sneds

Actually, A. A. Milne is British-he was born in London, so Winnie the Pooh is as British as Peter Rabbit. Charlotte's Web would definately have been a better example, if that's the point she was trying to get across. Kate

Hi! Phew...nice to know that my new contacts lenses are fine. I thought I knew a whale when I saw one, especially that whale!-a shark wouldn't have much sense in the context of the ballet anyway. I too, was puzzled by Kisselgoff's review. Yes, the original idea for the story came from a piece Wheeldon wrote as a child, so it makes sense for the ballet to have a British feel. (Not that it couldn't have happened in NY). Though there was one reference to "New York Suburbian siblings", the rest of the narration was essentially "place and time neutral". Thus, I had no problem with the costumes, and thought they were rather delightful. And, I didn't mind (or for that matter, notice) that the costumes didn't completely stick to one time period-it's a dream after all, and it gave the piece a sense of timelessness, which will help it to avoid looking dated. It's a wonderful ballet and I can't wait to see it again, whale and all! Kate

Hi! A question for those of you who have also seen Wheeldon's new piece...in her review today, Kisselgoff identified the backdrop during the librarian/fish section as a shark. I thought it looked more like a whale... Anyone care to comment... Kate

I think what Alexandra just said probably better characterized Wheeldon's ballet than my words...it is classical, but not necessarily in the most traditional of senses! Sometimes I can't always translate what I see very well into words! Kate

Apologies, I seem to have to have lost the actual program, so I'm going from memory. I think Van Kipnis and Rutherford were the tortosises, aka the two old ladies in the park, who perform the world's slowest can can. The dance in Wheeldon's piece was not really classical, in the sense that it was created around animals (baboons don't know Vaganova from Balanchine from Cecchetti...!), but involved plenty of classical steps mixed into acting and moves from sports & dance. The "fossils" danced, though creakily in a perfectly classical style, and Askegard was impressive in a long series of turns in second. And of course, Redpath, even in high heels is full of classical style. I was admiring her carriage and gorgeous arms. I haven't seen and/or remembered enough of Martins' other ballets to Adams music to comment on this new ballet. It just didn't touch any of my "this is something worth remembering" ballet buttons Kate

Hi! Here are my brief impressions... Peter Martins' new piece was "previewed" and I was not impressed, at least on the first look. It looked under-rehearsed and didn't grab my attention in a way to make me remember anything in particular. Dancing were: Kistler, Soto, Millepied, Martins, Ansanelli, Taylor, Somogyi, Marcovici and Weese and Neal. Black/grey unitards for the men, solid colored long dresses for the women. The dancers entered and exited through blacked out openings in the backdrop. Wheeldon's new piece however, was wonderful. Joth Lithgow's text and narration was delightful-the story is about a boy who falls asleep in the Museum of Natural History and dreams about the people he knows as animals. The characters are distinctly British, mostly obvious through the costumes, but the language was universal. The costumes were imaginiative, and the sets mostly consisted of backdrops and some pieces of furniture. It seemed like a ballet the dancers probably enjoy performing as much as the audience enjoys watching it! Among the highlights: Christine Redpath as the Swan, aka the little boy's aunt who attends the ballet and has always dreamt of dancing Odile/Odette. Absolutely lovely, touching solo (in high heels), showing off Redpath's ageless talent to the "Dying Swan". John Lithgow, completely disguised at the Elephant aka the boy's rotund school nurse, in a hysterical pas de quatre waltz with the shortest corps guys as pink/white tuxedoed mice. The mice get one heck of workout dashing around, keeping the elephant upright and partnered. Adam Hendrickson was particularly amusing as one of the mice. Jason Fowler, Ask laCour and others as the Hens & Cocks, aka the fussy parents of the boy's classmates. Some strutting like you've never seen on the NYCB stage before... Arch Higgins as the Baboon, aka the frenetic piano teacher, complete with hairy body and LONG arms. Yvonne Borree as the Kangaroo aka the timid librarian who comes out of her shell to become a mermaid complete with chorus line of fishes! Corps guys and apprentices as the JackAsses aka the school wrestling team (who are always teasing the girls, but as they boy suspects, probably are rather interested in the girls), in grey wrestling singlets and enourmous donkey ears. They performs a funny dance, choreographed out of wrestling moves. James Fayette and Kyra Nichols (replacing Jenifer Ringer) in another touching pas de deux, as the boy's parents aka the cuckoos, upset that their child is missing Askegard was the school teacher aka the lion, and the ballet also included the school girls (birds), the boy's classmates (laughing hyenas), a corps of dancing pink dinosaurs, aka "the fossils" (think creaky). And of course, SAB student & very red-headed PJ Verhoest as the boy. There was quite a bit of acting and dancing involved in the role, which required him to be on stage almost the entire time, and he was wonderful. Reminded me a bit of the actor who played Harry Potter's friend Ron in the Harry Potter movies. Wheeldon did a great job of picking his dancers, who each seemed to really fit their role personality wise and dance wise. Much laughter from the dancers and students, and everyone else in the audience. Definately a keeper, even if someone else may need to do the narration when Lithgow is not available. Kate

