liebs

It seems to me that at one point may years ago, a reconstruction of sins was talked about with Bette Midler in the Lenya role. But from what I remember, no one could reconsturct the ballet. Does anyone rembers this?

After seeing the last Balanchine program, my vote is none. Ever again!

Or if they must, how about reviving Symphonie Concertante.

Dorothy Dunnett's Niccolo series and Cynthia Harrod Eagles The Morland Saga.

Interestingly, the other night my daughter after seeing the performance felt that the Sleepwalker was the Baron's daughter. I felt she was wrong but clearly that's not the case.

I've rarely heard the NYCB audience laugh at this ballet and when it happened it seemed like nervous laughter.

I only remember seeing Leland in apricot or yellow - the role with the spectacular throw at the end of the waltz pas de six. She was unforgettable in that part, so reckless and daring.

I saw a very interesting documentary last night, "Fighting Over Fokine." It detailed Isabelle Fokine's attempts to set her grandfather's work in more authentic versions on the Kirov. I know very little about Ms. Fokine. Is she considered a reliable stager? Neither Clement Crisp nor Baronova seemed to think much of her.

I think Rutherford does blue.

Haven't seen the ballet but was obessed by the story of Anastasia as a teenager and here's what I remember. The Tsarina was desperate for anyone to help the Tsarvich Nikolai who was a hemophiliac. Rasputin apparently was a comfort to her but most of the rest of the family and the Russian court hated him. Apparently he was truly sinister.

Perhpas McMillan, is trying to portray him as an "evil force" whose wickedness haunted the whole family.

A good book to start with is Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra.

Hi, Mike - you are in the right forum and thanks for posting. I know Comfort's name but have never seen her work so was delighted to hear about it.

Not many people remember, Saland but she was wonderful in this. Rich, deep emotions and beautiful dancing. She was also an exceptionally beautiful woman. Her extraordinary arms and upper body and the way she used her head made her the finest exponent of the Verdy arm solo in Jewels that I have seen since Verdy herself.

Mr. Martins asked Ms Farrell to stage the ballet for NYCB for the Centennial but she declined. I assume because she had already decided to produce it with KC and the National Ballet of Canada.

And Baiser de la Fee, Union Jack, Brahms-Schoenberg (2 parts)

I've always felt both Van Kipnis and Arch Higgins were under used given their abilities.

IMO, how can management feel any interest in Suozzi when at NYCB he always looks like he wishes he were else where and seems to walk through the roles he does get. It was his level of committment, not his abilities, that astounded me at the Joyce.

It is certainly worth seeing. I've gone several times. But there is not alot in the show that I had not seen before. I was hoping for more unusual stuff - the SAB section was fun.

If you are in NYC don't miss it.

Alexander Grant, Leslie Edwards - just to add a few.

I remember Calegari being a terrific in Mozartiana. I believe she was the first dancer to follow Farrell in the role. The Balanchine Trust who administers the "holdings" of many of the rights holders wouldn't send a stager they didn't trust.

There are several posts about this performance on the modern dance thread. In the interests of simplicity, let's keep them all on that thread. Thanks.

It is important not to forget that sometimes, as in the case of NYCB this winter, people are out due to illness like flu and colds. And ballet cos are like grammar school - one person gets sick, everyone gets sick.

Peter Martins did a ballet called Capriccio Italienne (sp?) back in the 80s. Probably to the Italian Symphony and of course, there are the ballets to Midsummer.

It was also in Crains NY Biusiness, the online edition.

I saw the program on Wednesday night, which included Airs, In the Beginning and Piazolla Caldera. It was the weakest program and performance that I have seen from the Taylor Company in many years.

In the Beginning, danced to Carmina Burana selections, (has there ever been a good dance work to this music?) was like a Sunday school or youth group pagent. A few jokey ideas and very few steps - Taylor at his worst. It is both a sophmoric and boring retelling of the Adam and Eve story.

Airs was weakly danced, I thought. I enjoyed Amy Young, she has a lovely upper body as well as great strength. But most of the cast looked merely dutiful. This is one of Taylor's older pieces and it looks tired. Maybe these dancers are just to far from the original impetus to give more than a dutiful performance.

The evening was saved by Piazolla Caldera. It was sexy and dark and danced with the total conviction we expect from Taylor's dancers. I particularly liked Michael Trusovic and Anne Marie Mazzini. I had seen excerpts from this on tape but never the whole piece. The falling down drunk duet is masterful. Prior to seeing this dance, I didn't understand why men thought stockings with garters were sexy but now I get it - the girls wearing them with the darkly flowered dresses are knockouts.

The other disappointment of the performance was that Patrick Corbin did not dance. I hope to see him in one of the other programs.

I was fortunate enought to see two different casts of the ballet. In one, Weese danced the Verdy role in Emeralds and in the other, she danced the McBride role in Rubies. I understand that Kowrowski has danced both the second lead in Rubies and now Diamonds. It is impossible to imagine any of the original ballerinas changing roles, so what does this mean?

Are cunrrent dancers more versatile than the original ballerinas? Has the concept of emploi been ignored in current casting? Were the original ballerinas so "sui generis" that no one will ever capture their unique qualities and the roles havenow become more similiar in the way that they are danced?

I may be jumping the gun a little but thought I'd start a conversation on the first half of the Balanchine Centennial season. This is the season where everyone was injured or out with the flu and the Company still managed to show us a very high standard of dancing.

Major events included Double Feature, the return of Jewels, the promotion of two very popular dancers female dancers and a fabulous exhibit of photos at the State Theatre.

Going forward what will you remember?

On some of the early films shown at the Balanchine Celebration in the Museum of TV & Radio, I noticed the dancing of the 50's & 60's was much softer than what we see at NYCB today. All the transitions had a smoother, creamier quality - very lovely.

I'm not sure the line was bred out - I'd qualify Heather Watts (in her early days, she was a strong verstile dancer) and Nicole Hlinka.