Roster Changes at ABT

[vipa]

I've seen Kochetkova a few times including Nikiya, O/O and something with the SFB when they came to NY. I walked away each time thinking she is a strong dancer but nothing special. For a dancer to be hired as a guest artist and then named a principal dancer I expect a lot more. I'd think that if an AD wants strong and serviceable he'd stick with the home team. Boylston, Copeland, Abrera could use the Swan Lake opportunities that will go Kochetkova's way. Lane (I'm a fan, I know not everyone is) could be cast more in principal roles as should be the newer soloists. If Kochetkova was a thrilling dancer or a ticket draw I could see it. As it is I don't get it.

[Quiggin]

I wouldn't be able to judge Kochetkova technically but, at least seeing her here in San Francisco, what I miss is some sense of (self) discovery and surprise in the choreography she's doing - as if it's something very special to her - and a projection of personality through the proscenium. Sometimes she seems dry and witty, sometimes a little in her own world.

Regarding Theme & Variations though, she's not really a Balanchine dancer - i don't think SF Ballet does enough Balanchine for the dancers to get a sense of its idioms, its subtle challenges to expectations. But then is Theme & Variations really Balanchine's - or the Cuban Ballet's - anymore? So many different accents have crept in as it has been handed on from company to company.

[canbelto]

I'm not saying Kotchetovs is great. I'm saying I've seen Lane in a variety of roles and she hasn't impressed me. And by the way I don't object to her "great technique" bc I don't even think she has great technique. She is very good at petit allegro. But in adagio dancing she's limited and in things like Nutcracker she completely lacked any ability to fill out the music. Small dancers have to dance big, and she just doesn't. Small steps, small extension, small jumps, small expression.

[vagansmom]

I agree with Canbelto about Lane. Someone else wrote "And in any ballet, that technique has to be deployed in a distinctive, imaginative way for a dancer to put her or his personal stamp on it." I don't find that Lane has yet discovered this ability. I've never danced ballet, but have a daughter who danced professionally and I'm a musicality coach for dancers. I posted this in another thread, so I won't go into detail, but I believe that what Canbelto notices, and what I too see in Lane, is that she sits squarely in the center of each musical beat. With excellent technique, which Lane has, that makes for a lovely, though what some would often call bland, performance.

​I've always wished, for example, that Lane would learn that she can "charge the beat" a little, yet still keep perfect rhythmic timing. This would add energy to her dancing. She needs to play with the phrasing more. Countless fine ballet technicians have this quality, but I don't yet see it in Lane. Canbelto used the word "vanilla" and I agree that it's a good adjective. She "sits in" every beat.

I remember an excellent Irish dancer with the same qualities. Perfect technique. Beautiful face and body for dancing. But she too "sat" within the center of each beat so that it looked, yes, bland, even though her dancing was technically gorgeous. In Irish dance competition, she would never win the first prize, but was usually further down the list at 5th. or 6th. even though she had all the technical qualities, even exceeding some dancers ahead of her in awards. I recall yet another dancer who did the same thing to the same results.

These are both dancers from other schools, not the one I own with my husband. I knew the mom of the second dancer only slightly, but I spoke to her after one competition and suggested she get a musical phrasing coach. She did, and suddenly this dancer had that "intangible" (but it's really musical phrasing that can be taught) quality and started winning competitions. This is what I see lacking in Lane. I would so love to see her working with a coach specifically in this area because I think she could be absolutely marvelous.

(Edited to add that Canbelto added another post while I was composing this one. I completely agree although I do think Lane has better ballet technique than she does; I think she's lacking in musical technique).

[canbelto]

I agree with Canbelto about Lane. Someone else wrote "And in any ballet, that technique has to be deployed in a distinctive, imaginative way for a dancer to put her or his personal stamp on it." I don't find that Lane has yet discovered this ability. I've never danced ballet, but have a daughter who danced professionally and I'm a musicality coach for dancers. I posted this in another thread, so I won't go into detail, but I believe that what Canbelto notices, and what I too see in Lane, is that she sits squarely in the center of each musical beat. With excellent technique, which Lane has, that makes for a lovely, though what some would often call bland, performance.

