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And here they are! http://www.geneschiavone.com/gallery/album08 Mr. Schiavone has also posted a 48-photo set of ABT Corps dancers in rehearsal.

Sunday, May 27, 2007 The Tschaikovsky Show This afternoon began with Kyra Nichols in Mozartiana. Actually, Miwako Chimura, Arden Pickoff-Rafferty, Skyla Schreter and Lindsay Turkel were four young girls who danced especially well, and with such effective coordination. They seemed sisters taken to church by their mother, Kyra Nichols, and were on their best behavior. After prayers, Kyra looked them in the eyes, two-by-two (a nice touch, perhaps a gesture to Mr. B., reflecting one of his favorite Bible stories), to beckon them to leave with her. I'd like to think each earned the ice-cream of her choice on the way home. A very personal and moving statement by Ms. Nichols. Perhaps no one will ever be able to act as intercessor for Mr. B as Suzanne was during Preghiera, yet this is also a very demanding ballet technically. Still in the afterglow of Sara Mearns's resurection of that other Farrell ballet, Walpurgisnacht, l cannot but long for a similar fate for this, my favorite of all Suzanne roles. Robbins in the middle with Piano Pieces, and that means perfect casting and exacting coaching. Antonio Carmena was a splendid little cavalier, dancing to an even higher level than he'd done in R+J. Jennie Somogyi was especially soft and pliant, yet also clear and virtuosic, moving like liquid silver, a St. Petersburg look, superbly displayed by partner Jared Angle. This was memorable. But later on that invisible ballerina, Jenifer Ringer materialized (thank you, Robbins Trust!) and brought the house down. Last season I couldn't keep my eyes off her, even in a ballet I didn't want to see. Also good to see her partner Ask laCour look so well. If this is what rehearsal can do, the future will be far less dim for the likes of Tess and Sara. Ashley Bouder was a perfect fit for Jonathan Stafford in her Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto 2 debut. She was dazzling, invigorating the choreography, and quite pleased by the ballet's end. But I was miserable. Her second performance is during SAB time, and I'll miss it. And we know about Bouder 2's! I can only guess at the pure classical grandeur she'll reach. One only need remember her Swan Lake 2 and Sleeping Beauty 2! Mr. Stafford was also impressive, both solo and partnering (Ms. Bouder, and also grandly sweeping the 10 women). Tess Reichlen is fantastic. Her airy lightness combined with such amplitude and formal beauty. It would be just as rewarding to see the two switch roles. But maybe better not: with so much Balanchine in need of salvation, better to spread the wealth of these, the top two of their generation.

According to the Bolshoi, The Bolt dvd has been released in France. (This was an incidental remark in the announcement of Alexei Ratmansky's winning the Shostakovich Prize, to be presented at a performance of Bright Spring next month, the first choreographer to win that award.)

In light of Ratmansky's current Middle Duet run at NYCB, it may be of interest that it is also playing at the Bolshoi. Natalia Osipova makes her debut tomorrow (previously danced by Svetlana Zakharova), partnered by Andrei Merkuriev. Moreover, it is part of a triple bill that could also be put together from current NYCB rep. The Dybbuk (but there titled Lea, and choreographed by Ratmansky, with Maria Allash in the lead role) and Jeu des Cartes (but there by Ratmansky rather than Martins, with a superstar cast headed by Masha Alexandrova). In light of the good will between the companies, wouldn't it be fascinating if we had a triple bill exchange between the two?

