NYC Ballet Fans, part 2

skatepixie said:
Dislike. She's just -- boring. It's as if she dances completely without feeling. :(
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I think she has this vulnerability and soul. But then she has too much vulnerability that ends up showing up as annoying technical mistakes. I do get feeling from her--at least fear. I think she needs a few years to cook until she is ready for principal. Olesya is ready now.
 
IceAlisa said:
I think she has this vulnerability and soul. But then she has too much vulnerability that ends up showing up as annoying technical mistakes. I do get feeling from her--at least fear. I think she needs a few years to cook until she is ready for principal. Olesya is ready now.
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Sorry, I should clarify -- without feeling related to the music and character. She strikes me as having stage fright, rather than portraying a character's vulnerability. And technically -- ugh! I don't understand why she is even a soloist half the time, let alone being promoted to a prima ballerina of such a prestigious theater. It is as if she has some sort of connections in high places.
 
This variation and the final pdd with the Prince were my favorite. I saw Diana Vishneva dance this live, still can't believe my luck, especially considering that this ballet was made on her. One thing crossed off the bucket list. :swoon:

To answer your question, @Rob, she was Diana the Divine. She delivered every single second of that ballet. Still starstruck.
 
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Tuned in too late on World Ballet Day and only caught SFB's stream, but my oh my, Yuan Yuan Tan was just divine in the Giselle rehearsal with Tiit Helimets - very ethereal with an otherworldly quality of movement. Mathilde Froustey, formerly of Paris Opera Ballet and whom I normally admire, suffered in comparison when she came on right after Ms. Tan.

All the companies will be uploading the broadcasts on their respective YouTube channels, so there's plenty of ballet to catch up on for those of us who missed World Ballet Day.
 
IceAlisa said:
I thought she has been for a while.
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She was just cast that way.

Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, and Royal Ballet are on YouTube in one 11-hour video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayGLMnA_8lo


Australian Ballet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijinqITjYNE


The Royal Ballet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBvClXuMFCs

At 1:33:30 is the interview/rehearsal/interview segment of Ashton's "The Two Pigeons."

English National Ballet guest segment, rehearsal of Khan's "Dust":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHai4YGxLTA

ENB's "Dance for Parkinson's" segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UqtB6QU4AY

Northern Ballet guest segment, rehearsal of "Wuthering Heights":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHPNLVbdz-w


National Ballet of Canada segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfz9sCKCXB0&list=PLTuhcZGUSlDIxf_ppUaltFb3NF3g9J2wN&index=1

BalletMet guest segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C3C7TEmxnY


Still waiting for San Francisco Ballet.

Houston Ballet guest segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpZjF6aht1s

Pacific Northwest Ballet guest segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PmcenYmnVE
 
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mrinalini said:
Tuned in too late on World Ballet Day and only caught SFB's stream, but my oh my, Yuan Yuan Tan was just divine in the Giselle rehearsal with Tiit Helimets - very ethereal with an otherworldly quality of movement. Mathilde Froustey, formerly of Paris Opera Ballet and whom I normally admire, suffered in comparison when she came on right after Ms. Tan.
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Mathilde's problem IMO is that she had to let go of POB this summer. And she has looked crushed ever since.
But don't mind me, Mathilde's not really your typical POB dancer. She's quite limited too IMO. She's better in roles like Kitri that suits her a lot better than Giselle. And she knew the Noureev version better too, it must be hard to go back to a more musical version.
 
Froustey was not going back to POB to dance peasant pas de deux and friend of Raymonda at best and be behind a phalanx of Principals and Etoiles, plus to be "auditioning" for a new Artistic Director. She was never getting the TV spots, like in the recent New Millepied/Opus 19: The Dreamer/Theme & Variations telecast on Culture Box, except possibly as a "Theme" demi.

In San Francisco she dances "Giselle" and many leads, gets to tour, gets to guest -- SFB's regular season runs Dec-May, änd the Opera has summer and fall in the house -- and gets to dance as wide a range of rep as in Paris, and versions of the classics that aren't the Nureyev dreck.

It's always a risk to leave the few companies with pensions and lifelong employment guarantees -- even the Bolshoi gave up lifetime employment in their last negotiations -- and go year-to-year, but dancers also have a short shelf life, and even Ruthana Boris left Balanchine to dance Giselle (and he sniffed and wouldn't take her back).
 
