Drew

Jane Simpson -- May I ask what role she danced in Month in the Country? I'm very curious about her career at the Royal and would love to see her in Ondine! (not going to happen though)...Thanks, Drew

Leonid -- Just writing to say I really enjoy and appreciate your reporting on the RB performances this season.

Thank you many times over for the link to the R&J pas de deux--I had never seen this bit of video. On the whole, I think video of Kirkland (at least generally available video) does not remotely capture her, but in this little bit I I felt I saw a glimpse at least of what she was like -- that is, a glimpse of one of the most extraordinary and profound dance artists I ever had the joy and privilege of seeing. I never loved a dancer (and doubt I ever will) as I loved Kirkland. I would almost say that when she danced, it was if she were dancing in an entirely different dimension from everyone else on stage, but part of her genius was that she often managed to bring the whole stage picture along with her, communicating her quality to everything around her. I do not mean that others danced better when she was dancing (though that may have happened and certainly I saw partners become inspired by her) but that she radiated a world around her, a world so seemingly real that everything became a part of it. One thing I particularly like about the video of the R&J excerpt is that it gives a hint of the way she simultaneously was all liquid fluidity AND ultra clarity and all while creating a very real emotional portrait--just a hint, but what a pleasure to have it.

Thanks for the wonderful photos. Like Andrei, I would enjoy hearing about the performances, too!

Thank you for reporting on this. It sounds like a terrific evening. When Margot Fonteyn made guest appearances in La Sylphide with the (now defunct) National Ballet in Washington D.C. her partner was Desmond Kelly. I saw them dance it from very close up--first or second row--and have a memory-image in my mind of his emotional collapse at the end of the ballet. Very intense! I can no longer remember if he partnered her in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella which she also danced with the company. Do you know if Kelly has been teaching/coaching in the latter part of his career? I take it to be rather a high compliment that Fonteyn counted on him as a partner, though I know even from my one brief memory that there was more to him as an artist than partnering...

Klavier -- Is it possible Martins insisted the dancers choose work from the NYCB repertory because of the cost of acquiring the right to perform other ballets? That would seem reasonable to me if the goal is to raise money...

The "Character dances" on youtube are just fabulous--I wish they COULD revive that!

I think it has been at least a couple of years since I last posted (as some of you may have at one point gotten tired of reading) that the very first ballet I ever saw was the Kirov film of Sleeping Beauty with Soloviev and Sizova. I was completely awestruck by it -- a very small child, but a ballet fan for life. And though only a fan, I feel ballet has brought a great deal TO my life, so these two dancers, whom I never saw live, have a very special place in my heart and memory. I loved the videos--and, by the by thought Soloviev looked terrific in the 1975 video--in some ways more refined than in the earlier ones. I do wander over to youtube on my own from time to time, but had had not seen these--thanks for posting the link.

If I include last July/August in my 2007-2008 year, then I have seen just six performances all 'season.' None of them go on my list of most memorable or truly great, though many bits and pieces linger pleasantly in memory. I especially enjoyed Wheeldon's "Rococo Variations" at NYCB last week; for me, it was like an exquisite piece of chamber music and slightly under-rated by the early reviews. I got a mere glimpse of Osipova in the Bolshoi's Corsaire last summer, but that little sticks with me along with the fabulous character dancing of the super beautiful Anna Rebetskaya -- she and Merkuriev as dancing pirates were one of the few genuine highlights of my admittedly rather thin dance-going year. Other nice memories include one particularly stunning overhead lift in Act II of Swan Lake with Gomez and Ananiashvili, Part's stunning lines (or, rather, sculptural forms) in Act IV of Swan Lake, Teresa Reichlen's simple, sensual beauty in Martins' River of Light and, last summer, Alexandrova's assurance in the Bolshoi's Corsaire...and a chance to see Ratmansky's version of the Jardin Anime sequence--albeit on a very crowded stage. Lowlights? Well, with the partial exception of the Spanish Dance (which had some life at the two performances I attended), the Act III character dances of ABT's Swan Lake this spring were very, very weak--even allowing for the generic weakness of American dancers in these dances generally. I thought the performances I saw were among the weakest I had seen at ABT. Just one example: the Hungarian dance ending at both performances (both!) with the lead woman turning under the arm of her partner and, despite a far from brisk tempo, seemingly bumping into him as she did so. Fortunately the costumes are very pretty. I was also dismayed by NYCB sloppiness in Interplay--Clive Barnes used words like "shoddy" to describe the same performance I saw and while that's harsh, I'd have to say fair.

