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jllaney

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Everything posted by jllaney

  1. Spartacus gets my vote. One handed lifts and a few thousand jumps has got to be hard.
  2. Gomes and Cornejo!!! Lucky, lucky, lucky!!!!!!
  3. But Carbro, is the choreography of the NYCB version really that different from the ABT Version? At least the parts that everyone is instantly familar with, Black Swan Pas, White Swan Pas, Little Swans... The NYCB version is the one that came on TV with Damien Woetzel and Miranda Weese as the leads isn't it? It's been a few years but from what I remember the Black Swan Pas and the White Swan Pas were pretty Straight forward. I may be totally wrong on this so please correct me.
  4. I will add my adoration for Gomes as anything!!! His technical abilities are dazzling but it's his understanding of the dramatic intent of every character he dances that really moves me. He was so fabulous in Swan Lake. Gomes as Spartacus or Desire. Putrov as Desire or Oberon or Acteon. Sylve as The Firebird. (just to see her back) Emmanuel Thibault as James. Cornejo as Basil. (Just to see how high he could really jump) Part as the Dieing Swan. (Such long arms) Johan Kobborg and Alessandra Ferri in Le Spectre de la Rose. (ageless beauty dreaming of............_______)
  5. Versace did the costumes for a Bejart ballet called Ballet for Life. It was set to the music of Queen and Mozart and, from what I can remember, was done very well.
  6. In general, ABT does something similar with the New york Public Library for Performing Arts with recordings of more recent productions that are not commercially available but are recorded for the sake of posterity. Corella and Herrera in Copelia, Marcelo Gomes in T&V and Raymonda, Cornejo in the recent Fokine celebration to name but a small few that are available and not to mention the Balanchine collection(lectures, performances and so on). Rows and rows of ballet, opera and music. Well worth a visit.
  7. After a quick scan, Gomes not listed?????? And Cornejo? Are they touring elsewhere or did I miss them?
  8. I don't think anyone ever answered your question. The music was taped.
  9. Thanks to the powers that be for the people at POB. I'm watching their Sylphide now and I must say that they do such a good job of getting their material out there for us to see. The people at the RDB should take a lesson and at the very least give us the absolute must-haves of Bourneville's ballets.
  10. I loved the show and thought the dancing was superb all around. I loved De Luz, as did everyone else in the Ray Charles tribute. You could really see his firey dance tempermant come out and he really broke loose with some briallent stuff. Nilas Martin's refined elegance doesn't seem to suit the soulful sounds of Ray Charles in my opinion. It's beautiful to watch but I felt at times like De Luz and Evans were in a different dance from him. Still, he deserves mad credit for giving us the chance to see those dancers on that beautiful night. Thanks
  11. Leigh, William Shakespeare As it is with the greatest composer(IMO), so it is with the greatest author, only 100 times worse. Becuase none of Shakespeare's scripts ever survived(that we now of) we are left to trust the memory of two actors when the plays were compiled from the quartos to the folio. Talk about an editors nightmare. BTW, I voted for all. How can you choose?
  12. A warning about the bleachers however, I was there for Bill Jones last week and if you sit on the first two rows of bleachers, it may look good to start but eventually people congragate along the fences in front and you can't see a thing. I recommend the lawn off to the right or left of the stage.
  13. You are Kenneth MacMillan! Dancers love your swoony, dramatic ballets, though the men have a tough time with all those lifts. Stage furniture and so much more are we men.
  14. Somehow, I think she's talking about the double cabrioles to open his Act II variation. I saw the Saturday night show with Kent and Carrenjo. I thought that it was good buty not great for me. The end of Act I was were I found myself a little preoccupied trying to figure out how or why I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. Not to say that I was unmoved, but.......maybe it was a lack of chemistry between Kent and Carrenjo or maybe it was just me. I thought Jesus Pastor was a most excellent Hilarion. And I don't think he's a bad guy or the villian. It's hard to defend Albrect's actions, no matter how you define moral rightousness, when Bathilde asks him "Who is this peasant girl?" and he looks right at Giselle and waves his arm and says "Her, she's nobody" Surely even French peasants knew that wasn't true love. Act II was better all around I felt. The solos and the pas were great and I loved Michele Wiles as Myrta. Such a pretty dancer and such lovely arms. Some of the Willies were a little off the music on the chugs across the stage but that scene always gives me goosebumps(and everyone else judging from the applause) One thing to mention was Kent's entrance in Act II, talk about some serious RPMs in her spin! She must have turned ten times and the audience was dazzled. She was very lovely in Act II. Very heartbreaking when she leaves him alone on stage at the end. One quick question for all. Where is the line between Albrecht being "danced to death" and the dancer turning in a dazzling technical variation? Example, Carrenjo does a textbook virtuoso variation and cocludes with a picture-perfect seven revolution pirroutte and then falls to the stage. The audience loved it(and I did too, his pirrouettes are a thing of beauty) but my first thought was that he could do that variation five more times and not breathe hard. My question is, and I'm not sure of the answer myself, do you want to see Erik Bruhn do 32 entracha six and be amazed or do you want to see the charachter Albrecht on the verge of breaking down? As an afterthought, I don't think Corrnejo is the extreme case. The choreography was pretty restained I thought.
