abatt

I watched the BAFTA awards on BBC America last night. Portman won Best Actress for Black Swan. The director of that film accepted the award on her behalf, saying that due to her pregnancy she was unable to make the trip to London. The King's Speech swept the awards, winning Best Picture, Best British Picture, Best Actor for Colin Firth, Best Supporting Actor for Geoffrey Rush, and Best Supporting Actress for Helena Bonham Carter. The director of the Social Network won for Best Director.

Sara Mearns has such an expressive face. She makes you feel her tragic pain through her expressions. She is almost like a silent movie star in the way she can communicate with her audience, not to mention her flexible spine and lush, expansive movements. Like some of the posts above, I found Jared Angle a blandly boring presence who partnered Ms. Mearns ably. (Can you imagine what a Mearns/Gomes performance might look like! Amazing.) I thought Tiler Peck and J. DeLuz were terrific in the ballroom scene. I've been at a number of performances other than SL lately, as well. I thought Teresa Reichlin was fabulous as the Siren in Prodigal. She uses her long limbs like daggers - a cool, voluptuous snake. Unfortunately, Ulbricht does not seem to have the imagination to convey the expressive aspects of the Prodigal's downfall and ultimate reconciliation with his father. He is too robust in these scenes, and his performance lacks nuance and detail. I certainly appreciate Ulbrict's virtuosity, but it's time for him to develop some additional performance skills. I loved Craig Hall and Wendy Whelan in After the Rain. Such a lovely pdd. I have to agree with the post above regarding Bouder's mugging during Divertimento. I hope she does not do that during SL this week. At the performance on Saturday, I thought Chase Finlay did a lovely job. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future. Scheller has been doing great work this season. I thought she was perfection in the soloist roles in La Source, Walspurginacht, Cortege and Divertimento. I missed her in the lead of Cortege. I hope she gets some more leading roles. I thought Stroman's new ballet was boring. She seems to have a very limited ballet vocabulary. However, the audience seemed to enjoy it. I can understand why Martins wanted to add a light, breezy, jazzy work to the rep. Last year's architecture of dance gave us complex ballets from Important Ballet Choreographers. At least the Stroman piece will appeal to other segments of the audience who are seeking fun entertainment. Did anyone see Suozzi and Mearns in Prodigal?

She was the shy, reserved type in Act I at the Tues. performance. In fact, she did not seem to be dancing full out in Act I, in my opinion. Act II, however, was incredible.

Hi everyone. I made my annual journey to the Kennedy Center this week to see Giselle. Thank goodness we had good weather this year. Last year was a disaster because of the blizzard that occurred during the week the Kirov was at the Kennedy Center. I saw the performances on Tues, Wed. and Thurs. Vishneva was my favorite of the three Giselles. I thought her second act was sublime and moving. Vishneva's first act was underpowered. The Washington Post reviewer attributed this to Vishneva's creation of a character who was frail. I attribute it to the possibility that Vishneva was concerned about her stamina, and was saving up her energy for Act II. Vishneva has the market cornered on the portrayal of death/consumption/betrayal. The last time I had seen Somova was at City Center in NY a few years ago. At that time, I was very disappointed by Somova because of the way she hyper-extended her limbs, thereby grossly distorting her line. I was pleasantly surprised on Wed. to see that she has tamed these excesses, and has blossomed into a much better dancer than the one I recall from past performances. I enjoyed Tereshkina's performance as well, but it did not move me. I thought the male leads on Tues and Thurs. were both excellent. I didn't really care for Somova's partner. He did a good job partnering Somova, but beyond that I didn't feel like he had much presence or very good technical abilities. Kondourova was fantastic as Myrta. Looking forward to learning what the Kirov will do at the Kennedy Center next year. I keep hoping that they will make a visit to NYC, but I'm not holding my breath.

I saw The Lesson a few years ago as part of the Kings of Dance program in New York. I didn't care for it either.

NYCB added a performance of SL on Feb 11, ditching a mixed bill program on that date in order to take full advantage of robust SL ticket sales. I think the added performance is now virtually sold out. I'm not sure if the movie fueled the demand for SL tickets, since SL sold out last year at NYCB. Also, SL always sells well at ABT. By the way, there is a very funny mash-up of video from Portman's speech at the Golden Globe Awards. You can find it at www.collegehumor.com. Use the words Natalie Portman Extended Laugh to find the video.

Thanks so much for posting this info. I'm surprised Mearns/Angle are doing SL on Friday and Sunday. I thought they would rotate the cast because of the demanding nature of the lead roles. Sara better eat her Wheaties during that time period. I wish I could attend the Suozzi/Mearns Prodigal, but I will be in DC at the Kirov Giselle. Reports, please, from anyone who goes.

Balanchine's neoclassical, leotard ballets are frequently compared to Picasso insofar as Balanchine breaks up the classical line of the body in those ballets, and angularity is a key component to successful performance of the leotard ballets.

