Oberon's Grove

Lisette in Paris

Liestte Oropesa has gone on to the Finals in both the opera and zarzuela competitions of Placido Domingo's Operalia in Paris! I am so completely excited for her! Merde, Lisette!

Photo: Lisette and her husband Eric in March 2007.   

Just for Perky

Further down the blog, Perky commented on some of her favorite dancers in the New York City Ballet corps which gives me an opportunity to put up this extraordinary photograph by Mark Lyons of Saskia Beskow and Adrian Danchig-Waring from a 2004 New York Magazine fashion shoot. They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

And visit here to read about another mutual favorite of Perky's and mine, Elizabeth Walker.

NYC Ballet Book

New York City Ballet dancer Kyle Froman has a book coming out in October entitled IN THE WINGS. There are some wonderful photographs by Kyle at the Dancer on Dancer page of the City Ballet website. Also there you will find Pauline Golbin's interviews with several Company members.

You can pre-order the book from Wiley's for shipment in October. I have no affiliation with Wiley's nor do I know Kyle Froman, but I wish I did.

   

Wendy & Pauline

This was my big opportunity as a blogger: having Wendy Whelan and Pauline Golbin and my camera all in the same place at the same time. To be honest, I almost always have my camera with me but I rarely work up the nerve to ask any of the dancers if I can take their picture. However it was such a gorgeous day (6/23/07) and the girls were in such a great mood that I said 'what the heck' and asked them. I just love the result if I do say so myself. And I will tell you that these two dancers have an awful lot to do with not only my devotion to NYC Ballet but the way I have come to watch the Company.

After going to NYCB pretty often in the late 1970s I sort of wavered; I was really into opera and whenever I would come down to NYC from Hartford opera was my main priority. It's too bad because every time I did squeeze in a visit to the State Theatre I just loved it. I missed entire careers there, and dancers I really admired came & went without me being aware of it.

In 1996 I was dating a Japanese guy named Toshi who lived in the City; he was a textile designer with an incredible eye. One night on a whim I took him to NYC Ballet. Walking home across Central Park I asked him if any of the dancers had made an impression. "Wendy Whelan. Can't you see she is on a whole other level from the other dancers?" I had seen her dance a few times and always really liked her. So we started going pretty frequently and I realized he was right. There seemed to be something almost profound about everything she did - not profound in a weighty sense but in a way of making you feel and think about what she was doing as being more than just dancing.

After I moved here in 1998 there was a season when most of the principal ballerinas were either sick, injured or pregnant. Wendy, along with Yvonne Borree and Miranda Weese, was carrying the whole season and since there were lots of ballets that Yvonne & Miranda didn't do, Wendy ended up dancing literally every performance and often two and sometimes three ballets a night. Far from getting tired of her or craving a different face and body, I became addicted. Wei and I went more and more frequently, just to see what she would do. We fell under her spell. Going so often simply became a habit and when  the other ballerinas rejoined the ranks we found that Wendy had managed to get us hooked on the whole scene.

It was Pauline Golbin who turned me into a corps-watcher. And again it was Toshi who noticed her. I must say that until 1996 I didn't pay much attention to the corps. I knew they were there and that Mr B had given them plenty to do on any given night but I couldn't tell one bun-head from the next and the boys I hardly ever even noticed. So after one piece Toshi asked me: "Who is that girl with the black hair and the wonderful smile?" Hmmmm, well there's about a dozen of 'em onstage; I couldn't answer his question. We came out the side doors and this girl dashed past us in a striking coat, scarf  and hat."That's her! So chic!!" said Toshi. So next time we went we started looking for her. It became a ritual to find this girl onstage. Then during an intermission we scanned thru the season booklet and found her: Pauline Golbin.

By watching for her I started  to notice how demanding the corps work was at NYCB and that they weren't just a mass of anonymous bodies but beautiful/handsome people who were doing amazing things. I began matching names to faces and hoping to see certain dancers get some of the featured roles. These days I watch corps dancers all the time and it really gives the performance a whole other dimension. There have been many nights when I have gone to a performance just because someone from the corps that I like had landed a solo.  Of course I love to see them get promoted though I realize not everyone can be a soloist. Though many of them should be.

