GeorgeB fan

I don't see why we can't have both. For most of it's history ABT has been famous for inviting star dancers into their company and I really don't see why that tradition needs to stop. That said... I think it's very important - not to mention extremely necessary - for ABT to look within their own company and promote male dancers to principal status. From their soloists to members of the corp de ballet, ABT is peppered with strong, promising male dancers, who with training, can easily become principals in their own right. What the company needs to do is to nurture, guide, and most importantly, challenge their male dancers in roles that would push them harder into developing their techincal skills into even greater strength and refinement. That of course goes hand-to-hand at how those dancers are being trained and taught in the studio. Danil Simkin, for example, is a wonderful virtuoso but it's not surprising he's still a soloist. He has all the skills at being a principal dancer, but in many cases, he's still rough around the edges and his partnering skills can often get him in trouble...not to mention his ballerinas. He needs to be worked on - hard - in order to correct these problems. And the thing for me - IMO - that should have been corrected a long time ago. He's a star waiting to happen but ABT doesn't seem to be doing anything in order help him to achieve it, and if they are, they're not doing it strong enough. Also ABT needs to make sure their dancers know they're being watched. That the promise of being eventually named Principal Dancer is actually within their reach. Sure invite guest artist but don't do it to such a degree in which your home team start believing they're being completely forgotten. I still cry when I think about Giuseppe Picone. He just didn't have all elements of being a Principal Dancer - he WAS - a Principal Dancer! But sadly for him - and by extention, we the audience - ABT kept him as a soloist. It got so bad that eventually Picone left. And that's another thing that ABT has a problem with - both males and females - they keep their truly promising dancers as soloist for far too long. In some cases the wait is understandable, but in other cases, some dancers slips through the company's fingers probably because the dancer has a sense of frustration at waiting, so they leave and go else where. And yeah, that does bring into question the skills of ABT's ballet masters. A great dancer is often taught by a great teacher...without that great teacher it's pretty hard to have a great dancer. Currently ABT is in a period of transition. They are losing their strongest principal males - either to retirement or because those dancers have other interest. Not to mention Father Time is catching up to them. Whatever the case ABT has to start seriously thinking about where their new principal male dancers will be coming from. They can't solely rely on guest artists...and Gomes and Hallberg can't dance everything!

Reyes/Cornejo...oh the pairing could go on and on. The thing that is so frustrating for me is that ABT hasn't performed this Ashton classic sense 2003 I believe. Which I don't understand. The critics loved it. Everytime I went to the Met to see it the house was nearly always full meaning that the public clearly enjoyed it, and you can't help but get the strong sense that dancers adored dancing the ballet. It needs to come back - ASAP. vipa - I get what you're saying and I understand it. Vasiliev is an unpolish gem in many ways. But maybe with the proper coaching - from Tharp herself or perhaps even from Baryshnikov, Vasiliev could perhaps pull it off. It certainly would be a challenge for him but I think at this point in his career he needs challenges in order to further develop himself into an even great artist. IMO. I also love your suggestion for Miss Julie. I've never seen it but I've heard and read enough about it, it would certainly make me run to the theater to see it. I think Mussel created this thread asking the posters their own personal opinions at what they believe ABT maybe bringing to the Met during their 2012 season. Nothing has been posted on ABT's website about what ballets they will be performing because I think it's too early for that. I think this thread is merely a fun guessing game for us ballet lovers. I could be wrong...it certainly won't be the first time. LOL.

