liebs

Nureyev's production for National Ballet of Canada, live. ABT,the Messel designed version, with Gelsey Kirkland and Ivan Nagy. Martins for NYCB. The reconstructed 4 hour version by the Kirov as well as a previous Kirov version in the early 90s. Koplakova for the Kirov on tape. Some South American company with Bujones, also on tape. Dowell's for the Royal, both live and on tape.

Also, why is Giselle's mother always at least 60! If Giselle is in her teens and woman married and bore children young, wouldn't it be possible for her mother to be 35-40?

Fille would be good or Sleeping Beauty.

The program included Taylor's Balck Tuesday, Tsch Pas, Diana and Aceton Pas and De Mille's Rodeo. Radestky was scheduled to dance in both the de Mille and Tudor and was replaced by De Luz and Sean Stewart. I assume he is injured, which was disappointing as I was anxious to see him in solo roles. This was my first look at Black Tuesday and I was impressed. It is beautifully designed. Taylor seemed to use a slightly more classical vocabulary for this piece than usual and it sustained my interest throughout. The standouts were Stewart as the pimp, Stella Abrera in Boulevard of Broken Dreams and De Luz in Brother, Can you spare a Dime. The piece ends with a real coup de theatre. This is one of the best new pieces ABT has commissioned in the last few years. Tsch PPD featured the best dancing of the afternoon by Ashley Tuttle and Malakhov. He was perfect in every respect. Tuttle danced with great freedom, she seemed to be allowed more individuality in her timing than Martins allows at NYCB. I loved the scale of her dancing and the detail. Diana & Acteon PPD featured Carreno and Herrera. He actually manages to make these circus tricks look like dancing. Herrera's dancing continues to be spoiled by unattractive arms and hands. But, her balances and turns were wonderful, particularly her fouettes in the coda. I've been watching Rodeo for almost 25 years and it still works, probably because De Mille was an astute observer of human behavior. Sandra Brown was weak in the comedy and pathos of the first two scenes but came alive when she put on a dress. Ethan Brown playing her love interest, the Wrangler, seemed heavy and out of shape and much older than the rest of the cast - a disappointing performance. Rosalie O'Connor gave a delightfully detailed performance as the prettiest girl in town. De Luz was charming and danced well as the Roper who wins the Cowgirl. All in all, this was an enjoyable afternoon at the ballet, showing ABT at its best in a combination of new works, classics and Americana.

One of the things I enjoyed most in the performance were seeing ballets that were dressed with appropriate scenery, costumes and lighting. I was particularly taken the costumes. Another thing that impressed me was Leigh's use of the academic vocabulary. We saw a full range of steps, not just grand jete, arabesque and pirouette mixed up with the Peter Martins "stepless steps." This use of a fuller dance vocabulary was really driven hoem to me, a day later when I saw a program of new ballet choreography in which every piece used the same and very limited range of steps. After four pieces, I could not distiguish one from the other. Kudos to the dancers - all of whom performed beautifully under what must have been trying circumstances. Next time, Leigh, I want to see Boal in a group piece or pas de deux. Please!

From my days running a modern dance co. that performed at Hancher, I remember Chappell as a nice guy. But I do find it curious that ABT couldn't find anyone from NYC who was familiar with the funding and social scene in their last two searches. NYC is not Iowa.

I remember when the hostages were released from Iran NYCB did Stars and Stripes and in the finale everyone came out with bunches of yellow ribbons. It was a memorable moment. I want to see Who Cares, that magic New York skyline would raise my spirits!

For all New Yorkers, there will be a vigil on Friday night in the plaza at Lincoln Center. Also a free concert on Sunday (4 PM) by the Emerson String Quartet to honor the dead and the living. I'm guessing that the Lincoln Center website will have more details.

There is a beautiful piece on this very subject in the New York Times today. All the arts critics participated and Kisselgoff wrote about Graham's Lamentation, Tudor's Dark Elegies and the dark angel in Serenade. Whenever I think of Serenade, I see Calegari's arabesque in that moment - a symbol of life in death.

I understand that NY City Ballet cancelled last night's performance in Parma. Martins went out onstage and talked to the audience, who then gave him a standing ovation. It is good to feel the support of our European friends. I imagine NYCB is now faced with the enormous task of getting the company home in the face of all the problems with air travel.

