atm711

I saw the Wed. Mat. with Vishneva/Malakov/Abrera/Saleviev. I agree with drb, there was lots of Russian soul which seemed most appropriate for the story and characters. I imagine the 'latin heat' would put a different slant on it. I loved Malakov's first variation---all slow developpes and elongated arabesques and the beauty of his performance was breathtaking. During Vishneva's equally slow variation of being passed overhead among her suitors, -- There was one moment when the audience gasped; she literally threw herself into a swan dive and raised her head a few inches above the floor---actually the audience gasped twice; she repeated it. They are a wonderful partnership; they fit so well together physically and emotionally.

Thanks, Estelle, but I realized that---I should have s aid--it is nice to re-read Manhattnik again...

Aside from the ice cream, it was nice to read 'Manhattnik' again.

I saw Vishneva's 'Giselle' last year and thought she had all the makings of an outstanding 'Giselle'. Last night she was a great 'Giselle'. She is such a sensitive artist that perhaps her rapport with Malakov tipped the balance. Her dancing in Act 1 was so expansive---it was 'big' dancing and she had such joy in her variations. She was so passionate in her love for Albrecht that it was easy to believe his duplicity completely un-hinged her.

Act 2 brought back the premonition of her mother who had a vision of her as "a restless spirit". This was evident from our first glimpse of her out of the grave. She was a whirling phantom; indeed, she was unlike most Giselles who have a mask-like countenance. She showed us Giselle's restless spirit as no other ballerina has. After Giselle saves Albrecht, she avoids physical contact with him. With Albrecht lying on the ground she rises and goes towards the grave; he goes after her and she crosses her arms across her breast and backs away from him, avoiding his entreating arms. She has achieved serenity and will hopefully rest in peace. (a great ending; compare that to some where Albrecht scoops Giselle in his arms and carries her to the grave.)

Wiles 'Myrtha' had no mystery or authority; it was no great achievement for Giselle to confront this Myrtha. I expected more from a Principal dancer. (Especially after seeing Veronika Part's Myrtha last year) The role of Myrtha is a lot more than high jumps. I realize I have said nothing about Malakov who was a fine Albrecht. Alicia Alonso is quoted as saying that Act 2 of 'Giselle' is all about Albrecht. It wasn't that way last night; Vishneva dominated the stage and the evening completely.

What did you think of "Awake and Sing"? I know Odets has dated, but his language has such vitality even if he is inclined to rhetorical overkill.

Lincoln Center Theater put on a handsome production. I liked what Michael Yeargan did with the sets; as the family falls apart, parts of the scenery also fall away in successive scenes. All nine characters of the play came alive (plus a very talented dog). But it was Zoe Wanamaker as the Mother who ruled the roost (and the performance; Ned Eisenberg who played Uncle Morty looked a lot like our NYSenator, Chuck Schumer--even sounded like him!). I did feel the ending was a 'cop-out; after two hours of listening to Odets' high ideals he compromised them with his "everybody should be happy no matter what" ending.

Bumping this up, in case anyone saw it. (Or any of the plays noted at the Tonys last night!)

I saw 'Faith Healer', 'Shining City', 'Awake and Sing', and 'Rabbit Hole'--and was particularly delighted when Cynthia Nixon received the best actress award. A revelation to see a fine actress in action after those years of that ditsy TV show.

Question: What happens in the first minutes after the curtain goes up? There was action upstage in the fireplace, but the lighting was so dark I couldn't make out what was going on.

I found the figures coming out of the fireplace unsettling. They appeared to be adult figures with shoes on their knees----imitating--what?--dwarfs? a nightmare? Mercifully, they didn't stay around too long.

I saw Gomes and Kent on Saturday afternoon. Gomes was every inch a modern day Prince, with a touch of Valentino; a welcome change from the usual Nordic ideal. Kent was a lovely Cinderella, and as far as I am concerned she can join the hallowed company of Fonteyn and Shearer. I, too, loved that final PDD; in the many lifts, Gomes had Kent literally floating on air. A highpoint, for me, was Veronika Part's voluptuous 'twig' variation; it left me wishing for more. Act 1 (as previously noted) was a bit tedious and could be speeded up; (I feel the same way a bout the Ashton version). The comic award goes to Martine van Hamel's subtle performance of the step-mother, topped off by her marvelous climb up the hutch cabinet. She looked like a blowsey Gloria Grahame. The step sisters were, as usual, overdone, and perhaps should be put in a recycling bin with the Joker. Cornejo brought back visions of Dvorevenko in some awful comic PDD where she also wore glasses. I did, however, like the ballet and particularly admired Kudelka's varied choreography for the Corps---both male and female. I adored the ending---they simply wanted home and hearth; talk about 'family values' - whew!.

Maybe if we develop a list of works, roles, and especially portions of choreography that have truly made us laugh, we can get somewhere.

Off the top of my head---

Helen of Troy (Lichine/Offenbach) featured an apple munching Jerome Robbins as Hermes, a combination MC and Greek Chorus.

Tally-Ho (DeMille/Gluck)

Gala Performance (Tudor/Prokofiev)

---and any Eifman ballet

My response, to quote Samantha Jones, was "No. No, no. No, no, no, no."

Ditto!

As expected they were most successful in 'Emeralds', although I wished for more subdued lighting.

Your reply could have not been more timely. My husband is in the process of transfering over 3,000 vacation slides to DVD (via the computer) and he is having second thoughts.

