Buddy recently posted a review that included a Link to James Wolcott's article in praise of Veronkia Part. I have not seen Part dance, but I've noticed that she is a dancer who seems to divide the experienced posters on Ballet Talk. Some seek out the performances in which she dances; others review performances in which she has appeared almost without mentioning her.

This divergence of opinion has puzzled me.

I was completely captivated by Wolcott's characterization of her as someone who "reminds us of the dangerous beauty of ballet when it tests and surprasses its own formal limits." I thought: whoa !!, this is someone I have to see!

Then I thought: This matter of testing/surprassing formal limits can mean many things. For Wolcott, Part obviously weaves magic. But I can also see how other viewers might be distressed or interpret thing differently.

I was wondering what others think of Part's dancing at ABT. What do you like? What not?



Here's the link to the complete article: http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/07/finally_a_reaso.php

I am one who seeks out Veronika Part. Woolcott had a hard time trying to describe her artistry and I don't think I will do any better. Perhaps, it's her presence, her demeanor. For me, I prefer dancers who don't make me think of technique---it's comfortably there, but not uppermost. Part does this for me; Farrell had the same quality.

I think she's fantastic and wish they used her more.

I saw her for the first time last year in Swan Lake--

I don't think I've ever been moved to tears in the first white swan PdD before, but she was just incredible.

There was less flash in her black swan than in Annaniashvili (who has been my favorite Odette/Odile for many years now), but she was just magnificent.

I also saw the Vishneva Giselle which was categorized as one of those performances that blow you away.
I have to say, it didn't for me, but Part's Swan Lake really did.

She's doing one Swan Lake again, a matinee on weds. I'd recommend going and seeing for yourself

As Myrtha it definitely was her stage presence (for me). Her jumps were excellent.

I have enjoyed Part every time I've seen her, but she would be better off if she were stronger. When I've seen her she's had the wobbles in promenades and her feet are prone to collapse off of pointe. She's unquestionably an artist, but still.

I'm sorry but I saw Part in a small roll in ABT's Silvia in Orange County. I had never seen her before and was quite surprised that she is quite big for a soloist and found myself distracted by that while watching her dance.

Do you mean she's fat by dancer standards?
I hardly think so. I would say she's probably smaller that Gillian Murphy, but if not she's not considerably larger.

She is tall and she moves large--when I saw her as Myrtha it was noticable the way she devoured the stage with her leaps.

If this:
http://www.abt.org/images/db_images/news/slpart1ro.jpg
or
http://www.for-ballet-lovers-only.com/Afb/Part4.jpg
or
http://www.ballet.co.uk/links/img/veronika_part.jpg

Is your idea of too large, then clearly you value different things in your dancers than I do.

Now if you said you were distracted by her 40s movie star beauty, well then you might have a point! ;)

I clicked on the links, and I'm in love, and I haven't even seen her dance. But Part is my kind of dancer, with wide shoulders and long, muscular legs, what I'd call "juicy."; there aren't that many very thin dancers that I've liked, although there have been exceptions.

The topic is "divided opinions," and in a number of discussions of Part on this board, physique is one of the things on which opinions on Part are divided.

It was her artistry in SL, more than her physique (though on the whole, I'd probably agree with you), that I found so compelling about her.

My feeling about body type is that, within reason, it's besides the point.
I've loved dancers of many different body types--and I still remember uncomfortably the criticism Tina LeBlanc (of Joffrey in the 90s) got for having *gasp* breasts.

Totally Off topic--but I see you are from Seattle--do you happen to know a tiny company based out of edmonds? Olympic Ballet Theater?

The title of the Wolcott piece always cracks me up. I've seen Part as Terpsichore, Odette/Odile, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Zulma, Lady Capulet, and as the lead in Ballet Imperial, where she fought with her technique and the ballet and the audience won. She must be glorious in Emeralds. She's regal and womanly rather than girlish. She's altogether lovely, a dancer I'd go to see in a ballet I don't really care for. atm711, I hope you'll post after her upcoming Swan Lake!

Clearly, size matters. However, I suspect that dancers of this body type may not do well in small parts which require the ability to fade away as soon as the solo turn is over. Maybe bigger dancers benefit from bigger parts.

