drb

Thank you, Nysusan... and as he goes on it gets even better!

And so we wait, till 2 PM, Saturday, May 31. Every Part O/O (in NYC) has been a revelation, and each revelation a different one. The month after, two Part/Gomes Bayaderes. Thank you, Gene Schiavone, for my favorite recent ballet photo:

http://www.geneschiavone.com/gallery/album08/0000536_G

Comparing Haglund's site updates with the most recent ABT (Why have they sent four???) brochure and other site changes:

Hallberg and Abrera are listed for Giselle on Wednesday, July 9th MATINEE.

replacing Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky, who are switched to Saturday matinee, July 12

Sara Lane and Cornejo are listed for Sleeping Beauty on Thursday, June 19th.

replacing Murphy and Stiefel, who are switched to Wednesday, matinee, June 18th.

Xiomara Reyes is now listed with Carreno for Sleeping Beauty on Wednesday, June 18th Evening.

Carreno replacing Cornejo. On the other hand, Carreno is replaced by Beloserkovsky in the two Dvorovenko Corsaires.

The Corsaire listing is tricky; Birbanto, the traitor "friend" of Conrad, is probably somewhere on the list too.

Also, for the past few days Diana Vishneva has added the New Tharp to her website for June 3.

Balanchine Technique

While the magazine is still on sale, perhaps I should describe the article. There are nine full-page sized photos: the cover (Stars and Stripes), table of contents (Carousel), another Carousel to begin the article, and then six more meant to illustrate Balanchine technique. There are also six smaller photos, also about technique. Sean Lavery supplies commentary for each Balanchine technique photo. A typical example:

In soussus croise, Kathryn epitomizes the Balanchine epaulement. "Look at her head and neck. If she wasn't a Balanchine dancer, her head would be straight to the front and her torso would be more like a pencil," says Lavery. "If you look at her from the waist down, she's perfectly straight, she's completely on balance--then look at her torso and she makes the rounder shape." Also in croise, the head is tipped up to the ceiling. "There is a curve in the whole line of her body."

As a totally ignorant fan, I found the article quite illuminating, although obviously really aimed at young dance students (even moreso than, say, Pointe). In its first two pages, the article traces Ms. Morgan's rather meteoric career, as well as giving "Fast Facts," such as

FIRST TUTU: When Kathryn was 2, she saw the Bolshoi Ballet on television. She promptly ripped the tutu off her ballerina teddy bear, put it on, and danced along with the TV.

It then switches to Mr. Lavery, and the subject of technique. The photos by Erin Baiano are stunning, as is, of course, the ballerina.

...

Until we went to see "La fille mal gardee" last year (Royal Swedish Ballet), that ballet suddenly reached through to her.

Since La fille is such an uncommon ballet, I am looking for similar ballets to take her to.

What other ballets is there that is sweet, cute and romantic - but not pointed entirely towards kids?

Best regards

SpanCox

While Ashton's Fille is without equal (my favorite full-length ballet of the 20th Century), John Cranko's Taming of the Shrew is great fun, and is in RSB's repertoire.

Has anyone noticed that the site also dumped that old-fashioned Balanchine Lyre as its logo? The new logo is a magnificent evocation of the choreography of The Ballet Master in Chief.

You would have thought R + J would have retained its +, thus evoking Edward Gorey..., but not, at least, on the home page.

I often remember and laugh at a reaction I never saw but only read about in an Anna Kisselgoff NYCB review: a little girl yelling to the Mouse King, "go home!"

Another, reported by Jennifer Dunning:

The leading roles of the Cavalier and the Sugar Plum Fairy were danced by Damian Woetzel and Kyra Nichols, who in her first moments on stage was greeted by an indignant toddler's cry from the audience of "That's not Barney!"

To Ms. Dunning's credit, these were the final words of her review.

(This was at Monique Meunier's debut as Dewdrop, December 26, 1993.)

