Final week of the season

Highlights include...
*First change of cast for 'The Blue Necklace'

FEBRUARY 22-27, 2005

TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22 AT 7:30PM [Quinn]

Double Feature:
The Blue Necklace:
Dorothy Brooks: *SYLVE
Mrs. Griffith: NICHOLS
Mr. Griffith: *FROMAN
Billy Randolph: WOETZEL
Mabel: *TAYLOR
Florence: FAIRCHILD
Intermission
Makin' Whoopee:
Anne Windsor: ANSANELLI
Joe Doherty: EVANS
Garrison: HIGGINS
Jimmie Shannon: GOLD
Edward Meekin: ORZA

WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23 AT 8:00PM [Quinn]

Double Feature:
The Blue Necklace:
Dorothy Brooks: SYLVE
Mrs. Griffith: NICHOLS
Mr. Griffith: FROMAN
Billy Randolph: WOETZEL
Mabel: TAYLOR
Florence: FAIRCHILD
Intermission
Makin' Whoopee:
Anne Windsor: ANSANELLI
Joe Doherty: EVANS
Garrison: HIGGINS
Jimmie Shannon: GOLD
Edward Meekin: ORZA

THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 24 AT 8:00PM [Quinn]

Double Feature:
The Blue Necklace:
Dorothy Brooks: KOWROSKI
Mrs. Griffith: NICHOLS
Mr. Griffith: FOWLER
Billy Randolph: WOETZEL
Mabel: BOUDER
Florence: FAIRCHILD
Intermission
Makin' Whoopee:
Anne Windsor: ANSANELLI
Joe Doherty: EVANS
Garrison: HIGGINS
Jimmie Shannon: GOLD
Edward Meekin: ORZA

FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 25 AT 8:00PM

Symphony in Three Movements: WHELAN, BOUDER, SYLVE, SOTO, HENDRICKSON, J. ANGLE
Intermission
Afternoon of a Faun: ANSANELLI, WOETZEL
Pause
Eros Piano: FAIRCHILD, TAYLOR, *MILLEPIED
Intermission
Glass Pieces: TINSLEY, HIGGINS, RUTHERFORD, FOWLER, KROHN, la COUR, KOWROSKI, NEAL

SATURDAY MATINEE, FEBRUARY 26 AT 2:00PM

Shambards: WEESE, SOTO, KÖRBES, la COUR, BOUDER, FAIRCHILD, DE LUZ, ULBRICHT
Intermission
Apollo: MARTINS, KISTLER, SYLVE, RUTHERFORD
Intermission
Glass Pieces: TINSLEY, HIGGINS, RUTHERFORD, FOWLER, KROHN, la COUR, WHELAN, *LIANG

SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26 AT 8:00PM

Glass Pieces: TINSLEY, HIGGINS, RUTHERFORD, FOWLER, KROHN, la COUR, KOWROSKI, NEAL
Intermission
Chichester Psalms: ABERGEL, SETH
Intermission
Symphony in Three Movements: WHELAN, BOUDER, SYLVE, SOTO, HENDRICKSON, J. ANGLE

SUNDAY MATINEE, FEBRUARY 27 AT 3:00PM

Fanfare:
Piccolo: KEENAN
Flutes: HYLTIN, PAZCOGUIN
Oboe: ARTHURS
Violas: RUTHERFORD, J. ANGLE
Harp: REICHLEN
Celli: RICARD, BESKOW, KROHN
Major Domo: LOWENSTEIN+
Clarinets: TINSLEY, LIANG
Bassoons: FOWLER, FROMAN
Double Bass: la COUR
Tuba: ULBRICHT
Trumpets: CARMENA, HENDRICKSON
Percussion: SUOZZI, GOLD, RAMASAR
Pause
Liturgy: WHELAN, SOTO
Intermission
Chichester Psalms: ABERGEL, SETH
Intermission
Stars & Stripes: ANSANELLI, MILLEPIED, TINSLEY, HANSON, ULBRICHT

My personal highlight of the Feb 17 performance of "Jewels" was Maria Kowroski in "Diamonds," once again.

And, oh, poohtunia, what did you think of the corps?

