Bayerisches Statsballett streaming Jewels until Sunday

[BalanchineFan]

I"m not sure how long this link will be active, but Bayerishes Statsballett is streaming a performance of Jewels from April 2019 with Ashley Bouder as a guest in Rubies. I believe Patricia Neary set it.

https://operlive.de/jewels/

[California]

1 minute ago, BalanchineFan said:

I"m not sure how long this link will be active, but Bayerishes Statsballett is streaming a performance of Jewels from April 2019 with Ashley Bouder as a guest in Rubies. I believe Patricia Neary set it.

https://operlive.de/jewels/

Alina Somova does Diamonds. It's worth watching!

[ECat]

WOW!  Thank you for sharing this.  What a beautiful performance from the entire cast.  From the principals to the corps - great ballet company.  The dancer that stood out to me the most was Jeanette Kakareka dancing the walking pas de deus in Emeralds.  It looked like she was  ademi-soloist in Diamonds as well.  Alina Somova was gorgeous, too.  Very nice camera work.

[jeff-sh]

delete

Edited March 22, 2020 by jeff-sh
sorry did not see it was already mentioned above

[eduardo]

Loved especially the four corps gentlemen in Rubies and the gentleman in the Emeralds pas de trois.

[Quiggin]

Interesting version of Jewels which I'm used to seeing in the PBS version directed by Balanchine and under Helgi Tomasson's guardianship at San Francisco ballet. I also remember a very noble and effective Igor Zelensky in Diamonds at City Ballet. This broadcast of the Bavaraian State Ballet's Emeralds had lots of smiles, and knowing smiles, which for me go against its sombre and wistful mood. The effect was more of the character of a social Fragonard painting than an introspective one by Watteau. I thought that Alina Somova was fascinating in Diamonds. Her detailing was much finer than Suzanne Farrell's and the delicate sideways crisscrossing of her feet (don't know the ballet term) was a stroboscopic marvel. She seemed to want to dramatize the choreography based on what she heard in Tchaikovsky's music and gave the ballet lots of little stories ( in comparison Farrell and Martins were completely neutral, verging on poker-faced). At the end of the variable weathers there was a sudden smile, a bit startling, directed at her partner like a burst of sunlight through the clouds. 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Quiggin

[jeff-sh]

4 hours ago, eduardo said:

 the gentleman in the Emeralds pas de trois.

Dmitrii Vyskubenko played the main character in the Russian movie My Dad is Baryshnikov in 2010.

[Rosa]

That was wonderful! The whole cast from principals to corps was fantastic; sets and costumes absolutely stunning

[eduardo]

2 hours ago, jeff-sh said:

Dmitrii Vyskubenko played the main character in the Russian movie My Dad is Baryshnikov in 2010.

Thank you, Jeff-sh!

2 hours ago, Quiggin said:

Interesting version of Jewels which I'm used to seeing in the PBS version directed by Balanchine and under Helgi Tomasson's guardianship at San Francisco ballet. I also remember a very noble and effective Igor Zelensky in Diamonds at City Ballet. This broadcast of the Bavaraian State Ballet's Emeralds had lots of smiles, and knowing smiles, which for me go against its sombre and wistful mood. The effect was more of the character of a social Fragonard painting than an introspective one by Watteau. I thought that Alina Somova was fascinating in Diamonds. Her detailing was much finer than Suzanne Farrell's and the delicate sideways crisscrossing of her feet (don't know the ballet term) was a stroboscopic marvel. She seemed to want to dramatize the choreography based on what she heard in Tchaikovsky's music and gave the ballet lots of little stories ( in comparison Farrell and Martins were completely neutral, verging on poker-faced). At the end of the variable weathers there was a sudden smile, a bit startling, directed at her partner like a burst of sunlight through the clouds. 

 

You’re so right about the smiles in Emeralds! I really disliked them!

[Helene]

I still don't like Somova's dancing, but one thing I did appreciate that she did, that none of the Russian or French dancers I've seen in this do, is for the solos in the penultimate movement, she let it rip.  No faux Prima dignity there, just the feeling of the wind in her wake.

I just loved Kakareka: she reminds me a bit of Maria Calegari, and she had such presence.  There was a full-length in her solo.  Talk about San Francisco Ballet's loss... 

I wouldn't have guessed that Zeisel as Tall Girl was the same dancer in the Verdy role in Emeralds until the Emeralds (original) finale, where she brought energy that was not there earlier.  

I was so glad to see two of my favorite male dancers:  Osiel Gouneo, whom I saw live when he was barely 20 when National Ballet of Cuba toured with Don Q, and I never expected to see again, after he headed to Norway.  And Shklyarov is just divine.

I saw in the credits that the Trust stagers who worked with in-house stagers were:  Ben Huys for Emeralds, Patricia Neary for Rubies, and Elyse Bourne for Diamonds.  It was probably one of Bourne's last projects before she died.

