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fandeballet

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Everything posted by fandeballet

  1. Dear Carbo, if you are off you are not alone. I remember the nightly viewing of the film. It was amazing to see that "Theme" again and again, with Misha and Gelsey. I think the narrator was Walter Cronkite?!!!!!!
  2. How is Rolando doing? I know that he was injured a while before he joined the Houston Ballet. I've seen a few videos of him. A great dancer. But he had at least a couple of injuries.
  3. Frankly, performing arts institutions have to be more flexible in today's socio-politcal environment. Even a monster like the Met Opera, has to try different things to survive. You just cannot depend on a few wealthy patrons anymore. Whatever a company has to do to survive, I for one reluctingly feel, they will have to try anything.
  4. Dear Paolo.....about those Nazis at the Met....do you mean the ushers??? ....because they are under strict orders from ABT and Met management to keep standees out of seats they did not pay for. In the early 90's, standees were allowed to sit in the last two rows. But the standees were not satisfied with that. They sat in seats further down, that belonged to other patrons. So the patrons srceamed, the ushers caught hell, big time, and now we have the present system. Which is lousy. I agree that if the performance is not sold out, they should not sell standing room. Rush tickets are available at some performances, for students.
  5. I saw a doc. on Soloviev, and of course I was totally blown away. Are there any dancers today that are in the same universe with his dancing? A trully unique dancer. A rare bird. I remember going to see "The Turning Point" and discussing Misha. A lady walked by us and said,"You should have seen Yuri Soloviev!"(At the old Walter Reade Theater, when it was on 57th St in NYC.) I did not understand until I saw this documentary.
  6. Here's my list: 1- June17 and/or June 20, 2002 Corsaire with Herrera, Acosta, and Corella. The Met's roof was almost blown off by the audience's reaction to what they saw on stage!!!! Two truly memorable evenings!! 2- Radetsky's Petrouchka. It was a truly heartbreaking experience. 3- Bocca's farewell perf. with Ferri in Manon.
  7. Here is Carlos Acosta's Website: http://www.carlosacosta.com/home.html Just a little tidbit.......Carlos will be making his debut in Theme & Variations on March 19 & 25, 2007!!!!! (with the Royal Ballet)
  8. I remember her having a dance studio on Broadway bet. 60& 61st in NYC. Am I right???? I never saw her dance, but I knew enough of her that I knew her death was a significant one for the ballet world. For those of us who never saw her dance, can someone suggest a film/video listing for us. Feel free to transfer this request to another thread. Thankyou in advance.
  9. Making perf./fine arts curriculums mandatory fr. 1-12 grades would partially address the underrepresentation of parts of the socio-economic strata in this country. Involvement in ballet helped my daughter to become a fine all-round student in high school. Life lessons are in part taught inevitably.
  10. I would partially address this issue by making ballet- and performing/fine arts curriculums mandatory from 1st to 12th grades. How many artists in any area of perf./fine arts have we lost due to the exclusion of any arts education in many areas of this country?? The benefits to students could be great. My daughter took ballet classes for 7 years, she went to SAB for 4 years. The focus, and discipline she picked up has helped her with her academic performance in high school. We are talking about life lessons here!
  11. This might sound a bit simple . I am from a mixture of the HUMAN SPECTRUM!!!! 1) I really don't care about the color of skin. Technique and artistic depth are the most important things to me. This is dance, and an escape from the everyday doldrums of dance. I don't care how SHORT Herman Cornejo is, I want him to do more principle roles like Basilio and Ali!!!!! 2) My 1st ballet dancer I saw of note was Nureyev....a Tartar!! Another dancer who is one of my all-time greats is Judith Jamison. a person of African roots. Just in my tiny sample, you could not get two people from such different backrounds. Or maybe their backrounds are not that different after all?! I think that anytime a group(s) of people are excluded from and/or not exposed to something in school or with a parent, there will be underrepresentation from that group.
  12. Dear beck hen... I could not agree with you more about Radetsky's Petrouchka! It was a performance to remember! (unless you have my brain!!!!)
