altongrimes

I am mystified by the term "diagonals". I encounter this term from time to time when I read a review, for example or when watching a rehearsal. If it's not too much trouble, I wonder if someone would care to bring a little understanding to this concept?

So grateful for these generous replies. Like a box of the finest chocolates. I will be diligent to make careful study of all of these. I am on fire with every word.

I am honored to have received such an exhaustive reply as this ! This is very exciting. I am most eager to explore the New York Times attachment ! Wonderful of you to reply in this manner. Sparks everywhere !

Fantastic reply. Truly fascinating. Thank you very much for crafting such an informative and intriguing  response.

Thinking back to the origins of my unquenchable passion for ballet, I remember being deeply moved by The Joffrey Ballet performing George Balanchine's COTILLION in Los Angeles somewhere around 1985 -1987. To me, it was a thing of great beauty. But as I recently pondered that experience, I realize that since that evening at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, I have never seen it listed on any company program or brought up in discussion by artistic directors, choreographers, dancers, etc.. I wonder if anyone knows what became of this gem?

 I am intrigued that it takes live performance coupled with the rather considerable effort that I put forth just to be there that opens the floodgates of experience to creative levels that I could never have hoped to realize otherwise. Only then do I begin the restorative process of "drinking" from the art form. A8 at the David Koch is invariably the prelude to the reassembling of my creative soul. Even my most conscientious efforts at study, though valuable - and there have been many - in front of YouTube's abundant dance offerings or repeated excursions into Jennifer Homans Apollo's Angels, etc., are incapable of bringing to my life the deep and abiding renewal of live performance. I will never forget Polina Semionova's timeless power and grace in Twyla Tharp's deliciously fractured Bach Partita. I was stunned and completely overwhelmed for  days. Every molecule in my body was fairly vibrating with life. Clearly, I had experienced a mountaintop of artistic achievement. But, and it is a big "BUT", had I not persevered through the entropy and drama that is, to varying degrees, integral to everyday living, sacrificed and bought my plane ticket to New York and slugged it out through the L train to the 1 train, I would have never seen that glory.

But alas, I have just retrieved the essential bit of dialogue from a recent DANCE EUROPE magazine interview with Olga Smirnova apparently confirming the origins of her noticeably enhanced virtuosity.

DANCE EUROPE - "Taming of the Shrew ... you spent a month in Monaco in the Winter to learn and perform his Casse-Noisette Compagnie with Les Ballets De Monte-Carlo. What was that immersion like?

OLGA S. - 'I felt a sense of freedom. Jean Christophe told me at the very beginning that I would go back to Moscow a different person and ballerina and he was right. I'm grateful for the special atmosphere I encountered there - I felt such warmth, it was like home, like a family. People treat you with such humanity there, with such kindness...'

O yes ! How very true ! In my case, for example, so impacted by Zhong-Fang Jing's performance in an ABT Romeo and Juliet was I, that I was later able to confirm that it was, indeed, her. In an interview, Susan Smith (a ballet mistress at ABT, I believe) spoke of a kind of "light" she felt in Zhong-Fang Jing's dancing.Yes ! To this day, I can still recall that transcendent "light" of her gift. I will never forget the power of it . Wonderful of you to reply.

Thank you !  P.S.  Drew, I want to say that I became introduced to Ballet Alert when an acquantance introduced me to one of your posted replies. I was immensely impressed, not only by your fascinating remarks but also with the civil and refined tenor of your prose. 

Well, I just had to shout "Hallelujah"! How I treasure the YouTube clip: Casse-Noise Compagnie (Olga Smirnova, Artem Ovcharenko). I remember my introduction to her artistry through the PRODIGY video and the Grand pas Classique (with Semyon Chudin). I suppose that I am simply "gushing" my enthusiasm here for this superb young artist. In a recent interview, she spoke so favorably with regard to her time at Les Ballets De Monte-Carlo and the liberating influence of Jean-Christophe Maillot. To me, she has become an explosion of grace and power. Perhaps her time at Les Ballets de Monte Carlo was a turning point? It would seem so. I can hardly view the Casse-Noise Compagnie (Olga Smirnova, Artem Ovcharenko) video without being completely astounded.

