vrsfanatic

Broward Center of the Arts, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Miami City Ballet, Sunday, March 15 matinee

Thank you Marga. I really do appreciate your input on the events of the evening. It is the next best thing to being there.

Our school takes our students to the ballet quite often. I am very pleased to report that by all accounts (Director, students and guest choreographer) Saturday evenings performance was fabulous (as already stated by Jack Reed and cubanmiamiboy). When I had seen Symphony in C at the Arsht Center in January (?) and it had been amazing. It is a personal favorite. I will gladly be going to Kravitz for round 3 and probably Arsht again for round 4, if my schedule and finances allow. I may be sitting up in the clouds, but this is a very good program.

http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=176 Brian Reeder was a dancer with ABT at one time. Boy what an expensive mistake (typo)!

A report only... An interesting program indeed, although I cannot say I actually got In The Night. A bit too quirky for my taste. The dancing for the most part was good however, I had difficulty with bad line of the lower leg in two of the ladies. With pointe shoes, this stiffness is difficult to accept. Sometimes it could be faulty technique but often it is not enough time or knowledge with coaching. Not being very familiar with the dancers, I cannot say which was the case, but none the less, it was bothersome. R. Sarabia was a beautiful partner, filling the stage with his very expressive back and lightness. While he floated, others seemed to just exist in the space. While Barocco was lovely, the corps was a bit rough and the soloists were lacking in expressivity. Not a moving performance for me. Symphony in C was a magnificent display for the talented and well schooled men of Miami City Ballet. Overall the corps was fine, but not particularly moving. They did their jobs. The female soloists were fine, Kronenburg, in 2nd movement being the stand out. A big flub in 3rd movement by T. Albertson. From the mezzanine it was a little jarring. Again, I had difficulty with the lack of strength and expressivity in her/the back. I did enjoyed A. Wong in the 3rd movement. His lightness and movement quality reminded me of Bill Martin-Viscount in the same role years ago (not at NYCB). Unfortunately Wong and Albertson were not a good pairing. Their very different schooling and movement quality is visible. Where 3rd movement is generally smooth and light, they seemed to fight each other through the entire movement. 4th movement was enjoyable. Perhaps it was the theatre, but when sitting in the mezzanine it was difficult to hear the music in all three ballets. Barocco and Symphony in C were recordings but In the Night was a piano solo by Francisco Renno'. Having sat in different areas in this theatre, the mezzanine is my least favorite for this reason. It was great to meet Jack Reed and cubanmiamiboy! I wish there had been more time. Looking forward to next season.

I am having the same problems. I thought it was because my computer was doing the updates.

Sometimes a few of those girls may have come off from 1st movement, taken a swig of water, a few deep breaths and lined right up again for 2nd movement! bart, wish I could write a review, but it is just not in me. I am not able to say in writing what I enjoy and what I do not, but put me in the passenger seat of a car while someone else is driving (hum, or in my classroom) and I can talk one's ear off about how I feel about what we had just experienced!

Actually I did count the numbers and names that were repeated for personal reasons (sounds dramatic, but not really) when MCB performed Symphony in C at the Arsht Center last month. I will be very pleased to see the matinee on Sunday at the Broward Center. This is a great program!

Absolutely Major Johnson. Edward Myers was very strong, also quite flexible and a wonderful dancer.

The late Victor Castelli had a very flexible and strong back. Janek Schergen, Pennsylvania Ballet 1970s-1980s, very flexible-funny he did Melancholic as well. Matthew Adamczyk, The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, has quite an acrobatic and flexible back.

Thank you for that news Marga!

Marga your reviews have been remarkable You have such a knack for bringing vision to words. It is so very disappointing ABT will not be in Miami this weekend. Thank you so much for helping "our pages" to dance again.

