Haglund's Heel

Cheated

The Symphony in C and Ratmansky premiere casting for the Met Season have appeared on the ABT website.  It's going to be wonderful to see Veronika Part in the second movement, but the long and the short of it is that the finale with Paloma Herrera, Veronika Part, Xiomara Reyes, and Sarah Lane all trying to execute simultaneously has <2% chance of succeeding.  The second cast with the Schmimports augmented with Misty Copeland and Simone Messmer has less.  Simone will be fabulous.  The first movement will be a big challenge for Misty.  Hopefully she has had an opportunity to see Ana Sophia Scheller at NYCB in the role or perhaps will have the opportunity if Ana dances "C" in February.  Misty has gotten a little off-track over the past couple of years.  Instead of working hard to transform the upper body and port de bras into a more classical form, she seems to have signed on to imitate some of the more gross aspects of Osipova and Semionova with misplaced legs to the ear and over-split jumps that result in a dropped crotch look.  A lot of people are praying that she gets back on track.  Really praying.

It is astonishing to see that both Gillian Murphy and Stella Abrera have been locked out of Symphony in C when they along with Part and Messmer would have been a gold first cast that could deliver a first rate finale in addition to fabulous individual movements.  Three of the four of these dancers could knock out any one of the four movements with extraordinary results.

The Kennedy Center Symphony in C casting hasn't appeared yet; so, maybe there's hope that McKenzie will get at least one right.  But given his track record so far, nobody should hold their breath.  In fact, there are even more ways it could get worse given what McKenzie has been promoting lately.

NYCB dances Symphony in C on February 7, 8, 9 (mat), and 10.  Don't miss it.  On February 8th, you can get Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH, too.

The importation of foreign guest dancers for principal opportunities continues unabated.  Now, McKenzie is trying to sanitize his import business by calling it an exchange.  The dancer he has imported from the Royal Danish Ballet, while expectedly wonderful in Bournonville, is nothing special in Petipa.  There's enough video on YouTube to see that.  The guy has major problems with floppy arms and wrists and is an inconsistent and unspectacular turner.  The dancer who McKenzie has imported from the Royal Ballet is a smallish, clean technician who is deserving of the high respect that he gets from his home audience.  But he's not any better than ABT's own Joe Gorak who McKenzie thinks he's doing a favor by holding back. 

The Royal Ballet dancer comes with a Genée Gold Medal, the prestigious RAD prize.  That's great.  But how does ABT treat its own one and only Genée Gold Medal Winner?  Like crap.  Stella Abrera, who is ABT's only Genée gold medalist, hasn't been given the opportunity to develop any leading principal classical roles.  In fact, she hasn't been allowed to dance one, single, solitary leading principal role in a classical full length ballet in her entire career.  Not one.  In fact, and this is particularly sad, McKenzie won't even allow her ABT biography to state that she has performed arguably the most difficult classical role of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty with another company to international rave reviews.  She is one of the top classicists in the company right now, and McKenzie is just wasting her career, and CHEATING the audience out of opportunities to see her dance year after year after year while he imports garbage and tries to find the next "IT Girl" who the media will pick up on.  It's disgusting.  It's disgusting to see honest classicism replaced with pandering.

ABT claims now to be a presenter of the greatest dancers in the world.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The greatest interpreters of Balanchine are at NYCB.  The greatest interpreters of Petipa are at the Mariinsky and Paris Opera Ballet.  The Schmimports that McKenzie buys on sale aren't the best at anything -- not a damn thing.  And yet, he bases entire seasons on them.  It's disgusting.

People are paying a lot of attention to Matthew Golding who McKenzie made waste and wilt in the corps.  Golding saw the writing on the wall and bolted.  In the few years since leaving ABT, Golding has excelled internationally.  He made great strides in his short time at the Corella Ballet, quickly rose to principal at Dutch National Ballet, has been honored to dance at the Mariinsky, and is a guest principal at the Royal Ballet where he also trained.  This guy has always been fantastic, and yet for some reason, McKenzie couldn't make it work.  Right now, he's repeating the same damn mistakes with Joe Gorak, Eric Tamm, Luis Ribagorda, Joe Phillips, and Roddy Doble.

When is ABT's Board going to wake up?  People are tired of being CHEATED out of seeing ABT's own world class dancers.

FAILE succeeds; Bouder & Stafford sublime

The Brooklyn-based urban artist collective, FAILE (pronouced like fail), is NYCB's selection for the inaugural NYCB Art Series for which ballet-inspired original art will be commissioned.  FAILE's exhibit is installed on the promenade level at the Koch Theater and will be on display until February 24. 

