FauxPas

ATM711 - We are seeing the same shows. I was there last night too. I was less enthusiastic. The Lesson: Okay this probably was a very dramatic and interesting ballet in the 1960's - it is quite unbelievable now. I had a major problem with Thomas Lund as the Ballet Master. He was quite convincingly off the deep end from his very first entrance leaving him with nowhere to go and making the Student look like a cretin for not taking one look and running out the door. Most psychopaths and serial killers have a chameleon-like ability to present a convincing, attractive facade (Ted Bundy). He really should be an elegant old school ballet master initially. Lund suggested wonderfully a psychosexual compulsion but it should emerge subtly and gradually with a dramatic change after the toe shoes come out. Ida Praetorius was remarkable as the student - coltish, naive and wildly enthusiastic. She was just very real and unaffected which made her even more heartbreaking. The part of the pianist - here danced by Gudrun Bojesen - is perplexing - is she his mistress or his wife or his sister that she works as his accomplice? Is she really trying to save these girls? What is she after? What does she get out of this? Why hasn't the police tracked these two down and put them away after so many girls don't come home from their dance lesson? This is more pantomime drama with ballet steps mixed in than a real ballet using classical steps and patterns to tell a story. Bournonville Variations: Nice choreography but very derivative of Konservatoriet and Etudes. Starts out with the boys (all boys) in practice clothes and then they go into costumes including kilts. All taken from Bournonville's daily class variations. Frankly the men here were not all impressive and didn't function well as a unit - poor ensemble abounded. There was a feeling of sloppiness and exhaustion here - something tired and unfinished. Alban Lendorf as one of the kilted men doing entrechats was an impressive exception - beautiful clear batterie. Lost on Slow: Jorma Elo is school of William Forsythe with lots of angular twisted physicality applied to hard driving classical ballet technique. Lots of off-kilter turns set to a lovely Vivaldi score. However, here the dancers looked fully engaged and in top form. I must say I also loved the oblique lighting with the stage smoke (very similar to Twyla Tharp's "In The Upper Room") and the stylized silk costumes with appliquéed bodices. Again Alban Lendorf stood out in his pas de deux. Napoli Act III: Sets look old-fashioned like they came from the earlier production as do most of the dancer's costumes. The character dancers however look like refugees from "Roma Città Aperta". Teresina and Gennaro show up on a vespa at the end. It can be ignored in the face of the dancing and Bournonville's brilliant virtuosity. A truly joyous vision of dance. Again I noticed poor ensemble in the pas de six with legs at different heights, arms all doing different positions and landing at different times. Then in solos the same dancers would look quite good. Ulrik Birkkjaer the Gennaro looks like a well-trained dancer having an off night. He would start combinations well but they would fall apart before the end with the feet landing out of position or turns veering off. You could see the good intentions but the technique would fail. Susanne Grinder as Teresina was pretty but bland, a good soloist. Again Alban Lendorf in the first male solo with all the batterie was the best thing out there. All my friends were saying that the quality of the choreography (except for the Bournonville) and the dancing were way below the level displayed in the past. Even the Napoli Act III had more elan and pep in previous years. They were wondering if the company would be touring again anytime soon. Seen in audience: Nikolaj Hubbe, Anna Kisselgoff, Gia Kourlas, Alastair Macaulay, Allegra Kent and the other usual suspects.

Clips from this were on various "The Glory of the Kirov" compilations. Clearly they come from a 1940's or very early 50's dance compilation movie that no one could identify. Thanks for posting this which is a bit more complete.

ABT discounts have popped up from time to time on Goldstar and a few times on TDF group sales in the past. However, the first weeks of the ABT season are usually the slowest. Once the NYCB leaves town for Saratoga in mid-June and the full swing of European tourists hit town - watch out! By the end of the season everything is selling well. I actually felt that on Tuesday night, ABT had a decent 75% or more capacity. Also, I believe that ABT doesn't need to sell every seat at the Metropolitan Opera House to cover its costs and make a profit. The opera can sell every seat and still post a loss, not so the ballet.

