oberon

Is Jock dancing at Saratoga?

Well, don't feel too bad about missing NY EXPORT...it's really not a big deal, like INTERPLAY with a few more people in sneakers & sweaters. It looked pretty dated to me, and the the audience reaction on the night I went was not especially strong.

I agree with Farrell Fan that NYCB is no longer Balanchine's company. It is simply the Company that performs more of his works more frequently than any other. It would be unreasonable to expect it to be what it was when he was alive. Could things have been "better preserved"? Perhaps. They could also be in a far worse state of affairs. It cannot be like a museum where beautiful paintings may be viewed intact over decades or centuries. Dance is not that kind of art; by its very nature it moves on. Dancers today are simply not going to dance like the ones Balanchine personally trained: the ones some of us old-timers saw years ago and still hold up as an ideal. The steps can be re-created but not the feeling of "dancing for Mr. B". There are dancers in the Company now who were born after Balanchine died. Ballet masters and coaches can do alot to pass on the gospel, but it is second-hand at best. One might lament that Suzanne Farrell or this or that other former Balanchine dancer is not on hand, but the situation is what it is and we may either stop going - which I believe many folks have done - or accept that times have changed, that the Company still has alot to offer, and that we can't see this much Balanchine in a daily dosage anywhere else. In spite of all this, I do think the Balanchine ballets still often look striking and fresh. In recent seasons EPISIODES and 4 TEMPS, among others, have been simply eye-opening for me. This makes me think Balanchine continues to lurk about in the studios of the NYCB. The current crop of dancers seems very satisfying to me - the personalities and "perfumes" of these dancers are as intriguing as those I recall from the days of Bart Cook, Francisco Moncion, Kay Mazzo or Sara Leland. And of course the great thing about ballet is: someone new is always coming along. Right now I look forward to watching people like Bouder, Korbes, Hanna & LaCour explore the repertoire, keeping it alive for another generation to discover.

I thought the Vasks score for Peter's ballet was really engrossing; the ballet was too dark for the music and the music is too long to watch just 4 dancers, no matter how wonderful they might be. No one else has commented on the hair-dos of the 3 women. Didn't Sylve look odd? She dances up a storm, though. The Albinoni score won the evening's music prize, hands down. Matt Fuerst's score for Albert is pretty spiffy. I didn't mind the Ott score so much (Benjamin's piece) because it was so brilliantly played. For beauty last night, one had to look to the individual dancers - and there was plenty of it, from both sexes. Jenifer Ringer alone supplies enough to light up several city blocks. To say nothing of Korbes... It's a bit strange: during the performance I was not totally captivated - except for the Liang piece - but today I'm finding it left me with alot of nice "snapshot" memories. I'll look forward to seeing the ballets again next week. Note to Albert: please change Bouder's costume!! A plain white leotard will be preferable; and give the girl some tights, please!

A champagne toast to these two dancers! Wonderful news for Korbes fans...of which this household has two! I would imagine that Ask LaCour's main value to the Company is: he's tall. And a good partner. With Kowroski, Sylve, Reichlin and Korbes among the brightest luminaries, tall men are needed. Charles Askegard & Philip Neal won't dance forever, and the wave of the future is coming in. Steve Hanna is there, but he seems most comfortable with slightly shorter women. Besides, he cannot do everything. I'm not sure how LaCour would fare in showy roles - lots of turns and jumps - but I doubt he'll be called on for much of that. I'll be glad to see him with Reichlin and I hope that partnership gets cooking soon. When LaCour first joined the Company, I thought he looked kind of sluggish and aside from being tall I could not imagine what he could bring to the stage. But his presence has really grown on me, notably in SHAMBARDS, the Elegie of TCHAIK #3 and BARBER VIOLIN CONCERTO where I thought he really made an impact. And last night, in Benj. Millepied's DOUBLE ARIA he showed he could take excellent care of Maria K.

Damian? Sure...great idea. I guess I assumed he'd done it already. And I think he's good-looking - not handsome or beautiful but with great eyes and expression.

Carbro, when they wheeled the lectern out before AMERICAN IN PARIS I was dreading the usual "gala" speech but I thought Mr. Gioia's remarks were wonderfully sincere and moving. It was actually a highlight of the evening!

