BalanchineFan

Thanks! I didn't realize it would do that.

Karin von Aroldingen leading the first movement of Symphony in C.

Deborah Koolish was listed as Peter Martins' assistant. She was dancing when I first saw NYCB in the late 1970's so she would have a lot of knowlege of repertory and programming, along with whatever she learned as an assistant. Is that what you were asking?

1 hour ago, Helene said: I agree that backlash is inevitable. Even with the wage gap in Hollywood, many of the actresses who came forward against Weinstein have had the opportunities to make millions, and some have the means to produce films and theater on their own. Dancers don't have the same opportunities, and I'd expect many to shy away from coming forward and becoming a target. /// I wouldn't think the interim NYCB directors would enact any backlash or retribution, but I wouldn't put it past others, say a visiting choreographer to overlook dancers that he/she knew had made accusations against an AD. A lot of people posting here think the accusations are just sour grapes from bad dancers. If any choreographer or AD in any company in the future shares that view then the people making the accusations wouldn't progress there, not as dancers, choreographers, teachers, coaches, costume designers and all the numerous things dancers do when they stop dancing. Dancers can't know where their careers are going to lead. So many small things could add up to it being a big set back.

There's a great interview with Trisha in Joyce Morgenroth's book, Speaking of Dance: twelve contemporary choreographers on their craft. I used it in a dance history class.

So sorry to hear about this. I did see Karin von Aroldingen dance in person many times. I think the world of her now, but I'm sorry to say I did not appreciate her dancing that much at the time. I never saw her in Who Cares? Union Jack, Davidsbundlertanze or Liebeslieder. This might sound strange, but I think she was like lemon, or vinegar, too much for my adolescent palette, but adding a sharpness that brought more dimension to whatever you were watching... more depth. That was my feeling about Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Kammermusik in any case. When I think of the women dancing during the last Balanchine years they were all so individual and distinct from each other. Karin, Suzanne, Merrill, Kyra Nichols, Maria Calegari, Lourdes Lopez, young Darci. You would never sit in the audience and wonder who was who. I've seen many of the videos of her coaching and teaching. I'm glad she's there dancing on film, too. It's a great loss.

I went to a symposium on the Ballet Masters in the past few years. You're right about Rosemary Dunleavy. Glenn Keenan also works with the corps. Jean-Pierre Frohlich is focused on Jerome Robbins repertory. Craig Hall is focused on Justin Peck's ballets, at least prior to the new quad leadership. Albert Evans also worked with Peck in his day. They've got a bunch of experienced ballet masters, they didn't all come to the event. Now I wish I'd taken better notes.

I was thinking of Suzanne Farrell and Tzigane, or Meditations. I've also been curious to see the full length Don Quixote. If I remember correctly, she has rights to those three. It would be interesting to view Don Q without all the media heat of Balanchine's Farrell obsession. Somehow I assumed that she wasn't letting NYCB perform them after her "break" with Martins, but I have absolutely no proof. After I posted above, I read a bit about the way the Trust works and I'm not sure it's possible for the rights to be denied to NYCB. Can anyone explain how it works? How is the PNB Symphony in C different? I've never seen it. I saw a youtube clip of Paris Opera Ballet performing it and they use very different choreography. I think they also use the original title, Palais de Cristal. The adagio doesn't have the big balance a la seconde and the choppy steps on pointe in the last act aren't there. Overall there are fewer steps per minute.

Since Natalie Portman is married to Benjamin Millepied, who danced and choreographed for NYC, and has been mentioned as being in the running for NYCB AD, I'm going to say that this is on topic. Portman's one and only social media account is on Instagram and it's devoted to supporting people in all fields who have been subjected to sexual harassment, misconduct, expliotation, etc particularly in service workplaces (hotel maids, agricultural workers, etc).

NYCB no longer hires 15 year olds. Dancers now have to be 17 and have a high school diploma to be hired as apprentices. Look at the interview with Unity Phelan.