​I've always wished, for example, that Lane would learn that she can "charge the beat" a little, yet still keep perfect rhythmic timing. This would add energy to her dancing. She needs to play with the phrasing more. Countless fine ballet technicians have this quality, but I don't yet see it in Lane. Canbelto used the word "vanilla" and I agree that it's a good adjective. She "sits in" every beat.

I actually saw this the most in her T&V. I compared her to Ashley Bouder and Tiler Peck in the NYCB. Peck and Bouder are trained to be extremely with the music, to never stretch out phrases for simple self-indulgence. That is like Balanchine 101. But both of them actually found ways to expand their phrasing more than Lane. That long sequence where the female lead dances while holding the hands of the corps -- when Lane does it it's very leg up, leg down, sort of like a classroom exercise.

Watch how much a very tiny dancer can captivate by the slow, elegant movement of limbs here at 9:27:

Now maybe this isn't a fair comparison. Gelsey Kirkland is an extremely unique dancer. But she was also roughly the same size as Lane, and able to dance huge.

[vipa]

I don't think anyone is going to be talked into or out of being a Lane fan. My main point in earlier posts was that I don't get having Kochetkova as a guest artist or taken in as a principal. That is the change in roster that puzzles me. She is neither a thrilling dancer nor a ticket draw IMO

[vrsfanatic]

Vipa, an interesting opinion but as with all opinions there will be many who are not in agreement with you.

[vipa]

Vipa, an interesting opinion but as with all opinions there will be many who are not in agreement with you.

I admit I am curious about opinions on Kochetkova. There have been a lot of opinions about Lane on this thread, but she was a soloist and remains a soloist. One of the surprises to me on ABT roster changes is Kochetkova.

[jsmu]

Bouder and Peck are rather unfair comparisons (the two most brilliant virtuoso ballerinas of the current NYCB, and the only ones who do good 'Themes') but Kirkland, who was sui generis , is an utterly unfair one--rather like Nichols or Ashley would be. Having seen many, many ballerinas notably including Kochetkova omit and simplify lots of steps in 'Theme' it is refreshing even to see Sarah Lane do the correct steps. Also, Kirkland appeared tiny but was in fact 5'4''; Lane is considerably shorter.

[jsmu]

I wouldn't be able to judge Kochetkova technically but, at least seeing her here in San Francisco, what I miss is some sense of (self) discovery and surprise in the choreography she's doing - as if it's something very special to her - and a projection of personality through the proscenium. Sometimes she seems dry and witty, sometimes a little in her own world.

Regarding Theme & Variations though, she's not really a Balanchine dancer - i don't think SF Ballet does enough Balanchine for the dancers to get a sense of its idioms, its subtle challenges to expectations. But then is Theme & Variations really Balanchine's - or the Cuban Ballet's - anymore? So many different accents have crept in as it has been handed on from company to company.

She is the antithesis of a Balanchine dancer, but SF Ballet has always until very recently been a Balanchine company. Perhaps in recent years they have done less, but they have acquired as many Balanchine ballets as anywhere outside NYCB except Miami City Ballet. Yes, if taught and coached by someone like Ashley or Nichols, 'Theme' is very much Balanchine's ballet, and 'different accents' or even phrasings are a completely different matter from omitted, smudged, simplified, dumbed-down steps.

[abatt]

Some of the steps in the ABT version are different from the steps in the NYCB version of T&V. Are other companies outside of NYCB doing "dumbed down" versions, or does the Balanchine Trust permit these differences based on differing versions of the steps that Balanchne permitted?.

[jsmu]

Some of the steps in the ABT version are different from the steps in the NYCB version of T&V. Are other companies outside of NYCB doing "dumbed down" versions, or does the Balanchine Trust permit these differences based on differing versions of the steps that Balanchne permitted?.

