Amy Reusch

3MinutesWest... are you the one who did the wonderful Dutch National Ballet teasers on their recent Don Quixote production?

Some Modern choreographers have taken commissions for new work from large companies and instead of working the choreography up on the dancers of the commissioning company have developed the piece on their own company and then mounted it on the commissioning company.... It makes a certain kind of sense. I've always felt sorry for the dancers in the commissioning company, that they didn't get to have a work created on them... but it allows the choreographer to work with dancers already versed in in that choreographer's particular working style... and it's very fresh still when it's transferred to the premiering company... Too bad Wheeldon didn't use Morphoses as his laboratory.

I miss the Carlisle Project.... Could Morphoses potentially be a lab for new choreographers?

I'd like to see him with a 10 year contract as artistic director of a stable medium sized company... (one that doesn't include a huge institution he has to keep happy)... but where could that be? Balanchine wasn't stuck doing Giselle & Sleeping Beauty & La Sylphide & etc.... (even if he did love Sleeping Beauty)... ...but then again, Balanchine had a school... 8-10 dancers would be enough for a modern dance company... and how many did Joffrey start with?

I can't figure out from the website anything about what Albert Evans will be performing for his farewell... but if our votes counted, I'd be holding up two hands for Apollo...

This is an awesome video! I can't imagine the challenges... and reading between the lines... Bravo! In every sense of the word!

Don't know why, but it says "opera" dancers to me in a big way... not Phantom, but opera none the less... perhaps because of the quality of the costumes but less quality seemingly in the technique of the lesser dancers...

I wasn't a student of Mr. Andros, but many friends were... I am a big fan of his web pages: http://michaelminn.net/andros/ However, there doesn't seem to be a thread yet for him here and there surely should be. ... and my favorite Andros quote: .

I think ballets with humor work well for children, warming them to the non-verbal communication possibilities of dance at an age when they're really not interested in romance... can't get far from romance in dance, but... so I'd like to add two more: Graduation Ball Peter and the Wolf (depends on who does it... there are some good and some abominable versions) As others have noted, ballets with children in them seem more interesting to children than ballets without children... ABT's programming seems aimed at the "tweens" more than the 5-8 age... not a bad thing, actually. I think Don Quixote might work... the romance is accented with playful humor... (but don't think to yourself that you will read them an abbreviated story of Don Quixote as preparation for this one!), and music is so high spirited... . I agree, so long as you can do so without including everyone around you in the communication...

La Fille Mal Gardee (Ashton's) Coppelia (particularly F. Franklin's staging) Nutcracker... are my votes for ballets for children... Nutcracker is also good because there audience knows there will be little children and therefor might be more tolerant if one of the little ones stands up as I did at age three and first criying "more! more!" then tells the dancers in the finale to go away because we'd seen them already..... or like my own at 3 years old bursts out laughing because the sugarplum fairy variation is just so funny... Matinees are child friendly. Some theaters actually have "booster seats" that can be placed on the seat to boost the child up high enough to see as well as the rest of the audience. What's not good is a parent who doesn't remove their child if the child starts crying... or one who feels it's necessary to narrate so the little one will get the story... Candies with loud wrappers are a definite no no, though I dare say a large lollipop wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, though no one in the theater would want it on the seats...

Just saw the movie for a third time (yes!) in Hartford at RealArtWays where one can bring a glass of wine into the theater, and where they broke for intermission halfway through... (I had some friends who wanted to see it, so I thought why not go once more and hear what they think...) It was somewhat different to see it out here in the hinterlands... I know the dance world is very very small here, but was still surprised to find only about 8 people in the theater after the long lines in NYC... perhaps because it is the middle of a holiday week. What struck me this time was Lacotte... I liked Thesmar, but Lacotte seemed to be so "me, me, me... back when I was a dancer", perhaps more conscious of the camera than anyone else... and while I understand his wanting the dancers to go in to the floor a little more generously instead of lightly staying above it, it kept reminding me of the strange Coppelia he set on Shanghai Ballet that was performed here a few years ago on one of those college road tours... where the folk dance stomps sent all their energy dying into the floor instead of stamping a rebound out of it... very odd I thought then... maybe putting weight into the floor is his thing? Makes me think about how someone here (or on the sister site?) talked about going down into the floor in chassé being necessary to understanding Tudor's vocabulary... I got to thinking about Lefevre's trouble with young dancers not training to the current repertory standards... and wondering if it were a problem of the teachers in the school... perhaps the excellent ballet teachers are so focussed on traditional ballet technique (as they should be), that as a side effect one gets this conservative view toward movement...? Who were those people she was talking to about getting the young dancers to avail themselves of the modern technique classes offered once a week? At first I thought they were some sort of dancers' union representatives, or artistic staff of the company... now I'm wondering if they are teachers in the school? It's not such modern technique any more... some of those teaching it were quite far from their youth. Also, I was confused by some of the coaching of Medea... Was part of the ballet set by the choreographer and the person giving meaning to the movements a different coach? I would have thought that was the choreographer, but then it seemed to be a retired dancer, or secondary coach? Or am I confusing Medea with Eurydice? At least this time I got to watch a few of the credits! I still can't watch the dysfunctional shooting of Medea before she kills the children... once she kills the children the camera regains it's focus... when it's not watching anything, I can't either. I spent a little time watching Wiseman's framing this time... but mostly he is watching the process and the environment more than the choreography (I was hoping to watch him watch the choreography, but I guess whenever he did, I became fascinated by the choreography and forgot to watch the camerawork), usually he's watching the coach as much as what the dancers are up to. One of my favorite humor moments is McGregor's comment after the dancer has just finished an awesome virtuostic dance and is lying on ground... all he talks about is how nice she is lying on the ground! I know what was up, but it's still a funny set up. The technique in the class degagé exercise with the pas-de-cheval-like coupé is so interesting, so unlike what I've seen here. They scoop instead of push off... And the dancer who can't jump... I get confused... now I see it is the same bit of choreography as we later see on stage with the strange pantaloon warm-ups dancer whom the headset people are complaining so much about... but... is this the young girl taking on the abandoned pas de trois part? Or is it the old dancer who thinks it's too much and is abandoning it? Is the same dancer in rehearsal as on stage? Yes, credits option on the DVD, PLEASE

