BalanchineFan

6 hours ago, ivanov said:

Don't we want them to come back?

If they do return after SL they'll be astonished at the rest of the repertory. It's like setting up low expectations, production-wise. Martins chose great music to choreograph, even if many of us don't like the results.

@canbelto I'd love to see Harlequinade more often!

2 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Bad sets and costumes. Tempi way too fast. And the dramatic structure is all messed up by the intermission placement.

NYCB could really stand to get some sort of broad artistic vision for full-lengths, because as brilliant as Balanchine was they did not inherit one from him.

I beg to differ. Midsummer is perfection, even if the dramatic action ends before intermission.

13 minutes ago, abatt said:

I thought that the chemistry created by Cote and Mearns made a big difference in their portrayal compared to the Bouder - Furlan and Reichlin-Walker pairings, which had zero chemistry.  Also, the small details in the performances of Mearns and Cote made all the difference.  Cote is a very charismatic actor, and he was the most convincing of the three Siegfried dancers this weekend.

[...]

Furlan was the most impressive technically of the three Siegfrieds.  He and Bouder are both technical marvels, but the performance left me cold.  There is a little more flow to Bouder's dancing than there used to be, but her phrasing still leaves a lot to be desired in this role.

As for the other characters in the production, Ulbricht was a marvel as the Jester.   I wish the company used him for more ballets.  Loved Gerrity in the Russian dance. 

Ulbricht was ON FIRE last weekend in Rodeo. I always think that's a fabulous role for him. 

Somewhere online there's a video of a European ballet company doing the Black Swan pdd. The drama of it is so clear and it all builds up to the moment where he drops to one knee, swears his love and Odile throws her head back in exaltation that she got him to do it. At NYCB all of that is just movement.

2 minutes ago, abatt said:

It seems like Whelan's focus is hiring choreographers to create new contemporary work.  I think the number of new works each season must cost a lot of money in terms of paying the choreographers, designers, and rehearsal time for both the dancers and the orchestra.  Nobody wants the company to become a museum, but I think the number of new works that are box office duds every season is starting to become a  problem.  I don't think new full lengths are a priority for the company at the present time.

There have always been a lot of new ballets that didn't get repeated much. John Taras and John Clifford used to choreograph on NYCB, so did Jacques D'amboise. We don't see their ballets now. New contemporary ballets aren't so expensive.  I'm pretty sure that during the season they have to pay all the dancers whether they rehearse or not. It's probably the same for the orchestra. Most new ballets don't have complex sets, and, in any case, NYCB has a costume department and scene shop on salary to create them. 

New full lengths are more expensive, and don't seem be a priority at the moment, but at some point they're going to retire all the Martins choreography. Martins is not a good enough choreographer for NYCB to keep doing his ballets long term. At least with new contemporary choreographers the dancers get to grow and learn and get a chance to be a muse to someone.

Martins' Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1991, Swan Lake in 1999 (1996 at Royal Danish Ballet) and Romeo and Juliet in 2007. What new thing will NYCB be heralding to get people into the seats, if not new ballets?

And Cuban Miami Boy is right. No one does clean single fouettés anymore, even though they go with the music.

On 2/15/2020 at 10:41 AM, GB1216 said:

It really is sad that so many wonderful dancers have this production as their Swan Lake  vehicle.  They deserve better.  I wonder if it’s on the table for Stafford/Whelan to do a new version? I think it would be well worth it.

I agree. Hopefully they've retired Martins' R&J. IMO, that was the absolute worst of his full lengths. Can't they just do Coppelia for Valentine's Day and Midsummer for June? Or get someone to choreograph a new Sleeping Beauty. Every time I look at Lauren Lovette I think she's Aurora incarnate.

Maybe Christopher Wheeldon would do a full length. Or Justin Peck, when he finishes with the movies.

I ask you all, who should choreograph NYCB's next full length ballet? And should it be Swan Lake?

21 minutes ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

Sara is KILLING IT today!! Loving her so far!!♥️♥️♥️

2 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

And why..oh why..did Martins went away with the Two Big Swans dance, giving its valse-( and tweaking it)- to a most generic variation for Siegfried ..?!?!

I can't get over all the insanity with this production, and excuse me all those who love but I'll keep ranting.

Gotta say, I'm really loving your updates. I saw Mearns do SL a few years back and she is phenomenal. Any thoughts on Guillaume Coté (to anyone who's seen him)?

