Drew

I often read his reviews over the years. May he rest in peace --

Saw three performances this weekend. To get it out of the way, I'll start with one big negative. At what production meeting was it determined that two of the only ballets in the repertory where the sets and costumes are as important as the choreography should be as dimly lit as possible? Even in the land of the dead--I mean, of course, much of Orpheus--one can have, as Milton puts it, "darkness visible." As for Prodigal Son, having seen the ballet across generations and with three different companies I do not believe I have ever seen it so very shadowy. That said, it was thrilling to be back at New York City Ballet and I thought the company looked pretty wonderful. Unlike many here I don't know corps-de-ballet dancers or even more than a few soloists by name, but I regularly saw members of the ensemble in corps and demi-soloist roles who caught my eye. (One in Symphony in C I was able to identify--Ashley Hod. Very much enjoyed her dancing). That's an important part of what makes a company great--they all look terrific even when not being directly featured. Still, some performances, and some ballets, are in another category. "Great" just doesn't seem to say enough. The first ballet I saw this weekend was the absolute highlight of my weekend ballet-going: the Nadon, LaFreniere, Bolden Concerto Barocco. Completely agree with all the praise for that performance already posted above. I was at the Nadon/Bolden debut performance and though, in one or two spots, I imagine they may polish things up, it was just a stunning performance from all three principals, and I loved every second of it. This was my first time seeing Lafreniere--that's an enthusiastic WOW from me! As for Nadon, whom I was also seeing for the first time....if I lived in NY and had the resources, then I would not miss a single one of her performances. EVER. I also felt very privileged to see two ballerinas who have long been among my favorites in two ballets each -- Peck in Symphony in C and Theme and Variations. And Mearns as the Siren in Prodigal Son and in Serenade. All technically and emotionally rich performances. I have always loved Peck but I have never seen her look so complete a ballerina. Another long-time favorite, Ashley Laracey single-handedly made Orpheus feel genuinely moving to me. I had reservations about a few of the other performances I saw (I mean beyond my above mentioned irritation with some of the lighting), but many others were terrific and I'm happy with what I saw. As others have noted the all Balanchine programs seem to have been big sellers. Fourth ring was open at every performance I attended and, as far as my eyes could see, the rest of the house was full.

Well I hope no-one throws a bottle at you! (And that you have a great time too.)

I can imagine how wonderful to be back in the theater. Sounds like a largely terrific performance too 🙂. I hope to make my first return to NYCB since the pandemic struck at the end of the season--though health-and-travel variables seem increasingly daunting to me as I get less and less hearty. But I do have tickets and airplane booked!

Often people who wait a few years to voice their negative experiences (in any kind of institution) are heavily criticized for not having spoken up at the time of the event--or even disbelieved because they didn't go public at the time. In general, when one has something critical to say about experiences in a loved and admired institution one will never find a way or a time that satisfies everyone. Probably not even oneself. As it happens, several dancers who have spoken out about negative experiences at NYCB or with NYCB personnel DID wait--I'll give the example of Wilhelmina Frankfurt whose story about visiting Balanchine in the hospital was not public knowledge until after the fact; I think she has every right to celebrate her time with the company and was happy to see a photo of her there celebrating. And as @Nanushka commented above...feelings are complicated. Life experiences too. As for Bouder bringing her daughter on stage? it's hard for me to share the dismay expressed by several here. If the company explicitly said "no kids on stage," then she was breaking rules. But did they? I doubt they said anything. Possibly it didn't occurr to them someone would bring their child. But it hardly seems like a big deal. I'm probably more shocked when I see ballet dancers bringing their dogs to the studio with them. (But I've gotten over it 😉) Sounds from all the reports like it was a great evening! Relieved to read that the orchestra will be playing for the whole of the Fall season.

I sympathize...

