DrewCo

Solitude has been very widely and intensively praised—and I am very sad not to be able to get to New York to see it. But, as more people weigh in on it, here and there people have expressed caveats about the ballet on message boards other than this one and on one critic’s blog —dancelog.nyc. So, it is not the case, as was posted above, that this site is the only place where anyone has been critical. I debated with myself whether this was worth mentioning since, mostly, Solitude has been rapturously received and it sounds as if it would speak to me powerfully. But I also know what it’s like to be an outlier regarding Ratmansky’s works. Not only have I admired aspects of one of his most widely ridiculed ballets (Tempest) but I have always had reservations about one of his most widely popular ones (Concerto DSCH). Anyway, a serious art work is bound to provoke some differing responses. For myself, I hope one day to see Solitude.

Wonderful! Obviously, Balanchine's version is very different from Ashton's and I guess that may take a little getting used to, which makes it especially nice that you are seeing it more than once. You may already have read that Balanchine constructed it so that Act I has all of the story telling and Act II is all dancing/celebration. The pas de deux danced as a pure divertissement at the end of the ballet--by dancers who aren't part of the narrative at all--is one of Balanchine's most memorable. I love both Ashton and Balanchine's versions, and my favorite is whichever one I happen to be watching.

I hope it's okay if I also respond to @Lizbie1's post. Though I have not seen NYCB as often as @Bruce Wall -- I thought I'd let you know that I come out similarly. I would be hard put to unequivocally recommend either program qua program--the current NYCB leadership has not always shown themselves at their strongest in programming--but Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition would, for me, be the deciding factor. For my taste, it is 95% top drawer Ratmansky (one section always seems to me to drag a little) and full of amazing variety, wit, and beauty. And it will give you a chance to see a number of featured dancers dancers as almost everyone in the cast is featured in some fashion. And though some of the original cast is retired, obviously Ratmansky is on scene at NYCB preparing all of the dancers himself. That always seems to make a difference. The music is the original piano version of the Mussorgsky score--no lush Ravel orchestrations--but that works very well for the ballet, and the sets and costumes all riff off Kandinsky--making it an unusually colorful and brightly designed ballet for this company. I have thoughts about the rest of the program (good and less good) but overall, for my taste, the Ratmansky makes this the more substantive program. But whichever program you end up seeing you will see some interesting choreography and great dancers. I hope your trip goes wonderfully....

I wonder if you are thinking of a different production of The Seasons? I do not believe the Bolshoi ever danced Ratmansky’s version which was indeed made for American Ballet Theatre. The Bolshoi had plans for a version by Belyakov to the same Glazunov score that I thought had not come to fruition...(The Mariinsky danced a Seasons ballet to an entirely different, Vivaldi/Richter, score. That version was choreographed by Ilya Zhivoy...now in exile due to the war.) I have often thought that as @Jeannette mentioned above, it would be great to see if Ratmansky’s Bach ballet planned and choreographed for the Bolshoi, but then cancelled, might find a rebirth at New York City Ballet.

Thank you for posting on this ballet--I don't think you can edit further at this point but the ballet's title is Solitude--your description and other reviews make it sound like something I am very, very sorry to have missed.

The quip about Giselle/Kitri was part of a discussion on BalletAlert where he posted as Manhattnik--at least that's the version of it I know and the ballerina is actually Ukrainian: "As much as I love Dvorovenko in other things, I have to say that as Giselle, she's a good Kitri." If you scroll down you can find the discussion here: https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/1773-abts-giselle-may-11/ I always enjoyed Eric Taub's writing--obviously it could be a little snarky--and was very saddened to learn of his death and his difficulties; I also had gotten to appreciate his love for his cat Boris through Instagram. I hope and expect that his writings will be part of the archive future ballet historians consider. May he rest in peace.

I've been enjoying your posts, but wasn't going to respond until this--because it made me laugh. I was there --had no idea until the end of the evening that there was a fundraiser of some kind--and just kept staring in wonder and...puzzlement thinking "gee I don't remember people getting this dressed up for NYCB..." One outfit was more glittery and elaborate than the next.

