GeorgeB fan

I'm crying with joy - my Jennie is back!!!!!!!

Yes carbro, that is exactly what I ment! Thank you for clarifying that because I certainly wouldn't want anyone thinging I above going to the fourth ring. Because it's beautiful up there, its like totally different world. A world in which obviously the most passionate lovers of ballet regard themselves at home! It's also as if this was well-kept secret that only a few privilege are aware of. WELL NOW I KNOW AND I LIKE IT!! The view does give you a different way at viewing the ballet. You see better the choreographic design or picture design or whatever way you called it much better then seating in the second ring where I usually seat. Your right Balanchinomane seeing Union Jack from that view would be great to see.

Peter Boal is one of the greatest dancers of his or any other generation. It was just a privilege to be apart of his farewell to performing. His Apollo is undescribable! It's something that only being witness to can someone can truly understand his brilliance!! That moment when the curtain open with him just standing there was as beautiful a moment you can expect from the stage. And oh the response from us in the audience was so spontaneous, so full of love and appreciation for his many years of enjoyment and artistry he has given us on the years. It was a wonderful moment.

The whole afternoon performance of course will stay with me forever, but the moment I know I will never forget was in Opus19/The Dreamer. There was that moment when Boal was in front center stage and behind him scatter about the stage was the corp. Just then according to the choreography Boal grabbed his heart and suddenly he turned and with the hand he grabbed his heart with he stretch out his arm and point it from what it seem from dancer to dancer in the corp. It was almost as if symbolically he was giving away his gifts as a dancer, his genius, his intelligence, his dancer's soul to the next generation of dancers and the fact they was kneeing before his just make the moment even more spiritual.

Watching the Peter Boal response to the ovation at the end of the performance was also wonderful. Mr. Boal is a true modest gentlemen. He doesn't seem to understand the love the audience and indeed his colleagues. At one point Peter Martins had to push Boal up to front of the stage to acknowledge the applause. And oh that moment when Boal grab Jock Soto and brought him forth to share in the applause, I thought the we in the audience was going to go crazy! All of his ballerinas was there to give him flowers - an emotional moment for all them I'm sure. His wife and children - a sweet and loving looking family. Noble, elegant, regal, Peter Boal is a dancer we will not be seeing again for a long, long time!

It was also my first time on the fourth ring and I'm telling you it was bad it. I might start saving money by bring more tickets up there.

Does anyone think that ABT is pushing Sarah Lane along so Herman Cornejo will have his own ballerina to perform with. She's a very promising and talented dancer - and she is also very small. Just wondering.

On one of my first post I mention that Albert Evans would be a noble Apollo!! Phillip Neal I think would bring great elegence to the role as well as Sebastien Marcovici. But Oberon mention a name I never once thought of, James Fayette. It could be very interesting watching him tackling this role, at the very least his muses would have one of the best partnered Apollos.

But all this talking about Apollo made me think of another signature ballet from NYCB, The Prodigal Son. I could be wrong but it does seem that currently Peter Boal is the only dancer that has both ballets in his repertoire. I know that Damian Woetzel dance Prodigal and maybe Nikolaj Hubbe, he I'm not sure, but if they are the only three, soon to be minus one, dancers performing this ballet, then Peter Martins should be looking in the ranks to find other dancers to fill this important role. Benjamin Millepied comes to mind as well as Joaquin de Luz.

April 30th. Sat. Evening.

APOLLO

There is no question in my mind that Peter Boal is definitely one of the great Apollos of his or anyone generation! He is classicism at its most purest. He plays a God in training, but from the moment the curtain raise it is very evidence the material is already there ready to be molded. Noble, elegant, supremely regal, masculine, bold, curiosity, as well as sexy - a phrase that is often not used when describing Boal but he certainly is. Of course all these qualities would be nothing if Mr. Boal doesn't have the technical skills to show them and of course he does in arm fulls. What is great about his movements is they are always presented with high intelligence, detail phrasing, musicality - the music just breathe within him, sharp fluency, well thought out and executed with a polish and grace that fulls the stage and absorb everything around him beautifully. A magnificent performance!!!

