BW

Between this wishful thinking and The New Yorker article, I'm getting depresssed. Not about having all the former ballerinas come, etc. but the idea that this is only a pipe dream. And, I really can't imagine the Eifman deal happening! Although I've not actually seen his work, I have to believe you all in that it would be totally wrong for the company, past, present or future. On another thread, Leigh, you explained how the ballet company hierarchy works... So is it really only up to the Ballet Master in Chief how to handle the upcoming season? Are prayer and supplication the only route? Does the Board of Directors have any serious input and/or control?

Thank you Calliope, you're so lucky to have been there - it must have been beautiful and, obviously very moving.

What an incredibly good article. Thank you so much for giving us the link to it and giving it its own thread. Sometimes I get overwhelmed when I check out the daily links section. It will be interesting to see if, perhaps, some of the readers who didn't care for the article several weeks ago in the NY Times will find this one more illuminating. Ms. Acocella writes very well and is not without a nice sense of humor - re the "dreamboats"!

We were there too - and I would have to say that after reading your post, Colleen, that I see what you mean about this Conrad's lack of swashbuckle... I kept wondering why the pirates just didn't nail him in the grotto!;) And Michael, your comment about the Pasha's preference in Birbanto's companionship is perfect! All in all, we truly enjoyed our matinee of swashbuckling piracy, high jinks, true love and melodrama on the hight seas - and I loved that ship, too! My favorites were Gillian Murphy, Sean Stewart and Jose Manuel Correno. Sean Stewart was so good at being bad!

Thanks for the technical update. I guess it's time to bite the DVD player bullit and purchase one. Any comments on type of player or features?

Although I didn't see this performance, a friend of mine did and enjoyed it - although she had seen it before when Valentina Kozlova performed The Kiss and actually liked it better. One thing my friend said that struck me was that she felt Ms. Sappington choreographed the emotion into the ballet. Doris R, how do you feel about this? I've seen two other pieces by Margo Sappinton and thought both were excellent - the dancers who performed the pieces were also very good. ;) I've heard that some, feel her roots in musical theater are too strong - but I don't hold that against her, and quite enjoy her approach.

Last night as we watched Le Corsaire - and really enjoyed pretty much the same cast as you, glebb - we kept thinking about a certain piece of music in the Pasha's dream scene "Jardin Animee" in Act III, and racking our brains to figure out where we knew it from!? Well, I think Bobbi hit on it earlier on this thread: Of course, Bobbi was asking some more specific questions than my brain even thought about. I, too, would love to get some feedback as to whether or not you "all" think that George Balanchine was inspired by this particular piece of music in Le Corsaire when he created La Source? I really love that music.

Ah yes, The Turning Point - I have to say that I always did like it...but I felt sorry for Anne Bancroft's character... kind of made ballet vs family an either or type of thing. OK dmdance, I'm going to hop on here and say that I loved Billy Elliot and for all the reasons that you've already stated!! As for Center Stage, I enjoyed it, my daughter and her ballet friends all enjoyed it... Although I "hear" all the negatives that have been posted, I still thought it was entertaining - motorcycle and all. If any nondancers did see it, I think they would come away with more of an appreciation for the athleticism and hard work involved in ballet - and that alone would be a major plus, in my opinion.

Ah yes, The Turning Point - I have to say that I always did like it...but I felt sorry for Anne Bancroft's character... kind of made ballet vs family an either or type of thing. OK dmdance, I'm going to hop on here and say that I loved Billy Elliot and for all the reasons that you've already stated!! As for Center Stage, I enjoyed it, my daughter and her ballet friends all enjoyed it... Although I "hear" all the negatives that have been posted, I still thought it was entertaining - motorcycle and all. If any nondancers did see it, I think they would come away with more of an appreciation for the athleticism and hard work involved in ballet - and that alone would be a major plus, in my opinion.

Mr. Stevenson certainly has had a most impressive career - what made him decide to leave Houston, who is taking over the reins and what are the implications for Houston now?

True to form, I forgot about it... From what I can gather, it will be aired tonight in the NY/NJ area on channel WNYE which is 25 from where I live. It should be on at 8pm. This time I'm writing myself a note.

