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May 20, 2014

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The concluding paragraphs contain some of the most important comments about the current state of ballet and choreography I have seen in a very long time.

Thank you, Mathilde.

Haglund, this is so fracking brilliant that I may have to memorize it.

Thanks, dc.

I moved away from New York in 2011. One of my chief regrets was the end of my frequent balletgoing. But now I think it would have been more painful to watch ABT's demise in person, rather than tracking it through your blog. I think the tipping point around 2006 sounds right. It must have been no later than 2007 that I saw Stella one night, shining equally alongside Vishneva in Manon. I observed that not only had she continually refined her classicism, she had achieved virtuosity—quite a feat for a lyrical dancer. She is the unforgivable casualty. The canary in the mineshaft.

I saw Copeland as the Firebird in LA and felt she had stagnated, become a caricature of herself. Her signature roles for me were the Swan Lake pas de trois and Tharp. Not really a full repertoire.

I am visiting next week and have decided to boycott ABT and attend multiple performances at NYCB instead. I would like to support the dancers I love but I don't think I would be. I need to vote with my dollars.

This post reminds me quite a bit of Edwin Denby's criticism in Looking at the Dance. If we can't have newspapers, at least we have bloggers!

Thank you, Annie H.

I agree that Stella is McKenzie's "unforgivable casualty." Many do. We all have lost so much by not having the opportunity to see her lead Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and the balance of the classical repertory. McKenzie cannot now put her on stage in any of those roles, because her success would embarrass him just like Sarah Lane's success in Sleeping Beauty on the heels of Hee Seo's utter failure embarrassed him.

Haglund, I'm not sure if you're aware, but it says on Ballet Philippines' website that Stella will dance in their Giselle this September (with Whiteside, but at least it's Stella, right?): http://ballet.ph/news/company-news/

Giselle will be part of The Blue Moon Gala, a fundraising series for the company: http://ballet.ph/shows/blue-moon-gala

Has she danced the title role before? I will pray for good weather, September is part of rainy/monsoon season.

Meg, thank you for those links! That is at once both incredible and horrifying. What a shame her partner couldn't be Jared or Eric Tamm or Joe Gorak or god, please, anyone else.

But yes, this could essentially be her full debut. She danced the Act II pdd with Sascha last year in Santa Fe to great acclaim. Witnesses said she was better than anyone else at ABT.

Unfortunately, this spring we are having Isabella Boylston's homely, unclassical dancing forced down our throats in Giselle along with imports who have no business stealing artistic opportunities away from our better dancers.

Indeed, the last two paragraphs deserve to be copied and framed on the walls of every major ballet school in the world. Dancers today who don't have the talent to work within classical ballet tenets or even those who simply can't be bothered to do so, are now applauded for pushing the boundaries of classical ballet. Now instead of being hidden in the last line of the corps, they are artistic pioneers. The few truly classical ballerinas who respect their art are now described as old-fashioned or conventional. It's like people want to see circus freak shows.


"Nobody wants to pay $100 to sit in a theater and watch an average anything on the classical ballet stage - not an average body, not an average face - certainly not a homely one, not an average ability, not an average anything. We pay money to watch the extraordinary. We pay money to watch elite bodies achieve an aesthetic and artistry that we cannot ever achieve because of what we are not."

True, but to a certain degree. I think the emphasis today is more on appearance and doing tricks than on musicality and ability to dance. There is now only one type of aesthetics trumping all. The type which the Russians subscribe to today is responsible for much of the lack of artistry, since much of what the Russians do still influence others. Leggy, tall, extremely scrawny ballerina is now the prototype for ballerina both in public consciousness and also in ballet circles. Because they are so lanky, they are encouraged to be only excel in adagio work. So now you have specialists and typecasting. What about only decades ago, when a ballerina in order to be considered great, had to be able to dance a wide spectrum of roles? Eva Evdokimova, who could dance Sylph one night, then Raymonda the next, then Aurora the following, etc... When physicality is given undue emphasis over all other intangibles and criterion, ballet is nothing but decorative art, and that's what we have today with the Polina Semionovas of the world, beautiful but bland Polina. When ballerinas with beautiful bodies but tin ears can grace the center stage of major companies, you know ballet is going downhill.

Then you have the other extreme, the dancers who should have stuck to gymnastics school. This type is more in line with your last two paragraphs.

http://youtu.be/CvyBGyR5aTg

Haglund, your analysis is brilliant, albeit sad for ABT's current aesthetics. OK, so who has the 'bouncing boobs'among principal or solo ladies? Most seem pretty fit and lean...but I have my suspicions. Initials 'IB'?

Thanks for the clip, Genna. The "XXX" title is a tickler.

Interesting point that you make about specialization.

Ananiashvili and Bessmertnova were leggy and scrawny, but somehow they learned to excel in most everything.

If someone wants to see average things being performed by average people - even regarding ballet - there's always the option to pay much less, if anything at all, and attend a show by any local ballet studio where everyone gets some stage time. For the joy of dance, they can even participate themselves, starting ballet as adult beginners. These things all have their due place somewhere and no offense to that. Maybe one can appreciate the "real thing" even better after that. However, such things should not take over the professional stages.

Hi Kallima.

So true. Everyone should have the chance to dance just like every kid should have the opportunity to play in a baseball game. That doesn't mean that everyone should expect to collect money for it.

Hope you are well, and have found some ballet to attend in your part of the world.

H.

H, you're welcome. Lol at "at once both incredible and horrifying" (but true). Happy, though, because this is Stella's dream role.

Meg, are you close enough to Manila that you might be able to attend Stella's Giselle? Are specific casting dates generally announced ahead of time?

Quote:

"the Times’ critics who write about classical ballet are merely sideline observers with megawatt blowhorns. Their primary mission is to convince readers of their own authority rather than write about performances that occur on stage. They are, at best, good fakes in a world that promotes fake it until you make it. When one of them writes something like First, some facts, that’s the first sign that you are about to read garbage. Usually, it’s no more than the writer trying to assert his faux authority"

What you wrote, alas, rings very true.

Hi, Mathilde. The Times tends to hold style over substance - a strong example of that being their ballet criticism.

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