nysusan

I also went again last night, and I enjoyed the program much more than I did on Wednesday. Last time I enjoyed it but had reservations, this time I loved it.

The only differences were Kowroski and Angle in Liang's work instead of Bussell & Cope in Tryst, Cojocaru instead of Pereira in Prokofiev pdd, and seats that were much closer to the stage. I don't think the first 2 changes made the difference, though Cojocaru alone was worth well more than the price of admission last night. Along with strong technique she has such gorgeous lines and just exudes freshness and purity. Can you tell she's one of my 2 co-favorite ballerinas in the world today?

Much as I love her, that doesn't explain why I liked this performance so much better than the last one. I also love Bussell and thought Tryst pdd showed her off beautifully. I enjoyed seeing Tina Periera in the Prokofiev on Wednesday . Perhaps the dancers had settled in a bit, as drb suggested, but I think the biggest difference for me was the seating. Last time I was sitting in the front of the rear mezz, and I think the switch to the front of the grand tier made a huge difference. I like to be far from the stage for some types of choreography, I think the 4th ring is perfect for most of Balanchine but the works on this program were on a smaller scale, with a lot of subtlety that I missed the first time around. This time each work seemed much more differentiated and unique, and I loved every minute of the evening and every single dancer from the great ballerinas of our age and some of my favorite male dancers to emerging favorites including a very lyrical Ashley Laracey - each one made a vivid impression.

I also agree with drb that on second viewing Fool’s Paradise went from a work I really liked to one I totally love. This time I noticed how many of the lifts ended in shapes that made the couples resemble stars, and together with the falling star confetti it gave the work very celestial overtones. Could it have been about foolish humans reaching for the stars? Seeking the heavens, paradise? At first seeking in groups of 2 or 3 - starting on the right path, then struggling and getting frustrated until their efforts fall apart and they start from scratch. This time they all work together, the pieces fall right into place and Whelan ascends. Just one possible scenario... anyway, I loved it and hope they do it somewhere again soon. It’s a work that deserves to be seen by a wide audience and one that I’d like to see over & over again.

I can only wonder if the review of MCB will impact on the rehearsals and coaching of NYCB's upcoming performances of Jewels in January. I am planning on getting tickets.

I'll be there too!!!... so we'll see..."The battle of Jewels: MCB vs. NYCB"

I so wish I could see MCB's Jewels but I can't make it down to Florida to catch it. I love the idea that Villela had the original ballerinas coaching their roles, that's the way I think it should be done. I can't wait to see NYCB's run this year and look forward to hearing from those of you who were lucky enough to see both productions. I have a feeling there will be be some interesting posts this winter.

Dont get me wrong - I'm not an NYCB naysayer, I think their current dancers are wonderful but I'm open to other opinions and think there's nothing more enlightning than comparing different performances

Like Waelsung, I see the glass as half full. Especially now that I know that Pavlenko's absence is for her own reasons, though I do agree that Obraztsova's absence and that of many others continues to defy reason.

And sure, there's WAY WAY WAY too much Somova on that schedule but frankly, for me there's also way too much of Osmolkina & Golub in principal roles. But to make up for that we also get either Lopatkina or Vishneva at almost every performance, and there are some nights when we'll see both of them. Plus Tereshkina, Kondaurova, Kolb, Sarafanov, Fadeev, Shklyarov, Korsakov etc. If the casting holds in addition to lots of Lopatkina & Vishneva I'm also excited about getting my first look at Kolegova, seeing Kozlov's Golden Slave and getting to see how Gonchar & Bolshakova are developing. Also, let's not forget that there are lots of major roles in Serenade, Chopiniana,and Paquita that we don't have casting for, so there may still be reason to hope that we'll get to see some as yet uncast favorites. Tkachenko, anyone?

So you can see that I'm not planning on dumping any of my tickets at this point. Now, if Lopatkina or Vishneva cancel I may be joining the crowd at Ebay!

I enjoyed the first piece, and I really liked the last piece - the middle section with all the pas de deux was the problem for me.

