I'll start a new thread.

Happy Birthday, Balanchine
By Lisa Traiger
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, February 27, 2004; Page WE28
more

<small>[ 09 March 2004, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: NYBalletMod ]</small>

For Peter Martins, Past Is No Yoke
Carrying Balanchine's Torch Proves Vexing for the NYCB Director
By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 29, 2004; Page N01

more

I was very impressed by the Washington Post article. Actually, I've been consistently impressed by the Post's recent coverage of dance companies, with very well balanced and in-depth profile pieces on companies such as Ailey, the Kirov, and now New York City Ballet. They're not the standard-issue puff pieces promoting the company's upcoming run, but rather a fuller picture - Kaufman was clearly not affraid to press Martins for some answers to tough questions, and got some interesting responses to criticism lashed out at the company.

KenCen welcomes NYCB
By Jean Battey Lewis for THE WASHINGTON TIME

When George Balanchine came to this country in 1933 at the invitation of Lincoln Kirstein to form a ballet company, it took him 15 years to reach that goal. During those intervening 15 years, the country survived the Great Depression and World War II. Mr. Balanchine, on the other hand, survived by mounting brief-lived companies and creating dances for Broadway and Hollywood, plus a brief fling at making ballets for the Metropolitan Opera.

click for more

N.Y. City Ballet Honors Its Father
By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 5, 2004; Page C01
more

A Great Ballet Company's Puzzling Mix
By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 6, 2004; Page C01
more

City Ballet's Dazzling 'Jewels'
By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 8, 2004; Page C01
more

As always I have to caveat my comments by pointing out that I have only seen small groups of NYCB dancers in London.

Sarah Kaufman's interview with Martins is a strong one and she was right to pursue the question of Martins' refusal to bring in dancers to coach the roles. There is no question that dancers at the Royal Ballet have benefitted greatly from coaching from artists closely associated with the works to be performed. The reason that Martins gives - I'm a busy man and I can't do it, so the same goes for the others - is clearly ludicrous, given the way that the Balanchine Trust representatives criss-cross the world coaching the repertoire.

While I support his encouragement of new choreography, for which he is also criticised, on the coaching issue his attitude is difficult to understand. I'm minded of a quip from a UK theatre director about Olivier, "..the ego has landed."

<small>[ 08 March 2004, 01:54 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

New York City Ballet overcomes lapses
By Jean Battey Lewis for The Washington Times

In its five brief days here, the New York City Ballet offered a lavish array of great ballets by George Balanchine with dancing that veered sharply from the inspired to the humdrum. This unevenness in the company directed by Peter Martins was notable in the second of three programs it brought to the Kennedy Center Opera House.

click for more

*******************************

NYCB does justice to Balanchine's best
By Jean Battey Lewis for The Washington Times

After a 17-year absence, the New York City Bal-let made a triumphant return to Washington Wednesday with a sterling program of masterworks by founder-director George Balanchine.

Three ballets by the great choreographer at the top of his form — the romantic sweep of "Serenade," the nobility and power of "Apollo" and the crystalline designs of "Symphony in C" — set to magnificent scores by Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Bizet — made for an unusually splendid evening.

click for more

Greetings!
I will change the topic name in the near future, but please limit comments and posts on this thread to issues and articles relating to the Washington, DC performances.
Posts relating to the California performances in the fall should go in the California tour topic, since there will be a big gap between these performances.

Cheers!
Kate

<small>[ 09 March 2004, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: ksneds ]</small>

I attended the open rehearsal last Thursday (3/4) and then that evening's performance. Since then I have been trying to get my thoughts together to write a review of the performance. But, I must admit, I was underwhelmed. Sarah Kaufman has a good review of the performance, but personally I didn't find any of it glorious.
Again, for me the music is so important, and I much prefer Bach to Tchaikovsky, so I liked the 'Concerto Barocco'. The two pieces, 'Barocco' and the Tchaikovsky piece, are quite similar in style. Lots of geometric patterns and both pieces were very technically demanding, I thought the corp did a good job, but everything (in both pieces) seemed to be a bit less crisp and clean than it should have been
In the rehearsal I saw Peter Boal as the Prodigal Son, and he was amazing. Perhaps that is why in the evening's performance I found Damian Woetzel to be a bit frantic is his dancing. Maria Kowroski was extremely good as the Siren, I thought her detached, seductive manner was very effective.

Corrival, do you know if NYCB brought their own orchestra? I forget whether that's still part of their contract?

Hi!
It was the Kennedy Center Orchestra this year...the NYCB Orchestra will play for the company in 2005. I've seen some comments that would indicate that perhaps there were some difficulties with the orchestra - i.e. incorrect tempos.

Kate