When Damian Woetzel performed Prodigal Son, I always got the sense that he was channeling various artwork which depicts Christ on the cross. In particular, I got this impression in the scene after he has been robbed and he is standing up against the piece of scenery that is used alternately as a fence and a table. In that scene, the table is now vertical, and the Prodigal stands in front of it, barely able to stand on his feet, using one of the rungs on the left to dangle and hold himself up. That imagery never came through so strongly to me when other dancers performed the role.

The BAFTA award nominations were announced today. The leader in nominations was The King's Speech. Black Swan received the second most nominations, including for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress for Portman and Best Supporting Actress for Barbara Hershey. (Mila was shut out.) The ceremony is on Feb 13, 2011. I've watched it on the BBC America channel the last two years. I assume it will be carried again this year on that station.

Let us also know how Citronelle is. My husband and I are thinking of going there next time we are in D.C.

Wiles has black hair now? Yikes. Blonde looked so good with her complexion. She reminds me of a "Hitchcock Blonde."

There is a pizza place called Rigoletto Pizza at 208 Columbus Ave., very close to Lincoln Center.

In a review of Ms. Portman's new film, No Strings Attached, which also stars Ashton Kutcher, NY Times critic A.O. Scott writes: "Ms. Portman can now claim what appears to be a unique distinction: She may be the only Golden Globe-winning actress to simulate sex on screen with two former members of the cast of “That ’70s Show.”

I attended on Tuesday evening, and it was wonderful. I'm surprised the review doesn't mention how great Somogyi was too. I was particularly thrilled with Duo Concertant. For many, many years, the female role was not danced at the level it should have been at NYCB. With Hyltin, I could see each and every step gorgeously articulated. Robby Fairchild's performance was also fantastic. I have to say that I agree w. the review with respect to Whelan and Askegard. I'm usually a big fan of Wendy's, but I thought her technique was weak, especially her lack of clean lines. Askegard, who is the finest partner that NYCB presently has, also was lacking in technique. I'll chalk it up to the possibility that since it is the first rep performance of the season, maybe Whelan and Askegard are not yet firing on all cylinders.

Yes her speech contained too much information. Doesn't every mother want to hear her daughter gush to 17 million people how much her unwed pregnant daughter and her fiance love sleeping together? Not.

Really? I repeatedly saw Millepied during the broadcast. He was seated to Portman's right at the Black Swan table. I also saw him leaving the limo with Portman when they first arrived at the Red Carpet. Mlllepied wore a black tux, and he had a red handkerchief in the breast pocket of his jacket that was the same color red as the rose on Portman's dress. Portman's parents were also in the audience (the camera focused on them during Portman's speech). Portman thanked her parents for giving her a great life, and she thanked Ben for going on the journey to create new life wtih her. She also joked that Ben is a good actor because in the film he is asked whether he would sleep with Nina, and he snickers. Portman quipped that Millepied enjoys sleeping with her every night. Portman also thanked "sweet lips" Mila Kunis.

Yes, it was supposed to be Murphy. I am very disappointed that I won't see Gillian (bought my ticket for that casting), though I have never seen Kajiya dance so this will be a good opportunity to see her in T&V. Kajiya had better plan to bring her "A game" for T&V. It's one of the most difficult Balanchine ballets in the rep. Casting Kajiya (one of the shortest dancers at ABT) wtih Hallberg (one of the tallest) will certainly look interesting. Easy lifting for David, for a change. I'd be interested in hearing how Kajiya does in this ballet. I have been underwhelmed by many of her performances of technically demanding principal roles in the past. Hopefully she has improved. Since she is getting the opening night, I guess I will be reading about it in the press.

According to the Times, the union, AGMA, has moved to block MOVES on the ground that it violates the dancers' labor contract.

That's where the film reminded me of Kirkland's book... The director has mentioned in interviews that he read many books to prepare for writing the script. I think I recall him mentioning in one interview that he read Kirkland's book. By the way, Natalie gave a tearful thank you speech at an awards show recently in which she thanked Ben Millepied, her partner in the film and, "now in life." She also mentioned in an interview w. Access Hollywood that the director gave her the greatest gift by introducing her to Ben.

ABT has added some casting info on its website. Part's partner for SL is Cory. Bolle is partnering Paloma in Giselle. I'm not too happy about the Stearns partnership with Part for SL. I was hoping it would be Bolle. Also, Reyes will be partnered by Radetsky in Cinderella.

My problem with the movie is that it was so campy, but had pretentions of being a serious movie.

The official casting is now up on the NYCB website

I think Morphoses used to be a regular source of additional income for some NYCB dancers. Now that Morphoses (in its original incarnation) is finished, "Moves" seems like a great alternative for them to dance more weeks and earn additional money.

That may be true, but now that we have come to expect it, we are disappointed when it is not provided. ABT has been known during the last decade for the caliber of its men. When I want to see stellar female dancing, I often go across the plaza to see the NYCB ladies. Except for their guest artists (I include Vishneva in the guest artist category), many of the ladies at ABT on the principal level are, in my opinion, a disappointment.