I felt the opener,There Where She Loved was Wheeldon's take on an episodic, lyrical ballet like Dances at a Gathering, Leaves are Fading, Diversion of Angels etc. Although not in the same league with those masterpieces I enjoyed what I read as his exploration of the many different facets of a woman's relationships with the men in her life as guided by Chopin and Weill.

As for those pas de deux - there were some beautiful moments in each of them and if each one had been seen on it's own I might have liked them all but back to back the similarity became monotonous. Plus, even though I liked the two end pieces both of them were really constructed of a series of pas de deux and pas des trois and as the evening went on the effect became cumulative and the monotony grew. The fact that with the exception of Dance of the Hours the costumes and color palette were similar throughout the evening didn't help either.

The last piece, Fools Paradise, seemed like one of his best efforts – rich in visuals with several series of steps repeated, expanded and resolved or refracted through various groupings of dancers. There were wonderful roles in it for all of the dancers but especially Whelan & Kowroski. I didn't see a story or the significance of the title but I definitely found it very enjoyable & thought provoking and am looking forward to seeing it again.

I have mixed feelings about the evening. I love Wheeldon's work and enjoyed much of what I saw but the bottom line is that the work that was presented in program 1 was just all too similar. I respect the fact that Wheeldon didn't want to repeat works that had been seen in NY recently, and understand that he is working under extreme financial constraints but I think the fact that none of the ballets he presented used a corps contributed greatly to the "sameness" of the evening. If something like Evenfall or Scenes de Ballet or Shambards had replaced the series of pdd or one of the other pieces it would have been a much more enjoyable evening for me.

Even though it's still very far off & I'm sure we'll see plenty of changes, casting for the Kirov's City Center engagement is now up at Ardani's website. Good news: Lopatkina, Vishneva, and many other wonderful artists are scheduled to appear including Lopatkina's new partner Ivan Kozlov. Bad news: No Pavlenko or Zelensky. More bad news: The Awakening of Flora replaced by Jardin Anime & pdd from Le Corsaire.

Here's the link to the casting:

http://www.ardani.com/april08.htm

[Edited by Helene to highlight the casting link.]

I was there, too. The evening was billed as "A Preview of the Season" and aside from the new Millipied work ABT performed excerpts from Fall River Legend and the Leaves are Fading (both about as far from Balanchine as you can get) and closed the evening with a snippet from Clear.

Wes Chapman was the moderator and he started off the program interviewing Ormsby Wilkins and Nico Muhly, the composer who got the commission for the Millipied piece. Knowing nothing about music I found the discussion fascinating, and was intriuged at how different the music sounded when a few themes were played on piano vs the computer generated version with full instrumentation. I'm not sure I have this entirely right, but I believe Muhly explained that the whole orchestra hadn't played it yet, so nobody's heard it in it's final form & the dancers have been rehearsing to the computer generated version. The music sounded melodic, the piece looked pretty lyrical, and I'm looking forward to seeing & hearing it in it's final form. McKenzie joined the panel later, and commented that he was excited because this was their first commissioned score since Othello, and they have another one scheduled for the summer season.

ABT's big stars didn't come out for this preview, so we got a good look at some of the young kids and some of the 2nd & 3rd cast principals. Isabella Boylston, Sarawanee Tanatanit, Blaine Hoven & Cory Sterns did the Millipied. They are all corps dancers rarely cast in featured roles and it was great to see how well all of them are developing. Next we got to see the 1st, 3rd & 4th pdds from Leaves, performed by Ricetto/Matthews, Melissa Thomas/Zhurbin and Wiles/Hammoudi. I have to say that none of these seemed as poignent as I remembered but they were performed out of context and in rehearsal clothes so I'll wait to see it on stage before deciding that they pale before my memories of Tcherkassky, Glushak, Kirkland et al. Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner talked about setting the ballet and about their experiences of working with Tudor.