I have no problem myself with Chopin but Neumeier chose really funereal pieces one after another. Chopin has a wide spectrum of compositions that can express joy and gaiety and dreamy ecstasy but they were few and far between in this ballet. Also the choreography is repetitive and very, very padded. I decided on Saturday night to check out the Dvorovenko/Stearns cast which I skipped last year. It seems that there are dancers who I end up skipping season after season while I concentrate on the superstar Russians. So I make myself attend a home team performance at least once a season. I was surprised how much I liked Irina Dvorovenko's Giselle last Saturday, so I decided to see her as Marguerite Gautier. Again I repeat myself but the ballet is poorly structured and overlong. The expository first act could use pruning (I don't know how that would impact the Chopin piano concertos which might have to be dismembered) but I would say, drop a mazurka or two with the corps doing generic ballroom moves. Then play it straight into the second act with the first intermission after the big bedroom pas de deux which would make for a better act finale. Then start Act II with M. Duval at the auction flashing back to when he visited Marguerite at the country house. Then we don't have to see Marguerite dress and rearrange her hair onstage and do an awkward transition right after rolling on the floor in consummated love. The eliminated intermission would cut about 25 minutes. More pruning could take out another 15 or 20 minutes of repetitive filler. We would get home about 40 minutes sooner. Act I is boy gets girl, Act II is boy loses girl, then girl dies. Irina is really a very, very good actress - not as fragile as Diana or Julie but quite accomplished and detailed. There is something rather calculated about her stage personality that is good and bad. She has everything worked out for excellently detailed effect but little sense of living in the moment spontaneously. On the other hand in the Act III scene where Marguerite sees Armand in the Champs Elysees and has to watch him woo Olympe from a park bench, Irina was crying real tears under that lovely brown hat and veil. Her firm pointed chin and heart-shaped face suggest a Scarlett O'Hara survivor/minx rather than a doomed beauty. Irina's strong footwork and supple back brought maximum detail and variety out of Neumeier's rather limited and repetitive choreography - she really made the part look choreographically more interesting than it was. Neumeier who set the ballet on the company is a very good theatrical director - lots of good acting from everyone including Corey Stearns. Corey's evident youth (he read younger than Irina) works for the story and the character. Armand is supposed to be slightly younger but more importantly much less experienced than Marguerite. Bolle and Gomes come off like polished, mature matinee idols and Corey's callowness was a better fit. However, Bolle and Gomes are also two of the best partners in the ballet business. All the pas de deux's are full of Cranko and MacMillan derived acrobatic lifts - Irina was constantly being passed over Corey's shoulders and lifted over his head down into various catches. Corey just managed to get Irina into a nice finishing position (she was so graceful that I am sure if he dropped her she would have landed in a gorgeous pose). However, you could see the effort in Corey's partnering and there were some moments where you prayed that his other arm would grasp her in time. His solos were actually very well danced with beautiful line and nice elevation. This was the best acting I have ever seen from Corey. Stella Abrera was really fine as Manon who had a certain sinister sensuality mixed with a ghostly doomed foreboding quality - maybe better all around than Murphy (very strong) or Part (who was gorgeous but undercharacterized). Blaine Hoven looks much better this season trimmed down without all the bulky muscle and a better haircut. He danced very well. The role of Des Grieux requires little acting. The others in the cast were Gennadi Saveliev (danced well but a bland stiff actor) as Gaston Rieux and Luciana Paris (saucy and good) as Prudence. Melanie Hamrick was spot-on as Olympe - the hot pretty new girl on the block who is superseding the fading heroine in the demi-monde. Hamrick is gorgeous and posed a real threat. Carlos Lopez was very touching as the bumbling Viscount, the only time I have seen him this season. Nimrod Pfeffer replaced Soheil Nasseri tickling the ivories. They had a third pianist Emily Wong on hand for Act III. Returnee from last season Koji Attwood (sometime poster here) played from the pit in Acts I and II. If the weather is bad and I am really bored I may check out Visheva and Gomes on Tuesday but even they may not redeem my boredom with this ballet.

As for male soloists who got frustrated and left ABT: Besides Danny Tidwell (who I still miss) there was: 1) Carlos Molina who joined Boston Ballet with his talented wife Erica Cornejo (also missed) 2) Parrish Maynard who joined San Francisco Ballet 3) Charles Askegard who joined NYCB 4) Joaquin de Luz who joined NYCB (there were personal issues there stemming from his split from then-wife Carmen Corella) 5) The sad tale of balletomane favorite Giuseppe Picone. Picone was very handsome but had a big mouth. I remember reading an article where he said things like "Last year, just when I was going to get to get promoted, the worst happened. I had an injury, and missed my promotion to a principal." (that promotion may have been news to the ABT administration) and "I like to think that Maxim [belotserkovsky] and I, who are both tall dancers, will replace Kevin. ". He was dropped from the roster right after this - whispers of ego and temperment following him. http://www.criticaldance.com/interviews/2000/gpicone001005.html I don't know what happened to corps boy Ricardo Torres (I didn't care much for him) who looked like he was being given a shot at solo parts. He disappeared fast and no longer dances I think. I have seen pictures of him on Facebook where he looks very pumped up like a bodybuilder - not a ballet dancer physique. Some like Jesus Pastor (who was only good in modern choreography) didn't turn out the way ABT wanted and weren't reengaged. Any others? ABT has a pretty full roster of soloists. Sadly Carlos Lopez seems not to be dancing this season - has anyone seen him in anything? Joseph Philips, Mikhail Ilyin and Sean Stewart are underutilized. All three could have done "Coppelia". Roddy Doble is more than a big lug who can do lifting and look threatening - I have seen him dance Solor's solo from "Bayadere" well though the stage was too small for him. Alexandre Hammoudi is being given major opportunities this season. Neither Blaine Hoven nor Jared Matthews have quite developed excitingly though Hoven looks better this season - Matthews has a tendency to be bland. I think ABT would like to retire Max Beloserkovsky since they are pulling him from his old roles and not giving him new ones. He gets a minimal number of performances. But then there is Irina Dvorovenko in the equation. She is still a useful ballerina who covers a lot of repertory. If he goes then she might go with him. Several things would help. Work out matters with Angel Corella so that he is present for most of the MET season and for some of the tours. Perhaps retire one or two soloists (and principals) who really can't hack it anymore and hire Rolando Sarabia as a soloist. I think with the medical staff, chiropractors, masseurs, coaches and teachers on staff at ABT and regular supervised work, Sarabita might regain some of his old technical command. He is available and fully ready to step in and fill a space for a five years or so. As for internal promotions - Hammoudi, Philips for sure.

Interesting that they are breaking up the ballet couples - Johan will dance with Irina Dvorovenko, not Cojocaru who will dance with Hallberg in the evening. Osipova will dance "Coppelia" with Daniil Simkin and Ivan Vasiliev will partner Xiomara Reyes the night before.

