canbelto

Best: 1. Wendy Whelan's farewell, it truly was the send-off this great ballerina deserved. To see so many NYCB alumni come back that night (Jacque d'Amboise, Allegra Kent, Edward Villela, etc.) along with so many current ballet dancers (David Hallberg, Irina Dvorovenko, Gillian Murphy) brought a lump to my throat. 2. ABT's Cinderella (Ashton). What a wonderful ballet, please keep it in the repertory. 3. Mikhailovsky Ballet: Again, please come back to NYC soon! It's nice to see that with all the ethnic/nationalistic tensions in Russia there's a top ballet company that is ethnically and physically diverse, yet dance with the uniform style so prized among balletomanes. Flames of Paris was tons of fun. 4. The Bolshoi in Spartacus: resistance is futile. 5. NYCB, every night: it's so rare to have a ballet company where you can buy a ticket any night of the week and be confident that there won't be a badly danced performance. Worst: Bolshoi's Swan Lake. Truly an atrocious version of the ballet. Please, the company deserves better. Wild horses couldn't drag me back to see the Grigorovich version. Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews departures: Natalia Osipova: not her technical skills, which remain amazing, but her hard, charmless performances with the Mikhailovsky. She used to dance with so much more joy.

Hmm, per Tiler's public instagram, she's currently headed to Paris to see her husband. So ... it must be a quick trip if she has to be back by Friday.

The Mariinsky Jewels is a mixed bag. The camera work is horrid, often employing on the "eagle" cam that swoops in with sudden closeups of dancers. Lopatkina/Zelensky are a highlight in Diamonds and worth watching by themselves but Rubies is IMO horrible. Irina Golub and Sofia Gumerova were maybe the worst combo. They completely don't get the jazzy rhythm of the work. I saw the Mariinsky do this with Olesia Novikova who would have been much preferable.

ABT hasn't produced many long lasting hit ballets in recent years no matter who the choreographer is. James Kudelka's Cinderella was junked and replaced with the tried and true Ashton version. The Sleeping Beauty ... Never could iron out its problems and now it's being replaced by Ratmamsky. I honestly think the lack of hits beyond the dependable classics has a lot to do with the artistic decisions of Kevin McKenzie. There's turnover in the corps, a very rigid casting policy, and, judging from exit interviews, low morale. You can't make miserable, unhappy dancers look like a great company and I think that's what a lot of it is.

You said: You said it was "puzzling" that Woetzel would invite Copeland considering the "very white and very rich" Vail residents, but then chalked it up to"curiosity factor"? This isn't like that scene from Show Boat at the St. Louis World Fair where a gaggle of folks look at the "curiosity" African warriors.

Yeah but why would "very white and very rich" people necessarily be less interested in a well-known dance festival simply because there was a minority dancer?

I didn't realize being "very white and very rich" would prevent anyone from attending a dance program with minority dancers. I also didn't realize that Misty's fans in NYC were "underprivileged." I mean, how would you know simply by attending a performance with a large group of her fans?

The grand pas de deux is awkward because I think Ratmansky took the "child imagines herself grown up" part too literally. The pas de deux has the ballerina crying, and then playing peek-a-boo. It might work as a concept (that the ballerina is acting exactly how a child might act) but it's very awkward the times I've seen it danced.

Hmm, I don't know, I remember when the ABT first played at BAM, I saw lots of families. BAM is also by Barclay's Center, which routinely sells out. And BAM has lots of stuff that sells out. Shakespeare productions, the annual visit by William Christie's orchestra. I don't think it's as simple as location. I think for whatever reason the Nutcracker was just not that popular with audiences. Not as aggressively kid-friendly as the Balanchine version, but the choreography in Act 2 is somewhat weak and thus it doesn't attract the hardcore dance fans. Either way it's depressing because this is the season that they've actually mixed up the casting somewhat and there are some debuts. I'd hate to think the dancers are going to perform to a mostly-empty house.

I went to the Sunday matinee performance. Last performance of the run and there looked to be some fatigue setting in -- Vasiliev and Osipova's overhead lifts weren't as long as they usually are, and Osipova almost took a spill at the end of her diagonal in Act One but saved it. Vasiliev again did his by-now familiar split leaps during curtain calls. If you wanted fifth position this was not the performance to be at, but a likable performance and I had fun. This is a charming company and I hope they return to NY soon.

