NYC Ballet Fans, part 2

[Marge_Simpson]

There's a nice interview with Marian Butler (ABT corps member) in this week's TimeOut NY:
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance...ks-about-rodeo

RDB will be at the Guggenheim this Sunday and Monday, it looks like there are still tickets available for Monday. The Sunday performance is sold out, but will be streamed live. Info here:
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/c...ts/2012/10/21/

[Buzz]

An inspiring human interest story. Thought here would be the best place to put it. It tells the story of a young war orphan who grew up to become a ballerina.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19600296

[Rob]

Saw Mariinsky in Ratmansky's Cinderella last night. Man, is that a throw away waste of the dancers' talents. I don't have a problem with the concept -- no harm in trying a modern hard edged interpretation of a classic. But apart from a few segments, the choreography just isn't interesting. The dancers definitely committed to it, but it is just ZZZZZZZzzzz for the most part.

[Marge_Simpson]

I recently came across this version of Cinderella on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y683GYYX7Z8
Why do I suspect Malakhov created this just so he could mince around in drag as a stepsister?

[Marge_Simpson]

I got to see ABT take class today...what a treat! It was fascinating for me, as I've never taken dance lessons, to see what goes on during daily class.
Most of the men were there; not so many of the ladies. Marcelo was working in front and is just as mesmerizing in practice as he is during performance. He seems quite a social guy, and I noticed most of the other men taking peeks at what he was doing from time to time...he seems to be a role model for them.
Veronica Part was working next to Roberto Bolle, talk about 2 attractive people. Veronica had no makeup on and looked absolutely gorgeous. (Incidentally, Luciana Voltolini looks like her younger sister) I couldn't take my eyes off her feet. Isn't Roberto close to 40 now? He barely looks 20, though. After he was warmed up he stripped down to shorts, and I could not take my eyes off his thighs.
I had my first look at James Whiteside (he did not perform on Wed or Thurs) and was quite favorably impressed. He has an amazing upper body. and had the most height on his jumps. Dunno how he can get up that high as he was easily the tallest man there. Incredible.
I noticed that when the dancers were being given their combinations, they tapped their hands and motioned with them, as if they were using some sort of dancers' sign language. Can Rob or anyone in teknique comment on this? Is this something they do to remember the steps?
My favorite part was when they took the barres out and moved to center stage for entrechats and echappes and whatnot. The pianist seemed quite sadistic and kept increasing the pace...but no one had any trouble keeping up with her. Mostly she played bits from "Giselle" but for the warmup it was "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" which made the audience giggle.
I've been watching Sterling Baca since he was in ABT II and he gets better every time I see him. He has beautiful, plush jumps that remind me of the Cuban dancers. Keep your eye on him! Ditto for Calvin Royal.
The class ended with a menage for the guys, all trying to outdo each other. What fun to watch! Several of the ladies took a turn, too, and were cheered on by the guys.

[ballettmaus]

I recently came across this version of Cinderella on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y683GYYX7Z8
Why do I suspect Malakhov created this just so he could mince around in drag as a stepsister?

They did report in Berlin that he created it for Semionova when she first started at the Staatsballet. But I bet the stepsister was a nice "side effect"

[Marge_Simpson]

New Yorkers, don't forget: if you want to see Morphoses for free, get yourselves over to Scandinavia House today at 1 PM. (I'm not bothering as I'm seeing them at the Joyce next month)They are streaming live from Sweden. The restaurant there is very nice (I can personally vouch for the vanilla waffles ), and there is currently an excellent exhibit about the Icelandic Sagas (also free) Info here:

http://www.scandinaviahouse.org/even..._upcoming.html

[Rob]

I noticed that when the dancers were being given their combinations, they tapped their hands and motioned with them, as if they were using some sort of dancers' sign language. Can Rob or anyone in teknique comment on this? Is this something they do to remember the steps?

Yes, a lot of dancers mark the steps with hand movements to learn the combination/timing. And sometimes shuffle their feet as well or instead. When everyone is standing out on the floor to learn the combo, there isn't always room to mark it with your feet. You divide in groups to actually do the combination so then there is room.

