vipa

Team of Rivals is a great book. It really gives a good picture of the time, the people involved and the political positioning of all. A wonderful page turner of a book that I just read is Isabelle Allende's new novel - The Island Beneath the Sea. It takes place in Haiti prior to and during the Haitian revolution and then moves to Louisiana in the early 1800's. It is interesting in how timely it is.

Every dollar that goes to the arts doesn't go to something else. The Koch name - some people will continue to call it State - others will mispronounce it - others will have no idea who the person is. The vanity naming seems pointless.

One of the things that I loved about Cynthia Gregory was the way she used balances for musical phrasing throughout her dancing (not just in Rose A, but in general). She didn't just balance in just the big "ta da" moments but really used her ability to balance. For me she showed what pointe work was all about. But that's another topic. Thanks for posting her Rose Adagio.

Great news!

Thank you Nanarina, I'm not familiar with Tanranda. Could you give some insight?

I don't know that you'll have seen him, but I'd suggest Steve Paxton, one of the developers of Contact Improvisation. That performance practice has had an astonishing affect on the development of contemporary dance styles, both performance and choreography. I have not seen him, but will do some exploration! Thank you

Hopefully they all left for their own reasons. I know that Karin Ellis-Went has child, that may have been a factor. I wish all well.

So many interesting comments. I've come up with my tentative list of 10 greatest: Fonteyn, Fracci, Farrell, Allegra Kent, Alina Cojocaru Fred Astaire, Nureyev, Bruhn, Baryshnikov, Gary Chryst I think each of these were game changers, transcendent performers and/or had a major influence on those who came after. I'm trying to come up with a male performer who is still dancing.

Just as an aside, there are brief, often fuzzy film clips of Baker dancing, for example: Sure, in which case Jennings' inclusion of Nijinsky, Baker and Astaire are perfectly legitimate, perhaps even Nadezhda Pavlova, for all the wrong reasons, as Mashinka mentioned. But I don't really see how Carlos Acosta, Altynai Asylmuratova or Alina Cojocaru could be considered revolutionary dancers. Thank you for the clips - they are eye opening

Interesting to think about. I'm not ready to name names, but I have a bit of a problem with the idea of naming someone you've never seen. Nijinsky, Josephine Baker - how does one know? I love the topic because it has made me think about the dancers I've seen and who I would select. We are not talking about a single great moment or moments but selecting one of the greatest dancers. That is different. Many, many years ago I watched Milton Myers coach the Joyce Tristler Co. He stood up and did a segment of the Tristler version of 4T's with such beauty and musicality that it is still etched in my mind. I wouldn't call him one of the 10 greatest dancers of all time, but for me that is one of the 10 greatest dance moments that I've witnessed. Or maybe I'll looking at it totally wrong. Love this topic!

Ordinarily I would agree, but Darren Aronofsky has a history of making interesting movies - Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain and most recently The Wrestler. Whether you like his movies or not (I do like them) they have never seemed formulaic to me. So I'm hopeful.

Well said. I also think the lack of support of the arms is a giveaway. It is hard or perhaps impossible to make a non-dancer look believably like a dancer. It's funny that the headline of the article says "Natalie Portman Sports Stunning Ballerina Makeup in New 'Black Swan' Stills." Ballerina make-up indeed!! I understand that Maria Riccetto was a dance double for Maria Kunis. Frankly I can't wait to see the movie.

I think Robert Fairchild, with some good coaching, might be a fine Apollo. I think coaching might be key. I saw Boal do it with the Suzanne Farrell company and was amazed. On the women's side, I'd like to see Abi Stafford. She's not my favorite in some things, but I love her in leotard ballets. I think she would bring a beautiful, straight forward quality to the ballet. Actually, on the women's side I can see many casts working well. Mainly, I hope to see the ballet presented well. A number of years ago I saw NYCB do it in such a way that looked like - "now I do this step, now I do that step." It has gotten better than that in recent history (not sure why). Let's not go back.

Thank you Helene for the reminder - a small donation just went in the mail.

That sounds great to me. Or Sarah Lane as Sugar Plum, Cornejo as the Cavalier, Abrera as Dewdrop, Kristi Boone as Snow Queen. Of course much depends on Ratmansky's take on Clara. Baryshnikov's Clara was a dancer not a child (Gelsey K in the film). I believe Peter Wright's production has Clara in just about every 2nd act variation (Alina Cojocaru in the film). If Clara is a real dancing role, I vote for Sarah Lane as Clara.

Thank you for your report Mirage. It is greatly appreciated

Thank you. I just listened to Wendy Whelan and Lourdes Lopez interviews and enjoyed them very much. The advertising is really painless! Thank you so much.