Atlanta Ballet has brought back Johan Kobborg's La Sylphide--i gather he tweaks his version for different companies, and it's not identical, say, to what I have seen of his production for the Bolshoi in its broadcasts (broadcasts now a thing of the past, for the United States at least). As he wrote for the program notes: "I love the fact that you can grow and develop as an artist over time and change the way you think of and perform the roles within this ballet. I still make small changes to characters and some of my own choreographic additions, as it is important that the piece works for the specific company and its individual dancers. They are the ones that need to bring the piece to life and make sense of the story and its characters." I thought it was an excellent production back when I saw it in winter 2019 and confirmed that opinion today at the Sunday matinee. (Madge is...well...MADGE in this version not explicitly set up to suggest she is some fallen sylph. She does still spit on James explicitly and loudly at the ballet's end; Just pantomime would be fine with me.) Sets/Costumes, though, have changed: last go round borrowing (or renting) from ABT, Atlanta used Desmond Heeley's designs. At the time I didn't realize it was ABT's old production and can laugh at myself NOW for how much I liked the design ('Why this looks EXACTLY the way I picture La Sylphide'--uh...naturally because that was the production stored in my memory banks). This go round they used sets by Søren Frandsen and costumes by Henrik Bloch--designed, I infer, for the Royal Danish Ballet. (The program notes indicate they had designed Sylphide for RDB so I'm guessing that's what Atlanta is using...) Anyway, a very handsome and evocative, traditional, production. This is the Scotland of Walter Scott's novels. In some spots, I thought the lighting could have been better and in particular I would have liked a spotlight on the Sylph as she floats up to heaven at the end. I wrote about the production in some detail when it premiered; I will just say here it is traditional in all the best ways -- and still fresh looking and alive. I thought the company looked great in Act I--the audience cheered loudly at the end of the Scottish Reel and the cheers were very deserved. The classical dancing in Act II exposed a little unevenness in the corps maybe, but they did well overall. (Shoes were kind of noisy.) I give the dancers kudos & Kobborg and Nedvigin kudos on preparing them. The leads (Airi Igarashi and Sergio Masero) and the soloists were all, to my eyes, excellent, especially Airi Igarashi as the Sylph. As it happens Igarashi and Masero danced the performance I saw of this production in 2019. I think both have matured. She especially seems to me to have developed beautifully and, today, she brought more convincing pathos to the Sylph's death than I remember from the earlier performance and generally not only danced wonderfully but captured the Sylph's quicksilver changes in mood. I quite liked the Gurn, too, Spencer Wetherington--though Mr. Drew complained that he was too tall and good looking-and even danced too well in his solo (!)-to be the goofy guy for whom Effie merely settles--so, perhaps there is a James in his future. (I see in his bio that he studied in Moscow at the Bolshoi Academy.) When I last saw the company in Fall 2019, Mikaela Santos had just joined and was already a favorite of mine from her performances when she was still an apprentice, so I was very pleased that she was cast as Effie and I loved her performance--expressive in her character dancing, touching in her mime. I gather she has danced Kitri in the company's Don Quixote -- I wasn't yet returning to the theater at that point -- but I'm hoping to catch her in big roles in the future. Spit notwithstanding, I also enjoyed Georgie Grace Butler's Madge. From all the dancers I found the mime clear and believable. I did wonder if it was a concession to local mores that the young woman who learns she is pregnant from Madge, is happy about it and rushes to share her joy with a Kilted man on stage who is, presumably, meant to be her husband. (I have always seen her slink away fearful and teary eyed--even as the audience laughs. So how is it done in Denmark?) The company performs at the Cobb Energy Center--it's a drive Mr. Drew and I can't make at night so I missed alternate casts including Emily Carrico, Denys Nedak, and, for one Saturday night performance Kobborg himself as Madge. Having seen Bruhn as Madge back in the day I would love to have seen Kobborg as a very nice bookend to my Sylphide experiences. If the company could do something to make it easier to get to/from the theater -- shuttles to more central locations in the Atlanta area? -- then maybe I could expand my Atlanta Ballet going.