  13. What were the highs and lows of the Met season, to you?????? Highs 1- Julio Bocca's last performances: A wonderful end to his ABT career!!!! Bravo, Julio!!! 2- Herman Cornejo's Lescaut(Manon). For all those doubters of his partnering skills, you had to see his dancing with Gillian Muurphy. It was a masterpiece of comic dancing. He made her look light as a feather, while doing difficult partnering. Now it is time to expand his rep. to include roles like Basil, Ali, and maybe even Conrad!!! 3- I just want to say that I appreciate the wonderful corp de ballet work, for both the ladies and gents !!! I will say it is the highest level of dancing/acting I have seen out of the corp dancers in my watching ABT since 1977!!!!!! Bravo ladies and gentlemen of the corp!!! Lows 1- Principle dancers ranks are getting thinner and older. Julio retired. Hopefully, Ethan will be back to full strength. Ferri is wonderful. But, she is in her early forties. Nina might be back at least to say goodbye? Jose is 37. 2- My personal opinion is that Paloma and Angel still need to work to become more complete artists. It should not be just about technique anymore!!!! 3- I think that the rep during the Met season should include maybe two less full length ballets. This will enable the casts to perform the ballets they rehearse for more frequently!!!!
  14. Another lost for ABT!!!!! Here is a taller dancer who can handle the taller ballerinas like V. Part. He looks like a fine and clean dancer. What a pick-up for the Royal Ballet!!!!!
  15. Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun, were a magical partnership when they were dancing with the Stutgardt Ballet in the 1970's. But when their offstage relationship ended, the onstage relations ended. But, they were magic together!!!!!!!
  16. I just want to comment on the Part/Vishneva perfs. yesterday by going by my historical ideals for Swan Queens. My favorite White Swan is Markarova. Her body, for me was the most swan like. She had the crystaline and fast footwork you need. But her body, esp. her arms did not seem to have a bone in her body! And her arms were simply amazing!!! They undulated in waves of continuous flowing movement, whether in her variations, in response to the Prince, or briseing off the stage as she was turning back into the swan at the end of the white act. She was not Markarova, but a creature of mystical proportions. My favorite Black Swan is Cynthia Gregory. Since she was such a large physical presence, esp. on point, she was a truly regal and menancing B. Swan. Her attack was right on. She was in perfect control of her technique and her Siegfreid, who was usually the late, great Fernando Bujones. Her technical prowness, along with Fernando's, to be honest, was criticized for making their perfs. together feel like "Olympic Events". But, to me, it was always an exciting evening when they danced together! But Gregory's interpretation of the Black Swan was truly a sinister being! The best all-round Odette/Odile for me is Nina Aniashvelli. She has all of the necessary ingredients of the two swan queens, that I said before. One point about ABT's Swan Lake. The "tree curtains", move in too soon as the Swan Queen is briseing off, which cuts off the swan-like arm motions, way before they should be, to me. Both Part/Vishneva were nowhere near my ideals, yesterday. BUT, with their body types, technique and time, they do have the potential to be all-time great swan queens!!!!!!! One Swan Lake a season, does not help!!!! Having different partners, with little preparation does not help! My ideals all danced and were able to perfect their interpretations, esp. Nina and Natasha, long before they came to ABT, I believe. Part also has the handicap of not dancing enough principal roles, to help get her ready to dance Swan Lake. She is also quite tall, esp. on point. So even one of the best partners in the world, Marcelo Gomes, has to modify some of his lifts in the White Swan act!!!! He did not do the overhead lifts, just the straight up overhead ones. Also the technique and arms were not as secure and swan-like as they need to be. Her technique needs to be right on, esp. for those cursed fouettes. She did seem more unsecure as she progressed thru those turns. A Black Swan HAS to be in total command. There was not enough of a break bet. here interps. of the Odette/Odile characterizations. Vishneva white swan was very good. She had the right "lightness", that I look for. Her arms were swanny enough for me. But, her technique was untidy during the Black Swan Act. Then she started her fouettes at a very manic pace, as if she was trying to get thru them with as much momentum as possible. I should never be made to feel that a prima ballerina should look uncomfortable doing a series of steps. But I did feel that about her fouettes. But, I also fault the conductor for not even trying to get up close to the tempo that DV wanted!!!!
  17. Which dancers are your favorite Bluebirds????? From the ones I have seen live, Fernando Bujones is my personal favorite. Others I have enjoyed are: John Renvall, and Frank Augustin (my very first one, with the National Ballet of Canada). Fernando had the stretch and elevation, and best represented what the Bluebird is to me!!!!! People have told me that Nureyev and Yuri Soloviev were among the greatest of all time! Any opinions?
