canbelto

Summerspace has never really left the repertory. NYCB just revived it. I think Cunningham's dance vocabulary will live on in modern choreographers. His focus on sculptural stillness, animal shapes and direction turning jumps are all over modern dance's DNA. No matter what you think of his work this is a striking, unforgettable pose: As is this:

I think Wozzeck is more easily enjoyed if you think of it as a play with musical accompaniment. The text and action are really just as important as the singing. Much of the opera is in that medium of sing-speech. The orchestral accompaniment can be thought of as a horrific musical commentary. If you want arias or even lush easy to hum melodies it's not there. But if you think of it as a complicated play with musical accompaniment it's such a tightly organized drama. Over and out in 1 hour 35 minutes. Has to be the shortest opera in the repertoire? Even Elektra and Salome are a good 10-15 minutes longer.

Well not everything can be Puccini ...

The opera is definitely a bit "difficult" but it's one of the greatest operas in the canon, IMO. Absolutely devastating emotional impact and the music maybe the most famous representation of German Expressionism.

This production will be in HD. It's a really powerful production of one of the most powerful operas of all time. Really recommend people see this in cinema if they can't see it live. https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/12/mets-new-wozzeck-waltzing-into-misery.html

A review by Joan Acocella for NYBooks: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/12/19/inventing-ballet-souls-single-file/

What are some of your favorite (and least favorite) arts performances of 2019? I made my own list here: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-and-worst-of-2019.html

oops wrong thread

It's a myth that the Bolshoi dancers always nail the torch lift. For instance here it is decidedly not a seamless lift: This is much better:

I can't remember a time I've really cared about the Giselle peasant pas variation even when danced well as it is here.

Sleeping Beauty is not that demanding of a role for the Prince though ...

David Hallberg implies retirement is imminent for him:

I took a video of the curtain calls for the five retiring PT dancers:

As an ancient Egypt nerd and fan of Philip Glass's orchestral works I really thought I'd enjoy this a lot more than I actually did. Oh well. https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/11/akhaten-sing-like-egyptian.html

It is part of the rep? https://www.nycballet.com/ballets/r/robert-schumanns-davidsbundlertanze.aspx

This was discussed in another thread but Lane and Cornejo have deleted each other off social media and are no longer dancing together under any circumstances.

It's been a slow slog. It feels like one step forwards, two steps backwards. Made worse by the fact that I'm a teacher and have to stand while teaching. But thanks everyone for the well wishes.

Lovely, Buddy! ❤️

That's great that you're working on a cartoon! I hope we get to see her sooner rather than later!

I wrote up this little tribute to my favorite TV show ever which included a number of appearances by ballet dancers: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/11/sesame-street-at-50-years-for-arts-b-is.html

I think Brandt is a very technically proficient dancer, but not really emotionally engaging. But that's just my opinion.

I say this as a big fan of Skylar Brandt the dancer, but all of her Instagram posts seem like auditions. The good thing is that it's also a compelling look at the usually invisible work dancers do to get a role. And I certainly prefer her method of self-promotion to the ballerinas who just hawk leotards and other promotions. But still ... to me it's really obvious she's auditioning.

I really wish they'd actually retire all Balanchine from their repertoire. Their Balanchine is danced at a horrifyingly bad level. Unless they're willing to invest serious money in some coaching I don't see it getting better.

Drew I might need surgery. Don't know. But it's been incredibly depressing having to cancel so many things. Thanks for your kind words. At this time I really wish I had the tough sturdy ankles of Cuban ballerinas. I've seen them -- their ankles are so resilient.

So with a worsening ankle I decided to watch the different versions of Apollo and compare: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/11/will-real-apollo-please-stand-up.html