2005 Spring season Week 1

[Dale]

I hope we have some spy reports from the first night. Unfortunately, I won't be going until Sunday.

[charlieloki]

program: stars and stripes, barber violin concerto, union jack

lots of fourth ring seats, maybe 75%, were empty last night

a real shame, because the whole evening was superb

we got to see thirteen principals (because union jack uses so many), which is always good

stars and stripes:

andrea quinn conducted superbly well

alexandra ansanelli has developed beautifully -- except for one tiny bad moment, she was superb -- a witty and elegant and technically fine liberty bell

damien woetzel simply tore up the stage -- he really IS el capitan, smooth as silk and very sharp at the same time, with a great devil-may-care smile

however, my favorite most recent liberty belles are still kyra nichols and monique meunier (who is being terribly underutilized at abt)

at first intermission, a very interesting older man, who had obviously been or still is a dancer, gave himself a short barre session, using the railing along the main fourth ring aisle to support himself -- an entertaining entracte --

barber:

darci kistler and albert evans were magnificent and stunningly beautiful forces of nature in their perfectly choreographed pas de deux

how in the world has darci managed to retain her aura of purity and joy?

my only complaint regarding her is that the costume she wears for this piece is totally unsuited to her body type -- but she manages to overcome this less than flattering image by giving us a pristine performance

her technique is diminished, of course, but her other resources seem to be infinite

albert is so-underutilized at nycb: although this could be his choice

he was a charming young dancer and has matured so well

charles askegard was ok in a sort of thankless part

ashley bouder was so far away from the kate johnson original: no way she can look like a demented little mosquito, although she certainly tried very hard

barber is a wonderful showcase for the right dancers, and -- of course -- for the violin soloist: oh, that wonderful music!

i felt truly blessed to be at the theater tonight

union jack:

i am immoderately in love with the french horn section: wait, make that the whole sonorous, rich-sounding brass section -- sharp when they needed to be, chorale-like when they needed to be -- heavenly

andrea quinn surely contributed greatly to this marvelous musical aspect of union jack

wendy, damien, nilas and jenifer -- how can they all be so on in the same performance?

charlieloki thought "it can't get much better than this": maybe all my remaining tickets for this season should be given away -- just stop right here, maybe

[nysusan]

It really was a great night at the State Theatre. Quinn was perfect last night - and I certainly complained about her often enough when she conducted Tchaikovsky last season. It's funny, I thought Stars & Stripes on the same program as Union Jack was a bit over the top but the docent at the first position talk said that Balanchine also choreographed a tribute to France and envisioned the 3 pieces on the same program (she mentioned the name of the France tribute but I've forgotten).

Completely agree with Charlieloki about Damian, Wendy et al in Union Jack, but I thought Kowroski looked a little subdued in Wrens. And I LOVE Kowroski. Did anyone else feel that way, or could the problem be that I've watched that '93 excerpt with Maria Calegari maybe 100 times in the past week...

Ansanelli & Woetzel were great in S&S. We were so lucky to get a double dose of both of them last night. Damian's dancing is so distinctive, he really puts his mark on any role he dances. I like Ansenalli more each time I see her. Such sharp, secure technique, and such an intelligent approach to her roles. She has such a small girlish look she could easily descend into terminal 'cuteness' but never does. Her line & phrasing always surprise me. Thought the men's regiment in Stars & Stripes was right on, and I also loved Ellen Bar - such a kittenish majorette. Was that the Allegra Kent role?

[justafan]

It was quite the rouser! At first, it felt odd to have Stars and Stripes open the program -- and the season -- but it was undeniably fun. Indeed, I felt the entire company was saying "we're so glad to be back! Now let's have a great time."

Stars and Stripes: Standouts were Sterling Hyltin, leading the first campaign with grace and Tom Gold, who as usual dazzled as he led the third regiment.

Ansanelli and Woetzel were just perfect to my eye. She has such pristine technique and combines it with such playfulness. And I can't imagine anyone better as El Capitain than Woetzel. He has such incredibly high leaps and turns and with his lovely ballon, he makes it look easy. You just want more!

As Charlieloki noted, Darci danced sublimely last night and Evans was in fine shape. I wonder how much of the Soto repertoire he'll inherit.

Union Jack was quite a treat -- although one wonders how they can dance so beautifully with what appear to be such heavy costumes. All of the prinicpals turned in very fine performances -- with Whelan, Kowrowski and Ansanelli it was sometimes it was hard to know where to look. The Pearly King is a very good role for Nilas, as he can really do some mugging.

Again, it was a great, joyous night that I felt was a kiss to the audience. Anyone who thinks that NYCB dances less than full out and without relish or attention to detail, should have had the treat of seeing them last night.