Hi! I'm well aware of the backgrounds of the NYCB principal men...Neal went to St. Paul's in NH, BTW. Does anyone know who directed their ballet/dance program back then? (Didn't someone else take over recently?) To come in from a slightly different angle...I think my point is that it is much more common for advanced students to do a "finishing" year or two at SAB, rather than spend their whole student career there. Thus, I don't think that the current NYCB principal men represent anything different from the norm. (Actually, among the soloists and corps, Ask laCour and Andrew Robertson are the only male dancers who didn't attend SAB). And, I don't think there are many dancers in the company who spent more than two or three years at SAB (Peter Boal and Carrie Lee Riggins are two who did spend many years at SAB). Kate

Actually most of the current principals were trained, at least partially at SAB: Soto, Woetzel, Boal, Millepied, Fayette, Neal, Martins and Evans are all SAB grads. Hubbe, Tewsley, Marcovici and Askegard are the exceptions, but all except Macovici came to NYCB from another company. Kate

Quick thoughts.... La Bayadere: Waltz & Pas D'Action Stiefel & Dvorovenko...nice, and looked appropriate for the full Met Stage The Leaves Are Fading PdD McKerrow & Gardner-I love this pdd, but it was an odd excerpt and looked very out of place on that large stage. Lovely though... Esmeralda PdD Herrera missed the first tambourine tap with her toe, and was technically fine, but not the most exciting of performances. Gomes is a wonderful dancer, but this was not the best display of his talents. Still cheating the rotations in his tours. Hereafter (preview from new piece by Stanton Welch). Very short, and I thought they would have been much better off using Corella in a traditional pdd. This was not long enough to get much sense of the piece. Diana & Acteon pdd Murphy and Carreno got the audience going. Huge high jumps from him and those incredible multiple pirouettes from her. As good as it gets! Don Quixot-Act III Pas de Deux a Quatre Hysterical pas de quatre with three ballerinas (Tuttle, Anaiashvili, Reyes) and Julio Bocca. The ballerinas keep appearing to the frustration and amusement of the guy. At one point he peeks out of the wings to make sure he actually has the stage to himself. When he finally starts the bravura solo, Ananiashvili appears and does part of his solo. Bocca was incredible-I think he did 6 or 7 (8?) consecutive double tour-pirouettes without stopping. In the end the "tortured" danseur runs off stage and returns to stab himself with the fan. Delightfully wicked comedy, with great dancing! Swan Lake waltz...nice, but nothing special. Belotserkovky moves like velvet though-beautiful to watch with his long, stretched limbs. The evening ended with a nice performance of the Harrison Tribute. I espeically like the finale with the various poses. No Ferri or Malakhov. Graffin was in tghe audience, but did not dance. Hallberg was listed, but did not dance-no injury, just resting and it is anticipated that he will be dancing in other performances as scheduled. Kate

Hi! I looked at the casting last night and Ringer is still out for next week. Kate

