Helene

Green with envy at what RTR broadcasts. for them to have streaming broadcast subscriptions one day...

I love the music for Raymond, and for me, it is one of the easiest plots to understand. There's not much back story that can be incomprehensible if the mime is cut or mangled, like Odette explaining that she lives on the lake made by her mother's tears or that the Lilac Fairy is mitigating a curse and how. It's a pretty straightforward triangle, where light overcomes darkness, the "right" guy wins, and then they have a big party at the end. It's far more straightforward than the plots of "La Bayadere" or "Le Corsaire". I wish I could go to La Scala, too, but I've had three weddings in three months, one coinciding with the San Francisco Ring, and another the weekend before the Mariinsky visited NYC, so I had some arts with the marriages!

It made me smile, because I agree with him. Of the ballets I've seen Lopatkina in, on film and live, the best for me were "Scheherezade" and "Carmen Suite". When I saw her as Lilac Fairy, her extensions were not classical, and I don't find her very musical. Had I been able to stay over the weekend, if I had to choose, I would have gone to the performance of "Symphony in C" with Kondaurova, not Lopatkina. I find the filmed version of Lopatkina's Second Movement precious.

That's what Fifth Ring is. They would be, at best, very limited view seats. I think they were meant to be akin to the score desks at the Metropolitan Opera, to hear the opera and not see the production, although I don't think Fifth Ring seats have lamps for score following.

PNB announced five of the eight new dancers today on its Facebook Page and "Additional hires and promotions will be announced at a later date.": Corps de Ballet, starting now: Leta Biasucci, trained at CPYB ( ) and danced most recently at Oregon Ballet Theatre, Elizabeth Murphy, who apprenticed at NCDT and danced with Pennsylvania Ballet and Ballet West, and Matthew Renko, formerly of NYCB. Apprentices from the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, starting 19 September: Steven Loch and Sarah Pasch, both of whom had been dancing in PNB productions as Professional Division students. to all of them. I look forward to seeing more of Loch and Pasch and to seeing Biascucci, Murphy, and Renko. Rehearsals start this month for Ratmansky's "Don Quixote", which will be performed in February 2012.

When I saw her in the excerpts last year during the Cultural Olympiad, I couldn't stop watching her legs and feet.

I love Lecuona's music. I didn't know that zarzuela was created anywhere but Spain. Many thanks for this, Cristian! (Argh, I want to live everywhere at once...)

That's one approach. Another is "We're evaluating the impact on the schedule" or "We have a contract/gentleman's agreement and this is disappointing/difficult to address at this late date" or many other schools of thought on communicating with the public.

Not all of the programs had substitution slips. I did get one each for Monday night (Yuri Smekalov for Konstantin Zverev as Vronsky) and for the Wednesday matinee (Tkachenko for Grigory Popov as the Humpbacked Horse, Maxim Zyuzin for Zverev as Gavrilo, and Andri Soloviev for Andrei Yermakov as one of the Sea Horses), but not for Tuesday night. I didn't realize that Zyuzin replaced Zverev as Gavrilo on Tuesday night as well, until a conversation at intermission, and then I hunted down a slip. But we do have music conservatories and fine art institutes, which are not state subsidized. I suppose that we just don't value classical ballet the way the Russians and the French do. We are, sadly, a very small niche. Its not all about state funding. This discussion may turn into an off-topic, children/arts/sports/ballet upbringing and training in Russia vs US. Having grown up in Russia and going through rythmic gymnastics (sorry not ballet) childhood, and seeing how training happens here, the US kids would not allow for "Russian" style of coaching and drilling (with not hours but long days of drilling, stretching, working, and hearing what may be considered not politically correct by the US standards (with all the US positive reinforcement and affirmative action, where noone left behind)..... Don't misinterprete me, don't take it as Russian coaching being harsh or bad, it's just russian kids take adults teaching much differently than the typical kids in America (with all these US freedoms ;-)) I would disagree with this. From all reports Marta Karolyi runs a very tight ship, and gymnastics training with her is as stringent as training at the Vaganova Academy or Paris Opera Ballet School. (Of course, her program is based on the one she and her husband used in Romania.) There is an endless line of parents and kids in the US willing to move to where she is and to put themselves and their children in her hands even though it's her way or the highway, the opposite of politically correct. In a result-oriented society, even when the Cold War mentality had not yet ebbed, Karoly after Nadia Comaneci meant results. The same is the case for figure skating. I think there has been a cultural difference, and that is that ballet was not considered a reputable profession in the US until well into the 20th century. That is why the Ford Foundation grant for ballet schools in the 1960's, over which Balanchine was given great control, was considered so important: it legitimized ballet, at least for girls, as more than an after-school hobby to help posture. (Sadly, for boys, it is still not generally considered a "real" profession.) Merrill Ashley notes in her memoir how important it was for her parents, who had sacrificed a lot to let her go to School of American Ballet before the grant, to be reassured that ballet had legitimacy. At no time was ballet in the US imperial, state-supported, or centrally subsidized. It did not provide an opportunity for a prestigious position and a living for the children in training/way to feed and support a child, to get a comparably decent living situation, or to be able to help support the family, through money or connections, if the child became employed by the Tsar or the state. There were incentives and rewards in Imperial and Soviet times that did not apply to US, and Balanchine famously was not supposed to go to the Imperial Ballet school at all: his mother sent him to try out for the school with his sister only after the maritime academy wasn't a possibility. His parents didn't care what he did, as long as he had the opportunity for an Imperial living. Even after Balanchine had a school that almost exclusively fed his company, he said to his dancers right out of his own school, trained by teachers he chose, "Now I will teach you to dance." And as Melissa Hayden said, "You become a Balanchine dancer by dancing Balanchine ballets." That is a different approach than in Russia and France, which produce different kinds of dancers and companies. I haven't seen the Eifman version, but from the Eifman I've seen, his choreography would fit the Shchedrin score very well. Ratmansky's, not so much for too much of the ballet. Thank you -- now I understand those two scenes. I'm not sure the first is good theater, but at least I have an idea what the scenario was getting at. I should clarify: at first I did "get" the general idea that the servants were torn, but what I didn't understand what they were "saying" specifically as the scene went on. That's a problem I have with the execution many mime scenes: there an overall feeling, but too few specifics for the music and duration.

