aurora

because a lot of this thread has dealt with possible ticket selling difficulties I just wanted to put this in some perspective. Hopefully this is not too OT. I was able to get discounted ($26) tickets for almost every performance of the Kirov at the not terribly large City Center last april. Similarly for Miami City Ballet's NY debut (yes not as big a name, but a much anticipated debut in NY as one of the foremost Balanchine interpreters) i got $26 tickets to opening night--first row center. I don't think either tour was considered a failure.

I think most people who have been laid off, especially in this economy where NO ONE is hiring, probably don't really care that it costs their employer! sorry for being a bit OT, but my sympathies are primarily with those who now have no jobs.

But she's not retiring yet. Not even at the end of this year's spring season. If she's still performing then yes, a critic should still do their job and critically assess that dancer.

Hooray! one can get a chance to see Somova as the lead in everything they are doing (well the Balanchine as casting isn't up but one can assume she'll be cast in that as well)!

I actually didn't see to what you are referring particularly, but the arms folded closely is a Balanchine stylistic choice in pirouettes. Perhaps not appropriate to the piece but indicative of the style in which she worked primarily. I am not sure if that is what is going on here, but it seems a likely possibility

you can see this here: (it is put on youtube by the company which released video of it so I assume that unlike many clips there are no copyright issues to hamper putting up a link)The topic starter said: check out 3:40 on the youtube video linked above--I think you will find differently

Interesting distinction. I think you can be charismatic certainly without being glamorous (President Bill Clinton springs to mind). But I think Charisma is probably an essential element in glamour. I don't really see that peacocks are charismatic though. Charisma is, to me, a force of personality that I don't see that one can ascribe to an entire species of birds.

I actually have the opposite reaction, fairly adamantly. I would say the 80s-90s were the height of pressure for thinness in ballet. Looking at ABT at least there are many dancers, some with great success, who are not bone thin. No one comments (sorry to name names, but i mean NO offense) on the fact that Gillian Murphy has a womanly body. It is accepted. She is a beautiful dancer with a physique that enables her to achieve great technical feats. But in the late 80s-early 90s when Tina LeBlanc was a star with the Joffrey, reviewers routinely commented on the size of her breasts and how they were unballetic. I would say the trend, on the whole, has been for the better.

the center of gravity and type of movement is totally different in many types of dance. particularly as regards hip movement, which is NOT a part of ballet but is a part of many other dance genres. That said, certainly people who are trained in dance are much quicker at picking up combinations and steps--as you are used to doing so. I recently started a new dance form (belly dance) which has almost nothing in common with ballet. That said, every teacher I've been to has been able to tell I have dance training.

Isn't Gomes, at least, an 'international star' by today's standards? If not, then who is and how does one determine it? By how much they guest with other big companies? I don't think the term means what it used to, because there aren't any international ballet names like Fonteyn, Nureyev and Baryshnikov. I'd seen NYCB for years, but until I came to BT, I never heard of Lopatkina or Vishneva, so I think they're only known if you're involved in a non-casual way as well. But I don't know either. I would argue Hallberg is as well--He has done extensive touring in Japan, Russia etc, and I would imagine he wasn't asked to perform at the Maryiinsky festival due to lack of celebrity! I believe Murphy performed there last year in Swan Lake as well. As for Stiefel--I guess it depends who you are asking. While his recent career has certainly been marked by injury, didn't he do that "4 Kings of Dance" thing or whatever it was called? And then there was that movie...which probably makes him a bigger star than any of the others according to some standards...

While I agree with this in principle, I think it is perhaps expecting a bit much from the general audience. A lot of people do not find the mime very accessible. I love it (and really prefer when it is included) but to the lay modern audience I don't think it is easily understandable. I don't think the prologue is necessary, strictly speaking, but I think it probably *does* enrich the experience for a lot of viewers, and I don't find it distracting or to diminish the strength of a production. Its short, if you don't like it you can close your eyes and listen to the music Additionally, in ABTs (much criticized) production, where you have *2* versions of Von Rothbart--the swamp thing and the suave princely VR--the prologue serves to clarify that distinction/connection, eliminating possible confusion when the elegant Rothbart shows up for the ball with Odile.

I might be a chump but I'm traveling from NY to DC to see Part in SL--and I'm not the only one on the board who is doing so...

Without a mega-star name or a famous name company, I think it is simply that it is easier to sell Swan Lake rather than any other ballet. This seems an odd response considering the topic here is ABT in London. I know you were responding to a question not directly about ABT, but the implication is that they are not a famous name company, which, if not perhaps in the top 5, still seems inaccurate.

