MCBallet

180 degree extensions are appropriate in class, if one can do them

Maybe it's because my original training was Balanchine, but I can always see the preparation before a pirouette. It takes a little longer to do a pirouette from the lunge, especially when the dancer is on pointe, and so the position of the preparation is more obvious. However, with a plié the preparation can be very fast--down and right back up. I recall at an audition I attended, there was a woman from SAB, and during the pointe section there was a combination given with a steady 2/4 rhythm. She couldn't stay on the music because her lunge preparation took an extra beat. So it depends on whether you want speed or a nicer line. The plié really does not bother me, as it is the same line one sees during a plié in 5th, and people seem to only find it offensive during pirouettes from 4th. Upon landing an échappé to 4th, it is possible to keep the back knee straight, but no one has complained about that yet, so I don't think it can really be all that bad.

Wow...your thoughts do provide some valid insights, even though I will always prefer a straight back leg piroutte preparation. So true about echappe to 4th!

Very good summary!

I'll try to keep my comments on this thread minimal, as we all know my opinion of Balanchine and especially NYCB. However, I have technical experience with this style, so I can mention certain stylistic details that were taught to me.

I'd like to note re: the Ashley quote above that "clean" is relative and that NYCB's footwork, while certainly fast, is not necessarily clean, speaking strictly in terms of classical ballet technique.

Leigh is absolutely correct in noting that the arms are held further back than in other styles. Hands are rounded, in the old Romantic style, with the fingers spread well apart. Their basic relationship to each other is similar to the Vaganova hand position: the little finger is raised the highest, while the middle finger is lowest to connect with the thumb, for example. However, the thumb and middle finger are rounded to form a circle (they do not touch, however) the palm is rounded, and the fingers are spread so as to make the hand appear large. The use of the wrists is quite baroque; often they are flexed. The elbows are straight, not relaxed, in allongé positions, and the head is not necessarily coordinated with the arms in all movements, especially at the barre or during petit allegro. The weight is carried very far forward.

Pliés are usually performed with the heels off the floor, especially during jumps (though the extent of this can depend on the teacher); theoretically, this allows the dancer to perform a "3/4" plié and therefore perform a larger jump. Feet are often slightly winged, and when performing "a terre" movements, they do not go through the demi-pointe position; however, the demi-pointe is emphasized heavily in pointe work. Fifth position is crossed very far indeed, as are all movements in which one leg is raised to the front or back. In arabesque, particularly first arabesque, the shoulder above the supporting leg is allowed to reach forward, and the opposite shoulder is allowed to extend back. The hips are also opened in arabesque. Movements are quick and sharp, though not necessarily very exact. Balanchine dancers often dance just slightly ahead of the music unless it is extremely fast.

Pacific Northwest Ballet is one of my favorite companies and I know for certain, under the direction of Francia Russell and Kent Stowell, that beautiful, extreme, high-arched feet were a requirement for any dancer to walk through the studio door.

Dance is not a sport, Dance is an art. Dancers are not athletes, Dancers are artists.

[

While I agree that the quote offered in the post that started this thread could have been worded in a more PC fashion, the basic point remains: PNB is undergoing a remarkable tranformation under Peter Boal's direction.

I too am not one to criticize Kent and Francia given the incredible contributions they made. They built this company from nearly nothing to a major company including a highly respected school. I loved every minute I attended performances under their direction (altho I will admit that Kent Stowell's choregraphy often was not to my liking). However, my excitment has doubled and re-doubled after Boal took over. This is not a zero sum game -- I can increase my enthusiasm and respect for what PNB is doing under Boal without detracting from the directors of the company for those previous 25 years.

Make no mistake about it. PNB is a more exciting, relevant, energized, forward-looking, experimental, and vibrant company today than it was just these 2 years ago when Boal took over. It ain't about something Kent and Francia didn't do; it's about what Peter Boal is doing. We have choregraphers we never had before (e.g., Robbins); we have far greater number of more contempory "style" pieces (e.g., Mopley, State of Darkness); we have a new Ballet Festival to showcase newer, less known works and choregraphers; dancers have been freed from a not untypical rigid "caste" structure such that now you are as likley to see a corp member dance a principal role as not -- unimaginable 3 years ago; the dancers are visibly energized and inspired as they more and more have come to realize that they can do more, and do it well, than they ever realized before; and the partnering, ah the partnering, has taken a huge leap. Creating partners is perhaps the one area I would criticize Kent and Francia. Peter Boal has a remarkable talent for putting dancers together in combinations we just never saw before; combinations that take everything to a new level across the board -- for this perhaps more than anything we can thank Peter Poal.

I have to say one last thing. No, it's not Peter Boal who's lucky to have landed at PNB, it is PNB and the Seattle audience that lucked out getting not only an icon of dance to lead this company, but someone who has the vision, instinct for talent, connections, and commitment to take this company beyond what it thought it was. If you haven't been in the Seattle Opera house (McCall Hall) in the last 18 months and felt the atmosphere, seen the blooming of dancer after dancer, and seen the Q&A sessions grow from a scattering of audience members to a room overflowing (as it was yesterday afternoon after a matinee no less), then you can't really know the profound change that has taken place since Boal's arrival..........and I take nothing away from Kent Stowell and Francia Russel when I say that.

I have to dissagree......and I take nothing away from Peter Boal, but anyone who was to land the job af Artistic Director of PNB, with all of the dancers who are, in my opinion, incredible examples of the ideals of ballet, is nothing but lucky.

I also agree -- especially with Marga's reasons for liking this so much. The simple leotard and background really exposed the dancing.

There's one little bit that fascinated me: a simple movement from wide fourth position (arms in a wide, embracing, foreward leaning 2nd) ... then, a slow perfect ronde de jambe to the front. I could watch beautifully executed movements like that for hours.

YouTube is filled with so many vanity variations and pas de deux, dancers in costume huffing and pufifng and thrusting their way through the steps/steps/steps. It's nice to see it done las Salenko does it: simply and with purity and with great respect for the movement.

MCBallet, what was it about the dancing that attracted you to this particular clip?

The clean and knowledgeable execution of the ballet technique is stellar, unaffected, and purely tasteful.

I think this is a really beautiful example of ballet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VCu5cKYh78

Evelyn Hart has a heart of gold! I would say any advice given by her is worth very much, but needs to be put into perspective for what its worth. She is an icon. She is unique, focused and highly driven. A true artist!!!!

From today's Links

"Pacific Northwest Ballet is one of the most important companies in the U.S.," Woetzel said. "Since being taken over by Peter Boal, they are the fastest rising company in this country, and they are bringing to Vail an incredible variety of the best ballets ever made."

Wow - I didn't know PNB was in such bad shape under Stowell and Russell. Thank heavens Boal wrested control from them, prying the company from their bony fingers before they did even more damage.

Sheesh. Maybe they should have reworded that.

Do you know what you are talking about? Kent Stowell and Francia Russell made Pacific Northwest Ballet what it is today, along with many supporters and benefactors of the art. Peter Boal happened to be at a time and a place of esteem, in his own right, concerning his career in the ballet world, outside of a NYCB concept. If anything I would think he should privileged and honestly blessed with some divine luck to work with such a company!