Helene

In an attempt to make lemonade of lemons, and in an attempt to stimulate the economy with my upcoming baby tax refund, I was thinking of taking the train to DC for the Osipova "Le Corsaire" on the 19th, and returning to NYC the next day for the Part "La Sylphide" at ABT. But looking at this cast list, PRINCIPAL CASTING (subject to change) June 16 at 7:30 p.m. Medora – Maria Alexandrova Conrad – Nikolai Tsiskaridze June 17 & June 20 at 7:30 p.m. Medora – Ekaterina Shipulina Conrad – Ruslan Skvortsov June 18 at 7:30 p.m. Medora – Maria Alexandrova Conrad – Alexander Volchkov June 19 at 7:30 p.m. & June 21 at 1:30 p.m. Medora – Natalia Osipova Conrad – Ivan Vasiliev June 20 at 1:30 p.m. Medora – Anna Nikulina Conrad – Alexander Volchkov should I see Shipulina before NYC, and actually pay attention to my best friend on whose couch I will be surfing on Friday night? There's a rare chance I could make the Osipova Sunday matinee, if I can figure out the logistics of getting there on time and stashing a suitcase, but that might be a bit much, since "I" and "leave at the crack of dawn" are rarely uttered in the same sentence.

We post links to articles in the "Links" section. If they are posted to a forum, we ask that you comment on them, or, as a rule, we will delete them if they are stand-alones. What do these cuts mean to you? What do you think of the decision to cut live music and three dancers but to keep community outreach and the ballet school? To me, these trade-offs show remarkable long-term thinking, looking at preserving the audience for the future, but this could cut into the upward subscriber trend in the seasons after next.

