Haglund's Heel

RNZB - Sleeping Beauty clip

Gary Harris (designer) and Greg Horsman (choreographer) talk about their new production of Sleeping Beauty for the Royal New Zealand Ballet.  Check out the fire-breathing dragon in these clips which seem to be from a dress rehearsal!  This looks like something that we need to see in New York, and it seems like it might fit nicely in the New York State Theater.

The clip includes a blurb of Stella Abrera in class and in interview which is all fine and dandy, but we need to see her freakin' Rose Adagio. 

 

Nut notes

The kids at Ballet Mississippi are about to have a few Christmas dreams come true when ABT's Veronika Part and Blaine Hoven join them as The Sugar Plum Fairy and Her Cavalier for a couple of performances of The Nutcracker next weekend.  Down in Mississippi they'll be singing Tina's "Role Model on the River" for many years to come.

Haglund can't wait for the opening night of ABT's The Nutcracker with Veronika and Marcelo Gomes on December 14th at BAM.

For those who cannot travel thousands of miles to Brooklyn to see them, there will be an awesome NYCB cast performing on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center that same night.  Megan Fairchild, Joaquin De Luz, Ashley Bouder, Tiler Peck, Ana Sophia Scheller, Teresa Reichlen, Daniel Ulbricht, and Rebecca Krohn will be lighting up the TV screens around the country for FREE.  You can also see the same cast at local movie theaters the night before during a live simulcast – which is not free.

 

NYCB - The Nutcracker – Opening Night 11/25

Watching the children perform in the New York City Ballet's annual Nutcracker is a little like watching a collection of rare Madame Alexander dolls come to life.  There is no end to the perfectly curled hair, the perfect smiles – and no one ever misses a beat or a step.  All cuteness with killer instincts for seizing and controlling the audience's attention. 

This year's crop of little boys has a few more Dennis the Menace types who on opening night seemed to truly relish acting out and antagonizing the little girls.  The kids make or break The Nutcracker – they know it – and it's hard to recall any year when the kids in the NYCB Nutcracker failed to completely captivate the audience with their honest, knock 'em dead charm.  On Friday night, Fiona Brennan as Marie, Colby Clark as the little Nutcracker prince, and Maximillian Brooking-Landegger as Fritz led the children's cast with poise and polish. 

There were some admirable performances by the adults, too.  Tiler Peck as Dew Drop managed the frantic pace of the choreography with aplomb and clarity.  The beauty of the dancing by the ladies in the Waltz of the Flowers easily survived an unfortunate belly splat by one lovely tall stem in the back.  She quickly peeled herself off the floor and returned to waltz.  Her quick, reflexive recovery was actively discussed with admiration by people on the way out the door at the end of the evening. 

Georgina Pazcoguin as Coffee, Sean Suozzi as lead Candy Cane and Troy Schumacher as Tea gave thoughtful and generous performances.  Georgina was especially mysterious and slightly dangerous as the alluring Coffee.

Sara Mearns and Jonathan Stafford as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Her Cavalier were a bit of a mismatch.  Sara's feet etched out the choreography with exceptional clarity and grandness.  However, her port de bras was a mess.  Dropped elbows and pointy elbows were the rule instead of the exception last night.  It's been a while since Haglund has seen arms overhead in fifth position that quite literally formed the shape of a rectangle instead of a circle.  Of course it feels so good to raise the shoulders up to the ears and stretch those arms straight up instead of rounding them.  It makes the dancer feel like she is making herself look taller and more slender.  The truth is that it just makes the dancer look hopelessly unclassical and like she doesn't know what she's doing.  It does not make the dancer look taller or more slender; it has the opposite effect. 

Broad shoulders accent a classical tutu beautifully when used with a classically rounded port de bras.  Sara is blessed with those shoulders; however, when she jumped to sit on her cavalier's shoulder, she raised her arms victoriously like a showgirl who'd just hopped on a circus pony.  Not pretty at all.  Nor were the fold-at-the-waist backbends with the stomach pitched forward instead of a classical curving of the spine up and over to the back.

Haglund isn't being overly fussy.  When a NYCB dancer puts on a classic shaped tutu in order to perform traditional classical choreography, she shouldn't dance like it's a black & white leotard ballet. 

Jonathan Stafford came fully prepared to be a princely cavalier last night.  He generally presents one of the more classical forms among the NYCB men, as he did last night, and successfully managed his jumps and turns.  However, he looks much better with a more refined ballerina who is similarly attentive to form and classical lines.  It would be nice to see his Cavalier to Rebecca Krohn's Sugar Plum Fairy.  Haglund likes Jonathan Stafford as the Cavalier and bestows upon him this elegant Givenchy lace peep toe Pump Bump Award ($791) for his elegant portrayal of The Cavalier in the opening night of The Nutcracker:

RNZB – Abrera continues to captivate New Zealand as Aurora

The New Zealand Herald has a feature article that focuses mainly on Stella Abrera in conjunction with its preview coverage of the RNZB's performances of Sleeping Beauty in Napier, Auckland, and Rotorua this week and next.  Raewyn Whyte interviewed Stella for the article following her international debut as Aurora recently in Wellington:

"Abrera has given a good deal of thought to the challenges she faces. "I am familiar with the role, as I have understudied it several times over the years with ABT, and I had just enough time with the company to put the rest together before the tour started. The more I dance her, the more I learn about her."

