aurora

Also, the initial concerns about Simkins' petit size had to do with overall small musculature and bone structure (narrowish shoulder line) and not just height. He was more the delicate type, like Sarafanov at the start of his career. ...My understanding is that Simkin has bulked up, so this may no longer be a problem. He still seems very slight and boyish to me... And even with his more virile type, Cornejo has had a real struggle getting the princely principal roles (I don't mean doing them, I mean being seen as right for them). And partnering is still his weakest point.

You asked if it ranked among the coveted schools talented students would flock to. Judging by the number of people online expressing interest in it or NYCB--"which should I choose?" It seems that talented students are taking it seriously. I said it was a preliminary search and didn't realize you were asking for stats on placement. It seemed you were asking about appeal to students, whether THEY felt it was a good program and my impression (preliminarily) is that the answer was yes. A recent article (2012) about the school in Dance Magazine (i think?) notes their high placement rate in recent years.

Judging from a preliminary search online, I would hazard that you are.

I've already expressed that I enjoyed the Ratmansky Firebird but I saw it again this weekend and felt the same way on second viewing (was it me or did he change it and do more with the Apples than when it was programmed with Apollo? Or did I just notice more this time?) But I wanted to second Nanushka's comment's about Drew's post. I thought it was a really nice summation of how I felt about the piece generally.

If that is the argument I think you better include her racist comments because that is basically the argument

I did enjoy his characterization, however. I just wish he hadn't required the early part of the ballet to warm up. Or maybe it was reserving his energy. Whatever it was, it was a bit of a disappointment. Responding to myself here! I'm still caffeinating.... I just wanted to clarify that I thought his slow start was somewhat of a disappointment, not that the night/performance was. They (unsurprisingly as they are of course a couple) had a really lovely and touching rapport. And it was on the whole very very well danced. I also wanted to say that while salstein is of course not Cornejo as Mercutio, he made the role his own and did a very nice job with the difficult mandolin dance. For me to enjoy someone else dancing that as much as I did, so soon after seeing Cornejo in the role says a lot about the quality of performance. Kudos to Salstein!

That was exactly my thought. That it looked like he was marking. Especially after watching David etch out those steps so beautifully just a few nights earlier. I also thought he improved. He did dance fairly well in the ballroom scene, and even better in the balcony scene. You just don't get the architecture of the steps though. I did enjoy his characterization, however. I just wish he hadn't required the early part of the ballet to warm up. Or maybe it was reserving his energy. Whatever it was, it was a bit of a disappointment.

To me she was completely vulnerable, and they were completely emotionally in sync. I thought it was one of the most emotionally gripping R&Js I've ever seen. She and Hallberg have a complete and utter rapport that is magical. It did not seem calculated to me.

I wish I'd seen that. One thing I remember about Part as Terpsichore at the Met in '99 is her grin. I also remember that grin in '99, I remember all of ABT's muses grinning from ear to ear with Dvorovenko batting her eyelashes at the audience. This time they were all more appropriate, with Part only smiling at a point somewhere around the middle of the pdd. That, to me, is acceptable. Although I agree that,overall, Apollo was very soft compared to what we're used to I enjoyed the performance with the exception of Hee Seo who was simply miscast as Polyhymnia. Hallberg was gorgeous, as were Part & Abrera. There is some sort of confusion here-- in 1999 Part was not with ABT. She may have done this in 99 (she danced it with Kirov) but she was not one of ABT's muses grinning etc.

I wont be "forced" to see it again. Instead I am looking forward to seeing it again as I actually very much liked it the first time. It was not a critical failure and many people did enjoy it.

According to her twitter feed, Joy has been offered contracts as a soloist at the Mik or corps of the Bolshoi and is currently trying to decide...

I am in the "loss for words" camp. It was interminable. 3 hours that felt like years. Black swan in act 1? what? I pretty much agree with everything you said. I did like some of the costumes and sets, but that isn't enough to make a dull/bad/tedious ballet worthwhile. act III was just really really confusing btw, you didn't miss anything!

