Alexandra

I wonder if it isn't simply a question of money? DTH has been struggling more than any other company I know. I've seen programs in the past where the dancing was well below par -- I didn't feel that this time, although the ballets were not particularly rigorous. Money must be the reason for the repertory woes -- they just don't have any new repertory. (New in any sense of the word -- new acquisitions, new creations.) The dancing was weak in "Prodigal Son," but you could still see the ballet. Ari, I don't know Shook's role in the company, nor who the other ballet masters have been (LeClercq used to teach there, but beyond that I haven't kept up with that aspect.) Of course, in the 1970s, the repertory WAS rigorous. Balanchine at its core, and the new works, including those by Mitchell, were classical. Some of us make the point from time to time that if a company starts dancing a predominantly pop or contemporary dance rep, it loses its technique. DTH has done a lot of pop and contempo in the past 3 decades.

I asked Kronstam this when I talked with him about "Romeo and Juliet" and he said that Ashton showed the steps and did not use counts. "He didn't care whether you were on 1 or 4, as long as it was on the music." That was his only comment in answer to a question about Ashton's musicality. (Like every dancer I've ever read/heard on the subject, he felt that Ashton was extremely musical.) I'd be interested in learning more about this, too -- Jane, Alymer? Anyone else?

This just in: CASTING FOR FIFTH AND SIXTH WEEK OF AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE Nine Performances of Don Quixote and Seven Performances of Romeo and Juliet to Include Debuts by Xiomara Reyes as Kitri and Diana Vishneva as Juliet Casting for the fifth and sixth week of American Ballet Theatre’s 2003 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. Don Quixote, staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, will be given its first performance of the season on Monday evening, June 2 with Paloma Herrera and Jose Manuel Carreño in the leading roles. On Wednesday evening, June 4, Xiomara Reyes will debut in the role of Kitri opposite Angel Corella as Basil. Other debuts in the ballet include Veronika Part as Queen of the Driads on Monday evening, June 2, Monique Meunier as Mercedes on the matinee of Wednesday, June 4 and Sascha Radetsky as Espada on Wednesday evening, June 4. Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet continues for seven performances June 6-11. On Wednesday evening, June 11, guest artist Diana Vishneva will make her Company debut in the role of Juliet opposite Vladimir Malakhov as Romeo. Ms. Vishneva, a principal dancer with the Kirov Ballet, is appearing with ABT as part of an exchange program with the Kirov Ballet. Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2003 Spring season are on sale at the Metropolitan Opera House box office or by calling 212-362-6000. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org A complete cast listing follows. Casting is subject to change. FIFTH WEEK Mon. Eve., June 2, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Herrera, Carreño, S. Brown, Gomes Tues. Eve., June 3, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Murphy, Stiefel, C. Corella, Molina Wed. Mat., June 4, 2 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Dvorovenko, Belotserkovsky, Meunier*, Saveliev* Wed. Eve., June 4, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Reyes*, Corella, S Brown, Radetsky* Thurs. Eve., June 5, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Ananiashvili, Gomes, C. Corella, Molina Fri. Eve., June 6, 8 P.M. ROMEO AND JULIET - Kent, Malakhov, H. Cornejo Sat. Mat., June 7, 2 P.M. ROMEO AND JULIET - Tuttle, Corella, Salstein** Sat. Eve., June 7, 8 P.M. ROMEO AND JULIET - Herrera, Gomes, Lopez SIXTH WEEK Mon. Eve., June 9, 8 P.M. ROMEO AND JULIET - McKerrow, Stiefel, Salstein Tues. Eve., June 10, 8 P.M. ROMEO AND JULIET - Dvorovenko**, Belotserkovsky**, De Luz Wed. Mat., June 11, 2 P.M. ROMEO AND JULIET - Reyes**, Corella, H. Cornejo Wed. Eve., June 11, 8 P.M. ROMEO AND JULIET - Vishneva+, Malakhov, De Luz Thurs. Eve., June 12, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE -Herrera, Carreño Fri. Eve., June 13, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Dvorovenko, Belotserkovsky Sat. Mat., June 14, 2 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Reyes, Corella Sat. Eve., June 14, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Murphy, Stiefel -30- *Editors please note: first time in a role: Wed Mat., June 4 - Meunier(Mercedes) and Saveliev(Espada) in Don Quixote Wed. Eve., June 4 - Reyes(Kitri) and Radetsky(Espada) in Don Quixote **Editors please note: first time in a role in New York: Sat. Mat., June 7 - Salstein(Mercutio) in Romeo and Juliet Tues. Eve., June 10 - Dvorovenko and Belotserkovsky in Romeo and Juliet Wed. Mat., June 11 - Reyes in Romeo and Juliet +Editors please note: first time in a role with ABT: Wed. Eve., June 11 - Vishneva in Romeo and Juliet Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Ginny, I can't answer the "where are they now" questions, unfortunately. I miss Eddie J. Shellman and Ronald Perry as well (although they were at retirement age when they left.) And Christine Johnson, one of the finest Giselles I've ever seen. I can agree with both Mike AND Ginny. I thought the second program, which I saw Friday night, was rather like going to someone's home and being served peanut butter jelly sandwiches on wonder bread, with kool aid in plastic tumblers. But the house was immaculate, the children charming and well-behaved, and everyone so goldarned nice and obviously offering you the best they had that you enjoyed the evening. I think what separates DTH from other companies with their resources is that Mitchell has an international standard, an international-level eye. Maybe he can't reach it, but he knows what it is, and the dancers do, too. The past few seasons I've seen (I didn't go last year) have looked under-rehearsed and sloppy. There was an "Allegro Brillante" two or three years ago that was shockingly bad. But this season, they looked well-rehearsed and dancing with purpose. That said, and what I didn't say in my review that ran in yesteday's Post, everything on the program looked as though it could have been choreographed in the 1980s, even though the oldest piece was 1999. "Viraa" was a classical ballet, which pleased me, of course, but it's reworking old ground. "Passion in the Blood" could have been a very minor story ballet from earlier than 1980, actually, like the low '50s. (Although story ballets are so hard to do, I admire van Heerden for trying, and realize that you have to be able to actually DO one or two or three; you can't just sit around thinking about it.) And Garland's "Return", while fun, is nothing new either. By "new" I don't mean shock surprise stand classicism on its head, of course, but just a sense that one wasn't seeing a navy dress in the style of the 1980s redone in red or green.

