The 50th anniversary of Baryshnikov's defection

[Meliss]

8 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

At opera houses, that is live performances, I saw Grigorovich's Giselle 6 times

Hmm... You hated it and watched it 6 and even 10 times! Such an optimist you are! ☺️

8 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

if I were to tally up how many tickets to Grigorovich ballets I returned,

Do you mean - after the performance, because it was bad? Do you really have such a practice in the USA and Canada?

8 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

How many have you seen?

Significantly fewer than you, but I'm always interested in different opinions.  Here is what ballerina Lyudmila Guseva writes about Grigorovich's ballet Romeo and Juliet: "Actually, if you take out of this performance several significant, key artists remaining in my memory - namely Godunov–Tybald, Mercutio - Tsivin and Derevyanko, then the rest did not matter much to me even THEN. I never believed these Romeo and Juliet, it seems to me that Grieg was never interested in THIS love story, unlike the story of the clan feud. Maybe there were Juliet ballerinas and Romeo dancers in the history of the Bolshoi who enlivened this story, but I did not manage to see them. Even Bessmertnova, who was already in years by the time of the premiere, but in her youth, judging by the video, was never capable of a "love fit", nor Bogatyrev, who was still a little cold for this role, and here a reciprocal love fit is needed.  As a result, both in the development of the plot, and in terms of memorable dance characteristics, and in terms of performance content, it was fair to rename Grigorovich's Romeo and Juliet into the ballet Mercutio and Tybald in the ballet-loving environment.

[Helene]

Different strokes.

[Meliss]

On 8/19/2024 at 12:44 AM, volcanohunter said:

The Russo-Soviet attitude position still drives me batty, especially the way-above-the-head placement of the foot that came later.  

 

8 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

This is not how Russian companies perform attitudes today. If you reread that part of the discussion, you will see that the criticism was directed at the current practice of lifting the foot so high, that it rises far above the top of the dancer's head

The Russo-Soviet attitude at the current practice?

[volcanohunter]

13 minutes ago, Meliss said:

Do you mean - after the performance, because it was bad? Do you really have such a practice in the USA and Canada?

No. Certain theaters will resell tickets for you if you return them in advance of the performance. For example, and I presume this is still the case, the Royal Ballet and Opera in London will accept returned tickets up to one hour prior to a sold-out performance and put them back on sale. Every time I returned a ticket to the box office, it was resold to someone else, though generally I did not return them at the very last minute. The theater subtracted only a small administration fee and refunded the rest of the ticket price to me. In this way the theater tries to circumvent resellers and ticket scalpers.

In some cases this can also be done at the Bolshoi, though it charges a substantial commission and requires the tickets be returned much earlier. If you are unhappy because the principal ballerina was injured the morning of the performance, the box office will not accept your ticket to resell to someone else. You have to find a buyer yourself.

Generally, North American theaters will not refund money for tickets, but will accept returned tickets as "charitable donations" and issue tax receipts equivalent to the ticket price, which can later be used to reduce income tax owed to the government. Subscribers enjoy greater flexibility for ticket exchanges and account credits.

23 minutes ago, Meliss said:

You hated it and watched it 6 and even 10 times!

Like I said, I went to see specific (and a very small number of) dancers, not because I enjoyed the productions. Among foreigners, "beautiful dancers, but awful productions" was not an uncommon response to the Bolshoi.

But keep in mind that I have seen a far larger number of performances of other productions of Giselle, La Bayadère, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Raymonda and Romeo and Juliet (and Don Quixote and Le Corsaire), so I have a basis for comparison. That's why I can say that Grigorovich's Giselle is prosaic, but inoffensive, while his Romeo is thoroughly awful.

[Mashinka]

At one time the Bolshoi had three versions of R & J in the rep and not long afterwards added a fourth.  The Grigorovich version never really thrilled me but it is unique because I think it was at the time the only production that used all of Prokofiev's score.  I agree that the male roles are better drawn, I thought the same about Panov's version of the ballet with the most extraordinary Tybalt I've ever seen.  His version had a superb set though whereas the Virsaladze sets, such as they were, were dire. 

 

I am curious about his Corsair as I can't find a record of it, the version I saw in Moscow was Constantine Sergeyev's and it was very fine indeed, far, far superior to Vinogradov's in my view.  I love the Raymonda, so romantic, I know that the late Clive Barnes was also a fan, so perhaps it's national taste coming in play again.

