2023-2024 Season

[cobweb]

To me India Bradley is more interesting and has more potential for artistic growth than I see in Baily Jones. Bradley was in the pas de trois in Emeralds last month and brings a wonderful fluidity and very expressive face. To answer @BalanchineFan’s question about Lauren Collett she has caught my eye many times in corps roles, most recently Symphony in C first movement. Petite brunette with big eyes and very long arms, great presence, elegant, polished, and very committed to what she is doing. Would like to see her in more featured roles. While we’re on the topic of corps women with potential, Mary Thomas MacKinnon always strikes me as interesting to watch. 

[vipa]

21 minutes ago, cobweb said:

To me India Bradley is more interesting and has more potential for artistic growth than I see in Baily Jones. Bradley was in the pas de trois in Emeralds last month and brings a wonderful fluidity and very expressive face. To answer @BalanchineFan’s question about Lauren Collett she has caught my eye many times in corps roles, most recently Symphony in C first movement. Petite brunette with big eyes and very long arms, great presence, elegant, polished, and very committed to what she is doing. Would like to see her in more featured roles. While we’re on the topic of corps women with potential, Mary Thomas MacKinnon always strikes me as interesting to watch. 

Besides the Emeralds trio, I've  seen Bradley in the first Agon trio, a Raymonda variation, the soloist role in La Source. I can't remember what else. I agree with that Mary Thomas MacKinnon is interesting to watch. I'll have to look out for Lauren Collett. So much talent in the company!

[BalanchineFan]

2 hours ago, vipa said:

Besides the Emeralds trio, I've  seen Bradley in the first Agon trio, a Raymonda variation, the soloist role in La Source. I can't remember what else. I agree with that Mary Thomas MacKinnon is interesting to watch. I'll have to look out for Lauren Collett. So much talent in the company!

India Bradley danced an intriguing duet with Claire Kretschmar in Justin Peck’s ballet to Caroline Shaw’s music, Partita. In the Kyle Abraham created during the pandemic, When We Fell, she held penchée arabesque for… about two days(!!) (filmed on the Promenade). She did a demi role in Bourree Fantasque (she and MT MacKinnon both looked great!) and another demi in the Bizet.

And thank you for mentioning Lauren Collett, @cobweb. I’ll look for her. 

Regarding the “facial expression” issue, I wish we had a larger word to describe it. To me, it’s a question of performance; how a dancer performs onstage other than doing the steps, other than their musicality. I find it’s much deeper than deciding when to smile. It brings life and humanity to the stage. You see the whole person.   

I don’t think Balanchine ever focused on it. My guess is that he wasn’t great at getting what he wanted from his dancers in that domain (or he was preoccupied with other issues) so he left them to their own devices and simply cast people who worked it out for themselves. Many, many memoirs are filled with dancers trying to figure out their roles and what he wanted. 

Do others have ideas about this? Agree? Disagree?

Edited October 19, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[On Pointe]

It drives me nuts when dancers smile throughout an entire solo,  with no artistic context.  Dance Theatre of Harlem's dancers used to grin so broadly and so constantly that they sometimes looked positively demented.  (One thing I love about Sara Mearns' performing is how seldom she smiles.).  At the other extreme,  I notice that the ballerinas of the Maryinsky Ballet hardly smile at all,  except when they take a bow.  There's got to be a happy medium,  pun intended.

[vipa]

11 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Regarding the “facial expression” issue, I wish we had a larger word to describe it. To me, it’s a question of performance; how a dancer performs onstage other than doing the steps, other than their musicality. I find it’s much deeper than deciding when to smile. It brings life and humanity to the stage. You see the whole person.   

I don’t think Balanchine ever focused on it. My guess is that he wasn’t great at getting what he wanted from his dancers in that domain (or he was preoccupied with other issues) so he left them to their own devices and simply cast people who worked it out for themselves. Many, many memoirs are filled with dancers trying to figure out their roles and what he wanted. 

Do others have ideas about this? Agree? Disagree?