Problem is many "Etoiles" do not dance a lot. And most hate the classical repertoire (don't ask me why they chose ballet if they do). MA Gillot hates classical dance and is best suited in the modern things. But why was she named Etoile ? It's not something I'd guess.
At least Millepied did name one of the few classical ballerina left in Paris with Laura Hecquet. She's way too big for a lot of the parts, but she loves ballet. I used to think Mathilde would become one, but she doesn't have a lot of friends in the Etoile and that's why she never was promoted after the Sujet Class. She was distributed like a first dancer and somewhat like an Etoile, but never got the rank.

Noureev dreck is so true for some, but others are quite good IMO :)
 
I can see why Mathilde left POB but I would like to understand Helgi Tomasson's reasoning when he invited her. Then again, he had promoted Maria Kochetkova whose technique is excellent but whose stage present is cute to very cute at best and whose limbs are shorter than a 10 year old's.
 
Yuan Yuan Tan isn't getting any younger: she'll be 39 in February. Lorena Feijoo isn't getting any younger -- a NYT article said she was 34 ten years ago -- and she was out on maternity leave. Sylve isn't getting any younger, although I can't find her exact age, she must be well in her 30's.

Tomasson, from Iceland but trained in Denmark, has fostered an internationally trained company mixed in with a smattering of dancers he's developed from his school's professional division, and he has always shared Balanchine's affinity for French dancers: he loved Muriel Maffrey and gave Molat a lot of roles. It's not surprising that he was happy to hire Froustey.

He also has a lot of tall/tallish women. Kochetkova fills the bill for smaller dancers. I've seen her give several great performances in San Francisco.
 
Kochetkova is the smallest Russian I've seen. Why can't we steal a different Russian-trained dancer? Why does it have to be Kochetkova? [/whine] I just saw a Mariinsky soloist who leaves her in the dust IMO, Nadezhda Batoeva. And she is only a 2nd soloist.

(I do know the answer to that, partially, that no Russian company would have Kochetkova, as she said it herself but can't we lure someone else from there??!!! They have so many, they could spare us a few. :drama:) My issue with her is not her height per se, but the shortness of her limbs and the lack of that loooooooong beautiful line that I love so much in ballet. She does her best with what she has and she is an excellent dancer but you can't change that part of your anatomy.
 
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I don't have a problem with Kochetkova's anatomy. Although not ideal, I prefer her proportions to very long-limbed dancers, and I find her movement quality and musicality compelling.

Kochetkova was not only Russian-trained: she had experience with the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet before joining San Francisco Ballet, and the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Stanislavsky, and Mikhailovsky have invited her to guest, so she's good enough for them now.
 
I've watched "Othello" and "The Little Mermaid" so many times I've lost track. I totally love the way she uses her legs - they are like exclamation points.
 
I've seen the Little Mermaid, a masterpiece and she is a masterpiece in it.

BTW, I volunteer to hold a free webinar for the US ballet critics who are all confused by the same things in Ratmansky's Cinderella. Why the Four Seasons, why the bag lady for the fairy godmother, why the preening prince? Why? Why? Like a bunch of 5 year olds, every review I've read so far. There are a lot of Russian and Soviet references that someone like me totally gets and they totally miss. I can explain, ask me! :P
 
kwanfan1818 said:
I don't have a problem with Kochetkova's anatomy. Although not ideal, I prefer her proportions to very long-limbed dancers, and I find her movement quality and musicality compelling.
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Oooooooh, what would Balanchine say? Tsk tsk. :eek:
kwanfan1818 said:
Kochetkova was not only Russian-trained: she had experience with the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet before joining San Francisco Ballet, and the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Stanislavsky, and Mikhailovsky have invited her to guest, so she's good enough for them now.
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Kochetkova wasn't really given anything substantial at the Royal ballet, just dolls and children. This was why she jumped at the SF Ballet offer.

Her training is Bolshoi, IIRC, and it shows. The excellent movement quality that you mention comes from there. Guesting is one thing but she would never get a permanent spot in either Mariinsky or Bolshoi, she said so herself and I believe it. No one feels threatened by her there. OTOH, when Diana Vishneva was invited to guest at Bolshoi a while back, the leading ladies there had a bit of a freak out.


Random thoughts of WBD (SF and Bolshoi so far):

Poor Mathilde Froustey didn't fare well, did she, so wobbly and wooden. She looks like she barely weighs 90 lbs but feels like twice that. Her Albrecht almost did dance to death. :eek: YYT is ethereal, weightless.

Watching Bolshoi now, the barre is kind of sloppy! Wake up, it's World Ballet Day! But the pianist is so good, it's almost distracting. And :respec: they gave her some airtime!

Where is Evgenia Obraztsova? (I think she is here, in the States?) Where is Svetlana? :wuzrobbed

Oh the ballon on the men...:swoon: Boris Akimov and his interview is fascinating. He still got it.