13 hours ago, vipa said:

14 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

I understood that part of the article completely differently. I took it as her first SL rehearsal back, a few weeks ago (the author mentions it being the beginning of last month) where she decided to stop at 10 fouettés even though she felt fine. She was never "having difficulty" with the step, she was just being cautious and, like a good athlete, building her strength and endurance step by step, over time.

For example, you don't return from an ankle injury and do two hours of hops on pointe the first day. You do a few hops on day one and add hops each day to strengthen yourself and to be sure your body holds up. I found it funny that Tiler is quoted as saying she used to consider fouettés a "rest step." If her endurance and her health hold I see no reason to doubt her fouettés.

I agree, I think the point of the fouette mention was that in that initial rehearsal she was going to do 10 turns, ended up doing straight doubles and then stopped and said she thought it would be fine. I wouldn't be worried about the fouettes.

I say this as a dancer who has performed on that stage, as someone who has been injured and gone through physical therapy with Marika Molnar and other therapists trained by her in order to resume performing. There's a protocol and Tiler is following it.

12 hours ago, abatt said:

Yes it was removed.

I wonder why they removed the Act 3 pas de quatre. I thought it was a nice piece of choreography. They've got plenty of women who can do it justice.

I understood that part of the article completely differently. I took it as her first SL rehearsal back, a few weeks ago (the author mentions it being the beginning of last month) where she decided to stop at 10 fouettés even though she felt fine. She was never "having difficulty" with the step, she was just being cautious and, like a good athlete, building her strength and endurance step by step, over time.

For example, you don't return from an ankle injury and do two hours of hops on pointe the first day. You do a few hops on day one and add hops each day to strengthen yourself and to be sure your body holds up. I found it funny that Tiler is quoted as saying she used to consider fouettés a "rest step." If her endurance and her health hold I see no reason to doubt her fouettés.

3 hours ago, Leah said:

Are you seeing Bouder tonight? Of all the O/Os she's probably the most adept at fouettés now that Peck is injured. I am very surprised that Mearns didn't do as well, she's not the greatest technician but she usually has a lot of power.

Tiler Peck is back and scheduled to dance SL according to the NY Times yesterday. Or do you mean she was injured AGAIN?????

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

Well, science is not based on single anecdotal cases. There's simply no way one could diagnose Peck's condition with any degree of certainty based on the currently public information alone.

Yes. I hurt a disc in my lower back (I'm a dancer) and a surgeon told me 25 years ago that I'd be back for surgery. Not yet.

What a program. Very daring for Bard. I loved The Runaway but had a harder time with the Pam Tanowitz. I wonder if I can get up there this summer.

15 hours ago, Leah said:

I have no medical education of any kind. It’s my understanding that the frontal lobe is not fully developed until around age 25, correct? Waterbury is only 22 I think so it makes sense that she has a lower maturity level. Maxwell and Hod are both 25 or older I believe.

I’ve read a fair amount of research on brain development and the thing that strikes me is that not all people reach the highest level of development... period. It speaks to all of us. 
 

I have sympathy for all the people in this conflict, Waterbury, Maxwell and Ramasar. Not much sympathy for Chase Finlay, though I sincerely hope he’s addressing his substance issues.
What I cannot condone is a victim attacking someone else. My saying that doesn’t excuse the original incident. If an abused child grows up and then abuses their own child I would say the same thing: Stop it!  And that’s what I want to say to Alexandra Waterbury now, stop talking to and about Alexa Maxwell. Stop it now. 

You are all, naturally, welcome to your own individual views on the matter. 

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

I'm not saying this is right, but as I said, as a high school teacher, this is just the way young people deal with conflict. This is what I deal with everyday. 

I’m trying to follow your point and I don’t understand. This online back and forth may be common, as you state, but how are Waterbury’s posts and naming Ms Maxwell different from harassment?

I’m wondering if this has been going on in private for two years. Teenagers also commit suicide based on online activity.

11 hours ago, cinnamonswirl said:

Did anyone else catch Waterbury's Instagram story today in which she appeared to be offering to show Maxwell additional nude photos of herself (Maxwell) that Ramasar had sent? (To disprove Maxwell's statement that he only sent one photo of her). I found the idea of offering, on a public social media account, to show someone nude photos of themselves as a way of showing her that she too is a victim to be ... odd.

I saw that particular Waterbury IG story and I felt so very uncomfortable and so incredibly supportive of Alexa Maxwell. Maxwell deserves respect and privacy. She deserves her own decisions to be heard and respected and to chart her own course. 

