Dale

Farrell has always been my ultimate favorite dancer. As I wrote under the Don Q. thread, I decided was I was very young, after seeing her picture in an old magazine article my parents gave me on Balanchine, that she would be my favorite. After she returned to the company, I scanned the schedule for nights I guessed she would be dancing (the ones with her ballets on them) and pestered my parents to take me. Later I went on my own, including all performances of her last week. Like others here, I adored her musicality, daring, technical ability, intellegence, on-stage demeanor and spirituality. Her look was lovely --long points that headed right up her straight calf and full, eloquent thighs. And as Croce put it once, in the black-and-white ballets, she looked like a big bee. In addition to all the things we've said here, I loved that she challenged her partner and her audience. She never did things the same. You really had to watch her. She surprised you in ballets you thought you knew. blizzardqueen336 -- If you don't have it already, try to get hold of Balanchine's Ballerinas; Conversations with the Muses. It contains a wonderful interview with Farrell and all the other muses. A must if you're studying Balanchine technique.

NYCB has performed Diamond alone for an All-Tchiakovsky evening. And I think Cincinnati Ballet has done so as well. I've never seen Emeralds by itself, but performing it on its own might allow viewers to really focus on it. It's strange, but people new to Jewels (or at least the ones I bring to Jewels) always say Rubies, "Oh, that was the best. The first part was boring." And then they are blown away but the sheer magnitude of Diamonds and rave about it when the evening is over. But the more they watch ballet, Emeralds becomes the part that haunts them.

Having only seen Raymonda in a single production on video, I'd be interested to know what others believe make a good or great Raymonda in the ballet. Many have said Swan Lake's Odette needs to be a legato dancer and the words "Radiant" and "Fresh" always spring up when speaking about Sleeping Beauty's Aurora. What type of ballerina is perfect for Raymonda?

Kevin, thank you for the reviews. It's the next-best thing to being there, which, unfortuntely, I can't. I can imagine, especially after seeing an ultra serious, glacial Diamond in D.C. and as a fearsome demi-soloist wilis in Giselle, that Pavlenko would be excellent as the Siren. Can you tell what made La Riche's performance so admired? quote: Originally posted by Kevin Ng: There were many memorable performances to be seen over the weeekend. Manuel Legris was splendid as the soloist in Rubies partnering Diana Vishneva, who once again confirmed my opinion that she is the finest Rubies ballerina anywhere at present. Kevin, have you seen NYCB's Miranda Weese in Rubies? As the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I've seen Vishneva in the ballet and she is extremely good. It's a perfect part for her, allowing her to play the appealing showgirl. But Weese also is exquisite in the role -- technically assured, physically beautiful and playfully witty. She approaches the part like a glamorous '30s heroine in a sophisticated play or film. Cargill wrote of her 1998 performance in Dance View, "Miranda Weese and Damian Woetzel danced the lead couple. Weese has a completely different approach to the role than the joyful, straightforward performance of Patricia McBride. Weese danced with an air of detachment, rather like a fashion model. It came across as almost a take-off on the Siren from The Prodigal Son, with the slightly oriental arms and snakey positions. Weese danced the role with the unconscious superiority and supreme assurance only a truly beautiful woman can have, but her witty timing and sharp dancing seemed at the same time to be subtly mocking this attitude. I don't know whether this multi-layered approach was intentional, but it was very funny." And Laura Jacobs wrote in a overview/review of Jewels in 1998 for the New Criterion, "Weese in “Rubies” was another story. While Margaret Tracey had great glitter, she tired visibly, showing chinks. Wendy Whelan had wit and snap, yet there was no sense of seduction, or, as critic Robert Greskovic put it, “no silk.” Weese, however, put silky and sinful together, adding her own prancing élan. The longer she was on stage, the stronger and more tonally secure she got— and she took the audience with her. I’ve never seen a bare back used to such effect in this ballet. It somehow magnified her serenely correct carriage, which in turn called attention to her reserves of stillness, a facet of true musicality and something very rare in ballet today (though it didn’t used to be rare). In start-and-stop “Rubies,” Weese used her ability to really stop (versus the usual pause), and showed what a decisive, dramatic impact a full stop can have. In the three Jewels I saw, “Rubies” was the ballet that caught the audience—its energies are cracklingly coherent in the computer age— and it was Weese’s “Rubies” that plugged in." Jewels, especially Rubies, is an extremely popular ballet now and there are many strong peroformers doing the McBride part.

I say creepy I guess because I've been influenced by Croce's essay on La Sonnambula. As she wrote, it is sort of a sordid gathering -- I mean, it is hosted by a man and his mistress...a masked ball with strange entertainment. It is the exotica of the divertisments that reminded me of the same in Act II of Don Quixote. ... winding arm and legs, the snakey hands.

