Haglund's

Found this explanation of a non profit board's responsibilities at Hurwit & Associates website. They are legal counsel for nonprofits. B. General Responsibilities: • Governance: Oversee/Evaluate Review/Monitor • Leadership: In partnership with CEO and management, guide the mission and direction • Stewardship: Ensure dedication to, and use of assets for, benefit of public C. Specific Responsibilities: • Hire/support/evaluate/discharge CEO • Review and approve annual budget • Review and approve major organizational decisions, commitments, and plans including expenditures, loans, and leases.

@ "when some society figure stamps her little foot". To complete your visual - ". . . and shakes her blond head." That's precisely why strong boards are needed - not with society ladies, but with thinking, accomplished (and wealthy) business people who have a passion for the institution's mission. The NYCB institutional mission is: 1) to preserve the ballets, aesthetic and excellence of its founders, and 2) "to develop new work that draws on the creative talents of contemporary choreographers and composers, and speaks to the time in which it is made." So where does R&J fit into this mission? A strong board would have said "No, not unless it can be accomplished in accordance with the mission." The current board may be hesitant to challenge Martins, because he was handpicked by Balanchine. It might seem like they are challenging Balanchine. Presumably that will change when the next artistic director comes on board, and I suspect the artistic focus of the company will regain clarity. OR someone could decide to change the institution's mission. Uh oh.

It probably shouldn't play any role. It's the board's and executive director's responsibilities to find donors and raise money while the artistic director is the guardian of artistic output. A much stronger board may be what NYCB needs, not an artistic director who functions like a king and oversees all things. A stronger board would be able to say 'no' to new, expensive productions that do not fit within the realm of the institution's mission. (I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Martin's production of Romeo and Juliet will be one example as I expect it will be another stripped down, revved-up, Cliff's Notes version of a classic. There is nothing wrong with Cliff's Notes. They are just not the same as literature.) For artistic director, we might hope for someone with the talent and human relations skills of a Peter Boal.

Thanks to all of these great Othello reviews, I'll be seeing at least 3 out of the 4 performances at The Met. I was just wondering - if, in fact, there are some deficiencies in the production as some critics have claimed, can't they be addressed? The choreographer and the composer are still alive and active, and the production is quite brief; so if the artistic team was convinced that some revision would be beneficial, why wouldn't they do it?

Bart, the opera was sung in English, but I couldn't understand a word of it. Could you understand any better in the movie theater? Maybe The Met should include subtitles for this production.

Interesting comment about Rasta Thomas. Some eyebrows went up when it was announced that he would be in two performances of Othello - one in DC and one at the Met. You have to wonder what the reasoning was. He has been dancing with Lubovitch's company for a year or two; so, maybe some lobbying came from that direction. Yes, there is standing room in other Met sections. I stood in Grand Tier one time, and at the first intermission a woman came by and gave me her 'extra' ticket. I was so grateful that I was almost moved to tears, particularly because I could never afford to sit in Grand Tier. So I took my seat, happy as ever, and then it became quickly apparent that the gentleman next to me suffered from either Tourets or severe restless legs syndrome. Every few seconds, he would thrash his legs around, nearly kicking me and the seat in front. At the next intermission, I got up and gave my 'extra' ticket to someone else, and went back to my standing spot.

It's The First Emperor. I have not seen it, but did have the opportunity to listen to the simulcast on WQXR today. As expected, it was challenging simply for its lack of hummable melodies. But it is highly interesting. Placido sounded great -- very seasoned, very royal. When he sounds as good as he did today, I think it's worth sitting through a marginal or even bad production to hear him. I hope to attend one of the final performances.

What a surprise that Kaufman review was! I was really expecting her customary (and inappropriate) slamming of the company. With regard to ABT's shades - they are unique in one regard, and that is the range of physical differences in the dancers. That they can pull off "Kingdom" with such unity and cohesiveness is remarkable. Paolo - regarding Othello - How was Abrera's Emilia, in particular, her exchanges with Iago?

The Paris casting is up on the ABT website calendar. No surprises. However, I suspect there might be rioting in Paris as the result of Carreno's rumba-ing in Fancy Free on the first night and then cavorting in his Acteon costume on the second night. Those lucky Parisians.

