BalanchineFan
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Posts posted by BalanchineFan
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In case you missed it, here's an interview with the many current NYCB/SAB ballerinas who have performed both SPF and Dewdrop
https://www.nycballet.com/discover/stories/sugarplum-dewdrop/
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10 hours ago, claireasday said:
She danced SPF during yesterday's matinee. Per her Instagram:
I have footage of this from an audience member's Instagram story, but I assume it cannot be posted here for copyright reasons.
I thought we could post anything that is public facing. I also think IG clips are short enough that there's no infringement. Roman Mejia posted the end of his and Tiler's Nutcracker on his own IG. Spectacular! Not sure if I've linked it correctly.
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5 hours ago, JuliaJ said:
It seems odd that during a Nutcracker season when four former Sugarplum Fairies have recently retired (Kowroski, Stafford, Lovette, King) and others are out of commission due to injury or other reasons (Mearns, Bouder, Reichlen, Pollack, Kretschmar), they couldn't save at least one spot for someone new. Casting sure works in mysterious ways.
Also mysterious to me is why they gave Furlan only one performance of Cavalier, and it was a Wednesday matinee fairly early in the season. After his rave reviews in Swan Lake I assumed he'd become an MVP for the princely roles.
Well... Furlan's SPF partner Ashley Laracey only has two SPF perfs and the second one is Christmas eve. Maybe Furlan wanted to go home for the holiday. Or maybe they want to give Russell Janzen another performance. It's a huge company with loads of talent. Even with 60 odd Nutcracker performances not everyone is going to get a debut. Plus, I wonder if the principals are more eager/available to perform in NYC having had a year without Nutcracker. Travel and guesting has got to be much trickier this year, even though some dancers are managing it (Phelan, Woodward, Kathryn Morgan, etc).
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23 hours ago, Drew said:23 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:
I'm not a huge Nutcracker fan and the only production I ever went to night after night (the seasons when I could) was Baryshnikov's when ABT performed it in D.C. And that was almost exclusively because of Kirkland's Clara which remains one of my greatest ballet-going memories. The video, lovely as it is, doesn't begin to capture the wonder of her performance and, in fact, I believe it was shot before she had ever danced the ballet on stage. Moreover her Clara was full of subtle variations from performance to performance even when dancing with the same partner. And she danced it with a few different partners including Dowell and Cragun. But I don't think of her as dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy--I think of her as dancing Clara.
SPF? I'm the person who wrote that their favorite Sugar Plum Fairy was Jenifer Ringer. I do have mixed feelings about Balanchine's Nutcracker even now in part because of the placement of the SPF variation at the very beginning of the second act which, to me, undermines some of its magical impact. (It's as if Odile came on at the beginning of Swan Lake Act III before the ball was even underway and performed 32 fouettes there and then. (I exaggerate...a little...to explain my feelings.)
Yes, I agree, Kirkland danced Clara, not SPF. I only saw the film and I feel like it changed the course of my life.
Anyway, I remember you posted about Ringer as SPF. I wish I'd seen her. I don't think I've ever seen her dance except for a YouTube video where Violette Verdy or maybe Damian Woetzel is coaching a few people at City Center studios. Personally, I don't mind the SPF's early variation because I love her waving her wand at the little angels so much, but I understand your point.
@Helene and @JanLevNYC, sounds like you saw just about everyone! I would have loved to have seen Darci and Lourdes in particular. I saw them dance other things that were amazing (I have vivid memories of Kistler as the 2nd lead in Walpurgisnacht and Lopez in Stravinsky Violin Concerto).
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On 12/12/2021 at 11:05 AM, California said:
And in today's edition of Pregnancy Watch (?) ...I haven't seen any public announcements.
Well, she certainly looks to be pregnant. I hope it goes smoothly.
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15 hours ago, cobweb said:
Disappointing! (Even though I also could not see any of them, spending a month away from NY). LaFreniere and Miriam Miller should be doing Sugarplum, and how about a Kristen Segin Dewdrop?
LaFreniere and Miller both have a few Dewdrops scheduled. There might not be any debuts (maybe the repertory directors are too overworked to put a lot of people in late in the season) but I was glad to see a lot of dancers cast who aren't always seen in leading roles: Sara Adams and Ashley Hod as SPF, Mira Nadon, Ashley Laracey, Baily Jones, LaFreniere and Miriam Miller as Dewdrop. Segin has a Marzipan.