Monday, December 24, 2007

Kathryn, not Katie

Kathryn Morgan was very much "sweet young Katie" when she played the youngest girl in Wheeldon's Carousel schoolyard, and Juliet in the Peter Martins youth-oriented R + J. With SPF, she's grown-up. Her first performance, partnered by Gonzalo Garcia, was obviously expected to be an event, reviewed in most New York newspapers. Alastair Macaulay of The Times, who'd already picked her as his favorite of the company's young Juliets, wrote glowingly:

I loved the teenage Kathryn Morgan's debut as Sugar Plum. She is gaining in lower-body strength and precision while retaining the upper-body creamy fluidity and dramatic focus that make her unusual.

Her second performance found her with a partner change: Tyler Angle, who was her very first NYCB partner, in Sean Lavery's Romeo and Juliet PdD. In between, she and (unhappily) former NYCB dancer Seth Orza had formed a rather wonderful partnership of opposites, that had begun to set off creative interpretive fireworks in their last performances of Carousel.

Carbro, writing above of Ms. Morgan's second SPF, noted, I think consistent with Mr. Macaulay,

I can't remember seeing an NYCB woman who could combine the clean, sharp attack of legs and feet with a very soft, English-style port de bras, never sacrificing either to the other.

Her number-one goal is to build strength and improve how she articulates her feet.

This is not to say that everything was perfect in the first two performances, as noted earlier in this thread. Having missed the first two, I finally had a chance to go to the third, this afternoon. This time Kathryn had the advantage of a repeat partner, Mr. Angle, and I imagine this made things easier on the nerves. Having only seen her in the corps and in the extremely non-classical works of Mr. Wheeldon and Ballet-Master-in-Chief Martins, I don't have a basis to infer improvement in lower-body technique, but surely none was lacking for this venture into far more demanding choreography. As far as I can see, Kathryn has combined her talents well and is a whole-body dancer, all parts clicking in harmony, somehow reminding of that far differently structured Brittish/Balanchine dancer, Darcey Bussell. She entered with a fine command of the stage, definitely aware of the angels, and giving a sense that she was directing her show. (A special moment for me was when Erica Pereira entered as 1/3 of Tea, and they seemed to acknowledge one-another. So comforting, as if one were seeing the security of NYCB assured for the next two decades.)

Later the PdD went very much as carbro described, those triple pirouettes so crisply clear, yet so feminine. Just after the trip in arabesque (shame on Wendy for giving away the secret on the Times video, I always believed in it...), Tyler kneels before Kathryn, and as she balances seems to close his eyes as if dreaming the vision of beauty that she becomes. (Balances in the preceding promenade looked good, too.) Mr. Angle's coda was pretty good this time, even if there was almost an iffy moment half-way through the grand pirouettes, it was only an almost as he sustained them well. If he can become a partner like Ivan Nagy, well, he doesn't need to be Baryshnikov.

Other than Ashley Bouder's, Ms. Morgan's was the most sustained success throughout the arc of the SPF role that I saw this season (but I missed my favorite, Tess Reichlen).

Ana Sophia Scheller was Dewdrop. It was as if Petipa had dropped Aurora into the ballet, so beautiful and clear and in proportion was her form. I wonder what the Mariinsky Masters would think of this dancer. A dazzler, yet nothing is overstated, she lives in the music and has no need to recompose it. Bring on Sleeping Beauty!

I'm getting the distinct feeling that if (perish the thought) every single female principal were to miss the season, NYCB could easily fill all its principal roles with glorious dancing. And another generation is coming... All nine apprentices made appearances, with Matthew Renko getting the solo role of Tea. While many make a point of trying to kick their outstretched hands in each jump of the closing series, Mr. Renko instead showed a soft spring to his steps while dancing big, earlier in the variation. A very promising musicality. Puanani Brown and Garnetta Gonzalez, the two women apprentices, were both Snowflakes and in Hot Chocolate. Four men joined them in the latter, Darius Barnes, Zachary Catazaro, Cameron Dieck, and Joshua Thew. Joseph Hernandez and Russell Janzen were unfortunately hidden in mouse costumes. The apprentices, by the way, are officially listed in SAB's Fall Newsletter, with photo, except for Ms. Gonzalez who already was one.

