charlieloki

...hopefully in ten years we'll still be seeing POLYPHONIA with people who are at present in the corps or the School dancing the leading roles! Saw it twice this season and it is a wonderful piece to watch and - I imagine - to dance.

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the company has twenty-six principals at present

i expect there will be some movement soon

we will be seeing retirement of more principals -- are there soloists ready to move up, or will there be people coming in from the outside, such as sylve?

certainly, senior corps members will be leaving, and this must happen soon -- not enough of the other corps members are being given featured corps roles -- seems as if their development is somewhat inhibited

ten years is a long time -- will we see anyone of the caliber of wendy or jock again?

life is strange -- save those memories -- these are the old days of tomorrow

One subject that particularly interests me is the sort of class that Balanchine gave, and how it was different from what goes on today. I saw a wonderful video of the New York Choreographic Institute's BALANCHINE SYMPOSIUM from 23 March 2004, with Francia Russell, Kent Stowell, Violette Verdy, Peter Martins, Barbara Horgan, and moderator Richard Tanner.

Peter Martins talked at one point about what Balanchine's class was like, "By the time I joined the New York City Ballet, we did not, Balanchine did not have 3 hours classes.  It was like, just as you said, 50 minutes and he was usually 10 minutes late.  I think I'm recorded as having said I didn't like the classes but it's not that I didn't like them, I, it was very difficult for me to join a company and he would give a combination to girls for like 20 minutes and we'd stand at the bar in the back--boys. I'm sure you remember that Kent, and then all of a sudden he'd see a boy back there and he'd go oh, boys, of course, come on, and he'd say now let's see, double tour to grande plié, remember that [laughter]? double tour to grande plié, you stood there for 25 minutes you were stone cold [laughter] and I just couldn't do it my knees popped and everything and so little by little I found myself going to the school to take Stanley's [Williams] classes because it was sort of 'real' class. So I sort of lost out on Balanchine's classes for some years."

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i was at that symposium and found martins to be very ungracious and negative toward balanchine, for whatever reasons -- i wished he had not been there, he spoiled the atmosphere of joy and appreciation

my thought was: where would he be today if balanchine had not employed him at nycb?

at abt? in denmark?

(i wish)

[Edited to delete irrelevant portions of quoted post.]

Carbo wrote, "There's an underlying question, though: If NYCB were dancing its Balanchine rep with the appropriate elan, musicality and spontenaiety, would it attract that "lost" portion of the audience? "

This latest negative statement by Gottlieb doesn't make any practical sense I just laughed at it. 

For how many years has he been attacking Peter Martins? Either Gottlieb is not very intelligent or he doesn't truly care for the well being of the Balanchine rep at NYCB, otherwise he'd still be on the NYCB board and he'd have a good personal relationship with Martins. Gottlieb doesn't have any idea how to be effective or helpful.

It's too bad Kisselgoff retired she was very nice and had an encyclopedic knowledge of the dance.

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I love NYCB, and I love also ABT whick Kisselgoff hates; she is brilliant and knows everything, but she can be nasty too. She will never retire.

How do you guys like Rockwell?

JIM

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response from charlieloki:

at least rockwell calls it as he sees it, seems to have no "agenda"

his reviews seemed a little cold as first, but i've grown to like the conciseness and accuracy of them -- reviews need not be a half page of fluff

kisselgoff spent a lot of review space on history, etc. of ballets she reviewed, and seemed to not want to be negative about p.martins or the company, for whatever reason -- some reviews were not even real reviews

i never liked her reviews, felt they were, at best, quite slanted -- i don't miss her (as i do arlene croce -- good heavens, what a loss --)

i hate to pick on dolly dinkle -- she may have suffered enough adverse comments

however, i think bouder's costume in the evans piece might have come from the dinkle school of costume design -- it is simply awful

also, it's my feeling that if the guy wears tights, the girl wears tights

why mess up a serious and wonderful piece of choreography with what looks like a cheerleading getup?

anyone out there agree with charlieloki on this?

Gottlieb:

"the Balanchine repertory isn’t honored enough in the way it’s rehearsed and presented to inspire young dancers and to attract a young audience"

In the same column he said that Ashely Bouder was thrilling.  Certainly she is inspired.