Next Georgina Parkinson talked about working with De Mille on a revival of Fall River Legend when she first joined ABT and either she or McKenzie referred to it as the best Tudor ballet she ever created. They did the "Rocking Chair" scene with Wiles as Lizzie, Parkinson as the stepmother, Zhurbin as her father and Stappas as the pastor. It's quite tense & grim and Wiles' Lizzie reminded me of her Hagar, so I had no problem making that connection. This is certainly a dark piece, but I'm glad to see that ABT continues to revive De Mille & Tudor's work.

The evening ended with Xiomara Reyes, Hammoudi & Hoven in an excerpt from Clear.

Bart, I don’t know how historically accurate it is but I think I recall that the version of the 2nd act of Swan Lake in the Czinner Royal Ballet film (The Royal Ballet video distributed by Bel Canto) was danced as a pas de deux a trois with Benno & hunters. It’s no longer available commercially but is shown occasionally on pbs, so there might be some youtube clips around. I’ll try to take a look at it again in the next week or so.

Regarding the pdd itself, and Siegfreid’s reactions in it I think that part of the Petipa/Ivanov genius is that so much subtle variety in characterization is possible without losing the impact of the story. I don’t think Siegfreid should react to Odette with a look of doom, but for me a look of unmitigated joy would be at least as bad. Whether he’s in love from the moment he sees her, or whether it develops during the pdd, it’s not an uncomplicated or “happy” love. He’s a prince torn between his duty and his personal feelings, she’s a queen imprisoned by a horrible spell. Falling in love with Odette may provide him with that “something missing” in his life but it also complicates his life immeasurably and for the story to work he needs to be aware of that. Or, if he's not aware that has to be a conscious choice that's part of his interpretation. The love story is one aspect of Swan Lake but what makes it such a great work is that there are also so many other layers of meaning to it. Both main characters have an arc of emotional development, and part of his is the arduous test that loving and freeing Odette entails (and of course, in most versions he fails).

Also, in most interpretations it is not love at first sight for Odette (or at the very least it’s love colored by fear, apprehension or mistrust) and the pdd is generally when Siegfried wins her over. A great big smile & gung ho attitude would likely scare her off more than win her over.

I agree that some acting in the form of facial expression is necessary, but I dislike it when that’s the major form of communicating feelings in classical ballet. The character and emotion is in the choreography and my preference is when the acting is done through the dance. Usually I see it in the use of the upper body - the tilt of the head, the dynamics in the use of shoulders, arms, torso & back. This applies more to Odette than to Siegfried (see Fonteyn, Makarova, Annanishvili, Pavlenko), but it also applies to male dancing. The arc of an arabesque, use of line, details of partnering and spatial relation to one's partner etc can be very expressive.

Over one weekend several years ago I saw 4 performances of the Kirov’s Swan lake with 3 different Siegfrieds and was struck by how different their interpretations were. Danila Korsuntsev was a happy, regular guy prince who was gobbsmacked by Odette at first sight, Zelensky had something of hamlet in him, philosophical & questing and Sarafanov was a princeling who grew up and proved himself through saving Odette. This was several years ago and I have no specific memory of their facial expressions at the moment they first saw Odette or during the pdd but each presented a completely different and unique interpretation of Siegfried within the classical framework and I thought that each worked wonderfully.

ViolinConcerto, thank you for the insight into Indian dance, it helps put the performance into context. I went on Wed and Thursday and while I enjoyed it and pretty much agree with everything that has been said here, I found that I liked the whole program a little better the second night than the first. I thought that both Shantala Shivalingappa's performance & Deuce Coupe went on a little too long, but neither one egregiously so and both held my interest longer the second time around. This was the first time I'd seen the Tharp and I liked it but still think it's dated & don't think it's her best work. I felt more energy & confidence coming from the Julliard dancers on Thursday night & agree that the red haired girl (with bangs & headband) was a standout, also the tall blond guy.

I also don't think Arden Court is one of Taylor's greatest works, but it's still so wonderful to look at, I love the gently quirky humor in it and his dancers are absolutely fabulous. While Mazzini will probably always be my favorite Taylor dancer I have to say that Parisa Khobdeh and James Samson are two that have been growing on me every time I see them. She for her long line and understated lyricism and he for his strong yet unassuming presence. Everything about his dancing is so solid & expansive yet unforced, it all just flows so naturally. He would fit perfectly into the big guy discussion I saw recently in another forum.

