abatt
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Posts posted by abatt
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As a practical matter, Peck had previously learned Other Dances when NYCB revived it recently. (She and Bouder alternated the role.) Maybe it would not have been practical for someone to learn the role from scratch in order to perform for 3 or 4 minutes on a TV show. Since Other Dances was created on Makarova, I thought it was a good idea to include it. I enjoyed Peck's performance more than any of the other dance performances. She dazzled. Cojocaru did look robotic,but even worse was the lack of flexibility in her back. It didn't matter much that Part is not a fouette machine, since the camera operator spent most of that portion of the performance on Makarova's face, not Part's dancing. As much as I enjoyed watching the R&J pdd w. Kent/Hallberg, I found the age difference between these dancers distracting and problematic. (Those television close ups only added to this issue.) AT this stage, the only age appropriate partner at ABT for Kent is Bolle, in my opinion.
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http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/how_mack_got_her_groove_back_EsQPie6dI4GwEm43iyCBTP
For all of you Alicia Graf fans, here is an article about her in today's NY Post. She is one of my favorite Ailey dancers, although I still wish she could revisist the days when she was performing Balanchine works. If you want to look at the photo that is referenced in the article, I've linked it below.
http://www.nycitycenter.org/tickets/productionNew.aspx?performanceNumber=6718
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The camera work was awful. I thought the same thing as Helene - why are they focusing on Julie Kent's hand when there are two gorgeous dancers on stage? Why are they cutting to Makarova's expression when Part is doing her fouettes? I thought the most spontaneous and exciting dance performance was from Tiler Peck. She was the only person out there who looked completely free and danced with abandon. .I also thought that opening the segment with the student was quite charming.
The most cringe inducing moments came in the tribute to Dustin Hoffman. Neither Naomi Watts nor Liev Schreiber have much connection to Dustin Hoffman. Couldn't they get some more of his important co-stars (Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise) to say something. Why was Laura Osnes singing a song from My Fair Lady???
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The New York Times ran an article (below) regarding the purported similarities between ballet and video games. Personally, I don't buy it. However, I have to admit I have never played a video game.
I thought this might be a topic worthy of discussion.
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I thought Play Without Words was the best of the Bourne productions.
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What do you mean about Kistler being "at her new school". Isn't she still teaching at SAB, where she has been for many years?
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You are referring to the Nutcracker. Gergiev is talking about a Swan Lake that will be filmed.
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Here is a reference in a Reuter's article to Gergiev's position concerning the open letter.
http://www.nytimes.c...y.html?ref=arts
Gergiev states, "There's nothing terrible happening in the Mariinsky - no way."
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http://www.nytimes.c...y.html?ref=arts
There are lots of interesting tid bits in this Reuters article, including the fact that James Cameron is teaming up with the Mariinsky to do a live 3-D broadcast of Swan Lake on Valentine's Day.
I find this a bit confusing. As far as I can tell, the Mariinsky is not performing Swan Lake on Feb 14, so how could this be a live broadcast?
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I saw this on Ovation yesterday too. Yes some of the camera work was bad and there were other flaws. (I don't need to see that much of Valery Gergiev.) However, I thought overall it was enjoyable way to spend a Sunday evening at home. I enjoy these annual Nutcracker marathons on Ovation, and I'm happy that they showed something new.
(For anyone who missed it, Ovation will re broadcast this Mariinsky Nutcracker on Wed Dec 19 at 3:30 PM and Dec 25 at 6:30 PM.
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I saw the Simkin - Lane performance last night. Simkin was wonderful in his solos , but there were some glitches in the partnering. One lift in particular went badly and looked particularly sloppy. I was more disapponted with Lane. Her solo work was very small scale. This was my only ABT Nutcracker for the season. None of the couples I've seen since this production premiered have equaled the stellar performances of Muphy and Hallberg. I suspect we won't be seeing them again in the ABT Nutcracker, as they have moved on to bigger and better things during the ABT non-Met season.
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Since it is the time for year-end lists, I thought people might be interested in this topic.
For me, the bests included:
- The rare visit to New York City of the Paris Opera Ballet. The company has many remarkable artists, and we didn't even get to see all of them on the tour! Let's hope that we don't have to wait another 15 years to see them again here in NYC.
-Wheeldon's DGV. Yes, I know it premiered a few years ago, but it was new to me when it finally came to New York in 2012. Every time I saw it I was able to discern nuances and details in the choreography that I had not previously noticed. I hope this one comes back in the NYCB rep soon. It was very inventive. Kudos to NYCB for staging an All Wheeldon evening. Let' s hope there are many more.
-Sara Mearns in Russian Seasons. In her debut as the girl in red, she danced with absolute abandon. That performance has stayed in my mind for many months.