It's unfortunate that Jerome Robbins chose Chopin's Prelude op. 28, no. 7 for "The Concert"; the piece elicits more than a few giggles as the short overture to "Les Sylphides", but when the curtain rises on the breathtaking opening tableau of Fokine's almost century-old work -- it will be 100 years old this June -- all thoughts of ladies in pale blue leotards with pale blue feathered hats (or Trocks, for that matter) are banished, and a moonlit world is illuminated when the dancers begin to move on the intimate stage of the jewel-box Orpheum Theatre. Almost as exposed as a work by Bournonville, any unsteadiness, bobble, or effort telegraphs its way to the back of the theater and disrupts the illusion of lightness and clarity. It takes an exceptionally strong cast that can transcend technique and a corps that not only moves as one but breathes life into the tableaus to fulfill the promise of that great opening. As staged by Olga Evreinoff, the Ballet Arizona corps did both. Without a story -- no transformed swans, rejected and vengeful Wilis, or posse of The Sylph -- the women had two things on which to rely: style and the score. With legs hidden by long romantic tutus, style was concentrated primarily from the waist up, with the type of shading and sublety not typical in the neoclassical and contemporary repertoire, and often missing from performances of classical and Romantic works. In this corps I saw soft arms, shading in the neck and shoulders, and most remarkably, soft hands and fingers, down to the fingertips. In three performances, a broken wrist was a rare sight. If I wished for more, it was a bit more ease in the way the heads sat on necks, but there was no doubt as to the commitment to the work. In the matinee performances, Chelsea Wilcox, dancing the Valse role, was a grave and grounded presence, more Effy than Sylph in terms of weight, and she seemed to be focused more on technique than movement. She has a strong upper body, and she resisted every temptation to fudge, but this was more of a growth role than a fully realized interpretation. By contrast, in the evening cast, Michelle Mahowald's sculptural arms, hands, and shoulders, with many shades in epaulment and musical expressiveness took my breath away, and she, so lifted from the waist, danced with a lightness and effervescence, never once showing the work behind the movement. Natalia Magnicaballi, in the matinees, like many senior ballerinas in the main role, brought a presence and an elusive backstory, while in the evening, the company's junior ballerina, Ginger Smith responsed like a clean slate to the music's rhythm and flow. Magnicaballi danced to the beat, while Smith danced to the pulse. Where Magnicaballi was most musically informed was in her solo, where her expressive feet could have been playing the piano version of the Prelude. As the Mazurka soloist, Tzu-Chia Huang danced with lightness, ease, and refinement in the matinees, and Kanako Imayoshi danced with radiance and clarity, bringing air into what had been a bit constrained until that point. Ilir Shtylla in the matinee didn't match Astrit Zejnati's elegance and technique, especially in his legs and feet, but what I liked particularly were his expressive arms and the way he responded with his face and shoulders to each of Magnicaballi's whispers and promises. The evening cast presented a fully realized performance -- by the middle of evening performance, I forgot that it was being performed to a recording -- while the matinee cast show a work in progress, with the notable exception of Imayoshi. "Polyphonia" has been performed by many companies. I'd seen Pacific Northwest Ballet's version, but it took a second look with another company to prove why it has legs and that my initial impression wasn't based on specific performances: it is a musically specific and accomplished response to a beautiful and challenging piano score to music by Ligety. Here, it was more sensitively cast overall, with Smith (matinees) and Magnicaballi (evening) sharing the main role, both partnered by Ross Clarke. Again these two dancers gave very different responses to the same choreography. Magnicaballi's authority comes from her legs and feet, juxtaposed with a very still torso. I've never seen Smith dance anything other than from the center, radiating out to her limbs. Aside from the contrast that differences in height and frame bring, each dancer's movement quality illuminated different aspects of the choreography and the music. Clarke now dances neoclassical roles as if he were reared in them, and he was an equally fine partner to both dancers. Tall, regal Kenna Draxton isn't often cast as the romantic lead, and it was moving to see her dance the pas de deux and solo to the most haunting, romantic part of the score, her long, beautiful legs and feet as impressive in soussus or bouree as she was in full, expansive arabesque and failli. As tall as her partner, Shtylla, on flat, she towered over him on point, and yet he remained just as strong a presence. Zejnati was paired with Huang in the lightest of the couples, the scherzo counterpoint, and Huang's more classical approach, upright and precise, was a good contrast to her partner and to the other women in the cast. One of the highlights was the section for two men, danced by Zejnati and Daniel Marshalsay, whose combined energy snowballed. Zejnati has a master jazz musician's timing, that split second precision that is like perfect pitch. Marshalsay gave a very dynamic performance partnering Jillian Barrell, who just crackled in their fast-paced pas de deux, full of weight shifts and instant direction changes, going from full throttle to stopping on a dime, and giving the dance an esctatic sense of play. Cameron Grant was the brilliant piano soloist. If I had only seen Twyla Tharp's "Golden Section" (an except from the longer "The Catherine Wheel"), I would have thought that Tharp had no use for women. For much of the work, the women were in a bent-kneed hunch, any line obscured by Santo Loquasto's leg warmers, and Kenna Draxton, whose stature on point in the Wheeldon rose to the rafters, looked like the tall girl in junior high who's trying desperately to appear short. Much of the rest of the time, apart from the occasional solo, they were bounced off the men. By contrast, the men, who had the same array of bent-kneed chaines, looked expansive. Given the program, "Golden Section" provided much-needed roles for men in the company, and it was great to see Roman Zavarov, Joseph Cavanaugh, Humberto Bandera, and Ian Poulis (matinees)/Slawomir Wozniak (evening). Ross Clarke looked much more at ease in it than when the work was produced a few years ago, and it was a hoot to see him and Shtylla play air guitar. Who knew that the head-banded Shtylla, arms and shoulders all loosy-goosy and head bouncing like a bobble-head toy, could boogie like that? I didn't see, though, how apart from the human wheels towards the end, the choreography was a specific response to the music by David Byrne. If there was pattern and structure, I couldn't find it: why these groupings? Why this movement, now? To what end is much more understandable: the dancers looked ecstatically happy dancing this -- they left everything on that stage -- and each audience rose immediately after the final blackout, greeting the dancers with an uproarious ovation. People bounded out of the theater, raving about the work, clearly energized. I love this music, which normally would have me wanting to dance in the aisles, but by the third performance, I felt pounded into submission.

