SanderO

You know, what I meant to say, sorta, really!

Wonderful news for Julie and Victor. I'll miss Julie, she's one of my favs, I wonder if we'll see her on our side of the proscenium? Who will fill her shoes?

OK some dumb questions observations. My sense is that the partnering bits are more about the ballerina. He assists her, she relies on him, and almost never the reverse. Ya know the strong man and the weak women contrast. It's almost as if it wants to be a solo for the ballerina but she can't do it all alone so he's there to facilitate. Since partnering involves a couple dynamic is this mostly driven by the ballerina's style needs etc. or the male? So would the different partners to ballerina A tend to be more like each other such that if male dancer partnered ballerina A, B and C he would do it rather differently.... Or would A, B and C adapt to HIS technique? Let's assume for this thought experiment that all ballerina's are the same size and all partners are the same size? Or maybe it depends completely on the dancers themselves as to the dynamic of the pas de deux?

Perhaps some of the hands on dancers of the forum might describe exactly what "partnering is". It's clearly more than just "dancing with" a partner male and female, since the term refers ONLY to what the male does and implies that he "supports" the ballerina for "movements" she cannot do on her own. What "movements" would be "included" in partnering and which ones wouldn't be? Are lifts part of partnering? I would assume so, but reading the quote it makes me think how can one not be close when lifting a ballerina?

I love the ABT, but they and NYCB are my home teams and I would like to see some other companies. I had a peek at the Mariinsky and would like some more and certainly Paris and the Dans too but I had only one pick. Instant run off voting next time?

It's not exactly YOUR kind of dance, but: and this explains it:

Children grew up fast back then, as many were forced to be adults at ages we consider adolescence. Heck some were kings and emperors. Many poor children learned from the school of hard knocks when they became parentless and had to survive. And when the hormones kick in children's thoughts turn to sex and relationships like adults do - and romance and falling in love and so forth. Actually in the USA we infantalize adults with "programs" like internships for college grads! I think of the age think like a sine wave through time. at the beginning - youth the swings are way up and down on the Y axis and tend to come closer together. As you age it seems to not go as high and the last longer, until of course you flat line and die. The "feeling of youth" to to experience the amplitude and the rapidity of change. Actors do this professionally from minute to minute. Does this make sense?

Eartha, you were one of the best and no one can match what you were. You will be missed. RIP

Mel makes a very good point about video - the magic is lost in the translation. There is no comparison to experiencing dance live and on video. Vids pale in comparison every time.

I found the camera work was annoying. There were moments when I want to see something close up and the camera angle was way back. I suppose being deprived of what you focus on and not being able to look closely with opera glasses makes this very different from live. I notice videos of ballet often seem to have more close ups than what I recalled from the PBS production. Maybe it's the small screen things, since even with vids I am looking at them quite close on my "desk top" monitor. Regardless, I preferred the NYCB staging which seemed less "stark".

Veering OT, The reason NYC looks the way it does is because of the density of activity and the sub soil bearing condition. Downtown can support the weight of massive point loads of columns and so they build em tall. Then there is a dip right through SoHo and up to midtown where the bearing cannot support the tall building weights. But we do have parks which have open spaces as the plaza in Lincoln Center, the UN, Columbia University, Rock Center and some residential tower developments such as Peter Cooper, Tudor City and Stuyvesant Town. The plaza at Lincoln center was a no brainer. How could you handle crowds of people from one massive theater, let alone 3. Witness the mess at City Center and Carnegie Hall. As far as architecture goes, these buildings are poor examples of site specific, material appropriate and vernacular appropriate design. Each was a disaster acoustically ( I worked for BBN who did the orginal acoustics at Avery Fischer as a college summer job and they hadn't a glue what they were doing which was obviois to me a college junior). Archicture when successful conveys a feeliung to those who experience it, pass by, live and work inside, or in the case of a theatre go their to "experience" art, or culture. The period that Lincoln Center came out of was one of the lowest points in American architecture, but since then we have seen lots of barriers broken for both good and bad. When you make a mistake and repeat it you are insane.

