Tonya Plank's Blog, page 17

NYCB Spring Gala with SEVEN DEADLY SINS Premiere

Here are some photos, all by Paul Kolnik, of Lynne Taylor-Corbett's play-ballet, The Seven Deadly Sins, which premiered last night at New York City Ballet's Spring gala performance. Above is Patti LuPone, who guest-starred with the company (performing the singing role of course!) and Wendy Whelan, who danced the lead. The top photo is from the "Prologue" of the play-ballet (or ballet chante as the program calls it).

This is from the second part: "Pride": Patti LuPone and cabaret dancer ensemble.

Also from "Pride." Wendy Whelan is in the middle.

And this is from sixth part, "Lust," probably my favorite over all. Craig Hall and Wendy Whelan are the dancers in the photo. Craig Hall and Sara Mearns (who danced the role of "Latina Diva" in the "Anger" section, and who I don't have a picture of unfortunately), most stood out to me, as well as Vincent Paradiso as the Count in the "Greed" section. I think those dancers most stood out – at least Mearns and Paradiso – because they seem to have some kind of acting training. Maybe they don't, maybe they're just natural actor-types, but the more actor-ly you are, I think the easier this kind of role would be. Wendy Whelan said in an interview with Roslyn Sulcas in the New York Times that she was used to expressing herself with her body and her lines, that she was used to Balanchine's dictum "don't act, don't think, just dance," and that she found this kind of role challenging. As much of a NYCB star as she is, and as stunning as she is in Wheeldon and Balanchine's more modern, angular-lined ballets, I just wonder if she was mis-cast for something like this.

Which isn't to say that she didn't dance very well last night. She danced a really beautiful pas de deux with Craig Hall, which is what made "Lust" my favorite section. And LuPone sang in a gorgeously powerful voice. The dancing was all superb. But something just didn't work to me.

Balanchine choreographed the original Seven Deadly Sins, set to libretto and score by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, in 1933. The Balanchine version was revived in 1958. According to the Times article linked to above, both the original version and revivals received very good reviews. Since the Balanchine version appears to be largely lost now, and Peter Martins wanted to revive the ballet, he commissioned new choreography from Taylor-Corbett.

Maybe it was that the new choreography didn't really express the story, which follows Anna, a woman whose various life experiences each represent one of the sins. It wasn't really a full story, but one composed of scenes, each of which dramatized a sin (and LuPone and Whelan portray different aspects of Anna). But, I didn't feel the scenes always worked well at doing that. For example, in my favorite section, "Lust," I thought the Hall/Whelan bedroom scene was really beautiful, very romantic, but nothing said lust, as in sinful lust, to me. I almost felt like Whelan's Anna had a loveless relationship with her husband, danced by Allen Peiffer, and she was really in love with Hall, and her leaving her husband and running into Hall's arms was an urgently needed escape.

In my other favorite section, "Anger," Sara Mearns is a kind of sexy, but rather humorously so, Copacabana dancer. She gets angry at Whelan's Anna for something – I'm not quite sure what – maybe Anna stole her lover or took over Mearns' role as head diva, drawing too much attention to herself…  Anyway, Mearns twists her face into a look of utter anger, then points at Whelan, who runs off crying and is then stripped down to her underwear by a group of men. But I thought it was done rather cartoonishly. So it was more funny and cute to me than a dramatic representation of the tragic consequences of anger.

In the "Greed" section, a count and a senator vie for something and end up in a duel, both of them getting killed. But it didn't have any tragedy or pathos to me. Instead, it felt a bit like Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth, which made me want to giggle – probably the fact that it was Paradiso playing the role of the Count.

I don't know. I guess I was expecting something with more tragedy and pathos and weight, and I felt like I saw a version of Slaughter on Tenth but without a through story-line. Maybe that was the intent. I'm going to see it again over the weekend, and maybe my opinion will change.

Did anyone else see it yet? I'm interested to hear what others think. Has anyone seen the Balanchine version?

After intermission,

– here's my photo of the promenade – Balanchine's Vienna Waltzes was performed beautifully.

Photo by Paul Kolnik.

All of the dancers were very good, but I particularly liked Megan Fairchild and Joaquin DeLuz in the fast-footed, playful scene in the forest, "Fruhlingsstimmen," and Maria Kowroski and Charles Askegard in the last, beautifully ballroom-y section, "Der Rosenkavalier."

