Cabriole

Farrell has mentioned that her father also had hip replacement surgery and has stated that she believes hers was due to a genetic disposition.

Alex Wong is back on the new season of So You Think You Can Dance

Though I am sure you have heard this before, you are a very gifted dance photographer. Beautiful eye for proportion and capturing the moment

While I don't have the same issues with this production that others have, there are some things I would change. The fake swan in the Prologue is so cheesy and fake looking. The shorts the peasants wear in Act I are just as hideous-looking as they looked in 2004 (Sean Stewart, in particular, got the worst of it.) And the Odette-Siegfried jump off the cliff at the end is like something you would have seen in an epsiode of the 1960s soap Dark Shadows (and not in a good way.)

I completely agree!

I was at the last performance with Veronika Part as Odette and Gillian Murphy as Odile and Marcelo Gomes as Prince Siegfried. First, Gomes was fantastic; phrasing was superb and musical, making all the usual tricks like calligraphy in the air. His acting and command of the stage was also impressive (and this time around even more important, as he was the dramatic link between his two swans). There was no explanation of the casting change. Part was a beautiful Odette. I was a fan after last year's Lilac Fairy in the Sleeping Beauty and she didn't disappoint; beautiful line and articulation, especially in the legs and feet, but a little less so in the upper back and neck. Gillian Murphy is a dancer I'm ambivalent about. No doubt she has strength and can turn, but I do not find her dancing to have much nuance. I was also a bit distracted because I know she wears a pointe shoe that has a bit of controversy attached to it, so I was watching her feet probably more than I should have (and for the record, she used her feet well and the 'shoe' was really only noticable when she was standing flat and then it gives a bit of a 'flipper' effect).

I found the production itself at times overly busy. I'm sure the corps/soloists appreciates that they dance quite a bit, but especially in the first act, but the stage can look cluttered. By the third act (and yes this was the second performance of the day), they looked worn out. The Czardas and Spanish Dance looked as if they were just going through the motions and seemed to be struggling with the conductor's tempos which were bright and musically correct. Not a 'Swan Lake' for the ages, but overall a good perfromance.

bent the metal strip underneath it.

Metal strip? The two nails? The staple? The shank, except in specially made shoes (usually for men), is made of leather or composition.

I don't know if still available, but Schachtner's used to have an option for a steel shank...I danced with a girl who had those 'super banana feet' that used them.

I can't believe that I am scheduled to be out of town teaching on those days

Front-loading has been a characteristic of Russian singles short programs for years, and there has never been a discernable penalty in the presentation mark (OBO) or choreography component score (CoP) for doing so.  Slutskaya has started her short program with the three jumps since at least 2002.  Most singles skaters couple two jumps and then leave the third to the third-to-last element.

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Just a note: the new judging system (IJS: International Judging System) provides a significant 'bonus' for jump elements skated at the end of the program. This is where you see the 'fitness' (or lack )of the athlete come into play...

... but still it is sad to see The House of Balanchine turned into The Apartment of Martins, even if it does have some nice guest rooms.

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What a wonderful line!

Not wanting to comment on the pieces to be performed or the current administration, but to say, IMO, there is no excuse or justification for not including a Balanchine ballet in the opening program. What were they thinking?

Seems I remember being taught that there are only 8 plots and all literature just vary on established themes

Verbal language works for many, and depending on the language being used (often I have had a friend comment on how their 'native' language lacks a particular word or another comment that his language has many, depending on the particular situation...).

Non-verbal languages: music, painting/sculpture, dance, etc. express what words often cannot...

(That's why as hard as a dancer's life might be, it can't 'compare' with a dance critic's )

Not a ballet company (though many members danced for ballet companies): Hubbard Street Dance Co. is a 52-week contract!

Sorry to disagree, but I couldn't let this one pass: the length of one's Achilles tendon is only one factor in determining elevation and there are some very powerful jumpers with short tendons. This often gets misunderstood by students because teachers are always urging their students to 'get their heels down' and the ones with shorter tendons struggle with this, but that doesn't transfer over to smaller or weaker jumps

Gloria Govrin

The small paperback on pointework was a precursor to the larger, more inclusive volume. The pointework has been absorbed almost entirely into the 'technique'. Meant for teachers, pros and advanced dancers, she makes it clear that most of the details are not meant for dancers at the lower levels.

Perhaps a British filmmaker, or a Herbert Ross (where?) could make another movie set in a ballet company, to give other views.  That's what freedom of expression is for.

I don't think a 'directing pedigree' accounts for much; Nicholas Hytner, director of Center Stage, is a respected British stage director

We don't get the telecast in Chicago until Sunday :angry:

As a point of reference, Ms. Parker has an established connection with the company; she does the intro to the NYCB Workout 2.

Willie Gault is one of the Chicago Bears who danced with Ballet Chicago for a benefit. I believe that later he also did some work with Paul Meija's company. He was a terrific partner :grinning:

What about Bebe Neuwirth?

Alexandra, they are bringing an entire run of Swan Lake with varying casts...They are of the belief that a 'mixed bill' is a poor play in the midwest

I do wonder, once a skater has reached 19, if it will ever be possible for them to permanently break that mold of blowing big competitions

Yes, it can be learned and Paul Wylie proved it! :grinning:

Don't forget to add Yuka Sato to the listen of musical skaters...

I just came back from seeing "The Company". It opened here in Chicago today (along with NYC & LA). Fun to see so many faces that I know... I'm not sure of the minimum age for young dancers to see the film however; a few references that families may or may not be comfortable with (a tad bit more explicit than Center Stage). Teens should be fine. Always interesting to see how a non-dancer views 'our' world. Ms. Campbell holds her own, in my opinion. And though she is not 'professional', her early training at National Ballet of Canada certainly made it possible to take on the training for this film.

About Kirkland being hard to lift, if I remember correctly in her autobiography after she started to study with David Howard, he taught her that "you have to go down to go up" or something like that. That pushing down to the floor as your partner lifts you creates resistance that results in a more stretched out form or arc. I think that's how it goes.

Yes, that accurately describes David's coaching. So many dancers (male and female alike) forget that partnering is a partnership :grinning: It is about the timing and interaction of two people! Too many ballerinas think our their partner as the 'frame' who carries around the 'picture' and and young danseurs who consider partnering the 'necessary evil' until they get to do their variation.

Personally, I don't think this brouhaha has anything to do with numbers (though a declining technique may be part of the story), but perhaps Ms. Volochkova is not a person one wants to dance with...

Another difficulty comes when 'dancers' counts' are differ from what is written in the score. Often dancers who do not have a musical background have to be taught to count the rests

Mark D since you asked for a course in counting, let me recommend Ear Training for the Body by Katherine Teck, pub. Princeton/Dance Horizon.

She has stated in her book, Dancer to Dancer she was 15.