Buddy

Advise: Attach your computer to my television, which flattens everything, and the world should be round again. 🙂 But still...."so grateful to be able to watch Part's O/O."

Having watched all her performance a few times I've settled in, as I usually do, to the famous White Swan duet, which is in Act I or Act II depending on the production. This duet usually follows the same structure as the one developed in Russia which has been refined for almost a century. This speaks to the fineness of this duet, which for me, represents the essence of ballet. I had the pleasure of being at a reception in St. Petersburg where Veronika Part was present after having made one of her rare performances there. She's a very beautiful woman, but one who's also very modest and unaffected as are almost all the ballet artists that I've encountered. The reason that I mention this is to note the remarkable difference when she takes to the stage. On stage she becomes a larger than life goddess and her range of character is amazing. The transformation is mind boggling. Her 'charaterization,' I believe, is the heart of her performing greatness. To state it simply, although the effect far transcends this - it's her face and its expression that are the reason for this. All her other abilities, such as her remarkable dance motion, are used to support this. But this is where the essence is. This is where the meaning and the greatness are. Her mental agility is also quite remarkable. In contrast to some great stage artists, when the curtain calls arrive at the end, she's radiantly back to earth. I've also been watching a video of the young Galina Ulanova performing the duet. The most noticeable quality is her almost transcendent purity. She literally seems to float at times and her presence does the same. Veronica Part, on the other hand, is more expressive and dramatic, but still has transcendence. Her amazing ability, it seems to me, is to be able to transform, to merge seamlessly and instantly, transcendence and compellingly embracing drama. She not only seems to live the character but also to elevate it to something with an all encompassing significance and emotional poetry.

Thanks, Jack. These young dancers are very impressive.

No matter what we think or write, above all, this performance speaks for itself. The only person performing now that I know of who has done comparably is the Bolshoi's Olga Smirnova, and both these artists come from the same Vaganova/Mariinsky beginnings. Veronika Part is probably the more sensitive and refined, Olga Smirnova the more intellectual with much promising development to look forward to. I've also seen Gillian Murphy in about as many of these as I have Veronika Part. I've often compared them very favorably. Veronika Part, I would say, stands out in her completeness. The one person who could command the stage at the same level, but in a completely different way at ABT in this performance, was Marcelo Gomes. Ulyana Lopatkina, from the Mariinsky, might have been the finest Odette/Odile in pure beauty of dance. The person who commanded this role, for me, but again in another quite different way, was the legendary Galina Ulanova. Her's is a more transcendental world, but in terms of compelling poetry of presence I would say that Veronika Part is very comparable.

Going into Day II. I've seen her perform this live five or six times. I've written pages about it, some of it can probably be seen at her topic. Much of this was done to keep what I saw as alive as possible for as long as possible. Now that I have this in front of me, I just sit there -- Spellbound In Awe.

I've now finished watching all of her dance segments. * ! Excellent ! * At times * ! Amazing ! *

Thanks, California. I've now see all of her dancing through the opening White Swan/Odette Act. This is pretty darn good stuff so far. Highly recommended !

It runs for a little over two hours, Nanushka. I fast forwarded to the end and it all seems to be there.

Edited to say right from the start: Having now watched all of Veronika Part's dance segments This is one extraordinary video ! Maybe many of you have received the same message. "Today, as a small token of appreciation for your continued generosity, we bring you this private link with access to American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake." I purchased the recent Ratmansky at City Center, which may be why I received this. I also gave a donation last March. In any case - I've yet to see a video that comes close to capturing the magic of Veronika Part, especially her Swan Lake, but this maybe comes the closest. I've only watched the White Swan duet, twice, but it's enough to really recommend this video. For a donation it's well worth it. It's available until April 30. Veronika Part and James Whiteside -- Swan Lake August 29, 2014 Queensland Performing Arts Centre Brisbane, Australia

Canbelto, I don't see anything in this post to imply that she's "extremely ill" which I certainly hope that she isn't. Her site does confirm her cancelation of the Mariinsky performances. I do certainly wish her a speedy recovery. Here's a Google translation of the post. leka.spb.ballet's profile picture leka.spb.ballet Verified Friends, I regret to inform you that my next performances have been canceled due to an illness that overtook me. A special pain is the cancellation of a performance in my native Petersburg. I think that I have withstood resistance in an epidemic for a long time and often went on stage instead of sick colleagues ... but I am grateful to fate, which gave me a recent wonderful premiere in the Orlando ballet staged for me. Be healthy and take care of yourself and your loved ones! 🙏

