nysusan

Friedmann Vogel just jumped to the top of my wishlist, should Kevin be looking to outside the company for new male principals. He made his NY debut last night in the YAGP gala, dancing Cranko's R&J balcony pdd with Alice Amatirain.

WOW! Tall, long limbed, handsome, charismatic. Elegant line, soft landings, great elevation, fast turns, great partner. Here he is in the same pdd with Semionova:

I love the coda of the engagement when Gamzatti turns on one leg flinging the other leg in the air and never setting that leg down. Don't know what that is called but love it. She turns 5-6 times as a waltz plays. So amazing to watch a ballerina do that!

Those are the Italian fouettees

It sounds like we'll have quite a crowd at the Vishneva/Gomes/Osipova Bayadere. I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

I guess I'm in the minority here. I really like the role of Gamzatti in Bayadere, but it has to be danced by a true ballerina with great acting ability and great technique. I always look forward to the Italian fouettees in Gamzatti's wedding variation, and love the way her variations are so classical, as opposed to Nikiya's much more romantic/dramatic 1st act variations.

Dramatically speaking, I like a Gamzatti who is regal and haughty, with a sense of entitlement. Murphy & Dvorovenko are my favorites (I don't think Murphy is a great actress but strong roles seem to come naturally to her). I haven't liked the Mariinsky Gamzattis I've seen. They seem to see the role as a spoiled little rich girl. I've seen Golub & Tktachnko and although their dancing was great I didn't care for either of them.

Of course, the shades scene is always the crowning glory in any production of Bayadere (even when followed by another act).

Vishneva's Nikiya is absolutely gorgeous and Gomes is the ultimate romantic hero. It will be interesting to see how Osipova's Gamzatti fits in. I can't wait for 5/25!!!! For me it will be the last of a 4 night Bayadere marathon...

Since someone brought up Matthew Golding, run to youtube quickly, his gala performance with Obraztsova at Mariinsky is up and beautiful!

Where? I just looked all over youtube and couldn't find it...

I vote for Leonid Sarafanov. I also would like to see a lot more of Ivan Vasiliev.

HOW could I have forgotten Sarafanov! He would definitely be on the top of my wish list. He has amazing ballon and elevation, beautiful line and is steeped in the classics. But he doesn't fill all the roles ABT might want from a star principal and I think it's unlikely he'd become a permanent member.

On the one hand, since moving from the Mariinsky to the Mikh it looks to me like he has a much lower international profile so he might welcome a move to ABT. On the other hand, his wife is still with the Mariinsky and they have a young child so I can't imagine he'd relocate, but maybe as a guest artist?

He's not a very tall dancer, I'd guess maybe 5'8". He's also extremely thin but he's tall & strong enough to have partnered Vishneva, Tereshkina and Somova, none of whom are short. In his early career his partnering was a disaster but in the last couple of years before he left the Mariinsky it had improved markedly and I saw no partnering problems during the 3 week City Center season a few years ago. An interesting possibility to contemplate.

I second (or third!) the call for Kevin to get Matthew Golding back. Can you imagine if Matthew and Danny both came back???

As I said in my earlier post, I don't think any of the current ABT male soloists or corpsmen are ready to be principals but I do think there are some who have long term potential. Gorak, for one, is fantastic. He has the most beautiful feet, and that special something that makes every step absolutely beautiful to watch. I also love Thomas Forster and Roddy Doble - both tall & very talented. And I haven't given up hope for Hammoudi, I just don't think his ascent will be quick, he still has a lot of work to do.

There are a lot of other ABT men that I love, I just don't think some of them fit into the principal mold (Salstein, Scott, Philips). Then there are others like Grant Delong and Gray Davis who haven't been given much to do, so who knows?

On the other hand, when someone has amazing talent its obvious even in a small roll. Many of us in NY had our first look at Osipova as one of the 3 shepherdesses in the Bolshoi's Spartacus. It was barely a corphee role, she and 2 other dancers did some jetes across the stage. Yet the whole audience was abuzz and even the critics noted her. Bujones & Hallberg both made that kind of impact early on. I saw it in Tidwell and I see it in Gorak but I don't really see it yet in any of the other up and coming ABT men.

