Marta

6 hours ago, sandik said:

Have you seen the Yakobson before?  He's still relatively under-programmed here in the states -- I wish I was going to get a chance at it.

I've seen some of the Yakobson at Boston Ballet. I really like his work, but I thought BB's interpretation of it was just too pretty and superficial.  There are some very good clips of his work on youtube. 

3 hours ago, miliosr said:

I find Nezha's trajectory slightly odd -- La Scala to Boston Ballet to Los Angeles Ballet. Maybe he and his wife really want to live in LA?

I hope things work out for Lorieux back in Paris. But he still has the obstacle of the annual competition and I don't know if he's really the one they want to promote. (Compared to, say, Marc Moreau and Jeremy Loup-Quer.)

As someone else wrote, I'm not terribly excited by their season.  That's an understatement. I'm happy to see Balanchine, although not Coppelia as I just saw it at NYCB,  and maybe the Forsythe.  Conti and Nezha were two of my favorites at Boston and I'm sorry they've left. I really don't understand why, but perhaps they weren't getting the roles they'd expected to get.  I'm interested to see Kapitonova. 

19 hours ago, KarenAG said:

I am not a big fan of Zahkarova. 

A perfectly wonderful DVD of Giselle:  Dutch National Ballet with Anna Tsygankova and Jozef Varga. Also Igone  deJongh as Myrta.  Solo and ensemble dancing of a very high quality. I just love this production and DVD. 

I also am not a great admirer of Zakharova.  I'm not even sure which DVDs exist at the moment, but I would vote for Makarova's Giselle or Swan Lake,  the Vishneva or Ferri Giselle, Lopatkina's Swan.

On 7/14/2018 at 10:53 AM, ABT Fan said:

I'd recommend the Makarova/Dowell Swan Lake with the Royal Ballet. Makarova is the opitome of O/O (especially her Odile). I nearly wore out my VHS tape of this production when I was a young ballet student. 

I second that enthusiastically.  I also like the Makarova/Nagy earlier performance although Nagy is danced out by this point.

On 8/2/2007 at 12:28 PM, aurora said:

  cubanmiamiboy said:

Hi, Aurora.. .a little while ago i posted the same question here, but in the opposite direction. My whole life i just had seen the series os sautees sur le pointe en arabesque penchee at the BS coda, and when i came to US i found the other versions....

I think it is [a cuban thing]...at least i haven't seen it in any complete production of any big company. For some unknown reason, cuban balletomanes (me included), call the step "vaquita", ( "little cow", God knows why ), and there are always a big expectaction among the Havana public for the Black Swan , in the same level of the 32 fouetees. Aren't they lovely...?

This is the link to the thread i started on that matters...i hope it helps you.

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=25032

I recently saw the Feijoo/Carreno clip of the BS coda you refer to and I was astounded by her backward hops en pointe.  I really thought this was an interpolation and had no clue it was the traditional vaquita.  Have to say I didn't like it although Feijoo was terrific. She was one of my favorite dancers at Boston Ballet.

On 6/30/2018 at 10:34 AM, alexL said:

I consider any male dancer under 6' short. If he is taller than 6' foot(although I highly doubt it) then I guess his proportion makes him look shorter than he actually is. 

Oh, come on!  

I don't think Fairchild is a classical dancer either, and I'd be shocked if he accepted such an offer.  ABT should be promoting Hoven to principal.

I agree with Jayne, Mariangela.  Zakharova is not a favorite of mine, but I thought she was very good in the Bolshoi transmission of Giselle a couple of years ago.

10 minutes ago, Mazurka said:

I am partial to live performances but recently  went (reluctantly)  to a Met opera live in a theater, and it is such a completely different but also rich experience that it merits to see the same production both ways. What is amazing is that it is transmitted all over the world.  

There are transmissions of the Royal Ballet as well as some Russian ones in NY -  has anyone gone to one?

 

I prefer live performances but it is just  not possible to see every ballet I want to see at City Ballet or ABT. I've been to several Bolshoi transmissions and a few RB ones.  Some are great, some not so special, but all were worth seeing.  I love going to the Met when I can, and  also go to several Met in Cinema transmissions a year.  They're not a substitute for being in the Met but  they're wonderful. 

49 minutes ago, lostatthemet said:

Forster is great.  I cannot for the life of me understand Whiteside and Stearns as principals, but not Forster.  Stearns is a non-entity onstage, and Whiteside is actively terrible.

True on all counts.  Stearns is flat,  Whiteside is too but differently--just not there.  I saw a lot of W. in Boston and he was technically one of the most proficient.  Are they principals in part because they're tall?

Thanks to Laurel, fondoffouettes and everyone else for reviews of the Lane/Cornejo DQ.  So very sorry I missed it. Maybe we'll get a  DQ with this duo next year.  I noticed Katherine Williams in Bayadere last month and was impressed. 