  15. Christine174, THe dancers are right in the middle of the sunset. Is this to what you are referring?
  16. I like that fact that I agree with so many things already said about the Thursday show. Firtst of all, after having seen it on PBS and thinking the whole swamp thing Rothbart was a bad idea, I actually found myself enjoying it live on stage. During the overture they played out the whole scenario behind a scrim so you see the transformation of Rothbart and Odette and it really worked for me. Guess you have to see it live. Act 1 went off well I thought. Gomes was the reason I came to the Thursday show after seeing his Rothbart on PBS. I'll just say it up front, he is very very good. He's not fussy with the choreography and has an effortless way about the stage and, oh my gosh, he's like a cat, he doesn't make a sound when he lands. I liked Saveliev in the pas de trois. He doesn't have the ballon that Cornejo has but then again, who does? I honestly couldn't tell the girls apart in the pas de trois. It was Reyes and Kajiya. They danced well I thought but they both strike me as smaller and the dresses they had on came down to their calves at least. A small criticism but I had a hard time finding the line in the legs sometimes. I have two directorial criticisms for the night and one of them is during the prince's adagio. The lights go almost dark and the country folk on stage become very dreamy and unaware of the prince as he dances. I would rather they had cleared the stage and left it to him. Not that you're watching them anyway but as he finished, the lights explode and everyone rejoins his reality. Then the sun starts to set and he runs off to the lake where we find....... Acto secondo.....his swan queen!!! I'll go ahead and say it about Part, this was the first time I've seen her dance and right from the overture, even behind the scrim, she has very striking long arms. I dare say she's rather height unchallenged. My ideal Odette would be in the mold of a Markarova who can seem so incredibly delicate and fragile. Part just seems so strong and powerful and commanding and I thought she did a great job but fragile she is not nor could I ever see her being. The white swan pas was good but the tempo was slow. My favorite moment was at the end when she tries to leave one last time and he, Gomes shook his head as if to say "you can't leave now that I've found you" very touching. And as it ended, she was called back on for two bows, he never took his eyes off of her. He never bowed or acknoledged the audience. He just gazed at her. Very nice. As for the swans, I'm no expert on corp work but I thought they did fine. They seemed together and well organized. I wish I could rewind the little swans, I was watching their feet the whole dance and I completely forgot to even look at their faces. Act III was the highlight only because of the Black Swan Pas. I had a bad taste after having watched the Hungarian Dance on television where they cut out some music but it was restored to it's full version and played very well. My other directorial criticism is of the Spanish dance. I've seen more interesting choreography in beginner ballet classes. What a yawner for me. The Neopalitan was well danced as was the Mazurka. I then have to agree with what was already said about Pastor's Rothbart. It needed some extra something because I felt like it started to drag along. And it's not a tempo thing. He just doesn't have the same fire as Gomes does for the part. The Black swan pas was great but I regret that she fell off point on her first panche in the waltz. Seemed to set a cautionary tone for the pas rather than an all out go for broke attitude. My favorite moment from the pas was during her balance. She started to come a little forward and he put his hand calmly on her stomach as he walked around her. Very nice. By the way, does Rothbart really have to whisper to her in the middle of the pas like he's calling an audible in football. She already knows the plan as do we. His variation was classy and well danced. Her's was a little more fussy with a few fudges here and there but I can forgive her. After all, she's wearing point shoes and he isn't. She did single fouettes and did travel a bit but the absolute highlight of the evening were his Grand Pirouttes. A series of singles then a perfect triple, then he built up speed and somehow warped the laws of physics and did 5 grand pirouttes a la seconde. Amazing. I don't know what he did after that because I was rubbing my eyes. Everything else was good. Act 4 was good as well, I thought she came to life more at the end and really changed my attitude toward her from luke warm to lovely. The funny moment of the night had to have been their dieing. She gets up on the platform and takes two very tentative steps and sort of falls off. Gomes, on the other hand, gets a full run and launches himself with his feet toward the lights about 15 feet away before he dissapears from view. I'll end by saying I thought the final image was a little cheesy on TV but being there it really was pretty. They are in the sunrise and all of the swans dissapear under the fog on stage and all you see is Rothbart dead on the steps. I still get chills when I think about it.