Google's Martha Graham Dancer Doodle

In case you're not online today, or don't use Google as a search engine, someone has generously recorded and posted a YouTube clip of Google's excellent Martha Graham doodle, in honor of what would be her 117th birthday. I don't remember seeing such an intricately designed doodle for anyone or anything else. Do you guys? How awesome for the dance world!

Missing the Sonoran Desert

Here are some pictures I took of my trip to Phoenix (and surrounding areas).

My cousin recently bought a house in an area north of Phoenix that's not very developed. At least not right now. Phoenix is one of the most rapidly expanding cities in the US. I stayed mainly with her and I loved it. Made me want to build a ranch house out in the middle of the desert, perhaps in a town like Cave Creek. So immensely peaceful, quiet, warm. I'm finding NY to be so distracting lately. I don't know how I wrote my first novel here but I'm finding it increasingly hard to concentrate. I can't imagine ever leaving NYC completely, but I really need something different, at least for a couple months out of the year.

Above is Camelback Mountain, near Scottsdale, my favorite suburb of Phoenix. The mountain is so named because it kind of resembles a camel.

I haven't been back to Phoenix (where I grew up) in ten years. And I haven't lived there in almost 20. I had a bit of culture shock. I wasn't used to the wide open spaces. This is the weekend, in the middle of the afternoon. Not so many cars.

And inside Scottsdale Fashion Square mall. This is on a Thursday afternoon. Practically had the place to ourselves.

Such a shock to see free seats! Never, never in New York. This was taken at Metrocenter, another mall, in central Phoenix, where I took ice skating lessons as a child. I'm really not a mall person; I just like to see my old familiar places when I go back.

Back at Scottsdale Fashion Square, a flyer I found at the movie theater there – the Harkins Camelview – one of the only arthouse cinemas in the Phoenix area. So psyched to see that they're housing the Emerging Pictures Ballet in Cinema and Opera in Cinema series! Apparently, they've already shown the Bolshoi's Coppelia.

In Scottsdale, I wanted to visit the Borgata as well, but we didn't have time. Instead we found this newish little mall of boutique shops and restaurants across from Scottsdale Fashion Square. The pack of shops was called The Scottsdale Waterfront and bordered some kind of body of water – a canal I imagine.

Restaurants looked packed but stores here, as everywhere, seemed pretty empty. I guess it's the same pretty much everywhere with the economy and people shopping online and all. Will there be any storefront stores in the future?

Of course one of my favorite things about Arizona is the Mexican food. It's everywhere, regardless of whether a restaurant specializes in Mexican food or not. This is just at a run of the mill breakfast place – The Village Inn I think it was called – where I had potato pancakes and eggs with avocado, green chile hollandaise sauce, and spicy pork carnitas.

My cousin found some margarita-flavored wine from a local winery, Kokopelli. A little too sweet for me, but interesting.

On my way back, I was browsing in a magazine shop in the airport and found that Phoenix Magazine's May issue is devoted to the city's best Mexican food. I've made my dad promise to take me to all of them when I return. Which must be in far fewer than ten years.

NYCB Opens its Spring 2011 Season with "Balanchine: Black & White"

Photo from 2004 of Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto in Balanchine's Agon, by Paul Kolnik.

Last night New York City Ballet opened its Spring season with three Balanchine "leotard" or "black and white" ballets (so-called because of the costumes). I have very little time to write because I'm off for a short trip to Phoenix later today. But I'll just say, all the dancers looked very refreshed, in tiptop shape, and everyone danced very well and with lots of expression.

First on – and the highlight of the evening to me – was Square Dance, which I haven't seen a huge number of times but which is really growing on me. The leads were Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley, who is really growing on me as well. He reminds me a bit of Alex Wong, except he's more lyrical and it's a little less about the stunning feats with him, though he is a very good dancer and I'm sure can do the stunning feats! His difficult-looking often flexed-footed solo was mesmerizing. He was even mesmerizing when he just stood off-center and watched Fairchild do her solo, the way he'd look at her, at times longingly, at times in awe. Megan danced with a lot of joy as well – all dancers were very emotionally compelling in this. And I'm not the only one who thought so – the audience really went crazy with applause after this dance.

Next on was Agon. The main couples were Wendy Whelan and Sebastien Marcovici, Teresa Reichlen and Andrew Veyette, Ashley Laracey and Amar Ramasar, and Amanda Hankes and Craig Hall. Andrew Veyette (above, photo by Paul Kolnik) really stood out to me in this. I think he is well-suited to all the angular lines so pronounced in these leotard ballets. Wendy Whelan and Sebastien Marcovici had a couple very minor flubs. During intermission, the little group of balletomanes I hang out with were reminiscing about how stunning she was when she used to dance this part with Jock Soto (which is why I posted the top picture). I really wish I could have seen that. It looks stunning from the picture.