Mel Johnson's view is the architecture is invisible in the darkness and so it doesn't matter. I take a different approach to the "built environment". It's meant to meet many demands and purposed and in edifices such as a theater for ballet, opera and music the building itself contributes to the mood of both the audience and the performers. I personally feel exhilaration approaching, being around, walking through, being in and working in some buildings and feel horribly depressed in others. As an audience member, the ENTIRE theater experience counts for me and I can report that both Met Opera, The NY State Theater and Avery Fisher Hall are extremely uncomfortable to be in and around. I suppose one would have to have a sensitivity to architecture to sense this. Sticking red plush carpet and gold leaf and "crystal" chandeliers does not make for an elegant interior. Simply using these is a cheap shot and an excuse to use real design and pick up the tried and true and in the case of these buildings garish and indiciative that the architects and designers were slackers and incompetent. Absolutely no comparison to the great halls in Europe or even Carnegie Hall for all it's faults. But these buildings actually manage to be offensive. If you are going to copy, why not COPY something that was / is successful and not show hubris and trying to do something - design a hall - which you have no experience in. Philip Johnson, Harrison& Abramowitz (Wallace Harrison) and Max Abramowitz. Philip Johnson, incompetent the first go round was given a shot to fix up what he had screwed up and failed again. The entire project has received horrible deservedly horrible reviews since it was completed. All this is understandable when you look at who was given the commissions for these projects. Beware of corporate architects and their huge egos. The use of travertine is completely inappropriate in NYC and it has not weathered well at all and the arches of the Met Opera look like the effort of a child with a compass. The maintenance of the property has been sub standard for a premiere cultural center. The famed Belmont room at the Met Opera is so shabby, falling apart and tacky and falling apart is looks like something for a third world country. Yet this is offered as a "perk" to members. What a joke! The whole place should be torn down. Despite that some wonderful art takes place there. These artists deserve better. I don't think the Martins Koch duo will deliver.

My previous post on the topic doesn't seem to have made it or was deleted. The NY Stae theater is an abomination of architecture and should never have been built or torn down and replaced shortly after everyone realized what a monstrosity it was. After that "performance" by the NYC Ballet's big shots, they won't be getting a penny from me nor will I attend their performances. Shame really for the talent, to be managed by such taste "whores". Aside from the fact that Peter Martins R+J was a disaster, he demonstrates how well he's managed to play the suck up to wealth and power in America. Koch's business ventures are repulsive and he has contributed to the financial meltdown the little people are going to take a mighty beating on, while he and his buds fritter about on their mega yachts on gated estates. The ego of people like Koch is amazing. If he wanted to benefit the arts, aside from his main purpose of a tax write off and getting his name on the building, he could have donated to the NY State Council for the Arts and they could have distributed the money, since presumably they know where it's most needed. And finally, what exactly can they do with that building? It's hardly worth saving and most likely it will all be wasteful cosmetic nonsense, when artists could better use the financial support - smart move - stick on a building to help a dance company.

The egotism of the wealthy and the sponsorships and the way the companies suck up to them (deep pockets) is completely off putting to say the least. I recall contacting ABT about a project I wanted to get going which would be an exhibit of photos of ballet... the best of the best. Of course since I wasn't offering them any money I was told it was impossible because of "union" and contract barriers. ABT was constrained in the use of any images taken by photographers of their artists, especially ones which were used for publicity. Well lo and behold last year Nancy Ellison comes along with a coffee table book for ABT following on her's for the Met Opera. What made this happen? I am told she and her husband donated $1MM to the MetOpera and who know how much to ABT??? While I am thrilled that people support the arts, I am not thrilled how the well heeled are doing it and massaging their bloated egos in the process. Where there is money, you'll be sure to find ugliness.

I am almost always disappointed by Hollywood films and stopped going to see them. Now I am not disappointed. Hollywood produces basically rubbish and they need to re invent themselves and use talent for more than special effects and idiotic chase scenes and fairy tales with adults. For every Bridges of Madison Country there are 100 James Bond "thrillers". Frankly, if I am going to go out for "enterainment", I'll take live talent, theatre, dance, concerts, jazz whatever instead of what the "movie experience" has become. Technological advancement and artistic necrosis.

