bartok, and when her dancers asked her what the counts were, she said, "You can't count it, you just have to listen." They did not like this idea and kept pestering her for counts. However, in some of the later rehearsals something happend (I forget what) that made it necessary to replace part or all of the cast. When the original dancers taught the new ones the part, their advice was, "You can't count it, you just have to listen."

The hoppy fouettés are called sautillés (little jumps...?) en tournant. I suppose the full name might be something like rond de jambe fouetté sautillé en tournant, if that makes any sense in French. Regarding pirouettes à la seconde en dedans, Aurora does one during the Rose Adagio, and I'm pretty sure that there's a variation from Don Quixote in which they occur (see the DVD with Ruzimatov and Terekhova, specifically the flower girl variation during the grand pas de deux in the last act). Sometimes they are inserted instead of pirouettes in attitude derrière during Odile's variation.

Natalia, thank you for the program corrections. You reminded me that I forgot to praise Baimuradov for a spectacular Birbanto--it was very well done!

Ok, now that I've had some time to think, I'll go ahead and expand on my review. I liked the prologue. It was nice to have an actual person atop the mast instead of ABT's mannequin. The water was also quite well-done, but that leads to a question: If the Kirov can fill the stage with "water" for Le Corsair, why can't it produce a flood for Act IV of Swan Lake? I was very excited by the beginning of Act I--it had coherent mime! Often these days, ballet mime speeches go something like this: "You them no. Please." "I you" (double pirouette) Not easy to decipher! But the Kirov still knows how to do it properly. One only wishes they would allow the dancers to employ their beautiful mime skills in more ballets. I found Tereshkina spastic in her first little solo rather than graceful--she expended too much effort in trying to raise her legs and not enough effort acting. For comparison, see the Kirov's Corsair video with Asylmuratova, who appears quite frantic in the slave market. Osmolkina as Gulnara was appropriately unhappy in the pas d'esclave and clearly repulsed by both Lankedem and the Seid Pasha. She was proof that one can both act and display impressive technique. In the coda, she began with a double pirouette, did a sautillé while moving her working leg from front to side, and then did a double pirouette. She repeated this combination five times, finishing with a clean triple pirouette--beautiful. Andrian Fadeyev as Lankedem acted very well IMO--clear mime and dancing that was clean and exciting without being over the top. During the intermission, I overheard this priceless comment from a fellow audience-member: "I didn't love Frou-frou Skirt Girl." In the Act II pas de trois between Medora, Conrad, and Ali, Tereshkina was relatively understated in terms of extension, and she made good use of her port de bras. Korsakov's variation was duly impressive, and Tereshkina's variation was really quite good in spite of the mishaps I mentioned above. Her opening en dedans pirouettes finished in arabesque en pointe, and she balanced nicely several times during the sissones simples sur les pointes. However, dancers are perfectionists, and I'm sure her confidence was quite shaken, so she deserves to be praised for her solid fouettés. Korsakov received a huge (deserved) roar from the audience for his manège during the coda, but the only signs of stress that Tereshkina showed were some minor travelling forward and tension in her arms. In the "bedroom" pas de deux (which is obviously not Petipa--Doug, has this scene been notated?) the main objective was clearly to contort as much as possible. During some supported cabrioles, Tereshkina split her legs to about 190 degrees, which drew some gasps. In Act III, the Odalisques were good as I said before (although there were some brisés that could have been more turned out). The corps was perfect. Looking back, what really impresses me about the Kirov corps is that while I know they must have rehearsed it to death, the dancing never looks over-rehearsed. The corps dancers move together naturally in the way that comes from all having the same training, so they can relax a little and allow their dancing to look more natural. Contrast this to ABT's recent Swan Lake, in which the corps was clearly quite nervous, each dancer paying obsessive attention to exactly where her head and arms were. The Kirov corps doesn't have to think so much--they just do it. I loved the fountains in this act. The sound of rushing water helps give the impression that the action is taking place outside. I only wish they had left them on through the entire Jardin Animé scene instead of turning them off after the adagio. Speaking of the adagio, Tereshkina balanced very competently. Her missed pirouette at the end therefore came as a surprise, as she had just held an attitude derrière croisée for several seconds. Osmolkina danced her variation charmingly and with great precision, especially the complicated turning combination at the end. Tereshkina again danced her variation beautifully until she slipped while running to the corner in preparation for a series of turns--I don't how how she pulled herself back onto her feet without hitting the floor, but she did, and the rest of her variation went well. I don't wish to cast a negative light on the performance or the individual dancers, so I may start another thread for an issue I've noticed regarding the types of bodies the Kirov has lately been promoting--the hypermobile type. Actually, it's not so much that the dancers are flexible as that they have been encouraged to develop their flexibility to the detriment of almost everything else. The wonderful light Kirov grand allegro is no longer there--the dancers are too busy trying to see which one of them can split their legs the most beyond 180 degrees to bother with actually jumping, and their excessive flexibility interferes very seriously with petit allegro. The petit allegro in this performance wasn't bad, exactly, but it wasn't of the sharp, brilliant quality that I've come to expect from them. There's nothing wrong with a dancer being naturally flexible (Asylmuratova clearly had the potential to become a pretzel); it's the development of such flexibility rather than strength that is a problem. When a dancer is naturally flexible, it is advisable to for them to work more on allegro than on contorting during adagio (for an unflexible dancer, the reverse is true, at least in the classroom). Such training will promote a balanced technique. Vaganova wrote that while adagio is important, the entire ballet class is but a preparation for allegro. Unfortunately, the Kirov seems to have changed its priorities.

