drb

...This led me to the thought that there are some partnerships that are truly likeable. This is not the same thing as "admirable," or ""technically brilliant,"" or even "two dancing as one." They don't have to be the best dancers. Something clicks, however. And is communicated to the audience. You care about them and want to hang out after the performance to here about how they felt about it.

...Are there any such partnerships that strike you as being highly "likeable"? What makes them that way?

One that seems ended in its infancy:

Katie Morgan/Seth Orza at NYCB. They were paired in Romeo+Juliet and later in Wheeldon's Carousel. Ms. Morgan has that rare gift of telling a story, giving continuity to a dance, without acting at all (well, how can I presume to know how she really does it, but she projects such an innocence and dance-purity), while Mr. Orza creates a brilliant contrast to her luminous youth and glowing beauty. He has a forceful look, that on first impression one might feel would almost frighten such a pure innocent, yet his dramatic sensibility converts it into a pillar of strength that she can trust, by adding dimensions of tenderness and partner awareness. Especially in Carousel, which of course admits more dramatic freedom for the dancers, he creates a character who really sees his partner struggling with new feelings, and knows just when to hold back and when to bring back his strength. In response, Ms. Morgan literally grows up right before our eyes. In his review of all four cast of R+J, Mr. Macaulay of the Times ultimately seemed to prefer Katie Morgan's Juliet most of all the Juliets. Yet he wasn't as strong in his praise for Seth Orza's Romeo. I think that a great strength of Orza (in this partnership, at least) is to make you love his ballerina, something that I think might require a few viewings of his work to discover. That sensitivity to love may be why the partnership is no longer. For he left his position and rank at NYCB in order to go to a company in which he can be with his wife. I will sadly miss Seth with Katie as she grows into the even more dramatically challenging grand Farrell roles at City Ballet, where such romantic chemistry will be so crucial.

While the ballet articles in today's Arts and Leisure section are generating much discussion, the ads are not available on-line.

ABT for its Fall Season has a beautiful photo of Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes in Tudor's The Leaves are Fading. This full-page ad also gives casting for the season, but on first scan seems to give no more nor less than what has been given on the company's site for some time.

Wheeldon's Morphoses has a half-page ad with a photo of Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall. Most usefully, complete casting for each dance is given for both programs. It was a joy to see that Alina Cojocaru must have recovered, for she and Mr. Kobborg will dance the second (18th) and third (19th) performances of Wheeldon's Prokofiev PdD (the performance on the 17th is scheduled for Bridget Zehr and Nehemiah Kish). The engagement is loaded with stars, especially from NYCB. It will be a Bouder-fest! I don't know if a moderator has access to a postable complete casting; but if it is desired, I'd be willing to type out the complete casting.

NYCB has just a small ad, suggesting people should subscribe, but giving no details.

The Joyce's ad lists programming through early February, and Ailey's is without specifics other than a list of premieres.

I forget the occasion, but Watermill was also danced post-Villella at NYCB by Jean Guizerix..

I see in the Sunday Times that Watermill will be performed in NYCB's Spring Robbins celebration. Who would you select for the Villella role? It would, I feel, require a mature dancer, and might just make a fine retirement vehicle...

Another candidate for most boring ballet will also return this Spring, with ABT reviving The Merry Widow.

Today I attended a rehearsal for the upcoming performances of Astor Piazzolla's tango-opera MARIA DI BUENOS AIRES which will be presented by Gotham Chamber Opera at the Skirball Center (Washington Square South/NYC) on September 26, 28 & 29. David Parsons and co-choreographer Pablo Pugliese are creating some exciting dance sequences for this dark, sexy and ultimately tragic work. The Parsons Dancers looked sensational in rehearsal today.

http://www.gothamcamberopera.com/upcoming_fall2007.html

Thanx, Oberon: having enjoyed Paul Taylor's work with Astor Piazzolla, this sounds very interesting. I had better luck with this link:

http://www.gothamchamberopera.com/upcoming_fall2007.html

Wow! Thanks for the great news of the return of the Tharp/Robbins Brahms/Handel! Tonight I'll be dreaming of a Mearns/Garcia pairing as Ashley/Andersen (I'll save Ashley Bouder for that fabulous Calegari entrance). With all that Robbins, I hope NYCB fills in the gaps with as much prime Balanchine as possible.

... if their decent production of Giselle was the weakest of their classic productions rather than the strongest...

I agree Giselle was their strongest old ballet, but weren't the sets and costumes in dire condition the last go 'round? Will it come back new and improved like Swamp Lake and Aurora's Nightmare in order to justify the fund-raising?

Ms. Tharp’s Elfman premiere

Can't unravel this, but is has prospects: Could ABT's AD have commissioned a work by Ms. Tharp to honor Boris Eifman, much as NYCB's Chief honored George Balanchine by commissioning that ballet by Mr. Eifman? But I surely side with Mr. Macaulay regarding the lack of any other multiple bill, especially with time being spent on Merry Widow. The plus here is more $'s to spend on spring NYCB tickets, as they recover from this winter's programming...