I've never seen this, but I think there are so many different versions of "Nutcrackers" that it would be hard to scream "foul." I'd bet it's just one more "enhancement" -- is it pandering to audiences, or assuming audiences can't follow the mime? I think the mime sequence for the Nutcracker Prince, ably performed by small boys for decades, is charming and one of the best children's parts. I'd vote to keep it -- I can see that the Shadow Creatures would be distracting. They also might not be visible in every part of the house. Write a letter

An infinite number, I would hope. Why is this such a problem in dance? Do opera singers regularly rant that they can't stand doing one more Norma? Performers are always compared, and there are standards to be met in any art form.

I think part of the Fokine issue is that Isabelle Fokine did not have much staging experience, nor even experience of watching her father's ballets. I'd bet on Baronova I've never read anything to contradict the notion claim that Fokine made changes, often major changes, in his ballets every time he set them. One of the problems the Fokine situation illustrates is that a choreographer can will his ballets to a trusted relative or associate, even designate who will stage them, but when those people die, they will choose their own heirs. It happens in other fields as well. The first generation may treasure their grandfather's books, say; the second may mean well, but not have the time or the inclination to care for the heritage properly; the third generation wants a new car and sells the whole kit and kaboodle to Mattel. I don't get Ovation either, and am now very, very sorry! (Robert Greskovic did an interview with Isabelle Fokine several years ago for DanceView that touched on some of these issues. It's another thing on my long list of "things to put up on the site some day....")

Great idea -- bare feet, with real toes. The Plasma Barbie!

Ari makes a good point -- and also, we tend to forget that the 1950s City Ballet repertory contained dramatic ballets like Cullberg's "Medea".

I'm glad you liked it Was it the full ballet, or just the third act? There was a commercial video of Napoli -- 1989, I believe. I don't know whether it's still commercially available. (Sometimes videos are pulled after a certain time, and I think Napoli may be one of them.)

Good questions -- I'm not sure we know which is the real one for Corsaire, but the Fonteyn variation is definitely Queen of the Dryads, meaning it was originally in "Don Quixote". Nureyev substituted the Dryad Fairy variation when he staged the pas de deux for Fonteyn because he thought it suited her better -- she had beautiful developes. (This was the custom for centuries; that's why they call them "variations" A ballerina had a repertory of variations that suited her, and she popped them in wherever she needed a ... variation.) It seems to be a custom that if you're dancing the Dryad variation, you wear a blue tutu for corsaire. If you're dancing the "Corsaire" variation, you wear a red one. That's what I've seen anyway; I don't mean to suggest a rule. I believe the Amor variation in "Don Q" is originally from Paquita -- but I'm on shaky ground here. If anyone knows differently, please correct me. I think I remember that when Baryshnikov staged Don Q, he mentioned that he'd taken that variation -- both are to Minkus -- beause he liked it and wanted to make the role of Amor (usually danced by a child) more meaty.

