Specialty of the House?

[Leigh Witchel]

One of most enjoyable things about seeing the Bolshoi do Don Q this weekend was the feeling that you're seeing a "House Specialty" - what they do best. There's a real confidence and an assurance in delivery and you can sense it. They know this ballet down cold and they love it too.

Do you think other ballet companies have "House Specialties"? The Royal? The Kirov et al.? Care to name any house specialties out there?

[sandik]

I don't know that I would identify it as the "house specialty," in the same way that you recommend a certain dish to someone going to a restaurant ("If you're only going to eat there once you have to get the ___"), but I think Pacific Northwest Ballet does a very good job with the Balanchine repertory, especially the "leotard" ballets. I'm very fond of their productions of Agon and 4 T's -- they give them a very direct and clean performance.

[Fraildove]

Kirov-

La Bayadere, Swan Lake as much for the principals as the corps.

Rachel

[Estelle]

For the POB, I think it has changed quite a lot in the last two decades...

For example, "Etudes" used to be a "house specialty", as it was one of the most often performed works in the repertory (and also that version was created especially for the POB), but it was absent from the stage for almost a decade before being performed again this season, so the younger dancers are not so familiar with it (even though they did a good job), and neither is much of the audience. Lifar was the house specialty for decades, but the present direction seems to have decided to forget it completely

I guess that one can say that Nureyev's productions of "Swan Lake", "Romeo and Juliet", "The Nutcracker", "Don Quixote", "Cinderella" and "Sleeping beauty" have become POB specialties. And also, in the modern/crossover repertory, Preljocaj's "Le Parc", which has been performed over and over and over, especially during tours,

and Fortysthe's "In theMiddle, somewhat evelated".

Probably Lacotte's "La Sylphide" would be in that category, too.

Oh, and there also is, of course, the Défilé. Not really dancing, but they do it well, and the audience enjoys it !

[Farrell Fan]

In the case of NYCB, this is a difficult and key question to ask. At one time, I might have said "Barocco," "Serenade," "Apollo," or -- fill in the blank with your own favorite Balanchine ballet. But Balanchine ballets are in the repertories of ballet companies all over the world now, and performances by those companies are frequently on a par or superior to those at NYCB. Same with the Robbins rep. Christopher Wheeldon is in demand here and abroad. The conclusion is inescapable. The specialty of the house at NYCB are the ballets of Peter Martins.

[sandik]

Oh, and there also is, of course, the Défilé. Not really dancing, but they do it well, and the audience enjoys it !

If a specialty is something that you do exclusively, or much better than anyone else, the defile would certainly qualify!

[ConstanzaElisabeth]

may i ask, what is the Defile?

[Guest shellbell]

I think ballet co. from other countries are at an advantage.. I feel as if there is so much more culture and it is reflected in their dancing which makes them more enjoyable. I went this weekend also and even the audience reflects where the ballet company is from..which provides more culture and the feeling of a house specialty . My friend is russian that I went with and there was a large european population compared to a Nutcracker audience. That is an extreme example, but I think the house specialties are greatly impacted by the level of culture in the company.

[BalletNut]

In the case of NYCB, this is a difficult and key question to ask. At one time, I  might have said "Barocco," "Serenade," "Apollo," or -- fill in the blank with your own favorite Balanchine ballet. But Balanchine ballets are in the repertories of ballet companies all over the world now, and performances by those companies are frequently on a par or superior to those at NYCB. Same with the Robbins rep. Christopher Wheeldon is in demand here and abroad. The conclusion is inescapable. The specialty of the house at NYCB are the ballets of Peter Martins.

Ugh, how depressing. But true. Which makes it even more depressing... :mondieu:

As far as Bay Area companies are concerned, Oakland Ballet at one time had a specialty of rare Americana and Diaghilev ballets--I remember one particular program of Le Traine Bleu (Nijinska), Jardin Aux Lilas (Tudor), and Bolero (Nijinska again.) Those were the days...

[Alexandra]

may i ask, what is the Defile?

Constanza Elizabeth, the defile (and there should be an accent acute on the second "e") is the presentation of all the dancers of the Paris Opera, from the smallest female student, who leads it, through the etoiles. It's simply a slow, orderly walk from the very back of the stage -- way, way back, so you can see the foyer de la danse, and even some of the portraits of the very first ballerinas -- to the front; then turn, look at the audience, and walk to the side. After the little girls come the women of the corps de ballet, each group led by an etoile; then the little boys, and then the men. (Note to Lifar: You know it should have been the men first, then the women.) It's very simple, and very powerful, and very moving.

[Natalia]

Leigh, sorry to differ, but I consider 'Spartacus' the absolute 'house specialty' of the Bolshoi. Regarding their 'Don Q,' I think that it is their best classic but not their signature. Maybe the Ratmansky Era will, in time, erase the spectre of Grigorovich-Spartak? Not yet.

