Haglund's Heel

McCartney ballet score now "a show"

The buzz about Paul McCartney's new ballet score is picking up.   The score is now being referred to as "the show" which will open in New York before transferring to London.  Does this have Twyla's finger prints all over it, or what?   Haglund always pegged her as the John or Ringo type, but who can really tell?  Supposedly, an announcement will be forthcoming from Sir Paul in a few weeks.

Mariinsky Giselle – Vishneva 2/13

Initially, it was a thrill to score such a fantastic seat at The Kennedy Center for the Mariinsky’s final performance of Giselle.  Row R in the Orchestra is nearly perfect – the first row after the aisle that runs horizontally across the first third of the theater.  But a few minutes into Act I, Haglund was wishing he was several rows back or even in the first balcony.  The big formations on the stage were all clearly visible from Row R.  The music was bold and the sections of the orchestra sounded balanced from the seats in Row R.  But the house’s acoustical design enhanced the percussive plonks of Diana Vishneva’s very hard blocks in her shoes.  Haglund has attended Vishneva’s performances many times at the Met Opera House and the NY City Center, but never heard block clomping like he heard yesterday.  For the most part, the corps’ and soloist women’s shoes were not particularly noisy, although Myrtha landed with heavy thuds during her variations – but her shoes weren’t the source of her noise.  Of all the roles, one would think Giselle could be danced in a pair or two of soft Freeds instead of (what looked like) hard Grishkos.  It really ruined some of the magic of the performance. 

 

The overall performance yesterday was terrific but not among Vishneva’s most dramatic.  Haglund has always wondered if Vishneva dances differently with the Mariinsky than she does with ABT but he had never seen Diana in performance with her home company until yesterday.  She may dance differently, but it may have to do with the theatrical vibes she gets from her partner.  Her Act I yesterday in which her Albrecht was Andrian Fadeyev, a reserved but not inhibited actor, was considerably pulled-back or toned down from the joyous romps that she seemed to enjoy in her spectacular ABT performances with Angel Corella.  The energy between them in 2009 was not just electric but overwhelming in emotion.  Haglund expects a similar experience this spring when Vishneva dances Giselle opposite Marcelo Gomes – twice – but a redux with Corella would truly be something to look forward to.  Too bad that McKenzie is trying to erase Corella from our memories by locking him out of the Met season.

 

In Act I, Giselle’s pique first arabesque in profile which rolled down into penche seemed a bit too gingerly and her hops on pointe on the diagonal were studied with no port de bras toward Albrecht.   Haglund began to wonder if Vishneva was injured again which might account for her reliance on the clunky shoes.  A quick look at her schedule on her website revealed an astonishing 12 performances during the first six weeks of 2011 including a bunch of performances of her new project with La La La Human Steps.  The last time Vishneva took on a major new project – Beauty in Motion in 2008 – she ended up injuring herself so badly that she had to withdraw from all of her ABT performances. 

 

Aside from the distraction of her clomping blocks, Vishneva skillfully carved out Giselle’s character from her first step out of her cottage to her final exit back to the grave.  She has developed so many unique details in the character over the years.  When she took the necklace which Bathilde had just placed around her neck, in her hands and looked at it, you could already see some of the detachment from reality in her face.  Her excitement over Albrecht’s attention was youthful and charming and packed with feelings of anticipation along with not knowing what she should do next.  When early in Act I she was daydreaming of Albrecht and inadvertently backed into him, her arms were raised as she turned around so that she very nearly put them around his neck in an embrace.  Her mad scene was miraculous if anything.  Never has Haglund seen a Giselle so clearly die in Albrecht’s arms.  She ran to him and when his hands went around her waist, she briefly rose into the air with her feet lifted to the back like some ghostly spirit before dropping unconscious and limp in Albrecht’s arms. 

 

The Peasant PdD danced by Maria Shirinkina and Vladimir Shklyarov ran into trouble in a few spots, but clearly Shirinkina is part of the Mariinsky’s beautiful future.  Shklyarov was okay, but didn’t dispatch his variations with the technical wizardry and peasant energy that one hoped for.  Shirinkina’s shoes were very quiet, but whether they were Gaynor Mindens or not, they were ugly in color, in shape, and in size.  There was simply too much shoe to the shoes.  Too much box, too much fabric along the side and at the back, and too much orange color.  We’re building a whole generation of dancers who do not seem to understand that the appearance of the the pointe shoe should elongate and taper the line of the leg.  Some dancers, like Gillian Murphy, seem to want to flaunt the orange satin so that it is obvious that they have these mammoth boxy tools of their trade strapped to their feet.  It’s gross.  Haglund totally expects to see the day when pointe shoes are so "advanced" that they are equipped with GPS so that ballerinas won’t even have to remember the steps – the shoes will remember them for the dancer.  No training required; just strap on the magic shoes which will quietly lift you and take you where you should go.

