Andre Yew

Doesn't this describe basically a major form of choreographic device, and if so, I fail to see how this describes only shallow things. It's merely a tool for communicating ideas, and from what I've read here, it sounds like people don't like the message. That's fine, but to dismiss a work because it predominantly uses such tools seems to be missing the forest for the trees. It also strikes me as particularly ironic that as ephemeral an art form as dance is often judged on literal, realistic terms. --Andre

Alexandra, Re. Structuralism vs. expressionism. I'm not sure I agree that they are fundamental pillars upon which to discuss work. I can't think of an appropriate dance example for now, so I will revert to musical examples. The first movement of Mahler's 3rd symphony is a gigantic sonata form, classically disciplined except perhaps distended in proportions. Yet, when most people hear this work, they don't hear intro, development, coda, etc., they hear the expressionistic effects: the big, stentorian trombone solo, the shrieking winds, the cruel trumpet, chirping birds, marches, and other impressions excerpted from real life. Is the work structural in nature or expressionistic? Both in fact, and it's usefully seen as both depending on what you're trying to get out of it, so I'm not sure such a binary distinction is a good way to describe this work. I was going to make a leap and compare Neumeier's Nijinsky to a prototypical Mahlerian work, but the hole I'm digging may be getting too deep already! :sweating: But I'm glad you found Nijinsky interesting. The dancers are quite fabulous. --Andre

Leigh, I can't answer your question very precisely about how a performance of Sleeping Beauty, etc. isn't shallow --- otherwise I'd be staging them! Examples of dance I've seen that isn't shallow include those that show me some aspect of the music I hadn't heard or thought about before. For example, Balanchine is great to me because he made me better understand Agon, an otherwise prickly piece of music which I now listen to by itself for pleasure. I was really struck by Bourne's Swan Lake because it dug into all these dark crevices of Tchaikovsky's score (played at notated speed, no less) and showed me something new in the music. It doesn't just have to about the music, but both pieces had an interesting point of view and could communicate it. As for structuralism and expressionism, classifying works as one or the other strikes me in the same way that comments on other surface features like sets and costumes, or technical dance steps do --- it's not necessarily a useful thing to talk about unless you can tie it in something deeper (there's that word again!) in the work. Hockeyfan228, Some messages are delivered in 40 minutes, while others require 2 hours. Is Mahler's 9th symphony any less profound than one of Bach's piano sonatas? --Andre

Alexandra, To clarify, by intellectual, I mean one has to think to make the structural connections, and to understand why they're there, much like any other great art form. The dark human baggage stuff (or indeed any other message) is something that the structure conveys and allows us to grasp, again like any other great art form. Too often, the great classical ballets (I'm glad you got my implication) are staged and presented just as pretty, shallow spectacles. It's one reason why I appreciate many of Balanchine's works, because they often distill the great classical canon down to their essence. --Andre

Alexandra, Neumeier's Nijinsky is intense enough to stun small animals at a distance ... perhaps our New York friends are still recovering? Seriously, I agree with you that we need to take these companies and directors seriously. It's eye-opening to me how different in expression, ideas, and execution they are compared to American companies, and will show us many worthwhile things that we won't see (or at least haven't yet seen) with our native companies. I can't even begin to imagine an American company trying to fund a staging of a 2+-hour, complicated, intellectually- and emotionally-demanding ballet that doesn't hide its darker undercurrents and subtexts behind a pretty or innocuous facade. --Andre

I just saw the Sunday afternoon show with Jiri as Nijinsky, Hattori as Stanislav, Otto (Jiri's twin brother) as the golden slave, and Riabko as Le Spectre. What an amazing work! It is complex, dense, multi-layered and -dimensional with references to so many things coming out of every pore, and not gratuitously either. For example, the crazy Shades scene I thought tied in very well to Stanislav's mental break, by reducing to disorder the most orderly scene in classical ballet. The Petrushka references (ie. unrequited love) are clearly directed at Nijinsky's confused sexuality and its consequences. Etc. I wish I could see it again, and I have a feeling it's going to reward repeated viewing. It's a very intense work, and demands active participation from the audience. I also have to say that this is the single strongest collection of male dancing I've seen. Ivan Urban was amazing as Diaghilev, and Jiri made me feel the awe audiences in Nijinsky's day may have felt at his technical prowess, as well as expressing the pain, frustration, and joy of his character (the family ballet class was especially touching). Hattori was scary. Otto and Riabko danced their roles very well, enough to make me wonder what they'd be like in the actual ballets. --Andre

If I were greedy, I'd pick Jewels: 3 for 1! Otherwise Agon. --Andre

A slightly philosophical set of questions: is a ballerina great because she touches greatness once, or does she have to do it many times? If many times, then how many and how consistently? And does greatness have to be perceived by many audience members, or only by one? If many, how many? --Andre