Casting for the first week of Swan Lake is up: http://www.pnb.org/season/swanlake-cast.html Odette/Odlie and Siegfried pairings: 4/9: Nakamura/Postlewaite 4/10: Korbes/Milov 4/11 matinee: Imler/Bold Vinson/Orza 4/11 evening: Nadeau/Cruz

Maybe I should have said "wavier" -- your hair doesn't look straight to me when you're onstage. Do I need new glasses? Does Bandera have curly hair?

Thank you so much for your review, Krystin! Roman Zavarov is about the same height as Joseph Cavanaugh, give or take a few inches, but has never struck me as being noticeably tall. According to the cast list on the website, the tall-tall men in this ballet were Ross Clarke and Ian Poulis (matinee, which you saw). Clarke is also listed for "Polyphonia"; he and Zavarov both have straight dark hair. Poulis is more slender than Clarke, and his hair looks lighter and curlier.

[ADMIN BEANIE ON] We're a discussion board. What is "yadda, yadda, yadda" to one poster may be important to someone else. Ballet Talk policy is that "discussing the discussion" is off-limits. Any discussion that doesn't appeal is one that can be skipped. [ADMIN BEAN OFF]

Many thanks for the review, PeggyR. I would have loved to have seen Altman in "Stravinsky Violin Concerto". She does have an amazing back: in the Spanish in "Swan Lake", her backbends were knockouts. Except when von Aroldingen danced her original role, at the NYCB performances that I saw, the male principals more often made a bigger impression on me than the women. It's interesting that you write about Altman and Waldo, whom I loved in the mid-late 90's, but whose performances I have found to be more and more tepid over the last decade, but not their partners.

George Jackson reviewed 'Peter Pan' for danceviewtimes. The composer is Carmon DeLeone. www.danceviewtimes.com Click on For Children Only? (apologies: I haven't been able to figure out how to link from my phone, and it's not displaying the whole URL)

How could I have forgotten Candy from Bonanza??? David Canary is wonderful both as the cunning Adam and the child-like Stuart.

That's absolutely OK, since we're a discussion board, not a fan board, and well-reasoned criticism is always welcome here.

Yes, you're absolutely right -- it was 'Palmer'. I loved Mitchell as Michael in 'The Turning Point'. One of my favorite older soap actor did not play a villain. He was Douglas Watson, who played Mac Corey on 'Another World' until he died of a heart attack while on vacation, and Romeo to Olivia de Havilland's Juliet at the Broadhurst Theatre, a production in which Balanchine choreographed a dance for the Capulet ball. (no 278 in the Balanchine Catalogue.)

He was a puppy compared to the grand patriarchs -- James Mitchell (Tyler Cortland, "All My Children"), Joseph Mascolo (Stefano DiMera, "Days of Our Lives"), Charles Keating (Carl Hutchins "Days of Our Lives"), John Aniston (Victor Kiriakis, "Days of Our Lives"), John Colicos (Mikkos Cassadine, "General Hospital) -- although he had it all over Edward Quartermaine, in my opinion.

I was on a bicycle trip in New Zealand in 1997, in which we'd arrive in a town in the late afternoon, shower, and hang in our rooms resting until reconvening before dinner. I started to watch the Australian soap "Home and Away", which was broadcast in the early evening. In about three days, I knew all of the characters and relationships. Fast forward to 2002 when I first visited Australia, and while I had to figure out who a few characters were, it only took a day or two. A year later, I took another bicycle trip to New Zealand, turned on the TV, and within 20 minutes had caught up. So you don't even have to watchs soaps every month to keep up with them. That early evening timing was wonderful for soaps, especially with so few women home in the afternoons. I'm fairly sure I saw "The Guiding Light" in Europe, and I think it was "The Young and the Restless" that was all the rage there.

