abatt

I've seen her many times on stage- most recently at a benefit for the Roundabout Theater in Sondheim's "A Little Night Music". Her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, was also in the performance. She was a wonderful stage actress. Perhaps it's time to require that skiing aficianados wear protective head gear.

Absolutely. I'm in complete agreement w. you.

I think enough of these remarks will actually win sympathy for Kistler. Macaulay should call it as he sees it, of course – he wouldn’t be doing his job as a critic if he didn’t – but I thought he went a bit overboard.

FYI, there is a two paragraph letter to the editor in yesterday's NY Times Arts & Leisure section titled "Defending Darci Kistler". The author complains that A. Macaulay is "mean".

[Admin Edit to add link]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/arts/15a...tler&st=cse

I'll be attending this production in April. The article in the Mar 8 New York Times Arts & Leisure section discusses this production and the changes that have been made from the original. It mentions that the Robbins Foundation approved the changes, and describes exactly what they are.

Mr. Maccaulay puts in his two cents worth on the matter in today's New York Times . . .

Maccauley's article echoed many posts on this board, as well as his own previous articles in the Times. He has written on numerous occasions about his disdain for Kistler, Borree and Nilas Martins. The only point I disagreed with him on was Wendy Whelan. I enjoy watching her in most ballets. She is not as well suited to certain ballets (like Swan Lake), but for the most part she is an exceptional dancer. I agree w. Maccauley that Reichlin was underutilized this season in major roles, and that this was the breakout season for Tiler Peck. I also thought that this was a very good season for Ana Sophia Scheller (she is not mentioned in the article), Robert Fairchild, Tyler Angle and Andrew Veyette. I also thought Maccauley was a bit too harsh on Abi Stafford.

Did anyone see Reichlin in S&S today?

Do you think being extremely thin is a particular problem at NYCB, as compared to other companies? With one exception, the ballerinas at ABT do not seem to be excessively thin.

Philip Seymour Hoffman isn't exactly known for his good looks or fashion sense. The hat was a particularly silly touch. I loved Penelope Cruz's dress. It was an exquisite work of art. I also thought Ann Hathaway's dress was gorgeous, and she looked terrific. I The lady can definitely sing! Shirley MacLain looks like she has had one too many face lifts. Goldie Hawn looks terrific. I saw her up close at the theater in October (at "All My Sons") and she looks much younger than her age and is very petite and thin. Worst dressed, in my opinion, was Beyonce and Tilda Swinton (what else is new!). The tackiest aspect of the show was when Jennifer Aniston was on stage, and the camera turned to Brad Pitt to show his expression. The Baz Luhrmann number looked pretty bad, and he looked very unhappy. I haven't seen either Milk or the Wrestler, but I'm glad that we didn't have to listen to Mickey Rourke's expletive filled nonsense again. Sean Penn at least has something substantive to say.

I cannot even get past Wendy's body to enjoy her dancing. I cannot watch her in Swan Lake. The only time I have enjoyed her was in "After the Rain". I am certain it was because of 1) Jock Soto 2) the music 3) the choreography.

I have the opposite reaction. The costume in Swan Lake, in my opinion, is not as revealing as the body suit in After the Rain. Therefore, the weight (or lack thereof) of the dancer doesn't have as great an impact in Swan Lake.

I wish that Tina Fey would host.

I didn't notice that Megan Johnson looked too thin. In my opinion, Wendy Whelan is much too thin. It is actually unpleasant to focus on her torso in roles where she wears a body suit. On the other side of the spectrum, some of the men have looked heavy (Nilas Martins, Albert Evans- although he looks like he lost some weight this season).

I really enjoyed this documentary. It was fascinating, and the footage of former dancers was wonderful. One interesting point that never occurred to me before related to the Dance at the Gym in WSS. The version that Robbins himself staged for NYCB clearly demonstrates that the dancers from the Shark group and the Jets group are competing for stage space, and are taking the stage away from one another during the scene. This point doesn't come through in the film. Now I understand why.

If Darci had agreed to leave at the end of the Spring 09 season, perhaps that would have saved the jobs of one or two (or more) corps members. She must be among the highest paid company members. (Maybe all the corps members' jobs could have been saved if all of the "dead wood" principals retired.) I presume Darci is also being paid an additional salary for her work as a teacher at SAB, so her principal contract is apparently not her sole source of income. I guess that the other side of the argument is that nobody should have to be a martyr in order to save someone else's job, and the company is merely showing loyalty to those who have long relationships with the company. It's an interesting moral question, though, I think.

