Drew

It has been wonderful to read about this event--thank you to everyone posting....

6 hours ago, California said:

SF Ballet just posted on Instagram a notice that dancers "displaced by conflict in Ukraine" are welcome in the Hungarian, Czech, and Polish National Ballets.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cap4KxQh3aM/

I also saw a posting that they are welcome with the Lithuanian National Ballet. 

I wonder if the foreign Russian company dancers count in this if they are fleeing themselves from Russia.

I had not thought so when I first read those posts,  but perhaps...who knows?

I suspect this has all been traumatic enough for many of them from other parts of the world who have built careers in Russia that those who are higher profile and have the option may prefer to get farther away if they can. I myself am not persuaded the war will expand beyond Ukraine, but...

40 minutes ago, naomikage said:

Some dancers in Mariinsky (and Bolshoi, Mikhailovsky, Stanmus) who are from outside of Russia are leaving the country. I am not sure when they will come back, or ever come back.

Such as Victor Caixeta, Arron Osawa Horowitz of Mariinsky, Jacopo Tissi and David Motta Soares of Bolshoi, Laura Fernandez of Stanmus. 

I knew about Tissi but not about the others -- though it's not a surprise. (I wonder what Xander Parish will do.)

I hope all of them find great opportunities elsewhere.

More deep memory of 20th-century ballet lost.

Crisp certainly seems to have had a full, rich life--may he rest in peace.

4 hours ago, naomikage said:

Not Vaziev, but Vladimir Urin, director of the Bolshoi Theatre, has signed an appeal opposing to war against Ukraine.

http://oteatre.info/teatralnye-deyateli-mir/?fbclid=IwAR1FVT_5TPcwwaI4gw8xkR7splWZ8Eu1OPT5x7XNu8M-ghKqQLO10MMJURc

 

It's a call to "all parties to the conflict" to sit down and negotiate for peace--as if "all parties" were in a symmetrical relation to each other--and the opposition to war remains generalized. It may still be understood as a critique of Putin's policies--probably (?)--but I find myself unsure how exactly to interpret this kind of statement. Russia experts may feel more confident and wish to weigh in....(I do not feel Russian artists are under automatic obligation to fall on their swords to protest Putin's war--that is, I feel uncomfortable being moralistic about that...)

What Hilaire has done seems to me something very strong and very clear.

Thank you for posting!

20 minutes ago, Buddy said:

 

Added: I do hope that all this can be settled as fairly and compassionately as possible.

Unfortunately, it already hasn't been. It's way too late for this to be a fair Olympics (or a fair European Nationals -- I forbear comment on the Russian National Championships). Every clean skater out there is being treated unfairly. Arguably, every Olympic athlete who has been banned for a doping violation has been treated unfairly. 

And adults giving heart medication to a youngster who, according to what they themselves have been saying, does not have a heart problem can be put at the top of the list for lacking compassion for the skater(s) placed in their care. (For athletes who do have heart problems--there is a mechanism to get permission to used banned medications....)

9 minutes ago, dirac said:

 IMO, the main culprits are the Russian doping culture and system and the IOC for failing to deal with the Russians effectively. (And no, she shouldn't be skating.)

 

The main culprits yes...

Did watch the Ladies Short as covered by NBC in Primetime. By far and away my favorite skater was Kaori Sakamoto--Hoping she pulls off a spectacular upset on Thursday or at least ends up with a medal....

3 hours ago, vipa said:

I also heard Tara Lipinski say that when she was a kid, if she had a cold, her mother called the authorities before giving her cold medications to make sure all the ingredients were OK for her to have. It seems young athletes and their families develop a super awareness, as they should.

Yes: Johnny Weir spoke about the same things. I'm willing to believe that a lot is different in Russia especially with the coaches controlling so much of their skaters' lives outright--but I don't believe Valieva was simply unaware of the need to be sensitive about what goes into her body. She may well have been lied to by her coaches, but they now appear to have her lying--which is poisoning her in yet another way.

(If Valieva had been sent home, then I'd likely have been rooting for her to come back clean and do well in the future. And I'd probably even have been okay with a shorter suspension due to age especially if the role of those around her was also being looked into seriously--and not simply by Russia's own doping agency. But...as it is...)

