CharlieH
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Posts posted by CharlieH
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I loved it too...even the headdresses and the rest of the outfits!
Aurora, the “peaks” were too smooth...not the crinkles in your photo. It made me hungry for ice cream at intermission...like one can enjoy at the Royal Opera House in London!
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1 hour ago, fondoffouettes said:
I agree. I might add Whipped Cream to the list of his best works for ABT...(if only he'd make the whipped cream waltz a real showstopper...).
Fondoffouettes, didn’t you love the Dairy Queen soft-serve curly-top headdresses of the waltzing ladies?
http://time.com/3736331/free-ice-cream-dairy-queen/
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1 hour ago, California said:
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To the list of original work definitely worth seeing, I'd add Pictures at an Exhibition for NYCB and the Trilogy for ABT and SFB.
Yes and Yes!
Add to the “No” list: Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher (from ABT 2017 Tchaikovsky program). Ratmansky’s batting average is generally higher at NYCB than ABT...but I enjoyed Songs of Bukovina for ABT’s 2017 fall season.
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9 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:
I am at Internezzo. WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT "FIREBIRD"...?!? First, it gets downplayed as a sort of pseudo- comedy, with all those ridiculous dancing innuendos between the "tsarevich" and the princess, so reminiscing of Cinderella's dancing tutor sequence. And that corps in silly green wigs doing all this ridiculousness on stage, like a bunch of spoiled cheerleaders. Jesus Christ...that was painful to watch. And steps and steps and more steps for Ivan...and of course...very busy dragging/contorting choreo for the pdd with the Firebird. And the Berceuse, one of the most beautiful segments of music, which calls for a grand choreo, gets this stupid pas de quatre, with a grand finale that seems to be a rendering of an MGM 30's production titled "Blondes have more fun".
Fokine, Stravinsky and Karsavina must be rolling on their graves.
Pathetic.
I’M TOTALLY WITH YOU! It was a pathetic Firebird, emphasizing ugliness. I saw this in the initial run. Even Osipova couldn’t save that dog!!!
Ratmansky has created many lovely new (non-reconstruction) ballets, including Namouna, Concerto DSCH, Odessa, etc.) This is in the OTHER group, right down there with The Tempest and Fairy’s Kiss. I guess that ABT can’t retire the production because of the marketing tie-in to the “Misty Firebird Barbie” doll & book.
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3 hours ago, Helene said:
Regardless of how expensive the costumes look to observers, the company spent $$$$ on Paquita using very fine materials, and it is unlikely that they'd invest that kind of money to reproduce the production again.
I’ve no doubt, Helene. That’s why I’m flabbergasted that Munich’s Paquita production would simply be trashed. Such productions are built to last 20+ years. Look at ABT’s Bayadere, approaching 40 years. Those jampe scarves fly on their own!
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8 hours ago, Laurent said:
You "incorrectly think" that you "incorrectly think about Burlaka as the main Stepanov expert of that production". Yuri Burlaka was by all means bearing responsibility for the reconstruction part , Alexei Ratmansky for producing new choreography. The difference between the two is easily recognizable even without knowing which one is reconstructed, which one is new. The more Ratmansky works with reconstructions, the longer he studies the canons of classical dance, the better is his grasp and feel for reconstituting the missing parts. I also hope this serves to improve his own choreographic skills which, despite all the praise heaped on him by benevolent newspaper critics, will benefit from such improvement.
So it WAS Burlaka who did all of the reconstructing of the Bolshoi Corsaire? Thanks for this. Well, no wonder then that the designs are authentic to the Tsarist era. No “El Cheapo,” as Gnossie says! 😂
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10 hours ago, mussel said:
Are you sure the Ratmansky Bayadere for Berlin is a recon? I've heard otherwise.
It is, Mussel. This would be the second time that someone stages Bayadere from the Stepanov notes, the first having been Sergei Vikharev around 2002/03 period at the Mariinsky. It will be interesting to compare the two interpretations of the same notes...and two different designs! Vikharev’s stagings almost always included sumptuous recreations of Tsarist-era designs, with exception of the recent Fille Mal Gardee (pretty enough, based on Van Gogh paintings, but not from the Imperial Theatres tradition).
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Thanks for the warning about AfterRITE, all! As the child of a Hungarian holocaust survivor - my mom - I’ve no interest in this ballet. On the other hand, I very much look forward to Ratmansky’s Harlequinade. The “Ballabile” with the “garish costumes” described by Nysusan might be the Tarantella tune danced by a large Corps in carnival costumes...the first big Corps number in A1 of the Balanchine version - a jolly tune that I adore. Can’t wait to see and compare the Ratmansky (Petipa) and Balanchine versions.
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14 minutes ago, cubanmiamiboy said:
...and that other modern monstrosity whom I can't even fathom being danced at the Imperial stage.
Ratmansky was one of several choreographers who began working on that monstrosity and ended up running the other way! (He kept the idea of the bees for ABT, though.)
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1 hour ago, Fosca said:
It will be back in November2018! The new director Johannes Öhman will throw out the Duato Nutcracker and restore the Burlaka/Medvedev production.
https://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/en/spielplan/der-nussknacker/17-11-2018/808
Wonderful news...and Ratmansky is reconstructing the Petipa-era Bayadere at the same time. Utmost respect for Berlin.