I saw the mixed program on Wednesday evening. There were lots of empty seats. My thoughts: "Dumbarton" choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky to Stravinsky music - Dumbarton Oaks. I wasn't crazy about this ballet though I admire Ratmansky's talent. I am of the opinion (you don't have to share it) that Ratmansky hasn't really shone in any of his original pieces for ABT. "The Bright Stream" which was a hit in D.C. (and is coming soon to NY) was created for the Bolshoi. "Seven Sonatas" was pleasant but derivative to me - no new ground broken. "On the Dnieper" was an interesting exercise in dance theater of the old Soviet type transferred to the 21st century. Good individual solos and pas de deux but as a whole didn't add up. "The Nutcracker" was a real curate's egg with the ridiculous and sublime mixed together - needed another edit. Anyway, the stage is dark and everyone is wearing sort of drab gray and beige outfits that suggest Russian summer outfits from the early sixties. Part of the problem is the shifting, uneasy music which doesn't seem to settle into concrete musical forms. Stravinsky's "Dumbarton Oaks" music (unlike his "Firebird" score or the works for Balanchine) isn't an easy fit for dancing. There are five couples onstage - the ballerinas included Misty Copeland, Isabella Boylston, Veronika Part, Michele Wiles and Yuriko Kajiya. Wiles had a good pas de deux that was kind of edgy. Veronika didn't have much of anything to do but looked lovely doing it - your eye kept going to her. It seemed that Eric Tamm and Misty Copeland were the odd couple out - Misty seemed to go through some ritual death and then was accepted back into the group - maybe a commentary on racial issues and interracial dating??? The style was more original than "Seven Sonatas" but still I didn't know what to make of it. "Troika" - choreography Benjamin Millepied music cello sonatas by Bach. Basically three really talented guys - Alexandre Hammoudi, Daniil Simkin and Sascha Radetsky wearing what looks like basketball tank top uniforms noodling around the stage. Because these guys are very good dancers and charismatic it was fun for about five minutes seeing them toss Daniil around and compete in jetés etc. Then it got real boring. Kind of a brainless "Look Ma, I'm dancin'!" piece worthy of a dance school piece choreographed by students. "Shadowplay" choreography by Tudor music by Charles Koechlin. Okay this is a head-scratcher. For historical background sake I will crib from the program notes: First choreographed for the Royal Ballet in 1967 with Antony Dowell as the Boy with Matted Hair, Merle Park as Celestial and Derek Rencher as Terrestrial. Came to ABT in 1975 with Baryshnikov as the Boy, Gelsey Kirkland as Celestial and Jonas Kage as Terrestrial. I think this has to do with Tudor's embrace of Zen Buddhism. Set in what looks like the Indian jungle. The Boy with Matted Hair (Craig Salstein) is alone, a hero in search of himself finding his place in the world. He is set upon by the corps and two spirits male and female. The male spirit is looking for a soul mate - someone to complete himself or to dominate. The Boy thinks he can model himself after the male Terrestrial spirit (Corey Stearns bare chested) - he mimics his poses. But then Terrestrial/Corey seems to make a sexual play for Boy with Matted Hair/Craig by going for his crotch. Craig freaks out and decides "that is not for me!". Then comes the Celestial (Xiomara Reyes) with her attendants. Like everyone else in this ballet she seems somewhat threatening but remote and forbidding, not aggressive. They have a pas de deux with an interesting ending where she flies over his shoulder lifted by her attendants. Then both female and male spirits try to take Boy/Craig over. He somehow repulses them and becomes his own man, king of the jungle. That is my take but I am probably wrong. It is...well...interesting. A lot of the choreography is as accomplished as Tudor was. "Thirteen Diversions" choreography by Wheeldon, music by Benjamin Britten. The one winner here - music that cries out for dancing and Wheeldon at his best. Gorgeous costumes (Mozartiana style) and stunning lighting design (Robert Wilson light beams on a cyclorama with shifting colors and shapes). Four main couples - Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg, Isabella Boylston and Marcelo Gomes, Simone Messmer and Alexandre Hammoudi and Maria Riccetto and Jared Matthews (replacing Radetsky). Stunning original steps and combinations reflecting the music, fluent command of ballet vocabulary and memorable images. Keeps your interest throughout and stays with you. This one is a keeper and should be kept in the repertory - Wheeldon needs to come back to ABT often. He is back in form with this one.

I saw both Cojocaru Kitris on Friday and Monday and Semionova on Saturday afternoon. On Friday night, Cojocaru pushed her technique to the limit, took big daring risks and occasionally paid the price with near disasters. But there was something so over the top, so devil may care, so generous in spirit that you had to love her. Macauley was correct about her generosity to her onstage partners and to the audience. Cojocaru also phrases to the music with delicacy and elegance. So you had this mix of elegance, femininity and charm complemented by daring, bravado and generosity that was very winning. The near disasters only made you want to protect her. Then she would pull of a feat like twirling in the air during fishdives or doing multiples in her fouettes. On Monday night, Cojocaru clearly had taken into account some of what happened on Friday and toned down a few things. The whole show went better - no near falls - and she danced well throughout. Whatever problems were fairly minor - curtailing a step once or twice and then nailing the next one and the next one. There was a loss of some of the kamikaze pizzazz from Friday but a gain in consistency. Carreno had a very, very good night. On Friday, Carreno was better in his pas de deux than in his solos where a loss of speed and bravura was evident. On Monday, he threw himself into the steps with real command and nailed his third act solo in the pas de deux. He did his usual slow down pirouettes to audience applause. His partnering was magnificent. A great, great evening for José. On Saturday afternoon, Polina Semionova built upon an initial good impression with each scene culminating in a very impressive Act III pas de deux. Her bravura there could only be surpassed by Osipova or Viengsay Valdes on a good day. She has a wiry muscular frame that combines long limbs with a shorter torso. Yet her figure is very feminine with a rounded bust. So she has this mix of short and tall, thin and voluptuous going on. I thought Semionova had tons of personality and was very hoydenish in the part. Hallberg is not one of nature's Basilios as Cojocaru is not a natural Kitri - both showed qualities that we don't usually see in them by being stretched into these parts.

