Last night i went, full of expectations, to see the Program 1, as it happened to be the only time i would be able to. (Couldn't go on Friday night and same with the upcoming Sunday matinee, due to personal issues). Right now i'm a little hurried up, so i'll try to write some words on the performance
Swan Lake.
There are few things i would like to hightlight of this "sui generis"-(at least for me)- take on the work. First, to thank Deanna Seay and Rolando Sarabia for being the leads. They always make a beautiful pair. Seay totally shows the command and experience that all this years as a Company Principal has given her, and Sarabita was , as usual, there, always attentive, always in place to enhance his ballerina's performance. He certainly has mastered the art of the partnership, and his variation-(didn't know it was going to be taken for the original Act I Pas de Trois!)- was, as usual, impecable too. Even many years later, and with a limited offer of his old Havana Petipa roles, he certainly dominates the dancing, the stage, his partner and the audience as good as when he was the newest wonderboy back then. Keep the good job, barbaro! Now, here are some points that right now I can recall thinking while watching Mr. B's choreography:

1-The mechanical swans . Never saw them before, and they were a bit distracting althought i found the idea candid, but still they made me smile for sure.
2-The Corps tutus...not pancake ones, nor long romantic either, but sort of a short version of a romantic one, above the knee(with the exception of Odette). Karinska's...?
3-The hunters. They didn't dance, nor partnered, just showing up for a couple of seconds to quickly stand by the maidens in pose at some point, just to rush out right away.
4-Most of all, the fact that all along the ballet my overall impression was that this was just another case of restaging of the classic lakeside story that we all know. I'm sorry if i couldn't detect "blank"/"expressionless" faces, or ballerinas "inhabitating roles" who were just dancers and not characters. What i saw tonight was Miss Seay clearly portraying old Odette one more time as vulnerable and dramatic as it has been from the Russian imperial times , and very beautifully, by the way. Everything was there to tell the story...the backdrops with the castle in the distance, the hunting party, the usual mime gestures-(minus Odette's sequence telling her story to Siegfried, but this is even erased from the most of the current productions nowadays, so no big deal...), the suffering faces, the love gestures, and most of it, the very explicit story of the romantic encounter between a Prince and a Princess who gets to be cursed to inhabit her swan nemesis during the day for the rest of her life.
Basically, i saw a cropped/arranged version of Ivanov's SL Act II, with some changes in the choreography, musical additions-(from Acts I and IV) ,substractions and the name of Balanchine instead of Ivanov on the Playbill when crediting the choreographer.

The 4 T's.
I loved the minimalistic sets and costumes, the modern atmosphere, the peculiar dancing. Among all the dancers i want to point at Jeremy Cox as Phlematic. He's so charismatic, and seems to understand very well Balanchine's dinamics. I certainly need more future visual contact with the work to talk with a wider comprehension, to be fair.
The other dancers were:
Melancholic: Alex Wong
Sanguinic: Jeannette Delgado/Renato Panteado
Choleric: Andrea Spiridonakos.
I need to watch this ballet for a second time for sure.

In the Upper Room.
I left the Theater before it even started...We all know i have my issues with Twyla (Oh, well... just like Miss Danilova-RIP-)

This program got a great review in the New York Times written by Alastair Macaulay.

Balanchine and Tharp and a Bit of Brio

Thanks for that review, Cristian. We don't get to see this program in West Palm until mid-November.

Your Odette/Siegfried (Seay and Sarabia) are just the partnership I would have chosen. I'm glad I have tickets for all the WPB pefomances, so I'll get to see the same cast you saw. I hope I'll see it at least twice. What it is about Rolando Sarabia that draws so much richness and depth from ballerinas in roles like this? I know that Macaulay preferred the classical correctness of Wu and Zou, and I'm sure they are lovely. But I'll go with Seay/Sarabia on this, for expressivity, pathos, and magic.

Yes, as to Miami's 4T's. And Yes, as to Cox as Phlegmatic! This was my dream castisng, and I'm glad I'll get to see it.

Macaulay goes out of his way to praise the 4T's. Speed is definitely a factor. Over the years at NYCB, all except Choleric seemed to get slower and draggier, for some reason. Villella remembers the way it was done in his day. Not "speed" for its own sake, of course: there are so many subtle details to encompass as one moves along!

Thanks, cahill, for the link to Macaulay.

I understand your feelings about Upper Room. But -- if you look at it as an exercise in the variations in dance style -- it can be riveteting. As Macaulay mentions, it's a crowd pleaser. I'm not one of those who loves it, but I find it fascinating to watch -- and I enjoy so much the way the dancers seem to dive into it and explode from it.

I certainly find it riveting.

Oh!, and one more thing that i found fascinating from Mr' B's SL. It was the first time that i saw the original Tchaikowsky's music for the Coda of the Love Duet being used...

True, cubanmiamiboy. It's a vigorous staging. I am hoping to catch one of the upcoming shows in Ft. Lauderdale, as it is very rare opportunity to see the "Mr. B Swan Lake" with the corps wearing the all-white tuts (unlike NYCB).

Not only that: There were fewer of them in Mr. B's day. That, and white instead of the current black made them visible. And Alain Vaes' new lighting looked like dusk when I saw it a few years ago. Dusk is the time of day when you can't see anything, right?

Okay, it's night. How can you see a stage full of dancers at night? Ron Bates was not the first one to do that, and he (or Mr. B, who knew more than notes and steps, to put it mildly) had a great idea for the moment when the corps, having danced, circles the stage and then runs off upstage on our right: They were lit from the wings, just low enough that the dancers running around one side of the stage cast moving shadows on the dancers on the other side -- in the opposite direction! Thus they seemed to be moving even faster, heightening the effect of their rushing off, and apparently increasing their number, yet while leaving them unobscured. I don't expect to see this recreated. Cristian, did you notice?