It was Mr. Boal's expressive stage presence I think inform and sharp the performances, for the most part, of his three muses of the night. Part of the reason Miranda Weese's Calliope was so wonderfully coquettish was because Boal's Apollo was so eager to find out what she had written. Ashley Bouder was quicksilver and slightly fliration, that until she open her mouth. The only weak link was Yvonne Borre's Terpsichore. Unlike the other ladies, Ms. Borre seem not to been able to match the nobility, the sharp phrasing and detail the choreography needed as all the others did. But all in all it was a performance to remember!

Does anyone knows if this production will be traveling to the New York area? I would love to see it!!! I can't get to Canada or even to Washington, D. C.!! I'm sure, even though he would never admitted it, that Peter Martins is burning inside that he wasn't unable to get DonQ performed at NYCB during the Balanchine year-long celebration!!! If he was able to put his feelings aside and had Suzanne Farrell stage the ballet, those performance would have had sold-out tickets for every performance. That would have been the crown jewel of the NYCB season of last year.

I GET TO SEE PETER BOAL DANCE APOLLO ONE LAST TIME!!! :blush:

Please, oh please let there be no cast changes!!!

I know it would be too much to ask, but won't it be welcome if Peter Martins would let Boal dance the full-version. Could you imagine the welcome grasp from the audience if the curtain rise and there seating high in the sky Apollo's mother about to give birth to her son! I know, too much to ask, but oh how wonderful it would be!!

I just got my next week issue of Entertainment Weekly in the mail and I was flipping though it and low and behold what did I see but Alessandra Ferri as Giselle (the same beautifully luminous picture on the front cover of the new brochure for ABT at the Met) in a advertisement for up coming performances in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. And I just had to smile! It may not be much but I think it's great that ABT is going outside the normal magazines you would usually find ballet companies advertising for performances and put an ade in a popluar mainsteam entertainment magazine.

In today's art section of the Times there is a very lovely Q&A interview with much miss principal dancer Jennie Somogyi discussing her injury and her long recovery process. It a nice read. While it seems she won't be coming back any time soon, Ms. Somogyi does seem to be hopeful at returning some day, but only when she is 100% back in shape - as it should be. I personally miss her terribly, but I would only wish to see her perform again when she is completely sure she is physically able too. Sorry, but I don't know how to write the link to the article, but all you have to do is go the NYTimes website and clip art and later dance to see the article. I sure it's safe to say we all wish for Ms. Somogyi a strong recovery.

Sir Frederick Ashton

The Dream

La Fille Mal Gardee

A Month in the Country

Les Patineurs

Symphonic Variations

George Balanchine: This one was super tough, still not 100% happy with my choices