Friday, May 25, 2007 Katie, Maria, Tess, and the Great Dane The under-admired Wheeldon Carousel(A Dance) opened the program. On a day that hit 90 degrees outside, it was a perfect May day in Wheeldon's school yard. Late enough in the semester to offer hope to the students, but with a certain underlying anxiety: youths' need to find romantic partners for the sizzling summer. Kathryn Morgan was one of the younger ones, not yet quite sure what exactly was up, as she wandered hesitantly about the crowd. Seth Orza had obviously taken note of the shy, ambivalent young woman, a strong but tender young Romeo thinking of a Juliet. But unlike an earlier pairing of this duo, tonight they had a choreographer. Would their names become linked by just a +, or by an and? Wheeldon captures Romeo's sensitivity toward his Juliet, the careful and caring wooing, the ways he shows his feelings, the way she searches her new emotions, the early attempted kiss, her complexity as she recoils yet grows from curiosity to .... Wheeldon gives them time, and shows the joys of this Maypoles season. She rushes back on stage. He lifts her for that short first kiss. In dance these two are becoming a very interesting and. But what about this story's couple? Will they be a +, or an and that they'll remember? Remember? A pause and then the full-length version of Alxei Ratmansky's Middle Duet. An angel of Light and one of Darkness frame Maria Kowroski and Albert Evans, this a couple verging on a panic of hurry. Perhaps rather than Angels the alternate translation Watchers might better apply. The dancers go through that remarkable display of Maria's gifts that gave the illusion that it'd been made for her, in November's Gala. The music sounds like lyric Bach but with a hint of a jazz rhythm section (the kind that might have evolved had T. S. Monk dominated the future of that art). Suddenly, subtly a gentle hint of brass reaches out from that section. Time has passed. Darkness strikes with what may be death as they fall to the floor. Light strikes down Darkness and raises the couple to their feet. Another pair begins their dance, Rebecca Krohn and Amar Ramasar, as Light begins to lead Maria and Albert off. But Darkness isn't dead, and frankly I wouldn't trust Light. The Wheel, in more theologies than one. It was Robbins's turn next with silent Moves. Somehow, as usual, his dance is perfectly cast. I wish someone were similarly looking out for Mr. Balanchine. The gamorous Tess Reichlen, with Andrew Veyette, lead the extraordinarily flawless performance. So much better than it was years ago. Maybe it's that now cell phones add just the right counterpoint to coughs? At the beginning Kaitlyn Gilliland was the first to break away from the line. Later she oftened seemed to be dancing along with Tess. But eveyone danced starringly. Tess, Kaitlyn, Savannah Lowery, Georgina Pazcoguin, Rachel Rutherford, Amanda Hankes, and Andrew, Craig Hall, Adam Hendrickson, Amar Ramasar, Jonathan Stafford, Antonio Carmena. Finally, there was Balanchine's La Sonnambula. The cast was Coquette Jennie Somogyi, Poet Nicolaj Hubbe, Sleeper Wendy Whelan. So the review would be obvious. And the presence of Mr. Hubbe should insure multiple posts on BT! Daniel Ulbrecht's Harlequin was sensational. Sweet Dreams...

Mr. Macaulay is not only interesting in what he writes, but also in what he doesn't. Since commenting on ABT's Gala, he's left their performances to other reviewers while writing on two modern dance performances and three by City Ballet.

Two stunning large photos of the May 16 (Diana/Ethan) performance have just been posted by Mr. Schiavone. They are the first two, at the moment here, but he does tend to move them around. http://www.geneschiavone.com/gallery/album06?page=1

Oh, I see. It isn't the "short", it's the "sigh" in sight. What he can't see is the dancer who can make you sigh, or who can dance a sigh (as for example Tess's Lilac in Sleeping Beauty just as the prince is about to kneel to propose to Aurora). In short, Farrellness. I hope Tess is re-inspired by her casting as Suzanne WREN in all those upcoming Union Jacks!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Forza Mearns, Tiler Triumphant Tonight's conductor Nicolette Fraillon was successful with Gounod and more than that with Stravinsky. The Divine Sara Mearns shot through Walpurgisnacht like a thunderbolt, echoing through the half empty theater (at least in the rings). Taking chances, daring and gambling, dancing huge and in beauty. After all these years, revealing what Farrell and her assistant Balanchine had created. So extremely rare at NYCB, this treating of a Farrell ballet to new life. Her partner was Ask laCour, and the PdD went well enough for a debut. They look very attractive together. But still more new life, the debut of Ana Sophia Scheller as second ballerina, already we could see her technical command, rather thrillingly pulling off the S-W-N-E turns. A debut with plenty of charm, verging on, and no doubt soon, charisma. Another delightful debut was Rachel Piskin's, pairing with Alina Dronova (one of her most pleasing roles). While the two weren't yet fully in synch with their early hops, that was a minor rehearsal glitch in what were two terrific performances. The corps's hair-flying dance near the end brought memories of Darci's early bouts with hair in her few corps moments. And Sara is a dream of a hair dancer, as was Suzanne. The evening ended with a great masterpiece, the Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements. With Peck subbing for Bouder subbing for Hyltin subbing for Bouder (the fearsome insert said Peck for Hyltin, it also said Whelan for Stafford), the pairings were Whelan/Evans, Peck/Gold, LeCrone/Danchig-Waring. You will know from the three curtains, at so late an hour, that all six merited praise. Wendy and Albert gave full evidence of the central PdD's place in Mr. B's pantheon. Tiler Peck's super technique carried her through the first movement, as if she'd had plenty of rehearsal time, or so was my lame sense. But by early on in the third movement I began to be aware that something special was going on. This was not Smiley Peck, nor the Tiler sidetracked by Juliet. She was somewhere else. She had grabbed Stravinsky's rhythms by the throat, creating Balanchine's steps right before our eyes, she wasn't dancing for us or to us, she was dancing for Mr. B. Sorry Ashley, you'll just have to go on to the lead in this ballet, for me this role is now Tiler Peck's. She's found the music. She's a Balanchine Ballerina. About the sparse house. In between these two ballets was Liebeslieder. There are some who love it. There are even more who love many of its dancers. But for many who have seen it, they know it is long, too long for a working night evening. Especially as a middle ballet, since you know the third cannot start before over two hours. Butts are tired from sitting at work all day, and it is a quiet ballet. And always, with this blockhead programming, Symphony in Three Movements, which could win so many newbies to Balanchine goes unseen. I was the only one left in a segment of 8 seats in my row. Either they don't buy tickets, or if they do, they are just too tired or too bored... I mean no disrespect to Balanchine/Brahms, all my disrespect is saved for blockhead.