The skyscraper-like pillar, with appropriate setbacks which were probably demanded by the local community board's land-use committee, is constructed of stacked wooden blocks of different sizes on which images – many from the middle of the 20th century – have been stenciled and painted.  The images are of a design like that used in comic books in the 1950s and '60s.  Richard Nixon's image stares proudly from one side of the pillar.  His pal, Chairman Mao Zedong, is around the corner.  Prince Charles and Tanaquil Le Clercq are depicted along with anonymous faces and a few drawings of ballerinas.  Printed slogans, random phrases or words, and designs – many recognizable from the 20th century – are stenciled on the wooden blocks, some with a modern twist.

Haglund's favorite: SAVE YOUR STILETTO

The installation is fairly fun to wander around and read during intermission.  It's better than staring adoringly at the little plastic bowls of gummies and M&Ms that you know you shouldn't have.  But it's not art that beckons you to return to it time and time again – unlike the glistening art that filled the stage last night.

The Winter Season got off to a terrific start with a program of all Balanchine/all Tschaikovsky.  The highlights of the evening were Ashley Bouder and Jonathan Stafford in Tschaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2.  Prior to getting to the good stuff, however, Ashley spread herself across the stage floor like broken egg yolks in the supermarket aisle. Before anyone could yell "Clean-up in Dairy," she was back on her feet and on her way.

Because Ashley's repertory at NYCB tends to be more jumping than anything else, one often hears words like blazing, brilliant, buoyant, and bold to describe her performances.  Rarely does one hear the words sublime or luminous to describe her dancing.  But those are exactly the words that came to mind last night as she and Jonathan Stafford caressed their PdD.  These dancers were perfectly and tenderly in tune with one another.  The smooth as silk partnering looked like a loving conversation that perhaps was too private for us to be watching.  Once separated, they glanced over their shoulders toward but not at one another. Their eyes searched for and sensed the presence of the other dancer. 

Stafford is such a gallant partner who reads his ballerinas well and responds perfectly.  Not blessed with great turnout of the legs, he nevertheless uses what he has to maximum effect and doesn't cheat or try to compensate by forcing something in bad taste – as we might observe happening elsewhere in the ballet world.  His series of entrechat six were crisp and clean, and complimented by an easy, relaxed upper torso.

Some of the lingering images from Ashley's dancing included an exit of delicate temps de fleche to the back while looking upward, breathing balances in arabesque, allegro jumps that were grand by definition but were also light and airy. 

Savannah Lowery as the soloist would not have been Haglund's choice for the role although maybe it was simply the wrong cast for her.  There were no mishaps to speak of, but the quality of her dancing was effortful as though that should make up for the sometimes missing qualities of shape, elegance, and control.  Savannah would probably fare better in tonight's cast that includes the statuesque Teresa Reichlen.

Among the demi-soloists, Ashley Laracey didn't miss an opportunity to fill each note of music luxuriously.  She also shone brightly as a demi-soloist in Serenade along with Lauren King, Alina Dronova, and Georgina Pazcoguin.  Ashley and Lauren have two of the most elegant profiles of the company with their long straight necks and lovely defined jawlines that help set them apart along with their gorgeous dancing.  Add Ms. Dronova to the list as well.

Serenade looked a little curious last night with the addition of Sebastien Marcovici to the cast.  The rounding of the top of his back always catches the light which makes his movement appear like that of a much older dancer.  In movement that requires him to face front, his dancing is very appealing, but Serenade doesn't have a lot of that type of choreography.  His partnering of Janie Taylor should have been more on the money.

Janie's waltz girl was beautiful with great flowing hair, as always.  Her series of arabesques that fell forward as the back leg surrendered to attitude were lovely. 

Megan Fairchild and Rebecca Krohn as the Russian girl and the dark angel were resplendent.  Megan's saute fouettes neatly sliced from left to right sending the tulle flying like a blue mist.  Rebecca's generous bends of the torso and gentle pirouette finishes were gorgeous as was her arabesque line when rotated on pointe by Ask la Cour.

The middle of the program included some of the evening's most captivating dancing by Maria Kowroski in Mozartiana.  Still in the sweet spot of a career now into its 18th year, Maria's artistry continues to flourish.  She is surely one of the most genetically gifted dancers of our time.  Following the retirement of her longtime and frequent partner, Charles Askegard, there was some fleeting concern about the path of her career.  But Tyler Angle has injected new spirit into her dancing.  They look wonderful together and have great rapport on stage.  Their performance last night was enhanced by Arturo Delmoni's sweet and magical violin.

