Haglund's Heel

NYCB – 10/14Robbins' Dances at a Gathering – about as storyless as an Auden haiku

Two decades before creating Dances at a Gathering, Jerome Robbins was immersed in bringing the complicated souls of Leonard Bernstein's and W.H. Auden’s Age of Anxiety into ballet form. Auden’s Pulitzer Prize-winning poem of 1947 inspired Bernstein to write his symphony in 1948-49. Robbins tackled their complex poetic and musical themes in 1950. It’s now easy to see how Robbins found kindred clan among Auden and Bernstein. All three artists’ work addressed the difficult search for meaning in life and acceptance of oneself in a post-war world emotionally charged with uncertainty and false ideas.

Age of Anxiety would not be the last time that Robbins turned to either Bernstein or Auden for inspiration. The composer and poet were major creative forces in the mid-20th century as Robbins would also come to be.

Robbins work figures prominently in the last half of New York City Ballet’s current fall season. Glass Pieces, Dances at a Gathering, Firebird (co-choreographed with Balanchine) all look to be in fine shape and are blessed with interpreters who sense the significance of the choreography as opposed to themselves.

Some claim there is no story in Dances at a Gathering, Robbins' classic from 1969 set to a collection of Chopin waltzes, etudes, and mazurkas. Perhaps there is no narrative, but there is plenty of story with a final tableau that wraps it up somberly.

Toward the end of Dances at a Gathering, the dancers wander onto the stage, milling casually as though relaxing at a picnic after a bout of play. A man dressed in green kneels down to place his hand lovingly on the earth, perhaps on a much missed soul’s resting place. Suddenly the piano music erupts into a con fuoco passage of rumbling notes that prompt the dancers to race toward the edge of the stage and peer outward as if looking into the sky for signs of a storm. They relax, but then without warning, the con fuoco rumbling returns and the dancers search the sky with concern and anxiety in their eyes. The music’s fury quickly subsides and the dancers stroll off into the rest of their lives just like W.H. Auden observed in his 1965c. nontraditional haiku:

Thoughts of his own death,
like the distant roll
of thunder at a picnic.

Last evening Megan Fairchild (in apricot), Rebecca Krohn (in mauve), Lauren King (in blue), Sterling Hyltin (in pink), Sara Mearns (in green), Robert Fairchild (in purple), Chase Finlay (in green), Zachary Catazaro (in blue), Gonzalo Garcia (in brown), and Harrison Ball (in brick) knit together their close community with dreamy lyricism, subtle humor, and exuberant play. Lauren, who danced the blue role in all of the performances with both casts this season, did so with a new poised beauty and rich musicality. Rebecca’s lovely lines and textured lyricism were as delicate as a mallow blossom. Harrison debuting in the ballet showed that, in addition to dancing with great respect for form and high energy, he can also muster up a little rapport with his partner.

Ashley Bouder’s Firebird, Zachary Catazaro’s Prince Ivan, and Ashley Laracey’s Prince’s Bride made a terrific go at bringing the Balanchine/Robbins Firebird to full life. Bouder took a spill early on when it appeared her leg buckled under her, but she completed the performance without any hint of injury, dancing with her unique electrical charge and fearless blaze. Going forward, however, we'd prefer to see her fanny splats rather than the limb twisting that occurred in last night’s spill which triggered audience heart arrhythmia.

Zachary brought a life to Prince Ivan that Justin Peck couldn’t find in the first cast. He allowed the Kastchei subjects to heave themselves at his middle with the force of a hairpin hitting a 1-Tesla magnet. This artist's dramatic output is utterly believable no matter what he’s dancing. He still owes us a Swan Lake debut from a year ago, and the interest on the debt is piling up.

Ashley Laracey’s Bride had the requisite beauty with a slightly mysterious air. She looked stunning in her red bridal dress.

The HH Pump Bump Award, Paquetá Dumond's stylishly complicated stiletto, is bestowed upon Rebecca Krohn whose mauve role in Dances at a Gathering was especially lovely.

ABT's Spring SeasonThe 2.15 Triple Bill

Classic Spectacular Rip-off:

Theme and Variations   21 minutes

Duo Concertant             17 minutes

Gaite Parisienne            36 minutes

Since when does Duo Concertant represent a third of a triple bill?  Maybe this rep program is the rich man’s econo-triple bill for people who want a short night out at the ballet but don’t mind paying through the nose for it.

Wouldn’t happen at NYCB.  Just sayin’.

 

observations 10/7

There's a new brief clip for the NYCB/AOL "television" program citi.ballet that was uploaded this morning at on.aol.com. It's about pointe shoes, which is fine, but Haglund hopes that the dancers will learn to curb and cure their on-camera upspeak at the end of sentences and their use of the word "like" which, like, drives him, like, crazy?

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The Executive Editor of Bloomberg.com's arts and culture section says It’s shocking how little attention is paid to the boards that control our cultural institutions and then lays aim at the Board of Directors of New York City Opera for their incompetence that led to the company's demise. See City Opera's Board Should Be Pillored.

