Klavier

Thanks to you both. Revelations sounds imperative, and I think I'll go at least on 12/5 and possibly one other.

Is it ok to revive this thread? I have yet to see the Ailey company live and they're coming to City Center this next month. If I wanted to see just one or two programs, which would you experts recommend? Thanks.

Robert Gottlieb may not be everybody's favorite critic, but he wrote a comment recently on Sascha Radetsky that I thought hit the mark: http://www.observer.com/20061030/20061030_...ttliebdance.asp Please don't get me (or Gottlieb, despite that gratuitous final quip) wrong. Every time I've seen Sascha - and just about every time I go to ABT he's been used, whether in Petrouchka, Rodeo, Fancy Free, Dark Elegies, Giselle, Swan Lake, or you name it - he's been a totally appealing, deeply satisfying dancer. But given all the depth of ABT's principal male contingent, with or without Stiefel, I can't say that Radetsky commands the charisma and star power of men like Corella, Gomes, Carreno, Cornejo, Bocca (now departed), or Hallberg. After all, since MeGaNDaNcEr198521 mentions Stiefel's absence, it's also true that Bocca is now gone and ABT did not feel a need to promote someone else to principal in his place. I don't get the impression the company has any kind of quota system where there must be n number of principals, soloists, and corps members. One might say if anything there is more need for soloists, as ABT's website lists 19 principals, 8 soloists, and 56 in the corps. What I'd really think is more deserved, and soon, are promotions to soloist for some of ABT's most promising corpspeople, including Misty Copeland, Craig Salstein, Isaac Stappas, Kristi Boone, and Grant DeLong (where was he this past season?) As for Sascha, I think of him now as the ideal soloist, altogether excellent in supporting roles and lead roles in the shorter ballets. But somehow I doubt he's yet ready for Romeo, Siegfried, or the similar full-length roles that are ABT's bread and butter during the Met spring season.

Zerbinetta, Thanks for setting me straight on the historical background. Regarding the Georgia duet, your interpretation may well be the right one. But I'd like to think I'm not completely dense, and I didn't get that reading when I saw the pdd. Nor, as I said, did I get anything definitely homoerotic. But if your sense of this choreography is the right one, I wonder if that could have been made more explicit so that even someone like myself wouldn't have missed it. I suppose I should have expected a slap for implying that Nilas's position at NYCB had anything to do with nepotism. And yet I can't think of a male principal - or any principal - in the current company who has disappointed me as much as he has. Remember, I'm new to ballet, having been attending for only a couple of years. But even I could sense Nilas's inadequacy compared to most other men in the company. And it takes a lot for me to find a dancer inadequate; some of you others have found a lot more fault than I would with dancers who seemed to me quite fine or better. I tried to be balanced by saying Nilas partners well and has a good comic sense. But even if his appointment to principal however many years ago had nothing to do with his famous and well-positioned father, why is he given assignments today for which he is not suited? If that seems harsh, so be it, but that's how I sas things. On Saturday night De Luz and Evans danced rings around this guy. However - sigh indeed for Monique, good to know the rest of you got safely home, and very nice to know NMDC will make another trip to Patchogue. I'll be there.

