Helene

According to the website, ballet highlights are In "New Voices", Tuesday, 18 August, Joffrey Ballet will perform Edwaard Liang's "Age of Innocence" (a short clip can be found here), Richmond Ballet performs "To Familiar Spaces in Dream" (Jessica Lang), and Oregon Ballet Theatre (fingers crossed) will perform Trey McIntyre's "Just". In "Modern Masters", Thursday, 20 August, NYCB guests will perform Wheeldon's "After the Rain Pas de Deux", Joffrey Ballet "In the Night", and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet in William Forsythe's "Slingerland". In "A Celebration of American Dance", Saturday, 22 August, Houston Ballet presents Forsythe's "The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude", ABT guest artists will perform "Le Corsaire Pas de Deux", and Les Ballets Grandiva will dance " Star Spangled Ballerina".

Some people ease their way into retirement, but not Louise Nadeau: for the last rep she learned two new roles -- Girl in Green in "Dances at a Gathering" and "After the Rain Pas de Deux" -- and danced the iconic Second Movement in "Symphony in C", and for her retirement performance she learned one new role and performed two: William Forsythe's "Urlicht" and the singing role of Anita in "West Side Story Suite", which she was unable to dance in the penultimate rep due to an ankle injury. In a lovely booklet accompanying the program, Nadeau wrote about her attachment to each of the works she chose for the program. As previously noted, she danced in four, the Forsythe and Robbins, and her opening Eighth Waltz from "La Valse" and closing Act IV of Kent Stowell's "Swan Lake". A wonderful touch was the BBC video of her performance of the Act II Divertissement from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (with Olivier Wevers), projected the height and width of the proscenium. The program opened with the first half of the first movement of "Serenade", with Carla Korbes dancing the Waltz Girl entrance, and Maria Chapman the Russian. The corps was a blend of senior, experience corps members, new corps, and a few professional students who had danced often and formidably in the last rep. Nadeau made her first entrance in "La Valse", partnered by Jeffrey Stanton. Peter Boal then came in front of the curtain, offering a tribute to Nadeau as fellow student, dancer, teacher, and person. He recalled that as SAB students, Nadeau convinced him to hop the fence once night at Rockefeller Center, where they glided around the rink by themselves, until chased off by a security guard. He wasn't sure she'd remember, but when he joined as AD, she presented him with a mug with a picture of the skating rink. Boal's remarks were followed by Mara Vinson performing Verdy's "Emeralds" solo, and then by excerpts from "Chaconne". Nadeau's Level VIII students provided a beautiful context by dancing the intro to the first pas de deux in "Chaconne", followed by Carrie Imler and Stanko Milov in the lyrical pas de deux. The first half of the program ended with two excerpts from "West Side Story Suite": "Cool" danced and sung by Seth Orza, backed by the Jets, and then Nadeau's debut as Anita in "America", a deeply funny take on the role, accompanied by the Sharks women. The third movement of "Rubies", danced by Rachel Foster and Jonathan Porretta, with Ariana Lallone as Tall Girl, opened the second half of the program. The next work, "Urlicht", was the highlight of the evening for me. The work was a perfect fit for Nadeau's lyricism and line and her partnership with Olivier Wevers. (Melissa Plagemann was the mezzo soloist in the fourth movement of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony, No. 2). It was followed by Miranda Weese's last performance before her retirement, of the "Sleepwalker" Pas de Deux from "La Sonnambula", with Lucien Postlewaite as her Poet. Kaori Nakamura and Batkhurel Bold danced the Third Pas de Deux from "In the Night", after which the most emotionally resonant moment of an emotional night came when Nadeau appeared from the stage right wings, dressed as the Swan Queen, to kneel at edge of the stage to present a large bouquet to pianist Dianne Chilgren who had played at the side orchestra, the tribute of one great artist to another. The film of "Midsummer Night's Dream" Divertissement was screened next, and then Kent Stowell and Francia Russell spoke their tributes to Nadeau. The dancing ended with "Swan Lake" Act IV, with Nadeau partnered by Karel Cruz, during and after which enough audience tears flowed to create the lake itself. The company gathered on stage behind Nadeau, and she was presented with flowers and kisses by Boal, Russell, Stowell, her friend, retired PNB ballerina Anne Derieux, accompanists, partners present and past, and those usually behind-the-scenes. The night ended with a shower of flowers from the audience until the final curtain. When Patricia McBride ended her retirement performance with the gentle solo from "Harlequinade" that concludes with a simple bow to the audience, I didn't think I'd ever see anything so gracious, but this night equaled it.