My thoughts on "Middle Duet " fall in between drb's and carbros. I certainly recognized it as the same pdd that Kowroski & Evans did at NYCB, but was fascinated by the differences in interpretation and prefer the long version. I think I had less of a sense of combativeness with Kondaurova and Baimuradov (till the last section) and saw it more as an abstraction with Ratmansky playing with tension and counterweight. And yes, I LOVE Kondaurova - I've found her just as impressive in works like this & the Kirov's Forsythe program as she is as Myrtha in Giselle.

All in all it was a great program and seemed to be very well received.

vaganova, I couldn't agree more with your assessment of Pavlenko. She is blessed with beautiful proportions, strong technique, a flowing lyricism and unerring classical line, yet you hit it right on the head by citing her humanity as her most compelling feature.

I know that she's terribly underused at home but over the past few years she's been included on a number of the Kirov's U.S. tours, and actually been the "lead" ballerina on a couple of them. I've been lucky enough to see her O/O and Giselle, and I'm hoping that Kirov brings her to the Kennedy Center this winter for their Bayadere run and features her heavily in their 3 week City Center Season this spring (ok, I'm also hoping for plenty of Lopatkina,Vishneva & Obraztsova at CC).

There are many ballerinas on the scene today that I admire, but if someone put a gun to my head and forced me to pick just one favorite I think she would be the one!

I went last year but decided to pass this time. These performances conflict with Fall for Dance at City Center and I had to choose which to attend so when the press release first came out I took a good hard look. Even though a lot of wonderful ballet dancers are participating it looked to me like 2 of the 3 choreographers come from a modern dance background and I couldn't really get a handle on the 3rd so I opted for FFD. Based on the NY Times preview in today's links I'm glad I did.

re:Amanda Miller

“Ballet dancers are used to working in set ways and drilling things, but we have worked to find new things,” said Ms. Miller, who will also perform in the piece. “It’s not on point, but it’s full of choreography... ”

re: Alison Chase

“I had great anxiety initially because of the weight-sharing, off-balance vocabulary that I wanted to use,” said Ms. Chase, who has set her piece, “Sweet Alchemy,” to excerpts from “John’s Book of Alleged Dances,” by the contemporary composer John Adams. “It’s contrary to what happens in ballet, and I was worried that they would freeze up. But they were incredibly game about the partnering, and about improvising. Ballet dancers are just incredibly versatile these days.”

Great, here we go again - building a new, young ballet audience by programming other kinds of dance and calling it ballet!

I'd love to read opinions from anyone who goes and would be happy to be proven wrong!

First of all, apologies, particularly to nysusan, who was understandably distressed at the information I posted sometime back that the screening of Don Q at the Performing Arts Library was not open to the public but was by invitation only. This information turned out to be erroneous, but since nobody at the library is likely to apologize, I will. I hope I didn't talk anyone out of going today. There were seats available when I got there and I walked right in and took one. Shortly after that many more became available, when the seats that had been "reserved for the press" were released.

Farrell Fan, no apologies necessary from you. On the contrary, you went out of your way to contact the library for information on this event. It's not your fault

that they didn't have a clue about their own program!

I would have gone & tried to get in no matter what they said, except it turned out that I really couldn't get out of work early this week so I had to skip it. Despite the flaws it sounds wonderful, I will definitely have to make time to get down to the library and find a way to see it when it enters the collection.

The new ABT production of 'Sleeping Beauty' is stirring up lots of talk and emotion about this, the most classical of Petipa ballets.

1. THE WORST - ABT 2007 - it just doesn't get any lower than this. Simply read my post on the SB review thread.

For the unbearable, ABT's new version comes first

.

...and that's going to be my first approach to live "Beauty"...my very first...

I was so excited with the ABT production coming over Miami, and now, after reading this posts, the magic is gone . Please...can somebody cheer me up...any good comments...?

