Week 8 Casting and Reviews

[carbro]

I attended the Sunday MND with Teresa Reichlen's Titania, Andrew Veyette's Oberon, Troy Schumacher (for Sean Suozzi) as Puck and Jenifer Ringer with Jared Angle in the Act II Divert, and it was an excellent performance.

Helene saw much the same cast on Saturday (while I was enjoying ABT's Airs/LaSylphide across the nearly finished plaza), and I was dismayed to hear her less than enthusiastic response to Dena Abergel's Act I Helena. But I see why. It suffered by contrast to Sterling Hyltin's Hermia, which beautifully found the emotional content in the choreography. I don't know whether Sterling has innate talent as a dance actress or whether working on Juliet gave her insights, but she understood how to use the choreography for its fullest emotional impact. Dena, in the "temperamental" role, paled beside Sterling, even though Sterling danced the "sweet" role.

The big surprise for me was Georgina Pazcoguin's Butterfly. It would never have occurred to me to cast Georgina, who has excelled in earthy roles, in something so flitty-fluttery. However, she managed to bring those qualities to the performance and stamp it with her own personality.

Thanks to Kathleen and Deborah for the correction -- Brittany Pollack was our lovely Butterfly. I was also surprised by Helene's enthusiasm for Savannah Lowery's Hippolyta, but I have to hand it to her, she danced with a nice bold but cushy attack, and her Act I costume, with its orange chiffon cape, managed to obscure her stiff shoulders.

An Act I highlight was Oberon's Scherzo. I was knocked out by the perfect symmetry of Veyette's grands jetes a la seconde -- something that is rarely achieved. Rarely does the dancer's second leg reach the same level as the first one, but this was a textbook execution of that difficult step.

Reichlen's Titania was duly regal, not only in her general bearing but in how she luxuriated in every breathtaking developpe. She is not only blessed with beautifully shaped legs and feet, but she knows how to add an element of suspense as she unfolds the leg.

Ringer and JAngle brought the performance to a fine culmination with their tender pas de deux in the Act II Divertissement.

The season seemed to speed by, I didn't attend as many performances as I'd hoped to, and most of what I saw was performed at a very high level. This was a fitting way to close out the season, but it's going to feel like a very long time until November.

[DeborahB]

You do not speak for me, Beatrice, and you are indeed wrong when you say that I'm speaking out of affection for Ms. Kistler.

But I'm not going to argue this point with you as I have clearly stated my opinion.

And while we old folks (I'm 52, and have been devoted to NYCB since I was 19), appreciate "new" and/or younger patrons, that does not discount the value of people like me who attend multiple performances (and not just performances of NYCB) a week. Oh, and did I mention that both of my sons (one in his 4th year of med. school, and one about to be a freshman in college) practically grew up in various theatres (both ballet, broadway and off-broadway, as well as the London stage)? They too will help to ensure that companies like NYCB carry on (passing the torch, so to speak).

[Beatrice]

Yes, you have stated your opinion. However, *I* saw the performance on Fri night. You, I believe, did not. I have agreed with you that Ms Kister has earned the right to remain with the company. I have agreed with you that she deserves the right to return to SOME of her favorite roles. I will not, however, agree with you that she deserves the right to dance anything that she wants.

I certainly don't discount the opinions of more seasoned patrons. I am saying, quite frankly, that one of City Ballet's biggest, and most challenging, goals at the moment is attracting and retaining a new audience. And while I do not believe that long time patrons will stop attending because Darci Kistler isn't cast in certain roles, I believe new patrons may be turned off from returning to the City Ballet because she is. There are a great many opportunities to lay down a hundred dollars in this city, and if you have no outstanding loyalty towards the NYCB, it is not unresonable to assume that you'll find another one if the performances that you're introduced to are subpar. If one of the main goals of the company is to foster a new audience, I believe casting Darci Kistler as Titania is counterproductive to that goal. Moreover, I believe it's unfair to occasional patrons who do not have the flexibility or the finances to see specific or multiples casts.

You say that you are not speaking out of affection for Ms Kistler on this matter, so I must ask... what are you speaking from then? How do you believe that her performances in roles that her body cannot handle benefit the company at present? I'm not asking this sarcastically. I really do not understand your perspective. If you were coming from a point of sentimentality, I could understand, if not entirely agree with, your stance. However, if your opinion isn't stemming out of affection or sentimentality, I'm wondering what you think the benefit is to the company in keeping her in roles that she struggles through and which are generally recieved poorly.

