miliosr
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Posts posted by miliosr
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The POB just can't catch a break:
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11 hours ago, pherank said:
Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a revitalization of character dances, folk dances and mime in ballet, but it's going to take a brilliant choreographer to 'modernize' those styles/skills and make them feel contemporary (it does not have to be about stereotypes!).
I do like that Cathy Marston is committed to the narrative form with actual plots and named characters. Snowblind (a.k.a. Ethan Frome) could have come from Martha Graham or Antony Tudor. (Or Joan Crawford -- see the recent Feud series.)
4 hours ago, pherank said:Personally, I think people may be arguing at cross purposes (surprise, surprise) since it is likely the reviewer doesn't object to Thatcher's themes of gender equality and identity, per se, but to Thatcher's handling of the subject matter, and his choreography in this particular ballet.
It would be perfectly legitimate for a reviewer to note that there are some things dance -- as a non-verbal, non-written art form -- cannot express easily, if at all. The choreographer may have the best of intentions but that doesn't mean the intentions translate into dance.
As for Dores Andre, I read her Instagram post. My one cautionary note for her would be that there's no company alive capable of moving easily from the classical to the contemporary to social protest "art". The mixed reviews for the San Francisco Ballet's performances of Sleeping Beauty suggest that it's not so easy to exist in all those worlds simultaneously. To put it another way, Justin Peck sneaker ballets may not help you with Sleeping Beauty and may actually work against you.
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17 hours ago, pherank said:
The problem I (always) have with talk about art needing to be topical, or contemporary, or relevant, is that a huge percentage of the important artwork created over the centuries does not rely upon those attributes to be effective.
I think you've hit on why I'm ambivalent about the Unbound Festival. 'Relevant' dances that are very 'Now' one moment can become very 'Then' the next. Or as Isadora Duncan said in a different context: "[It] dies as soon as it is made."
I suppose my ambivalence also stems from this: What does this emphasis on "being relevant" mean for what I can only describe as the "white tights and tutus" genre of ballet? In the future, will anyone be interested in making new dances in that genre? Or is it now a spent field in terms of new work? [Note: I understand that cost may have prevented any of the Unbound choreographers from working "in the grand manner". But, in any event, how many of them are all that interested in making those kinds of lavish dances that don't make you think (to quote Croce)?]
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One of our occasional polls here at Ballet Alert suggested by the Paris Opera Ballet 'malaise' thread. Feel free to explain your vote if you feel so inclined. Happy voting!
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3 hours ago, mnacenani said:
At the time it was written that Aurélie was scheduled to dance her farewell Manon with one of the French étoiles but he got injured and Bolle was brought in as a last-minute replacement.
mnacenani beat me to it.
Dupont was supposed to dance Manon with Herve Moreau. But, when he had to drop out, she had management bring in Bolle as her partner rather than rely on one of the other etoiles or premiere danseurs. This must be a lingering bone of contention but has nothing whatsoever to do with Dupont's management abilities.
2 hours ago, Mashinka said:Unless things have radically changed recently, the casting of Cranko's ballets has nothing to do with the companies performing them.
Yes, the Cranko estate maintains strict control over who is cast in his ballets. Of course, this brings into sharp relief the whole nature of the hierarchy. If an estate or trust (like the Cranko estate) or a living choreographer like William Forsythe can cast as they please regardless of rank, the value of the hierarchy diminishes.
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The Merce Cunningham Trust has announced a year-long celebration to honor the centennial of his birth:
https://mercecunningham.org/centennial/
And details:
https://mercecunningham.org/mct/assets/File/MCTrust Centennial Announcement FINAL 041518.pdf
Interesting to see how much of the centennial will be concentrated in France:
Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris, CCN – Ballet de Lorraine, Chaillot Théâtre national de la danse, Compagnie CNDC d’Angers / Robert Swinston, Festival d’Automne à Paris, La Villette, Le Centre national de la danse, Lyon Opera Ballet, Montpellier Danse, R.B. Jérôme Bel, Théâtre de la Ville, Théâtre du Châtelet
Arguably, France is now the true home of Cunningham's legacy. (I wonder if the Paris Opera Ballet will be reviving Un Jour ou Deux in Fall 2019?)
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26 minutes ago, Gnossie said:
She makes no comment about the disgraceful situation of L'opera. She has been present at the farewell of HER étoiles, but she's been on one side of the stage and Dupont in the other.
Poor Manuel Legris! After all the trouble he went to trying to secure the Peace of Vienna:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDQvpJooWWt/?hl=en&taken-by=manuel.legris
Yes, I'm kidding . . .
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2 hours ago, Gnossie said:
Back to topic: Nureyev had problems with the general direction of L'opera and with many dancers (including the etoiles Michael Denard, Cyril Atannasoff and Patrick Dupond), the "Nureyev Etoiles" might talk talk about him as if he were a saint but many powerful ballet people like Claude Bessy and Roland Petit (or it was Bejart?) did not like him at the helm, it's a surprise that he lasted so much.