The rumored explanation [edited to add: actually not a rumor anymore] also made me uncomfortable to say the least--I find it implausible especially from an athlete who has regularly been subjected to drug testing throughout her career and thus knows something about the importance of what goes into her body. (When Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir were discussing the decision, and talking about their own awareness of doping issues when still very young competitors, Tara said that when she was in a competition she wouldn't touch a poppy-seed bagel--a line that would be funny under other circumstances.)

One imagines the "grandfather" story was concocted for her by the team around her--especially since 'I was taking vitamins given to me by my coaches' would implicate them--but unfortunately, her putting it forward, very much implicates her in the corruption. Again--she is young and is doing presumably what she is being told or encouraged to do and perhaps what she herself thinks "everyone" does --I still have some sympathy for her as a person and as a very young person who is, in many ways, a pawn...but the whole thing is disheartening.

And having read @Helene's post... Brava to the marvelous Irina Rodnina!! I remember her as a great champion...and now I can add to those memories, because taking the position she has can't be popular or easy in Russia.

4 hours ago, nanushka said:

Only if you buy into the logic that her age should be considered as a factor in whether she be allowed to complete after having tested positive for a banned substance — which doesn't seem at all logical to me. I don't understand what the one has to do with the other. Her age should impact who is held responsible, not whether she skates in competition. Her presence on the ice, after a positive test, renders the whole competition a bizarre exercise in overlooking the obviously relevant. It calls into question the significance of the entire event. I don't think it should matter whether she is 18 or 15, or whether the substance got into her by force, in ignorance, or with her willing consent. Once it's there, she should be out. Yes, it may be sad that she as a (possibly innocent) minor should have to pay that price for the mistakes of her elders — but the competition makes no sense if she skates, IMO.

I don’t buy into the logic that her age should be considered a factor and apparently WADA doesn't either...but the CAS did, so it played a big role in their justification for their decision. Of course, that could be bulls**t—and they were just grabbing around for excuses. My view is the same as yours. (Though I also would like to see the age of skaters at senior events raised.)

10 hours ago, dirac said:

If there was any question about raising the age limit to at least 16 I expect this episode will remove it. However, this debacle has less to do with age limits IMO than the failure to ban all Russian athletes outright from competition in the first place during the period of the two-year "ban." I realize that would have been unfair to the Russian athletes not doping, assuming there are any, but this is unfair to everyone.

 

I completely agree, but the way it has played out in this particular case also foregrounds problems with having minors compete.  (Of course it's hardly the case the case that seventeen-year olds are likely to be that much savvier than fifteen-year olds in terms of dealing with coaches and adults around them, but at least their age can't be used, as Valieva's has been, to the detriment of fair play for everyone else.)

Valieva will be allowed to compete.

I couldn't have been happy to see her disallowed, because it's a sad -- devastating -- situation for her. But I still find it unspeakably depressing that she is being permitted to skate.

One of the reasons given by the CAS is her status as a minor, and I personally hope this causes figure skating to revisit the age of competitors at the Olympics and International competitions. (If you are too young to answer for drugs in your system, then maybe you are too young to compete when the stakes are this high.  Fewer triple axels or quads at the competitions? especially as performed by immature bodies? I can live with that.)

I feel incredibly sorry for the other skaters. As for Valieva's team-mates: in my mind, the asterisk next to her name extends to them.

(Will I watch the ladies competition? Haven't decided, but quite possibly. Mr. Drew on the other hand--who loved Valieva in the team competition--definitely will not.)

Thank you for the report. I would love to have seen this—I have been especially curious about the Act I waltz.

I can’t help saying in response to your ABT recommendation that I think David Blair’s ABT production was —for choreography and storytelling—better than their current one.  

I can't even....

Loved Chen's long program...Loved his short program even more...In general very much enjoy his skating.  (Also enjoyed several other skaters including Brown.)

I've been resistant to Valieva because I dislike Ladies figure skating becoming a sport of 15 year olds and I object to a coaching system (Tutberidze) that produces top skaters who all seem to burn out by age 17. But after tonight's skate, I surrender.