On 6/13/2018 at 7:18 PM, angelica said:

Of all the dancers this season, the one who has stood out for me has been Sarah Lane. The Saturday, June 30th, matinee performance will be her debut as Kitri, and I think she's going to knock it out of the park. And with Herman Cornejo as her partner, they comprise Team A in my eyes. Catch Cornejo now, because who knows how many more years he'll be dancing. Sarah isn't dancing Juliet this week and won't be dancing Odette/Odile either. I'm sure she'll be dancing soloist roles in SL, but I think she'll be as fresh and exciting as she always is. I wouldn't miss that performance.

My choice for DQ would also be Lane /Cornejo. Unfortunately, I can't be there.  I'm really looking forward to reading the opinions of those who saw it.  I agree with what seems to be consensus on Boylston, although I've never seen her in a lead role.  She just doesn't sing to me at all.

22 hours ago, aurora said:

On 6/4/2018 at 11:01 PM, Marta said:

I think it's odd too.  Despite cutbacks, they should at least have reviewed Lane's debut and Kimin Kim's performance.  I saw Seo, Murphy and Kim. He gave a thrilling performance as did Murphy.  Macaulay has said more than once that he dislikes ballet costumes that bare the midriff.  I say get over it!

Aurora said:  

At least ours don't have Solor bearing his!! 😂

I really really really think that is a horrific look.

You must be referring to the Maryinsky's man-bra look?  I agree --it's bad, and laughable! 

9 hours ago, nanushka said:

ABT fan said:

Anyone else find it odd that neither Macaulay nor anyone else at the Times reviewed Bayadere? Especially, given the fact that they had Kimin Kim and that there were multiple debuts.

nanushka said:

Yes, I noticed that. It's true they've cut back quite a bit, though, so perhaps with the season opener, followed by two premieres bookending Bayadère, they didn't want to do 4 weeks in a row. It's unfortunate, though.

I think it's odd too.  Despite cutbacks, they should at least have reviewed Lane's debut and Kimin Kim's performance.  I saw Seo, Murphy and Kim. He gave a thrilling performance as did Murphy.  Macaulay has said more than once that he dislikes ballet costumes that bare the midriff.  I say get over it!

On 6/1/2018 at 11:27 PM, abatt said:

Maybe when Hallberg decided he could no longer perform Solor, ABT and Mariinsky did a swap - we'll loan you  Kimin Kim for Solor, and you loan us Hallberg for Albrecht.

I haven't seen Hallberg this year. Has he retired Solor?  I did see Kimin Kim's Solor last week.  He was great, Gillian Murphy was thrilling as Gamzatti, but I thought Hee Seo was  bland and overparted.

Canbelto said:

I wonder how any of you would feel about Paul Taylor's works like Last Look, Death and the Damsel, Big Bertha, Banquet of Vultures, The Word, Speaking in Tongues? A lot of disturbing images in all of them. Or MacMillan ballets like Manon or Mayerling with a lot of adult themes? Even some Balanchine works have moments that aren't G-rated. Agon and Prodigal Son come to mind. Robbins' The Cage is not G-rated either.

I've seen all those Taylor works and I don't think their disturbing images are analogous to the gassing image in Afterite.  As I said earlier, I didn't see it, but the image itself is repellent.  I don't think ballets like Agon and Prodigal or other works that are sensual, sexual or erotic can be compared.  Just want to declare myself as completely against censorship, but alerts like "parental warning"  are optional.

5 hours ago, abatt said:

ABT has embraced works that are challenging. Ratmansky's Shostakovich  trilogy comes to mind.  It had overtones as well as specific overt references regarding the oppressive nature of the Soviet Union.  However, unlike the McGregor piece, it did not trivialize suffering and oppression for a grand theatrical effect.  

I didn't see the McGregor, nor will I ever see it.   Frankly I am shocked that everyone isn't offended by the sight of anyone being gassed, especially a child. 

For anyone who might not already know: Other sources for dance DVDs and VCs, both new and used, are eBay and Arkiv Music.

DREW said:  

I always liked seeing Hallberg but found his qualities as a performer a hint underwhelming until I saw him dance with Osipova. I thought those performances marked a breakthrough. He was surely  focused like a laser-beam on Osipova every time I saw them dance together. The Bolshoi helped develop him further as a performer too. For myself, I have greatly enjoyed the beauty of his dancing--and do find that that sort of pleasure is hard to put into words. But, say, I admire not just the line but the silky quality of the movement, the line "in motion" as it were.  I will admit I haven't always seen the quicksilver fluidity in his movements that I associate with, say, Anthony Dowell -- another "slight" dancer, legendary for his line to whom Hallberg is sometimes compared.

