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The program contains no reference to title or costume differences. I agree with Jack -- Villella knew the BT name would sell better in his markets. As to the costumes, I seem to be the only one here who prefers the leaner, simpler updated version. This interests me, since I enjoy opulence and spectacle on certain ballets as much as the next guy. I will have to think about this, but I suspect my preference for LESS in decor has to do with the quality of movement and the definite classical or late-classical. impression I receive from the music. This score is not Swan Lake or even Sleeping Beauty.

Jack, I believe the dancers are Catoya and Penteado, with Patricia Delgado in the second female role, attended by Cedeiro and Bramaz. I've seen this particular video before. The beauty and intricacy of the choreography, and the style and verve of the performance, overcome even the amateur videography, imperfect sight lines, and tinny sound. Ballet Imperial was also on one of MCB's programs after their return from Paris, so several of us got to see the same dancers on stage here in the U.S. It is a ballet which invariably becomes my favorite ballet of all, at least for quite a while after I've seen it, or until another "favorite ballet" is performed. I rather like the long, soft dresses, a change Balanchine made in 1973 when he also changed the title from Ballet Imperial to Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2.. I definitely prefer the all-white look to to the vrious colors of the classical tutus in the Seattle photo. Anna Kissselgoff in the Times wrote: "Now presented only as pure dance, it does not seem quite as interesting on its own." I disagree. Balanchine had been simplifying this production gradually over the years. "Imperial" does have connotations of richness and elaborate detail, especially when we think of the elaborate uniforms and court dress under Nicholas II (or, for that matter, Napoleon). For me, it's easier to see the dancing as Balanchine redesigned it and as MCB performs it. I am willing to sacrifice imperial ostentation for that.

This is marvelous, Cristian -- you are an impresario, bringing us your version of "the best of Nutcracker.". I've looked at a selection of clips and have booked a free afternoon to watch everything in sequence. I agree with you about Balanchine's Snowflake and Flower scenes. Off Topic: The photo of Tiler Peck/ Dewdrop sailing through the air (today's NY Times) was one of the most exciting photos I've seen in a long, long time. Who knew such vitality could be expressed in a single still photograph. http://www.nytimes.c....html?ref=dance Go to photo # 3 of five.

A real piece of history. Thanks, rg. Coincidentally, I was just reading yesterday what Lincoln Kirstein wrote about Alma Mater in Thirty Years: the New York City Ballet. From Repertory in Review: "There's a ball and they're running." Good old Mr. B -- he could really get to the heart of things.

Sorry, Jack, but I don't recall the question. I THINK it was something about what it feels like to dance Balanchine, but I might be misremembering.

Reyes seemed tentative but his partnering was secure. They did only the pas de deux. Presuming that he has recovered from his injury, he might get a chance to dance the complete ballet in West Palm. I have been thinking, "MCB has quite a few Muses, but I'm less sure about Apollo." Wouldn't it be nice of if Reyes proved me wrong."

She was a tenacious guardian of Eliot's papers and copyright. I had forgotten how long Eliot lived after his best work was completed. I suspect that the estate's most valuable property, in terms of pounds and dollars, is Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. (Thank you, Andrew Lloyd Webber.) I acquired a copy recently, one with Edward Gorey illustrations, to celebrate the arrival in our house of a new cat. I hate the musical show and never warmed up to the book, but I now find that it is actually quite a lot of fun if you read it aloud to a cat. Anya, however, was unimpressed and quickly allowed herself to descend gently into an elegant motionless doze. I wonder whether Mrs. Eliot's death will revive a general interest in reading her husband's work. The first Eliot I read was ages ago in high school with Prufrock and I said farewell, effectively, with Four Quartets. After that, I somehow just stopped reading him. On YouTube, there's a recording of Eliot himself reading from Burnt Norton. The voice is more than a little snooty, dusty, dry, which might tend to confirm the popular conception of his poetry. A real stunner for me, and something that rekindles a long-lost sense that Eliot was a great and even an exciting poet, is this recording of an unidentified actor reading from Little Gidding. He speaks slowly, with clarity and a rare combination of restraint and intensity.. The printed text accompanies the spoken word.

