canbelto

I saw the last two all-Balanchine performances. They were quite wonderful but standout performances: Ashley Bouder and Andrew Veyette in Raymonda - such beautiful partnering (Sunday) Sara Adams in Variation I of Raymonda - wow did she sail across the stage! (Sunday) Megan Fairchild in Steadfast Tin Solider (Sunday) Daniel Ulbricht as Tin Soldier (Tuesday) the corps de ballet in Couperin (both days) Tiler Peck in Movement 1 of Symphony in C Sara Mearns and Teresa Reichlen in Adagio of Symphony in C Ashley Isaacs in Third Movement of Symphony in C (Tuesday) Lauren Lovette in Raymonda (Tuesday)

I should amend my post and say "in recent history." The fact is, the ABT's never had a feeder school. For as long as I've been attending ABT, it's never had any Petipa classics that weren't severely abridged. Much of the rep originally created for the ABT has been junked or neglected, and it's always relied heavily on borrowing ballets from Ashton, MacMillan, Cranko, Balanchine. The lack of uniformity in training is obvious when you compare them to the NYCB/POB/Mariinsky/Bolshoi. I mean, as I said, there's been many many nights at the ABT which I've enjoyed and considered unforgettable. There are many, many dancers at the ABT that I admire. But in terms of being a real company, I don't think it'll ever happen.

I realize this is going to come across as politically incorrect, but IMO the ABT has never been an artistic institution. It serves as a barebones touring company for people who want to see a Swan Lake or Romeo and Juliet. The real company is New York City Ballet, where the members graduated from the same school, and you can see the results of their day-in-day-out work together as a company. The corps de ballet for ABT is ragged and sloppy, and the turnover rate is so high. Sure it's sad when a talented soloist leaves because they can't dance the peasant pas de deux for the rest of their lives, but I just don't see a change in leadership changing the ABT's structure. That doesn't mean the ABT doesn't provide many memorable evenings of dance. It does. But as an institution it's never had the time or the care to: 1. Devote enough rehearsal time and enough variety in the rep to develop "homegrown" stars. 2. Stop using ridiculous, corrupted versions of the "Petipa classics." 3. Care much about the Met season except as a touristy event. A whole week of Bayaderes? I don't know if anyone can endure a whole week of La Bayadere.

JR is a well-regarded photographer. I think "nontrained, nontalented entity picked up from the street" is a rather harsh way to describe a famous photographer.

I've seen both volumes. Invaluable viewing. Volume 1: Serenade was very exciting to see, particularly because the choreography has changed. I particularly like the old Serenade ending, without the loose hair. Nowadays the NYCB often casts as the lead girl someone who can't exactly dance very well, but does have great blond tresses Orpheus was also very interesting for the more overtly sexual dancing of Violette Verdy. She's kind of curvy in a way modern ballet dancers aren't, and the pas de deux with Nicholas Magallanes sizzled. Volume 2: Concerto Barocco: ladies are in black tunics instead of the white ones. If the DVD only had this, it'd be worth watching. Worth it for a chance to see Tanny LeClercq in a lead role, dancing with Jacque d'Amboise. Pas de Six: kind of disappointing, because it's very poorly filmed, with awkward camera angles (Maria Tallchief is often cut off at the waist). Amazing to see her bold striking features and strong, almost masculine dancing. (I mean this in a good way -- her leg muscles are so toned and she is so imperious.) Agon: it's of course wonderful to see the original cast. However, the long pas de deux between Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell is much more clinical and not "sexy" the way it often is today. It's more about moving limbs in geometric shapes. I have seen footage of the pas de deux done only a few years later with Allegra Kent and Arthur Mitchell that WAS rather overtly sexy, so maybe this was just Diana Adams' personality? Nutcracker pas de deux: Wow, the Cavalier's variation is included! When was it cut?

Here's a video of Joseph Phillips at "Stars of Russian Ballet" gala. Big fish, small pond I guess???