On this Thanksgiving Weekend, there are more than a few people who are thankful that Ethan Stiefel stepped in and accomplished what Kevin McKenzie couldn't or wouldn't – that is, to give this world class ballerina the chance to shine like we know she can.  Hopefully, we'll see some video of one of her performances soon.

In the meantime, Haglund found this video which says a little something about this situation:

 

 That Stiefel sure do play a mean piano, don't he?

 

Ballet Next debut - Joyce Theater - 11/21

The premiere performance of Ballet Next at the Joyce Theater was the place to be last night.  The sold out crowd included sophisticated, professional, tony New Yorker financial types – an un-Joyce-y crowd, lots of NYCB dancers (including Wendy, Maria, R. Fairchild) and lots of critics taking up seats that could have brought in more money. 

Artistic Directors Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard have defined Ballet Next as a classical ballet company that "offers a progressive environment for collaboration among leading dancers, choreographers, and musicians."  Not sure what progressive environment means.  From last night's performance, it wasn't clear how this group will ultimately differentiate itself (if it needs to) from other small companies that over the years have sprung up around town with limited success; e.g., The Daring Project (Sappington & Kozlova - present last night), Dance Galaxy - (now Ballet NY), Ballet, Inc. (Charles Anderson).  An  innovative collaborative group that has been incubating at the Baryshnikov Arts Center of late is the Satellite Ballet (Troy Schumacher & Kevin Draper). 

For its debut performance, Ballet Next presented a collection of classical PdD and contemporary solos and a duet.  Performers included mostly well-known and well-liked dancers from the NYC area.  Live music by a chamber group accompanied the dancers.  Must mention that listening to live and sensitively played cello music in the Joyce Theater left Haglund feeling all warm and fuzzy.

The program opened with a concert version of Act II of Swan Lake performed by Michele and Chuck.  It has to be noted that both of these dancers exited ABT at the height of their careers which had been impeded as the result of Kevin McKenzie's uncontrolled Guestophilia.  One wonders if their full Swan Lake might have evolved and deeply matured into something special.  Michele was a lovely Odette who didn't have to worry about whether Siegfried had eaten his Wheaties that morning or whether he would forget his steps.  There was a softness and unforced emotion in Michele last night that we didn't see very often in her Met performances.  Hearing a chamber orchestra version of the Tchaikovsky music was a little strange at first, but ultimately Haglund fell under its spell, too.

The Sleeping Beauty Act III PdD was performed by Maria Kochetkova (SFB) and Joaquin De Luz (NYCB).  It was okay.  The Joyce stage was too small for Joaquin's variations and a little too big for Maria's.  Both are short dancers, but the similarities and compatibility pretty much stop there.   He has an extraordinary and compelling stage presence whereas she does not.  Steady technique was on display in Maria's variations but so were cuteness and coyness making it look like an offering at a competition or an audition.  Maybe the ABT Guestophile's scouts were there to assess her.

The Tchaikovsky PdD was vibrantly danced by Misty Copeland and Jared Matthews (both of ABT) with tremendous confidence.  Misty's high energy was sometimes directed toward executing things in a big way which resulted in a little bit of abruptness.  What makes Paloma Herrera's version of this so enjoyable is that the full force of her energy goes into following the force of the music through loving clarity in her steps.  Her force is unforced.  Misty is right on the verge of figuring all this out.  Her dancing is finally taking on a maturity and the upper torso and limbs are catching up with those phenomenal legs and feet.  Misty may see herself as a contemporary ballerina, but Haglund sees her as Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee.

Let's get to the highlight of the entire evening, that being the gifted and accomplished Jared Matthews whose every performance now puts the audience on notice that he is the Corvette that has been kept in the garage way too long, tank full, keys in the ignition, top down baby.  It's time to roar the engine, and roar he did last night.  This guy's style and demeanor on stage are so generous that you know that he's doing it all for you - not for himself.  He's doing it for us, baby.  Huge jumps last night.  Huge lifts last night.  Spot on turns.  Relaxed.  Confident.  Gentlemanly with a touch of James Dean.  He's got the star power and the prince power.  Why don't we get to see it more?  Every time Haglund sees this young man in performance, he becomes more angry at the reckless waste of talent within ABT's ranks.  Lots of people are noticing how the company's soloists are getting the shaft while the ABT Guestophile gives their opportunities away to less talented dancers who have Eastern European surnames.  One Haglund'eeler who hangs with some of the ABT moms said that the moms of the kids in the JKO School are starting to question the value of keeping their kids there after observing how the company's soloists are getting shafted.  One decided to pull her kid out of the school and send her to London for the summer because of it.

While the first half of the Ballet Next's program was ballet, the second half was the "Next" part with modern choreography by Jorma Elo, Margo Sappington, Robert Sher-Machhemdl, and Mauro Bigonzetti.  With the exception of the Sappington piece, they all followed the current dance scene's mantra of emphasizing the sculpting bodybuilding effects of ballet training rather than what that training can achieve in terms of musical movement. 

The Jorma Elo piece entitled One Overture and "danced" by Maria Kochetkova was his usual stuff.  Maria was wearing a half-tutu that went halfway around her body and was attached to a tiny leotard.  She threw poses and glances at the audience.  The piece wasn't funny, cute, thought-provoking, or the least bit interesting.  Elo needs to be retired to the Mark Morris Home for Has-Beens.