The Simkin acquisition was very like that of the teenage Angel Corella (Simkin was in his early twenties - though he still looks fourteen - when he was hired by ABT and was dancing with second tier companies). Corella made principal within a few years of joining the company as a soloist.

Other than those three though, I don't really see star quality in the female corps contingent. Gemma Bond and Zhong-Jing Fang have been kind of stalled. Isabella Boylston is a very good dancer and is getting a lot of exposure in key soloist parts. I think some dancers find their level as very good soloist and don't rise to principal status. Michele Wiles for example often stole the show from the prima ballerina in soloist roles and she still can shine in shorter ballets during the City Center season (please revive those engagements ABT!) But in the lead of a full-length ballet she doesn't always excel (I liked her Sylvia though). For example, Maria Riccetto is a very, very good dancer who lacks something in star presence, warmth and emotional projection to carry say, "Swan Lake" (I didn't see her Giselle so I may be wrong). Veronika Part for all her technical insecurities does have those qualities in abundance. I agree that Abrera and Lane have proved themselves in leads - Lane is one of the best Auroras in the company. The terrible thing is that lots of girls in the corps have been soloists in other companies or competition finalists but never advance and aren't developed for bigger things. Ratmansky always makes a point of giving a shot to someone in the corps - Shevchenko, Joseph Philips, Lane and others got big roles in "Seven Sonatas" and Hammoudi, Boylston and others are getting leads in "The Bright Stream". What is weird is that Kevin has discovered quality male dancers in the corps and groomed them to star status - Hallberg, Gomes, etc. Others like Stiefel, Malakhov and Carreno he borrowed from other companies mostly abroad. Corella is unclassifiable because he was trained abroad and won a bunch of competitions. Corella basically started in the company at 18 as a boy wonder soloist with little experience in an international company but with star principal written all over him. BTW: I saw both Cojocaru and Semionova and was thrilled in different ways by both - I am seeing Cojocaru again tonight as Kitri. I adore her.

I went to the Sunday matinee and had a wonderful afternoon despite one big annoyance. The program began with Martins' "Fearful Symmetries". I have begun to notice that there are different ballet masters for the repertory and sometimes the Martins ballets look sloppily prepared. There was a lot of out of sync corps work in this revival of Martin's 1990 ballet. The leads were all quite nice but not all on the same page. I was blown away by Tiler Peck who really defined her movements so that they read more specifically than Sterling Hyltin's. Peck's whole body would dance so if she had a bit where she was turned with her leg out, her whole torso would be turned outward so it looked like she was entirely at an angle. Whereas Hyltin in the same choreography was just prettily putting her leg out. Chase Finlay partnered Hyltin and looked good but didn't have much to do. This is a good ballet and well-organized in its formations and alternation of large and small masses. Not much profundity but that may have to do with the John Adams score which is superficially energetic but fails to develop interestingly. However it is very technical and physical and needs to be performed with absolutely sharp ensemble to make its effect - not so here despite good dancers all over the stage. Second ballet was Robbins' "Opus 19/The Dreamer" which was magnificent. Janie Taylor has this aloof, unreachable allure that defined the ballerina role in this piece. Also Gonzalo Garcia has a soft feline grace - no step looked pushed or separate from the physical line. All the roles were deceptively difficult with knotty combinations that must come off with a sort of seamless flow and cool serenity - I think this is an incredibly demanding ballet. These two pulled it off. Beautiful playing by the orchestra of the Prokofiev score. Last ballet on the program was "La Sonnambula" with a great cast: Whelan, Marcovici and Ringer as the Sleepwalker, Poet and Coquette. Amar Ramasar (a bit young-looking) as the Baron and Anna Sophia Scheller danced the intriguingly off-kilter pas de deux gloriously. Daniel Ulbricht was in his element selling the Harlequin's acrobatics, comedy and bravura. Whelan had a combination of empty ethereality and a kind of gothic driven intensity that made you wonder if this was a Bertha Mason madwoman in the attic. Marcovici did not surpass memories of Nicolae Hubbe as the Poet but brought out a kind of oblivious self-absorption - so into himself and living in his own world he doesn't sense danger and brings his destruction onto himself. Ringer's refined delicate beauty like a porcelain figurine made the Coquette's deceit more lethal. Very good show. As for the annoyance - there were empty seats in my row in the side orchestra and I moved more center. There was an asian girl next to me. At intermission her boyfriend turned up and seemed to be arranging something with her. When I returned to my seat for the second ballet he was sitting in the seat I moved into. He insisted on seeing my ticket and refused to move over one. The usher came over alerted by his rudeness and asked to see his ticket. He elaborately searched his pockets but didn't have one. The usher said that he would need to show his credit card to the box office and they would print another ticket. My suspicion - his girlfriend probably was given a free ticket and she instructed her boyfriend to skip the first Martins ballet and sneak into the theater for the second act. He didn't have a ticket at all. I had a ticket for that row and had just moved more center. Anyway, a woman behind me asked me to move one over so her old, short mother behind me could see and I obliged. The girl and her ticketless boyfriend then reappeared and moved into the empty seats next to me as the lights were dimming and the usher had gone. He didn't return for "La Sonnambula" because he was afraid that usher would find him and probably sat somewhere else. Anyway the gall of them bullying ticket holders to seat jump really riled me. This totally off-topic but I just had to vent publicly!

