Alexandra

Thank you, Michael. Clare Croft reviews Hamburg Ballet's "Nijinsky" on DanceView Times: Nijinsky-Lost in the Chaos Other reactions to Neumeier's "Nijinsky"? What did you think?

djb, isn't there a bit of "Giselle" -- second act pas de deux? -- on one of those "Great Moments of the Bolshoi" tapes? It struck a bell with me -- but I can't for the life of me remember WHICH one. (I only saw them at the very end of their careers, when they were well into their 50s, at a little chamber performance here and they still made everyone else on the stage look like they were made of cardboard.)

Andre, re structuralism and expressionism -- I don't think these are artificial distinctions at all, but very basic ones, and pertinent to our discussions here. The point, I think, is recognizing the nature of a work so that one understands the choreographer's point of view, where s/he's coming from, and can judge a work within that context. Definitely, one doesn't have to consider any of this to enjoy a performance, but they're helpful terms in trying to discuss or analyze a work of art. Re "Nijinsky" -- which I just saw tonight, I wasn't uninterested. As I wrote on the "half price tickets available" thread, I'd recommend it. It's very different from our usual fare, Neumeier is an important choreographer, highly regarded in Europe, and I think his work should be seen. I'm not sorry I went, and I'm going back. That said -- and much more, I'm afraid, as I'm going to write about this -- I was disappointed. Neumeier obviously knows a lot about Nijinsky, and those ballets. There are movements and phrases from a huge chunk of the Ballet Russe repertory woven into the fabric of the piece, and there are moments from Nijinsky's life -- like the scene where he's standing on a chair, screaming the counts at the dancers as he did at the premiere of Sacre, when the boos overtook the music. But despite this, I found the depiction of him as a person very superficial. The images of madness were stage madness, generic twitching movements that have been used over and over in other works. Re hockeyfan and Manhattnik's comments -- a little distillation would have helped, I think, especially in the second act, where Neumeier has to stretch his ideas to fill the music's length. Manhattnik, I haven't seen Bejart's Nijinsky ballet, but a colleague of mine has and I've asked him to write about that. I'm curious about that, too. From what I've read, I think Bejart's would have been more theatrical, more flamboyant. This one opens like a tanzteater piece, and there were moments (when they started yelling at the end) where I thought of tanzteater too. Bejart was more free form. Perhaps more imaginative? I think. I'd also be curious if anyone here ever saw Bejart's Nijinsky work.

Anyone else go? What did you think? It got a lot of applause at the end -- standing ovation, very warm reception for the dancers and for Neumeier, who took a call. Yet it was a very mixed reaction, from remarks I overheard, both at intermission and as people were leaving. Several people near where I was sitting left after the first act, people around me were laughing at some parts (not because they were intentionally funny), and I heard several 'I hated it," "That's the worst thing I've ever seen," and one, "I was miserable!" BUT I also heard the absolute opposite -- "Wasn't that wonderful?" "I think that's the best thing I've ever seen." So go. Go and report!

I take it you wil be Swanilda -- congratulations! I think she's mischievous and curious, and willful. She's not a submissive little girlfriend; she can think for herself and investigate things on her own. One thing you might aim for -- although this is much easier to write than it is to do -- is to try to live the role and not just act it out. Remember that Swanilda doesn't know what's in that workshop until she sees it, that neither she nor Franz know that Coppelia is a doll until they're up close. Remember that they don't know how this is going to turn out -- Franz is in real danger, Swanilda is worried about him, but can't let on, because she's only a doll. Have fun with it! You might want to post this same question on the Ballet Talk for Dancers forum in Cross Talk, because there might be some people there who have danced or coached the role.

Robert Greskovic reviews "Nijinsky" in today's Wall Street Journal (available only to paid subscribers):

Congratulations to Gudrun Bojesen -- and salut to Niels Mathiassen.

gottadance07, you might find more answers and info on this on the dancers forum at http://balletalert.com/dancersforum/index.php?

Good point, Herman!

Great question! I can remember a certain European company that seemed to be looking to hire foreign dancers, mostly Americans, to be corps members with the expectation that they would NOT be principals -- sort of "guest workers," imports to do the heavy lifting and other dirty jobs, like standing around bashing tambourines There was grumbling in Frankfurt that most (surely not all, as I've read?) of the dancers of the Frankfurt Balett were American. In Europe, there's an economic issue as well as a stylistic one -- the state has paid for the education of British/Danish/French dancers. The state company has an obligation to provide employment for the dancers it trains. There are also issue of nationality that are hard to quantify. I've heard Danes say that a foreigner will never really be able to dance Bournonville, even if s/he acquires the Danish plie and soft arms, because "one needs to be brought up in the atmosphere, with the sense of Danish humanity" to understand the ballets. I agree with what Ari wrote. And it feels odd, as an American, because we're all immigrants, to look at a company and say, "it doesn't look American." but the influx of Latin American dancers has come so fast, and some of the stylistic elements they're bring in are jarring. I don't mind the Cubans -- they're trained in a very fine classical scool. but some of the others, especially the men, look as though they've been trained in gyms, on the Medal Winner fast track. They can jump, and they can turn, and that's it. During the 1980s, when the company still did its Americana repertory, the presence of good dancers, lke Johan Renvall and several Russians, mostly corps, made those Americana Ballets look very foreign. I'd never realized how American "Billy the Kid" was until I saw Renvall (a dancer I greatey admired) do it. Yet, to be contrarian, San Francisco Ballet has dancers from every race and clime, and they all look like San Francisco Ballet dancers. Tomasson is beginning to create a recognizable look and style (give the man another ten years....) American schools turn out thousands of good dancers every year, yet American companies are hiring foreigners. And it's regional as well as ABT; Cincinnati Ballet put out a press release a couple of seasons ago that it had become international because there were several countries now represented on its roster. Where are the Americans to go? Why, Denmark and Frankfurt, of course!