Margo Sappington's Entwined for Askegard and Jennie Somogyi (NYCB) to Erik Satie music was Arpino without the Arpino.  Margo used to do really interesting work that spoke directly to the times, and thus became dated quickly, but was often forward thinking.  She created a hot tango piece to Astor Piazolla before tangos achieved mainstream popularity.  She once created a crazy piece to Stephen Forsyth's Step Out of Love for five angry women.  Oh, yeah, and there was that "Oh, Calcutta."  Haglund adores Jennie Somogyi and will watch her in anything, but last night, he just wanted to be released from this Entwined which was a never ending entwining of Chuck and Jennie limbs. 

Robert Sher-Machhemdl's One to the music of Max Richter was a solo for Misty Copeland.  Misty wore a shift-like dress of very pedestrian design with bare legs and pointe shoes.  It's hard to remember this because there was so little movement but for walking and tendues, a few plies, while Misty masterfully held everyone's attention which was focused on the muscular shapes of her legs and feet.  How can anyone NOT focus on those?  We all got it right off the bat - she was one.  Okay, but why?  What happened?  What's it mean to her?  Why is it important for us to know about it?  The piece was all about showing us Misty's legs and feet - emphasizing the body building results of ballet training not dancing.

The final piece was Mauro Bigonzetti's La Follia.  Amphetaminatic angst from one end of the stage to the other driven by Drew Jacoby and Michele.   Haglund often likes Bigonzetti's work, but he seemed to be going for the Elo effect, not to be confused with the Halo Effect.  Michele actually looked more interesting in this than Drew who generally dances similar stuff. 

What Haglund would like to see NEXT in ballet is a retreat from reducing choreography to that which focuses principally on the sculpting bodybuilding effects of ballet training.  Let's focus on movement and musicality for a little while – if it's not too passé.

The Pump Bump Award, a pricey 4 wheeled sports shoe by Reebok goes to Jared Matthews.

Watching the Bolshoi's Sleeping Beauty from the prompter's box

That's what it seemed like at today's satellite transmission of the Bolshoi Ballet's new production of Sleeping Beauty.  Thanks to Ballet in Cinema and Emerging Pictures, more than 500 cinema theaters in the U.S. received a live-stream transmission of the brand new Yuri Grigorovich production which premiered last week in Moscow. 

It really seemed like a camera was positioned in the opera singer prompter's box near the foot of the stage which resulted in much of the performance being viewed with the cinema audience's sight line angled upward starting at the dancers' feet.  It was great to be able to see the individual sequins on the tutus, but as the camera whipped from left to right and right to left following each soloist, it all became dizzying and sometimes blurry.  The few shots from the back of the upper tiers of the Bolshoi Theater that captured the corps work revealed beautiful formations of perfect symmetry. 

The ultra-close camera work also captured and magnified the dancers' physical stress which is usually masked with a smile that the audience sees instead of the stress.  Worse, it did not allow the cinema viewers to watch the soloists in the context of what the other dancers on stage were doing.  We got to see a lot of production details that we don't normally see (thank you) but we missed huge aspects of the performance.

But what a production!  Is there anyone on the planet who does ballet spectacle bigger and better than Yuri Grigorovich?  It's doubtful.

As Sleeping Beauties go, Grigorovich's effort is stunning in terms of production values, fine in terms of staging, but was somewhat dully danced - except for the new tall guy.  The new tall guy, ABT's David Hallberg, performed with an elegance and refinement that probably hasn't been seen much at the Bolshoi in recent history.  His dancing was big, too.  Big, space-devouring jumps that were impressive in both their horizontal and vertical measures were a major part of Hallberg's soloist choreography.  As usual, as expected, as treasured, he finished his variations as if he were the conductor's baton bringing the orchestra to a stop.  However, the close camera shots didn't always bring complimentary images.  Often Hallberg could be seen struggling to convey appropriate facial expressions and he appeared acutely aware of the cameras.  But his dancing was fabulous.  His few overhead lifts of Aurora were successful but the close-camera caught the strain of his effort and made them look slightly scary.

Svetlana Zakharova as Aurora was not exactly in her element.  Right off the bat in Act I she made some unfortunate artistic choices which those who are familiar with her dancing guessed she would make.  Every time she executed a  developpe to the ecarte position, she chose a nearly 180 degree extension that completely destroyed any possibility of harmony with the arm on the opposite side of the body.  The leg was high and turned out and the foot was strongly pointed, but what was the point of it if the position lacked harmony?  Maybe total body harmony isn't important in Forsythe, Balanchine or Ratmansky choreography, but it is imperative in Petipa.  [Witness harmony here.]

In the Rose Adagio, Zakharova did not raise both arms on the balances, and thus, really didn't do any balancing at all, and she did not engage the princes who were trying to impress her.  This was a Bolshoi principal, a former Kirov principal and someone who the American Ballet Theatre has touted as a guest star?  Haglund doesn't want to give the impression that Zakharova gave a bad performance.  She gave a serviceable but undistinguished performance.  Acting is not her strong suit, so we really didn't see a transformation of Aurora in Act I to Aurora in Act III.  However, Zakharova is lovely physically and was perfectly beautiful in the costume.  Her face had the glow of a beautiful woman who was beautiful on the inside as well.  She gave Hallberg a fairly easy time in the partnering because she was securely on her leg during pirouettes and steady in the promenades. 

Maria Allash is not Haglund's favorite type of Lilac Fairy – that being the Veronika Part/Stella Abrera/Christina Fagundes variety – but she  gave a credible interpretation.  Her port de bras lines are not long and can sometimes appear lumpy if she over-extends the elbows and hands.  But the main objection is the lack of shape in her feet.  Her face is elegant and her expression was one of benevolence and confidence.  There are lots of different interpretations of the Lilac Fairy's demeanor that are completely valid, and Maria's was one of them.