Now that the Heads Up! over this is over, I suppose any reviews properly belong in the Other Ballet Companies area, so here I am. Did anyone else from the group go last night? It was not a full house, maybe 2/3 full, but the audience (including quite a few young people) made up in enthusiasm whatever they lacked in numbers. After all, how often does central Long Island get seven principals from the NYCB plus three members of Complexions Contemporary on its own doorstep? Not often at all to my recollection. I'm grateful for the Patchogue Theatre to have brought them here, and hope this won't be the last time. The seven NYCB principals - Nilas, Askegard, Bouder, DeLuz, Evan, Megan Fairchild, and Ringer - plus Monique Meunier, Ebony Haskell, and Matthew Prescott, did a mixed bill of six numbers, as listed by zerbinetta on the Heads Up thread. Who Cares? by Gershwin/Balanchine started the night, with Nilas partnership Ashley, Jenifer, and Ebony. No scenery, just changes in lighting, but it worked fine nonetheless with the differing styles of the three girls: Bouder extrovert and charismatic, Ringer more elegant, and Haskell lithe and athletic. On the prior occasions I've seen Martins fils himself, I've had mixed feelings about him; his work in the MND pdd last year seemed lacking in crispness and energy, yet he did quite well as a partner in Vienna Waltzes and quite well as a comedian in Union Jack, a ballet I in general loathed. I felt about the same way tonight, especially when DeLuz and Evans came on later to show what more technically gifted male dancers can do with their material. I can't help feeling that Martins has risen to principal on something other than the strengths of his own merits - is it possible he knows someone? - but I suppose he does alright so long as he doesn't push his limits. Meunier and Evans were paired for two pdd's, the Barber/P. Martins violin concerto 2nd movement before intermission, and the Herman Schmerman duo after. In both they were outstanding, fully realizing both the rhapsodic romanticism of the Barber and the comic touches of the Forsythe. The audience didn't seem quite as with them following the Herman Schmerman; at least the applause here was more perfunctory for this piece than for any of the others. I guess seeing Albert coming out in just a short yellow pleated skirt was a bit disconcerting. There were two other classic pas de deux, again one before and one after the break. First Fairchild and DeLuz set off fireworks in the Corsaire PDD; then Ringer and Askegard provided mature elegance in a Tchaikovsky/Balanchine duet. I'm guessing this was from Sleeping Beauty since I think I'd recognize the other two Tchaikovsky ballets; but correct me if I'm wrong. This very symmetrical program - two classic and two modern pdds, framed by two longer ensemble pieces based on great American songwriters - ended with A Fool for You to music of Ray Charles. Zerbinetta has written that "Nilas has re-arranged the order, dropped two pieces, re-choreographed the finale and created original choreography for "Georgia" which was never set in Peter Martins' original." I can't speak to all that, as the NYCB website lists the songs used as "Georgia on My Mind, Ain't That Love, Don't You Know, It Should've Been Me, Hit the Road Jack, Rockhouse, Mess Around, A Fool for You, I've Got a Woman, Drown in My Tears, What'd I Say, Ol' Man River, America the Beautiful." The last two of these were certainly not used, in their place was a more up-tempo finale to a Ray Charles song I've heard often but can't identify by name. As for "Georgia," assuming this was a Nilas original, it was for me the most puzzling piece of the evening, as it was set as a pdd for two men, Nilas and Matthew Prescott, but it was uncertain how much of a gay relationship was implied, and in any event this pairing was not developed in any way later in the ballet, which featured three boy-girl pairs - Martins with Fairchild, who had let down her long hair for this piece, DeLuz showing unexpected comic talents and paired with Bouder, and Haswell with Prescott. Perhaps someone else has some thoughts on this; I was glad to hear the music but was baffled by this particular choreography, and also because Martins introduced quite a few rapid pirouettes (right word? for both dancers that seemed at variance with the slow, languid music. But on the whole I was delighted to have gone to this, and all the more because it was only a 20-minute drive from home, for once letting me see outstanding dancers without the time-consuming, expensive, and stressful experience of a trip to the city and back. Hope some other Ballet Talkers had a chance to get to this as well.

I saw her this past summer at Lincoln Center, and the year before when she came to the Miller Theater with other members of the SF company on an all-Wheeldon/Ligeti bill. She stood out both times for her tall, leanly sculpted body and elegant extension. I'm glad I had these opportunities.

I saw Dark Elegies on Thursday, 11/2, centered between Symphonie Concertante and In the Upper Room. I love these Mahler songs, and to see them interpreted choreographically added rather than detracted. Tudor's sense of ritualized, folkloric grief gave an added dimension that I do not get on simply hearing the songs. Of the dancers, I had Melissa Thomas, Julie Kent/Isaac Stappas, Sascha Radetsky, Hee Seo, and Jesus Pastor, and I found Sascha particularly affecting in his portrayal of a bereaved father. The baritone, one Troy Cook, was new to me, and though his vocal quality was somewhat dry, he characterized the songs quite well. This was my second Symphonie Concertante this season, my first being with Wiles/Part/Gomes, and this one with Irina D/Murphy/Maxim B. Though for some reason this is not a Mozart score I really love, I think the dancing worked better on the whole this night than my first, particularly in the slow movement where there was closer rapport among the principals than I had seen previously. But I also think Balanchine got hamstrung by the basic conceit of using one ballerina to represent the violin and the other the viola. Somehow the choreography feels to follow this in too lockstep a fashion to be really satisfying. My upper room was populated by such luminaries as Kristi Boone, Wiles, Gomes, Herrera (replacing Sarah Lane), and Cornejo. Not a bad gathering at all, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. At the end some bouquets arrived thrown on stage, including one for little Patrick Ogle who got some ribbing from his bare-chested colleagues Gomes and Matthews as a consequence. From my seat in the center orchestra section the taped soundtrack was absolutely ear-splitting, but perhaps that would have been less bothersome upstairs; in any case I still have my hearing. The program did not need a "theme" to work well as three contrasting dances with different musical and choreographic styles. Elegant classicism, emotional late Romanticism, and extrovert modernism made for a satisfying experience. Having seen four ABT performances in three weeks, I saw almost their entire repertory this season except Meadow. Maybe I'll post a few thoughts on Clear, Rodeo, and Fancy Free, but as I saw them on week 2, they belong in another thread.