[kwanfan1818]

I once watched Stanley Williams teach his male student's class at SAB. He stood in front of the class, moved his fingers ever so slightly and briefly, and spoke instructions so softly that I, sitting closer than any of the students, couldn't understand a word he said. Then the pianist played, and the entire room would burst with energy and activity, everyone doing the same barre or center combination.

[Marge_Simpson]

emason and I attended the RDB presentation on Monday evening and have decided we MUST see their Bayadere.
The evening was fab. John Meehan moderated (I am in love with him) and Nikolaj was charming and funny, even if he was wearing pants that were much too tight
(emason thought he looked like a roue, I said he looked like a rake)
The topic was RDB's new Bayadere, which sounds v. interesting. Hubbe has set it in Colonial India, and instead of the Solor character, there is a Sir William. No Gamzatti; instead there is Lady Emma. And a Blue God instead of a bronze idol.
Richard Hudson, who did the designs for Ratmansky's "Nutcracker" and is better known for "The Lion King" was also there, and showed slides of the scenery and costumes. All of which look stunning.
Nikolaj brought 4 principals with him: Gitte Lindstrom, Amy Watson, J'aime Crandall and Alban Lendorf. I became very taken with Lendorf the previous time RDB was here, he has amazing assets. A corps member, Jon Axel Fransson, did the Blue God (aka Bronze Idol) variation, I was much impressed. Besides dancing beautifully, he is also quite tall, so why do other companies (coughABTcough) always give this role to a short guy?
Amy Watson and Gitte Lindstrom both spoke about the differences between the Russian style and the Bournonville style and demonstrated the different ways of holding the head, arms, etc in each style. Quite interesting!
Nikolaj was very cagey when Meehan asked if we could expect to see the RDB perform here anytime soon. Do I dare hope that a tour is in the works and the details are being worked out?

[kwanfan1818]

The Russian companies give the Golden Idol role to short men: it was a specialty of Ivan Vasiliev's when he was at the Bolshoi.

Richard Hudson just did the costumes for the Royal Danish Ballet for Ratmansky's "The Golden Cockerel" which premiered in September. Depending on what review you read, they were copied or loosely based on the originals by Natalia Gontcharova. They were gorgeous, though:

http://www.kglteater.dk/whats-on/per...en-gyldne-hane

Scroll down for the video promo and photos.

[Marge_Simpson]

So, I saw Ballet Next 2 weeks ago. When I got to the Joyce, I was pleasantly surprised to discover emason and her friend Nancy sitting right near me. But the evening was a snooze as far as I was concerned.
I'd heard good things about this company, which was started by Charles Askegard and Michelle Wiles. But I was not impressed.
The first piece, "Stravinsky Divertimento", was danced by Charles Askegarde and Georgina Pazcoguin; it looked clunky and under-rehearsed. If there is such a thing as "skater fat" then I propose there be such a thing as "dancer fat", and Pacoguin qualifies. She is also quite tall; Askegard was struggling to lift her. The costumes were hideous: some neon-hued atrocities that looked like swimsuits. I was snarking to emason that the designer must have found the fabric in the bargain bin at "Spandex World" (an actual shop in the garment district.) After looking at the program again; I was startled to see that the designer was Nanette Lepore; clearly she was under the influence when she whipped these up!
The second piece was called "Picnic" and based on the film "Picnic at Hanging Rock". The program didn't mention that, and I'd never seen the film anyhow, so the references went right over my head. I DID get that there was something odd happening, and the atmosphere was quite eerie. The ladies were all in Victorian dresses, and the eeriness made me think of the book "Charlotte Sometimes". But then, being a Curehead, their song with the same title kept playing in my head.
The 3rd piece was just plain weird. It started out with 4 women and 2 men (Jesus Pastor and Clifford Williams, who both looked and were half naked) sitting on chairs and posing. It put me in mind of the first part of Naharin's "Minus 16", where the dancers sit around on chairs and pretend to have convulsions. Eventually we got some actual dancing, although Pastor and Williams spent a lot of time writhing around on the floor, and I got a distict "50 Shades of Grey" vibe.
All in all, not a scintillating evening.