Another thing I remember is seeing lots of Mr. B's SL (with Verdy or Hayden) and then going across the Plaza one night, when something less interesting was on, and seeing the RB Swan Lake and being startled in Act II by how many sequences were familiar. Every other one or so, it seemed like. Where the Royal had a less brilliant sequence, Balanchine had brightened up his version. Cristian, do you know the "standard" Petipa version well enough to compare them?

Anyway, I expect to see all the Broward performances, and a BTer who wants to meet me might look for my white hair and pink face, and - usually - my portfolio, in the theatre. It's my custom to wear a suit opening night, too.

Jack...i'll go to the Broward Performances. Let's meet there. Look at my pic in my profile to get an idea, but the easiest way for you to identify me would be by looking for a guy with a blond loose hair above the shoulders. I will pm you to give you details.
Now, can somebody explain me about the Corps tutus in SL. I find them weird. Are they Karinska's...?

Aren't the costumes credited in the program? "Haydee Morales after Karinska" maybe?

Don't have the playbill at hand-(think i lost it)-, but yes, usually all MCB's Balanchine's costume designs are Karinska's-(faithfully reproduced by Morales). In the case of SL i'm still confused, so i was wondering if the newyorkers who grew up watching this version can shred some light on the subject...bart?

Friday 11/07 @ Broward Center.

I-95 was easy on my way back to Miami, so here i am, in time to make a few comments on tonight's performance.
Swan Lake.
Odette was danced by Principal Haiyan Wu, and Siegfried by Soloist Yang Zou, the two of them very light and airy young dancers. The atmosphere was more "impersonal" this time than that of provided by Seay and Sarabita-(i suspect that this is Wu and Zou's own style rather than Mr. B's SL's call for "blankness" or "expressionless" faces). Anyway, my thoughts remain the same on this production. One can tell that there is a love story going on, with an easy to follow pathos, and even enhanced by leads like the hunters and the mechanical swans. Thanks to Jack Reed, who showed me a beautiful picture of the original production-(with Tallchief and Eglevsky)- showing the Corps wearing long romantic-inspired tulle tutus with wings. He also can't tell where the current -(and weird to me)-tutu designs come from. It was a pleasure to finally meet another real person from this board.

The 4 T's
I could "see" more of the ballet tonight. I found the very end with the leaping lifts very beautiful, and Andrea Spiridonakos was a revelation in Choleric. I love tall ballerinas, and she certainly stands out, sparkling with joy while displaying an effortless-(at least visually)-footwork.
Melancholic-Alex Wong. Another air entity. This short dancer reminds me of a ping-pong ball, graciously rebounding all the time. Always love him in Balanchine's ballets.
Sanguining. Jennifer Kronemberg and Renato Panteado. Kronomberg is so beautiful that her stage presence always makes the whole thing work, along with a solid technique and great partnering. A plus.
Phlegmatic-Jeremy Cox. Now THIS boy is something. What an interesting body language does he displays... He's certainly becoming the Company Balanchine's male speaker, with that particular boneless appearance to his dance. Nice job, Cox. Love your Grand Battements, BTW.
Choleric-Andrea Spiridonakus. A true revelation, as i said earlier. This soloist certainly will be knocking soon in the promotion doors. Or at least i hope to. Very energetic, with a direct step attack. Great.

Intermission:

In the Upper Room-(. Nothing further to add to my earlier comments on Tharp.

Thanks, cubanmiamiboy! I've sent you a PM regarding possible meeting, if you're going to tomorrow's 2pm matinee.

Do you happen to know who will be the leading principals of SWAN LAKE on Sunday (Wu/Zou or Seay/Sarabita or other)? Curiosity is killing me. Also, I am really hoping for Jeremy Cox in Phlegmatic of FOUR Ts. I'll be happy no matter who I'll be seeing.

I'm a big fan of UPPER ROOM so am also looking forward to that one. This is as close to a perfect program as I've ever seen on paper. Definitely worth the trip.

Natalia

(from Ft. Lauderdale, FL) With so much having already been written about this program, here and in The New York Times, I'll try just noting a few observations in passing, based, so far, on seeing Friday night's performance:

Swan Lake Act II: This version, staged by Maria Calegari, is almost exactly what I began to see Balanchine's company dance in the mid-70s, eleven musical numbers from parts of Tchaikovsky's score, mostly from the second act but also from Acts One and Four.

(If MCB is wrong to call this Swan Lake Act II, as Alistair Macaulay says in the Times, what then would be a better title? "Swan Lake"? I think MCB renamed Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 as Ballet Imperial because the more musicologically-correct title was a little off-putting for south Florida. Would people have been misled into thinking this was the whole Swan Lake? Should they have called it Swan Lake Acts I, II, & IV? Now, there's a title! Maybe Swan Lake Suite? Hmm.

Titles of art works can orient the viewer toward the work as their makers see them. Balanchine considered that he had distilled the traditional ballet into its essence, and the cognoscenti who troop into the Met during first intermission and leave after Act III of the full-length version might go part way along with his judgement. "I got all the cholesterol out," he's supposed to have said. Hence Mr. B's title. I'm not going to say what Villella should have done.)

The only real structural difference I noticed from what I saw years ago is in number 8, Odette's variation, where my notes from the 70's have "Odette & 4 girls" but Haiyan Wu danced alone Friday night. There's something to be said for this -- Odette is very much alone in this version, helplessly caught up in her fate as Rothbart's victim.

