Haglund's Heel

NotMyDayJobPhotography

Take a look at some of Kent Becker's ABT curtain call photos from the past few years at www.NotMyDayJobPhotography.com .  A link to the galleries is in the upper right corner of the front page.

Here's a lovely image of one of our favorite ballerinas:

© Creative Commons

Why ABT is faltering in the classics

There are several reasons why ABT is faltering in the classics, and it's hard to rank them in importance.

The company has a grossly insufficient number of ballet masters/mistresses/répétiteurs who are experientially qualified to coach the classical principal ballerina roles and elicit world class performances from the artists.  The enormous day-in & day-out responsibility for developing the ABT women in the classical ballerina roles rests on the shoulders of the legendary, still very vibrant 79-year-old Irina Kolpakova.  ABT has no other permanently employed retired principal ballerinas of international stature who are able to pass on principal-level classical artistry on a daily basis to its ballerinas. 

Right now, ABT has four (4) ballet masters with a disturbing range of qualifications.  The Royal Ballet has at least 10 masters/repetiteurs.  The Paris Opera Ballet has at least 14.  The Bolshoi has more than 20.  The Mariinsky has nearly 30. 

So how does ABT respond to the problem of its woefully under-powered artistic staff?  Instead of investing in a few permanent world class classical coaches, it throws the money away on imported unclassical dancethletes who have no artistic connection or artistic relevance to the company while its own brilliant and gleaming dancers sit stalled in the cold garage.  The only value that these imported dancers have is that they come pre-made and pre-media-ed. 

The message that ABT's artistic director now sends to the entire world is that he believes the company is so lacking in talent that most any dancer in the world with a media following can waltz into the the top rank at ABT without even having to ask for it.  The company will slap an ABT principal logo on any unauthentic, un-vetted, cheap piece of junk jewelry that comes along so long as it is pre-media-ed.  There is no need for world class classical balletic skill -  you can start at the top at ABT so long as you have a media following.

It is puzzling why artistic director Kevin McKenzie cannot or will not surround himself with capable retired principal world class classicists who can pass on their artistry to the company's dancers.  He seems to think that he is the primary one who should pass on the artistry to the ballerinas -- which may explain why so many in his care can be so dull, dry, and colorless.  He, like the typical inadequate CEO, is reluctant to hire classical coaches more qualified than he is and empower them with the authority to do their jobs.

The dancers who overtly seek outside artistic classical tutoring or outside classical opportunities are slapped aside, denied new roles for which they have shown they are fully prepared, and are made to stand down and watch less accomplished and less talented underlings walk up and dance away with their roles.  If it is depressing and demoralizing for the audience to watch, imagine how it must be for the company's dancers. 

Currently Isabella Boylston and Hee Seo are being shown supreme entitlement to every conceivable role while they deliver less than principal level quality dancing and in some cases less than soloist level work.  Cheeky and confident yes, but they are frequently sloppy and woefully underprepared no matter what they are dancing.  

Meanwhile, Maria Riccetto has been softly ushered back to her home country when in fact she was one of the most gifted classicists at ABT.  All she needed was a committed coach -- something that ABT couldn't seem to manage. 

Sarah Lane who has already wooed an international audience with her Swan Lake opposite Angel Corella is surviving on bread crumbs.  The perfect combination of a Herman Cornejo Siegfried with a Sarah Lane Odette is being denied to us for no reason other than the surly obstinance of a truly mediocre director who demands to be right about all things even when he isn't.  It's nice that we will finally get to see Cornejo as Siegfried even if it is ten years after we should have, but it is a tragedy that Sarah must lose her opportunity to a guest artist whose deformed feet and failing technique are not ameliorated by a pretty face and constantly upturned eyebrows.  To repeat:  sweet is not enough.

One of McKenzie's most felonious mismanagements of talent to date has been the sidelining of Stella Abrera when in fact she is at the very peak of her dancing abilities despite being shunned by McKenzie since the death of her coach Georgina Parkinson.  Like Sarah Lane, Stella independently acquired international experience in principal roles denied her by McKenzie and now he is retaliating by ending her career. 

When Parkinson died, the dancers under her care, including Abrera, seemed to be tossed aside by McKenzie as though they had died, too.  Rather than hire an experienced classical coach for those dancers, McKenzie hired Susan Jaffe who focused on other dancers and has since dumped her job at ABT to move to academia.  McKenzie has given so many of Abrera's roles and opportunities to Seo that she'll probably come home from work one day to find Seo standing in the middle of her livingroom with a big smile: Oh, Kevin sent me. I guess he sees me in this role, too. Sorry. 

