lampwick

I had to say thumbs down because of the terribly simple, pedestrian choreography. Although many of the dancers were fantastic and the concept was entertaining enough, as a piece of art, it just didn't do it for me. I found it looking especially bad after seeing all the amazing Balanchine works this season...Stroman's piece didn't even begin to stack up to that calibre. As a piece of entertainment, Double Feature is fine. I just expect a very high standard when I go to see City Ballet.

I saw Woetzel in Prodigal Son on Friday night the 9th and was blown away. I was tearing up at the end of that ballet. His performance translated all the way up to the fourth ring. I had never seen this ballet before so I have nothing to compare Maria Kowroski's performance to. Despite a bobble (slip) on her first attitude turn, I thought she was perfect for the role of the siren physically. When I watched the Balanchine documentary last night, I was somewhat less impressed with Baryshnikov's performance, though it was fine as well. At the end of the ballet, when he is on his knees and drags himself toward his father, it just didn't look as real and painful as Woetzel's performance.

I saw this last night and enjoyed it as a diversion. As a piece of film, I liked it. I have never seen the Joffrey ballet perform before and have to say that the impression I got is that the repertory seems really shallow. There are no steps...just flashy sets and music. It actually did remind me quite a bit of Cirque de Soleil--minus the acrobatic mastery which is what makes Cirque so good. For the most part, the dancers look like they tend to be a tad bit on the overdeveloped and sinewy side.. I actually had to chuckle a bit when that one dancer complained of a muscle spasm in the neck. I had just finished whispering to my friend that her neck looked like it was a mess. A little spasm? No Kidding. She looked like a lovely dancer too, but jeesh! ouch. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Malcolm McDowell's portrayal of "Mr.A" He had me in stitches every time he opened his mouth. "I Don't Like Pretty" That's classic stuff. I didn't think he came across mean and condescending at all. Notice how none of the dancers seemed to be at all intimidated by him? It's all just hot air. Sometimes there's truth to sterotypes . I can name a few people "Mr.A" reminds me of who I regard quite highly... I hope I don't make everyone from Chicago hate me, and perhaps if I saw more dancing I'd have a different impression of the Joffrey Ballet. I just really disliked the repertory that was chosen for this film. The dancing was OK (from what I was able to see beneath all the smoke and mirrors). But the choreography was all very shallow. Maybe the energy created by live performance would make this work appear more interesting and exciting. It didn't work for me on film. OK, taste is subjective. I really did enjoy the movie and the dancing despite all my negative comments. And The Blue Snake really is pretty hysterical. I'd recommend the film.

I'll say that I never expected to like Wendy Whelan so much. But the times I've seen her dance...I'm just blown away by her strength. When I've seen her, she just seems so solid and sure. There are other dancers with more classical bodies and extraordinary feet who I get nervous watching, ususally because they're not so in control of thier assets. Wobbling feet bother me as well, no matter how amazing the arches are.

I noticed Zhong-Jing Fang this summer when she took some classes where I take. I couldn't stop watching her! She's one of those dancers who makes it look so easy--very soft joints. I was excited to see her picture on the ABT website and can hardly wait to see her perform now after reading everyone's reviews. She really stands out as being incredibly gifted.

I really liked Gillian Murphy's Hagar as well. Though I had a slightly diferent read than Carbro. I found her to be almost insane. Like she had become trapped by her insecurities and could no longer function. Murphy's face looked almost frozen in despair and her shoulders were kept hunched, like she was afraid. I agree that Xiomara's interpretation came off as mean. You would think that she would have some degree of sympathy for her older sister, who was so clearly in pain.

My knees are fairly hyperextended and I admit, I always found it difficult to understand the concept of my weight being forward (especially in arabesque penchee) I assumed my weight was forward enough if I could lift my heel off the ground. Not true. It's entirely possible to lift the heel and still be very far back. I'd never tell students to "test" thier weight distribution by lifting the heel. Doesn't work for me. Now I bring my weight quite a bit more forward and toward the "supporting side", making sure the opposing shoulder presses down. At first, I felt as though I'd fall forward, but it works brilliantly. Hyperextended students really need to look in the mirror too, because what feels right can actually be quite off.

Susan Jaffe's arabesque is just about perfect. It's so important for hyperextended dancers to get that weight really forward on the supporting leg--and she does it well. I found this picture of a studentwho, although she has quite a nice line, is too far back on that standing leg. One can imagine that she wouldn't be able to balance for very long. Perhaps the photograph was taken as she was doing a pique movement, and the shutter captured a split second before she got all the way forward.

Yes, his back appears to arch a bit too much in the six, like he's disengaging the abdominals--but they're gorgeous batterie nonetheless. A lot of dancers will cross the legs immediately in changement --on the way up -- but his open in the air. The quatres are particularly wide. Personally, I like the way the open, close, open, close technique looks. I've been practicing changements with an immediate change on the way up, since that's what my teacher prefers, and I feel it will help me develop toward entrechat six. Yet I don't like the way it looks as much. I've noticed that the SAB-trained dancers cross on the way up as well. What do you all prefer, and for what reason. I can think of pros and cons of each technique and am wondering what would be preferable for an audition. Would it really depend on the speed of the combination?

I just listened to the webcast of the interview and had hoped for some juicy details about the Les Sylphides scandal. No luck. Mr. Lopate did ask about the connection to ABT, but they only answered by naming the current members of ABT who had come from Cuba. I wished they had mentioned Alicia Alonso's connection to that company at least. It would have fit in nicely with the discussion they had about political struggles as well. It was a nice interview. I hope they can sell out the theatre. I'm looking forward to seeing them.

I used to dance in a small civic group in New Hampshire and Jennifer Gelfand was a HERO to all of us kids. We always talked about her first appearance in Don Q. It's funny now that I'm an adult, I realize that we're about the same age! Boston Ballet has had such major upheavals lately. Now Jennifer Gelfand is leaving? All I can say is wow.

Private coaching is still being done. I know young 10 year old SAB girls up through company members of NYCB who recieve extra coaching. "Regular" people (like me get get private lessons as well. I'm sure teachers would leap at the chance to coach a dancer of soloist or principal level. It's a big boon to thier teaching career to say that they helped so-and-so. David Howard is still teaching and coaching in New York. And there are many wonderful teachers still around. I'm not knowledgable enough to say whether or not private coaching has gone out of fashion compared to twenty years ago, but it seems to be fairly prevalent.

Farrell Fan--yes. A ticket billed as "stars" should of course be principal or high soloist dancers. I know exactly what you meant in the context of this discussion, and meant no offense, but I know that it'd hurt my feelings to be singled out in "print" anyway. Without naming names, I know that some of those kids are working VERY hard (and quite thoughtfully) in order to move up to the next level and improve on thier dancing. Maybe the stars of tommorrow