mimsyb

And they're on the aisle, at least when I've spotted him in the orchestra at the Met, so he can make that mad dash for the exits -- whether to get back to the office, avoid the crowds, or whatever. Has anyone ever spotted him hanging around for all the curtain calls? Actually, he stayed for all the curtain calls at the final performance of the Bolshoi's "Sparacus" last month. That was amazing to me, as it was such a disaster of a performance and his review reflected that. But perhaps he had no deadline to make.

I'm re-reading Misia by Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale. I pulled it off my shelf, but I think it's now out of print. Misia Sert was muse to Renoir, Lautrec, Vuillard, Bonnard, Marlarme' and many more. Friends with Chanel, Cocteau, Stavinsky, Satie, Colette, and most notably Diaghilev. She knew Everyone and her Salon spanned both the end of the 19th and into the 20th Century. To read about that time and everyone involved is fascinating. Why this story has never been made into a film is beyond me. There isn't any part of her life that doesn't just literally leap off the page. Ravel's "La Valse" was dedicated to her. It's especially interesting reading for the time around the First World War. This book was originally published in 1980 by Alfred A. Knopf. Well worth seeking out a copy from some used book seller.

Back in the Day. My third Broadway show was "A Time for Singing", a re-make of the film "How Green Was My Valley". It starred the late, great Tessie O'Shea and Shani Wallis. Donald McKayle did the incredible choreography. He actually choreographed a pas de deux on me and my partner, Sterling Clark. We in the cast were invited to "invest" in the show and many of us did, pooling our money and buying our "shares". I don't know if this was a common practice. Sadly, the show did not run and we lost our "investment", but oh, what a very special show that was!!

I have to agree with these observations. Fairchild is indeed, a fine technician, but as of now doesn't possess that extraordinary improvised look to the dancing that Kelly brought to everything he did. Yes, Kelly was "choreographed" also, but somehow it did always look "tossed off". As if he just decided that moment to "dance". That was his "joy". His smile told it all! His legs weren't always straight, his toes weren't pointed like ballet dancers tend to do. His upper body at times looked like he drove a truck rather than danced piroettes. His approach to the music didn't seem to be from counts or beats, but rather from some internal relationship he had with the band. And yes, the hat needs work! Notice how Kelly has his down over his eyes at a steep angle, almost hiding his face. Except for that smile! I'm hoping more research and rehearsal will help Fairchild in one way, but in another, I hope he just forgets all he knows about dance and just lets it happen.

Late 40s. Danilova/Franklin. Nothing mattered after seeing them. Saw first Balanchine early 50s when they toured to Chicago. My teacher at the time had studied with Balanchine and knew all the dancers. I met so many of them backstage afterward, including the Great Man himself! My future was clinched! I was not yet ten!

Likewise! I'd go in a NY minute! This is great news!

First, let me say I love Veronika Part. And it is most likely unfair to judge any performance by a few clips (however good they may be). It's always better to see something "live". Yet I couldn't help think as I watched these clips how "by the numbers" her "Giselle" seemed. She hit all the right moments, did the choreography and the mime, was "on the music", etc. Yet it didn't appear to transcend anything or go very deep into the character. I didn't see anything in her portrayal that especially stood out or made the performance different or better than many recent portrayals. This may or may not be a condition of the rest of the cast on stage. Everyone seemed very "proper" and rather contained. Why on earth are the corps girls standing in B-plus position during her mad scene? And take it again after she dies? Seems weird and un natural. But this is about Veronika and as such it is my hope that she gets more opportunities to dance the role in the future. She needs to find a way into the character more and allow the choreography and mime to do it's work. Right now, she seems to have imposed herself into the ballet and as a result, she looks a bit awkward, unfocused. These roles take time to develop. Right now, her "Giselle" seems very much a work in progress. All this said, I would love to see her Act II.

Glad you enjoyed your Bolshoi marathon, but taking pictures during a performance is really a "no no". I'm just saying......

