Juliet

Absolutely agree with Drew.

Reminds me of the instance a few years ago on BA where someone pontificated at length and rather pedantically on the demise of NYCB---on the basis of TWO performances attended that season. OK....... and how seriously do you expect us to take this, Critic Absolute?

Iannone may have a long history of viewing ballet andd NYCB, but if a writer does not give background and basis for such negative assertions, unfortunately they may be taken less seriously than they would like.

There are many things which fill me with dismay at City Ballet now, but even when I was watching back in the 60s there were things which filled me with dismay---for quite different reasons! Then, however, the horses filling the choreographic stables were throroughbreds, not hacks.....

As for Gottlieb's animus against Ringer, well, there just ain't no pleasing some folks......

Re: Gottlieb......

I agree with him, although he is more direct in expressing his opinions than I would have been (in public.)

Unsettling, jarring place for the intermission.....Martins does not have a gift for editing or pacing---I was very much taken aback as I'd forgotten that this is where he put the break.

Steps, not grandeur of conception......I thought the fairies were motley and the Bluebird of Edge and Gold was horribly miscast.....

Beautiful costuming and sometimes interesting sets crammed into a too-small space (one has the feeling of peeking into "miniature rooms" or dioramas.)

I thought Ashley Bouder was terrific.....she can grow into the role, and while I wouldn't have immediately have thought of her for Aurora, it was an auspicious debut....

I think that Jenifer Ringer has undergone a sea change and is much more interesting, although I thought her Aurora in 1999 was beautiful.

I am sorry to have missed Miranda Weese, although ordinarily I would think of her as being too heavy for the first act---heavy as in gravitas, not as in weight--but her vision scene and wedding pdd must have been wonderful....

I didn't care for Nichols as Carabosse at all--she seemed spiteful and petty, rather than grandly malevolent--a house spider rather than a Black Widow.

I love the sweep of the Garland Dance, and most of the costuming, although I wish this could be done on a larger stage so many of the details are not lost in the overall busyness.....

Maybe they'll offer Chesborough early retirement as a reward for the wonderful job he's done. And, you know, he's never been the slightest bit selfserving or shortsighted in his decision-making.....

Give the guy a hand, folks! Out the door.....

Cupid and a carriage??????? Oh oh, I had heard about this but had (mercifully) forgotten....

Cupid and crows and a carriage.........well, it will be interesting to see. Anyone who's been, please weigh in....

As some others here, I have been watching Ashley for years and what impressed me most last night was her development. Yes, she's wonderfully strong technically, she owns the stage when she inhabits it, she is becoming more comfortable in herself. The self-assurance is immediately apparent and because she is young, I assume that her art will develop as she matures as a woman and an artist. This sounds high falutin' but I really look forward to watching her because she is *interesting.*

She danced and acted a wonderful birthday scene--the shivers of excitement, the flirty exchanges with her suitors, the preening for them, the way she was so clean iin her steps but did everything with the barely suppressed excitement that we all feel at that age. She smelled the roses, she showed them off to her mother, she was exuberant without being giddy and proud of herself without slipping into vanity.

The vision scene showed me a side of her which I'd not seen before--when she first slowly descended the stairs and emerged from behind the scrim, she was remote, dreamy, and not corporeal. This is a dancer who can whoop it up in Western Symphony, dance a Liberty Belle which is still being talked about years later, and for her to act and dance this very, very different scene so well was remarkable. She's evidently studied the role extensively, and is finding a way to already make it her own. I was struck by her beckoning (frequently it looks like the dancer is using the hand-dryer in a public restroom) and she was so exquisitely remote, yet with the promise of beauty, should he find his way to her.....

The grand pdd was formal, structured and very, very well danced. By Ashley, if not by Damian who walked through some of his variation, and then recalled that he was on stage. The beginning was strong and secure, the first Desiree variation rather sketch, and then she did her variation and made the familar glow with a new warmth. The pdd was grand, the apotheosis an emotional moment for her, and the evening ended on a quite satisfying note.

There were no boos that I heard. There were several of us cheering Brava!, and I didn't hear any grumblings from those around me. I was in dead center, second ring, and there was no lack of audience response throughout thte ballet.

I must be alone in not objecting to the tempi last night. The orchestra sounded not as bad as usual (piddling praise, I know, but lately they've been miserable.)

I was disappointed when I saw the casting for Florine and Bluebird. Sigh. I thought it was just awful. No plastique, no lightness, no upper body use to speak of in Gold. Amanda Edge is a solid dancer (whom many like a great deal,) but I found the idea of her longing to take flight with her Bluebird impossible to contemplate. I'm sorry, but her arrms were spiky, jerky, and really uncomfortable to watch. She seems not to have read the story. A definitely earthbound couple.

