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Haglund's

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Everything posted by Haglund's

  1. . . . AND according to the press release on the ABT site, Herman Cornejo debuts as ROMEO with Reyes at the Saturday matinee. FINALLY, the #1 principal role in an evening length ballet. Whooppee. If that goes well, perhaps we might see the two of them in a Swan Lake someday.
  2. Now, this could just be a webmaster's error -- but currently, the ABT website calendar lists the Miami Saturday matinee Swan Lake performance as Kent, Herrera, Saveliev. You don't suppose they plan to split the - no, no, no - it must be a webmaster's error.
  3. A very interesting interview. It was nice to hear him acknowledge that he got the opportunity to dance with two of the greatest dancers - Natalia Makarova and Gelsey Kirkland.
  4. -- I rag on the NYCB orchestra as much as anyone, but everyone realizes, I think, that most of the responsibility rests with the conductor. Yes? -- I'm always a bit wary about calls for a national style, because of the underlying cultural characteristics that permit national style to emerge. Calls for consistent style are just as suspect. What does that mean other than physical homogeneity? The bigger question is: How can a company insist on a consistent or national style and respectably perform a diverse, international repertory? The Royal Ballet still ocassionally puts white wigs on everyone to achieve the desired homogeneity. I'm no fan of Peter Martins, but I do credit him with changing the composition of the company to look more like regular humans. I question whether in the days of Balanchine we would have ever seen some of the pint size dynamos in the company today or even someone as tall as Reichlen. The company still looks somewhat wasp-ish. It's interesting to look at the collection of children in the Nutcracker each year, because it is far more culturally representative of New York than the company members.
  5. Haglund's

    Veronika Part

    What is happening to the world this week? First, the stock markets suffer mini-collapses, and then I come home after a 12 hour work day to see that Part and Gomes have been pulled from the March 18 Detroit Swan Lake. Substituting will be Saviliev and Herrera. Saviliev also subbing for, I forget, either Corella or Gomes in the Miami Swan Lakes. Oh, Buddy, I am so sorry.
  6. I thought the evening was kind of a nonevent. I was one of the first through the ticket taker and to my seat in the 5th Ring. I immediately noticed that the orchestra was self rehearsing like there was no tomorrow. Really diligently working. I thought, okay, this is good sign. The orchestra sounded like a good ballet orchestra. Gergiev probably did the best he could with them and the result was a non-offending, serviceable performance - unlike what we are accustomed to from them. So, in that respect, it was a very successful evening. Yes, listening to Firebird tonight was worth the $20 ticket. The score is glorious, and the orchestra, especially the brass, really came through with a great effort. The evening's choreography was not very fulfilling. In fact, it looked stereotypical and trite. Sorry, but I have had my fill of that 1st arabesque saute with the front arm flying up to the ceiling and the back arm wrenched back behind the shoulder with the wrist and hand winged to make it look like it's even farther back. 150 times in every piece of choreography. The same arabesque saute. Would it hurt someone to choreograph a 2nd arabesque or a 3rd or a 4th? Apparently, it would, because all we see is this same exact 1st arabesque saute a thousand times in every piece of choreography that this company does these days. Walpurgisnacht looked like a bunch of little MaryLou Rettons racing around on pointe shoes. Very athletic but uninteresting. Martins' Jeu de Cartes was -- well, I just should not going anywhere near what I'm really thinking. But the music this evening was lovely, and Gergiev was received warmly by the audience. By the way, he is conducting tomorrow's matinee Met Opera performance of Eugene Onegin which will be broadcast on WQXR locally in NYC and on the Toll Brothers public radio stations nationwide. Listen to it if you can. It may change your life.
  7. I forgot to add that it's great, but completely expected, that Abrera fared so well in both Paris and London. Her artistry, confidence and the reliability of her technique have been increasing exponentially in the past 2 years. I just will not allow myself to miss her performances. Yet another one for whom we can ask: "What's it going to take to push her into the realm of principal?" Edited faired to fared - although I'm still not sure.
  8. Yes, thank you so much for the review. I wonder what the lack of scenery for Spectre de la Rose was all about. Even if they didn't want to spend the money to ship it to Europe, they could have come up with a reasonable window for Cornejo to leap through. After you've fully recovered from jet lag, please tell us about the Friday night Swan Lake at the Royal. I understand that Ms. Ansanelli was part of an awesome pas de trois.
  9. Haglund's

