posted May 28, 2002 13:58            

The step pas de poisson - or temps de poissen - is described thusly by Gail Grant in "Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet" :

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This step is a form of a soubresaut in which the dancer jumps with the back arched forming a curve; the legs, which are well extended, are behind and held close together with the feet crossed so as to represent a fish's tail.

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We discussed this a bit further in the Studio Forum and decided that it could be called a porté de poisson - which a French speaker here at the board translates as "fish dive."

Here is the link:

Does This Have a Name?

As to your question about the speed at which it is done....I have never heard a separate name given to this lift determined by the speed with which it is accomplished. I have always heard it called fish dive - or perhaps now we can call it porté poisson.

posted May 29, 2002 18:52            

It doesn't identify who the dancer is, but I am guessing it is Ethan Stiefel - but that's just a guess.

posted May 30, 2002 08:01            

DANCE REVIEW | AMERICAN BALLET THEATER
A Sampler Set to Tchaikovsky
By JACK ANDERSON

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American Ballet Theater reopened its box of choreographic pastries on Monday night at the Metropolitan Opera House by once again offering its program of little goodies to music by Tchaikovsky. Several unreviewed dancers appeared in the presentation, which emphasized excerpts from longer pieces.

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posted June 03, 2002 03:27            

Charm is making a comeback in New York this spring. The two hits of American Ballet Theatre's current season celebrate beauty, love and innocence, and are so freshly danced it's hard to believe they were made for Britain's Royal Ballet by its great choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton, 40 years ago.

Both "The Dream" (Ashton's 1964 magical Victorian staging of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream") and "La Fille Mal Gardee" (his pastoral 1960 comedy that delighted Washington audiences during the Royal's visit last season) were beloved staples of the company's frequent New York visits in the 1960s and '70s. Ashton's works are seldom danced by his old company these days, so ABT's success is especially good news.

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posted June 03, 2002 08:57         

Gomes and Murphy to principal
Riccetto and Saviliev to soloist
Monique Meunier from NYCB will join as soloist in 2002-2003.

Kate

posted June 03, 2002 23:59            

AS refreshing as a summer breeze Frederick Ashton's "La Fille Mal Gardee" positively floated into the repertory of American Ballet Theater for the first time at over the past weekend.

Forget the almost untranslatable French title (it means something like "The Badly Guarded Daughter") and luxuriate in the bewitching charms of one of the greatest ballets of the 20th century.

Although this international masterpiece, premiered first in 1960, has been in the repertory of various other companies, this is the first time it has been staged by ABT.

And what a wonderful staging it is. It has been impeccably mounted by a team headed by Alexander Grant, a key member of the 1960 cast. The original and witty Osbert Lancaster designs are still present, as is John Lanchbery's brilliant patchwork adaptation of a score.

posted June 04, 2002 12:52            

Ballet Theater: Signs of Promise Amid Struggle
By ROBIN POGREBIN

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American Ballet Theater's opening night at the Metropolitan Opera House last month was the quintessence of glitter and grace. The black-tie audience shouted bravos throughout the performance, the critical notices that followed were glowing, and the mood at the dinner afterward was festive and upbeat.

Was the good feeling symbolic of a turnaround at what, along with the New York City Ballet, has long been considered one of the country's two great classical dance companies?

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posted June 05, 2002 12:10            

Kennedy Center Calls Report of Deal With Ballet Troupe 'Premature'
From the Washington Post

American Ballet Theatre will keep dancing in Washington, and the Kennedy Center will keep presenting the troupe. And despite a recent press report to the contrary, audiences can expect to see little change in the relationship between the two organizations, officials of both said yesterday.

An article in yesterday's New York Times reported that ABT was considering becoming "the resident dance company" of the Kennedy Center, maintaining its season and its headquarters in New York but having a permanent booking here. If the plan went through, the Times report said, the center "would have ultimate budgetary responsibility for the company."

posted June 06, 2002 04:08            

NEW YORK, June 5 (UPI) -- Quite a few choreographers have made operas into ballets but rarely have they done it without using any of the opera's music.

The prime examples are Kenneth MacMillan's transformation of Jules Massenet's "Manon" into a dance drama performed to music by Massenet but none of it from the opera, and John Cranko's ballet adaptation of Peter I. Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin," using a score arranged by Kurt-Heinz Stolze from lesser-known Tchaikovsky compositions without using even a phrase of melody from the opera.

Both composers were said to have been so respectful of the operatic scores that they did not wish to edit them to fit the needs of a danced performance. Whatever their reasons, the two operas in question have been just as popular as opera-based ballets that use operatic scores such as George Balanchine's "La Sonnambula," Kim Brandstrup's "Queen of Spades," and Ronald Hynds' "Merry Widow."

posted June 06, 2002 19:26         

[This message has been edited by Katydid (edited June 06, 2002).]

posted June 07, 2002 12:10            

It isn't unheard of. Perhaps the most major recent move was Ethan Steifel, but also Anna Liceica, a current soloist, was previously at NYCB, as was Brian Reeder in the corps.