The opening night of NYCB at the Verdi Festival was a wonderful experience, highlighted by the presence of prima ballerina, Carla Fracci in the audience. She was my first Giselle and it was real thrill to see her, as beautiful as ever. This NYCB tour has been hampered from the first by a host of injuries to the company's principals. Nichols is pregnant and never intended to join the tour but also missing are Evans, Ringer and Whelan. All much missed. The Teatro Reggio is a jewel box of a theatre , although far from perfect for ballet. The orchestra, where I sat, is not raked, so sight lines can be a problem and the some of the boxes must have a very limited view of the stage. It is a much smaller house than the State Theatre and it was nice to feel the intimate connection between the stage and the audience. I ran into James Fayette in town and he told me that although the raked stage was causing difficulties for some of the younger dancers, the main concern was a hard floor. The program opened with Ballo della Regina led by Weese and Boal with Amanda Edge, Eva Natanya, Rachel Rutherford and Aubrey Morgan (substituting for an injured Ashley Bouder) as the soloists. This is one of my favorite ballets and Merill Ashley's performance is an indelible memory for me. Weese gave a charming performance but lacked the sheer dance athleticism that Ashley braught to the role. Natanya gave a lovely account of the solo originally choreographed for Stephanie Saland. Natanya is a much larger, rangier dancer than I remember Saland being and gave less weight to the port de bras and upper body work than Saland did. But Natanya covered the stage and danced larger than I remember Saland doing. For me, the performance to watch was Boal's. He was having one of those magical nights when he seems at one with the music, every jump and turn perfectly phrased and he gave Weese great support. I did not care for Quartet for Strings, Martin's new to Verdi's only string quartet. Another of those "stepless" works, it featured Tracey, Bouree, Somogyi, Millepied and Marcovici. Viva Verdi, to orchestrated arias from La Traviata, featured Kistler and Askegard with Taylor, Mandradjieff and Abi Stafford. The costumes for the girls were the famous "Parma Yellow." A charming tribute to a lovely city. This was certainly a piece d'occasion, I was most interested by Martin's use of Askegard. He certainly sees him as a cavalier and used his height and the weight of his gestures to fill out the adagio pharses of the score. Kistler, whose movement range is now clearly limited, was a bit brittle at the beginning of the piece but warmed up and was glowing with that pearly radiance that makes her so attractive by the end of the piece. Taylor looked uncomfortable, maybe the raked stage was bothering her. The program which will be shown on RAI eventually was to be filmed in its entirety at two seperate performances. The Four Season may not be a great ballet but it is a crowd pleaser and the Parma audience responded with applause, bravos and lots of curtain calls. Winter was well danced by Carrie Lee Riggins (with more musicality than I have previously seen), Hoffmans and Ritter. Spring featured van Kipnis and Neal. Both danced with great joy, terrific musicality, wit and a great rapport. Neal, who can sometimes be a bit cold, responded wonderfully to van Kipnis and she gave an even better performance than the one I saw in NYC this spring. Meunier and Fayette led Summer and the Italian audiences responded strongly to the real sensuality that Meunier brings to this role. Fall was led by Carmena whose performance has grown tremendously since I saw it this spring. Then his charm and his jumping ability were clearly evident, now he has added stretched feet and perfect landings. It was the performance of the ballet. Woetzel seemed disengaged and slightly sloppy, although he partnered Ansanelli very well. I would say it was one of his B- nights. I would have preferred to see Meunier dance Fall, her more robust dancing seems a better choice for the role than Ansanelli's girlish quality. But Ansanelli did well, throwing herself into the role. Her variation was the weakest part of the role, she doesn't have a great jump and in the coda, her fouettes were weak. But this was a promising debut and she may yet grow into the part. All in all, it was an exciting evening and certainly the quality of the classical dancing was of a caliber that the Italians rarely seen from their own companies (if we can judge by the La Scala Ballet's recent performances in NYC). The response to Ballo was more muted that I expected, maybe it is a work that requires several viewings before one can take in the choreography's intricacies. Unfortunately, I was not able to see the second program which featured Symphony in C, Dances at a Gathering and Barber Violin Concerto with Elizabeth Walker in the role created for Kate Johnson. That's a performance I look forward to this winter at the State Theater.

Gigi, New York University has a certificate program in fundraising in the Adult Education division. it is one of the best. Columbia Univ. also has an arts admin program.

Just back from Parma, where I saw opening night. More later when I de-jet lag. Peter and Ryan were fine when I left.

Then there was the "Live from Lincoln Center" telecast where Kevin McKenzie, partnering Makarova, forgot to take off his leg warmers in the final act of "Romeo and Juliet." He couldn't leave the stage, so "he died with his boots on."

I remember a truly horrifying night for NYCB at the State Theatre. First, Robert Weiss ripped his Achilles tendon and Merrill Ashley finished Ballo alone and unpartnered. Later that evening in Fancy Free, a lense on one of the stage lights hanging above the stage exploded and glass fell on the stage. The dancer playing the bartender came out from behind the bar and cleaned most of it up. It was one of those nights when the dancers must have been happy to escape with their lives.

I saw it at the SAB workshop and although it is not a "work of genius," it is an interesting and unpretensious ballet. Barak has talent and knows how to use an ensemble. There are also two female solos in the piece that really captured the essence of the SAB dancers on whom they were made. It will be interesting to see whether Barak changes these to suit the particular talents of the NYCB cast.