10 hours ago, nanushka said:

The whole idea of a Michael Jackson musical that is "essentially an authorized biography" (as the above-linked NYT piece calls it) seems kind of ridiculous. I'm a little surprised artists of Wheeldon's stature got onboard.

This has been more or less my reaction...

Hello and Welcome! I'll plunge in...but most of my ABT going is rather from years past, not recently, so take it for what it's worth! In fact, ABT has a lot of new principals right now--and that combined with the pandemic and all the lost performing experience means it's a bit of a transitional time. The results may be super exciting (watching young talent explode) but ... as I look over the casting I think there are a lot of question marks over the season. I'm still sure you will see some good dancing whatever casts you see!

With all those caveats:

In Don Q I'd go for Brandt and Cornejo--he is well past his sensational prime but a great dancer is still a great dancer (and I do consider him a "great")--and she is coming into her sensational prime. For Love and Rage, I suppose it makes sense to see Ratmansky's first cast which is Catherine Hurlin and Aran Bell --both early in their career and neither a principal just yet. (Edited to add: California corrected me on this; Bell has been promoted.) But this is a "best  guess" -- and I'm sure the Shevchenko-Foster cast will be very good in the Ratmansky too. Shevchenko was recently promoted to principal as was Forster. I have always found him a very beautiful dancer (British too) though I'm not as sure how he rates on the bravura/excitement scale. (I'm actually hoping to see all three casts in this: Seo and Calvin Royale too.)

I've never seen Trenary in a major classical role or a full length one other than a Ratmansky work but if I were picking a Juliet from the current crop she is the one I'd try to see and her Romeo is Cornejo (it will be a debut for her but he is very experienced). Trenary is a genuinely interesting dancer and I would love to see that performance. I'm not sure ABT's ensemble will compare well dramatically with the Royal's in the Macmillan (assuming you have that as a standard) but in the leading roles I think Trenary/Cornejo could be terrific.

Murphy is coming towards the end of her career -- I have always considered her one of the best American ballerinas (and best ballerinas) around. At ABT certainly one of the most consistent and the one that I would, in the past, have been most confident recommending.  I simply don't know how she is dancing now and, therefore, am less confident recommending her than I would have been in the past. But she is, at any rate, the "real deal"--I see her partner in R&J and in Swan Lake is Foster.  (Even if she can no longer turn like a demon or balance into the night, I would be tempted by her Swan Lake. She was never one of those 'Russian' style Swan Lakes with super high extensions.)

Seo doesn't have a lot of vocal fans on this site. I've seen her "off" (dull)  and "on" (luminous)  but if you like lovely classical lines and lyricism, I believe she is worth seeing and a bit undervalued. I infer from reviews I've read she may not be as consistent with the bravura as, say, Boylston. Personally I might still prefer her in a classical role to the latter though Boylston is probably more exciting. There are other terrific dancers dancing--I wish I could say more about them in these ballets, but as my opinions would just get more and more speculative, I think I had better stop!

Hope you have a great trip--please do report your impressions of whatever you see.

I remember the impact on me of Frigerio's designs for Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet. May he rest in (sumptious) peace...

It's a loss and a terrible one that most of her ballets have not been preserved but their indirect impact on ballet history is, to some extent, probably still around. I am thinking of the The Ashton repertory, which presumably channels some of Nijinska's influence, but there may be other examples. 

Sad news. May she rest in peace....

39 minutes ago, Mashinka said:

I was in a lift in a continental theatre when the door opened onto a lower floor and some twenty corps girls were in the corridor with MV who was literally screaming at them.  A friend of mine told me had an experience with him while watching a rehearsal when he was aggressively shouted out and told to stop taking photos, my pal not only wasn't, I don't think he's owned a camera in his life.  Some tempers in the ballet world are legendary.

How disconcerting for your friend...

It certainly is sad news...Let's hope new sites for dance writing emerge...And big thanks to Dance Tabs and Bruce Marriott for what they have done.

1 hour ago, FPF said:

... I think one of the last regular SPAC performances I saw her in was Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 and she was just wonderful--best performance I've seen of that ballet, made me really see it in a whole new light.

 

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 is one of my most dazzling Reichlin memories as well...I think I saw it the season she was first dancing it.