canbelto

Hmm here are the facts: Maria Alexandrova by her own account suffered a devastating Achilles heel injury in in 2013. When I saw her in the Bolshoi tour a year later she was pretty clearly limited in her movements. Her once buoyant jump was no more. She turns 40 this year. Her career would have likely winded down with or without Vaziev with the combination of age + injuries. Before Vaziev arrived she wasn't dancing that often. If anything her career probably got a second wind because she is the offstage partner of Vladislav Lanatrov. Olga Smirnova is not a Vaziev find. Smirnova was heavily promoted by Sergei Filin, to the point where during Pavel Dmitrienko's trial all sorts of accusations of Smirnova sleeping with Filin were thrown around. Vaziev has simply kept Smirnova in place as one of the prima ballerinas at the Bolshoi. Yulia Stepanova is also not a Vaziev hire. She was hired by Sergei Filin towards the end of his tenure as AD after having spent several years at the Mariinsky where she was given roles like O/O and Firebird. She was offered a contract as a soloist and would likely be dancing the same amount if Filin was still there. Ekaterina Kryasanova's career does not seem to have been harmed by Vaziev as AD. If anything she's been headlined more as she's had two HD's so far (Le Corsaire and Ratmansky's R + J). Evgenia Obraztsova's career is an odd one -- she left the Mariinsky AFTER Vaziev left. In this interview in the FT she makes it clear her beef was with Yuri Fateyev: https://www.ft.com/content/3638845e-e323-11e2-bd87-00144feabdc0 "There was no dialogue with him, no monologue, and I couldn't evolve. The Mariinsky needs a strong leader, someone with a mind of his own, and Yuri is easily influenced. He's made the company very flat." She was a favorite of Filin's BUT even when Filin was AD she wasn't dancing much. She's since married and had twins, and is dancing about as much as she was dancing when Filin was AD, which is to say some but not that much. The only real Vaziev "finds" are Alena Kovaleva, Jacopo Tissi, and Margaret Shrainer. Those are the three he has pushed very heavily since he's become AD.

Partnering mishaps (and dancers not being able to keep a poker face about it) are more common than you'd think especially in Balanchine where there's such an emphasis on tricky handholds and off-balance positions. One of the most obvious partnering mishaps occurred between then-husband-and-wife Tiler Peck and Robbie Fairchild during a Nutcracker. He couldn't hold her up in the final fishdive so she quickly put her foot down and stepped out of the fishdive. She looked visibly upset.

This is what I saw: from the very beginning the partnering seemed to be off between Adrian D-W and Mearns. In particular his elbows always seemed too close to her. But they were at the lip of the stage in what I gather wass supposed to be a partnered bourrée (one of Balanchine's favorite motifs -- the ballerina moving away from her male partner while still holding his hand). There was some awkwardness, then Mearns all of a sudden wriggled away from Adrian D-W and there was a noise which I thought was a growl but abatt said was a foot stomp? And Mearns bourréed away herself. I learned from David Hallberg's book that a female partner wriggling when you partner her is in ballet code a way to say "I am not happy. You are not giving me what I need." But since this was a live performance and I know that partnering in Balanchine is often a lot trickier than it looks I have no idea if anyone was at "fault" or it was just a lack of trust between Adrian D-W and Mearns. They don't dance together that often.

vagansmom, Mearns is cast in a huge array of rep and I wouldn't avoid her in many roles where I think her style is appropriate. For instance her Diamonds is thrilling. I personally love her Cortegé Hongrois. And her Sanguinic in 4T's is amazing. Then there are roles where I think her style is OTT. For instance I think her Titania lacks the lightness and grace that is crucial for the role, and her La Valse is overly histrionic.

But you said NEVER did 6 o'clocks and in that video she does do 6 o'clocks. And "Russians" is an entire country of dancers. There are some who don't do the 6 o'clocks either: And then there's Alina Somova who at least in 2015 doesn't do them either:

I thought she also looked visibly angry at him for the rest of the dance of the blessed spirits and it really broke that heavenly, ethereal spell. As much as I love Mearns this isn't the first time I've seen her break character during a partnering mishap. I saw her in the Piano Concerto #2 and she and Ask La Cour took a nasty tumble on the floor in that section where she's gliding on one foot on pointe and he's pulling her backwards in an arc. When they finally got back up she gave him an angry stare that resembled this at 3:35:

This video begs to differ:

I thought the worst part of the Chaconne performance was at one point Mearns became visibly frustrating after yet another partnering blooper and broke character and moved away from Adrian D-W. I thought I even heard her growl. I'm seeing some more performances this weekend so I'll reserve judgment on the Apollo/Mozartiana/Cortege casts.

