canbelto

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that there's a practical but not health or morality related reason for dancers to not smoke -- long term smoking causes wrinkles and premature aging. There's a reason so many youngish Hollywood stars undergo Botox.

I thought the re-transmission of Swan Lake was by far the Bolshoi's poorest showing in their HD series. I could find very little value either in Grigorovich's production or Alexandrova's Odette/Odile. I was so disappointed. I thought I had sat through some bad productions of Swan Lake until I saw Grigorovich's. An absolutely unmusical butchering of the score, robbed the ballet of any poetry or meaning. Ugh on all levels.

Wow at the Vaganova Shades!

Actually I don't think there are many differences between the NYCB version and the ABT version, in terms of choreography, mime, and stage business. Even Act Three, which Balanchine "rechoreographed", is recognizably the same ballet as the ABT's, and it's also recognizably the same ballet as the Bolshoi reconstruction that I saw in HD. I think if there's any difference between the NYCB and ABT versions it's that in recent years, the NYCB dances this like a real unified company. The ABT can usually get good leads in Swanilda and Franz, but after that the soloist variations and corps work is not really at the NYCB's level. Swanilda and Franz are not big enough dancing roles that they can sort of carry a ballet, the way a good O/O or Giselle/Albrecht can make you forget everything else, and that's another problem with the ABT's version.

I don't smoke, but agree that these dancers are adults and it's their business. I also wonder if dancers smoking has to do with being so tired in class, rehearsal, etc. So what's a foolproof way of giving their toes a rest? A smoke break! I only say this because I know some people in high-pressure/long hours jobs, and most of them smoke. Many of them say it's the only time their boss isn't constantly haggling them over conference calls and the blackberry to do this, do that. Their cigarette breaks are their alone time.

I could write about Bournonville jumps all day. I love the way his dancers will do the same jump but alternate their arm positions -- they stereotypical Bournonville jump has the dancers with their arms firmly at their hips in first position. But then the dancers will open their arms to second position, and then in the third jump, snap them triumphantly in fifth, as if to say, "I did it!" The other Bournonville jump I love is the way the dancers grande jete. Most dancers around the world nowadays do it the "Russian" way, with the forward leg shooting out like an arrow, and the backward leg pulled straight. The impression is of a dancer pushing himself upwards and forward in the air. The Danes have the trailing leg bent in a low attitude. It gives the impression of a dancer not pushing himself into the air, but rather effortlessly sailing through space. The dancer's body in motion makes a beautiful arc. The best dancers will hang in the air, mid-jump, to demonstrate their ballon. Their arms will rise, to make sure the audience sees the amazing feat. And the dancers will somehow always land on the downbeat of the music, to finish the musical phrase. Enchanting.