I think Marcovici & Hubbe are currently injured. I don't mind seeing Nilas in it, in fact I saw him do a very fine one a couple years ago. But we do need some new ones, now Boal is departing. I would like to see any of these men try Apollo: Albert Evans Charles Askegard Stephen Hanna Benjamin Millepied James Fayette Jared Angle Philip Neal Edwaard Liang Ask LaCour Adam Hendrickson Antonio Carmena Seth Orza Sean Suozzi Andrew Veyette Amar Ramasar I once proposed Joaquin de Luz for both Apollo & Prodigal but there were some objections. Is it just because he's short? Robert Tewsley would be remarkable, I think, but I guess it would have to be as a guest artist at this point. Too bad his NYCB career was so riddled with injuries.

The Gala opened with Peter's darkish, sterile TALA GAISMA to a haunting score by Vasks, beautifully played by the orchestra & violinist Kurt Nikkanen. The piece is in the manner of Peter's earlier WALTON CELLO CONCERTO and EROS PIANO. Jared Angle, replacing Jock Soto, seems unable to choose between 3 ballerinas. Each has her solo passages, and duets with Angle as they attempt to sort things out. After a while it became rather same-y; not terrible but not very inspired. Each woman had her signature hair-do: an Afro (!) for Sylve, corn-rows & a top-knot for Miranda Weese, and Darci with her hair down. All danced perfectly but in the end the piece did not make much of an impression. Matthew Fuerst's colorful score highlighted Albert's very enjoyable BROKEN PROMISE in which two of the Company's brightest "next generation" stars, Ashley Bouder & Stephen Hanna, filled the stage with expansive, dazzling dance as well as some very demanding partnering. Bouder was beautifully made-up and has matured into a more womanly dancer, so vibrant and technically assured. My only tiny complaint was the silver sequins on Bouder's leotard which looked like a dance school recital outfit; also I would rather see women in tights always - not bare legs. But these visual annoyances hardly infringed on the success of the ballet. Millepied's DOUBLE ARIA, a quirky score beautifully played onstage by Timothy Fain, gave us the impressive partnership of Ask LaCour & Maria Kowroski who maintain serious - almost grave - facial expressions as they work thru very complex partnering manouvres. LaCour has become a valuable "tall" partner for such divas as Maria, Sylve & Reichlin - astute and with a beautiful presence. I think we may have come to take Maria Kowroski for granted and here let me say, she is one amazing dancer - her flexibility, strength, extension and expression were all beautifully showcased in Benjamin's choreography. I had seen Eddie Liang's DISTANT CRIES at the Joyce and it made a very sucessful transplant to NYCB. Having two of the greatest dancers on the planet, Wendy Whelan & Peter Boal, in your ballet in a big enhancement to begin with. Liang plays to Wendy's vunerable side; her legs mesmerize as they flash through the various combinations; her waif-like but steely body seems to generate its own light. Boal is sexy and self-effacing, the partner de luxe. Incredible pair! This piece drew the biggest reception of the evening and when Liang joined the dancers for a bow, waves of affection greeted them all. I'm not partial to Broadway style ballets in general, and I really can't say much of anything favorable about Wheedon's AMERICAN IN PARIS. The colorful sets serve as a backdrop for various Parisian types who seem to come and go without purpose. Damian and Jenifer Ringer and saucy Carla Korbes - in a red beret - give it their all but nothing happens. For me the highlight was Pauline Golbin, looking like she stepped from a 1950's issue of Vogue in her gunmetal satin full-skirt with fuschia gloves & picture hat - glamour! In fact the 3 glove girls (Golbin, Hanson & Abergel) made me think of LA VALSE and made me wish I was watching THAT instead of THIS! The post-performance party was populated by many luminaries - Leslie Browne was there, and Alexandra Ansanelli in a splendidly chic gown of broad black & white stripes. Golbin, Rachel R, Pascale van Kipnis & Melissa Barak could have graced any fashion runway. And it's always interesting to see who's dating whom... I'll see all these ballets again next week and they may seem different in different contexts.