Gottlieb does not like Peter Martins and a couple of the dancers in particular and for that he makes sweeping negative comments. :rolleyes:

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i happen to agree with mr g most of the time

his negative comments are harsh, but generally justified

esp. regarding the eifmann mess

some of us really feel it *here* when our favorite art is, shall we say, sullied -- unintentionally or not -- by choreographers, directors, etc.

imho:

two points:

i don't like to think of balanchine as a craftsman, but as a supreme artist

i think martins' firing of suzanne farrell was supremely selfish -- the company was deprived of the most important link to balanchine -- a disgrace, really

i have been spoiled by balanchine, and also find other companies' performances just don't do it for me (exceptions: suzanne farrell's [snip] groups)

april 30:

seats in the fourth ring were occupied mainly by people who weren't there, again

those who were there seemed to like the "jazz" piece

robbins' choreography in opus just doesn't work today

it's some kind of weird hybrid

the women have no jazz in them, and their thin legs look odd in black tights which end in white socks and sneakers -- they look big-footed and dainty at the same time -- and rachel rutherford? -- v. strange casting

the black/white pas de deux might have looked odd in 1958, but is not even interesting today, thank goodness -- same old, same old

all this brings to mind the absence from nycb of twyla tharp

she's simply an american genius, far more interesting than martins, et al

as for "sneaker-dancing": her broadway show "movin' out" (starring two former abt dancers, john selya and ashley tuttle, and which i have seen many times) exhibits some breathtaking examples of it: daring slides ending in sudden, dangerous stops with the sneakers grabbing the floor just before disaster can strike -- macho, macho guys and all, but v. balletic

please, nycb -- bring her back, and soon

she has heart and soul, which to me, anyway, is lacking in nycb's "new" talent

i attended tonight's performance: 22 years without mr b - it doesn't seem possible

his apollo and stars and stripes were danced so well -- he must have been present in spirit, guiding the dancers

program: stars and stripes, barber violin concerto, union jack

lots of fourth ring seats, maybe 75%, were empty last night

a real shame, because the whole evening was superb

we got to see thirteen principals (because union jack uses so many), which is always good

stars and stripes:

andrea quinn conducted superbly well

alexandra ansanelli has developed beautifully -- except for one tiny bad moment, she was superb -- a witty and elegant and technically fine liberty bell

damien woetzel simply tore up the stage -- he really IS el capitan, smooth as silk and very sharp at the same time, with a great devil-may-care smile

however, my favorite most recent liberty belles are still kyra nichols and monique meunier (who is being terribly underutilized at abt)

at first intermission, a very interesting older man, who had obviously been or still is a dancer, gave himself a short barre session, using the railing along the main fourth ring aisle to support himself -- an entertaining entracte --

barber:

darci kistler and albert evans were magnificent and stunningly beautiful forces of nature in their perfectly choreographed pas de deux

how in the world has darci managed to retain her aura of purity and joy?

my only complaint regarding her is that the costume she wears for this piece is totally unsuited to her body type -- but she manages to overcome this less than flattering image by giving us a pristine performance

her technique is diminished, of course, but her other resources seem to be infinite

albert is so-underutilized at nycb: although this could be his choice

he was a charming young dancer and has matured so well

charles askegard was ok in a sort of thankless part

ashley bouder was so far away from the kate johnson original: no way she can look like a demented little mosquito, although she certainly tried very hard

barber is a wonderful showcase for the right dancers, and -- of course -- for the violin soloist: oh, that wonderful music!

i felt truly blessed to be at the theater tonight

union jack:

i am immoderately in love with the french horn section: wait, make that the whole sonorous, rich-sounding brass section -- sharp when they needed to be, chorale-like when they needed to be -- heavenly

andrea quinn surely contributed greatly to this marvelous musical aspect of union jack

wendy, damien, nilas and jenifer -- how can they all be so on in the same performance?

charlieloki thought "it can't get much better than this": maybe all my remaining tickets for this season should be given away -- just stop right here, maybe

Thanks, rg and nycdog.

NYC dog, you're correct that the "Diamonds" excerpt is from 1977. It was recorded at Opryland Productions in Nashville and "reconceived" for television (Dance in America, on PBS) by George Balanchine. I think it's quite good, although it loses a lot by not being seen in context, and I don't like the "set."

I think its impossible to understand Suzanne Farrell's dancing from tapes or films. Her performances were always spontaneous, with no two ever completely alike. I find it inconclusive to compare dancers on the basis of tapes or films. In the case of Farrell, it is impossible. That said, certain of her recorded performances are more appealing than others. The best is the snippet from Balanchine's Don Q in the "Elusive Muse" film. Other good ones are in "Davidsbundlertanze," "Chaconne," and "Tzigane." and the film of "Midsummer Night's Dream."

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i saw a section of apollo - with suzanne and jacques d'amboise - in black and white, without sound, on a small stage or in a studio, that was amazingly fine

i think it was done in canada

suzanne was very young at that point, very interesting and very gorgeous

and so was jacques

does anyone else recall it?

