canbelto

See this is what's frustrating. Everyone wants ABT to become more like a company, with chances for every member to shine, and many chances given to corps members. And then along comes a production that does give the whole company a chance, and everyone complains it's not enough of a star turn.

But that's what Sleeping Beauty is about -- a test of the depth of a company and its ability to fill each variation and divertissement with quality dancers. It's not a star turn.

That could be true. However, I've seen enough interviews with retired dancers/singers/actors/athletes in which they talk about themselves constantly, rather than promote the project/movie/play/musical/book they're ostensibly there to promote, so Fonteyn's genuine enthusiasm in talking about things other than herself just seems charming. It was good to see that even when she was cash-strapped and ridden with worries (as she was after her retirement) she didn't lose her sense of humor or sparkle. It's very different but I'm also reminded of this interview with Judy Garland. I guess certain people never lose their joie de vivre, no matter how hard their lives might have been at the moment.

I also love the story about the nostrils. I also am impressed with how little she talks about herself.

I would love more Ashton revivals: Month in the Country, Sylvia, Fille mal gardee ...

I had never seen this before. Found it delightful. So regal, but not for a moment stuffy.

Diana Vishneva has made a nice little montage of her experiences in the SB production:

Ok then looking at full-lengths I'd never recommend Raymonda to a first timer -- too little storyline, and the parts of the storyline they do get might seem very offensive. But it's an important ballet and ABT's attempt to water it down did not end well. People also criticized Makarova's Bayadere -- why do it? why not just do the Shades scene. And if we were to make an opera analogy, there's a certain type of opera fan that only goes to La Bohemes and La Traviatas. In fact, I'd say a huge portion of the "opera audience" really only likes maybe 10 operas at most. But that doesn't mean works like Lulu, Pelleas et Melisande, or Khovantshina shouldn't be done. I guess my point is the Ratmansky SB is not a watered down production. It requires patience on the part of the audience, and also probably a certain background knowledge. But I think this is good for ABT -- to give the audience more than instant gratification classics or watered down "classics."

Well in a way I think it's good that ABT is looking beyond simply targeting audiences who haven't seen ballet before and just want to see a ballet, OR the certain type of ABT audience member who simply wants to see their favorite dancers in star turns. I think it's that kind of mindset that has resulted in year after year of R&J, that awful Swan Lake, and the 2007 Disney Sleeping Beauty. I mean, what kind of audience is Four Temperaments or Pillar of Fire aimed at? Doesn't mean that they shouldn't be done.

I wouldn't recommend SB to ANY "first timer" going to the ballet. No matter which version it is. It's a very long ballet and can without excellent dancers become very tedious. I think ballets with a clearer story (Giselle, Swan Lake), or more family friendly shows with lots of kids dancing (Nutcracker, Midsummer's Night Dream) are the intro ballets. Sleeping Beauty has always been sort of a rarefied taste. Nothing wrong with this, i mean, I love Liebeslieder Waltzes but I'd never recommend that ballet for first-timers either.

Faye Arthurs' blog is a fantastic blog in general. She's opinionated, insightful, knowledgable, and curious about all forms of art, and not only ballet. I love it.

Well here's the thing. This SB is not a star turn ballet. It demands excellence from everyone in the company, from the corps to the character actors to the leads. So if you only go to the ballet to see your "favorites" Veronika/Diana/Stella/Marcelo/whoever this isn't the ballet for you. The Kirkland version became an empty star vehicle, requiring only a good Aurora. But I think this ballet is a great investment in ABT as a company.

I was also at tonight's performance. Agreed -- amazing work from Diana, who danced the Rose Adagio with more strength and security than she did 15+ years ago. Her wedding pas de deux with Marcelo was amazing. Fishdives stunning. I was very disappointed with Veronika Part's Lilac Fairy. I can understand if she chose a simpler variation, however, I don't understand why she also hunched her shoulders forward in such an ungainly fashion during the whole variation. One of the things I admire most of Veronika is her proud, regal, shoulders and arms. Simkin and Trenary were stronger tonight than opening night. Great end to a great run. More thoughts here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2015/06/sleeping-beauty-take-3.html And for those who are curious, this was Vishneva's Rose Adagio more than 15 years ago. I dare say she was so much stronger tonight.

Faye Arthurs gives us some interesting tidbits of stage gaffes that happen during Midsummer: http://www.thoughtsfromthepaint.com/thoughts/schools-out-for-midsummer

Other very petite Auroras: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAbrbbZZOcg

No accounting for taste but the Disney production was a travesty with all the cuts. It was awful.

Amour actually I think she's on her third pregnancy and i think she had her first baby in 2009. Still a lot but ... Anyway, yes, she's very petite and also doesn't fit the Mariinsky aesthetic of being super thin either. But she's a good example of someone Lane can aspire to ... Both very similar in build.