These press releases are usually very carefully worded to put things in a positive light for all concerned.

I too enjoyed Sarabia last night. Warning: I didn't buy a ticket beforehand and didn't know that they were starting weekday performances at 7:30 p.m. I got there just as Act I was starting and watched Act I on a monitor. Acts II and III were seen in rear orchestra thanks to a lovely lady who was leaving early and had an unused ticket! On the monitor in Act I, Sarabia seemed tall, elegant, long-limbed. He had a certain dynamism in his movements combined with elegance and classical form. Fernando Bujones comes to mind as a similar type - a mix of prince and virtuoso technician. Sarabita also is a very strong masculine stage presence able to command the stage while projecting a wily, humorous persona. Sarabita also had good stage instincts covering well for little accidents like a dropped flower or fan. However, I noticed in places things that reminded me of Julio Bocca circa 2002. Not so much a weight gain or loss of form as of an impressive classical technique in a body that could no longer give him 100%. For example, he would begin a spin but at the end of it, Sarabia's feet would not be in position together but kind of splayed. On the other hand in the second one-handed lift of Reyes, he carried her around the stage until the music had to go on. Act II was viewed in house and here he improved a lot. First of all, unlike on the monitor and Youtube I realized that Rolando Sarabia is not that tall. He seems to be about 5'5" or 5'6" - just about the same size as Simkin or Craig Salstein. Sarabita has a big scaled upper body epaulement and stretched arms and legs that make him dance bigger than he is. Here I began to see the articulated turns and spins that Cubanmiamiboy/Cristian has described. In pirouettes he is able to get the non-working leg very high and does gorgeous things with his back and arms. He also was able to compete with Simkin. Act III had some really impressive dancing and one worrisome moment. Sarabia's solo was very impressive. However in one place he kind of almost tipped to the side and caught himself - clearly a case of a foot or leg that didn't do what it was supposed to do. Also his tours jetées are not on the level of prime Corella or Bocca. They are solid but don't have superhuman height or trajectory. Also his spins a la seconde in the coda were good but clearly over a decade ago he could do more with them - like rise on one foot or slow them down. The rest was really beautiful. He definitely had wonderful rapport with his compatriot Kitri, Reyes and was a great partner. My final take was this is a really beautiful first-rank dancer who has to compensate for a body that has some wear and tear. He is capable of really beautiful things. Should ABT hire him full time? I don't know what happened at Miami City Ballet and the other places he was hired. But I happen to love a story of redemption and triumph after struggle and defeat. I would say - yes give him a chance. There is room for him in the company right now - he is more experienced than Corey Stearns and Gomes and Hallberg can't dance everything. Stiefel I am afraid if he isn't history now, will be gone in a year or two and Carreno is retiring. Corella is a diminishing presence as is Beloserkovsky who is now cutting back roles. Cornejo seems to be injured with some regularity. I think that with a regular company with steady work and training and medical care for whatever is bothering him, Sarabia would be an asset to the company. Xiomara I found adorable and she danced very very well - especially in Act III. Jared Matthews was a good Espada lacking Gomes' witty over the top machismo. Stella has a gorgeous upper body lushness that makes her dancing project big in the theater. Kajiya was scintillating as Amor. The corps looked better integrated.

The Bessmertnova "Stars of the Bolshoi" also made its way to Chicago at the Civic Opera House on North Wacker Drive circa 1988-89. Bessmertnova did a "Giselle" Act II with Yuri Vasyuchenko who also did the "Spartacus" pas de deux. I don't remember Bylova being on that tour. I do remember a rather acrobatic ballerina who danced the Rose Adagio from "Sleeping Beauty". She was holding the balance with her arms en couronne, pretty in pink tutu and one of her princes was late. She barked some orders to him in Russian in a deep baritone voice totally at odds with her princess-like appearance.

