CharlieH

I don't feel myself moving over the earth to NY to see this loser.

I agree. But the orange paint on the two young ladies accompanying Manu and the water jug looked even more ridiculous. It's not as if the corps maidens with the parrots and fans are also orange spray-painted.

May I add that it was wonderful to finally see Valeria Martinyuk on an official US tour? She was terrific as a solo shade in some performances and as Manu (the A2 solo with the water-jug atop the head) in others, dancing with two student's from Washington DC's own Kirov Academy of Ballet. (Great job overall by the KAB kids.) The Danse Manu had been excised from the production when the Kirov-Mariinsky last presented it in DC. So nice to have it restored! Too, unlike 2008, we now saw the complete and correct Golden Idol ensemble of kids, rather than adult corps women, as done on past tours. Mercifully, the Golden Idol kids no longer perform in blackface, although they sported the black gloves and leggings, left over from the old ways.

Adding another concurrence to the Tereskina/Kim cast. Wonderful! Also enjoyed the Kondaurova/Askerov cast; she infusing her performance with more warmth than in the past and he hugely improved in technique than when I last saw him in StP. However, in that cast, Nadezhda Batoeva took the cake as Gamzatti, both a true actress and great dancer, wildly applauded on Saturday night. While Soslan Kulaev was quite good as the High Brahmin in all performances, I was a saddened by the absence of the great mime Vladimir Ponomarev. I know that he's getting up in age but still sad to not see him here.

I wonder if the Mikhailovsky still tours overseas (beyond Europe)? They're quite well endowed, have many star dancers and a solid rep of both classics and contemporary works. The US should see their lovely Laurencia, for starters. Their Flames of Paris is another USSR rarity that they perform in the Messerer edition, which is much closer to the Soviet original than is the Ratmansky version for the Bolshoi. But I believe that they've already toured Flames to NY, so Laurencia would be a great classical rarity that should pack the theatre. The Mik also has a very good Esmeralda and had (has?) a Petipa Triple Bill of Harlequinade, Paquita and Cavalry's Halt.

Of course, that too...and probably that primarily. He is a very generous artist (i.e., charismatic)!

Hi, nanushka. I also admired King in her Cortege solo. You mention about looking forward to seeing more of her. So is she fairly new on the NYCB roster? Some tell me she is new; other say that she is a veteran. Whichever the case, she looks wonderful. If NYCB would ever tour Russia, she would be a big favorite, as would be Reichlen. Remember how the delicate Allegra Kent was such a hit in early tours to the USSR.

I too went to the weekend performances at NYCB and have to agree with virtually all of the earlier reports. Duo Concertant - Both Hyltin and Fairchild danced with extraordinary gusto, particularly Fairchild, during his solo moments in the 4th movement. Like a racehorse bolting to the finish line, as if yelling, "Whoopdeedoo! Can't wait to get outta here!" Square Dance - I saw the Bouder/Stanley duo in this ballet a few years ago at the Kennedy Center. Bouder even greater than before and Stanley much more assured. The languid solo now fits him like a glove. The corps de ballet was fleet and precise in its uniformity. La Valse - This never has been my favorite Balanchine. Nice to get to see Amar Ramasar who, I realize, is coming off an injury. Ramasar is a great presence in whatever he does. I'm in the minority here about Sara Mearns who, to me, is wrong for the role of a dying waif. Sorry to have missed her leading Cortege earlier in the run. I respect her artistry in the right vehicles. Cortege Hongrois - Not the grandest Balanchine - not even the best of the choreographer's three NYCB essays on Petipa's Raymonda. This was concocted for Melissa Hayden's farewell gala, so perhaps that's why it is somewhat over-the-top...finale after finale after finale! Gee, would it ever end? Balanchine went nuts mixing the music for characters other than the originals in provenance. So Raymonda and Jean dance their big adagio to music intended for Abderakhman, Raymonda, and the four best friends of Raymonda. OK - this was all for Hayden's farewell. I get it. Fun and harmless schmaltz. I absolutely loved Tess Reichlen in the lead. Lauren King also impressive in the first solo although she's one of the veterans among soloists; will she ever make Principal? [Question for the NYCB-Balanchine experts: Wasn't the famous male pas de quatre part of this version when it premiered in '73? By the time that Nichols/Luders led the ballet in the mid-80s, the male pas de 4 had been eschewed. Why was it dropped? I missed it!] Also attended the night of five new and/or short ballets: First the not-so-new, Martins' Chairman Dances: What the heck was that? I didn't see the point of an endless stream of hootchie gals. The lead, Megan LeCrone, was lovely but I'd like to see her in something more substantial. Then the four new ballets, treated as a group: These ranged from structured and delightful (Peck's Pulcinella Variations) to unstructured, boring running back and forth, with a rest for lying down and spooning among partners of all sexes (Schumacher's The Wind also Blows). Lovette's Not Our Fate was better than The Wind but it seemed to want to make its political point too loudly and, thus, I found it gimmicky. Yet, I admired individual dancers in the work, especially our "MVP" Taylor Stanley. I give my top prize among the four newbies to Gianna Reisen's Composer's Holiday, which had all of the elements right: music (Lucas Foss chamber work for violin/piano), costumes (hearkening to Degas' "Little Dancer" floppy tutu for the ladies), lighting (so easy on the eye - mostly bright figures against black background), star dancers (Emma Von Enck and Roman Mejia shoot to the top of my "corps to follow" list!) and...the movements and group compositions - so original and appropriate to the theme. AND the theme was clear - the Emma Von Enck character is dead at the start, lifted by corps men, and we see the happy, unknowing path that she took to get there...being whisked to the wings at the end, unexpectedly. Powerful, beautiful stuff. Reisen's is the work that I most want to see, over and over. May she have the grandest success!

