LMCtech

I fina;;y read it yesterday too. I didn't think it was that bad really. He brings up the point of having all your ducks in a row before you very decidedly state an opinion which I think ALL critics (including Mr. Barnes) should strive harder to do. I wonder how Ms. Homans feels about it?

I fina;;y read it yesterday too. I didn't think it was that bad really. He brings up the point of having all your ducks in a row before you very decidedly state an opinion which I think ALL critics (including Mr. Barnes) should strive harder to do. I wonder how Ms. Homans feels about it?

I agree that touring is a major factor in raising a company's prospects. It's a shame NYCB can't tour more. They are one of our best and should be shared with the rest of the world. And what is an international company exactly?

I'm going to seriously dissent here. If you are judging SFB to be a regional company because they don't use their feet to your liking then ABT should be a regional company as well. I have never seen such floppy fish feet on a professional company as I saw in Giselle last year. Does a regional company tour to Athens and London? Does a regional company score new ballets by the most major choreographers in the world? Does a regional company have a $25 million budget? There are many people who believe that any company based outside of New York is a "regional" company. The same people who call SF Ballet a regional company often call SF Opera a regional company. This distinction for both companies are ridiculous. I've seen this discussion many times and every time I throw up my hands. It is a waste of time.

I actually like the Ravel score to Damned, but to each his own.

But on the other hand.... Who better to criticze a critic than one of her colleagues i.e. another critic. I didn't really like either of the pieces because I felt them both to be blatant speculation without any real cold hard fact backing them up. But I guess it is the critics job to put forth their opinion without necessarily any factual back-up. Obviously Barnes was very affected by Homans' piece to spend his monthly column on it, and that in itself is very interesting.

But on the other hand.... Who better to criticze a critic than one of her colleagues i.e. another critic. I didn't really like either of the pieces because I felt them both to be blatant speculation without any real cold hard fact backing them up. But I guess it is the critics job to put forth their opinion without necessarily any factual back-up. Obviously Barnes was very affected by Homans' piece to spend his monthly column on it, and that in itself is very interesting.

Interesting. All the critics I know of here in the SF Bay Area get comps. I thought it was a courtesy extended to the critics for the free publicity it gets the company.

Hm....are we getting off subject? Or is it just me? Whatever the reasons for his leaving (and it may be as simple as it wasn't a good fit), it is being handled poorly. Covent Garden needs a new crisis management team. And if they don't have one, they should get one. I personally think Guillem as the head of the Royal could be just as disastrous as Stretton. Maybe there is a Director of Development somewhere who could step up to the plate.

I'd like to see Danny Ulbricht get a shot at the prodigal one. He's got a lot of boyish charm.

How about this one...If 8 is good, 88 is better. Ouch.

Well, said. I agree. If the critic can't help the arts stay in business, he is himself out of a job. Maybe in that opinion piece the words "If the company had more money to spend on XYZ...it would solve 123" should appear...

I think it was mutually exclusive there, but not everywhere. I hope he lands in the right place. I think he could do good heading the right company. Shocking news, but not surprising considering all the grief he's gotten from every direction. Even here.

While I think a critic should be honest, there is a deifference between honest and just downright mean. Choice of words and tone can be very important. I always think it's fine to write a scathing review as long as you say WHY. And if you have the knowledge, TELL THEM HOW TO FIX IT. And go beyond saying that firing John Doe will fix the problem. Be specific. Maybe even site examples. Then the critic is respected as knowledgable and fair, not just an opinionated windbag. When I was in elementary school, we were told to give each other CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, which is maybe the best advice I was ever given.

Here's one. Cross-training is bad for you. 'Course they didn't call it cross-training back then, and now we encourage it.

These were made pretty well. It may have been me. Maybe I'm allergic to tutus.

Actually, they worked pretty well. the piece has a formal yet asian quality to it. The costumes reflected that. I'd like to address the above comment that every little dancer wants to wear a tutu. That is true. Then you wear one and discover it is one of the most uncomfortable things ever designed. The ITCH.

Though I didn't get to see it, I have a friend who works for the SF Opera (and gets comps) who bought tickets to Dead Man Walking so he could see it again. He's never done that for any other opera he's worked on.

I agree with Kate B that the costume must be appropriate to the dance and I do think that choreographers keep that in mind when they are talking costumes with their designers. As silly as the "Vertiginous Thrill" costumes are, they are appropriate.

How was Joyce? I worked with her when she did the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco several years ago. I'm excited to see she is singing such an exciting role. I agree this is an important work. I look forward to Heggie's next works. I wonder if he'll ever score anything for a ballet.

My question is this: how many women actually show intiative and apply for the AD jobs? Or the choreography jobs? Julia Adam is a choreographer because she made herself one. How many women will do that? We seem to want everything to be handed to us, but we have to take it instead.

A tragic yet glorious life. She seemed to live like the characters she sang. Her life would probably make a great opera. Or movie? That play was done (Master Class), but there were problems with it, and I thought the way it was set up (using musical thater singers, not opera singers) cheapened it to the opera audience.

Um...actually PNB does perform in Seattle. That's there home.

NYCB has the added problem of the agreement with there orchestra which makes it impossible to tour. San Francisco Ballet has specific grants to tour. They also have a board that believes touring is a vital experience for a healthy company and therefore find the support for it.

In San Francisco we have seen a drop off in the number and frequency of other major ballet companies performing because of the lack of venue. In the mid-nineties, the Opera added a January season. This had traditionally been the time given to ABT and other touring ballet companies to perform in the War Memorial Opera House. Now, companies must make do with the much smaller venues of Yerba Buena Center and Zellerbach Hall. Neither venue is an ideal place for large dance companies: they're small. So, here in SF, the loss of a suitable venue becasue of the success of a local organization has curtailed the ability of outside companies to perform here. That said, the Bolshoi is coming this next year.