2023-2024 Season

[Kathleen O'Connell]

2 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

The crayola Per Kirkeby sets and costumes could be sent to the New Jersey landfill.

Never has Renaissance Italy looked more dinky. 

[FPF]

Much as I dislike both of these productions, they do seem to sell very well. More support for Balanchine's suggestion that "all ballets should be called Swan Lake."

[abatt]

I'm wondering whether NYCB will acquire the rights to either the Ratmansky SL or his R&J.   I think the company realizes that these ballets bring in a lot of audience members. 

Even if the sets and costumes of the Per Kirkby SL are hideous, the Martins SL always sells out.  Less enthusiasm for the Martins R&J.

 

I'm glad that the company is allowing him to bring dances from Paquita to NYCB.

Edited May 10 by abatt

[aurora]

1 hour ago, abatt said:

I'm wondering whether NYCB will acquire the rights to either the Ratmansky SL or his R&J.   I think the company realizes that these ballets bring in a lot of audience members.

 Not a fan of NYCB's Swan Lake (it is painfully ugly) and would love them to have a different one, but I'm not sure Ratmansky's SL is a good fit for this company.

It's very much a reconstruction, and while I loved it when I saw it at La Scala, and would be thrilled to see it done locally, its aesthetic seems entirely unlike NYCB except perhaps in some sections being taken at a faster tempo than the modern norm.

[matilda]

Not sure about R&J, but I think the Martins Swan Lake would be perfectly fine with a full visual makeover. Of course, Martins would have to agree to that. And it would be expensive, but  cheaper than creating an entirely new version.

Martins' staging on its own is OK and probably better suited to the NYCB dancers (and to commercial tastes) than Ratmansky's. 

(I'm not one of the people who thinks NYCB needs to distance itself as much as possible from Martins.)

[California]

27 minutes ago, aurora said:

 Not a fan of NYCB's Swan Lake (it is painfully ugly) and would love them to have a different one, but I'm not sure Ratmansky's SL is a good fit for this company.

It's very much a reconstruction, and while I loved it when I saw it at La Scala, and would be thrilled to see it done locally, its aesthetic seems entirely unlike NYCB except perhaps in some sections being taken at a faster tempo than the modern norm.

I, too, am very grateful that I saw the Ratmansky reconstruction of Swan Lake in Milan several years ago and I'm sorry I couldn't get to Miami to see them restage it. 

But note that La Scala has now returned to Nureyev's version: https://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/2022-2023/ballet/swan-lake.html

I'm pretty sure that Bolle never performed the Ratmansky reconstruction. And I don't think Zurich (which co-produced with La Scala) has done the Ratmansky again. If theater performances are off the table, I wish Ratmansky would release a stream to Medici or Marquee so others could see it. I'm guessing there might be problems with the unions involved, but I would hate to see it lost forever - again!

I sat through Martins' version once right before the COVID lock-down and don't care to see it again. Others here are more familiar with it and perhaps rethinking sets/costumes would help, as some suggest.

[nysusan]

36 minutes ago, aurora said:

 Not a fan of NYCB's Swan Lake (it is painfully ugly) and would love them to have a different one, but I'm not sure Ratmansky's SL is a good fit for this company.

It's very much a reconstruction, and while I loved it when I saw it at La Scala, and would be thrilled to see it done locally, its aesthetic seems entirely unlike NYCB except perhaps in some sections being taken at a faster tempo than the modern norm.

 

13 minutes ago, matilda said:

Not sure about R&J, but I think the Martins Swan Lake would be perfectly fine with a full visual makeover.

I just saw Ratmansky's SL in FT Lauderdale and while I loved it I agree - it's not a good fit for NYCB. It's very old fashioned and its extremely mime heavy. More mime than I have seen in any SL production. Very much not NYCB's aesthetic.

If they were to redo the sets and costumes I would be perfectly happy with the Martins SL

On the other hand, I don't think there's anything they can do to make their R+J palatable.

[volcanohunter]

On 5/10/2024 at 12:32 PM, California said:

I'm pretty sure that Bolle never performed the Ratmansky reconstruction.

No, Bolle didn't dance Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake, and after Legris took over at La Scala, it wasn't remotely surprising that the Nureyev productions returned. (Makarova's Bayadère was replaced by Nureyev's version also, and after flirting briefly with Balanchine's Nutcracker, the company reverted to the Nureyev production.) In the case of Sleeping Beauty the change was even justifiable, because for all its peculiarities, Nureyev first staged his version in Milan, before mounting it in Toronto and only much later in Paris. It played an important role in the company's history.

P.S. I don't think either Ratmansky production was filmed professionally. Maybe there is a single-camera film in HD resolution, but not the multi-camera RAI treatment. At the time the imperative was to film productions starring Bolle for television broadcast.