[Balanchinomane]

Another Opening - Another Show

I loved last night's performance. The Barber sandwiched between two

rousing masterpieces was irresistible programing. Contrary to the NYTimes

review there was not "too much marching." Nor was it "monotonous."

Everyone looked fresh and strong and happy. It was alarming to see

the sparse crowd upstairs -- it looked like the orchestra was full except for

the front edges.

There were no program inserts replacing Jock. They were printed with

Evans and Neal's names.

The Playbill has a nice 5 page article about Peter Boal entitled A Glorious

Career. The June issue will probably do the same for Jock.

During MacDonald of Sleat someone's sporran fell off and was in the path

throughout that variation. Fortunately it didn't cause a problem and was

scooped up unobtrusively as they marched off.

I am looking forward to Kyra as the Pearly Queen - Jenifer Ringer is

fabulous in the role but then I felt that way about Patty McBride too.

I still think we're fortunate to have as much talent as we had in the past.

[Balanchinomane]

The tryptych was called Entente Cordiale and was performed in its entirety

on closing night on July 2 1978. The second section was the salute to France, Tricolore. It was choreographed by Martins, Bonnefous, and Robbins after

Balanchine's illness in 1978. George Auric was commissioned to write

the music.The leads were Neary, Luders,Ashley, Lavery, Von Aroldingen.

We can speculate of it's revival or reworking - it would make a full evening length

performance like Jewels. Did anyone remember what it looked like?

The 1st Regiment of Stars and Stripes was called Corcoran Cadets led

by Allegra Kent and the "short girls." I recall some ballerinas actually

twirling the baton. Last night Sterling Hyltin used it like a conductor's baton.

[Ari]

We can speculate of it's revival or reworking - it would make a full evening length

performance like Jewels. Did anyone remember what it looked like?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh, dear, yes.

For further discussion of Tricolore, see this thread.

[zerbinetta]

I remember the Bonnefouz (then Bonnefous) section as being rather pretty .. or maybe it was just the comparison to the other 2/3.

Wasn't this the one that ended with Nina Fedorova on a big platter?

Edited April 28, 2005 by Ari

[Balanchinomane]

Thanks for the thread Ari, it sounds ghastly. The image of the always elegant

Nina Federova in such a position would linger in my mind also. It sounds like

a bad opera ballet. And so we are better off without it. Of course, it wasn't

Balanchine............

[oberon]

Friday 4/29

Korbes looks sensational in CHICHESTER PSALMS. The NY Times found the work tepid, I find it calm and somehow uplifting. The NY Times warned that ballets where the girls wear their hair down might be a bad omen; to me it is very attractive.

I was very sorry that SONATAS & INTERLUDES was dropped; Jock Soto has cancelled his performances in the first week. I know this Tanner work is closely identified with Jock, but could not someone else have danced it? Albert? James Fayette? Arch Higgins? Does it mean that after Jock retires we will never see this piece again? Anyway, Fairchild - looking more confident that usual - and de Luz gave us a sprightly TARANTELLA instead.

NY EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ reminds me mostly of INTERPLAY with a darker interlude. Everyone is in sneakers and bright sweaters. At the end, they all change to white sweaters. Lots of energy. Craig Hall & Rachel Rutherford were very well-paired in the adagio. Hall has an amazing presence, great strength; Rachel displayed a nice vulnerable quality. Who would have thought Rebecca Krohn, who always looks like the epitome of a classical ballerina, would be such a convincing jazz baby? Seth Orza gave us big-scale dancing. Georgina Pazcoguin, Adam Hendrickson & Andrew Veyette made strong contributions; everyone in fact threw themselves into the style. Overall the ballet seemed a little dated to me.

The radiant Sylve and the gallant Stephen Hanna gave a very enjoyable STARS & STRIPES. Very amusing moment when Hanna, lounging against the proscenium, gives an off-handed assist to Sara Mearns who is doing a pencee in his corner. Was it Damian who instituted this priceless little moment? Hyltin was really superb, and the leggy Hanson brings lyricism to the 2nd Regiment. Daniel Ulbricht gave a jaw-dropping virtuoso display with multiple air turns (could they have been quadruples??) and spot-on, "no-hands" drops to the knee. If there were moments when the ranks needed "dressing", the audience didn't seem to mind. The spirit of the work was amply on display.

[Ari]

Very amusing moment when Hanna, lounging against the proscenium, gives an off-handed assist to Sara Mearns who is doing a pencee in his corner. Was it Damian who instituted this priceless little moment?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is this a regular feature of Stars nowadays? I didn't notice it in Washington. If it's being done occasionally as a tradition, it was started by Peter Martins back in the 70s, when he held out an arm to steady Colleen Neary in the final movement.