In some full-length versions, Odette and Siegfried hurl themselves to their death at the end, so they may be together at last in Heaven, as Rothbart dies in miserable agony, his calculations undone and his power broken, but while Balanchine uses the music of the Finale, "omitting the opening 26-bar andante and beginning with the allegro agitato," according to my old notes, his lovers are separated forever. Then again, there may be something to be said for the additional four girls, but by this time I don't remember what they danced, so I can't say it. But much of the rest of what was before us was familiar, if sometimes more gently though still beautifully projected than Balanchine's dancers did. In general, these dancers' movement quality tends a little -- a little -- toward the stiff, clipped, and efficient, while I rremember his as moving with a little -- a little -- more supple clarity, which ws, for me, even more effective. What I'm saying is that we're seeing something pretty close to his.

All things considered, this production is yet, again, wonderfully achieved and yet, again, another thing for everyone connected with it to be very proud of, not least Juan Francisco La Manna and his orchestra, for their sensitive and perceptive and respectful performance of Tchaikovsky's rich music and in tempos which, mostly, moved without being driven; I quibble only with the adagio of the pas de deux and the moderato assai of Odette's variation as slowish, especially by contrast. But the conventional cheapening of Tchaikovsky's music too often heard in the concert hall was not heard in the ballet theatre.

The Four Temperaments was less effective for me. (But while opening with this Swan Lake was the superb programming move Macaulay said it was, it was so good in itself it created the show-business problem of being "a hard act to follow"!) Yes, it was very good -- and the caricature of this ballet NYCB showed in Chicago a year or two ago is not even in the running, IMHO -- and was free of the over-etched quality of Suki Schorer's otherwise excellent staging at a School of American Ballet workshop following that, but, a little like the SAB renditon, some of the leads were a little -- well, off, though none looked so green as Schorer's students. I liked Alex Wong (Melancholic Variation) best; not another Bart Cook, and no reason to be, either: Wong had the role in his grasp, and the opening-night audience in it, too. Maybe if I get to see Jennifer Carlynn Kronenberg and Renato Penteado (Sanguinic Variation) and Andrea Spiridonakos (Choleric Variation) from a better seat their dancing will have more effect. But Jeremy Cox's Phlegmatic Variation seemed to me to elude him Friday.

In the Upper Room added some strobe-light effects in the upper reaches of the Au-Rene Theatre I hadn't remembered: There's so much smoke on stage it set off the theatre smoke alarms in the second number, but the situation -- the alarms, I mean, not the smoke on stage, which remains pretty thick, and adds to the effect of the effects -- was soon under control. (But only, I learned later, after theatre staff had determined the cause, as required by safety codes.)

I'm not crazy about this ballet, but everybody's in it, and so I got compensation for not seeing Mary Carmen Catoya and Deanna Seay earlier. Catoya "sneaks" into my awareness in it, because she's not naturally black-haired, as all the women are in this, so her outstanding dancing registers before I recognise her face. (The uniformity of the girls' hair, among other things, reminds me of Mr. B's comment on Twyla Tharp: "She makes them all look like her; I make them all look like them." And I still get conflicted in number VIII, when both Seay and Catoya are prominent downstage -- which one do I watch? But that's been one of the dilemmas Tharp's been handing me at least since As Time Goes By.

Wonderful 'tip' that came to me via the very kind Jack Reed:

MCB director Eddie Villella will lead a pre-perf talk one hr before nominal curtain time -- so at 1 PM tomorrow (Sunday), as the show commences at 2PM.

Thanks, Jack!

Natalia, let us know what you think about the Villella talk. You can read a great deal about what he really feels by the amount of time he devotes to each piece on the program and what he says -- and doesn't say -- about it. I confess that I can't wait to be able to compare his comments on each of these ballets. Villella, of course, never speaks badly of any item on a program. But he does know how to ignore that which he doesn't really care about.

The following weekend for this program is the Kravis in West Palm Beach. Buddy writes that he will be in attendance. So will I. Anybody else?

A bit
Swan Lake Suite works for me, as does "Swan Lake" (or better, Swan Lake in Quotes, as the actual quote marks may be too subtle to make the point).

I don't think there's such a ballet named Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #2 any more, except maybe at NYCB. Even as Ballet Imperial, it seems to be universally danced in chiffon dresses. Must be some decision by The Trust.

Act II.

I tend to think of "suites" as a linking of individual pieces, unified by theme, style or composer, but not much more. The Balanchine ballet tells a powerful and coherent love story. The average audience member is probably not aware of the juggling and editing tkhat has been done with the original score. Mightn't Suite raise the expectations of a collection of highlights from the complete ballet?

From the point of view of the average ballet-goer, Swan Lake Act II has the virtue of being understandable and consistent, more or less, with what they see on stage. On the other hand, one could go back to Balanchine's simple Swan Lake and give refunds to those who complain: where was Odile?

I'd think the best would be to leave it alone, it's not too hard to find out what Swan Lake Act II is. But the best one, I think, would be to call it either 'Balanchine Swan Lake' or 'Balanchine's Swan Lake', which echoes somewhat Balanchine's own titling of his ballet 'Robert Schumann's Davidsbundlertanze'. Ultimately, 'Balanchine's Swan Lake' sounds better than 'Balanchine Swan Lake', and anyone would then see it was one of 3 on a program. I don't think 'Swan Lake' by itself is quite enough, because we're in an era long after it was well-known. I hadn't heard about it in years until people brought it up some months ago, and never heard about in NYCB repertory since I saw it in 1971. Yes, I wouldn't think this for any other kind of ballet, but 'Balanchine's Swan Lake' sounds fine, because, whatever else it is, it is a shortened version of what is always thought of as a full-length ballet. It's also not far from DVDs that say 'George Balanchine's The Nutcracker', is it? which I think was always seen in TV productions going back to the 60s and maybe some other ads as well. I don't see 'Swan Lake Suite' as working, though. Either 'Swan Lake Act II', 'Balanchine's Swan Lake' or 'Swan Lake'. The latter is the tastiest, but also the most elitist and most easily misunderstood. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that in 1971, it was called 'Swan Lake Act II', with Balanchine alive another 12 years, unless I'm wrong. If I'm right, it was his decision to call it that, so somebody will know if it was called Swan Lake Act II back then.