Red Riding Hood was completely charming. She acted big, she projected, big, she was not saccharine and I didn't worry a bit when she was scooped up by the Wolf: I felt certain that she would talk her way out of it. Smart little girl!

I was underwhelmed by the Jewels (Askegard is looking defintely landlocked tthese days) except for Megan Fairchild who was characteristically piquant as Ruby.

I have always loved this production....would that the gods who guided Martins in 1991 had not been looking the other way when he mounted Swan Lake. Looking forward to seeing other casts later this week....

Bayadere:

Royal Ballet with Asylmuratova

Kirov with Komleva

Paris Opera Ballet with Guerin, Hilaire, Platel

Sleeping Beauty:

Royal Ballet with Fonteyn (Act III on An Evening with the Royal Ballet)

Kirov with Sizova, Lezhnina, Asylmuratova, Kolpatkova (although this was done late in her career and isn't the best indicator of her dancing)

A lot depends, of course, on your daughter's teacher and style---there are variations in variations....but these should get her started at least.

There are SB excerpts on many anthology videos, also.

You might check Grescovic's book, Ballet 101, which has a good starter video library index.

You can also click on the Amazon.com icon on the upper right of this page and do a search under DVDs and Videos for both ballets.

Uncrossedfifth,

Giannina and several of us use "green, green. green" as indication that we are green with envy. BA shorthand, if you will--sorry if it was unclear.

Having seen Ringer's significant and wonderful development this year into a much more interesting dancer, I am happy to hear that the performance went well. I saw her debut a few years ago and look forward to seeing her again.

Hope that others who attend will let us know your impressioins.

Well, tonight is dark so they can get ready for tomorrow's opening.....

I think simply calling the box office soon, doing a charge sale and then picking the tickets up on Sunday sounds like a good bet--it is a big production so any seats should be fine.

Hope you enjoy it--it is a lovely production.

Peter Harvey did the original sets.

He did these as well.

I think they are splendid!!! The woodland glen of Emeralds is softer now, but the light coming through the leaves in summer, and the faint sound of a stream are lovely touches for my imagination. The music and the design marry happily....the costumes are very beautifully deep and sumptuous, but if they don't quite work as garb for dryads, the backdrop cerrtainly does not detract from them.

I like the suggestion of draperies now, the faint black delineation of them, rather than the actual swags and furbelows.

Rubies is my least favourite of the trio (I know, sacrilege!) but I thought the straight lines, glittery costumes and city-night lighting all worked----

Diamonds looks lovely against the ice-kingdom/underwater colours of the set. I do think somehow the dancing looks cramped by it---I can't explain why, but it seems as it the expansiveness and regality have been lost. I think it is a beautiful set, and perhaps my impressions will change when I see it in the Opera House of the Kennedy Center next month.....

I don't see the tie-dye in these--I think they are beautiful.

Oberon, we must agree to disagree on this--strongly.

I intend no disparagement to Hanna, but to attain solost status, one should demonstrate something special which sets one apart from the other dancers. For me, he hasn't done this at all. Bouder is coming along strongly this year, and Fairchild did Coppelias last summer. Both have demonstrated that they are growing as artists and I think it will be really, really interesting to see how they progress. Fairchild can be instantly cast as cutie-pie/soubrette, but she fills this niche beautifully and she is young, so I think it's ifne for her to rest there for a year or two, actually. Bouder is arguably the most interesting dancer on a stage the minute she walks on---she claims the space, the air moves around her and her mastery of quick, staccato technique is awesome in one so young. She is a masterful dancer and I hope her personal and professional forward impetus combine to give her the deepening awareness of the dramatic aspects of a role....

Best of luck to them...

"What I was annoyed at was a volunteer calling me (at work!), trying to sell me Spring subscriptions. I appreciate aggressive marketing of ballet and all the volunteers who do this work, but I don't like telemarketers, no matter what they're trying to sell me, especially when they call me at work. "

A plea for clemency, in the midst of ire.....

I dislike marketing tactics like this. That said, I am less annyed by opera or ballett companies soliciting me than I am by storm windows, vinyl siding, credit card companies, etc. ad nauseum.

I want to let people know that many of the telemarketers that NYCB uses (for example), are not volunteers. In many cases they are students at the school, who may or may not be on adequate scholarship to cover their living costs. I don't know anyone who does telemarketing who *likes * it. It can be deadly dull, and the responses from people called are usually not pleasant.