Tiffany, having the fairies of the precious stones and metals sponsored by jewelers is brilliant! However, we might have to alter the Diamond Fairy's variation to suit De Beers--it would have to last forever. When Tiffany's sponsors them, I think Bravo should do a Sunday morning TV show about it called--you guessed it--Breakfast with the Arts at Tiffany's! Picture your ballerina of choice saying, "A girl just cahn't dahnce at the Met with a green face, dahling."

Yet another reason I shouldn't read the Anything Goes forum at work--thanks for the laugh, Leigh!

The Kennedy Center as a page about theater etiquette in its playbill. I'm surprised places like the Met haven't followed suit.

Thank you, drb! What beautiful hands Lopatkina has.

I read that the port de bras in Aurora's Act III variation is based on French court dance, which is appropriate considering the setting at the court of Louis XIV.

I think the story is structured much more coherently in Ashton's version; also, I just prefer his choreographic style to Balanchine's (that's just a personal preference; it has nothing to do with the quality of the choreography).

Ok, I have to admit to owning an iPod. (I love it!) If Aurora runs off with the Big Bad Wolf, does Prince Desire get to go after Princess Florine?

Tereshkina had an extremely unpleasant evening--I felt really bad for her. After missing a pirouette a la seconde during her Act II variation, she did a pas de bourree to 4th and tried to do a triple pirouette en dehors, which she fell out of. In her Act III variation, she had a huge slip and very nearly fell, and she also missed the pirouette at the end of the Act III adagio in the Jardin Anime. This was one of the few times I broke my rule of "no applause while the music is playing" and started applauding before she finished her ballonnées--I felt she needed the support. Everything the dancers did was extremely clean, and Ekaterina Osmolkina was nearly ideal as Gulnara. She has beautiful strong technique; what a pleasure it would be to see her as Medora! The corps was, as always, an absolute joy. I just cannot say enough in praise of them. Always in perfect harmony and sparkling. The three Odalisques danced very well; everything was neat and energetic, but I did miss the entrechat-six de volés during the last variation (Zhelonkina substituted regular assemblés). However, she performed her double pirouettes with zest, giving the impression that she could easily have done triples had she been so inclined. I'd love to write a very detailed post, but this weekend is exhausting! Essentially my main impressions were: More Osmolkina! More Fadeyev! More Korsakov! They are all wonderful...I wonder what Daria Pavlenko would do as Medora. Also, I missed seeing Danila Korsuntsev; I suppose he's dancing in St. Petersburg for now.

I didn't see it, but I've heard the story--Kevin McKenzie went onstage during a live telecast of the balcony scene pas de deux (is that correct?) from Romeo & Juliet wearing some type of sweatpants/warm-up pants. I think he somehow managed to slip offstage for a moment to take them off--he must have been mortified!

