richard53dog

Maybe it was just that he was a NBLP (non ballet loving person) at the time?

I am really looking forward to this. The two different copies I saw were fuzzy (to be charitable !!!). and hopefully the master will get touched up nicely, although the performance itself is worth watching, even in less that great video and audio.

The last few years, she did dance a SPF and a Dewdrop or two before leaving for Holland. I did catch her as the Dewdrop late in November of last year (Maybe if I've lost ALL short term memory, it was 2005) But she wasn't much of a presence last Winter or Spring, she just came in few a few performances in Winter and then a few more in Spring. From what I understand, she was occupied by a production of Bayadere at the Het at the same time. I hope she is around a little more this Winter but obviously time will tell.

This is a good point. Remember money is involved here in addition to publicity and the promoters of newspapers, films, magazines, performances, etc are always looking for a "hook" to promote their wares.

No sign of Malakhov or Acosta

I've never seen Somova and sort of thought, "oh she can't be that bad" I watched a couple of clips and , yes , she is THAT bad I hope she ends up as the last act in any of the Kirov performances I see next Feb..... at least I can get out early. A while back, something asked for a description of "line". Well to take it from a negative side, here's a dancer that has NONE

One way or another, I don't think that bundling off the first nine rows of the orchestra is anything to get upset about, I decided a long time a go that they simply are not worth the price, unless they were free and nothing else was available.

I think Malakhov is a fine performance to get a sense of what the piece is all about. I thought he was very good although I've only seen him on video. Baryshnikov, ugh, he's not really a favorite of mine. And this piece isn't actually a natural for him. Again, all the best of luck with this.

dancerboy87, As far as I know, Spectre is the complete piece Fokine set choegraphy to. It's not part of a larger piece. As for expression and style, think of this as a Romantic ballet ; a character falls asleep and dreams of a vision like character, very dream like. Usually the male would be the sleeping character and the ballerina would be the sylph like characer but here it is reversed. For me . the Spectre needs to have a geat jump, since Njinsky did it originally but also great softness and very ethereal. Also grace is mandatory. The upper body is also extremely important. The Spectre has magical arms that entice the girl from her nap and get her to follow him. aavoid those pitfalls. Lately I've seen Herman Cornejo at ABT, he was very good with his jumps and lower body but a bit stiff with his his upper body and especally his arms. No one is perfect and I did enjoy his performance. I've seen other Spectre's on video and TV and of these, I would rate Manuel Legris as the best out of a strong group of competition. I usually find him a cold dancer but here it works. But what really attracted me to his performance is his use of arms. With them , he wills the girl out of her chair, and shedances with him without waking up Try watchink some of the video performances if you can get yours hands on them. But for me the worst is the Faruhk Ruzimatov - Nina Ananiashvili one, that looks like they are making up the steps as them go along with Nina throwing in jumps here and there. And Farukh has a dreadful outfit. Camp the nth degree. But let me also wish you will have a wonderful success with this

...mmm, questionable. Among some of Mme. Khchessinska' students, Mme. Riabouchinska I would question that statement strongly MK had a career that lasted 45 years. Of that about 33 was arguably the greatest balletina in the west

What is sad is this version horrible all the others away except of the horrible camera work. Fracci's second version is tradtional and sadly past her best , with her cheating on the steps. I saw her first in 1969 and I thought she was wonderful. The later version

Darci Kistler from NYCB has ears which a bit of a Clark Gable quality to them. She's clever enough to minimize the noticeability of her ears though. Lovely lady

For the 1993 Ananaishvili dvd http://tinyurl.com/3bfy5r For Children of Theater Street dvd http://tinyurl.com/2udrf7 These urls will bring you to Amazon who stocks both discs

Ok, my serious opera going coincided with the start of Pav's Met career in the early 70s. His voice and personality very incrediby bright; he sang beautifully, with conviction, and with great sincerity and charm. Seeing him in La Boheme with Adriana Maliponte , the opera seemed like it it had been just written for these two. So I have lots and lots of memories; I saw all but a handful of the parts he did at the Met. He ran into problems in the 80s with a failed movie, and worse a decline in his popularity because he seemed to lose that sincere good natured quality to his singing. But he worked at it and bounced back. Being honest, for me I cut down my performances around 1990, he was starting to phone performances in if he didn't cancel them. But for those much younger than me, they could go to those late last century performances and still get an idea of what he was all about. To sum up, I have many, many, wonderful memories

A title flashed very quickly and I think it said 1979, which would make Fonteyn 60. I didn't understand at all why they used that footage. Even Nureyev was past his best at this point although he still looked very good

I thought the film a little shapeless and drawn out. And the splicing back and forth on some of the dance clips was horrid. But I thought the footage filmed by Teja(sp?) was mesmerizing, truly a treasure . And although I've picked up a lot on the forces that drove him from other sources the film was good in presenting them.

Yes, thanks ladies. Your hard work is well appreciated! Richard

I would say Watermill. I just couldn't get it and I thought it would never end

Well, here's where you have different strokes for different folks. Of the 5-6 Bayadere's I have, I rank this in a tie for the bottom spot (the other being the recently released La Scala production) First this production looks old and worn, and no beauty in the first place. I hate the blocking, (and this is a personal issue; I find the badly applied blackface offensive). If there were other considerations I could overlook some of this but I find Gracheva sound but more boring than Wonder White Bread (for those not from the US, this is NOT a compliment) . She did not move me one bit. The Gamzatti is Bylova(hopefully I have that right). I can't get that this is a dancer with a major company, she is SOOOOOO sloppy. And she seems to find it difficult to get up fully on point. I REALLY hated her. Vetrov. Yes, he is dashing and looks like a Solor and a lot of his dancing is very showy and exciting. He was the only reason I kept the tape. Well, there you have it. Of course this is all my opinion and others will differ.

It depends on the bias of the person to which you ask the question.

Yeah, I was a little puzzled by Makhateli; I've seen him a few times in the last couple of years and I don't get much from him. For Ansanelli, this must be extremely gratifying; pulling up stakes at NYCB in a style she was comfortable with and doing all the hard work to master the idiom of the English company. She was lovely when I saw her last Summer in DC and I'm imagining she's even better this year. So BRAVA to her!

No, it sounds like Teresa Stratas to me, who made a specialty of Weill late in her career.

Yeah but Stiefel is on the ABT City Center roster and Angel Corella is not. So go figure.

I got my season brochure in the mail this week and noticed 2 things. First, the two-weeks-replacing-three is slightly misleading. They are scheduling Sunday evening performances which mean 8 perfomances a week rather than seven. For me this is all to the good, NYCB and NYCO used to do Sunday evenings and I miss them. So It's only a few less performances. Looking at the principals I noticed no Malakhov or Ananiashvili, neither of which was a surprise but no Corella which was. Maybe he's cutting back his schedule with ABT. Anyway, I'm happy, I can get the ballets I want to see and avoid the Ben Millipied thing(zzzzzzzzzz)

What about the Snow PDD from the Nutcracker on the Dambois DVD with Melissa Hayden? Is this the same piece?