Patricia

Alexandra, Did you start ATONEMENT yet? It's a great story & a great read. I just finished Margaret Atwood's ORYX AND CRAKE. Not a light read for any season; it's a timely cautionary tale much darker than her earlier HANDMAID'S TALE or the sub-plot of BLIND ASSASSIN. Ms. Atwood is one of my favorite writers and this is among her best. My goal by the end of summer is to start Mafuz's CAIRO TRILOGY.

There is a nice appreciation of Ms. Hepburn in this week's NEW YORKER. Accompanying the text are 2 portraits of her taken by Richard Avedon (circa 1950's). In one of them she resembles Martha Graham.

Suzanne Farrell is always going to be my favorite. She was extraordinary. It was magical when she danced with Peter Martins. What else can I say? I also loved watching Merrill Ashley. She made it all look so easy. I envy her SAB students and the dancers in other companies where she restages Balanchine ballets. Kathleen Moore is another favorite retiree. I was so happy when she got the leading role in Lar Lubovich's RED SHOES (which, in retrospect, is a masterpiece next to his recent ARTEMIS). Though regulated to character dancing, Ms. Moore was wonderful in the Tudor and DeMille repertory. FALL RIVER LEGEND's "dream" sequence with her and Cynthia Gregory was chilling. Among active ballerinas I like Jennifer Ringer, Jeannie Somogyi, and Alexandra Ansanelli very much. Also Ballet Tech's Patricia Tuthill, who I hope can continue dancing either with a "re-formed" Ballet Tech or elsewhere. She's too good a dancer not to dance.

The announced celebration is less about Balanchine and more about Peter Martins and Lincoln Center. The complex's "pet" Gergiev is, of course, involved. (Why don't they just give him the keys to the Met & the soon-to-be vacaticed Fisher Hall?) NYCB can justify the involvement of Boris Eifman as much as they please: it's a ploy for a built in audience to come from City Center to the State Theatre. In my readings I was led to believe that while Balanchine was proud of Georgian/Russian heritiage he considered himself an American. Why all the outside influence when he was the one who influenced the dance world? The last Festival was disappointing because many of the ballets were badly rehearsed (i.e., ORPHEUS, JEWELS). Maybe Mr. Martins el al. should concentrate on that.

PILLAR OF FIRE & SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS? Yeah! Thanks for the heads-up!

Baritone & recent CBE Simon Keenlyside does not only have a voice to match his looks and physique (yoga? Pliates? body building?) , he moves well. The WINTEREISSE staging he collaborated on with Trisha Brown is being presented in August @ John Jay College as part of MOSTLY MOZART. It was performed in December '02 as part of GREAT PERFORMERS & I'm seeing it again. Another beautiful face, though it is usually disguised in old-guy make-up, is bass Rene Pape. In April I saw him in person at a Met Guild Seminar & he looks younger than 38...he could easily pass for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s long lost Teutonic cousin! Pape's voice could end up being one for the ages. His acting, particularly as King Marke in TRISTAN, is convincing and moving. I don't know if it was intentional but his Orestes in ELEKTRA looked and sounded like the maenads were already driving him insane. He does GIOVANNI but will instead do Leparello next season @ the Met with another heart-throb, Thomas Hampson. ;)

I voted for "other." ABT has the guys but, (and I apologize in advance if I anger fans), with 1 or 2 exceptions, the ladies aren't as strong or appealing. I might be in the minority but instead of the full-length story ballets I would prefer Tudor, Ashton & DeMille revivals. ABT has an incredible legacy (e.g., FANCY FREE, LILAC GARDEN) they don't take advantage of. Maybe their board doesn't like them or the money just isn't there...Since the George Harrison ballet was a hit, why not a company premiere for DEUCE COUPE? Balanchine and Robbins give NYCB a valuable, unique repertory. For me, this is always going to be "ballet." If Christopher Wheeldon keeps making dances like LITURAGY and POLYPHONIA he might become part of my definition. Peter Martins is incapable of choreographing a great ballet, let alone an interesting one. There are wonderful dancers in each rank but some are never cast fairly and others seem, well, forgotten after initial interest and even promotion. In the last two seasons I've been lucky enough to see Boston, San Francisco, and Miami. They're small, yet solid, enthusiastic, and combine the old and new extremely well. Then there's Suzanne Farrell's company that's performing more frequently and Ballet Tech, which I hope will dance again.