The specific technical points described by Leigh raise another issue. So, I have a question for the dancers and/or teachers here: how possible is it, once problems like this have been identified, for the dancer to train them away?

I've never known whether those dancers who have technical blips over their entire careers continue to have them because (a) they don't know it, (b) they don't care much, © they've tried to remedy them but have been unable to do so.

When you have so much artistry, and are so close to a kind of perfection, it seems a shame not to go all the way.

I am a huge fan of Veronika Part and I try to go see all of her performances but it is obvious that despite her greatness, she is working against certain handicaps. Her size is definitely an issue. A couple of years ago she had put on some weight, and if you saw her then you might have been taken aback by it. She has lost all the excess weight and is now quite svelte, but she’s still very tall and I can see how that can be a problem for some people in terms of their perception of a role ( for instance, some people could never accept Cynthia Gregory as Giselle – and I’m not sure I’d want to see Part as Giselle, either!).

For me, her height is only problematic in terms of partnering. It’s tough to find a partner for her, and even with her best partner (Gomes) the partnering can be kind of rough sometimes.

In terms of her dancing, much of Part’s brilliance is in her upper body – it’s so flexible and expressive. Yet so are her developees and arabesques – her line is awesome. Her technique is more than adequate but she does struggle sometimes with the most demanding footwork (she is not particularly an allegro dancer) and sometimes stamina has been a problem. One of the most impressive things about Part is how hard she works to remedy her technical shortcomings. She struggled some with Ballet Imperial and Mozartianna a couple of seasons ago, but as kfw said - she won and the audience was the better for it - she gave absolutely beautiful, magical performances

But, Part’s most impressive characteristics are the intangibles – I’m paraphrasing here - she has that ability to “draw you into a universe created out of her own imagination, a universe of which she is the center”.

If you love allegro dancers Part will not impress you. If you love adagio dancers she is a dream come true. If your preference in ballerinas tends to the delicate and small then Part is not your girl. She is a big, lush, beautiful woman.

I've seen Part in many of the roles described above but also Raymonda with ABT and Maria in "The Fountain at Bakchisirai", "Emeralds", "Symphony in C" and the Lilac Fairy in "Sleeping Beauty" with the Kirov.

She is an old school dancer of a highly individualistic type that is out of sync with todays streamlined, fast and virtuosic ideal. Her upper body and arms weave spells. In "Raymonda" she seemed to be summoning Glazunov's gorgeous melodies out of the orchestra with her epaulement and port de bras. However, she also tipped off balance in multiple pirouettes and had trouble holding position when being lifted by Marcelo Gomes. It was not Gomes' fault. Quick changes in direction and allegro work can faze her and glitches will happen. I sometimes have suspected some weakness in the ankles. However, she also has very strong legs and is a good jumper. As the Queen of the Dryads in "Don Quixote" she had excellent Italian fouettes, strong developees and a huge leap.

She is a dancer who thrives on adagio and likes to stretch out the steps and elongate the line. She also slows down tempos. People think that this always makes things easier but it also requires strength to sustain the physical movements. She does sustain them and almost always seamlessly. As a dancer she is always interesting even when or especially when she is miscast. In "Ballet Imperial" her lush sad Russian presence turned a glittery showpiece into a tragic romance - Anna Karenina's last dance in the Imperial ballroom. Maybe she didn't do a few steps quick enough, blurred some transitions and slowed down the tempo but you never saw the ballet look like that before and it was gorgeous.

I don't know anything first hand or in print about her relationship with the ABT staff and coaches but her casting suggests that there may be areas where support is lacking. Kolpakova as a coach brings a Kirov sensibility to ABT and might have taken Veronika under her wing (she is a taskmaster) as she did with Susan Jaffe, who had weaknesses in her early ABT career and emerged stronger. That may not have happened between them. Part had a weight gain when she joined ABT but she is in fighting shape now. However she spent almost all of her first two years slinging herself around in blue jeans in the "Harrison Tribute" because someone didn't want to put her in tights and toe shoes. The Balanchine people seem to have a lot of faith in her because she is always used in Balanchine (Mozartiana, Apollo, Ballet Imperial) revivals at ABT even though she is not an obvious Balanchine dancer. Peter Quanz used her in "Kaleidoscope" which wasn't a big success but was a high profile premiere.

