Rock

Boy I didn't write that well at all. The last thing I meant to convey was sympathy for Chase Finlay. To the opposite I was trying to say this is obviously a desperately sick person. Assuming those texts are correctly quoted, this isn't just about bragging about sex. This is about anger and hate, about an intent to harm, deliberately. 

It interests me that many posts have referred to the "complaint", which means they've read it. Yet no one has mentioned Chase Finlay's mental state. Aside from the gut wrenching texts and videos apparently sent around, the language he uses and the things he says indicate, to me at least, a very troubled person who needs help. 

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

Vipa, it was an event with dancers from the company. I know I mentioned this same thing last year when Martins was fired, and some of you, including you I believe, disagreed with me. For me, I found it troubling, and it changed the way I saw Peter Martins. 

cobweb - Martins wasn't fired. First he took a leave of absence to let them run their investigation, and then he retired. There's a difference. A BIG difference.

I also think things are getting a bit creepy if a director can't even put his arm encouragingly around a dancer. How far are we going to go with this stuff?

What's the rush? It would seem a decision of some importance. In the meantime things appear to be running just fine with no need to "stabilize" or "calm things." From the outside at least, things look stable and calm. Many say the company is dancing better than ever.

Sorry - it's Chautauqua. They performed it for a Patricia McBride/JP Bonnefoux performance there after Saratoga.

As well you might be cobweb. Who wouldn't want to see that?

Who says Isabella LaFreniere is doing Diamonds? I thought it was clear those rehearsal pictures from Saratoga were preparations for a gig in Chataqua (sp).

5 minutes ago, abatt said:

Unfortunately, NYCB is becoming equally known for its dysfunctional internal upheavals and disputes as for its stellar dancers and rep.  It's starting to get embarrassing, and I can't imagine that this is good for business.

You're right abatt - not good for business on both sides of the coin. Not good for ticket sales due to diminished perception of status, but also not good for the reason you're there in the first place. Instead of letting Concerto Barocco sweep you off into another sphere, you're thinking oh there's the guy who was suspended. 

They can take class at Steps.

Miller was not an apprentice when she did Agon. But here's two examples of ravishingly promising young talents. Who wouldn't want to see what they could do? 

Getting a chance, going out there as the Nutcracker Cavalier for one performance, is not the same thing as being a principal. That kind of focus and preparation for one part with one partner isn't always available. And the pressure - mentally as well as physically - to get out there and deliver isn't for everyone, regardless of their dance gifts. There has to be a tough cookie inside. 

Those guys mentioned are all so talented and promising, but it's a longggg waaaaay from the back to the front.

Boy you said it Kathleen. Harrison Ball, Harrison Cole, Joe Gordon, Roman Mejia - and others as well. 

Even Sonnambula and Prodigal canbelto?

I pretty much agree with Canbelto's poisonivy review. I enjoyed 'Easy' for what it was and thought Harrison Coll amazingly charming and fun. 'Something to Dance About' was more problematical for me because the juice seemed to have been squeezed out of all those numbers. Like they didn't quite make sense out of context. Particularly disappointing was the famous bottle dance which certainly demonstrated City Ballet's elegance and clarity, but didn't make sense without the bottles. The whole point of that dance is balancing the bottles on their heads as they do those steps. For me the highlight was Mearns tearing it up. She may not be perfectly cast as - is it Anita? - but boy did she dance it.

I am told the "See the Music" presentations are very popular with a large number of the audiences. They're certainly informative and well done. But I'm in nanushka's camp when it comes to their ultimate effect which removes the mystery and magic of the performance itself. When you've had the music deconstructed and broken down for you, explaining what's coming and what you're going to see, it takes away from your own experience. These are live performances, so they're different every time, and what they're capable of is diminished by having them broken down and explained. The possibility of being swept away is lessened. It's like when the dancers come out and talk. You see them dance and they're sort of extraordinary creatures - then they talk and they might be charming but something is taken away. And that's the element of magic, of mystery, of being able to do things to us we don't even have words to describe. To me "See the Music" takes away from the experience informative 'tho it may be.  

I voted for Manuel Legris for a number of reasons. He grew up there and knows that house inside-and-out. He's smart. He has good taste. I believe he has enough intelligence not to try to turn that place upside down. And I've only heard good things about his time in Vienna. I think he might do it very well. I do, however, think it a bit early to get on the bandwagon about Ms. Dupont. I say give her a chance. 

Dance belts Sandik. That's it. So nothing was covered other than their crotch. We all see plenty of nudity these days - it's everywhere. But theatrical dancing is different. These guys were jumping and lunging, squatting, you name it. Nothing like posing for a picture. More than shocking it was disconcerting. As I said, you didn't know what you were supposed to be looking at. Oh well, I'm letting it go. The program had a piece that really interested me so that's what matters isn't it?

Sandik! You shock me! Hahaha. 

There's a visible difference between legs that have tights on them and bare legs. It's like what they call 'flesh impact' in the movies. Skin catches light in a very different way. For theatrical dancing I find it generally inappropriate - meaning it draws the eye to the wrong thing. If you're there to see the dancing it's much more clear when tights are used. Skin causes confusing shadows. At least that's how I see it. Tutus with bare legs and pointe shoes is a very confusing thing to the eye I think. The shoes are satin so they've got a sheen, most costume fabrics have a sheen, and of course tights have a sheen - so you get a unified look and it's easier to see what the dancer is doing. If that's what you want - to see exactly what's going on. The other approaches have their uses depending on the piece and what the choreographer is going for. In the case of Cerrudo's naked boys I just couldn't get what the point was. As I said they were all terrific looking guys but you noticed what they were doing a lot less than you noticed their backs, their abs, their buns, et.al. That's where your focus went. Was that what was intended? My guess was what was intended was just to shock. And of course that's tiresome. 

