aurora

BUT am I the only one who feels her final act (which is supposed to be a marriage ceremony) seems like the characters are going to a funeral??? I mean, we know everyone is going to die, so, in essence, it is a funeral, but the characters don't know that. I feel like Makarova's final act (which she pretty much created) has such a gloom and doom feel to it even in the dancing that it seems almost funny that a wedding is supposed to be taking place!!!

You have a point, however, I'd keep in mind everyone knows it isn't a happy wedding. Solor DEFINITELY does not want to be there. Gamzatti very much knows that. And there is a shade that everyone feels, interrupting the proceedings. It is clearly, by this point, a forced marriage, and Gamzatti knows that her triumph is only apparent, not real. (Or at least that is how I read it). Hence the ominous feeling over the event. Well that, and, as you say, we know what is going to happen

However, I have never really liked this variation, it does not seem to fit the character of Nikiya, she is sad and full of longing to start with, but when she thinks that the basket of flowers are from Solor it pleases her and she finds a littler happiness, hence the up tempo response, but she is soon betrayed.. I feel the choreography could portray her mood in a much better way. than it does.

I quite agree. It could be that I grew up with the Makarova version which doesn't have that variation, so I am not used to it. But before that, she is so sad and filled with longing and sorrow.

Then...he gives her flowers...and her joy is just TOO MUCH! She is bouncing all over the place. It is manic and almost disturbing (to me), like a prelude to the mad scene or something.

The more restrained joy she shows in the Makarova version just seems more believable and less, well, crazy...

_{Aurora, why should the general public that loves traditional, luxurious painted sets & gorgeous costumes pay 'filet mignon prices' to be served pink slime?}

And I like lush sets, I can also like more modern and artistically adventurous ones if they are appropriate.

.....The stage is sparse, four huge trees loom as the only background, with digital projectionss filling in the rest. .....

"Sparse"... 'El Cheapo' strikes again!

I love that you can be so dismissive of something you haven't seen.

The making of digital projections, btw, is not necessarily cheap.

I note both published reviews raved about the sets.

Another common reason to yawn is need for oxygen. At least when I studied ballet, in hot, stuffy studios without good ventilation, this was not uncommon. Granted I tried to hide it when I did it, but it certainly wasn't due to lack of engagement or interest on my part. Just a simple need for more air. While our teachers were often harsh, I dont think anyone was reprimanded particularly harshly, besides maybe the sharp remark, for yawning in class.

Did he say anything critical about quality of dancer? Maybe they were just not getting along for other reasons. I fail to see how this is sexist, either, as I am reading in various places on the internet.

A particular dancer? no, not in those two interviews. He simply said he didn't like female dancing, didn't find it interesting, didnt want to watch it or think he should have to listen to his partners because of this. (I'm paraphrasing, I read these when they first were posted, but that was definitely the jist)

Take that as sexist if you like, or not. If I was a female dancer it wouldn't endear him to me. It might in fact go a long way towards "not getting along."

We are getting close to the Royal Ballet getting its dirty washing hanging on the line.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/mar/06/sergei-polunin-give-up-ballet

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/9126611/Sergei-Polunin-the-James-Dean-of-the-ballet-world.html

The articles seem to say very little about Royal Ballet and dirty washing, and http://www.bbc.co.uk...london-17250159who doesn't much like ballet. Reading these, I feel sorry for him, but I don't find him terribly sympathetic as a figure. He seems to not care much for the wonderful gift he has, or for the artform besides a joy in performing only, and occasionally in being the best in something.

The negative allusions are clearly indicated in the text both by himself and the authors.

"...but I don;t find him a teribly sympathetic as a figure." Why would you? To do so would mean that you know him well and the situations he has been in.

He has clearly found the Royal Ballet not the home he expected, nor it would seem that he has been partnering the dancer(s) he would wish to partner. Quite clearly this has been a feature of both his discomfort and his displeasure.

I think we read these interviews quite differently and also have a different conception about whether one can find someone sympathetic without knowing them. Perhaps an issue was also me trying to be nice. It might have been more accurate to say didn't find him very likable. if you would prefer.

When I read or watch interviews with celebrities I get impressions of their personalities, interests, and work ethics. I've found some performers I don't particularly like as performers, very likable, and felt that their personalities diminished my liking of others, though I try not to let it alter how I feel about them as artists.

i think you did have a much more sympathetic response to the interviews--seeing the problem as being the Royal.