I thought there was a brief improvement when Guillermo Figueroa was concertmaster but he's gone on to bigger & presumably better venues & the orchestra is sounding less "insieme" or "of a piece" since his departure.

The Toronto Globe? They're probably still smarting over Vince Carter's defection to our "other" local basketball team.

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figueroa's "barber violin concerto" made you forget the rest of the orchestra was there, and the dancers also -- really from heaven

georgeb fan: charlieloki would ordinarily say "enough with the emoticons"

but i will go along with you this time, except for the casting of the muses

let's both stay well for this performance, and mr b(oal) also

charlieloki is offering an opinion, which is what this board is for?

"insulting"?

not at all, just stating a perception arrived at from a background of budget-breaking attendance at nycb for over thirty years

you know, after a time, there is an almost mystical proprietary feeling about nycb -- sort of, "what are they doing to my company?"

does anyone else out there feel that way?

Leigh may have hit it with the distinction between emphasizing position (recent and current dancing) v. emphasizing movement (older dancers). 

Fans can admire the former; nostalgics like me can long for the latter.  Different priorities, not necessarily better or worse in some ultimate sense.

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i don't think the dancers are the problem: whelan, soto and boal are peerless

overall artistic quality of the productions is not good

thus, the lackluster "jewels", "orpheus", et al; the miscasting; the sense that dancers are just "doing steps", etc.

some small companies, such as suzanne farrell's and leigh witchel's groups seem to "get it" and therefore put on marvelous programs, using what they have most wonderfully: why can't nycb, with all its resources?

balanchine performances in the "really" early days left many of the audiences floating out of the theater on a ballet cloud, in a state of exhilaration

hard to explain, but the feeling was that all was ok with a world that had such things in it

addicts were created

i thought that as an "old" devotee, i had become jaded and impossible to impress

however, that old feeling does arise every so often, so i don't think i've changed -- it's the dancing that's changed

well -- i attend now mostly to analyze the choreography, since the dancing does not get my full attention -- and to listen to stravinsky, et al

not as good a situation as before, but i realize that i missed a lot of the choreographic structure while watching farrell, etc.

the newbies have missed city ballet's golden years, and -- of course -- don't know what they've missed -- they have my sympathy

i have ordered -via web- full price 4th ring tickets for the farewell performances

usually, i stand in line on the first day of box office ticket sales to buy all my tickets for a season, as a member of 4th ring society i intend to do this also

i made the web purchases (i think, not confirmed) as insurance, in case 4th ring tickets for those performances have all been sold

i may end up with extra tickets, as a result will post if they are available

april 27th note: no 4th ring society tickets are being sold for boal and soto

thanks very much, nycb management, for slighting your loyal 4th ring society members

just received my spring 2005 brochure from nycb

some dreadful pictures

beginning with the front cover: reichlen and labean looking very unballetic in what look to be low-cost nylon nightgowns

a terrible way to treat dancers who have spent so many years of work and study to achieve the ballet look

page 3: a very unflattering apollo picture of (my very all-time favorite) peter boal: what a dreadful way to go!

page 4, lower left: bouder should sue over this picture

page 5, top: a very vulgar picture of the very unvulgar korbes

Page 9, top: bouder, again, in goldberg: what can one say, except eek!, and hurry up with the lawsuit

back cover: the magnificent albert evans, so poorly presented

was anyone else offended by this stuff?

Again, my quick-jottings on the third program, seen on Saturday night.

DIVERTIMENTO no. 15  (grade: A-minus)

Wonderful. Satisfying. I qualify it with the 'minus' only because of the somewhat ragged port-de-bras of the eight corps ladies, pointed out elsewhere. Even so, I enjoyed those same eight corps ladies' well-matched legs & feet in their bright Minuet section.

I thought that all eight soloist were fabulous, although Korbes' and Weese's solos in the Theme & Variations section stood out for their crispness & sparkle. Spot on. What gorgeously-curved legs & POB-style insteps Carla Korbes possesses! Compared to the other times I've seen Ashley Bouder this year, Bouder actually 'toned it down' (facially) for this performance. I could concentrate on her overall dancing, which was lovely.

The Andante remains, in my mind, one of Balanchine's greatest examples of poetic genius. Sublime beyond description. All dancers in the ensemble did it justice.

POLYPHONIA (grade:  B-minus)

I give the work itself a D-plus. The dancers -- especially the solo work of Ansanelli and the pdd segments of Whelan/Soto -- get an A-plus. 

I find Ligeti's piano-solo score ponderous & uninspired and, hence, had a hard time enjoying the acrobatic manipulations that Wheeldon set to the music. However, I admire the flexibility and [attempts at] musicality of the wonderful dancers.

