Kathleen O'Connell

I don't agree with McGregor that "a body can be abstract: pure form, pure line, pure kinetic" (emphasis mine). Not a body onstage at least, where we observe the whole body, including the most personal part, the face.

I don't agree either. And never mind the face -- which we can't always see clearly, either on stage or in real life-- as social animals humans are exquisitely attuned to body language and even the slightest adjustment of a shoulder or a hand can speak volumes.

And if Jennings can't explain to McGregor why 20 minutes of men bending women into pretzels and then toting them from one corner of the stage to the other makes the women look like passive objects unable to move under their own volition, I sure as heck can't.

I'm not much bothered by extreme extensions when they're part and parcel of the style, but I think choreography that trades on them is rather limited in terms of expressive power.

So I had to watch it all over again. A couple times.

Oh darn! Me too!

Well that was a nice jolt of joy before breakfast! All hail Nerd Fest UK for some spectacular editing.

If you didn't click through to watch on YouTube:

Mr. Fest is this guy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00O7DHBSK/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=Michael+Binder&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Michael+Binder&sort=relevancerank He put the video together to pitch making donations to film preservation charities.

If you turn on the captions, you will see the films' titles and years made.

One of the YouTube commenters put together an IMDB list of all 66 movies excerpted in Nerd Fest UK's compilation: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls031777718/

Lordy, I love what nerds get up to on the internet.

Courtesy of The Toast, Every Russian Novel Ever

ROTFLMAO, as we used to say at the dawn of the interwebs ...

And, when you're done with that, Every English Novel Ever

OK! Just give me a minute to check under the sofa cushions and turn out the pockets in a few of the things I haven't worn in a while to see if I can at least rustle up the reserve ....

In all seriousness, some of the items on auction are truly wonderful and I'd love to spend an hour in a room with all of them!

Thanks for the link!

I don't have time for a full review, but here are my big take-aways from ABT's Fall 2015 season:

1) Get this company out of the Met and into The Theatre Formerly Known as State asap. Or at least get them there for a few more weeks.

2) Cassandra Trenary & Skylar Brandt. I plan buy tickets to see both of them in the Spring. (Ahem. William Taylor, please take note.)

3) Go Gabe Stone Shayer! I thoroughly enjoyed watching him in Company B and Piano Concerto #1.

ETA:

4) Whoo-hoo! Monotones! I'm always happy to see more Ashton added to ABT's rep, and was especially happy to see Monotones. Please bring it back next Fall!

I was rather shocked to see candy allowed in the Koch Theatre in NYC. As a child, I don't ever remember that being an option, anyone know when that started? My son is 8 and he knows even now that snacks are eaten outside, during intermission and never in a performance. Are we really all starving to the point we can't survive 45 min without food in our hand?!?!

They've been selling candy in the Theater Formerly Known as State since I started going there w-a-a-a-y back in 1978. At first it was standard fare like M&M's, Hershey Bars and the like but it's gradually moved upscale to the faintly gourmet-ish stuff they offer now.

For the record:

1) I don't think any work should be censored, altered, or mothballed because all or some portion of the audience finds its images, themes, materials, or content "not pleasant." I hope no one thought I was suggesting that.

2) I certainly don't think works of art should be altered years after their creation in order to make them more palatable. (They might be revised for practical reasons, of course. That's a different argument.)

3) That being said, I'm perfectly fine with discarding works of art that in some way, shape, or form debase or countenance the debasement of "the other," the powerless, or despised minorities.

4) There's a difference between artists using provocative or unpleasant images in order to challenge their audience's comfortable prejudices and artists trading on (or being blind to) baseless stereotypes.

5) Women have been putting up with a lot of fundamental disrespect that's been mislabelled as flirting, or as some kind of validation of their attractiveness, or as a solicitous regard for their presumed frailties for millennia. The fact that some of them might have accepted it doesn't make it less problematic.

Looking at the 1986 City Ballet clip, the terrible moment comes at the end, in the pause just before the purse is given back, when one of the sailors holds the woman by the wrist. She wins and they pull back, but you feel that that's the moment everything could turn really violent - right then she could so easily be beaten up.

To quote Margaret Atwood: "Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them."

Why does it matter whether a 1940s audience would have found the sailors' behavior offensive? There were a lot of things the audiences of yore didn't find particularly offensive that do trouble us now.