 

Act II’s strongest performance came from Vishneva who, still with noisy blocks, managed the ethereal maneuvers beautifully.  To this day, Haglund remembers her performance with Corella when the top layer of tulle from her skirt flew up against her face while she was downstage doing the fast entrechat quatre passe variation making her more ghostly than you can ever imagine.  Yesterday, Giselle’s forgiveness of Albrecht summoned the sniffles from the audience.  The end came with Albrecht backing upstage as he let the lilies drop to the ground and then he raced to Giselle’s grave where he collapsed finally realizing his loss.  Haglund prefers ABT’s quieter reed-like ending to the blaring brass used by the Mariinsky.  The quiet ending has more emotional impact whereas the blaring brass has more theatrical impact. 

 

The wilis were quite spectacular.  There is something about their skirts – either they are longer or have fewer or more layers – but they are the most beautiful wili costumes Haglund has ever seen.  The Act I costumes for the corps ladies, on the other hand, look like they were made out of K-Mart kitchen curtains. 

 

Myrtha was listed as Alexandra Losifidi but it didn’t exactly look like her.  Myrtha was heavy-footed and menacing looking without much in the way of wili quality and was wearing a pair of eyelashes the size of which Haglund has only seen before on the Trocks. 

 

One last comment about bad trends.  Here are two pictures of the same moment in Giselle interpreted by two Mariinsky dancers.  (The image of one is flipped.)  Exhibit A is Vishneva from the poster billboard in the front of the Kennedy Center.  Exhibit F is Somova from the Playbill cover. 

Exhibit A

Exhibit F 

 

Note in Exhibit A how the head is bowed and the leg is extended to the side but leaves sufficient space between the leg and body so the shape of the torso is still clear (and beautiful) and the line of the bottom of the skirt is beautifully curved and looks like an arc.

 

Look at this mess in Exhibit F.  Somova has turned this into her own version of ecarte with the head turned away instead of bowed so that she can crank the leg up.  Where’s the arc of the bottom of the skirt?  Where’s the shape of the torso?  Where’s the bowed head?  This sort of thing belongs in the Barnum & Bailey center ring, not in Act II of Giselle.  Sadly, Somova has decided that getting her leg up is more important than conveying the story of Giselle. 

 

Exhibit AAA gold -  See it all done perfectly at 1:50 here.

 

Haglund is glad that he made the trip to DC to see Vishneva in Giselle and wishes he could have seen Tereshkina and Lopatkina as well.  The Mariinsky production looked a lot grander on the Met stage more than a decade ago when on a Saturday evening in a packed house Haglund saw the miraculous performance from a last minute substitute from the corps by the name of Natalia Sologub. 

 

The Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Diana Vishneva who on Sunday afternoon really seemed to be carrying the whole Mariinsky on her delicate, slim shoulders. 

O Canada!

Those of us who have trouble remembering the words to The Star Spangled Banner perhaps should embrace an anthem with shorter lines — perhaps one written for a country that devotes big bucks to support dance education.

The Canadian federal goverment has just allocated $2,175,000 to dance education for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and $780,000 to the School of Contemporary Dancers!

 

On Haglund's Calendar – Divertimento No. 15 Debuts @ NYCB

Much to look forward to next week.  After a quick getaway to Washington D.C. to catch Diana Vishneva in the Mariinsky's final performance of Giselle, Haglund will definitely be at the Tuesday evening NYCB performance to see the debuts of five out of the eight dancers in Divertimento No. 15.  The newbies include Haglund favorites Lauren King and Rebecca Krohn.  The Saturday matinee includes another favorite, Jennie Somogyi, in  Mirage which is a Martins/Calatrava piece that Haglund wants to see again.

It is quite wonderful to see that all of the performances of the major classics Swan Lake and  Giselle are effectively sold out in New York and Washington during the same week.  Even though many of us have always known that ballet is the greatest art of all, it's a good sign to see that the current general public is catching on, too. 