  18. Frankly, a ballerina works very hard to get her legs into such wonderful shape! And dramatically, DV's bare legs makes a statement of the reality of Manon's plummeting status. Nylons or the like were a luxury that most women could only dream about, in the 17th and 18th centuries! Even during World War 2, nylon stockings were a luxury, due to rationing. Bravo Diana, a true artist, and historian, to boot!!!!!!!!! From a male point of view, seeing legs that are toned like a ballerina's is OK with me!!! Heh, heh!!!! The picture of Ferri supported by Bocca (on ABT's nightly program), is an example of the beauty of a ballerina's finely sculpted leg!!!
  19. When you have people in the audience and on the stage like Cynthia Gregory, Heather Watts, Damien Woetzel, Jock Soto, Ashley Tuttle, Martine Van Hamel, Ann Rieking, Jose Manuel Carreno, Cheryl Yeager, Susan Jaffe, Malakov, Marcelo Gomes, you know you were at one of the great dance events of the past 26 years. Not since those great ABT galas in 1980 and 1984(?) did we have an event such as this!!! And then you had one of the greatest partnerships in ballet come to an end, a wonderfully loving end to the FerriBocca era. I symbolically joined their names, like it should be. The audience burst into a deafening roar when Julio came on stage for the 1st time. At the end of each of their PDDs, the applause was rapturous, as if you knew that you were having the last of a fine vintage wine, and you delayed its inevitable finish, by nursing it sip by glorious sip. Julio danced devinely. Alex melted into his arms each time they came together. Their last performance was their greatest!!!!!!!! Seeing people like Gregory, Yeager, and Van Hamel on stage drove home the point to me that Julio was not an insignifecent factor to ABT's survival during those lean times after Misha left. Julio also was tha bridge spanning the gap between dancers of Misha's and Bujones's generation and those of Angel's and Marcelo's generations. But I appreciate Julio for different reasons, his determination and toughness. He has had numerous knee surgeries on both knees, the 1st before he even joined ABT. His knees have been swollen for years folks. AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, HE COULD DANCE FOR 2-3 MORE YEARS!!!! But, he has given us enough, more than we will ever know. In Baseball, we talk about a player who is a 5 tool player. A complete, great all round player. Bocca is the complete package. The ultimate artist. : Bravo forever, JULIO
  20. I went to the 6/17 Royal Ballet Manon in Boston. First of all, I realized as the 1st act was about to begin, that this was the 1st Manon I have seen!!!!!!! I actually enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Acosta and Rojo danced wonderfully together. They had the passion. The oneness of their dancing is incredible. Sarah Lamb and Martin were also great as Lescaut's Mistress and Lescaut. The Royal overall has very good, expressive dancers.
  21. A fairly big loss for ABT. She is a wonderful little dancer, who will really blossom as a principal. Now, I really have to get up to Boston more often!!!!
  22. My advice for standing for Manon on Thurs. is to get there on line as early as you can. I would say by at least 7am. Optimize your chances for this chance of a lifetime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  23. I also saw a video that J.M. Carreno danced with his wife, Lourdes, when they danced with the Ballet Nacional De Cuba. Before and after thay were married, I believe.
  24. When he started with ABT, I thought his finishes were a bit rough to my liking. But, what an exciting dancer he is!!!! BUT, I always appreciated the PASSION he brought to the stage. I will also not forget, for a man his size, what an incredible partner he is! He always brought out something from his ballerina that no one else would. I will also remember that he was the only one of note for several years, when you talked about male principle dancing at ABT in the late 80s and early 90s. Like Fonteyn & Nureyev and other great partnerships, his dancing with Ferri, will go down in ballet history as one of the all time great pairings. I do hope that he will become an AD somewhere, he has so much to give. Esp. his passion!!!!!
  25. fandeballet

    Ferri & Bocca

    I just hope that Mr. McKenzie watches these last performances with Ferri & Bocca, and if he has an opportunity, put some couples together, that will have some "artistic togetherness". Partnerships are not only great for the artform, but can be great for the bottomline!!!!! Bravo Ferri and Bocca, a partnership for the ages!!!!!!!
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