Any dancer's journey within a particular method of training will have positive and negative effects upon the person. As has been stated many times before, a method is a method, the teachers have the responsibility to implement the method. Good and talented teachers can have varying responses from an entire group/class of students. Some will be be positive, some will be negative and some will be wishy washy. Remember people are people regardless of what method they are learning. Speaking with a professional dancer looking backward about their training is always an interresting subject. Glory generally goes to those who have "discovered" the talented dancers after all the hard work and basics have been accomplished. Coaching a dancer who is already trained is a very different subject than building a student from the ground up. Dancers must always take class and few want to be confronted by the very difficult work they faced as students. Vaganova training is more difficult in school than it is as a dancer. Giving company class to a group of trained dancers is an artform in itself. There can be no comparison between the two very differing job descriptions. Perhaps Ms Wiles may see things a bit differently if she ever chooses the responsibility of training children from the bottom up? This is where the story really begins. Only time will tell. Memo, this is not the forum I know, but it would be enlightening to be able to have the conversation about why... Why is Vaganova always so controvertial when discussing an obviously talented dancer? I mean take all names out. Why should there be controversy over an obviously qualified system of training on obviously talented bodies?

Yes Marga very delightful. I look forward to the Boylston review. You have a talent for writing that gets to the core of the dancers' emotions. Hopefully St. Petersburg will enjoy Gomes as Albrecht (Albert)in late March as much as you have. It will be interesting read those reviews as well. If only I had vacation, I would be in St. Petersburg to enjoy it.

Thank you Marga, that was wonderful. I too cannot wait to hear about the Myrthas!

With $10 million, set up a ballet think tank for professional ballet teachers. A full scholarship, 4 year program for the training of teachers of classical ballet including partnering, character, acting and music studies. There would also be a training program in the art of ballet accompaniment. The facilities exist, the children are in place but the education of teachers is a hope and dream for the future. If you train the teachers, the children will come is my dream.

This will be a truly special event. If only it were not held during the week, I would fly up definitely! A magnificent teacher is receiving a very special tribute. Amazing!

It is Gomes/Vishneva in Giselle March 21 on Mariinsky stage Wish I could be there for that one! http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbi...09/3/21/1_1900/

Symphony in C corps can be done with either 6 or 8 women in each movement, although I do believe it was first choreographed with 8 ladies in each movement in the corps depending upon the size of the stage.

I will also be at the performance in Miami, cubanmiamiboy! I have not seen Symphony in C in about 10 years. My memories are ample as a performer and an observer however. All are wonderful, although I must say seeing NYCB dance it 10 years ago did leave me a bit cold. I am interested to see MCB on Thursday. Hopefully the joy of my memories will return.

Isadora (Dos Santos) Loyola is listed as a member of the corps de ballet again however!

I just looked yesterday afternoon and everything was there just awaiting casting announcements! Oh goodness! A disappointment.

I am not aware of spacing for the Bolshoi stage, but in Vaganova Academy they do not use stage markings at all. There may be a member who can discuss the Mariinsky stage from first hand experience, my information is second hand only. The Vaganova method is very specific about spacing and movement in the classroom and since the children are doing stage work from the age of 10 they develop what is known as "stage sense" at very young ages. The largest studio in the Academy, known as Rep Zal, is where they do much of the rehearsing for stage work. The room is easily divided without making the floor. Students may use mirrors, barres, windows as division markers, for keeping lines, however the students all move in the same way from a very young age. They all use the same directions and lines. Each step they do is done is the same way. Spacing is considered part of the technique of ballet. Just a guess, but I would think it is similar in all Russian ballet schools and companies.

Very sad news indeed. She wrote many beautiful articles about ballet. May she rest in peace. Condolences to her family and friends.

Actually bart, having staged Giselle (I refer to Giselle because of your post on the partnering thread), Bayadere, Paquita, and most of the classical repertoire on students and on a professional company, the stage markings should help tremendously in crossing of lines in any direction. As for circles they are also set according to logical geometric patterns with numbers of people dividing the space. If the rules of symmetry are not being observed, it could boil down to the person running the rehearsal not paying enough attention to getting it done. It is always possible in classical work and in contemporary work, well it depends what the choreographer wants. Some like symmetry and some do not.