Not so much no preparation, rather a preparation from an elegant lunge instead of the "double squat." It drives me nuts to see a dancer start a pirouette from a 4th pos. demi-plie in a Balanchine work. In any work, actually, since Mr. B's dancers have proved the unflattering position unnecessary. the difference is not just in the plie, but also in the arms. Instead of curved arms, balanchine style, at least as it was taught at SAB, is to have arms pretty much fully extended in the preparation, and then, instead of bringing the arms in to a typical first position, the arms are brought closer to the body, overlapping, as one often sees dancers do in partnered pirouettes so as not to whack their partner. At least this was what was taught in the 90s at the school.

Potentially OT: I was thinking of going to see ABT in DC as we are not getting the Part/Gomes pairing this season in NY. Anyone have any recommendations for reasonable/decent places to stay in DC?

It is absolutely disgusting. Sorry, i try to be measured on here, but that is just hideous!

I think he was saying he is bored by this particular ballet and intimating she was as well. The prior line read: "But the ballet palls. It is not my mind alone that glazes over in such fare."

and we won't be getting it this spring either--I think I might do the same! (though to be fair I enjoyed the Part/Hallberg/Gomes one of last year, and am looking fwd to the Part/Bolle one of the upcoming season!)

possibly (probably?) I think it also speaks to the fact that those of us in NY (one of the largest contingents on here) and in the US generally have a lot more opportunities to see them. Since I *can* see them, with some frequency, they aren't nearly as enticing as companies that come here infrequently, such as the Bolshoi, Paris Opera, Royal Ballet, etc. Of course NYCB has a few votes, I'd be interested in whether that is because they tour less or if it is NYers who put them top of the list. Also, the fact it is a dream ballet experience, and you could, in theory, go back to any point in time probably makes this poll less "accurate" as a gauge of who people really want to see than if it was a possible experience.

I wouldn't mind seeing the R&J with Makarova where McKenzie forgot to take off his warmups for the death scene. I lost my taped video of this years ago. I'm guessing that will never be released though

well, yes and no. First I agree it is surprising Kourlas doesn't know this, but to expand upon the subject a bit... One it seems more typical of the Kirov dancers than the Bolshoi dancers. So perhaps it should be called the Kirov or Maryinsky version, not the Russian. see Osipova: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lYICgpHZrM at 7:30 (sorry I have seen her do better fouettes than these but it was the first I found) or for a very different example, Ananiashvilli: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky_bW3T60J0 which is more kick, but still does have a degree of whipping motion. furthermore, I do think Somova's lurching is distinctive from others, even within the Kirov. Yes the "Russian method" is more kick than "stir" but look at Tereshkina (who is the best technician of the Kirov dancers I saw in NYC): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TnAkuVTAhU at around 8:43. She most definitely does the "stir" variety (and they are lovely, despite the bad video quality) or watch her in the don q fouettes (the same as I posted earlier for Somova) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=122BRcm3Po4 big difference, and to me, much better!

...a point was established already that it is yellow. LOL! Is there a Hair Style Talk site somewhere? I'm guessing there is. I think there is plenty to criticize in her dancing without making fun of her hair. I wouldn't exactly call it a halo, but I was much more interested in Kourlas' description of her fouettés: she certainly did "kick" a lot in her fouettés--but I thought this was awful, she looked jerky and off balance. In fact with the exception of Tereshkina, I didn't think any of the Kirov stars had very pretty fouetté turns. But Somova's were absolutely the worst--she positively lurched in my view. So to see those turns especially praised is rather shocking to me. I found this on youtube but one, they look considerably better than what I saw in NYC, and two the angle obscures her lurch when she comes off pointe. Still I don't see them as model turns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uODhUQb8lPg

that tutu is inded from "Pharoah's Daughter," and that dancer is Jensen. And as Helene says--nothing exaggerated.

She is blonde. I would not call her hyper extended, however. Her extensions to the side are high, but not out of the (currently) ordinary, and from the clips I've seen her arabesque is perhaps a bit on the low side. Nor have I seen evidence of Somova's extreme distortion of line. I'm guessing from the blonde, however, that this is who you are talking about. I have no objection to calling a 16 year old vulgar as did another poster, if you put yourself in this sort of competition you are asking to be judged. I do, however, think it in rather poor taste to do so without doing the leg work to confirm that you are in fact discussing the dancer you think you are. There are clips of her on youtube and I'm sure you could google her to confirm if she did indeed perform Pharoah's Daughter at 2007 YAGP. If you are going to assess a dancer negatively I think it behooves you to make sure you are talking about the right person.

I believe they said at the Tudor night that the sets had been sold. I wonder if they are still in existence and if, perhaps the owners might loan them to the company--you would think it would behoove them to do so.