oberon

Carrie Lee Riggins & Adam Hendrickson of NYCB. I saw the very youthful Ethan Steifel & Yvonne Borree when NYCB's production was new, and before that at ABT I saw Karena Brock & Ted Kivitt, who were superb.

A couple of years ago when Judith Fugate's Dance Galaxy appeared at the Joyce, one of the pieces was REFLECTIONS with music by Nilas Martins, choreographed by his father. It was pretty good, actually. At the time there was an article about Nilas in the Times (I think it was the Times...maybe the Voice) saying he loved writing music and wanted to do more of it.

She retired! Can you believe it? Such a nice dancer, I always loved watching her. Talk about early retirement...

If I hadn't blown so much money going to the US Open last week I would fly to London to see what looks like a great programme...HALLELUJAH JUNCTION is one of Peter Matins' best ballets...talk about FAST...the quartet of corps dancers have short duets crossing the stage that are extremely tricky. Wendy...Jock...Janie...Maria K...um, Benjamin, could you bring this programme to the Joyce, please? Nice to see Alex Ritter's name again, an under-valued dancer during his term at NYCB...

Isabel Guerin...yum!!!!!!!! What a gorgeous dancer!!!!!!

Whatever one thinks of Peter from an artistic point of view, it seems to me that he has kept the Company in pretty good shape financially. If the Board were to consider replacing Peter, they might think twice in view of his apparent fund-raising success. His rapport with Mrs. Diamond paid off handsomely, giving opportunities to many choreographers thru the various Diamond Project seasons. NYCB has always been a creative company, as opposed to a "museum". Whether or not you liked the ballets that were given, it remains that no other major company seems to have the means or the interest in presenting so many new pieces. While ABT seems to be cancelling some tour dates due to financial concerns, NYCB is soon off to Japan and Orange County. Audiences seem to me to be maintaining pretty well..some nights draw a bigger crowd than others, but that has always been true. There are always goodly numbers of young people in the audience. It seems pointless now to guess whether Peter was Mr. B's choice or whether he was simply in the right place at the right time. However it came about, he has brought the Company thru two decades since Mr. B's death. We can't really know if any of the other possible candidates to replace Mr. B would have been able to keep it going, artistically or financially. Mr. B sometimes intimated that he thought the Company and his ballets might not survive his death. I think this was said tongue-in-cheek. I'm sure he knew that his ballets were masterpieces, that people would always want to see them, and also that they would look different after he was gone. Someone mentioned Nilas as a possible successor to Peter; I really don't think Nilas would be interested.

Well, I hated VESPRO...for what it's worth. I thought it made some excellent dancers, including Benj. Millepied & Alexandra Ansanelli, look ugly. The music was not bad, notably the use of a counter-tenor and a soprano saxophone. But when Benjamin started jumping on and off the grand piano I simply lost interest.

Because Giselle loves Albrecht, despite and still... THE CAGE does have shades of GISELLE but the Novice ends up killing the intruder (well, 2 intruders actually) while Giselle steadfastly protects Albrecht and saves him from death.

Honoring the RNC: GUIDE TO STRANGE PLACES THE GREEN TABLE world premiere: a new ballet set to Britten's WAR REQUIEM CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS

Which comes first, Orange County or Japan?

Legs: Maria Kowroski Hair: Janie Taylor or Darci Kistler Eyes: Kyra Nichols or Wendy Whelan Hands: Martine van Hamel (the all-time champ in this category) Face: Jenifer Ringer/Pauline Golbin/Carla Korbes and several dozen honorable mentions Smile: Patty McBride Ashley Bouder (not Bowder!) has rather short legs. But they look long in her stretched-out jump. On the other side of the coin, Best Butt in Ballet = Nilas Martins.

The woman commentator for the diving competition keeps harping on the fact that the divers' feet aren't pointed. A few ballet classes would solve that problem. I remember my very first ballet class (I was 25 and all my classmates were 8 & 9- year-old girls). The teacher tapped me on the shoulder and said "Point your feet!" and I said, "Point my feet? Point them at what?"

