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Gottlieb sees hope for NYCB!


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While Ballet Talkers have been parsing Alistair Macauley's sentences and measuring his column-inches-per-ballerina at the New York Times, something tremendous happened at the New York Observer: Robert Gottlieb gave a good review to New York City Ballet! I quote from the July 2-July 9 issue:

"If Kowroski continues in this new expansive vein, if Somogyi fully recovers, if the Bouder locomotive doesn't derail (and it won't), we finally have the dancers to bring to life the parched earth of the recent painful years. And I haven't even mentioned another new charmer, Sterling Hyltin, who suggested in Martins' Jeu de Cartes, that faux-"Rubies," what she'll be able to do with the real thing."

Then, returning to the subject of the Kyra Nichols farewell, Gottlieb concluded: "She's earned her retirement, however painful it is for the rest of us, and she claimed it joyously. After Vienna Waltzes, she stood on the stage accepting the cheers and the bouquets, modest, centered, unpretentious, superb -- and glowing with happiness, her arms around her two little boys. She was telling us she had a future. And now, against the odds, the company may have one too."

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While Ballet Talkers have been parsing Alistair Macauley's sentences and measuring his column-inches-per-ballerina at the New York Times, something tremendous happened at the New York Observer: Robert Gottlieb gave a good review to New York City Ballet! I quote from the July 2-July 9 issue:

"If Kowroski continues in this new expansive vein, if Somogyi fully recovers, if the Bouder locomotive doesn't derail (and it won't), we finally have the dancers to bring to life the parched earth of the recent painful years. And I haven't even mentioned another new charmer, Sterling Hyltin, who suggested in Martins' Jeu de Cartes, that faux-"Rubies," what she'll be able to do with the real thing."

Then, returning to the subject of the Kyra Nichols farewell, Gottlieb concluded: "She's earned her retirement, however painful it is for the rest of us, and she claimed it joyously. After Vienna Waltzes, she stood on the stage accepting the cheers and the bouquets, modest, centered, unpretentious, superb -- and glowing with happiness, her arms around her two little boys. She was telling us she had a future. And now, against the odds, the company may have one too."

He gave City Ballet another good review one month ago:

http://www.observer.com/2007/one-enchanted...t-gets-it-right

Of course, those are just a couple of performances out of hundreds. And though he states, "As always with Balanchine, we start with the ballerinas," only two of the men get scarcely a (mostly negative) mention.

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I always enjoy reading Gottlieb's observations on NYCB. Ever since I read that Vanity Fair piece he wrote around 10 or 12 years ago I've always eagerly looked for any of his written pieces. I don't always agree with him, for instance he seems to be way too harsh on some dancers over and over again. But as he shows in this article he isn't afraid to say something positive about a dancer if he sees progress made. I think it was him who called Maria Koswroski a "beautiful blank". I'm happy he has acknowledged the breakthrough she has made through the last few seasons.

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I've always looked forward to Gottlieb's writing. And of course his editorship of The New Yorker overlapped with Alistair MacCauley's two stints there. Does anyone remember, did Wallace Shawn bring MacCauley in the first time, or was it Gottlieb?

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I only wish Gottlieb wrote more often. I think he's the closest thing to Croce we've got these days. The NY Times critics seem to love everything, and there's more than a little Balanchine resentment on those pages, along the lines of, "Who cares about this dead guy?" I feel I can trust Gottlieb to champion the Balanchine legacy and to write eloquently of the crimes and misdemeanors perpetrated at NYCB against its founder. I'll never forget his scathing and sorrowful essay on "Musagete" and his impassioned pleas for reason in casting, coaching, and standards of performance. I've been watching some tapes of Farrell and Nichols and Ashley, and it makes you weep to think of the careless -- or willful -- mishandling of continuity and the slackening of standards in the last two decades. I'm thrilled to see that Gottlieb is hopeful again......

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I've always looked forward to Gottlieb's writing. And of course his editorship of The New Yorker overlapped with Alistair MacCauley's two stints there. Does anyone remember, did Wallace Shawn bring MacCauley in the first time, or was it Gottlieb?

Do you really mean Wallace Shawn....the actor? You might mean his father, whose first name I can't remember.:dunno:

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I've always looked forward to Gottlieb's writing. And of course his editorship of The New Yorker overlapped with Alistair MacCauley's two stints there. Does anyone remember, did Wallace Shawn bring MacCauley in the first time, or was it Gottlieb?

Do you really mean Wallace Shawn....the actor? You might me an his father, whose first name I can't remember.:dunno:

William Shawn.

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William Shawn.

:huh: For clarification, is that in response to

I've always looked forward to Gottlieb's writing. And of course his editorship of The New Yorker overlapped with Alistair MacCauley's two stints there. Does anyone remember, did Wallace Shawn bring MacCauley in the first time, or was it Gottlieb?

or only

Do you really mean Wallace Shawn....the actor? You might me an his father, whose first name I can't remember.
:dunno:

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William Shawn.

:huh: For clarification, is that in response to

I've always looked forward to Gottlieb's writing. And of course his editorship of The New Yorker overlapped with Alistair MacCauley's two stints there. Does anyone remember, did Wallace Shawn bring MacCauley in the first time, or was it Gottlieb?

or only

Do you really mean Wallace Shawn....the actor? You might me an his father, whose first name I can't remember.
:dunno:

Thanks, folks. I can't believe I wrote "Wallace" instead of "William."

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i can't tell if the past history of alastair macaulay's stints at THE NEW YORKER was sorted out.

in case it was not: robert gottlieb was editor of the magazine at the time of macaulay's two substitutions for croce.

william shawn was gone by then.

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i can't tell if the past history of alastair macaulay's stints at THE NEW YORKER was sorted out.

in case it was not: robert gottlieb was editor of the magazine at the time of macaulay's two substitutions for croce.

william shawn was gone by then.

Thank you, rg.

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Every once in awhile Gottlieb will write an article with “light at the end of the tunnel” sentiments and then a little later some performances will set him off and it’s back to the sackcloth and ashes. I don’t mean to suggest that he’s wishy-washy, he’s merely reporting what he sees, I’m sure. But I’d hesitate before reading any special significance into this particular piece.

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Right. Actually, dirac's note of caution has a basis in Gottlieb's review. Notice his choice of words. Speaking of the future (specifically, Nichols's), he ends with: "...the company may have one too." [my emphasis] Among the virtues that make Gottlieb well worth reading is his care, as though he's his own editor, too.

But while I try never to miss something he's written, especially in ballet, I would point to Joan Acocella's dance writing as closer to Croce's.

I'm glad to have both, though; I think they're somewhat complementary, even when they disagree. Especially when they disagree. Together they've helped to animate my perceptions like Croce used to, and now we have Macaulay at the New York Times, too. (For how long, I wonder?)

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