Just a few comments on Friday night's performance. Both Lallone's (Green) and Imler's (Apricot) performances were bigger than their first for these roles. For Lallone, it meant that the humor in the Waltz Walk was crisper, and for Imler, I wasn't sure this was possible. Sometimes the debut performance has all of the energy, and the second is more subdued, but in this ballet, every cast, even the one that had the advantage of the stage dress rehearsal, looked bigger and stronger in the second (and subsequent) performances. Just as I was about to jettison the second solo for Boy in Brown (or give it to Boy in Brick), James Moore gave one of the best performances of it that I've seen in almost three decades, especially in the dynamic weight and direction changes, giving them weight and power. (My first Boys in Brown were Helgi Tomasson and Ib Andersen; Moore is in very good company.) Louise Nadeau was luminous in "After the Rain Pas de Deux". In the Q&A afterwards, Peter Boal said that Nadeau spent the last rep in "business as usual" mode, but that the fact of her retirement was just starting to hit. Kaori Nakamura danced with crystalline simplicity leading the First Movement of "Symphony in C". Even towards the end of the run there were debuts, with Lindsi Dec and Kiyon Gaines dancing Third Movement. (Dec must have done at least four roles in the ballet; I'm not sure how she kept it all straight.) It was a fine debut for both. Dec looked cautious in the killer repeat opening segment. This may have been due partly to the very hard schedule she had and partly in doing the blocking on the stage for the first time. We had been privileged to see Imler and Nakamura in the same part earlier in the run, and what distinguishes these two from many dancers I've seen in the role are their calm, articulated upper bodies and the precise focus of their head and eyes. In the inevitable comparisons, Dec didn't have these qualities in the opening repeat, but by the final section, she did. I look forward to seeing them again the next time the ballet is presented. Gaines and Dec were the Q&A guests. Friends offstage, they are a delight together, energetic and funny, goading each other on to tell stories. For example, Dec and Lesley Rausch, and Gaines and David (?) Schneider were called into the office the day they were offered contracts. Each pair was delighted that the other pair was there, but waiting for Francia Russell, they all squished onto a seat built for two, with Russell likening them to sardines. Gaines had requested "Symphony in C" Third Movement, but didn't have a partner; Dec, who had a busy schedule, found herself on the rehearsal schedule again, wondering why. Gaines also teased Dec until she told the story of her engagement to Karel Cruz. Cruz had arranged a trip for the two of them to Europe, visiting childhood friends he hadn't seen in years and exploring the countries, when after a long walking day, Dec resisted going out to dinner, then dressing up. Of course, this was The Dinner, but even after he brought up marriage, she didn't catch on until he pulled out the ring box. They'll be married this summer: congratulations to them both! I was cleaning out my Inbox when I found an email from PNB that I had missed, with Peter Boal's comments about the Director's Choice program: Hardly alone, I missed Carla Korbes in this rep. She suffered a rib injury during a lift in the Dress Rehearsal of "Dances at a Gathering", and I watched for lifts in the last performance. I knew before there were a lot of them in "Dances", but I don't know how any of the women survived rehearsals and performances, with the exception of Girl in Green, who isn't lifted. Add in Boal's fact above about Boy in Purple, and I wonder if/how much Robbins thought about the dancers bodies when choreographing. The day Balanchine died, early in the morning, not all of the audience were aware at the matinee until Lincoln Kirstein's curtain announcement. He specifically said there wouldn't be a program change; I remember Robbins' "Mother Goose", Balanchine's "Kammermusik No. 2", and there was a third, non-Balanchine. (Maybe Robbins' "Four Seasons"?). By the evening performance, the news had reached much of the audience; it was like a wake, a combination of shock, mourning, and gathering. Martins and Farrell weren't the original cast in "Symphony in C" -- Martins had cut down the number of his performances by then -- but it was moving and fitting that they danced in Balanchine's memory that night, and Boal's description was apt.

