liebs

Michael, I so agree with your comments about Rutherford. She seems to think being the prettiest girl on the block is enough - no projection whatsoever. It is interesting that over the years, the first section of Vienna Waltzes has been danced by so many different types of dancers. I was made on Von Arnoldigen and Lavery, and there was always a feeling that the older woman might be abandoned by the younger in that moment when all the men come on except the principal. It gave this section a great poignancy. I've also seen Nichols and Meunier dance it.

Explosion Polka was been a real let down since Leland left the part. She's the only one who was both funny and dirty.

Merry Widow was weakly cast in its early years with Mazzo but got good performances from Calegair and Alexopolus. Ringer is glamorous without being mysterious and the role needs both qualities.

Vienna Waltzes is probably a more difficult ballet to pull off then it appears to be. It is not just pretty - the casting is crucial to making it work. As is a sense of storytelling, there is not necessarily a plot but the dancers need to have decided what their relationship is to their partner and the people around them - an element sadly missing from Rutherford's performance.

Many of the above plus Erick Bruhn and Ivan Nagy. He was very handsome, a wonderful partner and a sensitive, soulful actor with abeautiful line.

Peter Martins was in his hey day a magnificent dancer and had great speed for some so tall. Very musical, witness his performance in the variations in Chaconne. His partnership with Farrell had many, many memorable moments.

Also, Sean Lavery - a career tragically cut short.

My biggest regret - never having see Christopher Gable.

After seeing the recent and disappointing performances of Interplay at NYCB, I was thinking of NY Export Opus Jazz at the Joffrey. When I first moved to NYC, I saw it with Edward Verso and it was one of the most exciting things I had ever seen. Verso had wonderful presence and a very sharpy, jazzy musicality that is missing from Interplay now. It seemed like a quintiessential NY moment - gone now, I guess.

Reading was sacred in our family, my parents took us to the library every Friday night. We always read in bed before going to sleep and some times, we cheated and continued to read under the covers after lights out.

As a young girl, and even now, I loved the Betsy-Tacy books and of course, Ballet Shoes, etc.

Agnes de Mille is another choreographer whose works are performed without appropriate payment or credit, especially the choreography she did for shows like Oklahoma. Go to any amateur or stock production of this or Carousel or Brigadoon and you'll people incorporating her ideas and her work.

I know she tried to copyright some of these works but I'm not sure which ones or if the term is expired.

The lead ballerina was certainly one of Farrell's greatest roles and one frequently saw Calegari cast as the second ballerina opposite Farrell or Ashley. But it was also a great part for McBride, especially the first solo to the violin cadenza.

Did Nichols do the first ballerina? or am I just imagining her in the role.

Sounds like Selma Jean Cohen to me!

Porter originated the part of the maid, I believe, but I also saw her in the female lead of that ballet. She was beautiful but lacked the depth that Seymour brought to the role.

And there is a highly developed use of pointe work, the women tend to roll up rather than spring up to pointe - although this is a generalization.

The dancers also dance "big" even the ones who are smaller and with a high level of sustained energy.

I saw the performance on Friday. First it is not clear that this is a ballet company any more, Feld's choreography has long been moving toward some hybrid of ballet and modern dance but more importantly the dancers don't look like classically trained ballet dancers.

Almost the entire company has received their training at Ballet Tech and it shows. Their turn out is weak, their calves are over developed, no one works through the foot (this is especially apparent among the men)and no one can jump. Feld doesn't use petit allegro but even with those overdeveloped calves, no gets any air in their big jumps. At best, the women's pointe work is rudimentary - they looked better in one piece on demi pointe. Since Feld controls the school and the company, I imagine that these dancers are the instrument he is seeking but it is hard to imagine that any of them could dance in another ballet company.

Worst of all, Feld seems uninterested in any of them as dancers, with the exception of Patricia Tuthill. The rest are just a faceless group. Literally so in French Overtures in which they all wear masks. This new piece, to Rameau, is mostly posing with very little dancing. And goes on far too long - the audience thought it ended as least three seperate times but we were wrong.