It is an absolute disgrace how McKenzie has failed Abrera, Lane, Riccetto, Matthews, Radetsky, and others while he tries to overhaul ABT into an Ardani-driven circus for which he contributes a few painted ponies and a trickster who has to alter Balanchine's choreography because it's too hard for him.  Oh, let's not get started again on that ....

Joffrey documentary on PBS 12/28

The documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance which traces the history and accomplishments of the Joffrey Ballet will be aired on PBS's American Masters series on December 28.  Check your local PBS listings to confirm the date and time in your area.

NYCB change in Winter Season repertory

Apparently, NYCB has pulled the new Peter Martins/Marc-Andre Dabalvie ballet from the  2013 Winter Season because the composer needs more time to complete the music.

A premiere by Justin Peck to Bohuslav Martinu's Sinfonietta "La Jolla" will be inserted in the schedule.  What a fantastic, danceable piece of music Justin has chosen for his next piece with its stirring melodies and piano on steroids.  Haglund is pretty excited about this. 

If the rest of the original winter schedule holds fast, the new Peck/Martinu piece will be on the program each time with the Ratmansky/Shostakovich Concerto DSCH which will make quite an energetic evening of music. 

Justin's new piece will premiere on January 31st.  Buy here.  Its final performance of the season will be on February 8 with Concerto DSCH and Symphony in C.  There may not be any feets left on the dancers after that evening!  Buy here.

 

Henry Leutwyler's book on NYCB delayed again

Amazon sent out another round of emails notifying anxious buyers that shipment of Henry Leutwyler's new book of NYCB photographs will be delayed until mid-December – the second delay since the original expected release date of October 15.  Bummer. 

Mr. Leutwyler, what's going on here? 

 

A doctoral level lesson in dance marketing from NYCB

. . . that is, another doctoral level lesson.

A new fabulous promotional video has shown up on the front of NYCB's website and is now on The Atlantic Magazine's website as well.  Oh, those clips of Ashley Bouder and Ana Sophia Scheller are especially beautiful. 

The video delivers such a strong argument for the value of building from within as opposed to importing strangers like ABT does.

RNZB's new Giselle opens in Wellington

Continually updated

Photo: Ross Brown

The Royal New Zealand Ballet's brand new production of Giselle opened last evening in Wellington with Gillian Murphy's debut in the title role.  Haglund will link to the reviews as they come in.

Lucire News  Giselle Another outstanding production for the Royal New Zealand Ballet

Twitter feed

Update 11/7:

Dominion-Post  [Gillian Murphy] may have the reputation of being a fast dancer but believe me, she does slow too. Balances are held, arabesques developed, port de bras sustained, pirouettes gifted, all speaking of love. Lucky RNZB, and they know it.

Update 11/8:

New Zealand's Theatreview

Update 11/8: 

New Zealand dance critic Raewyn Whyte has seen the first two casts of Giselle (Murphy/Huan and Antonia Hewitt/Andrew Bowman) and has been kind enough to share her exclusive comments with H.H. in the Comments section of this post. 

Update 11/8:

From Valerie Lawson's website dancelines:   [Giselle] is big in scope, in its sweep of narrative, its adherence to the spirit of the story and most of all in the impact of the performance as Giselle by Stiefel’s fiancée, Gillian Murphy.

Update 11/9:

This is a fabulous and very detailed 10 minute audio review of the opening night of Giselle by Deirdre Tarrant on Radio New Zealand.   "Beautifully done....They got it 200 percent."

Update 11/12:

Raewyn Whyte's first formal review of Giselle is out, a second one is due out after the Auckland performances:

The dancing is demanding throughout the work’s 110 minutes, and the company has never looked better – technically poised and polished, lyrically perfect, and expressively convincing.  The majority of dancers are younger than 32 and have come from all over the world to be in this company. Most have been here at least five years, and are highly committed to staying. That they are at their best right now is hardly surprising, given the input they have had over the past six weeks  from Stiefel and Kobborg, Gillian Murphy (of ABT and who is the Royal NZ Ballet’s Principal Guest Artist), and coach Amanda McKerrow.

Thanks, Raewyn!

Update 11/23

Raewyn Whyte previews RNZB's upcoming visit to Auckland in the New Zealand Herald.

 

The Voting Dance

The Corps de Voter lines up in triple queue force to battle Von Rombart.  