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3 hours ago, Helene said:
A reliable source for whether the sets and costumes have been destroyed.
Ah, got it.
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3 hours ago, Helene said:
I thought many of the Paquita costumes lovely. Chacun a son gout. I'm sorry they are lost. And I consider Ratmansky a reliable source.
Ratmansky & Fullington are reliable for the steps (translating the Stepanova notes ). I don’t think that Ratmansky ever claimed to have resurrected the Petipa-era sets and costumes in any of his stagings (Paquita, Sleeping B, Swan Lake other than the Swan tutus, etc). But that’s beside the point. I hate to see the financial waste in tossing out new sets/costumes, tacky or not.
Editing to add: I forgot to mention the Bolshoi Corsaire, in which Petipa-era designs were reproduced, to magnificent effect. I incorrectly think about Burlaka as the main Stepanov expert of that production, as it was Ratmansky’s first Petipa-Stepanov reconstruction. What a start!
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2 hours ago, volcanohunter said:
I now find myself wondering and worrying about the fate of the physical production of the Burlaka/Medvedev Nutcracker in Berlin, which was dumped from the repertoire when Duato became director.
Good point. Those Berlin Nutcracker sets/costumes are spectacular. One would think that the Mariinsky would be hungering for them. Modern Russian Ballet doesn’t seem to care for its imperial heritage, despite paying lip service with faux-Petipa galas.
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47 minutes ago, Gnossie said:
Those Paquita costumes aren't reconstructed ones and the sets are, as Natalia would say : "El Cheapo" style. Yaiks.
Sad would be to see the reconstructed costumes from Burlaka's nutcracker production be destroyed, now THAT would be a loss.
That being said, Igor Zelensky shouldn't be AD of any company, ever.
Even though the sets and some costumes were a bit tacky to some eyes, the work that went into the Munich Paquita was commendable. The Ratmansky and Fullington team did a masterful job in reconstructing dances and mise en scene, more true to Petipa than the reimaginings at POB, the Mariinsky & Vaganova School. Thus, it is very sad to see the way that this Munich production has been tossed away so quickly. Why not try to sell the sets/costumes to another company?
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A review of the opening Don Q in Chicago, a couple of days ago.
The tour moves on to Tampa, DC and Saratoga.
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15 hours ago, Drew said:
The entire video feature on the Petipa-Ratmansky Harlequinade:
Adorable! The real way to honor Mr. Petipa. Right sort of costumes, charm, spirit.
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23 hours ago, nanushka said:
The phrasing is a bit wonky (should it be "after over a month"?), but it sounds like Paulina Waski may be back onstage soon:
She has a Vishnevaesque sort of beauty. Hoping to see Paulina back on the stage soon.
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Kolpakova & her husband were already in the USA-NY by summer 1993 because they attended the famous Dinner with Balanchine gala. At the time, both were already were working in some coaching capacity in NY, even if they returned to Russia periodically. They were here way before the late ‘90s.
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35 minutes ago, angelica said:
On the men's side, I don't see much happening.
Maybe Aran Bell. Let’s see how his Romeo debut goes.
28 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:Osipova is in the house. Things look good for tonight.
Oh yeah, baby!! 🥂
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Kolpakova & her husband, Semenov, were leaders of the Communist Party within the Kirov organization. If Makarova was a member, she was not among the vocal leaders, as were the Semenovs. Of course, time can heal wounds but I still cannot help but chuckle when I think about Kolpakova being A-OK with capitalism in the Good Ol’ USA for 20+ years. That said, she’s been a wonderful coach to Herrera and so many other ABT ballerinas. We can’t take that away from her.
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Today is “Birthdays D’day”! May 18.
Happiest Joint Birthdays to the stars of tonight’s Giselle:
Natalia Osipova - 32
David Hallberg - 36
ABT should roll out a great big cake onto the Met stage tonight. Cheers! 🎂
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Will Square Dance be presented in the City Center version with on-stage caller and hillbilly band? The Joffrey used to dance that version.
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This would have been an ideal showcase for The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, with their reconstructions of lesser-known ballets from Balanchine’s City Center years, e.g., Gounod Symphony, Pas de Dix, Ragtime, Meditation. Alas, TSFB is no more.
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On 5/15/2018 at 5:12 PM, nysusan said:
I just got an email with all the principal casts for Coppelia. The other 2 pairs are Bouder/Veyette and Pereira/Huxley
Isn’t Huxley the amazing technician who stole the show dancing the Tarantella in Peck’s Pulcinella Variations? (Saw him in PV twice in NY & once in DC) Wow, I just realized...what a pairing that should be, Pereira/Huxley! I can’t wait to see them going full throttle at that last Coppelia matinee on June 2. It’ll be my last big trip of the season - Coppelia NYCB matinee, SAB Workshop in the eve, last NYCB mixed bill on Sunday, then ABT Harlequinade performances on Monday/Tuesday. I think I’m now a certified ballet fan (or certified loco, as my wife & kids would say).
ABT 2018 Firebird / AFTERITE
in American Ballet Theatre
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Cool Whip!