6 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Absolutely. The insinuations against Waterbury weren't necessary nor well-considered. They might be relevant in a court of law, but look ugly trotted out in the court of public opinion.

Respectfully, I disagree. Waterbury contacted Alexa Maxwell to try to persuade Maxwell to take actions that Maxwell did not want to do, and has not done in the two years of this mess. Waterbury is posting content about Maxwell today in her IG stories. Maxwell has a right to reveal whatever she wishes of their communication.  Maxwell sounds like a woman who is fed up with being harrassed.

I don't understand how Waterbury can claim that there has been "no accountability" when her civil case is still wending its way through the courts. Has her case been dismissed? Remember that the conclusion of a civil case is a monetary judgement. While Waterbury probably wants a lot of outcomes it's not an insinuation to say that she chose an avenue that ends with money. If she wants Finlay or Ramasar or the man who actually made the "farm animal" comment off the streets and out of work she should file criminal charges. I don't see how keeping him from work helps her, except in terms of generating publicity and revenge.

Well, I'm hostile towards the SL sets and costumes. I'm not sure I can explain it, except to say that the solid color costumes remind me of a football game; in R&J it's Team Capulet and Team Montague... watch the action before half time! The swan costumes, while better, are like a bedsheet pattern.  Alistair McCauley's review has a similar take, more kindly expressed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/arts/dance/peter-martinss-swan-lake-at-new-york-city-ballet-review.html?searchResultPosition=2

Mostly though, I hate Martins' choreography. If the choreography was more nuanced, or told the story with more depth and clarity I don't think the costumes would bother me as much. Sorry to be so negative. Many people like the production, it sells quite well, and the dancers themselves are fabulous.

On 1/28/2020 at 8:25 PM, Fleurfairy said:

I’ve never understood the hostility toward the sets and costumes. There are more than enough traditional Swan Lakes around the world with the Baroque or Medieval type sets. This is NYCB, not the Royal or the Bolshoi. The contemporary abstract art fits in my opinion.

I love 4T, Agon and other modern leotard ballets. I don't see why that enters into it. In fact, I'd be happy with SL done in black and white leotards...  but the Jester's orange bathing cap has got to go.

@balletrusse THANK YOU!! What a fitting tribute to Lydia Wellington.

On 1/3/2020 at 12:28 AM, sandik said:

I didn't see the stage version, but the combination of terrible reviews and the chance to see Les Twins was too much to resist.  Honestly, I'm not sure why people are complaining about the basic premise of the work (it's a talent contest to see which cat gets to die/be reincarnated into another life) -- it was the same thing when it was first premiered, and there didn't seem to be much complaining then.  And during the intervening years, we've seen an amazing amount of talent contest programming on television (The Voice, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, etc). 

I liked what dancing I could see -- like many contemporary dance/music videos, it's hyper-edited so that the camera jumps around every phrase. But as others have commented -- Fairchild and Hayward get the most opportunities, and make what they can of them.  Macrae's tap number was excellent, and I must have blinked at just the right times because I did get a sense of Les Twins beautiful ease.  And I'm a sucker for a Busby Berkley number, even if they're dancing rats and cockroaches!

I just came from the film and my issue is that I couldn't suspend my disbelief. Any film should present you with a world that makes sense, even if it's been done before. The same story can be believable one time and truly unbelievable and tedious the next, due to editing, performance, the pacing of the film and numerous other elements. The dancers were good but the choreography didn't do anything but allow them to prance around in their costumes and execute an arabesque or double turn every so often. None of it added up to anything. 

Also: WHAT is with this current trend of emotional actors allowing snot to run down their faces and sit there for an entire song? Please someone, make it stop!

Was this the first time you've seen Cunningham's work? There are videos of Cunningham's company performing Beach Birds on youtube, and I believe the entire video can be viewed through the Merce Cunningham Trust website.

https://www.mercecunningham.org/the-work/choreography/beach-birds/

West Side Story breaks box office record for the second time. They may never open, and may never need to for financial reasons.