  17. Here is a link to the version you want as well as a very good explanation of exactly what Mel is saying about the 1895 version. The review is very insightful. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...463818?v=glance
  18. I would give a vote for Gomes as vR as well. I bought a ticket to see him dance Seigfreid in July based on that performance. Another mention as I watched the Bolshoi DVD of Raymonda again, Gedeminas Taranda as Abderakham!! This is not a vote for the Character, the story really doesn't allow him to do much other than woo her and get killed for his best efforts, but boy, what a performance. He dances most of the Spanish dance and the audience goes crazy. A great image of him standing there trying to move the ballet forward but the audience demanding a bow. Finally the conductor just starts over the audience and you can barely hear the music.
  19. Great find on that Solor. Just placed an order. Here's a question for you. Have you ever come across the pas de trois variations from Paquita anywhere on a cd? Especially the male variation.
  20. I totally agree with what was said about Gomes after his Swan Lake showing. I could see him stepping right into the Spartacus role tomorrow. That's the first time I've seen him and he blew me away. His lines were so long and beautiful and he had total command of the stage. Somehow Corella seems a little boyish for the role. Not that he couldn't do it, just not my first choice to fit the character.
  21. I thought it was pretty well done myself. Looking back, I wonder if there were extensive cuts in Act IV that might have added to the story a little more. I would rather have sacrificed some of the national dances for the more cogent aspects of the storytelling. I thought that Murphy was better as Odette than as Odile. Also I, and the people with me were amazed at how much her extension was better to her right side than her left. Corella was very workman like I thought(if that kind of brillance can be called workman like?) The real show-stealer for me was Gomez dancing Rothbart. Holy smoke!!!! That guy can dance. His scissons were unbelievable, and that control and balance. He really impressed me so much that I want to see him dance the prince this summer. I would love to chase him in a class and see what he can do. Well done.
  22. jllaney

    Swan Lake

    I am happy to see all the wonderful comments about Ivan Putrov. I have only seen him on video but he has the amazing ability to make things seem so relaxed and effortless and yet the results are jaw dropping. His double tours just suspend in the air and he has the best entrelace I've seen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he comes to D.C. next summer for Sleeping Beauty. What an added bonus if he were paired with Marquez since everyone thinks so highly of her Aurora.
  23. Many thanks Solor for being our guinea pig. I'll place an order and count the days till they arrive.
  24. I was wondering if anyone could clarify a little on the history of Desire and additional dances he has in Act II. My frame of reference is The Royal Ballet version where Solymosi dances a slower version of the Sarabande. I think it was a wonderful addition to that production and I love the choreography but I was reading a post about the POB version of SB and a few people had made reference to a 7 minute dance(I think it was Legris on the video) and the reaction seemed generally unfavorable. Is it now or has it always been an acceptable part of the staging to give the prince an additional dance? And if so, what piece of music is used? Thanks
  25. Millions of people all over the world go see performances of Swan Lake each year but apparently conductors and record producers are not among them. Only one conductor(Fedetov) bothered to record the moden version and then I hear the remaining CDs were DESROYED!!!!!!! Gasp...... I shake my head in amazement that to get Odile's Black Swan Variation I have to pull it off of a DVD. This is Swan Lake we're talking about. How can this not be available? It must be a conspiracy. Anyway, thanks for trying and keep us all posted if anyone finds a copy of it. And to respond to Ariodante: I have the SB CDs and I adore them. There was a good post on them about two months back and there were several comments. To me, what's striking about these Cds are the intangibles. The tempos, the texture, all of the things that lend themselves to dancing are very good. You can't listen to the Rose adagio without it bringing a smile to your face. Or I can't anyway.
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