Although last night was Tyler's debut in Mozartiana, he and Maria were assured, vibrant, and harmonious in the PdD. His turns left and right were authoritative and accurate although he got a little caught up on the final series of rapid-fire single tours en l'air.

Daniel Ulbricht's energetic and engaging Gigue looked a little Tarantella-ish, but Haglund cannot put his finger on exactly why. 

The corps de ballet was tidy most of the evening and danced with a high level of energy and joy. 

The first H.H. Pump Bump Award of the season, a Prada art-shoe styled after cars of the 1950s, is bestowed upon Ashley Bouder for taking her dancing to yet another new level of artistry in Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2.

Hvorostovsky & Rachmaninov – Carnegie Hall

Dmitri Hvorostovsky and pianist Ivari Ilja will present an evening of Rachmaninov songs on Wednesday, March 27 at Carnegie Hall.  Unbelievably, tickets start at $19.50 and are available for purchase right now. 

Here's the program:

• RACHMANINOFF "Child, thou art as beautiful as a flower," Op. 8, No. 2
• RACHMANINOFF "Morning," Op. 4, No. 2
• RACHMANINOFF "At the gates of the Holy cloister"
• RACHMANINOFF "In my soul," Op. 14, No. 10
• RACHMANINOFF "Night is mournful," Op. 26, No. 12
• RACHMANINOFF "Do you remember the evening"
• RACHMANINOFF "Again I am alone," Op. 26, No. 9
• RACHMANINOFF "How fair this spot," Op. 21, No. 7
• RACHMANINOFF "The raising of Lazarus," Op. 34, No. 6
• RACHMANINOFF "Lilacs," Op. 21, No. 5
• RACHMANINOFF "I wait for thee," Op. 14, No. 1
• SVIRIDOV GEORGY SVIRIDOV Selections from "Petersburg"
  ·· "The weathercock"
  ·· "The golden oar"
  ·· "The bride"
  ·· "A voice from the chorus"
  ·· "I am nailed to a tavern counter"
  ·· "The breeze has brought from far away"
  ·· "Petersburg song"
  ·· "Those born in obscure years"
  ·· "The virgin city"

 

If you have not heard this great voice in recital at Carnegie Hall, don't miss this chance.  Often, he sings an encore of Russian folk songs a cappella with such soul that your own soul feels reborn.

Buy your tickets now.

NYCB Art Series

NYCB is launching its inaugural Art Series with its performances on Feb 1 and May 29 for which all seats will be $29.  Tickets for these two dates go on sale tomorrow at noon.

Although it doesn't look like this will be an event where the art makes its way to the stage like the recent Santiago Calatrava collaboration (which Haglund enjoyed quite a bit), it's not clear how it will be more than an exhibit in the roaming areas of the theater.

NYCB Art Series will commission contemporary artists to create original works of art inspired by the Company, its history, and repertory. The inaugural collaboration features Brooklyn-based artists FAILE, and each attendee to the 2/1 and 5/29 Art Series performances will receive a limited-edition work made specifically for this event.
[from the NYCB website]

If you're up on your urban art, you may already be familiar with FAILE's unique projects involving stenciling and murals.  Haglund will admit that he took a fancy to the huge Wolf Within sculpture shown here, which FAILE recently installed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, but the other portfolio components don't sway him much to the side of urban art.  Nevertheless and since the tickets are $29, Haglund will loosen his tie and pull out his shirttail and just go with the flow.

 

When you think you're giving to the ballet

Following a comprehensive investigation, New York's Attorney General recently issued a report entitled Pennies for Charities, Where Your Money Goes, Telemarketing by Professional Fundraisers.  It's a scathing report that lists each charity in New York that uses an outside telemarketer to raise funds and the percentage of funds that actually goes to the charity.

The report shows that ABT's outside telemarketer collects 23.67% of what it raises over the phone.  When you think you've just given ABT $1000 by phone or increased your donation level by $500, you've actually just handed over $236.70 or $118.35 to a telemarketing firm. 

The report shows that NYCB's telemarketer collects a whopping 40.34% of whatever they can get you to fork over by phone.

These firms usually identify themselves as the charity when they call.  Sometimes they say that they are calling "on behalf of" and sometimes they say "from the offices of" but the true identity is always obscured if not blatantly lied about.  Their pitches are frequently fictionalized to create a sense of need or to create a sense of opportunity for the giver.  When a caller claims that the charity desperately needs money because the company is stranded overseas on tour or when a caller claims that the donor will have special access to artists or board members if only he or she will just give money over the phone today, hang up. 