I cannot imagine any scenario in which unionized dancers and stage hands cross picket lines--even if there were some who felt unsympathetic to the musicians or just desperate to dance. (And I imagine many audience members wouldn't be comfortable crossing picket lines either.)

Thank you for this--he looks terrific. (Sort of seems odd to me that a prize-winning graduate of the Royal Ballet School wasn't well known enough to the company leadership that he couldn't be admitted to the company despite missing the official audition due to injury.)

I was writing from memory of discussions here--a quick search turned up discussion of Kretzschmar exactly as you say, so that must be what I was remembering--and I have to admit that when I re-looked at that discussion after reading your post this evening I saw that a couple of people did say that they preferred someone taller in that role. To stick to what I've seen myself and remember in terms of less than one-on-one body-type casting: I've seen Margaret Tracy in an iconic Farrell role (Chaconne) and Merrill Ashley in Emeralds. The latter cast by Balanchine. I don't remember either of these as spectacularly successful --but they definitely weren't flops either. So I guess I don't think the company needs to be wed to a super strict notion of emploi, though attention to performance tradition does matter. I doubt @Quiggin and I are all that far apart in our view of this.... (All of which is a separate issue from Bouder's stage readiness.) It's sort of against my own point but with Orpheus about to be revived it may be worth remarking that when Balanchine revived it for Baryshnikov (with Mazzo) it was widely considered a bust, but when Martins (dancing with Von Aroldingen) took the role over later, critics thought the ballet worked after all. I saw both casts and agreed with those assessments -- though it was never exactly a waste of time to see Baryshnikov. Body types probably played a role there along with temperament and performance traditions inscribed in the bodies of those dancers. The one thing that does cohere with what I was trying to say is that Balanchine was willing to try it with both casts. I know that you know that he often didn't take that approach (far from it) but sometimes he did....I am actually extremely curious how that ballet is going to be cast and who can be found that will be able to bring it to life today.

Alexandra Tomalonis who, sadly, is no longer with us felt very strongly about casting and traditional ballet emploi (which, of course, includes physical type, though also personality etc.). Your comment made me think of her. But I have reservations too. In the U.S. and specifically at NYCB casting against body type does happen--and often with success. From recent reports, shorter women have been cast in the 'tall girl' role in Rubies to give one example and people on this site seemed satisfied. Such experiments won't always work but sometimes do. And the most gifted dancers break the mold. Balanchine experimented with casting against type himself (Ashley in Emeralds). As it happens, even if Bouder had not danced Emeralds already, then I would imagine her musicality would serve her well in that ballet. (And Bouder at her best could always bend a role to her will anyway. I remember seeing her in Piano Concerto no 2 and, if I were to put my thoughts during the performance into words, then they would go something like this: "well, she is a great dancer, but I personally wouldn't pick her to evoke imperial Russian ballet even in a stylized, neoclassical way and that's what this ballet needs ...[a few minutes later]....I have to admit, whatever my reservations, she IS dancing exceptionally well and this is fun....[a few minutes later]...I had reservations?!? She is great in this....[a few minutes later]... What a fantasy vision of imperial Russian Ballet Bouder makes--she's perfect for the role!") I do remember that the complaints on this site about Bouder not being stage ready when she last danced with the company were also about her technique--and I don't doubt her technique is as subject to time and injury as that of other great dancers--so let's just say I'm absolutely rooting for her to have a fine Fall season and trust that the company leadership and Bouder herself know what they are doing.

I saw Park as Tita in Wheeldon's Like Water for Chocolate and though she hasn't (or hadn't) yet developed dramatically to the point of putting as strong an individual stamp on the role as other ballerinas I saw, I thought she showed herself deserving of the opportunity and a beautiful classical dancer. If nothing unexpected upends her development, I would be very surprised if she did not become a principal dancer, and I am eager to see more of her dancing.

