Haglund's Heel

Academy of Music, Philadelphia 3/5PA Ballet – La Bayadere

There are 24 glistening reasons to run to see Pennsylvania Ballet’s new production of La Bayadere which premiered Thursday evening: Shades 1 through 24 were pristine perfect from the ends of their fingers to the ends of their toes and were the highlight of Angel Corella’s dazzling new production of Petipa’s masterpiece. We will deem this La Bayadere the Acela version because of the speed it attains while skipping certain stops along the way. Like so many classical productions today, it has been custom-fit for its local audience rather than trying to shoehorn the audience into a one-size fits all production.

Corella made much effort to ameliorate what some believe to be harmful stereotypes and caricatures built into Petipa’s original production. But as he has explained frequently, La Bayadere is not a representation of India or Indian culture. It is Petipa’s fantastical storybook vision of a place that never really existed. Solor and Nikiya love each other; someone else loves each of them; there’s a plot to break them up; a snake jumps out of a flower basket to bite Nikiya who then dies; Solor smokes opium and hallucinates; he ultimately takes poison to die and is reunited with Nikiya in the afterlife. That last part was Corella’s idea, not Petipa’s. There’s no earthquake in this production which concludes with the famous Kingdom of the Shades.

 

The costumes and scenery, originally by Sergiv Spevyakin for Boston Ballet, include an array of rich browns, blues, reds, and an especially appealing yellow/gold for Gamzatti’s attire. Our Gamzatti for the evening, Mayara Pineiro, was more sunny and vibrant than entitled. She delivered spectacular dancing including a set of Italian fouettes each of which was a Xerox copy of the one before it. Her argument with Nikiya and the effort to buy her off with jewelry could have been a little more convincing.

 

Nikiya was performed by Oksana Maslova, whose deep, deep cambre to the back beautifully conveyed Nikya’s yearning for Solor. Her vulnerability and passionate longing left a profound impression. Her unusual flexibility also allowed for stunning arabesques and developpes. Sometimes those developpes with the right leg became so pronounced in height with hip displacement that the side of the tutu actually started to invert. However, the more moderate developpes with the left leg were textbook perfect with breathtaking beauty in form. Much of her work in the the scarf pas de deux was admirable although the pirouettes with the scarf and the pirouettes to arabesque in the variation had some uncertainty.

 

Zechang Liang was a spectacular Solor in the Kingdom of the Shades. Such height and clarity in cabrioles one rarely sees. The  b e a t s  had so much space and time between them that they looked like they were in slow motion. His theatrical output in this act was also superb. One didn’t just see it à terre; the lights caught his face and eyes filled with emotion as he was in the air. Act I wasn’t as depth-filled - Liang’s claim that he slayed the tiger was not particularly convincing. This doesn’t require chest-beating, but the audience has to get the point about Solor's bravery.

 

Albert Gordon had the toughest assignment of the night as the Bronze Idol. He was stepping into the shoes of La Bayadere’s greatest interpreter. Corella has made it a point since taking over Pennsylvania Ballet to say that the dancers should not try to do everything his way or to be him. Unfortunately, that’s precisely and exactly what the audience will always want — especially in this role. Balletomanes have memories like elephants. We’ve got to praise Gordon for delivering a sensational performance on this premiere night under a lot of pressure. Velocity, clarity, power, and detailed characterization were all there. Not many of Corella’s colleagues ever articulated the arms, hands, and fingers on the fast chaine turns the way he did, but this young protégé made them crystal clear. His focus was stone cold still while the rest of him was on fire. We observed Corella give him the correction on eye use at the recent Guggenheim presentation, and it made a world of difference on stage. Bravo to this Bronze Idol!

 

The Three Shades, Yuka Iseda, Nayara Lopes, and Thays Golz were all lovely, but Golz’s performance in the third variation was a real beauty. Such control, such respect for form, such gorgeous limbs, such serenity - wow.

