Kathleen O'Connell

On 10/26/2017 at 9:52 PM, fondoffouettes said:

 Still, it’s very disappointing not to see Lane in the role.

 

It’s ridiculous they gave Lane the Wednesday matinee of Giselle after her triumphant performances last season. 

 

Well, it's a very nice thing for those of us who, for a variety of personal and professional reasons, find it easier to get to a Wednesday matinee than a weekday evening or weekend matinee performance.

I do realize that matinees are not deemed to be the glamour assignments, but the matinee audience does pay for its tickets, does contain discerning balletomanes among its ranks, and isn't exactly chopped liver.

Just sayin'

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear this! I really enjoyed his "The Dance Historian Is In" programs at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. 

The NYPL had begun to announce guest hosts for some of the more recent programs, and I'd wondered if Vaughan might be in ill health. I hope that the NYPL keeps the program going, and that it finds some way to keep his name and memory associated with it in his honor.

5 hours ago, vagansmom said:

I may then move straight to   The Unconsoled because I frequently am the sole person who likes a book written by an unconventional writer.

 

A bold choice. Be forewarned: it's long (like 900 pages long) and it's weird.  The plot — to the extent there is one — advances by dream-logic. I swear that every anxiety dream I've ever had shows up in some form or other. 

Definitely start with The Remains of the Day. It's famous and well-loved for a reason. Move on to Never Let Me Go, which features Ishiguro's most sympathetic narrator, who confronts the fact that we all must die and that neither love nor art will save us.  I'm partial to When We Were Orphans, but I think it works its spell best if you've been clued into Ishiguro's modus operandi — e.g., unreliable narrators, poking at genre conventions, showing the dark side of the stories we tell ourselves to get through life, etc.

I am the only person I know who really liked The Unconsoled. 

Since danseurs don't dance on pointe I think we can safely say that ballet does not by definition require dancing on pointe.

1 hour ago, Balletwannabe said:

He is comfortable with the way things are...he didn't say he's against change.  I don't have a problem with his statements.  The way he likes ballet isn't wrong (in my opinion), it's just his view/preference.  I understand what everyone is saying...I just don't view it the same way.  

Well, he did start off with "Sorry, there is no such thing as equality in ballet" — which suggests that he thinks it's more than just his preference, but rather something akin to a law of nature. 

ETA: He's welcome to his preference of course; he's not welcome to declare that ballet is whatever he says it is, or isn't as the case may be. That's why we have Jennifer Homans. 

I've been mulling over Ratmansky's comment (and probably giving it more attention than it deserves) trying to figure out why it irks me. I think it boils down to this: he's reduced "equality" to mean nothing more than one gender appropriating the manners and technique that is currently the exclusive province of the other. In that bizarro-world version ballet, women lift men and men dance on pointe and get flowers. And yes, that version of ballet could easily turn out to be ludicrous, although I've got no issue with a stage manager galumphing out during the curtain call to hand the primo ballerino a big bouquet of roses, or even with said ballerino dancing on point. (I have seen David Hallberg on point, and I can tell you he looked glorious - and would have looked even more glorious if he hadn't been required to imitate a ballerina. But I digress ...) 

The problem with Ratmansky's statement is that it implies that there is no other avenue by which ballet might relax the strictures imposed by a heavily gendered vocabulary / technique that has evolved relatively recently and mostly as a result historical accident. (If I'm recalling ballet history correctly, some of the first porteurs were women dancing en travesti, no?) 

It's as if  ballet technique evolved to patrol the borders of gender — and a very heteronormative understanding of gender at that — which sharply limited the themes it could explore and the stories it could tell. One of the reasons I like the (all-male) second movement of Justin Peck's Rodeo so much is that 1) it lets the men absolutely luxuriate in exquisite port de bras and arabesques and 2) allows them to partner each other in ways that don't reference ballerina-danseur partnering — and through these materials presents us with affecting images of vulnerability, support, and tenderness that have nothing to do with boy-meets-girl (or even boy-meets-boy).