Wow, I just checked now and it seems they've discounted them even more. There are now loads of $29 orchestra seats available. It honestly is depressing.

Kennedy Center casting is up, which might give some clues about the TBA Swan Lake and also who is 100% coming on tour: https://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=BPBSG

So I saw what's available for the ABT Nutcracker and am shocked. Basically, everything. Seats have been heavily discounted throughout the house (I remember paying loads more for a back of the mezzanine seat when this show first opened), and still the whole run is unsold. I had wondered why shows hadn't shown up to Goldstar or some other usual suspects but then it occurred to me that they really can't discount $35 tickets even more. It's depressing.

I'm saying he inserted the T&V steps into the variation with the Minkus music.

Lebedev did something I've never seen any dancer do -- he inserted that infamous killer sequence from Balanchine's T&V into his Don Q variation. You know the double tour/pirouette sequence that makes dancers look like they're dying. I certainly have never seen a dancer willingly put himself through that variation, and certainly not in Don Q. Loved it.

Here's a nice video of the Flames of Paris premiere in NYC, Russian language only. http://www.vesti.ru/videos/show/vid/626928/#/video/http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.rutv.ru%2Fiframe%2Fvideo%2Fid%2F1142334%2Fstart_zoom%2Ftrue%2FshowZoomBtn%2Ffalse%2Fsid%2Fvesti%2FisPlay%2Ftrue%2F

So I couldn't help but notice that in the front row of the corps de ballet in Flames of Paris was a dancer of African descent. Very beautiful woman, and she danced wonderfully. I did a little research and found out her name is Olympiada Saurat Alfa N'gobi and she graduated from the Moscow Ballet Academy in 2010: http://www.mikhailovsky.ru/en/theatre/company/corps_de_ballet_f/olympiada_alfa/ Definitely not something you'd expect to see in a Russian company, but she's very beautiful and I wish her a great career.

Well I was at this afternoon's performance and a couple of times Vasiliev looked like he was going to splat but he somehow saved it. The real charmer was Angelina Vorontsova. Really sweet face, technique stronger than what youtube videos suggest, and great winning personality. I'm glad I have a ticket for her Don Q on Friday.

I like Flames of Paris for the very reason that I don't like Les Mis -- I think a lot of French Revolution based art has a tendency to be pretentious and preachy. Flames is like the opposite of that -- it's breezy and campy and fun. There's a little bit of everything -- there's French court dance, there's folk dancing, there's clog dancing, and there's good old fashioned bravura ballet. The score by Asafiev isn't heavy and ponderous but instead it's consistently tuneful and pleasant. And the Mikh performers IMO do this ballet with the right sense of humor. There's no silent movie acting, just a good time had by all. It's like those 1950's MGM musicals.

One thing I noticed about the Mikhailovsky is how diverse the company is compared the the Mariinsky. You see dancers of varying shapes, complexions, and ethnicities. It's a little weird to see a Russian company dance Giselle where a short, somewhat stockier girl is dancing right next to a much taller, thinner girl, but the Mikhailovsky proves that it's not just about aesthetics when choosing a corps -- the dancers are all obviously trained with similar schooling, and so despite the differences in shapes and looks the corps dances as a sisterhood. It's very different from the Mariinsky, with their army of girls who look like they've all been selected to fit a certain aesthetic.

I found some vintage Flames clips. I'm actually impressed with how well the Mikhailovsky preserved the spirit of this ballet. The dancing I saw last night very much resembles the dancing in the clips, right down to Ivan Vasiliev having some of the same sloppiness as Chabukiani.