Apollo

Concerto Barocco

Jewels

Serenada

Symphony in C

August Bournonville

Far from Denmark

Flower Festival in Genzano

A Folk Tale

Napoli

La Sylphide

Jean Coralli & Jules Perrot

Giselle

Mikhail Fokine

The Dying Swan

The Firebird

Petrushka

Le Spectre de la Rose

Les Sylphides

Yuri Grigorovich

Ivan the Terrible

Spartacus

Kurt Joss

The Green Table

Harold Lander

Etudes

Sir Kenneth MacMillan

The Invention

Manon

Mayerling

Requiem

Romeo and Juliet

Leonide Massine

La Boutique Fantasque

Le Tricorne

Bronislava Nijinska

Les Noces

Marius Petipa

La Bayadere

Don Quixote

Raymonda

The Sleeping Beauty

Swan Lake

Roland Petit

Carmen

Le Jeune Homme et la mort

Arthur Saint-Leon

Coppelia

Jerome Robbins - his was easy neither

Afternoon of a Faun

Dances at a Gathering

Fancy Free

The Goldberg Variations

The Four Seasons

Twyla Tharp

Push Comes to Shove

Antony Tudor

Dark Elegies

Echoing of Trumpets

Jardin aux Lilas

Pillar of Fire

Romeo and Juliet

NON BALLET

Alvin Ailey

Cry

Revelation

Fred Astaire

"Puttin' on the Ritz" from Blue Skies

Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers

"Cheek to Cheek" from Top Hat

"Let's Face the Money and Dance" from Follow the Fleet

"Pick Yourself Up" from Swing Time

Merce Cunningham

Summerspace

Martha Graham

Appalachian Spring

Clytemnestra

Diversion of Angels

Lamentation

Night Journey

Pearl Primus

Stange Fruit

Paul Taylor

Aureole

Esplanade

Last Look

I never saw her perform live, but watching her as Myrtha in the ABT film verion of Giselle starring Carla Fracci and Erik Bruhn, Toni Lander must have the greatest bourees ever recorded on camera. The control, the smoothness, the tiny, tiny steps, the strength - there is an overhead shot in which she seem to glide in a huge circle with rampant speed around the set without once showing any effort. This woman had legs of steel!

For the corp de ballet no question LaBayadere! To perform The Kingdom of the Shades in complete unitize and still give the sense of otherworldliness and beauty has to be extraordinary demanding on the corp. And when they perform it correctly the ovation is overwhelming and very deserve.

For the ballerina in a full-length role, I would say The Sleeping Beauty if for nothing else because of the Rose Adagio, arguably the most demanding 6-7 minutes for a ballerina in all of full-length ballets. The variations in DonQ must also be very demanding. Giselle must also be definite - isn't it called the Hamlet of ballets?

For the ballerina in a one-act I would say Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies. It takes an exceptional dance-actress to convey the emotions and drama in that ballet without going overboard. Theme and Variations, Etudes, The Dying Swan - talk about the guts it takes to dance that solo, Symphony in C first & second movements.

For the principal male in a full-length, I would say Don Quixote - his variations are killers. Grigorovich's Spartacus, Giselle for the same reasons fandeballet stated. And of course the slave in Le Corsaire.

For the one-act I think Theme and Variations, Rubies, Rhapsody must be killers for the guys.

Thanks Dale, something told me that financial reasons maybe the reason ABT has not perform The Sleeping Beauty. Also agree with you about wanting for the right production. I've never seen the MacMillan production, but from everything I read about it wasn't that great.

ABT perform this grandest and greatest of full-length ballets? As much as I enjoy the fact that Kevin McKenzie require the rights of many new full-length ballets (LeCorsaire, Onegin, The Taming of the Shew and La Fille Mal Gardee) or restage classics like Swan Lake and Raymonda over the years, I would very much love to see the company perform this masterpiece of masterpieces of classical ballets.

Surely it isn't because Mr. McKenzie think he doesn't have the Auroras! I would love to see Nina Ananishvili, Gillian Murphy, Xiomara Reyes, Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent and Irina Dvorovenko dances the role of Aurora. I think in their own unique ways they would be fantastic! Of course they would be marvelously coached in the role with the fact that ABT has one of the greatest Auroras of the last century as one of their ballet masters (Irina Kolpakova). He also has great Lilac Fairies in the form of Veronika Part, Monique Meunier and Michele Wiles. Of course they could also make great matinee Auroras.

In fact Madame Kolpakova, if she's interested, would probably do a wonderful job staging the ballet - if anyone understand the brilliance of that ballet, she certainly would.

But there must be a reason why ABT hasn't perform it. Does anyone has opinion?

Michael let me be the first to say: WOW!!!! After reading that review I couldn't think of everything else to say.

Thanks Carbro~  Seeing Sylve and Bouder in Symph in 3 Mvmts. sounds divine!

Just seeing if I can work this out........

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I was thinking the same thing socalgal. I think I'm going to get tickets for Friday's not performance.

