Red Shoes Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 I watched the YouTube video of Julian Mackay and Madison Young, Don Quixote PDD from 2024 Prix de Lausanne Finals’ Interlude. This was my first time to see Julian Mackay dances Basilio. Unfortunately, his Basilio disappointed me. I am not in the position to criticize professional dancers, but I thought something was wrong with his Basilio variation. I see he has been acclaimed as a great dancer in various media, but I felt he is overrated. Anyone who watched the video, what do you think? Link to comment
California Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 2 hours ago, Red Shoes said: I watched the YouTube video of Julian Mackay and Madison Young, Don Quixote PDD from 2024 Prix de Lausanne Finals’ Interlude. This was my first time to see Julian Mackay dances Basilio. Unfortunately, his Basilio disappointed me. I am not in the position to criticize professional dancers, but I thought something was wrong with his Basilio variation. I see he has been acclaimed as a great dancer in various media, but I felt he is overrated. Anyone who watched the video, what do you think? I was curious about this. Toward the end of the opening pas, there is a very awkward overhead lift. The rest of his partnering seemed okay. In his first variation, he struck some overly mannered "Spanish" poses that were overwrought and unnecessary. He threw in a fair share of pizzazz in his variations that was fine. Toward the very end, he seemed to lose his place turning and ended rather awkwardly. Have others looked at this? The YouTube: Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) I'll preface this by saying that I have seen Julian MacKay dancing in the flesh only once, in Chopiniana, and I was not especially impressed. That piece is stylistically challenging, and I didn't think he'd grasped it. But recently when watching him as "Romeo" in the stream of Ratmansky's Tchaikovsky Overtures, I was impressed with how he imbued a grand pirouette with dramatic meaning, something Osiel Gouneo hadn't managed as "Hamlet." The overwrought "Spanish" elements in the variation are probably a consequence of his Russian training, but he is nowhere near as preposterous as, say, Vladislav Lantratov or Denis Rodkin in this pas de deux. Their performances are begging for a drinking game: down a shot each time Basilio shakes his hair. I was more bothered by Madison Young's variation, specifically the bent leading leg in the glissade before each saut de chat. Edited February 7 by volcanohunter Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) Um, definitely not a fan of his solo here. What was the cross-body fist bump with the “yay!” facial expression following a series of multiple pirouettes? Had he never completed that many pirouettes before and was so gosh darned proud of himself? And, way too many “strike a pose” moments that looked awkward at best. Edited February 7 by ABT Fan Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 It's a hideous Muscovite tradition. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 29 minutes ago, volcanohunter said: It's a hideous Muscovite tradition. I find the original video above much worse than this, but this is still 🤢 Link to comment
Red Shoes Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 Thank you for sharing Denis Rodkin's Basilio! Yeah, I can see ...LOL!! I watched Julian's Basilio again and noticed that they slowed down the music in the middle... maybe that's why it felt strange... also, it looks like he dances off the beat a lot ... to "strike a pose" ?? Is this common? Link to comment
Red Shoes Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 4 hours ago, volcanohunter said: I was more bothered by Madison Young's variation, specifically the bent leading leg in the glissade before each saut de chat. You are right! Her leading leg is bent!! 😬 Link to comment
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