bobsey

Gosh, I never thought I'd be stirring up such vigorous rebukes. Let's leave her alone.

I have enjoyed rkoretsky's (very pleasant and knowledgeable person, try and meet her when you come to SPAC) and Manhattnik's (his a work of art) posts here. But I'm thinking that, as they say, Yvonne Borree is not Kay Mazzo, and that's therefore pretty bad. (Yeah, and Mark McGwire is not Ty Cobb). And in another post I learn that she is "attempting to exorcise her own personal demons night after night." What does this mean? Are we supposed to be on to something evidently hidden from management that casts her so often? I like her and don't think she's "floppy." I've just signed for another subscription to NYCB and hope to see her again.

Wednesday night we had Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Soiree and The Four Seasons. I'm gong to skip Stravinsky for it does not agree with me. ("You can't like ballet and not like Stravinsky. You have no taste at all") Sorry but that's the way it is. The charming lady next to me thought it was great and Borree, Whelan, Martins and Soto were exactly right. But I awoke with a snap at Soiree, the new Tanner piece with music by Nino Rota. It's fresh, exciting and fun. The women particularly shone: Janie Taylor, Carla Korbes and Ashley Bouder. To say Korbes was the pick of the lot would be unfair tothe others, but she is so crisp and vivacious you can't help but notice. The men, Jared Angle, Seth Orze and Andrew Vedette were able. Janie Taylor came back again as Winter in The Four Seasons, dancing with Jeroen Hofmans and Alexander Ritter. Spring brought Pascale van Kipnis and Philip Neal. Rachel Rutherford and James Fayette danced Summer, and Miranda Weese, Benjamin Millepied and Antonio Carmena in Fall -- the men amusing us in their Woetzel-like pyrotechnics.

I thought Tuesday nights performance was topnotch. I'll leave the technical expertise to rkoretsky, but my eyes kept coming back to Peter Boal (in brown) and Yvonne Borree (in pink) at Dances of a Gathering. But that is putting down no one else. Cortege Hongrois is a rousing and attractive closer. All four of the principals looked good - strong, graceful Albert Evans, Kathleen Tracey, Charles Askegard and Monique Meunier. The same cast will be back Thursday and I'll be happy to see it again

I have tickets for 7/17 through 7/20 and am looking forward to it. I'll say hello some intermission.

Wednesday matinee's Swan Lake cast at ABT was not the first line; no principals were seen. But so strong is the company's lineup of excellent dancers they were hardly needed. Carmelo Gomes and Gillian Murphy danced Siegfried and Odette/Odile with great panache, clean and meaningful. I looked at a video the night before of Peter Schaufuss as Siegfried, and it made Gomes even more a real champion, Schaufuss looked like he'd eaten something bad from beginning to end. Gomes's expression and attitude were always appropriate throughout. Reviews regularly comment on Murphy as technically excellent but lacking in warmth. But look at her pretty face; it could never be cute or jolly, it's not structured that way. Even when she smiles - rarely - it's still pretty cool. But she's terribly good, just the way she is. The Pas de Trois people brought the day's loudest cheers: the Cornejos, Erica and Herman and Xiomara Reyes. And I looked with enthusiasm at Ekaterina Shelkanova leading the czardos in Act III. But not all was completely satisfying. The Corps seemed to me to be not tightened up so that all the limbs were moved in unison, and the spaces filled properly. In the cygnets dance the second from the left was slightly out of sync most of the way. But the music the settings, the costumes were elegant, and all in all I thought it was great and we were lucky to have one company dancing the classics in New York.

Watching Darci Kistler in Duo Concertant early this year

Leigh Witchel & Michael1: Thanks for your comments. I appreciate them. To answer -- I like the music, the costumes, the ambience of being with an enthusiastic audience. I've seen Kent, Corella, Jaffe, Tuttle, Bocca several times and never can find fault. They always please me. I don't count their turns or the angles of their limbs, and if I did that would not I miss the overall effect of their performance? Ideally, I suppose, I ought to be able to do both. Well, I'll work on it - I'm going to Saratoga next month.

I was at the Wednesday matinee and enjoyed every minute of it. But I come on here and find that the cognoscenti find little but technical errors and bad ballet. It's discouraging; will I ever learn?

I have Coppelia by Ballet de San Juan (PR) and it's better than you might think. Bujones is lively, as usual

I looked at the Royal video of Act II of Bayadere just before attending the Wednesday matinee. To me Picone was equally as impressive as Mukhamedov. It was disappointing not to see Corella, as scheduled, but Picone was very good. And good thing he was to help save the day, for Pied Piper was a disaster, I thought, dark gloomy and cartoonish.

Don't sit too close in the orchestra. I'm in the fourth row for a whole series, and you can just see the ankles but not the toes. back about a dozen rows would be better

... Well, I have nothing but sheer, unreserved praise for Kistler's performance. Every moment was danced -- lived -- in full, radiant bloom I agree, it was a remarkable performance, and she never looked better. It was the highlight of a rather good day, all around