I saw this WSS last weekend. Excellent cast, though I didn't particularly like the production. For one, their take on Maria is too sexually knowing for me (beautiful soprano voice). Regardless of Sondheim's dislike of I Feel Pretty, it establishes Maria as an innocent and it's still cut. Strangely, I don't miss it as much as I miss the Somewhere Ballet. There were some really nice moments, and only a few duds... No balcony (perhaps it's still being built?) There is von Hove's signature film/video aspect, which helps because you can't see into Doc's or the dress shop where Maria and Anita work. Riff is the weakest of the excellent singers, but he's a great dancer/actor and amazing to watch. Overall the acting is good. The Anita is quite good. The Tony understudy is fabulous (Isaac Powell hurt his knee). Amar Ramasar is great. I'm not sure the pacing works, but the biggest issue is that Maria needs someplace to live onstage. It's weird that she plays her home scenes in an open area. Aside from Doc's and the Dress Shop there is no set. When Tony comes to see Maria she should be at home with her dad (or someone!) calling from offstage. Instead they kneel on the floor. When the police officer comes to question Maria after the Rumble, she needs to be trapped at home, unable to get to Tony. I know I'm attached to the original, but those scenes didn't make sense.

Mostly I hope they go further with the re-imagining. de Keersmaker's strongest moments are when she uses the group to make an image that reflects the story: the two gangs pulling Tony and Maria apart, the three dead bodies borne aloft. I wish there had been more of that. Still, they're in previews and it's probably unfair of me to say anything. Maybe it's like Tony says... Somethin's coming, don't know when but it's soon.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/WEST-SIDE-STORY-Has-Broken-All-Time-Broadway-Theatre-House-Record-20191230

On 12/3/2019 at 11:59 AM, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Odile's 32 fouettés. If I could go back in time and erase them from ballet history, I would. 

Bonus: Any variation in any ballet by any choreographer that showcases hops on point. 

This made me laugh. Having been on pointe, I ALWAYS think "Ow, ow, ow" in rhythm to any hops on pointe.

On 11/29/2019 at 5:13 PM, California said:

That little scooch-forward-step she does always seemed awkward, but she made it work. I love the pas de trois with Minz, especially the way they pass her back and forth overhead. There's also some very tricky partnering you don't see elsewhere, e.g., when Baryshnikov uses one arm on her waist to turn her around.

If you haven't looked at it recently:

 

Thanks, California!  And Marta, I always liked the costume. It seems very young girlish, and Kirkland is so incredibly delicate in it.

On 3/27/2012 at 7:46 AM, Helene said:

I don't like Jester variations in "Swan Lake". I dislike almost all of Nureyev's male variations, finding them fussy and overdone. I'm not a fan of Ali in "Le Corsaire" and prefer the variations to be done by Conrad. I never liked the Sugar Plum Fairy variation in the version of "The Nutcracker" that was filmed with Gelsey Kirkland.

So funny... Kirkland doing the Sugar Plum Fairy variation in Baryshnikov's Nutcracker is one of my all time favorites. I watched it a million times and could probably do the choreography for it right now (albeit, badly). 

My least favorite of the traditional ballets would be the jesters in Swan Lake.

On 11/17/2019 at 9:59 PM, Kathleen O'Connell said:

If I'm not mistaken, Watts originated the role. Leland replaced Mazzo.

Thank you.

22 hours ago, nubka said:

I remember reading in Farrell's book, that in most roles, Balanchine dressed her in white, but that this time he put her in blue and Karin wore the white.  Seems like the other two girls had green and yellow, but I'm not sure.  Kind of makes me think of Dances at a Gathering, as in girl in green, girl in mauve, etc.

I find there's something very compelling about the casting and the costumes. Farrell and d'Amboise are paired. He's at the end of his career, a decade older than all the other men, she's still in her prime but wears a ribbon in her hair like a younger girl. Peter Martins dances with Heather Watts (originally Kay Mazzo, I believe). When Farrell and Martins dance together in other ballets (Chaconne, Tzigane, Diamonds) they often seemed like the king and queen of the world. Their height and size, the amplitude of their movement, the grandeur of their stage presence contribute to them seeming to reign over all before them. When they dance with other people it's different, they both seem more human, vulnerable. They have different inherent roles and impact, less grand. It becomes a choreographic statement in RS's Davidsbundertanze.  Balanchine is very deft that way. Simple decisions have a huge impact on the ballet.

I wouldn't call it a pencil sketch. It's its own ballet. Perhaps the dark demons stalking Luders character seem ... a bit hackneyed, but I see what Balanchine is going for.  Schuman was tormented. Some of the ballet is just glorious and makes its emotional impact in a way that, for me, brings the aching  lyricism of Liebeslieder to mind. If a ballet could break your heart, this is it. At one point, Farrell and d'Amboise have an exit downstage past the piano that always takes my breath away.