However when he says he doesn't like female dancing, or think he should have to listen to female dancers when partnering them, says he finds rehearsing boring, and isn't interested in watching dance, I'm not sure what company could make him happy.

If he wants to be a dancer at all, he wants to be a celebrity dancer, not a company member, even one with the highest accolades. Or that is the impression he gave.

And then there is his idolizing of James Dean.

He just sounds (in these interviews) like a rebellious kid who has no appreciation for what he had. Literally a rebel without a cause.

We are getting close to the Royal Ballet getting its dirty washing hanging on the line.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/mar/06/sergei-polunin-give-up-ballet

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/9126611/Sergei-Polunin-the-James-Dean-of-the-ballet-world.html

The articles seem to say very little about Royal Ballet and dirty washing, and a lot about a rather sad man (boy really, he comes across emotionally), who doesn't much like ballet. Reading these, I feel sorry for him, but I don't find him terribly sympathetic as a figure. He seems to not care much for the wonderful gift he has, or for the artform besides a joy in performing only, and occasionally in being the best in something.

Is that because you basically have to do what the particular director of the particular staging tells you to do? I am asking b/c I want to learn. Cristian told me that the diagonal is done in Cuba, but rarely anywhere else because it has been omitted so regularly.

I think that is a very good question, with a range of possible answers depending on the situation. I'll take a crack at it, if other people haven't said what i mean to, when I have a few minutes free to give it the time it deserves (am running around with houseguest)

Some sketchy impressions on MCB Giselle.

On the contrary, maybe at the age of our three Giselles-(Kronenberg, Albertson and Catoya)-this is a better understood subject, which is one of the reason that, on one side, I love to see mature dancers on this role. Sadly, on the other side, there's the inability to be technically proficient to execute Sppessivtzeva's diagonal, at least over here...

That diagonal is just not a part of MOST stagings. I don't know the MCB dancers and maybe you are right and they cant do it. I know it is very critical to you for a giselle. But for many people and many stagings it is not. I don't know if the omission of it is due to lack of technical proficiancy, and really I think it is a staging choice. You can hate that choice but i don't think its fair to chalk it up to lack of ability in the dancers. I'm sure ABT for ex. has had dancers who COULD do it. I KNOW that osipova could, but she doesn't.

I think it's worth noting that the company has had repeated budget problems, all with Villella at the helm. While its artistic success is undeniable, it seems to lurch from year to year facing budget crisis after budget crisis. And while the 2009 FY showed the expenditures to be closely aligned with receipts, the two years before that showed deficits totaling almost $3.5 million. The Huntington Post article suggests that the deficit demons have returned. With an aging demographic, an aging AD with limited management skills and no apparent succession plan, the board can be forgiven for looking ahead to a change that, while uncertain, may be in the best long-term interests of the company.

In these economic times I think that a lot of arts institutions (like individuals) are having financial difficulties.

Yes it is an aging population but there are always new older people coming, it is Florida after all, and a lot of these people have disposable income. He isn't that old, and a succession plan was discussed.

I'd like evidence that before Villella there were no budget problems. I wouldn't know, because quite frankly before Villella was the company anything more than one of hundreds of regional companies? I don't think so. I certainly never heard about it.

The label "principal dancer" is not a legal term as far as employment law is concern -- it is more of an honorary title. Different companies organize their hierarchy in different ways with different labels. At a company like ABT, where they have a long-term relationship with certain guest artists, the title "principal" probably refers more to the level of role they are assumed to dance than to a place in the employment hierarchy of the company.

In other, smaller, groups, dancers often work on a short-term contract that spells out obligations and leaves open their options to work elsewhere. You might perform as a principal for them in the three programs they have scheduled, but only be obliged to be exclusively available to them for three distinct periods. And many smaller companies still do not hire union employees.

Working in the arts, dance included, often means working outside the standard employment practices. It's difficult to fit into the paperwork matrix of mainstream employment, where one person has one employer all the time.

The ABT artist in question is not a guest artist. I was focused on union issues from reading about PNB in the Manes book. I remember reading something elsewhere about a union in NY. Would individual dancers negotiate their own contracts and rates?

I assume the dancer in question is named in the book?

Could we go ahead and just say who and what we are talking about? Reading this thread, for those who haven't read the book yet, feels like sitting in a room where everyone is whispering about something that THEY KNOW, but you don't. I realize we are trying to be discreet but as its published in a book I think thats being a bit excessive and it is a bit confusing to follow.

maybe he should consider donating those proceeds back to the company so they don't have to lay off dancers again,

Villella laid off dancers as well, and I understand they got the news in the mail.....