Last week the Mariinsky performed Yuri Grigorovich's Legend of Love three times to celebrate its 60th anniversary. In regard to casting, Yekaterina Kondaurova was a knock out when I saw her as Mekhmeneh Bahnu two years ago(?) in Saint Petersburg. Alina Somova and Nadezhda Batoeva, as Shyrin, should also have been outstanding. All casting can be seen here. https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/?type=ballet&year=2021&month=3 This is a five minute video clip posted by the Mariinsky. The video only shows some soloist rehearsal and the conversation's in russian. Probably the most interesting part is the printed introduction. "23 March commemorates sixty years since the world premiere of The Legend of Love, one of the key choreographic texts of the Soviet era and the greatest ballet produced by Yuri Grigorovich. The Mariinsky Theatre, where this production was created, will be marking the anniversary with three performances – on 23, 24 and 25 March. The Legend of Love (1961) was a child of "the thaw" under Khrushchev and denoted an aesthetic breakthrough in Leningrad ballet. The young choreographer Grigorovich, like his other Soviet colleagues living in isolation, experienced the most powerful artistic shock when the ballet company of the Opéra de Paris toured to the USSR. Balanchine's Le Palais de cristal[later to become Symphony in C] was seen here for the first time – a ballet without a plot, without pantomime and without sets. In The Legend of Love Grigorovich was not about to reject the principles of Soviet drama-ballets, costumes and sets, though he did afford his opus laconism[*] and dynamic sharpness. The choreographer's co-creator, the designer Simon Virsaladze, dressed the dancers in leotards, focussing the audience's attention on the dancers' bodies and lines." [[*]laconism - brevity or terseness of expression or style (Merriam-Webster)] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8h1_q8Lf4 (Thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie)

In regard to the Maria Khoreva and Vladimir Shklyarov performance you may enjoy what the rather distinguished audience had to say. This is a Google translation of what a friend in Russia sent me. The 'audience' comments are from Zvetlana Zakharova, Diana Vishneva, Farouk Ruzimatov , Denis Matvienko.... "In the video, the guys are congratulated on a wonderful performance. The presenter said that not only the two of them were on the stage today, but there was a quartet on the stage, today there was a piano, Victoria Mulova performed brilliantly the solo, this is a famous violinist, our legend, it was such a synthesis of love, melody and it was amazing. The presenter watched this number not for the first time, she said that this number is performed in concerts and gala concerts and that she herself always wanted to dance this number, but so far she has not succeeded. When she watched their number, she discovered so many new things for herself. they have brought in so much new from themselves. They thanked Svetlana for such warm words, although it was generally difficult for them to imagine how it would work at all, how to practice and teach order by zoom. They thought that Christopher would rehearse with them more rigidly and strictly follow the details of his choreography, but he said that many couples have already danced this duet and it must be a special story. He told them the story of how the first couple danced, it was the departure of the famous dancer from the stage and it was a farewell act for him and he said that each couple must find their own story. The presenters asked what story they found, they replied that they had found their own, but they would not like to tell what he thought he danced about and Masha danced) The presenter suggested that they found a story about how two artists became close during this project and stopped being shy of each other and finally opened up. Now is the time to hear the jury Farrukh: The most important thing is that for me this state is valuable on stage, a secret dissolution both in music and in choreography and, accordingly, between each other. In my opinion, you create such things that we will then remember for a long time. My congratulations Alexey: The number is very famous, a lot of great dancers danced it, very musically staged and you danced it beautifully, there was such a fusion with music, Volodya's drama was built more accurately, more visibly, and this is understandable, you will certainly find a wider palette for performance of this number and I hope you will dance it. Maria, today your elastic bands on soft shoes bothered me very much, they stood out very much, look what Volodya had, they practically did not differ from the body, this was very distracting me from both music and performance, so you need to follow up on this too. Thank you Denis: I am still in a trance from your performance, Masha's eyes were a little lacking, perhaps, some kind of look, these are not even claims to you, but to your age, you are not yet able to plunge into your inner world during time to dance and forget that the audience and the jury are sitting and enjoy the music without even creating your own story, but just send everything to hell and dive into everything that is happening here, at the moment. I wanted to ask you: "Are you just thinking during rehearsals, when you went through rehearsals, during today's performance?" Masha: "Volodya says to me, don't tell me now (everyone is trying to persuade her!) In fact, for me After the rain, this rain can just be nature, but you can use the rain as a metaphor that there was some kind of storm, some kind of splash, a surge of emotions, events, and after the rain it is harmony, tranquility, but still some remnants of the past excitement still hover in the air ... Denis: "For me you were under water, you did it, I congratulate you Diana: "Let's talk about trance, let's continue, She says that this is the best production of Christopher and many dancers (she lists) she saw in this issue and believes that this is a duet for an internally mature artist and it is not just about age, but about the ability to feel music and life. Therefore, it is important here how an artist understands what he is investing, how he invests himself in this music, and Thank you Volodya, because your performance is exactly the caliber that I told you about, and Maria just needs to continue Grades (the presenter recalled that Vladimir is taking part as a partner) - everyone put 10 except Diana (9) and she said that it was a pity that Vladimir was not participating in the competition) Project completed Volodya said that in this project they discovered new qualities in each other not only as artists but also as people And Maria will be left with the amount of knowledge and energy that Volodya gave her." Added: After reading this over I still feel, contrary to some of the very distinguished 'audience/judge's' comments, that Maria Khoreva's 'character portrayal' and dance were quite outstanding. In spite of some of their reservations, they still praise her highly and award her all 10s (the highest grade) except for Diana Vishneva, a 9, which kind of surprised me, being the exceptional 'expressionist' that Diana Vishneva's become.