From previous generations, among others there were also Mimi Paul, Lisa de Ribere and Gelsey Kirkland.

posted June 09, 2002 09:03            

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American Ballet offers work of British master

Wilma Salisbury, Cleveland Plain Dealer

The ballets of Frederick Ashton (1904-88) have delighted audiences for decades. But the British master's style is virtually unknown in Northeast Ohio. The Royal Ballet, the choreographer's home company, does not tour to Cleveland. Ohio Ballet has never mounted any of his works. Neither did the late Cleveland San Jose Ballet.

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posted June 11, 2002 17:57            

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"When in town," British choreographer Frederick Ashton wrote, "I am constantly longing for the country, never having been put to the test of a really prolonged stay." Ashton's 1960 La Fille mal gardée, which joined the American Ballet Theatre repertory May 31 at the Metropolitan Opera House, is an English fantasy of French country life, and the perfect vehicle to take New Yorkers both back in time and overseas, to a farm in an 18th-century summer.

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posted June 16, 2002 15:15            

Music Center - ABT Performances

You will find ticket, casting and all other kinds of information at the site.

posted June 17, 2002 21:22         

It's late, so just a few remarks...more later
WOW, WOW and WOW!!!!!

This goes down as one of the best nights of ballet I've seen, if not THE best. It almost felt like a gala night with many dancers from NYCB, and the few ABT dancers not dancing in the very enthusiastic audience. I suspect that with Corella, Reyes, Acosta, Herrera and deLuz all in major roles, that many of the other Spanish and Latin American dancers & familiies were on hand to watch and cheer.

It started out with Wiles, Murphy and Riccetto as powerhouse Odilesques (sp). Though they were a tad off in the group work, the solos were first rate! I think Murphy may have started the pirouette sequence with a quintuple or more-I counted four revolutions in her third or fourth pirouette. Then came Xiomara Reyes with out of this world speed on her turns-fastest I've ever seen on any stage.
Then came Herrerra, her usual brilliant self.
And then came Acosta and Corella. Corella, Herrera and Acosta brought down the house during the pas de trois. Acosta has the most INCREDIBLE height on his jumps, spin speed to rival (and beat) Corella and when he does the circles of angled tour jetes (I don't know the right term, but they are leaning, bounding turns), he finishes off with what appears to be 1.5 or 2 revolutions in the same position. There was an audible gasp from the audience every time he lept into the air or spun.
Acosta is not a very tall dancer, but has a huge presence on the stage, and appears to be a very solid partner.
Corrella took up the challenge and met it-huge, high delayed split jumps, those crosslegged, bent knee pirouettes which start in second postion and seem to last forever-this time completely cross-legged to the very end and one after the other. Then Herrerra kept on foutteing and fouetting and fouetting.
It seemed like the dancers were feeding of the energy and continually challenging one another-there were more extra jumps, pirouettes, and flourishes. Even Joaquin De Luz was embellishing on Birbanto's choreography.

posted June 18, 2002 12:49            

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The Merry Widow" is a broadly comical, sumptuous spectacle that drew laughter and cheers when American Ballet Theater presented the crowd-pleaser on Wednesday afternoon and evening at the Metropolitan Opera House. Subtlety and substance are not the point, either in Ronald Hynd's choreography or the Franz Lehar operetta from which the ballet is drawn. But it is always fun to watch dancers bring their own color and movement qualities to bear on what there is.

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posted June 19, 2002 09:18            

In the NY Times:

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Art and entertainment do go together, as the ultra-spectacular level of dancing showed on Monday night when American Ballet Theater presented "Le Corsaire" for the first time this season.

It was a memorable performance. Carlos Acosta was Conrad, the passionate pirate chief in love with Paloma Herrera as Medora, the heroine sold to a paunchy pasha, Ethan Brown, by a slave trader in a Turkish bazaar, Vladimir Malakhov. Xiomara Reyes was Gulnare, Medora's fellow captive, while Angel Corella was Ali, Conrad's virtuoso slave, and Joaquin De Luz was Conrad's deputy.

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posted June 20, 2002 04:45         

ABT June 17, 2002: Le Corsaire

New Yorkers got a preview of Carlos Acosta in "Le Corsaire" last month during the ABT Gala, but I doubt anyone was really prepared for the unbelievable show of bravura dancing Monday night. The NY dance world obviously knew that something special was going to happen as the audience was full of dancers from NYCB and other companies, SAB students and various family & friends. With Carlos Acosta (Cuba), Angel Corella (Spain), Paloma Herrera (Argentina), Joaquin De Luz (Spain), Xiomara Reyes (Cuba) and Maria Riccetto (Uruguay) all dancing lead roles, the night had a distinctly spanish flair, a fact reflected in the audience and onstage (16 dancers of spanish descent danced in the ballet).