What a week a difference make! A week ago I was disenchanted with the performance of Emeralds, but this week Tuesday night performance hit the right note. Rachel Rutherford seem to finally understood the beauty and nuance of her sole. She truly gave the illusion of discovering her arms for the first time. A truly lovely performance. As for Stephen Hanna, he tone down his gestures and became the noble partner we know him to be. Sofiane Sylve was just magical. Jenifer Ringer danced the secondary role of a noble woman dancing in the privacy of her country chateau; Sylve performed as a knowing, elegant, sophisticated lady of the city of Paris. Her walking duet with the fine Jonathan Stafford as was with Ringer and James Fayette of last week the highlight of the ballet. Alina Dronova and Glenn Keenan performed their solos wonderfully in the pas de trois and Antonio Carmena who replace Seth Orza, danced with clear, sharp enthusiasm. Here's a dancer that should be seriously groomed for the rank of soloist. But the thing that pull the whole ballet together for me was the execellet conducting playing of guest conductor Daniel Wachs. Unlike Maurice Kaplow, Wachs slowed down the playing and allowed the delicate phrasing of the music to shine, giving the dancers the real opportunity to bring out all of the beauty in the ballet.

Rubies was perform as terrificly as last week with Benjamin Millepied making a very fine replacement for Nikolaj Hubbe. I think the reason Teresa Reichlen was given a bigger hand then Miranda Weese, who gave a near-perfect performance, is simple. We all love seeing a tall, long legged woman stretch, kick and in essence throw those around in unexpected and unusual ways. And when you have a talented dancer performing choreography that seem to have been created simply for that purpose it's no wonder the audience is going to cheer louder.

When everything is seen and done, Diamonds is a pas de deux - a spectacular pas de deux, but one never the less. The whole ballet hinders on the superbness of that moment in the ballet. Last week Wendy Whelan and Nilas Martins didn't capture it. Maria Kowroski and Philip Neal came as close as we may possibly can aspect. Kowroski may not have capture the regal elusiveness that made Suzanne Farrell's performance so legendary, but the glamour and intention was there. Of course we would hope for more - but there is only one Farrell and she is not coming back. Also I've notice that Kowroski doesn't have the strongest turns - she's somewhat too slow. Neal did capture for me the elegant, noble cavalier who is in awe of his ballerina. No question towards the end of the pas de deux he began losing his partnering skills, Kowroski almost lost her balance at one point because of it, but in all Kowroski and Neal was light years better then Whelan and Martins. That said, I think Michael is correct - currently there really isn't a ballerina who could perfectly dances the ballerina role in Diamonds. GOD I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN KYRA NICHOLS!!! Maybe Sofiane Sylve well have a crack at the role this coming spring.

This is a question I'm sure can be answered by someone with more knowledge of the psychological effect it would have on the dancers. But seeing that the soloist rank is currently very small compare to the huge numbers of principals NYBC has and that of two female soloist (Abi Stafford & Pascale van Kipnis) are out on a long term injury, it might not be a bad ideal. But I doubt it will ever happen. If Balanchine didn't see it necessary I can't see Peter Martins creating one.

However here's my list of possible coryphee

Dena Abergel

Faye Arthurs

Antonio Carmena

Amanda Edge

Carla Korbes

Rebecca Krohn

Ask la Cour

Seth Orza

Amar Ramasar

Carrie Lee Riggins

Jonathan Stafford

One of the things I hope most from going to the ballet is that I will leave the evening with a sense of wonder and awe. Saturday night's (2/12) performance certainly did that for me!

The thing I've notice since the promotions is that all the dancers promoted seem to be dancing with a great deal more authority, stature and strength.

In FANFARE Teresa Reichlen as the harp was very much the queen of the strings. With her long extension, height and slowly developing other-worldly stage presence, I sure she is going to have a long and successful career at NYCB. The ballet as a whole was wonderfully perform. The hightlight for me was the percussion. Tom Gold, Amar Ramasar and Sean Suozzi found all the humor in the choreography without over saling it.

AFTERNOON OF A FAUN. This is one of Jerome Robbins' major masterpieces. The way he created a moment in time between two dancers in a dance studio - detach and undetach, curious and yet uninterested, sensuous yet innocence - is a small miracle. Damian Woetzel and the extraordinary Janie Taylor capture all of that and more. An awesome performance.

ANDANTINO. Megan Fairchild and Joaquin De Luz perform very well, but I'm with Oberon, they simply did not capture the needed romanticism that ballet calls for.