- ABT. There were so many highs. The magnificent second Swan Lake performance of Hallberg and Semionova. The Gomes-Vishneva Onegins. The Cojocaru-Vasiliev Bayadere. The Corella and Steifel farewells. The Corsaires with Osipova, Vasiliev, Gomes, Cornejo and so on. Too many excellent performances to even mention. Also the new Ratmansky ballet, Symphony No. 9. I can't wait to see it again.
-Emerging Pictures films. These broadcasts of Bolshoi performances are fascinating and give us the opportunity to see world class artists. Keep them coming!
-Olga Smirnova: I've only seen her once live, at the Stars of the 21st Century gala a few months ago. I seen her on video too. This woman seems to have it all. I can't wait to see more of her.
-Legends in Dance Gala honoring Makarova. There were so many great dancers on that stage dancing at full tilt to pay honor to one of the greatest ever.
Worst:
Australian Ballet Swan Lake.
Sylvie Guillem at the Koch Theater
Ratmansky's Firebird.
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The Don G. set looks lavish compared to Ballo. I'm getting used to cheap looking new productions at the Met, since they have become very, very common under the leadership of Gelb in these difficult economic times. New, however, doesn't mean improved. Gelb is spending money fast and furious to create all these new productions, and to run the HD program, but revenue is down. The Met is now resorting to selling bonds (see link below) to raise revenue. (Check out the line in the article where they refer to Hurricane Sandy as a cause of revenue dropping. The Met was only closed for two performances, I believe, due to the Hurricane.)
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I've seen this production at the Met Opera twice. I thought the singing was quite wonderful, but I could not stand the production. This looked like a low budget production, and it looked even cheaper on the grand Met stage. Most of the vast stage is bare. I'm sure that the close up camera work that was probably done in the HD broadcast nicely masked this issue. Also, I thought the metaphor of Icarus flying too close to the sun was heavy handed and obvious. Kathleen Kim cavorting around the stage with the fake wings was laughable. She looked ridiculous. The cutesy vaudville routine later in the opera was over the top.
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This film does not seem to be getting much love in terms of nominations/year-end best of lists. No SAG nominations, no awards from various film critics associations, to my kjnowledge. I suspect it may get nominations for non-acting categories, like costumes.
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That is lucky. If you go please let us know how you enjoy the O/V Don Q.
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More casting nuggets courtesy of the Ardani Artists website. Vasiliev is cast in Sleeping Beauty on July 1 and 3. I presume he is doing Bluebird. Osipova and Vasiliev are now listed for the Don Q on May 25, which corresponds to the info on the ABT website.
Vasiliev will tour with ABT to Los Angeles this summer, and he will appear in Corsaire in LA on July 12, 13 and 14.
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I happen to be watching the show Good Eats today, and host Alton Brown demonstrated how to make sugarplums. (In addition to my passiojn for ballet, I enjoy cooking. ) Here is his recipe. It is essentally chopped dried fruits (figs, prunes, apricots), chopped nuts and toasted spices which are melded together by honey and shaped into balls. The balls are then rolled in sugar.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sugarplums-recipe/index.html
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Glad to see Adam Hendrickson is guesting as Herr Drosselmeyer this week and next. He retired last season, but I met him a while ago and he has such a puckish demeanor, offstage as well as on. I'm glad he's still dancing. What a talent! It was too bad he was just not as technically spectacular as Daniel Ullbricht, who blows away all competition. Hendrickson would be able to extend his career in a different company - Boston or Pennsylvania or Peter Boal's company? I wonder what he's doing.
Hendrickson works for Weapons Specialists, LTD, a theatrical property house based in New York that specializes in on-set weapons consulting, coordination and choreography. Hendrickson was first introduced to the company in 2007 when they worked with NYCB to stage the sword fighting scenes for Martins’ Romeo + Juliet. FYI, he is married to NYCB principal Rebecca Krohn.
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Ardani updated its website re Semionova's schedule. In additon to the dates already announced on ABT's own website, she will be doing Symphony in C on May 22 matinee and May 23 evening. She will be performing in the Ratmansky triple bill on May 31 and June 1.
For anyone interested in ABT's performances in Hong Kong, she will also be making numerous appearances during that engagement. She is NOT listed for any appearances in Washington D.C.,
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I'm not sure if this article was previously posted. It is from the NY Times. The director, Joe Wright, says he conceives of Anna K. as a "ballet with words", and discusses at length the incorporation of choreography in the film. Enjoy.
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I don't think Ratmansky likes being an administrator, and all the politics that go along with the job. He seems to like having the freedom to visit many different ballet companies to create new works. He has signed a long term - very long term- contract with ABT.
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Compared to the vast majority of Broadway theaters, I think the seats at the MET are very comfortable and spacious. Broadway seats are intentionally designed to be very tight with no leg room in order to increase the number of seats.
Kennedy Center Honors 2012 - Natalia Makarova honored
in Ballet News & Issues
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I wish they would have included an excerpt from On Your Toes,with Kowrowski dancing Makarova's part and Woetzel as her partner.