I think NYCB does still use 'Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2', don't they? I didn't know what Ballet Imperial was till I saw the Kirov in April.

Totally agree. At the very end, MCB's choice is not Petipa/Ivanov work, but Balanchine's, which he CREATED-(or RECREATED?...and not from scratch, as i could observe)-recycling elements of the well known XIX Century ballet-(title, storyline, character names, and some steps sequences along the way). This made me think that it would be probably the same case as "Mathew Bourne's Swan Lake", and here is how Wikipedia resolves the whole conflict: "The ballet-(M.B's)- is based loosely on the Russian romantic ballet Swan Lake, from which it takes the music by Tchaikovsky and the broad outline of the plot". Period. Done deal. I also wondered how would it have been if Mr. B would have decided to have the ballet being stripped off from all its costumes and backdrops a la "Ballet Imperial" or "The 4 T's", all the way down to his minimalistic practice clothes and monocromatic backdrop. Interesting.

Hey Christian, there's reason to believe Mr B had very complex feelings about Swan Lake, and that "impersonal" is not what he wanted. He did say "don't act," but pictures of Darci Kistler in the role when she was still at SAB look very much like she's inside that music and far-gone in swandom. Melissa Hayden commented on the 6 Balanchine Ballerinas documentary that Balanchine said all KINDS of things to Allegra Kent about how to dance the role, "and he never said those things to ME" -- and he clearly preferred Kent to Hayden as the swan. There is a famous photograph of Mr. B showing him how to do the Prince, and the pose is as romantic as possible -- the wrists are drooping, the shoulders are lifted, the whole torso is filled with yearning. The two men are standing side by side, Balanchine is in his usual clothes, and Villella invVelvet doublet and tights, and yet Mr. B looks entirely the Prince and Villlella looks clueless.... maybe Carbro or a board moderator knows where to find this picture. It says more than a thousand words about what Swan Lake style should be.

Hmmm. A Few years back (maybe 2005) , I caught a couple of performances of BI with ABT. And the women were classical tutus. So I guess there are still some bits of inconsistency here and there.

Wonderful description, Paul. You've made me look more deeply at a photo I've always loved, but not really thought much about. Balanchine is simply beautiful in this shot.

This is the cover photo of Robert Garis's Following Balanchine -- available from Amazon. It's by Martha Swope and is dated "c. 1962."

http://www.amazon.com/Following-Balanchine...2755&sr=1-2

Just click the book cover and a large image of the photo appears.

By the way, not everyone may agree with your description of Villella as looking "clueless,", but it's undeniable that this was not a role that came naturallly to Villella. In the old days, there were many ballets which were Villella's alone -- either literally or in the minds and hearts of the fans. Your heart leapt when you opened the program and saw his name and sank a bit when an alternate was there instead. Swan Lake (Balanchine) was not one of those ballets.

P.S. In this photo, I've always loved the way the swan's wings seem to emerge from Balanchine's lower legs -- rather like a version of Mercury.

P.P.S. Can anyone identify the other Siegfried at the back of the shot? He's obscured by another dancer in practice clothes. However, you can see the sleeves of his doublet and the top of his head. The hairdo makes him look like Peter Martins, but that's impossible.

I don't see why. Balanchine's version of "Swan Lake" Act II is just as based in Ivanov's white act as any other production I've seen in which Benno doesn't partner Odette. You don't see SFB's production of "Swan Lake" titled "Helgi Tomasson's 'Swan Lake'" or the Bolshoi's listed as " 'Swan Lake' (Ingredients: Grigorovich [80%], Ivanov [10%], Petipa [5%], Gorsky [5%])" or the Royal Ballet's named "Petipa's and Ivanov's and Ashton's and Dowell's 'Sleeping Beauty'.

What's critical is that the audience not expect a full length, and that's covered by the title "Swan Lake Act II".

Well, that's what I said by 'leave it alone', but people are talking about Macauley here, who doesn't like 'Swan Lake Act II'. What nobody has answered is my question on whether it came to be called 'Swan Lake Act II' while Balanchine was still alive. I believe bart said Balanchine called it 'Swan Lake', but I thought I remembered when seeing Hayden in it in 1971 that it was listed in the program as 'Swan Lake Act II'. If Balanchine was fine with 'Swan Lake Act II', I don't see why this was ever brought up. So, who started calling it that? Anyway, I just put out some ideas on other possibilitities. I don't consider it an important issue, and think 'Swan Lake Act II' is fine in any case. In calling it 'Balanchine's Swan Lake', I was trying to arrive at a way of saying that it was a one-actor but changing the name that is being discussed only because of Macauley. It's not comparable to any of the others you listed, unless they're also not full-length. I also think 'Balanchine Swan Lake Act II' is not too long.

I wonder whether this DID begin. It certainly was "Swan Lake" on its own in the late 50s, when I first saw it, and I must admit I never noticed a re-titling in the decades following. That doesn't mean it didn't actually happen then. I may not have been paying attention. Certainly no one I knew used "Act II" in conversation.

The NYCB website continues to refer to it as "Swan Lake (Balanchine)" to distinguish it from "Swan Lake (Martins)." As for MCB, this is a company premiere, so there's no history.

When DID the title change? Who did it? And why? NYCB and Balanchine experts -- please help!

