cubanmiamiboy

Bad, bad. The audiences should be educated to respect the art, not the other way around.

No and no, sorry. Then what...do it too with Sleeping Beauty also to show who's leitmotif is who's...? If the ballerina is already showing and dancing onstage before her real entrance, then why applaud her in her grand jete sequence...? Are we applauding the white tutu...? One of the wonderful things about Tchaikovsky's scores is that they REALLY tell you about the story, the characters...we can certainly imagine by listening to this overture all the drama that has happened in the past before the story starts unfolding with dancing onstage. It is even more wonderful in Sleeping Beauty. This overtures are brilliant. Please, stagers...leave them as they are. I know it is hard sometimes to get all the swan mannerisms off from the minds of both stagers and dancers, for which they usually treat the women, including Odette, as a bunch of birds at all times, when in reality by the time they reach the stage, at down, the transformation process is finished, and what we see are maidens in their human form. Something should convey the idea and swan qualities, true, but it should me more subtle. Many times people think that the guy onstage keeps falling in love and dancing with a bird, and no...that's not how the story goes... F. Gaanen design for the 1877 maidens entrance.

Gosh...what a disgrace of a review...

I like some things about ABT's version, especially the interpolated dancing for Purple Rothbart in Act III, which gives some great male dancers a chance to show off. I also like the prologue showing how Odette is trapped by Rothbart. (Too many versions leave that unsaid.) The overture was meant to be just that...an overture. No dancing, please... That silly modern prologue is one of the lowest points on ABT's staging. I mean...after all the work done by both the composer and the choreographer to give the Prima a grand entrance in Act II , it all goes down the drain with this number...and that even without getting into analyzing the stuffed bird segment...

In this recording we can hear the whole uncut music for the last scene that Mel describes above: "Lever du Soleil et arrive de la Cour". CD # 2, number 14. https://play.spotify.com/#album/60ZOboLja5O7zBgNPoJE0e?&_suid=137685128661306460834394965706

I finally found a recording that can be shared showi the whole "Fugue des Willis" in its original context. Here it is, in CD # 2, part 7, at the end of "Entree d'Hilarion, Scene et Fugue des Wiillis". Apparently it takes place just before the PDD. I'm sure many of you will enjoy it as much as I did. https://play.spotify.com/#album/60ZOboLja5O7zBgNPoJE0e?&_suid=137685128661306460834394965706

I haven't seen these other American SLs. The Mariinsky's version is widely considered to be one of the best in the world. The Mariinsky will be performing SL in Washington DC in 2014 (Late Jan or early Feb). Obviously, casting is always an issue. If you live anywhere within a reasonable distance of D.C., I would recommend going to the Mariinsky SL. When I want to show a neohyte what the real ballet of Swan Lake is, from beginning to end, I show them the Murphy/Corella video for ABT. With the exception of the silly choreo for the overture, and the costume for the Swamp Thing, it is the most beautiful staging I've ever seen, honoring the very original libretto, including the double suicide/heaven redemtption finale. It is also the only version I'm aware of that reinstates the original Siegffied/Ocette encounter mime. ABT is also one of the few companies that makes the entrance of Odette the old fashion way, with a very effective grand jete, just as it should be. I got very dissapointed to see the fgure of Odette already in view in the Bolshoi staging doing all this little walking center stage. It completely broke the momentum of the entrance. ABT's is THE version to see.

Very tasteful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6HhGd0X0_c#at=119

Isanusi was always under used, way before his health issues. We certainly wish him a full recovery and hopefully back with MCB. "Diamonds", with Seay. "Bugaku" with Haiyan Wu. In R&J as Tybalt, with Kronenberg as Juliet and Guerra as Romeo.

At this point ("I've only seen three ballets in my life") I think you should see everything available to you. It's always interesting to hear what other people have to say (as a dance critic, I should certainly hope so!) but there's nothing like seeing for yourself. Yes, but it also helps to have a better vision of what's a "better" staging if one does the homework and finds out what the original libretto calls for, hence deciding with accuracy if what it's being seen is what the creators had in mind-(do you want a Cio Cio San to suddenly think it over twice at the very last minute, drop her hara-kiri knife, pick up her kid and leave the stage, sad but alive to some different music...?) Because that's what I felt after watching the Bolshoi SL. That was NOT Swan Lake...it was another ending, another idea, a different take, a completely alien number. If that's what happened to NYCB staging, then...

Farrell Fan, on 29 Nov 2005 - 11:17 AM, said: The subject of NYCB's Swan Lake upsets me, so I'll let others provide details. I'll just say that while ABT's Swan Lake is no great shakes, NYCB's is an abomination. http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/21118-swan-lake-by-nycb-vs-abt/?p=170847

I know about the multicolored number supposedly worn back then, but I'm thinking more about the effectiveness of having just the one femme fatale in the black tutu. Seeing all this dancers wearing black diminished somehow the uniqueness of Odile.

