Roma

Well, apparently there was plenty of booing, hissing, stomping and screaming at the Bolshoi Theatre during the Benois de la Danse Gala last Saturday. When one of the ballets up for The Best New Choreography (or some such thing), a piece by Belgian Jan Fabre (sp?), called something like "My movements are as lonely as stray dogs", turned out to be a prolonged session of, I don't quite know how to put it, self-love, complete with drooling, screaming, and actual stuffed dogs (don't ask), the audience erupted in loud boos, began to stomp it's feet, screams of "get off the stage", "Shame", "Shame, Grigorovich" (it's basically his show) were heard, and the Minister of Culture actually walked out, as did many other people.

The second scandal of the evening occurred when it was announced that the much reviled Anastasia Volochkova was being presented with the Benois de la Danse prize for the Best Female Performance (for her turn as Odette-Odile in Grigorovich's Swan Lake). The entire audience fell into a deafening silence and then again came the booing, the stomping, and screams of protest.

Aurelie Dupont (the co-winner of the dubious prize) was greeted by loud cheers, bravas, and very vigorous applause.

The other nominees were Kirov's Svetlana Zakharova and Natalia Sologub.

Tickets for all Lincoln Center Festival events (including the Kirov) went on sale yesterday. The box office won't be open till June 10th, but you can buy them now at www.lincolncenter.org . Casting is there too!

Tickets for all Lincoln Center Festival events (including the Kirov) went on sale yesterday. The box office won't be open till June 10th, but you can buy them now at www.lincolncenter.org . Casting is there too!

It seems they might be going kind of fast, so...

Jeannie, the KC site says that tickets go on sale Apr.10th at 10 am? Are they really all gone already?

I think Helene is absolutely wonderful. She is so understated, in a way that only a very beautiful woman can be, yet she has a very dramatic quality. I love her as the Siren, and in Episodes--that first enrance, as if she were walking a tight-rope on pointe. She brings so much nuance to her performances, and a rich imagination, too.

That's right Scotch was staged for them in Feb. 1990 by Suzanne Farrell. That was their first Balanchine aquisition. And then Theme followed that same year. Apollo was only staged there in 1992.

Alexandra, I think it could be explained to them by saying, "LISTEN to the music, and trust the feeling IT induces".

"I wonder if it's what Balanchine meant when he said, on visiting Russia, "No, America is the home of classical ballet now. Russia is the home of Romantic ballet." Romantic ballet IS lighter. And there's no reason why a company can't develop a neoromantic style to complement a neoclassical style."

How wonderful! I never thought about it that way.

But ... they don't dance Ratmansky or Petit or Neumeier with the lightness born in Romanticism, so perhaps it comes from a certain lack of understanding too. It seems as if there has been some confusion made over Balanchine's wanting dancers to be unmannered. Sometimes that gets interpreted as having to be emotionally/musically weightless (at NYCB as well; I have seen many of their performances that could have been termed "Balanchine LITE").

The Kirov dancers feel much more secure in Theme (that has been revived this season with Gumerova in the lead), and in Scotch, but Symphony in C seems to be the only complete success for them so far.

I do think it is absolutely wonderful that Vaziev keeps acquiring these ballets, that the company keeps dancing them, not only as a novelty for Western audiences, but at home, too, where they are not always well received or even wanted.

[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: Roma ]

Alexandra, thank you so much for your report

Re: "It LOOKED like Serenade; it just didn't feel like it"

I have seen them do this ballet many times, usually in St. Petersburg, with Lopatkina as the Waltz Girl, and have always had the same experience you described. I think of "Serenade" as having an almost palpable sense of tragedy, a ballet in which a 3x4 smile is not exactly appropriate. Perhaps the reason they dance it so lightly is because they are not sure who they are suppose to be and where they are suppose to be, so they smile away, just in case it's right.

Ginny, Sologub does in fact dance "Giselle". I am not sure she is very good in it though. Simonov's Masha had mostly "contemporary"-looking choreography, and she was excellent in that role.

Jeannie, I am so glad I was worried that poor Ratmansky got dumped, AGAIN

Jeannie, I thought that Alexei Ratmansky of Royal Danish was choreographing "Cinderella"?

Alexandra, Jeannie, anyone else who was at this performance, PLEASE, don't keep us in suspense any longer! How was it?

[ February 18, 2002: Message edited by: Roma ]

To me a technician is very simply someone for whom technique is an end in itself, instead of a means to end.

I also saw it on alibris.com, but for $106(!).

Alexandra, your last post sent chills down my spine.

in no particular order

1. Mozartiana

2. Liebeslieder

3. Agon

4. Monumentum/Movements

5. Theme and Variations

6. Four Temperaments

7. Divertimento 15

8. Serenade

9. Midsummer

10. Concerto Barocco

Couldn't we expand the list to at least 15? This is too hard!!!

Kevin, this is what I was saying. Tchaikovsky would have said SerenAHDA , not SerenODD, certainly not SerenADE. Does it really matter though? I can't for the life of me pronounce Davidsbundlertanze correctly without having a shot of vodka first (see "dead composer" thread) but I love the ballet

Kevin, thank you so much for your post.

Do you happen to know what the casting is expected to be for their Washington performances next month?

Well, the Russian word for "Serenade" is "Serenada" (first "a" sounds exactly like the last: -ah), so "SerenODD" is probably an americanization of how Mr.B used to pronounce it. May be .

[ January 14, 2002: Message edited by: Roma ]

Hello from another Shostokovich And I wanted so much to be Stravinsky!

Hello from another Shostokovich And I wanted so much to be Stravinsky!

Hi Jeannie, please let us know how Nina's Gala went today. I heard that she couldn't dance due to a serious injury and there were a lot of last minute changes.

Also, did you get a chance to see Petit's new ballet?

I am wondering if anyone has a copy of the 1983 PBS Balanchine Tribute that consisted of Vienna Waltzes, Mozartiana and Who Cares?. I have some really fantastic and very rare recordings I could offer as a trade for a copy of Mozartiana (Kirov dancing Balanchine's ballets, etc).

Dale, thank you so much for this information!

Since we are talking about Scotch, there is a question I have been wanting to ask for a long time. It's about the place in the ballet where the ballerina used to get thrown by her guards into the arms of her partner. Now she is simply "handed" to him. When did this change take place and why?

This is only speculation on my part, but I thought what they were aiming for was to get Julie's fans on one night, Paloma's on another, etc, and the twice-a-year crowd will fill the rest of the seats. Perhaps they think that no one dancer has a large enough of a following to fill the house twice doing the same role. How is anyone to grow and develop like this? How long have they had this casting policy?

[ 07-15-2001: Message edited by: Roma ]

I completely agree with you, Victoria!

(I of course meant "box office" in place of "audience". )

[ 07-15-2001: Message edited by: Roma ]