Haglund's Heel

NYCB – Ligetisplits at the ballet

Haglund wishes that he’d had a better time at NYCB Friday night.  With the exception of a scorching rendition of Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH, it was a fairly lackluster evening.

 

Neither the New York Philharmonic nor the Chamber Music Society has been able to generate a lot of wild enthusiasm for the music of Gyorgy Ligeti, even though the local critics try to help them market it.  He’s a hard sell to the general public, and he can be hard on the ears of those whose love of music stems from life’s organic rhythms. Such people are commonly found in ballet audiences.  NYCB, via Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia, has found some success with Ligeti by seasoning his music with crotch-splitting aerial acrobatics performed by lean, leggy women who wear skimpy purple leotards.  It wouldn’t really matter whether Wheeldon’s choice of music for Polyphonia was Ligeti or Lizt or Lil Kim – the content is his appeal – at least for some, like the man seated behind Haglund who let out a breathy moan every time Maria Kowroski split open her legs while being manipulated by Jared Angle.  While Balanchine invented a few splittzy moves and used them judiciously in his meaty choreography, Wheeldon makes them the main ingredient in his cheesy recipes.  Haglund wishes that Wheeldon would get back in touch with his inner classical austerity or else take his splittzy choreography to the gentlemen’s clubs where it belongs.

 

Susan Stroman put the fantastic David Berger Jazz Orchestra on stage to play Duke Ellington’s great music for her World Premiere of For the Love of Duke – a composite of her previously choreographed Blossom Got Kissed with the new Frankie and Johnny...and Rose which was more of the same but less.  The latter featured Amar Ramasar as Johnny who was determined to sample both women:  the pretty and wholesome Tiler Peck as Rose, decked out in hot rose colored leotard with attached short skirt made of individual strips of fabric, and Sara Mearns as Frankie, in the same costume only purple violet in color.  Johnny and Rose were enjoying a dance when Frankie showed up and there began the clichéd pattern of the man dancing with one woman and then tossing her aside – actually over a table –  to dance with the second woman and over and over again.  The two women ended up tossing Johnny aside, shook hands, and the segment ended when Johnny popped up from behind the table with a third woman in red.

 

More leggy, splittzy choreographic material.  Splittzies in pointe shoes apparently are just as seductive as splittzies in stilettos, but even more so when the ladies' legs have sparkly stuff on them.  But here the women were in control and each was far more woman than Johnny could handle. 

Then it was on to Part II with Blossom (Savannah Lowery) and The Musician who plays the triangle (Robert Fairchild) and a corps worthy of Broadway’s brightest lights.  Most can hear Broadway beckoning to Fairchild.  He has enormous stage appeal and manages to make everything he does the most fascinating thing on the stage – except when he’s dancing with Sterling Hyltin who then becomes the most fascinating thing on stage.  Here he had the task of converting the uptight ballerina in blue tutu (Lowery) into jazz club material like the corps ladies in red leotards with attached short skirts made of individual strips of fabric.  Suddenly she ran to the back and whipped off her tutu to reveal her red costume – ah, transformation accomplished. 

 

So the best of the evening was first and the first was the best.  Wendy Whelan, Ashley Bouder, Tyler Angle, Joaquin DeLuz, and Andrew Veyette romped through Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH with great energy, abandon, and sizzling technique.  It was just the exhilaration we needed to help sustain us through the static patterns of Polyphonia.  Bouder and DeLuz tore around the stage after each other, leaving their allegro dust in most everyone else’s teeth.  Veyette very nearly kept up with them.  No static patterns here.  It’s nonstop movement by everyone on stage.  Tugging, pushing, pulling, flashy feet, big smiles, energized corps formations – all good to watch.  Concerto DSCH wins the Pump Bump Award for the evening, a blue winged beauty with pink beading:

 

 

 

Makarova, Lopatkina, Korsuntzev rehearse White Swan PdD

On November 24, 2010, the Mariinsky presented a special performance of Swan Lake to honor Natalia Makarova on the occasion of her birthday.  The day before the performance, Makarova went to the studio to rehearse Ulyana Lopatkina and Danila Korsuntsev, who would be Odette/Odile and Siegfried on the special night, in their White Swan Pas de Deux.  Ironically, Lopatkina wore a black practice tutu for the session.

The Mariinsky has loaded a video of this extraordinary meeting and rehearsal on its website.  The tiny Makarova coaching the current giants of the Mariinsky in the finer points of the pas is just remarkable.