I think one of the moments I enjoyed the most, choreographically wise, was the structure of the national dances in the ballroom act, which the Bolshoi show as variations for the foreign princesses. Usually the national dances tend to be a bit boring, the audience just wanting them to be over to get to the pas de deux. I liked the idea of the pointe women here-(I'm a sucker of pointework, I know, even loving Dudinskaya's black pointes in the Sizova Sleeping Beauty! ;-) ). Anyway, I think this idea honors pretty much the original scheme of the '77 version and the deleted Grand Pas de Six for the princesses, which leads me to another detail I liked in the Bolshoi production, which is the showing of some of this Petipa-discarded music, like the beautiful "Andante con Moto", which is used here for a Pas de trois between Rothbart, Odile and Siegfried right after the evil couple shows up in the ballroom-(I think this pas de trois works, even if it looks a bit modern at times compared to the traditional choreo), Then there is the "Allegro" variation-(number four in the '77 pas de six)-used as a variation for Rothbart-(lots of pirouettes a la seconde, as usually with Grigorovich!)- and some silly black swans in the background-(please, no more black swans other than Odile...). The one substitution I did not like was that of the traditional '95 Drigo orchestrated Tchaikovsly's "L'espiegle", which is used in every other modern staging of the ballet for Odile's variation for the '77 Pas de Six "Moderato, Allegro Semplice"-(the "oboe variation"). The '77 Karpakova's "Danse Russe" for the ballroom scene is used here as an extra variation for one of the princesses-(whereas ABT uses it as a Rothbart's solo). I wish someone would dare at one point to stage the ballet to the '77 score, using as much of the '95 Petipa choreo. That score is superior as the revised Drigo one.

The Russian arms undulation is certainly over used. Sometimes you even see Giselles that seem to be turning into Odettes, particularly during the "initiation" scene in Act II.

Oh yes indeed, please...

Aurra's "death" scene is very strange. The way they carried her was awkward, only by her legs and upper body. There was no support on the middle, so even if she was trying to keep still and straight, her body tended to bend. Then...what happened to grieving parents in front of such tragedy...? The royal couple seemed very calm during the whole affair. Not good.

Krysanova it was paired with Ovcharenko. I liked her in the role, although compared to my last Aurora-(Herrera)-she falls behind the Argentinean. I missed the technical reassurance of the princess' arms "en couronne" during the RA. Krysanova seemed nervous to go from hand to hand, and she switched them VERY quickly. On the good side, she showed great restraint on her extensions. It is nice to get a Russian break from the contortionists of the world. Ovcharenko was beautiful to watch. His tours en l'air during his act III variation were wonderful, and his landings very plush and lovely. Shipulina's Lilac was nice too, although Grigorovich ideas for this role was all about what he does best...fill, fill, fill everything, every single musical note with chainee turns and arabesques. Lilac's choreo was particularly unfortunate during the Vision scene, where she engages in some sort of silly mirror dancing with Aurora while she dances with Desiree. This production suffers particularly during this scene. On my way out of the theater I got a glimpse of a picture hanging in a corridor showing a moment during this scene with Fonteyn as Aurora, Beryl Grey as Lilac and Helpmann as Desiree, and wow...what a difference. The Bolshoi production has no forest, but instead we keep seeing this annoying patterned floor and the classical columns still on the sides. It is VERY hard to guess that this is all happening outside a palace, and all this busy baroque surrounding, including the floor, diminishes a great deal the usually mysterious and lovely feeling of this part of the ballet. One of the high points of the production is the showing of the characters divertissements in act III, with the nice bonus of Cinderella and her Prince-(a very rare dancing moment from every other SB production I've ever seen). Rodkin did really good as the Bluebird, and here I should say that his brise voles were more satisfactory than those of Vasiliev-(my last BB before Rodkin). Why does the company keep milking applauses? After the last curtain call for the whole troupe onstage was over, the whole house gradually stopped applauding altogether, and still they opened the curtain for individual bowing. I think this should only happen if the house is being insistent, and tonight it was not the case, so the moment looked sort of awkward. But then, when they started bowing individually, the wonderful British audience responded with gusto. Lovely manners, I'd say-(which I should extend to the WHOLE of the people over here, so allow me to say this in capitals... I'M LEAVING THIS TOWN FULL OF AN IMMENSE SENSE OF WARMTH AND HIGH VALUE OF ITS PEOPLE. LONDONERS ARE LOOOOOOOOOOVELY!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for having me felt so good and welcomed over here. Hugs.

Getting ready for tonight's SB performance, and I don't even know who's dancing...!