I may have had a somewhat different reaction to the Halberg/Part partnership than others on this thread. Without exactly thinking that everything in this past week's particular performance worked--in particular, some of the lifts seemed less than spacious and easy--I still felt that they were physically so gorgeous together, their lines so elegant and refined, that it's a partnership well worth developing for the future. I also thought they generated a lot of emotion in Act IV (more, in my eyes, than Ananiashvili and Gomez who were superb in Act II but seemed to suffer somewhat from lack of preparation time in the final two acts--she was replacing Vishneva as noted above).

I saw the Ratmansky, Concerto Dsch, on Saturday night. It was very frothy and exuberant--the opening movement that introduces the the ensemble and soloists looks more like a grand finale than an opening. It's non-stop speedy brilliance, though the tone remains playful, humane, and lighthearted. Even the slow pas de deux in the middle section, for Whelan and Millepied, was more about gentle pleasures than keen longings. I thought the use of the background ensemble as semi-individualized community during this pas de deux--with the ensemble sometimes distant, sometimes near, and always shaping itself into unexpected images as Whelan and Millepied danced separately--was intriguing, possibly the most interesting thing about the ballet, though too much for my eye to take in on a first viewing. There was lots of playful back and forth for De Luz, Garcia and Bouder in the first and, especially, the third movement. Their interactions were comic/flirtacious/competitive--by the end Bouder had seemingly 'chosen' Garcia but kept glancing over curiously at the hyperactive De Luz. Their dancing was non-stop athletic, exuberant steps--jumps, tosses, turns, turning jumps, jumping tosses, tossing jumps etc. This was my first look at Garcia--would love to see more. Up to a point I understand McCauley's enthusiasm in the Times--and I think the Times critic has a tough if terrific job, so I don't like to pick at him/her--but I almost feel that some of his praise and even some of his description of the ballet's many surprises etc., could be more appropriately applied to Ratmanksy's Russian Seasons. I'd be curious if Concerto Dsch grows richer on multiple viewings, which is very possible since it's full of clever details, or just starts to seem like cutesy fun. I don't feel equipped to say. I enjoyed the rest of the evening--even Martins' River of Light which was led by the wonderful Teresa Reichlen dancing a very exposed, sensual role (including skin tight white costume) to which she brings a wonderful, simple grace that the ballet may or may not deserve, but which certainly made it watchable for me. The composer, Charles Wuorinen, whose music I had not heard before, conducted his own score, which Martins had commissioned. The orchestra sounded great...

I don't get to New York or the ballet very much these days (years) and planned a trip this week (all tickets purchased and reservations made) to see Vishneva Thursday and the new Ratmansky this Saturday--plus performances in between including Part on Saturday. Still, Vishneva/Ratmansky were the factors that determined my choice of this week for my first ballet performances since last summer. I know the 'rules' and the realities about casting -- I used to organize trips for the sole purpose of seeing Gelsey Kirkland dance (oops...) -- but the news is very, very disappointing.

Thanks for these tips--I used ffdshow as well. And I love the clips I have seen.

I only just read of Bessmertnova's death today--here on this site. The news makes me sad, though I only saw her twice. I especially remember and will always treasure her liquid bourrees in Ivan the Terrible. (In my mememory she melts backwards on point with her arms wafting before her in heightened and softened third positions -- alternating arms if that makes sense and rolling them forward through the air as her points carried her backward with a speed that should be blurry but somehow seems completely articulate and altogether at one with the music.) I am very sorry never to have seen her dance Giselle.

In theory I feel as Papeetepatrick does but the Max Brod/Kafka example always keeps me from being altogether comfortable with my own position. There is also a fantasy of authorial control (not necessarily the author's fantasy--it can be the reader's) that wills and posthumous instructions--and the debates about them--seem to elicit. It is a fantasy. Nabakov can't protect his published works from being read or adapted in ways that may distort his intentions at least as badly as the publication of an unfinished fragment. But if I were a great writer's literary executor I imagine I would feel obligated to follow her instructions (and obey the law).

To remain with the twentieth century: Joseph Cornell and Frank O'Hara; one can find traces of their love of ballet in their work (more in the case of Cornell than O'Hara). In the 1970's (I think) I used to see Kissinger at the ballet and around the same time I read an interview with Farrell in which she talked about meeting him and says something along the lines of...'he really knows something about ballet.' I saw Steve Martin at a matinee Coppelia years ago and since he was once married to Baronova's daughter, I vaguely assumed he must have some real interest and/or knowledge of ballet. But I don't really know.

I'm just baffled that Floyd would be doing Dancing with the Stars at the same time as he is training for a fight. (He is a great fighter--with unbelievably quick reflexes. But the greatest fighters have been known to go down when they aren't training seriously.) That said, I never watched Dancing with the Stars until I heard he was on, and then I checked in to see him midway through the show Monday night. I do think he is very talented--though self-conscious as a dancer which he most certainly is NOT as a fighter--and I would enjoy watching him grow as a dancer too. But...uh...I still prefer that he focus on the fight.