My seats for the Bolshoi (bought as a three pack) were less expensive than what I normally spend for my ABT seats. I sit in Grand Tier at the Met, but, as I've mentioned before, the 2nd Ring at the State Theater is a really good deal, both sight wise and financially. As far as being over priced, Americans (and others) think nothing of shelling out well over $100.00 a pop to see the big hits on Broadway. And they bring the whole family! And that's before "dynamic pricing" comes into play! Shows like "Lion King", "Alladin", etc. are always well, if not sold out. No one blinks at the prices. Broadway doesn't seem to be hurting from high prices. I think to bring a huge company, plus orchestra, here is an enormous undertaking. I don't think the prices were out of line, and judging from the full houses and standees awaiting seats, there were plenty of people out there willing to pay the fare. As for younger people at dance audiences, one sees quite a few at Paul Taylor and Ailey performances. Granted the seats are less expensive. There's lots of young money in this city. (just look at the housing costs lately!). They don't always support Opera, Ballet or the Symphony. And it would seem from various surveys that the Tech industry, both here and in Silicon Valley does not support the finer arts very well. But they think nothing of spending tons of money to see an Arena show or rock concert. "Nutcrackers" will always sell well. I don't have an answer. It's a puzzle. I, however, saw quite a few young people at the Bolshoi, and they were not all from school and camp groups.

Two words: "Spring Waters". I saw it the first time the Bolshoi came to the US.

Let's all take a deep breath and await her reviews. Has anyone actually seen her performance as O/O? I have yet to see a review. Only comments about why she shouldn't be doing this role. I'm trying to keep an open mind about it all.

And one can only hope that the "Trocks" might find it in them to really make this ballet into a true romp!

Riding a Merry -Go- Round is fun. Like California above, I found it troubling that this work is still considered to be a "signature" ballet of this company. How very sad. I too will not go into the "politics" of it all, but to keep this ballet at the forefront of this company's rep. is astonishing. The many fine dancers of the Bolshoi surely deserve better than these lesser attempts of Grigorovich. And we, the audience, also deserve to see better examples of choreography and production. The World of Dance has moved on, but it would seem the Russians are still caught in some time warp, unable or unwilling to step into this new World.

Glad I saw it. Now I never have to see it again! Grigorovich knows five steps. Rond verse' (everyone gets to do these! It's Mr. G's default step), Grand jete' (both with straight legs and bent begs), Tour jete' (again with straight legs and bent), Developpe' a' la seconde (and watch me catch my foot!), Attitude a' derriere (also watch me catch my foot). Oh, and the few odd hops, skips, stomps, and runs interspersed among the afore mentioned five steps. Throw in a few lifts straight out of SYTYCD, throw your arms out to the side as you run, pose a million times with your very pretty foot in fourth croisse' and you've got yourself a ballet! Well, sort of. There were moments that looked straight out of Busby Berkley (without the tap shoes). And who knew that those shepherds with their sticks hitting each other were the fore runners of Morris Dancing? You saw it here first, folks in Ancient Rome! And then they started twirling those sticks like batons! While they did chainees! The Ohio State Marching Band should have a look at these guys! I guess those shepherds were just too tuckered out from stick twirling to help defend poor Spartacus. And yes, as someone mentioned above, there indeed was a Pole Dance! On and on and on and on and on..........They say Rome wasn't built in a day, but did this have to go on for sooooo long? The dancers (especially Spartacus) all looked like they were taking part in an endless Grand Allegro exercise in class. One that wouldn't end, but looped forever and forever around itself. But I did kind of dig the costumes and props. Now I know where all those stolen hub caps go off our parked cars. Why, they become Roman shields!! And did anyone catch the moments in the music where it actually sounded like "Road Runner" and "Wily Coyote"? Now THERE would be a theme for a ballet we could all really love! BEEP! BEEP!

Well, it would only matter if fewer Balanchine works were presented in the future. As one of the first of Balanchine's proteges to branch out, Barbara Weisberger did much to bring Balanchine out into the rest of the country. While I believe there is room for all types of productions (new choreographers, new music, etc.), I would hate to see that very special legacy wasted. But I also believe that Corella has enough intelligence and taste to know that Balanchine can stand along with any new comers to the field.

