Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×
Support Ballet Alert! Year Round through the Amazon Affiliates Program by Clicking Here to Order from Amazon.com
2024 Ballet Talk Fundraiser -- Our Goal is $1500

sohalia

Senior Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    165

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by sohalia

    Lauren Fadeley joins MCB

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    I agree, I am glad she was able to find a good home with MCB and is able to continue dancing. I hope she blossoms just as much as Messmer has this season.

    I would love to see Veyette maybe get involved with the school down here. He has a a lot of experience working with the pre-professional company of Pennsylvania Ballet.

    NYCB Spring 2016 Spring Season

    in New York City Ballet

    Posted

    I see Phelan continues her rise and is getting more debut roles.

    I'm so wishing I could watch the Spring Gala. The cast for "Mothership" is very intriguing and highlights Corps and Apprentice dancers that haven't really ever been in the spotlight (except Von Enck really). And the cast for the new Wheeldon that night is :wub:

    MCB On Tour 2016

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    MCB made a great impression with their 1st program here last night.

    What a privilege & a pleasure it was to watch Simone Messmer as the Waltz Girl in Serenade. She was incisive, musical and full of mystery. I don't know most of the MCB dancers but I think it was Nathalia Arja as the Russian Girl (and also the girl with the red star at the end of Symphonic Dances). If so this soloist needs to be promoted to pricincipal ASAP! She is a small, speedy technical powerhouse also capable of great delicacy and full of charisma . My only quibble with Serenade was the casting of the Dark Angel ( I think it was Emily Bromberg). She was fine, but she faded into the background compared to the other two. Not particularly tall (about the same height as Messmer) and certainly not possessed of the imposing presence and glorious arabesque of Dark Angels we get to see in NY like Kowroski, Mearns and Reichlin.

    I loved Symphonic Dances. There is so much going on in this ballet that I'd like to see it multiple times, unfortunately I only get to see it once more. It uses many dancers in different groupings and changes of costumes, and they all looked wonderful. Among the principals I recognized G. Delgado and Albertson, and I think Arja was the girl with the red star at the end but I'm not sure, and I couldn't identify any of the men.

    From what I gathered through social media, I think you are correct in that Bromberg is the Dark Angel (seen rehearsing the role on MCB's Instagram account) and Arja is the Russian Girl (again seen rehearsing on MCB's Instagram).

    Arja is one of my favorites at MCB along with the Delgado sisters, and I'm hoping that with some of the departures and shuffling, she will get a promotion. She is delightful to watch, and her love for dance and ballet just transcends through each of her movements.

    MCB On Tour 2016

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    I remember Maya Collins from the corps of NYCB and wondered what happened to her. I see that she is now with MCB.

    I think she joined MCB in the fall of 2011.

    I really wish they had danced Serenade down here this season. It is one of the Balanchine ballet on top of my list to see, and I couldn't make it to any of the NYCB performances, and now will miss it with MCB! Jealous of everyone who will get to see it on the tour, especially with Messmer.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    I don't think Manatees eat grass, rather hyacinths...maybe I am wrong.....regardless it represents what is wrong with this production....it is very pretty and nice to look at. Nothing disrespectful in the production at all, but slight things pop up that make you have to suspend disbelief. In Act 2 the backdrop has Coral Castle (a Miami sight that South Floridians know), but it was built in modern times while the production seemed to still take place (judging by the humans' costumes) in Athenian times. So I think I give this production an A for effort (trying to create a South Florida Midsummer and do something new) but maybe a C for the final product due to being sort of half baked and not fully thought out. With that said I think the costumes are beautiful and overall production interesting.

    Yeap, manatees do eat seagrass :) So much that their favorite one is named after them "manatee grass" (Syringodium filiforme). You will find that grass all over the waters of Biscayne Bay and South Florida.

    Sorry, this was my marine-scientist minute.

    Great to read your thoughts though. On an somewhat related note, MCB has a Snapchat account that I recently followed, and last night's "story" was great, it was a lot of behind the scenes shots. If you have the app, I recommend you add them! It's great to get these little snippets we don't get to see much.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    Yes...she was very good as the Butterfly. Arja, Rebello and Cerdeiro are a great Brazilian trio at MCB. BTW...I was sitting right next to the Delgado sisters, and spoke to them during intermission. They were delightful and all smiles and giggles. I asked them some particular questions, and they graciously answered them, but ...can't post them here as they are not official news.

