YouOverThere

I received a discount offer for tickets for both of the Colorado Ballet's Spring programs in the snail mail, and I verified with Golden Gate that it's OK to pass it along. It's for 10 percent off, but only can be used when buying tickets thru Ticketmaster (whose fees are more than 10 percent for most tickets). The promo code is CTEN. The offer doesn't apply to the lowest price seats.

I haven't read what Marc Shulgold wrote

There hasn't been a review from him on their website yet, but it will be interesting after his glowing view of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. He's kind of backed himself into a corner, given that even a casual observer would have been able to see that the CB's performance was superior to MBSW.

... although when I asked, he said it was 'ok' after the first piece.

I actually had the same response when one of the season ticket sellers asked me what I thought of Company B. Scary! (Or maybe I said it was "all right")

My first couple of viewing of Company B left me with the same general opinion you have -- "lightweight" -- despite one or two spectacular solos. By its second or third year, I saw from Taylor company (granted, they have the advantage of Taylor at their beck and call -- and vice versa) a very different kind of work. The mood was complex -- a generation's veneer of lightheartedness glossing over the very pervasive tragedy of war, in this case, WWII.

I don't know whether it took the Taylor company that long to find the true emotional life of the work, or me that many viewings to see what was under the surface. I hope CB keeps Company B active for a few seasons in order for the dancers to find its emotional core, and the audience, as well.

Because of the previews, I kept looking for allusions to war and only saw one: a scene in the first half of the program where there were shadowy figures that looked like soldiers. But The Denver Post critic claims that the piece was filled with them. Of course, I'm so dense that it didn't occur to me that the 5 rectangular black blocks in From Foreign Lands and People, which was set to PIANO music, might represent the black keys on a piano. I might just have to go back and see it again .

I managed to get to the opening night of the Colorado Ballet's Choreographer's Showcase Saturday evening, purchasing a ticket a full 10 minutes before the curtain went up (5 minutes earlier than I usually do). There were 3 short pieces: Paul Taylor's Company B, Jessica Lang's From Foreign Lands and People, and Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs. Despite the gorgeous weather, the Ellie was at best half full (Cinderella opening the same day might have had something to do with that).

My uneducated assessment was that the dancing was really good in all 3 pieces. Everyone looked really confident and comfortable, and my untrained eye noticed no errors. The timing during larger ensemble scenes was really tight. The CB had done an open dress rehersal of this program the evening before which may have helped mitigate the opening night jitters.

My uneducated assessment also was that this wasn't the most interesting program to watch for those of us who don't go to watch how well the dancers perform the techniques. Only From Foreign Lands and People was "artsy". The other 2 were pretty light-weight. And I don't really enjoy listening to Frank Sinatra sing.

I'll leave it to someone who actually knows something about dancing to post a more detailed description.

I think that's the point of my question. Most ADs do hire by body type/aesthetic. This company is trying to do something different. Their claim is that the aesthetics rest in the movement and the expression and the interpretation, and not in the particular type of body.

I guess the root of my question is: why do we put so much emphasis on the body rather than the technique?

My 2 cents is that it is because ballets are (usually) fantasies with a hero and heroine. Because of the social conditioning of the audiences, the hero and heroine have to be attractive. The current criteria for attractiveness in women includes being very thin (and it's my perception that this opinion is especially strong among women). Most of the audience is there just for the entertainment, not because they want to study the technical details of dance.

I would also guess that because women have to be liftable, there is a practical limit on how much they can weigh.

"I don't think that Abe Lincoln is here tonight. This show just isn't my thing." She said "So you don't like ballet?"

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Sigh. Paging Alexandra. It was statements like this that made her start Ballet Talk way back when as a place where those distinctions matter. For most people though, if you give them great costumes, the Tchaikovsky and a theatrical evening, it's all good, and what's the difference? I guess you've earned a second "Welcome to Ballet Talk", YouOverThere, because now you know why you're here.

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I sent an email to the Denver Center for Performing Arts complaining that their promotion of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake as a "re-invention" of Swan Lake misled people into thinking that they were going to see a ballet. Their response was that you could make valid arguments both that it is and that it isn't a ballet. :rolleyes:

I hope that there isn't too much fall-out for the Colorado Ballet from MBSW. A friend who was already waffling about renewing her CB season tickets told me that MBSW has made her more reluctant to renew.