Hi! I must admit to not knowing all of the casting, as there are many, many parts, but I'll piece together what I do remember (and will update as I see the casting next week at the State Theatre). Bennos: Hanna, Millepied (Wed 5/7, Sun 5/4), Marcovici Albrechts: Neal, Askegard, Martins, Woetzel, Boal Jesters: Gold, Hendrickson, Ulbricht (debut 5/7, also 5/10 matinee) Odile/Odettes: Somogyi (debut 5/7), Whelan, Weese, Somogyi, Kowroski Hungarian:Rutherford & Fowler, LaCour & Ash (Sat 5/10, other times), Russian: Hubbe & Borree, ???? Pas de Trois: Taylor & Stafford, ??? (Riggins??) Pas de Quatre: Ansanelli, Somogyi, vanKipnis, Neal (last night) Spanish: Ash, Bar, Hanna, Ramasar (last night) Neopolitian: Edge & Carmena (nice debut last night) Von Rothbart: Fayette, Seth, LaCour (does anyone know if LaCour danced in the RDB production-I believe the NYCB version was first done on the RDB...) Kate

Swan Lake-May 2 Greetings! brief comments... Opening night of "Swan Lake" at NYCB was stunning (well, the dancing, I'm still not fond of the sets & costumes). Standing ovation, and three curtain calls, plus a big bouquet of roses for Whelan. Both Woetzel and Whelan were at their best, with the partering superb-it flowed and there was nary a glitch in the whole evening. Woetzel was perfetctly stretched in the turns in second, and Whelan got to about 28 fouettes. Hubbe danced in the Hungarian pas de deux with Borree and it was a delight to see him back on stage. The children were excellent and Gold was a great jester. Ansanelli fell off point once, but was otherwise good in an early debut in the pas de quatre (sp?). The pas de quatre was excellent, with the three women absolutely spot on during the fouettes. Marcovici was solid as Benno, making the best of his solos. The swans were also excellent, looking well rehearsed and generally very much in synch. But, the evening belonged to Whelan. She managed to get through some overly fast conducting by Andrea Quinn in the first act, and absolutely flew in the series of entrachets (??) in the second act. Other changes for next week-Kowroski will be dancing for Ringer, partnered by Neal one night and Askegard on the other. Ulbricht is dancing in two performances. Oh, Tyler Angle and Vincent Paradiso danced tonight, (I think) their first performance with the company. Kate

Hi! Now that I'm more awake, a bit of explanation on Kistler's hair. Long hair is gorgeous, but Kistler's was TOO long and it had a tendency to take over her performance when it was down. At times it would stick to her partner, wrap around her face or her partner, and distract from the actual dancing. As someone who has had really long hair, now shorter, I would point out that everyone's hair is different. Some women can't grow their hair beyond a certain length without it looking scraggly/unhealthy, and also, long hair takes forever to wash and dry. Thus, it doesn't bother me to see some of the dancers with shorter hair. Also, be aware that some of dancers do use switches (is that the right word-bundles of real or artificial hair that match their own hair) to fill out their natural hair, even in ballets when they have their hair down. So what you see, is not always complete reality! Kate

Just some very brief comments, as I am one very tired ballet fan! As a whole, I thought the company looked well rehearsed and recharged. It wass great to see Damian Woetzel back onstage again-he'd been out since January. He looked good in "Donizetti Variations" with his usual speedy pirouettes. Ringer was also good. Whelan and Soto were outstanding in "Symphony in Three Movements" as was Abi Stafford. Darci Kistler replaced Kyra Nichols in "Chaconne". Darci has cut her hair-it's now shoulder level and she looks lovely. Interesting tiddbits for next week... Somogyi and Ringer will debut as Odile/Odette, Ulbricht as the jester and laCour as Von Rothbart. Kate

Hi! In the May issue of Vanity Fair (pp. 190-1) there is a picture and very brief article about Christopher Wheeldon's upcoming ballet, "Carnival of the Animals". The picture reveals that Carla Korbes and Jenifer Ringer wil be in the ballet, as well as P.J. Verhoest, who was one of the children featured in a NY Times Magazine (?) article about SAB auditions. Kate