Yes, especially since I always thought of this company as more of a Balanchine house. But perhaps that's changed now. At first I thought Angel an odd choice, but perhaps he can bring some stature to this company in many areas. Im so happy for him. Glad he's landed on his feet, at last! Congrats!

What a difference a night and a ballet can make! At last the company looked energized and seemingly were having a whole lot of fun in this crazy ballet! During "SL" everyone looked like they had been lobotomized. Here there was much to admire on all fronts; I agree with the previous posts. I especially was fond of Kretova's "go for it attitude". Her extraordinary balances aside (and they were pretty amazing!), I found her to be the sunniest, just happy to be dancing for you gal in this role. Also thought Lobukhin was a perfect foil for her. Good looking, funny, a nifty actor, he also came through (well, mostly) with some strong technical stuff. I think the one arm lifts didn't always register because he's a "lefty", and his free arm didn't always get behind him enough for the audience to actually see it. It always was a bit obscured by Kitri's flouncy dress. He had just the right amount of "take a look at this" attitude without seeming arrogant. I'd love to see him again. Anna Nikulina was again barely passable as Queen of the Dryads, which didn't surprise me, as she was sort of DOA in her "Swan Lake" last week. I sat up a bit straighter for the lovely Ana Turazashvili as the second variation dancer. She reminds me of a taller Nina Ananishvili. Beautiful long legs and upper body. And that face! I had also noticed her in "SL" as one of the three "big swans". I see she's just in the corps,but I think she's possibly a comer. Anyone know anything about her? All the Spanish dancers were outstanding, as was Rodkin as Espada. This is a joyous production of this war horse! Speaking of which, I see "Spartacus " on Sunday!

WOW! Stunning. I sometimes forget how extraordinary she was in this role. Thanks.

Yes! Grigorovich has some very peculiar ideas about court dances, but male servants of the court always get the same choreography. It's a clunky sort of chassé-pas de bourrée combination, which also appears, for example, in Giselle. The Fred Step it's not. And of course there is his infamous fetish for Things on Long Sticks, preferably candelabras, but in this case really long trumpets. Oh, please, please, please may we have the trumpeters do the "Fred Step"? Now, that I would pay to see!

Thanks. I only report what I see. And I understand that everyone sees things in different lights. And they are pleased with and look for different things when attending a ballet. And are able to forgive a lot. It's the Bolshoi, after all. But that is exactly my point in some ways. It is the Bolshoi and it's astonishing and sad that this is the version of "Swan Lake " they decided to show. Even I had a difficult time seeing the "good" dancing, as everything was caught in a time warp. Maybe in the 50's when this company first came to our shores we all jumped out of our seats. But to present this "throwback" as "art" was disturbing to me. (despite the laughs!). To present Seigfried and his alter ego The Evil Genius as the main thrust here seemed a bit disingenuous. First, because with the lack of mime or story telling here, Seigfried doesn't even have a life of his own, never mind an alter ego. And as someone else pointed out it totally robs Odette of any inner life of her own and thus there is no tragedy that she can't break free of the spell. Is this some kind of sexist message that Grigorovich is sending ? Are all females in total thrall to their male counterpart? Are all guys control freaks? Should we all now don silly Richard III wigs and gesture crazily about the stage? This ballet had no thread or through story line by which the dancers could attach themselves and reveal themselves, either as noblemen or swans turned ballerinas. Or, for that matter, as evil sorcerers or obsequious jesters. It was as if everyone was tossed into one of those salad spinners and never really got out! I have a sneaking hunch that these dancers are better than what we saw here. But if the choreography isn't good, even many great dancers look foolish. Witness what Vishneva did with her "Inner Beauty" tour a few years back. In the good old days, seeing the Bolshoi do their high extensions was a revelation. Now everyone (well, almost) does them. Sylvie Guillen, anyone.? Or any number of dancers after her. We often get caught up in the acrobatics of the presentation. Many ballerinas (I wont name names) begin to resemble a circus act. If I wanted to see the circus, I'd buy a ticket to Ringling Bros. I think Herman Cornejo (when not injured) can out dance every man on the Bolshoi stage. And to watch Gomes do ANY role is surely the best thing since sliced bread. (OK, maybe not "The Tempest"). But without clear and specific story telling, the dancing is pretty much a wash. Even Mr. Balanchine said that as soon as you put a man and a woman on stage together, there is a story. But these dancers just seemed to be so uninvolved, detached. Without energy or purpose. Here an arabesque, there an arabesque. Did you like that? OK, then I'll do it again, and again, and again and........ You catch my drift. Again, I can only report what I saw. But I was so disheartened by it all that I sold my ticket for Thursday night (despite Zakharova) to a very nice lady on the waiting line. I didn't have the heart to tell her to watch out for rising and falling curtains! Me? I took my "rubles" and went across the street to Bar Boulud, where a nice glass of Sancerre told it's own story!