Jacopo Tissi is joining the Dutch National Ballet: https://www.operaballet.nl/en/news/new-principal-dancer-jacopo-tissi-promotions-2324-season-and-new-business-manager-dnb

I don’t closely follow the programming of most European companies and only just today saw that La Scala’s upcoming season includes a new Coppelia from Ratmansky premiering in December. I did not see any further information about the production or his approach. (I love both Balanchine’s production at NYCB and Burlaka’s historical reconstruction at the Bolshoi.)

What a wonderful interview with Trenary —and what a compelling artist. The story about Jaffe reassuring her after her Act I Giselle? — another great anecdote. (The interpretation IS more important than the hops on pointe.) So interesting, too, to read about her work with Seymour who, more than any ballerina I ever saw, embodied exactly the goals Trenary articulates for herself of bringing a human and humane quality to her dancing. One certainly saw some of that in Trenary’s Tita. I don’t want to jinx myself, but hope to see more of Trenary in the Fall.

Thanks for this perspective. Teuscher’ is a terrific ballerina—as is Seo—no disrespect to them intended. In any case, I am not seeing any of this season’s Giselles as I have done my NY ballet-going for the summer. (And commented in that context on Teuscher’s effectiveness as Tita.). I also don’t think ballerinas should simply imitate others’ approaches. So why peep up at all? Well, discussing and comparing different performances for me has still always been part of the experience of being a ballet fan on a ballet message board. It’s even one of the ways I learn to see more exactly what dancers are doing. That said, of course I am most interested in reading about this season’s performances.

Osipova is the only ballerina I have ever seen do the 360 degree turn hopping on pointe in Giselle. I have seen a few ballerinas deftly turn towards Albrecht at moments as they hop across the stage and the best of them made it a loving gesture. (I remember McKerrow’s eyes meeting with Malakhov’s in particular.) Osipova’s turn while hopping—towards the end of the diagonal the two times I saw her add this— though obviously showier was also performed as an expression of Giselle’s sheer love of dancing. So it worked with her characterization and didn’t seem like a mere trick, though it is hard to describe without making it sound like one.

Camargo was Osipova’s Albrecht when she guested last year at Teatro Colón. I wish I could see the Hurlin-Camargo performance and look forward to reading about it.

My reactions to Like Water for Chocolate were close overall to @nysusan ‘s. I will add that I found sections of it quite moving and enjoyed the range of women’s experiences and relations to each other that it captured. All three casts I saw did an effective job putting the ballet over —though of course each cast was stronger in some roles or some aspects of the choreography than others. Having seen the ballet live, I am also not sure I agree that the first act lacks dancing, though it certainly lacks set pieces let alone pauses for applause. There is even quite a bit of dancing but it is completely submerged in carrying the story. Say, when Nacha dances a solo as she remembers the past and dies, she isn’t performing a classical variation but she IS dancing —and not just miming distress or some such. (I thought Courtney Lavine was especially powerful in this solo.) Tita and Pedro don’t dance a full scale pas de deux until the end—that’s even the point of the plot. (The book’s plot anyway.) But they do dance together quite a bit, including in Act I, with each segment marking a different moment in their relationship and then dramatically always blending into the next section of the story. The ballet was warmly received and warmly spoken of by people around me. “Amazing” and “mesmerizing” were two adjectives I heard on Tuesday. And at different performances I attended several people I spoke with expressed pleasure that ABT was doing something “new.” But following the story definitely seemed to be daunting to some of the audience whether sitting near me or overheard at intermission. In thinking about whether I would want to see the ballet again, or whether the choreography repays repeated viewing etc, I don’t think nineteenth-century classics are the right comparison to make. I would compare this to other literature-based full-length story ballets in ABT’s repertory —that is those developed in the mid-twentieth century. It is tricky for me because I personally have no interest in sitting through Onegin or Romeo and Juliet, and even less in sitting through Manon, without a superstar cast. As a new full-length work with a lot of featured roles for ABT’s dancers, Like Water for Chocolate was of more real interest to me than any of those would have been. If it stays in the repertory, then I think I would return to it with interest too though I suppose I would get fussier about casts as well. (Unfortunately I have yet to see Of Love and Rage.) On the subject of casts, I don’t want to get too caught up in giving impressions of individual performances here, but I will say that Wed evening at the end of Act I Devon Teuscher as Tita and Zhong-Zhing Fang (replacing Shevchenko) as Mama Elena really looked as if they were going to kill each other. I was not sitting that close and it was still electric.