I can't go more than once, but the casting looks interesting to me. There is also a lot of variety in the Marzipan and Coffee casting.
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Who is the best SPF that you've seen? This year or any year? Balanchine's Nutcracker only. Someone mentioned Jenifer Ringer in another thread. Just wondering...
I don't remember who danced it when I first came to NYC in the 70's/80's as I wasn't partial to Balanchine's Nutcracker then. I preferred Gelsey Kirkland as Clara in Baryshnikov's version. I think Sterling Hyltin, Lauren Lovette and Sara Mearns have lead the pack in my opinion, but Maria, Megan and Tiler have also been excellent. It's hard for me to pick one, as you see.
I, too, remember the year Martins had 18 corps dancers debut as SPF. It was fascinating, and an interesting choice because, in my experience, not many people go to NYCB's Nutcracker for the casting. It's a big family event, a tradition, and it's about people going to BALLET, not about a particular performer or their interpretation. What do you all think?
Tiler posted on IG that she's spending Christmas in California with family. There are bound to be a lot of opportunities for debuts if more principals are being given that kind of schedule.
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17 hours ago, Susu_nyc said:
Would Megan's new book be good for a teenager who dances? My god daughter has seen Megan dance and am wondering if the approach to the book might offer some helpful approaches to a teen for dance and life.
Absolutely! The Ballerina Mindset is a fun, quick read and Megan has a lot of useful insights to share. The tone is also very considered and appropriate for all ages.
In the SPF sweepstakes, I've been following Olivia Mackinnon on IG and she's rehearsing SPF. Look through her IG and you'll see her progress, which is considerable. She's another very lovely dancer who is getting opportunities here and there. I remember her debut in PC2 (2nd role, really nice!) and I think she had a Dewdrop last week. She's also enterprising and sells a line of ballet skirts, accessories and coverups. Laine Habony has never particularly caught my eye, but I'd be excited to see Olivia Mackinnon do more.
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I watched nearly all of Megan Fairchild's Conversations with Megan on YouTube over the pandemic, so I was excited to hear that she'd written a book. The book was inspired, at least in part, by a podcast she was doing a few years ago, Ask Megan. This woman doesn't let any grass grow under her feet! Her new book, The Ballerina Mindset: How to Protect Your Mental Health While Striving for Excellence, uses anecdotes from her career to illustrate ten mental health challenges and ways to improve our outlook and deal with these issues. It's a quick read, 160 pages in paperback, and well worth reading, in my opinion. Her sense of humor and her personal growth really come through. The lessons themselves are universal and can be of use to anyone trying to get ahead in a competitive field (Facing Anxiety, Embracing [Your] Uniqueness, Handling Feedback, etc) . There are still a lot of ballet stories, which really satisfied this balletomane.
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Did anyone see the Friday night performance with Unity Phelan as SPF and Tiler Peck as Dewdrop. That is my dream line up and I even had tickets, but couldn't go last minute. I'd love to hear anyone's observations. I'll be seeing Nutcracker next weekend. There's so much happening in NYC all of a sudden (seemingly).
And then the Covid tests... A friend of mine is producing a show and they had to delay their opening due to several breakthrough covid cases. I hate to see performances canceled, but it's the most responsible course of action and protects everyone.
I just bought Megan Fairchild's new book. She has a few Nutcracker stories in there. It's a quick read, but worthwhile. She uses stories from her career to talk about lessons learned to improve our outlook and our mental health.
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There's a picture of Melissa Hayden, Tanaquil LeClerq, Maria Tallchief, Diana Adams and Patricia Wilde dancing together in a ballet called Divertimento. They are all on pointe and lined up so that you can see their heights and proportions in relation to each other. Somehow I can't manage to link it here, but google it. You can make interesting comparisons (if you are so inclined). Diana Adams is clearly the tallest. Patricia Wilde the shortest. The differences in thigh length, torso length and overall proportions also fit well into this discussion. But really, imagine having a company where you could cast them all TOGETHER!
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1 hour ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:
Taller NYCB ballerinas have danced Dewdrop over the years—Karin von Aroldingen, Kyra Nichols, Heather Watts, and Sofiane Sylve, off the top of my head.
ETA - and more recently Maria Kowroski, Sara Mearns and Teresa Reichlen.
Dewdrop was choreographed on Tanaquil LeClerq. I never saw her dance, but she was pretty tall and leggy, they say. She danced Choleric in 4T as well, and I've always thought that role needed long legs.