I did not feel compelled to go into D.C. in this cold weather to catch "Giselle" (I have seen the same production in NYC 10 years ago with Zakharova, Asylmuratova and younger Vishneva). However here is Alastair Macauley's NY Times review: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/arts/dance/12giselle.html?scp=1&sq=vishneva&st=cse These are my reactions to this review in contrast to the reviews posted above: Macauley (unlike his predecessors at the Times) has no real use for 19th century story ballets, something he felt that 20th century geniuses like Balanchine had to clear out to create real choreographic art. Macauley has no real reverence for the Kirov as a repository and fount of classical ballet. Macauley mentions the Mariinsky dancers hearing but not dancing to the music. Macauley's beau ideal is Balanchine who of course demanded that the dancers not stretch steps beyond the strict tempos in the orchestra - the dancers reflect the music. Russian dancers often stretch the music for effects and interpretation (think Makarova). Obviously many of the Kirov dancers seemed at odds with the conductor's slow tempos - hence the rushing of the beat, etc. According to the posters here, Vishneva was not at her absolute best on opening night (which Macauley saw) but was better on the following weekend performance. (I have lately noticed less electricity and diminished technical brilliance in Vishneva's performance from her abandon of five years ago. The foot injury two or three seasons ago seems to have been a factor) Macauley clearly sees a somewhat calculated, effect-laden, self-conscious performance. He prefers Somova's less sophisticated, more direct if unsubtle approach. I remember when the Kirov toured more than 10 years ago, Zakharova was criticized heavily (after an uneven Aurora at the opening night 1890 "Beauty") for her unclassical hyperextended plastique in a pure classical role. Kisselgoff was not pleased with her. However, as Giselle, Zakharova's flexible body and high extensions gave an ethereality and lightness to the role and it all looked better than the Aurora. Her youth gave a certain freshness to it - the role was new to her. Asylmuratova's Giselle had a more practiced style but lacked stamina - she was visibly tired by the second act pas de deux. One of the reviews mentioned that Giselle, like Hamlet was a role often played by very young performers or mature performers much older than the character they were portraying. Each could bring something vital to the part - the younger performer impulsiveness and vulnerability and the older performer greater insight, life experience, style and more refined technique. This dichotomy might have been repeated in D.C. with Somova and Vishneva (on opening night where she probably was tired from all the rehearsing and traveling beforehand). Somova has shown that with careful coaching, she can excel - she has a body that has the capacity to do great things (with someone else's mind guiding it). The change of coaches from Chenchikova to Terekhova probably has had a salutory effect. Somova's long-limbed willowy body could, with proper coaching, create lovely images in the iconic Giselle poses. The Romantic style can accomodate more exaggerated positions and higher arabesques. Also, different people are looking for different things in a Giselle (as with Hamlet). Do you want her wild and reckless - a Romantic wild child? Do you want her shy and otherworldly? Do you want a hearty peasant girl with a fatal flaw? Vishneva has gone from pretty ingenue (12 years ago with the Kirov), to coltish wildness (ABT with Corella and Malakhov 5 or 6 years ago) to more conventional delicate girl with a tragic destiny (ABT 2009 season with an under par Corella). So maybe Somova is maturing and maybe Vishneva wasn't at her best. Or maybe not and prejudices came into play. But some things to ponder.

Okay I trudged through the cold to see this at Big Cinemas at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning. "Class Concert" is a piece choreographed in the 1960's by Asaf Messerer, commissioned by the Bolshoi Academy and later presented at the Bolshoi Theater. It was restaged by his nephew, Mikhail Messerer. Basically, Messerer and the Bolshoi staff saw Harald Lander's "Etudes" danced by the Paris Opera Ballet in the late fifties and it reminded them of the classes that Messerer taught on the Bolshoi stage throughout his career. You can see him giving his class in clips to such luminaries as Plisetskaya, Maximova, Vasiliev et al. as late as the 1980's. The ballet uses children, teenagers and then soloists and principals in a virtuoso display of technique to music by Glazunov, Liadov, Lyapunov, Rubinstein and Shostakovich. The main soloists included Maria Alexandrova (with a sequence of killer fouettes including multiples), Maria Allash, Anna Antonicheva and Nina Kaptsova. The ballet started very familiarly with children, male and female, performing barre exercises in narrow shafts of light. Lander's estate should get royalties. However, the patchwork score is much less annoying than the Czerny used in "Etudes". The piece as a whole is repetitive and Messerer does not attempt to show different styles of ballet such as the "Sylphide" section of "Etudes". The whole style is 20th century classical with nods to lyrical and bravura dancing styles. However, many of the later solos and pas de deux for the principal adult dancers are extremely attractive small pieces and would be ideal to use as competition, pedagogical or recital pieces. I must say that the intermediate men look very impressive and that there is a lot of raw talent in the school. The piece as a whole only lasts a little over half an hour. It seems that there has been a "Back to Grigorovich" movement at the Bolshoi. The "Giselle" production was his staging with designs by Simon Virsaladze familiar to American viewers from two videos with Bessmertnova. When I last saw the Bolshoi's "Giselle" it was a Vasiliev production at the New York Theater with Lunkina, Tsiskaridze and Alexandrova a decade ago. Most of the choreographic text is authentic Perrot/Coralli/Petipa but the order of scenes is rearranged in Act I and the mime is cut. Gone are pieces like Berthe's Wili narration and the little (dramatically ironic) conversation between Bathilde and Giselle discussing sewing and fiancés. We lose dramatic points and characterization is flattened - Hilarion loses a lot when his mime is cut. The order of the dances involving the hunting party and grape harvest festival is changed and not for the better. I don't remember seeing Albrecht hear the hunting horn and get out before he is discovered and his Loys cover blown. The hunting party comes in and then goes into Berthe's house for refreshment. Then the Harvest Festival comes on to crown Giselle the queen of the May of whatever. The peasant pas de deux dancers come with them. So you have Harvest Festival revelers/Peasant Pas de Deux and then the Spessivtzeva solo. Usually the hunting party is gone and Giselle dances the Spessivtzeva solo for Albrecht's benefit blowing him kisses. Not here, he wasn't in sight. However, the dancing was generally excellent but in the brisk, don't make poses, don't swan around, keep it moving forward Bolshoi style. A highlight was the peasant pas de deux female soloist Chinara Alizade. Alizade had delicious sparkling footwork, smooth coordinated arms and epaulement and charm galore. Keep your eye out for her. Andrei Bolotin was good but landed messily from some turns and jumps. He had good elevation but not 100% control (I am spoiled by the likes of Daniil Simkin and Herman Cornejo in this choreography). The sets by Virsaladze are bright yellows, ochres, browns and greens for Act I with a sort of folk art look - not romantic biedermeier paysannerie. The second act forest I felt was ugly with electric lights and a shaggy looking flat trees. But the lighting was so dark and there were so many close-ups you could ignore the ugly Act II set. Now for the leads: Svetlana Lunkina was Giselle, Dmitry Gudanov was Albrecht and Maria Allash was Myrtha. All danced well but no interesting characterizations or new insights were given to the familiar characters. Lunkina was coached by Maximova as Giselle and I remember when I saw her live she had much of Maximova's Spring-like freshness and eagerness to experience life and love. Lunkina is now older and her characterization is very middle of the road innocent shy girl. None of the wildness of Osipova or Vishneva or the doomed quality of other famous Giselles. Lunkina's acting is very understated, non-histrionic and truthful - the camera loves what she does and she registers as sincere. I just didn't find her terribly interesting - it was unexceptionable but rather flat. Dance-wise she didn't have great elevation in her jumps and wasn't flaunting high extensions (a good thing perhaps). The Spessivtzeva variation was excellent danced with winning sequence of hops on points with flowing arms and a smile and killer piques at the end. In Act II, her initial developpees were a little shaky but she gained momentum with good entrechats. Again, her second act Wili lacked a certain desperation to save her love and seemed a touch passive. Dmitry Gudanov is handsome, blond and danced excellently. I could bore you with the list of Albrechts I have seen but he wasn't on the Malakhov or Bujones level. He did brisés volees in his Act II solo. Allash didn't have the forbidding coldness or supernatural technical assurance of Gillian Murphy or the floating menace of the Kirov Myrthas. Again, a good performance that somehow missed the point or lacked power. Vitaly Biktimirov was a thuggish Hilarion lacking sympathetic tenderness for Giselle. Camera-work and lighting (by French director and technicians from Ciel Ecran) were first-rate - we saw the feet in all major dances and nothing was eccentric in terms of camera angles. In Act II there were too many close-ups which forced the editor to choose between showing either Giselle or Albrecht in their first encounter in the woods. Theater was comfortable and there were no glitches in the transmission.