Cristian - Cheer up, it's not that bad! It's overdone in every imaginable way - too much story, cartoonish costumes etc but the Petipa core is still there & still beautiful. They also have some really wonderful dancers in all the roles - right down to the last fairy. It's most dissapointing to those of us who see ABT all the time because they blew the chance to give us a really great production. The bottom line is that if the RB or Kirov were in town with their versions I'd choose theirs over ABT's in a heartbeat but I will gladly go see this every season rather than go a season without seeing a Sleeping Beauty.

I understand that they've already made substantail revisions since the premiere, so I look forward to hearing your reaction!

Susan

Haglund's - thanks for posting the link!

Lynette - I agree it is very interesting how different the rep is. I'm very much looking forward to seeing all the works that will be new to me, but sad that we won't get After the Rain. They're doing the pdd at Fall for Dance, which will be great, but I like it best when they perform the whole piece. Enjoy!

...the video will be viewable in the video carrels after 9/20.

Bummer. HUGE bummer!

Hunh? What's the problem, nysusan? Sounds pretty cool to me! I'd be there regularly!

Meanwhile, don't overlook George Jackson's superb review on "Dance View Times":

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2007/09/beyo...ument.html#more

The bummer is that the NY screening is not open to the public like the DC one. And I'm assuming that the video is not going to be available for circulation - I've never been able to access anything but the circulation collections at the Lincoln Center library. The 2-3 times I've tried to view the research collections I've been told that you had to be a student, researcher or writer. I know that they're wrong & I could have pressed the issue, but I really didn't have the time or inclination to do that in the past. Maybe I will now that they've increased their hours but make no mistake they do not make it easy for the general public to see their collections.

Also - there's no comparison between seeing a film on a big screen in a darkened theater (even a small big screen) and in seeing it on a video screen. I remain extremely disappointed that they're excluding the public from the only NY screening.

Susan

Shame on ABT for not properly honoring Tudor in '08.

I'm not saying they will, but the more natural place for them to honor Tudor in '08 would be the City Center Fall season--and we have no idea what that will contain as of yet. It seems to me a bit early to condemn them on this count.

The fact that the season is around the corner and we're still guessing at least to me shows that ABT isn't making this a priority. A Festival around a choreographer generally is announced long ahead of time and is a key part of an advertising and PR campaign, and typically we'd see a series of "Rediscovering Tudor" and interviews with Cynthia Gregory and Sallie Wilson, Gelsey Kirkland on the making of The Leaves Are Fading and extended interview

They may already be planning a Tudor tribute for the 2008 City Center season (I hope they are) but it's way too soon for them to be publicizing it. First I'm sure they'd like to fill the seats for their 07 City Center season, which actually is around the corner, when that's over we'll start hearing about their 08 Met season, and THEN comes the 08 City Center season. I agree with Aurora that it's a little early to start panicking about ABT ignoring Tudor's centenary in 08!

Yes, 5 minutes into the performance I remembered why I avoid this venue whenever possible. There was no ballet whatsoever on the schedule this year so it was easy to avoid until last night. The only thing that tempted me out this time was the prospect of seeing 2 Taylor favorites that they're not doing at City Center this year (Polaris & Company B). Despite obstructed views, the evening was a pleasant one only because I remembered last season & went there with the expectation of enjoying a pleasant evening under the stars and getting to see a little dance. If my primary purpose was to have a good view of the dance I would have been very dissapointed. I'm sure De Suenos will never be a favorite, but I'm equally sure that it will look better at City Center!

Bummer. HUGE bummer!

The Cojocaru-Kobborg Giselle is indeed very lovely. Cojocaru is entirely believable - waiflike, insecure, pathetic, utterly moving, just wonderful. And Kobborg is also wonderful. Do recommend it! Their Giselle cannot be compared to Maximova-Vasiliev, it would be totally unfair to say one is better than the other. M-V's Giselle is darker, more Gothic in feel. C & K are a young happy couple and then it dawns on them that this is not to be. Though they are totally different in atmosphere, I have found that I now have not only one, but TWO favourite Giselles. Both versions move me to tears.