I can't speak to whether Taylor plans to add live music or whether he thinks that recorded music will sound better in the theater, but to your first point, according to the article in the NYT linked above, If that's the case, then either City Center has an alternative tenant or use, or Taylor's presence is around break-even. It is Wakin who stated that this was a "blow", but he doesn't have a quote from anyone at City Center that agrees with his assessment. Acoustics were only one of a list of advantages Taylor cited about the new venue, but the article makes it clear from quotes by Taylor and John Tomlinson that the one-year "tryout" was based on the prestige of the address at Lincoln Center. NYCO's troubles with its lease commitment have been well known for a while, and NYCB took NYCO dates last fall. There's nothing to indicate that this was even a last-minute decision. The arts world is small, and it is possible that preliminary talks began quite a while ago, and it would have been prudent for City Center to consider the impact of a NYCO vacancy on its own schedule and to come up with contingency plans.

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Same at the AMC on West 42nd Street in NYC, where I saw it.

I saw the Mariinsky Ballet perform Alexei Ratmansky's "The Little Humpbacked Horse" and was in dance heaven for two days. My brain went into inevitable "casting PNB" mode, and then I realized that with a handful of exceptions, I had mentally cast all of the departing dancers and Jordan Pacitti, who retired two seasons ago...

Yes, it was -- T&V was originally choreographed for Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch in 1947. According to the Balanchine Catalogue, the demi-soloists were Anna Cheselka, Melissa Hayden, Paula Lloyd, Cynthia Riseley, Fernando Alonso, Eric Braun, Fernand Nault, and Zachary Solov. The first NYCB production was in 1960, and "In 1970, incorporated (with minor revisions) as the fourth movement of the full Suite No 3...(Later called Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3). It was also shown in 1978 on PBS with American Ballet Theatre. With NYCB only the Pas de Deux through finale was performed at the Balanchine Celebration in 1983 and broadcast on PBS (and sold commercially). Details from the New York Public Library catalog: ABT has also done a few ballets that Balanchine dropped from NYCB's rep: "Bourree Fantasque" and "Symphonie Concertante". It was the Kirkland/Baryshnikov performance. NYPL also has the videotape (for internal use) of the Balanchine Foundation coaching session by Alicia Alonso of Herrera and Corella from 1998. http://catalog.nypl.org/iii/encore/record/C|Rb14547499|Stheme+and+variations+balanchine|P0%2C13|Orightresult|X2?lang=eng&suite=pearl

I think you meant to cite someone else, since I haven't weighed in yet. I do think that Kay Denmark made most points best, and also that if the board swept internal reports under the rug when they indicated that further investigation was necessary, the focus should be on the board. I don't have a problem with personal use of drugs; however if they do become a workplace issue, an employer should act.