Good question, abatt. VERY good question. Sometimes, for example, Balanchine omitted the gargouillades in the ballerina's opening variation for dancers who were uncomfortable with the step. I've seen it with *and* without at both NYCB and ABT so it's hard to say. A lot depends on who the repetiteur assigned by the Trust happens to be, and not every coach knows every version which was done at one time or another, of course. It's not so much a question of omitting one step, of course; it's the principle. I'm not of the opinion that the Black Swan ballerina lives or dies on whether she does THIRTY-TWO FOUETTES by gawd, either, lol. Balanchine himself said about a la secondes, fouettes, etc, 'the audience enjoys the first three or four....then they start counting.' It's not just the ballerina's or the danseur's steps either; changes in corps steps greatly affect everything. Weirdly, in a recent Miami City Ballet staging, Nathalia Arja omitted several things (or simplified them) in 'Ballo della Regina' and that ballet is always coached and staged by its original ballerina, Merrill Ashley, who owns the ballet. There is no telling for sure about that sort of thing.

[Amour]

I admit I am curious about opinions on Kochetkova. There have been a lot of opinions about Lane on this thread, but she was a soloist and remains a soloist. One of the surprises to me on ABT roster changes is Kochetkova.

I saw Kochetkova as Nikiya in La Bayadere this spring. Once I got over the shock of watching someone who looks like they are about 12 years old, I found she was relatively good in the role. I like Lane but I think Kochetkova has more stage presence. And judging from the size of the audience (which may have been big because of her partner, Cornejo) she is more of a box office draw than Lane. I would have preferred that McKenzie promote from within, I can understand why he brought her in.

[canbelto]

Bouder and Peck are rather unfair comparisons (the two most brilliant virtuoso ballerinas of the current NYCB, and the only ones who do good 'Themes') but Kirkland, who was sui generis , is an utterly unfair one--rather like Nichols or Ashley would be. Having seen many, many ballerinas notably including Kochetkova omit and simplify lots of steps in 'Theme' it is refreshing even to see Sarah Lane do the correct steps. Also, Kirkland appeared tiny but was in fact 5'4''; Lane is considerably shorter.

Not trying to argue, but why is it an "utterly unfair" comparison? I think it's a fair comparison to see the very best (or close to the very best) as a benchmark of what CAN be done with a role. Also, Bouder and Peck are dancing NOW, and audiences can walk across the plaza to see them. So I don't think it's unfair to say that if you can see the very best just by walking across the plaza, that ABT ballerinas must measure up to those standards that are being set by their contemporaries.

[jsmu]

It's unfair because Bouder and Peck are NYCB ballerinas trained at SAB by brilliant teachers like Susan Pilarre and Suki Schorer who are marvelous exponents of Balanchine style and technique. Lane did not do the majority of her training in New York and did not have the benefit of studying for years with women who knew Balanchine and know *exactly* what he wanted. Elsewhere on this thread someone is excused with 'well she's not a Balanchine ballerina'--Lane, though she might have been had she gone to SAB, is not a Balanchine ballerina either, and this accounts for why she can't combine speed with size and shape in the manner that you describe Bouder and Peck doing. It also takes a technique like Bouder's, Peck's, Ashley's, Nichols', etc, to do this at all, and it's possible Lane doesn't have quite that high-powered a technique.

[Amour]

Not trying to argue, but why is it an "utterly unfair" comparison? I think it's a fair comparison to see the very best (or close to the very best) as a benchmark of what CAN be done with a role. Also, Bouder and Peck are dancing NOW, and audiences can walk across the plaza to see them. So I don't think it's unfair to say that if you can see the very best just by walking across the plaza, that ABT ballerinas must measure up to those standards that are being set by their contemporaries.