Imo, the problem with a choreographer AD is that the position automatically competes with Balanchine. The NYCB needs to keep his repertory alive, and you need a choreographer that is somehow part of that aesthetic tradition, taking it further, but not contradicting it or obliterating it. When I imagine the board looking for someone to "shape a company aesthetic and create a native dance style or approach" it worries me that Balanchine would get lost. NYCB already has an aesthetic -Balanchine's- and there are hundreds of very experienced former Balanchine dancers with experience running ballet companies that can teach to that aesthetic. NYCB also has some good choreographers (Peck, Wheeldon, and I'd include the young Lauren Lovette) and good programs like the NY Choreographic Institute in place to nurture more. It might also be helpful at this juncture if they avoided the choreographer-muse dynamic. I loved Kyra Nichols dancing and I'm glad to hear that she's been working in a prominent university. I hope this change in leadership allows NYCB to perform Balanchine ballets that have been missing from the rep due to Martins' bad relations with the various women who own the rights. Or maybe I'm confused about how the Balanchine Trust works. Here's the link to Alastair Macauley's article https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/arts/dance/peter-martins-city-ballet-balanchine.html?_r=0

I don't think the next AD needs to be a choreographer, as long as the AD continues to promote good new choreographers. Alastair Mcauley wrote a NYT piece saying it could be a good time to divide up the AD duties. NYCB will be better off without Martins' choreography, for example.

I would think the dancers that might have complained about Balanchine are the ones who left or who gave up ballet. Mostly we're familiar with dancers who stayed and had big careers.

LOL! Yes, we go for the dancing. I think I'd seen Corsaire PPD 100 times before I realized there was a story.

Ah yes, the redemptive power of love. Giselle and the White Swan are still dead. Both caddish princes live on in most versions of the ballets. I like that the Novice in the The Cage lives too, prevails. Women can be powerful and deadly, not just wispy sylphs floating on the wind. Ah! La Sylphide, another woman undone to death by a caddish prince! The Cage just barely starts to balance things out. I don't mean to be callous or disrespectful of other lines of thinking, but, fyi, when I was sexually assaulted while sleeping on a train in college, I got even with the guy before he left the train. I'd rather get even than die and forgive the guy. I guess my opinion comes from a deeply personal place. On a less personal note, art should explore a wide range of behaviors. I don't think anyone should stop performing ballets that people want to see just because the gender roles are problematic. Life is richer and more contradictory than that.

Personally, I much prefer The Cage to Giselle. I think it speaks to womens' power and is a necessary antidote to all the romantic heroines withering away in desperation because some guy did them wrong (Swan Lake and Giselle come to mind).

I was wondering why Olivia is now listed in casting as O. MacKinnon! That explains it.

I was there last night. Mearns as SPF, Jared Angle as the Cavalier, Sterling Hyltin just resplendant as Dewdrop. Spartak Hoxha killed it as Tea, but I'm confident Roman Mejia will do the same. I don't see Isabelle LaFreniere listed anywhere, not even in the Snowflakes or in Waltz of the Flowers. I was surprised they didn't do any curtain calls in front of the curtain, but it makes complete sense. The families aren't there for the adult casts.

There are statistics on domestic abuse that might help this conversation. Of the women who are killed by domestic partners, this says 75% are killed when they try to leave. During a domestic assault court case, I heard testimony that the % is actually higher, in the 90% range. My main point is that speaking out against an abuser can be physically dangerous and fatal. Just something to keep in mind as people are wondering about the cost of speaking out. From http://www.domesticabuseshelter.org/infodomesticviolence.htm DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS One out of every three women will be abused at some point in her life. Battering is the single major cause of injury to women, exceeding rapes, muggings and auto accidents combined. A woman is more likely to be killed by a male partner (or former partner) than any other person. About 4,000 women die each year due to domestic violence. Of the total domestic violence homicides, about 75% of the victims were killed as they attempted to leave the relationship or after the relationship had ended.

I know I'm late posting, but according to NYTimes several dancers have said that Martins created a culture where he had affairs with dancers and those dancers then got better roles. That would go against the "preclude a reporting relationship" part of Lincoln Center policy, and justify the investigation of sexual harrassment even if the affairs were consensual. Because NYT said several dancers, and because these were affairs they can't be talking about Darci Kistler getting better roles after marrying Martins. The implication is that he cheated on her, and the women he cheated on her with got better roles. Also, these are not anonymous reports, just people who don't want their names in the newspaper.