    Veronika Part

    I particularly remember that smoldering Swan Lake on the 4th of July. Who can forget all of the loud shouts of brava from male audience members from every corner of the house after the Act II pas. Part's appeal is in no small way her incredible sensuality. But her gift is to transport us to that place where we just willingly fall into the fantasy and the belief in this incredible creature. Gomes is a huge part of her success as Odette, and the current which passes between them will be very evident to Buddy and everyone else who sees them on March 18. Take a hankie.
  10. I noted one change in the Firebird casting. Rutherford has been replaced by Mearns. I wonder if at the end of Circus Polka, the little girls will spell out V.G. Any wagers? I so hope the NYCB orchestra is up to the challenge of this evening. It could be extraordinary - or disastrous.
  11. Haglund's

    Veronika Part

    Buddy, I had the feeling you lived in the area, and that you would be very pleased with this news. Barring injury, I see no reason why Veronika will not appear on March 18th as scheduled. I generally check the ABT casting web pages daily for changes; so, I will let this board know if anything changes on their site. My only concern is that the Motor City will experience a meltdown from the heat generated by this Part-Gomes performance. You should try, by all means, to get to this performance and take all of your important friends and relatives. You do not want to miss this Swan Lake. I repeat, you do not want to miss this.
  12. What in the world is going on in Toledo? The Toledo Ballet Association is suing its former teacher, Arkadiy Orohovsky, to restrain him from teaching dance within 75 miles of the Association. Who out there has ever heard of noncompetitive clauses in the arts at this level? I find this outrageous.
  13. Haglund's