I sympathize with this thought, but I think the practices of the companies producing and powering phones and other digital technologies are, unfortunately, not quite the answer just yet. They need to be greatly modified if they are going to help reduce carbon emissions and not, instead, increase them. (A google search will turn up a lot on this problem. Cell phone and other digital technologies have a large carbon footprint.) Of course, I don't have the answers on this issue! I enjoyed Wheeldon's ballet -- much like @Jeannette I wouldn't want to see ABT's repertory dominated by dramatic theatrical works of this kind altogether--but as a different kind of ballet-theater experience that also stretched the dancers, it was terrific. Beautiful and moving and fun. London fans are lucky to have the Royal Ballet, but I thought ABT did great across different casts (I caught three); Wheeldon wrote a warm Instagram post about his experiences with them, also paying tribute to his assistants in setting the ballet on multiple casts: https://www.instagram.com/p/CuCE8_DrQ3h/

The dependence on phones is especially irritating when the theaters (and at least some members of the audience) have long struggled to get people to turn OFF their phones for the performance. Or at least stop looking at them since the light glares all around....

Will be eager @miliosr to read your thoughts when you are able to write about the performances...

Very sad news--an extraordinary ballerina. Like no other I have ever seen. I first came to know of Lynn Seymour through Keith Money's photos--she leaped off the page of his books; later I was able to see her live in A Month in the Country. I went with my mother and we were so moved by the performance we rushed back to see it again later in the week. That later performance was sold out and we waited and waited for turn back seats--and when people in front of us in line refused tickets that weren't together, we got them! I still waited for autographs back then and I also remember just how gracious she was when I stopped her as she was leaving the theater. I am very struck by what has been written here today about how many ballets were created on her that continue to live in the ballet repertory at the Royal Ballet and, I would add, elsewhere. Though I never saw Seymour's Juliet I sometimes think of her when I see Juliet in Act III 'just' sitting on the bed....

Nijinska's irritation with Balanchine is interesting to learn about -- I haven't started Garafola's book yet -- but non-Balanchine-derived ballet companies haven't had much success in Los Angeles either. At least not sustained success. I don't know the histories in detail but read, in an essay by Don Hewitt, that both Lichine and Loring tried to get companies off the ground without any long term success and despite the presence of so many good studios and dancers. And I remember myself that the Joffrey gave it a try for a number of years.....and then pulled out. (Smaller contemporary ballet/dance groups have had some success... including L.A. Dance project and Barak Ballet both of which do have ties to Balanchine and NYCB. But a major ballet company? Los Angeles has not proven the easiest place to build that for anyone from any tradition....)

Ballet West has scheduled Nijinska's Les Noces for their upcoming season. On their website they give the title in English as well as French which seems a sensible accommodation to audiences in the U.S. (For those unfamiliar with the company--they are based in Salt Lake City, Utah.)

Hmm...very possibly. I do think Esquivel's warm endorsement of the project--evident in the Royal Ballet's publicity for it-- and the fact that she seems to have been consulted early on -- along also the involvement of Alondra de La Barra that you mention may blunt those issues if/when they arise. Certainly with the bulk of ABTs audience I think it will. (ABT might be wise, too, at least to have de La Parra conduct the ballet which will make her involvement less easy to dismiss.) It's not predictable, but Wheeldon is a savvy guy with a lot of experience in NY, including with potentially controversial material (I'm thinking of the Michael Jackson musical and the various allegations against Jackson).

I would add La Valse (Balanchine's version) to the list and maybe La Sonnambula (or "Night Shadow") as well....Both have a genuinely uncanny quality and La Valse ends in despair. But, though the original list was fun to read, and everyone's responses too, I think a list of 10 ideally needs narrower parameters. "Dark" takes in too many things that "creepy" does not -- pretty soon we could all probably make this a list of 100 ballets. (I exaggerate....or maybe not. We'll see how the thread unfolds!)

I would like to see that too! Unfortunately, Ratmansky posted on Facebook in 2018 that he had been informed that the sets for this production had been "destroyed"...(That's a quote from his FB post.) This happened after Igor Zelensky took over the company. I don't know what "destroyed" means literally in this context, but I assume the company decided they would not be reviving the production, didn't want the expense of storing the sets, and couldn't easily sell or rent them. I fear that the costs of a revival would be very high if new sets had to be built and that that alone may make it unlikely.

Osipova's piqué turns in 2019 were indeed thrillingly fast--one benefit perhaps of having planned for them. I saw one of her later performances and knew what to expect from reading reports, but if I'm honest with myself I have to admit that if I hadn't been prepared, I might have been a wee bit disconcerted at the change -- even if she was dancing brilliantly. (At least in the U.S. where I am -- I have always considered it established ballet-fan law that the fouettés in Swan Lake shall be discussed. Of course, that doesn't preclude occasional acts of civil disobedience...)

