vipa

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.

I just want to make a brief comment about the Thursday night performance. Ashley Bouder. Her performance in Donizetti had me smiling the entire time. Andrew Veyette was terrific too, but seeing Bouder in this ballet was an amazing experience. I'd love to hear comments from others that attended. My husband & I had a discussion about the problem with Interplay (not the performance tonight, but the piece), so I'd love to read other impressions.

Good points, and an excellent solution.

I don't disagree about the flaws in the performances, however, I had not seen the ballet in many years so it was a joy to see again. The Robbins choreography is brilliant. Every moment reveals character, action and/or sentiment. I want the world (particularly aspiring choreographers) to see this piece. This was not the ideal performance, but it was a great pleasure for me to see.

I'd love to hear other thoughts in general, but I'd like to comment on Brahms-Haydn Variation. The dancers looked good (particularly IMO Xiomara Reyes), but everyone looked good. The structure of the the choreography, and the way groups were moved around was interesting and nicely done. But, the ballet didn't have to be done to this music, it could have been done to any number of scores. In other words, for me the piece didn't have anything to do with the music except for a sort of note to note correspondence. There were times when I wanted to close my eyes and just listen, because the choreography was so busy, but the line of the music was so long and lovely. Part of the problem is that (again IMO) Twyla Tharp doesn't have a romantic bone in her body and she was doing a piece to a melodious, romantic score. Parody can work, as we've seen in some cases, but totally ignoring the sentiment of the piece doesn't. I was at Sat. matinee. I look forward to reading other reviews.

The above quote from atm711 made me curious about finding out if some of you would remember who was your first Giselle-(live I mean...)-for which in my case it is an unforgettable image. (Miss Lourdes Novoa , ex CNB's dancer and former wife of Jose Manuel Carreno). So.. Who was your first live Giselle...? Carla Fracci -- she was divine. It was at ABT many years ago with Eric Bruhn. The experience goes along with Fonteyn/Nureyev in Romeo & Juliet. I was a teen and cried at both. BTW I don't go to see story ballets anymore, with the exception of Sleeping Beauty (because there is so much dancing). Wow way off topic - sorry.

While I can understand both sides of this discussion, I have to side with kfw. Kindness is currently out of fashion in journallism. But kindness and honesty are not entirely incompatible, in the right hands. And, as kfw says, "there are soft ways to criticize." LoRocca's parting shot -- "How strange, upon seeing her perform for perhaps the final time, to feel as if you’d hardly yet seen her at all" -- is glib and unnecessary. It says more about LoRocca than about Bouree. Well said.

Saw tonight's performance. Well 2/3's of it. I didn't stay for Thou Swell. Monumentum & Movements always fascinate me. Interestingly I was with a first timer who just loved it. It didn't fit his preconceived notion of ballet, and the structure, shapes and overall visuals really made a strong impression. I don't know if the fact that he is an architect had anything to do with it. I thought Kowroski looked great and gave a thoroughly intelligent performance. Mozartiana is one of my favorite ballets. Wendy Whelan is not always a favorite of mine, but I loved her performance tonight. She was in the music. It was not a dancer phrasing but a dancer being part of the music, she was radiant and made the ballet her own. Ulbricht's gigue was wonderful, so clear, clean and open. I also love that no matter how fast the movement is there is nothing small or rushed about his presentation (IMO Alistair Macauley has a blind spot re Ulbricht). Millepied was fine, however there were moments when I did think about how easily Ib Anderson seemed to do the role. After Mozartiana I was so satisfied and happy I didn't want to sit through another 20 minute intermission and then watch Thou Swell. Speaking of intermissions - I know NYCB sells things and so needs 20 minute intermissions, but if I ruled the world, intermissions would not be allowed to equal or exceed the preceding ballet. M & M took 19 or 20 minutes. In my universe a 20 minute intermission couldn't follow. That's what an old fogey I am.

One of my favorite scenes in this is Jaffe being coached by Kolpakova (sp).

Thank you everyone for your reports. I won't be able to see Don Q this season and enjoy this opportunity to live vicariously!

Thank you for pointing out it was Marcovici in the Agon ppd. I so agree with what you said about Kowroski and the "Farrellisms." The video on the NYC Ballet website of Kowroski talking about Chaconne is worth watching. It doesn't surprise me that she said it is up there as one her favorite roles.