"Does not have a beautiful face"? I personally find Hallberg's slightly angular and unusual face rather striking and, I would say, even beautiful. When he is on stage--which is all I'm concerned with--he sometimes looks to me like a figure from a Burne-Jones painting.

I thought Hallberg was great with Osipova in Giselle in 2012.  I would like to see them dance together in other works.  I was not at all impressed by his Apollo. Interesting that you made the comparison to Dowell--they have a similar beauty of line. I saw Dowell long long ago in Bayadere.   I appreciate Hallberg's  unusual face.  That he resembles someone from a Bourne Jones painting makes me smile. Very true! It sounds ridiculous even as I write it, but if he were an actor I think that face  would be perfect as Hamlet. 

17 minutes ago, nysusan said:

Its not your imagination, I definitely saw 2 runs of Bugaku, the first with Kowroski & Evans and the second with Whelan & Evans. I don't remember the years, but I just googled it and the Kowroski run was in 2007, Whelan in 2008.

Thank you for the update!  Those are the two performances I saw, and I recall thinking that Evans was not looking good either time. Kowroski was magnificent. I liked Whelan too. Both women have a human pretzel aspect,. as did Watts, but to my mind, Kowroski had a  more sinuous and sensual quality .  

18 minutes ago, CTballetfan said:

The cast changes and uncertainty are dizzying. Personally I would not buy a ticket for any performance unless I didn't care who the leads were--because they are likely to change one or more times before the performance. Since all but Harlequinade are staples in the ABT repertory, and I have seen them all multiple times, I won't be buying tickets until the last minute, if I do at all. And even then casting can change, as I have experienced many times--the dreaded white casting change slip in the program! An ABT volunteer called me the other evening to try to get me to take a last-minute subscription because I used to take one for years and I told her that casting is important in an old warhorse ballet and since it's likely to change before the performance, I do not want to make that commitment. Anyway, NYCB is much more exciting and its cast of world-class ballerinas makes almost any performance a standout. I just renewed my NYCB membership and this donation is well worth it. ABT needs to do something to win me--and others--back. 

YES!  I feel that you wrote exactly what I've been thinking.  I can't be in NY for the Lane Bayadere or DQ, and what's available when I can be there is not appetizing.  I'm almost giving in to the temptation of Kimin Kim in Bayadere, but I do not like Hee Seo. I can't  help but wonder: Did they put these two together because they're both Korean and tall?  So I might skip the whole season. One person here said they would rather see the typical ABT pairing of good dancer with mediocre than miss out on performances of the good dancer. I would do that if I lived closer to NY.

5 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Thanks so much for the update on that!

I only started seeing NYCB ca. 2007 and have seen Davidsbündlertänze since then (and disliked it — but would be curious to see it again, now that I’m more into Balanchine overall), so that’s definitely more recently in the rep.

I would love to have seen Watts in Bugaku!

We saw the same Davidsbundlertanze then in the last 11 years. I love it!  Maybe you won't be converted, but  the film on youtube  is fantastic:  Farrell, D'Amboise, von Aroldingen, Luders, Martins, Watts, ... gonna stop here ...  

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

Oh interesting, so it's possible it's still reasonably revivable there. I thought it might be more definedly out of the active rep.

I find it fascinating as well, even though obviously off-putting in some ways. I'd be very interested to see it.

My dates and memory are really off in what I said earlier:  In the last 10 or 12 years I've seen Bugaku twice at NYCB.  Once with Kowroski and once I think with Whelan.  It is fascinating in terms of pure movement.

After I wrote that, I knew something was off so I looked through some NYCB programs since 2000 - no Bugaku. The first one from the 1990s  had Bugaku -- with Watts and Soto, 1993. Late period Watts .  Maybe I imagined I saw Kowroski at some other time!  I still think it's revivable. They don't do Davidsbundlertanze very often.  

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

Thanks so much for the heads-up about the comments; I might've missed them. And the above is always true hah.

Oh I would love to see the piece live! When was it last in NYCB's rep, anyone know?

In the last 10 or 12 years I've seen Bugaku twice at NYCB.  Once with Kowroski and once I think with Whelan.  It is fascinating in terms of pure movement.

2 minutes ago, angelica said:

The new web site is WORSE than the old one! It's important to be able to see all the casting at once in order to decide what tickets to buy.

On the plus side, I won't have to close one eye in order to watch Stella in Giselle.

Yes, the new site  IS worse!  What a fiasco. What motivated them to do it this way?  It's visually cleaner but is still crap.  

4 hours ago, NinaFan said:

Yes I remember when the performances were cancelled.   I think it was a Saturday Balanchine birthday celebration that day, and the stage demo had to be rescheduled.  No subways were even running.....

Yes I remember all too well the cancelled performance on Balanchine's birthday.  I had come  down from Boston and was terribly disappointed.  We were very happy when NYCB gave us a refund and we were able to see a performance that spring.