I can report that this was MUCH easier to dance than the Obama Slide appears to be. Lots of fun, too, although we men had to move quite briskly, since our circle was larger than the women's. I wonder what the connection with John Paul Jones actually was.

Cristian, I wish you had been there. Being so close to the dancers is a privilege, I think, and makes me appreciate even more how difficult it is for them to make what they do look smooth, seemless, and "easy." Everyone somehow seems relaxed and at home, even though the formalities of performance are not ignored. I will never forget Mary Carmen Catoya in the brief q&a -- breaking into a huge, irresistible smile as she patted herself on her chest and said, "You feel it here. In the HEART" " There are no assigned seats, so it's possible to get in the first row (at the level of the floor) if you get there early. Maybe next time?

Impspear, I remember that from my youth -- but under the name Paul Jones. I recall vividly the men moving in a circle in one direction while the women's circle, inside ours, moved in the other direction. Someone called out "Paul Jones" as a signal to stop, pick partners, and dance for a while. Can't for the life of me remember what we actually danced when we had a partner. Is this really named after the American Revolutionary War sea captain?

Further adventures of my smart phone. All on its own, it has now reverted to the Full Version as its default.

On Saturday, I caught the second of 3 Open Barre presentations at the MCB studio. The program was entitled "See the Music, Hear the Dance: Neoclassicism: Apollo & Duo Concertant," For me it was a welcome chance to watch Lourdes Lopez interacting with audience and dancers. Gary Sheldon, the very smart director of MCB's orchestra, was co-presenter. In the musical discussion that opened the performance, Sheldon was very good at demonstrating t the piano the way that Stravinsky changed "classicism" to something new and different. Then Lopez took over with the dancers, asking Kleber Rebello -- and later Tricia Albertson -- to perform a standard classical combination. After each demonstration, she asked them to perform the same steps as Balanchine re-imagined them in Duo Concertant -- jazzier, more driven and off-balance, marvelously altered as to detail. Later, when Albertson and Rebello performed the full Duo Concertant to piano and violin, each of these illustrations seemed to stand out.You could not help but look closely and notice how the details had been altered: flexed (not pointed) feet. Rhythmic ups and downs of the foot in releve. Unexpected shifts in direction and port de bras in chaine turns. For me, this was revelatory. Following that, Lopez led Mary Carmen Catoya and Reyneris Reyes through a slightly different exercise based on choreography from Apollo pas de deux. The joy here was watching superb dancers from seats less than 20 feet away, without lighting or orchestration. Most striking was the chance to observe a standard classical press lift and then its brilliant reinvention -- the "Swimming Lesson." Catoya, by the way, was completely delightful in the q&a. She an turn on the hauteur on stage, as in Ballet Imperial; but she is also the "youngest" and most spontaneously funny and bewitching Coppelia in the company. A genuine and complex artist. Apollo Pas de Deux. The pas de deux itself, played to recorded music, was beautifully dance. Reyes mentioned that he had never danced the part before. An injury had prevented him from dancing in the first set of performances. His Apollo has stature, gravitas, and strong technique. After watching the pas de deux, I hope to have the chance to see him in the complete ballet. Catoya was ... superb. Lopez clearly loves her. This was seamless dancing, pure and very clear. She ranks with the best Terpsichores I have seen, while reminding me of no one else. Duo Concertant. MCB has some remarkable musical resources. Two of them shared the program: Francisco Renno (piano) and the orchestra's new first violinist, Alla Krolevich, who comes to Miami from St. Petersburg. I have strong visual and emotional memories of Peter Martins and Kay Mazzo premiering the ballet during the Stravinsky Festival. It's due to them that I think of this as one of Balanchine's best works (certainly one of the best pas de deux). Martins especially was an experienced performer, who gave weight to the movement and emotional meaning to the situation (two dancers listen to musicians playing, begin to create dances to the music). Kleber Rebello, very young, a dancer of air and light, would not have been my first choice for the man's role. I was wrong. Tricia Albertson, too, surprised me with her delicacy, clarity, and warmth. The woman seated next to me murmered "lovely" at the fade out. I agree. Greater depth will come. For the time being, "lovely" is an excellent start for dancers quite new to these roles. Meanwhile, Lopez was completely engaged in listening, watching, supporting her dancers, projecting real respect for the art form she grew up with under Balanchine. She has stage presence without pushing herself forward. Unlike Villella, she seems completely comfortable in conversation with her audience, her musician colleagues, and her dancers. This presentation was promising indeed.