[volcanohunter]

37 minutes ago, Meliss said:

The Russo-Soviet attitude at the current practice?

I mean that the "Russian School" of today is not the Russian school of the pre-Soviet period. The unfortunate "innovations" of the Soviet period are still plainly visible.

[volcanohunter]

20 minutes ago, Mashinka said:

The Grigorovich version never really thrilled me but it is unique because I think it was at the time the only production that used all of Prokofiev's score. 

After the revival of 2010 this was certainly no longer the case. The score was chopped up and rearranged something awful.  Unfortunately, Grigorovich did that frequently as he got older, whether getting rid of the White Lady in Raymonda or discarding whole swathes of The Golden Age, turning three acts into two.

According to the Bolshoi’s online archive, his production of Don Quixote premiered in 1994 and received 30 performances. His Corsaire premiered the same year and received only 12 performances. His version doesn't appear to include Gulnare. I've seen a few clips of it being performed somewhere in Siberia and it looked bizarre, incorporating even Gusev's Esmeralda Pas de Deux of the tambourine solo from 1949. (I know that everyone and his dog has his fingerprints on Le Corsaire, but I think that was going too far.)

Edited August 20 by volcanohunter

[Mashinka]

1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

the "Russian School" of today is not the Russian school of the pre-Soviet period. The unfortunate "innovations" of the Soviet period are still plainly visible.

I saw many Soviet dancers that I put among the greats.  It is the post Soviet innovations that I abhor.

[volcanohunter]

Perhaps we should now call it the Post-Soviet School. It is important to acknowledge that (way) after-Petipa is not the same as Petipa.

[volcanohunter]

And yet, I still think that Soviet ballet was a net negative for the art form: the acrobatic partnering, the one-handed lifts, the standing on opposite sides of the stage and running at each other with outstretched arms, the overwrought acting, the disappearance of batterie, the flattening out of male variations into something quite boring and simplistic (a diagonal, a pirouette and a manège), the tricksy jumps, the poky fouettés, the willful disregard for musical tempo (slowing down and speeding up music to suit), the strange Grigorovich-specific fetishes surrounding really long sticks and shin hugging, and the short-lived guilty pleasure of "joyous vulgarity." Those are things I can live without.

In short, I'm glad Baryshnikov left all that behind.

Edited August 20 by volcanohunter

[Mashinka]

Did Baryshnikov ever dance in any of Grigorovich's ballets?  Apart from Stone Flower I don't remember the Kirov featuring his works in the 70's, or since for that matter.  The only time I saw him dance in Leningrad was at a repetition generale of an evening of new works, a Mozart piece, a Daphnis and Chloe with Osipenko choreographed by Mai Murdmaa and a third that I can't remember.  He appeared in all three works.  His profile at that time was sky high.  I was astonished when later that year he defected.                                  

[Meliss]

8 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

Every time I returned a ticket to the box office,

Did you do this because of the dancers' replacement ? I thought it didn't happen often.

 

8 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

I went to see specific (and a very small number of) dancers

Were they worth it?)

[Meliss]

8 hours ago, Mashinka said:

 

I am curious about his Corsair as I can't find a record of it, the version I saw in Moscow was Constantine Sergeyev's and it was very fine indeed, far, far superior to Vinogradov's in my view.  I love the Raymonda, so romantic, I know that the late Clive Barnes was also a fan, so perhaps it's national taste coming in play again.

Here is his Corsair, not in the Bolshoi, but in the Krasnodar Theater.

https://yandex.ru/video/preview/11173156720255361189

[Meliss]

8 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

The unfortunate "innovations" of the Soviet period are still plainly visible.

Do you think the Russian attitude in the picture is an innovation?

[Meliss]

2 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

In short, I'm glad Baryshnikov left all that behind.

Has Baryshnikov created something comparable to the roles of Spartacus, Ivan the Terrible, Tybald? What roles did Baryshnikov play in the history of world ballet? A cheerful Basil drinking wine from two cups at once? This is, of course, the pinnacle of ballet art - what a depth of image!)