 

The orchestra sounded fine playing the music as arranged by Lars Payne, but there were times when John Lanchbery’s passionate treatment of the score was missed. The dancers and the conductor have finally figured out how to coordinate the ends of phrases, all of which worked smoothly.

 

The H.H. Pump Bump Award, Louboutin's diamond-studded pump that is beautiful and tougher than nails, is bestowed upon the ladies of the Corps de Ballet for their peerless work in the Kingdom of the Shades.

 

 

observations 5/14

Angel Corella has announced these promotions at Pennsylvania Ballet:

Zecheng Liang, to Principal Dancer
Yuka Iseda, Albert Gordon and Nayara Lopes to First Soloists
Kathryn Manger, Ashton Roxander and Peter Weil to Soloists
Etienne Diaz, Sydney Dolan, Russell Ducker, Thays Golz, Alexander Heier and So Jung Shin to Demi Soloists

This represents a realignment of levels with the addition of First Soloist and Demi Soloist ranks.

The 2019-2020 season promises to be one of the company's most ambitious to date under Corella: Don Quixote; a program of three world premieres; a brand new La Bayadere; a mixed rep program that includes Stanton Welch's Clear, Suspended in Time by Corella, Radev, and Drucker which was originally made for Barcelona Ballet, and a new Neenan piece; a humongous Balanchine program of Ballet Imperial, Who Cares, and Symphony in C; and of course Balanchine's Nutcracker.

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On June 1st at 8:00 p.m. Symphony Space will screen the Nureyev documentary which was recently shown at Landmark Cinemas. While there are irritating things about it, there are also some incredible clips, including the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet with Fonteyn in which Nureyev invests himself like few, if any, other dancers. Seeing this PdD on a big screen is well worth sitting through what precedes it.

 

Pennsylvania Ballet – Giselle 3/7

The audience should be forgiven for chuckling at the pre-curtain announcement of the corporate sponsor for Pennsylvania Ballet's new Giselle. Honestly, corporate community engagement can be ticklish for some industries. Creativity and even a bit of serendipity is needed to find a good match between corporations and non-profits. And when a good philanthropic arrangement is finally nailed down, it can yield a casket of dividends for both parties. So, we give a nod to Pennsylvania Ballet for nabbing West Laurel Hill Cemetery & Funeral Home as its presenting sponsor for its season of Giselle which premiered Thursday evening at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. It may be the best ever match of a sponsor with a ballet.

 

Love, betrayal, revenge, and forgiveness — it’s all beautiful at Pennsylvania Ballet. The company’s new Giselle choreographed by Artistic Director Angel Corella after Jean Coralli & Jules Perrot was given a glistening performance by Oksana Maslova as Giselle and Arian Molina Soca as Albrecht. Of fragile form and weak heart, this Giselle possessed an unbreakable love for Albrecht. Her discovery of his dishonesty may have shaken her to the core and caused her heart to stop, but her love lived on and was strong enough to ultimately save Albrecht’s life. 

 

Oksana Maslova portrayed the Act I Giselle as innocent and trusting. Her joy soared along with her jetes. Arian Molina Soca’s Albrecht was neither cad nor playboy – in fact, there was nothing not to like about him. The viewer sensed that his feelings for Giselle were honest whenever he was with her. She was far more than just a side dish. Giselle's descent into madness upon discovering Albrecht’s duplicity was fairly standard — that’s not to suggest it wasn’t convincing, but it did seem a little like connect-the-dots. However, we clearly saw the life leave her body in the final moments when Albrecht lifted her into the air. 