Sorry but I believe that William Forsythe does 'modern' in a much more satisfying manner than does Wheeldon. [Yet, I enjoy Wheeldon in his more 'romantic-melodious' mode, as evidenced with Washington Ballet the previous week.]

WEST SIDE STORY SUITE (grade:  A-minus)

OK, so it's Broadway dancing, rather than ballet.  It's wonderful, nonetheless.  The dancers-cum-singers gave a collective socko performance! Jenifer Ringer was especially FABulous as Anita.  I'm only sorry that the one-week run came & went without my being able to see Ringer in anything purely balletic...only two 'ballroom dancey' works and one 'Broadway' piece.  Is Ringer now NYCB's 'Queen of Lite'? What a shame!

Faye Arthurs & Benjamin Millepied were somewhat bland as Maria & Tony. Arthurs has a long, ballet-ideal physique but a rather uncharismatic face in what I've seen thus far. To me, she's the Gillian Murphy of NYCB...which isn't really an insult, after all! [Arthurs was perfect in one of the 'Theme couples' in Four TTs.]

Damian Woetzel was truly "Cool" (& Hot) as Riff!

The Kumbaya/We-Are-the-World ending was a bit too schmaltzy...but tremendously effective.

Natalia Nabatova

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arthurs is an especial favorite of mine -- i hope she is moved along speedily

however, at least in new york, her first-theme couple part needed work

imho - the use of the sharp 90 degree angle of the arms, as presented to the audience, was not clearly defined -- also, ms arthurs was not squarely to the front

since this particular look is used often further on in the piece, it must be precise, since it is crucial in setting the tone for what follows

maybe the coaching/directing is responsible for allowing this to happen, i cannot see arthurs doing this knowingly

recently, van kipnis in this part was quite good, as i recall

Carbro, I echo your remarks on Joaquin de Luz...he is getting over being a show-off and turning into quite a beautiful dancer. I especially liked his taking on the small role in SHAMBARDS and showing his dark side. I've been thinking he will be an interesting Prodigal and - maybe - Apollo (with short goddesses??) and in GATHERING, too.

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i really dislike being negative, and am not unaware of his fine points, but -- imho --

de luz as apollo would be a new level of miscasting

at the very least, he would be physically miscast

i feel that apollo would have been the best choice for mr boal's exit

i would like to have my last image of him be the "arms and face raised to the heavens" pose -- probably my most cherished nycb memory of the many, many hundreds of performances i've attended over the past 37 years

however -- opus 19 gives mr boal beautiful "still" moments alone on the stage -- and he is a master of stillness

my hope is that he will come back to nycb at some point to replace martins the elder

a very tearful goodbye, here

I hope Christopher fashions a role for the delectable Pauline Golbin!

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i hope he forgets the whole thing

is he running through a personal laundry list of one-of-a-kind projects?

....."let's see: i've done one of these, one of these", etc.

how unoriginal

as to ms. g: isn't it time for ms. arthurs, and others in her category, to be given a chance?

presumably, they are tomorrow's soloists/principals

i would expect the senior corps members to be departing soon, after years of stalwart service

for a tiny laugh (or a sob)

the front page of the arts and leisure section of my sunday's (02.20.05) new york times refers to an article about the fourth ring scene at the new york state theater

in that reference, mr b is "ballanchine"

charlieloki saw jewels tonight

imho:

emeralds was incredibly boring

casting sylve along with rutherford is not a good idea

pairing hanna with rutherford is not a good idea

casting sylve in anything is almost always a good idea

sorry, kowroski fans: ms k can somehow manage to look brittle and flexible at the same time -- diamonds does not show her at her best -- the "modern" pieces are more in tune with the stern personna she projects

hard to believe, but reichlen received more applause in rubies than weese, who did not seem to be dancing full out, for some reason

so it goes -- i won't be seeing jewels again -- except when bouder is dancing in rubies

Edited to remove unrelated quoted material. --C.

There is a story about Sofiane Sylve in today's NY Times.

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i have really enjoyed ms sylve's sensational performances, which have made nycb's season

there are a lot of new, talented women around, but it will take time before they mature into real ballerina status

however, i feel that ms syle is not yet fully commited to the company's style -- it's as if she is being drawn in different choreographic directions: she is incredibly versatile

i hope she soon settles into something definite -- whatever it is, i hope i'll be there to enjoy her very special talent

best wishes, and thanks, to her

Among other things---Rockwell is no gentleman.   

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as madame gabriella taub-darvash, a very formidable ballet teacher, said repeatedly: "ballet is a visual art"

i tend to go along with mr rockwell