Am I the first one to review this? I thought this ballet was so cheesy, but also fun once you got in the mood. I know it's supposed to be a reconstruction of the Vainonen original but considering how short it is, I wonder how much of the ballet got "lost" over the years. I loved this cheerful, happy depiction of the French Revolution. In a way it makes sense that Stalin loved this ballet so much -- I've never seen a ballet so cavalier about deaths. There are FOUR onstage murders in this ballet (I counted), but all that bloodshed is apparently forgotten a minute later when the whole stage lights up in a blaze of happy folk dancing and flag waving. My favorite example of this cheerful attitude is the character of Therese, the basque dancer. She brings the house down in a justifiably famous basque dance, then somehow she winds up in the Versailles. Then a minute later she's dead. But who cares? We won the Revolution and before anyone can say "R.I.P. Therese" it's time for some more happy dancing! Yay! I can just picture Uncle Joe watching this ballet. "Oh she died." "Who cares? A million people died today. Let's dance!" As for the dancers, they weren't perfect but they were right for this ballet. Ivan Vasiliev's (Philippe) ballet vocabulary seems to consist entirely of barrel turns, double/triple tours en l'air, and ... uh, that's about it? He's sloppy -- his landings often result in a loud thud on the floor and forget and fourth of fifth position -- if he's anywhere near vertical that's already refined by his standards. His physique is thick and honestly kind of lumpy. But he gets the crowd going and he can lift ballerinas like paper, and that's what this role needs. Oksana Bondareva (Jeanne) is one of those ballerinas where she steps onstage, and you think, "ok, she can crank out fouettes until tomorrow morning." You see those tough turned-in ankles and you know. And crank those fouettes out she did -- a bunch with her free leg extended a la seconde, and then a bunch more doubles and triples. She's clearly a "spunky" dancer, great for Kitri and this kind of stuff. Not very graceful but she gets the job done. The secondary couple of Diana and Antoine were more interesting. Irina Perren is that ballerina you always encounter in these Russian tours -- refined, exquisite, and, for reasons known only to the company, not dancing leading roles. I kept thinking she would have been a wonderful Giselle -- why didn't she get to dance one on the tour? I looked at her biography and saw that she's no spring chicken -- she graduated in 1998 from the Vaganova Academy. She was equally at home in the court divertissement and then in the last act we got to see her in the Freedom pas de deux that consisted entirely of her in a series of one-handed gravity-defying overhead lifts (the lifter was Marat Shemiunov). But even in that small pas de deux, you saw how her arms and hands were in the most exquisite, tapered positions. Leonid Sarafanov in the brief role of Antoine (he gets killed off after about 15 minutes) looked much more comfortable tonight. This role just highlights his superb technique and not his limited acting skills. The real stars though were the folk dancers and in particular the basque dancer Therese (Mariam Ugrekhelidze). My first thought when I saw her was, wow, she's kind of ... large. Not fat, but she has a thick torso and powerful thighs and doesn't look like a ballerina at all. But she could really dance up a storm, and so could the corps de ballet behind her. The other two standouts were Viktor Lebedev and Andrey Yakhnyuk as the Fraternity Brothers. They didn't have much to do besides entrechats but oh my! What beautiful dancers, and what clean beats!