The Bluebird and Princess Florine (Ovcharenko and Kaptsova) and all of the Fairies of Kindness and Jewels were a joy to watch –  that doesn't mean they should be brought here to be guest artists – and all of the character roles, especially Carabosse (Loparevich right? not Savin as listed in the program), were portrayed with the degree of importance that you expect from the greatest of the Bolshoi generations.  Try as some Western companies may, you cannot have an artistically successful Petipa story ballet without giving the character roles the respect and importance they deserve.

Without a doubt, the costumes by designer Franca Squarciapino and the scenery by Ezio Frigerio are the major triumph of this production.  Bold, brilliant, complimentary, rich in color, sparkly without being gaudy, TASTEFUL – they enhanced all aspects of the choreography and never competed against it for attention.  While some may not have been pleased with the white wigs in Act III, they looked so good from the mid-house camera angles (but, of course, not so hot from the close-up camera).  From the camera near the middle of the house, Hallberg looked smashing in the wig and the rest of his costume.

The staging is not controversial - Haglund has no complaints whatsoever.  He does prefer seeing the fish dives in the Act III PdD that we are accustomed to seeing here, but their absence in the Bolshoi version didn't make it less enjoyable.  Haglund is grateful for Yuri Grigorovich and for the fact that he is still turning out these huge productions that are so full of fantasy and are respectful of the historical traditions of the art form.  This stunning Christian Louboutin Golden Ankle Pump Bump Award (just $910) is bestowed upon Mr. Grigorovich:

Some refreshing good news . . .

NYCB Nutcracker opens in less than one week!  All the familiar faces of the dancers we cherish will be in the leading roles.  The only guest artist is – what!@¿# – why, oh, why do they keep calling Robert La Fosse a guest artist?  Why not Honored Alumnus, Honored Former Principal, Treasured Principal?  Can we just strike the words "guest artist" from the language – then maybe they will all go away.

 

At the graveside service

McKenzie:    It's a nice grave marker.

Koch:           I'm glad I could buy it for you.  It's styrofoam.

Kramer:        Listen, Dave, is that thing insured?  Can we perhaps talk after refreshments?

Koch:            My money will be happy to talk to your money anytime, Don.

McKenzie:     No one understands.  I tried my best.  When I applied for this job, I never claimed that I could train and develop dancers to realize their greatest potentials. 

Koch:            Don't blame yourself.  All that transcendental voodoo googoo gummed up your brain and you tried to philosophize ABT to greatness.

Kramer:        You know, Dave.  Have you thought about our new Insure-Your-Risks-by-Hiding-Your-Risks-From-the-Public Excess Risk Coverage for your refineries?  We've been churning out these policies – I mean, turning out these policies faster than a Cornejo brisé volé.

Koch:            My money will be happy to talk to your money anytime, Don.

McKenzie:     If that Baryshnikov had just stayed where he was supposed to stay, my life would have been so much easier. 

Koch:           Take it easy on yourself.  Trust me.  That's why I've set up the Americans for Prosperity in Art. I've been talking to Ratmansky and I have a list of all the dancers in the world that he would like to have, and I've gone out and bought them.  We're going to set up a new company on the Met Opera artistic model:  an anonymous corps de ballet with all-imported principals. We're going to turn it over to the Met Opera to run - you know, like the Mariinsky and Royal Opera House.  The Met Opera has kept me away from their big table long enough.  If I buy them a ballet company, they'll have to invite me to join them.  That Annie Ziff and especially that Mercedes Bass have been smug around my Julia far too long.  The prissy Met board needs a real man on it.

McKenzie:    Wow.  That sounds like Heaven.  A place where I wouldn't have to actually train any dancers to be stars of the company because you would go out and buy them for me.

Koch:            Well, not exactly.  I've been meaning to tell you.  We're going to go with our guy Alexei.  But don't worry.  We're going to give you a nice 20th anniversary farewell party.

Kramer:        – and rest insured, I mean, assured that we'll find a nice rest home in academia for you.  Would you like to go to the North Carolina School of the Arts?  Dave and I bought a piece of that for just this type of transitional experience.

McKenzie:    Could I?

Kramer:        Hey Dave, our No Risk Academic-Success-For-All Excess Risk Policy is a steal. 

Koch:            My money will be happy to talk to your money anytime, Don.

Kramer:        I could make a donation to your new Americans for Prosperity in Art?

Koch:            Now you're talking.  Let's have tea, shall we?

Kramer:        In styrofoam cups, of course.

Koch:            Of course.

 

Paul Taylor – 21st Century Pioneer

He's still doing it.  Still forging a path through new territory when he doesn't know where it will all lead.

One of the "Top Stories" in Crain's New York Business this week (November 14-20) is the Paul Taylor Dance Company's new fundraising initiative in which Paul Taylor will allow bloggers, photographers, and videographers to be present in the rehearsal studio to observe his creation process.  The results of each day will be posted on a new website page "Create With Taylor." 

Here's the fundraising part:  For unlimited access to that page, donors will pay $5.  Donors who contribute more, say $500, will be invited to watch the dress rehearsal. 

Crains refers to Taylor as "widely considered to be the last living member of the pantheon that created the modern-dance art form."  Yes, indeed.