You might also want to purchase some McBride Eyes, it helps your ballerina use her eyes to good effect and counteracts the dreaded blank stare.

I just got a letter from ABT addressed to "Dear Valued Supporter" regarding Spisto's resignation. The resignation is characterized as resulting from a grwoing difference in vision between Spisto and certain members of the Board of Governing Trustees. It praises Spisto's achievements and disputes the claims made in some newspaper reports as follows: Met ticket sales have grown from $8.5 mil in 99 to $9.8 mil in 2001. (No comment about whether higher ticket prices are a part of that growth.) Contributed income grew from $10.5 mil in 99 to $13.7 mil in 2001. Expenses for the current fiscal year are on budget, as approved by the Trustees, and a small operating surplus is expected. (These figures are unaudited and it will be interesting to see whether they paint an accurate picture.) Cash reserves are at the same level now as they were at this point last year. Production costs will vary from year to year, so any report on those costs is meaningless. I thought this letter was a good attempt at damage control but would have been better persuaded if it had been signed by Kevin McKenzie as well as by Board members.

I disagree about Agon pdd. For years, Farrell and Martins were first cast. Lindsay Fischer also danced it frequently.

I think Lucia Chase certainly qualifies, although there was a strong thread of self gratification. She wanted to be a dancer and from what I've read wasn't really up to snuff professionally. ABT afforded her the opportunity to perform. Harkness was an interesting case, all I really know about her I learned from the biography of Robert Joffrey and she doesn't come off well. Certainly her break with Joffrey and her ultimate decision to close the Harkness Ballet suggest some one who is more interested in personal gratification than in fowarding either an artist or an art form. Harkness seems like an interesting candidate for a biography.

I think Lucia Chase certainly qualifies, although there was a strong thread of self gratification. She wanted to be a dancer and from what I've read wasn't really up to snuff professionally. ABT afforded her the opportunity to perform. Harkness was an interesting case, all I really know about her I learned from the biography of Robert Joffrey and she doesn't come off well. Certainly her break with Joffrey and her ultimate decision to close the Harkness Ballet suggest some one who is more interested in personal gratification than in fowarding either an artist or an art form. Harkness seems like an interesting candidate for a biography.

In answer to several questions, I don't think that either Farrell or Suki Schorer are logical candidates to replace Martins at some point in the feature. Farrell and Martins are similiar in age and Schorer is probably 10 years older. Happily, there are many people on staff about Martins age or younger who are looking after the Balanchine and Robbins repertoire. And I think the tradition of highly schooled ballet masters will continue and preserve these works. People like Sean Lavery and Rosemary Dunleavy already play important roles in the artistic administration of the company, so a new "choreographer/artistic director" would not be going it alone.

I think one of the reasons the Robbins rep looks so good is that there are three ballet masters (Castelli, Frolich and Redpath) who devote considerable time to it. And there are only a few Robbins ballets in each season compared to 30-40 Balanchine works. Robert La Fosse was the quintessential Robbins dancer. He had the right combination of technique and the Broadway devil may care attitude.

Charles Askegard in just about anything. Here's a dancer who is constantly improving. Jennifer Ringer in Spring (4 Seasons). Also Carmena's Faun. Carla Korbes in Divet #15, the perfect match of dancer and role. Also Weese in Divert with nice debuts by other corps members. My first sight of Polyphonia with Ansanelli (I missed it last season). Kathleen Tracey as the stage manager and the broom dance for four "stagehands" in Wheeldon's piece. Wendy Whelan and Philip Neal in a Sun mat performance of Swan Lake. Both danced with great passion and although unconventional in physique, Whelan made the role her own. Meunier in Walpurgisnacht, no one can erase my memories of Farrell but she made the role work on her own terms. Wonderful dancing throughout the season by Elizabeth Walker, McBrearty, Abi Stafford and many other ladies of the corp. They are the heart and soul of NYCB. Biggest disappointments: We don't see enough of dancers such as Arch Higgins, Alex Ritter, Meunier and Van Kipnis. In a repertory as rich as NYCB's, there must be roles for them. Janie Taylor, who seems to me to have hit a plateau in her development. It seems to me to be time for her to temper her wildness and begin to show some polish in the use of her arms and her epaulment. I don't think she is getting much help from the choreographers, everyone seems to be exploiting her daring without seeking any new facets in her dancing. And the rise of Melissa Barak as a choreographer. I think her piece for SAB is just the tip of the iceberg.

Interesting than Woetzel was off on Sat. I saw him rehearsing alone onstage on Fri. aft. Just the rehearsal pianist and an electric rendition of the scherzo, proceeded by some beautiful pirouettes and followed by the coda from Tchai. Pas. A memorable experience.