I went to this afternoon's performance of La Sylphide + Napoli, Act Three. Suffice to say it was absolutely worth seeing. It was such a great overall performance that I could probably write about it forever, and still miss details of why it was so great. First of all, it was my first time seeing the Royal Danish Ballet live, and I don't know what I really expected of them, but they shattered every pre-conceived notion I had of them as a quaint, charming little company. It is true that the Bournonville style can look old-fashioned, but the dancing itself was not for a minute stilted or fossilized. It was wonderfully alive, and this was true from the mime characters to the corps de ballet to the lead dancers. I've heard the Danish style called "modest" so many times it's become a cliche, but when you see them in Napoli you realize they're thankfully not as modest as you expected. For instance, in the middle of the most frenetic dances, I often saw the male soloists hang in the air, as time stopped still and one wondered how they defied gravity. La Sylphide opened the program. The RDB production is absolutely beautiful to look at, very realistic in its depiction of a Scottish home in Act One and a forest for Act Two. Very often I think the State Theater stage looks shallow and prosaic, but the Danes figured out a way to give it depth and grandeur. The beautiful lighting helped, as did the proportioned sets that weren't simply one layer after another of curtain drops. Act Two's forest was particularly beautiful. But one doesn't really go to the ballet to look at the sets. It was the dancing that made this very old ballet come alive. Marcin Kupinski was the James, and he doesn't really have the ballon that I saw in some of the other men, but his James was still sympathetic, stylish, and he had a strong but not flashy technique. This production telegraphed the ennui that James felt in ways I've never seen in other productions. For instance, when Effy (Louise Ostergaard) first sees her fiance, she mimes "What's wrong with you?" and then touches him on the forehead and heart. She knows that James' mind and heart are elsewhere. When James is thinking of the Sylph, he soars in the air in a series of cabrioles, first with arms held at the hips in first position, then opening up in second position, and finally snapping them triumphantly in fifth. But when he's with Effy, he joins her in a hard, earthbound Scottish folk dance and looks glum and unhappy the whole time. The implication is clear -- ballet is an expression of the soul, of what can't exist in mundane life. When I first saw Susanne Grinder I thought she looked too tall, too elongated, too modern, to be the Sylph. I imagine most Sylphs to be tiny, just as most Giselles to this day remain petite. But then she started dancing, and the doubts melted away. She too has that great jump and ballon, and also an innocent but aloof stage presence that really gets to the heart of this ballet. Grinder's mime was clear and well-articulated, especially the final sequence where she sadly told James how he had killed her with the scarf. The only thing I wish was that her leg was a little more secure in arabesque -- in Act Two there were a couple wobbles that detracted from the ethereal image of the leg floating upwards effortlessly. Madge is a great mime role, the grandmother of Carabosse and Mette Bodcher was a wonderful old hag. She wasn't over the top or hammy, which made her that much more frightening. When the girls lined up for their fortunes she took evident delight in miming their fates. Alexander Staeger as Gurn looked like he was auditioning for James. He, unlike Kupinski, does have that unique ability to hang in the air before landing. The corps de ballet was stunning in the Act One folk dance and in Act Two as the band of sylphs. Act Three of Napoli I thought nothing could top La Sylphide, but after a rather lengthy intermission the curtain came up on Act Three of Napoli, which until now I'd only seen on video. Video though is nothing compared to the real thing, where the vitality of the Neapolitan spirit seems perfectly captured in time by the severe and moralistic Danish ballet master. Nikolaj Hubbe's new production has been updated to the 1950s, but except for some 1950's clothes on the spectators and the final image being of Teresina and Gennaro on a scooter, this is basically the same "everybody let's dance" Napoli that people know and love. What a fun, exhilarating pure-dance spectacle it is! The three main set pieces are the pas de six, the tarantella, and the finale, in which the whole stage (including the old and the young) seems to explode together in a whirlwind of dancing. Amy Watson was the Teresina and Alban Lendorf the Gennaro, and both were absolutely delightful. Lendorf had the most ballon of anyone in the cast, and that's saying a lot. The whole cast was, really, but the real star was Bournonville's choreography. The finale practically makes you want to bang a tambourine and jump onstage and dance. It's a shame the Royal Danish Ballet hardly ever tours in the United States. This one experience left me feeling like Oliver Twist. Please sir, I want some more.

I saw last night's cast and had a great time. Osipova is just about perfect as Swanilda -- of course great at jumping and turning, but in Act Two, also able to ham it up as the nightmare doll. Simkin was delightful as Franz, although he had some partnering problems in Act Three. I was really disappointed however in the soloist and corps de ballet work. Not a world-class company by any means judging from last night. Simone Messmer was surprisingly blah as Dawn. Hee Seo, whom I usually look forward to seeing, was disappointing as Prayer. Her leg shook whenever she tried to raise it in arabesque or developpe, and the wobbles detracted from the line of this dancer's gorgeously tapered legs and arched feet. The most disappointing was the corps de ballet, that looked so energized just this Tuesday in Bright Stream. Tonight, the bad old ABT corps habits were back -- the line formations that aren't straight, the lack of coordination in movements, the dissimilar port te bras, the legs that aren't held at the same height, the heavy, leaden, low-energy dancing. The corps girls don't even bother to end a musical phrase at the same time -- often, one girl's leg will fall as the other starts to rise in arabesque. Swanilda's friends and the Czardas in Act One were particularly ragged.

My favorite NYC movie is Taxi Driver, in which the city almost becomes another character in Travis's descent to madness.

I go to the ABT regularly but it's not really a great classical company. The lack of uniformity among the corps de ballet and principals is an automatic demerit, as is the truncated and often cheesy productions of "the classics" that they perform (their Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty are awful). They rely a lot on guest artists for their spring season, and their famous male roster is thinning rapidly.

Actually I think Rubies is one of the most cast-variable ballets of Balanchine. With the right cast, it can really be very fun, hip, and sexy, but with the wrong cast, it can also look forced, cliched, and almost a parody of "jazz Balanchine." I didn't see Hyltin, but I saw the Rubies cast this year with Megan Fairchild and Joaquin de Luz, and Fairchild has the steps but not really the Rubies personality. The whole section fell very flat. I've also seen it with Bouder where she was dynamite onstage.