She helped Lopatkina find where her wings came from within her shoulders and she dialed back the final arabesque penche from 180 degrees to about 165-170 so that Korsuntzev's head and face were not blocked.  She met resistance on the latter point and acknowledged that they have great differences of opinion, but the tiny tiger mother prevailed.  She told Lopatkina not to miss the chance to communicate with her partner. 

Korsuntzev is a huge man who lifted Lopatkina so very easily and seemed incredibly tender and refined.  He will be Veronika Part's Siegfried when she returns to the Mariinsky in Swan Lake on February 19th. 

Makarova's parting request to Lopatkina was for her to "Sing this for me tomorrow."

This clip is a treasure.

 

 

Bolshoi's Live-Streamed Class Concert & Giselle and ABT JKO Students on KC Millennium Stage

The Ballet in Cinema project by Emerging Pictures is turning out  be a fantastic opportunity for us to see a lot of productions that we wouldn’t get to see without incurring the expense of international travel.  Last Sunday the Bolshoi Ballet presented an evening of Asaf Messerer’s Class Concert and Grigorovich’s Giselle.  Of course, it was 11:00 a.m. in New York.   Although the cinema on East 59th Street was far from full, quite a lot of people turned out on a very cold Sunday morning to see the live-streamed performance.  The cinema theater’s manager is much  less devoted to the arts than to his attendance numbers; so, we have to try a bit harder to support this initiative if we want it to continue.  Next up is the Paris Opera Ballet with Caligula on Feb. 8th followed by the Bolshoi Ballet in Don Quixote on March  6th.  Both will be live-streamed performances.

 

According to Asaf Messerer’s nephew, Mikhail, who was interviewed at the performance, Class Concert was choreographed by Asaf after he saw a performance of Harald Lander’s Etudes.  Asaf observed that Etudes resembled the Russian ballet class structure at the time and thought that he could develop a similar choreographic piece that truly exemplified the path traveled by the developing Bolshoi dancer from child beginner to adult artist.  The result was a progressive class that began with the tiniest students at the barre and culminated with the adult principal dancers impressively tearing through big chunks of petit and grand allegro.  The students were beautiful although there was a visible range of abilities.  It was interesting to see some of the youngest ones more conscious of their upper bodies and head placement than the older students whose priority was more about getting side extensions and the back attitude as high as possible.  Haglund wonders if he will ever again see dancers who are schooled in grand rond de jambe en l’aire to slightly increase the height of the leg as it goes from front around to the back instead of increasing the height from front to side and then lowering it with an obvious and clumsy hitch rotation of the hip to get the leg to the back so they can crank it up again. 

 

Speaking of students – last Wednesday while in Washington DC to see ABT at the Kennedy Center, Haglund had the opportunity to see a presentation by students from ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School who performed on the Center’s Millennium Stage.  The stage is quite small for dance but the dancers adapted to the space beautifully.  The program opened with a contemporary piece of choreography by Kanji Segawa which he created in 2006 for students at the Metropolitan Ballet Academy.  It was what we’ve come to expect for contemporary ballet choreography in the way of lack of substance, but the dancers demonstrated a cohesive style that would later be even more apparent in Vasily Vainonen's Flames of Paris PdD and  Raymond Lukens’ Jerusalem Divertissement.  That style is marked by an absence of affectations. 

 

Unfortunately these days affectations have come to be confused with style.  The wrist flipping and gross finger and hand manipulations of students at the School of American Ballet or the jutting of chins by students at the Vaganova Academy have come to be identified as style by some who really should know better.  The ABT school style is now one with acute attention to the upper body and making it harmonious with the lower body.  As busy as the feet and legs may be, the upper torso and arms remain calm and collected, and the head follows a classical pattern.  The arms are held low and move from one position to another through a rounded first position.  It’s a style that will enable the dancer to immerse himself or herself in any of the many types of choreography adopted by ABT – from Tharp to Robbins to Petipa to Balanchine to Ratmansky – without having to fight off annoying individual habits that have crept into their technique.  It’s easy to learn how to flap your arms around and wing your feet.  It’s a lot harder to learn not to do that once those habits are ingrained. 

 

Haglund thought that the students, some of whom have yet to finish growing, looked handsome for pre-pre-professionals.  Boy, has Kiril Kulish, one of the original Billy Elliots, grown.  The kid has some catching up to do but he’s come to the right place to do it.  Shu Kinouchi looks to have gained confidence since his appearance at the Prix de Lausanne last year.  As a group, the girls’ dancing seemed to be more mature than the boys’, which is what one expects in any group of similarly aged kids. 