THE FOUR SEASONS. How could you not love this festival ballet!! When perform correctly this is a ballet, more then any other, that will leave its audience floating out of the State Theater on a serious hight! It certainly did that for me. The humor in the winter section was wonderful felt by the dancing of Adam Hendrickson, Aaron Severini and especially Megan Fairchild. In fact currently speaking this is the type of role I think Fairchild is best at. Light, carefree and energetic. While I regret that I wasn't able to see Edwaard Liang in the spring section, Jared Angle more then made it up. His easy technical skills which he execute with calm strength and elegent presence made him a perfect partner for the always sublime Jenifer Ringer. Kyle Froman, Craig Hall, Seth Orza and Jonathan Stafford was dancing leap frogs. I so much was looking forward to seeing Carla Korbes in Summer, but Rachel Rutherford was a lovely replacement with Stephen Hanna being a noble cavalier. But I think we all know that THE FOUR SEASONS success or failure rest on the final section of Fall. I've seen this section danced wonderfully in the past but I can't recall that last it was so brilliantly dance as it was by Ashley Bouder, Joaquin De Luz and Antonio Carmena. All three was having a field day with the choreography. If they found any of the steps difficult they certainly didn't show it. A marvelous performance.

I guess it's true what people say that a group of people can see or experince the same thing and yet have a different reaction to it.

JEWELS

EMERALDS. This is one of Balanchine's most delicate and fragile masterwork and because of that it must be rehearse and perform with great care. Emeralds is a haunting, mystical work that leaves the scent of elegance at it's most serene. Unfortunately for me last night performance fail to capture, on the whole, that elegance. The ballet started out wonderfully enough, but the correct mood simply was not there. There was a great deal of charm, but not enough elegance.

I also was distracted by Stephan Hanna's overplaying. No question Hanna is one of the finest partners the company has, but his constantly posing and overemphasize body gestures thinking, I guess, this is elegant is to me overacting. Rachel Rutherford is an angel, I just admire her. It is so obvious she process all the natural quailities to make the lead ballerina role something special. Unfortunately no one it seem is taking the time to properly rehearse her in the role. If there was ever a ballet that the smallest details and gestures need to be truly understood by the dancer, Emeralds is that ballet. This is made crystally apparent in the famous sole. The movement of her arms in the beginning was lovely, however I never got the sense she was discovering them for the first time. That's one of the most magical moment in the whole ballet. That wonderful moment as if by accident the ballerina discover her arms and hands and gesturely thinks, "Oh, what's this and look how wonderfully I can move it - and here's another one". It that sense of wonder, that sense of merriment (the whole sole it seems is base on the fascination of the ballerina discovering her arms for the first time) that makes this sole one of the most enchanting soles that Balanchine ever created. Also the fliration was missing. Towards the end there's that nice moment when the ballerina with one hand lift up the front of her skirt sightly to show a hint of her legs. Instead Rutherford with both hands stretch out her skirt from the sides. This maybe insignificant to some, but for me it takes away from the original ideal and purpose of that movement. Instead of a fliration of a woman, it became more of a girl showing off her pretty feet. Rutherford would benefit greatly if Violette Verdy is able to coach her. Not that Rutherford and Hanna completely disappoint. Their second pas de deux was marvelously perform. Rutherford was more lyrical and Hanna was less animated.

The thing I love most about Jenifer Ringer is that she is a woman first, a ballerina second. Her solo was a portrait of a mature woman enjoying the privacy of being along with her thoughts. James Fayette is a partner any ballerina would love to have. His calm strength and attentiveness to his ballerinas makes her radiant even more. Of course that radiance glowed even brighter from Mrs. Fayette. Their step duet was the hightlight of the ballet. Amanda Edge and Carrie Lee Riggin in the pas de trois was wonderful. Seth Orza in his debut was nicely reliable and with time I'm sure with perform with more confidence and assurance.