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On 11/25/2021 at 10:12 AM, canbelto said:
This is what I wrote about Phelans Dewdrop on bachtrack:
I saw that very same performance and I just don't agree. I thought Phelan was a lovely Dewdrop. Not my all time favorite, but quite lovely.
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On 4/18/2021 at 5:28 PM, pherank said:
That makes me wonder if there were ever any official listings of the dancers participating in American Ballet/ American Ballet Caravan and Ballet Society.
You might try some of the books about Balanchine. I Remember Balanchine, an "oral biography" by Francis Mason, has interviews with 86 Balanchine dancers and associates going back to when he left Russia. It's not a complete listing of names, but can give you an idea of the principal dancers working with him during most periods of his career. Marie-Jeanne and Mary Ellen Moylan are both included.
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I never saw her dance live (not sure I was alive when she was still dancing) but I've always respected her place in Balanchine history and just LOVED the films, photos and accounts of her dancing that are available. What a towering career and an articulate artist she was! RIP Mary Ellen Moylan.
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Cornbread is a bravura delight. Upbeat dancing to the Carolina Chocolate Drops. They sound like bluegrass, but I'm not up on my musical genres. Both Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia look fabulous and I think Twyla should let them do the piece until their legs drop off from old age. Oh, and Mejia takes his shirt off. My hormones haven't calmed down yet. Really nice, playful dancing, bravura displays, tender at times. A brilliant opener.
Second Duet, is a world premiere. The music is live piano and cello, though it sounds like electronic music at times. It's a compelling duet, with a few additional dancers walking and sitting upstage behind a scrim at one point. The dancers are stellar, it's the only duet for modern dancers, with spectacular lifts and partnering. The mood is more subdued, though, less showy and more intimate. James Gilmer has his shirt off, as well. My companion is hoping he never puts it back on. The entire evening's cast is like a dream team, physical beauty, technical aplomb, artistry, everything you might want, and these two, Jacqueline Harris and Gilmer, are prime examples in every way. She's a little spark of energy and style. The piece runs a touch long, but one can easily imagine Twyla getting carried away working with them.
Pergolesi, Fairchild and Mearns dressed in white. I honestly couldn't tell Mearns gender when she first appeared. I've seen her in a tutu, in a leotard, in a pink unitard dancing Cunningham, or silk robes doing Isadora Duncan, but now in a sleeveless T and pants she seems almost mannish, brilliantly appropriate for the Baryshnikov role. The dancing is great, a few quotes from Baryshnikov's oeuvre and from Twyla's. Fairchild is a revelation, I so wish he was performing more often where everyone could see him.
All In unites all the previous casts with the couple from ABT and the young ensemble. The Peck-Mejia pair, the Harris-Gilmer pair, Bell-Trenary and the ensemble have a section where they dance independently and then all together, changing partners every so often as the ensemble moves through and around them from time to time. (IF you were concerned about ex marrieds dancing together, they don't). The youngsters are spectacular, sliding around on the floor and doing their show stopping moves. Bell and Trenary look great, but I kept wondering if they were late additions or if there was something in ABT's schedule that kept them from doing a separate duet, like the other couples. The "main" duet here was for Fairchild and Mearns, dancing on pointe now, the two of them alone onstage. The whole group comes together for the finale.
It was an entirely enjoyable, often thrilling evening of dance from a master using her All-Stars. Hard to believe that Twyla, the woman who turned ballet on its head, is now 80 years old. May we all have an 80th birthday like this.
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I'm so jazzed by seeing Twyla Now last night. For those who didn't go it is all Twyla Tharp choreography:
Cornbread with Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia
Second Duet with Jacqueline Harris and James Gilmer
Pergolesi with Sara Mearns and Robert Fairchild
All In, with all the previous dancers plus Aran Bell, Cassandra Trenary and 6 young dancers Twyla "discovered" on the internet: Brady Farrar, Savannah Kristich, Zoe Leibold, Jaiden Galan Roman, Alycia Williams and William Woodward
It's all fabulous.
It was a highlight for me to see Robert Fairchild dancing again. Pergolesi was originally created for Tharp and Baryshnikov. In this case Fairchild takes Tharp's role and Mearns dances the Baryshnikov part. They are fabulous and the gender reversal adds depth to the piece; Fairchild and Mearns embodying some of the originals' characters and idiosyncracies.