Decisions, decisions: to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at NYCB that evening, or to cancel the trip altogether? I usually give ABT the benefit of the doubt once a decade, and this is my once in a decade

Yes, not the neatest or most accurate notice of an event we've received.

It wasn't one of my mother's favorites by the time I was growing up, and I didn't really follow it, but she listened to it on the radio when she was growing up and watched it intermittently, and she could recite decades worth of history of the Bauers. I never imagined that soaps, such as this venerable one, would ever end

We just got some press heads ups from Dances Patrelle. They've got ABT guest artists joining them to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the company. Book signing, Monday, April 13, Barnes and Noble, Broadway at 66th: Cynthia Gregory Marcelo Gomes Maria Riccetto Performances, Thursday-Sunday April 16-19, The Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, "Come Rain or Come Shine" Marcelo Gomes Maria Riccetto Isaac Stappas Christi Boone Roman Zhurbin Gemma Bond "Murder at the Masque: The Casebook of Edgar Allan Poe" Matthew Dibble (formerly Royal Ballet)

Following are upcoming events from the company: Book signing: Monday, April 13th at 7 pm (212-595-6859) @ Barnes & Noble/Lincoln Triangle,1972 Broadway at 66th Street. Performance: DANCES PATRELLE, 20th Anniversary Season Dances Patrelle's 20th Anniversary performances will be April 16 - 19, Thursday at 7:30pm; Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm; and Sunday at 3:00pm. Tickets are only $20 for all performances with limited Patron tickets for $100. For tickets call: The Kaye Playhouse box office (212) 772-4448

However your reasoning causes me to want to respond. For one thing, tattoos are less "modern" than the extreme extensions that are seen in ballet today (tattoos have been around in western society since the 19th c at least). As far as I know, visible tattoos are more modern on a ballet stage than the extreme extensions we are seeing. Suzanne Farrell had some extreme extensions in "Bournonville Divertissement" (certainly extreme for Bournonville), but Balanchine would have had a heart attack if she had showed up in the studio with a visible tattoo. Semenyaka didn't limit herself to 90 degrees in the "Raymonda" from the 1980's. I think we'd go bankrupt from the bandwidth costs if everyone pre-faced every opinion on this board with "In my opinion" Polls like this one solicit aesthetic judgements. We would be a very small discussion board if we agreed on everything.

dancewonder, Ballet Talk is an audience board. Posts on the "how" belong on our sister board, Ballet Talk for Dancers, which requires separate registration. I'm going to close this thread.

Moira Macdonald's season announcement article was in today's Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thea...rt02ballet.html The new Val Caniparoli piece is a world premiere named "The Seasons". The "Sleeping Beauty" is a revival of the Hynd, and "Coppelia" is Balanchine's version. sandik, you hit the nail on the head!