And how about that Prince and his quarter of a million dollar gift to ABT among other big arts gifts he made in the NY area!  The last rock star to give big, big bucks to ballet was – ahhh – Prince.  He could be starting another movement.  While we're talking about Prince, do we need another ballet to Prince's music?  Yes we do!!  And don't think he wouldn't like a gig on the Met's stage.  While we're waiting for that, we need to up the speculation about Sir Paul McCartney's ballet score.  What company landed this and who's got the loose lips on the details?

NYCB – "There's Satan in that Siren"

That was the chant from the NYCB Fourth Ring last night after Sara Mearns lured Sean Suozzi to his destruction in their formidable debuts as the Prodigal Son and Siren.  Hey, Haglund just reports what he hears; he almost never makes this stuff up.  The acuity of Mearns’ interpretation and the acuity of her musical accents made this one of the most enjoyable performances of this masterpiece that Haglund can remember seeing.  Sometimes in the past, performances in Prodigal Son have had more emphasis on the iconic poses and images while the actual movement has suffered.  Last night Mearns dispatched the dance with authority that brought clarity to the Siren’s ferocious sensuality, and her iconic poses punctuated her movement with intensity.  When the fingers of her hand spread behind her head as she finished wrapping her limbs around the Prodigal Son, the Siren looked like part cobra, part goddess.

 

Sean Suozzi also made a very effective showing in his debut.  His dancing was strong, although careful and tidy in places where more emotional intensity was expected.  The generous mop of curls that covered Suozzi forehead sometimes made it difficult to see the expression in his face.  He is a bit taller than the current crop of Prodigal Sons, and his size may have made projecting vulnerability more of a challenge.  But last night was a very good start for Suozzi, and Haglund looks forward to watching his performance develop.

 

Last night’s program opened with Balanchine’s La Source to beautiful music by Delibes.  Ashley Bouder and Ana Sophia Scheller personified elegance in this lovely piece.  Haglund disagrees with the turned up noses who sniff at La Source as being insignificant.  It has fewer Balanchine cliches than we usually see, and Ms. Bouder and Ms. Scheller gave the choreography an elegant reading with refinement that wasn’t exactly characteristic of NYCB back in the mid-sixties when La Source was made.  By contrast, the corps of eight ladies couldn’t have looked more haphazard and student-ish .  Some looked like they were trying to be caricatures of everything that is wrong with the SAB product.

 

Andrew Veyette was the sole male dancer in La Source and did not have a bad performance at all.  However, he struggles with elegance and refinement while over-emphasizing the energy and effort that he puts into his technique.  Case in point:  glissade, assemble.  His glissade is just as large and emphatic as the assemble.  How is the audience supposed to know which step to applaud if both are equally emphasized?  Gosh, what if the audience made an embarrassing mistake and started applauding and hooting for the glissade instead of waiting for that all-important assemble?  It could happen.  The biggest improvement that Veyette could make in his performance would be to stop throwing his head up into the air while focusing his eyes on the floor or down at the audience.  He really is able to do most everything required of him; it’s just that his priorities aren’t what’s best for his own dancing.

 

Tiler Peck, Joaquin De Luz, and Adam Hendrickson brought their energy back into The Magic Flute.  This piece is really some of the most appealing choreography that Peter Martins’ has offered us.  It’s perfectly suited to Peck’s temperament and lyrical qualities and gives her a chance to show off her impressive technique.  The PdDs are truly pretty and one has to wonder what other magic we might have encountered over the years if Martins had not strayed off into another direction with his choreography.

 

Haglund bestows this snappy cobra Pump Bump Award on Sara Mearns for her awesome debut performance as the Siren:

 

Ratmansky will create Romeo and Juliet for The National Ballet of Canada

Haglund is going to pencil-in on his calendar the November 16, 2011 world premiere in Toronto of Alexei Ratmansky's Romeo and Juliet for The National Ballet of Canada which is marking its 60th anniversary this year.  Richard Hudson and Jennifer Tipton, who collaborated with Ratmansky on The Nutcracker for ABT, will be part of the production team which will have use of the company's brand new $4.4 milllion (Canadian) 59,000 square foot production center.  The music will be Prokofiev's score. 

Here's the NBC's press release.  Haglund will keep a close watch on this event and bring you the details as they evolve.

 

 

NYCB – The Magic Flute, Duo, Valse & 4Ts – 2/2

Haglund is glad he decided to sleep on what he saw last night at NYCB instead of shooting from a cranky hip, because the bright, sunny morning brought back some of the bright, sunny moments from the evening’s performance.