Did anyone else catch it?
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On 11/9/2021 at 6:43 PM, canbelto said:
You can see a baby bump in this video:
Maybe you see a pregnancy, but I watched the clip and I don't see it. Not even a little. She does seem to be hiding her belly a bit, but who's to say why?
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On 11/12/2021 at 11:52 AM, eduardo said:
At the present time I'm planning a trip to NYC for next January and I'm also thinking of attending a performance at David Koch Teater.
From what I can see at the NYCB website, the price for the last rows of Orchestra (R, S, T, U and V) is USD 110, which is what I intend to spend. Any opinions about those rows? Is there a good slope, so people sitted in the previous rows won't obstruct your view? Is that too far from the scenery? For that price would you rather choose a central seat in the second ring?
Thank you in advance for any replies.
I have had a bad experience in these seats, orchestra S, T, U and V. Maybe the people in front of me were tall, or had long torsos, but I could not see a thing, not even the floor of the stage. I agree that row R is fine if no one is sitting in front of you. Plenty of leg room, just watch out for people walking in the aisle. In STU and V I found the sight lines so bad that I ended up standing near the side doors in the orchestra. Wear flat shoes.
I love sitting in the first and second ring. There's more of a slope and no such problems.
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Olivia MacKinnon posted a Behind the Scenes bit of Nutcracker rehearsal on IG dancing SPF with Davide Riccardo as her cavalier. You can only see their legs, but it looks good!
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On 10/30/2021 at 10:28 PM, nanushka said:
NYCB has posted the opening night performance of "Waltz of the Flowers" on YouTube. I wasn't there, and it sounded like an odd insertion when I heard about it. But watching the video now, I have to say it strikes me as a very spirited and moving performance. The ensemble sounds great, and I can imagine it having been exciting for both performers and audience, especially given the circumstances.
I was there. I enjoyed it. It was very celebratory and the audience was very much in that celebratory mood.
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On 11/2/2021 at 9:34 PM, Helene said:
Kaori Nakamura, who surely is shorter than Tiler Peck, danced a splendid Diamonds in Seattle (partnered by Seth Orza), so if Tiler Peck were cast in "Diamonds," I would certainly want to see what she had to say in the role.
I'd love to see it too, but I don't see NYCB casting any women in Diamonds who aren't tall and leggy, it's their pattern. A lot of people here seem to prefer tall women as Terpsichore in Apollo and in other roles, as well. Just look through the posts.
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On 10/30/2021 at 2:37 AM, Drew said:
I hope @BalanchineFandoesn't mind my jumping in about the fight to get gynecologists to wash their hands (see above post)--I'm not a historian, but loosely: in the early to mid 19th-century gynecologists (at that time all men and modern "professionals") started to replace midwives (women) in handling births etc. It was a shift in terms of increasing male control of women's bodies--the topic being addressed in the earlier post. About mid 19th century, it was discovered that the male doctors had WORSE mortality rates among their patients giving birth than the old-fashioned midwives did. Eventually the difference was determined to involve hygiene -- Doctors were spreading infections to the women. (Unlike midwives they often treated women after treating other diseases or doing autopsies.) Getting the doctors to wash their hands before treating women made a difference but seems not to have happened without a fight. That is, it took a while to convince people this is what needed to be done. Here is a short, non-scholarly article that goes into more detail:
Thank you @Drew. That's exactly what I was referencing. One well constructed study proved that washing hands made a difference, saving women's lives, and the male doctors STILL wouldn't do it. Thank you for the link, too. I look forward to reading it.
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56 minutes ago, abatt said:
Going forward, I'm not sure what to expect from Murphy in the Spring Season. Her hallmark has always been daring technical abilities, like doing triple fouettes while changing arm positions with her fan as Kitri, and flapping her swan arms while doing her whiplash fast fouettes in Act III of Swan Lake. It's not clear to me whether she will regain that level by the Spring.
I saw Gillian Murphy dance Swan Lake a few years ago. I was moved beyond belief. I find her to be a true artist and her appeal, for me, has nothing to do with her technical mastery. If I want pyrotechnical physical feats I can watch teenage ballet students all over Youtube. Gillian Murphy can tell a story through dance and make you feel what the character feels.
Nutcracker 2021
in New York City Ballet
Posted
I think there are photos of Phelan doing white swan at Vail. Probably just the ppd.