Does Uvarov dance Basilio? He was scheduled for two Solors with Gracheva in Berkeley, but Tsiskaridze replaced him in the first and Volchkov in the second, at least according to the substitution insert.

I remember that production at BAM. It was the first time I saw Bournonville, and I was hooked.

Michael wrote a brilliant analysis of "On the Dnieper" for his blog on danceviewtimes that puts the ballet in its proper historical and artistic context: Class Struggle on Broadway He concludes,

I'd like to remind everyone who is going to see "Le Corsaire" in Washington, DC next week about Mikhail's great posts on the production from 2007: Synopsis with dances and composers List of links to MP3 files for "Pas des eventailes" More details on the music and Marc Haegeman's photos: http://www.for-ballet-lovers-only.com/bols...rsaire2007.html http://www.for-ballet-lovers-only.com/bols...aire2007-2.html

Any time Alexandrova is in the cast, here as Nikiya, my expectations are very high, but I was sadly disappointed. Alexandrova is lovely in poses -- tall and regal -- like when she appears at the top of the ramp during Solor's vision, her arms in second arabesque. For the most part, though, she gave a very "leggy" lower body performance, whipping her long legs into positions, which were beautiful in themselves, but without a sense of fullness or intent, except in the Act III coda entrance, during the huge supported jumps, in which her entire body was engaged and spectacular. There was almost no shading in her upper body -- epaulement was practically non-existent -- or roundness in her arms and her head was relatively immobile on her neck. The logic of most of her variations -- why the change of speed and character -- was missing, and while she is far too great to ever just be a dancer doing the steps, her performance was missing dramatic impulse. The exception was the Act II solo. Although she didn't have (or show) the flexibility in her back in some of the big sweeping choreography, the entire solo from end to end, through its three or four dramatic shifts, including a ravishing adagio opening, showed a dance logic that was a story in itself. She's not a shrinking violet Nikiya -- her other great moment was when she pulled out the dagger and threw herself towards Gamzatti -- and she showed drama by darkening the expression on her face, not wild emoting: what her Nikiya thinks are Solor's flowers may be reassuring to her, but the hurt is too deep for her to recover quickly. Temperamentally, she is my type, but the overall performance wasn't fully realized the way this solo was. In the future when it is, watch out. In the evening performance, Svetlana Zakharova danced Nikiya. On video her extensions can dominate; seeing her live gave a different sense of proportion. She was a more feminine, traditional Nikiya, and her upper body was extraordinarily rich and varied. If it weren't for her beautiful feet, apart from some jarring extreme extensions to the side, it would have been as much an above-the-waist performance as Alexandrova's was below-the-waist. Her allegro work looked a bit forced, while her adagio phrasing was lovely. Why, why, why the hyper-extended jetes (constant) and the hit-the-ear extensions (however occasional)? She doesn't need them to make an impact, because she can tell a story and make an audience care about her character. In the matinee Alexander Volchkov, who danced Solor, had beautiful, light, airy jumps and jumping turns, with soft supple landings and beautiful stretch, and whipping fast chaine turns out of nowhere, but dramatically, for the first two Acts at least, he was a stick in the mud. He was a bit like Ashley in "Gone with the Wind": why were these women fighting over him? In Act III he perked up quite a bit, and his variation was a dream itself. Nikolay Tsiskaridze danced in the evening and portrayed an arrogant warrior. (I'm wondering whether Zakharova's back leg in jetes, which wasn't quite bent and wasn't quite straight, was meant to mimic Tsiskaridze's.) There's a Dugmanta in his future; Tsiskaridze's Solor was already the junior version of him. Although he had more verve than Volchkov, Volchkov's line more than compensated. Ekaterina Shipulina danced Gamzatti to Alexandrova's Nikiya. She had a great set of Madonna-like (singer, not saint) expressions, which were fun, but she was another leggy performer, leading a lot from the chin, and while in absolute terms, her dancing didn't turn crude the more the choreography demanded virtuosity, in relative terms it did. Her expressions were smug and one-note -- this was an Amneris-like