I wish that the dancer of Mrs. Mouse would be credited. Her grief when her husband the King dies is so deeply, warmly human. She carefully goes among the enemy to claim her fallen hero's sword. It is beautiful, and a lesson for those who would portray Lady Capulet's grief for slain Tybalt.

Merry Christmas, and Peace.

The January, 2008 issue of Dance Spirit Magazine is now on sale and features Ms. Morgan on its cover. More information on their site, including a 3-minute video of the photo shoot, with commentary by the dancer. At the top of her wish list: Odette.

http://www.dancespirit.com/

This girl's got guts, she's got brains and she's got talent.

Saturday eve, December 22, 2007

Erica Pereira's Dewdrop

To get right to the point, she was triumphant!

Obviously this is a time in history that has an incomparable, iconic Dewdrop in Ashley Bouder. It has been stated elsewhere that too many of the company's Dewdrops over-study Ms. Bouder's version(s) and try too hard to replicate.... So how does Ms. Pereira compare with the Prima? Not at all. She just comes out and dances, and with each exit the applause just magnifies. And with each entrance she finds still more to give. She seems to part the Air as if it were Water, this Mighty Wisp of a ballerina. Mr. B's ballerina-as-fish-swimming-in-water. All that spring morning magic as dew makes air and water one. Every thing is new again.

Still in the afterglow of her variation, the cheers echoing in my mind, I suddenly noticed This Woman dancing with Stephan Hanna. She was of course that other icon of Mr. Balanchine, Ballet as Woman. She is Sara A. Mearns and it was the Sugarplum Adagio. Earlier in her debut she seemed to really find her home in the role only around the time of miming with Nicholas Smith, the Little Prince. But now she was in her sovereign domaine, the archetype of The Feminine. Again the audience seemed swallowed up, again ovation. Joy becomes Beauty. How fortunate that these role debutantes had a former ballerina as conductor, Clotilde Otranto. Her work was full of life in Act I, with wonderful balance across the orchestra, always the right emotional nuances, and drawing some beautiful sound from the Brass! In Act II, I can't say, as my memory was filled through the eyes. During the Bows, Ms. Mearns brought the tiny conductor onstage. It was a Balanchinian triumverate, that we were able to thank so heartily.

A book, "Tsiskaridze: Moments," has just been published by P. Jurgenson in Russia on Bolshoi Primo Nikolai Tsiskaridze, familiar here as one of the "Kings of Dance":

http://www.moscowbooks.ru/book.asp?id=386025

In addition to some exceptional photos and excerpts of numerous performance reviews, it includes writings from the dancer himself.

After 15 years on the stage, Mr. Tsiskaridze begins

Since the first time I went on stage, I kept a diary, which recorded dates all my performances. In the diary is a postcard with the image of the

Bolshoi Theatre.

On that card, in a child's handwriting,

I will be here to dance!

Tsiskaridze finds no "indifferent" minutes on the stage, but almost in a state of awe says

cherish every moment of stage existence, cherish them, as the supreme gift of heaven.

The season's flyer arrived in the mail last week. The cover photo is of Somova/Sarafanov in Bayadere, her raised leg exactly parallel to the floor. There's a gigantic photo of Lopatkina's Scheherazade inside.

The casting is almost identical to that on Ardani's site; the one exception is Vishneva replacing Kondaurova in Steptext on April 17. A quick count of the number of listed performances:

Vishneva 13

Tereshkina 12

Sarafanov 12

Lopatkina 11 (including 6 in first week...)

Golub, Fadeev, Korsuntsev 9 each

Kondaurova, Somova and others 8

December 11, 15 (eve), 2007

Flowers, for Janis and Linda

By the time of her 1967 Monterey Pop triumph Janis Joplin had been a part of the Haight-Ashbury scene, on and off, for four years. She died in Los Angeles three years later, a victim of Heroin. I saw her first at the Avalon in San Francisco shortly after Monterey and was both stunned and won by the extreme intensity of her music, that could slice to your heart with the intensity I've only experienced from one other musician, John Coltrane. I saw her last at Madison Square Garden in December, 1969. Alvin Ailey made a dance about her life and death, Flowers, back in 1971. But any memories from seeing his dance then did not prepare me for the catharsis given by Linda Celeste Sims in two performances seen this week.