Agreed. Maria Kowroski was lovely. But Philip Neal's partnering deserves considerable credit as well.

The corps did not look good -- like a suburban school recital with a handsome budget. The problem is the same problem that people have written about over and over again: the corps is inundated with under-trained, ill-trained children. The concept of port de bras is completely missing. The basic understanding of the difference between a line and a line segment is completely missing. It is not a matter of the Balanchine style being so different from the traditional classical ballet style. It is a matter of dancers using the Balanchine label as an excuse for being incomplete and sloppy. (Remember Azlan, you baited me on this topic.)

My old ( ) ballet teacher, Warren Conover (now at NCS Arts) stopped an open professional class one morning to offer the following:

If you go to a fancy restaurant, a REALLY fancy restaurant, and are served a piece of rancid meat, it doesn't matter:
- how perfectly it is prepared
- that there is a delicious sauce ladled over it
- that the wine is wonderful
- the table setting is beautiful
- the waiter is psychic, and
- you are with the love of your life,
you are STILL eating rancid meat, and it will make you sick. If the basic, underlying ingredient is bad, the rest doesn't much matter.

So, in last night's performance, I saw a lot of fancy sauce . . .

<small>[ 18 February 2005, 10:15 AM: Message edited by: Poohtunia ]</small>

Didn't take much...

Yes, Neal was a partner comparable to Kowroski's talents -- I know many dancers who would kill to have a dancing partner like him on every show!

<small>[ 18 February 2005, 02:49 PM: Message edited by: Azlan ]</small>

I liked Susan Stroman's "Double Feature" more than I thought I would -- at first I thought the projected images would be gimmicky but quickly realized it helped propel the stories along without having the dancer resort to miming.

Tom Gold was especially watchable in the second act, "Making Whoopee." Am I the only one or did he bear a striking resemblance to Stan Laurel?

Re: Double Feature. I agree, Azlan. Great fun. But Rockwell got it wrong. The second piece stole gloriously (and shamelessly) from Giselle, not La Bayadere. I'll write something more as soon as I have time, but in the meantime, if any of you haven't seen it yet, go tomorrow or Thursday.

I don't know the details here, but the Bush administration has repeatedly refused visas to Cuban scholars and artists -- often on short notice --and blocked efforts by American philanthropists to preserve Ernest Hemingway's house in Havana. To be sure, the Ballet Nacional de Cuba still tours the US, but this has a lot to do with the person clout of Alicia Alonso who, for all I know, may still hold US citizenship.

American policy toward Cuba has long passed any test for rationality. 47 years of economic sanctions have done nothing but prove the resilience of the Cubans and deprive people on both sides of the Florida Straits of a healthy artistic and intellectual exchange.

Just a note to posters who quote the Times: articles are available free online for seven days after publication. After that, the stories are available only for purchase from the archives.

It is possible, however, to select the entire story, then cut-and-paste the text into a message. The story will not disappear under these circumstances.

<small>[ 22 February 2005, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: Morris Neighbor ]</small>

Complaints about the NYCB corps are literally as old as the company itself. Balanchine famously compared it to a bed of flowers, all the same variety but each an individual blossom. The fact that soloists and principals are, for the most part, promoted from the corps encourages dancers to distinguish themselves by any means possible.

A dozen or so years ago, Newsday ran a feature article about rising young male dancers in the company. One of the featured dancers was Albert Evans (today a principal dancer), one of the few African-Americans in the classical dance world. At the time he was getting some solo roles but also appeared with the corps. The reporter asked about the occasions when he was a member of the ensemble, but the only black person on stage: "Do you feel that everyone is looking at you?" His reply is telling: "I certainly hope so!" For the record, his polished technique, elegant partnering, and engaging stage presence are also attention-getters.

As an NYCB regular, I can assure you that, for several years, Neal's career was based entirely on his partnering skills. For the unfamiliar, he is tall (6'3" I believe) and long-limbed, with a natural elegance and gift for closely observing his partner. But it's been only the past few seasons that he's managed to knock off solo variations with panache. To be sure, however, most solo moves are harder for the long-limbed than the compact, thanks to the laws of physics.

At the same time, I have no explanation for his changing hairstyles and hair colors from season to season. Different strokes, I guess!