If Balanchine wasn't all that fond of the music of Giselle, he did always speak VERY fondly of two very famous Giselles, Olga Spessivtseva and Tamara Karsavina, and his memories of watching them when he was a student at the Mariinsky. I think he respected the "classics" more than he cared to say. Of course he wanted to promote his vision of classical ballet but his memories of watching the Mariinsky when he was young seemed sacred to him.

I admire Wolcott and Jacobs' writing but can't really take anything they say about Veronika Part seriously. It doesn't sound just like purple prose gushing, it's like purple prose gushing with a dash of Victorian love letters with their endless gushing and superlatives.

This is like a serious question. Are the Grigorovuch productions really that popular in Moscow? I can understand Spartacus in all it's Soviet superman glory but do balletomanes really eat up his Swan Lake (with the weird Evil Genius and odd musical arrangements) or Giselle (which makes nonsense of much of the first act's dramaturgy)?

This was probably a wise move financially. The Ratmansky Nut has its considerable charms, but it simply wasn't selling the way the NYCB was. I'm sure on tour it will be a big hit.

Vasiliev's kind of a gala performer. For a gala, it's hard to top his huge split leaps and barrel turns and what not. But I've seen him in full-lengths where the tricks wear thin after three acts. Osipova's a much more complete, diverse dancer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2551693/Ballets-new-boy-wonder.html

Based on recent comments O&V have made about each other in the press, I'd proceed with caution about buying tickets that have joint appearances.

Her Odile. I like it much more. I love the fact that she did the double frappes in the variation:

Having heard great things about Stepanova I must admit I found the clip disappointing. The unsteadiness of her free leg was surprising, as was the lack of musicality. She seemed to be going from pose to pose without any inner life, and the iconic steps weren't well articulated. In particular, those final beats on the leg in the White Swan pas de deux were hardly done at all. Her jump also seems very weak. But it is a first-night performance and I can only imagine the nerves. I have no doubt she will grow in this role.

My hope is for the two Laurens -- Lovette and King. Both of them have a real special, charming quality.

I saw it. I wouldn't recommend making a special trip to see it. It's "nice" but that's about it. The music is not very inspired, and the choreography and story are a bit trite. The dancers are strong but they don't have much to do besides look pretty, to be honest. It's not one of Ratmansky's stronger works IMO.

The NYCB leaves the Act 3 divertissements pretty much intact so let's hope the ABT's new version also does this.

I am so saddened to hear this. My condolences to Carley's family. Carbro always had the nicest, most positive reviews. You could tell she genuinely loved dance and dancers.

Well he looked out of gas yesterday. Maybe today some of his variations can be cut? That's the only way I could think they could make it easier for him, poor guy.

Well I saw yesterday's performance of Coppelia with Tiler Peck and Andrew Veyette. Awesome, lively performance from Peck. Her musicality really helps her in the second act. She used her limbs as weapons, and timed each "doll" movement so it matched the music exactly. Veyette looked tired and labored but I heard he had subbed for de Luz the night before. The production is as charming as ever and wish they'd do it more often. I actually prefer it to the ABT production. The third act featured so many SAB kids who were so well-trained and cute.

It's an interesting review but she seems to have a mindset that a more abstract, Romanticized Giselle is the better way to do it, and concrete dramaturgy is not appropriate. I'm not sure I agree.

Jenifer Ringer has a pretty long interview with Time-Out on her retirement: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/jenifer-ringer-talks-about-leaving-new-york-city-ballet

I think most critics have their set likes and dislikes, and one of Macauley's known dislikes is overtly "sexy" pas de deux between a man and a woman that doesn't fit his aesthetic. I think that's what he meant by "heterosexual partnering." He goes more into it later on: It's this kind of choreography that he dislikes and he's pretty consistent about the reasons why he dislikes it. I don't think he's being unreasonable in the sense that ballet is an art form dominated by personal aesthetic. If he doesn't like seeing something onstage, he's entitled to explain why he doesn't like it. Think this is one of his best reviews. He doesn't make snide snippy comments about dancers and instead focuses pretty specifically about the ballet.

Tiler Peck/Robert Fairchild Diana Vishneva/Marcelo Gomes