The dance begins with Ms. Joplin returning to her dressing room after an early successful performance, happy, carrying a bouquet of flowers, and smoking a filter-tip cigarette. We are hearing her Big Brother and the Holding Company recording of Down on Me. Six paparazzi arrive to take photos, and Janis poses willingly for them. The room empties, she goes to her dressing table and downs a swig of Russian Vodka (odd, why they didn't use her favorite, Southern Comfort). We also see her with six admiring men whose attention she first drinks in, but as she dances with them individually we begin to see a distrust/uncertainty develop within her. Probably not uncommon for a celebrity to feel that way, especially one who hadn't had such attention earlier.

The music turns to Blind Faith's Do What You Like. Clifton Brown enters, the Dealer, dressed in charcoal suit & tie, with a red silk cloth attached to his belt. An obvious reference to the feel-good drug-culture of the time (speed when she first moved to The City, but also heroin), he's even dressed like her 1964 dealer. The permissive music and seductive man combine, she weakens as the music grows hypnotically repetitive (...do what you like do what you like...). She rolls up her sleeve, he ties the red silk twice 'round, she goes to the floor helpless, and eventually rolls off to the wings... Mr. Brown creates his character not as an evil man, but even more terrifying, a man with a complete absence of good. By this point, Ms. Sims is ... Janis.

Pink Floyd supplies the next two pieces, Main Theme and Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up. The six men now become show biz silvery glitz. Janis loses reality... She enters with a very long train. It is red to match the red silk heroin symbol. Quickly the men and Ms. Joplin are all covered by it. They seem to get very rough with her, almost a suggestion of rape, but perhaps just a symbol of horror... Ms. Sims gives a silent scream of terror, even evoking the painting by Munch. Every step a stagger, every glance toward nowhere.

It is the end of another concert and Janis is pacing from side to side during the bows. We're now hearing her sing Kosmic Blues. She is showered by roses the color of her heroin silk. And one bouquet that recalls that first one. She falls to the floor. Dead. The paparazzi are back.

Linda Celeste Sims delivers one of the all-time great performances of my life. Flowers was the middle dance on each program. Neither the Christianity of Revelations that followed on Tuesday nor the Eastern Mysticism of Firebird on Saturday could give consolation.

Earlier on Tuesday Ailey's 1970 The River featured fabulous ballet dancing in The Lake section by that dream partnership Alicia J. Graf and Jamar Roberts, while Renee Robinson and Clifton Brown created joy in Twin Cities as the "V" of the corps advanced mightily behind them for the final tableaux.

Saturday's program began with Camille A. Brown's subway-lite dance The Groove to Nobody's Business, but it was the following Unfold by Robert Battle that brought down the house. Matthew Rushing partnered Ebony Haswell, a dancer new to the company. There was a lot of floor work. At one point early on he appeared to be raising her from the floor. But then I could see he wasn't helping her up at all. The audience burst into applause seeing this feat of self-levitation. She has a magical combination of strength and fluid grace. This flexible dancer is one to see!

Three dancers no longer appear [in NYCB's roster]. They are

Ashlee Knapp...

William Lin-Yee...

Carrie Lee Riggins...

Glad to read in Gia Kourlas's Time Out article that Ashlee Knapp has found a home with Columbia University's Ballet Collective:

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/dance/24936/ballet-u

CBC offers a weekly ballet class to anyone with training, taught by Ashlee Knapp, a former member of New York City Ballet. “I wanted to test out my teaching skills to see if I was good at it and if I could do it as a job, and this was kind of a no-stress environment,” Knapp explains. “The ballet world can be so stressful and horrible at times—I felt like everyone was so burnt out. I just want to be really positive and try to bring the joy back. That’s something I’m going through as well.”

Former Suzanne Farrell Ballet dancer Lydia Walker, a founder of CBC,

calls the class “one of the best-kept secrets in New York,” crediting Knapp with improving her technique more than anyone else at the moment. “She has a good eye,” Walker says. “She’s tremendously musical. She has a lot of enthusiasm, and she gives a lot and it comes very naturally to her. She’s into no judgment—of course, there’s good and there’s bad, but we’re doing this because we love to do it, and it’s not terribly more complicated than that.”