[volcanohunter]

Yes, Jerome Robbins' Other Dances, Opus 19/The Dreamer (although not a personal favorite) and A Suite of Dances have proved enduring. And unlike Grigorovich's ballets, these are performed around the world.

https://www.memopera.fr/oeuvre.php?code=OTH

https://www.memopera.fr/oeuvre.php?code=OPU

https://www.memopera.fr/oeuvre.php?code=SOD 

The same is true of Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove and Sinatra Suite.

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/repertoire/ballet/push_comes_to_shove/

https://cndanza.mcu.es/en/repertoire/sinatra-suite/ 

Frederick Ashton's Rhapsody was created for a very specific occasion, but it has also endured.

https://www.memopera.fr/oeuvre.php?code=RDY 

https://national.ballet.ca/productions/silent-screen/#rhapsody 

All of these pieces are still formidable challenges for a male dancer. All of them bear the unmistakable stamp of how Baryshnikov moved. For example, I never saw Baryshnikov in Opus 19, but each time I see it, I feel as though I had (and the dancer fails to live up to Baryshnikov's standard). You could say that his "ghost" hovers over each of those pieces, and it's very rare that a dancer is able to overcome it.

Edited August 20 by volcanohunter
added Rhapsody

[California]

15 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

Yes, Jerome Robbins' Other Dances, Opus 19/The Dreamer (although not a personal favorite) and A Suite of Dances have proved enduring. And unlike Grigorovich's ballets, these ballets are performed around the world.

https://www.memopera.fr/oeuvre.php?code=OTH

https://www.memopera.fr/oeuvre.php?code=OPU

https://www.memopera.fr/oeuvre.php?code=SOD 

The same is true of Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove and Sinatra Suite.

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/repertoire/ballet/push_comes_to_shove/

https://cndanza.mcu.es/en/repertoire/sinatra-suite/ 

Agree with all of these. I would add Robbins' The Four Seasons, made while Baryshnikov was with NYCB. https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/the-four-seasons/

and Ashton's Rhapsody: http://www.frederickashton.org.uk/rhapsody.html

Both are still performed (by NYCB and Royal Ballet, respectively).

[volcanohunter]

I momentarily forgot Rhapsody and amended my post. 

[volcanohunter]

8 hours ago, Mashinka said:

I was astonished when later that year he defected.             

When I reread the reviews of his pre-defection performances, his decision seemed inevitable. It would be difficult to resist audiences on their feet crying "more!" and refusing to allow the concert to continue. (It's not the typical of Canadian audiences, which burn brightly and fizzle out quickly.) I also saw the newspaper ads, which each day specified what he and he alone would be dancing that evening. It was obvious the ballet world was his for the taking.

[volcanohunter]

38 minutes ago, California said:

and Ashton's Rhapsody: http://www.frederickashton.org.uk/rhapsody.html

These are some of the "fast facts" in the National Ballet of Canada description:

Ashton created Rhapsody in 1980 for two ballet stars: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier.

This presentation of Rhapsody coincides with the 50th-anniversary of Baryshnikov’s famous defection in Toronto.

(Meanwhile, I honestly wonder whether any of the company's male dancers will be able to pull off the part 44 years after the ballet was created.)

[volcanohunter]

7 hours ago, Meliss said:

Did you do this because of the dancers' replacement ? I thought it didn't happen often.

It happens frequently, and dancers are not necessarily easily shuffled around. Partners have to be compatible in height and size. It is strongly preferable that they should have danced the ballet together before, or else an on-stage injury is possible.

When a cast change happens at New York City Ballet, I may be slightly disappointed to miss a favorite dancer, but with that company the important thing has always been the repertoire. It's interesting regardless of who dances. If a company's repertoire consists of warhorses, some of which are not necessarily that interesting, it's really up to the lead dancers to make something of them. So if I'm faced with the prospect of watching a ballerina I dislike dancing Raymonda's seven solo variations, I will probably pass on the performance. I no longer waste my time being miserable at the ballet.

[Drew]

People who saw Baryshnikov at his height as Albrecht --especially the extraordinary way he performed the brisés in Act II--also felt the impact, and I think that his Albrecht influenced the way Albrecht has been danced in the West since that time especially his 'young and sincerely in love' approach. As far as what I understand Soviet innovations to be, I actually think presenting Albrecht as a more complex figure who develops and deepens his character over the course of the ballet (as Nureyev performed the role) is far more compelling--and is already a potential interpretation of the nineteenth-century libretto since it's not like Albrecht could ever have done anything other than ruin Giselle--but I do think 'young and sincerely in love' Albrecht suited the young Baryshnikov. I do not remember Bruhn's Albrecht, but he also writes about Albrecht as undergoing a transformation through the ballet.