Three men harassing a woman on the street is not an image that warms the heart.

i am focusing on a study of Liebeslieder Walzer in preparation for the four performances in January. Can anyone please clarify for me how this season's casting (Somogyi/Tyler Angle, Hyltin/Jared Angle, Mearns/la cour, Laracey/Justin Peck) corresponds to the original cast? Kathleen had some suggestions but wasn't completely sure. Thanks to all for your ballet knowledge.

Cobweb -- Here's how the casting sorted out in the program I saw on Tuesday, October 6:

Sterling Hyltin & Jared Angle = Melissa Hayden & Jonathan Watts

Ashley Laracey & Justin Peck = Jillana & Conrad Ludlow

Sara Mearns & Ask la Cour = Diana Adams & Bill Carter

Jennie Somogyi & Tyler Angle = Violette Verdy & Nicholas Magallenes

Here's how the casting sorted out in the Spring 2012 season, when there were many role debuts. It wouldn't surprise me to see some of these dancers reprise their roles in Winter 2016 -- and someone will have to replace the now-retired Somogyi.

Sterling Hyltin & Robert Fairchild = Melissa Hayden & Jonathan Watts

Megan Fairchild & Chase Finlay = Jillana & Conrad Ludlow

Maria Kowroski & Jonathan Stafford = Diana Adams & Bill Carter

Tiler Peck & Justin Peck = Violette Verdy & Nicholas Magallenes

I think I've gotten the roles sorted out, but if anyone has them mapped out differently, let us know!

I thought that the first three movements came off better than usual, too. When three softer, more Romantic ballerinas are cast, they just blur together in all the tulle and low lighting. For a long time. Because Krohn (one of the "right" type for this role) was followed by Le Crone (spiky) and Scheller (Scherzo!!!), all three movements actually seemed to have a reason to exist. Le Crone's angularity sometimes jars in non-neoclassical works, but here it usefully cuts some of the sugar: it made the second movement seem dangerous in a way that I haven't seen before.

Oh, I absolutely agree! Too often the casting of the first three movements can seem like an attempt to give underutilized dancers something to do, but Tuesday's cast looked like it had been put together to showcase each ballerina's special gifts and make something special out of the choreography. I especially liked Le Crone's take on the Valse Mélancolique. Dangerous indeed: she was bewitching in every sense of the word, and danced with the kind of intensity that projects beyond that dreadful scrim, the dim lighting, and far too many bolts of pastel chiffon.

If I ever win lotto I am going to march into Martins' office with a big fat check and insist that the company re-dress the first three movements to give the choreography some theatrical context beyond ghosts in a gloomy ballroom.

There had better be a video. Because I can't even imagine ... but I'm dying to see whatever it is. (I have absolutely no expectation that I will prevail in the FFD ticket scrum.)

OK, it's not a video of the whole thing in costume, but here's some delightful Bill Irwin & Tiler Peck rehearsal / performance / interview footage. I yield to no one in my admiration of Tiler Peck's stupendous gifts, but in this case I think Irwin pretty much steals the show ...

A lot of what passes for and is described as Flamenco is actually Spanish classical dance, which has a lot of similarities to ballet. Antonio Gades' obituary is an example of how a dancer crossed boundaries with various types of training and performing:

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jul/22/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries

So, while I was exploring the many resonances between Kathak, Flamenco, and Classical Ballet I came across this, which immediately made me think of this. Surely a coincidence ...

But, that being said, the way this Kathak dancer uses her arms really does make me think of Ballet (and certain flavors of Flamenco, too.)

ETA: OOPS! Wrong cue in the first Kathak video - now corrected ...

I am sure they will need Krohn for Glass Pieces since Kowroski will probably still be out. Liebeslieder would be a good role for Krohn though. Am I remembering wrong or did Tiler Peck do Liebeslieder (can't remember which part) last time around?

Yes, Tiler Peck has been cast in Liebeslieder. She was part of the almost entirely revamped cast NYCB fielded in the Spring 2012 season. And, if I recall correctly, she performed the role originated by Violette Verdy, which is the one I've seen Somogyi perform. (Kyra Nichols often performed it as well.) In that same cast Megan Fairchild performed Jillana's role; Sterling Hyltin performed (I think) Melissa Hayden's role; and Maria Kowrowski performed (again I think) Diana Adams' role.

