LAC

I attended the mixed bill performances on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and Othello on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Sorry about the long (and late) post -- it's been a busy week at work and I was sick for part of it. BAYADERE The corps were the stars here. Marakova did a fantastic job coaching them, and I hope her relationship with the company continues. They definitely have improved in Bayadere since the last visit a few years ago. Beautiful line, epaulment, head positions, port de bras, etc. There were, of course, a few bobbles in the balances, and the lead Shade looked a little unsteady at first on Wednesday night, but overall these were very satisfying performances. The Three Soloist Shades -- Except for the fact that Copeland looked underrehearsed (and was filling in for Pavam, probably at the last minute), I thought the other five Shades looked very good in their solos, although on both nights the three Shades looked a little out-of-sync when dancing together. I haven't seen much of Lane, but she looks very promising. As others have mentioned, Abrera and Kajiya both handled the second solo beautifully. Riccetto did a very good job with the difficult third solo. As for Part, I understand that she has her detractors, but I'm a big fan. There was some slight technical unsteadiness, as Natalia mentioned, but she is a gorgeous dancer. Especially when she was dancing with Copeland and Abrera, you could see the differences in their American and Russian training, and there was no contest. Just a soft, beautiful upper body. Herrera -- Herrera had an off night, and I think Sarah Kaufman was actually pretty generous in her Washington Post review. While Herrera's pirouettes and turns were fine, she seemed to have problems with almost everything else, especially balances. The scarf section was uncomfortable to watch. Dvorovenko -- A much better job than Herrera, and no inappropriate vamping, which she has a tendency to do sometimes. I haven't seen much of Dvorovenko lately, so I don't know if she does this a lot, but I did notice that she has a tendency to slightly distort her line to go for the higher extension, the higher lift, the faster turn. It looks gymnastic and unattractive. Overall, she is a beautiful dancer, and it wasn't especially obvious, but I wish she wouldn't feel the need to do this. Carreno -- Beautiful line, jumps, and turns. Two good performances. (On the subject of Carreno's acting ability, I agree that this is not one of his strengths. I was very disappointed in a performance of Romeo at the Met in July, where he looked underwhelming opposite Ferri. At best, he does that universal "despair" look, and not much else.) DARK ELEGIES I feel like a complete loser admitting this, but I didn't care for Dark Elegies. I'm pretty sure that I understand what the ballet is about and why it was innovative, but I could just not warm to it. As someone else mentioned, it seemed cold to me, too. By the third performance in 30 hours (the rehearsal and two performances), I was bored and restless, something that pretty much never happens to me at the ballet. I understand that it was innovative to create a ballet that expresses emotion through movement instead of facial expression ("expressionism", correct?), and that depicting a community in mourning over its children has the risk of becoming maudlin if not handled well. However, this ballet strikes me as representative of some 20th-century artists' belief that technique should predominate over human emotion, or that technique is sufficient to depict human emotion. While I can appreciate the ballet on an intellectual level, it just didn't touch me. I may be completely off base here, and I have enjoyed other works by Tudor, but I was glad when this was over on Wednesday night. I do think the ballet was danced well. Wiles was well-cast in the first solo on Tuesday. What I normally consider to be Wiles's weaknesses (limited dramatic range and a rigid upper body) actually turned to strengths here. On Wednesday, Kristi Boone fudged through some of the steps that could have been more crisp. Kent was very good in the duet on Tuesday. RODEO I'm going to go against prevailing opinion and say that I preferred Butler over Reyes as the Cowgirl. To me, there are two possible interpretations of this ballet. In the first, the Cowgirl wants a guy, has multiple humorous misfires in her attempt to get a guy (she's still too much of a tomboy), realizes that she has to be a "girl" to get a guy, and finally has the two top guys competing with each