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Balanchine/Tudor/Possokhov triple bill


sandik

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Did anyone here see this program? This Huffington Post review has a lovely pocket description of Tudor style, but I would really like to hear more details from someone here...

Tangentially, I was interested in the reference to Downton Abbey (giving the reader a quick orientation to the period for the Tudor) -- has anyone here seen other Downton Abbey references in dance writing lately?

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On 9/23/2014 at 11:41 AM, sandik said:

Did anyone here see this program? This Huffington Post review has a lovely pocket description of Tudor style, but I would really like to hear more details from someone here...

Tangentially, I was interested in the reference to Downton Abbey (giving the reader a quick orientation to the period for the Tudor) -- has anyone here seen other Downton Abbey references in dance writing lately?

yes....and commented on it here, but it appears that like the latest NYCB winter season thread, it was eaten by the cyberhost/platform. The problem with having two masterpieces on one program is that any third ballet will perforce look weak by comparison if it is not the same sort of chef d'oeuvre.....in this case, however, 'RAKU' is not only weak, it is abominable. I have seen very little tolerable Possukhov, but this is the worst to date--cheesy, manipulative, rudimentary, with 'choreography' which is simple-minded beyond the power of words to describe, and it was appalling that the audience screamed and hollered as if witnessing Baryshnikov and Kirkland at their best together. Prodigal was good but not exceptional--Alberto Velazquez was not as great as the Huffpo review said, though he was passionate and tried hard to reach the depths in the final scene, he is still young and relatively immature for such destroying emotions. Elivelton Tomazi was actually more ardent, but still too young in the part. Christine Rocas and April Daly were both good as the Siren, but not stellar. Rocas is an accomplished virtuoso technician who is barely tall enough for the role, and it really did not suit her. Lilac Garden was probably the best performance, with Victoria Jaiani--the company's unofficial prima--as Caroline. Jaiani is tall, willowy, and a prototypical adagio ballerina, and she was suitably elegiac here, as well as making the difficult combinations look simple. Jeraldine Mendoza, the company's young rising ballerina, was again too young for the complexities of emotion which Caroline must convey, though she danced well. Daly was superb as the Other Woman--tremendous panache and tremendous sense of loss when she realizes it is all over.

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On 2/20/2017 at 4:54 PM, jsmu said:

'RAKU' is not only weak, it is abominable. I have seen very little tolerable Possukhov, but this is the worst to date--cheesy, manipulative, rudimentary, with 'choreography' which is simple-minded beyond the power of words to describe ...

 

Yes. Very popular here too. On stage rape for the whole audience to participate in; crematory ashes used as a decorative back-lit effect, like snow in the Nutcracker; a caucasian dancer presented in a kind of orientalizing make-up that probably hasn't been used since the 1950's (e.g. Cyril Richard in "Majority of One"), etc.  False catharsis = kitsch (Adorno)

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11 hours ago, Quiggin said:

 

Yes. Very popular here too. On stage rape for the whole audience to participate in; crematory ashes used as a decorative back-lit effect, like snow in the Nutcracker; a caucasian dancer presented in a kind of orientalizing make-up that probably hasn't been used since the 1950's (e.g. Cyril Richard in "Majority of One"), etc.  False catharsis = kitsch (Adorno)

 

Oh dear.  We're getting it here next year.  PNB has shared a few productions with SFB over the years, but we've not had anything by Possokhov yet.  This description doesn't make it sound like a very auspicious start.

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I think Possekhov has been done at PNB but not in a while.  Would have liked to see Swimmer at PNB.  I suspect the female lead in RaKu will go to Noelani  Pantastico.  Perhaps it will be performed without the cringe-worthy eye make up?

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12 hours ago, sandik said:

 

Oh dear.  We're getting it here next year.  PNB has shared a few productions with SFB over the years, but we've not had anything by Possokhov yet.  This description doesn't make it sound like a very auspicious start.

Jayne theorizes, probably correctly, that the female lead (for at least some of the run) will be Pantastico, who is a marvelous dancer--but it doesn't matter who dances the part. a ballerina with the combined talents of Ulanova, Fonteyn, Plisetskaya, Maximova, Sibley, Seymour, Hayden, Adams, Verdy, Kent, Tallchief, Ashley, Nichols, Loscavio, Dupont, and Nunez could not save this turkey. There are no steps of even slight interest, and the female role is just one long, dull, tarted-up descent into victimhood. I particularly loved Quiggin's remarks about the onstage rape (I'd forgotten to mention that charming little reality-show detail) and the abominable 'Oriental' makeup--like very, very bad Kabuki imitations. Attending a second performance of the mixed bill where 'Raku' was last, I fled the theatre after 'Lilac Garden.'

Edited by jsmu
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