Thank you for your comment. But on a purely objective basis, I haven't seen most of these works before and therefore unlike many here I have no standards for comparison. I also don't know most of the steps and can't identify them when I see them.

I was there, but I hope one of your more experienced balletomanes can help me out, as I'm not the best describer. The new Elo started the program, to the last movement of Mozart's C major symphony K. 200 and a slow movement from a Philip Glass piano concerto. The lighting throughout was subdued and the costumes a uniform shade of wine red for both sexes. Very athletic throughout, with a lot of rapid exits and entrances for all the dancers. Quite a few ABT principals and well-known soloists/corp members in roles in which no one dancer or couple is made to stand out - Cornejo, Gomes, Kent, Murphy, Radetsky, Copeland, Salstein et al. - and most surprising perhaps at the suddenly very quiet ending, when only one couple is left far to stage-right (Cornejo and I'm not sure which girl). She backs off into the wings on pointe, he is left alone forlorn, and curtain. There was considerable applause, and bouquets for all the women, but probably not the spontaneous raves that Slice to Sharp reportedly received at its premiere at NYCB last spring. I'm sorry I can't do better to describe this, as I was just drawn into it and not taking any notes, mental or otherwise. During the intermissions Elo was very visible at orchestra level, and lots of people went up to congratulate him. Klavier got in a few words too. Klavier did not think to ask what the title meant (Glow-Stop), and has no real idea what it does mean. Maybe that all these glowworms are alive in frenetic activity for a short span, and then, pouf, their lights are all suddenly extinguished, as at the end. In the second part, there were two Twyla Tharp pas-de-deux: Sinatra Suite with an engagingly insouciant José Manuel Carreño and a very beautiful Luciana Paris, a name new to me, as his partner. I thought they both carried off the mixed cynicism and sentimentality of the Sinatra tone very well. Next up were Maxim B. and Irina D. in the Known by Heart ("Junk") Duet. I haven't seen her before, but he has previously struck me as a very classical, restrained dancer, and here they were both trying to be very extrovertishly "American" and not quite pulling it off. Trying too hard, where Carreño and Paris seemingly didn't need to try at all. But the last segment was the one that made the most impression on me, The Green Table, which I had not seen before. I don't want to make too much of a theme out of this, but with several of the dances (Glow-Stop, My Way - the "final curtain" - and this), one might draw a theme of death as a unifying factor in an otherwise not very unified program. Or one might not. But here, the timeliness of Kurt Jooss's imagination, the stylized masks of the neocons - I mean the Gentlemen in Black, the innocence of the naive young soldiers, the depravity of the prostitutes, the clanging two-piano score with its echoes of Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Mahler, and above all, David Hallberg in his lurid green makeup and black helmet and tunic - all made an eerie, violent impression. At the end, one individual in the orchestra section kept booming out over and over, "Bravooooo!!! Braviiiiii!!!" as if he couldn't decide whether singular or plural was the best choice and so alernated between both. Klavier contributed a no-doubt inaudible "Bravo, David!" when Hallberg took his solo bow. But however good the rest of the evening was, this was the piece that did most for me, and judging from the applause I suspect for many others in the audience too. I'll be back this Saturday afternoon, then up to Boston to see Don Quixote with Erica Cornejo and then the gala on the 25th.

If you are viewing the page (as is most likely) through Adobe Acrobat Reader, you should see a control at the top of the display that lets you enlarge the PDF image to any percentage you like.

Has anyone linked to this article from the Chicago Sun-Times yet? It contains capsule descriptions of each ballet presented in Chicago by Peter Martins himself, and best of all, you don't have to register with the site to read the article! http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weis...stage13.article I bet no matter what kinds of carping one might hear about the current state of NYCB, they're going to be a big hit in the Windy City.

