charlieloki

very weird: what if a dancer at nycb had to keep a sponsor AND martins happy

there are already enough strings attached

maybe, to bring in a little more cash, dancers could display logos, the way sports folks do

however, the idea of owning my own peter boal.............................

i believe that very few of martins' or of wheedon's works will have long lives, due to their lack of emotional connection with the audience

balanchine's works will be around forever because they satisfy the demand for technical superiority as well as the real need for a connection to the human heart

i agree with farrell fan

the cartier-bresson "tendu" photograph is an absolute masterpiece

it was desecrated, probably by some dance-ignorant marketing crew

much of the celebration was disrepectful of balanchine

for instance, martins' very tedious swan lake was done instead of balanchine's one-act version - which is a masterpiece and absolutely should have been seen

probably, we could not have expected more, considering who is and has been in charge of the balanchine legacy for all these years

however, no matter which balanchine pieces are done, or who dances in them, the sheer genius of the choreography speaks for itself

martins' work is trivial and forgettable by comparison - he cannot overcome his own insignificant legacy

a very glorious tribute was the museum of television and radio's months-long presentation of various balanchine works which were televised mostly in the 60's and 70's - absolutely stunning in a smallish theater on a big but not too-big screen

each of the dozen or so compilations was presented daily for one week

i attended them over and over again, week after week, and noticed that some other people were doing the same thing

that's where i finally said my personal goodbye to the master

natanya and mcbrearty

such beautiful dancers, often paired, who proved that 1 + 1 can equal more than 2

they are much missed

very sad, if true

i remember ms tuttle from the early days, at sab

such a serious student, on a dedicated quest for perfection

whatever happens, we all wish her well

i've seen farrell's company many times

what she does with her dancers is incredible

philip neal, of nycb, never -- ever -- looked so good

another genius in that area is leigh witchel

his groups are always meticulously prepared and artistically beyond reproach, and his choices of music are sensitive and appropriate to the dancers he assembled

every fourth of july i remember and salute in my memory a russian ballet teacher who died at about 49 years of age in 1989

i was privileged to know, and observe classes taught by, vladimir davidov, who came here from russia

he had taught for some time at igal perry's school on 18th street, and at vladimir dokoudovsky's school at 56th and broadway

he danced for a while with abt, and was a notable bayadere rajah in the baryshnikov era

his character class was divine, and included people of all ages (including children) and at all levels of ballet expertise

the fourth of july connection is:

mr davidov, when i first met him, was not too happy with balanchine's style

however, over some years, he began to incorporate elements of that style in his classes, and we noticed an uncharacteristic little smile beginning to show on his face when that was done

becoming versed in the balanchine rep to some extent, he referred to a certain balanchine work as "stars and strips"

i believe that his earnest mispronunciation was taken seriously by those of us there, and i was happy to participate in mr davidov's gradual americanization

he was a very sincere person, and the occasion was so touching

a marvelous teacher, taken from us too soon

a fourth of july salute to mr d and to mr b, and to the country that produced them

an overproduced mess is just a mess, and will pass away

a work of genius stands the test of time and enters the life of everyone who's been fortunate enough to see it performed

balanchine led me to stravinsky, who leads me to balanchine

i have gone through some of stravinsky's scores while listening to the music and have marvelled at their complexity -- and have been better able to understand them by watching balanchine's agon, apollo, and so forth

there is more going on with the balanchine/stravinsky works than just the choreography and music -- 1 plus 1 equals much more than 2, and the two basic elements can not be separated once you have experienced them together

the works are pure logic in action: if you do the hard work and gain understanding, the reward is great

the ny philharmonic performed the webern music from episodes not too long ago, and you could see virtual dancers right there on the stage

a very wise dance coach once said that we would have to wait one-hundred and fifty years before another choreographer of balanchine's caliber came along, and i believe that to be so

mere facility with steps management does not a major choreographer make

i'm very emotional about this issue

what i meant was: never, never, never again put this piece on the new york state theater stage

it defiles balanchine and his house

it must, not should, close with the season

if nycb goes that route, i will have to go another, more civilized route (like, stay home!)