Endsong is danced in silence. Apparently, it was choreographed to music by R. Strauss to which Feld was unable to get the rights. Hence the silence. It reminds me of Leaves are Fading but without a score it is hard to know what all the gestures and sighs are meant to convey. Patrick Lavoie was brought in to partner Tuthill in this more balletic work.

There were two more negligable pieces. Tongue and Groove, a male solo, danced to clapping. And Lincoln Portrait in which Feld added a bad "Olympic opening ceremony" dance to Copeland and Sandburg.

The highlight of the evening was Mr XYZ for Baryshnikov. The choreography was simple and had a lot of jokes - quotes from Apollo, Prodigal and Giselle - that weren't particularly original. But it was still a real pleasure to see Baryshnikov on stage. His concentration, his comittment to the movement and the subtlety and creaminess of his dancing continue to captivate us.

I haven't seen the new version of Nine. I didn't care for the Broadway production, so am taking a pass on the revival. I did see Night Music at NYCO.

I didn't see the original Broadway production of Night Music but did see NYCO's version in its first incarnation. I've always loved the score.

Sondheim is known for liking actors who can sing but his characters announce themselves through the music, which is very complex. So to really convey the character, the actor has to be able to handle the score. Jeremy Irons, a marvelous actor, still seemed very uncomfortable with his songs when I saw the production on Wed. So the character didn't really come through until the "Send in the Clowns" scene - nearly the end of the show. From then on, he was wonderful and his final scene with Stevenson was brillant and moving. He really showed us a man who discovered who he loved and what he wanted to live for.

Stevenson, who apparently struggled with her singing on opening night, had settled into the role. She handled the songs well and with her charmingly throaty speaking voice was the perfect world weary actress looking for love. Her rueful version of "Send in the Clowns" was very different from Glynis Johns' but very effective.

Claire Bloom talked/sang her number with ease and charm. Still beautiful, one could well believe that she had many lovers.

The rest of the cast was easily able to handle the singing with nice performances from Mark Kadish as the Count, Michele Pawk as the Countess and the young lovers did a good job as well.

I'm not sure this intimate show is at its best in the State Theatre but I'm glad I saw the production. The final moments of the show will stay with me for a long time.

Of course, he and Leland were irreplacable in Dances at a Gathering in the big waltz with all the throws and catches. They had a kind of abandon that no one else has captured.

I also saw last night's performance and for the fist time ever was disappointed in Esplanade. Except for Amy Young, I thought the dancers looked forced and lacking spontaniety, especially Lisa Viola. There have been great dancers in that part, especially Adams and Kate Johnson, but Viola milks the last moments as though it were Oscar night. More worrisome is the fact that for the first time the middle movement failed to arouse any emotional response from me. In the performances of de Jong and then Karla Wolfangle (sp?), it seemed about lost love. Heather Berest just seemed like a bored fashion model and the whole section passed off without a murmur of emotion.

Still the company as a whole looked strong throughout the engagement and I was delighted to see Last Look and Images again after several years when they have been out of the rep.

When I saw the company last year in Onegin, I was very impressed with Bonelli as Lensky. I don't think he was a principal at that time but clearly had the gifts to become one. In addition to his dark good looks, he had strong technique, which he used to create the character of Lensky. It was a very sophisticated performance and I preferred it to Angel Corella's performance at ABT. Corella seemed more interested in completing eight pirouettes than conveying Lensky's despair at his upcoming duel with Onegin.

Last night, I saw the Taylor Company in a program, which included Cascade, Last Look and the NYC premiere of Dream Girls. All three pieces fall into well defined Taylor genres but for me only two of the three were successful. The company all danced very well but most of the woman are a bit bland.

Cascade is another of Taylor's pure dance pieces to baroque music like Airs and Arden Court. Cascade uses Bach concertos for piano and orchestra and much of the music is very familiar. This is a lovely piece but not as special as Arden Court, which highlighted the virile dancing of the company's men or Airs, in which the duets have always seemed to me to be profound expressions of love. Taylor doesn't develop any new vocabulary in this piece or even, I think extend any of the dancers' personal gifts. There is a solo for Lisa Viola, which she dances well but blandly. I know she is one of the company's senior dancers and Taylor clearly likes her but she's always left me cold. Viola is small with a large head and a short neck, maybe it is her proportions that spoil the look of her line for me. Patrick Corbin and Kristi Egvedt had a nice duet and he continues to be Taylor's finest dancer. All the men looked strong and less muscle bound and more fleet than in previous years.