I sometimes wonder what percentage of the audience on a given night knows that NYCB is "Balanchine's company" or knows or cares whether his ballets are or are not being performed "up to past standards"? People I have taken or "sent" to the ballet over the last 7 years have singled out non-Balanchine ballets for special praise: Robbins OPUS 19/THE DREAMER and THE CAGE, Wheeldon's CAROUSEL, Peter Martins STABAT MATER and HALLELUJAH JUNCTION have been specially enjoyed. Balanchine works are always thought highly of but aren't considered any more significant than other items on the programme. Just this past Friday a friend who is swooping into town for a few days called to ask if I could get him tickets to see CHICHESTER PSALMS because he read that NYCB was doing it and he loves that Bernstein score. Another once asked me to get him tickets to FIREBIRD to see the Chagall sets. I once tried to discourage friends from going on a night when, as I told them, "there's no Balanchine on the programme" and they were like: "So???"

Yes, I've seen Damian do it...he was the first person I remember doing it a few seasons back, and I thought it was spontaneous as the girl nearest him was a trifle unsteady.

This is a topic that I could write about at length, but it boils down to these few remarks: To see the Balanchine rep on a daily basis year in and year out, you have to go to NYCB. No, they are not always perfectly executed. The same may be said of the Robbins repertoire. I cannot think of any other Company that is so dedicated to the creation of new works. They are not all great pieces by a long shot. They do extend the range of the dancers and bring new/different music into the repertoire. You can always skip them if they're not to your liking. The dancers. I love every last blasted one of them. The feeling of continuity: knowing Merrill Ashley or Karin von Aroldingen are hovering backstage; seeing Nicholas Fokine onstage in the NUTCRACKER. An ongoing sense of ballet as a family affair, spanning back to Diaghilev who in turn links back to Petipa. The theatre: ideal for dance. The Met's too big, the Joyce too small for larger pieces and has no pit. City Center is not comfortable and the stage is oddly proportioned. But the NY State Theatre is just right. It feels like home. Balanchine's ghost: he's in the air.

Friday 4/29 Korbes looks sensational in CHICHESTER PSALMS. The NY Times found the work tepid, I find it calm and somehow uplifting. The NY Times warned that ballets where the girls wear their hair down might be a bad omen; to me it is very attractive. I was very sorry that SONATAS & INTERLUDES was dropped; Jock Soto has cancelled his performances in the first week. I know this Tanner work is closely identified with Jock, but could not someone else have danced it? Albert? James Fayette? Arch Higgins? Does it mean that after Jock retires we will never see this piece again? Anyway, Fairchild - looking more confident that usual - and de Luz gave us a sprightly TARANTELLA instead. NY EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ reminds me mostly of INTERPLAY with a darker interlude. Everyone is in sneakers and bright sweaters. At the end, they all change to white sweaters. Lots of energy. Craig Hall & Rachel Rutherford were very well-paired in the adagio. Hall has an amazing presence, great strength; Rachel displayed a nice vulnerable quality. Who would have thought Rebecca Krohn, who always looks like the epitome of a classical ballerina, would be such a convincing jazz baby? Seth Orza gave us big-scale dancing. Georgina Pazcoguin, Adam Hendrickson & Andrew Veyette made strong contributions; everyone in fact threw themselves into the style. Overall the ballet seemed a little dated to me. The radiant Sylve and the gallant Stephen Hanna gave a very enjoyable STARS & STRIPES. Very amusing moment when Hanna, lounging against the proscenium, gives an off-handed assist to Sara Mearns who is doing a pencee in his corner. Was it Damian who instituted this priceless little moment? Hyltin was really superb, and the leggy Hanson brings lyricism to the 2nd Regiment. Daniel Ulbricht gave a jaw-dropping virtuoso display with multiple air turns (could they have been quadruples??) and spot-on, "no-hands" drops to the knee. If there were moments when the ranks needed "dressing", the audience didn't seem to mind. The spirit of the work was amply on display.

I really liked Liang's ballet when I saw it at the Joyce; I was wondering if I would ever have an opportunity to see it again.

Kyra as the Pearly Queen...that will be fun!

I even took it with me to the NYCB ticket line on Monday and was glad I did because otherwise it would have been a tedious 90-minute wait to get to the box office window...