Kirov-Mariinsky: 'Sleeping Beauty' - this is 'ours' by Imperial Romanov decree! 'Swan Lake' would be a very, very close second.

NYCB: Maybe 'Serenade,' although, for many average people (non-ballet-fanatics), NYCB is synonymous with 'Nutcracker.'

Royal: Ashton 'La Fille Mal Gardee' ; 'Cinderella' second

Royal Danish: Bournonville 'La Sylphide' ; 'Etudes' second

POB: beside the Defile...'Suite en Blanc'

ABT...that's tough 'cause they're all over the map! Years ago, it USED to be 'Les Sylphides'...maybe now it is the MacMillan 'Romeo & Juliet'?

Ballet Nacional de Cuba: Giselle

Beijing, China Ballet: The Red Detachment of Women (yes...revived & in the rep once again)

[Leigh Witchel]

I think saying Spartacus is a Bolshoi house specialty is a reasonable statement - I've just never seen it! So I can only agree by repute.

Call me a cock-eyed optimist, but I still think you can call Balanchine the House Specialty at NYCB. It's still the largest repository and the most frequent performer.

[Alexandra]

For the Royal Danes, I think "Napoli" pas de six and tarantella is the house specialty. It's what they always do on gala programs, whether for the ballet audience or the general audience on special occasions (it's what they danced as Denmark's contribution to the Millennium celebrations)

Is "Spartacus" a specialty of the Bolshoi currently? I associate that with the Grigorovich era, as I associate the Royal Ballet with "Sleeping Beauty" during their glory days (but not now). I think house specialties change. (I agree with Natalia that "Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake" "belong" to the Maryinsky, but the Royal owned them in the West, during the Cold War days.)

What is ABT's house specialty? Once it would have been a triple bill of Theme, Pillar, Fancy Free. That would be the program you'd take the out of towner to see. Not now (they'd still do those ballets, but not usually on the same program.)

[Victoria Leigh]

During my years the staples of the ABT rep were Les Sylphides, Billy, Theme and Variations, Grand Pas Glazunov, and Etudes. Many programs on tour were either Sylphides or Theme or Glazunov, followed by Billy and Etudes.

[canbelto]

I think the Americana ballets (Who Cares?, Stars and Stripes, Western Symphony) remain house specialties of the NYCB. Throw in Union Jack too, although that's more Brittania. I mean, can anyone imagine the Marinsky ballerinas dragging a donkey offstage???

[Old Fashioned]

For years, the Houston Ballet specialty has been the Stevenson story ballet rep, particularly Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, and Cinderella (yeah, I know this version is dull, but the company makes the best of it), but that may change... People loved the "Nutty Nutcracker," although I was never a big fan of it. Some were disappointed Welch didn't continue it when he became AD.

[Ari]

In the case of NYCB, this is a difficult and key question to ask. At one time, I  might have said "Barocco," "Serenade," "Apollo," or -- fill in the blank with your own favorite Balanchine ballet. But Balanchine ballets are in the repertories of ballet companies all over the world now, and performances by those companies are frequently on a par or superior to those at NYCB. Same with the Robbins rep.

Sadly, this is true, but while Balanchine's ballets are becoming more common in the repertories of other companies, there is still a sizable number of them that are performed only by NYCB, or only among the world's leading companies. So I'd say that an NYCB "must see" program would consist of works such as Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, Episodes, Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fee, Danses Concertantes, Ivesiana, Raymonda Variations, Union Jack, Vienna Waltzes, La Source, La Valse, and so on. (Of course, some of these works haven't been in repertory for a while. As for Baiser, let's hope that if the spring season is indeed Boal's last that they will revive it for him.)

[grace]

related item: i once heard christopher gable, teaching class, ask for "the house pirouette". i found his reference amusing ...

but, before anyone asks: no, i can't remember the exercise.

[Natalia]

Is "Spartacus" a specialty of the Bolshoi currently?

Absolutely, Alexandra! Up to the start of the current US tour, the present season has seen several performances of 'Spartacus' at the Main Hall (old theater...most prestigious), with multiple casts. I, for one, look forward to the day when 'Spartak' is no longer the signature work of the Bolshoi...maybe when Lenin's mausoleum is closed down?

I had the last act of 'Napoli' high on my list of RDB 'house specials'!

Until the mid-80s, when I discovered the Kirov's 'Beauty' at its home base & understood it in the context of Russian history, I would certainly have considered the RB's 'Beauty' its signature piece. How may of us were initiated in the delights of that masterpiece while watching a performance -- live or televised -- of the 1946 Sadlers Wells/RB version? [How joyous to see excerpts of it once again, in the recent DVD starring the all-time-greatest Aurora ever, Margot Fonteyn!]