Amy Reusch

Must a gala always be a circus? Is there another way to do it?

Same here... It's an app that promotes ABT... Why on earth isn't it free? I couldn't figure out why I would want to pay for it...? Surely I missed something?

I don't know... Seems like putting Elgar down as composer on the postcard would have been misleading, implying he wrote a piece for this Peter Pan.., I suppose they could have put music "taken from Elgar," but it sounds a bit off... And it was proved several times in the twentieth century that dance can stand on it's own without costumes, lighting or music... Maybe not for children, but presumably ballet isn't just for children... And he is faulting a musician for not respecting music... For heavens' sake, the program usually lists the composer's name before the choreographer's... Doesn't that show considerable respect? Sounds like someone with an axe to grind... There have often been issues between dance and music, but this one seems a little forced.

Have you shot Palpito?

Not Lucia Mauro?

Momoko Hirata is something very special. I hope I get to see her dance something in the US again...

Interestingly enough, what I kept thinking watching Carmen Corella in the Tippet was that she reminded me of cold war era Odette/Odile interpretations.. Could be an interesting Swan Lake. This company deserves to survive the austerity crisis.

Thanks Susan & Vipa, Tha video made me remember how the first male soloist made me sit up in surprise, more alert to see what they would do next. Perhaps it is the difference between live and canned performance, but I rather think he was better than the ABT dancer in that phrase.

Saw the Barcelona Ballet last night at City Center and felt like I was back in the 1970s watching The Joffrey.. not because the company looked 40 years behind the time (it didn't), but because the air had the same excitement The Joffrey generated then. (I haven't seen the Joffrey recently, maybe they still do). I was worried, having seen the mixed reviews, but I enjoyed the performance even from the high seats. I will say, though, that I think the last piece will not be easy to get a good video of... the energies and tensions of the performance would not translate easily to the small screen. The bill seemed designed to answer three questions about the young company: 1. Is this new company competent in traditional ballet? 2. Will the company have lost it's star if Angel Corella retires from performing? 3. Do we really need yet another European company performing generic ballet repertoire? Clark Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 was there to answer the first question. The company was full of young excited energy and presented itself well. I had my doubts watching the asian soloist in the eastern european character moves, because sometimes it came off as chi-chi cute rather than character enticing... but Momoko Hirata won me over with her high energy and personal interpretation. I love when a dancer expresses themselves as well as the choreography, and she and her partner both succeeded here. I would like to support tall dancers when I see them but Corella's sister seemed to move slowly without taking advantage of the tempo to move lyrically... and yet she was my guest's favorite so... it could be one of those personal taste things. They mounted Christopher Wheeldon's Four 4 which was designed, much like the original Pas de Quatre, as a vehicle for 4 superstar talents. It wasn't as bad as I feared from the reviews, but it was missing it's original talents. Barcelona Ballet is good, but most companies would be hard put to match the originals. I have to preface that I did not see the original and have seen most of those talents only on youtube. Still, they made nice work of it, and I thought Alejandro Virelles might have held up well against the original casting. He just floated and sang through the phrases like a muse launched arrow. I was dreading Palpito having seen the reviews... but found myself enjoying it. I did not manage to read the description ahead of time, losing patience with the small print in the dim light, but perhaps it was better not to have. I love Flamenco, and this was not it, but it took a great deal of the aesthetics of flamenco (sans footwork) and successfully transposed them to ballet. I found the energy and attack a refreshing aesthetic after the Wheeldon. I have to confess I'm not so sold on what seems to me the non-balletic aesthetic of many recent ballet choreographies... as if it were a total change in ballet's direction than a building, and I find a lot of it kind of gimmicky in a dead end ballet off-shoot kind of way. This Palpito could be said to be the same... gimmicky and non-balletic... but it was fresh and headed in a different direction.... and, importantly, I think: no other company could dance this piece with the validity of Barcelona Ballet... I can't see San Francisco or ABT or the Royal or Paris Opera or Het National or the Russians pulling this off... these dancers "get" the flamenco aesthetic and it rings out that they are Barcelona Ballet and not Generic New European Ballet. It was exciting. It was also, like much flamenco, "over the top" for a post-modern world. We loved it (my guests, the audience around us) and it received a boisterous standing ovation. I asked my 13-year-old if she understood why the audience reaction was so strong for Corella given how few "tricks" he was performing (out in the hinterlands, the kids see "DanceMoms" and such ilk and seem to think star power is about all about acrobatics and contortionism... I wasn't sure if she'd detect stage presence without the flash)... of course, she was blown away... and explained how even doing simple things Corella seemed to have so much more energy. I enjoyed the lighting and the costume effects... at times it was very effective in transforming the space of City Center to a very different dimension. If this company performs near you, it is worth going to see what a spanish ballet company is. They are different from the rest.