The fireworks began in the first act, with the dancing of Vladimir Malakhov, the three Odalisques, Xiomara Reyes and Paloma Herrera. Malakhov is not only an excellent technical dancer with elegant line, nice carriage and a very finished look, but also a fabulous character dancer. His mime is elegant and simple at the same time, serving both the complexities of the character and the need to convey the story to the audience.
We were treated to an all-star cast of Odalisques-Maria Riccetto, Michelle Wiles and Gillian Murphy. While the pas de trois sections looked underrehearsed, the individual solos were fabulous. Of three, Gillian Murphy stood out for the series of pirouettes in her first solo. They were rock solid, at at least triples, if not more.

As Gulnare, Xiomara Reyes spun faster in her pirouettes, alone and en manege, than any other ballerina I've ever seen. Though the speed was spectacular, it did not detract from the precision and elegance of her dancing. With her command of speed and precision, Reyes seems like a dancer who would be comfortable in Balanchine ballets.
Herrera had a hard act to follow, but matched the level of intensity seen in the earlier solos. Julie Kent, in the televised version of "Le Corsaire" is technically solid in the role, but Herrera brings an exotic air to the role.

At the end of Act One and in Act II, we finally got to see Acosta's spectacular talent. Acosta is a dancer who truely has command of both the stage and the air above it.
He is solidly and muscularly built, but with elegant body proportions such that the muscularity is not overwhelming. Acosta has a huge presence on stage, seemingly towering over everyone else and thus it was startling to note that he was actually shorter than Herrera when she went on pointe. As a partner, Acosta seemed solid and confident, and had much more chemistry with Herrera than Stiefel has with Kent in the televised version.

The Act II pas de trois, was quite simply, out-of-this-world. Acosta, Corella and Herrera were feeding off each other's energy and were engaged in a world class competition of bravura feats. Each new feat brought gasps and cheers from the audience, especially from the section where many dancers were sitting.

Acosta gets almost inhuman height on his jumps, and achieves the appearance of hovering in mid-air. His pirouettes are fast, perfectly centered and often embellished. In the pas de trois, Conrad does barrell turns (flying arabians) en menage. Not only did Acosta continue well beyond a complete circle, he added either a half or whole rotation onto the last turn. This is something that I've never seen any other dancer attempt, and it is spectacular to watch. Acosta was definately pushing the limits of his bravura ability, and it resulted in a couple of off balance landings. However, of all places, Act II in "Le Corsaire" is definately one where dancers can get away with excess.
Corella responded to Acosta's challenge by turning up his normally spectacular virtuosity several notches. His pushed his bent-kneed, cross-legged pirouettes to the max, spinning extra long, extra fast and ending with his legs completely crossed, in a seemingly impossibly pretzeled position. His delayed split jumps were spectacularly high and ended his jete coupe en manege sequence with another incredible tour le en air sequence. (By this time I was too astonished and excited to keep track or count of the exact steps each dancer was doing.). Corella normally pushes the limits every time he dances, so it was especially incredible to see him turning on even more speed and power.

Herrera added to the excitement with an extended series of fouttes. She interspersed doubles and triples(?) with the singles and it must have required intense concentration by the conductor to figure out when she was finally going to end. She and Corella were also wonderful in the series of high lifts. While Corella is not a tall or heavily muscled dancer, he is very strong and seems very confident in these lifts. He gets Herrara as high as possible and holds her there with any hesitation or sign of strain.

The final scene in the 2nd act, Acosta demonstrated his solid acting skills. Acosta got much of his ballet experience and training while dancing for Ben Stevenson at the Houston Ballet. The Houston Ballet puts heavy emphasis on the full length ballets in its repretory and thus it is not surprising that Acosta has a solid foundation in mime and acting. There was just one slight glitch in the pas deux-the final position in the swan dive seemed akward as if the entry was not as they had planned.

Unfortunately, though it was well danced, the third act was a distinct let-down from the previous two acts. After two acts full of dancing, the only real dancing is the essentially unrelated dream sequence. Perhaps it would be better to either cut the dream sequence and compress the ballet into two acts, or to move the choreography around to finish with more dancing by the leads.

Regrettabley, the audience was less than polite at the end of the ballet. Several people left before the final curtain, and large numbers of people left before the the main bows. It was Monday, but the performance was over by 10:40, and with the State Theater and Avery Fisher both dark, traffic was not an issue.