other over her. This is the way Reyes played it, and it was funny and enjoyable, but not the way I like to see it performed. The interpretation that I prefer, which I thought Butler did beautifully, is to view the Cowgirl as a woman who wants it all and is trying to figure out how to be successful in both the male and female worlds. She wants to be a cowgirl, but also to get the guy. In the beginning, her attempts are failures as she tries to figure out how to bridge the two worlds. She's hurt and confused. This is where I want to see the pathos, the feminine side. In the two instances where the Cowgirl collapses to the ground, Butler was heartbreaking, where Reyes was just funny in her exasperation. When the girls come in, it's clear that the Cowgirl doesn't want to be like the other girls, but to get the guys that they also want. She finally figures it out, and ends up getting to be both a cowgirl and having a guy, the top guy. She's the only woman who has the tomboy tendencies to use to her advantage. She's spunky, persistent, and can ham it up and dance, and she doesn't get sick to her stomach when she dances the way the prissy girls do. Rather than being manipulated into being a "girl," she manipulates the situation to her advantage; to make this interpretation credible, I think we have to see fairly early on in the ballet that the Cowgirl want to be both a tomboy and a girl. I may very well be rationalizing this so that I don't have to view this ballet as sexist. However, I suspect this ballet was groundbreaking in the 1930s. Surely it would have been pretty radical for a woman to be successful in both the male and female worlds. And I suspect the prevailing view was that if a woman wanted to be a tomboy and successful in the male world, she couldn't also expect to get a guy. I don't know much about De Mille other than the basics, but I assume Rodeo has semi-autobiographical elements. De Mille was a groundbreaker, highly successful in a male-dominated field, at a time when that wasn't supposed to happen. Anyway, this is a very long way of saying that I thought Butler did a better job of capturing the nuances and complexity of the role, of showing the character's feminine and tomboy tendencies and the conflict that caused. (I also have to say that I really regret not seeing Erica Cornejo in this role when I had the chance.) I slightly preferred Radetsky over Salstein as the Champion Roper, although I can't really say why. They both did a terrific job. (On the subject of Reyes's acting ability, I think she can be a very good actress in highly dramatic roles that require her to stay deeply in character. I really like her Juliet, almost as much as Ferri's and Kent's. Although I didn't see her in Othello, I'm guessing that she did a very good Desdemona. It's when she doesn't have to act or is not performing a tragic role that she tends to default into that treacly, cutsey, slightly goofy personna. I try to be selective about the roles that I see her in.) OTHELLO I liked this more than I thought I would. It'll never be on the level of the classics, but it was interesting to see something new and modern that told the essence of a complicated story well. (I generally don't agree with Kaufman's review.) The sets were innovative and the costumes OK. The problem for me was the choreography. It tends to be that throw-the-woman-around kind of choreography favored by choreographers like Macmillan and Gringovich. Not top-rate. Gomes/Kent/Radetsky/Abrera/Cornejo -- The first-night cast was very good. Kent, Gomes, and Cornejo are some of my favorite dancers in the company, and Kent and Gomes are first-rate actors. Cornejo's line and ballon are just beautiful. Abrera and Radetsky did a terrific job as Iago and Emilia. Radetsky seems to be getting a lot of dramatic roles and is handling them well. Hallberg/Murphy/Beloserkovsky/Butler/Matthews -- When casting went up about a month ago, I bought one ticket for Othello, for the Gomes/Kent cast. I wasn't sure I would like it, and I had major reservations about a cast that included Murphy and Beloserovsky. However, the prospect of seeing how Hallberg would handle the role intrigued me, and I finally relented and bought a ticket for the Sunday performance after seeing the members' dress rehearsal on Thursday. More about this cast later, but first a major aside about Murphy. If someone had told me 24 hours ago that I would be writing what I'm about to, I would flat out not have believed it. When Murphy was first promoted to principal several years ago, I was intrigued to see how she would handle