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February 02, 2020

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What a colossal waste of time and resources. I missed his Giselle that just premiered at the Bolshoi. If you saw it, was it any good?

Shawn, I had a ticket to the cinemacast but didn't make it.

I listened to his interview on the City Ballet podcast, and I enjoyed hearing about his background and experience. However, once they started discussing his new piece, it was red flags all over the place.

Ratmansky's Giselle is possibly the most traditional restaging he's done of the full-length classics. He largely followed the standard choreography and opened up a few small cuts in the score. The way he ended the second act probably created the most buzz; it was a dramatic choice that I've never encountered. You should find the segment that was broadcast between the acts in which he talks about his research and choices. Smirnova was exquisite; the company was terrific.

I really wish I had seen this cinemacast. Hopefully the Bolshoi will bring this production to the U.S. in the near future. I have tremendous respect for Ratmansky's ability to bring stylistic discipline to what ever dancers he's working with.

The current "Voices" however is a hodgepodge effort to please everyone: the people who want to see classical dancing, the people who want to see non-classical dancing, the people who want a story, the people who want abstract.

It bothers me when Ratmansky chooses a theme but then doesn't commit to a story line. Rather he chooses to sort of outline or sketch out something which ends up looking like a sketch or outline.

In "Voices" it was clear that he was going for a theme where the the women were speaking and the women were dancing individually and ferociously while the over-controlling men were enforcing the classical idiom with their variations and escorting the rebel women off the stage. But it all came off as another trite cliche of women fighting men for the right to raise their voices. It was a sketch with no depth. We were in Tudor's territory but without Tudor's storytelling skill.

I'm really dreading his new Love and Rage at ABT.

I second the comment by Solor regarding the Bolshoi performing Ratmansky's Giselle and the Ratmansky interview. Smirnova was lovely, just everything you'd want from a ballerina. I also loved her partner and the cast who were amazing. The filming was mostly decent though the transmittal in Kansas City had a number of minor glitches with brief sound mutes and blurred images. But I left happy, getting my ballet needs met.

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