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After Haglund's exposé on ABT's gross exaggeration of their pointe shoe expenses on the solicitation page of the website, the company revised their wording from claiming that they spend "over five hundred thousand dollars on pointe shoes each year" to "nearly five hundred thousand dollars on pointe shoes each year." It's still a bald-faced lie. $385k doesn't qualify as nearly $500k anywhere on earth. Perhaps we should also examine to see if those solicitation claims on the website that a JKO student's scholarship costs $5,000-$10,000 annually compare accurately with all of the real individual scholarships handed out.

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An ex-dancer of the Smuin Ballet transitioned into a career in Anthropology and is being credited with an important discovery of primitive scrappers used by Neanderthal people. She says that she's pretty good with bones.

 

Think before giving

It's time for ABT to trip over itself once again right before the 4th quarter fundraising push. For whatever reason, publication of its latest IRS Form 990 has been delayed, but it isn't likely to include much good news. So people may have to make their giving decisions based on the information already available.

ABT cries out on its website that it needs donations to its Pointe Shoe Fund because "the Company spends over five hundred thousand dollars on pointe shoes each year." That's $500,000+. The problem is that it's a bald-faced lie and ABT has knowingly misrepresented its expenses in its appeal to potential donors. The company doesn't spend anywhere near a half-million dollars on pointe shoes each year. In fact, it only spends $385,466 on ALL shoes for both men and women (pointe, slippers, jazz, character) and tights for both men and women, and the combined expenses have actually decreased over the past three years from $395k.

From the website (click on image to enlarge and clarify):

ABT's actual expenses from the last three IRS Form 990s – 2011, 2010, 2009 (click on each image to enlarge and clarify):

If the company misrepresents expenses by more than 30% in its appeal to donors, why should anyone believe anything that it says?

It's truly wonderful that a generous person recently gave a $2 million gift to the company's JKO School, but the school is not a separate entity from ABT the way SAB is separated from NYCB. That $2 million just goes into the big pot. Will some of it be used for student scholarships? Let's hope and assume so. But the vague wording of ABT's press release that describes how the money will be used suggests general company use of the funds, e.g., "Funds received will also assist in infrastructure improvements needed to maintain the JKO School's day-to-day operations, including technology enhancements, rehearsal equipment and costuming, additional personnel and physical maintenance of the JKO School facility." The JKO school does not have separate facilities, technology, and equipment.  The school doesn't even have its own website which could be run practically for free.

In addition, the company says that "funds will provide financial assistance for the continued operation of the JKO School's annual exchange program with The Royal Ballet School."  That annual excursion is an expensive one for which students are ushered over to London for a ballet field trip. Has anyone at ABT ascertained that the expense produces any kind of results that wouldn't be gained without the field trip?  These types of international field trips are common to expensive private schools where the richest board their kids. ABT is spending donors' hard earned bucks on rich kid-like field trips overseas like it's Miss Porter's School for Girls and Boys Studying Ballet.

Maybe ABT would actually be better off if it acted more like Miss Porter's School. It's doubtful that Miss Porter's School has anyone who can't restrain himself from publishing pornish photos and videos of himself on the internet.  This brings us to a topic for another time – unless, of course, the pornish photos and videos are voluntarily removed from the internet, which will make for a very dull post but will grant great relief to ABT's longtime supporters.

 

observations 7/15

Former NYCB principal Charles Askegard has been appointed Associate Artistic Director at Minnesota Dance Theatre in Minneapolis.  The company which was founded back in the '60s by Loyce Houlton is now directed by her daughter, Lise Houlton, who used to dance with the Stuttgart Ballet and ABT.  Charles' affiliation with BalletNext appears to have ended – at least on its website.

This is such a great opportunity for Charles to return to the company and school where he got his start.  And Minneapolis is an idyllic land in which to live if you're an artist or happen to love extreme winter weather.  Haglund has plenty of cold and snow stories from his dozen years living there. He hopes to have a good reason to return for a couple of days in March/April when ABT presents Giselle at the State Theater – that is, if some well-deserved, long delayed debuts are on the schedule.  Fingers crossed.

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The Paris Opera Ballet's 2013-2014 season includes a rep program of Miss Julie and Fall River Legend – an evening of razors, axes, and brutality.  Is the outgoing AD sending a subliminal message to the incoming AD?

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The music of Jean Sibelius' The Tempest is quite beautiful but not nearly as danceable as Tchaikovsky's version, which is equally stirring.

Here's hoping that the new ballet by Alexei Ratmansky which will premiere during ABT's fall season will be a lot more than the Ariel character hopping around like Puck in a different headpiece.

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NYCB single tickets go on sale on August 5th.  If anybody out there has even the slightest little inkling as to which Swan Lake will be Ana Sophia Scheller's debut, Haglund would appreciate hearing about it.  That first week of NYCB coincides with not only Roberto Bolle's gala at City Center but also the Royal Ballet's Edward Watson at the Joyce Theater in Metamorphosis.  It's going to be a very tough week for devoted balletomanes to schedule.  Maybe NYCB will help us all out by posting casting a bit early – but let's not count on that.