From what I've read about Balanchine, and what people who worked with him have told me, the thing he hated was phony emoting - flared nostrils, kneaded eyebrows, plastered on grins. Apparently he spent a lot of time in class on epaulement (the angle of the head and shoulders), and minutiae like  the shape of the hands - showing all fingers, as well as other details, and he used a lot of imagery in his descriptions. He promoted and choreographed on dancers who understood what he was getting at. They had a naturalness on stage, as well their own distinctive perfumes. I think of Allegra Kent, Violette Verdy, Patricia McBride, Suzanne Farrell and Darci Kistler, as young as she was when Balanchine promoted her late in his life. Other dancers took longer to develop. Merrill Ashely was given technically challenging solo roles early in her corps years but it was 10 year before Balanchine choreographed a ballet for her and promoted her to principal. So I don't think it was a matter of Balanchine not focusing on that kind of artistry. It was more a matter of who understood best what he was getting at. Merrill Ashley said she went from questioning to believing to being a disciple.

I think in the end, dancers do have to figure things out for themselves. Perhaps that's true of all performing artists. I'm heard many a teacher say "I can't do it for you." A teacher/coach/director can instruct, explain, correct, describe, use imagery even manipulate your body. The individual dancer fells it on their body, figures out how to repeat it - what message to send from brain to body, incorporate it into their movement in a way that makes it become part of their muscle memory. Most dancers work on things by themselves and experiment, in order to find their way. Some things take time. It's not unusual for a dancer to look back at a correction or guidance given by a teacher and think - now I know what they meant!

 

[Helene]

22 minutes ago, vipa said:

It's not unusual for a dancer to look back at a correction or guidance given by a teacher and think - now I know what they meant!

Particularly when the shoe is on the other foot, ie, they are teachers or coaches, in the arts or in sports.

The best of all possible worlds would be for the people who want to be teachers and coaches to teach and coach while they are still performing and/or competing, because they often speak and write about how much they learn when they are teaching, and not just about teaching.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

12 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Regarding the “facial expression” issue, I wish we had a larger word to describe it. To me, it’s a question of performance; how a dancer performs onstage other than doing the steps, other than their musicality. I find it’s much deeper than deciding when to smile.

In some cases, I think it's a sign that the dancer's artistic imagination isn't at the level of their technique—i.e., that they're in the steps, but not in the role. Dance is theater—a performing art—and no matter how abstract the ballet, a dancer can never be nobody.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

47 minutes ago, vipa said:

From what I've read about Balanchine, and what people who worked with him have told me, the thing he hated was phony emoting

Some critic—I think it was Arlene Croce—referred to a certain type of ballerina emoting as the "such sweet agony" affect.

[Fleurfairy]

True. Gelsey Kirkland's autobiography is filled with her frustrations at the lack of emotional depth or the lack of "story" in Balanchine's ballets and how she was constantly struggling to find deeper meaning and he would say things like "Just dance, dear". As a dancer, it must be hard to find the balance between emoting with the movement and not being too theatrical in the facial expressions.

[Helene]

Also, given how Merrill Ashley was honest elsewhere about not getting something, it took her then-serious-boyfriend (later husband) to give her feedback on her two facial expressions: frozen big smile and "pained ballerina", which for years I misread as "painted ballerina."

If she'd been given feedback from the company or Jaques d'Amboise, who enlisted her for his off-season touring group, I assume she would have written about it. 

Of course things change over time: it would be a rare apprentice who would be onstage without any performance experience and never having done stage makeup, like Allegra Kent was. Plus, there are now a bazillion YouTube videos, just in case.

[volcanohunter]

Perhaps what Gelsey Kirkland didn't appreciate when she was told to "just dance," and the same goes for Darci Kistler when she was told to "be herself," was that their dance personalities were incredibly strong. They were extremely compelling by nature, and the same advice wouldn't work for less inherently captivating dancers.

[vipa]

1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

Perhaps what Gelsey Kirkland didn't appreciate when she was told to "just dance," and the same goes for Darci Kistler when she was told to "be herself," was that their dance personalities were incredibly strong. They were extremely compelling by nature, and the same advice wouldn't work for less inherently captivating dancers.

Interesting point volcanohunter. I also remember Kistler saying that being told to be herself, removed the burden of trying to live up to all the great dancers who did the role before her. She found it liberating. Kirkland wanted, perhaps needed, a different type of direction which is one the the reasons she left NYCB. She wanted to do narrative ballets with a narrative approach. Different things works for different dancers. 