Hi! I just noticed that ABT has update their website with new corps and apprentices now listed: New corps: Natialia Boesch (from PNB) and Karen Uphoff. Danny Tidwell and Bo Busby form the Studio Company and (former) apprentices Tobin Eason, Jared Matthews & Jennifer Whalen are also now in the corps. (Sarawanee Tanatanit joined the corps a bit earlier in the year). From the studio company, Zhong-Jing Fang, Alexandre Hammoudi, Caity Seither, Daniel Keene, Kelley Potter and Laura Hidalgo are now apprentices. Congratulations to all. Kate

I posted this in the Stuttgart Ballet section, but wanted to post it here in case anyone was planning on going. The company has cancelled the New York leg of its US tour. I would check with the box office at City Center regarding refunds for tickets. Kate

The Stuttgart Ballet has cancelled its performances in New York which were to take place at City Center, April 23-26. Given the economic situation, the war and the desire to end the tour on high note, it was decided to end the tour prior to New York. Kate

Hi! I will post more later on, but I wanted to add that Jessica Flynn and Ashley Laracey's names have appeared on the Dancers section of the company website, so they must have gotten their corps contracts. Both were performed in the 2002 SAB Workshop and have been apprentices in 2002-03. Congratulations to both! Kate

Thanks again! I was referring mostly to the third act, which is where most of Franz's actual dancing takes place. From what I understand, Balanchine re-choreographed most of that act (and wasn't Tomasson the first man in the role?). I think Askegard had a slighly off performance spinwise-usually his spins are quite wonderful like last Saturday in "Who Cares" (can you tell I'm just a little bit gaga over that performance )!). It may also have been one of the tours that threw his balance off (and this made it hard to start the pirouette off balanced), and though things kind of dissolved in that particular sequence, he did recover with an elegant, balanced finish to his knee. For that matter, I certainly envy natural spinners-I'm not a natural spinner in skating or ballet... Thank you Carbro for that little tidbit. The set is somewhat cramped, and one of my first observations was that Askegard looked very big for the set. Cheers Kate P.S. Anyone want to venture a guess why, if the ballet is set in Austro-Hungary, that all the signs are in French? Is that historically accurate, or just a result of the original French choreographer?

Thank for the info on Tomasson! I wish I had been around to see both Tomasson and Martins at the peak of their careers. Thank you "more mature" ballet fans for helping to fill in the blanks in my ballet knowledge!! I don't mean to imply that only short men can dance the role of Franz, but it was choreographed for a shorter (but not short dancer). Intentionally or not, the development of the choreography does depend in part on the dancer it's been devloped on. However, Askegard isn't just tall, he's very tall, and his height is exaggerated by the smaller size of the NYCB Act 2 set (which is a fair bit smaller than the actual stage). (BTW, does anyone know how tall Martins is...6ft?) Also, and more importantly, the role depends on the talents of the individual dancer. Balanchine's choreography seems to demand a quick dancer who can do the bravura jumps and spins. Askegard is a wonderful dancer, but with his great height, he's not the spinner or jumper that and doesn't have the whipping speed that guys like Woetzel or Millepied have/are. Last night was not the best display of his talents, and that's my point-he's so spectacular in ballets like "Who Cares" where the maturity and great flow of his dancing really stand out. As for Franz and Coppelius-no, they do not have a pas de deux, but they do interact a lot, and a huge height difference makes it very tricky. In order to project all the way to the 4th ring, there needs to be a great connection between the dancers, something that is difficult when their faces are on greatly different levels. Plus, it needs to be at least somewhat plausible that Coppelius could keep Franz from escaping out the window and also to be able to drag him to the chair once he's unconscious. Nevermind the little details, like Coppelius snagging Franz by the ear-Askegard had to bend way over to make that work last night! I don't think there is anything wrong with the casting, I'm more intrigued to hear about how the two dancers work around the height difference. Askegard managed nicely with LaFosse, and Hendrickson has developed into a wonderful character dancer, so I forsee good things! Again, I sat in very different locations for each night, so it's hard for me to make direct comparisions... Kate