Pauline is famous for her hats and I said something about it and she reached into her bag and pulled one out. In the book ROUND ABOUT THE BALLET, Wendy was asked: "Is there anything people don't know about you that you'd like them to know?" and she replied: "I'm a funny person! I think I come across so serious in ballets. But I'm a pretty silly girl. I don't know if people realize that." So it didn't surprise me when she started cutting up and trying to get under Pauline's hat.  As they strolled into the theatre I really felt like I'd been in the right place at the right time.

UPDATE: The photo is causing sort of a sensation. My blog traffic peaked like crazy since I posted it, and has been much higher than usual all day. I've heard from total strangers via e-mail. I have it blown up in my on-line photo album and I have to admit I've looked at it about 40 times so far today.    

   

News from Paris

My friend Lisette Oropesa just e-mailed me from Paris where she was one of 24 singers selected to move on to the second round of Placido Domingo's Operalia voice competition. Lisette is entered in both the opera and zarzuela competitions. One of her winning selections was the first act aria from LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR. I heard her sing this just before she left for Europe and it was so thrilling to hear it sung with such musical accuracy aligned to a deeply-felt expression of the emotional situation. For the zarzuela competition she sang the beautiful 'Bendita cruz'.

Operalia  is one of the most prestigious vocal competitions in the world and the prize money is nothing to sneeze at.  Allez Lisette!!

UPDATE: And this you will not believe! Back in 1966 when I first came to NYC on my own my very first friend here was a piano student named David Abramovitz. We became great opera buddies and he even actually came up to spend a few days with me in that little tiny town where I grew up. David went on to a very successful career; I knew that he was living in Paris. It's been over 30 years since we spoke.

So I asked Lisette to look him up in the Paris phone book and on a whim I wrote him a letter in which I mentioned that Lisette was there for the Operalia Competition. It turns out he is one of the pianists for the Competition and has been following Lisette's progress. Sadly he is now caught up in a family emergency and flying to NYC tomorrow; we might try to meet though it will be a busy and stressful time for him.

It really is such a small world! David's website is here.  
 

Grand Finale

Sunday June 24, 2007 matinee - No, they didn't do SERENADE today but this iconic New York City Ballet image of Jennie Somogyi in that ballet will serve as a salute to the Company on the final  day of the New York season.

Tonya & I sat dead-center in the 10th row of the orchestra and watched a wonderful performance of JEWELS in which every dancer at every level seemed to be giving the extra bit of energy to make the season go out with a bang. From Maria Kowroski in  a spectacular performance of DIAMONDS to people who aren't even listed on the roster yet, like Briana Shepherd and Anthony Huxley, everyone was striving for perfection and this was about as close to it as you can get.

EMERALDS creates a magical world in the theatre, especially in a performance as brimming with poetry as this one.  Rachel Rutherford, Jared Angle, Jenifer Ringer and Jon Stafford all seemed to have a heightened sense of the romance and elegance of the music today, surpassing their earlier and already magical interpretations. The pas de trois (Dronova, Robert Fairchild & Scheller) and each girl in the corps, far from showing any end-of-season fatigue, danced in a state of grace.

Ashley Bouder (Kolnik photo, left) had the role of a lifetime in RUBIES - the rapidity of her footwork, the dizzy whirl of her pirouettes, her sustained balances all wrapped up in a sexy, jazzy package of energy. Facially, she registered every quirk and nuance of the music: sultry, playful, haughty or naughty - she had it all down pat. Benjamin Millepied showed some of his old high-flying virtuosity today and Teresa Reichlen cast a spell over the audience with her hypnotic legs and Hollywood-diva face. Likolani Brown and Gina Pazcoguin sparkled among the corps.

Kowroski, {Kolnik portrait, left}, who has probably had the busiest month of her career, surpassed herself. This was my third time seeing her in DIAMONDS this season; the first two were superb but she was on a whole other level today. All the Kowroski trademarks were there - the sensational extension, the myriad pirouettes, the rhapsodic line in arabesque - and all woven together with seamless, expansive grandeur. During the bows, I got the feeling that both Maria and her partner, Charles Askegard, realized that she had given an extraordinary perfomance as the audience greeted them with waves of enthusiasm and an extra call. Chuck's partnering was gallant and effortless; they work so beautifully together. He had his own magic moment, spinning like a top to the delight of the crowd. At the end the charming sight of the towering Askegard bringing the tiny conductor Clotilde Otranto out from the wings amused the audience. She did a very fine job, especially with the Faure.

