canbelto

Did anyone see the Woodward/Ball combo last night?

I've seen a surprising amount of partnering mishaps in the Nutcracker pdd so it is more important for the Cavalier to be a good partner rather than a really showy dancer. For instance in the pique turn to arabesque penchee sequence if the Cavalier isn't RIGHT there to catch the SPF when she dives into that penchee the whole thing looks very mechanical and labored. In fact here's a cool article about all the frantic debuts at the end of the Nutcracker run. Peter Martins says there are 13 hazard spots that even an untrained spectator can catch: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/arts/dance/the-nutcracker-gives-young-dancers-a-spotlight-role.html?ref=dance

Speaking of social media, this is basically the most adorable thing ever: https://www.instagram.com/p/_IHTDnDqky/?taken-by=realmkowroski

Watched the documentary tonight. I found the documentary very well-made. Things I liked: 1. Showing that for some ballerinas (like Maria Allash), dancing is a job. At large theaters like the Bolshoi there are contract dancers who get steady work and don't aspire to be prima ballerina assoluta. She has a son at home, and she wants to get cast and wants to get parts, but I like how they show her entering and leaving the theatre very much as one would do at a regular job, whereas a dancer like Maria Alexandrova seems like one of those people where the phrase "her life is her work and her work is her life" applies. 2. The candid conversation with Filin in which he says he regrets taking the job of AD at the Bolshoi. During the whole documentary he had been an elusive figure, but those few moments were very honest and human. 3. The barely concealed contempt between Urin and Filin which spills out in an open rehearsal. The conversation is about pilates, of all things. 4. Showing Urin in his surprisingly drab, plain office with what looks like an old Windows desktop computer. Kind of reflects his no-nonsense, all-business approach to his position. 5. Catching some of the chatter between dancers in the wings. Overall the documentary exceeded my expectations and certainly seemed realer and more interesting than Flesh and Bone or Black Swan. No easy villains, no real heroes.

I saw Ashly Isaacs' SPF this afternoon. I'd say it was a work in progress. She certainly does some things very well (her menage of pique turns was the fastest I've ever seen) but the timing in her grand pas de deux had some awkward timing. For instance that pique turn into arabesque penchee series was too carefully prepared to make an impact. Also, at this point she's very athletic, cheerful, happy, but doesn't really have the mystery for the role. She took an odd tumble in some supported pirouettes. It's as if she tripped over her feet and Taylor Stanley saved her from a fall. I thought a stronger performance was Ashley Hod as Dewdrop. For such a tall leggy girl she acquitted herself well with all the allegro choreography and she's a stunner.

Thanks for making me aware of "Raising the Barre." Even with this intense Nutcrackering I managed to miss a few Nutcrackers . Oh well. Always next year. And now I'm thinking of buying the Berlin Ballet Nutcracker (Yuri Burlaka's reconstruction). Le sigh.

Well I put myself through a regimen of 5 Nutcrackers in a week. My thoughts here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2015/12/nutcrackerthon-diaries-nutcracker.html

Nina Kaptsova and Artem Ovcharenko.

In this video this very lift is preceded by an upside down lift and another upside down lift follows. The Bolshoi men must have backs of steel.

Well I went to last night's performance and Mr. B's chestnut is in good hands. Sterling Hyltin and Andrew Veyette were a beautiful couple as the SPF and Cavalier. Hyltin's jumps have a lightness and ease that is delightful and I love her soft, wafting arms. Veyette was an excellent partner for her -- in the final promenade he steadied her until she was ready and then she held a long, applause-inducing balance. Tiler Peck was OUTSTANDING as Dewdrop -- everything just seemed effortless. Anthony Huxley also really fine as the Candy Cane. Snowflakes, flowers, SAB children all great. There were notably more minority children in the performance than seasons past -- Avery Lin as Marie, for example. I'm putting myself through five Nutcrackers this week. Mr. B's Nutcracker, something called Buttcracker, Nutcracker Rouge, Gelsey Kirkland's Nut (I think), and rounding off the week with Hard Nut. Yay!

Shop Around the Corner.

sohalia, there really are no bad seats in the Koch theater. Even the last row of the fourth ring isn't bad. That being said, anywhere in the second or third ring are IMO the best seats in the house.

miliosr, I love the vintage clips of big studio stars before they were, well, big studio stars. Here's Clark Gable and Joan Crawford introducing Fred Astaire: By the way, the vintage clips show Joan Crawford as really different than her later films. Weird how in the early days she was picked as the wholesome, singing/dancing bubbly girl.

Thanks for that miliosr. As it happens i recently viewed a very early Gable picture, Night Nurse. It's remarkable how even in 1931 Clark Gable was already "Clark Gable." All the mannerisms were already there, just not packaged in the super-slick MGM way.

I've now watched five episodes and I'm most turned off by their depiction of all sexual relations in this show. There is not a single encounter that's happy, loving and consensual.

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I've watched the first two episodes and so far the story of Claire doesn't interest me at all, but I'm getting some guilty pleasure from watching Irina Dvorovenko camp it up as the drug-addict senior ballerina. I love her icy glares and that husky voice. Hope this leads to more acting opportunities for her, because she's a lot of fun.

I found another interview, from 1976. It's really delightful.

It really depends. In Wagner performances where one act can be longer than entire operas (Gotterdamerung and Parsifal first acts and Die Meistersinger third act runs two hours) I've seen people armed with snacks and eating during the acts.

I think principal status matters in terms of pension. Former dancers are supposed to get a pension if they have a certain number of years.

I was actually disappointed with Bouder and Veyette in Harlequinade. I thought both were a bit low-energy compared to their usual standard. Understandable for Bouder but I noticed that partnering with her and Veyette was a bit awkward throughout. I thought Huxley and von Enck stole the show, and Miriam Miller sure looks gorgeous. NY Export: Opus Jazz was nice, even if one of the girls took a tumble in that backwards somersault sequence. More thoughts on the fall season here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2015/10/nycb-fall-season.html

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue and Vienna Waltzes are two Balanchine ballets with either non-existent (or limited) use of pointe work. Isadora Duncan is a Frederick Ashton ballet with no pointe work. Scheherazade is a Fokine ballet with no pointe work.

More pictures: https://instagram.com/p/73BiT1o35U/?taken-by=juliekentofficial https://instagram.com/p/73aB56HVea/?taken-by=gillianemurphy

More pictures: From Marcelo's Instagram: https://instagram.com/p/72wJyDiucI/?taken-by=marcelua wendy's instagram: https://instagram.com/p/7126Tbxgyh/?taken-by=wendyw Looks like David Hallberg, Maria Kowroski also there.

Congrats Gillian and Ethan! Stella appears to be the maid of honor: https://instagram.com/p/70RwxTMTE9/?taken-by=stellaabreradetsky https://instagram.com/p/7jPHhEsTM7/?taken-by=stellaabreradetsky https://instagram.com/p/7y_3OPHVRI/?taken-by=gillianemurphy