The evening ended with Stravinsky Violin Concerto; leads were Maria Kowroski and Amar Ramasar, and Sterling Hyltin and Ask LaCour.  I always like this ballet and I always look for my favorite part – where, in the third section, Aria II, the man stands over the woman and turns her around and around, like a barrel. I think I've seen Robert Fairchild do it only once, but it was the first time I ever saw the ballet and now, to me, he owns that role and no one can do it like him. I thought of that when my intermission friends were reminiscing about their favorite dancers from the past and how differently they looked doing these black and white ballets – how much more precision there used to be – and it's funny because Robert Fairchild is obviously not the first dancer to dance my favorite part but he'll always define it to me. The first dancer, or the first set of dancers, that you see in a role or a dance will definitely leave an indelible impression. But someday I still very much would like to see the original Balanchine dancers in these ballets.

Anyway, this was opening night, but there was no red carpet since NYCB has their gala next week, on Wednesday – when the Patti LuPone collaboration will premiere!

Okay, I'm off to the land of lizards and gila monsters and sun and 99-degree temperatures! Assuming I'm able to finish packing…

LEAP by Jodi Lundgren

I recently finished this sweet, very honestly written young adult novel by Canadian author Jodi Lundgren.

Leap is a coming of age story about a teenage girl, Natalie, living in British Columbia with her mother and younger sister. Natalie deals with many of the problems teenagers do – a boyfriend who pressures her into sex, a difficult friendship with a destructive classmate, and just fitting in and figuring out who she is. In addition, her father has recently divorced her mother and moved across the country to Toronto. She hardly ever sees him and feels abandoned by him. Her mother, who often seems more interested in books than her daughters, has begun a romantic relationship with another woman. Natalie takes after school dance classes with her friends and her teacher, Ms. Kelly, doesn't much like her and seems to enjoy really picking on her. The classes consist of several types of dance, including ballet, but the group is working mainly on a jazz routine for an end of the year performance. Natalie feels uncomfortable with the choreography, which the way it's described, sounds very Fosse-esque, very sexed-up.

Along comes a young co-teacher, Petra Moss, whom Ms. Kelly has hired to choreograph a ballet for the final show. Love the name! Kept picturing Petra Murgatroyd from Burn the Floor. Much to Natalie's surprise (and Ms. Kelly's) Petra immediately takes a liking to Natalie. Petra's choreography is actually more modern than ballet and there's a humorous little tiff between Ms. Kelly and Petra about whether toe shoes will be used, but suffice it to say, modern feels much more comfortable to Natalie's body. Petra encourages Natalie to feel the movement, to make it organic and natural, so as to really express herself through it. She invites her to improvise. From Ms. Lundgren's descriptions of Petra's classes, they even sound a bit Gaga-esque.

Basically, through dance Natalie learns to deal with all of the confusing things happening in her life. One of my favorite parts of the novel is when Natalie's parents attempt to support her by attending her first professional performance. She's thrilled. But then it becomes clear that they don't really understand her commitment, or her art. An older gay male dancer who befriends her tells her it's okay; family and friends won't always understand you. So, you can create a new family of those who do.

It's a sweet story that teenage girls in general, and anyone who's ever danced, will appreciate.

Ground Zero, May 2, 2011

I couldn't resist spending an hour down at Ground Zero today. It was crowded, mainly with people taking pictures, many of whom appeared to be tourists, and reporters  – loads and loads and loads of them. Above photo is taken at the entrance to the cemetery in the back of St. Paul's Chapel, where a man was singing John Lennon's Imagine, and another man was holding an American flag above him.

Inside the chapel grounds.

Across the street, outside the construction zone where the memorial's being built.

You can't see but the man in blue was holding a photo album of his pictures of the World Trade Center taken both years before 9/11 and that day. He saw some young people wearing anti-bin Laden shirts and seemed intent on showing them just what was lost.

Someone photoshopped this picture of the Statue of Liberty holding bin Laden's head instead of her torch and pasted it onto this street sign.

A big line of press tents and camera vans from all major TV networks.

Construction underway, with new glass on one of the buildings. The memorial is set to open this year on 9/11.

American Ballet Theater's "On To Act II" at the Guggenheim

Did you guys watch the live-stream last night or tonight? If you missed it, you can watch the video now archived on the Guggenheim's ustream channel.