 

One nice aspect of the performances on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage is that they are preserved on the Kennedy Center’s website.  The January 19th and 20th performances are available for viewing now.  Some of the camera work is distracting but the programs are worth taking a look at to see who ABT’s principals might be in another 10-15 years.

 

Back to the Ballet in Cinema program – the second half was a performance of Giselle with Svetlana Lunkina in the title role, Dmitry Gudanov as Albrecht, and Maria Allash as Myrtha.   Haglund enjoyed Lunkina’s interpretation which was one of great fragility.  Clearly her heart was weak.  Her eyes filled with tears during the Mad Scene.  There was no way she could survive Albrecht’s duplicity. 

 

The Act II PdD was everything it had to be to make Haglund choke up, although it might not have been technically brilliant.  Lunkina was hauntingly beautiful.  Her expression was ghostly with only a hint of sadness in the eyes.  The crossing of Giselle and Albrecht with the tour jetes and the lilies was so beautiful.  (If Haglund doesn’t get to see Stella Abrera perform this section with the lilies before he dies, his spirit will not be able rest in its grave.)  Albrecht was not truly sorry about his betrayal until the last ten minutes.  His final walk backward to the upstage corner while slowly dropping the white flowers and the final image of Albrecht on his knees and the line of white flowers connecting him to Giselle’s grave was heartbreaking. 

 

Myrtha was a bit of a disappointment.  Haglund could actually understand why she got left at the altar.  Don’t know why Allash got cast in this.  She definitely was mean looking, but not the least bit stately and certainly not stately and beautiful.  She didn’t move like a wili in Haglund’s estimation, and there was nothing impressive about the quality of her dancing or her technique.

 

The Peasant PdD paired the hopelessly-in-over-his-head Andrei Bolotin with the so-beautiful-she-should-be-Giselle Chinara Alizade.  That’s the way it went.

 

The corps was just fine.  We saw them backstage rehearsing line placement right up until the curtain went up.  They did very well. 

 

Haglund is very sorry that he missed the Royal Ballet’s Giselle which was live-streamed on Wednesday.  He was traveling to Washington, DC to see ABT’s repertory program which is reviewed here.

 

Mark your calendars.  February 8 for the Paris Opera Ballet’s Caligula and March 6 for the Bolshoi Ballet’s Don Quixote. Go to Ballet in Cinema’s website to find where these live performances will be presented in your zip code area. 

 

ABT's The Bright Stream – A Collective Riot

When Haglund decided to attend the Saturday matinee performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Bright Stream at The Kennedy Center, he didn’t realize that it would be about characters who pretend to be who they aren’t, chase after what they shouldn’t have, are unfaithful, accept lavish gifts from outsiders, and the principal character is a community amusements organizer – in short, another theatrical depiction of Washington, DC.  But it was very funny.

The Bright Stream has a long, detailed libretto without having a story of much depth or significance.  Le Corsaire is weighty by comparison.   Lots of hilarious things happen over a two day period; many characters are introduced; relationships are developed.  It’s more of a collection of crazy episodes that are woven together without really being related.  But the thin threads of this weave certainly did provide the dancers with opportunities to strut their extraordinary stuff and act up a storm.

Xiomara Reyes as Zina, a local amusements organizer, Herman Cornejo as Pyotr, her husband, Isabella Boylston as the Ballerina, and Daniil Simkin as the Ballet Dancer were all dead serious about their comedy and executed it with expert timing and the astonishing technique that we have to fight ourselves not to take for granted.  Xiomara and Herman tore through turns and allegro while making it look not only pretty, but effortless.  No punching the steps by these two.

Both pairs of dancers had PdDs filled with the swirling, swooning, and (yeah!) big lifts to the shoulder – especially a nice one that has the woman being held in sort of a fish position and the man just whips her up over his shoulder. Boy, did Simkin make this look easy – it was as smooth as Vasiliy Alekseyev snatching his way to the Olympic gold medal.  Isabella was down and then all of sudden she was up on his shoulder – all in one move.  Beautiful. Simkin’s pointe work as the sylph was hilarious.   He went for every move with 110% commitment – and while all of it might not have been especially pretty, it always succeeded in getting him where he was trying to go in unique fashion. 

Let’s talk about the exceptional debut by Isabella in what was, Haglund believes, her first principal role in a full length ballet.  She nailed it.  She has always gotten the steps.  The girl not only jumps like a deer, but unlike some other big jumpers with bigger press followings, the shapes of Isabella’s legs and flexible feet while in the air are beautiful.  And today, she made a big, big statement about her theatrical value to this company.   Yep, we got ourselves another one – another dance actress hatched out on stage before our very eyes. 