suffered through musagete tonight

every company should have a really awful piece, like musagete: the bad makes the good look so much better

for a brief moment, at the beginning, tewsley took the pose used in the famous cartier-bresson photograph of balanchine demonstrating tendu -- this was a desecration, in my mind

this famous black-and-white photograph was deconstucted and mangled - and in color, no less - becoming some ad person's idea of a logo for the balanchine 100 celebration -- it is used on the season's program cover, bus stop ads, all the various brochures, etc.

quite outrageous

the cartier-bresson photograph was once displayed in a greatly enlarged format on the front of the new york state theater, to very wonderful effect

whoever approved the grossly distorted version of the photograph as a marketing tool must also have approved the eifman vulgarity

during the pauses and the intermission tonight, some people sitting near me were going on and on about eifman, and their great liking for his work -- saying how sad it was that they had to sit through the balanchine stuff before seeing his piece -- i was good, and kept my mouth shut -- although when they began disrespecting kyra.....

on the way out of the theater, i stopped for awhile before a highly enlarged photograph located on the wall near the ladies' room entrance at the orchestra level: the picture includes several people, one of whom is tanaquil leclerq (whose tragic and permanent paralysis due to polio had just been exploited abominally in the eifman piece) and another of whom is george balanchine

i blew a kiss to them: it was the least i could do

i was there for that performance, and yes, it was nice to see jock welcome ms quinn to the stage -- his smile was radiant, and so was hers

i have attended, at least as far as my budget is concerned, too many performances this season -- i felt that there will never again be another real balanchine season such as this one at nycb, so i went for broke

by far, my personal favorite piece has been agon

i saw it again last night and was overwhelmed

the music was brilliantly crisp and conducted with great sensitivity -- hard to tell whether the conductor or the dancers were leading the orchestra

sofiane sylve was even better than before, which is hard to imagine

one of her held balances was so incredible that i heard many gasps in the fourth ring, then utter silence

we could not believe what we had just seen (previously, in my experience, only lourdes lopez had that effect in agon)

ms sylve will soon be one of the real anchors of the company

i believe that the level of her performance inspired wendy whelan to even greater heights, which is also hard to imagine

a real agon, a real contest

across the board, everyone seemed especially inspired

agon was first on the program, and i didn't have to think at all about what i would do at intermission

i left the theater, knowing that everything that followed could not measure up, and not wanting to disturb some very special mental images i had just stored away -- did a few replays on the long bus ride home

darci kistler in monumentum/movements; yvonne borree in duo; the not yet really artistic ashley bouder show in symphony in three movements: all downhill from agon

question now is, should i give away my remaining tickets or slog through the rest of the season's performances?

all it takes to have a memorable season is one memorable performance

thank you, mr. b and company

please change the number to eleven

then add episodes -- it cannot be left out

after twice seeing abt do mozartiana, with different casts, and then seeing the piece this week with kyra nichols, i am of the opinion that the work was ill-served by abt's performance of it

abt seemed "heavy" as opposed to nycb's lightness: the nearly back-to-back scheduling allowed for a real comparison

kyra and nycb have the choreography in their very bones, and can simply fly with it

what about the reverse? what non-balanchine works could translate well from abt to nycb?

apollo, and hubbe, are always wonderful: however, i thought hubbe was having a few problems with the apollo footwork, which is not like him

let's hope whatever is going on clears up right away

my surprise of the evening was sofiane sylve in agon

good grief, what balances

and, after carrying off all that the choreography had to offer, glances at the audience and her partners which said: okay, now that the easy stuff is over, what else do you have in mind, mr. b?

i respectfully disagree, although i am a definite wendy fan

wendy has done orpheus, along with nilas martins, and the emotional quotient of this casting in this piece approached zero

previously, i had posted that if martins were again cast, my season would be ruined

well, this has now happened

i will survive on memories of karin von aroldingen and p. martins, and simply enjoy the incredible stravinsky and noguchi elements

ok, if boal were orpheus:

there is no resident karin von aroldingen, so who could be eurydice?

who is there who could bring us to tears, as karin did?

take a big chance on a corps member?

perhaps faye arthurs?