I saw the ballet in 1978 when I was very young. History -- Although I was taken to NYCB before Farrell returned (I believe Kirkland was in my first Nutcracker), I had decided she was my favorite ballerina after seeing her picture in a book and reading how Balanchine adored her. So I had seen the pictures of Farrell in Don Q before I got a chance to see her dance it and one of the few things I remember about the performance was that I thought she looked too old for the part. Not old as in past her prime, but part seemed tailored for a much younger dancer...girlish. I thought Farrell much more glamorous. But the other thing I recall was that she was amazing and it was, I think, the first time I really noticed Kyra Nichols. But after revisting the ballet, it makes me wonder whether to place this work alongside La Sonnambula for its creepiness in the divertisments and the "artist misunderstood and tortured by the philistines" theme. Both ballets have the same designer, but I think Rieti's music is more successful. I wonder where Don Q. fits in the development of Balanchine's choreography. A lot of the divertisment dances contain turned in knees, quick shifts of direction and hopes on point.

For those of us who don't live in the Bay Area, here's a link to San Francisco Ballet's touring schedule: http://www.sfballet.org/performances/touring/ [ March 16, 2002, 05:15 AM: Message edited by: Dale ]

The only performance of Raymonda that I have seen is the video of Grigorovich's version for the Bolshoi starring Semenyaka, Moukhamedov and Taranda. To me, Semenyaka steals the show and is just absolutely lovely, especially in the early scenes. I'd love to see the Kirov's version.

I hope those who saw Jewels done by the San Francisco Ballet will post

I agree with Mary. The season after Corsaire, McKenzie "tightened" the production, unfortunately squeezing out much of what wasn't virtuoso dancing. I think at the time the move was applauded because not many directors/choreographers in NY go back and edit their work, but I do miss some of Gulnare's dances that were taken out. In addition, I think it really depends who plays the roles. Kent has always danced Medora with a wink and a giggle whereas Jaffe and Nina A gave the role more depth. And I liked Stiefel as Ali rather than Conrad, a character he plays like Errol Flynn.

In Francis Mason's book "I remember Balanchine" several dancers spoke of Serenade. Annabelle Lyon: "When he originally did Serenade in 1934, the first movement concluded with the entire cops de ballet doing a sequence of fouettes (later he changed it to pique turns). I couldn't do fouettes, so he had me run offstage just before that. Then, before the waltz began, he brought me back. I was one who comes in late, looking for her place. Now when people try to put a meaning to that, it always tickles me." Marie-Jeanne: "Today, when Serenade is danced, it is very Fokiney. But it was not at all like that. It was very sharp, very precise. Balanchine redid Serenade for me. He reset it so that I did all the little solos at the same time that he added the Russian dance. This was in 1940 for Denham Ballet Russe. Later on, I danced Serenade with the New York City Ballet. Danilova: "I danced in Serenade (at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo). At that time Serenade only had one heroine. The girl in the ballet who leads the boy to the girl who lies on the floor is his wife. I asked Balanchine who she was, and he told me that. She was his wife and together, he said, they pass down the road of life. I, the girl on the floor, was pitied by the man, but I was a fribolous girl who had one affair after another. Then I was left alone." [ March 05, 2002, 06:44 AM: Message edited by: Dale ]

Thank you for the review. It brings me a little closer to St. Petersburg

When I was younger, I didn't like story ballets --it was sort of Balanchine or Bust. If my parents brought me to ABT or I watched a story ballet on TV, I couldn't wait for all the crowd and village dances to be over so the "real" dancing would start. Mime bored me. Story ballets told mostly by pure dance still interested me, such as La Sonnambula or Prodigal Son, but I did not really appreciate Giselle until I was older. I gained an interest by reading about the ballets and older performances.

I think the good thing is that the Tracey sisters are quite different dancers. It is when Kathleen is put in the happy, snappy ballets that were her sister's forte at one time that she is less effective. But she is very good at dark roles, scoring a notable success in Ivesiana (where is that ballet?), La Stravaganza and Moves and is improving all the time in the 2nd movement of Suite No. 3. She had a hard act to follow, replacing an ethereal Zippora Karz -- another sister act with Romy. I used to find myself comparing the Roy sisters. When they first entered the company, Balanchine liked to cast them together in ballets as they had the same body type and look.