It's a shame Chase Johnsey is an incredible ballerina:

I guess this hasn't made headlines but the beloved ballerina of the Trocks Chase Johnsey has resigned citing harassment about him wanting to undergo gender transition surgery. http://www.dancemagazine.com/chase-johnsey-interview-trocks-allegations-2528105578.html

That was Edwin Denby's reaction upon seeing the Bolshoi in 1959. The Bolshoi having a dash of vulgarity and inelegance is nothing new.

I too am amazed at how many opioids the celebrities have that were obtained by prescription. I recently had some really painful dental work done where the doctor said "take advil." Very helpful.

Week 3 casting is up: http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/NYCB-Casting_February-6-11,-2018_lobby.pdf

Coroner reports like these always make me so sad to read I can't even imagine being a family member and reading them.

IMO if you always sit in the first few rows of the orchestra near the stage (and not farther back in the orchestra), or in the first balcony/tier, then you miss so much from sitting so close to the stage, namely, the patterns of the corps. You need to be IMO at least eye length with the stage in order to have an idea of the corps formations. The first two or three rows puts you UNDER the stage so you are basically looking up at the dancers. There's a reason why in theaters the first row is often marked "partial view." Maybe first few rows would work for a gala of pas de deux.

I don't know how anyone who loves ballet can always sit close to the stage. I find the view from close to the stage (like the first few rows) cuts off the dancer's feet, makes it hard to see any patterns of the corps, and also makes it difficult to judge the amplitude of movement. You have to be several rows away from the stage to see those things.

Peter Martins pushed Miriam Miller for those roles -- she danced Siren in Prodigal Son, the Agon pdd, and Titania in MSND, but right now she just isn't strong enough technically to handle that chunk of the repertory. And she is very tall and very blond. As for Tiler Peck as Terp., it wasn't just the height but more the proportions and the style. Tiler Peck is probably the company's foremost classicist and 5th position ballerina. But when I see her in some neoclassical ballets she looks oddly constrained. She doesn't really have that flexibility in the legs and spine to create those long, angular shapes. The freedom and joy she shows when she dances T&V and Allegro Brillante are nowhere in sight. I've seen her in Symphony in 3 Movements, Four Temperaments, Apollo, and she always looks like one of those beautiful actresses who is somehow dressed in an unflattering gown at the Oscars.

Well clips have surfaced:

It's not a new development at all. Allegra Kent was rather short and she was the Dewdrop in the Playhouse 90 Nutcracker. And then there was Gelsey Kirkland who was even shorter, and her Dewdrop was legendary. Here is Kent as Dewdrop:

Chase Finlay is very inconsistent and so it goes for his Apollo. Physically he looks the part and when he's on he's amazing -- such a pure body line. But as I said, he can be very inconsistent and I've seen him stumble out of many a variation. I saw him make a complete stumble in the soccer variation once. Tiler P. I assume started dancing Terp because her then husband Robbie Fairchild was Apollo. She dances it well (she never dances poorly) but the role isn't a natural fit for her.

I also am shocked by her complete disdain towards any American training of ballet. I can see why Julie Kent or any other American AD would be hesitant about taking her if she seems to think that if it isn't Russian training it didn't happen. She has a right to feel that way (many Russian ballerinas I'm sure would agree) but she can't be surprised if American companies are less than welcoming after her comments.

Lowery is one of those soloists who I think sort of floundered in that purgatory. Dancers have often mentioned how difficult being a soloist is -- Tess Reichlen said that she was on the verge of quitting dance altogether. She didn't dance very often after she was promoted and when she did dance she often looked out of shape. For instance she used to do a decent Tall Girls in Rubies but the last time I saw her do it she barely had the strength to hold the unsupported arabesque penchées.

I really hope Gomes releases some type of statement to his fans. He does not have to divulge details but some sort of statement and explanation would be appreciated for his fanbase who have followed him for more than 20 years.

The work hasn't debuted yet but ... what is with Peter Walker always naming his pieces in lowercase letters? is he trying to become the ee cummings of choreographers* *see what I just did there?