suggestions, anyone?

re: orpheus

kistler, martins, la cour: at first i thought i was misreading this casting, but no, that's it, and for all three performances

what an interwoven family group, quite bizarre

stepmother, stepson: we've seen too much of this -- it's at the very least, silly

not to mention the fact that martins is totally unsuited for this part and is a mere shadow of his father in it

i will go to all the performances, since i love the piece, but i am disgusted with this casting

i believe balanchine said something like: well, if you don't like the dancing, just enjoy the music

the stravinsky music is gorgeous, so i guess that's what i'll do

frown, frown, frown

nycb's loss is abt's gain:

however, monique meunier is still an underutilized resource at abt, as she was at nycb

the ballet imperial costume could not have been more unflattering, but she rose above it (literally) and exhibited her considerable stage presence at the met, along with her stunning dancing

is there no choreographer ready to do something suitable for her - for her special look and her special talent?

does anyone remember the sab student performance - about 14-15 years ago - when monique danced the lead in the second movement of symphony in c?

i attended a final rehearsal at juilliard and, i believe, p. martins was coaching her in it

she was just superb

why has she not danced the same part as a company member?

the thing about monique is, when she steps on the stage -- the house is hers

sorry if i caused confusion, gang

what i meant was -- i very much prefer darci to wendy in the "merrill" part of the barber

i have seen darci do the part many times, but not this season

i just got home from abt's blockbuster balanchine program, and am still a little dizzy from it all

theme and variations, tsch. pas, mozartiana, ballet imperial: i need a break, but will be back at nycb on sunday, if i recover

will try to catch monique in ballet imperial: she is much missed by many nycb folks

i was at thursday evening's performance

i have never liked interplay - it is formulaic robbins, and not very interesting

crayola-colored costumes, etc.

stephen hanna should not have been cast: he looks so much more mature (not necessarily older) than the other dancers

i was really there to see the barber, which i have been watching faithfully since its premiere in may, 1988 (really, that much time has passed) -- the music is gorgeous

wendy is totally miscast in the merrill ashley role: her general look and her dance style, while totally wonderful elsewhere, is just wrong here -- the costume brings out her angularity and her unromantic persona, very unflattering

darci was better, but it was and is merrill's piece: she was injured during one performance of it (very scary), but recovered and eventually appeared in it for her farewell -- very mature and glamorous and totally in control: the consummate nycb ballerina

albert achieved about 70% of the david parsons role: he is so masterful, and adds such dignity to everything he performs -- but parsons has a real lock on the piece -- his arms were sensational, as was his feral approach to the part

the surprise here was elizabeth walker in the kate johnson role

she was just wonderful -- buzzing around like a mad mosquito, etc.

i suspect she will retire this year -- what a shame she hasn't been given more substantial parts over the many years she has been in the corps

thank you, elizabeth, for the pleasure of watching your dancing

i was able to see miranda weese in both the friday (her debut in this piece) and saturday performances of square dance

she now owns square dance

beautiful, cat-like performances by her on both days

and what a gorgeous smile: a perfect match of dancer and the dance

she and nikolaj hubbe, on friday, were stunningly matched partners

smooth and silky facility and artistry, but no lack of sharpness where it was required

hubbe's solo was literally breath-taking

on sunday, with peter boal as her partner, the tempo seemed to have speeded up, and the performance had a different texture -- he must be the most elegant male dancer in the world

twice in a row, an unforgettable forty-five minutes of ballet at the new york state theater

i was so entranced by it all, that i could not, on either day, stay for the rest of the program

a question: why did it take so long for ms. weese to be cast in this piece?

i agree that ballo was much better on sunday than last week, especially mr garcia

i did not at all like ms sylve in 4 t's -- bad casting, in my mind

ms reichlen has really improved her 4 t's role: i hope she gets all the coaching she needs -- bouder, etc. are just fine technically, but not at all glamorous

nycb needs a new resident balanchine glamor girl (a la ms calegari)

does anyone agree?

mr carreno's intermission appearance on the promenade was riveting: just standing still he is compelling

i make it a point to go to every new production, whether i think i'll like it or not

you never know --