Calliope, I think people would guess that dancer Y was dancing because dancer X's injury because there would be a change on the casting sheet. But an injury list would explain why, for example, Meunier was cast for only one night in the last month and had to be replaced in that lone performance. Other wise, like many of us, people would just be thinking, "Well, they don't like her" etc... I think it clears things up. I don't think an injury report would work in ballet because it would glaringly show which dancers were not dancing due to injury but because they are out of favor -- they wouldn't be on the injury list and still wouldn't be cast. However, in sports, players are benched for all sorts of reasons (attitude, lack of production, they just don't get on with the coach or other players) and it is accepted. But, ballet is art, not sport, so perhaps an AD having to answer questions from a pack of reporters after the performance as to the state of the company would be strange. Can you imagine? "Peter, Lillian wobbled on that series of turns in the 2nd movement, do you think you'll take her out of the Tchiakovsky pas de deux Friday night? How are rehearsals going for Agon? I heard there was a disagreement between the principals on a missing step, can you comment?" Reviewers are sometimes told about injuries. Perhaps if they were to incorperate a few heads-up in there reviews than the public would be better informed. I would certainly welcome it when it comes to Monique as she is one of my absolute favorite dancers. I think she brings so much life to the theater (at least for me) and things are a little less bright when she's not performing. Dancers deserve their privacy, definitely, but she's a special performer and I hope she finds a balance between health and performing. Unfortunately, having an injury (in ballet and sports) is like getting off a speeding train. It's just going to keep going while they are on the sidelines and it's hard to get back on in the place where they've been.

Paul, NYCB doesn't wear chiffon skirts in the Theme and Variations section of Tchiakovsky Suite No. 3. They wear tutus. The chiffon skirts are worn during the first three movements.

I believe NYCO does an agressive marketing campaign to "younger" and professional people. When I was at Columbia just a few years ago, I saw flyers posted all the time for discounted tickets for the NYCO. So, maybe these people started going to the opera while in college or graduate school and kept it up afterwards. Or maybe some see it is being good for their careers networking wise, like taking up golf NYCB used to do the same thing with the 4th Ring Society. I think the ad said something like, "Try to new bar scene..." And it showed a very lithe and lovely Margaret Tracey in Afternoon of a Faun standing at the barre.

I hope the cuts are limited to touring. We saw the complete ballet in New York, minus the panorama but with the entre act music, it was just amazing -- like going back to another time. I thought the point of going back to the original was to restore as many of these moments as possible.

I'm glad I posted before reading all the other posts because I would have really second-guessed myself I was sitting in the first row, 2nd tier for both performances, so some facial expressions could have been lost to me, although I have very good field glasses. I forgot to mention the solos in Diamonds and the polanaise, which matched the opening. Perfect. (I only saw the ending the first night, as I had to leave right before the finale on Thursday in order to make the 10:45 train to New York -- the last one before a 3 am) I thought Korsuntsev was good, but a little soft in his solos. There is a moment, I think at the start of his second little solo bit, that he just walks through the corps. The man really has to have presence there and he did not quite have that magnetic aura to him that I've seen with Peter Martins and Igor Zelensky. It's strange, but before the shows I would have guessed that Pavlenko would have nailed the solo while Zakharova would fudge it. But SZ was really strong while Pavlenko, like I had seen with Part in this section, looked a tiny bit rushed. The passage is really much quicker than it looks, with a series of little jumps into arabesques. And after reading the other comments, I would have to concede that although the men in Rubies were more jestery types, they did seem to muscle in there movements. I guess what I expect from the men is a sort of casual, urban cool. Anyway, I look forward to seeing the Kirov Jewels this summer. Oh, in one of the articles on the Kirov's stay in Washington, it said that the ballet will perform two short Balanchine pieces to Tchiakovsky during the gala on Tuesday, the 19th. Does anybody know which ballets? [ February 16, 2002: Message edited by: Dale ]