I meant to add that I was taken aback by the low audience turn-out to this event, especially on a Saturday night. While the Orchestra seemed to have sold quite well, the Balcony, where our family sat, was only about one-fourth full - if that - when lights went down. A few stragglers wandered in during the first intermission but, still, it was a sad turn out on a Saturday night, considering that this is the city's main ballet troupe, especially since Farrell will soon be disbanding. And this was the smallish Eisenhower Theater, rather than the large Opera House. Perhaps the low turn-out can be attributed to competing shows during the month, such as the Mariinsky Bayadere just two weeks from now?

I attended the Saturday evening presentation of the season-opening Russian Masters mixed bill. The company, led by AD Julie Kent, presented Fokine's American ABT version of Les Sylphides (staged by Susan Jones), Petipa-et. al.'s Le Corsaire pdd (staged by Kent/Barbee), Ratmansky's Bolero (staged by Tatyana Ratmansky, originally for the Royal Danish Ballet) and Balanchine's Prodigal Son (staged by Richard Tanner, I think; working from memory here without a playbill - pls correct if I'm wrong). While it was a lovely program, I was surprised by how different is the ABT/Washington Ballet Les Sylphides, in both steps and execution, from what I'm accustomed to seeing in Russia and Europe. The ABT/WB version is sunny and full of gusto but also less crisp. Having been weaned on the ultra-smooth, crisp and poetic Mariinsky version (titled Chopiniana), I found the WB corps ladies to be overly smiley, robust in attack and a bit sloppy in uniformity, port de bras, etc. I had not realized until last night just how much of the patterning and choreography Mme Vaganova had altered when she staged this ballet. That said, I quite enjoyed all of the soloists last night - Ayano Kimura in the Mazurka solo & pdd, Nicole Graniero in the first solo and, especially, Venus Villa in the haunting Prelude, not to overlook the amazing stretch and heartfelt delivery by the lone male in the work, Brooklyn Mack, who improves ten-fold every time that I see his artistry. Part II included the Corsaire PDD and Ratmansky's Bolero. Corsaire was nicely delivered, especially by the male, Gian-Carlo Perez, who has gorgeous lines, a ferile presence and electrifying pyrotechnics, including smooth Cuban turns of the endless variety and a couple of revoltade leaps thrown in for good measure. His Medora, Eun Won Lee, doesn't quite achieve Perez' charisma and passion but she has was fine enough, particularly with her 32 foutees - some doubles - but oblivious to the music. Lee is very much a WB version of Hee Seo - beautiful of line but somewhat lacking in oomph. Bolero was terrific in every way! Danced not atop a big table, as in the Nijinska original or the famous Bejart version, but simply on the floor, by six dancers - three women and three men - with numbers on their chests, as if in a dance marathon. It was a fascinatingly energetic new look at the famous Ravel score and I loved it. Love or not Ratmansky's works, one cannot accuse him of being unmusical! Part III, Prodigal Son, ended the evening on a high note. Jonathan Jordan both acted and danced with finesse. Kateryna Derechyna was deliciously wicked and gorgeous as the Siren. Bravi to the corps of goons. It was nice to have a live orchestra, led by Charles Barker, but they seem to be a smallish group, as the pit in the Eisenhower Theatre is tiny. The sound was fine for Bolero but sounded feeble in Sylphides and other works that are usually heard with orchestras that have large string sections. At times, I wondered if a high-school banda has taken over the pit.

So this makes three Millepied ballets in ABT's short Fall 2017 season? I'm wondering if ABT may be working on a semi-permanent position for him? No Tudor. No DeMille. No Morris. No Tharp. But three Millepieds. Just an observation.

Oh my goodness, Tiler Peck.

I heard great reports about the Boylston/Lendorf pairing in Ratmansky's Whipped Cream...very playful chemistry between them. The one time that I saw Boylston "live" was as Ratmansky's Firebird years ago during a trip to NY during my leave in the US. She displayed lots of personality and pizzazz then and I've always wanted to see more of her. Maybe I'll try to catch her in Other Dances in NY? I wasn't planning on going because the rep is such a turn-off in general. Now I may actually go to see the Boylston/Lendorf pairing for myself.

Tickets would probably sell like hot cakes for Nureyev with what has been publicized thus far, although I suspect that "the big photo" is already in the public domain. The Vienna webcasts represent another model: not in cinemas but a paid webcast.