The first performance of the Royal Ballet I ever saw was a Sleeping Beauty at the Met with Bergsma dancing the Lilac Fairy. It was also my first full-length Sleeping Beauty in the theater--I was about 9--and I can't say I have very concrete memories of the performance itself. But I do have very concrete memories of how absolutely enchanted I was by Bergsma's performance. I just ADORED her Lilac Fairy and later commented very earnestly to my mother that every ballerina must want to dance the Lilac Fairy as much as they wanted to dance Aurora. Unfortunately, that is the only time I saw her dance. Many happy returns indeed!

I have long wished I could see The Cellist and finally did at least get to see it via video this evening. Marston's literary/narrative approach to ballet is perhaps not what I most look for in new ballets, but I was very moved by the ballet and would be happy to see more of her choreography (though I fear it will be some time before I see any live ballet again). I had caught Snowblind, also via video, last week and on the whole found the Cellist the "bigger," more consistent accomplishment. Though in both ballets, I thought her ability to make emotional and formal complexity via a pas de trois stands out... Perhaps it goes without saying, especially in this thread, but I will still go ahead and say say that in the broadcasts from the Royal Ballet that I have been able to catch during this strange time, I have been extremely impressed by the quality of the entire company. I'm familiar enough with the Royal not to be surprised of course--but still feel super appreciative.

I don't think the U.S. is entirely predictable especially as things may be decided on a state by state basis, but certainly no ballet in most major cities that have ballet and obviously not New York where Lincoln Center has already cancelled all summer events....The Vail Dance Festival in Colorado (which always has a slew of great ballet artists) has posted a letter to audiences on their site saying that they think it is too soon to know whether or not to cancel. It is hard for me to imagine that they won't cancel, but then the past year has been full of events that would have been hard for me to imagine.

Thank you Jeannette for these detailed reports. I don't think I will get to see this for some time, but I would LOVE to do so!

The variation in the last act that several have mentioned is not performed by one of Raymnonda's named friends, Clemence or Henriette, but by yet another soloist. The cast list I saw (posted by Tours en L'air's Katherine Barber) listed Elizaveta Kokoreva for that variation. I liked her a lot. And Chapkina was listed as dancing one of the vision scene variations, not the role of Henriette or Clemence; those were listed as Maria Vinogradova and Anastasia Denisova. (A lot of different dancers get opportunities in this ballet.) At my movie theater in the States, the ballet also looked dark as someone else mentioned experiencing. The dimness of lighting especially impacted -- or drained the impact -- of the vision scene which is more dimly lit to begin with. (In the theater, that is my favorite scene in the ballet.) In general I have found the Bolshoi broadcasts strangely dark in lighting, but had assumed it was either a "my bad luck" problem localized to certain movie theaters and/or an unavoidable problem caused by the gap between lighting for stage performances and lighting for high quality HD cameras. Otherwise I very much enjoy these broadcasts with the usual ballet fan caveats--sometimes I like dancer x, don't like dancer y; enjoy xyz about a production but not abc...etc. Basically, though, very grateful to see them.

When the Bolshoi danced Corsaire at the Coliseum you could hear voices shouting instructions from the wings on opening night during the Jardin Anime — I don’t know Russian but assume the voices were directing traffic as the stage looked very overcrowded. It is not a good thing, obviously, to hear that, but on an opening night and especially of a production on tour (when it is not as if the companies can dance a few nights of previews) I am inclined not to hold it against them. I went to Paquita Friday and there were no production glitches that I could spot and, from downstairs, no voices overheard either. I will need to see it again before I can really form an opinion, but I will say here that I had a good time throughout and honestly, for my taste, Smekalov could have had the dancers standing on their heads slowly chewing gum for the first two acts and it still would have been more than worth the price of admission (which in my case included flight and hotel) to see the company dance the final Act in marvelous fashion — as they did. Possibly the opening wasn’t as sharp as often openings aren’t the sharpest, but I wasn’t there.

To all of you who routinely take it upon yourselves to help the lost...a big thank you. This past summer I was one of them! (Of course, I have such a poor sense of direction that maybe all the indicators in the world wouldn't help me, but a few additional ones couldn't hurt.)

I would be ecstatic to see Kim in Don Quixote! Hope you all have a great time--and may everyone sitting in front of you be short ...