richard53dog

I wouldn't despair yet! Last Spring I went to about 15 different ABT performances at the Met. Almost all had rows and rows of empty seats. Some were pretty full, but I think it wouldn't have been much of a problem to get in if you bought early. My suggestion: watch for the announcement of single tickets going on sale, maybe around April 10th or so and buy a few dates then. Richard

We hear a lot of VG at the Met. There is a very important detail. It has to a a Russian opera. Anything other kind always seems to come off like a trainwreck. Listening to a NON-Russian opera conducted by VG is indeed an experience. Richard

Hmmm... I didn't know you could order already?!?! Have you received a brochure? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I got a brochure in Nov-Dec, and then a second version a little later. Theyare taking orders for subscriptions and special events (like opening nights and some special programs for kids) So I have my opening night ticket and what I think is confirmation for the one series I bought. No indication of when single tickets will go on sale, although last year they went on sale the very end of March. Things may a bit later because the ABT season starts a little later this year, the Met Opera ends two weeks later because of the hiatus they took in January..

Well, ABT's Sping NYC season just got a bit more concrete for me. I got my opening night ticket in the mail today. At this point May doesn't seem quite so far off, even with all the snow we have been getting here, Spring is clearly around the corner here in the New York City area. Richard

Fracci was really a very canny magician. In Act 2 of Giselle, she wore an enormous very full, very long tutu made of silk tulle. Gelsey Kirkland( in Dancing On My Grave) tells of snipping off a piece to find out what fabric it actually was. When Fracci/Giselle appeared in Act 2, with the huge tutu and heavily powdered, she created an amazing apparition. It was breathtaking I was easy for me not to be districted by all her technical limitations, the smudged footwork, etc. Another techically challenged Giselle I saw was Lynn Seymour. And again she kept me spellbound in Act 2. Although she was still strong in other pieces, Fonteyn's last NYC Giselles showed a both a lot of technical limitations and a lot of wizardry Richard

Art076, In NYC, the NYCB and ABT play on 7performance and sometimes even 8 performance schedules, like the Broadway shows do. The two big opera companies also perform 7 performance, but that's really not an apt comparison, the lead singers have breaks in between performances. And even the orchestras and chorus in the opera would seem to have a tiring schedule , but there is some careful rotation there, the orchestra has contracts that dictate that a given player will only play x number of events per weeks and that can include performances as well as rehearsals Although is sounds sort of hardnosed, the dancers can learn to manage their energy levels. In the program for last season's NYCB Nutcracker, which was the 50th Anniversary, there were all kinds of interesting articles in the program on the 50 year retrospective. In one Maria Tallchief mentions of having to dance all the Sugar Plum Fairies that first season. She says, "that was an awful lot of work". OK, I'll buy that! Richard

Natalia, I loved your comment on Chenchikova. I have to preface this by saying I never saw her live, just in the Wolf Trap Swan Lake and on the Russian Dance and Paquita extract on the DVD called Essential Ballet. She reminds me of stainless steel. Almost like one of those jackhammers used to breakup cement sidewalks. I agree 100% with your tightwalk comment. It's so difficult to find a balance. Can anyone that saw her dance relate of more positive impressions of Olga? I realize it's not really fair to draw conclusions based on only 2 appearances and on video to boot. Richard

Pamela, I couldn't agree more. There are folks for which technique is the primary consideration, but I'm not in that group. what initially drew me to ballet (and opera, theater, and other performing arts) is expression and communication. More than exceptional technique I want a performer to GIVE me something. Not to say that I can't be impressed by an ice cold dancer, working in a vacuum, with a very impressive technique, but that is the exception for me rather than the rule. And this feeling of communication is still what keeps me captive. You can at me on this, I'm in agreement with you! Richard

I have that program from a trip to ABT (I think on tour to the west coast) I use to look at the picture and, in my then adolescent and adoring way, want to "be" her. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Oh, yes. I had forgotten Israel until just recently when I was rereading a coffee table book on ABT history. I saw some photos on Israel and thought, wow, yes she was a very powerful dancer. Richard