Wonderful idea, Jayne! I may have time to come up with actual lists later but for now -

Option A - Muntagirov and Polunin for sure, and I'm with Spinning2night - it would be absolutely fabulous if Danny Tidwell came back!Another dancer I'd love to see with the company is Fabrice Calmels of the Joffery. He is super tall, elegant, a good actor and would be a great partner for Veronika.

Option B - there is no option B. I don't think any of ABT's current male soloists or corpsmen are ready to be promoted. Matthews and Tamm have potential, but they're not ready. Neither is Simkin. Hammoudi is my favorite, but he hasn't really made much of the opportunities he's been given, so who knows...

What is very strange here is that Angel is only 36 and still in pretty good physical shape unlike some others like Stiefel and Beloserkovsky. I would suspect that Angel will continue to dance with his own Barcelona Ballet (formerly Corella Co.) just as Bocca danced (tango and modern) with his own company. I personally feel that ABT has lost more than it gained by pushing Angel out.

Ahem...you are entirely correct. Angel is only 36 years old and he's not retiring, he simply won't be dancing with ABT anymore. Very sad for us here in NY who love him, but his career will continue and hopefully we will see him here often with Barcelona ballet.

Kevin McKenzie needs to have his head examined!

Their initial tour dates were during ABT's Met season. Danilian had to be out of his mind to think ABT would be ok with them skipping back & forth across the plaza, OF COURSE it would dilute ABT's box office. Don't know why the change in dates didn't work out. Perhaps it was too much logistically at this late date...

I just noticed inconsistent announcements of casting for the Swan Lake on June 26.

The ABT Calendar says Vishneva:

http://www.abt.org/c...rtdate=6/1/2012

The Ardani Management site says Semionova:

http://www.ardani.co...s-semionova.php

June 26 would be Vishneva's only Swan Lake, while Semionova is also listed on both sites for June 29.

Ardani manages both, but doesn't have a separate "tour" list for Vishneva. Does anybody know which listing is correct?

Visneva has her own website and I've found her calendar to be extremely reliable. It doesn't show any ABT Swan Lakes, so I bet it will be Semionova:

http://www.vishneva.ru/eng/perform.php

It was a pleasure to see everyone in DC! Natalia did such a great job of describing all the performances, I will just put my 2 cents in to say that what I will remember most from this trip is the Sat Matinee Scheherazade with Lopatkina & Korsuntsev (HOT,HOT, HOT) and the Sunday matinee Chopiniana with Shirinkina, Pavlenko, Selina and Zyuzin.

I was great to see Pavlenko, who is a big favorite of mine. She was a great Zobeide and her Chopiniana prelude was wisper soft, a true prayer. Her arms and phrasing were gorgeous. She is a true ballerina but wonderful as she was it was also apparent that she is not back at 100% yet. For me Pavlenko at 80% is still better than most anyone else at 100% but here's hoping that she continues to work towards regaining 100% of her form and reclaiming all off her former roles.

Natalia, thanks so much for the reviews. Fingers crossed for another errata slip this weekend!!!

Just watched the Pontois clapping variation - she's wonderful!

Here's a question for anyone who's seen the POB version AND the version Nureyev mounted in the 70s for ABT. Are they similar? I saw several performances of the ABT version but only remember a little. Just impressions, really, of several dancers but not much about the production itself. I saw some wonderful Raymondas - Gregory, Kirkland, Makarova & van Hamel and strangely enough the ones that stick in my mind are Gregory and van Hamel - extremely regal, authoritative Raymondas. Also Nureyev and Bruhn alternated as de Brienne &Abderman,which was quite a treat!

There were some absolutely wonderful performances in NY & DC this past year.

Best:

Shklyarov in the Mariinsky's Little Humpbacked Horse. I also enjoyed Obraztsova, Tereshkina and even Somova as the Tsar Maiden, but it's Ratmansky's brilliantly inventive choreography & Shklyarov's performance that stick in my memory

Cojocaru's Aurora & Giselle. So lucky to be able to see more of this beautiful ballerina on a semi-regular basis!