We are so spoiled by the Vienna State Ballet's webcasts of unusual works almost immediately after their premieres, such as the rather-risqué Pavillon d'Armide by Neumeier last season, based on episodes of Nijinsky's life. Even the Mariinsky has recently presented webcasts of somewhat-edgy new works like Yaroslavna, Four Seasons, Divertissement du Roi, etc. 'Nureyev' falls into the highly-edgy category.

Given the extraordinary interest in this new ballet, I hope that the powers-that-be add this to the Cinemascast line up (either the premiere or a later performance in the season).

A wise decision. Wishing her all the best back in San Francisco.

Uh...why not? He's only the grandfather of our favorite art! Where would we be without Grand-pa Peti-pa? I am sorry not to be able to attend the big to-do in St Petersburg next March but I trust that Buddy & other BA members may be able to go and report. A lot of events tied to the Bicentennial are happening, including the aforementioned series of galas in Mexico. I'll try my best to attend Ratmansky's Harlequinade reconstruction at the Met next June.

Mexico's National Ballet Company recently celebrated Petipa's b'day at Bellas Artes Theatre, Mexico City, with 4 gala performances (13-20 Aug). The final acts of three major Petipa works were featured: Bayadere, Raymonda and Don Q. The final night was telecast nationally but some bits have made their way to Youtube. Bayadere Shades during the event (Mexican TV): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCbycddd0tg Company A.D. Natasha Laguna previews the homage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2is59r-cb10 Mexican TV attends the dress rehearsal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2RLx651lyo

Maybe someone like Yuri Burlaka might use a piece of music like Glazunov's Four Seasons to produce a ballet "in the manner of" Petipa? (Four Seasons was not notated by Sergeyev so it's for the taking, IMO.) There should be a mixed bill showcasing "Balanchine's greatest tributes to Petipa" such as T&V, Symphony in C, Ballet Imperial and Diamonds. They could probably fill-up two nights: Balanchine's Petipa, Parts I and II! The most creative neo-classical choreographers should create works to classical music answering the question "How would Petipa have choreographed to this music?" What we don't want: Boris Eifman's "Petipa - The Ballet"...in the manner of what he did to poor Balanchine in Musagete a few years ago. Then again, didn't that win a Golden Mask award?

I admire Stepanova most in contemporary classical ballets, such as Ratmansky's Russian Seasons. She has a soulful way about her interpretations. Maybe I've just had bad luck with this ballerina in Petipa classics, ever since her Kremlin Ballet days (couple of months?). I'll have to agree with mnacenani: Stepanova was not the tidiest of Odiles this past season, especially with fouettes all over the map. Someone else asked about Osipova at the beginning of her career; I saw Osipova as a student, ca 2002. She had magnificent fouettes even then but suffered in her student Rose Adagio balances. Hard to imagine that happening now. As for Kovalyova, I await the opportunity of seeing her in full-fledged glory. She was certainly impressive as a leading student of the Vaganova Academy Class of 2016 (Fairy Doll).

The 175th anniversary of Petipa's birth was celebrated big-time in 1993 with a month of Petipa-only performances at the then Kirov Theatre. Russian BALET magazine published a beautiful commemorative issue that I treasure. Perhaps the int'l ballet festival in 2018 may feature not only Petipa works but also new choreographic tributes, similar to what NYCB will be doing in its 100th Birthday tribute to Robbins next year?

Buddy, I know only about what Natalia and the others posted through that link.

Buddy, this time period coincides with the Petipa Bicentennial, including the Vaganova Academy's planned 3-day seminar (March 10-12, 2018): http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/42512-the-petipa-bicentennial-march-11-2018/?page=3 (link to earlier topic on the bicentennial) Perhaps the Mariinsky will be presenting a double-whammy combined Int'l Ballet Festival/Petipa Celebration Week? Sorry to no longer be stationed in Russia. Wife, grandkids and I will be on an Asia-Pacific cruise at the time, so I'll be looking forward to reports from St Petersburg.

I saw it in DC's Landmark E Street Cinema this past Sunday. Thoroughly enjoyed it, especially after I made the connection between the reindeer in the forest and the tough male pedagogue at the ballet academy. I'd like to think of it as purely platonic admiration of an old teacher. People can read into it whatever the wish. Since Mr/Mrs Preljocaj are co-directors, the story may not be so innocent. Anastasia Shevtsova, the lead, is quite good. Some have complained about her frozen poker face but IMO it's right for the character. I attended the 2014 Vaganova Academy graduation concerts and, to be honest, don't remember having seen Ms Shevtsova before. Maybe she was in the corps of students? One "Ksenia Shevtsova" danced in Paquita at a later graduation but I don't see an "Anastasia Shevtsova" in my old playbills. Maybe she was ill and unable to dance at her graduation...or she was busy filming this movie. Recently-retired POB Etoile Jeremie Belingard is believable as one of Polina's later love interests. He dances the final ballet (modern dance) set in a snowy forest. Very nice. All in all, a pleasant movie with a happy ending. It should appeal to the general public.