$5 to witness Paul Taylor in creation mode?!  Every conservatory and university dance student in America should pony up the $5 to get a glimpse of this - it should be a class course requirement.  Every budding and flourishing choreographer from Kennebunkport, Maine to Kearny, Arizona and from Kennewick, Washington to Kissimmee, Florida should pony up $5 to watch this.  We should all pony up the $5 to watch Paul Taylor's creation process.

As the Crain's article noted, Paul Taylor, himself, doesn't use the internet. 

Also of extreme interest in the article is mention of future collaborations on music and programming between PTDC and NYCB if PTDC returns to Lincoln Center after next year.

It's $5 folks.  Now come on, really.  $5.  Do it today.

They're still talking about RNZB Sleeping Beauty and Stella Abrera's Aurora

From Saturday's edition of the New Zealand Listener:

"One of the highlights of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s new production of The Sleeping Beauty is guest artist Stella Abrera’s interpretation of Princess Aurora’s first encounter with Prince Désiré."

and this

"Abrera, from the American Ballet Theatre, is stunning. A poised Aurora, she has total control over the challenging choreography, dancing with finely nuanced movement and expression."

Here's the rest of the review.  This whole production sounds magical.

Update:

Here's a rehearsal photo  of Aurora and Désiré by Dean Kozanic in Christchurch, NZ  this week.  It appeared with a brief article at Press.co.nz.

Update:

From the November 17 edition of Theatreview.org.nz which reviews the RNZB's performance in Christchurch:

"Guest artist Stella Abrera radiated warmth and displayed masterful technique as Princess Aurora and was partnered with bravado and splendour by new dancer Sergio Torrado"

 

ABT – Seven Sonatas, Black Tuesday, In the Upper Room – 11/13

When the Mecca Shriners got kicked out of Carnegie Hall because their meetings generated too much cigar smoke, they built a new temple on 55th Street which today is the New York City Center.  The building was completed in 1923, just a few years before Black Tuesday, and was lost by the Shriners following the stock market crash of 1929 when they could not longer afford the taxes.  Toward the end of The Great Depression, the City of New York decided to turn the temple into a performing arts facility. 

The crescent emblem of the Mecca Shriners has long carried the motto, “Robur et Furor” which means "strength and fury" and  also includes a five-pointed star.

Perhaps without intending to be so, ABT's final performance today in City Center had to have been some kind of nod to the Shriners because there was a hell of a lot of strength & fury, smoke, and even a cigar.  And there were stars – stars from one end of the stage to the other, across the back, and of course all over the ceiling of this extraordinary and breathtakingly beautiful theater. 

Where modern architecture has become known for its engineering marvels, this theater is a prayer of craftsmanship and artwork.  You can see and feel the pride of the artisans and craftsmen whose hands created the designs and moldings inside the theater.  You can see and feel the pride of the art restorers who Q-tipped the arabesque ceiling and wood carvings along the walls back to their exquisite beauty.  New York City Center is truly a Temple for Dance, which we have, in part, because of misfortune dealt by the bad times of The Depression. 

Sunday's matinee performance opened with Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas performed by Julie Kent, Xiomara Reyes, Yuriko Kajiya, Alexandre Hammoudi, Herman Cornejo, and Gennadi Saveliev.  Although Hammoudi does not have the technical gifts of David Hallberg, he had a more natural rapport with Julie.  He's a handsome guy, although we don't see him smile enough.  He was fairly charming as he went from handsome guy pose to totally clueless when Julie disappeared from the scene.  Julie danced beautifully in this ballet which illuminates the exquisite lines of her legs and arms and encourages her playfulness.  Saveliev had more energy than earlier in the week and delivered an enthusiastic duet with Kajiya.  She was just lovely, but looked too young for Saveliev and too young for the group as a whole.  Haglund prefers her as part of the alternate cast.  Cornejo and Reyes were so spontaneous in their relationship on stage and enjoyed such high energy that Haglund has decided to see an extra one of their Nutcrackers at BAM.  There are no princes who look better in white tights than Cornejo. 

Seven Sonatas has grown more meaningful and valuable with each season it has been performed.  The addition of Blaine Hoven and Maria Riccetto to the alternate cast has added new strength to it.  Their PdD on Saturday night was the most beautiful that Haglund has ever seen either of them dance.  There was a softness in Blaine's great strength that complimented Maria's strength in emotion.  And wow, did they ever look comfortable dancing with each other.  The splendid alternate cast on Saturday night was a tribute to the North Carolina School of the Arts which contributed to the development of four of the six dancers including Hoven, Riccetto, Joseph Phillips, and Jared Matthews.  The luminous Christine Shevchenko and stunning Sarah Lane rounded out the cast. 

Haglund hopes that Seven Sonatas remains with ABT as a proprietary piece.  While Ratmansky may have a financial incentive to have his ballets danced by as many companies as possible, ABT has a need to develop exclusive and unique repertory which will draw audiences to see work they cannot see elsewhere that is danced by artists for whom it was made.

The second piece on the program was Paul Taylor's Black Tuesday.  Once again, ABT delivered a fantastic interpretation with especially strong performances from Craig Salstein as the cigar-chomping chap in "Are you making any money" with Misty Copeland, Zhong-Jing Fang, and Elina Miettinen.  Sean Stewart in "Underneath the Arches" with Julio Bragado-Young made us yearn to see him featured more in major ballets.  While he seems to be cast a lot in modern choreography - not a complaint - he is a very fine classical dancer who we need to see more frequently.  Gemma Bond gave a huge, endearing performance as the finger-gun shooting waif in (I went hunting) and the Big Bad Wolf was Dead.