"Glass Pieces" and "Interplay" do have pointe work, but there are ballets in ballet slippers. If I'm remembering correctly, the "Elegie" movement of "Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3" is danced in ballet slippers.

Not just slippers - bare feet!

Thank you, Helene!

It looks as if W&P has posted the whole program! Duly added to my playlist ...

I was simply reared on so much better: American Bandstand.

And the Soul Train Line!

Ballet Review has set up a special online archive containing downloadable PDF reprints of articles it has published on dancers of color.

A Conversation with Raven Wilkinson

A Conversation with Betty Nichols

The Caramel Variations

A Conversation with Sylvester Campbell

What a lousy break! I can't imagine what it must be like to be THIS CLOSE to something you've dreamed of doing since forever and watching it go poof! just like that. The heartache must be as bad as the physical pain.

Hope to see him back soon! (But not a moment before his injury permits ...)

Just confirmed with Works and Process (via Twitter):

No live streams for the current season. But, "[We] will be sharing video excerpts of many of this season's performances. Stay tuned for more information."

I will indeed stay tuned. A post-event video is fine by me so long as it captures a decent chunk of the proceedings.

I'm sure this is news to no one, but just in case, Works and Process has a YouTube channel where they archive videos of previous programs.

Probably OT, but having watched the available versions of Tarantella online, can I just say what a difference McBride's jolly little skirt makes? (The dreadful schmatte on her head we can safely dispense with, however.) I think this is a ballet that needs a bit of leg to be properly saucy. Karinska's costume has a ton of flirty peek-a-boo built right into it.

Faye Arthurs has a new post up on her always informative "Thoughts from the Paint" blog. This one features a Q&A with Teresa Reichlen about dancing Odette / Odile in NYCB's Swan Lake.

A sample:

Q: [Arthurs] How many pairs of pointe shoes will you go through per show?

A: [Reichlen] I wear 2 pairs. You only have one opportunity in our version to change shoes since there is only 1 intermission and less than a 5 minute break between acts III and IV when you also have to change your costume and headpiece.

Q: [Arthurs] What is the most challenging part of the ballet for you?

A: [Reichlen] Surprisingly I find the long break during intermission and the beginning of Act III before the Black Swan pas de deux to be the hardest part of the show. The break is about an hour long and my body starts to cramp up and get stiff in that amount of time. It’s a challenge to stay warm and loose without expending any extra energy because you still have half of the ballet ahead of you.

My favorite Tarantella guy will always be Baryshnikov for his giddy energy, as well as execution of steps. Somebody please find that clip from the 1979 "In Performance at the White House" to see what I mean. Not that Villella & Ratmansky didn't also delight. MB was just so looney-giddy that it made me want to jump along.

The Balanchine Police must have lost their DCMA Take-Down Notice Foo.

Here's Tarantella

and ... Harlequinade

both with McBride.

That seemingly low-hanging East Room chandelier always makes me nervous ...

It's hte only interpretation of the role that can stand next to Villella's immortal one. Of course they both do the commedia gestures, the palms up "who knew" gestures.... but Ratmansky makes it much more of a "class act" -- there's a premier danseur elegance in his bearing, whereas Villella's appeal was very arthy.

Of course, Villella had McBride to dance with, and they managed to keep up a real flirtation throughout that superseded the steps completely. Ratmansky's partner isn't interested in him; she's just flirting with us. Ratmansky is flirting with the entire traditin. Heavenly wit.

Courtesy of RAI Scuola, you can find a (very poor quality) video of McBride and Villella's interpretation here.

I suppose it is heretical to say so -- and it is ludicrous to make judgements based on videos alone in any event -- but I think I prefer Ratmansky. He is indeed very witty, and rather sexy, too. (Villella? Hmmm ... not so much ...)

Interesting about Barysnikov and Bujones but I'm not sure it's the equivalent of what's happening today.

I quoted Bujones on Baryshnikov in the context of this quote from the Herrera interview:

"Now, if someone makes it you don’t know whether it’s because they really have talent or because the media helped get them there."

I realize that the quote comes near the end of Herrera's complaints about social media, but the fact that she refers to it as "the media" suggests to me that she's thinking of publicity in general, not just Instagram.

I don't think there's a dancer on earth who has "made it" on the strength of his or her social media profile.