 

Act II is where both of these artists soared in performance and delivered the breathtaking beauty for which this ballet is widely known. Giselle’s awakening spin and variation had the force and vengeance of a Fury. She seemed destined to be one heck of a Wili but for her love of Albrecht getting in the way. Maslova’s slender limbs belied her steely strength, particularly in phrases of unsupported adagio where she held developpes aloft and then stepped around into the long attitude position with the leg behind. Throughout, she projected a delicacy that was hauntingly beautiful. Molina Soca danced Act II as though this ballet was the substance of his soul, as though all of life came down to these moments, this role, this chance for Albrecht’s redemption. His epic overhead lifts of Giselle drew gasps from the audience. His flying brisés down the diagonal where he stopped nose-to-nose with Myrtha were thrilling. In the final tableau, he walked slowly up the center of the stage to the front and gazed outward in what appeared to be his moment of finally realizing what Giselle's love had meant to his life.

 

There were several other strong performances in addition to Maslova’s and Molina Soca’s. Dayesi Torriente’s Myrtha was a powerful and unyielding spirit. We saw and felt her anger but we never saw the hurt beneath it. Ian Hussey’s Hilarion danced to his death with convincing fatigue and horror. Nayara Lopes and Albert Gordon were brilliant in the Act I Peasant Pas de Deux, traversing the many difficult technical passages with ease. Both are technically gifted artists, but Lopes forged such a strong and immediate connection with the audience that it seemed she should be Giselle, too. She reappeared in Act II to dance Moyna along with Alexandra Hughes’ Zulma; both performed beautifully. 

 

The corps de ballet seemed well rehearsed in both acts. The voyage section in Act II didn’t look bad at all but it would have looked better on a larger stage. Some of the corps sections looked cramped for space at times.

 

The orchestra was outstanding the whole evening. Tempi seemed perfect for every dancer and the ensemble. There were no lengthy pauses between sections that have tended to kill the momentum in other productions. The conductor, Peter Stafford Wilson, was making his debut with PA Ballet. He currently conducts for Tulsa Ballet and has previously conducted for BalletMet and Michigan Opera Theater. He also currently holds the post of Music Director of Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Ohio.

 

The costumes, designed by David Huevel, and scenery, designed by Peter Cazalet, were from Louisville Ballet’s production. All of it was traditional and complementary, if a bit muted colorwise.

 

We also want to mention that the Playbill included an outstanding piece written by ballet master Charles Askegard which discussed the importance of this ballet and its themes to a 21st century audience. He maintained that Giselle is a character of great strength in life and in afterlife – a woman who made her own decisions, chose her own love, and had the great strength to confront Myrtha to save Albrecht. Perhaps PA Ballet will figure out a way to upload it to their website.

 

The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Arian Molina Soca for his portrayal of Albrecht.

 

 

 

 

 

Giselle, ma belle

Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
Tres bien ensemble

I love you, I love you, I lu-u-uve you
That's all I want to say
Until I find a way
I will say the only words I know that
You'll understand

Found a quicker route to Philly. We're not exactly singing along at Gisellacela speeds but we'll get there in time for the premiere. Updates here later.

 

UPDATE 4:00 PM

Just pulled into Philly with time to spare. We're feeling Giselle's love already.

 

observations 2/16

We're next in line; so we have to keep this short.

Yep, we'll soon be up on the blocks to get some new vamps and shanks in preparation for our trip down to Philly next month to see Angel Corella's new Giselle at Pennsylvania Ballet.

Get your tickets here. Casting hasn't been announced yet; but with Angel's company, it doesn't matter. Whoever is on stage will knock your socks off.

While Carlos spruces up the Gisellemobile, we'll hang out on top of his trash cans outside and reminisce about that Vishneva-Corella-Part Giselle that stunned New York in the early part of this century. Better than dope.

Look at this – Giselle dancing in a real graveyard:

 

Philly is so lucky. Angel plans to stage La Bayadere for Pennsylvania Ballet in the spring of 2020. Who can forget his Bronze Idol in Natalia Makarova's production? Will there ever be anyone who can even come close to his perfection? If there is, he will probably show up in Philly.

And speaking of La Bayadere, Makarova's production by the Royal Ballet will be in U.S. cinemas this Tuesday. Landmark Cinemas on W. 57th St at 12th Ave has opened up a second screening room due to high demand. However, their website is showing that the second screening starts at 7:30, not 7:00 like the first screening. If you're buying a ticket to that second screening, it might be a good idea to call the cinema to confirm that the time is correct. You don't want to show up and find that you've missed Marianela's campfire dance.