Craig Salstein as the Accordion Player and Maria Riccetto as Galya, the school girl, are going to get their own spin-off sit-com.   The audience screamed as Salstein leered at and pursued the wide-eyed Riccetto while burning up the floor with Ratmansky’s imaginative allegro. 

Susan Jones nearly stole the show as the Anxious-to-be-younger-than-she-is Dacha Dweller who pursued Simkin and the Dacha Dweller (Clinton Luckett) while wearing pointe shoes, a red dress, a red wig and while carrying a fan as though she was Kitri in Don Quixote.   Then she picked up the rifle and – oh, heck, Haglund isn’t going to spoil everything for those who plan to see this production in the spring at the Met.

Isaac Stappas, Simone Messmer, and Alexei Agoudine contributed memorable performances as the Tractor Driver/dog, Milkmaid, and Inspector of Quality.  Isaac was initially outfitted in the basic farmer overalls without a shirt which did a lot to dress up the rather drab scenery and costumes.  Maybe the drab was an intentional pullback for fear of experiencing the wrath that was dealt in connection with the Sleeping Beauty costumes.  However, when Haglund saw the top of the front curtain which appeared to be an almost neon red/pink with drawings of the hammer & sickle, rakes, sheaves of wheat, airplane(?), and sun,  he thought “Oh, no, here we go again with the promiscuous palettes.”  But that wasn’t to be.  The costumes, except for the Tractor Driver's and Ms. Anxious-to-be-younger’s, were quite drab, and the lighting was way too dark in almost every scene.  What gives with all the diminished lighting at The Kennedy Center?

The corps work was spirited and there was interesting choreography for the Highlanders and Fieldworkers that involved some unexpected bends of the torsos.   

The orchestra sounded super.  Maybe the richness was the result of the hall being so much smaller than the Met, or maybe it was the result of better musicianship – whatever it was, it was nice.

Haglund looks forward to seeing The Bright Stream at the Met in the spring and hopes that he has the opportunity to see Isabella and Simkin together again in this production.  We honestly do not need a guest artist for this – or anything else.

A grand and successful effort by everyone this afternoon, but the special Pump Bump Award with custom-ordered accordion strap is bestowed upon Isabella Boylston and Craig Salstein for their huge performances.

 

ABT – Complete Casting for The Bright Stream

Here's the full casting for tonight's premiere (also Saturday night) and the Saturday and Sunday matinee performances as printed in the Playbill distributed on Wednesday evening:

ABT - Kennedy Center 1/19

Haglund is penning this beneath the light of the dappled moon while coasting up the cold steel rails of the Northeast Corridor – listen:  rickity rickity rickity rickity -  a 3/4 waltz in the dead of night.

It was not a night to pass up at The Kennedy Center.  ABT’s middle repertory evening included a stunningly beautiful Theme and Variations led by Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo.   If you had an opportunity to see the Kirkland/Baryshnikov clip of T&V on YouTube before the Balanchine Police arrested it, you saw that this ballet looks extraordinary when the steps are not punched out and pummeled for the pure joy of pummeling them like most couples do at both ABT and NYCB.  Be damned the Balanchine Regime’s annoying proclamation in every freakin’ Playbill that These Balanchine Ballets are produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style© and Balanchine Technique© Services standards established by the Trust yak yak yak.  When you entrust the choreography to the senses of artists like Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo, you get a superior result that exemplifies graciousness, good taste, and almost unimaginable beauty.   They were tops tonight and looked like a seasoned partnership even though they seem to be dancing together less and less frequently.  

To deny the public an opportunity to see these two in Swan Lake now borders on criminal.  This spring at the Met, we have to watch Cory Stearns dance Swan Lake twice, Julie Kent twice, Gillian Murphy twice, and David Hallberg twice.  It’s insane to force this on your audience when you have Cornejo and Lane available.  It’s insane to neglect development of a new Odette for six years when you have such extraordinary talent within the ranks and choose instead to throw money at multiple guest stars whose output doesn’t match their media hype.   And Haglund is about to get started on the neglect of Maria Riccetto, who was a revelation this evening in her debut in Duo Concertant while her partner, David Hallberg, was  somewhat miscast. 