Last Look (1985)is, for me, Taylor's darkest piece. Even darker than Speaking in Tongues, which at least shows a community. In Last Look, they are all strangers. Having been left cold by Viola's solo in Cascade, I was surprised and delighted by the terrific impact of her solo in Last Look. She's not just running from and fighting against some outside horror but also something ugly within herself. Viola's passion and anguish in this solo moved me tremendously. Michael Trusnovec (the red head) and Egvedt dance the simlutaneously solos on opposite sides of a mirrored panel. I had noticed Trusnovec last season but was not expecting the great growth in his performing abilities that I saw last night. He appeared in all three pieces and was terrific and different in each one. In Last Look, he was an all America boy monster, some one like Ted Bundy, twisting his body into the grotesque shapes the choreography requires sometimes seeming almost inhuman. The scene I always think of as gang rape was as frightening as ever.

Dream Girls belongs to the Taylor genre of antic Americana,which includes a piece set to a score of music box music, which I saw last season and didn't really enjoy. Dream Girls is set to the Buffalo Bills, a barber shop quartet, singing classic or novel America songs like Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye. The women all appeared to be padded in the breats and hips under their costumes of corsets and turn of the century underwear. In one piece, Julie Tice even appears in a fat suit. I'm not sure what the tone of this piece is supposed to be and with the exception of a tour de force solo for Corbin to Sam You Made the Pants Too Long the choreography isn't very interesting. Corbin's solo is a quirky number based on a costume with one enormously long pants leg. Corbin slides on it, dances with it, jumps rope, etc with great charm, innocence and bravura. A little bit of barber shop singing goes a long way for me and so does Taylor's rather curdled humor.

One last observation. At least in mezzanine where I was sitting, the audience was sparse and the response was tepid. More importantly, the audience was old, largely 60s and 70s. It make sense that Taylor's audience would age with him but if I were managing the company, I'd be worried about who will be attending in the next ten or fifteen years.

I'm going again to final performance of the run and looking forward to it.

Michael, I had the pleasure of seeing McBride a number of times as Swanhilda and she did shine in all three acts. She was the perfect combination of dancing and acting - a marvelous soubrette. And it was a real battle between her Swanhilda and Shaun O'Brien's Coppelius for Frantz's soul. They were very well matched.

I know there are two more performances but I saw my final one last night, so I thought I'd get this started.

Winter 2002-2003 started with a disappointing tribute to Richard Rodgers but I saw 3 or 4 strong performances of Nutcracker. Repertory featured the revivals of some long unseen Balanchine and Robbins works. The season also introduced guest artist Sofiane Sylve and new principal Robert Tewsley. It was also notable for the happy return of two long unseen dancers - Weese and Higgins and injuries to three male principals - Woetzel, Hubbe and Tewsley.

MVP - has to be Benjamin Millepied. With the above mentioned injuries, Millepied got lots of opportunities and for the most part rose to the occasion. I did not find him as convincing in Carousel as Woetzel was, although he is closer in age to Asanelli. Woetzel knows the bad boy, Billy Bigelow, in his bones but Millepied seemed too angst ridden and had a harder time making the bravura parts of the role his own. But in fairness, I saw him last night and he also had to dance Hallelujah Junction after Carousel. He may have been saving his energy. Millepied certainly earned his principal dancer status this season.

Most enjoyable revival - Robbin's Piano Pieces. This is not a masterwork but it is craftsman like and had great charm. Somoygi, Kowrowski and Asanelli gave strong performances as did the small corps.

Most interesting juxtaposition - Ballade with Kammermusik. Neither is a Balanchine masterpiece but together they show us the range of his genius and his eclectic musical tastes. It was a pleasure to see Sylve paired with Kowrowski in this and Askegard and Neal gave strong performances.