 

 

PA Ballet's Romeo and Juliet, a stunning achievement

Since Angel Corella took the directorship of Pennsylvania Ballet five years ago, he has hurled huge challenge after huge challenge at the company. It has been startling to watch the Intel-like turbo-burst speed with which PA Ballet has processed everything that Angel has thrown its way. It has evolved into a national contender in the classics, in contemporary, and in its core Balanchine rep seemingly overnight. This is a good, good, good company that is filled with talent and ambition.

This week PA Ballet opened its fall season in its 55th year with the company premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s masterpiece Romeo and Juliet, a ballet in which Corella was devastatingly brilliant during his career with American Ballet Theatre. His love for this ballet shone through every performer on the stage Thursday night at the company's premiere. The staging by Julie Lincoln and Robert Tewsley was filled with crisp musical and theatrical details (when have we ever seen the Capulet women pose so uniformly and severely bent at their waists – not in New York). The scenery and costumes were by Paul Anderson whose designs MacMillan commissioned when the Birmingham Royal Ballet mounted its own production of MacMillan’s ballet in 1992. The original 1966 designs were by Nicholas Georgiadis and are still used by ABT and the Royal Ballet. Anderson’s designs included Early Renaissance columns and statuary. When MacMillan saw the new scenery on stage, he then changed some of the choreography to better adapt to it. So, the dancing sometimes looked a little different than what we are accustomed to seeing in New York. By the way, the ballerina who led the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s premiere performance in 1992 was Nina Ananiashvili.

 

A major difference between the Georgiadis and Anderson designs is the apparel for the Mandolin Dancers. Georgiadis costumed the men in salmon pink tights and strange little hats. The Anderson version is difficult to describe; so we’ll just dig out a photo (by Photo Roy Smiljanic) of the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Lead Mandolin Dancer and his colorful streamers:

 

There were six of these guys on Thursday night including Peter Weil as the Lead Mandolin Dancer. By the time Weil finished dancing with his group, he had taken over our attention so completely that we thought that this ballet was about the Mandolin Dancers. In addition to Lead Mandolin Dancer, Weil will perform the role of Mercutio which we intend to see next week. We have raved about this dancer previously. He’s got charisma and electricity on the level of a young Corella. He also has squeaky clean technique and moves like lightning. Some readers may recall that when Corella first joined ABT in 1995, one of his early roles during that first Met Season was the lead Mandolin Dancer in Romeo and Juliet. Just sayin’ … Keep both eyes on this guy.

 

Sterling Baca and Lillian DiPiazza were captivating as Romeo and Juliet. The honesty in their portrayals made us believers, and their “deaths” hit us hard in the gut. As Juliet, DiPiazza spoke with soft supple feet, liquid port de bras, deeply arched arabesques, and a natural acting style that made us hear Shakespeare’s words. We fully felt her turmoil as she leaned against her bed motionlessly during Act III and contemplated her dilemma. By the way, the lighting design for this scene was brilliantly conceived by Brad Fields to show Juliet’s world turning dark around her stillness. 

 

Any concerns that we may have had about whether the young Baca would be victorious over the impossibly difficult choreography in the balcony pas de deux were allayed at that first renversé into arabesque which began his first variation. Baca whipped it and then took off around the stage with force and energy that we had not seen from him before. This was a breakthrough performance for him in that he found a way to break free from Sterling to become his stage character. The very difficult partnering and lifts were seemingly done with ease. The "corpse pas de deux" was a realistic look at Romeo's desperation.

 

Ian Hussey was a fierce, menacing Tybalt. Mercutio and Benvolio were danced by Albert Gordon and Jack Sprance. Their trio dancing with Baca was clean and energetic. Pau Pujol probably never thought that his apprenticeship at PA Ballet would deliver a role like Paris to him. Despite his obvious youth, he managed the stifling sternness of the character along with some very fine partnering of DiPiazza’s Juliet.

