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Rock

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Everything posted by Rock

  1. Do you suppose O'Hare wasn't the first person offered the position?
  2. Simon G may be supposing that Peter Wright was against O'Hare's appointment and the others were for it. Given Mr. Wright's background with O'Hare I'd assume the opposite to be the case. Did Mr. Wright actually hire O'Hare at the BRB? Was he director then? He certainly worked with O'Hare both as a dancer and as company manager in Birmingham and knew Kevin, and his brother, very well. There's every chance he was O'Hare's biggest supporter when it came to the RB position.
  3. Bravo Leigh. How can anyone know so much about Kevin O'Hare before he's even done anything? Let's give the guy a chance.
  4. You may be right Abatt, but I will point out that Serge Lifar (b. 1905) was 23 when Apollo premiered.
  5. I meant "satin" - on the pointe shoe...
  6. I don't understand the comment about falling. Falling down on the stage has nothing to do with the dancer's technique or level of fitness. They simply hit a slick spot or a portion of the stain on the shoe that has no resin or maybe they're being really gutsy, dancing big, traveling, and they simply slip. I remember a review once in the NY Times by Gia Kourlas about a different ballet company stating that a dancer fell during the performance which exposed a decline in the company's technique. I'm not aware of any anti-slip combinations taught. Can someone enlighten me?
  7. Thank you so much, Arizona Native, for your long-awaited comments. They're a delight to read - filled with knowledge and insight into the company. Why are there no reports of Ballet Arizona's Nutcracker? One awaits word...
  8. A soubrette normally denotes a lighter, more flirtatious role. It's the opposite of those mysterious roles that can give you a lump in your throat – in the way that Odette/Odile touches our feelings about good and evil, right and wrong, somehow makes us more aware of the sublime, the possibilities, the reach of the human soul. The Princess Aurora and Tschaikovsky's music can do that. Balanchine's Symphony in C, or Liebeslieder Walzer, or the 2nd Mvt. of his Brahms/Schoenberg Quartet are all capable of extracting those ineffable reactions. It's unusual, and very lucky, that the NYCB has so many girls at various points in their careers who are capable of communicating those feelings to us. Kistler at her height, Kyra Nichols, and now Sara Mearns, Kaitlyn Gilliland, Tiler Peck, Kathryn Morgan, and Pereira - although she's young and not fully developped, but the possibilities were apparent in her SPF. It falls to her to welcome everyone to the land of the sweets, be the hostess. Little Pereira showed generosity of spirit and warmth beyond her years. She wouldn't at all seem the kind of dancer who would be used in the parts mentioned above. But I, for one, would welcome her debut as Aurora. Her kind of quietly classical reserve would seem perfectly suited to it.
  9. I went. It was one of the best Nutcrackers I've seen. Erica Pereira is an odd bird. Tiny little petit thing but not a soubrette type really. She was classical and elegant. It was beautiful. Her partner, Allen Peiffer, did very well – both in his partnering and his coda. Kathryn Morgan was a big surprise. You rarely see girls that beautiful. When she came out all you could think of were those black-and-white photographs of 40's movie stars. People just don't look like that anymore. Then she danced. Big jump, musical, alive. It was wonderful. Kaitlyn Gilliland did Coffee and it was a combination of regal and sexy. Also completely on the music. I would like to see all of them again.
  10. I'd be fascinated to read Arizona Native's account of this production before it falls to far in the past...
  11. Balanchine never explained anything. His rustics are out there for about one minute. Someone carries "a wall", another guy is "the girl" and blows kisses over to wall to a kneeling guy. A "director" is "feeding them lines." Then Puck pushes everyone over, they fall asleep, when they wake up their friend has become Bottom. They freak and run off. Lucky Bottom stays to have a PDD with Titania. Since there was a wall, and not a balcony, Balanchine most probably knew it was intended to be a performance of Pyramis and Thisbe - but of course he never said that - never explained anything. So the dancers think they're being Romeo & Juliet and that's what the parts are called. Makes no difference does it? Not actually. Them what knows - knows. Them what don't still get the gist of it. There's actors rehearsing a play in the forest and Puck turns one of them into Bottom.
  12. Someone sent me a review from the Arizona Republic which states that "the rustics present their lampoon version of Pyramus and Thisbe for the king and queen at the wedding. The pantomime takes on at least as much genuine pathos as it does comedy, with special note to Joseph Cavanaugh in drag as Thisbe and Sergei Perkovskii in a lion costume providing the threat". Oh. Pyramus and Thisbe. Who knew? What's that you might ask? From Wikipedia: In the Ovidian version, Pyramus and Thisbe is the story of two lovers in the Middle East who occupy connected houses, forbidden by their parents to be wed. Through a crack in one of the walls, they arrange to meet near a mulberry tree and state their feelings for each other. Thisbe arrived first, but upon seeing a lioness with a mouth bloody from a recent kill, she fled, leaving behind her veil. The lioness drank from a nearby fountain-then by chance mutilated the veil Thisbe had left behind. When Pyramus arrived, he was horrified at the sight of Thisbe's veil, assuming that a fierce beast had killed her. Pyramus proceeded to then kill himself, thrusting a sword into his groin. Thisbe returned, eager to tell Pyramus what had happened to her, but she found Pyramus' dead body under the shade of the mulberry tree. Thisbe, after a brief period of mourning, killed herself. The combined blood of the bodies seeped into the ground, staining the previously white fruit of the mulberry tree a deep purple. Thus, the mulberry tree became a symbol of the deaths of these two lovers. In Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream, the rustics are out to present Romeo & Juliet. Ib Andersen went in a different direction apparently. Trust me, it was really funny.
  13. I only saw them once so it's hard to say, but... Astrit Zejnati was Oberon. Handsome, he danced and acted very well. Chelsea Wilcox - new to the company, was Titania. Blonde girl. Good dancer. The Lovers were Ginger Smith, Paola Hartley, Ilir Shtylla, and Russell Clarke. They were all excellent - in their acting as well as their dancing. Kenna Draxton was Hippolyta. The tallest girl in the company by far. Beautiful creature. Ross Clarke was her Duke. Brother of Russell - from Scotland, both trained at the RB. Roman Zavarov - a young Russian - was Puck. A bravura dancer with a perfect body. Huge jump, turns like a top. Joseph Cavanaugh was "Juliet" in drag, and what was so funny was that he didn't "act" at all - didn't comment on the material either - just played it straight. It was hysterical.
  14. Rock