I never would have thought that Whelan could be successful in this piece but by softening her movement and linking each phrase into an unbroken chain that ran throughout the ballet, she made it her own. Tewsley gave her adequate support but both times I've seen him (in this and with Ringer in Nutcracker), he seemed to struggle with the intricate partnering. He dances well and is very good looking but I found him bland. Hopefully he'll find his way into the Balanchine style and be an Ib Anderson but a Leonid Koslov.

Most welcome return - Miranda Weese. Weese's long term injury gave opportunities to many younger dancers like Asanelli and Taylor but also made us aware of just how valuable she is. A dancer who can successfully negotiate everthing from Divertimento #15 to Who Cares? leaves a big gap when she's gone. I loved Weese's recent performance in the Voices of Spring in Vienna Waltzes - the perfect 2nd Empire ballerina.

Arch Higgins was also missed and I enjoyed seeing him in Carousel and Vienna Waltzes.

A big concern - Both Asanelli and Ulbricht seem to be pushing harder to sell some of their roles than seems necessary. As Leigh said, we want Asanelli to get stronger not tougher. Right now, she is dancing with a kind of pearly glow that is very appealing. The next step seems to me to be for her to develop a full fledged ballerina authority that was the only element missing from her Sugar Plum Fairy.

Ulbricht is a gifted dancer, wonderful technical skills but in Eight Easy Pieces and Tarantella, he already seemed almost lacquered. Every effect and gesture and look was so calculated that I couldn't take much pleasure in it. I much preferred the lower key performance of Carmena in Eight Easy Pieces and have enjoyed watching him in corps parts as well.

Ballerinas - Along with the return of Weese, it has been a pleasure to watch Whelan, Somoygi and Ringer this season. A Barocco last night with Whelan and Somoygi and a corps of senior ladies was beautifully done. Somoygi was also great in Agon.

Kistler has I hear had her ups and downs this season but the performance of Vienna Waltes I saw was lovely.

I'm taking a break now - more later.

I remember Estopinal, Frankfurt and Susan Freedman in the pas de quatre in Harlequinade. All dark haired beauties - but who was the fourth?

I also have to nominate Sean Savoye and Tracy Bennett. Bennett and Castelli were frequently paired in Agon, Div #15 and 4 Ts.

And Marjorie Spohn, such a creamy smooth way of dancing.

By dancer proof, I meant that the choreography is so strong that many dancers can be effective in it.

Dale, apparently the ivory color was brought on by age. Also, the old dresses, which are silk satin as are the new ones, were shredding.

It's been said that Balanchine's ballets are dancer proof. That isn't quite true but many of his works can encompass dancers a broad range of body types and personalities. Today's Vienna Waltzes was a good example.

At its premiere, Vienna Waltzes seemed a portrait of the company's senior ballerinas. It contrasted the dramatic talents of Von Arnoldigen with the comedic talents of Leland. McBride and Farrell were give roles that highlighted their unique gifts. The odd women out was Mazzo who never seemed to have the mystery and sexiness that the Merry Widow required.

In the years since then we have seen many varying ballerinas and soloists take these parts, some with great success and today's performance was a very succesful one.

Rachel Rutherford and James Fayette led the first movement. When Von Arnoldigen danced this role with Sean Lavery, the older woman younger man dynamic made this movement of the ballet especially poignant. Other interpreters have included Nichols and last season, Monique Meunier who gave a beautifully danced and acted performance. Rutherford seemed a little pallid in the early part of the dance but her concentration on Fayette as the dance progressed was very moving. The tall ladies of the corps were very beautiful.

Weese and Boal led the second movement. Boal is simply one of the greatest classical dancers and this is a charming role for him - he is in the period of the ballet, never forcing his effects. Weese was terrific, the perfect French Second Empire ballerina (down to the diamond drop earrings). She danced lushly and wittily, not just for her partner but also as though she was hoping to attract a rich protector. This role has been done wonderfully by ballerinas as diverse as Ashley and Ringer and Weese is equally good in her own way. I also noticed youngster Jessica Flynn in the corps, maybe some day we'll be seeing her in the lead role.