I'm not surprised they gave Roman Mejia a contract. He was fabulous in the sab workshop in Martins' Hallelujah Junction... jumps, beats, real pirotechnics. I'd never enjoyed the ballet before. He also danced a lot this Fall.

Considering their Instagrams usually show them jetting to all parts of the country (or world - last year Ashley Bouder and Andrew Veyette went to Italy) very accommodating. I mean it's a cash cow and only hardcore balletomanes will care about casting. It's indestructible. I agree. Was it last year Martins put 8 (or was it 20) corps dancers in as sugar Plum Fairy? He said in the NYTimes that he wanted the principals to be able to guest. Can't do that every year, I suppose.

Didn't Balanchine accept Valentina Kozlova into the company? It's not recent, but she was trained at the Bolshoi. There are so many excellent, beautifully trained women coming out of SAB each year, why would they need to look elsewhere? Also, I'm curious about the "pure SAB" comment. If a dancer believes in or adheres to the SAB/Balanchine technique and also studies with other teachers does that necessarily make them less SAB trained?

Judging from McKenzie's press release he wants to focus on newer ballet choreographers. The list above is lovely, but only Morris, Ratmansky and Tharp remain among the living, and Ratmansky is well represented this fall. For better or worse he's looking to the future. I don't think it has to do with "hip" or "happening." Perhaps he wants the dancers to be in a situation of creating ... not recreating.

Hi Everyone, I've been really enjoying this thread and your discussion of swan Lake convinced me to sign up. I'm not usually this negative, but here's a bit I wrote about the NYCB costume gala... I saw the NYCB costume gala program (not on the gala night). I thought Justin Peck's Pulcinella was very well crafted. It's great to see him tackling Stravinsky, classicism and tutu ballets. In my opinion, the costume gala is always a gamble. One example is Liam Scarlett's duet where the woman is so dwarfed by her costume that the real drama onstage is her fight with her gown. Why cover a ballerina's feet? The yards of ruffles defeated poor Gretchen Smith, while Tiler Peck, even though she's shorter, was able to wrestle the gown to a draw. I'm torn between hoping the costumes for Pulcinella go the way of Kurt Seligmann's costumes for The Four Temperaments (Google it if you've never seen them) and thinking that they might just grow on me. At least in Pulcinella you can see the bodies. I've enjoyed Troy Schumacher's choreography in the past. Someone here said there's a sense of community in the structure of his pieces. I agree. For me, Where the Wind Blows (is that the title?) suffers from the community concept. It leads to a lack of visual and spatial structure. The ballet has too many dancers who are too frequently arranged onstage in seemingly random patterns. I remember one beautiful passage where the dancers lined up lying on the floor like rows and rows of train tracks, reminiscent of Paul Taylor's Esplanade. Aside from that brief section I was usually annoyed that there wasn't any direction about where to look. I distracted myself by trying to count the number of different costumes, as they added to the visual disorder. Some dancers wore dresses, others wore long slacks, others bare legged tunics, others (still with me?) shorts with tights. Color block, stripes, solids, both matte and shimmery fabrics were used. It looked like an entire fall collection rather than the costumes for one ballet. The corps de ballet dancers, as always, were so skilled. I wish someone would help Mr Schumacher with his choices. I teach dance composition, there are assignments that can help him structure the stage space better. He also needs to give the costume designers better instructions. If everyone wore the same thing it could help. Lauren Lovette's Not Our Fate was a relief after that. Black and white costumes; all the men in black pants and white Ts, all the women in fitted black jackets with white skirts. The dancers flew across the stage in swoopy movement full of suspensions and unexpected stops on a dime. The relationships between them were clear, and the partnering for Taylor Stanley and Preston Chamblee's duets truly moving. I hope it stays in the repertory for a bit, it is worth future viewings. Lovette has guts and skill as a choreographer. The NY Times article about same sex partnering and gender neutral casting was well deserved. It's more than a gimmick. It looks modern and revolutionary, as if ballet is finally coming into this century. I thought Lovette's description of the process really astute. She was looking for a movement quality, Taylor had it so she cast him. She said, "So I put two men together. Suddenly, they could just be themselves." Doesn't the best art reveal an unexplored truth?