I saw Christopher Wheeldon's new duet w/Whelan + Soto at last weekend's premiere. I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet - sorry if I missed it - but I hope others do because it's tremendous. Wheeldon has my admiration because he's not afraid to explore the neo-classical ideal to the fullest. I don't think any living ballet choreographer has his ear for music. I was skeptical that Arvo Part's music could be used for dancing, but it can. Wheeldon claimed in the NY TIMES that he only uses music he likes: he must like this work for orchestra and solo violin a lot. Despite the title and the composer's established reputation for religious music, LITURGY is secular. A man & woman together, yet isolated. The repetitious, specific arm choreography reinforce a sense of loss. Usually I find the "Jock and Wendy show" tiresome. (My single complaint about this ballet is that the costume makes her look more anemic than usual.) However, LITURGY is a flattering document of their collaboration w/Wheeldon. This time, Whelan and Soto are dancing AND communicating. There is great lyricism despite the (still...) numerous displays of Ms. Whelan's enviable flexiblity. I need to take another look but after this 1st viewing, I think LITURGY has an excellent chance of staying in the repertory. There's no reason why other dancers, including those outside of NYCB, cannot perform it as convincingly as the original pair. Also, I think it LITURGY would make an excellent teaching ballet to demonstrate the art of partering. Here's a nice picture from the NYCB website: http://www.nycballet.com/about/email_060603.html

Food can be ordered ahead of time. Menus are included with mailed tickets. The private dining hall is taking reservations for the ballet performance. Also, if you live in NYC, you can arrange to take the Caramoor Caravan bus. All this information is on their website & their staff is very helpful

I took yesterday afternoon off and was at the matinee. The house was pretty full - and up in the Family Circle there were a lot of enthusiastic schoolkids:) This was the first time I saw FILLE. I can never see too much Ashton, though his ballets are seldom performed. Ribbons, feathers, and clogs make for great dancing. I loved the rooster and hens, especially when they arrive at the harvest. I was sorry they didn't come out for curtain calls. Reyes and Corella were lovely. He's becoming a very attentive partner and she stayed in character despite some extremely difficult choreography. Corella enjoys the challenge. Am I reading too much into it, or was it how Joaquin de Luz played Alain, but that character's treatment reminded me of 12TH NIGHT's Toby - the butt of too many jokes? It was bitter among the sweetness. Bad-luck suitors are usually buffons but this was almost overdone. Though, Alain gets all the good stuff to dance.

I just finished listening to the Martins interview. The artistic director/ballet-master-in-chief claims that his CHAIRMAN DANCES was the "first" all female ballet. I can think of at least three that premiered long before that: GALA PERFORMANCE (the 19th century one) SCHERZO A LA RUSSE ANTIQUE EPIGRAPHS I'm sure there are others... Just think, in August Martins and Gergiev can share their revisionist history of theatre together.

I combined a family visit and an opportunity to see Miami City Ballet perform this beautiful ballet in the beautifully restored Academy of Music. The dancers were all wonderful. They are an attractive, well-trained company with a lot of charisma. . This was the second time I've seen Miami perform, and I wish I could see them more often. EMERALDS posed some technique problems, but when doesn't it? It's so difficult. I've never seen RUBIES danced better and DIAMONDS, was, well, precious. The only complaint is that they perform to pre-recorded music. However, their musicality was such that it didn't matter to them. Still, it is too bad to hear all that gorgeous music canned.

I haven't read through all the posts, so if I repeat anything, forgive me! The music for the DANCE IN AMERICA piece is the same Morris uses in V, which his company premiered in Fall 2001. With V he uses the complete Schuman piece, not just the finale. Mark Morris hostile to ballet? What about DRINK TO ME WITH ONLY THINE EYES? It's lovely and delicately classical. GONG is a more agressive-looking because of the pulsating score and daring (for ABT) duets performed in silence, but uses classical ballet language to the fullest. I started taking Angel Corella seriously as a dancer after seeing him in GONG because Morris didn't make him do tricks.

According to the program notes: Part 1 (SPECTRA-1914) was reconstructed in 1994 by Terese Capucilli and Carol Fried from film clips and Barbara Morgan photographs (which aren't part of the MARTHA GRAHAM IN PHOTOGRAPHS because I checked my copy). Part 2 (STEPS IN THE STREETS) was recontructed by Martha Graham and Yuriko assisted by the Julien Bryan film(no date given). Part 3 (PRELUDE TO ACTION) was reconstructed by Sophie Maslow assisted by Terese Capulcilli, Carol Fried, and Diane Grey from film clips and Barbara Morgan photographs (again, no date given). I once read that SERENADE's opening moments used to make Ms. Graham cry.