Many ballet students are on the other end of your phone lines. They aren't calling you because they want to annoy you, they are calling you because their rehearsal schedules won't allow them to get any other jobs and they would like to buy a new pair of legwarmers or sweatshirt.

So please remember that support comes in many forms. The dancer you might be singing paeans to on this board might be the person you snarled at last night during a solicitation for spring subscriptions call. I have direct personal knowledge that this is indeed the case--I am not being Pollyanna-ish or making it up.

One can always tell telemarketers not to call you at work, or screen your calls at home.

Yes, it is annoying, but one can simply throw the letters away or not answer the phone.

That information is correct, as far as I know. Ms. Parsley and Jared Reddick are married and they both dance now for Boston Ballet.

Well, that will be interesting!

And perhaps some day the PR folks will spell Zelensky's name correctly.

Sounds like a mess.

What on earth is going on at ABT? This is not some hastily-formed pick-up company with sub-professional dancers.

I don't criticise the dancers en masse, for something is obviously seriously amiss in coaching, rehearsal schedules, or both.....

Part and Meunier probably both had stress reactions when they saw how things were going....I'd have had a stress reaction, albeit of a different sort, if I'd been sitting in that audience......!

This is very dispiriting news.....

Sorry, the third symphony is my favourite one. I prefer the second piano concerto to the first, as well .....

I agree about some of the choreography not being the most exciting, but I can listen to the music, then, and it takes my mind off the fact that I am not watching Wendy Whelan dance Diamonds.....

Sorry, even personal loyalty to some of the company couldn't get me to drive or train in for this mess.

Let's hope they pull Raymonda into some semblance of shape before the spring season or they will be a laughingstock and the funding will go even lower.....

Juliet

OK, next time I'll be brave and say it:

Saturday night, at a performance of Donizetti and Scotch, i distinctly saw half the orchestra reading, doing crosswords, or chatting it up with the musician next to him/or her.

I saw it, too (I was up in 4th Ring) and couldn't believe it.

I used to read a book during what I termed "rest stops," but I kept it vertically on my music stand.

Horns: most memorably at the beginning of Desiree/Florimund's hunting party in the grotto scene......we have two weeks of it awaiting us later in the month.....

I am not intending this as a personal slur on a specific musician.

That said, I think the orchestra which accompanies NYCB sounds dreadful. On opening night, they were very ragged. . . I took this as an indication of first night pixies in the pit.

Since then, matters have gotten worse. I can't cavil at performances of corps members who are not together when the orchestra is operating under the same star. On Saturday night, Donizetti was like confetti.....

The Kennedy Center musicians who accompanied the Royal Danish Ballet sounded fine.....evidently the "it's ballet, so hang intonation and playing in unison" stigma has not moved south of the Mason Dixon line. It sounds ridiculous, but one of the major drawbacks of City Ballet's Swan Lake (I know, I know....) is the nasty diaspora of the brass section. For those of us who do not particularly care for the vegetable bin first act, the option of closing our eyes and listening to exquisite music exists only in our longings.

I think something is seriously wrong in the orchestra pit. I don't think it's the conductors, although the best Chaconne I have heard recently was conducted by Guillermo Figueroa in Saratoga. The Juilliard orchestra heard in annual SAB Workshop performances is conducted by Richard Moredock and sounds fine. Go figure.

I cringe at the prospect of the horns in Sleeping Beauty....sigh.

Very good news for WSB--best wishes to her and to all the students!

Little note....

If you click on the link above for amazon.com, through the BA site, the site gets a tiny portion of sales.

This DVD is available for pre-order through Amazon, $25.46. Nice Valentine's Day present and healthier than candy!!! Of course, there is no rule that one cannot include candy as well.....

your friendly BA Personal Shopper,

Juliet

I have it. I bought several for holiday gifts. Actually, there are some places which sell it for very much less money (and I got the links through Amazon)

anyway, yes, it's lovely

Every time:

The Lavender Leotard

I read this as "help keep us on the good side of the public approval fence. Let's minimize the inconvenience to others: don't double park. We don't want to give anyone ammunition for complaints."

Just my thought on it.

I am too! It always used to irk me to sit there in the State Theatre and look at Irina and Paloma program after program after program. I'll be happy to see some of the NYCB dancers there...and if the dancers get a decent cut from the ads, I am happy. ( Of course, some of them have agents who see to it that they are in and on everything...naming no names, of course..... :rolleyes:)

I have an Esperanza watch...I wonder if I can get a deal on a future one.....

I can think of many other faces I'd like to see from NYCB....it will be nice for a change!