the responsibility, the way I am when anyone is promoted. I actully sought out her performances. However, after several disappointing performances that were weak dramatically, I started avoiding her. I felt that she was relying too much on her (amazing) technique and wasn't making much of an effort to be a compete package. Last year, she did a Black Swan PDD at the Kennedy Center that can charitably be described as tacky. It was vamped and inappropriate, and there was no interaction with Gomes. I vowed to competely avoid her performances, feeling that she was more interested in becoming a "star" than an artist. I was stunned when I saw casting for the spring Met season, which includes Murphy performances of Juliet, Desdemona, and Titania. I couldn't believe that she would be able to handle those roles and suspected that McKenzie was doing this for box-office purposes. As mentioned, the Hallberg casting finally won me over, and I bought the ticket for yesterday's performance, with great trepidation about Murphy. Well, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the performance, a little stunned, in fact. Although Murphy will never have the lyricism of Kent, she was much better dramatically than I expected. I sense that there's a commitment to artistry that wasn't there before. I'm curious now how the casting for the new Met season roles came about -- whether McKenzie suggested them or Murphy asked for them. I'm really starting to believe that Murphy may be able to pull off a credible Juliet. In some ways the acting was even more detailed than Kent's. I tend to watch what goes on in the sides of the stage, because I think that can show how well the dancers are paying attention to the dramatic elements of the ballet. In the first act, when we were supposed to be paying attention to Cassio and the other dancers, Hallberg and Murphy did a good job on the side of the stage showing a loving, newly married couple, something that Gomes and Kent didn't do as well. There were several other moments in the ballet where the acting was very detailed and appropriate. I do think it helped that this is a modern ballet, and I've always preferred Murphy in contemporary work. The test will be if she can pull off the dramatic parts of the classics, and Sleeping Beauty will be a good start. Although I'm not competely on board yet (I'm not sure that I'm ready for a Murphy Giselle, for example.), I'm cautiously optimistic that she's really making an effort to improve her artistry. It would be nice not to feel as if I don't have to avoid her, especially since my Met-viewing is limited to weekends. (It also helps that she seems to have abandoned that snotty nose-in the-air thing that she used to do.) As others have mentioned, she does do a pretty good job in comedic roles, but these tend to be one-dimensional. If she can start getting the nuances of the more dramatic roles, I'll be convinced. It will be interesting to see if she can manage the three distinct Aurora characterizations in Sleeping Beauty, for example. The rest of the second cast was pretty good, I thought. Hallberg was just a tad less good than Gomes, and I actually prefered Hallberg's depiction of Othello's third-act emotional breakdown, which was chilling. Beloserkovsky was better than I expected; I was afraid that he would be too bland, but he was more evil than I thought he was capable of. Butler did a very good job as Emilia (she is a very good dancer-actress). Abrera and Butler had their strengths and weaknesses as Emilia, and at different times I preferred one over the other. Matthews did a good job as Cassio. Schulte and Boone both did a terrific job as Bianca. GENERAL IMPRESSIONS I feel better about the company than I did after last year's Kennedy Center visit. For me, I think it helped that these two programs were heavy on the drama, so that we got more artistry than pyrotechnics. I'm also glad that McKenzie seems to be using more and better coaches; Marakova's work was obvious in Bayadere, and I'm very pleased that Kirkland will be a key component in setting Sleeping Beauty. For a couple of years, I've been worried that ABT was developing a coaching problem, with a lack of attention to detail, but that seems to be improving. Not to end on a sour note, but I do have one gripe. It would be nice if ABT management would extend the same courtesy to touring audiences that they do to New York audiences in terms of announcing casting. Waiting to announce casting until a month before performances is not fair to audiences that can be just as devoted as the New York audience.

