SandyMcKean

I think you'd find that PNB in Seattle is much the same.

I presume you mean Feb 2013. And it must be Maillot's R&J (Prokofiev)......probably balcony scene, or are they doing 2 separate evenings: 1. Mr B, and 2. R&J (full length)?

I was prepared to dislike this series of "documentaries" (reality shows I suppose is closer). I watched them in fairly close succession on Hulu (in HD). After the 1st show I was ho-hum.....just another sensationalistic "ratings getter". But I went on to the 2nd show. I started to get hooked. By the end of the series I had become a fan. Not that this series is on the caliber of "La Dance" or other ballet documentaries, but for what it tried to be, I thought it succeeded. I've been asking myself why I liked it as much as I did. I've concluded it was because in time I came to truly care about these people. Of course I'm a sucker for ballet dancers -- they are my heros much like center fielders are for some sports fans. But beyond that, I really came to admire the authenticity of these young people struggling with life, their huge commitment to their art, relationships, triumphs and disappointments. I find myself truly hoping for another season. I want to know more about these remarkable people, and what might be in store for them as they pursue the thing I love most in the world....ballet.

bart, as usual for me, your words ring of wisdom. I sincerely hope your vision will turn out to be very close to what will happen. I have little doubt that Villella is getting lots of coaching from many quarters in the arts world. Certainly he is much admired....and deservedly so. I feel a particular kinship with MCB (even tho I have never seen it). I believe MCB and PNB to be very similar companies: both dominated by Balanchine's legacy and dancers; both started by ex-NYCB dancers; both far from the American hub of ballet in NYC; both chock full of young Balanchine-esque dancers who dance with enthusiasm and a lack of the cynicism that plagues much of the modern world. And most amazing of all, and for which I am constantly grateful, both cities have companies considered to be among the best in the country -- far outstripping what might normally be expected for cities our size.

I believe there is some misunderstanding going on here......a misunderstanding based on confusion as to what time frame is being assumed. When Helene said (a comment I fully agreed with): Note the vital word IF that starts that sentence. Also note that the events Helene describes have not yet happened, and indeed would take years to fully occur, IF they do happen. So there are two time frames being discussed: one, the present; and two, years down the road. Most comments (Dirac's and bart's for example) seem to addressing the present. In that case, I agree with their analysis (and I suspect so would Helene). Both Villella and the Board will suffer blame for what Dirac described as a "debacle". But in the longer time frame (which I believe Helene was referring to above), and IF the events occur that Helene projects might happen (e.g., bad reviews, greatly reduced funding, dancers flocking away), then many years from now, as folks look back on all this, I align myself with Helene's prediction that Villella will be judged less harshly than the Board. Especially when you consider that several years from now IF the events occur that Helene outlined, the Board will still be in Miami, and will have to deal with the company and the events; whereas Villella will be long gone living up in NYC somewhere. Meanwhile, and certainly in the present moment, there is plently of blame to go around (......altho, if I had to guess, I suspect Villella's rigidity has to have played a huge role in all this.........as bart comments "Friends warn but are ignored").

Amen. .

The stronger the connection btwn PNB and CPYB, the better I like it! Whatever magic they have at CPYB seems to produce the most incredible dancers.

What an exciting night at the ballet last night was! Two stars were born last night: Leta Biasucci and Ezra Thomson. Ezra absolutely nailed Dr Coppelius.....I might just have witnessed a new gold standard being established. Furthermore, he absolutely loves what he is doing (he was the Q&A guest last night). No surprise, I suspect, to those of us who continue to be blown away by this extremely talented new dancer to PNB. Swanilda is a "perfect" role for Leta, and she made the most of it. Except for her diminutive size, Leta kept reminding me of Carrie Imler (to be expected, I guess, given that they both studied at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary). Leta's speed, accuracy, musciality, acting ability, and presence, a presence that simply dominates the stage, is highly impressive. A stellar career is in front of this determined young lady.

I've read in this thread (or perhaps elsewhere) that some think this War and Discord section seems "out of place" in the overall feeling of Coppelia. I can understand that reaction, although I personally really love this section just as it is. My question is what type of choreography was once done to this music? Or if choreographers before Mr B left this section of music out, the question reduces down to what did Delibes have in mind when he wrote the music as ballet music? I'm so excited that I am going to be able to see this on Friday. Like most of us, I was struck big time from the moment I first saw Leta on stage (I knew nothing about her). Her cupid in Don Quixote was spectacular. Swanilda is another role which seems taylor-made for body type and dancing style (much like it is for Nakamura....my favorite Swanilda so far).