40 minutes ago, Helene said:

Or, as Rose Gad responded to him on this public-facing Facebook thread, "Bournonville."

Yup. 

He's typing faster than he's thinking. That or his dance imagination is more limited than I would have guessed given Serenade from Plato's Symposium.

Interesting definition of equality, or not-equality as the case may be. Well, at least he's not suggesting that there's some essential difference between men and women that renders one or the other inferior. I suppose one could argue that there are real biological differences that make it hard for women to lift men and for men to dance on point, but neither dancing on point nor supported pirouettes are essential to ballet. 

Flowers? Meh. It's nothing more than clinging to tradition. 

I will point out that men have been escorting women off of any number of stages, real and metaphorical, for lo these many centuries -- when they're not chasing them off, that is. 

Personally, I'm sorry my schedule precludes my seeing this:

If you'd asked me five years ago, I would have said Arvo Pärt . I'm only half kidding. 

31 minutes ago, Pamela Moberg said:

Everybody is happy, so am I. His English is beatiful so I really pity the people who have to read him in translation - much is always lost in translation, however good it might be.
 

Agreed! Nobody's prose is as cooly pristine as Ishiguru's, even when he's being outlandish.

Ishiguru! I was thinking about him this morning while listening to a report on the Ladbroke's list and some speculation that Margaret Atwood might be a winner this year. Although Ishiguru and Atwood are very different writers in terms of style, they both color outside the standard literary fiction lines when it comes to matters such as theme and world-building, so I tend to put them in, if not the same box, at least adjacent ones. They differ in this: Atwood's most well-known / popular work, The Handmaid's Tale, seems of a piece with the other books she's written. Reading Ishiguru's most well-known work, The Remains of the Day, doesn't really prepare you for anything that comes after it, except that it features what seems like Ishiguru's specialty: first-person narrators who seem intelligent, discerning, and perceptive, but are so opaque to themselves as to be wholly unreliable.

I'm a huge Ishiguru fan, so I'm pleased he's won another honor. But ... I also appreciate it when someone who doesn't write in English wins so that publishers deem it worth their while to have their work translated. 

24 minutes ago, DC Export said:

 

It's a Kennedy Center presentation. I've seen the past four tours of NYCB at the KC. They haven't presented a full evening story ballet during that time. The closest was Martins's La Sylphide in 2016, however that was paired along with Bournonville Div. As someone who lives in the District, I prefer NYCB to continue to present mixed programming. We already have "ABT in D.C." (Julie Kent's Washington Ballet) and a healthy number of touring story ballets. Especially now that Suzanne Farrell is closing up shop, it'll be important to keep the Balanchine drum strong, but I also appreciate seeing Balanchine along with newer works. Peck's Rodeo on the same night as Tarantella and Square Dance was a dream.

 It could be that KC makes certain stipulations regarding the ballets that are presented. For instance, they may want to ensure that there's at least one ballet on each program from the core Balanchine / Robbins rep, one with a full corps, one buzzy new ballet, etc. They might tell NYCB "other troupes bring us enough big story ballets, thank you." Or, NYCB might say, "well if you want us to schlep the sets and costumes for [fill in big story ballet or maybe even Vienna Waltzes here] it's gonna cost you." 

54 minutes ago, Emma said:

 

I also think City Ballet has a marketing problem in DC.  It's marketing in NYC is incredible but I never see any type of ads in DC beyond KC mailings - and I only get these because I see ballet at the KC frequently.  In NY we have targeted subway ads, videos, art nights, the works.  Moreover, the Balanchine Trust's restrictions on student performances also hinder the Balanchine market beyond the NY metro area (in my opinion).  If ballet students had more familiarity with Symphony in C or Tchai Concerto No. 2, I'm sure they would clamor to see NYCB ballerinas perform these roles.  