It could be that I got there and found out what it was, and read it in the Notes rather than as the title. Too long ago to remember. I also don't know if NYCB stopped doing it completely after 'Swan Lake (Martins)' started. I assume they did. But I would have known even then that I was not going to see an evening-length 'Swan Lake' given two other works on the program. So, maybe rg or mel or sz can tell us when 'Swan Lake Act II' appeared as a title. You may well be right that NYCB never used 'Swan Lake Act II' as an actual title, but just explained it in the notes.

Thanks a lot to all BT’s who chimed in with this thread. Here are some thoughts, from
The Saturday night performance:

Swan Lake:

A plus for Deanna Seay and Rolando Sarabia. Still my favorite MCB’s pair. Experience gets to be noticed on their dancing for sure. Sorry if I’m repeating myself about this.
Deanna Seay did a series of Piquee turns to die for. What a pleasure to watch. Brava!
Sarabita is still the best combination of Danseur Noble/magnificent technician I’ve ever witnessed. Bravo!
This time I watched the Corps more carefully. Find its patterns more alluring each time. Noticed at one point a perfect Willi-like diagonal formation. Beautiful. The Pas de Neuf was danced with a special brio, and loved the series of Grand Battements done by the girls during the “Valse Bluette”

4 T’s

First Theme. Wu/Zou. I saw a conscious sense of delicate plasticity on both dancers while dancing this piece. They did for me here better than in SL.
Second Theme. Albertson/Bramaz. Albertson has a vintage ballerina-looking aura that works big time for me. Maybe is just my imagination, but that’s how I tend to perceive this elegant looking ballerina, who also has a beautiful lines.
Third Theme. Patricia Delgado/Guerra. The Delgado sisters are quickly escalating both within the company ranks and in my personal taste. Patricia did a terrific job, along with Guerra’s usual display of subtle correctness and appropriate virility. Great.
Melancholic. Wong. As usual, the silent jumper and airy dancer with a lovely cambre. My favorite Melancholic so far.
Sanguinic. Jeannette Delgado/Panteado. Jeannette is the newest full force within the Company. Love her fearless attack. Can’t wait for her Quiteria. Panteado showed a great deal of good partnership.
Phlegmatic. Cox. One more time, Cox displays his unique individuality in style and interpretation. My favorite Mr. B’s-(or Mr. Villella’s)- dancer within the company, as I’ve said earlier.
Choleric.Spiridonakos. The allure of a tall ballerina always has worked for me, also during Spiridonakos’ performance tonight, even not being the best technician,-(a la Veronika Part)

"In the Upper Room".

WHAT’S UP WITH THE FIRE ALARM LIGHTS?! They went at some point, and I kind of woke up and started looking around wondering if Tharp had decided to add the theater device as part of the ballet. You never know with her, and as anybody else seemed to be alarmed, I decided that maybe that was the case and I was showing poor knowledge regarding the work. I decided to go back to my daydreaming.
Note: Mary Carmen Catoya stood out big time. She showed a newly acquired radiant expression that along with her superb detailing during the piece made her the big winner of it.
Note 2- The best of all was to get to meet Jack Reed and NYSusan - What a pleasure to put faces on their words finally!


Sunday: More stuff coming about the matinée performance, but I wanted to mention that I also met lovely Natalia, and we had a great time chatting while sipping coffee after the performance. Thanks for the invitation Natalia!

WEll, calling it Swan Lake Act 2 would make you think it was giong to BE Swan Lake Act 2 -- which it really is not. In Margot Fonteyn's days, the Royal ballet DID often dance Swan Lake Act 2, and even made a film of it, complete with hunters and Benno in the "pas de deux a trois." Macaulay, as a Brit, should be very familiar with tis version and would understandably object to calling Balanchine's distinctive version, which IS complete in itself, by hte name of the excerpt.

Just back from Ft lauderdale and yesterday's gorgeous performance. I have so much to write but wanted first to say how great it was to finally see the Balanchine Swan Lake in all of its glory as Mr B intended -- with all-white tutus for all swans. I also thoroughly enjoyed the two other ballets and Mr. Villella's pre-perf chat...Bart, you were spot-on in that EV definitely prefered one work -- Four Ts, in this case -- and he had some insights about each movement which I'll be a sharing a bit later today, when I write a full review of my day.

A correct title for the Mr. B Swan Lake? How about "The Beauty of Swans" or "Reflections on Swans," as this is, first and foremost, about the corps de ballet. The finale left me breathless, those vigorous runs in circles, arcs, criss-crosses, etc.

I'm told that I truly lucked out in my 'surprise principals' for Swan Lake -- Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra. Both were excellent, as were the Delgado Sisters in the Pas de Neuf and Valse Bluette.

Four Ts - I thought that San Fco ballet (in NYC, last month) was great in this...Miami City Ballet is zestier, if not as precise. Jeremy Cox was very touching as Melancholic, although I'm told that he is even better in Phlegmatic.

Two Words come to mind when thinking back on Miami's version of In the Upper Room: Sarabia's pirouette's! Lordie, he could have gone on forever, twirling 100 mph, whenever he launched into one of his zippy pirouettes. Miami's Upper Room is the finest, zippiest rendition that I've seen outside ABT. Sarabia and Renato Penteado were the fastest 'change-directions diagonal' guys I've ever seen...garnering cheers whenever they emerged and crossed the stage with that particular move. Instant standing-o for Upper Room. Bravi Tutti!

Most Importantly: What a joy to have finally met cubanmiamiboy and Jack Reed -- both delightful and knowledgeable gentlemen!

Much, much more later.

cubanmiamiboy, I believe I heard an announcement on Saturday evening just before the curtain rising for Swan Lake that Patricia Delgado was replacing Seay in the "pas de deux" (perhaps they meant the adagio?). I am not familiar with the MCB company members although I do know the Sarabias and Amanda Weingarten. I would appreciate your clarifying what dancers I did see.