[Quiggin]

43 minutes ago, eduardo said:

You’re so right about the smiles in Emeralds! I really disliked them!

I think it was Tom Cruise who introduced the broad smile as the default facial expression. I once came across a comment on a discussion group asking why no one smiled in 19th century photographs and Renaissance paintings. For dancers it looks as if it's difficult for them to make the smile look natural and do all the steps at the same time. To me it seems out of place in most dramatic works and for lighter ballets you should perhaps laugh with your body instead. Nothing should distract from, or countradict, what dancers are saying with their bodies – and they have the means to say a lot. For example with the mute mime of The Four Temperaments and the little jokes of displacement of Donizetti Variations. End of rant.

Added: and of course Farrell's and Martins's performance in Diamonds is the standard, I didn't want to imply otherwise.

One other thing: in programs notes such as those at the beginning of the performance, it would be nice to cite Tim Scholl's idea that Jewels references the precious stones of Sleeping Beauty rather than use the commercial hook of Van Cleef and Arpels, which was just Balanchine's tossed off pitch, not his deeper motivation.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Quiggin

[BalanchineFan]

15 hours ago, Quiggin said:

I think it was Tom Cruise who introduced the broad smile as the default facial expression. I once came across a comment on a discussion group asking why no one smiled in 19th century photographs and Renaissance paintings. For dancers it looks as if it's difficult for them to make the smile look natural and do all the steps at the same time. To me it seems out of place in most dramatic works and for lighter ballets you should perhaps laugh with your body instead. Nothing should distract from, or countradict, what dancers are saying with their bodies – and they have the means to say a lot. For example with the mute mime of The Four Temperaments and the little jokes of displacement of Donizetti Variations. End of rant.

Added: and of course Farrell's and Martins's performance in Diamonds is the standard, I didn't want to imply otherwise.

One other thing: in programs notes such as those at the beginning of the performance, it would be nice to cite Tim Scholl's idea that Jewels references the precious stones of Sleeping Beauty rather than use the commercial hook of Van Cleef and Arpels, which was just Balanchine's tossed off pitch, not his deeper motivation.

I find that performers gain a lot of depth when they can relax their facial expressions and react in the moment as they dance. There's more variety, more truth to the emotions that come out. For the reality is that quite a lot is happening onstage as they dance. There are the rises and falls of the music (usually played live, so it's different each performance). There is the interaction with their partner, and the other dancers onstage. (Here you are close, now, two counts later, you're so far away). There is the choreography itself, the physicality of it, the changes of movement dynamic, now sharp, now smooth, now narrow and tight, now wide; the amplitude, from the finesse of quick pointe work to space devouring jumps. A frozen smile says one thing, and often it communicates more tension than happiness.

Balanchine's work shines through this production and there are many stand out performances. (I haven't yet looked up his name, but the male lead in Diamonds was a true joy to behold). I hope that the corps, and some of the soloists were smiling out of nerves and eventually relaxed into a deeper experience of the ballet.

[BalanchineFan]

15 hours ago, Quiggin said:

One other thing: in programs notes such as those at the beginning of the performance, it would be nice to cite Tim Scholl's idea that Jewels references the precious stones of Sleeping Beauty rather than use the commercial hook of Van Cleef and Arpels, which was just Balanchine's tossed off pitch, not his deeper motivation.

I agree, though I bet they got a some nice financial support from Van Cleef and Arpel's. That company is running an online ad on the streaming webpage. NYCB, or at least Balanchine and Farrell, did a photo shoot at VC&A as part of the promotional run up to the ballet's premiere.

https://www.vancleefarpels.com/br/en/la-maison/icons/legends-of-van-cleef---Arpels/george-balanchine-dancing-jewels.html

 

[Helene]

3 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

but the male lead in Diamonds was a true joy to behold

His name is Vladimir Shklyarov, one of the crown jewels, no pun intended, of the Mariinsky Ballet.  The Mariinsky recently aired an Evening with him, and, thankfully, he's all over YouTube.

Here is the link to his company bio, which lists him having danced leads in all three Jewels ballets:

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet_mt_men/shklyarov/

[Syzygy]

23 hours ago, Helene said:

I still don't like Somova's dancing, but one thing I did appreciate that she did, that none of the Russian or French dancers I've seen in this do, is for the solos in the penultimate movement, she let it rip.  No faux Prima dignity there, just the feeling of the wind in her wake.

Ohh, I second this. She's never been my thing -- mostly because her movement quality doesn't seem particularly thoughtful, but that's exactly what I liked about her solo: some real devil-may-care dancing.  

[angelica]

On 3/23/2020 at 11:27 AM, Helene said:

His name is Vladimir Shklyarov, one of the crown jewels, no pun intended, of the Mariinsky Ballet.  The Mariinsky recently aired an Evening with him, and, thankfully, he's all over YouTube.

He was Abrera's partner in the performance of Giselle at ABT's 75th anniversary, the performance that won her her promotion to principal.