 

Charles Askegard made Lord Capulet into a major figure on the stage throughout the evening. It has been so nice to see him evolve into such a fine and complete character actor since joining PA Ballet’s artistic staff.

 

The entire cast fully lived this Romeo and Juliet. No one was just standing around like they were filler. At any moment it was possible to pick out any performer in the background and see that he or she was actively involved in a side story or in a reaction to what was happening at center stage. Such a handsome production and a stunning achievement by PA Ballet.

 

The Orchestra of Pennsylvania Ballet under the direction of Beatrice Jona Affron, who is celebrating her 25th year as its conductor, played beautifully and with energetic spirit throughout the evening.

 

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a complexly designed jewel of a stiletto from Jimmy Choo, is bestowed upon Lillian DiPiazza for her honest, heartbreaking portrayal of Juliet.

 

 

 

 

PA Ballet – Romeo and Juliet company premiere 10/11

More on this tomorrow, but just a brief note to say that last evening's Romeo and Juliet with Sterling Baca and Lillian Di Piazza was one of the most honest, fully danced, fully lived performances that we've seen in quite some time. New Yorkers should make a bee-line to Philly for one of the evenings or matinees. There is even a specially priced 11:00 AM performance next Friday. Tickets here.

 

Fall options reminder

Pennsylvania Ballet will premiere its production of Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet from October 11th through October 21st. Currently, Sterling Baca and Lillian DiPiazza are featured in the media photo on the website. Single tickets will be available later in the summer, but you can grab them by choosing a Flex-package that includes Angel Corella's new production of Giselle in March and the All-Stravinsky program in April which will feature Apollo, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, The Cage and a premiere by Matthew Neenan. (There are other possible choices for the Flex-package.)

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In the neighborhood, the Hungarian State Opera and Ballet arrives at Lincoln Center in November for 14 performances of opera and ballet. The company is bringing its traditional Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and a triple bill of Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen's works which will only be performed on the last Sunday of the visit at matinee and evening performances. Van Manen, who is now 85 years old, continues as the Resident Choreographer of Dutch National Ballet.

The idea of seeing a fully staged Petipa Don Quixote in the Koch Theater is mighty appealing.

The opera offerings are  Erkel's Bánk bán (The Viceroy Bánk), Goldmark's The Queen of Sheba, Vajda's Mario and the Magician and Bartók's Bluebeard’s Castle. There will be a huge gala performance on Sunday, November 4th of mostly opera excerpts although van Manen's Trois Gnossiennes is scheduled to be performed. Here are Ulyana Lopatkina and Ivan Kozlov interpreting his Trois Gnossiennes a decade ago.

Tickets are a good price, starting at $20, which makes all of the offerings worthwhile risks. Some of the side ring seats are $14 -- even better.

 

Pennsylvania Ballet 5/10 Luxury Jewels in a fine gold setting

Over the course of five performances of Balanchine’s Jewels during a 72 hour period, two ballerinas at Pennsylvania Ballet will have performed principal roles in each of the sections Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds. Lillian DiPiazza and Oksana Maslova, clearly master bench jewelers in the world of ballet, will accomplish something remarkable, if not unheard of. Others in the company will dance principal roles in two of the three sections which normally would be astonishing for such a brief performance run, but in this case, is so over-shadowed by the accomplishments of DiPiazza and Maslova that it’s almost ho-hum. Really, think about what it takes for any ballerina to perform one of the principal roles in either Emeralds, Rubies, or Diamonds, and then consider what it takes for any ballerina to perform principal roles in all three — in 72 hours.