As for the Balanchine Swan Lake, from the balcony some the patterns were well crafted and very musical. Sarabia was a bit flat although elegant and the danseur nobile. The corps was well rehearsed and very much as I remember the arm movements from my childhood. Having not seen the production in almost 30 years, my reaction to the overal flatness of the movement, in particular the port de bras, was interesting for me. This could have been any other Balanchine work with bits and pieces of his other choreographies thrown in here and there, hip lunges and all. The corps danced well, it was just the choreography that did not strike me as being particularly swanlike.

4Ts...Jeremy Cox was a standout.

In the Upper Room, not my favorite bit of repetitive movement. I left early due to the emergency lights flashing in the theatre. Mostlikely the fog machines set them off but being with 12 of our students, I jumped up and said let's go. cubanmiamiboy, did the lights ever stop flashing? Was this a lighting effect? A few audience members did get up and leave as we did. So what was the story?

I was there on Saturday night and while I missed Natalia, it was great to meet Jack & Cristian.

vrs, they did announce a substitution in the pas de neuf and while I know the last name I heard was Delgado I'm not sure which one it was. I think it was Patricia but would love verification from someone who really knows the dancers.

I hadn't seen the Balanchine Swan Lake in 30 years and it was great to see it again. I can see where words like expressionless and aloof come into play here. It was not in the dancer's individual performances, at least not with Seay & Sarabita – they danced it in full story mode. I think the choreography & staging themselves – the distillation of an abstraction to it's essence made it even more abstract than the original, like you were looking at it from a distance, or over time. I found it beautiful, but not moving except at the very end. I loved the mechanical swans (like the Kirov's) and the hunters (like the old Fonteyn/Somes RB version) and I liked the ending of the pas de deux much better than the one the Martins full length uses. I like the traditional version of the pdd best, but at least this one makes sense and is interesting. The corps tutus looked very familiar to me, I think the ones ABT used in their first production of SL (the Blair staging) used a similar design. By the way – I vote for calling it Balanchine's Swan Lake – it's most certainly not Swan Lake Act 2 since it incorporates music from act 3 and almost all of act 4, nor is it the full length SL.

I loved, loved, LOVED their 4Ts. Having seen NYCB do it recently, and the SFB do it 2-3 weeks ago I really enjoyed the way MCB danced it – I wish they were bringing it to NY. I've never seen a 4Ts I didn't like, but this one was special. I actually agree 100% with Macaulay's description of it as compared to SFB's – much faster, more sharply accented with very strong attack but with the same beautiful, fully engaged arms & upper bodies that we saw from SFB. I do not consider this elegant use of the arms Balanchinian – it's certainly not what I remember from his company in the 70s (which is when I saw them on a regular basis) but I really like it. I recall the look of 1970 -75 NYCB so clearly because the ugly, nonchalant dangling arms and ragged corps work of NYCB really annoyed me back in the day. This 4Ts was so good that I can't even single out a dancer or two – I loved all the themes, Wong's Melancholic, Cox's Phlegmatic, J Delgado & Penteado in Sanguinic and Spiridonakos as Choleric – they were all great.

I am a huge fan of In the Upper Room – I find it exhilarating. MCB did a great job with it but that smoke alarm going off was too weird. I was in the balcony and did see a bunch of people rush out but I assured my friends that they just hadn't accounted for the smoke effects. We stayed, and it did stop, but not nearly soon enough. How can this happen at the same venue more than once? It was very distracting…

Thank you for the clarification of the substitution. I know the name was Patricia Delgado, I just heard incorrectly the pas. This was my first seeing a Delgado sister as an adult.

Thank you also for letting me know about the security/fire/alarm lights. Our students were emmensely disappointed in having to leave, but when I realized I was responsible for this group and they were spread through out the balcony, my mother's voice popped into my head as if I myself were a child hearing her say, "Exit quietly, do not run. Take a head count!" I could see from the front row of the balcony that the lights were flashing in the orchestra, mezzanine and also in the lobby when we exited. No one seemed to know what was happening in the lobby, but no one was doing anything or telling us there was not fire. Sirens were heard outside as we walked to the parking lot. Kind of scary actually. I would have hoped there would be some plan of action in a theatre when something like that occurs. I know I for one, will most likely be one of the first ones out if I experience anything like that again.

I'm sorry for not responding more quikcly to your inquire, VRsfanatic, but NYSusan got you in the right track. The substitution was on the Pas de Neuf.
The alarms went off both on Friday night and Saturday night performances, and i'm telling you, there was a point in which i thought that this was a Tharp's last minute crazy addition to enhance the ballet effects, seriously.

nysusan, my last memories of seeing NYCB in 4 T's was with Arthur Mitchell which had to be in the 1960's. When I refer to having seen 4 T's 30 years ago was Pennsylvania Ballet from 1974-1983. They did it beautifully.

Well, i was just looking at the book "In Performance: A Companion to the classics of the dance", with many pics and descriptions of ballets and their main styles and choreographers-( There's even a pic of Panova in Cinderella...i'd never seen her before). Anyway, the hardcover book dates from 1980, and was written by Nancy Reynolds and Susan Reimer-Torn. My point is that in the front cover there's a pic by photographer Costas of Nina Fedorova, NYCB-(doesn't give the exact year)-with the exact pose i saw here of Odette at one point standing on pointe in attitude derrière sustained by two maidens by her wrists. Most important of all, in this pic the Corps are wearing this strange looking types of shortened version of the romantic tutu, although slightly longer on the back, but essentially the same ones used by Villella in his production, so i guess the switching from the winged long romantic original Balanchine's could have been occurred during the 70's...?

