Friday, June 23

[dirac]

A look at the late Robert Gottlieb's involvement with ballet and the dance world by Alastair Macaulay in The New York Times.

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But the greatest object of Bob’s devotion in the final 30 years of his life was Miami City Ballet, advising its initial artistic director, Edward Villella, and then Lourdes Lopez, who succeeded Villella in 2012: both had danced for Balanchine. In an email to me the morning after Gottlieb’s death, Lopez wrote: “My heart is broken in ways I never imagined. When things seemed dismal, he would say, ‘Well, you know what I say’ and I would answer, ‘Tendu, tendu, tendu’. It was an inside joke; we would laugh, and things suddenly seemed OK. In so many ways, he was my Balanchine.”

 

[dirac]

An interview with former dancer and ballet teacher Myrna Galle.

 

 

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“(I joined) in 1948, so I was with Ballet Russe from 1946-48, and then Balanchine, the big name in ballet,” Galle said. “They kept an eye on me right along and when Balanchine decided to finally start New York City Ballet. I was invited to be part of the first performance which was in October of 1948 and I was second soloist for the performance.

“So I left Ballet Russe on Balanchine’s advice. I was going to be a soloist with the New York City company, but we didn’t have any performances, they didn’t have any money and here I was trying to perform and nothing was there.”

 

 

[dirac]

A review of American Ballet Theatre in "Like Water for Chocolate" by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times.

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Wheeldon’s “Like Water for Chocolate” meanders. It repeats. The choreography, anchored by lifts that spirit dancers from here to there — or situates dancers on the floor in more twisted contortions and flexed feet — runs out of fresh ideas. Some sections are more evocative than others, but the intersection between story and ballet often comes down to a gestural approach that leans toward a profuse acting out of words.