Finally, the season came to a close with one fine ass kicking performance of In the Upper Room led by Mr. Kick Ass Sascha Radetsky.  Sascha, Blaine Hoven, Patrick Ogle, Gillian Murphy, Kristi Boone, Misty Copeland, and Luciana Voltolini stomped themselves to the point where those guys in the white coats should have come in, wrapped them all up securely, and taken them away for a little rest.  An unbelievably high energy performance today, and the theatrical fog behaved itself.  Seeing Blaine finally cut loose and unleash such power today was pretty thrilling.  And Patrick Ogle!  No problem keeping up with Radetsky and Hoven.  But he needs to get his face up more.  His body and weight were down fabulously, but his face was, too.

The bombers were excellent today as well.  Gennadi Saveliev found the energy of a 25 year old and was picking up his legs and feet like we haven't seen in a while. Craig Salstein nearly spun his a la seconde turns into orbit.  He and Arron Scott are ready for Stomphood, but they were awesome bombers.  Paloma Herrera as the lead bomber lady was in her element with the Tharp off center partnering and had a spirited engagement with Saveliev in the PdDs.  The bomber twins, Maria Riccetto and Isabella Boylston, had more unity than earlier in the week although these dancers are not an especially good match up.

The fall season MVD Pump Bump Award (winged Adidas $306) goes to Herman Cornejo and Sascha Radetsky who led the company this week with their expected, but never taken for granted, high style and energy.

Flash mob in Times Square

Some tourists were surprised yesterday around noon when West Side Story broke out unexpectedly in the middle of Duffy Square in Times Square. 

This Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the film West Side Story, and about 50 or so dancers, including many who danced in various productions of WSS and others who are in current Broadway productions of other shows, were brought together by the folks at DanceOn to spontaneously celebrate the anniversary.

Here's the YouTube clip.  Note the surprise of the big guy carrying the little pink gift bag.

 

ABT Da bomb diggity – 11/11/11

How often to you see the audience stop the show and make it start over? 

That's what happened tonight when the theatrical smoke in In the Upper Room went bonkers and billowed out into the audience.  The Mezzanine section revolted and began clapping and hollering to stop the performance.  The music stopped.  The curtain came down.  A lady's voice came over the PA apologizing for the technical difficulties – not for gassing the audience – but for "technical difficulties" and a few minutes later the performance started again.  Pretty cool, indeed.  Pretty hot performance, too.

Well, the Tharp Bombers are back.  Tonight Nicole Graniero and Skylar Brandt brought back those ballistic pointes that Luciana Paris, Yuriko Kajiya, Laura Hidalgo, and Maria Riccetto made famous.  An absolutely fab job.  Nicole and Skylar knew the steps and were joined at the hip every step of the way.  Their male counterparts, Eric Tamm and Joseph Gorak, went toe to toe with the ladies in precision and energy.

A highlight though was seeing Herman Cornejo and Sarah Lane claim ownership of the lead PdDs with such pronounced authority.  The partnering, hazardous as it is, came off without a hitch .  They are heavenly handsome together and possess so many of the same lyrical qualities and  clean footwork.  It has also become a trusting partnership.  The greatness is there to grow.  Hopefully, they will get more chances and more meaningful chances to cultivate that greatness.

Herman, Eric Tamm, and Joe Gorak executed some superb ensemble work.  A couple of times while dancing with Herman, Gorak got caught "thinking" at the end of a phrase and held it too long which threatened to stove Herman's momentum.  As he was dancing around the stage with Herman, Gorak had a "Is this for real?" look on his face.  Awestruck.  Well, who wouldn't be.  Just don't mess up Herman's timing.

The main Stomper ladies, Luciana Paris and Simone Messmer, had all the requisite sass and weight in their movement.  Devon Teuscher as the third Stomper lady and Katherine Williams as the Stomper turned Bomber lady have a ways to go to find the curves and edges in the Tharp style.  The Stomper guys, Cory Stearns, Jared Matthews and Roddy Doble, were nicely synchronized but Cory and Jared came off as too balletic with their weights high and light instead of being into the ground.  Stearns totally missed the seat lift toward the end.  He simply didn't have the strength to lift little Luciana Paris into the air.  This doesn't bode well for his lifts in Act II of Giselle which are coming up in 2012.  These ongoing upper body strength problems in some of ABT's men are so unnecessary and addressable. 

Tonight's program opened with Black Tuesday which in some ways felt more authentic than earlier in the week.  Simone Messmer's Boulevard of Broken Dreams solo conveyed the heartbreak of broken dreams whereas Misty Copeland's interpretation on Tuesday, while beautifully danced, lacked the character's disappointment or angst. 

Herman Cornejo was pure genius in Brother, Can You Spare a Dime.  "Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, and I was the kid with the drum!" brought Herman's knees marching high to his chest with his head raised toward the sky desperate for recognition.  The desperation and struggle permeated his posture.   At Wednesday's performance, Daniil Simkin's desperation didn't register in the body although the dancing was magnificent from a technical standpoint.

The standout on Wednesday was Gemma Bond as the smallest, most grimy Dickensian creature you could imagine who stole the show with her solo in I Went Hunting and the Big Bad Wolf was Dead.  You could see her on the dusty streets of any big city during The Depression picking pockets and scheming her way through daily survival.  Nicole Graniero was outstanding in the role in tonight's cast as well.  It was terrific to see these two ladies step out for some well deserved solo work. 