Well, after having been the NYCB more times this season than I've ever been in any season, I can just say that it's such a joy to see so much Balanchine danced so well.

I kind of liked the simple, "tractor ballet" looking sets. It gave it a sort of Soviet touch, if that makes sense, that is most appropriate for this ballet.

I was also at this afternoon's performance, and it was enough to lift my mood from miserable (pre-performance) to happy (post-performance). Really wonderful ensemble piece, and Shostakovich's score is just a delight from beginning to end. This is also the perfect ballet for a smaller company like the ABT. The corps de ballet, which often looks so ragged in Swan Lake or Giselle, looked great today. The whole company seemed happy to be dancing, and it was overall just a wonderful and entertaining way to spend an afternoon. Ratmansky's choreography is one big reason to see this ballet. It's consistently funny, charming, and keeps the audience cheering. Farmers do cartwheels, dancers ride a bicycle while posed in arabesque, a man dances in a Sylph costume (and the diminutive Danil Simkin was weirdly convincing not just as a man-in-drag on pointe, but as an actual Sylph), and the role for the Ballerina gently parodies the famously muscular Bolshoi style. In other words, it's the perfect role for Natalia Osipova, who throws herself into the role with her usual gusto. Her amazing jump never ceases to astonish, and at one point she hurled herself in the air across the stage into Vasiliev's arms (echoes of Kitri), but she also made herself fit into this ensemble ballet. Her rapport with Reyes (Zina) was unexpectedly genuine, and Osipova when dancing with Reyes toned down some of her more extreme extensions and explosive power to fit Reyes' more low-key style. Reyes in turn seemed energized by Osipova's presence and danced with more gusto and less cutesiness than I've ever seen her. Susan Jones was also very funny as the Anxious-to-be-Younger-Than-She-Is Dacha Dweller. She earned well-deserved applause for pushing herself on pointe. The men were equally strong as the women. Ivan Vasiliev as Pyotr wowed the crowd with his barrel turns and lightning fast pirouettes and huge jumps, but he also made the character delightfully boyish and endearing. The fact that he's easy on the eyes helps. This Pyotr isn't so much an intentionally philandering husband as a misbehaving child. His pas de deux with a disguised Zina was a highlight. Danil Simkin as the Ballet Dancer in the second act has one of the funniest pieces of choreography, as he disguises himself as a Ballerina and dances a pas de deux with the Old Dacha Dweller (Clinton Luckett). Ratmansky has the Sylph parody parts of Giselle, Les Sylphides, and even Apollo (the famous "swimming" moment). Simkin danced on pointe with no notable strain, and as I mentioned earlier, his small frame and androgynous looks made him believable as a Ballerina. He even executed a nice double pirouette. Craig Salstein almost stole the show in the first act as an accordion player. I could go on about the ballet, but the bottom line is: it's just so damned fun. So if you're in a bad mood because of a guy, work, an expired ATM card, anything, just go to Bright Stream, and your day will seem brighter.

Macauley's review of both Vishneva and Cojocaru's Giselle is up: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/arts/dance/american-ballet-theaters-giselle-at-the-met-review.html