The magic of the blog continues to allow me to meet people I'd most likely never have met. On Friday it was Sarah and today it was Monica Wellington and her beautiful daughter Lydia who is at SAB and about to embark on the summer programme at PNB. Tonya and I were both very taken with this poised young dancer. Monica took us to the Green Room during the intermission.

Tonya and I had hoped to find Monica and Lydia again after the performance but we missed them. We met up with Susan and over a little supper at Pain Quotidien she and Tonya compared ABT notes. It was turning into a beautiful evening as I walked down Columbus Avenue and overtook Ashley Laracey of the NYCB corps. Ashley is a dancer that Wei and I are particularly keen on; I wish he had been with me because he would have been tickled to meet her.      

 

DYBBUK: Change of Heart

Saturday June 23, 2007 matinee - Wanting to see RAYMONDA and STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO this season meant having to see DYBBUK again. That's the drawback of the block programming: you're always making deals with yourself - "OK, I'll suffer thru x in order to see y and z". In the event, this afternoon's performance surprisingly made me see the Robbins ballet in a different way.

The performance opened with the lush and tuneful score of Glazounov's RAYMONDA VARIATIONS. The corps and soloists in this very pretty ballet reminded me today of a garden full of pink roses. Andrew Veyette {portrait by Paul Kolnik} seemed in Bluebird mode in his first solo laced with beats and bravado. He skillfully partnered Ashley Bouder {super-Kolnik photo, though not this ballet!} who is tackling two demanding Balanchine roles back-to-back this week: RAYMONDA and RUBIES. She gave a performance of staggering virtuosity, striking in its detail and endearing in its youthful romantic spirit. She and Andrew were on a roll this afternoon and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves and reveling in the fancy footwork. In the finale, Ashley in a phrase of hopping arabesques, traveling backwards, pulled up into a balance that literally made time stand still. At the end she took a fearless leap into Andrew's arms right at the footlights.

Faye Arthurs led off the variations with the treacherous hopping solo which she delivered with such cool clarity that the audience began to applaud before she finished. This piece must be a real killer but Faye made it look like a breeze. {That's Faye in the Mark Lyon photo, left}. Next was Abi Stafford: well, I wish I could think of another word for Abi besides 'delightful' but that's what she is. Her phrasing is so persuasive and her swift pirouettes where her leg suddenly flashes out to the side were brilliantly handled. Gwyneth Muller was dancing on a grand scale with full-bodied lyricism and a great smile. Alina Dronova's mercurial footwork and Ana Sophia Scheller's perfect pirouettes and total charm completed a winning cast. I told Susan during the intermission that I was curious now to see a complete RAYMONDA; it's one of her favorite ballets.

I have to admit I was dreading DYBBUK. I know some people sat it out altogether. Waiting for the houselights to dim I was trying to think of how I could find a key to enjoying this piece. Since it is the dancers themselves who are the big attraction for me at NYCB I decided to try to focus on individuals rather than on the narrative. So the curtain rose and of the boys onstage I decided to watch William Lin-Yee; I stayed with him thru the whole opening segment. Following his steps and gestures closely I found them so clearly relating to the music. I began to listen to the score more attentively as I watched what Will was doing {I also realized what a musical dancer he is}. By the time Adam Hendrickson and Tyler Angle came on I was starting to buy into the piece.  The appearance of Amanda Hankes & Georgina Pazcoguin, two dancers I love to watch, kept me glued to the proceedings; meanwhile the score was starting to intrigue me more and more with the two strong baritone soloists Christopher Schaldenbrand and Philip Horst adding a darkish dimension. 

I would never have thought of casting Rachel Rutherford and Joaquin de Luz together in a ballet {well, maybe as Titania and Oberon} but what an inspired pairing it proved to be. Rachel has always enhanced the stage picture at NYCB with her slightly aloof beauty; her very slender and utterly graceful figure looked superb in the wafting white dress, her long blond hair an added enhancement. Joaquin was amazingly intense; we all know what a fantastic virtuoso he is but as Chanon he revealed a powerful dramatic commitment that surprised me. The passion of these two dancers drew me strongly into their story. {Rachel photographed in Central Park by Raymond Meeks; Joaquin in a Paul Kolnik portrait}.