I've found City Center seating to be extremely frustrating, and if I were a company, and it was economically feasible to move into a much better theater, I would say fine. Were NYCB and NYCO disloyal when they left City Center for Lincoln Center in the 1960's? Without City Center's Morton Baum, there might not be a NYCB today.

Reading iwatchthecorps observation that the MCB tour was advertised all over Paris, including on buses, I think that all the Mariinsky needed was to put up a few posters of Shkylarov, and there wouldn't have been an empty seat in the house. Tkachenko isn't the same dancer that Shklyarov is, but I think that's because he has a more gentle quality, which was perfect for the horse. I'm still on cloud nine from seeing this Tuesday and Wednesday. I loved both Tereshkina's and Obraztsova's Tsar Maiden, so very, very different, Tereshkina a non-nonsense, take-no-prisoners, definitely smarter than he woman, and Obraztsova's gentle, but still as willful, maiden. The contrast was just as big for the dual role of Young Mare/Princess of the Sea: on Tuesday, Yekaterina Kondaurova was all cool, boneless legato as the sea princess; just gorgeous dancing. Anastasia Petushkova performed the role on Wednesday, and she was high-spirited energy. There is a section that is quite gymnastic, where the woman does supported walkovers with the sea horses, and she created an arc of momentum before she did each one, while Kondaurova looked like gravity was an option she didn't choose. The pairings were great, because in each case one dancer had punch and a sense of adventure (Tereshkina, Petushkova) and the other was very smooth (Obratzova, Kondaurova), even if her "color" was different. The men in this production were incredible: Shklyarov as Ivan the Fool, Vasily Tkachenko as LHH, Yuri Smekalov and Islom Baimuradov as Gentleman of the Bedchamber, the splendid Andrei Ivanov as the Tsar, Soslan Kulaev and Maxim Zyuzin (replacing Konstantin Zverev) as Ivan's brothers, Andrei Yermakov and Kamil Yangurazov as the horses and sea horses. The dancing, mime, acting, and, most of all, the way they sustained their energy and focus and looked individual: it was Murderer's Row all over again. This ballet has a lot of story line, but it isn't always linear. It's a series of tales of an adventurer, with diversions and stops along the way. The synopsis wasn't always helpful, and it was much clearer the second time I saw it; had I been reared on it, it would have made a lot more sense from the beginning. It's more about the journey and the process than the outcome. The fool is like a boy who has to touch everything or step on every stone along the way. I wouldn't cut a minute or a step.

Thank you for the report, iwatchthecorps. It's great to see that the tour was well-publicized.

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"The Dream" (1964) is Frederick Ashton's one-act version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It's a classic ballet and the ABT version is available on DVD with Ethan Stiefel as Oberon and Alessandra Ferri as Titania. Christopher Stowell also choreographed a one-act version for his company, Oregon Ballet Theatre. Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1962) is a full-length and has has almost all of the storytelling that Ashton covers in a different way in the first act. Act II shows the joint wedding of Hippolyta to Theseus, Helena to Demetrius, and Hermia to Lysander, and includes a beautiful three-part divertissement to a Mendelssohn symphony that is rarely played in concert halls, and which Balanchine abridged for his ballet. I prefer the Balanchine, because he uses the best music for the Titania/Donkey pas de deux, where Ashton uses the same music for the Titania/Oberon pas deux, and Balanchine's second act pas de deux in the Wedding Divertissement is one of the greatest pdd I've ever seen. However, were ABT to perform it, that would be in competition with the home company, and ABT already does the Ashton. John Neumeier choreographed a version to music by Mendelssohn, Ligeti, and for barrel organ. RDB performed it this past season. Other versions include: Ballet Met: David Nixon Ballet Austin: Stephen Mills. Cincinnati Ballet: Victoria Morgan Ballet Arizon: Ib Andersen Madison Ballet: Peter Anastos