Additionally, it's probably best not to assume that just because someone is new to the ballet, that they haven't also "practically grown up" in various theatres.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

I was at the Sunday 6/21/09 matinee also: what Helene and Carbro said -- although I'm pretty sure Brittany Pollack was Butterfly, not Georgina Pazcougin. Either way, it was a terrific performance of Butterfly.

I really liked Veyette's characterization of Oberon -- he got the mix of noble and not-so-noble just right. I don't think I've seen anyone do the "am I not fabulous!" vamp while the little page holds his cape any better -- it was witty without being over-the-top, and told us enough about Oberon's vanity to make his decision to exact revenge comprehensible. (I always found Peter Boal's Oberon problematic in this regard -- he was just too darn noble to get into a believable snit over something as trivial as an ornament to his retinue.) Veyette made Oberon's delight with Hermia and Lysander and dismay over Helena and Demetrius palpable, too -- its a detail that can get lost amidst the bustle of the lovers' interactions, and since his sympathy is an important counterweight to his vanity, its a detail we need to see. Nailing the Scherzo is important, of course, but these little things are, too. Bravo.

Reichlen's Titania was beautifully danced, and I don't think there's a ballerina on the NYCB roster who looks more glorious in a lift. (Her Cavalier -- J. Peck -- deserves some credit for this too, of course.) She's also the first Titania I've seen whose manner suggested that the women in her retinue were her companions and not just her attendants -- i.e., young women of rank who were members of her court by right not obligation. There was a lovely bit if skirt-fluffing during the Nocturne when Reichlen unleashed an "I feel pretty" smile, the corps beamed back, and it felt like a moment of sisterhood.

Jason Fowler made Theseus' proposal to Hippolyta seem like a moment of genuine ardor and not just something that needs to be done to explain why they're leading off the wedding march.

It's time to dispense with Karinska's head-gear and let everyone perform in their own hair. Theseus' doge cap in Act II needs to be put in the shredder immediately. Ditto whatever it is that the Butterflies have on their heads. Oberon needs to keep the glitter in his hair, of course.

[abatt]

I haven't been to the NYCB Nutcracker in many years, and I contemplated purchasing a ticket for the opening night. However, in view of Kistler's trip down memory lane, I now have concerns that she might end up as the opening night Sugarplum. Therefore, I am passing on buying advanced tickets for Nutcracker.

[DeborahB]

I was at the Sunday 6/21/09 matinee also: what Helene and Carbro said -- although I'm pretty sure Brittany Pollack was Butterfly, not Georgina Pazcougin. Either way, it was a terrific performance of Butterfly.

You are right, Kathleen (I was there too), Brittany Pollack was Butterfly. She's been given quite a few choice plum demi and soloist roles this season and has always been delightful.

[balanchinette]

I haven't been to the NYCB Nutcracker in many years, and I contemplated purchasing a ticket for the opening night. However, in view of Kistler's trip down memory lane, I now have concerns that she might end up as the opening night Sugarplum. Therefore, I am passing on buying advanced tickets for Nutcracker.

Abatt, I had exactly the same reaction as you. In my zeal to see MND again, after its hiatus last year, I bought tickets in advance (before casting went up) to the first performance, which in my experience usually has the most exciting cast. I was greatly, greatly disappointed to see Darci Kistler cast as Titania -- for the very first performance. But, I'd already bought my $100 ticket and so I went, and every time Titania was on stage (and she has some of the most gorgeous music in the ballet, too), I had to look elsewhere, at the corps, at Kaitlyn Gilliland -- anywhere but her, because she really destroyed my memories of what a fantastic role Titania really is. Thank goodness, I got to see Tess Reichlen on Saturday afternoon, what a breath of fresh air. I must add that Janie Taylor and Tyler Angle made a spectacular debut in the Act 2 pdd -- I think they will only get better the more they do it, but Janie, and Kathryn Morgan (best Sleeping Beauty pdd I've ever seen!) are my favorites of this past season.

In any case, I too, am not going to buy Nutcracker tickets in advance, which is my usual practice. Once bitten, twice shy. I'm not going to spend $100 to see Darci as Sugarplum. If she can be cast as Titania, and as the Striptease Girl, there's no limit. In this economy, especially, I can't afford to shell out for as many performances as I would like.