Just to go back to the detour about the name for a second, I just looked up "Swan Lake" on the online Balanchine Catalog (based on "Choreography by Balanchine") on the Balanchine Foundation site.

Catalogue search results

Found 6 Results
75. SWAN LAKE

Choreography: By George Balanchine.

Note: At some time in the mid-1920s (1927?), Balanchine made minor alterations in Diaghilev's one-act Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Ivanov and Petipa), deleting part of the Swan Queen's mime and rearranging ensemble movements for a decreased corps de ballet. Olga Spessivtseva was probably the first ballerina to dance the Swan Queen in this revised version

http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact
There was precedence for a one act version, produced by Diaghilev.

191. I WAS AN ADVENTURESS Film

Note: An extremely abbreviated, rechoreographed version of Swan Lake, Act II...

http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact

262. DON QUIXOTE and SWAN LAKE (BLACK SWAN) PAS DE DEUX

Balanchine "staged and to some degree altered" these two excerpts

http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact

285. SWAN LAKE

This is the first version (produced for Tallchief) of Act II for New York City Ballet. There are extensive notes on the site referencing the original pieces in it -- ex: it included the dance for the four little swans -- and some of the changes made over the years.

http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact

331. PAS DE DEUX (also called TSCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX)
http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact

367. LE LAC DES CYGNES Ballet in Four Acts

Choreography: Staged by George Balanchine after Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa, and Nicholas Beriozoff. Choreography for the WALTZ (Act I) and for the MAZURKA, CZARDAS, and DANCE OF THE PRINCESSES (Act III) by George Balanchine.

Premiere: September 11, 1969, Ballet du Grand Théâtre, Geneva.

http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact

Ok, there should be a Poll about all this. There seems to be a lot of mixed feelings and countless ideas and titles.
I'll go for "Swan Lake Act II. Staging by so and so-(Diaguilev, Balanchine,Maria Perez...you name it)-...after ch. by Lev Ivanov"

Despite what I said above (where I'm not exactly clear that I mean those other titles you liked are my second choice), I think 'Swan Lake Act II' is quite sufficient. It's not nearly as well-known as it was in Balanchine's day, and I basically agree with Helene that the audience needs to know that it's a one-act-er. Things like 'staging by' could go in program notes, but I don't think they belong in the title. It's not the same as the Bach piece being attributed to Webern which he only orchestrated (in the Balanchine part of 'Episodes'). This IS Balanchine's 'Swan Lake', whatever else it was derived from, just as it IS Balanchine's 'Nutcracker.' I don't know if I feel this way because, somehow, this version of 'Swan Lake' means more to me than all the old full-length ones, maybe because seeing Melissa Hayden do it when I was 20 years old and she was just about to retire is one of the most unforgettable memories of ballet performance I've ever seen; and it even slightly outclasses Makarova's utter embodiment of Odette. Macaulay thinks it should just be called 'Swan Lake', but I think Helene is right--the audience does need to know it's not a full-length without being expected to look at the rest of the program. I think Macaulay's protest of the title is of little or no importance. It's not even done at NYCB anymore, since Peter Martins's notorious version appears occasionally, and I am threatened with it upon its next impingement

I think if they buy a ticket for a program with three ballets, they'll know "Swan Lake" is a one-acter. I like your first suggestion, "Balanchine's Swan Lake," although I'd prefer "George Balanchine's Swan Lake," because I think that flows better.

The Maria Tallchief in Montreal CBC telecast characterizes its excepted version as Swan Lake: Act II and Swan Lake: Scenes from Act II.

"Balanchine's 'Swan Lake'" makes it a sort of a brand, like "Bram Stoker's Dracula" a bit of a slippery slope. Every artist could become part of her or his titles. And where would that leave Ivanov--or Tschaikovsky?

Also the context of two or three other ballets (in this case In the Upper Room and the Four Temperaments) would imply that this is not that whole work.

Yes, Patrick, I should rephrase myself , cause I agree 100 % with you on how long would it be to put all that. I was thinking more about the ballet 's program, or the Playbill. Now, rethinking about it, as per a universal title I would still shortened it down to "Swan Lake:Act II". Now, I must agree that adding Balanchine's name was probably meant to be some sort of a catch device programed by Villella when he first thought about bringing it back. I can see from all of you guys who knew the work from back then that the bait worked...it got everybody talking, and even some flying down to see it.

I had promised additional thoughts on the program earlier. Whatever it is called -- Swan Lake, Balanchine-trademark Swans, etc. -- it is a beautiful poem on the theme of Swan Lake, particularly in Mr B's craftsmanship of the corps de ballet. The opportunity to see and soak-in those ever-changing patterns of the corps de ballet -- 20 corps swans in Ft Lauderdale...fewer than NYCB's 26 or 28 swans back in '97 -- was well worth a cramped 2-hr no-frills flight on Spirit Air.

Thoughts on the Swans

Tellingly, this ballet seems to have inspired MCB Artistic Director Edward Villella the least, judging by his pre-performance talk comments at 1pm on Sunday. He talked ten times longer about Fout Ts than about SL , and about four times as long about Tharp's Upper Room. EV simply said about SL: "In his version, Balanchine presents the entire story of Swan Lake in 40 minutes."