When I got home from seeing the two Jewels performances, my brother asked me whether it was worth the money for the tickets, the hotel and the trains and said, "Absolutely, yes!" I had such a wonderful time and enjoyed speaking with my fellow BAers. Here's my impressions: Emeralds -- I thought this portion was dominated by the beautiful Ayupova and Part. After a bit overexcited first night, Ayopova was positively elegant on Thursday night. She seemed much more relaxed in the slow parts. To me, Part naturally takes to Balanchine and in Emeralds she showed off her musicality in the different ways she reacted to the orchestra in each night. I loved the way she hung on to a phrase and she seems to have a talent for balance/imbalance a la Farrell. The clock-like movements in the 2nd pas de deux were a little blurry on the first night but perfect on the 2nd and not too herky-jerky. Anton Korsakov was splendid in the pas de trois. He showed off the Balanchine style perfectly, jumping without visable preparation...springing out of the floor. He also highlighted the attacks in the music, lovely phrasing. I was not as impressed with his partners. The delicate blond -- I was told it was Ksenia Ostreikovskaya -- was, I thought, the better of the two. Very good, in fact, especially in her solo on the 2nd night. But I did not care for Yana Selina, who seemed to misunderstand the mood of the piece. When she came in for her solo -- which is to a plantive low string instrument -- she comes on like Aurora at her 16th birthday party. Whereas I think she should be more mysterious, like mist. Even if she was not coached that way, she only needed to hear the music. Her approach was really only one of two peeves I had with the entire evening. Rubies was interesting. The first night, it had a very light feel to it, as if the dancers were loath to be too "vulgar" and wanted to be "pretty." But it needs not vulgarity, but jazziness. Irina Golub was cute on the first night, perhaps too cute. She'll be really good when she tones down that smile. She had two expressions -- mega-watt grin or concentrating on the steps. She (and other dancers) need to find more. Diana Vishneva was delicious on Thursday. Everything I could hope for. Fadeyev and Samodurov (an favorite of mine) seem to see the male role as a jester or the Jack in a playing card set. It works. But I guess I'm used to seeing the role as Villela and his gang from Queens. And while both were very good in their solos, neither scorched the stage in their final excit in the last sections. I also missed in the pas de deux, when the man holds the women against him and she thumps her hips in time with the piano, which is banging out the chords. It's a very sexy moment. But I was very happy. However, I think the solo women's role (the big Ruby, so to speak) eludes the Kirov dancers. They just don't seem to get it. Maya Dumchenko dances the steps properly, but with the wrong tone -- rather staid -- while Sofia Gumerova was more game, but didn't do the turned in positions. And her penche arabesques exit was a little weak. But...in defense of Dumchenko and Gumerova, I've seen some really good soloists in this role recently (Isaacs at Miami City Ballet and Meunier and Korowski at NYCB). Diamonds -- First off, the opening waltz was probably one of the finest exhibitions of corps dancing I've seen. Each dancer felt the Tchiakovsky music through their entire being. Although her excess upset some, I find Zakharova facinating...a strange, exquisite creature. There were moments of great beauty in the pas deux but I also had the feeling that she performed lovely moments that weren't really connected. Zakharova didn't really highlight the off-balance moments that were Farrell's trademark, but I've seen that in some interpretations. Those things are not everybody's forte. She did show off her amazing extentions, although I like a little bit more space between the leg and head. An original. Pavlenko gave a more traditionally Farrellesque performance. Grave and still. I felt she really built towards the climaxes and knew where she was going (but was not calculated). All and all, the two evenings were wonderful. The costumes and sets looked great and I loved the hair glitter! [ February 16, 2002: Message edited by: Dale ]

Ann Bass is a bit of a 'company angel' for NYCB. More so Irene Diamond, but she's more involved with new works, or maybe that's where she has been directed. I'd certainly give money to a NYCB fund that is for reviving old or lost works. Is the Vilar's donation for the Kirov Opera to come for 10 straight years as well? If so, I guess you could say that the ballet comes as a by-product of the Opera and Orchestra visits. Just as well. Vilar also is on the board of the "White Nights Festival."

The Erik Bruhn video "I'm the Same, Only More" has been released by Kultur Video. http://www.kulturvideo.com/acb/showdetl.cf...Product_ID=4564

OK. I went to a dress rehearsal for her final performance in one of those guild things. She was running through the Tchiakovsky with Damian and joked with him that he should dance Scotch with her. He said he had rehearsed it a long time ago but never performed it and wouldn't want to screw up her retirement

Hlinka did Tchiak pas deux with Woetzel and Scotch with Boal. Ashley did "The Man I Love" pas deux from Who Cares? and the pas de deux from Barber Violin Concerto. She retired on the opening night gala. I don't remember the whole McBride program but I see to recall her doing Tea Rose (choreographed by Martins) during which all her partners presented her with a rose. It was very charming.

Re: The article. I just finished reading it as well, and although I don't like when a review guesses at a performance rather than seeing it, I thought the article was essential bemoaning the loss of the "San Francisco style," as Alexandra point out. It's probably the same thing that people watching the Royal Ballet or a certain segment of ABT's followers cry about. Is it better to have less brillant dancers and have a uniform style or just to amass as many talented dancers and work on making them fit. I've only seen SFB when they've visited New York, so that's not much. And I've gotten an additional view of Lacarra the past three years at the ballet gala held in February, so I don't feel comfortable judging either the company or the dancer. I was, however, impressed with the dancers. I remember thinking during the opening night gala of SFB's last visit to City Center that the company had a very varied and talented roster. I really loved Muriel Maffre and Tina LeBlanc and I never felt that they didn't fit in with the rest of the company, despite not training at the SFB school. Does anybody know what is up with the company school that so many of the principals did not train there?