In 2015, when Sleeping Beauty premiered, RAI opted to broadcast a gala for the Milan Expo.

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=OABD7207D

In 2016, when Swan Lake premiered, RAI did a broadcast of Massimiliano Volpini's Il giardino degli amanti with Nicoletta Manni and Bolle. (It never returned to the repertoire.)

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=743708

The following year, when Swan Lake returned for a second run, RAI broadcast Romeo and Juliet with Misty Copeland and Bolle. 

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=743604

But no Ratmansky reconstructions, unfortunately. 

Edited May 13 by volcanohunter
correction

[meunier fan]

With the Danish connection to NYCB being so strong, if NYCB were to adopt an old Swan Lake production, I would love to see them adopt the old National Ballet of Canada production that was done by Erik Bruhn.  It moved with alacrity and has only one interval.  The transition from the traditional third to the fourth act I remember as being entirely inspirational - as well as holding an extremely potent and vividly musical ending.  Certainly it seems - from these perspectives - to suit the current NYCB management remits.  

Edited May 10 by meunier fan

[vipa]

7 hours ago, matilda said:

Not sure about R&J, but I think the Martins Swan Lake would be perfectly fine with a full visual makeover. Of course, Martins would have to agree to that. And it would be expensive, but  cheaper than creating an entirely new version.

Martins' staging on its own is OK and probably better suited to the NYCB dancers (and to commercial tastes) than Ratmansky's. 

(I'm not one of the people who thinks NYCB needs to distance itself as much as possible from Martins.)

I agree @matilda. And I don't see what incentive NYCB has in investing in a new SL. The Martins version seems to sell out, as does his Sleeping Beauty. 

[Helene]

Who is currently around and staging  and/or coaching and who could take on staging the Bruhn?

[Josette]

There are dancers who danced the Bruhn version still very much with us.  That version was around until Kudelka did his Swan Lake version.  There was a choreologist , Susa Menck, who would have it succinctly notated and it would have been documented on stage by video or film.  It was filmed and shown on TV very early on.  In the late 1970’s, the third act pas de deux choreography by Bruhn was replaced with the traditional Black Swan version and the traditional Act I pas de trois was added.  The white acts were beautiful and there was a gorgeous and emotional pas de deux in the last act with just the two leads before the corps came on for the storm scene. The last act opened with a beautiful lament for the swans before Odette came on. There was no Von Rothbart, the antagonist was woman dressed in a black gown. The ballet ended with Odette without Siegfried.  It’s a shame that Bruin’s version was discarded.  

[Helene]

Thank you, @Josette.  I'm not sure why I thought there was another production between Bruhn's and Kudelka's, which I did see when it was on tour to Vancouver. 

[Josette]

The answer to your question, Helene, is Karen Kain, who is happily and deservingly retired after an amazing career.  

[Helene]

Kain was the first dancer to come to mind, but I wasn't sure she'd be willing to come out of retirement for this :).

[volcanohunter]

3 hours ago, Josette said:

In the late 1970’s, the third act pas de deux choreography by Bruhn was replaced with the traditional Black Swan version and the traditional Act I pas de trois was added.

Bruhn's revised Black Swan pas deux included an alternate adage and female variation, but the familiar male variation and coda. The text of the pas de trois is familiar, except for an alternate male variation. These elements, Siegfried's brooding solo and Bruhn's choreography for the final scene are incorporated into the current production by the National Ballet of Canada, staged by Robert Binet and Christopher Stowell under the direction of Karen Kain. It's dreadful; not as awful as the Kudelka production, but still pretty terrible, not least the cartoonish designs by Gabriela Týlešová.

Evidently Kain was uncomfortable with the gynophobic slant of Bruhn's production, so Rothbart and Benno, rather than Bruhn's female equivalents, are restored, and her idea is that the swans are not swans at all, but women held captive by a sadist. I suspect she wouldn't be interested in recreating Bruhn's production as it was. In any case, she chose not to do that. 

Edited May 11 by volcanohunter

[Josette]

The Bruhn pas de deux in Act III used the music we know from Tchaikovsky pas de deux adagio and, if I recall correctly, the music for the Black Swan variation  is the same as what is used in the Bolshoi’s version and the Bournemeister (sp as I’m on my cell) Paris Opera Ballet version. Strangely, although I was on stage probably more than a hundred times to watch, I don’t recall the man’s solo! 

[BalanchineFan]

10 hours ago, FPF said:

Much as I dislike both of these productions, they do seem to sell very well. More support for Balanchine's suggestion that "all ballets should be called Swan Lake."

You can count on Balanchine for a priceless quote! 