I misspoke(typed?)-Hanson and Van Kipnis were not marked as making debuts in their roles. I saw the second cast last night. A bit hard to make comparisions because I was in the last row of the orchestra on Tuesday, and way up front last night, but here goes... Ringer was wondeful-great mime and full of joyous energy, but she doesn't have the quickest feet. Like Borree, I'm not sure she's totally suited for the role, but made the very best out of her opportunity. Askegard did a pleasant job, but he looked oversized in Coppelius' workshop and lacked the quickness in the steps that Millepied had on Tuesday. He was definately "boyish", but it's hard to get over his immense height. He and Ringer were wonderful in the pas de deux parts of the grand pas de deux, but I don't think the male solo sections were choreographed for such a tall dancer! (How big was Tomasson?). His beats are nice, though with such a long body, he has to stretch a lot more to look fully stretched than a shorter dancer. Askegard also changed some of the solo variations, and did not do the repeated double tours-snap-to-second position that Millepied did. Instead, he did an adequate, but not spectacular series of pirouettes & tours that got rather unbalanced by the end. I think Millepied was the finer solo dancer, Askegard the stronger partner (though the shoulder lifts seemed a bit slower-farther to go I guess!). Ringer really did a flying leap into Askegard's arms-she was not holding back at all. The 3rd act soloists were all excellent, though Seth Orza (in Discord & War) doesn't have Adam Hendrickson's huge jumps, but was great with Ellen Bar. The children were again wonderfully rehearsed and a delight to watch. A more amusing note-unlike Millepied who wobbled around, Askegard keeled straight over backwards into LaFosse's arms after "drinking" the "potion". Askegard (from my observations) was totally dead weight for LaFosse, and it took LaFosse so much effort to drag the totally limp Askegard into the chair that he stumbled into the table, sending one of the mugs flying. It was amusing, but I couldn't help but wonder how it will play out with the much smaller Adam Hendrickson as Coppelius on Saturday night. All in all, a very fun evening! I'm not totally convinced that Askegard is suited for the role, and hope that perhaps Woetzel or Boal or ?? will be able to return to the role in the Spring. Askegard's considerable talents are much better used elsewhere-for instance, his wondeful dancing in "Who Cares". Kate

Yes, the automatons were "danced" by the four male apprentices. The fault is not theirs-they simply aren't given much to do. And they do all of their "dancing" with masks covering their faces, which has got to be hot and vision impairing. Actually, I think that Boree was trying to start the Scottish dance too quickly, after spending extra time untangling the veil from her head, and didn't allow LaFosse enough time to tie the "scarf" (actually, doesn't she do the actual tying?). But, both Borrree and LaFosse showed their experience, and didn't let the mishap rattle them. Kate

Hi! Without straying from appropriate topics, I wanted to add my kudos to the NYCB dancers for such a energetic performance of Coppelia yesterday, no small feat after a LONG dress rehearsal (open to all guild members) that lasted until less than 2.5 hours before the evening performance began. I wish that this cast would have a gotten a chance to debut with "fresher legs", but it was an enjoyable performance just the same. Millepied and Borree were both wonderful. Millepied has the right mix of youth, energy, bravura skills and mischief for the role. He danced beautifully, though I look foward to seeing him dance the role again after more rehearsal and rest. Borree made a nice recovery in the second act when the "spanish" headdress wouldn't come out of her hair after the little solo with the fan. She finally managed to get it out, dislodging the bow. However, in her hurry the "Scottish" scarf didn't get properly would around her-LaFosse made a great attmempt at rewrapping it on the fly, but Borree danced most of the solo with the scarf dangling around her legs, but didn't miss a step. Austin Laurent, as the acrobat doll, dropped more than a few jaws with his amazing past-180 degree split jumps. He's somewhat tall, with very long legs, which makes the effect all the more amazing. Adam Hendrickson was excellent in the war & discord section, though not on the freshest of legs. Hendrickson is doing Coppelius on Saturday with the Askegard led cast. Like Michael, I can't really see Askegard as Franz, but it will be interesting to see a very short Coppelius and a very tall Franz. Cheers Kate

Hi! It may have had more to do with union rules than not wanting to keep the audience really late. There's probably someone here who know more than I do, but it may be that the company has to get the dancers out of the theater by a certain hour on Saturday night in order to have them dancing in the Sunday matinee. In anycase, three hours would have made for a long night. It was over an hour before the first intermission. Kate