Here's another quite recent and very lovely interpretation from the Mariinsky's Maria Khoreva and Vladimir Shklyarov. I think that it's principally Maria Khoreva that you want to watch. What do you think of it ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az4IZUTtm2c She's quite remarkable, especially at her very young age, for being able to put a very fine and often very original, yet totally appropriate, personal imprint on everything including ballet moves that seem codified in stone for several hundred years. I still consider the performance the personal property of Wendy Whelan. She once mentioned how Christopher Wheeldon came to her with it and she immediately began trying her own 'this's and that's' making it somewhat her own.

I suppose that you could start the day with this documentary instead of a cup of coffee. I did today, but I don't drink coffee. It can still be seen where I live in Southern California on the PBS site until late in April. One of the most impressive quotes was: "I'm grateful to Misha [Mikhail Baryshnikov] who made the move to alter his life completely so that I could have the opportunity to work with him." When you see him do one of his classical mega-spins in "Push Comes To Shove" and then snap his head backward almost to his shoulders you get a definite feel for what Twyla Tharp's about. One of the most interesting moments for me was when she describes a series of speed of light movements as literal illustrations, somewhat like this.... 'See my hand, it's flagging down a bus, there's my foot, I just slapped it against my leg, there it goes flying down the street....' Her energy and surety are almost overwhelming. Her dances seem to involve everything that's possible. And somehow, as demanding and as untouchable as she appears, she's also quite loveable.

"Lyrical" The term "Lyrical Dance" has some very specific definitions and descriptions. My use of the word Lyrical is.... "Lyrical: having a pleasantly flowing quality suggestive of music." Merriam-Webster Lyrical and Lyric being the same. "....a true lyric dancer. there were no gaps in her movement." Twyla Tharp Do I think that this is where dance should go ? I did when I started this topic, but dance will go where it wants to and encompasses infinite possibilities. Still, "Lyrical" dancing is something that I love and would want to see as much of as possible. Nature's beauty often seems rooted in this and nature is much of what we are. This is perhaps a major reason for its effect on me.

Why have Dance at all ? This is one of the best reasons that I've come across. From the choreographer, John Taras, who said that his job was * To Make Dancers Look Like Gods And Goddesses * I'm a lover of 'adagio,' the slow and graceful, both in music, from Rock to Mozart, and in dance, as in the ballet duet. The essence of this is something that I would call The Lyrical Flow

The programming is up for April. Casting is listed for the first week. There's no mention of the International Festival, which normally appears at this time. Personal highlights. Olga Smirnova, Giselle, April 2, Pas de deux from the ballet Lady of the Camellias, April 3. Nadezhda Batoeva, Kimin Kim, Swan Lake, April 7 Diana Vishneva, Carmen Suite, April 22 Four George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dreams https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/?year=2021&month=4&type=ballet There was a performance several days ago of Yuri Grigorovich's choreographic masterpiece, The Legend of Love. Several video clips have appeared and I was particularly charmed by a group dance that featured Maria Bulanova and Anastasia Petushkova. I'm becoming quite fond of the delightful Maria Bulanova, but it was also Anastasia Petushkova who caught my attention. She's been with the company since 2006, although I'm not that familiar with her. I believe that she has the uncommon ability to perform both character dance wildness and soloist ballerina roles equally well. She was a new face and a pleasure to see here.