I guess in the end what matters is if it still "works"... does the ballet still touch an audience even if the costumes have radically changed and the dancers' step shapes have radically changed (I'm thinking of Swan Lake in it's various evolutions here, not this reconstruction of Rite of Spring)... Does classical vocabulary stand up through changes in volume (does a choreographed arabesque still work to the same effect if it changes in height from 60 degrees to 180 degrees?) differently than other movement vocabulary? Can the Paris Opera perform Graham? You bring up an interesting idea... what would Rite of Spring look like reconstructed on a character dance company?? But what about Scheherezade for which the audience's lens has changed so dramatically... it's now so tame compared to what risqué might now be (do we even have a concept of risqué anymore?)

I like the clip they chose to use from Prodigal... I would have liked to have seen the original Rite... perhaps the original dancers had more intent in the force of their movement, but who knows? Today's dancers are almost nonchalant about the musical challenge... the tension may have informed the movement of the originals differently... regardless of how well they knew it.

Marc Haegeman has shared some beautiful photos of it on his "for ballet lovers only" site http://www.for-ballet-lovers-only.com/bols...eralda2009.html In the video clip, the little goat didn't look too willing... I wonder if it was more willing in later performances? I always think of Kschessinka when I see the goat...

Wow. That's some lift the cavalier tosses the Sugarplum through! Is a dancer allowed to refuse to do choreography? I can't imagine that would be allowed... but that lift sure looks a bit rough on the danseur... Or is it easier than it appears?

It's so interesting to watch them dancing Rite... their dancing so post-modern... so "just give me the counts and and I'll dance it"... I can't imagine the original dancers being able to manage such a detached rendition of the movement.

It made me laugh out loud each time... but I'm sure it was Wiseman's joke of juxtaposition that encouraged this response. mine from earlier:

Well, some productions break the music up into 3 dolls rather than 2 (or two sets), and Dross hypnotized a male party guest for "the first" bit (sometimes this music is taken up with stage business about bringing out the dolls and examining them before winding them up). There were many clever bits in this production!