MRS. KEPPEL & HER DAUGHTER, by Diana Souhami. Alice Keppel was the mistress of Edward VII and she was the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles. I have read this book ten or twelve times since it came out in 1997 and read it again in the lead-up to the royal wedding. It is a fascinating portrait of a king's mistress but even more so of Mrs. Keppel's daughter, Violet Trefusis, whose lesbian affair with Vita Sackville-West caused her to be cast out of society. The moral double standards and the hypocrisy of the key players veers from hilarious to maddening. Huge personalities come into play, among them the Princesse de Polignac, quite fascinating in her own right. The author contrasts Queen Alexandra's handling of Edward VII's affairs with Princess Diana's mishandling of the Charles/Camilla relationship. It's a page-turner, for me anyway. Vita Sackville-West comes off as a heartless, self-absorbed, manipulative bitch. Violet Trefusis once wrote what I think would be a perfect epitaph: "My heart was more disgraceful, more alone and more courageous than the world has known. O passer-by my heart was like your own."

The author is Jonathan Hull. I'm about 1/2 way through it. Certain passages have left me feeling depressed, which is uncharacteristic for me. It deals powerfully with the reality of war, and also with the emptiness & regret of old age. I called out sick from work yesterday so I could keep reading, that's how it's grabbed me!

I'd been meaning to read this book since it came out in 2000; one thing after another put it off and then it went out of print. But I found a copy at Alibris (a great on-line place to find books) and I started it, and cannot put it down. It is essentially a story about World War I told in flash-backs by Patrick, an American soldier, now (years later) in a nursing home. Intertwined with ghastly recollections of the war and scenes set in the nursing home - by turns amusing and touching - is a love story. The book deals with big issues (war, growing old, lost opportunity) on a personal level. It upsets and exults by turn. One of the striking aspects of the book is the detachment from war among those who are not actively involved in the fighting of it. This relates to our present situation where the death, mutilation, torture and despair going on in Iraq and Afghanistan do not affect our daily lives because we are at a safe remove. Many years after his own wartime experience, and after yet a second catastrophic world war, Patrick visits Dachau. On leaving he observes, "...the real horror is not what happened at Dachau but what didn't happen after Dachau. Certainly we know now once and for all that humanity can never be brought to its senses." A powerful, upsetting and rewarding book...

I never feel sleepy at NYCB, but I have often been bored at ABT and have stopped going there for the most part.

I don't believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. We weren't the only ones booing, either.

I am a very vocal ballet-goer, stemming from my 40-years as a devoted opera fan. Yelling "bravo/brava/bravi" (when it's deserved, of course) is fun. Once in a while I will let out a high "whoop" though I feel rather undignified doing it at my age. Once I actually screamed - for Wendy. I couldn't control myself! I think the dancers love to be cheered. I have only booed once at the ballet and that was at the NYC premiere of the Balanchine COPPELIA when I and some friends booed Danilova because we hated her staging of the second act. And I still basically don't like it, but since I rarely go to COPPELIA anymore it doesn't matter.

Well, Ari, not all "old-timers" are unhappy with things as they are at NYCB these days. I started going at the same time you did. There have always been, over the years, better and less-good nights at the NYCB. Things are different now but I do not think they are "worse" - Balanchine knew his ballets would look different after he was gone. There is no avoiding that situation, yet frequently I am amazed at how fresh they look. I have loved many dancers over the years, and I miss the ones who are gone but I'm excited by almost all of the dancers there today. I think we are fortunate to have this great concentration of Balanchine's work available to us on a daily basis. Whether Peter will eventually be viewed as the savior or the destroyer of Balanchine's legacy remains to be seen. We have no way of knowing how much worse things could be, just as we do not really know how much better. Aside from artistic considerations, there is the financial aspect to consider and there I think Martins has managed very well. While his neighbor at the Metropolitan Opera struggles with an aenemic box office, I don't see a major drop in attendance at NYCB. Some nights draw better than others, but that has always been the case. I've been going so frequently in the past few years; NYCB is a major consideration for me in my decision to stay in NYC or move (out of the USA). I just love having MOZARTIANA and 4 TEMPS close at hand, and I am not quite ready to live without them.

Just a note for anyone thinking of going to the Boal or Soto farewells: I would suggest calling the box office for availability before trekking over. I was on the line this morning and after a very long wait (I was ninth on line but didn't get to the window until 10:45!!) I managed to get 2 tix for Jock's matinee. The woman told me the entire house is sold out; my seats are in 4th Ring, Row H even though I wanted Orchestra to begin with. Also it should be noted, 4th Ring Society discounts were not applicable for the 2 farewells. Judging from the length of the line behind me, I would guess that everything available would have been sold by Noon.

Hopefully Ari will post a link since I am inept in such matters. Great photo of Benjamin and a story about his increasing interest in choreography.