What is distressing is that she made big strides in the Spring and Fall 2005 seasons at ABT in casting. Nina Ananiashvili's absence opened up opportunities for her (Ballet Imperial, Raymonda) that she took on with striking results. The Fall season at City Center saw her used in premieres (Kaleidoscope) and important revivals (Apollo, Les Sylphides). However, after those advances she is now stuck with two Terpsichores, two Myrthas, one Wednesday matinee Odette/Odile and parts like Twig in "Cinderella"and the 3rd Odalisque in "Le Corsaire". There was talk that she would be Lescaut's mistress in "Manon" but that didn't happen.

She is 28 and should be working into her greatest period. ABT has to decide whether they are going to mold her into a star or let her go and become one elsewhere. But they have to have faith in her. I don't think she has let them down despite her flaws. I remember vividly Susan Jaffe stepping off pointe as a young ballerina and Julie Kent stumbling in turns as well. They were gorgeous dancers and the company gave them roles to grow on. Part deserves the same.

bart, having watched V. Part as a student in St. Petersburg (final two years of school), a performer in St. Petersburg and in ABT, my opinion is that the "flaws" (the word of FauxPas, not mine) have been ever present, might be fixable with the right coach/teacher and the dedicated, believing mind of the dancer who wants to make the changes. Who knows what might have happened had she stayed in Russia?

I agree completely. She's a very rate type -- a danseuse noble -- which is why she was so wonderful as Lilac in the Kirov's old/new "Beauty" and why she's so gorgeous in adagio. She's not built to do quick turns!

"A danseuse noble". Alexandra, that's perfect, that's what Part is!

Her body, which has provided much food for thought, is, in its natural standing state, a different kind of body than one would expect to see on a ballet dancer. She is S-shaped, from the side. Her shoulder carriage is bent forward while her upper back curves back to make the top of the "S", her hips completing the shape by tilting first forward, then slightly back at the top of her leg. I was a bit astonished at this when she walked to the barre for class. [She was guesting for Nutcracker (as Snow Queen and lead in Waltz of the Flowers) with the Canadian Ballet Theatre and took class with the advanced students (as did Svetlana Lunkina). We have big windows to watch from.]

I wondered how she would straighten that strange shape when she began to work out. The transformation was at the first plié, of course, and everything pulled up and out, as it should. She was bone thin, but her bones themselves are larger than Lunkina's bones, for example. That is why she gives a larger appearance on stage, I guess. Her waist is actually quite small, her hips narrow, but the shoulders seem to be what focus the observer.

Her height was somewhat of a detriment on the small stage we saw her on at Toronto's Wintergarden Theatre. It's more of a boutique theatre, certainly not intended for ballet, and Part covered its expanse in two grand jetés, ending right by the wing from which she left the stage. She needs to be seen on a large stage that she can really use to be appreciated. The audience only gave her polite applause, except for me!, and I was disappointed that she was not seen for the great artist she is. Lunkina, in the main role, brought down the house.

As to her physical stature next to that of Gillian Murphy, she is taller and bigger-boned. Her curvaceousness also gives her more dimension in comparison to Murphy, for example, who is more flat-shaped, back and front, as well as in her leg and foot. (I've seen her take class, too.) Part has curves happening up and down her body. Her arms and hands do wondrous things with their ability to form shapes, her legs are ideally curved and toned -- she has the much desired "ballet leg" -- her feet are sensually curvy. There's nothing linear about her!

I, too, wish ABT gave the audience more of her as she clearly has an unofficial claque -- rather, "fan club"-- and, it better be soon, given her advancing years.