The Explosion Polka has always been the least understood section of the ballet. But I think we need a little humor here to refresh us before the two final movements. No has adequately replaced Leland in this movement, she was both sexy and dirty and funny all at once. Many of the interpreters of this role have just been wild mistaking energy for humor. But today, Amanda Edge was a Kewpie doll with a slightly dirty mind. Arch Higgins partnered well and with great good humor (and he looked very dashing in the tux in the final movement). The Polka looked better rehearsed than it has recently.

The Merry Widow has been danced by Mazzo, Ashley (I think) and recently by Alexopulous. Helene was sexy but cool and some what remote. Ringer and Askegard had much more chemistry. She was warm and sexy and they both danced well. The final clinch before the curtain was hot enough to make you think they would immediately be looking for the castle bedroom.

Kistler and Neal led the final movement. (Is there going to be a shoot out about who gets to retire in this role - Nichols or Kistler?) Kistler look terrific, she may be dancing with less power than formerly but she does know how to create a world with her dancing. The women's newly remade costumes are a tribute to the talent of Holly Hynes and her costume shop - they glowed.

The balance of the program included Reliquary, which I did not see. Eight Easy Pieces and Steadfast Tin Soldier.

Soldier had Bouree and Gold. Bouree is good in this role but she doesn't always have the technical security one would like to see. She would fall off pointe periodically and there were other technical insecurities, she lacks some of the edge McBride brought to this role - she's continually cute and sweet. Gold was terrific, a very clean and secure performance. I can see Ulbricht and Hendrickson inheriting this role. Interestingly, the role was created by Peter Schafauss (sp?), a danseur noble but since Baryshnikov danced it, it has been done only by demi-charachter dancers.

I haven't seen Eight Easy Pieces bfore. I had real reservations about both Ulbricht and Hendrickson. Ulbricht's performance was very strong technically but seemed to be very forced - he's pushing for every effect and it seemed phony. Hendrickson was some serious technical flaws, unstretched feet and he doesn't pull his leg out of the hip in his turns in a la seconde, making for an unattractive line. Both of these men are demi character dancers, it is hard to imagine other of them in classical roles. And there are just not that many roles in the Balanchine rep for dancers like this.

Carmena is another story. In the role choreographed for Boal, he gives a convincing performance and seems a classical stylist in the making.

I think the company is dancing well this season. I didn't really give the men in Vienna Waltzes their due, all danced well and partnered better. All in all, a great day at the ballet.

I've recently seen Setterfield in her son's theatre piece and am looking forward to seeing the Pick UP Co at the Joyce on Tues.

I wish I had seen her dancing with Merce. In addition to a lovely movement style, there is an air of mystery and reserve in Setterfield's style that would have been fascinating to watch in Cunningham's work.

I was also struck last week when I saw Kammermusik and Ballade back to back. Neither is top drawer Balanchine but his minor masterpieces now look like major works.

Whelan and Tewsley led Ballade. I didn't find much chemistry between them. And as Leigh said, Tewsley doesn't yet have the ease in transitions that marks some one completely comfortable in Balanchine's choreography. I was surprised by Whelan's performance - it was one long breath, almost too uninflected. But she has discovered how to make herself a convincing adagio dancer.

Croce’s review talks about how everything in the ballerina's role is presented to us obliquely and one could certainly see that in Whelan's performance.

Kammermusik looked great, I enjoyed the contrast between Kowroski and Sylve. But I felt that Sylve missed some of the wit of Colleen Neary's original performance.

It was great to see both of these ballets again. The other ballet's last Sunday were Jeu de Cartes and Piano Pieces.

Piano Pieces's return is welcome. Robbins may not be the genius Balanchine is but I enjoyed the graciousness of this piece, something that is missing from some contemporary choreography. Kowroski looked great in the role originated by Calegari and Millepied was terrific. I was rather disappointed in Ansanelli's performance in her pdd with Marcovici - she didn't look her best, seemed a little awkward. Somoygi was lovely and commanding - as always.

I'm not sure Balanchine would have wanted the theatre named after him - after all he called the company New York City Ballet not the Balanchine Ballet.

From a practical point of view, NYCB shares the theatre with City Opera perhaps they wouldn't find it appropriate. After all, NYCO had a founding director too.

Woetzel is out with an injury, unusual for him I think.