Denis Savin and/or Vlad Lantratov in Radu Poklitaru's Hamlet--where can I see this amazingness?

Teared up watching the Plisetskaya footage.

There is a Putin doppelganger at one of the center barres at the Royal Ballet.

Their class is really impressive. They are all wide awake and on.
 
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Balanchine had no problems with Patricia McBride, who danced at NYCB from 1959 until after Balanchine's death in the '80's. He created some extraordinary roles for her -- "Rubies," "The Man I Love" pdd and "Fascinatin' Rhythm" solos from "Who Cares?," Costermongers from "Union Jack," Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," 2nd movement of "Bràhms-Schoenberg Quartet," and "Harlequinade" -- plus she was given "Liebeslieder Walzer" early in her career and all of the killer technical roles. She was regularly partnered with Villella and Baryshnikov.

The Bolshoi explained this year that there are many concurrent company classes at the Bolshoi, and the dancers pick the ones they need. Last year people were wondering why dancers seemed to be missing from class. I didn't see any center barres, and there's a limit to the number of dancers who can fit on the wall barres.
'I saw Politkaru's "Romeo and Juliet" collaboration with Donnellan. :scream:. Hopefully his "Hamlet" is better.
 
IceAlisa said:
I can see why Mathilde left POB but I would like to understand Helgi Tomasson's reasoning when he invited her. Then again, he had promoted Maria Kochetkova whose technique is excellent but whose stage present is cute to very cute at best and whose limbs are shorter than a 10 year old's.
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Ah but Mathilde when given the good role is breathtaking. She's the best Kitri I've seen in Paris, and it's telling. Sometimes her technique is superb, but when she's "thinking" like you can see on those videos, she's not good. But Mathilde on fire is all but forgettable. What she lacks is confidence in herself and whatever was destroyed because the older dancer at POB at one point decided she was too "dangerous" or difficult and let a Valentine Colasante get the promotion instead (watch Valentine Colasante dance, and you'll get why Mathilde may have been mad at them just for that). She has the POB grace but lacks the confidence a Dupont has.
She's part of that POB generation that was just put on hold forever because of the old witch's ways (Lefèvre that I do hate with a passion, she has destroyed a lot in 20 years, and she has destroyed the company to an extent you can not imagine, ask Millepied how hard it is to take over when the dancers don't want to dance).
 
kwanfan1818 said:
Balanchine had no problems with Patricia McBride, who danced at NYCB from 1959 until after Balanchine's death in the '80's. He created some extraordinary roles for her -- "Rubies," "The Man I Love" pdd and "Fascinatin' Rhythm" solos from "Who Cares?," Costermongers from "Union Jack," Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," 2nd movement of "Bràhms-Schoenberg Quartet," and "Harlequinade" -- plus she was given "Liebeslieder Walzer" early in her career and all of the killer technical roles. She was regularly partnered with Villella and Baryshnikov.
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She looks better proportioned than Maria. No one I've ever seen at that level is proportioned like Maria. :scream: Again, it's not the height so much, it's the shortness of the limbs.
kwanfan1818 said:
The Bolshoi explained this year that there are many concurrent company classes at the Bolshoi, and the dancers pick the ones they need. Last year people were wondering why dancers seemed to be missing from class. I didn't see any center barres, and there's a limit to the number of dancers who can fit on the wall barres.
'I saw Politkaru's "Romeo and Juliet" collaboration with Donnellan. :scream:. Hopefully his "Hamlet" is better.
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They were totally meh, another day at the office vs. Royal Ballet who was :kickass: in class.

What was that R&J like? Why didn't you like it?
 
Concours, though, don't have a panel made up solely of other dancers. Was it :judge::skandal?

If I were a dancer, and there was a new AD who was not only in charge of casting the general rep, but also chose the dancers for his new work, I'd be :cheer: that my fellow dancers were in a sulk, because, more for me..
 
R&J was annoying and pretentious and a complete waste of Alexandrova and Savin. The only good moment in it was when Alexandrova jumped into his arms and bit him.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
R&J was annoying and pretentious and a complete waste of Alexandrova and Savin. The only good moment in it was when Alexandrova jumped into his arms and bit him.
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:lol: What?? I have to see this.

kwanfan1818 said:
Concours, though, don't have a panel made up solely of other dancers. Was it :judge::skandal?
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I remember hearing about it and thinking :scream: Sounds like a waking nightmare of :drama:
 
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I think they put it out of its misery and went back to a more traditional bad version.

I almost forgot: she shrieked before she bit him.
 
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