Amidst general bad news for arts organizations and the economy, as well as the poor general state of arts education, there's great news from New York Theatre Ballet: Fathom will broadcast six chamber versions of ballets to movie theaters next season. Here is the company's announcement: NCM FATHOM EXPANDS ITS ARTS AND CULTURAL PROGRAMMING WITH RENOWNED NEW YORK THEATRE BALLET SERIES CREATING "SEASON OF THE ARTS" IN OVER 400 MOVIE THEATERS NATIONWIDE New Agreement with MarQe Entertainment Brings Classic Chamber Ballet to Local Community Cinemas Beginning in August LAS VEGAS - March 31, 2009 - NCM Fathom, the alternative entertainment division of National CineMedia, announced today an agreement with MarQe Entertainment Inc., (MarQe) to present a series of New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) performances exclusively in select movie theaters nationwide beginning this August. The NYTB is historically known for its elaborate storybook sets, rich costumes and mesmerizing choreography where each classical story comes to life through the art of dance. The New York Theatre Ballet series will complement Fathom's existing opera schedule, offering audiences a "Season of the Arts," beginning in late summer and continuing into 2010. The series will include a live performance of The Nutcracker, which is slated to be broadcast live from New York in December. Each performance will feature exclusive segments that will only be seen by cinema audiences. The agreement for Fathom to exclusively distribute The New York Theatre Ballet series was announced today by Dan Diamond, vice president of Fathom, at ShoWest 2009, the largest annual convention for the motion picture industry. Through this new agreement, Fathom in conjunction with MarQe will present The New York Theatre Ballet series featuring six performances of dynamic chamber ballet classics such as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Carnival of the Animals and The Alice in Wonderland Follies. The ballet performances are perfectly suited to the attention span of the youngest audience members, yet sophisticated enough for the most discerning adults. Hailed by The New York Times as "a discreet little pearl in the oyster of New York dance," NYTB has earned acclaim for its restoration and revival of small masterworks by great choreographers and for its innovative ballets based on children's literature. The New York Theatre Ballet series will be offered across NCM's exclusive Digital Broadcast Network (DBN) - North America's largest cinema broadcast network that reaches nearly 500 movie theaters and performing arts centers in the country. Tickets will be available beginning Friday, July 10th. Visit www.FathomEvents.com to learn more. About New York Theatre Ballet Founded by Diana Byer in 1978, the NYTB is the most widely seen chamber ballet in the U.S. NYTB is the only chamber ballet company in New York to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2009 - an important milestone since numerous chamber companies have closed due to dwindling arts funding and increased costs. "We are thrilled with the opportunity to work with MarQe and NCM Fathom bringing NYTB's 30-year legacy to the screen for audiences across the country to enjoy. In this current economic climate, it is more important than ever to make the arts accessible and affordable and we're doing just that by bringing the rich experience of the NYTB to local cinemas nationwide," said Byer, artist director and founder of NYTB.

Rita Feliciano reviews The Return of Ulysses, a collaboration between Pacific Operaworks, Stephen Stubbs' new Seattle-based opera company, and Handspring Puppet Company from South Africa, for danceviewtimes. I saw this production, in which Monteverdi's score was cut to 1.75 hours and performed straight through, last Saturday at the Moore Theater in Seattle. For the many who liked the use of bunkaru puppets in Anthony Minghella's production of "Madama Butterfly", recently shown live on the Met HD broadcasts, the approach for this production takes it one step further by having the singers control the arm and hand of the side of the puppet that was downstage. For the many who disliked the Minghella, feeling that the puppeteers were distractions and the "Trouble" puppet was disembodied from the singer, this collaboration solved that issue by having the singer be intrinsic to the puppets performance. Despite the presence of the puppeteers, the singers and the puppets and puppeteers became one. In four days, I saw Theater Replacements "That Night Follows Day", aptly described on producer's On the Boards website as and "The Return of Ulysses", bookended by two performances of PNB's Broadway Festival Balanchine's "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" Wheeldon's "Carousel (A Dance)" Stroman's "Take Five...More or Less" Robbins' "West Side Story Street" What a remarkable weekend with such a wide range of theatrical approaches, each with such integrity to the material.

Well, Letestu was dying pretty much from the beginning, and the only surprise for a first-time viewer was that she hadn't died in prior episodes. The coughing gesture is built into the action; it wasn't an artistic decision on Letestu's part. The setting -- very bare -- was a dressing table and a divan placed horizontally, so that she could sit at the end and write or apply her make-up. There was a mirror to the right facing the stage. From the way it was filmed, it seemed rather far upstage. When all of the couples, including the Hungarian dancers, were on stage for "Raymonda Act III" last year, the stage looked bare. If this was performed at Opera Bastille, an ocean of a stage, it's hard to imagine how this intimate setting would read. Letestu's body language was very clear and much as you described in the Ballet Florida production. It was the stage business that looked like it would be too small to carry.