I saw the company Friday night. The performance was sold out and very enthusiastic (though a cell phone went off during performance). I hope they continue performing at the Joyce because you can really "see" her choreography. Two of the pieces on the program were new to me. PHAEDRA is far from Graham's best. It's an embarassing, repetitive attempt of material she did better before and after. The portrayal of Theseus as a pompus fool was accurate...but what's the surprise there? That in the 1960's the US State Department considered the dance "obscene" isn't surprising because it's so tacky. Graham's costumes and Noguchi's sets are, as always, magnificent, but there's not much else to work with. The other major revival is CHRONICLE, a stunning all-female dance from the 1930's. The solo that begins is a monumental, mosterous sculpted figure come to life costumed in a full skirt, suggesting either the American or Spanish Civil War. The middle section, STEPS IN THE STREETS, began quietly but ends in a frenzy of movement. Program notes indicate helplessness - but these women were anything but. The finale, UNITY- PLEDGE TO THE FUTURE, when the soloist joins the other dancers, is the most thrilling thing I've ever seen of Graham's. The movement is fast yet never blurred. I'm so glad the company is performing again and offered me the chance to see this one. DIVERSION OF ANGELS was in the middle instead of the opening the program. While I give credit to ABT for attempting ANGELS, it only fully comes to life when Graham dancers dance it. For me, it's perfect art.

Last night's LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER was an hour concert from the Kaplan Penthouse featuring violinist/conductor Itzak Perlman and the student orchestra from his (and wife Toby's) Summer Camp. With the exception of Bartok,Mozart, and Vivaldi's 4 SEASONS, all the music was from Balanchine ballets: SQUARE DANCE, CONCERTO BAROCCO, and SERENADE. Students and teacher seem very pleased with each other. They sounded terrific. Perlman did something interesting and wonderful: for the Bach Double Concerto, he had each of the 13 violinists share the second part while he played all of the first. This made me and increase my admiration for Maestro Perlman tenfold.

I think it's important that artistic directors spend time in the"real" world and develop healthy interests outside of the theatre. A conservatory education is, perhaps necessarily, isolating...can this still work in an economically/politically challenged world? Yo-Yo Ma and John Adams both graduated from Harvard. Kurt Masur was a civic leader in East Germany, a quality he brought to the NY Philharmonic. This kind of "cross over" is more complicated in dance, though the Mark Morris Dance Center has revitalized the BAM neighborhood. And if Baryshinikov does indeed build his training ground in Times Square - then he'll be doing something most wonderful.

Despite his Grammy nominations for the overbearring Russian "contemporary" classical compositions (considering the obnoxious, stupid remarks Gergiev has made about English and American contemporary classical composers), I think that the Maestro records and performs music that will guarantee an audience. Maybe it's Phillips fault but the latest Mariinsky recordings have all been standard repertory - and, as Marc says - played without feeling or emotion. Why a RING Cycle without the right voices, enough rehearsal, or a production with thematic purpose? Because the Wagnerites will come. I hope the Met realizes Gergiev's inflated reputation before considering him as a potential successor to James Levine. A decade ago it would have been exciting but now it just wouldn't work. It's going to take more than Russian opera or "big" works in the repertory to build on.

Ballet Tech's revival of AT MIDNIGHT made me very happy. I love that ballet. The company is coming along very nicely indeed. In the Spring, Feld is continuing his exploration of Conlon Nancarrow's avant-garde music - hopefully with the same four ballerinas who were exceptional in PIANOLA. Both of Christopher Wheeldon's new Lyigeti (sp.?) ballets are incredible. Wouldn't it be fun if all three were danced on the same program? It was great seeing the San Francisco Ballet back in NYC. DAMEND was a shocking, surprising look at the Medea legend. It's powerful stuff. The other new work that made me was Mark Morris's V. While not strickly dance, the best night I spent at any theatre this year was for Mary Zimmerman's METAMORPHOSIS. It's beautiful. Her "take" on Orpheus will look familiar to Balanchine acolytes. A healthy, happy New Year to everyone!

WOW !

Paul Taylor's PRIVATE DOMAIN is my favorite dancer autobiography (and it's in-print). He comes across as a thoughtful, humerous, nonpretentious person and artist. Just like his choreography. The worst? Paul Szilard's UNDER MY WINGS. Ego tripping, name dropping trash talk. A waste of my time and money. While this isn't strictly autobiographical, Francis Mason's I REMEMBER BALANCHINE is a priceless collection of interviews and "first person sketches" from dancers, artists, and writers. The last entry is from his last doctor describing his last terrible illness. I doubt if the book is still in print - dance books disappear so quickly - but it's worth taking the trouble searching for.

Alexandra, Would you - or anyone else - know when SYLVIA is set to premiere? Thanks and happy holidays !

Sadly symbolic of how things get done at the Mariinsky.

I was in Philadelphia this weekend visiting family, the Museum of Art, and beautiful new Kimmel Center. On the Philadelphia Orchestra's concert schedule for 02/14/03 is a "Day of Love" with guests Wendy Whelan and Nikolaj Hubbe. No ballet titles are listed (though Debussy and Ravel are) but this new performing space should accomodate two dancers very nicely. See www.philorch.org for further information.

Takes place this Saturday (11/16 from Noon-6 PM) as part of SoHoStroll. Further information can be found at: http://www.joyce.org/stroll02.html.