I was at last night's performance. I found it extremely disappointing. The production by Kirov legend Nikita Dolgushin looks out of a 19th century storybook. The peasants weren't wearing generic Giselle peasant frocks, but really lovely, well-designed dresses that suggested that in this village, the mama's are very talented tailors. The scenery was picturesque and I liked how carefully the choreography and blocking separates the noblemen from the peasants. In Act Two Dolgushin included a variation for Myrtha and the Wilis and some extra music in Giselle's initiation scene that are cut from other standard productions of Giselle. I suspect this music was probably in the 1842 version but 86'ed over the years. Dolgushin also included some 19th century theater effects -- moving trees that flew up and down to hide a dramatic "reveal" of a character, and veils on the Wilis that were attached to strings that "magically" flew off. Did it add much to the experience? Not really, but it was different, and you can't see it in other productions. But the performance didn't work. For one, the Mikhailovksy seems to have underestimated how narrow and shallow the Koch Theater stage is -- all that shrubbery in the second act made it hard for the Wilis to dance. The stage was also too brightly lit for both acts -- in Act One, the bright lighting made the whole thing look sort of Disneyish, and in the second act, the bright lighting took away from the spooky ghostliness of the story. Kind of hard to get scared when it all looks like a merry party in the woods. The Mikhailovsky's casting tonight was also off. Natalia Osipova and Leonid Sarafanov are both excellent dancers. They just shouldn't dance together. The chemistry was entirely non-existent. Osipova's Giselle has now acquired some grand diva mannerisms -- her attempts to seem shy and sweet in Act One looked stilted. When Giselle discovers Albrecht's treachery, there's a big moment when Giselle throws off the necklace Bathilde had given her. Most Giselles are able to make this moment very frenzied and even angry. Osipova just calmly picked off the necklace and tossed it on the ground as if she were a prima donna rejecting an unflattering wig. Sarafanov is a simple, boyish, uncomplicated Albrecht. He looked like a teenager playing hooky rather than a caddish count. This might have worked with a Giselle that was naturally childlike, but next to Osipova's Diva it did not work at all. Osipova's dancing was technically magnificent -- her Spessivtseva variation included her making a small circle onstage in the middle of her diagonal on pointe. Her pique turns were so expansive she seemed to be flying across the stage. I thought the lack of personality would be alleviated in Act Two, which contains more pure dancing and less mime and acting, but it was actually worse. Sarafanov and Osipova seemed to be dancing on entirely different planets. On paper they look like a great couple. He can jump, she can jump. And in those simultaneous assembles, boy could you see it. Both flew across the stage and landed in a tight fifth. But they were onstage at the same time, and dancing inches from each other, and yet there was no sense of reconciliation and connection. Instead, both decided to go to the Olympics. Osipova's Giselle still has that incredible ballon and elevation, and her grand jetes don't just soar, they fly to the moon and back. Her initiation turns were so fast they were demented. Her exposed developpes and arabesques were completely still and secure. And those series of backwards entrechats -- no one can hang in the air like Osipova. But beyond those incredible athletic gifts, there was nothing. I've seen her Giselle with David Hallberg. I know she's capable of so much more than she gave tonight. Sarafanov's Albrecht was even more callow in Act Two. His lifts were labored -- there seemed to be some poor timing, as I noticed that Osipova was giving her feet the little "pushoff" before the lift, but Sarafanov seemed to ignore those cues and delay the lift until it looked like he was carrying a lead balloon. His worst misfire was in the series of entrechat sixes that he dances at Myrtha's command. Oh, they were incredible entrechats. Those feet tight and the crosses crisp and fast, and amazing height. But the point of the entrechats is that Myrtha is ordering him to dance till exhaustion. Sarafanov started flying, and the crowd started clapping, and he was so excited that he pumped his fists in the air as Usain Bolt would after the 100 m dash, and decided to go for another round of entrechats. But just as many figure skaters often stumble in the last minute of the long program, Sarafanov overestimated his jumping stamina, and fell out of the entrechats with a messy spill. Gold medal lost, and oh wait, Osipova is already standing upstage, ready to "rescue" Albrecht! I happened to glance upstage and Osipova had the most impatient look on her face as she watched Sarafanov's antics. So Sarafanov had to haul ass and finish out the floating arabesque variation with a visibly pissy Osipova. Awkward city. The strange thing about Osipova and Sarafanov's Giselle Olympiad is that the other dancers seemed to be dancing another ballet altogether. The company as a whole has pleasing manners and grace. Vladimir Tsai (Hilarion) had the virtue of being both better looking than Albrecht and also is played as a gentle giant type. The peasants in Act One formed a merry little community -- they all cheered on Giselle's dancing with a genuine enthusiasm. Veronika Ignatyeva and Andrey Yakhnyuk (peasant pas de deux) had their moments of hesitation but overall invested this often formulaic piece with a winning sweetness and charm. Ekaterina Borchenko (Myrtha) and her Wilis had a beautiful softness and flow. I loved watching their arms and the way they swayed back and forth with the music. Borchenko isn't like the stereotypical Myrtha -- she's not fierce looking and her jump is actually sort of weak. But she and her Wili sisters' graceful romanticism made it believable that these Wilis were heartbroken brides. In fact, I wondered at the end of the evening whether I'd really experienced the Mikhailovsky Giselle at all. Is this what a performance in their home theater would be like? Or are we seeing a "Stars of the Russian Ballet" touring version, with the principals throwing in a dog and pony show because that's how audiences overseas expect Russian dancers to dance? I bought several tickets for the Mikhailovsky. I hope the next performances are better.

Here are some reviews of her dancing: http://articles.latimes.com/1986-05-24/entertainment/ca-7441_1_kirov http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/05/arts/ballet-kirov-at-wolftrap.html

I also like how each assemble is higher than the one before.