    I'm jealous. I saw some videos on Instagram of Patricia rehearsing Serenade for the tour, and she looked wonderful. I'm super bummed they didn't perform Serenade here in Miami this season. This ballet is probably #1 on my list of Balanchine ballets I want to see.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    One other character that I forgot to mention in my first post was the Butterfly. Perhaps this performance is a given in excellence because I thought that it was the same young lady each night. Actually it was Nathalia Arja the first two nights and Ellen Grocki the last. The choreography helps in that their motion is very graceful and flowing in contrast to the other butterfly dancers. Both these young ladies were absolutely charming and delightful in their aerial fineness.

    [spelling correction made]

    I love watching Nathalia dance. She had a lead role in the very first MCB performance I saw, and she has been one of my favorites ever since. She always glows and seems so happy when she dances. I thought she was very charming in her role as Butterfly as well.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    When Pacific Northwest Ballet asked the Balanchine Trust if they could commission new sets and costumes, it was in part a desire to bring something specific and different to the work. And while this production doesn't change the setting per se (it's still a wood, they're still fairies, sprites and bugs) it did give the community a sense that these choices were special to us, and it did attract a certain amount of attention from the national press.

    That's exactly how it felt to me. That this was "our" Midsummer, with our underwater world, our corals and our manatees. The music and the dancing was not changed to my knowledge - again I have not seen the original so I cannot compare but I am pretty sure they kept everything - but this new Midsummer really felt like something of our own in a way. We have the beach so close to us, and we can go diving or snorkeling in the Keys after 1h drive. I think a lot of Floridians will enjoy this production, as the sea is very dear to us.

    I may have sounded a bit harsh in my original review. Yes I was bothered by the scrim and by the butterflies underwater, but in the end, I really felt like I was taken to a magical, surreal place, out of reality, and I felt very transported. I think if any of you have the opportunity to go see it, do it and make your own opinion of it.

    As I said, art needs to keep evolving to stay relevant, and this production I felt had a good balance between the old (same score, same dance) and the new (new costumes, new set). Yes, there are some kinks to be worked out, but overall it was quite a surreal experience.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    Macaulay needs to read up on Florida sea life. Seals are nowhere to be found in Florida (maybe in a zoo somewhere). I read it is a manatee head that is put on Bottom. I will see for myself during the West Palm run.

    The pics of the costumes look beautiful and since the choreography will be the same, I have no problem with the changes, but I suspect I will feel the same way as CubanMiamiBoy and others. It makes no sense for fairies and butterflies to be underwater. I think they should have changed them to be something else.....maybe dragonflies that skim the water in places. Or jellyfish. Not sure.

    I think I will like it nevertheless, but I suspect the new production is sort of half baked and not totally thought out.

    I meant to comment on that in my earlier post and I forgot. It's even written in the program booklet that they changed Bottom to a manatee! And if you have a minimum of knowledge in the local ecosystem, you should manatees are a very important part of Florida's sea life.

    When you write for the NYT, a little bit of background research should be mandatory.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    Alistair Macaulay's New York Times review includes one image, apparently from a performance, with no scrim that I can see. Does it not accurately show the production as you all saw it in the theater? It wouldn't be the first time a ballet company made some adjustment for a publicity picture, I'll bet, or even encouraged some dress-rehearsal photo-taking. Just for the record, not to mention our tradition of accuracy, what do you think is going on here?

    But I just checked the tickets remaining, and Broward - where they are running only two repertory shows per weekend now, instead of four, as under Villella - is very nearly sold out. (And I still wonder about that scrim people are complaining about here.)

    I swear we didn't hallucinate the scrim ahah! However in that NYT photo, it does look like it's not there, so I also guess it's probably staged.

    I too wish they did more performances. I almost missed Program III because they only had two shows in Miami, and by the time I recommend to friends or colleagues that they should go check it out, it's basically almost over and/or sold out.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    Forgive me. I am a NYC resident and sometimes don't follow other companies as well as I should. Did Miami City Ballet put the Balanchine production under water or am I misunderstanding? This ballet, as far as narrative ballets go, is just about perfect. I have seen NYCB do it at least a dozen times over the years. Why would anyone mess with it? Sorry if I am asking stupid questions.

