Marta

3 minutes ago, BalanchineFan said:

@dirac, that is not quite accurate.
 

I’m looking at a New York City Ballet program from 1979.  Balanchine went by Ballet Master. He had refused the Artistic Director title. Many said it was an example of his lack of self aggrandizement. Balanchine valued the craftsmanship aspect of his role.  Jerome Robbins and John Taras are listed in the same category.

Peter Martins was the one who instituted the “Ballet master in Chief“ title. In my opinion, he wanted to follow in Balanchine’s footsteps, but he also felt a need to elevate himself above everyone else. To me it, again, reads as grasping.

I was just about to respond similarly, BalanchineFan.  Martins added the "in Chief" to his own name and Robbins's. Grasping and self aggrandizing.

FPF said:

I'm happy to have seen this since I haven't seen the ballet yet, but not a fan of this new format for Speaking In Dance where the dance is chopped up into individual clips rather than a single, continuous performance. I would also have preferred to see Gordon's entire body--there are a number of shots that cut off his legs. 

Oh, so true.  I saw the ballet and loved it, but I lost patience when I realized it was chopped up that way.  Why??

Thanks for posting this info. I wasn't aware that Martins had written a new book and I look forward to reing it.  

Happy to hear she's finally a principal!

Here's that interview of Gordon abatt mentioned:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/arts/dance/joseph-gordon-new-york-city-ballet.html?unlocked_article_code=1.X00.-b0d.a0G7i3fXp-Sr&smid=url-share

I thought the performance was really  good.  I was impressed by Smirnova's Giselle and thought it was much richer than when I saw her in the Bolshoi transmission pre-pandemic.  I also wish a full cast list had been published somewhere - anywhere.  I looked on the Dutch National Ballet site and after looking at the dancers' photographs decided that the Myrtha was Floor Eimers.   https://www.operaballet.nl/en/dancers

On 1/5/2024 at 11:35 PM, volcanohunter said:

I have a feeling that Potskhishvili alone is worth the price of admission. 

I agree. From what I've seen of him on YouTube, he's an exciting dancer.  I saw Smirnova in the Bolshoi Giselle in cinema and  I was underwhelmed.  I'll go anyway because I love Giselle.

abatt has posted a comment on a topic, 2023-2024 Season

I think they must send the code out to people who are younger.  Old folks like me who are already subscribers are not the target audience. I just tried a bunch of different possible passwords that would make sense in relation to who the art series was presenting and eventually figured it out.  The David Michalek is Wendy's husband.  He did the slow dancing videos that were projected on to the Koch at the gala in the fall.   

1 hour ago, angelica said:

Thanks so much for posting this, vipa! I have always loved Sarah Lane's dancing, and whether rightly or wrongly, I have always blamed McKenzie for the pauses in the trajectory of her career.

That's my opinion too.  He never really appreciated her dancing or valued her.  Same goes for his sour attitude toward Veronika Part.

I liked the movie very much, and I knew in advance that it focused on LB's marriage.  So I was not disappointed although more attention to his music would have been welcome.  I'm a little surprised at the negativity toward Felicia's character because I just didn't feel that way.  Frankly I have to admit I was glad there was nothing said about Wolfe, "radical chic" and the couple's support for the Black Panthers.   There are a lot of valid crits and comments here, but as someone pointed out, there's only so much you can cram into a two hour movie.

38 minutes ago, abatt said:

Lane's Giselle was definitely on par with the best of them.  Her Manon was also exquisite. 

I agree completely.  I also loved her in Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty.  I think that was the last  time she danced with Cornejo.

10 hours ago, Helene said:

• Posted 10 hours ago
  
•  

From the same chapter

  Quote

An elderly man sitting on my right whispered in English, "That is Mikhail Baryshnikov." I was not impressed.   The diminutive size and strange line of his body did not recommend this Baryshnikov fellow in my eyes.  In first position, his feet were turned so far out that his ankles seemed to roll over, like he was mounted on casters...As I looked around, I realized that all of these dancers had the same placement.  The others were even more exaggerated...

(p.94)

Then he did the variations from Don Q, and she did a 180 on him.

Thank you, Helene.  I was too lazy to look up that section!

California said:

On 10/25/2023 at 3:50 AM, Helene said:

Thank you, @volcanohunter!  That must have been the tour that Kirkland was on.  She left for ABT a couple of years later.

I would have trouble tracking down the source, but Baryshnikov reportedly spotted Kirkland on that 1972 tour and asked for her when he defected in 1974,.

True. I think I  read this in a book written about Baryshnikov  when he was director of ABT.  In Kirkland's book, she writes about visiting a men's class at the Kirov.  She comments on  Baryshnikov's  "extreme turnout" or maybe it was "freakish turnout". 