Thanks for your review. You found the work DOA. Mr. Macauley found it "boring". I found it hilarious! And not in a good way. There were so many moments when I needed to cover my face from laughing so hard. Really? This is the Bolshoi? For a moment there I thought I might be in "Trockadero Land", but without the Trocks' magnificent sense of timing and joie de vive! I too agree that the scenery (and many of the costumes) are simply so ugly that they constantly distract. All those curtains going up and down!! The first Court scene set in what looked like some leftover from a bad "R&J" production had the knights seated at what looked like a large stone casket! And those same knights mostly looked like refugees from some Middle School production of "Richard III". Oh those silly wigs! And all that pointless gesturing! I loved the "ballet for trumpeters" (first in red, and then in Act II they appear in blue and do the same steps!) Seigfried appears from nowhere with no inner life and proceeds to dance with every one, but seemingly has no friends Where's Benno when you need him? Artem Ovcharenko with his overly high helmet of perfectly coiffed hair looked like an Elvis impersonator. He receives a sword from someone and a glittering necklace from his mom, who seems to be saying,"see, now you have a glittering necklace just like mine!" (which he promptly removes so he can go dance with still more people he seemingly doesn't know). He doesn't receive a hunting bow, so when we see him in the forest (by a non-existent lake) he's not hunting anything and therefore isn't any threat to the swans. The Act I waltz clearly showed that not just ABT's is a bit of a mess, choreographically. Steps that repeated over and over and over and over............those thunder thighs on the men trying to do what looked like cabrioles and the women in puce gowns just wouldn't stop!!!! At least ABT goes with a Maypole! The less said about the Jester the better. I felt at times like he was competing for Seigfrieds favors with his overly cute mannerisms. In fact in Act II when Seigfried goes down the line looking at the visiting prospective brides who should be at the end of the line but the Jester! The Trocks would have known what to do with this moment, for sure. Maybe if Seigfried had gone out the wing with the Jester we could have called it a night. Alas, there was more. What passes for a lakeside scene was more out of something one would expect from Boris Eifman. We see the swans and Odette before we actually get to see them enter. More curtains! Anna Nikulina's portrayal was not just cold, but uninvolved, emotionless. Almost zombie-like. Absolutely no rapport with Seigfried. At one point when she did a high arabesque she came dangerously close to hitting his hairdo! He ducked and avoided tragedy! Because this version has almost no mime, one has to wonder how and why Seigfried knows what's going on. He's totally clueless! Maybe that's why he has no friends! Here again, the choreography had some resemblance to the Petipa/Ivanov, but it was badly danced by a corps that looked to be sleep walking . No interesting patterning. Arms that went up and down and up and down, relentlessly. Poor feet on all the small jumps. If the stage at the State Theater cannot make room for all these ladies, cut back a few to give some air and space to the corps. Just because it's called the Bolshoi doesn't mean you have to put every dancer on stage. I also didn't find Nikulina's technique to be anything remarkable and since there's nothing to act here, she doesn't. The pas de deux was simply tepid. No chemistry here. And now it's time to address the role of the Evil Genius. More borrowing from Eifman. I mean really. All that pointless jumping around, trying to look nasty. I wanted to roll him up in one of his curtains and boot him off the stage! Curtains for you, Mr. so-called Genius! I never thought I would eagerly look forward to ABT's Swamp King of a Rothbart, but after this guy prancing about, our Swamp King begins to look like Hamlet! Odette's farewell at the close of Act I was almost an afterthought. No passion, no lingering arms, nothing. I felt she just wanted to get off stage and have a smoke! Others have commented on the Act II (III) staging of the National dances. Here I expected the company to excel, but it was not to be. Every dance looked exactly like the one preceding it and the small mincing steps in point shoes seemed to defeat the purpose of these dances. The lead dancers looked like they had stepped out of a badly produced production of "The Dream". And oh, that pesky Jester is still making trouble for everyone. (and not dancing all that well really) When will this end, I kept asking? The "Black Swan" pas was totally off putting (what? An entrance before the entrance to this most famous and loved of pas?) She could barely put it together, he now had a small black curl dangling in his forehead, making him look even more like Elvis, and the two together were abysmal. When he lifts her, he stands with his legs wide apart, plies', and then we saw her legs sort of straight between his legs. Not a pretty sight! If this is nobility we better run for the hills, fast! At last, the act was over and we could look forward to the last rush to the end in the final go. More of the same, choreographically. Did I mention there were more curtains? The Genius grabs Odette in the end, lifts her up and then sort of drops her like a sack of potatoes. Some Genius! Poor Seigfried is left with nothing, but happily, his hairdo was intact! Of course there were many who were yelling "bravo" at every leg being lifted off the ground . But many around me in the Second Ring were simply stunned and gobsmacked at this whole ordeal. The lady next to me offered a chocolate midway through some exceedingly boring section. I happily accepted, hoping it would take the rancid taste from my mouth. This was just a terrible night of ballet in almost all respects. The orchestra did play well at least and I tried closing my eyes (as Balanchine advised) to simply listen to the music when nothing of interest was going on up on the stage. But then I had to open them for fear of missing yet another magic moment of comedy! One of the best came at the moment after the "Black Swan" debacle, the applause had actually stopped and there was nothing but dead air in the house. What does that doofus Seigfried do but almost plead with Odette to come on for another bow!! After a few moments of pure silence (I was sure she had left the theater!), out she comes and we are asked yet again to put out hands together for her. Really?? This was all just so sad. I truly have to wonder what if anything David Hallberg is learning while he is in Russia and why on earth he would want to be a part of it? The Gulag couldn't be much worse that what was on the stage last night. So sad.