We interrupt this program for a quick advertisement. This is a direction in dance style that I'd really like to see a lot more of. With Wendy Whelan at the helm in this department, maybe it might happen. Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall -- "After The Rain" -- by Christopher Wheeldon Starts at 14:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D316-KMBU8

Thank you very much once again, Pherank, for taking the trouble to type out these entire paragraphs. And I'll again try to give them as much consideration as I can. To cover some other territory involving the importance of the music for a moment, I return, yes, once again, to the Act II Pas de Deux (duet) from George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Allegra Kent and Jacques d'Amboise. As beautiful as the Mendelssohn music is, and I can't imagine the magnificence of the Pas de Deux without it, I'm totally focussed on the human drama and not really on how it literally relates to the music. This is a case where the personalities of the dancers completely take over and I don't know how common this is in George Balanchine performances. And I don't see it as necessarily a romance, as Nancy Goldner mentions for most Balanchine duets, but rather an exploration and expression of life's beauty. This is perhaps an example of the performance superseding even this magnificent music and entering into a realm comparable to possibly one of the finest works of visual poetry ever, the White Swan duet from Swan Lake. Now back to my wave of lyrical underpinning in the dance/music connection. 😊

Thank you very much, Pherank. This is all quite interesting to me. I'll try to explore it as much as I can. I guess that I'm more into the effect rather than the methods for accomplishing it. Both points of view seem fine if they add to our appreciation and enjoyment. I mentioned in my first post the idea of a core of flow in lyrical music that doesn't make itself particularly apparent. I wonder if George Balanchine ever thought much about this as he seemed extremely knowledgeable concerning musical structure and theory according to your sources. It seems more apparent in the classical Swan Lake than in something like Concerto Barocco. I think that Concerto Barocco is perhaps more visually interesting in direct response to the music, whereas Swan Lake is perhaps more poetic and emotional.

Pherank, from what I can gather from your brief excerpts this is indeed a highly technical analysis. One excerpt does conclude with the intriguing -- "The level of coherence that Balanchine aspired to recalls ninteenth- and twentieth-century ideals for musical compositions and invites the study of his ballets as musical works.'" Although this dissertation is probably more suited to dance and music scholars, for me this topic is also an interesting point of departure for looking more generally at George Balanchine's relationship to the music that he used, especially if such a discussion does not already exist at Ballet Alert! I would again really be glad for any responses to my questions from my first post. These begin with a focus on general ideas about perceiving dance and music, but hopefully have interest here as well. I continue to try to make the case across various topics at Ballet Alert! that, although George Balanchine "dancers move with unreserved energy"[quote from dissertation], he also created some of the finest 'low energy,' lyrically beautiful dancing in all of ballet. This can be related to the topic here because of his choice of music and his choreographic responses. This is also why I mentioned the comparison between Ashley Bouder and Semyon Chudin in my previous post.

I just came across something and wanted to quickly mention it as it's an interesting performance that shows the contrast in interpretations between the NYCB's Ashley Bouder and the Bolshoi's Semyon Chudin dancing the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, which is one of the two subjects of this topic. It can be easily found on the internet. I may want to get back to this at another time. Also found is this explanation of the music from the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. "An eight-minute display of ballet bravura and technique, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux uses music that the composer belatedly created for Act III of Swan Lake. It was hurriedly composed for Anna Sobeshchanskaya, a Bolshoi prima ballerina who was scheduled to make her debut in the title role at the fourth performance of the 1877 Moscow production, and sought to enrich the part of Odile. Because the music was not in the original score, it was not published with the rest of Swan Lake, and disappeared for more than half a century. When it was discovered in the Bolshoi Theater archives in 1953, Balanchine sought — and was granted — permission to use it for his own choreography." (The quote is from a poster of a video and may not be authoritative)

Pherank, when I watch a 'lyrical' segment of a 'classical' ballet such as the White Swan duet from Swan Lake, I sometimes find my hand moving in the air somewhat like an orchestra conductor's hand might, except in a slow, unbroken wave. This reflects what I perceive as the 'lyrical' core of the music. Is there a technical name or concept for this that you know of ? The opening few seconds of the White Swan duet, for instance, almost literally illustrate this, when the ballerina slowly descends to the floor and remains there almost motionless. The rest of the music in a lyrical work seems to be a coloration added to this. Is there any discussion that you know of, about George Balanchine's use of the music that isn't very technical ? I've been quite interested in the recent video with Simone Messmer performing George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco to the music of Bach. He really seems to 'respond' or create to the music in so many different ways, illustrating the many aspects of the music's composition which are easily noticeable without technical knowledge. Simone Messmer does an exceptional job in interpreting and performing this.

There was a discussion that referred to lyricism versus tempi in the performances of works by George Balanchine. This can be seen in my post from March 12. https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/46063-new-york-city-ballet-2021-season/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-432320 In the video with Simone Messmer's and the Ballet Chicago school's performance of Concerto Barocco, accessible in the previous post, I'm not sure about tempi, but the way that she floats through parts of the adagio, with what I'd call lyricism, is, for me, -- breathtaking !

Pherank, if you like the detail video and you haven't seen it already, the first half hour of the Dance Theatre of Harlem's Firebird video, posted above, shows some of the original detail instructions along with other interesting material about its beginnings in documentary form.