An answer to the question in this thread's subject just happened to me this weekend while watching Dance Theatre of Harlem perform Balanchine's Serenade. When the first man came out, I immediately noticed his dancing was very different than the rest of the company on stage. His upper body and chest were so much more open, and his port de bras were beautifully soft, flexible, and expressive, yet there was still a very strong sense of line. His cabrioles to the rear were actually expressive (how does one do that?!), and of course, he had nice light jumps. At intermission, I read the program, and found out who he was (Rasta Thomas), and that he was trained at the Kirov Academy in Washington, DC. He has the honor of being the first American dancer to be a member of the Kirov Ballet. He's also won several important competitions. I'm very interested in following his development as a dancer now. --Andre

I thought the choreography was odd as well, with Carreno's semi-jazzy stuff contrasted against the formally classical dancing of everyone else, and the scenario seemed a bit strained. Carreno was, as usual, technically wonderful, especially his turns. Also, did he do a new trick with the scissoring cabrioles to the front, for his ending sequence? I enjoyed more Eifman's other piece set to the Champagne Polka. --Andre

I saw Diana Vishneva this past year as Nikiya in La Bayadere and in Rubies, and was blown away. The range and complexity of drama and emotion she brings to a role, especially apparent in La Bayadere, coupled with her amazing technical facility really impressed me. Leonid Sarafanov has a great technique with really beautiful, light jumps. He was a joy to watch in the solo sections of La Bayadere, but his partnering appears to still need some work. Being able to see the Kirov style live, and their wonderful corps work was such a treat --- I'm now going back to some Kirov videos and watching them with newly opened eyes. My favorite at the moment is the Paquita divertissement with Yulia Makhalina and Igor Zelensky. I can't believe she has such a lifted, open chest, shoulders, and arms. --Andre edit: one more thing I forgot: Irina Golub's Gamzatti and Vishneva's Nikiya in La Bayadere had tension-filled, dramatic moments in their "fight" scene.

Publicly sponsoring a particular dancer seems like an especially bad idea. Perhaps dance companies could consider instead sponsoring a position, like symphony orchestras do (where many chairs, like the concertmaster and section leaders, have donor names attached to them). For example, the Mrs. & Mr. So-and-so Principal Danseur. I don't know how this would affect the hierarchy of a company, if some principal positions are sponsored, and others aren't. --Andre

Yes, I agree with all that writing "in my opinion", etc. isn't necessary in a professional review. However, the way Anderson's criticism is couched as a summary of all US performances (because he then goes on to say how successful it was for British audiences) rubs me the wrong way. I don't object at all to the fact that he didn't explicitly identify it as his personal opinion. What's wrong with writing only "which did not work", omitting "in the US"? He gets his observation across, and the writing and reasoning aren't as sloppy. The New York Times is an influential paper, and for an article about the worst of 2003, this influence should be carefully wielded. To justify an inclusion on the list with an observation that is, at best, inaccurate, and, at worst, a lie (of which I'm not necessarily accusing the author) is irresponsible. --Andre

Alexandra, I understand that criticisms are often written with an implied "in my opinion", but Jack Anderson wrote a rather absolute statement: Perhaps I'm just being picky, but it seems to me that the bolded part is an overstatement, unless he speaks for all US audiences, or he has read no reviews of GPD in the US, including that of his colleague. --Andre

Giannina, For Pagodas, try Japan, which is where I got my NTSC copy a couple of years ago: http://www.hmv.co.jp/Product/Detail.asp?sku=548753 You may need to click on an "English" link to get a mostly English page, otherwise, just go to the main home page, and look in the lower left hand corner for the English link --- it's a little hard to see as white text against a pink bar background. I've found HMV Japan to be reliable and fast on shipping, though naturally expensive on shipping costs. Amazon Japan may also carry it. For La Fille, I ordered the PAL, region 2 DVD from Amazon.co.uk, and have a multi-region player and a video converter to watch it. There's an old NTSC VHS tape floating around that you can sometimes find on Ebay, and other similar places. BTW, I love the music of Pagodas, and have heard it as a concert suite live once, and wonder why more people don't use this wonderful music, instead of Carmina Burana, Pachabel's Canon, etc. --Andre

Added by LAW - I split this thread off from This Year's Lows - the link to the article in question is there. I have no idea what Jack Anderson is talking about when he says GPD's home videos didn't work in the US. From the reviews I've read, and the audience reactions I've seen, it worked very well. Perhaps he meant to say that it didn't work for him. --Andre

My 2003 highlights in no particular order: - NDT II dacing Johan Inger's Dream Play, Hans van Manen's Simple Things, and Jiri Kylian's Sechs Tanze. Fusion of great energy, technique, and eye-opening choreography. - Stuttgart Ballet dancing Cranko's Romeo & Juliet, with Yseult Lendvai and Jason Reilly dancing the lead roles, and somehow making the drama transcend the dance. - The Kirov Ballet, and in particular, Diana Vishneva, dancing in La Bayadere, and Rubies. - George Piper Dances, AKA Ballet Boyz. - Viengsay Valdes in the Cuban National Ballet's Don Quixote pulling off the most sustained exhibition of balancing virtuosity I have ever seen. Non-dance related: - The opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and in particular, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mahler's 6th symphony in an emotionally devastating performance (as the work calls for). For me, after 3 previous concerts in less than stellar seats, this one finally fulfills the hall's much-hyped potential. I know what seat upgrade I'm going to try for next season. --Andre

