Drew Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Regarding the quote above: does that mean "the Russians" don't find the prevalent, extremely high extensions in The Sleeping Beauty vulgar - not to mention all the splayed-leg lifts found in Grigorovich's pas de deux? ) A cultivated taste for Grigorovich is a bit of an enigma to me as well, but one could legitimately say that high extensions that are appropriate in one ballet are vulgar in another. But I'm really writing just to note on Osmolkina's behalf (and putting aside any claims about "the Russians") that, in the video I have seen of her Aurora, she does not dance the role with extremely high extensions. I doubt she looks like a 19th-century ballerina, but she also looks nothing like the young Zakharova (for example). I haven't seen Osmolkina live, but I would like to do so. "Vulgar" is something she certainly does not seem to be. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Jann Parry's logic is screwy. Osmolkina is not vulgar; some Russian ballerinas are. Neither category does the fish dives in Russian productions. Their exclusion doesn't make the vulgar Auroras any less so. And no doubt Osmolkina wouldn't look vulgar if she did attempt them. Link to comment
Mimi Smith Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Regarding the costumes: They are fabulous and wonderful. So many textures, so many kinds of fabric, so many colors and surprises. Like the antennae atop Violente's head (in homage to Nijinska's antennae in the same role). I was lucky enough to attend three performances last week in Costa Mesa (Boylston, Vishneva, Herrera), and you could actually hear the audience responding to the costumes. This sort of display is well in keeping with late 19th-century custom, and with what Diaghilev was trying to do with The Sleeping Princess. I love leotard ballets too but seeing these sumptuous costumes reminded me of the power of visual dazzlements. Ratmansky's production made me feel as though I had never seen Sleeping Beauty before. Incidentally, my favorite Aurora was Boylston. She (and Herrera too) were affectingly girlish. If you're going to see this in NY, save your pennies and see as many casts as you can. Ratmansky pays so much attention to what other directors might consider optional add-ons -- stage business, characteristic nuances, use of the eyes -- instead of focusing just on the classical choreography and reducing Sleeping Beauty to a series of famous numbers like the Rose Adagio and big third-act pas de deux tied together with some mime scenes. He also uses the music to great effect, taking full advantage of its riches. One regret: though I liked the pre-performance lecture, I was sorry the lecturer said that both Ratmansky and his wife Tatiana Ratmansky (who is simply marvelous in the role of the Queen) were "second-rate dancers." She said this in at least two of the lectures. Whaaa !?!?!? Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Alexei Ratmansky does tend to speak of his own dancing in self-deprecating terms, especially when comparing himself to classmate Vladimir Malakhov, but no, he was not a second-rate dancer, and people shouldn't take him at his word on the matter. In the most recent season of city.ballet. a number of NYCB dancers spoke glowingly of the expressiveness of his body. As for his wife, I sincerely doubt the speaker had seen enough of her in performance to make an informed assessment on the subject. Link to comment
naomikage Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 It is terrible that the lecturer spoke of Ratmansky as a second rate dancer. Although (as well as Malakhov) he was not admitted to Bolshoi Ballet, he was a brilliant dancer at Kiev Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet, especially fabulous in Bournonville. Many of his footage can be easily found on YouTube and his performances were broadcasted often on Japanese TV. He was trained by the legendary teacher Pytor Pestov at Bolshoi Academy. The dancers at Bolshoi have often said his experience as a great dancer was helpful to work with them as he can show them the movements. His dancing in La Sylphide and Tarantella on YouTube are really on of the best, this remark really makes the lecturer sound silly. She must not have even bothered to google his name. Link to comment
sandik Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 His dancing in La Sylphide and Tarantella on YouTube are really on of the best, this remark really makes the lecturer sound silly. She must not have even bothered to google his name. Or she may have taken her tone from his self-description -- if he was self-depricating, she might have thought that was the "official" tone. Link to comment
Kaysta Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 His dancing in La Sylphide and Tarantella on YouTube are really on of the best, this remark really makes the lecturer sound silly. She must not have even bothered to google his name. Or she may have taken her tone from his self-description -- if he was self-depricating, she might have thought that was the "official" tone. I agree that he does come across as very humble and self-deprecating in his interviews. Wonder who that lecturer was, and if she ever saw him or his wife actually perform? She probably shouldn't have made that comment, it seems a bit rude to me. I'm biased, because I kind of think Ratmansky is a genius (even though I don't totally love everything he's done), but after seeing him dance in you tube videos and watching him choreograph, I wish there was more video footage of him dancing in his prime. I find him fascinating. Link to comment
RUKen Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 His dancing in La Sylphide and Tarantella on YouTube are really on of the best, this remark really makes the lecturer sound silly. She must not have even bothered to google his name. Or she may have taken her tone from his self-description -- if he was self-depricating, she might have thought that was the "official" tone. If that is the case, she should have stated something like "in his own words, he and his wife were second-rate dancers", or whatever he actually said. Link to comment