A thank you from me as well to @nysusanfor the report on the production. I was also happy to read about the quality of the Houston Ballet's dancers and of Sisk's Odette-Odile.

In the ROH broadcast I thought the first act did feel--and was--long with a lot of storytelling gesture dominating the act, as mentioned above, but for me the first act packed a big emotional punch at the end that brought everything home--so there was a payoff. On that basis alone, I decided I would like to see the ballet live if possible, though the most memorable dance sequences happen later in the ballet. (I will know next week whether I'm seeing it or not.)

Just the mention of Kirkland and cancellations brings on my balletomane PTSD. She is still my favorite ballerina of all time. I hope Lane is feeling much better and gets some other opportunities to practice and develop her art as she would like. Huge sympathy to everyone who went to Houston to see her. I know I would have been crushed.

I also was not particularly bothered by Jaffe and Wheeldon's comments--"story ballet" (esp. full lengths) has not usually been my favorite genre for 20th and 21st century ballet, but ABT does need to differentiate itself from NYCB and "story ballet" is an obvious way to do so in a single phrase. (I know NYCB has some story ballets in its repertory. It's still not their calling card.) Since Jaffe plans on reviving Etudes this fall, I'm not all that concerned she will be giving up on classical showpieces and the like. Personally I would like the 19th-century classics to be a big part of her vision as well even if here and there tweaked along the lines of the Dutch National Ballet's traditional-but-tactful Raymonda. And I suspect they will be. But to return to Wheeldon's comments: choreography that tries to make every part of a work cohere dramatically is a time-honored aesthetic in ballet--albeit one that has been hard to sustain. Wheeldon talks as if he were positioning himself as the heir of Noverre, Fokine, and Tudor. I'm speaking of his language and not his achievements--I haven't seen LWFC and reactions to it seem to vary a lot. I do appreciate that with Like Water for Chocolate, he is looking at a 20th-century Mexican novel for source material and bringing a fresh narrative to ballet. Concerns about cultural appropriation are not unreasonable but Esquivel's blessing for the project carries weight with me--and though I don't remember the article mentioning it, she has been involved in promoting the ballet in both the UK and here in the U.S. There was a time New York could support two major companies even though both of them had ups and downs in the minds of fans and critics. If ABT is going through a transition--artistically and financially--then I can only hope they pull it off successfully and NY remains a home to two major companies. The alternative--a fate like that of New York City Opera--would be far more depressing to me than anything being talked about here.

I was just referring to Gottlieb in the discussion thread on New York City Ballet (the subject was programming). A compelling figure in many spheres--may he rest in peace.

Over and over, when I study the different programs on offer, I find myself sort of squinting at them in puzzlement. (Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but as much as I'm looking forward to the Fall, I'm afraid I even squinted over some of the choices and configurations for the all Balanchine programing.) At first when I noticed the issue, I thought the company must be deliberately trying something 'different'--as if to say that 'just because Ballet X was always an opener 30 years ago, doesn't mean it has to be an opener today.' And, in principle, they should be trying different things. Fresh juxtapositions can lead to revelations or at least welcome new perspectives. But I haven't gotten the impression from reading professional reviews or comments by long-time fans here that new perspectives are being generated. Just concern about how programs are put together as programs. Perhaps the company could benefit from a new Robert Gottlieb type figure?