As of an hour ago, SHE'S BACK! For Wednesday only:

Is it not possible that Ms. Part chose to play a shade as a gesture of respect to Nina Ananiasvili, and for the honor of being on stage with her? She is, after all, a Russian ballerina. Ms. Dvorovenko is now a Nikiya, yet was it a coincidence that it was this night that she reprised her old role of Gamzatti? Respect. Tradition.

Casting posted at the theater tonight (Monday) is in complete agreement with the above (which I think was placed on the website late last week).

Monday, May 21, 2007 A Nina Fest The last Bayadere of the season starred the trio Ananiashvili/Carreno/Dvorovenko. But of course the night belonged to Nina Ballerina and her fans. Nina simply stepped into Nikiya's body before her first entrance and stayed there for the next two and three quarter hours, letting the old story tell itself with the grandeur of its simplicity. The casting seemed an echo of the old CCCP. Nina (Tbilisi), with Vitali Krauchenka (Radjah, Minsk), Irina Dvorovenko (Gamzatti, Kiev), Roman Zhurbin (High Brahmin, Moscow), Veronika Part (3rd Shade variation, Petersburg), Sascha Radetsky (Head Fakir, California--whoops!). Other non ex-Soviets were Jose Manuel Carreno (Solor), Jennifer Alexander (Aya), Misty Copeland (the best of her 1st Shade performances that I saw), Melanie Hamrick (the cabrioles Shade), Carlos Lopez (Bronze Idol). Irina was especially splendid, and after the confrontation scene she made her fist and strode toward us, a vision of beauty, she looked us all in the eyes. They became rounder. The Evil Eye incarnate. I stared back in Fear. But tonight was all Nina, our Prima of the 90's. I'll leave technical matters to others. Of course she could do it. I just made myself empty and absorbed, wasting nothing of her Gift. For it was a night of gifts. At the very end, aligned up the remains of the temple's stairs, she turned her gaze back to penitent Carreno. Slowly her arm arc'd 'round to his direction. From her hand came the final gift, the Grace of Peace. The house stands. Applause and cheers. From the fans a shower of flowers. During one curtain call, Nina turns to her right and sees an old fan (yes the same one from the old days). A look of joyful recognition crosses her face and she strides in that direction. The bouquet en l'air. And into Nina's cradling arms.

indeed! Exactly the kind of thing I was hoping she'd get! Cringe... Bouder is replaced (by Hyltin) in both Syms, but has not :beg: been scratched in DAG and TPC2.

Totally agree, NYSusan. This was the Wednesday night performance. Had it been Saturday night's, I could see someone being "tricked" by her (relatively!) less passionate approach to act 1, as she was setting us up for her extraordinary dichotomy between acts 2 and 3 (Solor's guilt-based fearful opium image of Nikiya-the-Avenger vs. Nikiya's spiritual freeing of herself from that possible Wili-trap).