Fantastic job of bringing this performance to life, Helene. I will be attending the Encore performance, and will check in on this thread at that time. I'm especially interested in hearing the full score, so I'm actually glad for once to learn that the cameras will be focused on the singers. I've heard recordings of bits and pieces of this and can't wait to experience how -- and how well -- everything fits together. Did anyone else make to the real-time performance on Saturday? What did you think?

Carolina, it is wonderful to have the chance to read your impressions of the Don Q performances. Thank you! I especially appreciate your comments about Paloma Herrera's performance. She is a great dancer who is sometimes overlooked here on Ballet Alert. By the way, I loved your interview with Herrera in Ballet y mas. She seems delightful -- and still very much of an enthusiast for life and for ballet.

Thanks, vipa, for that information. Zien is one of the favorite dancers of several of us on B.A. She has a way of phrasing and making shapes that is subtly (though never obtrusively) different from those of her her fellow dancers. You notice this especially when he is dancing parallel to someone else in one of the lead corps or soloist roles. For an idea about Lopez's intentions for Morphoses, the NY Times has a review of that project's latest program at the Joyce in NYC. The feature work, "Within (Labyrinth Whithin)" by dancer Pontus Lidberg, involves both film and a small cast of dancers. Brian Siebert's review is full of interesting details and is generally quite positive. Sounds like a good match for MCB's dancers and budget. I am already starting to think about which dancers to cast for the leads. Isanusi Garcia-Rodriguez, generally underutilized in MCB's standard rep, came immediately in mind for the male protagonist. http://www.nytimes.c...l?ref=arts&_r=0

If I power off my phone, Ballet Alert continues to default to the cell phone mode, which it never did until this morning.First screen to appear is in shades of pale blue. All it has is the heading "Ballet Alert!" and a series of cllickable bars with the title of each forum. At the very bottom of this page is a box that says "Full Version." Once clicked, this turns everything into our familiar version. At the top right of the page is a square box which looks like a button. If you click that, you get a page with buttons for Messenger, Notifications, Members, Forums, Blogs, New content, Status Updates, Search and Mark as Read. There is also a box for Sign Out. (Despite the new format, the software remembered who I was and kept me logged in. I don't use the phone version all that much and am quite willing to keep scrolling down to click "Full Version." I'm just puzzled as to why this happened to my phone (Android) and not, it appears, to others.

Thanks, Helene. It was the Professional Division I was thinking of. Zoe Zien is one of several MCB dancers from SAB. Chase Swatosh is the latest. About the Brazilian group: I think it's possible to underestimate the importance of the kind of finishing that occurs in the last few years of pre-professional training. I have observed 4 of these dancers at MCB performances, including Open Barre studio performances. All came with exceptional gifts. But they were gifts that could easily have lead them in a number of directions. More than a few prodigies at 12 or 13 have ended up with careers of guesting or doing the pas-de-deux circuit in situations often not worthy of their promise. Finishing -- in the sense of expanding what one can do and refining the way one does it -- is crucial to turning the prodigy into an artist who can sustain a rich and varied career. It seems to me that Edward Villella was quite conscious of this in the way he made use of the MCB School, especially in recent years. I can only assume that Lopez will continue in Villella's footsteps in this matter.