[Colleen Boresta]

I am 55 years old. I have attended performances at NYCB and ABT (I grew up in Chicago) since 1980. I saw Rudolf Nureyev in the early 80's, when his dancing skills had greatly declined, but that didn't bother me nearly as much as seeing Darci dancing now. I had never seen Nureyev live during his heyday, but I definitely saw Darci live during hers. To me, it's always worse seeing a weak perforamnce from a dancer who used to be wonderful, than just seeing a plain old weak performance. I live in Staten Island and don't drive, so I can't go to the ballet during the evening. But if at all possible, I will switch any ticket during the 2010 Winter or Sprng seasons if Darci is going to be dancing. And NYCB only posts their casting schedule about two and a half weeks in advance, which is not very long. I left the final staging of Midsummer last week when I saw that Darci would be dancing Titania. I just couldn't bear seeing her perform the part at this stage in her career.

[Helene]

You say that you are not speaking out of affection for Ms Kistler on this matter, so I must ask... what are you speaking from then?

I think DeborahB explained above:

However, there's still usually some glimpse of the "past" Ms. Kistler -- the last true Balanchine ballerina -- in almost every performance.

After many decades of watching ballet, I can say while this may sound like sentimentality, it's actually something quite different, based on cumulative experience and context. It's up to each viewer who has seen something unique which is about to be lost to decide how much it's worth to them to see that diminishing bit of something quite precious and irreplaceable. Some people do, but many who loved her in the past, from what I've read here, have given up completely, and are waiting for the 2010-11 2011-2012 season.

A newcomer looks at Kistler and will rarely see what DeborahB describes, because from most reviews here, it takes an effort to find it, and there's too much lost. I felt much the same way about Nureyev; even though I had seen him on film, by the time I saw him live, at the very end of his life, I could not see any of the qualities that made him great.

Nureyev was Nureyev, though, and I was not going to dismiss Paris Opera Ballet or La Scala Ballet, because what I had seen seemed to be a self-indulgent display and had little to do with either company. NYCB is another animal, and I can appreciate that someone new to the company watching will see what's in front of them without a very long-time context and come to the conclusion that it's not worth returning, especially since NYCB does not have a rep that allows dancers to age out through character roles, the way Bournonville does, or the way opera does, hence Leonie Rysanek's Kostelnička late in her career. (NYCB rep is pretty cruel that way.) It happens to dancers (and singers) who, as they grow older, give spotty performances, sometimes brilliant, sometimes off, ex: all of the "Good Kyra day"/"Bad Kyra day" reviews in the last few years of Nichols' career; a person who has no long-term interest and who sees an off performance will often dismiss the performer completely, long before the bad days are more the norm. I don't see that much argument that Kistler's bad days aren't the norm now.

[abatt]

[

A newcomer looks at Kistler and will rarely see what DeborahB describes, because from most reviews here, it takes an effort to find it, and there's too much lost.

I specifically recall that Darci was my very first Titania, and that Midsummer Night's Dream was the very first ballet I ever attended in the early to mid 1990s. After that experience, I started attending very regularly. She was very wonderful back then. However, if I were I newcomer to ballet and my first ballet experience was seeing Darci as Titania last week, I may never have come back.

[kfw]

It's up to each viewer who has seen something unique and is about to be lost to decide how much it's worth to them to see that diminishing bit of something quite precious and irreplaceable.

[ . . . ]

It happens to dancers (and singers) who, as they grow older, give spotty performances, sometimes brilliant, sometimes off, ex: all of the "Good Kyra day"/"Bad Kyra day" reviews in the last few years of Nichols' career; a person who has no long-term interest and who sees an off performance will often dismiss the performer completely, long before the bad days are more the norm. I don't see that much argument that Kistler's bad days aren't the norm now.

Martins sees her dance more than most people do, and I suppose he still sees that uniqueness, at least some of the time. Still, when so many longtime observers and loyal audience members have said for years that they don't, I think the situation smacks of nepotism, and of, as Deborah put it (albeit in her defense), that she has a right to these roles. I think, rather, that she has a responsibility to the choreography, and to the audience, which increasingly wishes not to see her.

As for Nichols, my memory may be faulty, but I don't remember her poor reviews in later years being nearly so frequent or so intense. I do remember a Brahms-Schoenberg in 2005 in which I first noticed her diminishing skills and then quickly didn't care because she brought so much perfume to the role. I also saw her final performance, with ended with the Der Rosenkavalier section that Kistler has been performing, and there was no comparison. Nichols was beautiful all night long.