Malakhov's is in four acts, the first two comprising the portion of the story told in Makarova's Act I. His company has more dancers than ABT, he uses 32 rather than 24 in the Kingdom of the Shades. His libretto and many photos: http://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/spielpl...ate=0&user=

Whatever I'm told. After such an experience, decisions are not interesting...

While much is good, it is peculiar that I'm being told that I have -10 new messages...

At the very end of her ABT stay in New York last summer, Ms. Vishneva did address some aspects of ballet training in a small portion of an interview with Nina Alovert for Russian Bazar. If you add what she loves about other teaching methods to what vrsfanatic describes re Vaganova methodology, you get quite a complete ballerina! When asked whether she found different systems of teaching in classes in various other countries to be difficult, she responded (I am not aware of an official translation, but feel reasonably confident in mine):

Dancers may be trying to perform a role as coached, but part of the reason each has made it to Principal level is, hopefully, her/his own special uniqueness. Not all dancers are like this, Ms. Vishneva in particular, is inevitably unsatisfied with any performance of a given role and wishes to start from square one (and that includes workng with her partner on the new vision) the next time she dances it. She speaks of this constantly in interviews, and it has been obvious whenever I've been lucky enough to see her in a part twice in a season. Personally, what is even more a draw for me than her phenomenal technical gifts and her physical beauty is her mind, and the surprises she brings. Another dancer who never does the same (story) ballet twice is Ashley Bouder, my other favorite dancer, although I suspect her reasons and method are quite different to Diana Vishneva's. What you don't get from these dancers is their definitive Giselle, say, because that will be their next one, and once that next one happens, the next next one... Reviews of such dancers may not be good guides to whether you wish to see that dancer, because even if, or especially if, the critic sees with your eyes, that is not what you'll get if you go the next time. A wonderful example of the other extreme is Amanda McKerrow, who continued to refine and enrich roles throughout her career. If you loved her Giselle you'd want to go again because you knew you'd get it again, yet somehow enhanced by new discoveries in the details, new gifts of depth and emotional nuance.

What a great photo, Thanks! Pavlova and Vishneva were both born in St. Petersburg. (So was Veronika Part.) Pavlova was rejected by the Imperial Ballet School at age 8, admitted at age 10. Vishneva was rejected by the Vaganova Academy at age 6, admitted at age 11.

Saturday eve, May 19, 2007 Vishneva/Stiefel/Abrera II Another Vishneva, another Vishneva True to her method, Diana Vishneva told a different story tonight, and the others did too, in harmony with hers. In her meeting with Solor, Nikiya was much quicker to be sure of his love, this time before his pledge, about a half minute before the first grand jete. By the next scene we knew it was a hasty judgment. For, although he loved her, when dancing with Gamzatti he wasn't dancing in the Wednesday daze of Nikiya, but only in disjoint moments was he grasped by her memory. Later, in the confrontation scene, Vishneva only played the trump of his scene 1 pledge to her. She, rather than Abrera, lost the argument, Diana fleeing in terror, and Gamzatti swelling with confidence. In the third scene, she began her dance at the Solor-Gamzatti engagement party a broken spirit. Hope only flashed across her face when she was told the gift basket was from him. Going to thank him, she quickly knew the lie. Desolate, she held the basket to her neck, and her body joined her already killed spirit. The Shades Act found Diana dancing with sublime beauty, yet each time she looked Stiefel in the eyes, she made these glances as short as possible and fired ice from her eyes through his to the core of his being. I decided to stay for Act 3, if just to see her rage with such power that could destroy kingdoms. But Act 2 had been an opium dream of a guilty man. Do not indulge in fantasy-enhancing drugs. Nikiya entered Act 3, a serene spirit. As is her wont, Giselle. (As she's promised to play Sleeping Beauty's Vision Scene, ... perhaps, ... once?). Did Solor receive redemption? Well, he looked Albrechtian, but still yielded to his ruler when trying to follow her exit, and though he did fight the marriage touch of Gamzatti, reaching heaven-ward to Nikiya, his arm eventually yielded to his religion's force. And all was destroyed. He surely didn't earn redemption, but then, no one can. But the surpassing heresy of Giselle is that she can grant it. I went outside and there was a cold rain, not the best of omens for Solor. But there, on the street an empty cab. With Diana Vishneva, miracles can happen. An especially endearing three shades tonight: Misty Copeland, Yuriko Kajiya, Hee Seo. Hee is a dancer that takes chances, and wins. Please, Mr. AD, give her bigger challenges. For West Coasters, Leann Underwood, ABT's only female apprentice was a shade and a candle dancer. Wasn't she something of a star in Oregon a couple of years ago?