Lidewij, this isn't being shown just in the United States or NYC - check the Emerging Pictures website and plug in your city or country for local screenings. I will definitely report and so will Canbelto who is coming with me!

I am going to the showing at Big Cinemas tomorrow of a "Class Concert/Giselle" presented by the Bolshoi. This is a live HD transmission on Sunday at 11 a.m.(EST): http://emergingpictures.com/theaters/big-cinemas-manhattan/ 239 E 59th St New York, NY 10022 (212) 371-6683 These have been poorly sold and I like the location and seating better than Symphony Space. The theater usually shows Indian movies and has stadium seating an big seats. The tickets are $25.00 and can be gotten easily at the last minute. Anyway, a heads up for all NYC Ballet Talkers who I hope to meet and chat with in person, enjoy.

Both Natalia Osipova and Uliana Lopatkina are natural blondes (or have lightish hair) but dye it black. I think the idea is that blondes are not natural dramatic tragediennes or something. Osipova idolizes Margot Fonteyn according to the profile I read and dyed her hair to resemble her idol. I was also told that in the old days if a ballerina had bright red hair and danced in the corps, the dancer would be encouraged to dye her hair not to stand out. Now I see lots of redheads in the corps and there is Kondaurova! Anyway, I suspect Wiles is trying something to shed herself of her "all-American" lack of mystique. It goes deeper than hair color. The odd thing is that Wiles often shines in secondary roles and in offbeat repertory. Her intensity as Hagar in "Pillar of Fire" surprised me. She can shine as Gamzatti. Her Balanchine has been praised including her "Ballo della Regina". But her Odette/Odile etc. lack quite a bit. The Myrtha in "Giselle" is also jerky and stiff-looking. I haven't seen her Kitri. Interestingly, Wiles did shine in Ashton's "Sylvia". But I think she is trying to avoid the spunky cheerleader type curse. Also there is this phenomenon of really talented soloists (I saw Wiles seem to steal the show from the prima ballerina many times in soloist roles) who get promoted to principal and whatever spark they had as a soloist disappears when they get principal status. Kathryn Morgan at NYCB might have this happen to her. I am sure early on Yvonne Borree was adorable in little solos and bits at NYCB but as a principal she was dull and uneven. Also principals are expected to cover a wide range of roles and not every ballerina can carry an evening or anchor a multi-act classical story ballet.

Gypsy Rose Lee also shows up in a fascinating film called "Screaming Mimi" with Anita Ekberg. It really resembles the kind of exploitation sex and horror trash Mario Bava and Jesus Franco put out in the 1960's but it is a fifties Hollywood thriller. Ekberg plays a "nightclub dancer" who does an "artistic" dance number with chains!. (Everything is as thinly disguised and covered over as Ms. Ekberg's astonishing physique - strippers were verboten). There is all sorts of kink going on beneath a paper thin Hollywood veneer of respectability. Anyway, the middle-aged Gypsy Rose Lee shows up as the nightclub owner and does a version of "Put the Blame on Mame" shaking her fringed dress. She seems to have a very close relationship with the club's cigarette girl who she aggressively protects from male attention. Gypsy Rose Lee displays a very idiosyncratic screen personality and delivery in this film - she combines the heartiness of Lee Patrick with the sardonic humor of Eve Arden with an offbeat sexiness all her own. Obviously she can only play a variation of herself but that personality is rather unique. I think her dismissal of her talents was unjust. No commentary on the Midler version? It had a script that was more faithful to the stage original than the Russell movie. I thought the direction wasn't bad. Midler was game but there were major pieces missing in her characterization and singing.