Here are the New York reviews we've found so far: rom yesterday's Links thread: Anna Kisselgoff in the Times Robert Johnson in the Star-Ledger From the Associated Press: 'Nijinsky' Painful Portrait of Genius Gia Kourlas in DanceView Times: (with several photos) Clichés of Madness Eric Taub reviews Hamburg Ballet's "Nijinsky" for Ballet.co's magazine: "Nijinsky"

I can't imagine Dunning is unaware of the history of the role Maybe she just wanted to see Fairchild as Aurora ??

50 percent is very good! ;) I remember B. Moore from the age of 13 or so and was sorry I didn't see her adult career. She was a tiny dancer -- incredibly (naturally) slender and short -- and then suddenly she grew a bit, and started dancing on pointe, and the combination made her about a foot taller. So when she was young, she danced like a small girl who didn't realize she was tall. She was in ABT for awhile before going to Birmingham. I wish there was a Kathleen Moore video! She was one of my ballet heroines. A beautiful classical dancer, in my book, though she seldom got to do those roles. She danced in an old-fashioned style; she was trained, if I'm remembering correctly, by a Ballet Russe teacher and it showed. Beautiful arms, very musical, soft dancing. And was the best American character dancer I've ever seen. I keep waiting to see her name turn up on a list of coaches and stagers -- I can't imagine she could be less than first rate at that, too.

No, American companies don't have the funding and state support that many European companies have, that's true. I find many of Neumeier's ballets -- and ballets of this type -- all about notions and ideas that are most impressive when you read them but don't match up to what goes on on stage, and those who aren't impressed by Neumeier's work generally cite the paucity of choreographic content as the reason. I haven't seen this one yet -- we get it next week. I have liked some of his work, so I'm keeping an open mind. But just because someone says a work is about "ideas" and "the dark side of the human mind" doesn't do much for me. I don't consider that, by itself, to be intellectual. (and I think those who look at classical ballet and see only a "pretty or innocuous facade" aren't looking beyond the costumes I'm interested in the bones -- the steps, phrasing and structure of a ballet, in the same way I would be when listening to a concerto or reading a novel. If a book has a good plot but has no character development, or has cliched or unimaginative writing, I don't think very highly of it. I still want to read what New Yorkers thought of this one -- come on, guys! You went to Eifman.......

Cling to that straw, Marc

From Troy and Saratoga Springs (the same article was in several upstate New York papers): Supporters say SPAC can't dance around issue

From Newsday: NYC Ballet invited again to Saratoga

TV News report of a town meeting to discuss the SPAC/NYCB issue: Residents organize petitions to keep ballet

Giannina, Bonnie Moore came from Washington Ballet and ended up with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Thanks for this, Jasper. I can imagine that Lacarra would be very good in this role (This ballet is one of the few I've seen of Neumeier's that I like, for what that's worth). Thanks for the report.

Simon, I would have deleted the post had Mme. Hermine not posted before I got to it. Please do not write in any language other than Englisih on this board. Thanks, Mme. Hermine.

I didn't see the performance, so I can't comment on the review, but I can't imagine a dancer I'd consider wasted as Florine. I consider it a major role; Makarova danced it. In fact, gave an interview when ABT got "Sleeping Beauty" in which she said she was more Florine than Aurora. I wondered if Fairchild, at present, might not be too light for Florine.

My friends have had very mixed reactions to this. Some liked it a lot, and others dismissed it. But both "sides" said the audience seemed very enthusiastic -- lots of applause, standing ovation, at least opening night. Whether you liked it or not, please weigh in! Neumeier is an important choreographer. With Forsythe, he's a star in Europe, considered a leading choreographer. I think we need to pay attention to him -- what did you think?

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has announced its 2004-2005 season, and the mix of rep -- "opera" ballet, a 19th century classics and rock/pop ballet -- is becoming one wing of the ballet party, it seems. I've not yet seen a complete season built on it. (The other "wing of the party" is a mixture of avant-garde and crossover dance with a more abstract kind of pop ballet.) this is the first company I've seen -- may have missed one -- that says it wants to have rock/pop ballet as its signature. Here's the article: PBT plans Paul Simon tribute Here's the rep: "A Tribute to Paul Simon" (new work; Simon's "Graceland," so this is an Elvis tribute) Stanton Welch's "Madame Butterfly" Ben Stevenson's "Dracula" "Sleeping Beauty" And Artistic Director Terrence Orr's "Pittsburgh Nutcracker" We have a few people from Pittsburgh here, and I'd be interested in what you think of this, and what your sense of the home town feel is, and I'd also be interested to know, from others, what your sense of this -- is ballet going to have a "A Tribute to George Harrison" period? Is that the next new thing? Is it a good way to draw in new people? It's a discussion we've had before, but this is a slightly new twist -- basing a season on full-evening ballets, but it's different from the "Swan Lake"/"Romeo and Juliet" mix.