 Lately, I have been riveted to an old interview with Jimmy Stewart. In this fascinating encounter, he says the following: " There is a theory that I have always had that creating 'moments' in movies is the important thing. Nobody knows exactly how it happens. What you should do is prepare yourself the best you can to make those moments happen. Because in a movie, it's really not so much the performance, rather there are these 'moments' ".Now, when I heard him say this, my memory immediately began to race back to ABT's mystery "light" dancer, (as I later called her), Zhong-Jing Fang, whom I experienced in an unforgettable Romeo and Juliet performance in New York or the burning and searing revelation of Polina Semionova's iron technique and extreme delicacy in a Swan Lake production at The MET that rendered me completely overwhelmed for days. More recently, I will never forget the way Marcelo Gomes supercharged Stanton Welch's CLEAR so that I later wondered to the backstage door in some kind of hypnotic trance. Performers on this level would seem to be in possession of some transcendent quality , some "divine quality", perhaps, so that at any moment they can attract "the lightning". And you just never know when when that "lightning" might strike. And in the light of this interview, I realize more than ever that I fly to New York to expect the unexpected. I fly to New York to experience those 'moments'. And there have been many ....Thank you, Jimmy !

I am set to be a good student of dance and have made reasonable progress following the origins and evolution of the art form in France, Russia, England and America. But the history of ballet in Italy seems rather elusive or, at least, not as well defined as I would have imagined. Having now written this and "thinking out loud", I purpose to go back and have a closer look ! Could one correctly say of the Italian contribution: great bravura style dancers and outstanding teachers but with no permanent school or distinctive evolving style as in the Paris Opera ? Perhaps there is a good book on the subject?

What a treasure to me that I would receive such thoughtful and informative replies. So wonderful that you would respond to my question in this manner. I will study the attached video very carefully.

Thank you !

I am fascinated by the term "epaulment" and have made note of several definitions but I am wondering if it could also be construed to mean the overall expressiveness of the upper body? I am finding, for example, that some ballerinas have the most exquisite arms that seem like musical instruments. But perhaps such a characteristic would not be included in the proper definition of epaulment ? Also, could someone suggest a ballerina who could be noted for exhibiting exceptional epaulment ?

Thank you. Alton 

I am rather astounded that I am receiving a little correspondence from Ana Turazashvili . After having watched her in the "Big Swans"/Bolshoi clip on YouTube, I have become increasingly excited about her formidable talent. And at discreet intervals, I have said as much on her Facebook page. AND much to my surprise, she writes back to me in the most gracious manner ! I will, of course, be careful not to overdo this . After all, she is a very young woman who should be afforded the necessary privacy. But, what a thrill to hear from an artist that I so admire in this way ! 

I can hardly believe my good fortune to be included in this marvelous Ballet Alert ! I am altogether smitten by the art form and find my passion burning even more brightly as a consequence of pondering your fascinating discussions. So happy to be in your company ! Thank you !

Helene 

    Last year, New York City Ballet swept in to Santa Barbara, California for two nights of unforgettable dance. They were a firestorm of creativity. As a consequence of that joyous event, I wrote a short piece titled: The Cowboy Came To Dance. I am wondering if it is within the Ballet Alert guidelines to post my article. It was created neither for profit or for publication. 

Hello from Santa Barbara, California ! I harbor an enormous passion for dance and for those people who inhabit that realm ! This started for me when Sylvie Guillem shook up the dance world somewhere in the late 80's with her defection to The Royal Ballet. I will never forget a headline reading: "The one dancer that no company can afford to lose !".During that time, I made diligent search for her one and only video (VHS): Sylvie Guillem: Portrait of an Artist and finally found one at New York's long defunct Ballet Shop. I played this treasure too many times to count. Her glorious rendering of the Raymonda Variation and the delicious fractured dissonance of William Forsythe's Somewhere In The Middle And Elevated instantly transformed me into a dance disciple. My interest in the art form continued from there, occasionally abated by too much work or too much romance. Since 2011, I have been to New York several times to experience the formidable gift of Polina Semionova . Her guest performance in an ABT Swan Lake left me in a kind of hypnotic state for days. Presently, I am preparing for several trips to experience San Francisco Ballet when their season commences in January. Finally, I understand the Bolshoi is coming to New York in July of 2017. I would be most excited to experience the artistry of Ana Turazashvili in live performance and stay at The Beacon (it looks so swanky !) on 75th and Broadway while doing so !