SFB.....but when it was under the direction of Lew Christiansen. We danced "Swan Lake", "Barocco", "Serenade" and "Symphony in C" all in one season! A master class in Balanchine! How thrilling it was to dance these great works. I later trained at SAB, but a place with NYCB was not in the cards. Alas. But I'll never forget dancing these ballets. They became part of my dance DNA. Wow! That sounds amazing! I'm a wannabe ballet historian and I'm hoping to get a career in the ballet world after I study for an MA in Ballet Studies, which starts in September. What rank did you get to? Corps, with frequent step outs in solo roles. I was just 16!

Indeed, it's hard to beat the wonderful Margot Fonteyn! The reason for her low leg extensions and the cygnets being so musically accurate is because back then, the dancers worried more about the speed of their dances and being on time with the music than how high they got their legs up, which is also what Petipa's dancers worried about the most. That's why if you look at photos of Imperial ballerinas such as Pierina Legnani and Olga Preobrajenska, you may notice that their legs aren't up as high as today's ballerinas, but they're still very well turned out. Unfortunately today, dancers worry more about how high they get their legs up and how many twirls they do, so they slow the music down to such monstrously slow speeds. Ulyana Lopatkina and Olesya Novikova are prime examples of this - if you've seen Novikova in the record for DVD performance of Sergei Vikharev's Raymonda reconstruction, she dances almost every single one of Raymonda's variations at monstrously slow tempi! And in the recorded to DVD performance of Swan Lake starring Lopatkina and Danila Korsuntsev, she dances Odette's variation in Act 1, scene 2 way too slow! And the problem with dancing to such slow speeds is that it makes the choreography drag and as a result, the dancers don't actually look like they're even dancing... It's why I loved dancing Balanchine! Those tempos! Yeah, Balanchine is the only 20th century choreography whose works follow and pay homage to the style of Imperial Russia. Well done George! lol So you're a former dancer then? Which company did you dance with? SFB.....but when it was under the direction of Lew Christiansen. We danced "Swan Lake", "Barocco", "Serenade" and "Symphony in C" all in one season! A master class in Balanchine! How thrilling it was to dance these great works. I later trained at SAB, but a place with NYCB was not in the cards. Alas. But I'll never forget dancing these ballets. They became part of my dance DNA.