Knapp has choreographed a new solo for the group’s first concert

Is any official news available regarding Mr. Lin-Yee and Ms. Riggins?

Tuesday, December 4, 6 PM

Kaplow's pace; Bouder's Auroraplum

This Nutcracker had time: Conductor Maurice Kaplow's performance lasted seven minutes beyond Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins's desired finishing time, where earlier this season Music Director Faycal Karoui made the official time limit with a minute to spare.

I've now seen the same child leads twice. The delightful Jonathan Alexander seems to truly relish getting to be bad little brother Fritz, and Margot Pitts is such a pretty Masha. But Act I is really a triumph for Herr D's nephew Nicholas Smith, who caps his party scene courtship of Marie with a parting loooong (thank you, Mr. Kaplow) gaze into Ms. Pitts's eyes that could be a lesson for many a Principal on how to adore a ballerina. And Margot really responded in kind. There was no doubt about whom she'd be dreaming. And how fine and apt that Masha's grandma Kathryn Morgan led her dream's Snowflakes on stage, with such generosity of spirit, not to mention technical sparkle and ravishing beauty.

Ashley Bouder's Sugarplum seems to be maturing. Well, in a few days (December 10) the Assoluta will be 24. Of course, her SPF is a technical marvel, as so well described in last year's Nutcracker thread. Outstanding, also, is the way everyone on stage is immediately in her sphere of awareness, they all are her friends. But perhaps not quite so flirty with the audience as before, with more classical grandeur. Indeed, this time she seemed somewhat in her Aurora mode, perhaps inspired by her recent mega-triumph in three Rome Opera Sleeping Beauties. Maybe it was the conducting that gave her the time to be more expansive. There were a couple of moments that stood out. Toward the ballet's end, she was held aloft by Andrew Veyette, then so very slowly (and so perfectly) brought down to pointe. It gave a sense of time slowing down, prolonging a moment of classical serenity. I could feel my heartbeat slow, and blood pressure tumble. And later a couple of incredibly slow turns. It was as if her normal speed were put under a microscope, and like a flawless diamond, she was still perfect. Of course Mr. Veyette deserves much credit too, for his emphasis on classicism, for nobly respecting his ballerina's choices.

In the corps behind Savannah Lowery and Tyler Angle's Hot Chocolate was that stunning new dancer, the tall Garnetta Gonzalez. I hope she makes the Corps, and what a SPF she may someday be... Tess Reichlen ripped off another terrific Coffee, but varied her final glance as she crawls forward, from the sly sugary yet innocent look that completed an earlier performance: this night she finished with a 40's Pin-Up look. I kind of hope that somewhere in the very young crowd there was a member of the Greatest Generation. Daniel Ulbricht lit up Tea, and was backed by Erica Pereira (just two more weeks till the debut) and Stephanie Zungre.

The evening's Dewdrop, Sara A. Mearns, was interviewed about the role's costume in the Playbill*:

...Sara Mearns loves putting on Dewdrop's smart little tutu. "It's light, feminine, and figure-friendly... And it's so small, so it's easy to dance in."

Indeed, Ms. Mearns does make the costume beautiful, as can also be seen in Playbill's accompanying full-page photo of her dancing Dewdrop!

*Added for completeness: Playbill finally posted the article on its website:

http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/7488.html

It is the full article, and includes the Mearns photo plus a half dozen others of the NYCB Production.

Saturday eve December 1, 2007

Snow and Peace

Awakened this Manhattan Sunday morning by the sound of one shovel clearing the season's first dusting of snow, and the silence of no car driving down the street, last night's performance of Twyla Tharp's The Golden Section came first to mind. This glorious finale to her drama The Catherine Wheel is, within context, the power of purity to transcend trouble. In the case of the plot the troubles are those of a modern family; in the case of 4th C Saint Catherine of Alexandria, known as "the pure one", it was the torturer's wheel. The Saint overcame the wheel by the power of her purity: she broke it with a touch, they had to behead her instead. Tharp saves her family with the purity of pure dance. Ms. Tharp continues to spread this dance throughout America: since Ailey, to Ballet Austin, Ballet Arizona, Louisville Ballet.