Bright Stream - it's the hit of the this season so it will be back next season! La Bayadere - this is the ballet that will probably start out the season. Romeo & Juliet or Manon - we didn't have a MacMillan this season, so you know we gonna have him next season. Swan Lake - it's always there. LeCorsaire - yuck! Just keep the Pas de Deux, its the only real good thing about the ballet, but I will admit that ballet has a number of roles that will give several dancers an opportunity to shine. Giselle - after Swan Lake it's probably the ballet that brings in the most money. We probably have an evening of mixed program. Ratmansky's new Firebird along with probably a Balanchine - Theme and Variation or Ballet Imperial, something of Robbins or of Ashton or perhaps of Paul Taylor. Now if it was solely up to ME the 2012 season would be more like this: The Bright Stream La Fille Mal Gardee - could you imagine both Ospiova and Vasiliev dancing together in the lead role of that joyous ballet?? Lise just seem to have been born for Ospiova! Romeo & Juliet Giselle Swan Lake - always have to have the money. Then I would have three mixed bill programs: #1 Apollo Afternoon of a Faun LeCorsaire Pas de Deux Ratmansky's Firebird #2 Les Patineurs Other Dances Grand Pas de Deux from Don Quixote Push Comes To Shove - Vasiliev would be terrific in that ballet...if he was making a return guest appearance with ABT next season that is! #3 Company B Bedroom Pas de Deux from Manon Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux Etudes

Perhaps I've missed it. They may have already danced it together. But if they haven't, I'm still waiting for the casting of Kowroski and Reichlen in this ballet. I think the ladies are similar enough - yet different enough - to make for an intriguing pairing of this classic work of Balanchine.

I adore Vienna Waltzes. It's wonderfully romantic. I'm not sure when City Ballet will perform it again but I will be interested to see who Peter Martins cast in the final section - Der Rosenkavalier. For years only Darci Kistler and Kyra Nichols danced that section. With both ladies now retired which current ballerina will inherit role? I think Maria Kowroski would be a natural and perhaps the most obvious choice. She would need to be coached carefully. I mean you just can't teach any dancer the steps and then tell her, "go to it." The ballerina must create an atmosphere of pure romanticism. For the first few moments she's alone on stage and she must command that stage in order to grab the audience attention. Without achieving that she's lost. She must have an air of regal nobility; she has to somehow be in a state of creamy aloftness. She's approachable but yet still out of reach...but you remain fascianted. She's captivating and she makes the viewer spellbound. In some ways she's like Balanchine's "Diamonds" but instead of wearing a tutu and toe shoes, she's in a long beautiful grown and is wearing heels. I think it's a given Wendy Whelan will be given the chance to dance the role...if for nothing else currently she's the senior ballerina of the company and there's something about that role that seems to need a dancer with weight of experience on her shoulder. An air of dignity and grace which you could only achieve with years of dancing. Whelan has that along with Kowroski. I think Jennie Somogyi may do surprisingly well in the role. But then again I always have a soft spot for Somogyi. Perhaps Jenifer Ringer - although she's probably best suited in the Gold and Silver Waltz. Of the more recent promoted principal ballerinas I think Teresa Reichlen, Sara Mearns and perhaps Sterling Hyltin may also be fine choices.

I'm sure others will be able to word it better but I think the days in which the average individual - "Joe and Jane Smith" - who knew the stars from the world of Popular Art as well as the stars from the world of High Arts is pretty much over. Today there's such a huge gap in between the camps, that wasn't there before, say at the time of the huge ballet explosion we experience in the 60's and 70's, I think it would be hard to recapture that. Back then everyone knew who The Beatles were...but many of those same people also knew who Nureyev was as well. In those days Popular Art and High Art went hand-to-hand in terms of presentation to the general public. To use his variety show as an example, Ed Sullivan was a godsend. In one program he could have James Brown in one segment and the next one he could have Edward Villella and Patricia McBride dancing from the New York City Ballet...and in those days it wasn't that great of a shock say as when David Letterman had ballerina Veronika Part on his show a few months back. When she appeared on his show, many of us here was surprise - happily - but still surprise that a ballerina would be on a late-night popular talk show. If it was the 60's or 70's it wouldn't have been that great of a shock...because most likely it would have already happened. In those days there was a sense of being "culturally aware" of the fine arts that we sadly don't have anymore here in America.