Funny you should mention this. Writing in the April issue of Dance Europe about the recent Benjamin Millepied/Maurice Bejart double bill at the Opera, Francois Fargue had this to say:
"Millepied ascended to the actual position of artistic director . . . , while Bejart, who never made it that high, still famously acted like he was the director as he once upped and named the young Manuel Legris and Eric Vu An etoiles on stage following the premiere of his Arepo on 22 March 1986. An all-the-more unorthodox initiative as both young men were only sujets. Bejart had only forgotten that he was just a demigod. True god Nureyev cancelled the 'nomination' the very next day. Those were fun, eventful times. Who's a god these days?"
Speaking of Claude Bessy, how are she and Madame Dupont getting along these days?
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From the casting for Sasha Waltz's Romeo and Juliet at the POB Web site, I noticed that Herve Moreau is not listed. Has he decided to retire quietly without a farewell performance?
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Clifford has posted the famous Bert Stern photo of Allegra Kent and Edward Villella in Balanchine's Bugaku (w/ interesting comments) on his Instagram feed:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgkQXF_l-PL/?hl=en&taken-by=john_cliff26
There's also a lively back-and-forth with commenters including Alastair Macaulay (!). But how accurate some of what Clifford writes is definitely open to debate.
FYI -- Sarasota Ballet is performing Bugaku this spring. Now may be the time to see it because who knows if it will be performed again.
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50 minutes ago, its the mom said:
1) the harm of numerous guest dancers for so many years.
The company is paying the price now for the overreliance on guest stars in the first half of this decade. Dancers either left to pursue opportunities elsewhere or had to tread water for years.
50 minutes ago, its the mom said:2) Kevin allowing several principals to stay on past their prime.
Julie Kent and, to a lesser extent, Paloma Herrera were the most egregious examples of this. The problems this caused were twofold: Kent and Herrera clung to spots that would have been better used to prepare younger ballerinas (see point #1) and, in Kent's case, her continuing presence led McKenzie to program ballets that suited an older, more experienced dancer like Kent but were ill-suited to twentysomething ballerinas.
50 minutes ago, its the mom said:3) Miscasting - once again, not allowing dancers to develop roles of which they should be given the opportunity.
This manifests itself in dancers being cast regardless of whether or not they are suited for the role. We all remember 'Hee Seo Ballet Theatre'.
50 minutes ago, its the mom said:4) Severe lack of creativity and vision. While the company is supposedly America's classical company, the dancers should be afforded the opportunity for strong contemporary work. Looking around at the other large companies in the U.S. and abroad, they are all performing works which afford the dancers the opportunity to work with current, contemporary, and proven choreographers. (PNB, SFB, Boston, and numerous European companies come to mind.) While many here will disagree, I am delighted that the dancers are working with McGregor. I do not consider Lang, Millipied, and the latest announcement of Dorrance, to be of the caliber the dancers deserve. Obviously, an opinion. I also wonder why the company has not joined in on the MacMillan celebration or Robbins celebration (I realize they performed "Other Dances.")
Of all your excellent points, this is the only one I disagree with. Baryshnikov tried this in the 80s and a portion of the audience drifted away. The ABT audience didn't want to see Karole Armitage, Merce Cunningham and David Gordon. Paul Taylor (!) was considered radical enough!!!
In any event, the sheer size of the Met works against programming a lot of these one act wonders who make works for the companies you cite. (It will be interesting to see just how well Wayne McGregor sells.)
50 minutes ago, its the mom said:I just do not see that management cares about developing its dancers, giving them opportunities to grow, and to become the artists they should/could be. I get the sense that it is a "take or leave it" kind of situation at the company.
I don't know that their unconcerned about developing dancers. There are very real problems with the number of coaches on staff relative to the number of dancers. But that's a resource issue.
I don't think management is wrong to have a "take it or leave it" approach. You cited Messmer, Matthews and Kajiya as departures. I would add Sterling Baca, Roddy Doble and Matt Golding. But there was always someone to replace them. We can argue about whether the replacements are as good as what might have been if the departing dancers had stayed. But the continuing willingness of people to join the company tells me it's still a buyer's market at ABT rather than a seller's market.
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1 hour ago, nanushka said:
Bolle, Cornejo, Hallberg, Lendorf, Murphy, Simkin: I don't get the sense that many on here would argue these dancers are not world-class, and deserving of a principal position in a top-tier company.
Setting aside the issue of mediocrity, this group is problematic in its own right. Bolle is in his 40s and barely dances with the company any more. Hallberg and Lendorf are injured more often than not and also have loyalties elsewhere (the Australian Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet respectively.) Murphy is increasingly beset by injuries. Simkin will be spending a big portion of his time with another company. That leaves Cornejo as a major part of the company's backbone and he's past 35 as well.
1 hour ago, nanushka said:Stearns, Whiteside: Enh. Still, I wouldn't say these two are enough to taint the whole enterprise.
I know these two have taken up the old 'Veronika Part - Divided Opinions' mantle but the company needs them. They are workhorses, especially now that Gomes is gone.