I think that it is very rude for people not to stay and applaud, at least briefly, especially on a night like this when the dancers gave their all for nearly three hours. Can we not give a couple of minutes to thank them for the effort. Even with the mass early departures, there was a standing ovation and many curtain calls for the leads.

What an incredible way to begin the week! It will be interesting to watch Stiefel and Kent in the roles on Wednesday, after seeing such a spectacular performance by Acosta and Herrera.

posted June 20, 2002 06:28            

I recall many, many years ago (early 1960's) going to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia for symphony, opera and ballet, and I don't ever recall people leaving before it was courteous to do so. Never. It was a sophisticated, knowledgeable and obviously polite audience.

I didn't notice this 'leaving early' until I came to the West Coast....and apparently it is now on the East Coast as well. Sorry to hear that.

And, this wonderful influx of Hispanic dancers is certainly marvelous. That culture has a history of dance. Diaghelev's company travelled to South America quite early on.

posted June 20, 2002 09:22         

After seeing such an unbelievable peformance of "Le Corsaire" on Monday night, it was hard to view Wednesday's matinee performance without making constant comparisions. The atmosphere and approach on Wednesday, though quite different, and notably tamer, still made for great dancing.

Much of the cast was the same as on Monday, with the major cast changes in the roles of Lankendam, the Pasha, Conrad, Medora and the Odalisques.

Stiefel & Kent take a very different approach to the lead roles than Acosta & Herrera. Stiefel and Kent are very tounge-in-cheek, giving the story a distincly Americanized, Disneyesque feeling. Acosta and Herrera put more straight emotion into the story, and look much more authentic in a story of slaves, pashas and pirates set on the Mediterranean. The difference in stage presence also is quite clear-Stiefel is an enthusiastic, energetic pirate, but does not have the same emotional weight as Acosta. When Acosta is on stage, he draws the focus of the audience.

Stiefel, though, is a great comic dancer, and clearly enjoys the good natured romp that is "Le Corsaire". Unfortunately, I think he was trying too hard to be "Acosta-esque" and lost some of his unique touch in the bravura sections. Stiefel's performance (wisely) was toned down considerabley from Acosta's fireworks, but even then fizzled in several places. In the first act, he tried to end with a spectacular leg-contorting double tour le en air which he popped into a single, awkward looking rotation. During the pas de trois, it appeared as if he lost his focus shortly into in the coupe jetes en menage and never got it back, leaving the menage obviously unfinished. He's certainly capable of solid bravura dancing, and thus one had to wonder if he was feeling the pressure of living up to Acosta.
The Odalisques danced solidly, though Carmen Corella was having obvious balance difficulties during the multiple pirouettes. Xiomara Reyes reprised her role as Gulnare, and was wonderfully speedy and precise. Call me crazy, but I'd love to see her and Angel Corella in the pas de deux from "Stars and Stripes"-they've got the spins and cheek to pull it off with pizazz!
Sean Stewart was an excellent Lankendam, demonstrating a wonderful knack for the mime and characterization, as well as great skill in the 1st act solos. He even did the low plies which Malakhov left out on Monday night. As the Pasha, Carlos Molina was not nearly as effective. It's a role that requries precise timing and the just the right balance of humor and seriousness- something that Molina will learn with time. Molina is also rather tall for the role.

Corella, though toned down from Monday, put on his usual spectacular show of pyrotechnics during the pas de trois. It was interesting comparing the effect of the pas de trois on the two days. I've only seen Corella with Acosta and Stiefel, but the two partnerships are very different. Corella is clearly the far better bravura dancer than Stiefel, but with Acosta, Corella is matched or bettered, feat for feat. With Corella and Acosta it's a competition to celebrate stealing away the women, not a slave outdancing his master.
Interestingly enough, though he's slighter and shorter, Corella seems more comfortable with the high lifts during the pas de trois. Kent is a tall dancer, so she's a handful for both Stiefel and Corella.

Julie Kent went the full length on the fouettes, though choosing to do all singles, with no multiples thrown in during the sequence. It was nice to see straight singles-it gives the fouettes a beautiful balanced look.

Joaquin De Luz, as Birbanto, was equally as spectacular as he'd been on Monday. He's a small dancer, but powerful and precise, slicing through the air in his delayed splits. He also ad-libbed well when one of his pistols failed to fire, giving the gun a quizzical look and thun shrugging his shoulders, as if to say-oh well, such is life!
The pirate corps danced well in the Grotto scenes, with much pizazz and energy. However, Stiefel needs to control his energy in the fight scenes-at one point he threw down one of the "pirates" with such force, that it appeared the dancer might be hurt. When the dancer rose and stepped back with the rest of the group, the other dancers were quite clearly concerned about him and a were obviously asking him if he was OK. I'm sure it was an accident, but just the same, Stiefel needs to be more careful in the future.