Hmmm ... I wonder what the terms of NYCB's run at The Kennedy Center are — i.e., is NYCB being presented by KC, is NYCB more or less just renting the theater, or is it some kind of co-operative venture. If KC is the presenter, it may be that it a) bears all or most of the financial risk (i.e., it pays NYCB a fee to perform and is responsible for selling the house and /or pulling in donations to cover its expenses) and b) is in control of the marketing.   If NYCB  doesn't have to shoulder the risk of a half-empty house, it might not be in its financial interest to cover DC in ads. 

22 minutes ago, Emma said:

 

I understand finances may dictate otherwise, but I would truly hate for City Ballet to change its programming to better suit the taste of DC audiences.  ABT and Mariinsky already bring story ballets annually.  I love that City Ballet's programming mixes up the DC dance scene and its shows, along with Suzanne Farrell Ballet's, are the highlight of my DC ballet going year.

Given that the company in all likelihood couldn't cover the cost of its KC run through ticket sales alone even, if it sold out the house, I'm not sure programming inferior, non-representative ballets just to put a few more butts in seats would be worth the trade-off. 

No disrespect, but given the kind of talent currently in the ranks, nobody needs to an NYCB Swan Lake the way they need to see NYCB in its core Balanchine and Robbins rep, perhaps with a dollop of their signature Ratmansky and Peck ballets to round out the program. If KC needs to see Ashley Bouder or Tiler Peck do fouéttes, then program Robbins' Four Seasons.  Martins' Swan is an eyesore; NYCB at full strength in Symphony in C or Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 is an eyeful. 

1 hour ago, Balletwannabe said:

Where can I view the Wendy Whelan documentary?

It's also streaming on Netflix, and is available to rent on Amazon and iTunes. 

A French boyfriend, a fabulous apartment with stunning river views, and a STEM degree. This is like hitting the trifecta of 21st century glamour 

In all seriousness, I'm (selfishly) most grateful for Fairchild's blossoming post-Broadway artistry, but I'm glad she's found joy in her personal life too. 

31 minutes ago, Emma said:

 

Thank you for sharing Kathleen!  I appreciate your insight and the comedy video is so cute.   Now that I think about it, I do like a lot of story ballets -- La Fille Mal Gardée was adorable, I had so much fun at Onegin, and La Sylphide grew on me the second time I saw it (as did Sleeping Beauty but I first saw the Ratmansky, then the Martins).  I've been trying to get to Midsummer's but the timing hasn't worked out yet.   And I'm a cliché but my favorite ballet is the Balanchine Nutcracker...but IMO this is very light on story and heavy on Tchaikovsky and dancing.  I think I have to reevaluate my stance!  It must be the Giselles, Don Qs, and Corsaires I grew up with that color my view.  

Oh, it took me at least a decade to figure out how to watch a story ballet! In my early ballet-going years what I thought I wanted was all dancing all the time; since I'd cut my dance teeth on leotard Balanchine and Merce Cunningham, I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to clutter up a dance stage with all that other stuff. It took me a while to understand what the form's various conventions were and why they were important. 

By the way, I think one of the sweetest examples of mime is when the little Nutcracker Prince recounts his battle with the Mouse King to the Sugarplum Fairy and her court. A good Sugarplum makes sure we see that it's the most thrilling battlefield report she's ever received.

16 minutes ago, Emma said:

 

 

I agree it felt like "City Ballet dances a swan-themed ballet," but this is why I loved it!  I'm not crazy about story ballets -- I find mime to be rather boring and the stories generally contrived.  This was beautiful music and beautiful dancing. 

I run hot and cold on story ballets myself. I like the ones that tell a good story well — Bournonville's La Sylphide, for instance, or Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream, or Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée.  I'm less enthusiastic about the ones with nonsense plots that seem mostly to be vehicles for bravura effects, lavishly costumed pageantry, and exotic locales — although I certainly wouldn't begrudge anyone their enjoyment of them. (As someone who relishes every silly minute of Spectral Evidence, I can hardly throw stones ...)