Girls' Night Out is actually a 2-performance series consisting of Sleeping Beauty and (get this) A Banquet of Dance. From the web site: "Each evening also includes a pre-performance reception with a variety of beverage choices and hors d’oeurves [sic], plus delicious desserts at first intermission and some inside 'girl talk' with ballerinas from the Company." But does this mean boys aren't allowed?

I don't see the new system as a disaster at all. Symphony orchestras have been using the same concept for decades, presenting the same program multiple times during a week, and ballet companies like San Francisco and Boston have followed a similar approach of presenting one set of ballets several times. I'm not aware that in any of these instances subscribers have been lost because of the programming philosophy. You may or may not like all the works presented, but you run the same risk under the older NYCB system as well. In fact, I would have preferred the fixed program method when I created my own series for ABT this coming fall season. I had never seen ABT at the City Center before, and wanted to see all 12 ballets they offered with as little duplication as possible. This proved impossible to do in three programs and rather difficult in four, as Dark Elegies was to be presented only twice and as a great Mahler lover I didn't to miss that. Eventually after about 45 minutes of trying various combinations, I came up with a series of four programs that gives me 11 of the 12 ballets (all but Meadow) and only one duplication (Symphonie Concertante). I would have not had to go through any of this effort if the company had simply announced 3 or 4 fixed programs. My only real problem with City Ballet's approach is how they are using themes. There are all kinds of valid and interesting ways that works can play off one another in a program, but some of NYCB's announced themes ("A Banquet of Dance"?) and other marketing approaches ("Girls' Night Out" - ugh) seem either desperate or contrived. On the other hand there can be thematic approaches to programing that are less easily captured by cute slogans but more subtle and more illuminating. San Francisco simply calls its mixed bill programs "Mixed Repertory," which is less descriptive but also less restrictive.

I think there may be other explanations besides fear. Perhaps they were receiving complaints from users with 56K modems who couldn't stream the video without choppiness. But the best solution I've seen in cases like this is to let dialup users access one version of the file at lower resolution and broadband users another. Certainly the technology exists to allow for hour-long broadcasts to be streamed at considerably larger screen sizes. Dr. B., why not send an e-mail inquiring about the matter to Carol Landers yourself?

I believe the "150" is intended to refer to the ballets Martins has introduced during his tenure, not to 150 ballets specifically choreographed by Martins. Still, it's a rather silly position to take for a company that, among other things, mounts over 40 showings of "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker" each winter.

I wish you good luck. I remain guardedly optimistic that suggestions from the public will be incorporated into the website. Just this morning I saw that one little suggestion of mine (that is, that from the dancer bios there could be direct links to their Dancer on Dance interviews) was implemented. And just this morning I submitted another suggestion - let's see what happens. Of course, the most crucial enhancement to the site, individual seat selection, will take much more time and effort. But perhaps if more people express a wish to see this done, it will be viewed as a greater priority.

And which I have yet to see once, though the DVD is near the top of my to-buy list. But I certainly will be at the State Theater for it next February. To tell you the truth, I can entirely relate to that comment. However much I enjoyed it, it felt slight - and not at all inexhaustible.

Thanks for the article, I learned a good deal from it. Inevitably, however, when one has felt enthusiastic about a performance, it's something of a let-down to hear someone else pan it. Perhaps you didn't go that far, but after your comments I keep thinking of Yeats's famous line, "How can we know the dancer from the dance?" I recognize as well you're a well-known name in the dance world, and I have very limited experience with it. It is entirely possible that with greater experience and knowledge that I would have seen deficiencies in Gold's choreography and Suozzi's technique that I am unable to see now. I come here to learn, and not to dismiss the judgments of people who have spent decades with this art form. And so I contribute only a few comments when I feel able to. But as for "deciding what makes any ... art good," there is a difference with dance and that is its evanescence. Unlike a painting or book or musical score or CD I can return to, with a dance like this, if not captured on video, it is very difficult to relive the experience to see things again with a fresh or more practiced eye as one can only rely on one's memory. And for someone like me, who has very limited visual memory, it is harder still. I conclude that in the dance world as everywhere else, there are going to be differences of opinion even among knowledgeable people.

What you're saying makes perfect sense in itself. But if you are right in saying here that "they take whatever steps you give them and make them work" and on the other thread that "[Gold's] dancers are too good for the choreography - a dangerous thing because they make bad ideas look acceptable," then how is an audience member like myself who has little experience with this art form to know they're "bad ideas"?