Satellite Ballet on the radar

Satellite Ballet presented a curiously satisfying evening of collaborative creations at John Jay College's Lynch Theater last Friday night. The program included its most theatrical work to date, Warehouse Under the Hudson, in which a young woman who is searching for answers in her past meets a thief who had been collecting her past and now holds the answers which she seeks.  They strike a Faustian bargain wherein he agrees to give back her past provided she relinquishes her future to him. 

Taylor Stanley as the bare-chested thief in bright red tights superbly conveyed the seductive and dangerous side of his Faustian character.  Intensely dramatic from head to toe, he produced big theater with his smallest movements and briefest glances.  The young woman, whose character was given the name of Kim, was portrayed in various stages of development by Lauren King, Lydia Wellington, Ashley Laracey, and Emilie Gerrity.  Kim's boyfriend was portrayed by David Prottas.  Samuel Greenberg rounded out the cast as a New Yorker.

The production of Warehouse, like all of Satellite Ballet's work, was born from a collaboration among choreographer Troy Schumacher, librettist and visual artist Kevin Draper, and composers Nick Jaina, Nathan Langston, Amanda Lawrence, and David Moss.  Lighting designs for the group are created by Brandon Baker.  The dancers are from the New York City Ballet as are Schumacher and one of the costume designers, Daniel Applebaum, who has also danced with the company.

At first glance, it was evident that the building of this Warehouse arose from a solid narrative foundation.  The tendency of today's less experienced choreographers is to develop their favorite steps and signature style first and then try to mold them to some type of a story.  In Warehouse, Schumacher often traced the choreography from ordinary human movement.  MacMillan, Neumeier, Tudor, Robbins, and deMille are recognized as some of ballet's geniuses who have worked from this model.  The Royal Ballet's new young artist in residence, Liam Scarlett, seems willing and able to do so, too. 

For whatever reason, leitmotifs don't show up in new choreography as much as they used to, and they are one more important element of craftsmanship that seems to be disappearing.  It was, therefore, a hopeful sign to see a few in Schumacher's Warehouse -- even if one didn't always understand them.

Haglund will admit that the initial draw to attend the performances of Satellite Ballet has always been the opportunity to see NYCB's engaging dancers shop their talents in work that might not be ready for a major stage but stimulates artistic growth in the dancers.  Taylor Stanley is benefiting a great deal from the collaboration.  While there may be a few stronger technicians in NYCB's corps, Stanley has a magnetic quality and a range of theatrical skills that make him one of the most interesting dancers in the company to watch.  The exact same thing can be said about Lauren King and Ashley Laracey.  All three bring Performance with a capital P to whatever they are dancing and seem very ready to spring to the soloist level.

The other ballet on the program was Epistasis which was presented on a earlier occasion at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.  No narrative to speak of in this piece but it included a series of high energy solos for the dancers that were supposed to exhibit relation and evolution.  What it actually showed was how Satellite Ballet's new creation of Warehouse is a distinct and advanced evolution of the company's overall work. 

The musical element of Satellite Ballet's creations may be its strongest.  Piano and strings were beautifully played live in Friday night's performance although off-stage and amplified.  At the company's performance at the Baryshnikov Arts Center last year, the musicians were off to the side but visible to the audience which was kind of nice.  The music at Friday's performance had strong melodies that the ear could follow and dramatic arcs.  For whatever reason – but probably due to a fondness for John Harle – Haglund thought it might be nice to introduce a soprano saxophone into the mix.

Kevin Draper's and Lora Robertson's bold photographic projections displayed on the large screen at the back of the stage were helpful in understanding Warehouse but were distracting in the more abstract Epistasis.  The images of New York City's old architecture created for the first ballet were striking.

While the natural objective of most any performing artist is to increase his audience size and the size of the venue in which he works, Haglund hopes that Satellite Ballet will return to the smaller BAC environment for a longterm incubation.  The collaborative concept of the group seems more Wooster than Morphoses -- which is a good thing.  Speaking of Wooster, what a surprise it was to discover that Willem Dafoe plays bass for Peter Frampton now and then. 

The HH Pump Bump Award, a devilish Galliano, is bestowed upon Taylor Stanley for his role as The Thief in Warehouse Under the Hudson.

Radetsky in Mongolia

Waiting to see this man as Albrecht, Siegfried, and Desire in New York.

  http://www.bluesilktravel.com/Mongolia%20Travel%20Events.htm

http://news.undesten.mn/news/19106