I really don’t know who the next AD should be, but I think that perhaps the structure of the position could be changed to a much less hands-on responsibility for maintenance and growth of the rep and more management of the big picture as defined by the institution's mission. As we move further from those who were the 1st hand beneficiaries of Balanchine’s teaching, it becomes all the more unlikely that we will be able to find that ONE person who will be able to do all things the way Balanchine did or Martins tried to do. It seems like the current AD is a bit over-stretched and has micromanagement tendencies which aren‘t necessarily healthy for the organization. It would be a good idea to discourage the future AD from indulging in choreography and make sure he stays out of the business side of the institution. So here’s how I think it could possibly be organized: General Artistic Director [These would be Equal] Exec Dir -- All bus & admin Reporting to the General Artisitic Director: Asst Artistic Director - Balanchine repertory -- Supervises dedicated ballet masters to ensure the standards of excellence, artistic aesthetic and choreography are maintained, and documents changes, enhancements, and individual interpretations of the choreography by the artists. Asst Artistic Director - Robbins repertory -- Supervises dedicated ballet masters to ensure the standards of excellence, artistic aesthetic and choreography are maintained, and documents changes, enhancements, and individual interpretations of the choreography by the artists. Asst Artistic Director -Contemporary Choreographic Acquisitions -- Responsible for exploring and examining contemporary choreographers’ offerings with an eye toward incorporating artistic product into the repertory. Supervises dedicated ballet masters to ensure standards of excellence, artistic aesthetic and choreography are maintained, and documents changes, enhancements, and individual interpretations of the choreography by the artists. Works with AAMD - CMA to match selected commissioned scores with choreographers. Asst Artistic & Music Director - Contemporary Music Acquisitions -- Provides all musical supervision. Explores contemporary composers’ works and has full responsibility for commissioning scores for future use by choreographers selected with the AAD-CCA.

Undoubtedly I’m the last one on BT to finally see this broadcast, which I did last night. I thought it was very enjoyable. Peter Martins came off reasonably favorably. The dancers looked, while not as good as on the New York State Theater stage, very respectable. The rehearsal exchange between Martins and Ansanelli had far less drama than I was expecting. He was there to see her final product, and she wasn’t ready - obviously. Maybe the fault was in casting her in the lead in the first place, considering her injury, inexperience, and lack of preparation time. Again obviously, Martins and others knew that this tour would be filmed and it would have made a good story to witness Ansanelli nail a debut in Serenade the way she did in Coppelia. The one complaint that I have is the editing that made the Vaganova students look like idiots in the NYCB company class. Anyone who walks into an unfamiliar class for the first time has difficulty picking up the combinations. Martins’ mumbling of the barre exercises was unfair to the students, particularly because he had invited them and the class was being filmed.

The soprano was Erika Sunnegårdh, and the debut was Fidelio with an international radio audience of millions listening. I thought her performance was far more than adequate. I attended her subsequent Fidelio a couple of weeks later, and found the performance very good. Sunnegårdh was outstanding in a supporting role in this year's Die Zauberflote and has been given 5 performances of the lead role in Turandot this spring at The Met. She, and her singing, continue to be a great story. The problem with Rockwell's arguement is that today's star dancers are far more artistically flexible than the opera divas. A soprano can sing lyric, dramatic, coloratura, Wagner, or what-have-you roles, but not all of them. They don't frequently cross over from Wagner to a very light role. Their performing opportunities do not cover the spectrum of opera roles. Company associated ballerinas, however, will dance S.L., Don Q., and R&J all in the same year plus maybe some Graham, Taylor, and dare I say, Jorma Elo. (An exception to this might be someone like Alessandra Ferri who hasn't done anything in a tutu in many years.) Singers are becoming more flexible, and are receiving a lot of criticism for trying to do so, but they are still typed and cast accordingly far more than dancers. I would think in that respect, singing would be far less artistically satisfying than dancing.

Fabrizio Ferri has made some creative photographs of late. Not all of them have had his wife as the subject - Stiefel and Murphy in the lake, for example, which I believe may be on the cover of his recently published book. A photograph of his that I truly admire is one which appeared outside of The Met two seasons ago. It was of Giselle (Alessandra) lying in a shallow grave with her arms crossed and a veil partially covering her face. It transported the viewer to a place where the choreography doesn't. I thought it was quite hauntingly beautiful.

I'm afraid I can't help with that. I haven't seen the Bolshoi Opera in full production in decades - more than just a few. The Kirov Opera is making its rounds with its Ring Cycle, which we will see in NY next summer. My impression is that we will probably see the company at its best at that time. The Bolshoi Opera received quite a bit of press in recent months from Soprano Galina Vishnevskaya's outrage over the modernist production of Eugene Onegin which she called "obscene" and "hooliganism" and "They mutilate and destroy compositions, and invent completely false situations that don’t exist in the original works.” I wonder if 'Buddy', who follows the two ballet companies so closely, might have a take on this.