    Veronika Part

    I noted on the ABT website that Veronika has been given a Detroit Swan Lake performance on March 18th with Gomes!
  14. I really don't see much wrong with dancers being involved in product endorsements so long as they are paid well for them. Do we complain about Andre Agassi's or Tiger Woods' endorsements damaging the sports of tennis or golf? Today billboards; tomorrow television commercials (with speaking lines!). I've always liked the Movado ads with Baryshnikov, Dvorovenko, Herrera and Kistler. I think they are artfully done, reflect well on the artists, and probably help to generate more interest in ballet. Payless Shoes, however, will have to work harder to make me enjoy their association with any of my favorite dancers. I buy Payless Shoes. Nothing wrong with them. It's just that they are not top of the line whereas our dancers are. This whole business of a donor "owning" a dancer comes dangerously close to crossing that fine line between acceptably tacky and grossly tacky. I think the correct term is "sponsoring" - whatever that truly means. (At least they don't use "adopt".) I suspect the satisfaction that the donor derives from this type of arrangement is the sense that he or she is somehow actively engaged in furthering that dancer's artistic development or career. The donor has someone to root for during the performance and brag about at the cocktail party afterward. "Did you see how my (insert dancer's name) did 4 revolutions in her pirouette whereas your (insert dancer's name) fell out of 2. Meow." Those of us too poor to ever attend these functions know in our hearts that this is exactly what goes on at them. Raising money for the arts is not always pretty. Think about it the way you think about the origins of your next hamburger. Or don't.
  15. The 32 fouettes are integral to Odile’s character and exemplify her gross excess and arrogance. It’s like the lady at a party who laughs ridiculously loudly in order to call attention to herself or a woman who wears an excessive amount of jewelry. Distasteful perhaps, but it gets the job done. The excess is an important element of the character. And when Odile cranks it up a notch and does double and triple revolutions during the series of fouttees, it is highly effective. She’s really, really good at being bad, and she succeeds in not only seducing Prince Siegfried but the entire audience as well. Piques in a circle don’t have the same effect. I saw one performance where Jolinda Menedez was Odette and Yoko Ichino was Odile, and it was less than satisfying. The fantasy and magic were compromised with such different dancers performing the roles - although the dancing itself was superb. Contemporary interpreters may claim that Swan Lake is not about identity theft, but for me, that’s still the best story. The Prince gets confused, and he makes a tragic mistake. Simple. Extraordinary.
  16. I wasn't able to locate/access the above link. Would it be possible to indicate the content? Rodney, with Miss Patti, was part of a vanishing breed of nuts & bolts teachers who loved ballet, loved kids, and loved inspiring them to try from 5 years old to 50. A wonderful, big hearted man. RIP.
  17. It seems that a choreographer who decides to use nudity on stage, or vulgarity, or decides to have a performer light up a joint on stage, is doing so to cover up for shallow artistic content. Edginess replaces artistic skill. He can’t figure out how to use the art form’s discipline to metaphorically express his point, so he goes over-the-top literally. I doubt there is ever a case where such a choreographer hasn’t relished the idea of shocking someone -- as if shocking someone is what art is all about. Hey, some people think it is.
  18. Sorry I didn't get this up in time for the Heads Up section. Last evening, WCBS-2 (New York) broadcast a program based on The New York Times’s Arts & Leisure Weekend talks/forums that recently took place. One segment included excerpts from an interview by John Rockwell of Baryshnikov. It took place on a stage before an audience and was edited to include some great footage of Misha’s performances in all genres. An engaging speaker who is creating another performing art out of simply having an interesting face, Misha always chooses his sparse words very carefully, and you have to listen and read between the lines almost the way you did when Alan Greenspan would speak about the economy. When asked by Rockwell whether dancing so many styles prevents today’s dancers from achieving a specific style, Misha acknowledged the pressures to learn so many different styles. He cited ABT to illustrate a company where the dancers must dance Balanchine, Petipa, Forsythe, Tharp, and more, and then said “It’s a business.” I chuckled, because he was the early proponent of expanding the styles his ballet dancers must be fluent in, and he knows it’s not just a business -- it’s survival. Anyway, he never answered Rockwell’s question. But comments he made recently in a Time Out NY interview with Gia Kourlas suggest he is concerned enough about generic classical ballet to want to host some master classes for dancers from NYCB and ABT, when both companies are in town, where he will invite master teachers such as Azari Plisetsky. As Martha would say, “It’s a good thing.”
  19. Hey! Misty Copeland is now listed with Corella in Sinatra Suite for February 7 in Paris on the ABT web calendar. All other S.S. performances are still listed as just Corella.
  20. Yup. He is definitely the team leader when he's in this cast, and does a great job of keeping everyone's energy going when they must be so exhausted. Stiefel was out this fall with an injury, and Hallberg did a fantastic job. But the Stiefel element really adds to the overall excitement. Have to agree that the 2nd cast struggled a bit this year, but only in comparison to the first cast of Murphy & Abrera & Hallberg. But I think ANY cast would look decaffeinated when compared to the first cast, who IMO danced like a bunch of crazy people.
  21. I rarely sit in orchestra, because I usually end up behind someone with big hair or a tall man. The NY Times critics sit house left in L1 & L3; Mr. Barnes sits in J1; and another critic, whose name I can't recall, sits in K1. Those are exceptional views. I'm usually on their par but straight up in the Dress Circle Boxes, which I've come to love. The music is enormous, and while you miss some of the corner action, what you do see is incredible. I see the same people up there all the time - probably some of them are BTers. With regard to the younger dancers not getting opportunities -- it may bother us more than it bothers them. If the spotlight meant so much to them, they would leave to go get it. I don't care for the idea of intentionally denying a seasoned dancer performing opportunities in favor of a young techno wiz who needs opportunities to develop artistically. I know it happens, but it's a quick way to kill morality in any kind of company. If the seasoned dancer isn't cutting it, that's another matter. But to shove someone aside in favor of a younger dancer who intrigues us, because she's a fresh talent and seen infrequently, is wrong.
  22. Basically, the returning subscribers get first dibbs on their old seats and the first opportunity to improve their seating. Then new regular subscribers are seated. The make-your-own (Pick 3-4) series usually becomes available late February, and they are third on the food chain as far as seating goes. Make-your-owns get full exchange privileges, but they won’t necessarily get the same seat location for all performances. Then in April, the single ticket free-for-all starts. A week before single tickets go on sale, all subscribers (regular and make-your-own) can go to the Met box office and exchange tickets. Oh by the way - ABT does not do the subscriber seating; the Met Opera's seating czarina does.
  23. Well, how about a new kind of subscription package called "Debuts" wherein the subscriber is assured of seeing fresh new faces in the principal roles? That would probably sell like crazy at NYCB, but would also do well for ABT.
  24. A little unfair to pass judgment on any dancer, whether Lane or Part, from one performance or just one solo. Both of these ladies are beautiful and interesting dancers in very different ways... depending on the role given. I'd be happy to see either of them in any lead over most of the female principals/soloists currently at ABT. Tremendous credit is due the current ABT ballet masters who prepare a corps member for a moment in the spotlight so thoroughly that it makes us believe that the corps member can now achieve anything in the repertory. If a wonderful dancer like Sarah Lane were in another company, she might likely be thrown out on stage in a Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake for hungry balletomanes everywhere to savor. But throwing a dancer a challenge and preparing a dancer for a challenge are two different things, and it appears that ABT does the latter. Sarah has been lovely when singled out for Theme & Variations, Sinatra Suite, and the Elo and Quanz things. None of that suggests she’s matured enough to hold an entire evening of a Petipa classic. But we sure see it in her future, and we’re always anxious to get to the future. I’m not the least bit tired of the current principals or soloists, and cannot wait to once again see Nina A. in Sleeping Beauty.
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