RDB's La Sylphide - what a perfect production, and beautifully danced

NYCB's Jewels, especially Kowroski & Askegard in Diamonds

Chase Finlay's debut in Apollo

Mearns & Kowroski together in Concerto Barocco

Paul Taylor's Orbs

Vishneva, Gomes, Part, Boylston, Kajiya, Riccetto & Matthews in ABT's Giselle. A perfect cast and one of those magical nights when drama becomes art.

Lopatkina, Tereshkina & Vishneva in the Mariinsky's Giselle. Each gave a wonderful, moving performance and we also had Kondaurova's monumental Myrtha

Clifton Brown in "I Wanna Be Ready" from Revelations. Nobody does it like him

Alicia Graf Mack every time she stepped on the stage with Ailey this season - I'm so glad she's back

Worst:

I didn't see Oceans Kingdom, but Seven Deadly Sins was absolutely deadly in every way. And we still have to put up with it to see Vienna Waltzes this coming season!

Annmaria Mazzini's retirement - it came far too early

Suzanne Farrell Ballet's first NY performance of the Diamonds pas de deux. A perfect storm of ill omens surrounded this performance. Take a stage & hall that were too small, a bad recording, a miscast ballerina and unfortunate mistakes. Everything conspired to make this one of the worst performances ever.

I saw ABT's Nut twice last year in it's inaugural season. Wasn't really crazy about it and figured I'd give it a couple of seasons to settle in before I went back. However I found myself priced out of NYCB's Nut after 1 performance so I decided to make the trip to Brooklyn for 1 ABT Nut.

I'd seen Part/Gomes and Murphy/Hallberg last year, and looking over the casts the only one that really piqued my interest was the Lane/Gorak cast on the last performance of the season.

I saw them yesterday, and I'm glad I went. I really enjoyed Ratmansky's 1st act, the kids seemed less bratty and I was able to appreciate the detailed characterizations and charming quirkiness of the whole thing. I liked the Waltz of the Snowflakes much better this time, it was amazing how it brought out sinister notes in the music that I hadn't heard before. Still, I prefer the glory of Balanchine's version of this pas.

Unfortunately the best I can say about Ratmansky's Waltz of the Flowers was that I didn't find it as obnoxious as I did last year. I'd still trade 4 Bees for 1 Dewdrop any day of the week and although my eyes were glued to the stage by the middle of the variation each note of the music conjured the image of Ashley Bouder's magnificent Dewdrop in my mind's eye.

This is no reflection on the 4 talented men who danced the Bees. With the exception of the last few bars of music when the Bees lift each of the Flowers I just don't think Ratmansky's choreography does very much to illuminate the music. And I still don't care for any of the 2nd act diverts.

With regard to the dancing, I thought the company looked very good. Lane & Gorak were wonderful 95% of the time but there was trouble with both of the big lifts. In their 1st variation there is a moment where he lifts her to appx shoulder level with her legs extended around him in a kind of cross between a jete and attitude and twirls her round & round. This started off shaky but he once he had her in position it went off fine. They weren't so lucky in the 2nd pas de deux. He just about got her up into the 1 leg hold for the big "Grigorovich" lift and then immediately fumbled her into a rather awkward position around chest level and held her there walking forward for a few seconds till the next musical cue.

I think Gorak is the most talented up and coming male dancer in the company. His feet are gorgeous, he has absolutely beautiful line. He did a series of pirouettes (or were they tours, I forget already) that were performed perfectly cleanly, with complete & utter ease and a perfectly controlled finish. This guy has the goods but he needs to develop some upper body strength & work on his partnering asap. He is young and should be given coaching and time to develop BUT as a paying audience member I don't care how beautiful a solo variation is I find it completely unacceptable to blow the lifts. Mr. Gorak - get thee to a gym, pronto or stick with soloist roles until you develop the strength needed for complicated partnering!