The Kabbalah Variations, the one part of the ballet I've always liked, was again a highlight. To anyone who might have questioned whether Robert Fairchild was ready for the soloist designation Rob gave a resounding answer with his thrillingly committed dancing of the first solo. He danced with total abandon and vivid dramatic accents. Scarcely to be outdone, Adrian Danchig-Waring replied with his own intensely personal solo. Christian Tworzyanski and Jon Stafford kept the level high. An oasis of calm was provided by the Maiden's Dance in which Rachel - dancing with hypnotic lyricism - was backed by the very attractive quartet of Hankes, Pazcoguin, Glenn Keenan and Stephanie Zungre who all looked so striking in their white dresses; they put me in mind of that eerie film, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK. Allen Peiffer provided a very finely-danced solo as the Messenger. And so, with great help from Maurice Kaplow on the podium and thanks to the dancers and most especially to Rachel & Joaquin, I had a DYBBUK revelation.

STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO looks so vital and clean, you'd swear Balanchine created it yesterday instead of 35 years ago. Arturo Delmoni  was the violin soloist with just the right blend of edge and flow and the orchestra under Paul Hoskins propelled the piece with very danceable tempi.  This is one of those ballets where the corps does so much 'enhancing' that it poses the problem of who to watch. Ellen Ostrom has been looking so fine this season, I really hope she gets more chances to step out. Beyond that it was a corps-watcher's feast: Faye, Pauline, Dena, Saskia, Savannah, Glenn & Gywneth. An embarrassment of riches. Oh yeah, and there are guys in the ballet too - Craig Hall for one. In time he will surely  step into one of the leads in this piece...either one, actually.

At first I thought Sterling Hyltin seemed a bit 'small' for her role but in her pas de deux I saw that the casting was right. Nilas Martins has the cool partnering style for Stravinsky honed to perfection and he showed off Sterling's blend of steel and delicacy so well as their duet progressed. You don't need opera glasses for Amar Ramasar; he has the projection and good old-fashioned sex appeal that virtually lights up the house. He could easily get by on that alone but he also has a great knack for accentuating the steps and gestures with just the right jazzy touch. His face mirrors both the joy of what he's doing and  the allure of whoever he's dancing with, in this case Maria K of the legendary legs. They got the chemistry going big time, Maria showing an almost demure veneer with flashes of ironic flirtiness. Amar and Maria: a fun match-up and let's have more!

Before the performance Wendy Whelan stopped to say hi and then Pauline Golbin stopped to say hi to her so I had the unbelievable opportunity of having two of my idols all to myself for a few minutes. This for me was the equivalent of a sports fan getting to chat with Roger Federer and Tiger Woods at the same time. I tried to keep my cool and not say anything too foolish while the two of them were just adorable.  They let me take a photo and then Pauline pulled one of her famous hats out of her bag and they posed again. I'll have the results in a day or two. Meeting them the day after meeting Kristin and Faye made me feel like a chocoholic in a Godiva store. Thanks, girls!

Kyra's Farewell

Friday June 22, 2007 - When it was announced several months ago that Kyra Nichols {Kolnik portrait, left} would be making her farewell appearance at New York City Ballet on June 22, 2007 it seemed like we had ample time. June 22? That's weeks away. She'll be dancing quite often during the season. The days flew by. We can still see her in MOZARTIANA...she has one more UNION JACK. Suddenly it seemed we were literally rushing thru June. The 22nd? That's next week. No, it's this week. It's tomorrow. It's tonight. And then time caught up with us and we were sitting there waiting for SERENADE to begin.

Cry? No, I'm not going to cry. What's there to cry about? She had a great and long career and she actually knew Mr. B; she's retiring by choice rather than necessity. She has her children and she'll be teaching. I've seen her dance hundreds of times and I have all the images stored neatly away, like flowers pressed in a beloved book. There's a large and luminous roster of beautiful young women who will inherit Kyra's roles and make them their own. The ballets will endure and we won't forget her. Nothing to cry over - except knowing you will never again turn your opera glasses on Kyra and find that she is looking back at you with those radiant eyes...looking right thru you actually and into some distant source of inspiration, some little bit of heaven where Mr. B is calmly watching over her. That's something to make you weep.