Personally I never thought of Juliet as a technical role as much as a dramatic one. Ferri, who most of us agree was one of the greatest, had technical limitations that limited her repertory. I can't imagine that she did Aurora or Theme and Variation, but she was one of the greatest dancer/actresses ever. Margot Fonteyn was a wonderful Juliet even in her later years, when she had greatly diminished technique. I'd love to see Simkin/Lane do R&J. They'd really look like children.

Here is the opening of their version: Tchaikovsky Pas de deux Thank you. One wonderful thing about it, besides just the beauty of it, is that it looks like it felt good! - like it was a pleasure to do.

I noticed that repetition too. My main peeve is that there dancers he can't say a bad thing about and dancers he can't say a good thing about, no matter what. On the other hand he can be insightful, and I believe, is in love with the art.

Thank you for this. I don't watch these shows, but a friend of mine who is a choreographer has mentioned to me that the word "ballet" isn't mentioned in these shows. One can be a "lyrical dancer" but ballet isn't mentioned. Making it a ballet competition would bring another element into it. From the other side no artistic director wants to cast according to TV ratings. I get what you mean, but it's tricky.

Lauren King has been a joy for me to watch for the last 2 or 3 seasons. I'm always happy to see her name in the program because she brings such joy to the stage. I hope Peter Martins is viewing her as soloist material.

Thank you, canbelto, for that information. Perhaps some people will take it into consideration. Neither my husband or I noticed her pointe shoes, but if she has to wear pointe shoes of a particular shape in order to be able to give us her artistry, so be it. I guess those who are bothered by her shoes should avoid her performances. There are certain dancers that I avoid! For me, I don't need to cut her slack because IMO her performance was great. Yes, some short balances in the Rose Adage with a slight mis-foot after the last balance (yes, it was a short balance), but she did manage to get her arms to fifth for each balance and over all she was in no way lacking in the technical department. Her balance at the end of the wedding pas was glorious (my husband said - she was saving it for her wedding - I know, a silly joke). She gave us balances, beautiful pointe work, phrasing, flowering port de bras, beautiful use of the head and neck, not to mention her characterization, acting and just, well beauty.

With all due respect to Mr. Macauley IMO he tends to go overboard with his praise of David Hallberg. Mr. Hallberg is a wonderful dancer who is also good looking, and who happens to possess unusually beautiful feet an legs, however these quotes are a little extreme: "But Mr. Hallberg’s was the one ideally classical performance of the whole day" and "More than either of Saturday’s ballerinas, he epitomized the ideal. He had only to point a foot, and it was an event of magnitude." I think his criticism of Cojocaru's acting silly ( I was there) and found odd the time spent on what Osipova's performance could become in the future. I was not at the Osipova performance, and this review didn't give me much of a description.

I saw Cojocaru this afternoon. I have been watching ballet since the 1970's and have to say that Cojocaru's Aurora was on a different plane from anyone I have ever seen. I can't describe what I felt and thought about her performance. It reminded me that great art cannot be translated adequately - like that old quote - "talking about love is like dancing about architecture." I can't put into words what I saw, maybe others can. Other things about the performance - The production has a lot of problems but has eliminated some of the most egregious. Still - The entrance of the fairies (being carried on), the lack of clarity of the fairies bestowing gifts, the garland dance/entrance of the suitors, that spider web thing, the way the fairies keep popping up, the elimination of the character variations in the wedding act etc. I also dislike that blue bird ppd, with a brief interlude from Lilac Fairy, leads into the wedding pas. I've noted with a lesser Aurora than Cojocaru this can turn into dueling pas de deux. Not a good production, but I'd sit through it all again, and again to see Cojocaru. I had never seen Abrera in a significant role before. I loved her Lilac fairy. The moment she entered and did her small variation, I knew we were in good hands. Her main variation was beautiful. Her port de bras is so lovely, her line beautiful, and she brought a sweetness to her benevolence in the role. Principal dancer material IMO Among the fairies Kajaya was a stand out, not only in her variation, but most particularly when dancing along side the other fairies. Her musicality, technique and line really stood out. Bystrova drove me crazy by being a little late with the music throughout her variation. A little like back singing. Blue bird - Joseph Phillips was a disappointment. Maybe I have impossibly high standards (Bujones is my favorite memory of this role). Phillips has a high jump but he fell short. He only did maybe 4 entrechat at the end - ended early and I don't know why it couldn't have been better. Maria Riccetto did the as well as most. The most interesting woman in this pas in recent history, for me, has been across the plaza - Tiler Peck. Carreno was fine. It seems to me that he is nearing the end of his career. Nothing was sloppy, his jumps and turns delivered, his partnering was terrific. No complaints. I wondered how much rehearsal time Carreno & Cojocaru had. The pulled off some pretty spectacular stuff. Last comment - as a long time ballet goer, I've lost interest in certain ballets, and have avoided those ballets for years - I'd see Cojocaru in anything. Have her dance the phonebook - I'm there.