Thank you, Farrell Fan! I was actually wrong about Ballo having the only cast change tonight. (By the way, DeLuz also did a good job in Ballo -- different obviously than Millepied's, but with its own strengths.) The other cast change was in Union Jack, where Askegard danced the role that Woetzel did earlier in the week, and there was no comparison. Askegard came to life a bit in the third part, but looked almost uncomfortable in the first part. He just doesn't have the stage presence that Woetzel does. Union Jack was free of falling feather problems tonight in the first part, but tonight's problem was the flower in the costermonger PDD. Martins had to rescue it a couple of times, one time having to improvise quite nicely to retrieve it. It was great to have NYCB here in Washington, and it'll be nice to see Midsummer Night's Dream next year. I know that we have our complaints about NYCB, but there are a lot of good things happening in the company these days. Compared to ABT at least, it's refreshing to be able to see soloists and corps members in important roles, and, in my opinion, NYCB's female principal contingent overall is much stronger than is ABT's right now. Great job!

I attended the Wednesday and Thursday evening performances and both Saturday performances. NYCB is having a pretty good run here in Washington, in my opinion. "Russian" Program Allegro Brillante -- Weese and Woetzel have been wonderful - the highlight of the Russian program for me. Duo Concertant -- I've seen better Duo Concertants (Suzanne Farrell Ballet this fall), but Borree and Hubbe did a good job. Hubbe is showing his age a tiny bit, especially in his jumping, but seemed better on Saturday. Borree got through it well. I did like how the violinist, Arturo Delmoni, interacted (making eye contact, smiling) with the dancers more than I've seen in other performances. Momentum Pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra -- Reichlen and Krohn had very good debuts in these ballets. Wednesday night was the first that I've seen either ballet, but they both did a great job as far as I could tell. Askegard was somewhat of a disappointment, not always able to capture the necessary angularity in Movements, for example. Romeo and Juliet PDD -- It seems a little unfair to place this ballet in the midst of so much Balanchine splendor, and it was the weak link of the program for me, choreographically speaking. While I think MacMillan's Balcony PDD is a little overwrought emotionally, it does capture the drama and emotion of the music, but Lavery's version just seems too sweet and flat to me (and not technically complex). Stephanie Zungre was very good, although her port de bras are a little stiff sometimes, especially when she's being lifted, and her elbows stuck out a little unattractively in fifth position in the lifts at times. These are very minor quibbles, though, and I suspect that a lot of it was just nerves. She perfectly captured the emotion of the ballet, and she's well on her way to being a very good lyrical Juliet. I preferred Tyler Angle's Romeo on Saturday to Marcovici's on Wednesday; both did well, but Angle just seems like a more lyrical dancer to me and this ballet calls for lyricism. Firebird -- I agree with the complaints about Sylve's Firebird. The dancing and acting didn't seem to be well integrated. The "bird" movements (arm flutters) and facial expressions almost seemed like afterthoughts, and she seemed more Odette than Firebird to me. She did improve a little on Saturday, but I really missed Bouder. I normally like Sylve, but this just left me a little cold. I thought Jonathan Stafford did a very good job as Prince Ivan. "European" Program Ballo della Regina -- Farichild was very good, and Millepied made up for last year's rather phoned in T & V. The soloists - Edge, Keenan, Riggins, and Scheller - were also very good. It would have been nice to see a Bouder Ballo again -- sigh. Klavier -- Danced well, choreography is still growing on me. Union Jack -- The highlight of the European program, in my opinion. Syvle did well in her debut, Woetzel was wonderful, and Reichlen was amazing leading the Wrens. It was nice to see Borree relaxed and having fun on stage. Ringer and Martins did a very funny costermonger PDD. I'm skipping the two "American" program performances (Fearful Symmetries, N.Y. Export Jazz, Tarantella, and An American in Paris). It would have been nice to see Tarantella, but.... A couple of other quick notes -- Saturday was the Day of Costume and Prop Problems. In Firebird, the feather fell to the floor long before Sylve was supposed to hand it to Stafford, and he had to just pick it up off the floor when moment came for her to hand it to him. Rutherford, playing the princess, tripped on her long dress and fell. In the evening, no fewer than three pieces of Union Jack costumes (parts of the headpieces?) fell on the floor, and it became kind of a game to see who would deal with them and how they would get rid of them. No problems like that on Thursday, so I don't know what was going on on Saturday. I hope one day that the Kennedy Center technical staff will be able to figure out appropriate times for lowering and raising the curtains before the first night of a performance. Wednesday night was embarrassing, and they had similar problems the first night of ABT's Romeo and Juliet last month. The Kennedy Center Orchestra's horn section needs to improve quickly. I'm not much of an expert on music, but it was so bad that even I could tell how bad it was at times. Attendance has been very good. For example, Wednesday's attendance appeared to me to be better than the National Ballet of Canada's midweek Swan Lake run. Both Saturday performances were nearly sold out in the First Tier, with only a few of the least desirable seats on the far ends available. I'm also going tonight for the "Balanchine" program. The only reported cast change is DeLuz replacing Millepied in Ballo, so I doubt if I'll have much, if anything, more to say.

Sigh. Now I really wish I had been able to go to the Saturday afternoon performance. Based on previous performances that I've seen, I agree with kfw about Reyes's dramatic transformation as the ballet proceeds; I think the minute where she's sitting still on the bed is particularly effective. And I agree with zerbinetta that her Rodeo was wonderful this fall.