I had horrible seats at City Center (are there any GOOd seats there?) so I can't be sure, but I think I saw brass along the lip of the stage. In any event, Janacek does great stuff with brass. Richard

Chauffeur, I'm a bit predjudiced here, T&V is one of my favorite of all one acters. I saw this twice last Fall, with Murphy and Gomes and then with Wiles and Hallberg. Both did fine, although I thought Gomes was better at partnering Murphy than Hallberg was with Wiles. Sinfonietta. Almost everyone I talk to likes this less than I do. It's a very showy piece, especially for the guys, it's basically an ensemble piece. Maybe one of the real attractions for me was the Janacek music. I'm a real Janacek lover. I didn't see the Forsythe so I'll leave that up to others, but I'd be real happy with a program with at least those first two. Richard

Oh, I'm so glad to hear someone else say that. Richard

Zellwegger? Really? To me she has turned into a horrible parody of her earlier self with those lips scrunched together like a chipmunk. But as always, different people see things in different ways!! It makes the world go round! Richard

This is not exactly a new thread at this point but I am reading Agnes de Mille's autobiography(Speak To Me, Dance With Me) of how she struggled to establish herself as a dancer in the early 30s and something connected came up. She took classes with Marie Rambert. Although her body was considered all wrong, she did have extremely strong ankles and feet. At the end of each day's class, she would turn out 64 fouettes, on one spot. Never failed. but her lament was "if only I could do a pure arabesque" Richard

Oh yes, I was trying to think of Portman and couldn't pull her up in my memory. Also how about Ashley Judd? Richard

I was lucky just very recently to see a copy of a Stuttgart performance of Shrew with these two. Although they were about ten years older than when I saw them (as I was too of course!!), they were still were wonderful. I had forgotten just how slapstick it was. It certainly gave Haydee and Cragun to show off their larger than life personalities. Richard

Ah yes, they were. One wonders what else John Cranko would have accomplished if he hadn't died at such a young age.

Ava Gardner Catherine Deneuve Grace Kelly Julianne Moore Fanny Ardant Sophia Loren

I've already posted to this thread a while back but I thought of an addition John Cranko Romeo and Juliet The Taming of the Shrew Eugene Onegin I loved these when the Stuttgart ballet came to NYC in the early 70s

I agree, T&V is a killer. I'm watching Firebird and I'm thinking that has to be a terror for the dancer doing the title role. The combinations of steps look very difficult. Also on Firebird, Makarova writes in her bio that she found it exhausting. And Kasarvina, when she was coaching Fonteyn in the role , told Fonteyn, this will be the most difficult ballet you will ever dance, or something along that line. Richard

http://www.tdk-music.com/frame_content.php...ng&from_id=1383 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, I sure hope it gets released here in the US

She's not the only one I can think of, but I'll put her forward since she doesn't get mentioned too much anymore. Merle Park Richard

Mel, I agree, this is the problem too here is NYC at the Met Opera. He has an official position (I think Assistant Principal Conductor, something like that anyway) and it's a bit unnerving to think he might have influence there. There already have been some signs of his touch in casting. Richard

Yes but style is a very illusive, constantly evolving thing. I find today's performance style a bit different than it was while Balanchine was still in full control. There were three somewhat different performance styles. A hard angular one for the spikey, hard, angular works, say Agon and Four Temperaments, a cool, crisp but less angular style for the neo-classic works, such as Nutcracker T&V, Symphony in C, etc. Finally a softer style for things like Serenade. While generalizations are very tricky, I see more of that hard angular style being applied across the board, certainly not all the dancers, and not in all the works, but the hard , angular style is far more prevalently applied across all the works. Richard

Thalictum, According to Makarova's A Dance Autobiography, it wasn't money but concept. She felt the director was a non-entity with no taste. I'm not sure what the copyright rules are on this list but usually, a brief quote is ok "He(director) undertook to teach me(Makarova) how to dance Odile. ""Dance as if you wanted to seduce me"" At this point I (Makarova) lost patience.""I haven't the least desire to do that to you"" I said , and walked off the set" She makes other comments on other aspects of the director's concept that she found.....ah....lacking This is a bit of a coincidence, I was just reading this passage last night, I just got the book a week or so ago. Richard