RUBIES. This is the showpiece. If Emeralds is the elegant restaurant and Diamonds an imperial state ballroom, then Rubies is the nightclub everyone goes to too let down their hair and party. Miranda Weese and Damian Woetzel certainly lived up to that. She may not have dance the role with the coquettish sexiness I think the role requires, Weese was as always technically sharp and strong. Woetzel match her in strength step for step. They clearly was enjoying themselves. When she made her debut a year ago, Teresa Reichlin was wonderful. This year she is down right terrific! But that's what happen when a dancer is given a role and the time to develop into it. Now with more confidence, she's dancing with more abandonment and strength. She really getting into the choreography. For my money, she owns this part.

DIAMONDS. Poor Wendy Whelan. I agree with Michael, she didn't capture the overall brilliance of the part, but that's not why I'm saying poor Wendy. The pas de deux is one of the most demanding and challenging that Balanchine created. It's a dance in where the ballerina is the unquestion queen-empiress and her cavalier is her prince consort who attend to her with unmoving reverence. His awe of her makes her even more grandeur and imperial. In other words the atmosphere they create together is as important as the steps they perform. Unforunately Ms. Whelan got Nilas Martins. Talk about detachment! Was he even there? I swear I could almost sense the moment when Whelan simply gave up trying to connect to her disenchanted partner. It wasn't until he danced his solos did he finally came alive - and I've seen them danced better. Where's Philip Neal when you need him? If ever a dancer should be given the patent to a part, the cavalier in Diamonds rightly belongs to Neal. This lack of connection between Whelan and Martins may account for Wendy's unpolish performance. That along with Maurice Kaplow speed-up conducting. Martins had to race to get on his knee and kiss Whelan hand at the quick speed Kaplow was the playing the orchestra.

If fact through-out the evening Kaplow was playing to fast for my taste. That may account for some of the loss phrasing and nuances that was missing in Emeralds and the pas de deux from Diamonds.

Believe me, this is something I don't enjoy writing. Jewels is one of my all-time favorite! But last night performance was not one of it's best perform.

I don't know how to feel. On one hand less money coming out of my wallet seeing I won't be paying to see any Ananiashvili performances. But on the other hand - NO ANANIASHVILI PERFORMANCES!!!!! No Swan Lake, no Don Quixote, no Ballet Imperial, but more importantly no Giselle - I've never seen her in this ballet!!! How am I going to live!?!

re: Nichols in Mozartiana.  Just remember that everyone is different in who they like and don't like, so it might not be that Nichols went over people's heads.  While I have always appreciated Nichols's technique, I have never much enjoyed her performances.  I know that is sacrilege to some, but there it is.  And, I don't believe it's because I missed something.  I just see her differently; she's just not my cup o' tea.

-amanda

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You got that right!!!!! HOW DARE YOU, I mean HOW DARE YOU!!!! You - you mere moral! Like the rest of us, you have no right to criticize a heavenly goddess like Saint Kyra! She's a creature of the Divine. And when the Divine allow one of it's angels to descend upon Earth to dance for the pleasure of us mere morals, it is not for us to judge, but to relish the luminous beauty they give us! Their presence elevate and ennoble us, in away that we will never have on this planet Earth. HERETIC!!!!! This kind of speaking could cause others to think they have the right to speak negatively of these divinities of dance! LOOK AT THE REMARKS MADE BY LAMPWICH! We will forgive Lampwich, they was lead down a path they was fully aware of. But it would be to dangerous for it to continue!!

I know I'm not the only one on this sacred message board who feels AmandaNYC have created blasphemy with her evil comments and that she must be barred henceforth to never be allowed to participate ever again!!!!!

I look to you, our righteous moderators, to rectify this insult to our sweet and glorious angel Saint Krya and remove this evil from our board!!!! My God what a marvelous founder Alexandra must think!!!

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DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT WHEN I'M BEING SARCASTIC!!!!!! I

OK call me stupid, but I figured she was given that honor a looooooooooooooong time ago! Needless to say it's well-deserve!!

The thing that stood out for me in the article was that Amanda McKerrow will be retiring from the company in July. Has there been any official annoucement from ABT? I hope Kevin McKenzie will be giving McKerrow a proper farewell during the MET season in New York if this turn out to be true.