Gamzatti, all spoiled rich girl with a huge sense of entitlement -- and she rivaled NYCB dancers at their most broken-wristed. Alexandrova knows where 90 degrees is, even if she doesn't always use it. If Shipulina does, she didn't much show it. The drop-dead knockout performance of the two I saw was Ekaterina Krysanova's Gamzatti. Dramatically she was far and away the most rich and complex character. When her father came to tell her that he was marrying her off to the equivalent of Prince William, she showed a touchingly modest surprise -- "Really, I'm going to marry the guy I've had a crush on since I was 12?!" -- and finding out that he was in love with Nikiya shattered her dream much more than her sense of birthright. She showed a sense of desperation that would drive her to kill her rival, and was, if not exactly sympathetic, part of a tragedy, not a segment of Maury Povich. Her dancing was clear, luminous, balanced, and mostly modern classical in proportion. She was equally adept in adagio and allegro, and a master of speed change with imperceptible preparation, all used to build the dramatic arc. The Zellerbach stage usually amplifies the sound of landings, yet I could not hear her toe shoes. It was a triumph, itself worth the entire trip. (From here on, I'm going by the program, and if there were any substitutions, I wouldn't have recognized them.) I very much enjoyed Viacheslav Lopatin's Golden Idol, which used every inch of the stage, dancing with buoyancy and lovely form. (He was also the first featured dancer that I didn't want to force feed.) I always thought that Ivan Vasiliev was a slender man, much like Daniil Simkin, but he was all differentiated, plated/plaited muscle and danced with beautiful ballon. In the afternoon, Anastasia Stashkevich's Manu was delightful in tone and accent, and she really knows how to keep the jug on her head. Chinara Alizade in the evening was less risk-taking with the jug, but she had extra charm and delicacy. Both drum trios were a maelstrom of energy, danced by Ksenia Sorokina (a flaming redhead), Pavel Dmitrichenko, and Alexander Vodopetrov in the matinee and Anna Antropova, Vitaly Bitimirov, and Denis Medvedev in the evening. Since they seem to be listed alphabetically, it was the shorter dancer with the drum in the evening, who gave the drum tosses even extra pizazz with his shoulder shimmies. Anton Savichev was terrific asMagedaveya, the fakir, who has all of the messenger stage business when he's not leading rituals or leaping across the stage. He would make a wonderful Puck; he kept his energy and concentration through long stretches onstage when he wasn't part of the central action. Should I assume that the High Brahmin is a cartoonish role, since it was danced similarly by Alexander Fadeechev (matinee) and Andrey Sitnikov (evening)? It looked different in person than in the videos I have. This takes away from the power of the confrontation with Dugmanta, especially when compared to Alexei Loparevich's proud, aristocratic rajah, which was right out of Indian historical cinema. His was a great character performance, perfectly sustained. Perhaps Taranda could have been a worthy opponent. The costumes for the men were great; I don't think there's anything more flattering than a choice between formal Indian men's dress and bare midriffs with narrow harem pants. Among the soloists, the highlights for me were two of the shades. In the matinee Anna Tikhomirova as Second Shade used her arms and hands so beautifully down to her fingertips, I was so transfixed by her upper body that I'm not sure what her lower body was doing. Nelli Kobakhidze as the Third Shade was softness incarnate; hers were full-bodied, stellar performances in the matinee and evening. The corps had great energy in the first two acts, and were a joy to watch. The Act II earthquake came with a crowded stage of dancers in full swing; there were shock and murmurs in my section, too -- at the back of the orchestra, we looked up to see whether the mezzanine that extended above us was going to collapse on our heads, and then decided, "Nah." It sounded like stage thunder, and I suspect the dancers did know that something was up from the odd sound. In the Shades scene, though, they had not agreed beforehand how high they were going to raise the working leg in the entrance, and each dancer had a different alignment in her back to achieve the individual leg height, which broke the trance. Once onstage in lines, though, the corps redeemed itself. Every Russian-speaker in the Bay Area must have been there, and the standing ovation at the matinee was immediate.