True enough - she's wearing basically a bikini, but with tights and a covering of the mid section between. She's not "naked". I think there's a big difference. 

The Orpheum does indeed have a pit. I walked down the aisle to check it out - quite small. The all-Balanchine performances will be at Symphony Hall so I was hoping for the Symphony, but I asked and they said no - tape. Part of the fund raising problem here seems to be that a lot of the wealthy people keep homes here that they only use periodically - 'Snowbirds' they're called - so there's very little commitment to the community. I've no idea what the company could do to improve that. 

I read all of that discussion you suggested. It's sort of run its course so I think it's too late to point out to those suggesting Bugaku be attempted in practice clothes that that can only work with pure dance ballets, which Bugaku is not. There's a palpable subtext and a lot of formal, ritualistic entering and exiting and parading around - and then sections of undressing and dressing behind veils. Whatever would those dancers do without the veils and the costumes? With steps like at the end when the boys fluff the girls' capes. Also the set for that matters assuming that's removed as well. The dancers would be simply walking out on a bare stage rather than entering a ramp and walking forward down steps. And to what purpose? What would be gained? Those rituals are what they are. Or were what they were. Not all ballets age the same. Take Stars  & Stripes - you can't look at that finale with the flag going up in this political malaise. It's embarrassing. Not to say it always will be, but one might propose that those kinds of triumphant national attitudes are a thing of the past.

Bugaku is rarely done anywhere. I was told that in his later years Balanchine disliked it saying "the only thing that's worse than the choreography is the music." I believe it came at a time of heightened interest in Japanese theatre, that Lincoln Kirstein was involved with bringing some of those groups to NY, etc. I rather like the ballet personally, but I'm aware it's kitsch and a bit hokey. But it's also fun and unusual. I'll go thru the discussion about it. Thanks.

I saw their Symphony in Three Movements when first staged by Ben Huys, I think it was last May. Very well done. The audience loved it. 

I don't recall seeing a Balanchine ballet where nudity on any level was used. Do you? Not even cut-outs or see-thru. He seems to have found a way to both be practical and yet also show off the body in the most effective ways to illuminate the choreography.

I attended the Today's Masters program this weekend at the Orpheum Theatre. The first section was comprised of two pieces by Alejandro Cerrudo - 'Pacopepepluto' for 3 men to songs by Dean Martin and Joe Scalissi. Solos. Unfortunately the guys were wearing only dance belts, nothing else. Nayon Iovino, Helio Lima, and Alejandro Mendez - all excellent dancers who did as much as they could with the material, but of course all you could do is gawk at their nakedness. I don't understand the point of this sort of costuming decision. Is it supposed to add an element to the solos? What? I find it distracting, as if we're intended to just ogle their bodies rather than be paying attention to what they're doing. Does anybody else feel that way about nakedness on stage? I often feel that way even about ballets where the men are topless. To me it distracts from the dancing. You don't know where to look. Anyway, the PDD was alright, if mostly the same vocabulary. It was called 'Never Was' and was very well danced by Jillian Barrell and Nayon Iovino.

The middle section of the evening had two pieces by Ib Andersen - Debussy's  'Afternoon of the Faun' (sic) which had 8 guys lifting Mr. Iovino - all of them wearing only very brief shorts. 'Pelvis' had 6 of the girls in dresses and Helio Lima in a gold outfit suggestive of Elvis in his Las Vegas mode with a lot of bumping and grinding.

The last section of the evening was a new ballet by Mr. Iovino to a mix of various pieces of music. This was unusual, evocative, and imaginative. Again there were no pointe shoes but the girls looked sort of wonderful - leos and tights, easy to see their movements. One of them, Arianni Martin, stood out for her beauty and sensitive dancing - but they were all good. There was a PDD for Amber Lewis and Helio Lima, and another for Jillian Barrell and Alejandro Mendez. All very well danced. The company looked good. This was a program where some of the offerings had to be played to tape, but next up is their all-Balanchine evening of three ballets that cry out for live music - Prodigal Son, Symphony in Three Movements, and La Sonnambula. Somebody, somewhere, needs to underwrite a fund to pay the Phoenix Symphony to play for Mr. Andersen's performances. I hope that person will step up to the plate. The company deserves it.  

I went to Ib Andersen's Cinderella last night with the Phoenix Symphony and enjoyed it very much. Big, lush production with beautiful sets and costumes, excellent dancers, all parts well done. I was particularly amused with the two ugly sisters who had delightful, inventive material. That sort of thing has to be very hard to choreograph. It's not my favorite ballet score by any means, but the Symphony did a terrific job with it. Their next program - March 22nd - 'Modern Masters' - will present new ballets by Mr. Andersen, Alejandro Cerrudo (Hubbard Street), and Nayon Iovino, who's a principal with the company. I saw a ballet he did for the company last year and it was very good. This is a company with dancers on a high level and a very good director. What they need is more dancers and more money.