How marvelous!!! It's wonderful viewing the old greats in all their magical wonder. Those fish dives were incredible. I've always read that Michael Somes was a gifted partner. Watching this I understand why. Margot Fonteyn was totally safe in his hands. On a side note...he looked pretty damn yummy in those tights too. But I know we're not supposed to notice those things.

I've always wanted to ask a question. Maybe someone could answer it here. Lynn Seymour is perhaps the greatest dramatic prima ballerina of her generation and of course in many ways she's solely linked to The Royal Ballet. Now I know she's Canadian but isn't Canada regarded as a Commonwealth of Great Britian or something to that effect? The question I'm asking is why haven't Seymour been made a Dame of the British Empire? It just seems odd to me that she haven't been awarded that honor...if she's eligible that is. Thanks.

This is a fairly recent photo. It's a studio photo of Katia Carranza and Renato Penteado of the Miami City Ballet in Balanchine's Symphony in C second movement. Simply breathtaking!! http://www.visitflor...4264024_288.jpg

It's so depressing for me on a personal level. Because it's not just the gentlemen who has left us over the years. The ladies as well. Nina Ananiashvili, Amanda McKerrow, Susan Jaffe, Alessandra Ferri, Ashley Tuttle. They were all the dancers who was performing gloriously when I first started going to the ballet back in the 90's. Fourteen, fifteen years ago. Time was supposed to stand still! What happened?? It makes me feel old!! And I don't like feeling old!

I'm on the fence with this. On one hand when the Center honored individuals like Joan Sutherland, Elton John, Andrew Lloyd Webber and presently Paul McCartney I do think Brit, Brit, Brit. They have their knighthood and all that suff. But then I think of people like Antony Tudor, Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, to name a few. They're all Brits - and Andrews is a Dame of the British Empire - but their greatest fame and lasting contribution to the perfroming arts happened here in America. So in that regard I don't really have much of a problem with their inclusion. It goes back and forth for me.

Oprah Winfrey?? Seriously?? I'm sorry but her inclusion doesn't make any sense. She may have acted in some movies as well as producing a few, but her true claim to fame is being a straight-forward talk show host that more or less discuss serious issues facing our society. And while that is an enormously important thing to do, it has nothing to do with the creative performing arts. She's News and Information. Johnny Carson made it on the list because he was more then just a talk show host. He was an entertainer and a comic and he displayed that in all the 30 years he was host of The Tonight Show. If the center wanted to select a lone woman for this year list they could have picked Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Cynthia Gregory - it would be nice if someday a classical dancer who has nothing to do with Balanchine would be one of the honorees, Doris Day, Shirley Caesar, Meryl Streep, or any other countless ladies who best represent the true meaning of excellence in the performing arts. I love Oprah Winfrey...but she does not deserve a Kennedy Center Honor.

I came across this wonderful series of videos. It's of Sir Frederick Ashton late in life coaching Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell in the marvelous ending pas de deux from his sublime ballet "The Dream." It's intercut with scenes in which Dowell is coaching new dancers in the roles both he and Sibley created back in the 60's. Watching how Dowell teach compare to Ashton's is interesting and I think very revealing. Ashton is really hard on Sibley at times. Not sure if this has already been posted. If not I hope you all enjoy. It comes in five parts. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

I can't remember where but I thought I once read or heard Balanchine explaining that a great choreographer knows how to choreography a dance in which he's both simultaneously highlighting a dancer's strength while covering up their weakness. I think this little dance piece is a perfect example of that. Clearly both Maximova and Vasiliev are limited thanks to their age but you're not really focusing on their limitations but instead admiring the charm, beauty and still amazing skills both individuals clearly still possess. That's the sign of a very smart choreographer. Vasiliev did his wife lovingly well. If it was any other choreographer we probably would have seen her limitations all over the place. But not with Vasiliev. It was covered them up beautifully...and it was a joy to watch. It's true. They don't make dancers like that anymore.