I have memories of both Ward and Tippet. I saw them mostly in demi-soloist or solo roles. But I do remember Ward in two principal appearances. In addition to the Coppelia w. Kirkland (mentioned in a post above) I saw him dance the lead in the ABT premier of Neumeier's Baiser de La Fee. The ballet was not kept in repetory, and I think I found the choreography pretty but thin. I did enjoy seeing Ward in the lead. He was tall, and had a slender, refined body type with elegant lines (rather different from, say, Kivitt). He also has a very brief speaking bit in The Turning Point.

We are way off topic here....but...I would add that not all larger male dancers need be 'regular guy' types; Kivitt was--and that style can be appealing especially in certain roles (Frantz, say, in Coppelia). But for example, in Grigorivitch ballets, one tends to need a heroic image (think Mukhamedov) that is easier to convey if one is not a willowy or particularly short dancer. Now, in fact, the new 'star' at the Bolshoi, Ivan Vasiliev is said to be preparing Spartacus and he is definitely a shorter dancer. He may pull it off--but I do not think it is most natural, body-image for that role. In the past on this board we have had discussions of traditional "emploi" -- and of how dancers in the nineteenth-century and earlier twentieth-century were often cast very much according to body type and temperament as well as talent. (No one ever said talent does not matter.) I would guess many of us on this board--myself certainly--are happy enough to see a more flexible vision of casting and type in present day ballet companies, but that does not preclude noticing that 'emploi' can still tell us something about ballet as an art form. And one cannot help noticing that certain 'types' seem more OR less prominent in today's major companies. I also don't think it is the case, that the question of women's body types--including more and less 'regular'--never comes up in discussion. I recently commented (on a thread about the Bolshoi) that I thought it was a "plus" that the Bolshoi, despite having Zakharova as their star ballerina, does not seem to fetishize super-thin, long-limbed, hyper-extended ballerinas. Can I enjoy that kind of ballerina--wow yes! I often enjoy Zakharova and hugely admire Guillem--it does not preclude my wanting to see other types, particularly in certain roles...Apologies though for citing myself! Thanks Miliosr for additional information about Ted Kivitt

To answer Ray's question--I sometimes feel that I simply see "more" with a bigger dancer. Balanchine said something along these lines about his preference for tall dancers though, of course, he was not speaking of male dancers. The lines are bigger and more expansive, the overhead lifts are grander--one can have long, lingering beauties as he lets the ballerina down from those lifts--and there is potential for great effects of contrast--a large male dancer who lands softly from a series of jumps has a different kind of 'flavor' than a smaller one. From a more practical point of view, he can typically partner a wider range of ballerinas. A talented smaller dancer can certainly achieve some comparable effects, but it's not identical. Also, we happen to live in an era when a lot of male talent does seem to be on the slighter, shorter side, so, yes, I wouldn't mind at all seeing some talented male dancers who were taller and broader. As I said at the end of my post, one does of course want to see talented dancers--like the not-at-all big and strapping Cornejo. As for ego--uh...I think that comes in all shapes and sizes. But though it's always charming to learn the dancers one admires are admirable human beings, it's not one of my criteria for what, say, makes a good Siegfried.

I have often wished ABT would revive Tiller in the Fields--though I remember it best for the pas de deux between Bissell and Kirkland and Kirkland's wondrous yet uncertain -- as if embarrassed yet hopeful -- expression as she showed her pregnant belly to her lover. I' m not sure audiences knew quite how to take that moment. I remember Ted Kivitt as a big strapping guy with a likable grin. I wasn't a fan but I must say I would love to see more big strapping guys among the principals in major companies. Of course, it would be helpful if they could dance as well as Herman Cornejo...

Well, I think the original question has been answered. If it was a "Ted" then "Ted Kivitt." But assuming it's okay to expand a little on memories of D'Antuono/Kirkland pairings...I have a distinct memory of seeing Kivitt partner Kirkland in a Corsaire Pas de Deux at City Center--perhaps one of her earliest seasons with the company. (She was ravishing and very strong in that performance.) Otherwise I mostly saw Kivitt with D'Antuono--and I remember the two of them in a Corsaire Pas de Deux at Kennedy Center. Kirkland also did a full length Raymonda in New York (that I did not see) with Nureyev. Barnes gave it a rave review. In D.C. however, Nureyev danced the ballet with D'Antuono. I don't think Kirkland was even announced for the D.C. Raymondas. I was disappointed, but remember thinking it was the loveliest I had ever seen D'Antuono dance. So either she was inspired by dancing with Nureyev and/or he worked with her very carefully on the role. The "half-Nutcracker" in New York did have Dowell partnering Kirkland. I am pretty sure I saw them do the entire ballet in D.C. though oddly I wouldn't swear to it. I saw Kirkland dance Nutcracker many times with many different partners in D.C. (Baryshnikov, Schaufus, Cragun--the latter especially effective) but, oddly, performances with Dowell -- my favorite male dancer!!! -- are not altogether clear in my memory. Kirkland did a lovely Coppelia with Charles Ward in D.C. also late 70's but I don't know that that casting was repeated in New York. I remember a particularly gorgeous overhead lift in which she just floated to the ground--he was so tall and she so delicate (appearing) that it was like watching a slow motion feather descend to earth -- a feather with exquisite balletic form...Johann Renvall partnered her in Great Galloping Gottschalk in the early 80's. On this board someone once said that she was miscast in this ballet--I found the performance fluid and fun. I could not take my eyes off of them.