Indeed, it's hard to beat the wonderful Margot Fonteyn! The reason for her low leg extensions and the cygnets being so musically accurate is because back then, the dancers worried more about the speed of their dances and being on time with the music than how high they got their legs up, which is also what Petipa's dancers worried about the most. That's why if you look at photos of Imperial ballerinas such as Pierina Legnani and Olga Preobrajenska, you may notice that their legs aren't up as high as today's ballerinas, but they're still very well turned out. Unfortunately today, dancers worry more about how high they get their legs up and how many twirls they do, so they slow the music down to such monstrously slow speeds. Ulyana Lopatkina and Olesya Novikova are prime examples of this - if you've seen Novikova in the record for DVD performance of Sergei Vikharev's Raymonda reconstruction, she dances almost every single one of Raymonda's variations at monstrously slow tempi! And in the recorded to DVD performance of Swan Lake starring Lopatkina and Danila Korsuntsev, she dances Odette's variation in Act 1, scene 2 way too slow! And the problem with dancing to such slow speeds is that it makes the choreography drag and as a result, the dancers don't actually look like they're even dancing... It's why I loved dancing Balanchine! Those tempos!

I would actually really like to see that; I would like the original Act 2 Pas de deux because I'd like to see how the group of hunters partnered the Swan Maidens. I think it sounds really interesting. And here is a clip from the Royal Ballet's 1960 production starring Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes with Ivanov's original scheme for the pas de deux: I think this is a really interesting scheme for a Pas de deux, but I wouldn't use it today because no dancer today does what the great Pavel Gerdt did. I'll just stick to following the great Nikolai Legat's example, as he was the one to turn the pas into a Pas de deux when he succeeded Gerdt in the role of Prince Siegfried. What a beautiful clip. Oh, I wish ballet would revert to this beautiful short, high waisted crispy tutus..! I really dislike very much the huge, bell shaped, low waisted Pavlova-like ones, now very much in vogue.... I agree. A beautiful clip. Much to love. While Fonteyn's legs are very much lower than today's dancers, she seems more birdlike than some of today's super ballerinas. I love the deep forward curvature of her upper back in the later developpes in the pas. She bends and then totally unfolds. She truly looks like a swan here. And she uses her head in small ways to keep that image. And what exquisite port de bras! Even her fingers are effortless and without tension often seen today. And then there's that face! Oh my! Her attention to Seigfried is unlike any other we see today. And what about that exit? Today we've come to expect the rippling "swan arms" as she exits, but this version seems more emotional, more tragic. There was no-one like Fonteyn!! I'm not a huge fan of the Benno/Siegfried/Odette pas se trois concept. It seems cluttered and un necessary. Benno's exits and re-entrances are distracting to the story. He's just in the way of the beauty of the love story. I thought in general the corps looked quite good, considering the year when this was filmed. They seemed quite together and stylistically of a piece. And I noted that the four little swans landed all their pas de chats on the music. (take note current ABT little swans!) Perhaps because the legs are lower in the jump. Sometimes some things are sacrificed when we try to make things more revealed. Short tutus on the corps contributes to that. When I danced "Swan Lake" we wore the longer tutus. One final note. The tempo in general seemed faster than we hear today. That could be just the film. But it certainly bounced along at a good clip! But, what a wonderful film! (I wonder why they eliminated Odette's solo though)