oberon

I didn't see Fairchild's SPF but I did go to the Sunday 12/14 5:00 Act II where she danced Marzipan nicely. If she does SPF again I will try it but to be honest I like to see a "woman" as Sugar Plum as opposed to a "girl". Not that I don't think Fairchild could grow into the part, and she has to start somewhere. DeLuz was Tea today, and a very fine one though his landings are a bit heavy.

Tewsley is listed for this Sunday @ 5:00 with Ringer...I'm going!

Does anyone know if Fairchild's SPF tomorrow is still "on"? She was replaced in her two Marzipans earlier.

I became intrigued with Borree because she reminded me of Kay Mazzo. No, she is not the most accomplished dancer but she is appealing in a variety of roles and when she is on she can be a pleasure to watch...I saw her in an especially good VIENNA WALTZES (Voices of Spring) and in SERENADE she is always a delight.

Janie Taylor is a principal in everything but name. Watching her "grow up" in the last couple of seasons has been a real treat.

In general I think there are three "levels" in any given ballet audience. First are other dancers, dance students, teachers and other dance professionals. They are likely to notice every tiny flaw and to see things from an insider perspective. Sometimes I think their comments can be overly negative and possibly motivated by jealousy. And I imagine it is easy to sit in the audience and say, "Oh, she should have done this or that...she missed this...her hand should have been here rather than there..." etc. while the dancer actually doing it is giving her all.

Then there are people like me who have been going a long time and who have taken a few ballet classes (and have forgotten everything except how difficult it is!) and can see if something is unsightly (a fudged turn, a "broken" wrist) but don't let such things preclude an overall enjoyment of the evening.

And then, the vast majority: they don't know anything about technique but just know that it's all so beautiful. If the girls are pretty and can turn and the boys have nice butts and can jump and the music is pleasant, then the evening for them is a big success.

And I suppose there is a fourth category: those who come to the ballet and fall asleep.

I just picked up a subscription brochure for the ABT/Met season...David has a SWAN LAKE (with Wiles), a RAYMONDA, a THEME & VAR, and a Tchaik PDD...looks like I'll be skipping a couple NYCBs to see him @ the Met!

Oberon

I have had the pleasure of meeting Leslie Browne several times recently...she is teaching, coaching, and choreographing. I vividly remember her Clara in the Baryshnikov NUTCRACKER. In TURNING POINT I always especially enjoy her lovely solo to Chopin during the closing credits choreographed, if I remember correctly, by Ashton.

I saw her two weeks ago "across a crowded room" at NYCB Opening Night, she looks as pretty as ever.

I echo your comments on Weese as Dewdrop...everything so easy, light & brilliant...and those long balances...she really seemed to be enjoying herself.

I was at the Sunday 5:00 where Taylor & Marcovici made a fine impression in the adagio. She is a dancer I am coming to like more and more. Small detail: her hands are getting really lovely. Hands are not always given due attention at NYCB...maybe Martine van Hamel could come in and give a class in hands...I always thought hers were so beautiful.

Bouder replaced Fairchild in Marzipan and gave one of the best performances I have seen from her, more focussed than last week...her backup quartette were especially pretty: Arthurs, Hankes, Dronova & Keenan. de Luz was an amazing Tea and then Tom Gold came out and he was a pretty amazing Candy Cane. Hanson was the lithe Arabian; Jon Stafford is improving by leaps & bounds and Saskia Beskow is a real beauty (Spanish).

I noticed that Fairchild was listed twice as Marzipan in the last week and both times was replaced. I went yesterday to the 5:00 performance and Bouder danced in her place...and gave one of the best performancs I have seen from HER.

Also Joaquin de Luz, who is listed to partner Fairchild in her first Sugar Plum, was outstanding as Tea.

He appeared in SERENADE on opening night last month...

Oberon

This is much deserved...he is an elegant dancer and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Congratulations, David!!

This afternoon I went to NYCB for Act II of NUTCRACKER specifically to check out Sofiane Sylve's Dewdrop. It was well worth the trip; she gave some thrilling dancing and is a beauty into the bargain. She maintained the flow of the steps while radiating a commanding yet feminine presence. Each solo passage was applauded.

Equally exciting was the toothsome Miranda Weese as SPF...back to near normal weight, she danced with her own radiant lyricism.

I feel that I am missing something in Ashley Bouder's dancing...it seems to be my lack, not her's. Can anyone suggest things for me to focus on in her work?