Holy CRAP!! I've seen 64 of Balanchine's ballets. Incredible! Unless noted I've seen them all with the New York City Ballet. A Midsummer Night's Dream Agon Allegro Brillante Apollo Ballet Imperial - American Ballet Theatre Ballo della Regina Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Bugaku - Dance Theater of Harlem Chaconne Concerto Barocco Coppélia Cortège Hongrois Divertimento from "Le Baiser De La Fée" Divertimento No. 15 Donizetti Variations Duo Concertant Episodes Firebird Garland Dance George Balanchine's The Nutcracker Harlequinade Ivesiana Jewels Kammermusik No. 2 La Sonnambula La Source La Valse Le Tombeau de Couperin Liebeslieder Walzer Monumentum Pro Gesualdo Movements for Piano and Orchestra Mozartiana Orpheus Pas de Trois (Glinka) - Miami City Ballet Pavane Prodigal Son Raymonda Variations Robert Schumann's "Davidsbündlertänze" Scherzo à la Russe Scotch Symphony Serenade Slaughter on Tenth Avenue Sonatine Square Dance Stars and Stripes Stravinsky Violin Concerto Swan Lake (Act II) Sylvia Pas de Deux - American Ballet Theatre Symphonie Concertante - American Ballet Theatre Symphony in C Symphony in Three Movements Tarantella The Four Temperaments The Steadfast Tin Soldier Theme and Variations Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 Union Jack Valse-Fantaisie Vienna Waltzes Walpurgisnacht Ballet Western Symphony Who Cares?

I should have never discovered this thread! LMAO!! Because when I first joined this marvelous board we had a discussion about Hilarion and Albrecht and my opinion has not change after nearly ten years. I'm ALL for Hilarion!! One of my all-time favorite Hilarion was John Gardner's from ABT and it's his performance that I measure all other Hilarions by. His Hilarion was human. His wasn't a cardboard villain. Instead of giving us one-note, Gardner gave us many, which is what a great dancer is supposed to do. He played Hilarion as a honorable man, a decent man, a man who was sincerely in love with Giselle. All he wanted to do was to make her happy and I believe if she gave herself a chance she would have been happy with him...or at the very least had a much longer life to live. And of all the Giselles I've seen dance the role opposite Gardner - whether it was Amanda McKerrow, Susan Jaffe, etc - they all gave off the appearance as if they did liked Hilarion. She wasn't scared of him or fearful of him. You got the sense she viewed him as a friend...which only adds to the drama. For me it's that version of Hilarion that actually makes the story more richer, more complex, more emotional and more tragic. When he goes after Albrecht, Gardner always made it clear, Hilarion wasn't going after him in terms of revenge, but more at protecting Giselle because he knows she's being deceive, which she is. Even after being rejected by Giselle, Hilarion was still looking after her. Here was a man who could have possibly made her very happy but the poor darling wasn't in love with him...she was in love with the more glamorous Albrecht. When it comes to the matter of love we often don't think rationally with our head but more emotionally with our hearts. She fell for that "noble" men who was trying to get his groove on before marrying the woman he promised to marry. He was nothing but a smooth talker. He was like one of those horny teenage boys who drove some unexpected girl up to Make-Out Point trying to seduce her in the backseat of his car. "C'mon baby. Everybody is doing it. Don'tcha want to show me how much you love me?" And that's basically what he was trying to do in the first few moments of the ballet. He wanted some booty. He ain't nothing but a two-timer. Hilarion wouldn't have done it. Gardner's Hilarion was a gentleman. And there we have Giselle. A poor, sweet, innocent peasant girl who gives her bad heart to a guy who doesn't deserve it. And what happens? She dies because of it. Jerk!!!! I'm having sooooooo much fun writing this!! LOL!! Yeah, yeah...it was clear that Albrecht was falling for Giselle and when she died it was obvious he felt enormous guilt. Of course that guilt didn't stop him from trying to blame Hilarion for it. All Hilarion did was tell the truth about his lying butt. Jerk!! I do not like Albrecht - no I don't. That's why I love Jerome Robbins' The Cage. That Novice did to that male insect what Giselle should have done with Albrecht...kill his butt and feed his body to her fellow Wilis!