One other comment....... Congratulations to William Lin-Yee for his protrayal of Dr. Coppelius on Saturday night. He produced a very believable character with a wonderful mixture of comic foolishness and tragic victim-hood. William has a terrific sense of acting to go with his powerful style of dancing. I expect this level of skill from the seasoned performers Jeffrey Stanton and Peter Boal, but did not expect such a terrific performance from a young dancer like William. I saw Jeffrey Friday night and he simply out-did himself....he was masterful in this role (a skill that William Lin-Yee freely acknowledged was an inspiration to him as he developed his version of the character). William also mentioned at the Q&A using his own grandfather as a model. Now to see one of the dancers on my "short list" of new young dancers, Ezra Thomson, attempt this tricky role this coming Friday. Frankly, I'm going this 3rd time just to see this young man strut his stuff. IMHO, Ezra is loaded with talent!

Which I found very distracting (as I'm sure others did too). It wasn't clear that Leslie Rausch knew that a piece of fabric was hanging there.....I became anxious that she might trip on it. One disappointment.....I figured someone back stage certainly noticed the loose material and someone would have been dispatched ASAP into the curtained "room" that Swanilda retires to briefly so the offending material could be removed in those couple of minutes, but when Leslie re-appeared that damn piece of material was still hanging there.

I saw the 1st showing on 5/21 at 7pm at the Uptown Theater -- no cancellation was announced or anything like that. BTW, the film is terrific IMHO -- much like "La Dance" except shorter, and more focused on the personal side of the dancers. The film makers did a wonderful job of showing dancers from behind the scenes -- especially during rehearsal and during performance. A few PNB dancers were in attendance. Many of us in the audience, including the PNB dancers, were struck by how many of the highlighted dancers are no longer with the company. For me, there was a special treat. After the showing, there was a Q&A with the director and his crew. It occurred to me to ask a question regarding how remarkable I thought it was that PNB opened itself up for what could be at times a painful or at least embarrassing exposure (as an aside for this posting....HURRAY for the courage of PNB management, I say). I mentioned in my question that I had recently read Stephen Manes book covering that same 2006 season. As soon as I mentioned Manes's name, this very pleasant gentleman sitting 1 seat away from me said "That would be me!". I had randomly sat down immediately next to Stephen and his wife for the showing. I love coincidences like that! The 3 of us had quite an interesting talk in the lobby afterward. I loved Manes's book, and it was a real thrill for me to meet him.

My guess is that Gelb got exactly what he wanted out of this entire sequence of events! P.S. And I still think words like: "dispirited, pretentious, woefully misguided, misdirected, foisted" needed to be reined in. Such words may be "critical", but don't raise to the level of "critical review" in my book.

Well, now I've seen all the Met Ring encore performances. LePage's design continued to impress me thru the 1st half of Gotterdammerung; then I thought it faltered a bit; and unfortunately I felt that the design fell far short of the mark when it came to the ending scene with that climax music signaling the fall of the Gods. I appreciated the crumbling statues as a visual clue, but surely something more grand is required. It's got to build (as the music does), not just be.

I'm with Gelb on this one. Just as Helene points out, no organization would tolerate a subordinate group within the organization that continually undermines the goals of the organization. There are plenty of independent entities out there that can either praise or condemn The Met. This is not censorship, it is merely sensible. I thought it particularly ludicrous that Professor Levin would say: “It’s inconceivable to me that the Met wouldn’t welcome nuanced and challenging criticism." Here's a line from Opera News: “The public is becoming more dispirited each season by the pretentious and woefully misguided, misdirected productions foisted on them.” Nuanced?......are you kidding me!! P.S. Frankly, the criticism from within strikes me more in the vein of "....I've loved opera for 50 years.....why can't they just do operas the way I like them, the way they've always been done, the way I like them." The establishment always resists change.

But not the full Sleeping Beauty as far as you remember, right?

Helene (or anyone), has Maria danced Aurora at PNB? If so, I don't remember when.

Well, I've seen thru Siegfried now, and I must say that LePage's design and The Machine is growing on me. If I were a NYC'er, and was privileged enough to go to the Met live, I think I could live with this Ring.....love it even. Besides.....the singing! Act I of Siegfried with Jay Hunter Morris and Gerhard Siegel was as great as anything I ever hope to see/hear.

Do you really think that mechanical safety was better in 1876 than today.....even if today at the Met the heights may have increased? I'll take today's lawyer ridden, insurance company dictated, safety standards any day if I were ever asked to be a Rheinmaiden .

That is the very clip (I referred to in my 5/8/12 post -- excerpt below) which LePage showed his Rheinmaidens in the "Wagner's Dream" documentary.