I'm annoyed, too, by depictions of ballet dancers that are wrong --- there's a lot of sculpture I've seen with turned in legs in what appears to be classical technique. However, for a picture of a dancer for a dance company, unless one knows what choreography's being danced, how does one know whether the "error" is actually an error, or intended to look like that? For example, a lot of Balanchine or Forsythe would look wrong in the classical context. --Andre

Here's another suggestion: the Paris Opera Ballet's production of Don Quixote (with Nureyev's extra choreography, which is nice because there's more dancing for the guys) with Manuel Legris as Basilio, and Aurelie Dupont as Kitri. I'd never seen the POB before, and was completely blown away! Where do I start? The precision of the corps, and their wonderful dancing, especially the men and their relaxed (in a good way) leg- and footwork. Legris is also amazing --- he looks like he stepped out from a ballet textbook fully formed. Beautiful feet and legs, good lines, control, wonderful turns, and stage presence, along with articulate textbook technique (how straight are those legs?). The corps' upper bodies and arms don't quite have the same expressiveness as the Kirov, but their legs and feet make up for that. Maybe I'm just taken by everything else, but every woman in the corps also is very pretty and fresh-faced. This is out on DVD, published by TDK, with excellent picture and sound (in 5.1 surround as well), and intelligent indexing (the individual variations of the dances can be accessed directly). I found it at Tower Records, so I'm guessing it's widely available in the US. --Andre

Watermill, Thanks for the pointer --- that sounds vaguely familiar. It's too bad some of the best stuff is so tightly held. --Andre

Balletmom, I've had the ballet dictionary DVD on order at Amazon since November 13, and it hasn't shipped yet, so I assume it's not yet available. Another DVD to consider, though I don't know how appropriate it is for younger children, is the Nederlands Dans Theater's performances of Jiri Kylian's Black and White Ballets. It shows how differently ballet-trained dancers can move, in contrast to the classical stuff, and was eye-opening for me in the expressiveness of Kylian's choreography --- the first time I saw it, I kept saying to myself over and over again, "I didn't know you could do that!" Speaking of documentaries, I remember watching many (10 or 15?) years ago a documentary about a ballet company on tour on PBS. I don't remember much about it except how much it conveyed how normal dancers actually were because in addition to showing rehearsals and performances, they also followed the dancers on their downtime shopping, going to the beach, etc. This is a really vague description, but does anyone know what I'm talking about? --Andre

I'll be there on Saturday, November 15 at Cerritos. Anyone else going? It will be the 3rd Don Q for me for this year. --Andre

I was always peripherally aware and maybe a little curious about ballet. One Friday night a few years ago, not having anything else to do, I noticed that our local school (Gustafson Dance, associated with State Street Ballet) was having their end-of-summer school performance, and decided to go. I don't remember much about that performance except for the way the choreography filled the stage. There was so much to see and so much going on, and I couldn't see it all! The spatial complexity of the dance was what really engaged me. Another epiphany came the first time I saw Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake not long after seeing the school performance above. That was the first time I realized dance could tell a story in a dramatic, emotional way, and how dance could reveal all the little psychological and dramatic corners of music. It went downhill (for my ballet addiction) quickly after that. --Andre

In Southern California, where we're kind of starved for dance performances, I have to plan my whole season in the summer. I currently have subscriptions to the LA Philharmonic, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Music Center Dance series, UCLA Live, the Santa Barbara Symphony, State Street Ballet, and UCSB's Art and Lectures, and everything has to be planned just so, so that there are as few conflicts as possible between events as well as taking into account work, ballet classes, etc. If there are out-of-town things, things like air travel, hotels, etc. have to be taken care of well in advance, too. Sometimes some things pop up at the last minute (like next week's performance of Don Q by the Cubans at Cerritos), and it's nice to know your whole schedule so you know when you have a free moment to fit something else in. --Andre

I saw the Friday, November 7 show at UCLA, and here are some quick impressions. It was the best Apollo I've ever seen, ironically Dionysian in its conception, with Peter Boal especially expressive, and what a magnificent dancer he is as well, technically and expressively. The three Muses were also great, and seemed to have equal stature, whereas other performances seem to emphasize Terpsichore. I'm not sure the extended version offers any more than the shortened version. Variations for Orchestra is amazingly creepy and cool. What a unique and effective idea (I don't want to give away this ballet's cool twist). I hope this ballet is performed more often, though that may spoil its novelty. The emotional drama brought out in all four pieces (Divertimento No. 15 and Tzigane were the other two) really amazed me --- the pieces were still fresh and can speak to us. Definitely go see this company if they're performing near you. edit: typo --Andre