Rutherford & Taylor seemed to be happily waltzing away among the Flowers. I like them both very much.

If you're trying to pick one or two NUTCRACKERs to see, try Sylve's Dewdrop...she was pretty amazing today.

I am betting on Teresa Reichlin as La Bonne Fee...or maybe Pascale v K.??

Janie Taylor is a dancer I enjoy watching...her dancing has sort of wreckless lyricism that I find intriguing. She manages to be both somewhat cold and very feminine...an elusive mixture. I loved her "savage beauty" look in the scherzo of TCHAIKOVSKY SUITE #3. Looking forward to her SPF next Sunday.

This is the second time I have seen SERENADE performed with girls from the school in the opening sequence and I don't like it. I don't like the costumes, and if I don't see Amanda Edge when the curtain goes up I feel disoriented. At any rate, the students did not dance all that well, lacking both the sense of space and the lyricism the dance requires. Some of them seemed a bit dumpy of figure in the unflattering tunics. I was very glad when the corps took over, but the sense of continuity was ruined. There is nothing I can say about Kyra Nichols in this ballet; to me she is perfection and was so again tonight. The Nichols/Neal partnership has given me a world of images over the years. Borree is also very well cast here, and Sylve was thrilling and rather austere. James Fayette's performance in this ballet is one more ideal piece of casting. It was nice to have Hugo Fiorato back in the pit. I enjoyed the music of BUGAKU more tonight than previously...Darci & Jock were charismatic and well-applauded. The horns were way off in SYMPHONY IN C and I thought Quinn rushed van Kipnis in the opening of the final movement. Great to see Albert Evans dancing very well and looking magnetic as ever. Somogyi & Tewsley pair up well though he seemed a little reserved. I thought Kowroski was a little below peak form, a bit shaky and not "finishing" things...she does not bring the sense of importance to this adagio that Wendy does. I thoroughly enjoyed the dazzling & risk-taking dancing of Janie Taylor & Benjamin Millepied...the evening ended with a shower of silver confetti. The gala audience sat on its hands, only Jock & Darci getting any kind of reaction. Carla Korbes was listed for SYMPH IN C but was nowhere to be seen. Dena Abergel's smile is so lovely; someone nominated her for Lilac Fairy and I second the nomination...

Wendy Whelan is a dancer I want to see in EVERY role in EVERY ballet. After seeing her SONNAMBULA I am dying to see her GISELLE.

If she alternates Aurora, Lilac, Carabosse, Finger Fairy & the Queen I would go every night!! And she could do it, too...

Megan Fairchild to my mind is a nice dancer...she reminds me a little of Mazzo & Borree facially. I would like to see her stay in the corps a while, with the featured role now and again. If I were to promote any girls now they would be Korbes and Arthurs. Amanda Edge deserves it but I think she is taken for granted; I like Mandradjieff also. Well...I mostly like 'em all.

But it is the men's soloist ranks that need a bit of expansion, esp. if Jared Angle continues to be "absent". Arch Higgins tends to come and go, too. Steve Hanna? Adam H? Orza? Craig Hall? Ulbricht? And the winner is...............

Kowroski would be fine as Lilac but she needs to stop breaking her wrists, esp. the right one. It is the one flaw in her dancing that bugs me.

Ansanelli, Taylor & Somogyi would all be fine Auroras...and maybe Abi Stafford...she is one of the few who would look 15 years old. In the last year I've noticed her strength and stamina are rising and she's developing her stage personality. I find her offbeat attractiveness appealing. I've lost interest in Ashley Bouder.

Lindy Mandradjieff to me has the pesonality for Lilac, and Carrie Lee Riggins would be a striking Carabosse.

I don't really like Carabosse danced by a man...the idea of using a beautiful woman in the role instead of an old hag or a drag queen is one of the most ineresting aspects of NYCB's production.

Yes, SB is very much the Lilac Fairy's ballet...her benign power should be felt throughout.

Abergel, yes. Rutherford is lovely but I think of her more as an Aurora than a Lilac. Carla Korbes is a dancer I really love but some people don't like her in a short tutu.

Jennifer Tinsley might be an interesting Carabosse...she is hardly ever used, I'm not sure why.

Ashley was announced as Carabosse the last time they did BEAUTY but she ended up not doing it. It would certainly be nice if Kyra were to do Lilac again, and I think it would be a nice part for Darci but maybe she wouldn't be interested?