I have a friend who knows Marilyn Nonken quite well and I could find out for you if this is of interest; however, it's not unknown for 20th-century composers to indicate exact pitches where durations are free. The American composer Morton Feldman, associated with John Cage, wrote some music where the pitches are specified but all notes are written as filled-in noteheads without stems; only the basic tempo is given and some notes have fermatas to indicate they are held particularly long. Benjamin Britten does something similar in some of the unaccompanied recitatives for Aschenbach in his final opera, Death in Venice. So I have no hesitation in thinking that Nonken was following the composer's intent. As for the dancing, my reactions were similar to the other posters here, drb especially. I found the two pdd less interesting than the other works, in part because of the Arvo Part music, though any opportunity to see Wendy Whelan from only 20 feet away was worth more than the price of admissions. The opening pdd was I thought the more compelling of the two. The ending was especially evocative where Albert Evans stepped backward into darkness carrying Maria Kowrowski, who beat her lower leg two or three times while in his arms in a very affectionate way. The Brian Reeder piece confused me somewhat because I wasn't sure what Joseph Gorak's character was intended to represent: at times he seemed simply isolated from the three couples, hugging himself in his loneliness; at other times he seemed to be directing the other characters' movements. So is he a respected friend and mentor longing to break in? you tell me. At my performance Wendy and Craig drew the most applause of the first three pieces, but I don't mind saying I found Tom Gold's piece the hit of the evening. The score - part klezmer, part bluegrass, part jazz, part classical - was just right for dancing, and after two viewings of Friandises I can appreciate the comment above that this is what that frustrating ballet should have been. The girls all seemed to be enjoying themselves, Ashley Bouder was charismatic, and a special bravo from me for one of my favorites among the younger NYCB men, Sean Suozzi. Good looking without being pretty, technically solid without overselling his virtuosity, and conveying always a sense of expressivity which makes me feel he has potentially great emotional range, I think at this point he dances at least as well as some NYCB principals I've seen of late, and I can't think of a male corps member who more deserves promotion. And I really hope Masada is picked up by NYCB as a repertory piece. It was disappointing that the choreographers were not called out for bows, though I think I spotted Tom Gold at intermission and the string trio acknowledged John Zorn at the end.

Thank you all for your help. I will probably pick up the POB DVD as well as the two Nonesuch DVDs with Balanchine choreography.

Having only been following dance for a couple of years now, this was also my first exposure to any of Jewels and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately I never got to see Farrell, Villella, Martins, Watts, d'Amboise, etc., live and so I have no basis for comparison; and my eye for dance is not so practiced that I can recognize any faults in dancing beyond obvious clunkers. There was no clunking that I saw in this; however, my vote went to Rubies, specifically because I think the Stravinsky Capriccio is the strongest music Balanchine used, and because I thought the orchestral and pianistic performances were exceptional, and transmitted in very good sound. I have a couple of questions to the more knowledgeable members of the group, however. 1) I made myself a DVD of the PBS broadcast and will view it with the comments here in mind; however I note some of you said a passage from Emeralds was omitted. Is this a serious gap, and would it be otherwise valuable to buy the commercial DVD? 2) Is Diamonds also incomplete? As viewed on PBS, the first movement of the five-movement Tchaikovsky 3rd Symphony was missing. 3) I know there are some Nonesuch DVDs including excerpts from Jewels. But I have read reviewers at the Amazon site complaining the audio and video were transferred out of synch. If this is true, should I get the VHS tapes instead, or has the problem been exaggerated? Thanks, Klav.

In partial (though not very strong) defense of the City Ballet, I will quote these additional words from Carol Landers in her email to me: Going through a Nutcracker order yesterday (which I ultimately didn't buy), I found this "Comments box" on screen 3 of the online ordering form. The problem is of course that the Comments area is buried deep within the ordering process, and one is still forced to ordering tickets sight unseen. I entirely agree with those expressing their dismay that the City Ballet has not treated seat selection as a priority.

Thanks, Klavier. I guess that precludes the winter rep season, since online single performance tickets go on sale September, 25, 2006. Did she really write that lengthy expression with the TM, rather than say just Nutcracker? Fascinating. She certainly did. I would not misquote.

I just sent off an email on that subject, and will report back. From Carol Landers: "In all probability, online seat selection for repertory will become available sometime in 2007. However, it is unclear whether it will or will not become available for George Balanchine's The Nutracker."