[Giselle05]

Tuesday night Damian gave his hand to Sara Mearns, and I remember seeing him do the same last year. :-)

Hee-hee.

[oberon]

Yes, I've seen Damian do it...he was the first person I remember doing it a few seasons back, and I thought it was spontaneous as the girl nearest him was a trifle unsteady.

[Farrell Fan]

Friday, April 29

In Chichester Psalms. the boy soprano's voice seemed on the verge of changing right before our ears. Fortunately he got through it. I like this piece very much, not only because of the music, but for the array of singers and dancers on risers. Karla Korbes and Amar Ramasar were wonderful The men's costumes had the effect of making one of them look like Judith Jamison to my less-than-perfect eyesight.

Fairchild and de Luz have become quite a team in "Tarantella" Bravi! The Robbins premiere was a great success, I thought. I loved that music -- it had the last-gasp big band sound of the era when big bands were about to become extinct. The young dancers seemed more surly than those in "Interplay," although being NYCB dancers, they didn't seem all that threatening -- not even in the gang rape scene. I'd been looking forward to the Rachel Rutherford - Craig Hall pas de deux, and it was lovely. But the shock and titillation that supposedly characterized the casting of an interracial couple in 1958 was entirely missing. For one thing, NYCB audiences, from "Agon" on, are blessedly used to such casting. For another, the lighting was not exactly bright.

[charlieloki]

april 30:

seats in the fourth ring were occupied mainly by people who weren't there, again

those who were there seemed to like the "jazz" piece

robbins' choreography in opus just doesn't work today

it's some kind of weird hybrid

the women have no jazz in them, and their thin legs look odd in black tights which end in white socks and sneakers -- they look big-footed and dainty at the same time -- and rachel rutherford? -- v. strange casting

the black/white pas de deux might have looked odd in 1958, but is not even interesting today, thank goodness -- same old, same old

all this brings to mind the absence from nycb of twyla tharp

she's simply an american genius, far more interesting than martins, et al

as for "sneaker-dancing": her broadway show "movin' out" (starring two former abt dancers, john selya and ashley tuttle, and which i have seen many times) exhibits some breathtaking examples of it: daring slides ending in sudden, dangerous stops with the sneakers grabbing the floor just before disaster can strike -- macho, macho guys and all, but v. balletic

please, nycb -- bring her back, and soon

she has heart and soul, which to me, anyway, is lacking in nycb's "new" talent

[GeorgeB fan]

April 30th. Sat. Evening.

APOLLO

There is no question in my mind that Peter Boal is definitely one of the great Apollos of his or anyone generation! He is classicism at its most purest. He plays a God in training, but from the moment the curtain raise it is very evidence the material is already there ready to be molded. Noble, elegant, supremely regal, masculine, bold, curiosity, as well as sexy - a phrase that is often not used when describing Boal but he certainly is. Of course all these qualities would be nothing if Mr. Boal doesn't have the technical skills to show them and of course he does in arm fulls. What is great about his movements is they are always presented with high intelligence, detail phrasing, musicality - the music just breathe within him, sharp fluency, well thought out and executed with a polish and grace that fulls the stage and absorb everything around him beautifully. A magnificent performance!!!

It was Mr. Boal's expressive stage presence I think inform and sharp the performances, for the most part, of his three muses of the night. Part of the reason Miranda Weese's Calliope was so wonderfully coquettish was because Boal's Apollo was so eager to find out what she had written. Ashley Bouder was quicksilver and slightly fliration, that until she open her mouth. The only weak link was Yvonne Borre's Terpsichore. Unlike the other ladies, Ms. Borre seem not to been able to match the nobility, the sharp phrasing and detail the choreography needed as all the others did. But all in all it was a performance to remember!

[bobbi]

As far back as I can remember (that goes back to Jacques), there has always been that playful interlude between El Capitan and Liberty Bell. El Capitan always extends his hand to the corps girl closest to him. One very memorable Stars for me was a matinee when Violette Verdy and Peter Shaufuss were really "hamming" it up. By the way, I was thinking about Violette on Friday because -- even at the very end of her career -- Violette was not winded durng that part of Stars -- just playful and charming, but Sofiane was really, really winded. Actually (and I'm a very big Sofiane fan) I was a bit disappointed in her Stars (which is the all-time test for a real ballerina). Perhaps she was having an off night. Has anyone seen her in it before? But I was very pleased with Steve Hanna; he didn't attempt anything that might have been beyond him, just danced cleanly and was a good partner.