Haglund doesn’t like to see wimpy danseurs, that is, unless the choreography calls for it.  Tonight the male leads in Duo Concertant and Lilac Garden were so light weight – gauze-like – that it was apparent why these guys have such trouble picking up anyone but the smallest ballerinas in the company.  They’re wimpy.  They have no strength in their arms or shoulders.   They look like Ralph Lauren’s emaciated male models.   A half hour less of rehearsal each day for these guys and a half hour more in the weight room would bring a much needed improvement.

But back to the subject of Duo Concertant – the music was awful.  First of all, the violinist was standing too far down the side of the piano on the stage.  He was nearly at the far end of it.  He should have been more forward and turned more to the side so that the sound of his instrument reached the right side of the house.  The sound of the piano completely overpowered the sound of the violin making the whole performance sound uneven and well, unfortunate. 

Maria Riccetto was outstanding in every way in Duo Concertant – a truly exceptional debut performance.  David Hallberg was excellent technically, but he looked odd dancing the steps, and there was a lack of maturity in the overall quality.  Only during the last section which is danced on a darkened stage with a single spotlight did Hallberg shine in this.  But Maria was sensational.  The little old couple sitting next to Haglund, who began fidgeting in their seats when the Stravinsky music started, were by the end of Duo Concertant crazy in love with Maria with the little old man declaring She’s my all-time favorite.

Lilac Garden included a successful debut by Melanie Hamrick.  Haglund adores Melanie and was delighted with her performances last year in Lady of the Camellias and Birthday Offering.  But her interpretation of Caroline looked as though it was based on don’t do so much with this movement.   Caroline’s predicament becomes evident through the choreography, but it looked like someone had told Melanie Don’t bend so much.  Don’t move your head too much.  Don’t.  Don’t.  Don’t.   And it didn’t help that she was dancing with a blank sheet of paper as a partner.  Nothing came through in Stearns’ character.  Nothing.  However, he executed the steps reasonably well.  The electricity in tonight’s Lilac was generated by Veronika Part’s encounters with Vitali Krauchenka and especially Daniel Mantei.   As soon as Mantei had his first near-encounter with Veronika, Haglund’s focus went to him every time he entered the stage.   Every time.  Here’s a guy who could lift a ballerina.  Haglund has been aware of Mantei since he joined the corps, but never really picked up on anything special about him – until tonight.  He's got theater skills worth investigating, that's for sure.

The corps work tonight in Theme and Variations and Lilac Garden was excellent. 

Unfortunately, Haglund had to leave at the second intermission in order to make the last train back to Clarksville; so he has no report on Fancy Free.

As you may be aware, the Kennedy Center has offered some generous discounts for orchestra seats this week.  Haglund mentions this because the Playbill included the casting for all of the performances, and he thinks you may not want to miss The Bright Stream which features performances of the Accordion Player by those stylish interpreters Craig Salstein and Sascha Radetsky while the Tractor Driver will be portrayed by Isaac Stappas and Jared Matthews.  Nor do you want to miss Simkin’s and Hallberg’s unique readings of the Ballet Dancer.

After all the complaining above, Haglund wants to reiterate how much he enjoyed the parts of the evening that he enjoyed.  It was totally worth spending almost seven hours on the train today.  He’ll do it again on Saturday.  For tonight, the coveted Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo for their better-than-a-dream performance in Theme and Variations.  What a treat it was to see them.

 

 

NYCB Opens the Winter Season with terrific 4Ts

There was much to cheer about at NYCB’s opening performance of its Winter Season.  No, Peter Martins did not appear before the curtain to make a speech.  He had a busy day of explaining to court officials north of New York City why he’d been driving his Bentley while “impaired” on New Year’s Eve.  The dancers – none of whom flaunts a Bentley, we can assume – are facing the prospect of no wage increase again this year while their chief enjoys a salary that exceeds $700,000.  Just want everyone to know where their donations are going.

 

But the night saw many goods things, among them a first class performance of The Four Temperaments.  All the kids on the dance floor were trying to keep up with 17-year veteran Jennie Somogyi who last night sliced, curved, and strut her way through way through the Sanguinic variation like it had her nameplate on it.  Hers was not the only standout performance.  Ask La Cour’s Phlegmatic variation made him look like principal material – excellent musically, technically, and emotionally.  Rebecca Krohn and Justin Peck, Lauren King and Allen Peiffer, and Lydia Wellington and Christian Tworzyanski in the initial Theme all served their music with the perfect pulse and weight.  What more does Rebecca have to do in order to get promoted?  Maybe she’s being penalized for her Farrell-like qualities.  Who knows.  In the final section, led energetically by Teresa Reichlen, the ensemble was superb.   At one point, the dancers were in a circular shape while jutting hips and legs toward one another.  Ms. King smiled at Ms. Somogyi directly across from her as if to say I’m trying, I’m loving it, and I’m going to get there, too.  Right role model, Baby.