I always thought the Kirkeby swans were wearing bed sheets for tutus.

[volcanohunter]

9 hours ago, Josette said:

The Bruhn pas de deux in Act III used the music we know from Tchaikovsky pas de deux adagio and, if I recall correctly, the music for the Black Swan variation  is the same as what is used in the Bolshoi’s version and the Bournemeister (sp as I’m on my cell) Paris Opera Ballet version. Strangely, although I was on stage probably more than a hundred times to watch, I don’t recall the man’s solo! 

Martine Lamy and Owen Montague performed Bruhn's revised Black Swan pd2 at the inaugural Erik Bruhn Prize in 1988. (It was actually televised.) This is the version used in the current Kain/Binet/Stowell after Bruhn production.

Although it was intended as hagiography, reality TV loves drama, so some of the problems with the new production come through in the miniseries Swan Song on the CBC Gem platform, if anyone with a VPN is interesting in overcoming the geoblock.

https://gem.cbc.ca/swan-song

[deanofdance]

Just a few thoughts on last night’s performance:

1) Interplay — overall, better than Wednesday night — the tempo was a bit faster in the beginning and clearer — and everyone seemed more “on” — more confident more prepared and committed  on how they wanted to dance this ballet — and also, more importantly, seemed to be enjoying themselves.   It isn’t that the choreography is great, but the dancers (and musicians) really making the most of what they are given.   Also, Victor and Alston’s pas de deux was much improved — emotionally nuanced and technically solid.  Only misstep was that Victor and Takahashi has issues with their double tours. 
2) Other Dances — how different was this ballet with Joseph and Indiana, who really seemed to capture the spirit of the ballet.  Generalizing, Roman and Tiler are like the high school quarterback and head cheerleader, they are so All American (they’re like Taylor and Travis!) — and they’re show offs as well — bravura is their middle name.  But perhaps when a ballet isn’t technically daring that they are at a relative loss — and I think this was the case with Other Dances.  Joseph and Indiana seemed to have stepped out of Chopin’s Paris — Joseph can be so princely, so inherently elegant, and Indiana can be like a Brontë sister in toe shoes — and the music seemed to spark an inner life — especially in Indiana — whose epaulement can perfume a stage.  Lovely.

Edited May 12 by deanofdance

[cobweb]

54 minutes ago, deanofdance said:

.  Joseph and Indiana seemed to have stepped out of Chopin’s Paris — Joseph can be so princely, so inherently elegant, and Indiana can be like a Brontë sister in toe shoes — and the music seemed to spark an inner life — especially in Indiana — whose epaulement can perfume a stage.  Lovely.

Thank you for this description! This is how I felt about them in In the Night during the Winter season. Woodward and Gordon are wonderful together, romantic, refined, and windswept. 

[BalanchineFan]

I think NYCB is trying something different with their casting change announcement. They no longer announce the name of the dancer who will not be appearing. At yesterday‘s matinee the announcement was that “the fourth movement of Brahms Schoenberg would be led by Unity Phelan, and Andrew Veyette.”

No mention of Tyler Angle, who did not appear. It’s a nice change. You don’t get that “aww” of disappointment when the audience learns a favorite won’t be appearing. 

[California]

For those of you interested in Ashley Bouder, a new article just appeared:

https://www.romper.com/life/ashley-bouder-new-york-city-ballet-body-shaming

The last time I remember seeing her was in Coppelia pre-COVID, partnered by then-soloist Joe Gordon. I was amazed at her sizzling technique, but her smug facial expressions annoyed me. I also remember thinking: Gordon has a great future. Keep your eye on him. But I don't recall seeing her since then. New Yorkers who see her regularly are a better source of information on her current dancing.

[vipa]

13 minutes ago, California said:

For those of you interested in Ashley Bouder, a new article just appeared:

https://www.romper.com/life/ashley-bouder-new-york-city-ballet-body-shaming

The last time I remember seeing her was in Coppelia pre-COVID, partnered by then-soloist Joe Gordon. I was amazed at her sizzling technique, but her smug facial expressions annoyed me. I also remember thinking: Gordon has a great future. Keep your eye on him. But I don't recall seeing her since then. New Yorkers who see her regularly are a better source of information on her current dancing.

After seeing her on stage recently I'd say that her weight gain is obvious, but to my eye her lack of fitness and the decline in her technique is more the issue. Unfortunately, in her statements and in these articles, she doesn't address the current quality of her dancing or seem to see it as a factor in not being cast. 

[matilda]

Agree with the comment above. This isn't merely a "body shaming" situation or a matter of just a few extra pounds. Ashley gives the impression of being very much in denial. It's very sad to see such a once glorious dancer engage in public self-sabotage.