Just stumbled upon a lengthy slide show featuring Boccatango, some photos are from performance in Cuba, and, yes, there's a photo of Alicia Alonso! If you like a photo during the slide show you can click on it and see a large photo.

http://www.daylife.com/topic/Julio_Bocca

At this time of great loss in classical music, with the death of Luciano Pavarotti and illness (source and details: current Playbill) of Claudio Abbado (all upcoming engagements canceled, including next month at Carnegie Hall), the New York Philharmonic's September 18th Opening Night gifts are most welcome.

The 7:30 PM all-Dvorak Gala (of course, decidedly not free) with Lorin Maazel and Yo-Yo Ma will not only be telecast (half-hour time delay) on PBS (Live from Lincom Center) and radio-cast (in NYC on WQXR), but will also be Plaza-cast on a large screen at Lincoln Center. (If they can do this (the screen is plenty big) for conducting, why not for dancing?)

The dress rehearsal will also be FREE to the public. It will begin at 8:45 AM, with ticket distribution starting at 8 AM, also on the 18th.

http://nyphil.org/about/openingDay07.cfm

For those wishing to see what seems to be the last Bocca performance in the USA, November 11, 2007 at Brooklyn College, here is the site from which I purchased my tickets... there appear to be seats left:

http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurc...amp;pid=5992694

Mr. Bocca's site now gives November 1-11 as his USA Farewell Tour dates, but I couldn't find any mention of which cities. Today's thread begun by ngitanjali on Everything Else Ballet makes reference (I think) to the Penn State performance on November 9. Tickets are already being sold for the November 11 performance at Brooklyn College, and via Google I see that there will be a November 1 performance in Houston. Have the other locales been announced?

Not dance, but I'd say priority #1 has got to be Itzhak Perlman. This is a chance for one of those rare experiences of a lifetime. And the Penn State student price ($36 or $26) is less than a third of what we (in NYC) would have to pay to see him perform on his own stage (the main stage at Carnegie Hill is named for him), if we were even able to buy a ticket. He is very moving, both as a musician and a human being.

Boccatango is an insane bargain, and quite a show. When I saw it, he was very charismatic, and with the extra emotion of his American farewell tour.... and $15!!!!!

Personally, I'd go for Ronald K. Brown for my third, but that is a matter of a personal taste (some wonderful stuff made for Ailey, and of course his own company), but the large company suggestions made above probably would make more sense.

Have a wonderful time, whatever you select!

From an e-mail from Ailey:

We are delighted to let you know that members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will appear "dancing with Ellen" on the premiere episode of the fifth season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

In New York City, the episode will air on Tuesday, September 4th on WNBC 4 at 11:00am (please check local listings for air times).

At tonight's post-performance Q&A with Boal, Fenley, and Rachel Foster, who performed the role tonight, Fenley said that there will be two programs at the Joyce, with three performances of State of Darkness, in which Porretta will dance two and Foster one.

The Joyce gives their respective performance dates, so you only need to buy two of three to see both performers, as I hope to do. By the way, the last (Foster) performance is selling out quicker, as the Joyce has a bargain-priced Sunday policy.

State of Darkness (Stravinsky), a solo performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet guests Jonathan Porretta (Dec 13, 14) and Rachel Foster (Dec 16)

The program also includes

Calculus and Politics and Lava Field

Ailey's site is now offering their NYC Season's schedule to the public (there was a link for members a month ago, but that was just a display listing each performance's dances). What they offer now is really user-friendly, as every dance on each day's program is linked to a very detailed article on that ballet (they may dance barefoot, but a number of these works are ballets). Since they program in the manner that pre-block NYCB did, you can really take advantage of mixing-matching with the aid of these convenient linkings. They even tell you when each program ends, quite useful to train-catchers. Ailey just gets it.

Of course there is anticipation of their rescension of Bejart's Firebird (on a new thread elsewhere on BT). Former post-Farrell Bejart Prima Shonach Mirk Robles has set the ballet on the company, somewhat interesting in that the bird(s) are men in Bejart's rebellion/revolution version. As tickets (top price $150!) go on sale soon, hopefully an appropriate moderator will place a link to City Center, wherever it is supposed to go...(some ballets, but not a ballet company, so where?). Anyway, the Ailey info is here:

http://www.alvinailey.org/page.php?p=pcalny&sec=schedule

By the way, not a bad idea to join their (free) Ailey Club. They've been running some interesting blogs by dancers and a choreographer (what happens when the choreographer is injured and can't demonstrate while choreographing?).

From a Guild mailing that arrived today, it seems that the Centennial will offically end with November 20th's opening night gala, titled The Dancers of the New York City Ballet Celebrate Lincoln Kirstein. It was surely, IMO, the company's most successful year of Balanchine (both in quantity and in quality of some performances) that I can remember in a couple of decades. But I wonder about NYCB's future after reading the following

Join us for our Opening Night Benefit, which will bring to a close the Company's celebration of Lincoln Kirstein's Centennial.