An interesting topic. I wonder if the difference in style these days is anything more than a difference in money had. More than a decade ago, our nearly-departed dance critic John Rockwell reviewed some Bolshoi and Kirov opera recordings for the NYTimes and said: "If the Kirov is the shining example of Russian style preserved, the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow is the saddest case of a major Russian company that has for the moment lost its way." I think this comment came before his conversion to crossoverism.

Thanks, Leonid, for that great review. Many of us here in New York truly miss being able to see Ansanelli perform. It sounds as though all of her Sleeping Beauty performances went very well. I've been watching the ROH website for the casting of the last installment of Swan Lake performances at the very end of the year, because I've got my fingers crossed that she will get one of them. You have to give Ansanelli credit for her courageous leap, but I also credit RB for its unwillingness to exploit her in every Balanchine piece in their rep (which they could easily do), and instead, investing time and effort in her classical future.

That is a nice article! I couldn't help but notice a few weeks ago in the DanceViewTimes review of the RB's Sleeping Beauty how the accompanying photo of Ansanelli in supported 1st arabesque showed such a beautifully perfect front arm and hand whereas the back hand still looked pre-RB. She's obviously successfully making this transition.

The London casting is up on the ABT calendar website, but the Paris is not. It's good to see Stiefel listed for Black Swan and Fancy Free. Corella got the nod for the only London performance of Sinatra Suite. They've added Le Spectre de la Rose with Cornejo and Reyes. Part, Dvorovenko and Herrera will do La Bayadere, Act II. Side issue: I just realized that Dvorovenko is the only one who will be performing both Nikiya and Gamazatti during spring Met season. Is this going to be a Nikiya debut for her? Given what I saw of her toned down demeanor this past City Center season, I think she will be outstanding as Nikiya, particularly in the non-white act temple dance.

I just read in today's International Herald Tribune that this whole incident was caught on tape! Apparently, Decca Classics was making a DVD of the production. Classic, indeed! This has 'Morley Safer interview' written all over it, doesn't it? Here's the link to the article: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/13/features/tenor.php

Have to agree wholeheartedly that this video production was not anywhere near a Murphy best Swan Lake. One thing that I dislike about her Swan Lake and much of her dancing is that she does not present the foot. By that I mean, she doesn't use a beautifully arched foot as an effective tool to convey drama or to advance her musicality. We have definitely all been spoiled by the articulate and extraordinary feet of many of today's top dancers. If a dancer does not have that in her arsenal, then she might tend to compensate with a lot of other ornate stuff which not only detracts from the absence of articulated feet but detracts from the performance as a whole. In the case of Murphy, my sense is that she speeds through the ends of adagio leg movements because the arches and flexible feet are just not there for her to use.

The opening night Othello casting (Gomes, Kent, Radetsky, Abrera, Cornejo) looks strong. No doubt, the drama will be intense with that group. The second night casting looks rather blondish for the production, doesn't it - Hallberg, Beloserkovsky, Hoven - with a bright redhead (Murphy). No doubt, the drama will still be high. I kind of thought that we might see Carmen Corella somewhere in the production, but I guess not. It looks like Stiefel, Angel Corella, and Part are not making the trip to Washington.

Maybe Alagna was also feeling down, because he didn't look as good as Roberto Bolle in his thong and head plume. Go to the La Scala web site for the hot stuff. Scroll down to Act 2, Scene 2.

Coincidently, WQXR just finished playing Gergiev's and the Kirov's complete Firebird. I didn't catch the date of the recording, but it was beautiful. Huge, reliable brass - I wonder if that will be a problem in February?

All interesting points. Don't we wonder what the artistic purpose is in having Gergiev at all? Too often in recent years I've listened to the NYCB orchestra conducted as though it were trying to create a caricature performance - like a speedy cartoon -- way too often raggedly crossing the line from exploiting the music to offending it. Gergiev, even with all of his shortcomings would, I believe, insist on a higher level of respect for the music. The dancers and choreographers, regardless of how great their talents are, are still borrowing someone else's artistic product for their own use. It should be respected.

Just returned from the Ailey matinee at City Center. The program was Memoria (Ailey), The Golden Section (Tharp), and Revelations (Ailey). What a sensational performance from everyone. The dancers looked absolutely stunning in the Tharp. While I'd seen a video of the Tharp dancers performing this many years ago, my only live viewing of this piece was with the vintage Hubbard Street Dance Company, while it was still under Lou Conte. The Ailey dancers were more physical and engaged in the choreography than I remember Hubbard to be, and I'll tell you, the Ailey men should have their own calendar. The company could add Revelations to every program forever, and I would not get tired of seeing it. It's just plain genius, and it's obvious that the dancers love it as much as the audience.