We caught the opening night performance on Thursday at the beautiful Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Mayara Pineiro with Arian Molina Soca and Oksana Maslova with Ian Hussey led the opening Emeralds section, arguably the most beautiful section unless, of course, one happens to be watching Diamonds. The highlight of the first 31 minutes of Jewels was watching Maslova caress the phrases of Fauré as though they were the first and last loves of her life. Our sense was that she had no choice but to be this music, to embed herself within its melodies, and to treat each note as a cherished gift. Here she moderated her extensions – avoiding the ear-whacking that is her preference – and the end result was an artist who looked much bigger on stage, drew more stage lighting to herself, appeared more dramatically weighted, and held our deep interest in wanting to know who she was. The walking pas de deux with Ian Hussey progressed with such delicacy that Maslova appeared almost to be walking on water.

Mayara Pineiro, the company’s show-stopping allegro specialist but here cast contrary to type, made a good start with Emeralds. The steps were crystalline clear, but her torso lacked the bend and sweep that makes the ballerina in this ballet so mesmerizing and gives her such perfume. Her pas de deux with the ever attentive, ever romantic Molina Soca was quite lovely. 

Lillian DiPiazza, Jermel Johnson and Alexandra Hughes got off to a careful start with Rubies but accelerated steadily. Lillian, also cast against type, faced the challenge of employing the kind of bold salesmanship that doesn’t lie within her comfort zone. But it didn’t take too long for her to trot out her sass & glam and bring this work to a convincing conclusion. Alexandra’s Tall Girl showed considerable promise. She’s got the legs; she’s got the courage; she’s got the right idea. But nerves were in play on this debut. The exiting slow penche arabesques were a little unsteady and a little shy on penche. We wish we could have seen her second performance of this role on Saturday afternoon which was surely more confident, because the next time Jewels comes around at Pennsylvania Ballet, we suspect that Alexandra will be dancing Diamonds.

But the Diamonds on Thursday night had spent considerable time on the jeweler’s polishing wheel. Sterling Baca rose to a startling new level of nobility and graciousness in his dancing. On stage he looked as tall as – as tall as – hmmm – as tall as Charles Askegard, a premiere Diamond principal of his generation and now the company’s Ballet Master. Baca's variations were beautifully controlled with double tours to the right and left equally impressive for their clean landings to fifth position. A polished performance, indeed. But his smooth, unaffected, confident, blue-blooded partnering of his glorious ballerina pleased us even more.

Haglund’s newest addition to his collection of favorite ballerinas, Dayesi Torriente, was the 69 carat Burton-Taylor white diamond of the evening. Were it not for Amtrak’s dynamic pricing increase, we would have been on the train back to Philly for her second performance this afternoon. What a beauty! 

The notion that occasionally is circulated by less than knowledgeable folks that Balanchine must be danced in a certain specific way in accordance with their personal faultless memories of some NYCB performance decades ago is such a crock… Here Dayesi Torriente gave us a big, bold, and beautifully Cuban interpretation that was loaded with regal grandeur, Imperial attitude, and formal romance beneath which passion simmered patiently. Oh, this was good, good, good. If anyone saw her Tall Girl in Rubies on Friday or Saturday, please send in a report.

Throughout the first performance, the Corps de Ballet danced with exuberance and jubilation. For most, it was their first time dancing Balanchine’s masterpiece. During Diamonds, some of their young faces suggested they were on the verge euphoria and experiencing a moment of “How could it get any better than this?” Well, it’s Jewels. It probably won’t get any better than this.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a bespoke creation with more than 2,000 diamonds from House of Borgezie, is bestowed upon Dayesi Torriente and Sterling Baca for the beauty and brilliance of their Diamonds.

 

 

 

 

observations 3-15

Well, this is exciting.