If upon serious reflection, you then want to contribute money, do so by later directly contacting the company through its website donor page or mailing a check.  If you have previously told the telemarketer that you will contribute directly to the company or you will think about their pitch and perhaps contribute later, the telemarketing firm may be able to collect their finder's fee for persuading you.

Here is the link to A.G. Schneiderman's report which massages the data in various ways including alphabetically by charity, alphabetically by telemarketer, and numerically by percentages retained by charity and telemarketer:

 http://www.ag.ny.gov/pdfs/2012%20Pennies%20Final%20Review.pdf

Oh, "ditto" on buying subscriptions over the phone -- although the percentages paid to the telemarketers may vary.

 

From the "You couldn't make this up" Dept

At Kirkland's International School of Classical Ballet, there is a 10-year-old student named Nikita Baryshnikov.

That's Kirkland, Washington. 

The school is not related to her and the student is not related to him so says this article in the Kirkland Reporter that includes a picture of the young Baryshnikov, who originally hails from Wisconsin.  Actually, the article says that there is no "known" relation.

It tickles, doesn't it?

NY Phil & Zukerman 1/9-1/12

While folks are resting up awaiting the start of NYCB's Winter Season, they may want to take in the upcoming NY Phil concerts that will feature Pinchas Zukerman in Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1.  This is a glorious piece of music that Clark Tippet used for his 1987 ballet for ABT by the same name.  Baryshnikov recognized that the complicated Tippet was a choreographic find and gave him several opportunities to develop.  Unfortunately, ABT's current management has little interest in Tippet's work.

This would have been the perfect year for ABT to present Tippet's Bruch at the Met.  It features four couples in separate movements and a large corps with a stunning finale.  Everyone is in beautiful tutus.  The ballet would have been a much better choice for 2013 than Symphony in C which NYCB has performed this past year and continues to perform this year with unparalleled excellence.

All that aside, the NY Phil is presenting a spendid program next week with Zukerman playing the violin.  Pinky and Haglund go way, way, way back to when Pinky was the director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Haglund was a Sunday afternoon subscriber in the $5 side gallery seats.  It seems these days that the SPCO and its management are at an impasse over the next contract, and some of the SPCO season has already been cancelled.  Federal mediators are trying to work things out which is good to hear.

Oh, there are $29 tickets.  The second part of the program is Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 – another snappy tune that will make your feet want to rhythmically kick the seat in front of them.

 

ABT – Wash DC casting

Good to see that the Kennedy Center casting is up already -- kind of unusual to see it this early, but no one's complaining.

For the opening night of The Moor's Pavane, Stella Abrera joins the cast of Gomes, Stearns, and Kent while Veronika opens Ratmansky's Symphony #9 cast with Bolle.  The following night Kristi Boone and Alex Hammoudi join the Symphony #9 cast of Abrera, Jared Matthews, and Sascha Radetsky.

No Symphony in C casting yet and that is where the peril will be.  Hopefully, we will see Veronika in the Second Movement for either or BOTH nights with Stella and Gillian Murphy - who returns for this tour - in the First Movement.  The last thing anyone needs in Symphony in C are dancers who can't make it work with other dancers in an ensemble -- which is exactly why Hee Seo and Isabella Boylston need to sit on the bench for this ballet.  It doesn't matter what a dancer accomplishes in her individual movement, if she messes up the last 90 seconds of the final ensemble movement, the whole work is a bust, and those two dancers need a wake-up call in their ensemble work.  Nor does anyone need to see the tempi slowed for Osipova and Vasiliev to try to turn the Third Movement into an anti-Balanchine trampoline circus act.

Haglund strongly recommends that everyone see NYCB dance Symphony in C (Feb. 7,8,9,10) this winter so that everyone knows what it should look like before seeing any of ABT's schmimports hack 'n jack through it.

Opening night of Le Corsaire includes Herman Cornejo as Ali plus Herrera, Gomes, Abrera, Radetsky, and Salstein.  Veronika dances Medora the following night with Stearns.

Luis Ribagorda dances the Saturday matinee Birbanto, AND (trumpets, please), Joe Phillips will be Ali on Saturday night in the cast with Murphy, Gomes, and Radetsky.  Joe Phillips, folks.  Haglund hopes for a fast, Corella-type tempo for Joe.  We really need to bring that excitement back to Ali.

Tickets go on sale Feb. 6th.