atm711

19 hours ago, bingham said:

Have not seen ABT’s La Bayadere for a while. The L Samaritani scenic designs are as beautiful as ever. It was a very good performance by all but especially for the debuts of Devon, Christine and  Joo Won. Act II was very well done esp by the principal couple. Also notable was the debut of Anabel Katsnelson as the first shade. As usual, Arron Scott was a spectacular Bronze Idol. 

 

I saw that performance and there was an announcement made at the start that the 3 shades were being replaced and 3 names were hastily and garbled noted and I have no idea  who was dancing.....I agree, whoever danced the first shade was the highlight for me---the program listed Anabel Katsnelson---but who knows?  The 3 principals were OK......

There has been  no mention of the Alexandra Fedorova version (former Mariinsky dancer married to a Fokine) which was based on the Ivanov version.  It was the first Nutcracker that most Americans saw on the Ballet Russe tours.  It was in two acts and had the best Grand Pas de Deux you could hope to see---(NO apologies to Balanchine and Ratmansky!)

May he rest in peace--along with Carbro.  I miss them both.

I cannot join all the hurrahs for Mearnes  in the Tchai PDD---she did manage to 'bring down the house' at the very end with her leaps into the fish dives, and being carried off---she did not nail what went before!  but,  I guess not bad for a non-Balanchine dancer......

The best part of my weekend viewing was the divine Maria Koworski in the Agon PDD...she continues to amaze me....her technique was so strong...the years melted away......

Just this week I saw (on youtube) a peformance of Gillot as Myrtha (with Pujol and LeRiche).  Her grand jetes were astonishing!

On 3/31/2018 at 9:40 PM, nanushka said:

Yes, with the existence of this video, Misty's performances at the Met this spring are going to be under particular scrutiny. I hope this serves as a catalyst for her and him to devise a technically sound, dramatically effective alternative (even, perhaps, eliminating the fouettés altogether). This is a crucial moment in the ballet, when Odile and Rothbart's seduction of Siegfried is clinched. A predictable technical problem at this point seems, to me, inexcusable. It's time to come up with a workable and effective solution.

It's more than just the fouettes that are problematic...(I can forgive that!)  Years ago an ABT ballerina (Nana Gollner) did 32 Changements in place of the fouetees, the easiest of all ballet steps!) and  there were few complaints about the rest of the performance........or for that matter about the Changements....they were excitingly performed with high ballon and she pulled it off....

ABT was always a company of guest artists---as early as the 1940-s.... that policy allowed me to see Toumanova, Riabouchinska, Lichine, and Markova..of course, their backup ballerinas were Alicia Alonso and Nora Kaye...nowhere do I see that talent with today's backups.....and I might add---Jean Babilee!!

How is Ms Hoey's name pronounced?...it should be hoo-ee!

Strange, but Maria Tallchief never struck me as a tall dancer--5'8"- really? Her leg  line was not unusually long, so her height must have been in her torso....I read recently  that Agnes Letestu was 5'-10".  LeClercq, on the other hand had all her height in her legs.....

Thank you---do you know of any reviews I can access??

PS---I did find an excellent review in The Telegraph...

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

I think his very straighforward adaptation of La Sylphide will stay. 

 

.....and that's the only thing that should stay....

Thank you...the photos I've seen of them are truly beautiful. I was concerned about his height but his lack of it certainly did not hamper him.  He appears to be about Baryshnikov's height.  I met him about 5 years ago on his visit to NYC and have been following him avidly.

Alexander Campbell made his debut as Albrecht on Feb. 2 and will dance the role again on Feb. 9.  Would love some feedback on his performance.

19 hours ago, Josette said:

atm711 - I'd love to hear your thoughts on Maria Tallchief!

Thanks Josette...if you go to my blog "Ruminations" there is an article on Tallchief.

On 1/12/2018 at 9:10 PM, kfw said:

LeClerq most of all. And Marie-Jeanne. And the baby ballerinas. And out of curiosity, Robbins.