Lane, on the other hand gave a a beautiful performance throughout and was completely unperturbed by Gorak's flubs. She didn't seem nervous at all, even after the blown lift. Ratmansky's somewhat fussy footwork looked much better on her than it did on Part or Murphy but I have to say that despite her beautiful dancing I didn't get the sense of utter rapture that I did with Part or childlike wonder with Murphy. I didn't really come away with any strong impression of who Lane's adult Clara was or what she was feeling. Hard to say whether that was due to a lack of charisma or a lack of experience but although I enjoyed Lane's performance when it comes to a combination of technique and artistry there's no way I would put her in the same league as Part or Murphy, let alone that of some of the world's greatest ballerinas like Cojocaru, Vishneva and Osipova who McKenzie has been so graciously bringing us lately.

If Cojocaru "doesn't have the style to dance this production", they could have given it to Nunez, at least from a technical point of view she is perfection.

Interesting to hear that RB management feels that "Cojocaru doesn't have the style to dance this production". That's a point of view that I hadn't heard before. But then, I don't follow RB reports very closely.

I saw this production of SB at the Kennedy Center in DC just a couple of years after it debuted. Cojocaru led it off and danced Aurora twice to great acclaim. I also recall seeing Nunez, Lamb and Marquez as Aurora and Cojocaru was my favorite by a mile.

I wonder what the RB considers to be stylistically correct at this point in time...

Here's

; if you can identify the time (minutes:seconds) where the lift occurs in the vid, then maybe I can put in my two cents (or, see if these dancers do it better). I'm thinking you mean the lift at 3:52.

Ray, thanks for posting this, I haven't seen it in so long! I'm not a big Kistler fan, but to my eyes this is so much more enjoyable than what we saw on Wed. Kistler luxuriated in the steps, her dancing had amplitude, warmth and allure.

We have only Martins to blame for the casting but seriously - NYCB has NUMEROUS ballerinas who regularly grace the stage in NY as the Sugar Plum Fairy and deliver luminous performances on a regular basis. Kowroski, Mearns and Peck are my favorites but Somogyi and Ringer are also beautiful. Bouder and Reichlin have assumed the role more recently and IMO, are not in the same league but still give lovely performances that are much more expressive & nuanced than Fairchild's. Too bad the world couldn't have seen one of them.

Bart - regarding the tempo - I've always felt that Otranto went for pretty moderate tempos compared to other NYCB conductors. They have always favored brisk tempos, especially their principal conductors, Karoui and Andrea Quinn before him.

I have what may be the minority view among balletomanes on the First Act of Balanchine's production. I was impatient with it on first viewing, but I nowadays i find it all very touching,

Croce says somewhere that the real genius of Balanchine's production is in the first act. It is true that some Nutcrackers try to amuse the kids while going over their heads to the adults (you also see this in contemporary movies for children) and it doesn't necessarily work.

I also love Balanchine's Nutcracker - including the 1st act. I don't love it as a ballet the way I love Swan Lake or Giselle, I love it as a holiday event - like A Christmas Carol, or the Messiah. Only the Nutcracker & Ailey's Revelations are my favorite parts of Christmas in New York.

That said, I agree that casting Fairchild and DeLuz as Sugar Plum & her Cavalier was a questionable choice. My favorites (in order) are Kowroski, Mearns and Peck.

I can imagine that Martins had reasons to go with Fairchild. She is an excellent technician and she's extremely reliable but unfortunately she is also often (if not always) a blank - totally inexpressive & with little dance impulse. DeLuz is an excellent dancer and a strong partner. He and Fairchild dance together often and I'm sure that Martins was confident that there would be no disasters.

On the other hand, as wonderful as Kowroski is, she is 5'9" or 5'10" and is a handful to partner. She just lost her stalwart, always dependable cavalier, Charles Askegard to retirement. The Sugar Plum pas de deux has some very tricky partnering and I can imagine that Martins may have been reluctant to feature a new, untested partnership in movie theaters and on TV.

Mearns is brilliant but she is injured often and whenever she steps on the stage she dances full out and completely in the moment - a scary proposition in front of millions of people.

Anyway, I just watched the live TV broadcast and I have to say that I found it much less awe inspiring than the live event. Fairchild & DeLuz were fine, Ulbricht was great & Bouder once again stole the show. But the camera angles & the small screen in general just didn't cut it for me.

This is one production that must be seen live to really be appreciated.