In light of some of the discussions on this board about "new" classical ballet productions, such as the recent Sleeping Beauty a few things can be gleaned as far as I can tell. Ballet is much more frozen in time. There seems to be more of "demand" to maintain the original production in as many aspects as possible. This certainly applies to the choreography which as in seen in attempts to recreate, for example, Petipa or even Balanchine productions. Opera seems to be more open to taken the libretto and restaging the entire thing. Yes, you can close your ears and not see the staging and the music is supposed to be the same and aside from artistic interpretations of the musical director and the artists - it is. This "trick" is harder to do with ballet. When you close your eyes all you have is the music. There is no way to change the costumes, or the sets. But this quality also explains how we can listen to opera on recording and enjoy it without ANY staging whatsoever required for enjoyment. No correlation to ballet. In fact videos do a horrible job at capturing the theater experience. Ballet is like classical architecture in a sense, you can't interpret it too much or it loses its center. I suppose the real genius presents when an AD can find a way to may a classic new without destroying it in the process.

He became a whacko in last years... RIP and don't dock the boat.

I'm not getting any younger and have been going more and enjoying more. There seems to be a disproportionate number of seniors and a dip in the middle age brackets. Who knows. We need more audience of all ages.

Thanks Paul, You gave much more than anyone could expect. Good show. You will not be forgotten.

Conceptually, at least the "personalizing" of one's body seems out of place in such a body conscious art form where the ideal is so well understood and so often a goal of the dancer. Even the corps members are often expected to "look" alike and move in synchonicity... why would an AD want a corp sporting all sorts of individual ID tags? If they bod mods can be hidden, covered etc. then they would not be distracting or attention grabbing, which seems to be their purpose...to send some message. Those messages have no place in ballet... and probably not contemporary dance, unless the "character" protrayal calls for this... a sailor... "biker" or so forth. But Odette... Giselle or Aurora? no way Jose.

I just learned of the departure of Sascha from ABT. I am sure his wife will be leaving as well. That's a real loss for NY ballet lovers. Both of them were terrific. How 'bout some good news?

Welcome Back!

We need not confuse the notion that commerce invads everything that we do, the arts, science and so forth. My "beef" is with how corporation behave, in general, though there are some notable exceptions, like Patagonia. Corporations exist to extract profits from "workers" to the owners and "shareholders". This leads them to act in ways which benefit the few (financially) while in many cases harming the many. The fact that corporations use marketing and sponsorships of "noble" endeavors does not excuse their odious behavior. One example is Philip Morris morphed into Atria which produced cigarettes while "supporting" the arts. That money is dripping with blood. Corporations have taken our jobs offshore to exploit workers in slave like conditions, have polluted our planet with impunity and passed the costs to the people and the list goes on and on. When we find a way to make corporations behave in a socially responsible manner then their support is welcome. Until such time, most of the events they support and use for marketing themselves and their products, should be avoided. Just saying.

I find the Olympics way too commercial, too many silly "competitions" which are not sports... too many children competing as "adults". The playing field is far from level with the rich countries having enormous advantage over the small ones and no handicapping. I think they should scrap them whole thing. Having said that, there is a place for competition in "sports" internationally... just not this extravaganza for corporations.

I hate to bring up the Vishneva "thing" from last season, but I believe she is one of the main marketing tools being the Russian ballerina and someone who got oodles of publicity with her Beauty tour. But she injured herself and was taken out of the line up for the whole season.... except of course the Gala where the money people attend. And they were dodgey about whether she would perform and refused, at least, in word, to exchange tickets where she had been scheduled to perform. As I stated earlier, Kevin seems to be fashioning the offerings as a bit of the classics ("reinterpreted?") and some new pieces like Thwarp, with dancers from all over the map. I don't mind the mix and match of the companies dancers as they have some good talent, but I would like to see them do some real Petipa and so forth accurately so we can see how it looked when it was created. I haven't been thrilled by the newer stuff, but occasionally it is fun for a change, so long as the main body of work is more classical. Sleeping Beauty did not wow the critics nor the audiences and if that was an example of "artistic direction", I'd say it was nothing to write home about. Nice try, no cigar. Just saying.