Any word on how the Kajiya/Hammoudi, Herrera/Stearns, Riccetto/Simkin and Reyes/Cornejo pairings did in the big pas de deux? I would like to hear about the men in particular.

I think one thing that must be mentioned is that Richard Hudson's designs were light, elegant, airy and charming. They added a real fairy tale feel that wasn't sugary or twee - as he said he doesn't do flounces. There was a genuine style and sense of atmosphere there. As for Ratmansky's ideas - some were good, some can be changed, some will work better with other dancers and some need to settle in. This was our first major look at the Jacqueline Onassis School onstage and I saw a lot of raw talent but in a still unfinished state. When you see the children of SAB or the Kirov school, they have all been drilled and polished to perfection over a number of years by the same teachers and are on a high professional level. This was more enthusiasm and gusto than artistic finish up there. With younger children being trained for more years (as the school is in operation longer) then more impressive results will follow. Some of the boys looked like they had potential as future soloists. I am sure this was rehearsed often and well but it still looked unfocused in places. Many of the group dances had approximate formations and some of the dancers were off the music. Veronika Part did not have a disastrous evening but not a great one either. I thought Marcelo far from almost dropping her probably saved her butt from hitting the floor more than once. I also like his solo though he is kind of big to be doing that kind of jumpy, busy solo. Part did eventually pull out some lovely turns and jumps and started to carry her weight but she seemed to lack energy to pull her through the whole pas de deux, solo and coda. She seemed breathless at the end. I wonder how hard she trains during the off season to keep up her stamina. My companions (except my 6 year old nephew who loved it but got tired and fell asleep during the grand pas de deux) all loved the pas de deux section but were less thrilled with the solos and coda. I am quite in favor of having different choreography for different dancers - something that was done in Petipa's time even in classic standard ballets. I don't think one size fits all. I hope Xiomara Reyes dances more petit allegro steps than Veronika does and that Paloma has more turns and pirouettes in her coda. Balanchine used to give Violette Verdy special solos and had to change them when other ballerinas took over her parts. Revive that tradition. I agree with canbelto (who I spoke with at intermission) about the Wili-like Snowflakes - this is not "The Little Match Girl" about little children freezing in the snow. The music reflects a magical winter landscape in a happy dream. Rethink Ratmansky. However, I did like the bumblebees in the Waltz of the Flowers but my companions thought the flowers were Candy Canes, not flowers and the ensemble needed some tightening. Also agree about the bratty children in the Act I party. I also felt that the party needs some editing to focus on certain dramatic details. The little Clara, Athena Petrizzo was lovely and I liked her Prince as well. Victor Barbee has sometimes walked through his parts of late, even great ones like his Grand Brahmin in Bayadere. His Drosselmeyer found him back in arresting, stage commanding form and no "extra" dimensions were added to his relationship with this child Clara - he was a benign magician figure and eccentric uncle. Nothing kinky. It was nice to see Zhong-Jing Fang back onstage even in a mime role - she was very gracious. Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky were in a box to the left with their daughter Emma Galina and Daniil Simkin was in the same box. While not an instant classic like the Balanchine, this is a fine production and quirky, original choreography. It just needs some recasting and settling in as well as some rethinking of a few ideas that aren't backed up by the music. I wish I could come back and see it develop with different dancers but I can only do so much "Nutcracker" in a season.

Here's a seating chart. http://tickets.bam.org/checkout/seatingchart_popup.aspx?seatingchart=seating_operahouse.jpg My memory is that the first mezzanine has a good clear view of the stage even from the sides. However, it is not that close - maybe row V of the orchestra or something like that. BTW: last week I bought a bunch of tickets for the first preview on December 22nd. Taking my nephew and sister-in-law for Christmas.

Criterion has now released the latest restoration on Blu-Ray and I ordered a copy from Deep Discount. Anyway, it is a visual spectacular. Image and soundtrack are magnificently rendered. However, the clarity of the images remove a little of the illusion. You can clearly see the makeup on the actors faces - the ladies look period glamorous but Marius Goring looks a bit tarted up in some closeups. Also, Powell and Pressberger used painted backdrops for some scenes and the added clarity shows some slight buckling and ripples in the backdrops that would have been smoothed over in lower definition transfers. However the wonderful is even more wonderful now - from the moonlight on the Mediterranean to Moira Shearer's red hair. Still a visual stunner. The restorers used the original three strip color negative and had to correct warping and distortions caused by mold attacking the original. They also compared their results against the best celluloid copies out there. Soundtrack (mono) was also digitally remastered. Highly recommended. My only complaint is that the blu-ray takes a while to load and play in my Panasonic player.

Ethan (and it seems Gillian Murphy - hopefully only as a guest) will be heading to New Zealand to run the ballet company there. Congratulations to Ethan but I suspect his dancing career at ABT will end. That means Malakhov, Bocca, Carreno and the rest of the old guard will be gone leaving only the elusive Corella... Time marches on... http://www.ballet.co.uk/dcforum/news/4842.html