One thing that complicates the issue in terms of modern dance is that not all modern dance is based on the same movements. For example, in ballet, everyone does a movement that is recognizable as battement tendu, although people differ as to the exact details of what should happen during that movement. In modern dance, there isn't a common vocabulary and technique from which all choreographers work. Hence, one could theoretically speak of two Graham teachers teaching Graham's technique but differing in certain slight details as having different styles of the same technique (in practice, as far as I know, Graham was too specific about what she wanted to allow for that sort of variation), whereas Graham and Limon didn't have different styles of modern dance--they had two completely different movement "vocabularies" so to speak. For another discussion of the differences between ballet and modern dance, go to this thread on Ballet Talk for Dancers.

The Fracci/Bruhn finale from La Sylphide on the Bell Telephone Hour. (Even though it's probably fruitless, I still scruitinze the corps trying to figure out which one is Ms. Leigh.)

"Holding On To A Walker," by Suzanne Farrell--a ballerina's story of life after dancing Balanchine and two hip replacements And another Peter Martins one: "Dancing on Petipa's Grave: The Making of NYCB's Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty." Ok, so that last one isn't a sequel. But it DOES just cry out to be written! However, I just can't top "Balanchine's Minkus." That is pure genius.

Leigh, your fairies (aside from making me laugh silently here in my cubicle) made me wonder whether that dancer (was it Cynthia Gregory?) who smoked a cigarette during her Grand Pas Classique variation was ever contacted by Virginia Slims (or whatever her preferred brand was). Not that I favor smoking, but imagine the ads!

That's so true Paul--Petipa is so often thought of as conventional because we've all seen his ballets 500 times (there's a reason for that: they're masterpieces!) but really he was extremely creative when you think of how he gave his ballets such distinct flavors (Indian, Hungarian, Spanish) while still using classical technique. Petipa really had a gift for seeing both the forest and the trees--his concepts are so broad and grand, yet exceptionally detailed and refined.

I suddenly had a vision of W.C. Fields as the Ogre in the Hop o' My Thumb (Pas Berrichon) variation. How about a PETA Fairy? She could have a celery stick for a wand and a tutu made only of organic fibers. This variation would be a special challenge to perform, as the dancer would have to keep her mouth open the entire time, lecturing everyone (particularly the king regarding those ermine robes) and there would be much hostility between her and the F--- You Fairy regarding the latter's Humvee.

Yes! And we could have Tom Ford as Puss 'N Boots (you know how he's always fondling the White Cat). I think that Robin Givhan (fashion reporter for the Washington Post) should be represented among the wedding guests in Act III. Bart, I agree with you about raising the lights between separate ballets for a moment--it's not easy to remember the title, dancers, and program notes of three (or more) different pieces all at once. I was thinking more of people who simply must read their programs while the dancers are performing.

Mme. Hermine, I would kill to see Stacey and Clinton miming things like "vertical stripes make you look thinner" and "girlfriend, orange and purple do NOT go together!" (two snaps). Maybe it could be expanded to a full ballet--I'm seeing a Dance of the Pointy-toed Manolos (a distant relative of Ashton's clog dance from La Fille Mal Gardée) as well as a scene taking place in that octagonal mirrored room (and you thought having just one big mirror at the front of the studio was frightening!). And of course at the end, a general dance with the made-over person's joyous friends and relatives with a set of divertissements. The best part, of course, is that we could get this ballet sponsored by fashion designers instead of cigarette companies.

I will be at tonight's performance--if anyone wants to meet, I'll be at the "head" sculpture (most likely with a glass of champagne) at each intermission. I can also pm a description of myself (in case they're out of champagne ) Editing to add: I will be leaving for the KC directly from work, so I will not be able to reply to any messages left after 4:30 pm.

These remind me of the Fairy of the Mid-Performance Program Perusal--so caught up in trying to figure out what's going on that she misses all the action and annoys the entire court with her mini flashlight in the process. There could also be the Fairy of Corporate Perseverance, who gives the gift of working at the same job, in the same cubicle, for 40 years while praying to become "Supervisor." Her variation is slow and monotonous--no one says they want to dance it, but almost everyone ends up performing it anyway. I think Aurora would enjoy the Fashion Fairy--dressed in a killer Dior tutu and fabulously accessorized by Saks (think pointe shoes with the little red Prada tag, or maybe the Gucci pattern on the ribbons) she doesn't do much in her variation, but she looks great!