I attended the performances of Romeo and Juliet on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. Highlights for me over the two performances were both Marcelo Gomes and David Hallberg as Romeo, Herman Cornejo as Mercutio, and Hallberg and Gennadi Saveliev as Paris. Hallberg is a very good actor. Veronika Part did an excellent Lady Capulet without being overly melodramatic (in a role that unfortunately demands excessive melodrama), while Carmen Corella did a good job of hinting at Lady Capulet’s attraction to/relationship with Tybalt. On Friday, Julie Kent did a good Juliet. I was less impressed with Paloma Herrara’s Juliet on Sunday. An out-of-town family event prevented me from going to either performance on Saturday, so I didn’t get to see Xiomara Reyes perform the role. I think Reyes is ABT’s best Juliet after Alessandra Ferri right now, and it would have been nice to see her Juliet again. Paolo, I agree that Gillian Murphy did an impressive job in Gong, and I should have mentioned that. I prefer her much more in the contemporary/modern repertory. However, since most of ABT’s repertory calls for dramatic ability and lyricism, I’m just not sold on her yet. As I mentioned earlier, she is a fairly new principal dancer and will hopefully continue to develop. Overall, I thought ABT looked good this year, especially in Romeo and Juliet, Green Table, and Afternoon of a Faun. It would be nice if they brought a more adventurous full length next year (Sylvia, Raymonda, etc.), but I know that the more popular full-length ballets sell the tickets. Romeo and Juliet certainly sold well at the two performances that I attended, while it looked as if ticket sales for the midweek mixed bill were fairly weak.

Sorry if I wasn't clear! It's a little hard to describe, but in the "Farewells" section, Death is in the background making a rhythmic sound as he dances. I took it to be like a clock ticking, suggesting that he's in control of time and destiny. With Hallberg, it was audible (and very ominous) throughout the section (Death is just in the background with other action going towards the front). It does go on for quite awile and must be pretty tiring for the dancer. It requires the dancer to really punch out the steps, which I don't think Stappas did quite as well.

Some quick comments on the Thursday, February, 2nd performance. Gong -- I thought the Misty Copeland/Grant DeLong PDD went much better on Thursday. (I'm still not sure it's DeLong; sorry if I have the wrong dancer.) Although I don't really like this ballet, it is interesting to see the diversity of styles and training that makes up ABT these days. For example, I normally tend to favor the more classical dancers, but I thought a couple of these dancers looked a little out of place in this piece. They danced it well, but couldn't quite capture the comtemporary feel of this ballet. Afternoon of a Faun -- I bought a ticket for Thursday to see this casting -- Maria Riccetto and Jose Carreno. Riccetto first really caught my eye about a year ago, and I was curious to see how she would handle this ballet. I thought she did pretty well. She doesn't have the almost inhuman quality that Abrera brings to the role, but I thought she was very good, in fact better than Carreno. Swan Lake Act III PDD -- For me, this was by far the best Black Swan PDD of the week. Irina Dvorovenko and Max Beloserkovsky danced the PDD beautifully, related well to each other, and were appropriately flirty. I know Dvorovenko is quite capable of mugging (she ruined a Les Sylphides for me back in the fall), but I didn't think there was anything excessive last night. Dvoorovenko did her fouettes at an insanely fast tempo and didn't travel. I'm much more impressed with the lack of travelling than I am with doubles and triples -- with other ABT dancers we often get the reverse. Green Table -- I'm so glad they brought this to Washington, and I hope they continue to keep this in the repertory for awhile. Isaac Stappas did a very good job as Death last night, although I still prefer David Hallberg in the role just a bit more.