Many people felt Baryshnikov's Prodigal Son (which he worked on with Balanchine) was a historic and definitive performance. I wasn't that into it, but I tend to have a mixed reaction to that ballet whoever is dancing it. He also danced Balanchine's Apollo albeit in a truncated version--that performance I quite admired.

As I understand one reason Baryshnikov defected was that he felt his repertory in Russia would be limited even in relation to the Soviet repertory--that is he didn't want to dance Basilio for the rest of his life.

His other historical impact on the ballet world in the west is simply the interest he attracted. Even in the context of the ballet boom he was a major figure pulling in new audiences, especially after The Turning Point.

His staging of Jardin Anime for ABT was the first time that was seen in the west. HIs performances of Jakobson's Vestris, a role created for him, was the first time that choreographer was seen in the west (at least that's how it was written about at the time)--Potaptsev recently danced it as a part of a Russian ballet competition show so the work is still known and being staged in Russia; on television; Baryshnikov's inclusion of Vainonen's snowflake scene in his own staging of the Nutcracker was the first time that snow scene choreography was seen in the West and not only was it, of course, credited, but in early publicity for the ballet Baryshnikov spoke warmly of Vainonen's choreography for the snowflakes. As @Helene mentioned recently (I can't remember which thread) Baryshnikov also developed and promoted a number of American ballerinas, not all of them memorable, but notably Susan Jaffee who had a very distinguished career and who is now the Director of American Ballet Theatre. Edited to add: The impact of his invitation to Kolpakova to work at ABT has been important for multiple generations of ballerinas.

(And uh...his paying for an injured Lopatkina to have a major operation earlier in her career--she has spoken about this--counts as a contribution to the history of ballet in my book.)

 

Edited August 21 by Drew

[California]

1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

(Meanwhile, I honestly wonder whether any of the company's male dancers will be able to pull off the part 44 years after the ballet was created.)

Your comment piqued my curiosity. Here's the complete ballet, with Osipova and McCrae. At 6:32 we see the pirouette series with the turning leg lifted off the floor -- something we first saw in 1976 in Push and which Robbins included in Baryshnikov's variation in Four Seasons in 1979. (Robbins made an alternate variation for Martins in the alternate cast.) I haven't seen Seasons in several years, but I think all the men now include that step. And that series of Revoltade 540s -- many men can do that now, but was it so common in 1980?

Here's an excerpt with Cornejo and Cojocaru. It does seem that Ashton made the most of Baryshnikov's abilities in choreographing those variations. He was 32 at the time, still in his prime:

 

Edited August 21 by California

[volcanohunter]

Thank you for mentioning Albrecht, the Prodigal Son and Apollo. His Albrecht was widely admired, filmed for American television, French television and as the centerpiece of the movie Dancers.

He didn't dance it often, but his guest performance with the Royal Ballet as Colas in Ashton's La Fille mal gardée received rave reviews. Roles that required charm, humor and speedy virtuosity were a natural fit for him. 

I'll also mention what Clarke/Crisp wrote about Le Spectre de la Rose. "It is impossible today to expect either its delicate perfume or its prodigious technical and artistic demands to be met, though, in Mikhail Baryshnikov, the spirit of the rose seems to live again."

[Drew]

1 hour ago, California said:

Your comment piqued my curiosity. Here's the complete ballet, with Osipova and McCrae. At 6:32 we see the pirouette series with the turning leg lifted off the floor -- something we first saw in 1976 in Push and which Robbins included in Baryshnikov's variation in Four Seasons in 1979. (Robbins made an alternate variation for Martins in the alternate cast.) I haven't seen Seasons in several years, but I think all the men now include that step. And that series of Revoltade 540s -- many men can do that now, but was it so common in 1980?

Here's an excerpt with Cornejo and Cojocaru. It does seem that Ashton made the most of Baryshnikov's abilities in choreographing those variations. He was 32 at the time, still in his prime:

 

I haven't had a chance to watch Cornejo's but what I very much missed with McCrae was Baryshnikov's distinctive irony--and the lightness with which he could carry his virtuosity. 

Edited August 21 by Drew