I find Veronika Part a totally compelling and beautiful dancer. I'm glad this topic was started -- and it's funny, because I've sometimes considered posting something asking just that: can anyone put their finger on it and explain it, just what IS it about her that is so totally regal and beautiful? Someone said it was "intangible," and perhaps it is. I had mixed feelings about her when I first saw her perhaps two years ago, because I love technical razzle-dazzle, as in Gillian Murphy, and Part definitely cannot pull that off. I agree with the poster who said she seems weak in the ankles, and at times when she's turning, it's like those long legs just get away from her. She has definitely lost weight this season, however, and as someone said on the main ABT thread recently, she appears no taller or heavier than Michele Wiles. As I say, her technical shortcomings are evident, and yet, and yet... there is no ABT dancer I would rather see. I do wish very much she would get promoted and get plenty more opportunities to dance, and ABT, if you're out there reading this, I think you'll find she will sell tickets for you!

Veronika Part will be performing Symphonie Concertante at tomorrow's Opening Night Gala (Oct.18, 6:30 PM) and also on Oct.21 (2 PM) and Oct.25 (7:30 PM).

She will be performing the Swan Lake Act. II pas de deux Oct. 28 (2 PM).

http://www.abt.org/performances/calendar_index1.asp

Anyone who sees any of these, I would love to hear your impressions.

I don't know if this was mentioned on the BT, but there was a long article in the New Yorker and much of it was about Veronika Part.

I sent an email to Ms Part about the article and she emailed back inviting me to her performance on Wednesday. That came as a surprise!

I'll be there, but I am not a dance critic. Are opening Galas different than a regular performance.. other than the program seems to be "mixed"?

Good for you, SanderO! How nice of Ms. Part!

ABT's whole fall season is mixed bills. Galas start earlier and have better dressed audience in the pricey seats.

Generally, the company makes an effort to allow each and all of its principals to appear on stage at some point in a gala.

What addition of New Yorker? I can't seem to find it.

Have a great time Wednesday. Report back!!

This is probably the one. Enjoy !

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/arti...a_talk_acocella

The article was by Laura Jacobs called "Assoluta". You can find it on the Veronika Part web site:

http://www.officialveronikapart.com/

I thought it was in the New Yorker, I may be mistaken.

That article is from The New Criterion - about two years old.

Just took a quick look. This seems to be about Maya Plisetskaya, with just one mention of Veronika Part.

Sorry.


[added by Buddy several minutes later. Okay, it's about Azari "Plisetsky" and I won't say another word until I finish reading it.]

[added hours later by Buddy. It's a very nice article anyway.]

There is a thread about the Plisetsky article here.

I am not knowledgeable as a critic and have absolutely no formal training, but I do attend ballet and was at the ABT's Gala last evening.

My impression of Ms Part was that she was well matched with Ms Wiles in the Symphonie Concertante, but seemed a bit "heavy" and unsteady... as if she was working too hard to look soft. The Balanchine choreography was lovely... My impression was that it would really take a super ballerina to really shine in that piece.. and neither Wiles or Part pulled that off. It seemed well tuned and safe. Does this make sense? Having said that.. Part certainly seems destined to become a principal in the future. She needs to make dancing look easy (which it is not of course).

I was not impressed with Part's port de bras last evening... that would go to Julie Kent or Paloma Herrera, both who were outstanding in Melody and a Swan Lake Pas de Deux respectively. Herrera can dispense with the bones in her arms at will... perhaps her strong point? What a swan!

Ms Kent, in my opinion, shown last night as the shining star of the ABT's female roster.... her performance with Marcello Gomez was one I will never forget. The audience seemed to agree. Julie Kent is a gift from the gods of ballet.

Our seats were wonderful in the 3rd row Grand Tier. What a perch to view ballet. It was so intimate and superior to a similar seat at the Met. There were no sets the entire evening and only bare stage (which is smaller than at the Met). The staging, therefore was "sparse" and so the focus was on the dancing. The dancing was inspired...

The entire company performed the very athletic Upper Room by Twyla Thorp with music by Philip Glass. The corps was amazing.. every last one of them, but I felt the piece was a too long. The music seems to be a continuous crescendo that never comes!

Xiomara Reyes seems competent but not an elegant ballerina figure... She appears diminutive and her arms seem short.

The overall feeling was wonderful. The ABT is a terrific company, but this evening did not give the men much to work with except perhaps in Sinatra which Cornejo danced. He was great with Sarah Lane... but this piece was far afield of ballet... in my opinion.