 

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.

 

Last call, Barcelona Ballet!

There are about a hundred scattered seats still available for Barcelona Ballet's final performance Friday night at 8PM.  This young company really hit full stride tonight.  Wow, did the dancers look great!

So handsome in all three pieces tonight.  Vera, Virellles, Robison, Radev, Iseda, Corella(s), Hirata, Calderon, Omori, Casa sold it big time.  Stepping into the Blue PdD in the Bruch Violin Concerto for the first time during this week, Maria Jose Sales and corpsman Jonatan Diaz were dazzling.  Pálpito sizzled!

Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 has got to be this company's signature ballet.  They should perform it everywhere they go. 

Don't miss the chance to see Barcelona Ballet! 

Update:

It looks like City Center has opened the Balcony seating for ticket sales for the final performance tonight! 

Olga

The role of Olga in Cranko's Onegin is a minor principal role that requires finesse but no flash and dash.  It is a role that is customarily reserved for soloists or senior corps de ballet members.  Maria Riccetto debuted in it as a senior corps member just prior to being named a soloist.  Xiomara Reyes debuted in it as a soloist just prior to being named a principal.  ABT's own treasure in the corps, Gemme Bond, performed Olga while a member of The Royal Ballet.

So why is ABT giving this role, which is customarily given as a growth opportunity to senior corps members and soloists, to guest artist Natalia Osipova?  Did David Koch say, "Oh, I love her.  Just put her in everything, and I'll give you 30 million dollars"?

Why is the flash and dash Osipova being given a minor principal role normally reserved for senior corps members and soloists?  Does McKenzie really believe that Vishneva and Gomes will not sell out those performances on their own power?

How ridiculous is this getting with ABT now giving its corps members' opportunities to Osipova?

 

 

ABT – Learning the "art" of being a Koch subsidiary

It is astonishing to see the new poster at Lincoln Center for the Youth American Grand Prix which identifies Ivan Vasiliev as an actual member of American Ballet Theatre.  ABT is being tight-lipped on the matter of whether it has imported yet another inferior Eastern European outsider to its permanent principal ranks instead of granting internal promotions to its own deserving dancers.

Is ABT trying to avoid further angering its core audience by simply failing to disclose publicly one more instance of foolishly poaching other artistic managements' dancers instead of developing its own talent and giving its own dancers the career-building opportunities which they DESERVE? 

On a separate note, the Ardani website continues to offer detailed casting information about ABT's Met season that ABT itself will not disclose.  Ardani says that Semionova is going to be in the cast of Apollo for the Wednesday matinee in which Marcelo Gomes dances the title role.  Doesn't ABT have enough spectacular dancers to field four freakin' performances of Apollo?  Who is losing the opportunity to dance in Apollo this year?   Messmer?  Underwood?  Abrera?  Riccetto?  Shevchenko?  Hamrick?  Schulte?  Part?  Dvorovenko?    Really – ABT doesn't have enough talented dancers to field four freakin' performances of Apollo?  What is this artistic management doing with its time besides perusing the Ardani Take Out Menu? 

ABT is acting more and more like a Koch subsidiary everyday in its failure to communicate openly and honestly with the public, its ticketbuyers, and its donors.  It really is past time to kick this management to the curb.

Ballet Cop on the Beat – NYCB ticket marketing = the new Time Warner Cable service

If you appreciate and respect Time Warner Cable's fill in your own expletive "customer service" with its unparalleled attention to honesty and providing you with the best possible, most professional assistance, then you'll LOVE, LOVE ME DO the new ticket selling strategy at NYCB.

The mantra seems to be "everything's sold out but these crappy seats so take 'em or leave 'em" when IN FACT much better seats are available but are being held back while they try to push the crappy seats down your throat.

Exhibit A:

If one wanted to purchase 4 seats for September 22nd, one could sit in great seats in Row E of the Fourth Ring @ $89 ea.  However, if one wanted to purchase just a single ticket, one is shoved up to the top to Row M or Row O @ $89 ea.

 
Exhibit B:

If one then deleted those 4 seats in Row E from the shopping cart, thus making those seats immediately available for a single ticket purchase, NYCB still shoves the single ticket purchaser up in Row O.

Meanwhile, the humans at the theater's box office are telling people that certain tickets are sold out when the truth is that they have not been released for sale or are only available to certain profiles such as the multi-ticket buyer.  If you don't meet the right profile, then they shove you to the back. 

If you want to purchase tickets by phone for September 22, you must leave a voice message at the Special Events office telling them who you are and how many tickets you want and they'll assess, and get back to you in 24 hours - maybe.  Slippery slope here, folks.  Charging and seating customers according to their profiles; refusing to sell certain seats based on a customer profile.

It looks like NYCB's Katherine Brown thinks she's earning her hefty half million dollar paycheck by trying to micro-manage each ticket purchase while the pissed off ticket buyers are walking out the door. 

FYI – the Met Opera is selling lots of $25 tickets.  Joyce Theater – $19.