Mime isn't strictly necessary, but when it's done well (and when you've learned even a little bit of the language) it can be absolutely beautiful. A few years ago, The Dutch National Ballet produced a lovely mime "explainer" to accompany its new production of Sleeping Beauty and it was a real eye opener for me, at least. Alas, it doesn't appear to be available online (it's on the DVD).  PNB has a nice subtitled excerpt from Giselle. And this is just plain fun.

What I've finally wrapped my head around is the fact that an evening-length story ballet needs the changes in texture that mime, divertissements, and pageantry all offer. 

3 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

I wonder if the quickness of the music negatively affects the pacing of the ballet as a whole. The last time I saw the Martins Swan Lake, I felt as if things moved along so quickly that there wasn't really time for character development, expression of emotion or detailed storytelling. It felt more like "City Ballet dances a swan-themed ballet," if that makes any sense.

It does. Martins is not a natural storyteller, and the pace at which the company is inclined to take his version of Swan Lake - compounded by his enthusiasm for stripping out anything that isn't dancing doesn't help. He seems unwilling to let this ballet breathe. 

He seems to have left La Sylphide pretty much alone, for which we should be grateful. (But that set ... )

24 minutes ago, Olga said:

October 15 is the last day of Fall Season. Personally speaking, I would prefer to end on a broader and more uplifting

note than Robbie Fairchild's departure. So I can certainly see programming Duo in the third rather than the last slot. 

Agreed. I'm sad to see Fairchild go, but better to end the season looking forward, not back. It's forward for both NYCB and Fairchild, after all.

ETA: I think it's fine for NYCB to make a little fuss over Fairchild's final performances, even though he's departing rather than retiring: he's an audience favorite and has put his artistry at the company's service for many years. He -- and the audience -- deserve as much.

55 minutes ago, Olga said:

Kathleen - Sorry for the inversion. I knew that was how you phrased it, but slipped up in repeating it. More importantly, I was curious to understand your meaning since I found the word itself curious and susceptible to different interpretations and in the context, potentially loaded. You've made your point quite clear. 

 

I realized after I hit submit that my comment might look a bit ... odd ... given that he was married to a different ballerina. But I did mean their stage partnership, not their personal lives. 

The latter really doesn't matter in theater at the end of the day: if people are pros and invested in their art, they make the fantasy work regardless of how they feel offstage. 

30 minutes ago, abatt said:

For me, R. Fairchild's most stunning and memorable performance was in Who Cares with Tiler Peck.  Many people could do the steps, but when those two danced to "The Man I Love", there was enough electricity to power all of New York City.  So sad that we will never see that again.

 

I do agree that R. Fairchild and T. Peck were terrific in "The Man I Love"! They both have a certain kind of Broadway sheen that makes that pas something special. (It may be because neither has any particular qualms about being Broadway, rather than just evoking it: i.e., they understand the difference between a performance and a show.) I really don't expect to see it done any better during my lifetime. 

Since I prefer Stravinsky Violin Concerto as a ballet overall, and because I am particularly taken with the way Hyltin has (to my eye) re-imagined Kay Mazzo's role -- with Fairchild's full participation, without a doubt -- it's still the performance that will shine particularly bright in my memory. Well maybe that smokin' hot Intermezzo, too ... 

13 minutes ago, Olga said:

What do you mean when you say he is her truest partner?

First things first - she was his truest partner, which is not quite the same thing as the other way around. Anyway, I mean simply that their stage chemistry was exemplary and that he looked his absolute best when he was dancing with her. (I think Hyltin makes all her partners look good, but Fairchild especially so. IMO, he needed her more than she needed him in that regard, but I will still very much miss their special chemistry.)

I still remember their genuinely electric performance in the Intermezzo of Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, not to mention Aria II of Stravinsky Violin Concerto. 

Sterling Hyltin is Robert Fairchild's truest and best partner, and the thing that makes me saddest about his departure is the simple fact that she won't be dancing with him anymore.  I'm glad he'll share his final NYCB performance with her.