Also on Wednesday, Sean Stewart and Julio Bragado-Young in their duet to Underneath the Arches neatly conveyed two downtrodden chaps trying to make the best of a bad time in their lives.  All they had left in their lives was their own manufactured joy.  Stewart exemplifies the Paul Taylor dancer and is one of the best dance chameleons in the company when it comes to manuevering back and forth between classical and modern repertory.

The other piece on tonight's program was Volpi's Private Light which just gets worse with each viewing.  While it's true that failure is a large component of innovation, the companies who live and die by organic innovation know that in the innovation process you want "to fail early, fail fast, and fail cheap" as Proctor & Gamble's CEO once said.  You don't drag it out and keep spending money while trying to persuade people how wonderful your crappy product is.  This piece by Volpi should never have made it to ABT's main stage. 

Tonight's Norma Kamali First Position Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon the Bombers for resurrecting the spirit of Tharp's masterpiece:

ABT - Opening Night Gala 11/8

Is it Gal-la? 
Is it Gay-la? 
Is it Gaw-la? 
What's the difference?!
Does it matter what ya caw-ll it?

So might Mel Brooks sing in a funny musical about opening nights filled with polished, fabulous, entertaining dancing.  There was a point in tonight's ABT Fall Gala program when Haglund wished that Mel had been there and that he and Muffie what's-her-name and some of the other society folk who were over-dressed  but wearing less than they should have been, would have jumped on stage and started dancing.  At least it would have been good for a laugh.  Or Nina Ananiashvili, looking lovely seated in the Orchestra, could have jumped on stage with Robert La Fosse or Robert Fairchild, both of whom looked handsome in the Orchestra, for an impromptu Pas de Trois. Or Mr. Franklin could have pulled up a chair on the stage and told some funny stories about really dancing in the real Gardens of Villandry.

Tonight's program just made Haglund weep.  If it hadn't been for the Stompers from In the Upper Room and Frank & Ava gloriously swirling through "My Way", it would have been a night to forget before it destroyed anyone's sleep. 

After the customary speeches, the program opened with The Garden of Villandry by Martha Clarke, Robby Barnett and Felix Blaska to music of Franz Schubert played live on stage by a pianist, violinist, and cellist.  Two men and a woman walk-dance through the gardens and we're supposed to guess which of the guys is really the third wheel in the relationship as they politely pull away at the woman who clearly admires and has good use for both of them.  Julie Kent, Roman Zhurbin, and Julio Bragado-Young did everything they could with what they were given.  This is a novelty piece to see once, smile about what's beneath the quaintness, and then cross it off your list forever.

Next came Tharp's Sinatra Suite danced by Luciana Paris and Herman Cornejo.  Their shoes were slick on the floor, and there were a couple of bad slips, but the performance was more than okay.  Luciana glams up like Ava Gardner.  Herman has plenty of suave, but a little too much respectability.  Together they made it all work nicely - very romantic with just a tinge of antagonism.

Demis Volpi's new Private Light took us to the intermission.  During the second presentation of last month's Guggenheim's Work & Process program which previewed the ABT Fall Season, Demis Volpi rehearsed Cory Stearns and Simone Messmer in a section from his new work.  In one difficult PdD movement, Volpi instructed Messmer to "just relax and let yourself be manhandled."  She was compliant and the end result satisfied Volpi.  In the New York Times recent preview piece, Volpi is described as rehearsing two dancers in a kiss by telling the man “You’re a rough guy giving a really rough kiss,” he explained. “She’s a thing. She’s not a person you have to take care of."  Those two instances pretty much sum up the tenor of his new piece.  It's manipulative with men aggressively handling women - sometimes lifting them by their heads and putting them into their proper places. 

There is almost no dancing per se in Private Light but for bourees and some solo center barre work (tendu, coupe developpe, etc.) for Joseph Gorak who apparently stepped outside of the sect's activity to act independently.  The other dancers then approached him with scorn and snatched him back into place within the sect.  Let's see, what else.  There's a lot of angst - over what, we don't know.  But when you're in your twenties, there's angst in everything, even in a loaf of bread.  Let's see, what else.  Oh yeah, couples do a lot of kissing to a mish-mash of solo guitar music performed by, ahem, Christian Kiss.  Two women do some kissing - most likely inserted to pander to Alastair Macaulay.  The men slam themselves to the ground a lot.  They are shirtless and dressed in little shorts.  The women wear similar shorts with flesh-colored leotard tops which are probably supposed to suggest that the women might be shirtless.  Would anyone be surprised if Volpi lobbied for a little topless costume for the ladies?  Imagine how famous it would make you as a choreographer if you could be the first one to get ABT to embrace nudity on stage.  Perhaps another time, Demis. 

After the intermission, we welcomed back Tharp's In the Upper Room, 25 years young.  The problem tonight was some miscasting and missing cast.  You can't omit Gomes, Cornejo, Hallberg, and a few other veterans and not have it hurt.  The stompers saved the day.  Sascha Radetsky led this piece the way Stiefel used to - keeping everybody's energy high, making sure nobody let up.  He was phenomenal tonight.  The guy is so ripped that when he pirouetted, your own eyes would go a little cuck-coo trying to follow the image of his spinning torso muscles.  Blaine Hoven and Patrick Ogle kept up the pace well and really danced fabulously.  The lady stompers - Kristie Boone, Gillian Murphy, Misty Copeland, and Luciana Voltolini - embraced the cardio-dance like they were in heaven dancing it. 