Watching the men's high bar competition last night, I was amazed when the audience reaction to a somewhat low score by the Russian Alexei Nemov actually brought about a change in his score. Nemov finished a brilliant routine which had the crowd screaming with delight but he didn't quite nail the landing. When his score was announced, the audience went berserk in a sustained show of disapproval. After what seemed like several minutes, in which the competition ground to a halt, the judges conferred and after much discussion raised Nemov's score. Everyone will be familiar with the big story of this Olympics: the error in scoring which gave American gymnast Paul Hamm a gold in the all-around which rightly belonged to one of the Korean athletes. But the incident of the raised score for Nemov was something altogether different, where the crowd assumed the role of judge. While I agreed that Nemov's routine deserved higher marks, it seemed to set a disturbing precedent. What if, in a ballet competition, the audience was able to bring its will to bear on the judging? Perhaps the judges in these events, where subjectivity enters into the scoring, could be replaced by an applause meter?

Carbro, the more I look at that picture the more I like it...the dancer seems to be totally in her own world...and a beautiful world it is!

Thanks, carbro...I'm a great devotee of Diaghilev and wish I had lived during his era. But then, I am glad to have lived in the Balanchine era, which evolved directly from Serge's genius.

Without Serge, ballet (and dance in general) as we know it today would not exist.

A big, beautiful Janie Taylor poster has joined the Rutherford poster in the arcade of the NY State Theatre.

Damian Woetzel. But it won't happen anytime soon. Peter Boal's dancing career seems to be winding down somewhat...he has his own little company and I think that he may continue to pursue that area, giving new, small-scale works at places like the Joyce & Jacob's Pillow. I believe Boal has often talked about wanting to devote more time to his kids...taking on the NYCB AD post would be quite time-consuming for him.

If I had the money and the inclination to sponsor a dancer, I would choose a female from the corps even though I'm gay. It would feel kind of creepy to sponsor one of the boys, and might be a source of embarassment to the dancer. Even though many of the male dancers are gay, they probably wouldn't want to be viewed as the boy-toy of some tired old queen. My co-workers call me "the gay guy with the straight eye" as I am always pointing out attractive girls to my straight buddies. I admire all the men in the company and find them sexy & attractive but I spend most of my time watching the females...I guess I sort of agree with Balanchine: "Ballet is woman!" If rich, older women are sponsoring the males, who are the sponsors of the ballerinas? In general (and this is a broad generalization) many of the straight men I see at the ballet seem to have been dragged there by their wives. Snoozing is a favorite pastime for these poor blokes. (Yes, I know there are heterosexual male ballet fans, though I don't know any personally...) Bottom line is, if I won Lotto I would write a check for $1,000,000 right off the top and hand it to Peter and I would not ask to have so much as a drinking fountain named after me. Though I wouldn't say "no" to tea with Amanda Edge...

Perhaps the trend will extend to opera companies...divas could be "bought" on a per-pound basis. Overall, the entire idea is rather juvenile...if you want to donate $10,000 to your favorite ballet company that is wonderful. If you have to be enticed into doing so by playing this type of game, it devalues the gift.

Was Arlene Croce ever a dancer? Whom did she study with and where did she perform? And for how long?

Wrong company! Shoulda been JOCK SOTO & THE MEN OF NYCB!!

My impression is that, when the ballerina is borne aloft at the very end of SERENADE, it looks quite striking to see her hair cascading down as she back-bends into the final pose. Her hair is held in place by two pins which she removes as the corps girls rush past her and she swoons. You are usually watching the corps in their sweeping exit and don't notice that she is letting her hair down. As the girls clear off, you are left with the stunning picture of the collapsed woman alone on the stage...the flowing hair adds to the feeling of vulnerability. The stage is thus set for the poignant drama of the final movement. By the way, how did the "characters" in SERENADE get their "names"? Russian Girl, Waltz Girl, Dark Angel...surely Balanchine never called them by those names, did he??

Yeah, the Duell brothers were pretty cute. How about Bryan Pitts?

Elegie, the opening movement of Tchaikovsky Suite #3, features the NYCB ladies barefooted and with flowing hair...it is my favorite part of one of my favorite ballets. Farrell Fan, your comment on NYCBs hair not being what it once was is hilarious...but I beg to differ: Korbes, Darci, Ashlee Knapp, Faye Arthurs, Sarah Ricard, Janie Taylor, Alexandra A, Jessica Flynn, Teresa Reichlin...these girls can hold a hairbrush to anyone who ever danced there. However, I do miss Helene's luxurious & beautiful black hair...