According to this article in The Seattle Times from today's Links, apprentice Andrew Bartee will be joining the PNB corps next season. Congratulations to him!

I think a lot of "I'll know it when I see it" starts with "I'll know it if it isn't". If what the dancers are doing has a jarring relationship or a little relationship to the music -- rhythm, structure, atmosphere -- it's usually recognizable, and a struggle to watch. There's was a DVD called "Ashton to Stravinsky: A Study of Four Ballets with choreography by Frederick Ashton" by Stephanie Jordan and Geraldine Morris that is still available from Dance Books in London in PAL VHS. (I bought it because there are excerpts of Beriosova's in "Persephone"). I haven't watched it in a while, and my copy is in storage, but in one chapter, Jordan and Morris contrast Ashton, Balanchine, and MacMillan's choreography to "Le Baiser de la fée". In their analysis they find Balanchine's response too simple and literal and Ashton's much more musically sophisticated. Their highest praise is for the way in which Ashton portrays Stravinsky's complex rhythms, particularly in "Scènes de ballet". The film shows each section broken out, and then put together as a whole. While I can appreciate the individual sections, I find Ashton's approach cacophonous when put together, the opposite of the filmmakers' view. If you can get your hands on it, though, it is a fascinating analysis of of musicality in ballet, it addresses most of questions you've raised directly and indirectly, and you do get a few seconds of Beriosova. As for the question "Is it possible to not like the musical work the ballet is set to and still describe the choreographer's treatment to be musical?", I would say absolutely: I don't particularly like most of Paulli, Helsted, Gade, Lumbye, or Lovenskiold, but I love the musicality Bournonville. I don't love any Gounod, but think that Balanchine's "Walpurgisnacht Ballet" and the dreaded "Steadfast Tin Soldier" are quite musical. Balanchine's criteria was whether the music was danceable or should be danced to.

His right foot is wearing a ballet slipper, but that doesn't mean his shoes have to match

Not unless it was a Kudelka version.

For a moment, when I looked at Villella's left foot, I thought he was wearing a toe shoe.

I saw tonight's performance, and in summary, the company is not resting on its laurels: instead, it's offering new casting (not just injury-related) in principal roles, and it's building on the first week's performances. New to "Dances at a Gathering" was Ariana Lallone as Girl in Green. I would rather have seen her in Pink or Mauve: she is missing the shameless gene without which Girl in Green is too credible and not enough of a pest, to use sandik's great description. Also dancing in the ballet for the first time this season was Kiyon Gaines as Boy in Brick. I don't think I noticed before how perfectly pointed his feet are: in the jumping-in-place section in the pas de deux with Girl in Apricot, a delightful Carrie Imler (also debuting in the role), it was as if there were sparks coming out of his toes, the line was so extended. There were three performances that really stood out for me tonight. Sometime in tutu ballets Rachel Foster fades for me, even tonight in "Symphony in C" Fourth Movement, in which her partner was James Moore, who gave a very powerful and striking performance, although she hit the infamous complex pirouette dead on with complete clarity and control. In more modern roles, she dances about a foot taller than she is, and she and Moore have fantastic chemistry. In "After the Rain" there is a lot of legato, and that's the quality that all three women I'd seen before have stressed, although with different emotional tone, but Foster did something more: she added a tension and an elastic momentum, pushing forward and snapping back that gave it another level of pathos and a bigger sense of the shape of the movement. It was a gorgeous performance -- a revelation -- and she's cast for it again for the Sunday matinee. This is a must-see. There was just the smallest bit more ease tonight in Miranda Weese's performance of Girl in Pink in "Dances at a Gathering", and that had the effect of magnifying her her movement. There was so much charm, wit, and fellowship in her interpretation -- her short slow waltz with her fellow "sister", Sarah Ricard Orza as Girl in Blue was very touching -- but the best part was the warmth and generosity of her dancing. When she first announced that she was moving to join PNB, zerbinetta paid tribute to her and described her as womanly, and that is a perfect description. This was a great, grown-up performance, one of the highlights of this season. Maria Chapman also danced Second Movement of "Symphony in C" with more ease than in her first go last week and with the same amplification of effect, for an even lovelier performance. Despite the treacherous balance in the pas de deux, the crucible is in the Fourth Movement, when all of the ballerinas are in a row and dancing in unison: it is that point at which the naked comparison happens. This evening, with Kaori Nakamura on one side and Carrie Imler on the other, Chapman took her rightful place between them.