That's a great question! Copyright laws apply to dance but I don't know the term of copyright -- perhaps someone else does. The 19th century is fair game, which is why there are a thousand "Swan Lakes" and "Coppelias." Even without a trust controlling it, choreographers will leave their works to someone. I don't think there's a MacMillan trust yet, but his widow controls the rights to his work; just try staging "Mayerling" I think if you wanted to stage a Massine ballet, you'd have to find out who had the rights -- I believe his son, Lorca, is still alive, and go to him and ask him to come stage it, or suggest someone. And of course, the Trusts are a more formal situation. You will see, at very small companies, ballets that look suspiciously familiar, with a different name. I once saw "Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux" (Balanchine) called "Romantic Duet." This isn't legal, of course, but it's done. Bournonville isn't under trust -- no one owns his ballets. (He's always the exception.) One of the reason the company has been reluctant to release videos is they fear people will stage the ballets from the videos. Anyone have examples of stagings of something other than Petipa, Fokine, Tudor, Ashton, Balanchine?

GWTW, I just reread the interview and didn't find a complaint about City Ballet dancers, just a comment that they were used to being used as tools, and a comparison to Hamburg Ballet dancers. I really think it was simply a comment on different approaches rather than a complaint. (Whatever one thinks of Neumeier's choreography, dancers adore working with him, and his approach may work better for Neumeier's "Nijinsky"--a theater piece-- than for abstract ballet.) Michael, I think the "Who is He?" question is possibly one that could be asked of any good, young choreographer? They have to try out things -- I think it's a strength that he's taken so many chances and has worked in so many styles. I think, too, that he (and this goes for any choreographer that doesn't have his own company and reasonable resources) may not be ablle to do exactly what he wants, so we don't really know who he is yet. I did an interview with him about three years ago for Interview magazine (they gave me 300 words, which was ridiculous, and cut it to 150 words, which was beyond ridiculous. They gave it a full page, but it was a full-page photo, with the "interview" as the picture caption). One of the things he said that I thought was especially interesting was that he wanted very much to do a ballet that was a real collaboration with designer and composer. He alluded to that in the NYTimes interview, too -- I also think it's a strength, and a rare one, that he's open to collaboration. I thought it was a good interview.

Welcome, Cristina -- your Mother Theresa Barbie may not be far off, although it does rather limit the fashion possibilities! (Did you read about the Bejart Mother Theresa ballet? ) I hadn't thought about children seeing the video first before ever having seen a ballet -- I haven't seen the video, so can't make a comparison. It does seem a bit backwards. I'd worry that children will find the stage production lacking, especially if they see a very small town production. No special effects, no talking animals, no.....

On that, I can't help. I've only read of the ballet's existence (and didn't she do more than one?) but nothing more. Beaumont wasn't interested

Re Pamela's comment above, and of interest only to Bournonville people: I think the stories about Grahn leaving to avoid Bournonville's unwanted attentions are wrong -- they started around the time that people, at least some of them, had to read sex into everything. What I've read from 19th century sources is that Grahn and Bournonville fought over Grahn's high extensions -- Bournonville insisted on a low arabesque. (And later made the women sew threads from front to back of the underskirt so that their leg could only go so high.) I've read descriptions of Bournonville's home studio -- and how his wife hovered about -- and how unlikely it is that he would have done anything untoward. How out of character it was, how there's no other record of a wandering eye, much less a wandering hand. Aside from the quarrels about style, Grahn also wanted to be a star -- understandably; she could dance at Paris level, and she wanted Paris/international recognition.

Grace, I think you've misread. Yes, Americans (those who care anything about dance) do know quite a bit about Isadora. The original question was not posed by an American.

Brokenwing, I just emailed you with a longer explanation, and while writing it, I think I may have figured out what this issue is. There HAS been criticism of SAB that the teachers are now teaching "Balanchine technique" while during Balanchine's day he used classical teachers, because he wanted the students to have a solid grounding in classical technique (Danilova, Stanley Williams). When dancers got into the company, Balanchine would use/change this technique, but that was something reserved for fully formed, fully grown dancers. But this would be a school issue, not a company one. I don't have any idea whether any of this went into the thinking for the current SAB workshop, and I think it's inappropriate to discuss that, unless someone can point to an article or interview. As I wrote above, the official reason for the workshop rep is that it's to acquaint the students with older ballets from which Balanchine's work descended. IMO, it's a terrific idea, and it should be useful. There's a lot of Petipa in Balanchine, and a smattering of Bournonville, too. And Fokine is a near-contemporary, and Balanchine staged his Les Sylphides. (I'm very interested to see how people will regard this piece now. When Balanchine staged it, the ballet was still in repertory. It was a signature piece by ABT, the Royal did it, and people were very used to seeing it in costume and felt that the costumes and sets, the atmosphere, were necessary. I'll bet that the general take today will be "Steps! It's got steps! What a work of genius!" ) Back to the original topic on Wheeldon, it would be interesting to see the reaction if he does make a MacMillanesque-piece He said he wanted to make a blend of dramatic and abstract (one might argue that MacMillan's "Song of the Earth" is like that). I don't think doing dramatic ballets would be a step back, or a step back in time. I know there are many people who think that abstract ballet is, in itself, superior to dramatic ballet, and that dropping the story improved ballet, is a progression in the development of ballet, but I'm not one of them. So I'd argue that doing a dramatic ballet itself wouldn't be a frightening development. But this is definitely an IMO -- there could be healthy debate on any of these issues. The jury's still out. IMO