    NYCB Young Ones

    Watch NYCB's Winter and Spring Seasons. Let's see if I'm wrong: Kaitlyn Gilliland - move to soloist Megan Johnson - major potential Megan LeCrone - waiting for her... Lydia Wellington - big potential Sara Adams - big potential Callie Bachman - ditto Amy Barker - startling Anthony Huxley - unbelievable. How to use him? Russell Janzen - the partner David Prottas - major potential Troy Schumacher - underused Chase Finlay - a no-brainer
  15. I am surprised to see no postings of these performances in Phoenix. I'm a New Yorker who happened to be out there and saw the production and have been watching for reviews or comments. Nothing. Why? I was taken aback at the change in the company since the last time I saw it (ca. 4 years ago) and the quality of this production. Beautiful sets and costumes, wonderful dancers, and a story charmingly told. Very unlike Balanchine's version - different music in some parts and a totally different emphasis. More import given to the story-telling and all of it very well done. The sections with the Lovers were clear and very amusing. An Act II telling of the Romeo & Juliet story, with Juliet played by a young boy in drag as in Shakespeare's time, was a laugh-out-loud hoot. Go figure. You'd have thought it would be tacky. It wasn't at all. The company has a considerable number of new, really good, dancers from all over - the Bolshoi, Scotland, Poland, you-name-it. Lucky Phoenix. I had a wonderful time and I hope it was a big success for the company, which deserves to be better known.
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