I watched the documentary “Water Flowing Together" on public television about his life and it was wonderful. So sad to hear his mother passed on two years ago. She came off as warm, loving and fun individual.

I remember a performace of "Stars and Strips" at the New York City Ballet in where Alexandra Ansanelli and Damian Woetzel danced the central pas de deux. Towards the beginning Ansanelli does an arabesque in which she pause for a moment before placing her hand to a kneeing Damian who is waiting to balance her. Well when Alexandra went into that arabesque she froze and just stood there on point on one leg and stood there...and stood there...and stood there...and literally looked about the audience smiling at us. Finally she looked down at Damian and gave off a smiling expression as if saying, "Oh I forgot about you!" and only then did she give her hand to him. We in the audience went crazy!! It was so effortless, so unexpected - and I think not just for us but for her as well; she wasn't trying to be tricky it just happened - it was amazing to watch. Mainly because she did it in such a matter-of-fact skill. It was wonderul. If fact that was last performance of her's I witness before she left the company and eventually joined the Royal Ballet.

Now that I finally saw the tattoo - oh yes - he could EASILY dance the role of Apollo. The top of his costume - the sash - would easily cover that up. Add a little flesh colored make-up for safe guarding and you wouldn't even notice it was there. And even if NYCB was still performing the "Birth of Apollo" prologue the design of the tattoo is actually appropriate. Not only is it tastefully and elegantly design it depicts the sun and of course Apollo is the Sun God. Yes he has my permission to dance the role. LOL.

Boo that's what that have body make-up. LOL. He may sweat it off by the end of the performance...but if he's performance is brilliant...will it really matter? They could use that Light Egyptain make-up Max Factor created for Lena Horne back in the 1940's when she started making movies. They wanted to "darken" her up. Of course Ms. Horne never used it. Instead they painted all over Ava Gardner for the 1951 film version of "Show Boat" because MGM refused to give the role of Julie to Ms. Horne because the idea of a real black woman being married to a white man on screen was a major no-no in those years.

In the 13 years that I've been going to NYCB there has been only three males dancers who have danced the classic role of Apollo: Peter Boal, Nikolaj Hubbe and Nilas Martins. All three men are now retired. Of the men currently dancing with City Ballet, who will be the chosen new Apollo? This is almost an historic moment. The torch will be pass onto the next generation. Any educated guesses or thoughts?? My first thought would be what I regard as the obvious: Ask la Cour. He's tall, he's blond...he very much takes in the idea of the Adonis...which is something that Peter Martins (who definitely was an Adonis when he performed the role) seems to only that's the type of dancer who should play the role. But at the moment Ask la Cour - at least for me - is the only dancer who could fit that characteristic in terms of physical appearance and he can't be the only performer who will dance the role. I mean I would hope not. Apollo goes beyond just looks. The role requires dignity and elegance; strength and power; authority yet vulnerability; child-like wonder before maturing into wise adulthood. This is a complex role and while I think Ask la Cour can possess all those qualities - if properly coached - I think there are others who could bring those elements to Apollo as well. Jared Angle and Craig Hall come straight to my mind. Whenever on stage they carry themselves with dignity and elegance. And I'm sure they could easily demonstrate all the other qualities I've mentioned as well...if properly coached. Also they're wonderful partners and whoever dance Apollo will definitely need to be an brilliant partner. Which brings me to the muses...especially Terpsichore. In later years it seems that only Wendy Whalen and Yvonne Borre own that role. I'm sure others have danced it but both Borre and Whelan always seems to be first choice. But Borre is now gone and Whalen can't - or at least shouldn't - dance every performance. We may not just be getting a new Apollo come spring but perhaps a new Terpsichore, a new Polyhymnia and a new Calliope. Any thoughts on who those ladies could be?