 

The Magic Flute received a warm but careful performance last night.  It seemed slightly under-baked.  Tiler Peck and Joaquin DeLuz as Lise and Luke exemplified storybook charm and were crispy on the allegro while a little soft on the pirouettes.  One of the chief joys of seeing this ballet return at this time is the opportunity to see these two dance together.  DeLuz is a gifted and accomplished theatrical dancer who has found in Peck the perfect degree of response to compliment his own talents.  Together they work the stage and storyline with admirable coordination and zest.  Peck is one of a few, but growing number of dancers in this company who is not pockmarked with affectations.  Her lines are simple in their beauty, usually correct, and the legs and upper body work harmoniously.  Haglund wishes there was choreography for her to dance that had different types of arabesques instead of exclusively using that first arabesque with the 170 degree front arm all the time.  If ever there was a ballet in the NYCB repertory with which to experiment with the range of arabesque port de bras, The Magic Flute is it.

 

The supporting cast last night included 18 children from the School of American Ballet.  The only way to deal with these SAB kids when they get on the stage is to clear out of their way.  Once these kids have gotten a taste of performing in The Nutcracker – where it’s all about them – they become an unforgiving gang of pintsized scene stealers whose goal is to make you forget every adult on the stage.  And they can dance, too.  Excellent work from every one of them last night. 

 

Duo Concertant with Sterling Hyltin and Robert Fairchild was phenomenal.  Every time Haglund sees this duo in Duo, he likes Duo all d'more.  Almost forty years after its premiere, this once forgettable, little piece of filler is now a big reason to go to the ballet. 

 

Ashley Bouder was incredible last night in Valse-Fantaisie.  What a sight to see her circle of simple saute de chat of such great height and the lift in the body when the legs descended that made it look like she never came down.  It was a spectacular series where her body remained at the same level for the entire circle.  Unfortunately, it was impossible not to compare that to her partner Andrew Veyette’s jumps in which he threw his head to the ceiling and landed with a pronounced drop of the head and body each time.  His jumps have sufficient height but would look a lot better if he followed Bouder’s idea of how to use the upper body.

 

The four ladies supporting the principals in Valse were lovely in many respects except that they were having a bout with elbow-itis.  Pointy elbows were everywhere.  Pointy may be okay in a black and white leotard ballet, but wearing tulle to the knees carries an implicit requirement of rounded arms.

 

The Four Temperaments has to be celebrated for the fine debut of Savannah Lowery as Choleric.  Finally this season, a Choleric who comes through as at least irritable.  The red hair helped.  Lowery is a statuesque dancer with a strong and exceptionally clear arabesque line.  Alastair Macaulay took an unfortunate and unprofessional pot-shot at her in a recent review by depicting her as “hefty” which she is not.  She is of a commanding height with steely strong legs.  Her use of the upper body, however, is somewhat messy and unballetic.  It feels so good to raise up the shoulders and chest and bring the forearms close to the head, but it also looks so bad.

 

Amar Ramasar as Phlegmatic gave a musically-sensitive performance, and Sebastien Marcovici as Melancholic had emotional depth.  Abi Stafford and Jared Angle in the Sanguinic section were technically efficient, but Haglund has now come to identify this section with Jennie Somogyi’s intensity.  The four accompanying Sanquinistas were dancing to Jennie’s tune last night.  All excellent.  Lydia Wellington and Zachary Catazaro were the highlight of the Theme section.

Haglund bestows this white-hot winged Pump Bump Award on the fleet-footed Bouder for that white-hot circle of saute de chat in Valse-Fantaisie:

 

On Haglund's Calendar – NYCB The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute and Tricky Dick open at Lincoln Center tonight.  Even though Nixon's accomplishments with the Chinese were important, Haglund cannot bring himself to relive any of those humiliating years rehashed by John Adams' opera.  But The Magic Flute is guaranteed to bring warmth and sun to this gray, wet day.  The good news is that Punxsutawney Phil and, more importantly, Staten Island Chuck predicted an early spring. Here's Chuck now:

 "Dude, the press is the enemy."

Prix de Lausanne Finals live-stream – Sunday!

Get up early this coming Sunday morning to watch the final session and medal ceremony of the 2011 Prix de Lausanne Competition.  It starts at 3:00 p.m. CET Swiss time which Haglund calculates is 9:00 a.m. EST.

There are two ways to view it:

http://www.prixdelausanne-live.com/

OR

http://liveweb.arte.tv/