I remember that, and I found it very distasteful. I recognize that at times, in any company, layoffs may have to happen, but the manner of those seemed especially cold.

I was just making a joking comment that if, in fact, the justification for Martins salary being approximately twice that of any other AD was him choreographing ballets that quite frankly nobody (almost nobody? I'm sure SOMEONE must like them) wants him to choreograph, maybe it would be nice for him to donate some of that back.

The emoticon was supposed to indicate the kidding/irreverent nature of the comment and I apologize if it didn't come across.

The PNB book by Manes posits that Martins's compensation may include royalties from his choreography, not just his salary.

If thats the case, considering how much higher Martins' salary is than anyone else's, and how, ahem, WONDERFUL he is as a choreographer, maybe he should consider donating those proceeds back to the company so they don't have to lay off dancers again, or so they can hire talented choreographers to come in since they make such a point about how critical that is to NYCB's mission.

I'm not sure, by the way, that I would give Villella all the credit for bringing in those "originators" to stage the Balanchine works; it's just as likely that the Balanchine Trust is responsible for that.

Perhaps, but some of those originators are not the standard stagers of the ballets. For example input from Violette Verdy and Suzanne Farrell for "Emeralds" and "Diamonds" is quite special.

Its been my understanding from things posted on here (i think!), that Villella has been very clear on wanting to bring in those originators of the roles. That this was something that he saw as his part of his mission to do the ballets to the best of the company's abilities. Maybe someone remembers better? I do not think the Balanchine trust is responsible.

.

- Let's also not forget that Villella is unusually well paid for someone in his position. My point is that a new AD would probably cost the company less. Depending on what that person brings to the table in terms of idea, continuity, management skills, and fund raising ability, the net benefit could be quite positive.

Someone with the longevity and accomplishments of Villella likely would make more than a new person brought in, although that's not always the case. Getting the younger person cheaper is a standard business strategy. Sometimes it works, and sometimes when you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

to the peanuts comment!

[edit: the rest of this is directed at checkwriter's comments, not Helene's!]

Quite frankly I don't think it was "proved" that he was particularly well paid. The percentage of the total expendatures of the company is not really the pertinent factor I dont think. As you pointed out, he makes half of what Peter Martins does. And I think it would be impolitic to ask whether one thinks Martins is working twice as hard or doing twice as good a job, or is twice as valuable to the company. Perhaps the company has considerably lower expenses because they don't commission a lot of schlock every year that one sees for maybe one subsequent season and then, no more .

Ok, that is neither here nor there, but as a top AD of one of the most well regarded companies in the US, I don't think you made the case that he was "unusually" well paid. And really if they want to maintain their status as a top ranked company, they are going to have to get someone else with some prestige (like PNB did), and it is unlikely that person will come cheap either.

Oh, Sizova was TOO MUCH...!!

Aurora..I think there's a simple explanation to why do we see things different. Or better, could it be that you truly SEE what 'm not really capable to...? I think the teacher's approach, after so many hours in the studio dissecting every single fragment of a movement and position to its very bare bones, is a completely different animal, which makes quite difficult to take a look at a piece of movement without getting into a proper formal analysis. On the contrary, me, a non expert , when faced with the lack of that type of knowledge, have to rely, rest and respond to different signals, which can become-(and indeed HAVE become)-, in my inexperience eyes, monumentally important.

I think Christian you may be right.

BUT there are certainly many dancers on which we do agree!

Alonso, of course. And I am guessing you enjoy Maximova as in the clip I posted? and while unfortunately my connection is being too poor to let me watch video at the moment and it has been so long since I watched her that I could be wrong I believe I enjoyed the clips of Sizova that I've seen very much.

Thanks, Christian, for making the case so clearly -- esp about Struchkova --and also about hte neeed to keep Kitri different, essentially different, from Raymonda and all the rest of those girls who do lots of passes..... its in the asdverbs, thespeed,elan, attack, and posture. Kitri and Paquita, for example, are both Spanish girls, but they're VERY different and should not take the same pose the same way.....

I really thought pointed feet in passe was pretty standard to ballet. I guess I was wrong (as were all my teachers at the Joffrey and SAB)

Definitely NOT wrong...(and please, allow me to take the liberty to say so, even if I know nothing about what life in a ballet studio is and feels like). Yes, it is standard to ballet technique, but not enough to make a female ballet dancer a ballerina...

I never said it did.