Sorry for the awful review! We had a wonderful time...

I was at last night's gala too. I'll add comments at the other thread...

Re Veronika Part.... Last night I thought she danced nicely in Symphonie Concertante but too tentatively.

Part is beautiful, tall, curvey, but not technically strong. In slow adagios her lines are huge and she is wonderfully emotional. She's also gorgeous in parts, such as Emeralds, wherein she captures perfectly the bedroom feel of the lush choreography. Her Emeralds performance while visiting here with the Kirov a few years ago was unforgettable.

Symphonie Concertante craves two female principals who are strong, clean, bright, elegantly lovely, skilled in allegro (jumps as well as turns). Neither Michelle Wiles or Veronika Part were well cast in this ballet.

Maria Tallchief, who was a star by the time the viola role was made on her, and who was paired with the young Tanaquil LeClerq in the violin role, said that Balanchine created this ballet to teach her how to dance. Critics like Croce noted that it was to teach everyone in the ballet.

Maybe it will have a similar, educational effect on Part and Wiles, after they've had a few attempts at it.

I just received an email from Ms Part who said she sustained an injury in class this morning and would not be able to appear in the rest of the season. She did not elaborate and the email was apparently sent to all who had emailed her in the past... as it was addressedwith the salutation: "Friends".

Never a good thing when this happens. Hope she has a speedy recovery.

The message was apparently sent to four of us. I also join SanderO in wishing her a quick recovery. If anyone wishes to e-mail her their good wishes it can be done at...

vpartnyc@gmail.com

Clement Crisp has rediscoverd Veronika Part and what a rediscovery it is !

"Symphonie concertante....it was the presence of Veronika Part (as the viola’s representative) who brought the piece, and the evening, to glory.

"We remember her as a young divinity with the Mariinsky Ballet – her Lilac Fairy sublime – and the dignity and amplitude of her St Petersburg style, the voluptuous, luscious grace of her every action, pouring some noble and heady wine for us, breathed life, meaning, into her role. "

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/dcfa7342-bd0a-11db...00779e2340.html

Welcome back, Veronika Part !

(PS Please don't forget to read about Tamara Rojo as just mentioned in this topic ("Dancers") by leonid)

I noted on the ABT website that Veronika has been given a Detroit Swan Lake performance on March 18th with Gomes!

Hi Haglund,

You may have been aware that I live in the Detroit area. If so thank you.

I may not be in Detroit at the time, but will really try to be. If so I will definitely try and tell Ballet Talk all about the performance. Would you hazard a guess as to the probability of Veronika Part actually appearing that day ?

(spelling error later corrected)

Buddy, I had the feeling you lived in the area, and that you would be very pleased with this news.

Barring injury, I see no reason why Veronika will not appear on March 18th as scheduled. I generally check the ABT casting web pages daily for changes; so, I will let this board know if anything changes on their site. My only concern is that the Motor City will experience a meltdown from the heat generated by this Part-Gomes performance. You should try, by all means, to get to this performance and take all of your important friends and relatives. You do not want to miss this Swan Lake. I repeat, you do not want to miss this.

Understood ! Will do my best.

Thank You !

Hi again Hagland,

Following your important instructions I have rescheduled travel plans and will be sitting in the second row March 18. I hope to tell you all about it.

Best Wishes, Buddy

Based on her performances in Paris, I have a hard time picturing her in Swan Lake. Can she really manage it technically at all ? She was so insecure in Symphonie Concertante and Bayadère that I wondered if she was still suffering from her injury. There was something constrained about her - you can tell she is Kirov-trained, but she doesn't seem to compare to her Russian colleagues right now (Lopatkina, Pavlenko, etc). Her expression (half-closed eyes, as if not entirely present to what she's doing) got annoying, since the dancing didn't quite match the diva look... So what makes her Odette/Odile so special ? I'm looking forward to Buddy's comments on her upcoming performance !

I am sorry she disappointed you, Azulynn.

To me, Part (while still not a principal ), is the most compelling of ABT's ballerinas. Her musicality and passion, on top of the exquisite Kirov training, are rare on today's ballet stage. Add to that her extraordinary beauty of face and form, and I just sit back and drink in the vision before me.