  

Another outstanding performance was delivered by Sterling Hyltin and Robert Fairchild in Duo Concertant.  Such coordination, spontaneity, and dramatic appeal do these dancers have together.  Some dancers who have performed this piece look uncomfortable with having to stand still on stage while the pianist and violinist perform.  Not these two.  They are in the story the whole time – even though there really isn’t a story – just a man and a woman with their music.  Hyltin and Fairchild did some pretty fancy skipping around to the Stravinsky score, admirably performed by Cameron Grant and Arturo Delmoni.  Try to see these two in Duo Concertant before the end of the Winter Season.

 

The program also included Walpurgisnach Ballet and Valse-Fantaisie.  Ana Sophia Scheller was a surprise standout in Walpurgisnach.  She had a ballerina quality that was a pleasant contrast to the rip-through-the-steps style that Haglund has been accustomed to seeing from her.  Wendy Whelan and Charles Askegard were the other two principals.  Their performances were okay, but neither seems to be fighting to keep the arabesque and attitude lines that have faded a bit.  Nevertheless, Wendy’s musicality was a treat to see and the clarity of her feet are always hard to match.

 

Valse-Fantaisie was performed spiritedly by Ashley Bouder and Andrew Vyette (a late substitute for Joaquin DeLuz).  This was a walk in the park for Ashley and the crowd loved the display of her prodigious technique.  Andrew kept up with her energy level, but he suffers from a lack of turnout and coordination which he tried to compensate for with elevation and speed.  It kind of didn’t work for Haglund.  Hopefully we’ll get to see him in The Magic Flute in the next few weeks.

 

All in all, a very good start to the season.  Haglund bestows this lovely Stuart Weitzman jeweled Pump Bump award to the cast of The Four Temperaments:

 

Slip-Slidin' in The Big Apple

It's an orthopedic surgeon's dreamscape out there on the streets this morning.  Black ice galore.  Everyone be careful on your way to the OPENING NIGHT of NYCB'S WINTER SEASON.  Haglund wonders if Peter Martins will come before the curtain with a little speech as he sometimes does.  There certainly are a few things to discuss these days, but this is a family-oriented blog, so we won't go into them - at least, not now.  Hope to see everyone at the performance tonight.  And if you missed your little window of opportunity to squirrel away a few more shares of Apple this morning during its little slip & slide – too bad – but it's still a good nut for the nest.

 

ABT – Washington, DC triage casting

Nobody's happy about not knowing who they're going to be seeing on stage before buying tickets, and everybody is especially unhappy when tickets are purchased to see certain dancers and those dancers don't show up on stage for the performance (or worse, Somova shows up in their place). 

As recently as yesterday, changes to the Washington, DC casting were made, and the casting on ABT's website is still out of sync with the Kennedy Center's own site.  Sync-ability is important.  Ask Apple - they can give you 321 billion rea$ons why sync-ability is important.  You have to be able to sync with your partners and concentrate on being in sync with your customers, or else they will desert you.  Pay attention to Apple's earnings report on Tuesday, and you'll understand why it's stock is about to crack $400.  Their sync don't stink.

Some performing arts organizations make the genuine effort to be in sync with their customers.  NYCB not only emails reminders to customers about the upcoming performances for which they bought tickets, but they also send out emails when the new casting goes up, which is much appreciated.  They took this effort a step further in December when they emailed customers about the upcoming debuts of several young dancers in important roles.  Excellent idea!

The New York Philharmonic emails audience members after performances asking for their opinions of the program just attended.  Haglund was delighted at the opportunity to express how much he enjoyed Thomas Hampson's interpretation of Mahler's song cycle Kindertotenlieder while simultaneously complaining that the new Thomas Ades piece affected him like shards of glass being pulled across his exposed nerves.

As of today, the ABT and Kennedy Center websites are out of sync.  We don't really know who's going to show up to dance what.  The only thing we can say with some confidence is that we'll be spared Somova, but it will be another tension-filled February when the Mariinsky arrives at the Kennedy Center.

 

Ballet in Cinema – Giselle at a theater near you

Even if you've been stuck under a big snow drift these past few weeks, chances are you're looking forward to the next Great White Act that is coming your way courtesy of Emerging Pictures Ballet in Cinema program.

