NNatalie

Natalie, Dorothée Gilbert is currently injured. Otherwise she would have been dancing Kitri. It's such a shame she can't, since the part fits her perfectly...

I'm so sorry to hear that but thank you for your reply. Wishing her a full and speedy recovery!

No Dorothee Gilbert as Kitri? A friend of mine saw her debut in this role a few years ago and was full of praise for both her dancing and characterisation.

Hmm I think you may be giving the Marketing Department a bit too much credit here! I don’t think the audience’s response could have been engineered or manipulated by the marketing alone- well if they could, maybe they should do it more often!

To me, opinions of both ‘fans’ and ‘ballet lovers’- as you would have it, though I think the distinctions are not at all clear cut- can only enrich the ballet community.

(FWIW, I also know people who have followed the Company since its early years who did appreciate the works on this triple bill.)

It’s probably worth mentioning that according to Johan Kobborg’s website (http://www.kobborg.co.uk/diary/cal.html) Alina Cojocaru is only confirmed for the Orange County performances. For NY, the casting for the Student is still TBA. Could be because Cojocaru is supposed to dance Ballet Imperial with the RB on Feb 25.

Federico Bonelli danced this with Zenaida Yanowsky at a gala in Paris this September. I didn’t go but friends who did said they, especially she (‘a real ballerina!’), made good strong impressions and if he could partner Yanowsky, I am sure he could partner Ansanelli!

In the Royal Ballet Yearbook, it says that she has retired from dancing and is now studying theology.

I have not been impressed with the way the company performed Symphony in C this season but I do think that the Royal can dance it better than this. To be fair to the dancers, Symphony in C was likely not given priority during rehearsals and the dancers were probably not coached in this ballet as intensively as they should have been. After all, the focus of this season has been on Ashton, as well as other important revivals like McMillan’s Rite of Spring, which are new to most of the dancers in the company. I think Symphony in C is the only Balanchine ballet that the Royal stage and rehearse themselves (as far as I can remember last season Agon and Prodigal Son were staged by Patricia Neary) and this may be where the problem is. Perhaps they would benefit from having someone from the Trust coming over. But all in all, I would refrain from making a general statement about how well (or badly) the Royal can dance Balanchine based on this season’s performances alone.

Far more capable than Ferederico Bonelli in the fiendishly difficult Brian Shaw part who though capable of the virtuosity sacrificed ease and delight.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe it was Kobborg who danced the Brian Shaw role (?) and, as Carol M mentioned, Bonelli danced the central couple with Cojocaru. Based on this particular performance, I doubt people would have been able to tell Kobborg and Cojocaru are an established partnership. Personally I feel Cojocaru understands very well that this ballet is not a star vehicle. I thought the performance was well danced, although it was not the religious experience Kate L talked about. Perhaps when an Ashton or a Balanchine of a choreographer comes along and creates a ballet on today’s dancers- drawing inspirations directly from them- we will get that kind of experience again In the meantime, I think the dancers today are doing well in trying to do the ballet, made on dancers some fifty years ago, some sort of justice.

I found Les Biches quite delightful and thought Yanowsky as the Hostess terrific. I am not always emotionally ‘in tune’ with Guillem so I suppose it was not surprising that I remained so unmoved by her portrayal.

Anyway I obviously don’t have the vast experience and knowledge people here possess but thought I would add my two cents …

Ps. Leigh I hope you enjoy the performance tomorrow. I was not at all impressed the last time the company danced Symphony in C a few months ago- and this is an impression from someone who rarely ever gets to see NYCB! I hope they get their acts together and give a reasonably good performance this time around.

Going back to the original point, I wonder if nowadays ballets are generally cast on the basis of the dancer being technically competent rather than being best suited in character, personality or physique to a role.  I'm reminded of two anecdotes.  The first, which Monica Mason tells against herself was when she went to Ashton and asked to be given the role of Odette Odile.  "I'm sure I could do it", she said.  "I'm sure you could", replied Ashton, "but who would want to see it".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am sorry to go off-topic here but Monica Mason did dance Odette-Odile, did she not? Or is this my imagination?! (Entirely possible!)

I seem to recall Aurélie Dupont of the POB saying that for her Nureyev’s Raymonda is the most technically demanding. And the danseurs often talk of all the punishing male variations Nureyev added to the classics such as the long solo for the Prince in his Sleeping Beauty!

Ashton’s Sylvia is also very demanding on the ballerina. There is hardly any padding and she dances almost non-stop in the ballet. I also feel that Ashton’s choreography is very exposed- the tiniest mistake is very noticeable to the audience. His choreography is also so intensely musical that if she misses a beat it’s very obvious. Monica Mason described the solos in Act I- with all the jumping, turning and balancing- as being a marathon for the ballerina! And of course no matters how tired she is by Act III, she still has to execute that pizzicato variation and be the definition of radiance during the pas de deux. And this is not to mention the interpretative side- she has to portray all three facets of the character convincingly and make all the transitions between the Acts believable!

For the men, I suppose it depends. Jonathan Cope, for example, said that a ballet like McMillan’s Mayerling is like a marathon whereas something like a classics such as Swan Lake is like a sprint. In Mayerling, Crown Prince Rudolf has to partner at least six different women (Princess Louise, Princess Stephanie, Marie Larisch, his mother Elisabeth, Mary Vetsera and Mitzi Casper) and you have to give it your very all emotionally in the last Act. But Cope said, with the classics, one has to be perfection in all the variations which can be extremely taxing even if the solos only last a few minutes.

For the corps, the Kingdom of Shades must be it for the reasons you all described! For the RB version, I believe the lead girl performs 39 arabesques (!) Nijinska’s Les Noces is also meant to be very demanding and unforgiving. The corps dancers often say the music is extremely difficult to count.