"Left Unsaid" was indeed typical much contemporary dance, as YouOverThere says.  The interactions between the dancers were all approach-avoidance/  warm-cold/  hold me-hurt me.

The music is a very slow and lugubrious Bach solo violin piece that seemed to have nothing at all to do with the dancing:  fast steps, much flexing of feet and darting around the stage, bursts of action, a big quota of  falling or being thrown down on the floor, complicated lifts, a certain amount of acrobatics.

Is it possible that some contemporary choreographers consider the movement to be some sort of ironic CONTRAST to the music rather than a complement?  A kind of anti-music?  Could this be this intentional?

On the plus side, there were some striking and even tender movements, and the dancing was fine, but the lack of connection with the music made it seem arbitrary and unlovely.

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There was a link in the Links forum to a review of another ASFB performance in "The Post and Courier". Referring to Left Unsaid, the reviewer said that it "showed off the dancers' classical background". Was Left Unsaid "classical"? Is any modern dance "classical"? I always thought that when referring to dance, "classical" was synonymous with ballet.

The hip hop piece is in reference to "Earth Tribe" the Rennie Harris part of the 2004-2005 triple bill that CB presented last year.  It was very dark - beyond sad to the point of 'soul hollowing', it was extremely contemporary, and it was not well recieved at ALL until it was decided that Martin Fredmann would go out on stage before the curtain went up and explain what the choreographer had created, and the vision that he was trying to get across to the audience.  After that, the patrons were much more receptive  because they had a base concept of what the point was... essentially. 

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I know that I'm getting off subject, but this seems to fit in with 'elitist' discussion. Apparently, few ballet-goers in Denver had much of a conception of what it's like growing up in a ghetto. The first time that I saw it was before Fredmann started giving his little chat, and I thought that it was pretty obvious what the dance was about (and I'm a life-long suburbanite white guy).

I for one am really glad they gave silver to Cohen instead of Slutskaya. I felt that Slutskaya's LP was a by-the-numbers CoP program: jump, arm waves, Bielmann, wash, rinse, repeat cycle. Sasha's programs actually have choroegraphy, and her general skating skills and artistry are much superior to Slutskaya's. Sorry Sasha fell, but the girl has always been a bundle of nerves. Happy for Shizuka.

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Did anyone else wonder if Slutskaya's hairstyle hurt her? Her hairstyle gave her (IMHO) a married-with-children look, when the ideal seems to be to look as youthful as possible.

the reason Olympic gold medals are so important in North America is that we don't pay much attention to many of these sports except during the Olympics.

I'm reminded of a quote by the tennis player Mats Wilander, which went more-or-less like "It is strictly an American attitude that if you're not number 1 you're a failure." There is an enormous difference between the earning potential of the gold medal winner and all the others even though the difference in ability amongst the top 5 or 6 is so small that if you put bags over their heads 99% of the audience couldn't tell who was who.

  Sadly, that includes figure skating, where a true Grand Prix circuit is unaffordable, not only given the facilities needed, which is as expensive for ski-jumpers, but the nature of individual vs. group/team training.

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Not to mention that it would be way too draining for the skaters if they had to do 10-15 contests a year.

Thank you YouOverThere for the update. I do read the links forum of BalletTalk a few times a day so I have already seen this article.

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Apologies. I looked thru the Links section and didn't see a link to the article.

I have found the information or the source, however...http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spot...4447748,00.html

I have read the announcement in the RM News, but find it confusing. When the heck was Mr. Boggs Ballet Master at ABT? Is there anyone who knows the dates?

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The Denver Post's article is at http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_3485314. I doubt that it will add much clarity for you.

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The Denver Post had another article about Gil Boggs in its Feb. 19 edition (basically a short professional biography):

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_3517198

The Rocky Mountain News also has a review:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/othe...4473992,00.html

It includes the claim that "The dancers are brilliant."

Youoverthere, you raise some interesting questions. It sounds like Bourne's Swan Lake really shocked you. I sympathize.

I don't know if "shocked" really carries the proper connotation. I felt totally empty about the whole thing. As far as I was concerned, they gave me nothing to hang onto. I never learned enough about the characters to develop any feelings towards them. Perhaps if I had been able to read the program beforehand and knew who was who and what the plot was, I would have gotten into it more. But to me it just came off as a series of scenes that weren't advancing a storyline. And if I hadn't gone to see the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet the evening before, I might not have been so critical of the dance scenes. But IMHO the dancers in Swan Lake were not comparable to the dancers in the ASFB. I think that The Denver Post's critic summed up my feelings well in a single sentence in his review: "Perhaps the most troubling amid the plethora of exaggerated, over-the-top theatrics is this production's lack of an emotional heart and soul."