[abatt]

Nichols, in my opinion, was much wiser than Kistler in selecting her roles at the end of her career. Also, I think Nichols' technique was not as greatly diminished at the time of her retirement as Darci's current technique.

[Helene]

I don't disagree that Nichols retired before her good days were behind her, although when I saw her last, in "Scotch Symphony", even though it was hardly a "bad" day, she wasn't close to the dancer I had seen regularly decades before, nor was that to be expected.

Kistler made the decision when she was very young to do everything that Balanchine asked of her at a time when she needed to ease off and heal, and those injuries and weaknesses that were bred during the last few years of Balanchine's life have haunted her since, putting her at least a decade behind Nichols in dance health. I have no reason to think that she has any regrets about this, but the results are very clear.

The bottom line is that casting is Martins' decision and responsibility as the head of NYCB.

[bart]

I saw Rudolf Nureyev in the early 80's, when his dancing skills had greatly declined, but that didn't bother me nearly as much as seeing Darci dancing now.

I can understand this, Colleen. I saw Nureyev when her first came to the West and also near the end. The decline in technique, energy, and sheer drive were sad. But there was still the mesmerising stage presence. Nureyev's "story" on stage near the end had nothing to do the choreography. It was about his defiance of mortality. Very soap-opera, but also very dramatic. Didn't someone say of Nureyev that having to give up the stage would be a kind of death? According to his biographers, Nureyev was acutely aware of his limitations towards the end, and what audiences would see on stage. He agonized over this. But he still could not give it up. That's the tragedy, I think.

I saw Kistler in her first season with the company, though not since the early 90s. With the exception of the interview segment at the start of NYCB's televised Swan Lake (1999) -- a performance she did not actually dance, due, I believe, to injury -- I don't know her mature work at all. I would have thought that the role of Lady Capulet would have been ideal for a glamourous lady at this stage of her career. But it was not. Her Lady Capulet last month was one of the strangest and saddest performances of this role I've ever seen.

Casting, as Helene says, is Peter Martins' decision. But surely the dancer has a say in what she requests and what she will accept. I'm sorry for Ms. Kistler and for her fans. Perhaps, like Nureyev, she just cannot give it up.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Martins sees her dance more than most people do, and I suppose he still sees that uniqueness, at least some of the time.

Martins' loyalty in casting some of his long-serving dancers (and not just Kistler) in roles that might be better served by others puts me in mind of Chicken George's telling Kizzie when they are finally reunited that he doesn't see her with his eyes, he sees her with his heart. It's an admirable sentiment in a husband or friend--and in an AD on occasion--but he has an obligation to be clear-eyed, too.

Martins might have given Kistler a ballet or two to help her close out her career with the grace and sweetness that she still has in abundance. As Helene pointed out, the NYCB rep isn't overstuffed with twilight roles and providing a few would be a real service.

edited to add: Duh! Lady Capulet! Thanks Bart - although I agree it doesn't necessarily serve Kistler well.

[abatt]

[

Martins might have given Kistler a ballet or two to help her close out her career with the grace and sweetness that she still has in abundance.

There are plenty of ballets in which Kistler can still do a respectable job. In fact, the only reason Papillions was revived, I believe, was to give Kistler an easy role she could handle. Ditto her role in Stabat Mater. I'm sure there are any number of ballets in the rep (mostly created by Martins) where Kistler would be cast appropriately. The problem is that she is also being cast in ballets that are clearly beyond her current abilities.

[Beatrice]

After many decades of watching ballet, I can say while this may sound like sentimentality, it's actually something quite different, based on cumulative experience and context. It's up to each viewer who has seen something unique which is about to be lost to decide how much it's worth to them to see that diminishing bit of something quite precious and irreplaceable. Some people do, but many who loved her in the past, from what I've read here, have given up completely, and are waiting for the 2010-11 season.

A newcomer looks at Kistler and will rarely see what DeborahB describes, because from most reviews here, it takes an effort to find it, and there's too much lost. I felt much the same way about Nureyev; even though I had seen him on film, by the time I saw him live, at the very end of his life, I could not see any of the qualities that made him great.

Thank you for answering. I can definitely understand and appreciate this sentiment to an extent. And as I mentioned before, I certainly understand the desire to let a legendary performer say her good-byes in her own way.