PS - the quick tempos are a NYCB hallmark, in fact Otranto tends to take a more measured approach than some of her colleagues!

Miliosr: There is a possibility I may be able to make it to Chicago for some performances...Can you tell me anything about the theater--especially how good/strong the banking of the seats is downstairs (I am short), sight-lines and the best seats upstairs. Thank you...

Hi Drew. I saw the Mariinsky at the Aud several years ago and was surprised at a few things about the seating. The orchestra section is very, very deep and about halfway up the raking becomes very steep. I'm also short so I didn't sit in the orchestra, I usually opt for the 1st row of the balcony or the balcony sides. The balcony is set very far back so even the 1st row feels like Siberia...If I was going again I'd opt for the orchestra row P or higher. Here's a photo from their website:

http://auditoriumtheatre.org/wb/

The Bolshoi seems to be in its 'Y'all come! Phase." Sorry to lend the discordant note here but this one only serves to water-down the worthiness of the two earlier promotions (Kaptsova & Krysanova). But the holidays are the period of generosity so I add my 'Hoorah' to the promotion of this reliable soloist-come-Principal.

Couldn't agree with you more! Krysanova is a real talent. I haven't seen enough of Kaptsova to comment but Shipulina? She's a dependable soloist but a Bolshoi principal? Well, I'll sure be checking the casting before I buy any Bolshoi tickets!

This is a Kennedy Center sneak preview and a rare occurence. Daria Pavlenko and her husband Alexander Sergeev are interviewed with scenes of their "Giselle" from the Mariinsky Theatre .

http://news.bbc.co.u...ack/9653088.stm

What a treat, thanks for posting this! Brings back memories of her Ken Center Giselle a few years ago. I think it was the last time I saw her...maybe with Kolb?

Yes, I loved watching Alicia Graf dance. I saw her many times with Dance Theater of Harlem, and later at Alvin Ailey. It's such a pity that her dance career at Ailey ended so soon.

But it hasn't! Since finding out that Jamar Roberts and Clifton Brown have retired from Ailey I was already to greet the "Robert Battle Era" by limiting myself to 1 Ailey performance this season. Then I heard that Brown would be appearing as a guest artist. And then yesterday I read this article which states that despite chronic illness Graf has started dancing again and will be appearing with Ailey this season in Revelations, Home, Memoria, Journey, Streams & Arden Court. I'm about to buy tickets to another 3 performances (at least).

I never saw Graf with DTH but the most frustrating about watchng her at Ailey was that it took her about a year to really find her way there, then she danced brilliantly for a season or two and then retired due to injury/illness.

I'm SO glad that she's back!

OMIGOD I cannot believe that Pavlenko is coming! I pretty much never miss the Mariinsky when they're anywhere near NY but I'm not crazy about this program so I was debating about whether to go. I'd kind of decided that I'd wait and see if Kondaurova was cast in Firebird and then maybe go for 1 performance.

Now I'm in for the weekend!!!!!

Agree that its a shame Vishneva, Tereshkina, Obraztsova and Sklyarov aren't coming but honestly, I'd gladly trade them all for Pavlenko. Have to go buy my tickets now...

What a difference a couple of days & a casting change can make. The big news - Heather Ogden & Michael Cook subbed for Angelova and Momchil Mladenov in the Diamonds pdd. My prayers were answered! But lets start at the beginning...

Courtney Anderson & Kirk Henning were the principals in Haieff Divertimento tonight. It was very enjoyable, charming actually, and it was great to see an early example of Balanchine's inventiveness.

Then came Diamonds, followed by Meditation. I had never seen Meditation before this engagement. Many of my friends consider Duo Concertante and Elegie examples of 3rd rate Balanchine too soppy & sentimental to merit serious attention. Anyone who feels that way should skip Meditation. I do not,and I loved it. Holowchuck danced in both performances I saw, partnered by Cook on Tues and by Mladenov tonight. There were subtle differences, but this was pure fantasy romance - Romantic writ large. A remembrance? An impossible affair? A great artist in thrall to his muse? Pick your interpretation, they all work and I LOVE the romantic Balanchine.