[Balanchinomane]

I saw Sylve in Stars in Feb. and she was excellent - a bravura performance-

holding her balances etc. But during the section she stands downstage

she was almost hyperventilating she was so out of breath. By contrast

Tuesday night, Ansanelli looked as if she could run through it again, and she

was in Union Jack as well. Maybe it's a result of Alexandra's SAB training.

[Guest nycdog]

Why isn't Sylve in better shape? Do the women in particular avoid aerobic activity other than dancing so they don't change the shape of the muscles in their legs? They want to have smooth legs without muscle tone? There are exceptions certainly Karin von Aroldingen wasn't like that, and Wendy Whelan. Is there any reason a dancer can't be a runner or jogger?

[carbro]

I don't know that you can draw generalizations about all women on the basis of a single performance by one woman. I have not seen Sylve in Stars yet, but I've seen her in Kammermusik No. 2, which must be equally winding, and she got through that just fine. Perhaps Sofiane had an arduous rehearsal schedule that day, or maybe the deficiency was due to the fact that it's still early in the season.

[Ari]

as for "sneaker-dancing":  her broadway show "movin' on" (starring two former abt dancers, john selya and ashley tuttle, and which i have seen many times) exhibits some breathtaking examples of it:  daring slides ending in sudden, dangerous stops with the sneakers grabbing the floor just before disaster can strike -- macho, macho guys and all, but v. balletic

please, nycb -- bring her back, and soon

she has heart and soul, which to me, anyway, is lacking in nycb's "new" talent

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tharp and Robbins collaborated very successfully on Brahms/Handel (which is, strangely, seldom performed), but in 2000 she made a Beethoven ballet that flopped and which has never been seen again. Perhaps the experience was an unhappy one for her and/or the company.

(And it's Movin' Out, btw.)

[Guest nycdog]

I don't know that you can draw generalizations about all women on the basis of a single performance by one woman.  I have not seen Sylve in Stars yet, but I've seen her in Kammermusik No. 2, which must be equally winding, and she got through that just fine.  Perhaps Sofiane had an arduous rehearsal schedule that day, or maybe the deficiency was due to the fact that it's still early in the season.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Someone in top cardiovascular shape would NEVER be out of breath. I believe it's not a good thing to be out of breath before an audience it takes the dancer out of their role and makes them too human.

[Dale]

Someone in top cardiovascular shape would NEVER be out of breath.  I believe it's not a good thing to be out of breath before an audience it takes the dancer out of their role and makes them too human.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Huh?! I'm a sportswriter and I see tons of athletes in "top cardiovascular shape" that are out of breath after physical activity. Being at "top cardiovascular shape" does not mean the athlete/dancer doesn't breathe hard and doesn't have to push themselves to get through the activity. And dancers are human, not machines. They are also individual. Not all dancers conceal the heavy breathing as well as another dancer. Watch a video tape of Darcey Bussell. You'll see her breath very hard after variations through an open mouth (I always figured she had nasal problems that prohibited her from breathing through her nose.)

There's a reason Balanchine allowed the principals to stand on the side. Our eyes are supposed to be on the happenings in the middle of the stage, not the panting dancers. If you don't want to watch them pant, watch what's going on at the center of the stage.

[carbro]

Watch a video tape of Darcey Bussell.  You'll see her breath very hard after variations through an open mouth (I always figured she had nasal problems that prohibited her from breathing through her nose.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You caused me, Dale, to remember images of Rudolf Nureyev, even in his 30s, actually sucking air into his lungs.

[Annemd]

Someone in top cardiovascular shape would NEVER be out of breath.  I believe it's not a good thing to be out of breath before an audience it takes the dancer out of their role and makes them too human.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Huh?! I'm a sportswriter and I see tons of athletes in "top cardiovascular shape" that are out of breath after physical activity. Being at "top cardiovascular shape" does not mean the athlete/dancer doesn't breathe hard and doesn't have to push themselves to get through the activity. And dancers are human, not machines. They are also individual. Not all dancers conceal the heavy breathing as well as another dancer. Watch a video tape of Darcey Bussell. You'll see her breath very hard after variations through an open mouth (I always figured she had nasal problems that prohibited her from breathing through her nose.)

There's a reason Balanchine allowed the principals to stand on the side. Our eyes are supposed to be on the happenings in the middle of the stage, not the panting dancers. If you don't want to watch them pant, watch what's going on at the center of the stage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you, Dale!!!!!!!! You stole the words right out of my mouth (or my fingers.) Even those in TIP TOP CARDIOVASCULAR SHAPE can have breathing issues...and keep an eye on the dancing: not the breathing status.