I believe that principals are paid on a per performance basis, so the effect on the budget is somewhat different.

Wow. Is that so? I'm surprised. I thought principals at City Ballet earned an annual salary that was established by contract. The per performance approach makes sense for guest artists (for example, ABT's guest artist Osipova), but not for someone who is under contract as a principal dancer for a negotiated term of a year or more.

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Regarding the "additional material" for thsi telecast. For NYCB's Swan Lake, there was a pointless pre-performance panel discussion involving Darci Kistler, who said very little and then didn't even dance the performance --

Darci was scheduled to dance in the performance of Swan Lake that was to air on PBS. However, at the last minute Martins pulled her out and replaced her with Weese who, at the time, was in top form.

If anyone attends tonight's performance, please give us a report on the return of Bouder and the new lead in Concerto B.. I will be attending the matinee tomorrow.

I wouldn't hold my breath on McKenzie promoting her. He has been using her in principal roles for years, but he refuses to reward her with a principal's contract she deserves. It seems he only promotes people who can perform quadruple turns.

The close proximity of Darci's announcement over a year in advance of her retirement (an absurdly long advance notice) and the timing of these cuts is very curious.

I certainly agree w. you about the dead wood principals. I wonder if the corp members who were not renewed are the young ones, or the older corps members (or some mixture thereof). A lot of the new works they commission and present every season seem to be a waste of money. Personally, I would feel no sense of loss if the number of new ballets each season was reduced to 1 in order to save $$.

Having seen the R&J in the house (with Hyltin, I believe) I think this is a ballet that ironically might work better on TV. In the theater the ugly set-piece decor, and the sparsely populated "crowd scenes" were a real distraction. It didn't look like my vision of Romeo and Juliet. But on TV these things would probably be less obvious.

Not if you have HD TV. Then the scenery and awful costumes will be upfront and personal.

I think the costumes and scenery will look even more hideous on TV than in person. For the sake of J. DeLuz, I hope the poor guy doesn't get stuck wearing that ghastly canary yellow costume on national television.

Can’t be worse than the San Francisco Ballet “Othello,”

Oh yes it can! I've seen both Martins' R&J and Othello. IN my opinion, Othello was more interesting than the NYCB version of R&J. Of course, that's not saying much. Neither is very good. I had the good fortune of seeing Othello w. Alessandra Ferri and Marcelo Gomes in the lead roles, and I'm sure they made the material look much better than it actually is because of their artistry. In lesser hands, Othello could have been a disaster.

Natalia, thanks for the wonderful reviews.

Let me just add something about Brief Fling. As much as I adore & admire Cornejo's dancing, I found him 'too classical' for Tharp. The only reason I noticed this was because the Kennedy Center opened a rehearsal that afternoon and I got the chance to see Marcelo Gomes in the same role. His performance was more attuned to Baryshnikov's head and shoulder movements from "Push Comes to Shove" and it just rang more Tharpian for me. I will be interested to see if anyone else noticed the difference.

When ABT performed Brief Fling at City Center in NYC a few months ago, I saw both lead casts (Gomes/Herrera and Cornejo/Reyes). I agree with you that Gomes and Herrera were better interpreters of the Tharp style. Based on everyone's review, I'm looking forward to seeing Murphy in Allegro Brilliante this Spring.

In reviewing the info in greater detail, I also noticed another point of interest for ballet talkers. Ratmansky is re- choreographing Aida. The production is the same old (but terrific) one. I don't recall any dance sequences from the old version, but it has been a few years since I've seen it.

I was afraid I was going to have to apologize for enjoying it. I’d never seen “Oltremare” (

You shouldn't feel like you have to apologize for enjoying a ballet that someone else disliked. It's just a matter of personal taste.

The Met released info today regarding the 2009-2010 season. Of particular interest to Ballet Talk is the fact that Christopher Wheeldon will choreograph the Met's new production of Carmen. The old production was choreographed by a flamenco dancer. I wonder what Wheeldon will come up with.

Selya is listed as a member of the "ensemble". I'm seeing the show in April.