The special purity of the city's first snow lies in its easy perfection, simple white, while subsequent snows seem always tainted by soot and dogs. This ease also marks the change in Ailey's performance of the work from last season to this. While the debut was thrilling, one could see the hard parts were hard, especially some of the leaps-into-catches. This year they dance The Golden Section in one ecstatic arc, right through to the spiritual rainbow created by Mr. and Mrs. Sims for its finale. To add Deborah Jowitt's words, its "blazing trajectories creating an ode to valor and dedication." Of the dancers, as of the Saint.

The evening began with Bejart's Firebird (1970's revision with its nod to the Paris student's revolution). Back then it was the political story that stood out, but the clarity of time and of Ailey's dancers has changed that. Apollinaire Scherr's Newsday review of the company's opening night gala was devoted solely to Firebird, including an analysis of why this company is so much more suited to the work than is a traditional ballet company.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/arts/...0,4874023.story

When ballet-trained Europeans have performed Béjart, they've been so impressed by his use of modern dance's bent limbs and descents to the floor that they've enveloped the steps in a fervid haze. As Americans, the Ailey dancers are heirs to a rich modern dance tradition; they can afford to dwell on detail. In the process, they prove that Béjart can stand up to the scrutiny.

The ballet opens with a grouping of nine Mao-suited friends, three women and six men, likely fairly happy students. Clifton Brown and Linda Celeste Sims are together in front. Gradually Mr. Brown seems to become the group's focal point till he suddenly emerges from the center of the group, red-clad. His role seems to be that of their self-selected spiritual leader, or perhaps guru (the choreography has hints of classical Indian dance). The religious nature of his role shines brightly when they sit in a circle, his back to us, and he blesses, then passes an invisible bowl -- is it of tea, a la Zen, or a chalice of blood wine? -- for each to partake in warmly solemn ritual. Amidst his friends Mr. Brown embraces Ms. Sims, then as she lies before him he reaches his hands high in prayer. Is he asking for blessings upon their union, or is he himself blessing it? The situation turns martial and he leads his group in battle. Mortally wounded, he contemplates his/the group's future. They gather 'round. What follows could have many interpretations. For me, I think as he lies dying or dead they begin to compose his legend. As such they transform this holy man into a Holy Man, who then appears larger than life as a Phoenix, danced by the significantly larger Jamar Roberts. Mr. Brown remains active, perhaps now a living Spirit, and is held aloft by Mr. Roberts in the form of The Crucified. Having seen this work three decades ago, leads danced by stars of the POB, I can say that I agree with Scherr's preference for Ailey. What had been allegory is enriched to Myth. It was a great performance, so full of nuance, of fine detail, by Clifton Brown.

This program on the varieties of religious experience concluded with Revelations, to live music. The singers were fully deserving of the critical praise from the opening night gala. What joy: three dances, three appearances of Alicia J. Graf! Earlier in the evening she soared in the grandest of jetes. Here, the Balanchine ballerina, partnered by that Phoenix of a dancer Jamar Roberts, danced Fix me, Jesus with Farrellesque granduer of line and purity. And one last gift, Renee Robinson! Joining in the rythmic clapping during the Rock My Soul encore is, I guess, the closest I'll ever get to dancing.

I miss you, Dwana Adiaha Smallwood.

'Tis the Season!

... And what if Abrera could spend a day or an hour or a cup of coffee with Fracci and Makarova and Tcherkassky and Kirkland and all of the beautiful living Giselles who could enrich her interpretation?

I suspect more than a cup, what with Makarova and Kirkland having been coaching ABT as of late. By the way, Ms. Kirkland will be very present this December, teaching class daily all month at Steps. And don't forget Amanda McKerrow, who "carries" Makarova's Giselle, coached at ABT this Fall, and that Stella has often been Myrtha to Amanda's Giselle. This has the potential to be a magnificently prepared double debut. Kudos to Mr. McKenzie for his frequent use of former ABT stars to coach their greatest roles. If only this were as true elsewhere...