Heads up: If anyone is interested in seeing ABT rehearse their "Nutcracker" on Dec 1, go to the MasterCard Priceless website and buy a ticket.
It looks like the Joyce has their power back; is anyone seeing Morphoses this week? I'm going on Friday, if anyone wants to meet up.

[emason]

Well, I've seen Picnic at Hanging Rock, and the allusions went right over my head, so, Marge, it doesn't seem to matter. Piece fails either way. Definitely a snooze of an evening. I've pretty much forgotten most of it.

No more Joyce for me for some time. Nothing I've seen there lately has thrilled me.

[Rob]

Saw SF Ballet in Romeo & Juliet on Thursday with Maria Kochetkova and Joan Boada. Quite clean looking overall but not very emotional. Her lines are beautiful and her technique is very precise, but she didn't bring the audience to tears with her acting. He looked a tad out of shape- jiggly and thick round the middle, nearly hit the deck in a double assemble, but then he got it together. He didn't show much emotional range until he went melodramatic at the end , which didn't match with her. I did like that Mercutio and tybalts deaths were not melodramatic and overwrought. Also liked the harlequin acrobats in the crowd scene. there were some interesting moments, but not my favorite production.

[Marge_Simpson]

OK, I need guidance. I see that National Ballet of Canada is going to be doing Wheeldon's "Alice in Wonderland" at the Kennedy Center in January. I bought the DVD w/ the RB over the summer. I was dying to see it, the library doesn'y have it, and YouTube only has some short clips. I adored it, so it was money well spent. Has anyone NBC perform it, and do they measure up to the RB?

[Rob]

Haven't seen it yet, but I have a ticket to the Thursday night show 1/24 at Kennedy Center in January. I like Heather Ogden, but I have seen her a number of times so I was thinking of changing to see Sonia Rodriguez (I have never seen her). Let me know if you are coming one of the weekends and I will change.

PRINCIPAL CASTING
Alice & Jack/The Knave of Hearts
Jan. 18, 22, 26 eves: Jillian Vanstone, Guillaume Côté
Jan. 19 & 27 mats, Jan. 24 eve: Heather Ogden, McGee Maddox
Jan. 19, 23, 25 eves: Sonia Rodriguez, Keiichi Hirano
Jan. 26 mat: Elena Lobsanova, Naoya Ebe

[kwanfan1818]

ABT-goers should know Guillaume Cote from his guest appearances. I love Jillian Vanstone; if I were in DC, I'd choose this cast first. Heather Ogden is also terrific, and she's danced with Suzanne Farrell Ballet recently, so she might be familiar, too. Elena Lobsanova (with Cote) was chosen by Alexei Ratmansky to premiere his "Romeo and Juliet," over the more experienced and higher-ranked ballerinas. I've never seen her live in a major role, but she looked very talented in the documentary about that ballet shown on CBC.

Sonia Rodriguez, Mrs. Kurt Browning, bores the life out of me.

[Rob]

Thanks for the recommendation -- I was just choosing Sonia Rodriguez out of curiosity, but perhaps I will switch to Vanstone. I have seen Gillaume Cote.

I have seen Heather Ogden twice with Suzanne Farrell ballet - I do like her a lot.

[mackiecat]

I saw Alice in Toronto and also have the DVD- It has changed since the DVD was produced- It is now 3 acts and there are a couple more scenes- This is a great ballet, special effects/costumes are really neat. I don't even like the Alice story and found this quite appealing. There are a lot of "inside ballet jokes'. prior to the performance we wnet ot the ballet talk which explained these.

[Marge_Simpson]

Well, as I'm known for acting on impulse, I requested time off in January. Tomorrow I'll see if it was approved (don't see why not as none of my coworkers are jumping to take time off then) and get a ticket.

Hopefully I'll see some fellow FSUers when I'm there. And Rob, I still need to buy you dinner.