When I saw Guillem's Odette-Odile, I found her high extensions to be something of a revelation--despite the fact that I had by that time seen several high-legged Swan Queens as well as dancers in other roles who used ultra-high extensions including the young Zakharova. Guillem's extended lines were (to my eyes) genuinely exquisite and...well...classical looking. Thinking about it, I felt they looked entirely natural to her body and motion. She remained utterly relaxed so there was no distortion of the classical line or musical phrasing. I had and have never seen 'high' extensions in a nineteenth-century classical role, traditionally conceived, that looked so appropriate to the artistic totality. This was one of my favorite Odette-Odile perfomances in many years. Years ago, when I first read about Guillem's dancing, I was very skeptical. I expected to feel about her as Leonid does. Then I saw and loved her performance in a modern role (the Robert Wilson Martyre of St. Sebastien). In that work she created a huge impression just standing still. But I assumed I would not like her in classical roles. Since then I have seen her just twice more, in Swan Lake and in A Month in the Country. I don't even recall her deploying her high extensions except in the Swan Lake (which I have described) but both performances seemed to me, in very different ways, genuinely great ballerina performances. So much so, that whenever Guillem is mentioned on this board I feel practically compelled to say something about her impact.

Don Juan is widely considered the greatest and most readable (I agree) and though very long it is episodic and can be read in more manageable sections, one canto at a time. Beppo, which the article mentions, is like a try-out for Don Juan and is also a pretty good poem to start with. If one is interested in the more 'broody' Byron I myself prefer Cain to Manfred, but that may be an eccentric opinion. Both are cosmic 'closet' dramas--dramas not written for the stage. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage made him famous but arguably doesn't become genuinely good reading until canto III. Still, Don Juan, is by far and away the greatest poem he wrote. There really has been a fair amount of critical writing on Byron's poetry and plays--though the stuff I know about is for academic audiences and uneven in quality. I imagine that some of these works don't register on Amazon at all. And, of course, a great deal that is published on Byron is published not as a book on Byron per se but as a chapter in another book or else as an essay published in an academic journal. (A lot of university presses will no longer publish 'single author' books.) Just to give some examples of critical works that have appeared on Byron's poetry (or big books that included chapters on Byron)--From the 1990's: Terence Hoagwood, Byron's Dialectic, Jerome Christensen, _Lord Byron's Strength_. Christensen also talks about Cain in a book he wrote that appeared more recently _Romanticism at the End of History_. James Chandler's _England in 1819_ includes a whole chapter on Don Juan. Michael Simpson, _Closet Performances_ talks about the plays of Byron and Shelley. Daniel Watkins also wrote a book on Byron's plays; Saree Makdisi _Romantic Imperialism_ ,has a chapter on Byron and Nigel Leask wrote a book on British Romanticism and the East which has a chapter on Byron. Books published 2000 and since include: Jane Stabler, _Byron, Poetics, and History_, Alan Rawes, _Byron's Poetic Experimentation_, Stephen Cheeke, _Byron and Place_. Jerome McGann has been writing on Byron for years and in 2002 published a collection called _Byron and Romanticism_... This isn't a remotely exhaustive list, so there really is stuff out there that shows an interest in Byron's writing not just his life.

I think the article somewhat exagerates the eclipse of Byron's reputation in academic circles--though that may partly be the result of attending only to British scholarship and ignoring anything written by Americans. In fact a number of major studies have appeared. But even in the context of British scholarship, Byron has attracted attention for at least some decades now... The exhibit being discussed may (or may not) well be groundbreaking, but it is only in relation to the sort of claims cited in the article (Byron as comparable to Napoleon--something HE certainly thought) that one would describe Byron as in eclipse academically. I don't feel quite equiped to talk about how popular he remains to a wider literary audience or how much his image lives in popular culture. I remember that a few years back the Highlander television series had an episode organized around Byron/Shelley in Geneva -- also the topic of a Ken Russell film. Both examples that were...um...just dreadful. But even in bookstores with small poetry sections (in the U.S.) I often notice that the shelves stock at least one volume of Byron which makes me think the books must be selling since these stores are not committed to poetry per se.