Agon still really has the rush of the new. There's no way around the fact that we here in NY are used to better individual performances but this was a fine effort, filled with bright, pulsating rhythm and honest performances. Violeta Angelova danced the soloist role - the Bransle Gay - and it suited her very well, showcasing her long limbs and cool persona. Cook tackled the Saraband and Holowchuck & Mladenov danced the iconic pdd.

And now lets talk about the Diamonds pdd. I was so horrified by what I saw Tues night that despite my best efforts I kept dwelling on what went wrong. I think there were several factors in play.

For starters, the Joyce is too small for it. I hadn't really thought about that while I was watching it on Tues night, but Macauley talked about it in his review and upon reflection I think he has a point. It may only be a pdd, but it is a majestic pdd and at its best it conjures a world of imagination. The small stage space makes that difficult and the close proximity of the audience to the stage takes away some of the grandeur and magnifies any mistakes - which really did no favors to he opening nght cast.

Further, with all due respect to Ms. Angelova I think she was simply all wrong for the ballerina role. I saw her as the lead ballerina in Concerto Barocco in DC and while I had reservations about her use of the upper body I thought her extensions and musicality in CB were beautiful. They were also shown to great advantage in Agon, but in Diamonds she looked all wrong

The tutu made her legs look short, her arms looked limp and were unable to describe the beautiful sculptural elements of Diamonds, her unsecured tiara bobbled distractingly throughout, her technique failed her, but the worst part was that she seemed (understandably) just intent on getting through it. There was no world of imagination here, and what is Diamonds with a ballerina who can't create a world out of her imagination and draw you into it?

Fortunately the cavalry was called in, and all was right with Balanchine's world tonight. The size of the stage, the lousy recorded music, the blindingly white tutu - all faded into oblivion with Ogden weaving her magic. Technically secure, presenting a multi faceted wonderfully evocative Czarina - she is a true Diamonds Ballerina. This was my last performance of the run, but - for all my friends sake, and for Ms Farrell's sake - I hope Ms Ogden is cast in Diamonds for all the remaining performances.

... we got the flashlight tutu for Diamonds. And that was the least of its problems.

I have to agree with nysusan's implication. Three of the ballets came off very well, especially Haieff and Meditation; and Agon's greatness was apparent once again.

Sorry for the "snark & run" comment, let me explain.

I was so excited when I heard that TSFB would be at the Joyce and after seeing them in DC last weekend I could hardly wait for opening night.

That lasted until I got to my seat, opened the program and saw that NONE of my favorite dancers from the DC engagement were with the company in NY. Most disappointing of all was Ogden's absence but there was also no Audra Johnson, no Kara Genevieve Cooper, no Matthew Renko.

So I was somewhat out of sorts at the start, but hoping for the best. I enjoyed the Haieff Variations as an opener, a "Balanchine appetizer" but then the main course started with a Diamonds pas de deux that I found so appalling that my mind simply recoiled in horror.

It was so wrong on so many levels even before the very obvious & disconcerting technical flubs from both principals in the 2nd half of the pdd. And trying to analyze and write about it would have required that I go through it again in my mind - something that I have no desire to do.

I really was unable to focus on the rest of the program and since I'll be seeing it again on Friday night I figured I'd give the company another shot before writing about it.

Now that I'm prepared for the not-ready-for -prime-time Diamonds pdd we'll see how it goes tomorrow night.

....The hoped-for Ogden, as my casting just above shows, is not to appear, nor Renko either...

Thanks for the report, Jack. I hope to see this program on Saturday afternoon, straight from the Megabus (!). The above news on casting is disappointing, as Renko was far-and-above the finest male soloist on view in DC last weekend. He must now be with his permanent company in Seattle.

Two very different questions:

1. When will TSFB employ a full-time, year-round company?

2. Which tutu was worn in the Diamonds pdd at the Joyce: the 'dirty-yellow' (seen in DC this past weekend) or the 'bright flashlight' (seen in earlier seasons when only the pdd was performed, with the shiny mirrors on the skirt)?

Natalia, I can't speak to your first question but we got the flashlight tutu for Diamonds. And that was the least of its problems.