I am in favor of artistry, and I do like many older dancers, including your darling Alonso.

I'm also not opposed to taking some liberties and believe in some personal expression. But when that expression makes your technique so blurred that it is completely beyond correct technique as in that clip (i was taken to task before for basing my opinion on a single clip, but that was being discussed, that clip as the quintessential version of this variation), I'm sorry but it looks bad to me.

I have absorbed what i guess are modern aesthetics enough that to me its just aesthetically displeasing. But really I don't think that is the issue because I *never* have an issue with Alonso's technique, for example.

If you lose all ability to do it properly just to do it that fast, you shouldn't be doing it that fast in my opinion. It doesn't have to be so slow that each passe is exact and sustained, there is something that is neither sloppy nor slow and boring or however you characterized the "modern way" (though watching say Osipova do it, I don't think that would be a fair assessment of her approach)

I much prefer Maximova in the second half of this clip:

Thanks, Christian, for making the case so clearly -- esp about Struchkova --and also about hte neeed to keep Kitri different, essentially different, from Raymonda and all the rest of those girls who do lots of passes..... its in the asdverbs, thespeed,elan, attack, and posture. Kitri and Paquita, for example, are both Spanish girls, but they're VERY different and should not take the same pose the same way.....

I really thought pointed feet in passe was pretty standard to ballet. I guess I was wrong (as were all my teachers at the Joffrey and SAB)

The other way to think of it is qualities of past performances that we still appreciate today. I see that in the Alonso, Makova, Maximo performances, but despite their good qualities, those performances would never make it to the stage today.

with regards to Alonso, technically, when in her prime (not when she kept performing after she ought not to have) she has always struck me as someone who COULD hold their own against modern dancers. Her extensions aren't the same, but I see that as as mucha matter of choice as ability perhaps. I wonder if in her case its a sense of DRAMA--writ large, that seems out of keeping with modern sensibilities. Because her technical abilities really were ahead of her time.

When thinking and talking about sharpness and brisk movements, I always point to Raisa Struchkova...I think this Kitri variation is the most perfectly executed-(and fastest)-I've ever seen live or in video. My standard for "sparkling", that is...

And for me, that is one that most certainly does not hold up. I'd rather have less speed and have turn out, pointed feet (for me, those are the point--no pun intended--of a series of passees) and straight knees.

Sorry, this does have its charms (including her adorable demeanor) but it also shows everything I find problematic in some earlier dancers.

There was a program insert listing Craig Salstein as the Bronze Idol.

Bad news that Simkin is out (injured?) but I'm so glad Salstein is still getting this role. He was (surprisingly?) good in it during the last run I saw in NY, maybe 2 years ago? I feel like he is often underutilized except in humorous parts.

I think it's the first time he's danced with the RB so there will be a lot of interest - though it won't make much difference to the box office as the performance, which also includes Marianela Nunez making her debut in Song of the Earth, is already 'returns only'. My only slight concern is that he may be a bit tall for Cojocaru.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. He really has the ability to make any partner look marvelous, it is really one of his great gifts. And while given the relative lack of tall strong men at ABT he often partners the taller women, he does partner smaller ones as well on occasion, and I've never heard nor observed it to be an issue.

I look forward to reports!

Gomes replaces Sergei Polunin as Oberon in just one performance of The Dream next week - 9 Feb - dancing with Alina Cojocaru. This sounds like good news to me (that Gomes is coming, not that Polunin has gone!) - any comments from people who've seen him in the role?

My memory is rusty on him in this, but really I think getting Gomes is always a good thing.

He is an incredibly dedicated and engaged dancer who is one of the most fantastic partners around. Superb technically, but also at creating emotional connections with his partners. I know there should be reviews of him in the role in the archives of the NYTimes online...

She's gorgeous, and he's matinee-idol material.

agreed! Oddly the one that they seem to have chosen as the "poster image" (that is, the one with the text up next to it) strikes me as the least flattering image of him. He has much less chin than he appears to have in the video and in the other still photographs.

Janet, now you've really got me thinking! I've never seen this sequence from Swan Lake where the ballerina failed to complete the steps. Has anyone seen that, and what do the dancers and the orchestra do in that case?

I did. It was disaster. Maria kowrowski got *maybe* halfway through, going more and more off-center the whole time. then she just fell out of them.

She tried to improvise. Went into an arabesque. But was so discombobulated it was impossible to go on. So she walked to the side of the stage and just stood there while the orchestra played on...

Really one of the most painful moments at the ballet I have ever sat through.