[BalanchineFan]

15 hours ago, vipa said:

Interesting point volcanohunter. I also remember Kistler saying that being told to be herself, removed the burden of trying to live up to all the great dancers who did the role before her. She found it liberating. Kirkland wanted, perhaps needed, a different type of direction which is one the the reasons she left NYCB. She wanted to do narrative ballets with a narrative approach. Different things works for different dancers. 

Excellent points @volcanohunter @Kathleen O'Connell @Helene and @vipa I sometimes wonder if it would have made a difference if Kirkland had been told “you are enough.”  But then, remembering her first book, I doubt it. Perhaps someone even said those very words to her.
 

You often just can’t absorb what people are telling you, try as you might. 
Or what YOU want is different.

[Jack Reed]

Can I spotlight for a moment a topic that’s hovered in the shadows here earlier, namely, who stages or coaches performances?  There’s been some recognition of other changes - replacing costumes with some shading or color with “pure” white ones - but I’ve noticed the dancing has also become colorless, not to mention slower.

 

I’m “old audience”, the development-office phrase used in the ’80’s for us whose Balanchine experience hooked us on ballet in the first place and most of whom decamped as Peter Martins tightened his grip on how the company danced.     

 

Thanks to Dale for the link to the Balanchine in Madrid clip; I followed it onto the Youtube page, where in the right-hand column there was a link to a longer clip, one of the MCB rendition of just a few years ago when Edward Villella was still in charge there.  What a difference!  The MCB clip took me back to the full-blooded performances we used to see in the theater called New York State, when Mr. B was on his stool in the second wing downstage, audience-left, watching.  Part of that authenticity is the faster tempos MCB danced to, as well as - and more importantly than - the costumes.

 

Few remark on line about these differences, even here where we’re anticipating the new season, so maybe there’s little interest in authentic performance, with its stronger flavor, but let’s see.  Can anyone point me to information regarding the current coaches at NYCB for the Balanchine and Robbins ballets?  Does the company reveal that, ever?  Or the press?

 

NYCB is bringing Serenade, In the Night, and The Four Temperaments to the Harris Theater here in Chicago in March, but if the Madrid Square Dance clip fairly represents their dancing these days, I’ll stay home rather than pay top dollar to sit in the audience and be saddened by the loss of life in NYCB’s Balanchine renditions.

 

On the other hand, I made a visit to New York not so long ago when I had accurate information that Suzanne Farrell, no less, would coach a few ballets.  The programs consisted of three short ballets - with one of her preparations on each - and the contrast of hers with the others was impressive, even though she was working with dancers who were less accustomed to her authentic approach.  Well worth the trip!   

 

Hoping somebody can update me on this aspect of NYCB's programming.  Who is coaching NYCB's "Chicago" repertory?

Edited October 26, 2023 by Jack Reed

[cubanmiamiboy]

1 hour ago, Jack Reed said:

hanks to Dale for the link to the Balanchine in Madrid clip; I followed it onto the Youtube page, where in the right-hand column there was a link to a longer clip, one of the MCB rendition of just a few years ago when Edward Villella was still in charge there.  What a difference!  The MCB clip took me back to the full-blooded performances we used to see in the theater called New York State, when Mr. B was on his stool in the second wing downstage, audience-left, watching.  Part of that authenticity is the faster tempos MCB danced to, as well as - and more importantly than - the costumes.

Hello Jack...long time no see!! 

I have also become nostalgic. I just saw Serenade and Theme and Variations by City Ballet, followed by Serenade by MCB, and yes...those faster, crispier performances with spitfire Catoya bouyanty coming out encircling the corps, back when we still hwd Eddie, are certainly missed.

[Jack Reed]

Mention of Mary Carmen Catoya reminds me how miracles can still happen - the first time I saw her Emeralds (in the Verdy part) at MCB I kept thinking she was Verdy, though I knew better. (Arriving late, I had had to sit far back; next time, from a good seat, I could see her own unique qualities as well, and by then, I had read my program which told me she had been coached by Verdy.). That's the subtext of my post - how can we learn in advance who's coaching whom so we can be in the right place at the right time?