First up, the Royal Ballet's Giselle (Marianela Nunez & Ruppert Pennefather) will be streamed LIVE in theaters next Wednesday afternoon, January 19th, at 2:30 pm Eastern time with Encore Presentations at other locations.

Then on Sunday, January 23rd, at 11:00 am, the Bolshoi's performance of Giselle (Svetlana Lunkina & Dmitry Gudanov) and Class Concert  will be streamed LIVE.

To find the theater near you that is presenting either of these Giselles, follow this link to the Ballet in Cinemas website and type in your zipcode in the bar at the top of the page.  The website is not perfect.  So, if you're having trouble maneuvering through it to get your information, call 212-245-6767.

Come on, People – especially you complainers who complain about never getting to see other big companies' productions while you're complaining about what's available in your own town – get thee to the cinema.  If you want to see more of this type of programing, you have to support it.

 

Works & Process: Giselle Revisited with PNB

The first ever live-stream event from the Guggenheim’s Works & Process was a huge success.  In addition to the 285 people sitting in the theater at the Guggenheim Museum, an average of 360 or so watched the live stream online over the course of the 1-1/3 hour event.  The online counter at the bottom of the screen showed that while a few people did drop off the connection during the course of the evening, they were replaced by others, which means that even more people than the 360 average tuned in at one point or another to view what was going on.  Congrats to the Gugg for more than doubling the attendance via the internet.  Here’s hoping that the live-stream will become an integral part of the W&P programs.  With a little more advance marketing, they could have thousands upon thousands of viewers at each event.

 

Tonight’s program was Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Peter Boal discussing his staging of Giselle based on research of the Stepanov notations completed by scholars Doug Fullington and Marian Smith.  In preparation of his staging, Boal also watched videos of Giselle by the Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet.  However, neither Boal nor Fullington nor Smith nor any of the dancers brought with them this evening has performing experience in Giselle.  Any mention of that deficiency was avoided during the evening.

 

The good news is that the Seattle region will get to see a Giselle.  The other good news is that PNB has another five months to turn its efforts into a passable end-product.  But it will take work.  And Peter Boal cannot do this by himself.  If he digs his heels in and refuses to ask for the assistance from those who have actual experience with Giselle, the Seattle audience may not be wise to it.  General ballet audiences respond more positively to story ballets than to abstract ballets, and the people in Seattle will love whatever lands on stage as Giselle, regardless of how it stacks up against the other Giselles in the world.  Basically, the ballet is so good in any form that first-time goers will not know what they are missing.

 

When they see Albrecht and Hilarion flapping their arms with every entrechat six or brise, they won’t know it shouldn’t be that way.  When they see the girl in the peasant pas de deux pumping her wrists, they won’t know it shouldn’t be that way.  When they see Myrta stiffly moving from side to side while smiling at the audience, they won’t know it shouldn’t be that way.  When they see Giselle and Albrecht anticipating every mime move of the other’s, they won’t know it shouldn’t be that way.  When they see Giselle’s mother, Berthe, in pointe shoes, standing in the perfect B+ position or a perfect tendu stretched to the back, they won’t know it shouldn’t be that way.  When they see the amateurish and uncommited mime, they won’t know it shouldn’t be that way.  An audience that is accustomed to seeing abstract ballets of only steps will be absolutely blown away when this ballet lands on stage in Seattle.  But when one has a talent like Carla Korbes at his disposal, why wouldn’t one want to give her the greatest opportunity to develop a memorable Giselle by exposing her to the coaching expertise of one or more of the great, great Giselles who still lives?  Setting steps is not the same as coaching.  As Fullington acknowledged, the notations discovered said little about the head, torso, and arms.  Where will that information come from for these dancers?

 

It’s not clear why Peter Boal decided to bring this particular event to New York, which sees spectacular performances of Giselle on an almost annual basis.   Maybe it was to show that his company has grown well beyond the mediocre Balanchine franchise that it once was.  Let’s hope that it has.  Let’s also hope that Boal is not too proud to reach out to those around the world who can truly help him pull his company forward with this endeavor.  We’re all rooting for him.  We really are.

Program reminder: Works & Process live-stream tonight

Tune in tonight at 7:30 pm (Eastern time) for the Guggenheim Works & Process first ever live-streamed event:  Giselle Revisited with Peter Boal and PNB.  Here's the link:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/worksandprocess

People, we need to support the Guggenheim on this initiative so that we'll see more offerings like this.  Wherever you are at 7:30 and whatever you're doing at 7:30, take a moment to click on the above link and then drop the Works & Process folks a note (ddang@worksandprocess.org) to tell them how much you enjoyed the program.