OK, I’ll go first. I attended ABT’s performances on Tuesday the 31st and Wednesday the 1st. Gong – Not really much to say here. Apparently, I’m not a Mark Morris fan. It’s been danced well, although the second PDD with Misty Copeland and Grant DeLong (I think it was DeLong) was a little shaky on Wednesday. Afternoon of a Faun – Julie Kent and Max Beloserkovky did a respectable job on Tuesday, but Stella Abrera and David Hallberg were amazing on Wednesday night. I saw an Abrera and Hallberg performance of Faun at City Center this fall, and I was even more impressed last night. Hallberg is already having a very good run here after only two nights; I’m really hoping that a promotion is forthcoming. Swan Lake Act III PDD – Paloma Herrera is starting to grow on me. To me, she’s become more subtle and nuanced in her performances and the upper body is getting better. (She’s also toned down that “Wow! Look at that!” thing that she sometimes does with her eyebrows, which I find really irritating.) I used to be pretty skeptical about seeing her, and I was a little worried about an over-the-top Odile/Siegfied performance from her and Jose Carreno, but they actually kept it from getting out of control while giving us an exciting, sexy PDD. Carreno, as always, was wonderful, with his beautiful line, jumps, and slow-down pirouettes. Herrera did stumble a little at the end of her fouettes, but I’ll take this performance any day over what we got on Wednesday. Gillian Murphy did a wonderful job on Wednesday of reminding me why I avoid her full-length ballet performances. The over-the-top, vamped performance that I was worried about on Tuesday came instead on Wednesday. (I’m not sure that the Queen would have approved of her son marrying the Odile that we got on Wednesday night.) Murphy tends to go to extremes artistically – she’s either blank or too showy. I realize that she’s still pretty young; as she matures, I hope that she can find a more subtle and nuanced middle ground. She certainly has the (lower body) technique, but right now seems content to simply do the triple fouettes and other tricks to get the applause (and the audience definitely loved this performance, based on the shouting and loud clapping). Over the years, she has improved artistically, but still has work to do. Murphy and Marcelo Gomes were a mismatch tempermentally. I thought there was little chemistry between them, mostly because Murphy seemed to forget that there was someone else on stage with her. We all know what Gomes can do when given something to work with (like, say, Veronika Part). Were it not for Gomes’s usual understated, classy elegance, this performance would have been really, really bad, as far as I’m concerned. Green Table – Tuesday night was the first performance that I’ve seen of Green Table, and I liked it a lot. David Hallberg was very good as Death, being perfectly commanding, menacing, and just downright creepy. I wasn’t as impressed with Isaac Stappas on Wednesday, although I think height has a lot to do with that. This is a role where height is a definite advantage, so that Death can tower over his victims. In the second section where Death is introduced, Stappas had trouble “ticking” loudly enough to produce an effect (his Death was just in the background dancing without producing the ominous ticking sound). Hallberg was very good in that section, I thought; I never forgot that he was present. Other Green Table standouts over the two nights were Julio Bragado-Young as the Profiteer, Carmen Corella as the Woman, and Kelley Boyd as the Young Girl. I’m very disappointed that Hallberg isn’t repeating the role tonight.

Ami, You might find the following discussion interesting -- http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=3017

I seemed to me that Proteges sold about as well as Swan Lake, if not better. It's a little hard for me to tell because I was there on different nights of the week for the two runs. Of course, the Proteges program had three fewer performances than do companies that come in for the entire week. I second koshka's sentiment that it would be great if this could be done every year (or two). It would be nice to see NYCB's SAB participating in this in the future. As far as the parent companies go, I would also like to see more of the Japanese company and the Paris Opera Ballet. It would also be great to see the Royal Danish Ballet more frequently than we do now.

Natalia and rg certainly know a lot more about the history of Birthday Offering than I do, but I do want to add something to further add to the confusion about who originally danced the variations. I checked Julie Kavanagh's "Secret Muses: The Life of Frederic Ashton," and she lists the dancers in the following order on pages 421-422 -- Elaine Fitfield Rowena Jackson Svetlana Beriosova Nadia Nerina Violetta Elvin Beryl Grey Margot Fonteyn At least Vaughn and Kavanagh agree that Fonteyn's was seventh variation. Also, just a comment that I agree with others who thought that Birthday Offering improved considerably from Thurday to Sunday. Most of the problems on Thursday were probably just opening-night jitters.

Thank you, Natalia, that's the feedback I was hoping for. This site is such a great source of information! I'm going again tonight and Sunday afternoon, and I'll be watching this one very closely. I'll be interested to know if you think things improve.

Sorry, I didn't notice the tape, koshka, but you were probably closer to the stage than I was! Although I didn't like Scaramouche, it seemed to be a big hit with the audience, at least by the end of the ballet. It was very unusual, and I think the French comedic aspect of it bewildered the audience at first. It was nice to see younger students, and I was impressed by the dancers who had to do their speaking parts in a foreign language. Some of the ballet "jokes" were pretty amusing, but one viewing of this was enough for me. I thought the roughest moments came in Birthday Offering, which struck me as having some pretty complicated choreography. I've never seen this before, so I don't have previous performances to compare it to. To me, it seemed that most of the problems/bobbles came at the end of solos when the variation ended quickly (almost abruptly) after some difficult steps, but I would be interested to know more about Natalia's thoughts on how the variations were performed. I thought it was actually kind of endearing seeing the dancers try to hold their final poses, often not entirely successfully. I'm glad the Royal Ballet School used this for their program, though, because Ashton abstract ballets are so rarely performed in the US. I loved the choreography, and the costumes were lovely. It was nice to be able to compare this with Concerto Barocco, which DTH danced immediately afterwards.