The evening will feature a new work choreographed by Peter Martins, and a special performance of a piece d'occasion created by Mr. Martins to honor Mr. Kirstein in 1993 and not seen since, as well as excerpts from ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, and Christopher Wheeldon.

(boldface type as in announcement)

From bounty to excerpts...

I remember enjoying Bejart's Firebird in the late (?) 70's with, I think, some Paris Opera dancers in the lead roles. Bejart's site refers to a "new version" choreographed for the Paris Opera in October 1970. I could not find an "old version" on that site, but the Ailey Company refers to 1964 (21 minutes) on their site. Whatever version this is, I really look forward to seeing it this winter season. Here are the New York dates (including the Opening Night Gala) as given by Ailey as of last month:

FIREBIRD, by Maurice Béjart

Peformance dates: Nov. 28, Dec. 1(eve), Dec.2(mat), Dec. 2(eve), Dec. 8(mat), Dec. 16(eve), Dec. 19, Dec. 23(mat), Dec. 27, Dec. 28, Dec. 30(eve), & Dec. 31

(I should note that their more recently released full schedule also lists a Firebird for the evening of December 15.)

OT: I'd really like to see them take on NYCB's version: Alicia J. Graf would be a bird that dreams are made of...

Laura Jacobs is hardly as well known as JA.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

Acocella and Jacobs are among my favorite dance writers--don't have to agree with them in order to learn something. I wish Jacobs wrote more often, she can be fascinating, as in this old essay on Balanchine's Jewels:

http://newcriterion.com:81/archive/16/mar98/jacobs.htm#top

In fairness to Ms. Grant, her use of the term bunhead was a self-reference, as she was a ballerina but apparently unable to find work in a ballet company because because of her sub 5-foot height. From earlier in the interview:

Despite her small stature (which forced her to give up her first love, ballet), she has overcome the physical odds to become one of Morris's most featured dancers.

My bad, for not giving the link* to the full interview. By the way, I saw Mozart Dances again this Wednesday and the new (for me) awareness of her ballet background enabled me to see her performance in a new light, especially in terms of her epaulement.

* http://www.timeout.com/newyork/article/11073/grant-a-wish

Lauren Grant, an NYU graduate who is the 4' 11" lead female dancer in Mark Morris's Mozart Dances, addresses the issue of a dancer being verbally articulate in her current lengthy Time Out New York interview. To quote in part:

He’s challenged me in how I speak and in what I do:

He’s a very curious, knowledgeable person and he’s

helped to guide me to be more curious and

knowledgeable. To read more and to be interested in a

world where there’s more than just dance. Because I

really did have blinders on growing up, as bunheads

sometimes do.

Asked how he changed the way she speaks, Ms. Grant answered:

[Laughs] There’s a lot of hazing that goes on. Little

things like if you’re in class or in rehearsal and you say,

“Can I ask a question?” He’ll say, “You just did.” Or if

you start everything with, “Um.…” He points these little

habits out. He makes you notice those things, and if you

care you start to change the way you speak.

Sometimes it’s very demoralizing and upsetting, but it

can be helpful. He’s brutally honest. But he wants us to

grow as dancers and as people. He likes to be a

mentor. He wants to have interesting, intelligent people

in his company because he needs someone to be

interesting to him.

Thank you for The Sublime.

Received an e-mail today from Miller saying tickets were now available from the above clickable address. Some of us noted that we didn't have good views for last year's event, but today I found excellent seats were available. Moreover, the order confirmation e-mail said that I would receive a gift subs to Time Out New York (as long as supplies last).

[Added upon receipt of a second e-mail]: "At this time we have discovered an error in the confirmation message

that you received, which relates to an offer to receive a subscription to Time Out New York magazine. That offer was valid only during the 2006-07 season and is no longer available."

I don't feel it fair to mention flops, every choreographer has some of those, but among the very popular successes of choreographic stars:

Petite Mort of Kylian and La Dame aux Camelias of Neumeier.

Also " ..... " by Peter Martins, except that when I try to fill in the quotes, then I've got to fill in the cast, and those glorious NYCB dancers (and some of their best are always cast in the Chief's ballets) are never boring!

Responding on her website to the rather delicate question:

"What is your weight?"

Diana Vishneva answered:

"Sufficient for today's terrestrial gravitation."

Good news for some YAGP winners. Men's Gold winner, the sensational Jim Nowakowski, has joined the corps at Houston ballet, as has Aria Alekzander, a finalist from the previous year (by way of ABT's Studio Company).

http://www.myspace.com/houstonballet

(By the way, if you Google his full name, you will find a link to a YT video of what seems to be a high school solo of a martial-arts influenced, yet still somewhat classical, piece. Very well received by the enthusiastic student audience!)

Under the Royal Ballet's Ansanelli...Promotions thread, you'll find a link that lists two more YAGPers as new Artists: This year's GP winner Melissa Hamilton and last year's, Sergiy Polunin.

2005 YAGP Grand Prix winner Mary Mills Thomas, who was just named an Apprentice at ABT, is the sister of Melissa Thomas of ABT's Corps.