Ok if it's not fair to compare Lane to the very best (Fonteyn), here is another other petite Aurora who also never attained principal status in her home company: Here is the lovely Olesia Novikova:

I also think that "dancing big" comes with experience that the ABT's system of putting certain soloists in very repetitive roles (peasant pdd, Amour in DQ, Swan Lake pdt) doesn't really foster. For instance I noticed that yesterday in Herman's variation (and Desire is really a tiny role in this production) when he started his series of entrechats and double tours he traveled almost to the apron of the stage so the audience could really SEE him doing those jaw-dropping moves. Many Auroras I've seen will actually not hold balances very long if you take out a timer, but they can give the illusion of holding them for a very long time by, for instance, holding each successive one longer, or really stretching out that final arabesque. Lane seems very determined to get all the steps right, but she hasn't learned the stage tricks and tips to really project and demand an audience's attention. This is a very poor example because obviously Margot Fonteyn's Aurora is legendary but watch how far away she keeps each suitor during the final promenades. If you read her biography she used to give the suitor a cue as to when they could finally move closer. But anyway, the suitors being so far away in the promenades gives the illusion that she's balancing all by herself.

Ok more thoughts: as I mentioned earlier, Lane is technically quite proficient, and has a lot of potential, but also doesn't project. I wonder if it's a result of so many years of dancing things like the Peasant Pas de Deux. She doesn't quite know how to sell her own performance. The Act 3 variation worked wonderfully for Herman. ABT badly needs a jumping coach for many of the women. Many of them seem to have absolutely no elevation at all. Copeland is unfortunately one of those women (and I say this as someone who doesn't really dislike Misty's dancing). But in the final "flying" diagonal with Bluebird, it's a problem when the Florine has so little elevation that those tiny little hops don't even look like flying. Full write up here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2015/06/sleeping-beauty-take-2.html

I'll write my full review later tomorrow (have to be up very early) but I thought Herman absolutely nailed the difficult Act 3 variation. His entrechats and double tours were amazing. Sarah Lane kind of broke my heart tonight. I so wanted this to be the performance that she knocked out of the ballpark to show KM that she's worthy of principal material. However, I think she suffers from the "too many peasant pdd" syndrome. She was always professional, and at time excellent, but there were also enough bobbles and moments of hesitation. Copeland and Shayer good in the Florine/BB pdd. Prologue fairies pretty sloppy, especially Devon Teuscher's Lilac Fairy. As I said, more later.

Well without getting into company politics KM had a choice of making a lot of people happy, bc this was not a case where if Sarah danced, Misty/Julie/Diana/Hee/Gillian would not have danced. All of them already had a Juliet. Hee had two. So by giving Sarah a Juliet it would have diversified the lineup and also made a new dance "event." Instead more pressure is now on Misty and Hee Seo, and I can't imagine how Sarah feels.

Robert Gottlieb has some nice words about the MSND run: http://observer.com/2015/06/balanchines-dream-is-as-fresh-as-ever/

I also sometimes think that if Stella and Sarah were promoted to principal and danced Swan Lake etc season after season their most hardcore fans would forget about them and find another stuck-in-the-soloist-ranks sob story to focus on. ABT audiences are so focused on stars (and who they think should be getting the star treatment) that once the star is promoted to principal, all of a sudden they can't do anything right and it's another soloist who should be getting all the roles. I saw it happen with Michele Wiles -- when she was a soloist people wanted nothing more than for her to be principal. Then when she was principal she had a stiff neck, stiff torso, was uninteresting, etc.

Forgot Carreno in the list of retired stars. I'll add another category to the list: aging stars who aren't going to be dancing forever: Gomes, Murphy, Vishneva, Bolle. Anyway my point is 10 years ago there were the same problems in place, but the audience didn't really notice because hey, Julio Bocca was dancing with Alessandra Ferri. But now McKenzie has the exact same system in place with far fewer returns. NYCB had an awful dry spell maybe 10 years ago. I remember the days when fans groaned when yet another performance was given to Yvonne Borree, Nilas Martin, Darci Kistler, etc. Peter Martins however cleaned house pretty ruthlessly -- by 2010 most of those dancers (including his wife Darci Kistler) were gone. But the difference is Martins invested wisely in the younger crop of dancers: Tiler Peck, Ashley Bouder, Teresa Reichlen, Sterling Hyltin, Andrew Veyette, Robert Fairchild, etc. So right now even with the retirement of Wendy Whelan and a steady stream on departures (Janie Taylor), side projects (the Fairchilds) and injuries the company isn't crippled the way ABT is.