Other than the School of American Ballet, are there any U.S. company-connected schools which provide most of the dancers to the company with which they are tied? Or at which pre-professional students spend most of their ballet training? I ask this because I really don't know the answer. The SAB-NYCB connection is, granted, the ideal when it comes to passing on a company style. It's best, I suppose, to start early in such a school. But even there a certain number of dancers accepted into NYCB trained at the company school for only part of their pre-professional schooling. Some of these regularly enter the company and do quite well there. Lourdes Lopez, trained at SAB after starting ballet in MIami, is now in charge of both MCB and its school. Whatever model she follows, it is not likely to be a replica of what Paris, St. Petersburg, Manhattan, or Havana have created. That means that the results will not be the same as any of these institutions. I guess what I am trying to say is that I simply don;'t see the point of comparing MCB with institutions that are so different in history, mission, resources, and audience.

Since I first attended MCB 10 years ago, one of the big changes has been in the percentage of dancers who have had some training at the School. This includes all of the recent acquisitions from Brazil: Cerdeiro, Rebello, Arja, Chagas, The company at the time of the final program of last season broke down as follows: Principals (12). Attended MCB School (2, the youngest dancers in the category). Soloists (6). Attended MCB School (3) Corps (20). Attended MCB School (13) There were 6 apprentices, 2 of whom are "School Scholarship Apprentices." All were students at the School. My impression is that the MCB School has been developing over the years into something that might legitimately be described as a feeder school. The younger the dancer, the more likely he or she is to have trained at MCB, at least for the last part of their schooling. As to the level of training -- The young Brazilians (Cerdiro, Rebello, Arja, Chargas), all of them classically trained in Brazil, developed impressively during their time at MCB School. This is based on watching them on stage as school apprentices. Their MCB training was, it seems to me, crucial to (a) the development of strength, speed, performance skills, and the ability to handle MCB's Balanchine and other rep with which they had little or no prior experience and (b) their subsequent successful transition into the Company.

I was surprised this evening, when checking in on my android cell phone, to find the the look, layout, and organization of the board were significantly different from what I am used to. This did not change on my p.c. or tablet. Did anyone else have this problem? By clicking around, I found a box that allowed me to revert to the "full version," which is what I am accustomed to. Thank you, Helene, for your expertise (quite mysterious and miaculous to me) and for the time and effort you spend to keep Ballet Alert up to date.

I'll bet there are a ton of dance tunes and novelty dances composed in honor of political figures and their families. "Sweet Llittle Alice Blue Gown" comes to mind. But actual choreography would be harder to locate. There's a 1913 film of former President Teddy Roosevelt watching the performance of a Hopi Indian Snake Dance. You may notice a couple of brief bits reminiscent of the Obama Slide. It's more effective, however, to watch while playing the audio of the Birth Certificate Hula. P.S.: I am trying to imagine something like a "Millard Fillmore Polka" "Grover Cleveland Two Step," or "Woodrow Wilson Bunny Hug." .

I did not intend to criticize MCB in my original post; what they do in the way of full-length classics is remarkable considering the brilliance with with they dance a more contemporary rep. We have been over this ground many times in the past. I haven't heard anyone refute the idea that that one cannot have a company -- excepta few national companies that benefit from state subsidies -- that can do everything equally well.. In an economy of scarcity, opening doors means closing doors that may actually suit the company better. At some point, Lourdes Lopez will have to address the issue of what will be sacrificed to make possible the integration of Morphoses, and the addition of "new" works from brand-name choreographers like Forsythe or Duato. We may have to wait until the 2013-14 season is revealed. I have never denied that there is an audience for full-length classical ballets, even in the markets of smaller companies. I am happy that MCB dances Giselle and Coppelia -- not Don Q so much -- and would love to see them add Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream to the rep. Perhaps a resolution to this situation will come only when the Cuban and U.S. governments change their policies and allow companies from each country to visit the other more or less freely. BNC could bring Giselle to South Florida; MCB could bring Symphony in Three Movements (or Taylor, Tharp, and Scarlett, for that matter) to Havana. Principals and coaches from each company could guest at the other,. Something along this line might provide a double bonus -- expanding the ballet audience in both communities and increasing everyone's openness to work and styles that go beyond the same old comfort zone.