It feels weird to review a program that everyone can easily watch online, but I'll just say my favorite moments last night were: the ABT II dancers in excerpts from Jessica Lang's Vivace Motifs, which I thought looked like a lovely ballet; Hee Seo in the prayer scene from Coppelia; Susan Jaffe coaching Sarah Lane in another scene from that same ballet; and Jose Manuel Carreno's interview by Wes Chapman.

I wasn't really in love with the dance Carreno performed with Melanie Hamrick – Ronald Savkovic's Transparante. I thought there was a bit too much falling down and standing up again, and, though some of the partnering and lifts were beautiful they were pretty basic and didn't reveal much about the relationship of the characters and the dramatic action. But I loved hearing him talk – love how he still has that thick accent! Love that he said "oh shit" in reference to all the Don Quixotes he's cast in during week one of ABT's Met season! He doesn't seem to have a plan for the future, but said he'd still do some freelance dancing for the next few years, and said he's interested in exploring more contemporary work, other forms of dance. I think that's why he wanted to dance Transparante instead of something from ABT's season.

I liked Martine van Hamel's discussion and performance of some of the character roles she continues to do – the wicked stepmother, always either drunk or hung-over, in Kudelka's comical version of Cinderella, and the wicked fairy Carabosse in Petipa's Sleeping Beauty. But they left out the Dacha Dweller from Ratmansky's Bright Stream, which was on the program! None of us have seen that ballet yet and I was eagerly awaiting that excerpt … and then she said she wouldn't do it because she couldn't get something in it quite right yet. Well, I guess we'll see it soon enough.

I really did like the excerpt from Jessica Lang's Vivace Motifs. The ABT II dancers are always very good, especially Irlan Silva. Every time I see him dance I get annoyed that ABT hasn't yet brought him into the main company. I don't understand what they're waiting for. He stands out so much to me. He seems better than most of ABT's soloists and even some principals. And he's not even in the corps yet. I really really really don't get it.

Anyway, I'll conclude this post with an excerpt of Carreno and Susan Jaffe dancing the Black Swan pdd from an earlier documentary about ABT:

And footage of Silva from the documentary, Only When I Dance:

Jose Carreno and ABT Live-Streamed from the Guggenheim this Sunday and Monday

The Guggenheim's Works and Process event this coming Sunday and Monday nights (May 1st and 2nd) is entitled "ABT: On to Act II" and focuses on what awaits a principal ballet dancer upon retirement from an illustrious career. The focus of course is on Jose Manuel Carreno, who will retire in June during the company's Met season, and who's long been one of my personal favorites in ABT and in the world. I remember when Julio Bocca gave his farewell performance I thought how upset I'd be when it was Jose Carreno doing the same. That day in late June is not going to be a happy one for me…

The W&P panel will consist of Carreno, Susan Jaffee, Frederic Franklin, and several ABT administrators, and there will be excerpts from the company's upcoming Met season performed. (It hasn't yet been announced who the dancers will be.) There will also be a slide show of the photography of Rosalie O'Connor, who successfully transitioned from ABT dancer to company photographer (and who took the above picture of Carreno in Don Quixote).

As with all of the Guggenheim's W&P events of late, this one will be live-streamed on the Guggenheim's ustream channel. So even though the event is sold out, we all get free admission Just tune in at 7:30 p.m. ET either night, and again, you can also participate in the live-chat which takes place on that channel alongside the live video.

Avi Scher & Dancers, Photos

Ack, you guys I'm working 13-hour days right now and have virtually no time for anything but working, eating, and sleeping, but I wanted to get some photos up of the recent performance by Avi Scher & Dancers that I saw at the Alvin Ailey Theater on Sunday afternoon. All photos are by fabulous dancer-turned photographer, Matthew Murphy.

I don't have much time to write, but as always, I really enjoyed Avi's choreography, combined with the excellent dancers he gets to perform his work. As always, it's incredible – really truly incredible – to be able to see such renowned dancers on a small stage in a small, intimate theater.