With my favorite recent Lilac Fairies (K. Tracey & Meunier) gone, who is likely to be cast in that role in the coming 2-week stint? I'd like to see Pascale van Kipnis.

Also, Helene was always ideal as the glamourous Carabosse. Who should wield the magic needle in the coming revival?

Yes, I would love to know how Natanya makes out at the Royal. I see they have different "levels" in the roster (unlike NYCB or ABT which have corps, soloist, principal)...anyone know what level she is at? Wonder why she is not on the roster list?? Could she be guesting?

The Royal is doing POLYPHONIA now, I believe...hmm, maybe it's time to move to London. I'd have to take Wendy with me, though...and a few dozen other people.

Zerbinetta, you hit the nail on the head when you remarked on the revelatory Boal/Whelan OPUS 19.

But then I saw Woetzel/Ringer and liked them alot...very different, of course. Ringer tends to bring something special to most of her roles; she doesn't just rely on her physical beauty. When she was cast in SERENADE I was a little wary but she brought not just vulnerability, but some sort of elusive "perfume" (bad choice of words?) I can't define to the role. And then in the joyous WHO CARES? she totally pulled out the stops and won 2 mid-ballet ovations. It isn't customary these days for an NYCB ballerina to be called out twice after a solo...but she was...both times I saw it...and also after the duet. Not bad.

Back to OPUS 19, I'd like to see Albert Evans in it...but with whom?? I used to see Albert dancing with Miranda Weese quite a bit but that combo seems to have vanished. But then, Albert is so under-utilized...

VESPRO had ugly costumes...I hate seeing the girls in bare legs. There were passages of interest in the music. I did not think Bigonzetti had much to say, and Kowroski & Ansanelli were wasted. I do not need to see Benjamin Millepied or any other dancer jumping on or off a piano. The dancers seemed somewhat ill-at-ease.

I like "beautiful" ballets and "edgy" ones. VESPRO was neither. It seemed junky and too self-conciously "different".

Now something like STRAVAGANZA, which really IS different, made a far more vivid impression.

Aspirant remarked on the shadowy corps crossing the rear of the stage during the adagio of GLASS PIECES...I love that, too...I makes me think of...BAYADERE!

Frohlich was a fun dancer to watch and now as a stager is a major asset to NYCB.

Thank you, Underdog, for the Violette Verdy link...I remember her in EMERALDS and it is nice to think of her passing on her wisdom to the young & lovely Korbes.

Wow...the thought of Helene in BUGAKU...if she didn't, she should have!!

Yes, Jorge Donn was certainly hot...but I didn't see him in BUGAKU. I was not a big Suzanne Farrell fan, though I saw her many times...including the night of her return. I started going to NYCB while she was with Bejart and I was really into Karin, Kay Mazzo, Patty McBride, Sara L & Violette Verdy. To be honest when Farrell came back, I sort of thought of her as...an intruder!! Needless to say, Farrell did dance beautifully and I often was impressed but she never really moved me.

Albert Evans just oozes charisma and I wish there were more opportunities for him at NYCB. I met him one day, totally by chance, and he was the nicest guy. Sexy people are not always that pleasant. I especially enjoyed him in CIRCLE OF FIFTHS and have a craving to see him in OPUS 19. I'd love to see Albert & Wendy in BUGAKU...

However, I can certainly put up with Darci & Jock...if they don't hold my interest I can always watch Pauline Golbin in the corps...I probably will anyway...talk about sexy!

SERENADE is my favorite ballet. I have seen it dozens of times danced by everyone from Karin von Aroldingen to Wendy Whelan (the latter only once, that I know of)...when the curtain goes up, my heart goes to my throat and stays there the whole time. Twice I have seen SERENADE immediately after major romantic break-ups and it was both depressing yet also reassuring.

Usually I am unable to speak after seeing it; once I came out onto the Promenade after a performance and burst into tears. And I'm not the crying type...at all.

I find Kyra Nichols ideal in the central role...so vulnerable & luminous. Kowroski and Kathleen Tracey have been gorgeous recently in the Angel role (who gave the role that name? surely not Balanchine?) but the beauteous Alexopoulos remains vividly in my memory. And at present I really am impressed with James Fayette in the second male role.

The unmatched beauty of the music, the arresting sight of the girls when the curtain rises...there can be nothing that compares.

Needless to say I will be there next Tuesday...with a box of tissues. I'm getting chills just thinking of it.