June 15th's Tchaikovsky Spectacular was just that! Gillian Murphy and Ethan Steifel danced in Theme and Variations, Herrera and Gomes in Swan Lake, Jaffe and Acosta in the Nutcracker pas de deux, Ananiashvili and Correna in Balanachines' Pas De deux and, finally, Julie Kent and Angel Corella in Sleeping Beauty's Act III. Initially, I had planned to post this as an "add on" to an earlier post under the section devoted to ABT that Manhattnik had written, but then I thought better of it and decided to see if any of this sections readers might have seen it too. If so, I hope you'll consider sharing your impressions. Sadly, I can't put my hands on the program as I know there were two substitutions in Sleeping Beauty for the dancers who performed the Bluebird pas de deux - and they were great - very sprightly. I can't analyze the technique - but I can say that we enjoyed each piece fully and felt lucky to have been there. What can I say - I'm a smitten fan and loved every minute of it! I also found it interesting to see, in one evening, the differences - choreographically speaking - in the styles presented... Nina Ananiashvili took my breath away in Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux - I believe it was the first time I'd seen her dance to his choreography besides Symphony in C earlier this season. Although we hadn't intially planned to attend this performance, something came up which initiated a switch of dates... had planned to see The Merry Widow this coming Saturday... As it turned out, the evening was particularly interesting for me as I've seen other dancers perform most of these same roles before...and I am happy to say that I really enjoyed seeing Ms. Herrera perform the pas de deux in Swan Lake's Act II - I hadn't been sure that I would, only because I have seen another ballerina perform it quite a bit and thought I might not be able to come out from under her spell! Happily, I found Ms. Herrera's potrayal to be lovely and convincing in her own, more subtle, way. Great costumes, the best music - excellent seats for wonderful dancing...but then again, on that old Which Famous Dead Russian Composer Are You? test, I came out Tchaikovsky.

Ah, Doris R, I have a clearer picture now. Unfortunately, this seems to happen more often than one cares to think about. Does this mean that the teachers are incompetent and/or that the school is a sham? Perhaps, the best thing would be for your son in law to refrain from dancing with this particular group...especially as this doesn't seem as though it's an isolated experience. From what I can see we have enough disagreements about styles and methods of training within the well known professional school realms, without delving into the morass of ballet "schools" that are out there actually making money and not really even getting the basics right!;) As a parent of a young dancer, and as someone who is in the early stages of the learning curve of understanding and appreciating ballet in greater depth than merely "enjoying" the show, I am always trying to fathom how to find and evaluate a really good ballet program. Sadly, it appears there are many out there that really shouldn't be teaching or running programs... Are they malicious and only in it for the buck$ or is it just plain ignorance much of the time? Isn't this another way of phrasing your initial question? I suppose your post was really more of an understandable outburst of frustration, than a question...and for that, I don't blame you at all.

Doris R, can you be a bit more specific without totally giving away the true identity of the offending school/performance? And when you say your son in law was asked to "guest" - does this mean that he is a professional dancer and partnered someone in the performance? Before I can officially pass judgment;), I need to have more details! What were the age ranges, what was the ballet, how much did the tickets cost, why did you go, and how specifically was it advertised that was so misleading? Were the tickets $25 or more? Did they have it in a theater that required technical assistance and a stage manager, etc.? Do you think that the majority of the audience was made up of parents and their dutiful friends and relatives? Let's face it, ballets are often performed horribly by all sorts of studios. schools and, yes, even - companies!! But there must have been something really annoying about this one for you, so if you care to elaborate, please do.

Michael and Leigh, Thank you both for your responses. In reading both of them, I've come away with a much better understanding. Michael, your points about "streaky" periods, as well as good nights and bad nights are well taken. And, Leigh I do like your theory of "continental drift" - great analogy! Perhaps, part of the problem many have with things not staying the same, is that change is inevitable and memory does tend to smooth over inconsistencies. Back to the recent SAB workshop performances: I'm still sorry we missed them this year. In the past, the energy and excitement was palpable and well worth seeing. For quite a few of these young dancers the workshop performances function as their "graduation" ceremony - and so, I offer my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for a long, exciting, adventurous and successful career in ever changing world of ballet!

First of all PAmom, it's nice that you feel that way - in regard to reading the comments of others. I'm sure it must be hard sometimes...depending on one's offspring and the review.;) Back to the style issue. I hope Leigh or Manhattnik, or Juliet, or Farrell Fan, or one of the other numerous NYCB aficionados will comment further upon this. Granted, many dancers do end up in NYCB from other schools, however doesn't there have to be a certain commitment to a way of doing things? Or is this the wave of the future? I believe this was commented upon on another thread - the idea that many of our companies here in the US are filled with dancers not only from different styles of schools but, also, from different countries as well! Unless one is schooled in a certain method, how can one hope to have the uniformity as in, say, the corps of the Kirov, etc.? And if this is so, should we expect an "academic" style within the confines of SAB or any other program such as this? SAB cannot be alone in this - can it?:confused:

Thanks, Alexandra - and others - now I understand what you mean. Just as an aside, would you all say that NYCB has a cohesive company style anymore? I mean, one does think of SAB as being the school from which they draw their dancers, at least in part, so is there a carry over?