Interesting choices!  Among ballet fans at the time she was often described as being 'quirky'---definitely out of the ordinary at the time.  She did not have a particularly  beautiful 'classical line' and I felt she was unsuited to 2nd mm of Sym in C.  We had to wait for Kent and were finally rewarded with Farrell.  She did however, have her inimitable  'wit'.  I saw Marie-Jeanne in 3 roles with the Ballet Russe - Concerto Barocco, Ballet Imperial (Tchai Concerto #2) and Baiser de la Fee.  I have seen no one like her in Barocco--she had long slender feet (for her height of 5'2") and she used them like daggers---wonderfully fast sharp thrusting of the foot.  Her pointes were firm and hard (not as mushy of what I see today).  She had the lead in Ballet Imperial but I can never forget the unbecoming costume she had to wear..(.the blue and white short tutu) .  She looked like she had no waistline! (outrageous costuming for her). As sharp as her technique was  in these two  ballets,  we saw a different Marie-Jeanne in Baiser de la Fee.  She danced the part of the bride and wore a long white tutu with a ring of flowers atop her head and she had all the softness and warmth of a Giselle.

20 hours ago, dirac said:

 

Closer to the present, and modifying the topic to include individual ballets, I would have loved to see Seymour and Gable in MacMillan’s R&J when it was new.

Yes! Yes!  .....plus Spessivtseva........

The Russians at that time did not like Balanchine---"they dance from  the waist down" was their frequent comment.  I would however buy the book just to read Danilova's take on Nicholas Legat's kidney transplant from a orangutan!!

I will be happy just to see the title "Ballet Master in-Chief" retired------it has been stuck in my craw for too many years.....

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

Martins got plenty of flack over casting his son, Nilas, in certain roles. I'm not saying those decisions were based on favoritism, I don't know. But, again its perception.

I

Perception??  If you saw his later performances, there would be little doubt as to what was happening.......

Is there a recording of the Bolshoi "Taming of the Shrew"----if not, does any one know if we can expect one?  What I have seen on youtube I love.

What a "dog eat dog world" it is!  As a ballet-goer for many years I have always considered my self lucky to have seen some of the "greats" in their final years.  Danilova, in her later 40's, Alicia Markova (short on technique) the wonderful Riabouchinska with scant technique when I saw her in the late 40's.  But, Oh their Artistry!!  I must have sensed the "handwriting on the wall" because this is the first time I did not have a subscription to ABT; and, for sure, not happy with their company ballerinas---who make good soloists, at least.

Seeing "Onegin" again last night brought back my memory of meeting John Cranko when the Royal Ballet (then "Sadler's Wells) came to NYC in 1949 for the first time.  As students, we learned that a reception was being held for the Company at the NY Public Library on 42nd Street & 5th Ave and we managed to 'crash it and spent the evening sitting on a slab of marble talking to Cranko (who was a Corps member at the time) about Ballet on his part of the pond and ours.  He was so bright and articulate.  We didn't manage to see any of the 'stars' but believed we got the better part!

At last night's performance I thought Simkin and Lane (Lensky/Olga) would walk away with the laurels--so compelling was their PDD---but Ferri and Bolle, after a slow start, held their own.  To see a passionate "Onegin" I recommend the film with Ralph Fiennes!!!

Too much whipped cream for me---the clip I saw on PBS made me "mildly nauseous"........

Ive been lamenting for too many years that NO ONE has revived Antony Tudor's R&J and its gorgeous Renaissance sets. (Jo Meilziner??)  The usual excuse I have seen is that it is too expensive to revive it with the original sets.  It is  quite different from the other many versions.  It is only one hour long and uses the music of Delius.  This one is an original and imitates no one. I had hoped NYCB would have revived it in homage to Tudor, but we got Martins dreary version instead.

I saw this with a different cast from above--Paolo Rodrigues and Victoria Jaiani.  This Juliet was on pointe.  There are  two great PDDs in this ballet and the performance fell short...However, if any one is at fault it is the choreographer---and it is not the comparison with MacMillan that kept creeping up--it was also Tudor and Bejart.  Mercutio was  lifted strait  out of MacMillan.  Rodrigues and Jaiani are two beautiful dancers.  If they did not reach the passionate heights of more celebrated casts, it was due to the choreographer.  The saving grace was using the Prokofiev score.

one final comment on the costuming-----three periods were represented -- 1930s; 1950s, and 1990s......and the costumes looked alike in all three periods.......?????