I can't remember reading, in the last 30 years, a complaint that NYCB was not classical enough, at least not from an American critic. I think this may be a misunderstanding -- there have been constant, often loud, criticisms about the way Balanchine's ballets are danced, but not an urging that the company become more classical. More neoclassical, more back to Balanchine, but not more Petipa. I have no reason to disbelieve the official reasons given for this year's novel workshop selections, namely, that in preparation for the upcoming Balanchine Celebration, the School wanted to explore/examine/introduce the students to, Balanchine's roots, and to do it through works from the past staged for the company during his lifetime. Mel, I think your comment, "Would it be so bad if Wheeldon turned out to be Schubert" is very apt. I would be happy if there were a dozen Schuberts. Even a Glazunov would do right about now, and a couple of Copelands.

I second, third and fourth your comments about "Midsummer." I think this is a pernicious trend, and I'm surprised it's being allowed. (Obviously, since it is allowed, the Powers, undoubtedly have taken pros and cons into account, disagree.) Jeff Edwards is SAB trained, but had a varied career, so his hiring doesn't necessarily signal a move to Balanchine. I found McKerrow's commitment to a specific style commendable; if SAB started hiring RAD teachers, I'd expect someone there would make comparable comments. But McKerrow certainly changed her dancing style from the Washington Ballet of the '70s, which was very after-Royal Ballet, to the American Kirov classical style that ABT favored in the Makarova era. But I'm not distressed by next season's repertory. I think everything on the bill is quite a step up from the ghastly evening Kaufman refers to in her piece (that included the Dwight Rhodon trapeze piece and a Webre underwear ballets).

There's an interesting article in today's Post about the company -- both Septime Webre's directorship and the school. The Next Step is Tricky I've posted this on Links, but wanted to put it here also for discussion. Webre is in the fourth year of a five-year contract, Mary Day just don't-say-retired as director of the School. Here are some comments from the article about the school, and the direction of the repertory: First, the school, from Amanda McKerrow (with her husband, John Gardner) decided not to apply to be Day's successor: Then the rep:

Thanks for that -- it's always good to have the Other View, and I'm grateful to you for posting it (But how have you been able to avoid ballet versions of Carmina Burana? I must have seen six in the past two years alone!)

We have many opportunities to use it, alas. Egregious: Conspicuously bad or offensive. A superlative, of sorts.

That's a good point, grace. I haven't had the pleasure of gazing upon Ballet Barbie, but she must be a de-busted version. I hope you all picked up in that press release about the line of "My Size Barbie" clothes? What will those clever people think of next! Ballet Barbie is one thing -- it's probably fine to have the younger set running about in tutus. But much of Barbie's wardrobe seems to have been made by Victoria's Secret and appropriate for a nice dinner out in Las Vegas. THAT should perk up the third grade!

Grahn was 16 in the 1836, so she missed movies by a good bit! Just think if someone had smuggled a camcorder in to catch Taglioni, Elssler, Cerrito, the entire Price family -- not to mention Kschessinska, Brianza, Legnani. Sigh. On the other hand, maybe it's a good thing. At least we don't have to endure "Ew. Pavlova couldn't dance. Look at those icky feet -- and she has no turnout!" comments (BTW, I can't resist this. The Price -- pronounced Pree-sah in Danish -- was an English family that's been on the stage for more than 400 years! Glebb, see if you can find Marian Hanna Winter's "The Pre-Romantic Ballet." She spent her life combing the graveyards of Europe and putting together the family trees of itinerant dancers. The Prices started out in England and ended up in Copenhagen, where they still are today. Not in the ballet company, but in the drama department.) As for books about the Romantics (and thank you for your comments) -- I'm now delving into a slightly later period, the Italians in New York in the 1860s and '70s. I'll be posting a thread with comments by Maria Bonfanti -- many relevant to our discussions -- the next time I have time to breathe