Alexandra

Hi, Terry. Good to read you again. It certainly sounds like an awful production!

Yes, Estelle, it was Poliakov. I watched one rehearsal when the company was in DC long ago, with Nureyev's Swan Lake (Guillem was 19!) Bart worked with one row of swans and Poliakov with the other (the swans were chattering, quite loudly, during the whole thing). It was fascinating to watch them, because they really did seem to be two men with the same mind and eye. Delanoe was "the little redhaired boy" then, because we didn't know the dancers' names. I hope they've kept the traditional production, too. Again, if you're not better than the original choreographer, don't try to improve him.

ronny, it's good to leave posts up for awhile. Not everyone checks the board -- or every forum -- every day, and on a busy day, some posts go unnoticed. It sounds like a worthwhile modification. Not one I could bother with this month, but it's nice to know of possibilities

Katharine, you intrigue me. Did you walk out at the interval both times? Balletmasters turned "choreographers" often miss the mark. And the after-Nureyev generation certainly as a model to emulate I admire Bart's work as a balletmaster at Paris -- I didn't realize he was now "former." That, to me, would be unfortunate. He was quite good keeping the lines straight, coaching, staging other people's productions. He could see where something was out of style, and he could fix it. They've lost Patricia Ruanne -- a very good stager, judged by the "Diaghilev in Paris" tape. Another man whose name escapes me at the moment died a few years ago. Back to Coppelia, I don't think of Elisabeth Maurin, a dancer whom I admire, as one of nature's Swanhildas.

I like that one, Brendan. He must have been from the Lopokova generation

We've had several conversations about this topic recently, but Ismene Brown's provocative piece lets us do it again. Stars feel the strain quote: The Royal Ballet is suffering an injury crisis. Is it bad luck, asks Ismene Brown, or the result of excessive demands on a few dancers?What do you think of Brown's assessment of the situation?

It's Steve! It's Steve! Hi, Steve. Thanks for posting that. When a dancer retires, she should be missed.

In today's Boston Herald. This was an "entertainment brief" that's short enough to run on its own: Boston Ballet gains a dancer quote: San Francisco's loss becomes Boston's gain: Boston Ballet's new Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen invited San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Roman Rykine to move to this city to join Boston Ballet, and The San Francisco Chronicle reports that he has accepted the offer. Born in Ufa, Russia, Rykine has danced with English National Ballet, and with SFB since 1996, earning many rave reviews. [ March 21, 2002, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: alexandra ]

Thanks for that, FF a/k/a Lou I hope this will encourage other people to write beautiful, passionate letters to magazines when they're concerned -- pleased, outraged, hurt -- about something in dance.

That's fascinating, Helena. Thank you for posting that experience. Interesting, too, that it seems to be accepted that there are different singing styles, and that one should try to sing in the style of the work. While in ballet.....

Thanks very much for posting these reviews (and for the explanation of Wheeldon's title, bbfan). jbtlse and bijoux -- good to read you again. I hope you'll keep us up to date on Boston Ballet news -- there's never a dull moment in Boston, it seems -- and that you'll post about the May performances, too.

Thanks, Susan (I hope that's right ) I'm surprised this hasn't drawn more posts -- ED WAFFLE, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? I think it is 22 years. I saw her debut with ABT in Pas d'esclave (from Bayadere). I've never been a great admirer of Jaffe. IMO that whole generation of women -- Jaffe, McKerrow and Kent (all trained in the Washington area, by the way, as was Cheryl Yeager) -- never quite bloomed. The best performances of Jaffe's, for me, were two with Patrick Bissell: Juliet and Kitri in "Don Q" They weren't the definitive portrayals of either character, but there she was dancing with someone big enough for her (and he was a wonderful partner) and they clicked. Her characterization in both was a bit superficial; she was very young and did both roles as though she were a homecoming queen. But she was very alive in the dancing. She was always technically strong. Are there Jaffe fans out there who will miss her?

I think it would be fine to start a separate thread for Balanchine's (and other) glosses, or condensations. There's a difference there, too. There have been restagings -- Baryshnikov's, Bujones -- that try to put bits of Petipa together to make a single-act staging, a la "Swan Lake" Act II or "Aurora's Wedding," where Balanchine's is not Petipa. I also think of Semyenaka as lyrical -- and a bit cold, in performance. Her body is a lighter instrument than Van Hamel's. Legnani looks as though she was a rather small dancer -- she's always in 19th century undergarments and so is very curvy, but she looks short. Definitely doesn't have the long line we think of as de rigeur today for a Raymonda (or an Odette, which she also created.) All this talk about Pep makes me wonder how Kschessinska was in the role Poor Saracen!

I agree, dirac. Somehow, insisting on white singers for a Norse opera just has a different ring about it to me than insisting on black singers for Porgy and Bess. I watched part of the broadcast -- not all, unfortunately -- and another thought struck me. The "darkness," if I may say that, of the voices. There's a richness, a different timbre, to black singers, I'm sure emanating from the gospel tradition (not anything to do with racially-mandated vocal chords!) that's very distinctive. In the same way that Russian singing, to me, always sounds very rich and sweet -- and lower than Western European singing. The Irish tenor is different from the Italian, French or Russian tenor. I don't know anything about singing. I imagine there's something to do with the training and tradition. It's as distinctive to me as style (can be) in ballet. I did think the author's example of a black Desdemona and a white Othello was interesting. In that case, it did seem that casting was color blind -- and a good thing.