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_3518266

Of course, it's always dangerous to draw conclusions based on a single viewing. I love Prokofiev's 6th symphony, but I had to listen to it 4 or 5 times before it stopped sounding like a series of unrelated elements.

What motivated me to question myself was a brief email exchange that I had with the Rocky Mountain News critic, who really loves the production. I had emailed him to say I thought that the statement in his preview of Swan Lake "The original plotline never added up." was quite ironic given my perception that the Bourne version was lacking in plot. I had assumed that the statement was a paraphrase of something Bourne had said, but in fact it was the critic's opinion. His response was essentially that if I didn't like the Bourne version it was because I'm narrow-minded. That seemed even more ironic since I enjoyed the (apparently heavily criticized) hip-hop dance piece that the CB did last year so much that I went back to see it a second time.

The REALLY bad thing about this is, if memory serves me correctly, that prior to the intermission there wasn't really all that much dancing and the only "ballet" dancing was the "faux ballet" that Golden Gate mentioned in his/her review.

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My memory was faulty. Please ignore the post.

I did an abbreviated search on the Internet and found lots of glowing reviews of Swan Lake and only 2 negative reviews. Both of the negative reviews were in ballet (or serious dance)-specific publications, including one in an online magazine that had some connection with this site (balletalert). This interested me in view of the thread about ballet being elitist. It made me wonder if I've become some sort of art snob.

Did I dislike Swan Lake so much because I was comparing it to a ballet rather than judging it on its on terms? Was it really as bad as I'm making it out to be? Would I have liked it more if I had known beforehand that it was a play rather than a ballet (or even modern dance)? Do so many people like it and I don't because I think that I'm too "sophisticated" for a "popular" show? because it's more commercial than artistic in orientation? Or was it because I've seen so many high-level professional dance performances while this might have been the best dance performance that most of the audience has ever seen? If everyone else had the same experiences that I've had would Swan Lake be much less popular than it is?

"I don't think that Abe Lincoln is here tonight. This show just isn't my thing." She said "So you don't like ballet?"

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Sigh. Paging Alexandra. It was statements like this that made her start Ballet Talk way back when as a place where those distinctions matter. For most people though, if you give them great costumes, the Tchaikovsky and a theatrical evening, it's all good, and what's the difference? I guess you've earned a second "Welcome to Ballet Talk", YouOverThere, because now you know why you're here.

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The REALLY bad thing about this is, if memory serves me correctly, that prior to the intermission there wasn't really all that much dancing and the only "ballet" dancing was the "faux ballet" that Golden Gate mentioned in his/her review.

Looking at various websites of venues that are part of this tour, I can see that people might easily be misled into thinking they were seeing something close to a more or less traditional Swan Lake.

Not everyone was aware of the publicity this version received in the 1990s, or even the national television broadcast.  The huge changes in plot and sexual orientation must have been a shock  This was apparently part of the problem in Denver, and I suspect that the agencies presenting it will hear about it from some of their patrons.

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Having seen a play last year about a man who was having sex with a goat, Swan Lake hardly was shocking to me. I've had a number co-workers who were homosexuals, so I'm really not uncomfortable with homosexuality. I do think that it was unfair to use the title "Swan Lake", which seems to me to be a cheap way to trick people into attending.

At the intermission, a woman who sitting next to me and had noticed that I frequently checked my watch (trying to guess how much longer until the intermission) said to me "You kept checking your watch. John Wilkes Booth also checked his watch frequently." I replied "I don't think that Abe Lincoln is here tonight. This show just isn't my thing." She said "So you don't like ballet?"

Please reconsider, You.  While it is true that the more you see, the better you see, there are no wrong opinions.  I hope you saved your review.  If not, can you throw some thoughts together for us?

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By popular demand, though I feel really pretentious in posting this:

The first dance, "Left Unsaid", was the standard modern dance piece about lack

of communication that seems to be in every modern dance performance; the kind

of piece that you feel like you've seen before even though you've never seen

that exact piece. I really don't know how to evaluate modern dance. The

dancers all looked good, with proper posture and definitive movements (though

individual movements don't seem to carry the same depth of meaning as they do

in ballet). My date claimed that she noticed several of what she thought were

mistakes by one of the dancers. I would guess that people who like modern

dance would enjoy this piece.