 

Has the chicken lost its head?

No sooner did ABT post Stella Abrera as the new Caroline in Jardin aux Lilas, they erased her from that cast and the Fancy Free cast the following night.  Totally erased from the Washington DC run - but of course she's still listed on the Kennedy Center website.  Good grief, Charlie Brown!

Clearly the next Artistic Director of ABT needs to be a clear-thinking woman who is allergic to flip-flopping, preferrably one who runs a successful psychiatric booth. 

We're never going to get another ballerina out of that company unless a woman takes over.  Wonder if Nina would be interested?  Or maybe Makarova would take it as a caretaker for a year or two while the company searches for a new permanent director.  Monica Mason is way too young to retire.  Bring her over here for a few well-paid years. What about a year or two of Brigitte Lefevre?  Or Karen Kain?  The women of the world are holding the great ballet companies together.  Bring us a woman director at ABT before it's too late!

 

 

Six Years

It’s been six years since ABT last debuted an Odette/Odile from within it’s ranks.  Six years since it has made the effort to develop one from within.  That doesn’t say a lot in a positive way about the artistic management’s abilities, and it’s evidence that the artistic management has a less than complimentary view of its soloists’ talents and capabilities.

This year we get a new Odette from Berlin via Moscow.  Polina Semionova, a lovely dancer of admirable technique, if a little bland, will be Hallberg's Odette.  It used to be that guest stars brought world class interpretations with them.  This is simply an audition opportunity for a female to see if she compliments Hallberg.  If we're going to be subjected to a guest artist as Odette, she should only be among the best in the world - which raises the question of why we've never seen Lopatkina here.

We'll never see Cornejo as Siegfried because of McKenzie’s lonely prejudice against short dancers as danseurs.   We won’t see Sarah Lane as Odette, because, well, she’s simply too short according to McKenzie.  We won’t see Stella Abrera because she’s so injury prone that the long preparation might prove to be too much stress, and besides, McKenzie has an entire career of repertory and second level principal roles planned out for her. No time for an Odette for her, or for us.

But McKenzie doesn’t seem hesitant about hiring injury-prone guest artists for principal roles.  Really, who’s more injury prone that Alina Cojocaru?  Roberto Bolle is so injury prone that he could dance fewer than half of his commitments last year in New York but immediately ran off to dance in Mats Ek’s weirdo Giselle where he rolled around naked on the floor swinging his ding, and then had the gall to complain about all the publicity he got.

 

Six long years.  What's everyone been doin’?  Apparently using the donors’ money to shop for guest artists instead of embracing the challenges of developing the talent that lies within.  But then, this is New York – the Steinbrenners' town - where you just throw money at whoever you want and they come whimpering your way.  Well, you won’t be throwing this Golden Circle donor’s money at anyone again.  Haglund’s 2011 donation is going to the company where Cornejo gets the opportunity to dance Siegfried.  And frankly, all of the soloists at ABT should seriously consider packing up and moving to New Zealand.

Guggenheim's Works & Process LIVE-STREAMED

The Guggenheim is going to LIVE-STREAM the Sunday, January 9th Works & Process program that features Peter Boal discussing PNB's new production of Giselle which he is staging with the assistance of dance scholars Doug Fullerton and Marian Smith, who researched the Stepanov notations and will also be in attendance.  The program includes performances by Carla Korbes, Carrie Imler, James Moore, and Seth Orza. 

To see this presentation live, click here on January 9th at 7:30 p.m.:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/worksandprocess

So, you won't have to wait in the long cancellation line on Sunday and you won''t have to line up for an hour in the cold on the long, steep driveway down to the lower level of the Guggenheim.  You can make yourself a normal sized sandwich to chomp on while you're watching and drink a glass of your favorite wine. 

What's not to like?  Well, you won't be able to ask Peter Boal – since he's never danced in Giselle and Fullerton and Smith have never danced in Giselle and none of his dancers have danced in Giselle -  how does he intend to hand down any interpretation at all?  Is there anyone associated with this new production who has ever danced Giselle?  Or maybe it's all in the sterile steps – which require no interpretation.

If Haglund irrefutably proved that he'd read every book on the planet about heart surgery - in fact, memorized every page - and then said he wanted to operate on you, would you let him?  Doubt it. And don't try to argue that Giselle isn't heart surgery; it is.