Drew, I think you hit on something that I had a problem with the review. I can't in all truth argue the things Ms. LaRocca mentioned in regard to Yvonne's overall career at NYCB. She was never one of my personal favorites, although I have to admit, there was a few times I was actually surprise at just how good she was. I remembered a performance of Harlequinde back in the late 90's with Damian Woetzel in which techincally speaking she was very strong and confidence. The same can be said about a performance of Sleeping Beauty in which she danced with Peter Boal. I was scared to death when she started the "Rose Adagio" because I just knew she wasn't going to be successful but to my amazement she sail through it with flying colors as she did with the rest of the performance. Sure there was roles that Peter Martins should have NEVER cast in her. Concero Barocco, Terpsichore (she probably been better used in the role Calliope), and my God what was Martins thinking when he cast her in Rubies???? These mistakes in casting wasn't just unfair to Yvonne but also to the audience, but more importantly, to the ballets themselves. Back to what Drew was talking about, I think there is some truth to this argument that perhaps it would have been better if the criticism was somewhere in the middle of the article instead of towards the end because I did in fact expected the criticism. I actually braced myself waiting for it as I started reading the review. But to my relative delight the review was respectful, nice and I guess in a way appropriate. I mean she was never one of the major stars during her years but she did give 22 years service and for that in itself it should be acknowledged, thanked, and move on. But then BAM...all the negative criticism about her lack of skills and personality as a ballerina was threw at us. As I said I can't deny the things LaRocca said but perhaps she should not have tagged it towards the end. By doing so it left a sour note to the review. Suddenly all the praise she gave Yvonne in the beginning of the review lost some of it's power and weight. You got the sense you was being fatten up like a Thanksgiving turkey only to have the ax come slamming down on your neck. Now if I could feel that, imagine what Yvonne Borree must've felt like if she read it? Now I know LaRocca can't worry about what an artist thinks when she's giving her opinion about the artist's work, and Yvonne must be professional enough to deal with it, but can't help but think these are the very last words that will be ever spoken about in terms of her active career and it's basically a slam...even if there's some truth to that slam. Sure on some levels LaRocca had to say those words if she was going to be honest professional journalist. No don't sugarcoat it but why throw more acid on it? Sure the sting would still be there if written in the middle, but I think we all know the last words spoken to you - or in this regard the last words spoken about you - are the words you will remember the most. Those are the ones that will remain printed in your head. Those final words completely changed the review. Why couldn't she put a nice bow at the end going back to the performance at hand and the audience happy send-off to her farewell? Perhaps if she did maybe...just maybe...we wouldn't be engaged in this discussion.

I was thinking the exact same thing!! LOL They are two of the most famous dancers in the world today and have been dancing principals roles like FOREVER. I'm happy for both and it's richly deserved but I can't help but think...What took so long??

I just finish watching it. Simply superb!!

Hello it's me again. I was over at YouTube and by glorious accident I came across this piece of teasure of a by gone era of ballet. It's the Grand Pas de Quatre as staged by Anton Dolin which obviously was based on the choreography by Jules Perrot as originally seen on the old television series, Bell Telephone Hour back in 1960 here in the United States. It stars - incredibly - four of the greatest ballerinas in the middle section of the 20th century: Alicia Alonso, Melissa Hayden, Nora Kaye and Mia Slavenska. What a cast! I mean their individual style is so completely different but in general they danced with wonderful harmony. I have to admit I giggled a little at the characterization each ballerina brought to their dancing but it was clear they were base on the 19th century style dancing of the famous ballerinas they were protraying. I can't off hand remember who they were but I'm sure many of who will! There was no question however the dancing is wonderful and that ballerinas of today could still learn lessons from these four great artist. I search to see if this video has already been posted. I don't believe it has. If by chance it was apologies. If not...please enjoy!