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This is the only review I've seen of the recent performances:
http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2018/03/in-the-mood.html
Now that the New York Times is moving away from comprehensive dance reviews, I wonder how small successor companies like the Sokolow company are going to attract attention.
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10 hours ago, Amy Reusch said:
Is it possibly all the emphasis on competitions rather than on artistic quality these days? Maybe they don't see beyond the tricks? And this is their way of measuring themselves against the rest of the world?
I think that may be part of it. The other thing to consider is that Angel Corella jettisoned the old company in order to bring the new company into being. Presumably, he wants the big jumps and non-stop turning.
10 hours ago, wallis said:Maybe......they are having fun and tricks are easy to post? Maybe they go for broke in the studio so it's easier to do more modest and clean turns or jumps on stage? When in class, doing barre or center, everyone is working and they don't have their cell phones out? Maybe there are restrictions on the choreography that they can post? I don't know for sure. However, I do know this company is full of unique and talented artistic athletes who are bringing some beauty to the world. I'd rather see them dance than not!
You are correct that Instagram videos are not the best measure of a company's health. However, Instagram videos are a form of advertisement for the company. Unfortunately, the impression being left from all the turning videos is that all the guys want to dance is Don Q.
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1 hour ago, nanushka said:
The thing is, while Corella had that dynamo side, I feel like he was much more than that. Admittedly, I didn't start following ABT until near the end of his career there, so I only saw him live a handful of times. But the impression I got, even in those last years, was that he was much more of an all-around high-quality dancer. If these are "mini-Angels," they seem modeled on a caricature.
I don't disagree with you. It may be that the male dancers are picking up on the most obvious strand in Corella's career and no one is getting them to see Corella (if he is indeed the stylistic model they're all looking toward) in a more nuanced way.
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On 3/12/2018 at 9:07 AM, nanushka said:
I haven't seen him dance since he went to PAB, but his frequent IG videos often leave me thinking he still needs more refinement. Perhaps he'd have developed more of that if he'd stayed and had to work harder for a possible principal position at ABT.
On 3/12/2018 at 9:30 AM, its the mom said:From the dancers' instagrams, I feel as though so many of them are concentrated on tricks, especially turns. As, nanushka says above, Sterling is one example of this.
On 3/12/2018 at 3:13 PM, canbelto said:I follow some of the PA Ballet dancers on social media and agree that it seems as if the way to get cast is to dance very much like Corella himself danced: lots of bravura tricks and endless pirouettes a la seconde. It seems very exciting but I'm curious how they do with, say, Jewels later this season.
I follow some of the Pennsylvania Ballet male dancers on Instagram and I would concur with the comments made by other posters. From what the dancers post on their Instagram feeds, they come across as a company of mini-Angels. I don't know if they're being pushed in that direction by Corella himself or, as canbelto notes, they've collectively decided that imitating Corella is the road to advancement. The impression they're giving via Instagram is a very one-dimensional one, though.
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14 hours ago, Jayne said:
The only thing missing are the drawn ober red arrows, indicating who is “hot” or “not”.
And the 'Stars -- They're Just Like Us!' feature replete with a photo of someone doing something mundane (i.e. Sara Mearns pumping gas.)
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9 hours ago, dirac said:
The most obvious changes to the arts pages, which predated the promotion of this fellow, were giant photos spread across the front of the section, Times readers presumably being bored easily by text, chatty Q&As with dancers about their favorite roles and favorite yogurt, and dialogues between Times critics instead of reviews by the critics. I gather these exchanges are popular online.
The Bonnie Fuller-ization of the Times . . .
(Regular "readers" of US Weekly and Star will know what I'm talking about.)
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18 hours ago, Gnossie said:
I'm gutted for Révillion, Moreau and Loup Quer, they better be looking for new projects....
I wouldn't worry too much about Jeremy Loup-Quer as he's young (mid-20s) and most likely next in line for promotion. The dancers who competed and are in the 30-32 range -- Allister Madin, Marc Moreau, Fabien Revillion and Daniel Stokes -- are the ones who should be asking themselves, "How likely is it that I will be promoted?" If the answer is "unlikely," then they either have to make their peace with being a soloist at the Opera or strike out in new directions.
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47 minutes ago, silvermash said:
Results for today competition
Quadrille to Coryphée
1. Axel Magliano
2. Simon Le BorgneCoryphée to Sujet
1. Francesco Mura
2. Pablo LegasaSujet to Premier danseur
Paul MarqueNo surprise at all about Varna winner Paul Marque. Short of his falling down, I couldn't imagine the promotion escaping him.
I read that Sebastien Bertaud was competing even though he's what -- mid-30s? Good for him for staying in the competition even though the likelihood of advancement is slim.
Is Legasa the new Alu?
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The annual concours for promotion is today and tomorrow.
Boston Ballet 2018-19 season
in Boston Ballet
Posted
Florimond Lorieux has announced on his Instagram feed that he's returning to the Paris Opera Ballet after two years with Boston Ballet.