They didn't even mention the tendency of tapes/DVDs to disappear from disorganized archives... as administrations and staff turn over, archives sometimes lose pieces... I didn't see any of my boxes in those clips... maybe they were easier to organize... or maybe they were from an earlier period.

What is the story on that pointe shoe close-up? Surely that doesn't belong to a Ballet West dancer?

Is this the Legnani variation or is the second one it? It appears to have Ryzhkina in it.... [2. Variation danced by Yekaterina Krysanova. Music by Riccardo Drigo (1902). Variation for Olga Preobrajenska ]. Followed by [ 4. Variation danced by Mariana Ryzhkina. Music by Riccardo Drigo (1901). Variation for Pierina Legnani.] And this would be Pavlova's variation? [1. Variation danced by Yekaterina Shipulina. Music by Riccardo Drigo (1903). Variation for Anna Pavlova. ]

Thank you Cristian! Unfortunately the link won't play for me (ipad issue?). I'll see if I can find it by searching on youtube.

Here is the companion thread Paquita! WHO COMPOSED WHAT? http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/20768-paquita-who-composed-what/

Variation No. 4 - This is the one Gorsky put in Don Q... But it is Petipa? Made for Nikitina? Variation No. 5 - Was this by Fokine? Variation No. 6 - Variation No. 7 - It all gets so confusing!! So many elements seem to get repeated between variations, one wonders if that crept in over time or was there in the "original" (given that is a loaded term here). Is it all Petipa?

I have been trying to figure out who choreographed seven Paquita variations... I am using numbering from a recording by the Sofia National Opera Orchestra with Boris Spassov, I believe, conducting. Variation No. 1 - Variation No. 2 - Variation No. 3 - Was this by Petipa for Pavlova in 1904?

We need a "like" button on Ballet Alert!

Wow! And I thought the Dutch were the wealthiest... And WHY are sports, Movies, zoos and circuses exempt?

But, Miliosr , what did you think of the dance cinematography?

It's true, "fun" and "interesting" don't have to be the same. I remember a great uncle wondering when "fun" became a requirement even for adults... It must make training classical musicians very difficult these days... For me, "fun" is being able to do something "interesting".

With all the heat generated, it is surprising it doesn't happen on stage sll the time...

All possible. "Boredom" is a fairly recent concept, I understand it came into the language not long after "electric dynamo". As a child I was surprised by a grandmother who, when I complained of being bored, said she had thought I was too smart to be bored. Up until then I hadn't run into the concept that boredom was a weakness of the mind rather than an indication of intelligence. Sitting and waiting for hours on a plane/bus, etc.. is one thing... being bored in a dance class is another. Sure a yawn can be due to lack of sleep, etc., but if a teacher is going to be annoyed by a yawn, it's probably not the first yawn or the first indication of lack of attention... A yawn can also be stifled. By now, I'm sure I'm boring all of you... but I would tend to go with Helene's last post...

There are those who think being bored is a problem with the teacher and there are others who think the problem lies in the student... Is boredom a sign of intelligence or lack of initiative? The yawn may have been involuntary, but the state of mind that lead to the yawn may have been voluntary.

Yawning in class is not a sign of a good student actively involved... It is rude and disrespectful... I am not surprised that a student would be disciplined for this, particularly if it were not the only offense... "Punched in the stomach" might be a student's hyperbole and not the way the teacher would have described it... one might tap a student on the abdomen to get them to tighten it up and it might be a firm tap, but a punch implies a fist which seems extremely unlikely...HOWEVER "hit on the head" is absolutely inexplicable!!! Verbal abuse? That's an old tradition. I wonder if it has any common antecedents to drill sergeants... I'm not sure where I stand on that one... I've heard some rather famous dancers talk about how teachers broke them down only to build them back up again... Maybe it gets rid of hubris... Maybe it is hubris. Different teachers have different styles.

She seems such a wonderful fit for the part!