I think there was a relationship between "Swan Lake" and "Dying Swan." Fokine would, of course, have seen "Swan Lake," and seen Pavlova in "Swan Lake." Pavlova also had a special affinity for swans -- she kept them as pets. Ronny, you're not the only one who confuses these two ballets. One of my friends wrote a review in a Major Metropolitan Daily which shall remain nameless about a gala, and one of the pieces on the program was "Dying Swan." A helpful copy editor added: "(a solo from "Swan Lake.")" He was very upset.

I hope someone can answer that, Victoria. I was curious as well. Here's a link to Marcia B. Siegel's review in the Boston Phoenix: American Grafitti quote: Given the sophistication and diverse origins of all ballet, the title for Boston Ballet’s current " American Trilogy " seems simplistic. The pieces have almost nothing in common, but the rubric does invite us to reflect on George Balanchine’s Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Corybantic Ecstasies as artifacts of, for, or about American culture.

Interesting comments on repertory and programming, liebs. Isn't there a segment of the audience that that leaves out, though? Estelle pointed out -- on the thread where she posted POB's season for next year -- that most of the 20th century repertory is neglected, and Paris isn't the only company that programs either "classics" or very contemporary works. There are literally hundreds of stageable ballets that are being neglected. I'm not sure that conservatism is linked to liking full-length ballets. The NYCB regular viewers would be "conservative" in preferring a Balanchine triple bill. I'd rather see a triple bill of good classical or neoclassical ballets than either (almost any) production of "Swan Lake" today, and certainly more than an evening of Nacho Duato and friends. It seems that a good chunk of the Royal Ballet audinece would, too. (I liked the ballet.co poster who, on another thread, called it "macaroni and cheese.") I do think that many ballet companies are trying to serve two audiences -- the one which (they think) will only be lured into the theater to see trendy works and the one which (they think) will only see "Swan Lake" or "Manon." I think this is a dangerous path. It pigeonholes people and it leaves out the segment of the audience who is -- or could be -- there for the long haul. The audience on which the reputations (I guess I can't really say "fortunes") of the major ballet companies were once built.

No one can think of anything good about ballet today????? It's spring! The season of new beginnings, of promise, of .....

Thank you, Susan, LMCTech, and Paul for these reviews. I'm greedy, and I hope those who go back to see multiple casts will tell us about it. Also, it would be interesting too hear how the company settles into the ballet. Thanks again.

Paul, at the top of the board is a link to Amazon.com. They've got Robert's book You can buy on line, a copy will be delivered to your very door, and we'll make about 15 cents on the deal

Sonja, I found a site full of information about what's going on in Auckland -- you might want to check it closer to your departure. There's a searchable calendar -- theater, music, art. No dance category, of course But dance turns up. I looked in May and there's nothing much there yet, but more may well be posted closer to your trip. Here's the link: http://www.akcity.govt.nz/index.asp The photos of the area are beautiful! If there's no dance, there will be lots else to do and see.

Thank you for that, Alina.

I'm sure it is different in every city and country. I would think there would be a large audience for modern dance in London, too. I think part of Lynette's point was that the "new" works really weren't that new, and that that particular program was perhaps not very well-constructed. In Washington (where we don't really have a ballet audience now) there's been a divide between the audience for the triple bills that are invariably programmed for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, and the "full-lengths" which are on Friday nights and the weekend. And often -- whether it's for an evening of new ballet, or three Balanchine works, or an Ashton triple bill -- the week days do not sell out. Weekend performances almost always sell out. Is part of this because Washington is an early to bed town and nothing during the week is going to sell out? Or the ticket prices? Or the name recognition? I don't know. I think with an audience that's a regular, committed home audience -- not a predominantly tourist audience, which will, naturally, be more interested in either company signature works (Bournonville, in Denmark; well, in theory) or something they've heard of ("Swan Lake") -- there would be a high interest in novelty, whether it's Mats Ek's "Giselle" or a new production of something more familiar.

quote: Originally posted by Estelle: But seeing the casts, I might try to attend it. Seeing Dupont, Legris, Moussin, Bart, Gillot, Osta, Bélingard, Didière and Fiat and Cozette in the same evening (for example) can't be such a bad experience! I can think of worse ways to spend an evening That kind of all-star casting is so rare now. I remember first seeing "Suite en blanc" with the Australian Ballet and not thinking very highly of the work; it looked like an insipid "Etudes." Then I saw Paris do it -- what is it, Estelle? Three female etoiles or four, and two male etoiles. Even without the differences in technical and stylistic level, it was a different creature.

There's a very interesting discussion on ballet.co today about the recent triple bill at the Royal Ballet, and some thoughts on audiences, programming, etc. Lynette Halewood started it off, and I think her post is one of the most well-stated I've read on this subject. I thought some of you might be interested in seeing it too. (It's a blissfully reasoned discussion ) http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/2574.html