I agree with every one of Natalia's points -- we must think alike! I especially loved Camilla Ruelykke in Flower Festival. I'm not surprised to find out that she's already a member of the company. One question -- Is Sebastian Kloborg, who danced Flower Festival, the son of Eva Kloborg and Frank Anderson? He did pretty well, from what I can remember, but I was concentrating pretty heavily on Ruelykke. I'll try to pay more attention tonight and Sunday afternoon. I also liked Sinfonietta and would love to see more work by this choreographer. On the Kirov's Daria Vasnetsova, I really hated the hyperextensions, too, and would add that she really needs to start focusing on her arm positions. There were some pretty ugly moments there. I'm very glad that the Kennedy Center is doing this program; it's great to compare the schools and choreogaphers. Since we don't get to see a lot of Ashton and Bournonville in the US, those programs were especially appreciated.

Thanks, Bart, I will introduce myself, although there isn't much to say! I have to say that I was pretty surprised about the attendence. ABT's Nutcracker (which I also didn't like -- things better pick up!) did very well at the box office. From mid December to mid January, the musical "Wicked" played in the KC Opera House and was completely sold out. I know January is a tough sell for more casual audience members, and maybe people are still in post-holiday letdown mode. But, Swan Lake is usually a guaranteed box office hit. I'm sure things will pick up this weekend. The public rehearsal sold very well, by the way. I feel bad for being so negative about the production, but I just really feel for the dancers. They deserve a better showcase for their talent, especially on tour. I saw some very good performances from the dancers, which made it bearable. Paquita, I know that NBoC usually announces their new season in late January or early February, and I'll be very curious to see how much Kudelka is programmed. I suspect that Kain will get things back on track, especially with the move to the new opera house. I'm glad to hear that Kudelka's Cinderella is better, and I'll definitely watch it with an open mind. I'll be travelling to New York from the Washington area to see it, and I want to be pleasantly surprised!