Diana Adams looked remarkably like a 40's actress, Gail (not to confuse with Jane!) Russell.

--and another 'oldie'---Nana Gollner looked like 40's actress Ella Raines.

One of my favorite moments is the starburst image and I don’t think they did it well.

Did anyone else notice this, or was it just my angle that distorted the image?

Yes, and I wondered if anyone else noticed it. Part/Wiles/Arbrera were the muses and I saw it from row C center of the dress circle. They appeared to be on a slight diagonal and were not aligned properly behind each other---they showed too much of the bodies and not enough of the legs.

I saw the Hallberg/Part 'Apollo'. Aside from having the necessary physical attributes the part calls for, his interpretation is a work in progress. I had the feeling he was physically drained during the performance. He never seemed to recover from the trauma of the birth. Veronica Part was a very playful Terpsichore; lots of smiles during her solo (morphing into Dvorevenko?) and also during the PDD. The walk to Olympus was without grandeur. Jeu de Cartes is a nice little romp; although I found the 'second deal' the weakest part of the work--too many uninteresting repetitions. Craig Salstein was a wonderfully wild Joker, and the talents of Gillian Murphy and Erica Cornejo were wasted in this work. (I wished they had revived Balanchine's version ) Sasha Radetsky was a sweet, heartbreaking Petrouchka; a lovely interpretation. ABT's 'Petrouchka' is a beautiful production and the Benois sets and costumes are a joy to see. I was disappointed in the handling of the 'Fair' scenes at the beginning and end of the ballet. There was a lack of movement; the people clung to the sides of the stage without moving about. At the end of the ballet, when the snow starts to fall, there was finally some exhilaration.

Ballet Talk to the rescue again Thanks for all your replies and encouragement.

I am finally going to transfer my tapes to DVD and I am wondering if I will have problems with copyrighted material. Most of my tapes are copies of other tapes (which might be copyrighted...I don't know) and I never had a problem making another taped copy. While looking at one DVD/VCR recorder today; clearly stated on the box was that it would not transfer copyrighted material. For those of you who have successfully transferred your tapes to DVD---have you run into any problems where the machine would not accept the transfer? Please excuse my muddled inquiry but I have been reading about DVD/VCR recorders on Amazon for a good part of the day....

Solor--I would strongly recommend Bronislava Nijinska's 'Memoirs". As no other book on him can, she gives clear descriptions of how he moved and danced; and you get a pretty good idea of the dancer he was. It is fascinating to see him through his sister's eyes.

This is the production that captured New York (and me) in 1949. It remained my number 1 favorite until the recent Kirov restoration---but number 2 'ain't bad'. I could never understand a company that could give us the Messel production giving us the Maria Bjornson debacle.

Thanks, Carbro, I will get to work on that

I seem to recall having read somewhere that Anton Dolin staged this as a pas de deux (without the panoply of 'the magic swan') and that this performance by Toumanova was the first time it was performed strictly as a pas de deux. I was fortunate to start my ballet-going in 1944 and I was able to see much of Toumanova when she was a guest artist with Ballet Theatre in 1944 and 1945.

there is a photo of toumanova and eglevsky as the frontice piece of grace robert's BORZOI BOOK OF BALLET in the so-called 'black swan pas de deux' from THE MAGIC SWAN; it's a black and white photo but i think it safe to say toumanova's tutu is black.

I did not see 'The Magic Swan' but I did see Toumanova (Ballet Theater 1945) in the Black Swan Pdd much as it is seen today...in a black tutu. It was one of those performances you never forget.

I'm almost sorry Graham choreographed the piece, because I think it makes it difficult for anyone else to use it for dance.

I have wished that a REAL ballet choreographer would use the score; I would have loved to see what a Robbins, Loring, Kidd or deMille would do with the music.

Just a gorgeous score!

Yes, I have always thought so; and I have felt that Copland is too underrated as a ballet composer. For the best scores written especially for dance, Tchaikovsky is my first choice and Copland follows as a close second. I hear the score often over the radio.

A quote from Graham's autobiography "Blood Memory";

"When Aaron first presented me with the music its title was 'Ballet for Martha'--simple, and as direct as the Shaker theme that runs through it. I took some words from the poetry of Hart Crane and retitled it 'Appalachian Spring'. When Aaron appeared inWashington for a rehearsal, before the October 30, 1944 premiere, he said to me, "Martha, what have you named the ballet?' And when I told him he asked, Does it have anything to do with the ballet?' 'No,' I said, 'I just like the title".

For Balanchine? Yves Montand---we need someone with a bit of class.---and yes, a slimmed down Orson Welles for Diaghilev.

I have seen Fonteyn's Aurora many times; the first time when she was 30 years old. There have been many Auroras, but she epitomizes the role for me. I cannot see an Aurora today without images of Fonteyn creeping into the performance. I loved the joy she projected in her first entrance and the other-worldliness of the vision scene. Above all, it was her (non-exaggerated!) beautiful line which was shown to great advantage in this role. Her little touches, her mannerisms in the role seem just right. I write this as one who is not fully 'committed' to Fonteyn (although I love her Ondine as much as her Aurora). I have major reservations about her Giselle, Odette or Marguerite.

My moment is in the Alonso/Youskevitch 'Giselle'. In Act II as Giselle throws the lillies over her head, Youskevitch invariably caught them in mid-air during a grand jete. I wince every time I see the latter day Albrecht's bending down to scoop the lillies off the floor.....