The bombers were where all the problems were tonight.    Most notably, Isabella Boylston, while looking lovely, was also in her own world musically, messing up not only Maria Riccetto but also Luciana Voltolini (she both stomped & bombed) and the group pointe work by dancing ahead of the others or holding a renverse or arabesque just a little bit longer which made the other dancers look bad.  If this were an isolated instance, it wouldn't be worth mentioning.  But Isabella has badly marred ensemble work in Bright Stream, as one of Giselle's peasant friends, in Thirteen Diversions, and now In the Upper Room - just to name a few instances in the past year.  Her penalty:  McKenzie awards her with four principal debuts in the Spring Season including two lead principal roles while the long-time, ultra-talented soloists who rarely miss a step and are consummate team players are made to stand down.  Why should Isabella even care about the quality of her ensemble work?  Also miscast tonight was Gennadi Saveliev.  He is not a Tharp dancer in any way, shape or form, and much of the time it looked like he was marking his way through the steps.  Arron Scott and Craig Salstein danced very well, and either of them would have been a better choice for Paloma Herrera's partner in the central PdD than Saveliev. 

This fall season is not selling well for ABT.  It's not the economy.  If people have money to go to the opera and to the philharmonic and to Carnegie Hall, they have money to spend on dance.  They just don't want to see these kind of poorly designed programs out of ABT.  Everyone expects better.  No pump bump award for this evening.

RNZB takes Sleeping Beauty on tour

RNZB is on the first leg of a national tour of its enormously successful Sleeping Beauty.  From the Southland Times review of last night's performance in Invercargill:

"Performing for a near-full theatre last night, the strongest performance was from Aurora, played by guest soloist Stella Abrera of the American Ballet Theatre, who conveyed strong emotions with her face as well as her movements, which were precise, elegant and even breathtaking in the final act."

Charms, dreams, and variations on the SwanNina Ananiashvili & the State Ballet of Georgia

Nina Ananiashvili and nine dancers from her State Ballet of Georgia along with eight Georgian musicians charmed a full house at Avery Fisher Hall Saturday night.  The audience was mostly Eastern European.  Everyone seemed to be dressed to the nines.  No one heeded the no flash camera rule, and it seemed everyone had a camera despite security's scrutiny at the ticket entrance.  Well, you know, it's Nina.  The ushers were helpless. 

There was no real need to throw bouquets on the stage - not when you could walk right to its edge and gently lay the roses on the marley and have Nina come over, pick them up, and shake your hand as happened after her second performance of the Dying Swan.  Yes, the second performance.  You see, Nina performed the Dying Swan twice last night – two different versions.  The first time she bourreed out with her back to the audience, arms rippling as only Nina can do.  The swan's death ended abruptly and tragically – with the swan resisting to the end as it spun a half circle on the floor to its final pose.  The second version saw Nina bourree out facing the audience, arms rippling.  This time the swan died with a quiet sense of resignation, sorrow, and peace.  The Dying Swan was kind of the best part of the evening which was focused on the early choreography of Alexei Ratmansky.  Nina was the one responsible for Alexei getting his first choreographic opportunity at the Bolshoi, and as they say, the rest is history.

Charms of Mannerism (1997), Bizet Variations (2008), and Dreams about Japan (1998) offered a glimpse of Ratmansky's progression as a creator.  The Bizet Variations most closely resembled the current state of his development.  With its three couples engaging in their individual stories with lovely lyrical, flowing choreography, it reminded Haglund of Seven Sonatas – a whole lot.  The Charms of Mannerism and Dreams about Japan reflected Ratmansky's habit of ending a piece with everyone in the cast grouped together on the stage staring at the audience, sometimes waving happily.  We've probably seen enough of that;  it appears in both The Bright Stream and The Little Humpbacked Horse.  In Charms and Dreams, Ratmansky tried to employ humor which often seemed unsophisticated and sometimes even geeky.  Haglund thinks it's time to get serious about generating new work that doesn't repeat old choreographic ideas or resort to overdone humor.  Hopefully, we'll get something like that in the new Firebird for ABT.

Nina only brought nine dancers with her.  The women looked and danced like a cohesive unit whereas the men were far more varied in appearance and ability.  Philippe Solano excelled in his Sagi Musume solo in Dreams about Japan, a version of which you can watch here.  There were lots of interesting moments in his solo which were then interrupted with arbitrary ballet tricks.  Ratmansky inserted fouettes and pirouettes in much of the evening's choreography by force rather than by integrated design, but for what reason?  We've seen this trait in other of his works.  If it has to do with what he perceives are audience expectations or its understanding of ballet, then it's truly an insult.  Besides, everyone knows the ages-old rule in ballet:  when you don't know what to do, soutenou – not fouette and pirouette – those don't even rhyme.

Anyway, Haglund wants to report that Nina looked and danced wonderfully.  Her leg lines are still long as we remember them, her face still beautifully soulful, her connection with the audience still from her heart to ours.  Many thanks to Nina for the charms, dreams, and above all the many years of her Swan:

NYCB coming to a cinema near you

Tuesday, December 13 marks the first of hopefully many live HD transmissions by NYCB to movie cinemas across the country, and hopefully across the world eventually.  Five hundred theaters will receive the inaugural live transmission which will, of course, be The Nutcracker.  See NYT article here.

Don't forget that Live from Lincoln Center will present a live performance of NYCB's The Nutcracker on PBS the following evening, December 14 at 8PM.  Check your local PBS channel listings.  Here in NYC on WNET 13, the presentation will be rebroadcast on December 16 at 1:30AM and December 18 at 12:30PM.

This is great news, and boy, don't we need a little of that these days.