"Noir Blanc" was really entertaining. Very novel "choreography"; maybe it

would be better to describe it as "movement to music" rather than "dance". It

must have been a real blast to put together, with lots of light and dropscreen

effects and dancers suspended by wires floating thru the air in a very

ethereal manner. It was the only memorable part of the show for me, and reason

enough to attend.

"Like a Samba", which was the only piece in which the women danced en pointe,

didn't impress me. IMHO, the choreography didn't fit the music. There was one

song in which the singer was singing about a girl deciding whether or not she

liked a boy but there was a woman dancing with two men

without ever looking at either of them. If you're the type of person

who watches the dancers rather than the dance, you probably

would have enjoyed this piece more than I did, since the dancers

did show some impressive (to me) "chops".

My overall impression was that the dancers had a lot of talent but were

limited by weak choreography. I'd like to see what they could do in a

"heavier" work. But IMHO it was worth going to, especially since I didn't have

to spend too much for the tickets.

The Denver Post's reviewer had a little more positive impression than I did

(he usually is more positive about performances than I am).

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_3510472

I must have gone to the wrong theatre last night.

I was seriously thinking that. I barely got there in time, as I underestimated how icy the roads would be, and the usher was too frazzled by all the last-minute arrivals to hand out programs. I finally decided that the odds of the only seat in my row not taken when I got there being the one matched the number on my ticket was just too great to be a coincidence. I was wishing that there were breaks between scenes so I could have borrowed a program from someone just to be sure.

If I wanted to see trash, I’d go down to Colfax St.

At least porno flicks usually have some semblance of a plot.

I will offer a review tomorrow; I am there tonight for opening night... YAY!!!!

It looks like I beat Golden Gate! Of course, I cheated. I didn't stay til the end. Spending 2.5 hours watching a play with no discernible plot and simple-minded humor isn't my thing. The dancing seemed to me to be below what one would see at a professional ballet, though I think I missed much of it since the 2nd act seemed to be more dance-oriented.

Since the email (from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts rather than the CB) says "Forward to a Friend", it should be OK to mention that all tickets for the Thursday (Feb. 16) matinee performance of Swan Lake are available for $25 if you use the promo code "SWAN".

This will probably be mainly of interest to those who have lots of sick leave available .

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This offer has been extended to the Wednesday and Thursday evening performances (Feb. 15 and 16).

I talked to a ticket person at the DCPA who claims that the discount is valid if you buy tickets "at the door". That would be nice, at least for those who prefer not to pay $32 for a $25 ticket (given that none of the extra $7 goes to the CB).

Since the email (from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts rather than the CB) says "Forward to a Friend", it should be OK to mention that all tickets for the Thursday (Feb. 16) matinee performance of Swan Lake are available for $25 if you use the promo code "SWAN".

This will probably be mainly of interest to those who have lots of sick leave available .

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This offer has been extended to the Wednesday and Thursday evening performances (Feb. 15 and 16).

I wonder if having an 8:00 starting time for a performance that's nearly 2.5 hours long is having a negative influence on ticket sales. Coloradoans tend to keep earlier hours than Easterners.

"Left Unsaid" - Nicolo Fonte, choreographer

"Noir Blanc" - Moses Pendelton, choreographer

"Like A Samba" - Trey McIntyre, choreographer

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I ended up going to this performance. I'd give it about a B-, though I think that my date, who is somewhat of an artist, would likely give it a little higher grade. I had my impressions all typed in, but then I decided that since I know so little about dance I'm really not qualified to post a review. A more knowledgeable person (such as any other member of ballettalk) might have gotten a significantly different impression than I did.

Ticket pricing is  problem here, too, and I don't think companies  address it very well or consistently. 

Arts organizations are often criticized for their ticket prices, and I think often unfairly. While it's true that the cost prices out lower income people, at least in Denver the cost of tickets to (at least) professional basketball, football, and hockey also prices out these groups, yet they don't receive the same criticism. I would guess that the average price of a pro football or hockey ticket exceeds the average price of a Colorado Ballet or Colorado Symphony ticket. It unfortunately requires a significant amount of money to stage a ballet and that money has to come from somewhere. The dancers are, IMHO, already severely underpaid.