...Abrera no doubt has been preparing for this her entire life. I weep. I am so grateful for this enlightened casting. I am sorry for every unfair word I ever said about McKenzie. I repent. I repent. I repent.

And when Stella has that anticipated triumph, might one then wonder why he made her wait till the last day of her 13th Met season with ABT? Not so sure you were the one who was unfair...

From NYCB's site:

SPECIALLY-PRICED FOURTH RING C-O TICKETS 2008

Thanks to CIT, Fourth Ring tickets in rows C-O have just become one of New York City's best attractions. Experience one of the City's top performing arts companies from the very top. You can make a season your very own with three- or four-performance subscriptions for as little as $60 or $80 or just pop in as often as you like for $20 a show. ...

Details:

http://www.nycballet.com/news/new.html?Tie...er1_TSMenuID=22

Sunday, November 25 1 PM

Two young women not listed as members of the company certainly drew attention this afternoon. Already familiar via SAB is Puanani Brown, who danced throughout the program as a maid, a snowflake, and in the Hot Chocolate corps. But I'd never seen Garnetta Gonzalez before, and can't wait to see her again after her snowflake and flower.

Robert LaFosse was a wonderfully warm, psychologically sound Herr Drosselmeier for the kids Margot Pitts and Jonathan Alexander, and his (tall) nephew Nicholas Smith. Lauren King ably replaced Alina Dronova as Marzipan, and Abi Stafford (every season dancing with greater ease) replaced Jennifer Tinsley-Williams as Rachel Rutherford's fellow Flower. Daniel Ulbricht, Erica Pereira and Rachel Piskin upped the caffeine level of Tea.

Teresa Reichlen danced the part "for the fathers" and her coffee was very fluid, from toes to fingers, not just all legs. Nothing was forced, she hardly would need that to attain the required effect, and she added a dollop of sugar with a sly yet very innocent smile at the very end.

Ashley Bouder's Dewdrop found the Assoluta at her most magically musical level, riding the crest of Tschaikovsky so naturally, a wave of pure joy. I'm sure she must have pulled off some spectacular tricks, but all I could see was the music, all I could hear was grace. This was for me everything that her opening night dazzle wasn't.

Charles Askegard partnered (and delivered an exciting variation) SPF Maria Kowroski flawlessly. Her line a living poem, her warmth as if she were the favorite auntie to every child in the audience. During the adagio, the slightest autumn breeze blows the season's last leaf onto the Cavalier's shoulder. It is Maria. Our Lopatkina.

I just realized -- they seem to have omitted the Lead Flowers...

For next week's Wed Nov 28-Sun Dec 2 perfs the Lead Flowers are, as per the theater lobby posting at 3:15 PM today,

Keenan/Golbin, Rutherford/Tinsley-Williams, LeCrone/Laracey, Keenan/Golbin, Ostrom/Hankes, King/Laracey, Ostrom/Hankes.

On Russia Today (English Language) TV, "The French King of Ballet" is the lead cultural story. In Moscow, Bolshoi figures Tsiskaridze ("created unforgettably great performances that were copied by many other choreographers"), Liepa ("the talent to shock the audience"), Ratmansky ("sexuality and passion were his mottos") were interviewed, and it was said that his appearance in 1978 caused a revolution in Russian ballet. Click Video on right.

http://www.russiatoday.ru/entertainment/news/17431

(There was also footage, with interviews, of preparation for the Zhakaraova/Bolle Giselle)

Added for those who get RTTV (it is Ch. 135 on Northern Manhattan TWC), it is scheduled to be shown again at 8:46 PM; Culture circulates on a four hour cycle.

You can see some of the Bar/Suozzi film that we saw here:

http://opusjazz.com/Watch.html

The site shows some of the telecast on the Ed Sullivan show, technical details on how the segment with Rutherford/Hall was photographed, how it came to be shot at sunset, and concludes with the finale to their section. Everyone that films ballet for DVD or TV should be required to view this "how to" vid first. Don't forget to click the teaser vid as well...