    I don't really remember much of Lopez' speech before the performance started, but it was basically her vision of 5 years. They revisited it with the inspiration of using Miami's underwater world, so the entire first act basically was as if they were in the ocean full of magical creatures instead of an enchanted forest. It felt like the Little Mermaid, but obviously a lot better. It felt a bit more relatable I guess to us south Floridians to have it feature corals and seahorses and other sea-creatures.

    This is Lourdes Lopez discussing her vision for this new production of Midsummer.

    I don't mind so much the "messing with it" part. I think art needs to be constantly evolving and changing and improving, even though you can keep the beautiful basics of Balanchine, Shakespeare and Mendelssohn. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but art is fluid and always moving. I love the underwater idea, and for the most part I thought was done fairly well, minus the few things I mentioned in my previous post.

    Anyways, this Miami Herald article reviews last night's performance and describes the setting a bit better.

    Doner sets shifting images (Wendall Harrington is credited with projection design) on the back wall and a transparent scrim in the front of the stage, layering enormous, ethereal sea plants and creatures, which change with each scene and even undulate slightly, creating a shifting, cinematic atmosphere. John Hall’s shadowy lighting adds to the surreal mood. The intricate costumes combine silvery, shimmery unitards, feathery seaweed skirts, swooping coral headdresses; they make the dancers seem like darting fish in the dark depths.
    So yes, the scrim worked well because it did feel like we were underwater and it felt very surreal and soft, but I wish they had lifted it at some point.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    I totally agree with you on the mesh screen. The effects it gave us were really nice, but I really felt like we couldn't really connect with the dancers because there was (literally) something between us and them. Maybe that was part of the idea... to make us feel like we are peeking into a different world, and that we are not part of it? I too thought it would come up at some point (like they do in the Nutcracker), but I was really bummed when I realized it wouldn't during Act I. When that was lifted for Act II I enjoyed the show a lot more right away as I could see each dancer and their faces a lot better.

    My big issue with this was it didn't fully commit 100% to the underwater theme. Puck's and the butterflies' costumes are still all very forest-y, so I thought it just didn't mesh well. Either you have everybody into an ocean theme or at least costumes, or you don't. It bugged me that they almost half-assed it. They made the effort of changing the hounds into seahorses, or Bottom into a manatee (which I thought was hilarious and a nice little local twist), but then you don't change the butterflies? Or Puck's costume?

    I thought the ocean costumes were really lovely, and I loved the headpieces inspired by corals and sponges. It really felt like we were underwater at times, and I wasn't too bothered that humans are frolicking down there (the two lovers). It was just magical and trumped logic, which I was fine with. I imagined they were mermaids and mer...men?But again, I wish everything had been committed to the ocean especially in the costumes. That said, I thought it felt very magical and otherwordly, so that was nice. I have never seen the original production of Midsummer so I can't really compare.

    Rebello and Messmer were both fantastic, and I was really impressed by Rebello's footwork. Ito was great in the role of Puck, and I thought Long was fantastic as Hyppolita. She has such a presence and almost dominant vibe about her when she's on stage. Her "port de tete" and carriage are incredible. I love watching her dance, and hope to see her in more dramatic roles in the future.

    While I enjoyed it overall, and similarly to cubanmiamiboy, I don't know if I'll see it again. If I do, I also want to see the original production just as a point of comparison. It felt really magical and I appreciated the new costumes and tutus, but I wasn't blown away or really felt anything like I did with the Sufjan ballet or even Bourree, both of which I wanted to see again 5 minutes after the show ended.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    I will be at the Friday night premiere with Simone as Titania! My review might not be very technical, but I can definitely report back and give my opinion :)

    I'm thinking of attending on Sunday afternoon as well because it will be the last performance in Miami from Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra.

    Program IV: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    in Miami City Ballet

    Posted

    Their new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream debuts this Friday.

    http://www.miamicityballet.org/performances/midsummer-nights-dream

    I am super excited to see the new costumes, ocean-inspired. I have also never seen this ballet before, so that in itself is thrilling to me.

    Jovani Furlan posted a photo of one of the new tutus on Instagram (tutu for Helena).

    Screen_Shot_2016_03_16_at_12_27_42_PM.pn

    Casting is up for the Miami performances: http://www.miamicityballet.org/press/casting-announcement-midsummer-nights-dream-adrienne-arsht-center-performing-arts-miami

×
×
  • Create New...