Above are Carla Korbes and Seth Orza, principal dancers formerly with NYCB, now with Pacific Northwest Ballet, in Scher's Mirrors, a somewhat Jerome Robbins-like piece (it reminded me a bit of Dances at a Gathering anyway), that had its premiere this weekend. Korbes and Orza beautifully danced the romantic pair at the heart of the piece. Also in that piece, ABT's always entertaining Craig Salstein danced a comical duet with ABT's Nicole Graniero. I love Craig. I do. As huge a crush as I used to have on Seth when he was with NYCB, I have to say Craig stole the show

Ooooh, I really loved this couple. It's Joseph Gatti and Misa Kuranaga from Boston Ballet and they danced the second piece, Utopia. I loved both – and initially couldn't figure out where I'd seen Gatti before but now I'm thinking it was a Wheeldon Morphoses piece. (Sorry, I don't have time to look it up!) Kuranaga really took my breath away in this. She was really striking. She had such beautiful lines and danced with such passion. In the end, she threw herself at him ecstatically and he caught her. Sweet.

This is Ana Sophia Scheller, NYCB soloist, in Dreamscapes, the fourth piece of the night, which was also having its premiere. She had a fast-moving part up front and she did very well with it. She's standing out to me more and more lately.

Scheller with Tyler Angle (NYCB principal, and one of my faves of that company). I thought the dancing in this last piece was spectacular. So many really top notch dancers… Sofiane Sylve, formerly of NYCB and now a principal with San Francisco Ballet, was stunning in a late section where she danced an insanely fast-footed allegro duet with with NYCB's Savannah Lowery. Lowery always amazes me when I see her dance with Avi's group on a small stage like this. She's got such an athletic build and Scher always makes her look so good. He gives her choreography and costumes that really suit her. (NYCB's Janie Taylor did the costumes).

Sofiane Sylve. It was nice to see her in NY again. And Orza

Scher is a very likable young choreographer who studied at the School of American Ballet. He has lots of NYCB connections and you can see influences of Balanchine, Robbins, and Christopher Wheeldon in his work (the third piece was called Classroom Fantasy, was danced by students of the Manhattan Youth Ballet, and reminded me a bit of Wheeldon's early Scenes de Ballet albeit more comical). I think Scher is definitely a choreographer to keep an eye on for the future.

Kurt Froman on Training Natalie Portman to Dance

But his funniest, most interesting words are about Mila Kunis:

"Mila, and I mean this in the best way, she is such a loud-mouthed kind of broad. You know exactly where you stand with her, if she's not happy with something. All she wanted to do is smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, where it was like, "Come on Mila, we've got to work!" And Natalie was like completely the opposite, in a way. She never complained once…

"Mila was the further behind in terms of training. She's not — she doesn't have a really good sense of her body, she's not really a dancer or whatever."

It's funny, but I know exactly what he means about not having a good sense of your body… something I never knew about myself until I started trying to to dance.

Anyway, this is from an interview in Front Row Magazine, by Peter Simek, with Kurt Froman (former NYCB dancer- turned – Movin' Out lead dancer and choreographer for Billy Elliot on Broadway.) Apparently, the interview with Froman was originally published around the time the movie came out, but these excerpts didn't make the final cut. Simek decided to publish them now in light of the current who danced what controversy. Btw, you all probably already know this, but Sarah Lane gave an interview to 20/20 about said issue. Froman gave the interview a long time ago, without knowledge that this would become a controversy, so it has the air of truth. Scroll down to the bottom to read exactly what he said about Portman.

But I also find it really interesting what he said about training Kunis. At least at the beginning, their intention was to make her like a real Odile – marked by virtuosity. Froman choreographed while Millepied was busy with a prior commitment and that's what he was trying to go for with Kunis – to make her as believable as a virtuoso as possible. But then when Millepied returned, he changed everything, making Kunis's character more about her sex appeal, and her sexual comfort level with herself (as opposed to Odette / Portman's lack thereof). So then they added things like Kunis's dancing with her hair down, being so comfortable with herself that she didn't care about messing up, etc., and they took out the virtuosity. This, he said, was okay because it went along far better with what Aronofsky wanted than what Froman had been trying to train her to do. I just find that interesting, because that was one of the parts of the film where I had the hardest time suspending disbelief – that the company director would seriously consider replacing the lead with a seemingly ditzy girl who thought it was funny when she couldn't do a series of turns without nearly falling over. Of course everyone keeps pointing out that the movie wasn't about dance but about sexuality, madness, etc. And they're right. It's just interesting to me that initially the film seemed to be a little more about the actual ballet than it ended up. Makes me wonder if things were changed after everyone realized how impossible it was to make a couple of very good actresses believable as high-level ballerinas.

Sorry this is all I've been blogging about lately! It's definitely not all I care about. But I've returned to practicing law and so am now trying to juggle three things: my job, my book, and this blog. I apologize if it's slow going from time to time. I definitely plan to cover as much NYCB and ABT as I can this summer!