It really was a great night at the ballet. It's amazing that NY audiences got to see, two nights in a row, maybe the two best Giselles there are in the world right now. Diana Vishneva's Giselle is absolutely unique -- it really has to be experienced to be believed. From the moment she steps out her cottage, Vishneva brings a kind of moody intensity to the role that can't be topped. Think Giselle is a pretty ballet about a girl who dies for love? Vishneva will make you think again. This Giselle will stare emptily at the ground, as if lost in her own world. When she did the Spessivtseva variation, in her hops on pointe she turned towards Albrecht, in an almost erotic exhibition of this girl's love of dance. Seeing Albrecht and Bathilde together will unhinge her so much that her hair falls out while she's breaking them apart, not when she falls to the ground. In the mad scene she bumped into Bathilde before making a curtsy, with a completely blank, demented look on her face. When she mimed the "he loves me, he loves me not" bit in the Mad Scene, she mimed herself angrily tearing up the flower. Vishneva now conserves some energy for Act Two, but the basic outline of her Giselle hasn't changed over the years (I've now seen it three times). She has a doll-like face and is petite and pretty, but emphasizes the serious, dark side to this ballet. Vishneva in Act Two is still probably the most intense, well-rounded characterization I've seen of the role. When Myrtha initiates her as a Wili, Vishneva sudden dropped her head to the ground and started turning furiously, really possessed. Natalia Osipova's turns might have been faster, but they had a lightness to them that left a completely different impression. Vishneva was stern and unsettling, as she never lifted her eyes, never let you forget that this was a ghost. Her eyes remained downcast for the entire second act, even when she did the developpes or the bunny hops. She wore a huge white skirt with many layers that flew in every which direction, and her eyes were drawn with dark eyeshadow. There was a wraith-like quality to Vishneva's Giselle that was frightening. She used her long arms to create an impression of a complete ghost, as she often would whirl her arms in different directions as she danced. When she grand jeted across the stage, she pounded her feet hard. One great example of a dancer reworking a role to suit her strengths -- Vishneva doesn't have the effortless, airy jump of, say, Alina Cojocaru, so she even makes her jumps fierce and forbidding. Diana had wonderful chemistry with Marcelo Gomes, the Albrecht, who brought his own moody intensity to the ballet. Technically he was superb, but he made the dancing serve the drama, just like Vishneva. In Act One when Giselle expired in his arms Gomes visibly panicked more than any other Albrecht I've seen. When Myrtha commanded him to dance, he did a series of entrechat sixes that moved closer and closer to Myrtha, as if drawn by some sinister spirit. Gomes was a great partner -- he lifted Vishneva as if she were paper. Perhaps the greatest moment of last night's Giselle was when the clock struck four, and Albrecht was saved. Gomes carried Vishneva to her grave, and all of a sudden Vishneva let all life drain out of her. Her arms and legs dropped lifelessly, and all of a sudden Albrecht was carrying a corpse. It was spooky and scary. Vishneva then repeatedly crossed her arms whenever Albrecht tried to touch her, really as an untouchable spirit. She bourreed farther and farther away, and then she was gone. She never looked at him. Vishneva and Gomes made Giselle an unsettling, unforgettable gothic love story. Veronika Part as the Queen of the Wilis was tall, stern, commanding, and really Vishneva and Part together made for one scary stage. Myrtha is one of Part's best roles -- it takes advantage of her strengths (her commanding appearance, the surprising lightness of her jumps), and she really has the role perfected. The imperious sweep of her arms as she commands her intendants, Giselle, and Albrecht was something else. Maria Riccetto and Jared Matthews gave one of those "nothing special" performances of the peasant pas de deux. If Diana Vishneva's Giselle was so ghostly that it made your hair curl, Alina Cojocaru, David Hallberg, and Stella Abrera (subbing for an injured Gillian Murphy) made Giselle a kinder, gentler ballet. Cojocaru is naturally sweet and waif-like, Hallberg a sort of blond prince whose elegance of dancing is accompanied by a nice guy stage persona. The two of them were adorable in Act One. It was puppy-love at its most endearing -- I loved the way they giggled together while sitting on the bench. Their dances together had the joy and spring of young love. Cojocaru was really believable as a peasant too, not just as a ballerina posing as a peasant. Her hair was almost casually pulled behind her head with some flowers, and she smiled and curtsied to everyone with a winning artlessness. In the Mad Scene she didn't really run around the stage and swoon dramatically, but often stood or sat alone, arms folded, crying, like a teenager. In Act Two, Cojocaru and Hallberg made it a continuation of their love story in Act One, rather than a shocking contrast (as Vishneva and Gomes made Act Two). They touched each other gently throughout the ballet blanc. It almost felt like in Act Two, this Giselle and Albrecht finally consummated their relationship. The same white Giselle costume looked ghostly on Vishneva but looked like a wedding dress on Cojocaru. Cojocaru was not really wraith-like -- this was the same sweet girl of Act One. Whereas Vishneva had her eyes downcast the entire act, Cojocaru often looked upwards, as if drawn by some kind of divine, benevolent force. Cojocaru and Hallberg embraced tightly when the clock struck four. Cojocaru did something I've never seen any other Giselle do -- she steered Albrecht away from her grave until the last possible musical cue, at which point she all of a sudden stopped and bourreed offstage, but not before dropping a daisy center stage. This Giselle simply could not be morbid, even in death. Giselle was very uplifting when Cojocaru and Hallberg danced it -- two lovers who cannot be together in life reunite in the afterlife. Cojocaru has had a number of injuries, and there were moments where she visibly had difficulty with the technical demands of the ballet. One such moment was the Spessivtseva variation. Cojocaru's feet are disfigured by bunions, and I imagine this kind of pounding on pointe must be extremely painful. For a moment I thought she simply would not do the variation, as she stopped onstage and seemed frozen. But she grimly did the hops across the stage, but not traveling very far. Her arms were gripped tightly to her side. She stopped around center-stage and to everyone's relief went to the pique turns that end the variation. In Act Two, she had a wonderful lightness of movement and an airy jump, but I notice she was careful with the series of backward-traveling entrechats. Her initiation as a Wili didn't have the breakneck fury of Vishneva, but Cojocaru is able to make everything so enchanting. She accelerated her turns, and made the audience forget that she was doing less actual rotations. Cojocaru took advantage of what she does have -- namely, exquisite flexibility, grace, elevation and lightness. Even her bourress are so silky she drew applause just for bourreeing offstage. She brought her own personality to the ballet -- Cojocaru was the most lovable Giselle I've ever seen. You practically wanted to run onstage and give this Giselle a hug. Whereas Vishneva made her arms spooky looking, Cojocaru always had her arms tilted in these series of soft Romantic poses. David Hallberg complemented Cojocaru beautifully. His Albrecht is not really a cad, just a good-looking and somewhat careless playboy. He's much taller than Cojocaru, but their body line matched each other and they looked born to dance together. In Act Two, Hallberg was the same as he was with Natalia Osipova two years ago -- somewhat reserved, but inspired to dance beautifully. Whereas Gomes collapsed by Myrtha's feet, Hallberg looked like he could have danced all night without collapsing. His less Byronic portrayal would have clashed terribly with Vishneva's Grimm Brothers approach to the ballet, but it matched Cojocaru's softer approach perfectly. He's really a very elegant-looking dancer, and he and Gomes are really stepping up to the plate this season as the ABT's male roster seems to be disappearing. Stella Abrera stepped in for an injured Gillian Murphy and she's a beautiful dancer, but I kept thinking that this was a Giselle rather than a Myrtha. She didn't have the block-like torso and imperious "queenly" look of most Myrthas. Hee Seo was a standout as Zulma, really beautiful and elegant. Danil Simkin and Sarah Lane in the peasant pas de deux were technically impressive in their variations but had some visible partnering problems. At this point he's too skinny and scrawny and short to partner most ballerinas, even if he is a technical wunderkind. One last thing -- the curtain calls. Both Vishneva and Cojocaru took them "in character." Vishneva stared moodily at the stage, her face stern and her eyes blank, for all of the curtain calls. She never looked up at the cheering audience, and never dropped character. Cojocaru on the other hand echoed the low curtsies and shy smiles of *her* Giselle. They were both works of art.