Someone ought to hand Mr. Raphael a heavily spiked eggnog... he certainly earned it today! I was at the 1:00 matinée up at Jorgensen in a miserable cold rain...probably the worst weather possible for dancers, though audiences tend to be appreciative. First, a few words about Jorgensen Auditorium. How a university can consider itself a university with a hall like that... it astounds me. It's dismaying that all UConn has to offer it's university community is something worse than a typical high school auditorium. How can the Trustees have any self respect? It's sound system is awful. It has no fly space to accommodate drops, and most of the seats in the orchestra have obscured view making it impossible to see dancers' feet below the shins. I've often thought the building must have started life as something else. A skating rink perhaps? But that would be maligning some rather nice performance spaces that did actually start out as skating rinks. Probably worst for the performers, it's acoustics seem to swallow up applause... as if it almost wasn't happening. Now, that said, if you are wise enough to choose a seat on the risers (as opposed to the distant balcony or bad sight-lined main floor seating), you will see some rather nice companies perform... much more interesting fare than the "big" theater, The Bushnell, in Hartford pulls in (unless Broadway road shows are the ultimate for you). Dealing with less than ideal circumstances, Mr. Raphael presented a delightful Nutcracker. The costumes were gorgeous. There were many charming bits of stage business in the first Act which I've never encountered in a Nutcracker before... though I was slightly disappointed when after Drosselmeyer feinted as if he were going to enchant the party guests into performing the traditional mechanical doll dances but then produced some more traditional types... however as the choreography for the mechanical was charming and clever, I had no true complaint. Did I mention how hard this director worked yet? Not only did he choreograph & stage the ballet (apparently presenting in 3 or 4 significantly different venues rehearsing 4 different casts of variously trained/untrained kids, he put himself in the role of Drosselmeyer, and did an awesome amount of human hoisting about here & there (is this to prevent his danseurs from complaining about too many lifts; Drosselmeyer pulls off almost as many?). I particularly liked his bit about having the children cover their eyes.. it worked so nicely with the revealing of the Land of the Sweets. He worked well with some very very tiny children, darling as heralds and reindeer. Honest, I must say the stage business of the guests throughout, from the entrance through the tea party to the farewell... very nice. One guest tipped his hat to the audience as if we had just met him on the street. Would have been nice if the guest's lantern were lit, but lighting finesse seemed a bit constrained by the Jorgensen facility's capabilities. I'm not sure what the difficulty with the Sugarplum Fairy was but I would rather have seen one of the first two charming Mirlitons or the Dewdrop given a chance at the role... they were quite musical, graceful, light on their feet and gentle with their arms; clearly happy to be dancing for us. The Dewdrop, Adele Robbins, did a lovely job with her legs and arms, but her epaulement was more typical of today's youth and the hiphop influence than the typical Waltz of the Flowers fare. The Sugarplum Fairy did have lovely arches to her feet and a very high extension when she deployed it. It was wise to put her variation at the beginning, so that everything could build from there. Clara, the curiously named Scoutt Jones, was charming, with a lovely light quality. She looked as if her coaching had not been overlooked (this is so easy to be forced to forego when occupied with straightening out large complex casts). Arabian, danced by Elisabetta Stanculescu & the tall Jake Warren, may have been the most successful of all the variations... with some spectacular lifts and some truly lovely line. The audience was transfixed. Rapt. Every single one. Melissa del Sol & Robert Johnston, the couple that pulled off Snow, wowed the crowd with many spectacular lifts, and their snowflake corps did an admirable job. The Snow royals had that long bit of "through the Christmas Tree" music as a pas de deux before the snowflakes came on... and with apparently little time to rehearse in the performing space managed to pack a lot in. The crowd appreciated the effort. Caitlyn Hudson deserves a mention too, she made for a vivacious Spanish dance, with more sparkle than this often gets. The Russians had to deal with some messed up sound cues, but had some fun things in their dance. None were asked to do that thigh busting folk dance step though... what is that thing called... you all know it even if you've never had to do it... that kicking out from a squatting position? I suspect a little vodka helped those cossack dances get their start. I understand there was a certain amount of hazing amongst the cossacks. I don't know about amongst Nucracker cast members. I have just one question... the Christmas Tree had a certain nebulous quality to it during the Battle scene, very interesting... never seen that quite done before... and I wondered how it was achieved. It looked like Drosselmeyer's magic was at work, but couldn't quite figure it out. Oh, and I heard my new all-time favorite Nutcracker quote from a couple a rows away during the battle scene... when the mice first came on, in the dim light, someone asked "What are those?" and was promptly hushed by his companion with a very curt "They are Ninjas." I hope this Nutcracker becomes a Jorgensen tradition. If it comes back, perhaps the stage crew will get used to the demands of a Nutcracker and won't torture the dancers quite so much. With Hartford Ballet's demise 10 years ago, there hasn't been much chance for local families to see a real production. There are many local school productions, but unless one feels to head south to the casinos or the coast, or out to Torringon, or Providence... there's nothing in the Northeastern quarter of CT. And Sandra Kaufman's article not withstanding, about how bad Nutcracker is for the ballet world, there are very few ballets suitable for children. Perhaps we could all be like Francis Mason and discover ballet as an adult... but I wonder... didn't he say he had to be dragged off to it?

I would far recommend seeing it in the theater rather than in miniature... When are you going to have front row seats to the Paris Opera? Why resign yourself instead to the equivalent of nosebleed seats by watching it on the small screen? Just walk out if you need to, but go see it writ large. Trust me, the film tickets are super cheap compared to an equivalent view live.

The brown haired boy who can float! And what was going on with his spotting in the chaînés near at the end? I could swear he was suddenly spotting over his shoulder...? Makarova didn't look much like herself there... surprising...

Well the accompanist was definitely waiting for the ballerina here... she held off the final note until she finished... and it added to the breathtaking quality because it was apparent it was delayed so that there could be extra [what, I can't exactly remember, but perhaps it was extra revolutions in her pirouette?] And yes, agreed; good conductors for dance are much scarcer even than good accompanists for dance. Have known dancers to "explode" the moment they're offstage.

Interestingly enough, when they rehearse the Sugarplum variation, it's slower than I've ever heard it! (But beautiful dancing and the nuances would be lost at higher speed). I don't, know though, it might have only been slow for rehearsal purposes.

Thank you for the link! That article was an interesting story of it's own, regardless of the connection to La Danse! Imagine having to perform one's first Nutcracker in casual clothes and minimal lighting to a half empty house! If not before, she deserved promotion from that alone! I didn't realize the dancers have a permanent contract until age 40-42... I always wondered what happened to those who didn't do well at the annual exams... would one get a pension if one was let go before age 40? Now I understand!

Oh! I've never seen anything but the last Act of Paquita, so the Paris Opera does the whole thing? Oh! I see! Lacotte made one of his revivals... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paquita Does it exist on film? I like the photo of Fokine in it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paquita_...-circa_1905.JPG