I found the cast page from the very first time I saw Kyra onstage. I would love to be able to say that I picked her out of the corps, singled her out as a future star. But of course she was just a name, another dancer at the start of her career. That's always one of the intriguing aspects of watching NYC Ballet: you never know. You are sitting there now watching Briana Shepherd or Brittany Pollack and you just never know if one day you might be sitting in the same theatre watching them bid farewell as a beloved ballerina. It happens.

Wei and I were waiting for Tonya by the stage door and had the opportunity to meet the dancer we love to love, Faye Arthurs. She was so nice, stopping to talk to us before going in to put on her creamy  gown for VIENNA WALTZES. Earlier Kristin Sloan came by; she was setting up to film the evening backstage...I can't wait to see what she comes up with! We also greeted Yvonne Borree, Dena Abergel and Pauline Golbin as well as the much-missed Sarah Ricard.  After  they all went in I was kicking myself for not taking pictures of them.

Kyra's choice of repertoire for her farewell programme was inspired: SERENADE has always been one of her most moving ballets and she danced tonight with the trademark Nichols lyricism at full sail. I remember many seasons ago when a kind of skinny but very elegant young dancer named Philip Neal was tapped to become Kyra's partner. They have always looked ideal together and had a wonderful rapport. Philip's upper body developed while maintaining the graceful line and his partnering skills blossomed as they were frequently cast together; the Robbins IN G MAJOR was always one of my favorite Nichols/Neal ballets. Their partnership was beautifully showcased tonight in SERENADE and VIENNA WALTZES. Sara Mearns was heavenly and Ashley Bouder - her one tiny slip reminding us that the dancers are human - gave a remarkable performance on all counts. Ask La Cour's tall and princely bearing was another asset; Megan LeCrone's pirouettes so beautifully articulated. The four demi-solistes were a nice mixture of blondes and dark-haired beauties: Alina Dronova, Ashley Laracey, Georgina Pazcoguin and Rachel Piskin. Laracey really makes such a lovely impression onstage. I feel like writing a paragraph about each of the corps girls and believe me, I could do it. {Paul Kolnik photo of Kyra & Philip in SERENADE}.

DAVIDSBUNDLERTANZE reaches its apex with the solos for Kyra and Charles Askegard and their heart-breaking parting. Kyra's tenderness and grace strove to fend off the inevitable; Charles is a potent dramatic dancer, so moving as he departed in a dream-like state. The excellent cast further included Ringer, Somogyi, Jared Angle, Nilas Martins and Philip Neal. Maria Kowroski was on thrilling form, her flashing turns and incandescent extension a constant source of amazement. Kyra's final gesture of despair was so moving.

Kyra's long solo that opens the ROSENKAVALIER waltz allowed us to savor this treasure of an interpretation one last time.   Her last dance with Philip must have brought a flood of memories for both of them. Scanning the whirling couples I quickly found several favorite dancers: Dena with Craig Hall, Pauline with Rob Fairchild, Vincent Paradiso with Lauren King, Faye with Giovanni Villalobos and Kaitlyn with Will.   

In the end it was a happy farewell; I did cry during the first two ballets but VIENNA WALTZES makes it almost impossible to feel blue. Kyra was tumultuously hailed in numerous bows and she was showered with flowers. She received bouquets and embraces from her frequent partners and basked in the enthusiastic and genuine applause of her colleagues. Her husband and two sons were on hand to share the flood of affection for the beloved ballerina.

Rather than feeling depressed I felt euphoric, and extremely grateful to have seen her dance so often over the years. She seemed happy; clearly the audience did not want to let her go.

Here are some distant shots of the curtain calls: in the second she is embracing Philip Neal.

Oberon Faints

Thursday June 21, 2007 - I was sitting outside the stage door waiting for my friend Rob before the performance of JEWELS. I was surprised to see Carla Korbes come out of the theatre. Since she is one of Wei's and my favorite dancers, I ran over to the pay phone (we don't believe in cells) and called him with the news. I felt like I was going to pass out. Why should a ballerina sighting make me feel this way? I don't know, but it did.