I attended the performances on Tuesday the 17th and Wednesday the 18th. After reading posters’ impressions of James Kudelka’s Swan Lake from 2003 and this past fall, I wasn’t anticipating much and have to agree with the generally negative assessments of this production. Knowing that I was going to see NBoC’s Swan Lake, I printed out an article by Paula Citron of the Globe and Mail from November. (It appears in Links on November 16, 2005; unfortunately, the article is no longer available.) Citron interviewed NBoC principal dancers and coaches to get their opinions about what this ballet is about because, according to the article, Kudelka rarely explains his ballets to his dancers. Theories ranged from homoeroticism (Siegfried and Benno have a mostly non-contact PDD in Act I, Odette/Odile as a diva worshipped by gay society), to a defense of nature (Rothbart is actually the good guy who is saving the earth from the corruption of humankind, and Siegfried as prince is the human leader), to a feminist critique of the abuse women receive (women certainly don’t fare well in this ballet). Several dancers speculated that elements of the ballet are autobiographical. I can see parts of the ballet that support all of these theories, but it seems as if Kudelka was simply trying to be ambiguous and provacative. There is no focus to this ballet, either in the overall theme or in the story. All of the conflict is external and emotion tends to be flat. According to the program notes, Act I is supposed to suggest that Siegfried is trying to escape a world in which he’s not comfortable, rather than finding an ideal love. Odette is simply a swan. Act II takes place during daylight, and there is no suggestion either in the ballet or the program notes that she is a women trapped as a swan. Her emotion in Act II is limited to fear that Siegfried will kill her and then falling in love with him. There is no sadness or sense of the inevitable. It’s also unclear what Rothbart’s role is. Some of the more “interesting” elements of the ballet – a Queen (with hideous headdress) coming down to the docks where Siegfried and the knights are having a post-hunt drinking party to tell Siegfried that he needs to get married; a wench, who seems to be thoroughly enjoying the party up until the end when ugliness (a gang rape?) is implied; the pas de trois danced by Benno, the fool (jester), and the wench; a “game” where the knights and the wench blindfold the tutor to tease him; in Act III, princesses who dance for Siegfried rather than with him (and dance for Siegfried themselves rather then bringing their countrymen to entertain the court); princesses with male handlers (“ambassadors”); princesses who dance in front of leering knights and then stand on pedestals for Siegfried to chose which one he will marry; lakeside swans who are white in Act II but black in Act IV with no explanation of the change (Siegfried’s betrayal? the flood at the end of Act III?). In this version, only Odette survives at the end of the ballet. Kudelka’s choreography, which predominates in Acts I and IV, is repetitive and uninteresting. Act I is male dominated; the only women are the wench and the queen, who only appears long enough to tell Siegfried that he must marry. Lots of jumps and jetes, and the knights often had a hard time staying in sync, especially on Wednesday night. In Act IV, the black swans do a lot of posing, for lack of more innovative choreography. (For example, at one point, there are five swans on stage, all holding a different pose. It’s not attractive.) The choreography in Acts II and III is more after Petipa/Ivanov, although there are definite, unappealing changes. Costumes are often weird and tacky. The swans and Siegfried fare well, but I thought the costumes for the fool, Rothbart, the queen and her attendants, and the knights in Act III were pretty awful. Someone aptly described Rothbart’s Act II costume as “hippie,” and the princess’ headdresses are these billowing capes in garish colors. Sets are sparse and unattractive. On both nights, a wayward mechanical swan had to be rescued from the edge of the scrim by a stagehand at the end of the prologue. Although I knew that I was probably not going to like this production, I bought tickets for two performances in order to see Greta Hodgkinson/Aleksandar Antonijevic (Tuesday) and Heather Ogden/Guillaume Cote (Wednesday). Hodgkinson and Antonijevic were somewhat of a disappointment. They both have beautiful technique and line, but were a little flat emotionally (not that Kudelka gives them much to work with). I preferred the second cast of Ogden and Cote. Cote had to adjust a few of his landings, but otherwise had a solid, engaged performance, and I can see why he has moved through the ranks so quickly. I know that people have mixed feelings about Ogden and that she is supposed to be very strong technically, but sometimes has trouble dramatically and projecting to the audience. I was fearing a performance similar to the performances of some of the more junior female principals at ABT (strong lower-body technique, weak acting, obviously coached). Maybe I’m being too generous, but I thought she acted and projected very well, at least from the back of the 1st Tier. Maybe she’s really been working on her artistry and has finally internalized the emotion of the ballet? Other dancers who impressed me were Stephanie Hutchinson (wench), Patrick Lavoie (Benno), Tanya Howard (Spanish princess), and Jillian Vanstone (Italian princess). I realize that the Kennedy Center and NBoC had announced this program long before Kudelka resigned as artistic director and Kain took over. (In other words, Kain was stuck with it.) Based on what I saw and the reviews I’ve read of the company’s New York “The Contract” performances, they might want to consider non-Kudelka programs for future international tours. I saw Kudelka’s Nutcracker in Toronto a couple of years ago and didn’t like it, and I’m already dreading seeing Kudelka’s Cinderella at ABT this spring. His choreography is weak and the ballets sensationalized. This production of Swan Lake reminded me of the current trend in opera to focus on the overall production (unique and provocative interpretations, unusual sets and costumes), to the detriment of the more substantive elements of the opera. The NBoC dancers deserve better opportunities to show what they can do while on tour, and I really wish they had brought one or both of the Balanchine programs that NBoC is doing in Toronto this winter instead of this. One other note – I have been attending ballet at the Kennedy Center for several years now and have never seen such poor attendance. On Tuesday, the 1st Tier was about 2/3 full, and it was about half full Wednesday night. I couldn’t see the 2nd Tier either night, but it looked as if there were a lot of empty seats in the Orchestra on Tuesday. Most of the people around me, especially on Wednesday, seemed to have subscriptions. It doesn’t look as if they’re selling many single tickets for this production. Koshka, I was also at the public rehearsal on Tuesday. The Odette/Odile was Ogden. I think Siegfried was Patrick Lavoie, but I’m not positive about that.