Mimi Smith Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Agreed. Anyway, it is a fabulous production; a revelation, not least because of the vitality of the character roles. Link to comment
sandik Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Dance historian Sandra Noll Hammond has written a short essay on this production -- she has some admiring questions about the work. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 This makes me sorry Paloma Herrera won't be dancing the ballet in New York. Link to comment
doug Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Regarding Sandra's observations and question regarding chaine turns on demi or full pointe: I can answer that while chaine turns are usually notated on demi-pointe, they are also sometimes notated on full pointe, and both variants are sometimes notated within the same ballet and even the same dance. Two examples are Sleeping Beauty and Le Corsaire (Pas de trois des odalisques). Link to comment
sandik Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Thank you! I might be able to use this for my dissertation, but where did you get it from? Cathy Turocy included this in one of her newsletters, but if you're planning to use it in an academic paper, you'll need to find a better source. Try contacting Hammond directly. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 The controversy over "new" vs. "old" or "familiar" vs. "unfamiliar" isn't limited to ballet reconstructions. From "The Guardian", in the context of the XV Tchaikovsky Competition: And yet amid all the performances of Tchaikovsky’s music (each of the six finalists must play one concerto by Tchaikovsky, plus one other barnstorming showpiece of their choosing), and despite the fact that five out of the six have chosen by far Tchaikovsky’s most famous concerto, the First, you won’t actually be hearing the piece the way the composer himself knew it. In other words, the “Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto” that every pianist plays is not the same version of the piece that the composer himself conducted for his last concert in St Petersburg’s Philharmonia (the hall where the violin division of the Tchaikovsky also has its ultimate concert tonight), just days before his death in 1893. http://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2015/jun/30/tchaikovsky-competition-gerstein-rubinstein Link to comment
sandik Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Some of the most animated discussions I've had about original v evolved performances have been with musicians -- they've been wrangling about the topic much longer than we have and their tools are sharp and bright. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 XV Tchaikovsky Competition winner Dmitry Masleev and other audience favorite Lucas Debargue, a jazz pianist/literature student turned classical pianist only four years ago, might have been able to play either the very original or Tchaikovsky's modified version without being booed off the stage, but I suspect anyone else would have had the same icy "we want what's familiar" reception that many gave to the Mariinsky "Sleeping Beauty" reconstruction. Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Some of the most animated discussions I've had about original v evolved performances have been with musicians -- they've been wrangling about the topic much longer than we have and their tools are sharp and bright. I've always loved the idea that those of us in the ballet world can hear, say, Bach's Concerto in D Minor played somewhat as it was played in the 1950s just because Concerto Barocco's choreography demands the tempo to which the dances were choreographed. (Of course, I then wonder whether Balanchine slowed down/sped up tempi from the norms of his day for his own purposes before preserving them in amber.) Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Not sure if this has already been posted elsewhere, but I was on Michigan Opera Theatre's website and happened to noticed that ABT is scheduled to bring Sleeping Beauty there in spring 2016: http://www.michiganopera.org/dance/ I hadn't known that they were planning a tour that included Detroit. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 That's excellent news. I hope a more extensive U.S. tour is planned. Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 It mentions "Paris, France" as one of the places the ballet will tour... Link to comment
mussel Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Plus Washington DC. Not sure whether Istanbul will get the old/new Beauty. The sets and costumes, cue the Panorama music, are on its way across the pond to Milan. Link to comment
stuben Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Not sure if this has already been posted elsewhere, but I was on Michigan Opera Theatre's website and happened to noticed that ABT is scheduled to bring Sleeping Beauty there in spring 2016: http://www.michiganopera.org/dance/ I hadn't known that they were planning a tour that included Detroit. Thanks for the link fondoffouettes! It mentions "Paris, France" as one of the places the ballet will tour... Saw Italy too!? Looks like a European tour? Link to comment
onxmyxtoes Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Thanks for the link fondoffouettes! Saw Italy too!? Looks like a European tour? I think Italy is because the production is co-owned by La Scala... Link to comment
stuben Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I think Italy is because the production is co-owned by La Scala... Thank you for this reminder onxmyxtoes I now recall reading that but this old brain is forgetting a bit these days. It would be nice to see them at La Scala though. Link to comment
bingham Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Thank you for this reminder onxmyxtoes I now recall reading that but this old brain is forgetting a bit these days. It would be nice to see them at La Scala though. I think, the Ballet of La Scala Opera is doing the ballet in Milan and not ABT. Link to comment
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