Inside, JEWELS was given a fresh interpretation by the diminutive conductor Clotilde Otranto. The Faure sounded especially haunting tonight and the dancers matched the mood of the music in a beautifully refined performance. I love the casting of Ashley Bouder in this ballet which shows us her romantic side; she danced with great clarity and expressiveness. Jenifer Ringer is the epitome of the romantic ballerina with her floating arabesques and air of serenity. Stephen Hanna is getting back to where he was before the hiatus. Jon Stafford continues to make a fine impression and looks very  nice with Ringer. In the pas de trois, Robert Fairchild displayed a marked improvement over his earlier outing in the role; his stage persona is becoming  more defined. His two ballerinas offered a nice contrast: the dark-haired Scheller's dancing all rounded and flowing while the blonde Dronova was more angular and pointed. During one of the many ensembles where the dancers are linked in shifting patterns, Dronova took an especially lovely slow-rise arabesque. Marika Anderson and Kathryn Morgan were notable among the corps and Sarah Williams is another in the line of beauteous blondes a la Korbes & Mearns.

RUBIES was a smashing success for the fabulous Teresa Reichlen; her swanky delivery of the steps was sizzling all thru the piece and she was greeted with a roar at her bow. Rob thought she was a real knock-out. This was one of Yvonne Borree's best evenings; she was relaxed and having a great time with Damian. It was good to see Georgina Pazcoguin back onstage tonight.

Maria Kowroski has gone into over-drive as the New York season draws to an end, adding the performances that Whelan has been missing to her already busy schedule. Her DIAMONDS tonight was filled with brilliant images: the stunning extension, plush backbends and sustained arabesques. Brava! I really thought Philip Neal [Kolnik portrait, left} outdid himself tonight, one of his very finest performances both in his virtuoso passages and his gallant partnering. He and Maria deservedly came before the curtain three times to a warm audience response. [Paul Kolnik photo of Philip & Maria at left}. Amanda Hankes was an outstanding demi-soliste and finely partnered by Adrian Danchig-Waring. Gwyneth Muller and Saskia Beskow were featured, and Katie Bergstrom, Ellen Ostrom, Lauren King, Kaitlyn G, Maya Collins, Dara Johnson and Gretchen Smith forced my opera glasses to swing wildly from one side of the stage to the other trying to keep track of them all.    

Start of Summer

This beautiful bike belongs to one of the dancers (no, not Kristin!) and I bet he can't wait to jump on it and take off for Saratoga. Can anyone guess who it belongs to? Anyway, for me it's kind of a sad reminder that high Summer is here and the dancers will be leaving very soon. This is of course a big week at NYCB with Kyra Nichols making her farewell on Friday; I will be there - it goes without saying - and also on Thursday and at the the matinees on Saturday and Sunday. I have to get drunk on NYCB now because it's a long time til November.

As the Summer Festival season kicks in across the USA, I was really happy to run into Ying Huang a couple of weeks ago while I was wandering across Lincoln Center Plaza with Rob Scott. Ying is now in Central City for the world premiere of Guo Wenjing's new opera POET LI BAI; she has recently been in China concertizing and making some  TV appearances.

Meanwhile another soprano/friend of mine, Erika Wueschner, has the daunting task of preparing to sing Bellini's NORMA in July for Delaware Valley Opera.  We had lunch a couple of weeks ago and it was really interesting to discuss her preparation of the role; she finds passages that have derailed certain famous divas to be 'easy'! Erika's been doing some bi-Coastal coaching of the role as well as recitals in Seattle for the Piatagorsky Foundation.

I'd like to draw you attention to some new links in the right-hand column: Authors & Artisans. Monica Wellington is an author and illustrator of children's books, and she also has a dancing daughter, Lydia, who is at SAB. I knew Lori Grey when we both lived in Connecticut; she's now living in California.   

The increasingly hot weather hasn't deterred me from walking every morning; the trails are dusty and they are doing a lot of work on the slopes to prevent erosion and maintain the integrity of the setting. Down along the Hudson there is usually a nice breeze. But it's alarming on Monday mornings to see enormous amount of litter and garbage left there by weekend picnickers. I was talking to one of the girls on the maintenance crew and she said it's a never-ending battle; the Park is so beautiful and it's a shame people treat it with so much disrespect.

A few more early-summer photos: