Andre Yew

The Asian food available in LA is incredible --- that's a good enough reason to return!

Lilit and Elise have danced only in the Nutcracker, so you'll be seeing the regular LAB dancers for their regular rep programs. Judging from last season's performances of Agon, Apollo, Concerto Barocco, and Rubies, there will be one or two shining stars from the company in those programs. They will also be repeating the Napoli excerpts (including Tarantella --- wouldn't that be an interesting program to pair it with Balanchine's?), and it's worth seeing for the very good coaching they seem to have received for it.

--Andre

I didn't think the opening party scene was all that evocative of Los Angeles, but according to last year's program notes, it's supposed to represent the vaguely Spanish architecture you find around here. There were basically wooden beams running across the ceiling of a wooden house. I guess that doesn't disqualify it from SoCal. Another thing I didn't like about LAB's Nut is that set design was too spare, which is especially apparent when juxtaposed against the rich costume design.

Did you get a look at the curtain drop at the end? I'm not sure if they showed it again at the end, but when you come in before the show, there are two angels against a starry night. Again, it's supposed to be evocative of the city of angels.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your visit to our area. Maybe you'll be back for their spring and summer programs?

--Andre

It's always interesting to read other people's first time impressions of LAB, especially people who aren't from the local area. Thanks!

I saw the show at Royce the previous night with Corina Gill and Rainer Krenstetter dancing SPF and her cavalier, and saw this production last year a few times, too. I'm not very thrilled with this Nutcracker --- the dancing doesn't blend well with the story, and much of the 1st act drags with simplistic dancing that doesn't even advance the story. It seemed a bit connect-the-dots: now we dance because we have the dancing music, and now we do some things with the plot. If you're going to do that, you'd better have very good dance choreography (like Balanchine's), and the choreography for the most part was uninspired.

The one highlight for me was Corina and Rainer's radiant dancing of the grand pas adage --- the partnership looks very good, which is a relief since her last partner, Oleg Gorboulev, who also looked to be a very good match, returned to Seattle. I'm surprised Corina didn't dance the Sunday Arabian, since that's her alternate role. She was very good in it last year.

I was also annoyed at how the music was changed: Mirlitons was omitted, while the grand pas's variations led off the beginning of act 2. Also, the beautiful music for the snow pas (the music right after the rats are defeated) was wasted on fairly lame mime action.

The costumes are actually from the Royal Danish Ballet's production, and I thought were very well executed and high quality. They are a bit less extroverted than the Balanchine costumes, though. The snowflakes costumes look very much like giant plastic loofah mesh balls to me. The mice costumes, especially their ratty-looking tails were perhaps a bit too realistic-looking for me.

The production people on Saturday night had some issues too. Lighting was uneven across the stage, so when the dancers lined up across the stage, the dancers nearest the wings were in the dark. It looked like there were missed cues, too, as some action happened in the dark before the lights came up.

Jonathan Sharp played Drosselmeyer, your "jaded Rodeo Drive shopper", and modeled his role after silent movie stars. I thought he was effective, and brought a well-needed sense of drama and theatricality to a mime role. Mime roles aren't done very well in general with American companies.

Lilit Hogtanian is very talented, and does a lot of dancing. The only thing conspicuously missing from her choreography were pirouettes. She alternated with another girl (Elise Miller) last year whom I didn't see, but heard from everyone else that she was almost unbelievably talented even compared to Lilit. That would have been something to see. Both girls are from the Yuri Grigoriev School in LA.

I'm being very picky, but it was good to see them fill Royce Hall on Saturday night. It's a much bigger venue than their other theaters, and hopefully it will bring people back for their really meaty programs this spring and summer.

--Andre

Lately it seems like Carmina Burana is the new Dracula.

Someone once asked Stravinsky what he thought about Carmina Burana, since like his neo-Classical works, it reworked old musical styles in a modern way. He kind of huffed, and said something like "That's not neo-Classical. It's neo-Neanderthal!"

--Andre

Well put, Andre. I know exactly what you mean!

New technology is often a double-edged sword especially when people are learning to use it.

I got a chance to look at the PNB MSD HD-DVD last night, and the differences are interesting. I'm glad for the extra resolution here because it was really easy recognizing company members in the corps work. In fact, it was somewhat distracting at times --- oh, look there goes Gavin again.

But the high resolution also exposed production problems. The cameramen that night had issues with their focus. The director would cut to a closeup, and you'd see the camera hunting for its focus as the picture went into focus, then out, then in again. I never saw this on the regular DVD.

There was also an occasional weird blurry problem that looked like someone applied one of those 1960s blur around the edges glamour filters. I couldn't decide if it was more camera focus problem (at the end of the wedding march when the 3 couples are lined up for their bows, the audience left couple is out of focus, but the audience right couple is in focus, and both are the same distance to the camera) or if there's some technical issue. This HD-DVD is coded with MPEG4-AVC (AKA Apple's H.264), whereas the always sharp POB Swan Lake was coded with Microsoft's VC-1, but both are supposed to be good codecs.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more HD releases, so at the very least I can justify my shiny new toy.

--Andre

I just got my copy of the POB Swan Lake on HD-DVD yesterday, and it was interesting to watch it with both pluses and minuses. On the one hand, the detail and resolution is amazing, and on the other hand, the detail and resolution is amazing. You see everything! Every single detail of their skin, the dust on the stage, the seams of the sets. Everything. Couple this with the closeups of people's faces, and there's really nothing left to hide. Besides seeing muscle definition more clearly, I'm not sure that HD significantly improves the experience of watching dance on video.

I'm thinking that there is probably some acclimatization period, and I won't want to go back to SD afterwards, but the level of detail is overwhelming right now. The PNB Midsummer Night's Dream HD-DVD is coming tomorrow, and I've watched the DVD of that countless times, so it will be interesting to compare.

I know Art's been seeing the Met's live opera HD cinema broadcasts. I wonder how that compares on an even larger screen than a home TV.

--Andre

If you don't want to get a hacked player (there's nothing wrong with them, and they will be as durable as normal DVD players), you can also get an Oppo player, and enter a code to make them region free. They will also convert PAL to NTSC, and are high quality in general. I have the 980H model.

http://www.oppodigital.com

--Andre

Since I wear T-shirts and jeans for my day job, it's always a pleasure for me to dress up when I go out, so it's almost always a suit and tie. Sometimes for slightly edgier things like a smaller modern company where the crowd will be a bit more informal, I'll wear a dress shirt, dark jeans (no fades, funky washes, etc.), sportcoat, and polished leather shoes --- sort of like the generic Banana Republic uniform.

In general, it depends on the community and area, and with the state of dance as it is today, I think they'd all welcome more audience members no matter how they're dressed. But you usually can't go wrong if you slightly overdress.

--Andre

(Seriously he has limited virtuosity but is a very nice lyrical dancer from what I saw from him guesting with ABT last summer)

What?! Is this the same Roberto Bolle we're talking about? Limited virtuosity is hardly the term I'd use to describe his very secure, solid technique. Perhaps he makes everything look a little too easy and clean, but his technique can hardly be faulted. His line is also one of the most beautiful and articulated out there.

--Andre

Did anyone else see Lines Ballet's opening program last week? It's repeating again starting tonight, and is well worth seeing if only for the incredible pas de deux in the second piece, Rasa. There were two pieces, Irregular Pearl, set to Baroque music played by members of the Philhamornia Baroque Orchestra, and Rasa, set to Indian tabla music by Zakir Hussain and Kala Ramnath. I didn't find the first piece memorable, though it was full of beautiful movement typical of his dancers and style: sort of a sinuous adagio quality at any speed of movement.

Rasa however was something completely different. Lines had given a preview of the pas and some other sections of the piece at OCPAC's Fall For Dance last month, and I was very excited to see it again. The pas, danced by Laurel Keen and Brett Conway, was like a physical embodiment of yin and yang: juxtaposing struggle against cooperation, effort vs. ease. At times, the burnt sepia tones of the lighting and simple set implied two people struggling across a desert parched. They would alternately drag each other across the floor, push each other away, and come together again. What was remarkable about this display of struggle was that it was articulate (King has a talent for making even the smallest gestures read well from long distances), seamless, and integrated with classical ballet technique. Often choreography that tries to integrate prosaic movement with classical technique look arbitrary and like the choreographer had a checklist for the moves --- they seem to come in because no one had flexed a foot for a few minutes now. In this pas, no matter what awkward position --- rolling on the floor, the girl climbing onto the hunched back of the boy, dragging the other dancer by the heels --- they were moving into, it all seemed to be a natural consequence of what they had been doing.

Some contemporary ballets fracture technique and take it apart, which can be interesting, but the results can be somewhat abstract. This one relates it to life as it's being lived today, and removes ballet from its aristocratic aloofness, but still finds nobility in the movement it portrays.

It that wasn't enough, a series of solos followed the pas that had the dancers doing very fast, rhythmically complex, and sharp upper and lower body movements that had ballet dancers moving like I've never seen ballet dancers move before. I kept thinking of the krumping documentary Rize which disclaims that all the dancing the movie was done at actual speed, and nothing was sped up by editing.

Anyway, go see it --- it's probably the best pas de deux you will see in a long time, and you won't get to see dancers move like this very often.

--Andre

Good stage faces can look goofy in real life since many features are bigger-than-life.

My favorite female proportions belong to Sylvie Guillem, Patricia Barker, Svetlana Zakharova, Polina Semionova, and Darcey Bussell. I guess I like long, hyperextended ballerinas with amazing feet.

--Andre

I got to see Diana Vishneva twice as Aurora when the Kirov toured with SB a few years ago. On one of those nights (Saturday evening), she performed the only perfect Rose Adagio I have ever seen, and she did it with such ease. I think she can elevate any production. Unfortunately, we'll probably only get the ABT principals when they come out here.

--Andre

It's a good excuse to go to Paris and London in April (I'll take any!)

Don't forget the Royal Ballet's US tour this summer. They're doing Sleeping Beauty 7/5-7/7 in San Antonio, Texas:

http://www.artssanantonio.com/

The RB brings out the dramatic qualities of the ballet that you don't really see in the Sergeyev production. For me, the Lilac Fairy-Carabosse interactions and mime, and its symbolic relationship to the whole ballet, alone are worth the price of admission.

After reading all these impressions, I'm looking forward to ABT's visit with Sleeping Beauty this summer to California, in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way.

--Andre

Yes, I did go again last night (Saturday, Alex Theater in Glendale), and it was much improved. Serenade looked much better, and the dancers were really getting into the style of the other pieces, especially Rubies. It's too bad they only have 4 performances, because I think they could look very good if they had more time to get the choreography in their bones.

What remained the same however was the very weak men's corps. It was kind of embarassing putting that quality of dancers on stage for the prices they were charging ($95 for the best seats), which were comparable the big touring companies' prices.

--Andre

Yes, I saw Thursday night's show. Colleen and Thordal once again introduced the show, which is a nice touch that gives a human face to the backstage stuff.

Serenade needed a lot of work, especially from the corps. Some of the soloists were looking a bit rough as well. Brooklyn Mack was brought in to dance the man's role, and it wasn't flattering to his partner since he looked like he was in a completely different (ie. much better) technical class than his partner --- imagine one of those school performances where they bring in a professional danseur to partner the school girls. They also had no chemistry, and their partnership was a bit lacking as well. There were missed lighting cues as well.

Apollo was in better shape except for a couple of lighting and music gaffs, and they did the full version with the birth scene. Oleg Gourboulev danced Apollo, and did well --- it was a pretty straightforward interpretation. It was nowhere as wrongheaded as the Joffrey's about a month ago when they visited LA, but nowhere near Peter Boal's when Suzanne Farrell's company visited UCLA a couple of years ago. The three muses were fine as well, and Corina Gill makes for a very fine Terpsichore. Terpsichore and Apollo's pas was the highlight of the evening.

Rubies looked like the thing they worked on most. Sergei Kheylik and Corina Gill danced the main roles, and were fine doing it in terms of the steps executed. If anything, they mainly lacked the idiomatic sharpness and jazziness of the piece. It looked as if they were still connecting the dots, going from dot to dot instead of filling the choreography. I suppose this kind of thing comes with time and more familiarity with the choreography. The corps was a bit tighter, but could use a little bit more work as well.

One thing that was a letdown this time was the weakness of the men's corps especially after the men looked so good in their last program. There's not much of it in this program, but for the most part, the men in the corps looked really weak and lacking in even basic ballet carriage: collapsed chests, looking at the floor, etc. They were also especially short.

Another thing that was really annoying, and has been documented and complained to the management before, was the house photographer whose camera could be heard from my seat in row C. Imagine the closing scene of Serenade with clicks going on. He had been moved into the soundbox, but he opened its window so he could still could be clearly heard.

I'm going again on Saturday in Glendale. Hopefully they'll have cleaned up a lot of stuff.

--Andre

According to one of the preview articles of SFB's 2007-8 season, they will be filming Helgi Tomasson's Nutcracker and broadcasting it in HD over public TV, so get your VCRs ready! Not sure who's been cast.

--Andre

Just got my tickets too: orchestra seats for the last night of the Forsythe, and the first night of the Balanchine.

--Andre

And, Does this have a channel for tv, hence the name?

I wish, but I don't think there will be --- they seem to be interested in directly broadcasting over the web.

--Andre

A new video website that seems to be based in Southern California has a bunch of short, free video features on various dance companies that have performed here. Companies include our LA Ballet, the Kirov, and Joffrey. There's even an interview with the dread critic Lewis Segal!

http://www.dancechanneltv.com

--Andre

I saw the Friday and Saturday shows, and can't add too much to what's already been said. I think the men definitely looked stronger than most of the women, and the men had really nice feet as well. Peter danced in Napoli, and looked very good doing it. I hope we get to see him dance more. While I enjoyed all three pieces (the two Balanchine pas were especially beautiful), I thought Napoli looked the best coached and prepared.

The audience was fairly full for the Friday show at UCLA, but really bare (less than 1/3 of the seats filled?) at Redondo Beach. Hopefully it will be better for their next performance at the Alex in Glendale on March 31.

--Andre

Reviving an old thread. I had a chance recently to see a video of the Royal Ballet dancing Symphony in C in 1997 (Yoshida/Sansom, Bussell/Saunders, Benjamin/Trevitt, Bull/Cassidy), and I found their interpretation to be just delightful, because it so highlighted all their English qualities. They had a soft elegance that's so different from NYCB's jagged edges. We often have discussions here about the right style and whatnot, but I wonder if there are certain ballets that better serve as vehicles for showing off a company's own style, and are the better for it because of the diversity of interpretation. I can only imagine how awesome the POB must look in Symphony in C, and I find the idea of a Russian version danced by the Kirov to be very intriguing.

Since it was made on the POB so long ago, I can't imagine Symphony in C to be one of those ballets that really demands Balanchine style, whatever that may be! Its use of mostly pretty fundamental ballet steps would seem to let it be easily adaptable to many different schools of style.

--Andre

I saw Death in Venice twice: once on Saturday night and again on Sunday. I thought it was much more comprehensible and enjoyable, after a fashion, on Sunday. There are so many things coming at you from the stage that it's hard to take it all in. The second time, everything seems to fit better, and the choreography seemed less like busywork to fill in time. I agree that the ballet was superbly cast, and the dancers are beautiful and technically accomplished. Helene Bouchet, dancing La Barbarina, had amazing feet and legs that went on forever. Dramatic acting was also an integral part of their performance, as opposed to something put on over the dancing. The pianist (Elizabeth Cooper) was really excellent, and even fit in well dramatically. On-stage musicians are usually a bit stiff and awkward in contrast to the dancers.

Even on second viewing, I still didn't like the Jethro Tull KISS-faced guitar players as that seemed too arbitrary, even for an Expressionistic choreographer like Neumeier. All in all, I thought it was a pretty creepy ballet with death pervading every moment, and winning in the end with no hope of transfiguration, in spite of the music, the Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan & Isolde.

--Andre

In fact, to my eyes, when the dance the same steps in synchronicity there is still quite a difference. Do you see it?

Yes, there is quite a difference, but I also don't think there is a wider range of non-verbal communication for women than men as there are many things men use that women generally don't.

Leonid, you are right. I should have said something less specific than "port de bras" in that sentence. I was thinking more about physical expression than just port de bras.

--Andre

SanderO,

I don't agree that expression by ballet port de bras is inherently feminine or masculine, but perhaps that's not what you meant. I think guys can be just as uniquely expressive as women, and the tools given to them are neutral.

One of my favorite mime passages is in the Royal Ballet's video of the Nutcracker with Alina Cojocaru and Ivan Putrov, where the Nutcracker is describing the rat battle to the Sugar Plum Fairy. I think this sequence shows a very male perspective on the expressiveness of port de bras.

--Andre

I thought this was the most disturbing quote:

Would she like her children to become ballerinas? "Not really. It's a difficult life. It's obsessive and isolated and poorly paid. It's a very small world and very few of us are in it. I have been very fortunate to have done as well as I have. There are many other talented dancers out there who have not had the success they should have had. You have to be very strong physically and emotionally to do this and then you have to sit back and watch your body break down."

I don't find this quote disturbing, but refreshingly frank. Performing arts schools are turning out more dancers, musicians, actors, etc. than can ever be gainfully employed, and they will come into a society that will undervalue and misunderstand them. Every child seriously considering going into the arts and their parents ought to have a talk like this from the school representatives before they make their decisions.

--Andre