It was a gorgeous performance. Others have already mentioned the chemistry between Gomes and Vishneva. I think Vishneva now is at a point in her career where she has to conserve some energy in Act One so she can blow us away in Act Two. As a result her Act One is tamer, not the "wild girl" of a few years ago, but very beautiful and touching nevertheless. Her Mad Scene is always a thing of wonder, she seems completely disembodied, and I love how she makes her hair fall apart when she's breaking up Bathilde and Albrecht. In Act Two I thought both Gomes and Vishneva were magnificent. Their pas de deux was just beautiful. He lifted her like she was paper, and at various points he drew her closer to his body. Gomes did a series of wonderful entrechat sixes when ordered by Myrtha to dance, and I love the way he traveled upstage, closer and closer to Myrtha, as if being drawn by her power. Vishneva's initiation scene is also a wonder -- the way she suddenly starts turning furiously, as if really possessed, sets the stage for the entire act. She appears so wraith-like -- her arms start to float and even fly in every direction, as if this was really a spirit dancing. And when the clock strikes four I have never seen such a sudden transformation of Giselle. This Giselle crossed her arms every time Albrecht tried to touch her, as she bourreed back to the grave. Just a haunting end to a beautiful performance. I thought Veronika Part as Myrtha gave one of her best performances. Really implacable and commanding. Not even heartless, just the Boss and thus even more frightening. The corps de ballet tonight looked on, after looking so raggedy last week.