 

There are places where you can take a chance and just show up - in May 2019, the miracle happened again, in Phoenix, when Arianna Martin took the Verdy role in Emeralds;  I was there, having learned that Ib Andersen often got rewardingly authentic Balanchine performances from his Ballet Arizona.  But at NYCB these days, it doesn't look so likely. 

[vipa]

On 10/16/2023 at 6:40 PM, cobweb said:

In regard to Isabella LaFreniere's facial expression/smile (as referenced by @nanushka, @deanofdance, @Kathleen O'Connell, and probably others), I find it interesting that facial expression is apparently not addressed as part of training. It is a huge part of the art of performance. Someone like Tiler Peck always seems to have the right facial expression, and I feel sure that this is something she must intentionally work on. Watching LaFreniere in Diamonds, I had the feeling she hasn't really thought about or made decisions about what she wants to do with her face. Sometimes it was a smile, sometimes it seems like she was trying not to smile but didn't know what else to do with her face. She needs to think this through in general, and make this part of her approach to a role. 

Going back to this thread on facial expressions because I found this short clip on youtube with Tiler Peck addressing the question in brief: 

 

[cobweb]

11 hours ago, vipa said:

Going back to this thread on facial expressions because I found this short clip on youtube with Tiler Peck addressing the question in brief

Interesting clip! Tiler says "my body tells me how I should feel," but what if your body is nervous? You can't let that show in your facial expression if you're a professional. You're moving the rest of your body according to what you've learned in training and rehearsal, but it sounds like the hope is just that the facial muscles will somehow know what to do. 

[uptowner]

The "art series" tickets go on sale Friday January 5 at noon-- all tickets in the house are $40. 

Performances are Feb 3 (Wheeldon, Martins, Peck), 8 (New Combinations) and 23 (Innovators and Icons). 

https://www.nycballet.com/discover/nycb-art-series/davidmichalek/

[California]

1 hour ago, uptowner said:

The "art series" tickets go on sale Friday January 5 at noon-- all tickets in the house are $40. 

Performances are Feb 3 (Wheeldon, Martins, Peck), 8 (New Combinations) and 23 (Innovators and Icons). 

https://www.nycballet.com/discover/nycb-art-series/davidmichalek/

Thank you! I'm in town for the 23rd and have been wondering how to get a ticket. I wonder how they publicize the $40 tickets and who gets first dibs.

[uptowner]

I got an email, but I believe they just go on sale to the general public at noon on Friday Jan 5. No special codes or anything as far as I know. All the tickets in the house are $40. 

[abatt]

The ARt Series artist this year is Wendy Whelan's husband.  

 

 

 

Edited January 3 by abatt

[Marta]

abatt has posted a comment on a topic, 2023-2024 Season

I think they must send the code out to people who are younger.  Old folks like me who are already subscribers are not the target audience. I just tried a bunch of different possible passwords that would make sense in relation to who the art series was presenting and eventually figured it out.  The David Michalek is Wendy's husband.  He did the slow dancing videos that were projected on to the Koch at the gala in the fall.   

How do they know who is younger?  I didn't get the email either.  I'm perplexed by how you tried passwords ... on the NYCB site?

[Helene]

Generally, younger people don't subscribe, but here they may be targeting single ticket buyers.   @uptowner, are you a subscriber?

I think the only way they'd tie age to a person is if they're part of the young people's group or have used the student discount.   Or, if they have senior discounts, that would generally be flagged in someone's account.

[uptowner]

well I'm not particularly young, nor am I a subscriber, but I have bought art series tickets before, so maybe that is why I got an email. The art series are generally not part of subscriptions, as I understand it-- I think they want to keep it open until closer to the date. I am sure it is intended to get people to come out who might be new to the ballet audience so they don't want all those tickets to be taken months ago! Unlike 30-for-30 there is no restriction on who can buy it. In the past, they also opened up the space for people to just come see the installation (free of charge), which is fun and a different way to experience the theater.

I first went when JR had a big installation of life-size photographs, when you went up to the top levels and looked down they made the shape of an eye. https://www.nycballet.com/discover/nycb-art-series/art-series-2014-jr/ This here says that was the second annual art series, so I guess its been going on for over a decade.