According to Peter Boal in tonight's Q&A, Carla Korbes and Jeffrey Stanton of PNB will dance the "Diamonds" Pas de Deux. Since she will only dance a very small part this week in the "Serenade" excerpt for Louise Nadeau's retirement performance Sunday night, this will be the only chance to see her in an extended part before next season.

It's a multi-choice poll, so I was able to add "1" to each answer. The only way I haven't messed this up is by deleting the whole thing

I'm sorry -- I didn't realize that would happen. (It let me vote.) If you don't mind me knowing your choice, PM me, and I'll update the total.

Congratulations to Ringer! She was one of the two NYCB dancers whom was very hard to leave when I moved from NYC.

I've reset the votes to "0", although I can't edit the total. If everyone who's voted would re-vote, I'd really appreciate it I would like to see her in actual dance choroegraphy. I thought she moved very well, and didn't seem to favor one side visibly, which I would have expected. (My eye may be missing something.) I think patrick's quote is dead on, and I agree with his assessment of the music within the context of figure skating, which is why I when figure skating fans complain about all of the Carmens, and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2's, and Swan Lakes, and Malaguenas, when the most of the music is often so, so much worse, including back in the day when they would take six random classical music cuts and splice them together after putting them through the shuffle feature.

That was pretty much to be expected. There was the issue of those pesky permits. There was enough cultural sensitivity about the film being made in India in the first place to be showed in foreign markets. I'm not sure the movie would have been allowed to be made if the script was literal. It's not like Danny Boyle pulled any punches in "Trainspotting".

I can reset the totals to "0" and start again, if no one minds.

I received an email today from Pacific Northwest Ballet with an announcement for the gala, including links to purchase and donate. Edited to add: While this is preaching to the choir, if there is statistical evidence for this, how can arts education cuts be justified anywhere?

I think sandik makes the best case for the ballet in her review in Seattle Weekly (from Links): http://www.seattleweekly.com/2009-06-03/ar...-treats-at-pnb/

That was very clear at the time, although at the time, it was a direct conflict.

I think it would be over-the-top kitsch regardless of who performed it, and the music is bad movie soundtrack music, the kind that tells you how to feel 5-30 seconds before the acting does. I don't think there was anything in the choreography to appeal to my aesthetic sense, which always leaves the performers. Normally, I think audience reaction shots are tacky, but I think the ones at the beginning showed an unusual amount of crowd discomfort, especially among the younger guys. Because of the genre -- it looked like freestyle to me, but I don't know the fine points -- and the profile blocking, I was rarely aware that she was disabled. I remember getting links to this from several dozen non-ballet fans when it was first published to YouTube, with very emotional descriptions about how moving it was, but, for them, it was the performers, not the idea that dance could touch them, and I was singularly unsuccessful in convincing them to go to a live dance performance of any kind .