She lacks the brilliant technique and strength that ABT's other leading ladies display, and stamina is sometimes a problem, but what she gives is so rare that I find it very easy to forgive the fatigue at the end of the Black Swan pas. Her partnership with Gomes is pure magic.

I should also add that she is not the most consistent dancer. She can give very different readings of a role in consecutive performances. She takes artistic risks -- another fascination.

I eagerly await her performances at the Met this spring. :huepfen024:

Azulynn, you can find reviews of Part in Swan Lake here and here.

I have seen her four New York Swans. Each time her Odile has improved. But she really embodies (emdisembodies?) Odette. Each performance was radically different, alive. She isn't one to refine a role over time, rather she recreates it, as if she's a real creature reacting in the moment. Her back to Siegfried, the slightest brush of his leg with her wing. The house exploded with silence. Which became a roar when the variation ended. My favorite of all was her July 4, 2005 performance. Indeed, the finest O/O I've seen since Makarova in her prime. James Wolcott of Vanity Fair saw that performance and wrote the following:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/w...ly_a_reaso.html

My Lord! Two performances, a little more than a year apart: and such different opinions about her dancing. Are we talking about the same dancer? This dancer's ability to elicit such extremes of response (pro and con) from knowledgeable reviewers remains a puzzle.

P.S.: I saw James Wolcott's love letter when it first appeared. Thanks for linking to it, drb. It's kind of sweet. You want it to be true, for Wilcott's sake.

I particularly remember that smoldering Swan Lake on the 4th of July. Who can forget all of the loud shouts of brava from male audience members from every corner of the house after the Act II pas. Part's appeal is in no small way her incredible sensuality. But her gift is to transport us to that place where we just willingly fall into the fantasy and the belief in this incredible creature. Gomes is a huge part of her success as Odette, and the current which passes between them will be very evident to Buddy and everyone else who sees them on March 18. Take a hankie.

Yes, you do. That piece strikes so rich a chord, it cracks me up. Wolcott is married to Laura Jacobs, who writes about dance for The New Criterion, and who has published her own raptures about Ms. Part. From an essay entitled "Assoluta," much of which is about this ballerina, here's Jacobs on a Part-Gomes Swan Lake:

This is really a bit much. I have seen Part in many roles and am still looking for the experience that others have had. In my experience she seems tense, flubs steps and under performs. Is it possible that those that love her are taken with her looks, body, Russian training and facial expressions? I just don't get it

Have you seen her O/O? In other roles my experience is very often consonant with yours.



When you think about it, those are not the worst of things. If you toss in musicality, the ability to sustain character, and managing most of the steps, you can have something.

Since Makarova I have seen many O/O's but very few have touched her level. Other than Part, just (young) Guillem, Nina Ballerina, Ashley Bouder, and (on her way, at least) Sara Mearns. I think Mr. B's one-acter should count for something too. Early Darci Kistler, and Maria Kowroski's last (a while ago...).

I would like to see Part in O/O because I am indeed curious. I hope to see what others see in her and I hear that is her best ballet. The statement about "managing most of the steps" bothers me, because in other ballets I see fear and hesitation from Part because she knows she won't manage all of the steps.

I am thinking more and more that this whole discussion boils down to individual tastes. I was not a fan of Makarova's Swan Lake although I loved Cynthia Gregory. I don't really go for Russian trained dancers on the whole.

What is happening to the world this week? First, the stock markets suffer mini-collapses, and then I come home after a 12 hour work day to see that Part and Gomes have been pulled from the March 18 Detroit Swan Lake. Substituting will be Saviliev and Herrera. Saviliev also subbing for, I forget, either Corella or Gomes in the Miami Swan Lakes. Oh, Buddy, I am so sorry.

drb noted on a different thread that the planned Sylve/Gomes performances in La Bayadère with the Dutch National Ballet didn't take place either, which would suggest that Gomes is injured.

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...topic=24308&hl=

Thanks for the information anyway. I saw Herrera once in Giselle and she was wonderful. I will look forward to seeing her in Detroit--but maybe, maybe....another partner for Veronika Part....last minute....maybe, maybe ?