But I think the thing that differs here from the Nureyev situation for me (and please correct me if I'm wrong... as I mentioned, I still in the early stages of educating myself on the ballet) was that there was still a demand to see Nureyev. I believe his name had more of a box office draw outside of the ballet community than Kistler's does. And within the community I think there was a desire to see him before he retired. I think it was sort of understood towards the end that he was a performer at the end of his career, and people went into performances knowing this. I also think that perhaps even then, his technique exceeds what we're seeing from Kistler these days. My concern here is that is seems very few people want to see Kistler in these roles, except for Ms Kistler herself. I can't help but notice that the only person staunchly defending Kistler's "right" to dance Titania (and to a less degree the Striptease Girl) has/will not see either of those performers. If the idea that Kistler's current contribution to the NYCB is to allow her long term fans to see a glimpse of the ballerina that she once was, I find it interesting that this opportunity is not being more actively sought out. If the newcomers do not think that she belongs in the role and the occasional patrons do not think that she belongs in the role and the long term subscribers think that she deserves the role, but do not go out of their way to get that "glimpse", who exactly is being served?

I don't have my Playbills with me at the moment, but I believe I saw her in five roles this season. For me, personally, I thought that she did the most justice to Stabat Mater. In that piece I believe that I did see the glimpse of the ballerina she was. It was also a piece where the costumes potentially hid some of the shakiness in her leg and, more importantly, there were five other dancers onstage to help make the piece work. From what I've read, that ballet is not a favorite of most, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit and thought that she did justice to her role.

EDIT: I see that abatt also posted about Stabat Mater while I was busy typing this up.

[Leigh Witchel]

Kistler may not have had the sort of general celebrity that Nureyev had, but she was Balanchine's final ballerina and one of the major ones of her generation. She's not some random principal dancer who won't get off the stage. She inspires this sort of debate because of her level. If you never saw her, it's hard to understand it (I felt that confused twenty years ago seeing Patricia McBride or Suzanne Farrell at the very ends of their careers) and for those who did see her, we're torn between wanting to hold on to her and wanting to hold on to the dancer we remember.

[Beatrice]

Kistler may not have had the sort of general celebrity that Nureyev had, but she was Balanchine's final ballerina and one of the major ones of her generation. She's not some random principal dancer who won't get off the stage. She inspires this sort of debate because of her level. If you never saw her, it's hard to understand it (I felt that confused twenty years ago seeing Patricia McBride or Suzanne Farrell at the very ends of their careers) and for those who did see her, we're torn between wanting to hold on to her and wanting to hold on to the dancer we remember.

So then do you actually pursue seeing her? Once again, I'm not asking sarcastically. I'm very interested in whether or not people are actively looking at the casting and saying "Kistler is dancing, I need to get tickets". The fraction of the population who seem to have the opposite reaction, appears to be very vocal, so I'd be interested in hearing from the people who are currently seeking out her performances . I'd also be interested to know which of those roles they'd like to see her in: whether they'd rather see her do a "better" job with easier role or if they'd rather see her go out in a "blaze of glory", so to speak with roles like Titania.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Martins might have given Kistler a ballet or two to help her close out her career with the grace and sweetness that she still has in abundance.

There are plenty of ballets in which Kistler can still do a respectable job. In fact, the only reason Papillions was revived, I believe, was to give Kistler an easy role she could handle. Ditto her role in Stabat Mater. I'm sure there are any number of ballets in the rep (mostly created by Martins) where Kistler would be cast appropriately. The problem is that she is also being cast in ballets that are clearly beyond her current abilities.

I've never seen "Papillions," so I can't comment on it as a vehicle for aging ballerinas. "Stabat Mater" is so problematic for me on so many levels that I'd hate to think of it as Kistler's farewell ballet, but I understand your point, Abatt.

What I had in mind was a gift along the lines of what Wheeldon gave Jock Soto near the end of his career in the duet from "After the Rain." Other dancers have taken on that role since his retirement, but he was unforgettable in it and I at least still compare their performances to his (and so far have found them worthy efforts but wanting). I don't know if the role made it any easier for Soto to leave the stage, but it made it less heartbreaking for me to say goodbye. And as Leigh pointed out, for those of us who saw Kistler in her glorious prime, it is heartbreaking to see her go. I'm stuck in the "can't look, can't look away" mode at the moment.

Martins isn't my favorite choreographer by a long shot, but he's skilled enough to craft a worthy retirement present for a treasured ballerina. Of course, it would mean not making her share the stage with the season's reigning ingenue ...