I am with Drew on this. Especially: And, since this is an MCB thread, As with churches, "ballet" works best for me when one takes a "broad tent" approach, assuming that those who are creating and performing the works have high standards, sensitivity, and skill. We all have personal preferences, often related to what we first fell in love with. (For me, this was Balanchine.) Another variable his how tolerant we are to new experiences, or how attached we are to -- or tired of -- the core classical rep. For me, ballet as an art is much inferior to opera and theater in just one regard -- the core classical repertoire is very small. This includes a handful of unequivocally great works. Everyone agrees about Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, some Balanchine, possibly Sylphide, etc. But even these works diminish significantly when danced by companies which lack the resources, tradition, and performance skills required to do a first-rate job.. This is not enough to keep ballet breathing, growing, and worthy of respect -- as it was in the days when Balanchine was creating. Dancers, in my experience, understand this intuitively. They need to be refreshed -- re-nourished -- from time to time. They want to move in unfamiliar ways and to newly challenging music. Not all the time; not in the service of lousy art; not to the exclusion of their classical technique. But ... they want and deserve the chance to grow, just as the dancers who served Bournonville, Petipa, Fokine, Nijinska, Robbins, etc., etc., had the chance to grow. Villella brought new ballet-based works by Ratmansky, Wheeldon, and the young Liam Scarlett to MCB. Lopez proposes Forsythe (early, balletic Forsythe, I hope), Kylian, Duato. Apparently Morphoses was a part of the deal that brought Lopez to Miami. When Balanchine was new to me, he was still creating ballets -- from Agon through the Stravinsky Festival to things like Davidsbundlertanze -- that were genuinely new to everyone, from dancers to critics to audiences. Some of these works were great: Liebesliederwaltzer, Symphony in Three Movements, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto among them. An amazing number had moments of greatness. A few were puzzlements or outright flops. i am full of gratitude for having been around when it was possible to walk into a ballet performance without knowing what one would see but always anticipating the possibility that you would have the chance to to watch the art expanding and renewing itself right then, right there. I feel a sadness that so many younger ballet lovers have not had such opportunities. I guess that is one of the reasons that keeps me hopeful about the what MIGHT happen just around the corner.

No, brokenwing, I don't know the reason. I have to say that it never occurred to me that the Balanchine Trust was involved, as Cristian suggests. I guess I assumed that it had to do with program-related matters like time, casting requirements, or something like that. The complete Apollo requires a superb dancer-actor, something not easy to find.

After a while, you get to know the basic steps. It is the combination of steps, as these answers suggest, which are difficult for so many of us and which are not always codified or consistently used, as has been mentioned. "Failli assemble"; "demi contretemps with assembles"; who knew? When I first came to Ballet Alert, I relied a lot on American Ballet Theater's on-line dictionary. I still do. http://www.abt.org/e...nary/index.html If you click that link and scroll down to "tour en l'air", you will find a listing for "jete entrelace" (accent on the final e). That's NOT Corella's jump, but you will notice a few similarities in preparation and lift. Complicating things is the information that, although this is called "jete entrelace" in the French School it is referred to as a grand jete dessus en tournant" in the Russian School; and "grand jete en tournant en arriere" according to the Cecchetti method. What makes questions like yours so useful is that they require those of us who are not trained dancers to look closely at the step(s), breaking them down into the basic components, some of which we recognize and some of which we won't. That kind of analysis, once it becomes automatic and even unconscious, greatly enriches the ballet experience for me -- if I don't overdo it and end up missing the forest for the trees. I once read a complex term for Corella's jump, but have forgotten it, so I hope someone will help us out. Tour en l'air (or grand jete) avec ... quelque chose? Aidez moi, svp. The point, of course, is how cleanly and beautifully Corella performs those jumps .... whatever they are called.