How fortunate you are to have videos of Cojocaru/Kobborg and Maximova/Vasiliev Giselles. The C/K has been on my wish list for ages - I really hope they release it commercially, and soon! Based on the snippets I've seen of Maximova's Giselle I'll bet the M/V is devastating. I never saw her live and my understanding is that she was considered to be more of a soubrette than a dramatic ballerina but the clips I've seen of her in the second act pdd (from one of the Russian ballet compilations) are just stunning. Her dancing is so delicate & ghostly yet fraught with emotion. Another one I'd love to have is the Lunkina/Tsiskaridze video. But my wish list wouldn't be complete without the Fonteyn/Nureyev Giselle. I didn't even know there was footage of this till I saw some excerpts in the new Nureyev special - what I wouldn't give to own a copy of that (but even if a complete film/video exists I'll bet it was never released commercially).

Of the Giselle videos I do have, my favorite by far is the Makarova/Baryshnikov ABT video. Not only were they both such great dancers, but they had such an affinity for the roles, and great chemistry together. Also the video is from 76 or 77 and caught both of them pretty early in their post Soviet careers - just the way I'll always remember them!

Jack, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this - I can't wait for the NY showing!

Is the NY screening going to be open to the public? I don't see any info on the NYPL site, and I will definitely want to attend!

She danced at least one Juliet during the last Kirov engagement at the Kennedy center.

Thanks to all involved, I'm sure that keeping this site up and running takes a lot of work. We appreciate it!

I haven’t seen much of Morris, but based on what I’ve seen I’m not a big fan. So count me as one of those people who don’t get what all the fuss is about. It’s not like I hate his work- I didn’t like Sylvia but I kind of liked Gong and liked (but didn’t love) Drink to Me only with Thine Eyes. I enjoyed parts of Mozart Dances - but I’d never run to see anything I’ve seen of his the way I feel the need to see Promethian Fire when Taylors in town, or Diversion of Angels, Revelations, Concerto Barocco, Swan Lake, etc.

I think I just don’t care for his style of movement - the loopy, loose upper body. In fact I don’t like a lot of his upper body & arm movement - I don’t find it aesthetically pleasing. And I find his sense of humor more annoying than whimsical.

I’ve seen Mozart Dances 3 times now - once at the State last year, again there last night and I watched the PBS program this afternoon. First off, the cuts in the filming give the dance a very different shape. One of the things I liked in the theater is the way most of the solos and group dances seem to emerge organically from the ensemble and are often incorporated back into it. A lot of this was lost on the PBS program. I guess it’s a good reminder of what a poor substitute film is for a live performance, and how it can distort a choreographer’s intent.

I recall that the first time I saw this I liked the middle piece, but was very, very bored by the first and last. Last night I found much of the first section lyrical and appealing, but still in the theater there was too little dynamism for me. To my eyes this part looked much better on TV - the cuts back and forth to specific dancers and groups of dancer varied the focus and made it more interesting to me! I still really liked the middle section - I loved what Morris did with the men here. I thought his circle motifs and dissolving daisy chains were very inventive and evocative and I especially liked the section with Noah Vinson and the ensemble. But I still found the last section boring. Oh well, 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.

By the way, take a look at Wolcott’s blog for a very different take on Acocella's review (second story "JOANNIE LOVES CHUNKY"):

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott

Congratulations to Danny on making it all the way to 2nd place on SYTUCD and, of course, to Sabra for taking first place. I could never understand what would make him abandon the world of classical ballet with such a bright future ahead of him there, but this article may go a long way towards explaining his decision to leave ABT:

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?...6&ran=95143

I hope he eventually finds his way back to ballet (for my own selfish reasons) but more than anything, I hope his new found fame and the support of this young audience helps him realize his potential and find his way in dance.

I can’t wait to see him dance live again (after the sytucd tour!) and my new hope/dream//fantasy is that after the tour he will join Wheeldon’s new company. Just a dream, I know - but stranger things have happened!

And gone from the corps are Ashley Ellis, Matthew Golding & Adrienne Schulte. Anyone notice any others missing from the website?