I have to say I hate that when Semionova dances T&V she omits the gargouillades. And then, she just can't dance fast. As for Gelsey, I don't think anyone today can dance T&V like she did. I saw Tiler do it recently and it was nowhere as good as Gelsey's.

[jsmu]

That's why I said Kirkland was *sui generis*, Amour. I don't like Semionova in it at all. Slow, boring, lots of accommodating and emergency ritardandi...ugh. I saw Peck do it recently too and, although it's good, it ain't Ashley or Nichols or Kirkland by any means. I am sorry I never saw Kirkland do it but even the film of her doing it is mindblowing.

[Amy Reusch]

Some of the steps in the ABT version are different from the steps in the NYCB version of T&V. Are other companies outside of NYCB doing "dumbed down" versions, or does the Balanchine Trust permit these differences based on differing versions of the steps that Balanchine permitted?.

Wasn't T&V made on ABT? Is it possible that they are doing the original choreography and Balanchine himself made adjustments when he set it on NYCB?

[Quiggin]

There's a delightful 1998 T&V tutorial by Alicia Alonso, assisted by Josefina Mendez, available online through public libraries – like San Francisco's – who subscribe to Alexander Street Press.

The dancers are Angel Corella and Paloma Herrera. I would imagine Alonso's T&V to be quite different from Merrill Ashley's which might have harder accents.

http://alexanderstreet.com/products/public-library-video-online

[jsmu]

Wasn't T&V made on ABT? Is it possible that they are doing the original choreography and Balanchine himself made adjustments when he set it on NYCB?

Yes, with Alicia Alonso, and I think we can be pretty sure SHE did every step Balanchine gave her. There is a story which may be apocryphal (one would have to see an Alonso or Tallchief or Moylan performance to know with certainty) that Balanchine added the gargouillades for Kirkland in the 1970 revival of 'Theme.'

[cubanmiamiboy]

But then is Theme & Variations really Balanchine's - or the Cuban Ballet's - anymore? So many different accents have crept in as it has been handed on from company to company.

Interesting observation. From what I remember of the ballet as i saw it in Havana to what I saw here at first, there are two different animals. I saw a very young Rosario Suarez on it-(many years ago)-and what I remember was a SPITFIRE of dancing...AND FAST AS HELL. If anything, I know the pacing I have seen recently is definitely slower and more mannered.

[atm711]

Having seen the first rendition of this ballet (1947??) with Alonso and Yousekevitch--what I find sorely missing in the subsequent performances is the grandeur of the principals. Yes,

Kirkland's technique is formidable (I have the recording from Dance in America) but for me, she comes across as an exceptional soloist, as do most of the others especially from NYCB. I am not looking for the old Russian Grand Manner in a ballerina, but the parts (both male and female) demand a touch of it.

[Anne]

Eva Kistrup writes about Lendorf's appointment as a principal in the ABT on her site Dance View Times here (a bit belated on my part as I only discovered it today).

Many congratulations to Lendorf! I hope he will stay with the RDB parallel to this appointment. But with the serious cut downs in the RDB, which means very few productions and even fewer new productions, it is understandable that he seeks challengies outside Denmark.

[Quiggin]

atm711 and Cristian, here's Clement Crisp's review today of the Birmingham Ballet's T&V

"About Theme and Variations I record that it is a masterpiece in which Balanchines genius makes steps which gloriously illuminate their Tchaikovsky score; that I first saw it tremendously danced by Igor Youskevitch and Alicia Alonso with Ballet Theatre, for whom Balanchine first staged it in 1947; and that BRBs performance showed kittens happily pretending to be tigers."

[abatt]

Eva Kistrup writes about Lendorf's appointment as a principal in the ABT on her site Dance View Times here (a bit belated on my part as I only discovered it today).

Many congratulations to Lendorf! I hope he will stay with the RDB parallel to this appointment. But with the serious cut downs in the RDB, which means very few productions and even fewer new productions, it is understandable that he seeks challengies outside Denmark.

Lendorf withdrew from the ABT fall season due to injury.