Alexandra, I'm not sure what you meant when you wrote You liked the "studentish" carefulness, that you felt they did look like they could pass for a professional troup - but are you saying that, even so, the students had splayed hands, etc.? Sorry, I guess I'm confused...or maybe it was a mixture?

Leigh, I understand and you're quite right. I appreciate everyone's comments and I did read the piece in the NYT today. I just was hoping for a bit of flavor - I'm glad I have my other sources.;) Once again, congratulations to all the dancers at the Workshop Performances. Sorry we missed it this year.

Oh come on PAmom and others out there - we need more info than this! Congratulations to all those Wien award winners! You deserve to be very proud.

I read that one too - along with a nice article about Melissa Barak on page E3. The idea of affiliating with The Kennedy Center may give ABT just the transfusion of cash and PR they need... Somehow, I'm sure you'll get some more learned responses later tonight. I would imagine there'll be a variety strong opinions.

I keep waiting to hear about last night's performance. Anyone?

Yes, thank you Kate! What a lot of work you did! Do you have any "stats" on the number of female dancers who did not come to NYCB through SAB? Always interested to learn where dancers from either of these companies spring from.

Gee, please forgive me, if what I wrote sounded defensive - as, I assure you, I didn't mean it to come off that way. BalletNut, These are all worthy questions and, I think, deserve thoughtful answers. In bringing up literature from our past, I thought it was a fair way of dealing with the relevancy question. In re your points about injustice - there's no doubt about it. Let's just look at the price of a ticket, unless one wants to be up in the fourth ring! And then, you really do need a pair of good binoculars. Actually, we should go back to the ballet classes that the dancers had to take in order to become the artists that they are - ballet classes aren't cheap either! Nor are music lessons! This being said, not everyone who's in a "minority" is necessarily poor or unable to afford these things. We all know that in this country the minority is made up of people who hold the arts in high esteem. Actually there was someone on this board, I think, who is involved with an organization that brings dance into the classrooms of the most disadvantaged ... and then there's Eliot Feld, and Jacques D'Amboise and their organizations that work with the inner city youth. Recently, I heard a short piece on NPR, discussing the value of the arts and that finally their impact on an individual's learning curve has been studied - and it's a proven fact that if children are exposed to music, dance and fine arts at a young age, and that they are given just as much weight as academics, that their test scores show marked improvement. This being now "proven" may offer some hope for the public. Just possibly it will trickle down to the ballet companies who will start to offer certain, seasonal, special, cut rate prices so that more people will be able to come to see their performances. Hope springs eternal. Now, as for the why the women are so thin? Well, thankfully they're all not skeletal, but am I correct in saying that the thinness factor really became the "norm" during Balanchine's time? Hasn't the NYCB been known for that, at least in the past? Today, I don't think that this is so true...although they are certainly not corpulent.

Gee, please forgive me, if what I wrote sounded defensive - as, I assure you, I didn't mean it to come off that way. BalletNut, These are all worthy questions and, I think, deserve thoughtful answers. In bringing up literature from our past, I thought it was a fair way of dealing with the relevancy question. In re your points about injustice - there's no doubt about it. Let's just look at the price of a ticket, unless one wants to be up in the fourth ring! And then, you really do need a pair of good binoculars. Actually, we should go back to the ballet classes that the dancers had to take in order to become the artists that they are - ballet classes aren't cheap either! Nor are music lessons! This being said, not everyone who's in a "minority" is necessarily poor or unable to afford these things. We all know that in this country the minority is made up of people who hold the arts in high esteem. Actually there was someone on this board, I think, who is involved with an organization that brings dance into the classrooms of the most disadvantaged ... and then there's Eliot Feld, and Jacques D'Amboise and their organizations that work with the inner city youth. Recently, I heard a short piece on NPR, discussing the value of the arts and that finally their impact on an individual's learning curve has been studied - and it's a proven fact that if children are exposed to music, dance and fine arts at a young age, and that they are given just as much weight as academics, that their test scores show marked improvement. This being now "proven" may offer some hope for the public. Just possibly it will trickle down to the ballet companies who will start to offer certain, seasonal, special, cut rate prices so that more people will be able to come to see their performances. Hope springs eternal. Now, as for the why the women are so thin? Well, thankfully they're all not skeletal, but am I correct in saying that the thinness factor really became the "norm" during Balanchine's time? Hasn't the NYCB been known for that, at least in the past? Today, I don't think that this is so true...although they are certainly not corpulent.