Frankly, I think we can be more generous than that. Altho I do think this production had its hits and misses, there were aspects that were, IMHO, spectacular! For example, I doubt I will ever see a more dramatically correct opening to The Ring than in this production. When the lights go down, and that stupendous E flat chord arises out of the depths of being, The Machine was at its finest. As the E flat chord starts to undulate bringing images of nature and the waters of the River Rhein to mind, what could better express those moments visually than how The Machine, bathed in eerie "dawn-like" blue light, starts its undulating sinusoidal wave motion. The wave built like the sound and expressed perfectly I thought the beginning of all -- just as I believe Wagner meant it to be. Congratulations Robert LePage for all the things in this production that DID work......some spectacularly so.

I have to underline Helene's comments here. As much as I enjoyed LePage's Rhine Maidens flying, it didn't hold a candle (IMO) to the spectacle that Seattle created. The key in my mind to Seattle's version of the beginning of Das Rheingold was that the Rhine Maidens could move (and sing) while suspended. They could go up and down and back and forth, in any combination. This made them appear to be actually flying (swimming really) rather than just being suspended. Not only that, but the Rhine Maidens were able to swoop down and interact with Albrecht during the entire scene without ever "landing". In the Met production, I thought the parts of the scene where Albrecht and the RMs were all on the same level surface, bound by gravity, was awkward. I allowed myself to believe that Albrecht could not catch them, but in Seattle since the RMs were always flying, it was real.....Albrecht literally could not lay a hand on them because they could simply "fly" away.

I need to apologize for my early post in this thread. When Ray asked if anyone was attending the Ring, I assumed he meant the HD broadcasts since they had started just the night before. I live in Seattle, and had no idea that the Met in NYC was also performing the Ring live this same week. Clearly, Ray meant his post to apply to these live performances not to the b'casts as I had assumed.

I wish I remember, maybe this will jog your mind bart, but LePage mentioned in the documentary that he purposely changed his use of the The Machine starting in Siegfried (I think he said) in just the sort of way you mention. He said it had something to do with the story or the music.....something......I just don't remember. But to be fair, they also said that the original plan did not include the need to strengthen the floor. The machine was supposed to weigh 50,000 pounds, but ended up weighing 90,000 pounds. Once that "performing arts glitch" occurred, they really had no choice but to move forward. Also, the stronger floor will no doubt will have benefits beyond just this production, and thereby amortize the cost somewhat.

Yes, I saw the documentary "Wagner's Dream" last night, and plan to see the entire Ring encore performances that is being broadcast over the next 10 days or so. I also saw all the operas except Gotterdammerung in their initial live Saturday b'casts. Frankly, I'm loving it. As I stated elsewhere in another BA thread, I am not thrilled by the machine, but not for the reasons most seem to mention. Indeed, I quite like the "feeling" and look of the production. I am particularly impressed that this production carries this opera art form into 21st century technology. After all, what's supposed to happen? Just pretend that computers and everything digital isn't going to affect opera?.....or worse yet shouldn't affect opera?? So why not thrilled? I felt that the machine made too many singers uncomfortable (especially the Rhine Maidens and the Valkuries)....and if they are uncomfortable, then I am distracted because I am uncomfortable. Now that I'm seeing it all for the 2nd time, my comfort level is much higher (I am simply paying less attention to that very human of fear of heights), so I am less distracted. That is one of the primary reasons I so enjoyed the "Wagner's Dream" presentation last night. The documentary (extremely well done IMHO) clearly shows how difficult this "anxiety factor" was for many of the singers (including one of the giants!). Having seen the actual human beings and their real life reactions in the documentary will allow me, I'm sure, to ignore that "fear" aspect of the production over the next 10 days. One thing I hadn't thought of until I heard LePage discuss it in the documentary is that Wagner surely would have attempted to use every piece of technology he could have gotten his hands on to make the spectacle as "other worldly" and "God-like" as possible. I'm convinced that LePage is correct that Wagner himself would applaud all attempts to use technology to create a supernatural world. In fact, a very telling sequence for me in the documentary was when LePage showed a segment of the Richard Burton "Wagner: The Complete Epic" film series where Wagner is shown to expose his Rhine Maidens to some even more scarey and dangerous "flying contraptions" in an attempt by LePage to get his flying singers to accept the premise that his making of such a request was not new and not inconsistent with The Ring. ---------------------------------------------- Later edit....when I posted this originally, I assumed Ray was asking about the HD broadcasts since they had started just the night before. I live in Seattle, and had no idea that the Met in NYC was also performing the Ring live this same week. 5/10/12