My apology for blaming the camera when how visible the feet were was a projection issue. We saw it at the AMC 25 in NYC, and by noon, there were at least ten other films playing. It may also have been an issue of not much staffing. Many thanks for the id. No peasant pdd. There was extensive corps dancing by a large several groups of dancers, but no individuals standing out. There was no corps dancing for the nobility. They were already offstage. I wouldn't say "fey," ... would "a cipher" be too strong a word? The petal business was done according to the book but you didn't learn anything about his character from the way he did it. "By the book" pretty much describes his entire characterization. He didn't look lost, though, which is often clear when there's 20 seconds to do mime or a portrayal, the dancers haven't been given or developed something logical to do with every second (which can include pauses), and they either start to look desperate or they rush back and forth "dramatically". I would call "cipher" too strong because I've seen cipher: we have a dancer at PNB, Batkhurel Bold, who can make his face a mask and give up nothing, but you see the energy behind him deliberately not telling. I would call Sarafanov a blank. Sarafanov and Kuznetzov did do the "You!", "No, you!" accusations, but the camera had pulled back by that point, and while their arms and fingers "said" that mime, the rest of their bodies could barely care, and like just about the rest of the mime, except for the Albrecht/Wilfrid entrance, where at least Wilfrid got to explain his objection (although he didn't get the repeat), it was over in a second, like removing the petal, and you could have missed it if you blinked. No hounds. Maybe dogs are too spontaneous to risk in 3D. I watched the Bolshoi "Giselle" with Lavrovsky and Bessmertnova last week before I left. They don't have the hounds either, and the sets were as sparse as the Mariinsky's in the 3D production. I thought that the Bolshoi version might have been a TV version and the sparse sets and cutting the peasant pas were to fit into a TV format and time slot, but even if it was, the live version wasn't much different in these respects. While the peasant pas was in the original, thanks to Doug Fullington's and Marian Smith's excellent presentations in Seattle, I learned it was a last minute insertion. It's also to different music. By the funereal pace at which the orchestra played and what has become the traditional orchestration, had they added the peasant pas it might not have been clear that the music was by Burgmuller, not Adam, because with the original orchestration and tempi, the music for the peasant pas is jarringly non-specific to "Giselle". (Hearing the original orchestrations in Seattle in June, it was like a painting was cleaned, and suddenly, after years of scholarship describing the painters' choice of somber colors as a reflection of his viewpoint on life, it is revealed that the original colors are bold and vibrant.) I could see a deliberate choice to remove something that is thought to be a result of last-minute pressure to give a part to at least one of the original dancers. At least recently the ballet hasn't been paired with another, like Royal Danish Ballet does with "La Sylphide"; I could see leaving peasant pas out for time if "Giselle" were two of three parts of an evening bill, but this wasn't the case here. You hit the nail on the head with this, bart. If you watched his legs, it was like a day in the park. His arms showed his exhaustion and his predicament. I wish that the mother had made this look like it was part of the drama, especially with the close up. Instead, it looked like she was the one charged with making Giselle's hair flow for the mad scene. It reminded me of the Met broadcast of "Die Walkure" at the end of the first act where Jonas Kaufmann was struggling to get his hair down. Osipova did look like she was feverish with consumption for much of Act I.

I saw it this afternoon with a friend, and I loved Osipova: I now know what everyone has been describing over the last few years. Sarafanov was a bit of what we'd call on a figure skating board a "blandy blond pup". He almost seemed preppie. Beautiful line, beautiful jumps, beautiful feet, about a hundred thousand beats in Act II, but he didn't make me care one iota. I kept imagining invisible mirrors everywhere, with him looking at himself. I thought Kondaurova's Myrtha was a bit static. I expected more power and energy from her, but it was beautifully danced. I really liked the Hilarion and Wilfrid, but didn't catch their names in the credits. They did not do the Mother's Mime, which is criminal and a huge shame, because the dancer playing the mother could act and mime, and they dropped the Peasant Pas as well. After the PNB production, this one looked empty. 3D was odd and took a while for me to get used to, and I never did on close-ups where they moved quickly, but the cameras cut off a lot of feet, and too often seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thank you -- now I understand those two scenes. I'm not sure the first is good theater, but at least I have an idea what the scenario was getting at. About "Little Humpbacked Horse": If anyone in NY Metro doesn't have tickets for the Saturday matinee, tomorrow afternoon would be a perfect use of a mental health day.

Scalping became legal in 2007. Anyone over the age of, at most, ten, lived most of their lives in an environment where scalping was illegal.

If you have a problem with a post, please report this via the "Report" button in the bottom left corner of the post, and the Moderators will review it. That is our site policy. I find that making sweeping generalizations about populations is pretty ridiculous. I can't be offended as a Russian, but I can be offended that I'm included in the generalization about Americans. Where I grew up, it was illegal, and may still be, to charge more than the face value of a ticket plus fees, and I don't think most Americans think it is a cultural imperative to do something illegal.