In all fairness to Miss Smirnova, I also think that for many of us it is a matter of watching again another ballerina playing the same character and steps after a thousand ballet viewing years and 34765 O/O's. I'm sure she was mesmerizing as a first Odette.

I went to see my fellow countryman and wow...does he still electrifies the air around him..! More to come, but as a starter, the program included bits of Balanchine-(Apollo, Rubies), MacMilllan-(Mayerling, Winter Dreams, Gloria, Requiem, Fokine-(Sheherezade, Mort du Cygne), Vaganova-(D&A), Ashton-(Rhapsody), and Wheeldon-(Tryst). Many curtain calls in a PACKED house.

I was there last night too, volcanohunter. also at the amphitheater..!! ;-) I must say I'm with you about Smirnova. It could be that from that far up, it is hard to do a proper assessment of facial moods and characterization, but overall, I felt her performance rather cold. The entrance of the Shades, if well synchronized, was just too fast...I did not have time to luxuriate in the iconic arabesque-penchee/tendu devant-cambre sequence, and I found the props around the ramps-(4 in all, creating an inverted pyramid effect)-rather busy. Chudin and Krysanova danced fine too, but...I could not top the memories of my last favorite Nikiya-(divina Part)-and my last favorite Solor-(Vasiliev...). Another note of criticism of the ballet finale. Why, of why does the Bolshoi insist in keeping and offering truncated finales non adhered to what the original libretto calls for...? I must say I find Makarova's staging WAY more satisfying, for which she honors the proper finale just as Khudekov and Petipa envisioned , which just as in Swan Lake, calls for soul redemption via physical death-(which I think a very religious concept). In Grigorovich false finale, Solor stays alone onstage, alive and remorseful. It is time to change this. Igor Tsvirko was good-(not great)-as the Golden Idol, who danced surrounded by the black faced/black skin clothed children.

"Nureyev infamously stalled a performance by refusing to go onstage in the baggy pants that were still the norm in Russia, though they had long been abandoned in the West. Tradition had dictated that men wear bloomers over their tights despite the fact the garment obscured the visibility of the legs, which can communicate story, intention, even emotion to an attentive audience". http://www.artpractical.com/review/rudolf_nureyev_a_life_in_dance/ Following in the footsteps of Vaslav Nijinsky who left the Imperial (Mariinsky) Ballet in 1910 after refusing to wear the costume for Albrecht that had the expected pantaloons. (As detailed in chapter 8 of Romola Nijinsky's biography). Thanks for the clarification though. Karsavina clearly recalls Nijinsky's anecdote with Dolin in "A portrait of Giselle". Ninel Kurgapkina narrates Nureyev's similar story in "Nureyev: The Russian Years".

I was there last night, and I'm saddened to report that I felt disappointed by this production. First of all...how on earth does anybody dares to mess up Tchaikovsky's score..?!?! Where's the grand finale...the perfect musical design that allows for the viewer to feel, through the changes of the laid motif from minor to major key, the grand victory of good over evil via the double suicide..? Once the viewer-(along with Prince Siegfried)-knows that there's nothing else that can be done to break the spell of the sorcerer, then comes Odette with the unthinkable, followed by her lover. Now, here's the tricky part...the double suicide can make for a "tragic" vision -(death)- to those who don't believe there's nothing beyond the earthy matters-(as in the case of the destructors of the original finale during Soviet times)-vs. the "happy"-(religious)- vision-(reunion of the souls up in heaven)- that somehow diminishes the very idea of the destruction of the mortal bodies. The very fact that the key changes to a victorious major toward the very end clearly tells the viewer what was in the head of the librettist , the choreographer and the composer, all of them probably men of deep religious faith. Wow...no pristine harp arpegies....no bombastic final notes...but instead some obscure scene that went along with a silly reinstatement of the ballet's overture-(I couldn't help but wondering what could had been the reaction of the audience to Vaganova's vision after deleting altogether the music of the overture and placing instead that of "The Voyevoda"). By the end of the ballet I wasn't sure what had happened with Odette and Von Rothbart, as they just disappeared behind a stage transparent prop. Awful. I mean, having watched this I, once more, have learned to value more and more the wonderful Swan Lakes I've seen toward my balletic viewing life. Alexandrova's fouettes were the strangest I've ever seen, her working leg totally bent down...her pointe shoe almost to the level of the supporting leg's ankle.

"Nureyev infamously stalled a performance by refusing to go onstage in the baggy pants that were still the norm in Russia, though they had long been abandoned in the West. Tradition had dictated that men wear bloomers over their tights despite the fact the garment obscured the visibility of the legs, which can communicate story, intention, even emotion to an attentive audience". http://www.artpractical.com/review/rudolf_nureyev_a_life_in_dance/

Fernando as Prince Desire and Alicia as Princess Aurora...