Condolences. Sad that this happened while Suzanne Farrell's season is going on. She never wavered in her gratitude and devotion to him.

Yes, I too am grateful to M. Bejart for taking care of Suzanne Farrell during the time she was away from home, for always treating her with respect, and for presenting her with dignity in his works. And also for giving us a chance to see her dance, during a time that she deepened and matured her sublime artistry. During that short period of the Dance Boom when his company played regularly in NYC, I experienced the profound Hope so often present in his work. It was a different time for Dance, and for Humanity. May all the forms of God that he knew Bless him.

Unhappily the number of dancers listed on City Ballet's site is down to 99, with the retirement of that beautiful blogger Kristin Sloan. From an interview placed on site November 20, 2007 for the November 26th issue of the New York Observer:*

...The bloggerina then dropped a bombshell: After multiple comeback attempts from three hip surgeries in less than two years ("I had this crunching noise," she shuddered, recalling that time), she has decided to retire from the corps, and has accepted the job of director of new media for the Ballet, which started last week. "I feel I can be more valuable to them in this position," Ms. Sloan said.

* http://www.observer.com/2007/bloggerina

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Balanchine and Petitpa got this gala off to a good start, with a well-rehearsed Garland Dance flowing nicely into the Rose Adagio from Chief Peter Martins's masterpiece, Sleeping Beauty. Here were the clean look and splendid dancing so often missing in some more creative productions. Something of a triumph for Megan Fairchild, who not only danced the part with seeming ease, but also was at ease, enriching in her characterization and with balances that were near Ideal. Her suitors looked like suitors, not fops; Jared Angle, Stephen Hanna, Jonathan Stafford, and Amar Ramasar partnered with such confidence that you know, had one of them been chosen, that their marriage would have got off to a fine start. One fun moment: the last rose given her was missing the flower. The stem did not phase this Aurora!

After a pause Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi introduced a section of their in-progress video of the Robbins N. Y. Export: Opus Jazz. They gave the happy news that it had just won an International Dance Film competition in Europe. Then we saw a portion that featured Rachel Rutherford and Craig Hall dancing on urban railroad tracks, backed by the setting sun. Dancers, perhaps, should be in charge of all ballet vids! Yet for all its simplicity, it was a subtle work of videographic art. Just showing that you don't need MTV jump-cutting to vary the view, they did it smoothly, in the spirit of the music and choreography.

Then came Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans in Wheeldon's Liturgy; their self-replicating movement as the ballet's conclusion made them one, was perhaps the creative highlight of the evening. The first half concluded with Balanchine's Western Symphony, fourth movement, headed by a particularly gamerous Maria Kowroski and a particulary enthusiastic Damian Woetzel, M. A.

The second half belonged to Chief Martins. There was a fine compilation of vids of Lincoln Kirstein, including, of course, Mr. B's telling of meeting the tall American who promised him a future here. Lots on building the State Theater. Especially touching: the scene where Suzanne Farrell leans on his shoulder... During the Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla a large projection of a portrait (profile) of Mr. Kirstein filled the stage in noble splendor. Then came Chief Martins's premiere, Grazioso. Ashley Bouder (in a somehow cheap costume that needs rethinking) was partnered by Gonzalo Garcia, Andrew Veyette (her main partner), and Daniel Ulbricht (with some truly spectacular solos). I'm not sure if this is a piece d'occassion or meant to survive beyond tonight. As so often, The Chief seemed so taken up with creating sequences of steps (some quite brilliant), that the whole just didn't add up to the sum of its parts. Yet some of the virtuosity was so entertaining that it will probably please many people, for a while. Ms. Bouder's was the largest part, but she seemed a virtuosa in search of a story. Was she Swanhilde, or Lise, or Apollo with her three Muses, as it looked for one wry moment...? The Glinka/Martins segment ended with a repeat of the 1993 A Life for the Tsar. This finished with a serenade to Mr. K of "Happy Birthday to You," followed most anticlimactically with "Happy Birthday to You," rather outlasting the applause of an otherwise rather appreciative audience.