Cojocaru had some troubles, including a bad spill out of the diagonal turns at the end of her Act One variation, but I liked her gutsiness for the rest of the performance. In the grand pas de deux she did some unusual-looking fishdives and held some very long balances, and in the coda she insisted on a series of doubles, and ended on a triple. All the while you could see the protruding bunions and sickled left foot. She's had the worst injuries, but still insists on giving it her all, and I respect that. She could have showed up, waved her fan a lot, and the audience probably would have been charmed. I agree though that this probably wasn't her best role. I'm really looking forward to her Giselle. Carreno at this point is a better partner than he is a soloist, but I thought he was still elegant and could do cavalier roles like Siegfried for a couple more seasons. I thought Riccetto had a very off-night. She had trouble with her Dryad variation. She seemed to have trouble both getting her leg in the developpe position and completing the rotation for the Italian fouettes. She was also kind of small-scaled as Mercedes. Gennadi Saveliev was totally bland as Espada, and so were the corps de ballet. They just seemed slow and not very enthusiastic. The Anti-Natalie team of Sarah Lane and Isabella Boylston were totally charming as the Flower Girls. Loved them.

I was also at last night's performance. I left after Antique Epigraphs. I thought the three muses were phenomenal. Finlay was less comfortable partnering them than he was last week with Scheller, Peck, and Hyltin as the muses, and he also slipped and almost fell in both his solos. But I thought the more "grown up muses" added a new dimension to his portrayal -- this Apollo all of sudden really was a boy-god learning from more experienced women. His chemistry with Kowroski was great, and that Reichlen, Mearns, and Kowroski just glowed as the muses. Mearns especially has such a way of articulating all the steps in this unique, grand style. I loved the noisy ovations after Apollo. Afternoon of a Faun was also fantastic. Craig Hall - why don't we see him more? He and Taylor were very sensual in their pas de deux, and I always love watching Taylor. Just the way she grand plies on the barre after her entrance -- able to make so much out of such a simple move. Loved this mood piece. I can't say too much about Antique Epigraphs because last night was the first time ever seeing this ballet, but Sara Mearns again shined in her solo. At this point I'd pay good money to see her dance the electric slide.

Well I'm happy that this happened if only because I'm getting tired of the idea that only a certain type of dancer can dance O/O. Tall, incredibly thin, long-limbed, with "queenly" features. I was watching the 1968 video with Yelena Yeteyeva the other day and despite the cheesy special effects and horrific cuts, you could tell that back then at the Mariinsky, one didn't have to look like Uliana Lopatkina to get a shot at O/O. Now that aesthetic is so engrained at the Mariinsky it's depressing.

I had this to write about the acting:

Also, my mom adored the book and movie, and we bonded watching the movie or talking about the book. My mom loves Scarlett, as do I, although I love Rhett more. We always both talk about how we want to reach through the screen to slap Scarlett every time she's rude to Rhett. Yeah, you could say I come from a family of GWTW enthusiasts. About the movie, I think of course that Vivien Leigh's performance is deservedly a classic, but I also think Clark Gable captured the tough/tender Rhett perfectly.

I absolutely adore both the novel and the movie. It's been a long time since I read the novel but I remember thinking that the movie was a very faithful adaptation of a very long novel, in general. Rhett and Scarlett always have a special place in my heart, and the romantic in me believes that they will get back together if not tomorrow, then eventually. The blu-ray edition of the movie is spectacular, and for not so much you can get a three-disc "Scarlett edition" which contains tons of bonuses.

Sterling Hyltin and Tiler Peck in Apollo? Mearns in Concerto Barocco? Bouder in Square Dance! My credit card will die a disastrous death.

Fascinating, and completely disheartening. The cold rigidity, superficial 'technique', and diva mannerisms which make Lopatkina's dancing so mediocre are also, it is clear, deeply ingrained in her personality. Resistance is not the word; willful rigidity and an utter refusal to be COACHED or TAUGHT is the phrase. Does she think Makarova was born yesterday and has no pedigree? is she really ignorant enough to think she has nothing to learn from one of the great Russian ballerinas of the 20th century? Now I understand why Lopatkina was so DREADFUL in the Bizet Adagio I saw her dance--she has not a clue, and thinks she knows everything. At one point Makarova urges Lopatkina to hold Siegfried closer to her body, and Lopatkina says, "I don't LIKE that! I don't like our elbows touching." That little moment said a lot.