14 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

I was just going to say the same. He’s in the studio company. There are lots of clips of him on his own IG plus on the Studio Company/ABT YouTube channel. Huge talent!

Takumi Miyake is impressive! Recently been watching him on YouTube and IG.

@FireDancer and everyone:    Kirkland/Baryshnikov  Theme and Variations

  4 hours ago, California said:

 What is so important about that performance is that it has been so widely available, first on the bootleg tape for many years on YouTube and then on the release during the COVID lock-down by Lincoln Center. Most of us have never seen the other performances people mention. But the tape does give us a "baseline" for what's possible when we do see it in the theater. 

1 hour ago, vipa said:

Great point California. It is wonderful that the performance has been so widely viewed, and is accessible to so many people.

Agree!  Am I correct to say that T&V is not often done, period?  I seem to remember that 10 or so years ago ABT did it.  At the last minute. the male dancer dropped out and they got Veyette to dance it.  Also, I saw ABT do it last year with Teuscher and Joo Won Ahn.  She was pretty good but made little impression beyond the steps, while  he was stiff and looked effortful. 

 

On 10/11/2023 at 9:01 AM, California said:

T&V: I was expecting a lot and was disappointed by Tuesday night's performance. The Kirkland-Baryshnikov tape from 1978 set the gold standard for me and I suppose that's forever engraved in my memory. Megan's gargouillades and pas de chat barely left the ground and were almost unrecognizable. The soloists were sloppy and out of sync. Perhaps it will get better with more performances. Still, it's a great ballet.

Orpheus: I wanted to understand this, but it does feel very dated, from an era of Ballets Russe that sometimes was more interested in traditional narrative/story-telling than dancing. I tried to focus on the commissioned Stravinsky score but couldn't get into it. Perhaps it will work better tonight. Joe Gordon did his best and I wonder how he will do both Orpheus and Symphony in C at the 75th anniversary performance. I can see why this is not often programmed nowadays.

I agree completely.  I love the Kirkland-Baryshnikov film of T&V, and I think it can never be equaled.  I try not to make unfair comparisons but  I was expecting more from Fairchild and Huxley.  Her gargouillades didn't have the right shape, and his second variation seemed to omit one of the turns.  Both dancers have the technique for this ballet, yet something was missing.  I wish I could have seen Peck and Gordon but couldn't get to that performance.

Orpheus is definitely dated but I liked the music and enjoyed the Noguchi sets and costumes.  Thought Gordon was excellent, and preferred him to Garcia whom I saw last year.  However, I also saw Orpheus  Wednesday night so ...

19 minutes ago, abatt said:

Yes!  While Mejia did his turns a la seconde he simultaneously jumps during the turn.  The only person I recall doing this is Woetzel.  (I've alse seen Angel Corella do that in Tschai pas back in the day.  Sigh)  

Baryshnikov around 6:40  jumps on every fourth turn  in second.  I do recall seeing Woetzel doing that in Western.

It would be great to see the entire Villella Apollo.  My own favorites are Martins, Baryshnikov, and Boal.  

2 hours ago, Jacqueline said:

vipa, thank you so much for the report! 

  I will be in town for the Oct. 11 75th anniversary celebration performance and also the night after for Serenade/Orpheus/Theme + Variations.  I cannot wait to see casting for those.

Thank you, Vipa.  I'll also be in NY seeing the same program except on Oct. 11 and 12.  I'm really eager to know who will be dancing T&V.  I'm hoping Peck and Gordon.  Can't wait either!

2 hours ago, Josette said:

I am thrilled to see that very short clip of Villella.  I saw Villella as Albrecht when he danced in with a company at Royce Hall, UCLA, and have never forgotten it. 

 

He was a thrilling dancer!  I'd never seen his Apollo and enjoyed the film you linked to above.  Would love to have seen his Albrecht too.

abatt said:

That casting of Apollo in the third week with Chan and the All Tall Girl muses should be great.  Surprised that Taylor Stanley is not doing Apollo.  And do they really need to put Unity in as the lead in two consecutive ballets in one night (Terpsichore followed by Sleepwalker).    

     The Apollo casting sounds stupendous!  Agree about Phelan, as much as I like her, I'd prefer to see a different dancer in Sonnambula.

Quiggin said:

Added: Villella's Apollo, with its incredibly pure lines, is also available here and there (it's part of a television documentary on V). Might give an idea of what his Prodigal Son was like.

Will look for that Apollo! The two people having the discussion about Villella's Prodigal had both seen him dance it, one in mid-sixties, one in 1970.  We were marveling that it was so difficult to find even a one minute clip of Villella in the iconic jump .

Thank you very much!  What a find, and fascinating to hear Balanchine's own words about  the ballet.