[Drew]

I saw a beautiful and moving performance of Liebeslieder Walzer a little over a week ago with Kistler, Whelan, Somogyi, and Taylor. I expect Kistler once danced her role with more power and freedom than she does now, but she was lovely and, for me, the ballet--which I had only seen once before many years ago--came through in a beautiful and moving ensemble performance. If I had never seen Kistler before nor known who she was I would have thought the same (as best I can judge). I had actually been watching her nervously as the performance began both because of what I had read and because of a performance of Davidsbundlertanze a few years ago that I had not cared for; within a few minutes that passed.

Like Stabat Mater, mentioned above, Liebeslieder is also an ensemble work and one in which the dancers wear gowns/long tutus--but it is also a very delicate and wonderful work of art, one of the greatest ballets in the repertory, so all the dancers get credit in my book.

Of course, this is not exactly a response to all the concerns being voiced above about the current range of her performances--concerns I understand. But, seeing so little deeply felt praise for Kistler in the present I thought I would at least register my appreciation.

Also: To the person who suggested that Nureyev at the end of his career probably had more technical chops than Kistler has now...From everything I have read and heard...not remotely. (Even at his supposed "height" I saw him once on one of the marathon tours in which he danced every night and found him dancing sloppily and looking exhausted. On other similar tours, I saw him give some of the greatest performances I ever hope to see.) A closer comparison for my taste though is Alicia Alonso whose dancing seems to have been an inspiration to her company and her audience considerably past the point when a newcomer to the ballet would have understood why she was on the stage and to have been so precisely because of her historical importance as a dancer and leader of the company. It may be American fans have less of that historical investment in their ballet stars ... and I take very seriously the views voiced above that Kistler may now be doing the choreography/the company a disservice. But as Leigh said, she is not just any principal dancer.

[Leigh Witchel]

I saw Nureyev towards the end of his career - when POB came to New York, he squired Sylvie Guillem in Swan Lake - her debut performances in the US, I believe. I don't recall associating his debilitation with AIDS; I thought he was arthritic and in pain. It hurt to watch - and the contrast between his condition and the young Guillem's made it worse. As previously mentioned though, a hunger for the stage may have been there, but equally was the realization that he sold tickets and got bodies in the seats.

[bart]

I saw Nureyev towards the end of his career - when POB came to New York, he squired Sylvie Guillem in Swan Lake - her debut performances in the US, I believe.

I remember Guillem's Odette-Odile during that visit, but she must also have danced with someone else. Nureyev got lots of publicity, though, as the head of the company.

I Googled and found this review of your performance, Leigh. It's by Anna Kisselgoff, who seems to have been impressed inspite of herself by Nureyev on stage.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/27/arts/rev...from-paris.html

Her conclusion has the ring of truth:

Shrewdly, Mr. Nureyev basks in her bright radiance onstage. Just as shrewdly, she benefits in New York from her association with him. Their rapport was real, evidencing mutual respect without each ceding an inch of his or her own turf. One could believe in this love story and when it ended with Mr. Nureyev drowned in despair - it hurt.

There was still overwhelming stage-craft and charisma, obviously.

It may be American fans have less of that historical investment in their ballet stars

Not to be disrespectful of Kistler or anyone else, but I wonder whether Kistler was ever an "American ballet star" in the sense of having a broad following outside the NYC metro area. (The cognoscenti are a different matter entirely, it seems to me.)

HAS there ever been such a star? Fonteyn, yes. Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Makarova, yes. Possibly Villella. All sold tickets to broad-based audiences on the strength of their name and reputation. I'm trying to think of an American-born, American-trained ballet dancer who had the same pull, at least in the past 30 years or so.

[richard53dog]

I'm trying to think of an American-born, American-trained ballet dancer who had the same pull, at least in the past 30 years or so.

Maybe Gelsey Kirkland

[Helene]

Martins might have given Kistler a ballet or two to help her close out her career with the grace and sweetness that she still has in abundance.

Unfortunately, Martins' stock in trade has not been choreographing for sweetness and grace. The closest things I saw to these qualities in his work were very early ballets, like "The Magic Flute" for Kistler and Killian (for SAB), and he did a fine piece d'occasion for Farrell in "Sophisticated Lady". Post hip replacement, Farrell was physically limited and Martins was sensitive to that, but that's not really Kistler's style, either.

It would have been great if there was a choreographer for whom she was an interest and muse and whose choreography reflected her qualities. It's easy to see why Titania would be such an appealing role.