NYCB has announced its casting for the Kennedy Center performances March 27th through April 1. Obviously, the company is priming us to come down from NYC by the busloads to see some of these important debuts (*). The Saturday matinee is especially tempting:

GLASS PIECES: Hod, Gordon, Mann, Scordato, Habony, Chamblee, *Reichlen, Danchig-Waring

FANCY FREE: *Mejia, *Coll, *Villarini-Velez, *Woodward, *King, Miller, Villalobos

THE FOUR SEASONS

JANUS: Farley,

WINTER: Dieck, Pereira, Ippolito, Gordon;

SPRING: LaFreniere, *Lovette, *Huxley;

SUMMER: Frances, *Gerrity, Stanley;

FALL: Chamblee, T. Peck, Catazaro, Ulbricht

 

The same casts also dance during the Saturday evening performance. Something tells us that Fancy Free is about to strut into a new fancy future with these debuting dancers.

 

Tess Reichlen and Zachary Catazaro will debut in the Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux on Thursday evening. Something tells us that those fish dives are going to be pretty exciting

 

On Wednesday evening, Indiana Woodward and Roman Mejia will debut in Peter Martins' Zakouski. Something tells us that these two will make this into a whole lot more than simple hors d'oeuvres.

 

See y'all on the Amtrak.

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As promised, Haglund skipped down to the Whitney Museum of American Art in the Meatpacking District to preview the new Nick Mauss dance-focused exhibit that includes works from the Whitney's collection and borrowings from other museum collections and private collectors. It officially opens tomorrow. There are some very interesting pieces on display but we can't say much about the live dance action that was part of the exhibit. It was the typical modern dance fare in black and white unitards that screamed 1970s college dance major in the Phys Ed Dept. The dancers worked hard and they all executed the choreography neatly, but it was what it was.

 

But there were a lot of worthwhile items hanging on the walls and resting on pedestals. Most worthy was the video installation on the wall right in front of the elevators – a looping collection of Ann Barzel's snippets of mid-20th century performances including:

 

Harlequinade – 26 seconds B&W from 1956. Boris Romanov's choreography for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo featuring Alicia Alonso as Columbine and Igor Youskevitch as Harlequin.

 

Aurora's Wedding – 1 minute, 26 seconds B&W from 1941. Bronislava Nijinska's choreography with scenery by Leon Bakst for the original Ballet Russe and performed by Nana Gollner and Paul Petroff.

 

Ballet Imperial – 1 minute, 2 seconds in color from the 1940s. Balanchine's choreography performed by Nicholas Magallanes and Mary Ellen Moylan. Oh, the costumes are gorgeous.

 

There are about ten clips in all that run continuously. They're fascinating as was Miss Barzel.

 

The exhibit includes a picture of Jacques d'Amboise in a costume for Lew Christensen's Filling Station which was made for Ballet Caravan in 1950.

 

Several Elie Nadelman scuptures are on display including this lovely lady who rotates on her pedestal. Elie Nadelman created the two big sculptures that grace each end of the Promenade in New York City Ballet's theater.

 

 

There is a 1933 bronze sculpture of a naked man walking created by Gaston Lachaise. The naked man is Lincoln Kirstein. Though Kirstein never met Diaghilev, he possessed one of his calling cards. It, too, is on exhibit. How refreshing to see a simple name on a calling card without two email addresses, five social media contacts, a website, three phones, fax number and a secretary's contact. It's quite elegant in its simplicity, isn't it?

 

Costume designs for Balanchine's The Night Shadow which he made for Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1945 are on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The drawings by Dorothea Tanning are inserted in frames made out of the same soft pink leather as is used for ballet slippers.

 

The exhibit officially opens tomorrow. If you plan to go, save time to see the Incomplete History of Protests exhibit, too.

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This weekend the Haglund crew is off to Philly again to see Pennsylvania Ballet's new glorious Swan Lake. Sterling Baca and Lillian Di Piazza will be the leads on Saturday evening.

 

We're hoping to see big theatrical and big dancing strides made by Sterling: a big, big expressive Siegfried whose face seeks out the spotlight, lightning bolt energy in jumps, and atomic turns with triple exclamation points at the end. We want to feel his performance in the back row upstairs. This is not the time to show us a version of Sterling; we want to see Siegfried in all his pain, confusion, desperation, and of course majestic elegance. We want it all and we want it big!

 

Let's go let's go let's go!