Friday, May 18, 2007 Tonight one of the world's great ballerinas honored the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House. Her name was, is, and always will be Veronika Part. Part/Gomes/Wiles Veronika Part paints with a broader brush, a polar opposite to the Titian-like complexity of Diana Vishneva. The battle tonight was Romantic Love versus Sex+Power, where with Diana it was Love+Sex versus Power. As Nikiya Part waits for Solor Gomes she is a woman in love, in the last few minutes of a very long wait for her man. But he is late, she is overcome by sorrow, but at the last second his hands clap and she is transformed. Her poetic dancing is flawless throughout, and her first grand jete a revelation, her legs tracing one of the longest straight lines in the history of mathematics. Michele Wiles already had, in the ballet's prior run, a brilliantly complete characterisation of Gamzatti. The classical PdD was masterful, and she kept her hyper-charged eroticism throughout the technical challenges. She didn't just have a crush on Solor, she had confidence she could win him. That something extra that shown in her dancing at the Gala again was present. An extra grace of musicality. The confrontation with Nikiya seemed to be going Part's way, as she confronted Wiles with the fact of the great love she had with Gomes. But Gamzatti, certain of her rank and womanly wiles, greeted this with disgust: how dare you, you cheap little... And Part in a moment of rage grabbed the knife. At the betrothal party Wiles, still confident, continued with her erotic pressure on Gomes. Nikiya entered. How this ballerina in red fills that huge stage! It clearly is something more than a 2" height advantage. She kisses the big red flower in middle of the basket, and throws it toward Solor. Gamzatti and he have a momentary smootch. Nikiya buries her face in the flowers. It bit. The shades again were triumphant. Solor and Nikiya began the PdD. This was a dance of pure love, and Part the Casta Diva. In all likelihood Ms. Part must have seen Asylmuratova's Nikiya. So similar in perfection both of spirit and of technique. This was the kind of emotional power, purely through the perfection of and belief in the steps, that I think Mr. B would have loved. Midway, the three shades had their solos. Misty Copeland first, charged with energy through her variation, then Stella Abrera, and finally Maria Riccetto finding still more poetry than on Wednesday night. What magically airy, huge yet perfect in form, are the expressive grand jetees of Veronika Part. The ease of Marcelo Gomes's lifts, and Veronika's comfort and grace, the lightness of a shade when aloft. Marcelo also delivered all the requisite virtuosity, while always maintaining a meign of noble purity. Throughout this scene Ms. Part seemed free of technical concern and free to be Love itself. Being upstairs, the beauty of Makarova's circle dances was fully apparent. At first a large circle containing both Solor and Gamzatti. They both were locked in sorrow. The circles split into two, separating in reality what was already separated on a higher plane. Then back to one circle as nuptuals time approached. Ms. Wiles was sincerely repentant right from the moment she appeared at this, her wedding. Her magnificent variation held on to this spiritual tone through all the technical dazzle. One awaits with special anticipation seeing what she'll do with Odette later this season. A special mention of Roman Zhurbin's High Brahmin. He really loved Nikiya, it wasn't only favors he desired. His grief after the snake bite was profound. When leading the bayaderes in prayer at the beginning of the wedding ceremony, as he made the religious gesture where, elbows pressed to body, the hands reach up to touch somewhere between neck and shoulders, he showed in his face the memory of Nikiya using that same gesture to thwart his advances. A truly tragic character. Ms. Part entered, came between the couple as they knelt, then flew offstage with perhaps the most ethereal grand jetees in the universe. The ballet went on to distruction, and the glorious final pose of Love ascendant.

Regarding Ms. Vishneva's Nikiya, it seems Natalia Makarova really enjoyed rehearsing Diana for the role. From the Vishneva Newsday.com article posted under the Sleeping Beauty thread today:

Kirkland Coaching Vishneva This article, in which Diana Vishneva gives her interpretation of Aurora, is on Newsday.com today, but since it seems it may not be published in print until May 20, I was told I could post it here rather than on Links: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/arts/...-arts-headlines