"Sparse"... 'El Cheapo' strikes again! I love that you can be so dismissive of something you haven't seen. ..... I saw it now. I can definitively state: El Cheapo has struck again! In her review for Dancetabs.com, Marina Harss writes: The designs, by Simon Pastukh (who also worked on “On the Dnieper”) are haunting, weird, almost post-apocalyptic. One could call them ugly. Damn right there! I thought the designs and costumes were very interesting, visually arresting, and not cheap looking in the slightest. From still photos I wasn't sure if I would like the firebird costume itself, but I found I did, quite a bit. And I thought the set design was fantastic. Besides, at least the colors weren't drab, right? ;) I really thought it was a stunning production.

I haven't had the time to write up my opinions but they actually were very much in agreement with yours. I enjoyed Firebird very much and while I like the score I do have issues with its "dancability." So just to voice an opinion in agreement!

And with the casting changes, that is now the cast on the 14th and 19th....

Thanks for the informative comparison, as well as bringing up the giant headaches that would be caused by such a move. I was also wondering about the issues of sets fitting/ and stagings.

They'd of course also have to change the dates to do so, as currently there is significant overlap with NYCB's spring season.... It would make it easier for them to fill the theater. Does anyone know offhand what each theater holds? my impression is that ny state (I will not call it Koch) is quite a bit smaller than the Met.

I don't think the height differential should be a disaster or even an issue. Osipova has so much personality I think she can stand up to anyone. I kept seeing Part cast with Wiles in this and I think tempermentally this will be a much more interesting match. Its also a gorgeous role for Veronika (or has been, and I'm so sorry I don't get back to the US until next week!!).

As its been resolved maybe its too late, but there was something in the wording of this that I found interesting. Above you called this "delivering news you don't want to hear." I would call reviews--both bad and good--opinion. not news. There is a difference and the fact that people don't seem to recognize that is maybe why the MET opera originally wanted to quash the unstintingly negative reviews...

Indeed! I would like to add however, that experienced eyes do not of course, always agree. While this is not the place to discuss reviews, it seems worth pointing out that at least one professional reviewer had the precise opposite viewpoint from Natalia--thinking Hurlin was "a delight" while critiquing her partner for sacrificing musical accent for height. In other words, some very experienced viewers thought she was fantastic. It would be a boring world indeed if we all liked the same things!

I am pretty sure you can stow crutches under the seats because I'm sure my father must have done that. He didn't go really once he needed a wheelchair so I cant speak to that. But he was on crutches from when I was 7 and I know he went after that.

I know nothing about it personally, but I found a book on 4 of the American Indian ballerinas, by someone who knew them and interviewed them. You can see a preview of it here: http://books.google.it/books?id=ZwGIO99UPAMC&printsec=frontcover&hl=it&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false hopefully that will work. If not it is American Indian Ballerinas by Lili Cockerille Livingston

I wouldn't be sure that change/simplification came from her. If you notice all these variations have differences from eachother. Viengsay for example does the early shift in position to an arabesque, while the Royal Ballet version has it a terre. In fact Danilova does do pas de chats. The others are doing gargouillades--which are similar but should have a round de jamb movement of BOTH legs in the air. In actuality, and as you identified with Markova, this doesn't often happen. The first leg does it, and the second does a normal pas de chat movement (Markova), or sort of kicks out before coming in (Viengsay). The best example of how it is meant to look is the Royal Ballet one (I'm sorry I've totally forgotten her name and watching it embedded all I can see are the wrong names!).

I don't really care if they do 28 or 32 or whatever number. I am still impressed with 15! LOL But I was just wondering, b/c especially on videos that I watch I count out of curiosity and I was always confused whether to count the pirouettes or not. If someone just does 10-15 do you just say, for example, "I like her fouettes," or do you still call it 32 fouettes? Is 32 fouettes just a term to describe doing "a lot"? I should have been more clear! I didn't mean you were being. I mean to me, if they do 32 rotations, it counts as 32 fouettes. technically probably it isn't but I am not the kind of person who cares much As for Nina, the way I worded it, it sounded like I was being dismissive of her, "if you CARE about that, watch her." In fact I think her FAST clean singles are one of the most impressive fouette displays I've ever seen. I always found them a bit more impressive IRL then on video, especially a few years ago when she was really in her prime, but she shows you can do great singles at great velocity and make them a massive feat (you dont NEED to throw in bells and whistles to make it a knockout) i think she's fab!

I'm not so fastidious on this. If you want to see someone do 32, watch nina ananiashvilli.