I believe that EV should have spent a bit of time talking about what, to me, is the leitmotif of the work -- the vigorous dancing of the swans, their exquisite patterns, their ever-changing kaleidoscope of movements. Everybody seems to focus on Balanchine's movements for soloist and demisoloist dancers and seem to forget that he was equally masterful in moving the masses. This is one of those Balanchine ballets that can best be appreciated from the balcony, due to the patterns of the corps. A couple of visions of better-known Balanchine works came to mind last Sunday, as I watched Swan Lake. One was the non-stop masterful Polonaise that begins Act II of Harlequinade...simple walking...but in a never-ending series of swirls and curliques. A lot of those arcs, swirls, little circles, etc were apparent in the final little runs by the swans. A second image that came to mind, while watching the swans, was -- of all things -- Symphony in Three Movements, when the corps ladies, in white leotards, form a long diagonal and 'flap' their outstretched arms from up and down. Years earlier, in Swan Lake, Balanchine presented a very similar long diagonal of corps girls, performing the same movement. Now I am truly looking forward to once again seeing Symphony in Three Movements to pick-out more swan-like movements from those ladies.

EV's Thoughts on Four Ts

During the pre-performance chat, EV went-to-town on his analysis of Four Ts. First, he explained that the three initial 'theme couples' present the movements that we will later see in the main body of the ballet, culminating in the finale.

Melancholic - I am guessing that this was EV's favorite role in this ballet, when he was dancing, he so carefully analyzed it here. Melancholic's male soloist is "drowning in a sea of depression." The initial two female demisoloists are like Nazi harpies. The female corps arrives to Nazi goose-stepping. EV said that this is what Mr B explained to him, so the Nazi analogy comes straight form the choreographer. Interesting - this was news to me but makes sense in that this ballet was created right after WWII.

Sanguinic - EV terms this a lighthearted balance to Melancholic. The pdd is gay, flirtatious. 'Nuf said.

Phlegmatic is termed the 'heart of the ballet' in which the 'main message of Balanchine comes through: 19th C classicism is dead and we must look forward to the future." This is due to the male soloist's initial classical moves, eventually breaking down (like a broken-down machine) to become a freer, jazzier dancer.

Choleric is 'the anger of women.' The solo tall girl in Choleric is the ultimate fury, similar to the angry Nazi-women in the corps of Melancholic.

My Thoughts on Four T's dancing -

MCB did a great job, no doubt. I loved their zesty attack, on the whole, even while coming to the conclusion that (gulp) San Francisco Ballet gave an altogether better performance due to the balance of better soloists (on the whole) and sharp corps (if not as zippy as Miami's...Miami was a bit sloppy in uniformity of movement). One big plus was the 'boneless' movement of Jeremy Cox in Melancholic. It was also a delight to see Rolando Sarabia and Patricia Delgado as the Sanguinic couple. Neil Marshall was fine as Phlegmatic. My main concerns were with the relatively weak attack -- and feeble chaine turns -- of tall Alynne Noelle as Choleric. I was weaned on -- and spoiled -- years ago by Coleen Neary's ultimate chainees...and they are almost-impossible to top.

EV on In the Upper Room -

EV prefaced this section of his chat by letting all in the audience know, "This ballet has always garnered a standing ovation after every performance, since we premiered it last year. It better happen again today!" [It did.] For EV, this ballet is "...about the buzz that a dancer gets at the end of his long day of class, rehearsals, then performance. You are on an adrenaline high for about two hours after the evening's performance and it is very difficult to come down from that high. That is what this ballet is all about for me." EV also talked about the two main 'stomper girls' who are the initial Gate-Keepers presenting the rest of the ballet. At the end, they literally turn-off the lights of the studio with the pull-down the light motion.

My Thoughts on the Upper Room performance -

One of the best Upper Rooms around. ABSOLUTELY THE BEST I've seen since ABT two years ago...also staged by Elaine Kudo, I think. MCB does this with energy-plus that was somewhat toned-down in the Bolshoi, Pennsylvania Ballet and Washington Ballet, the other three renditions against which I can compare. [But the Bolshoi has THE BEST stomper girl of all time - Osipova!] The bobble-headed movements of the Maimi stomper girls are excellent -- right up there with Stella Abrera at ABT. Haiyan Wu was frisky, delightful as the main pointe-shoe girl. But it was the main classical guy -- Rolando Sarabia -- who garnered my loudest 'bravo!' of the evening, with incredible jumps and lightning-fast corkscrew pirouettes. Alas, there was a nearly-fatal moment in which a stomper-girl is lying 'flat' in the arms of a classical guy and he is supposed to flip her completely around...here nearly dropping her. Other than that, there were no major problems. No alarms and sirens with the dry-ice smoke on Sunday.

At the end of this show, I did not need "Spirit Airlines" for my spirit to leap!

Thanks (so far) to Cristian, Jack, Susan, Vicky, and Natalia for your reports (here and on the other thread) about the performances -- and to all who have been posting on the matter of the best name for the Balanchine Swan Lake, etc.

Because of you, I will be be able to watch more closely things like the movements and patterning of the swans, which I admit I never focused on before. You've also helped tremendously to put this in the context of other productions, including other slightly different versions of the Balanchine.

You've given me so many things to look for -- and so much background information. Natalia, Villella does indeed seem to have gone "to town" on 4T's. He tends to repeat himself each performance on the basics but often adds or subtracts details, so I can't wait to compare what he says this weekend to what he said at Fort Lauderdale. Thanks very, very much for your account.

If anyone is going to be at the Kravis for opening night this Friday, at least two Ballet Talkers so far will be meeting at the foot of the grand staircase a bit before 7:00 so we can sit together for Villella's talk and plan a recap later. Please join us.

Glad to see your promised second post, Natalia. I also feel I have a lot more to say about what I saw this past weekend. If only I can find the words! But there's an other weekend left, and for those fortunate enough to be able to see this program, I'll just give the short version and say (IMO), Do whatever you can to see Jennifer Carlynn Kronenberg's Odette! (Not to omit that Carlos Guerra's Siegfried is very fine.)

I wish I could help more, like by telling you which performances she'll be in, but I don't know. My method would be to see the whole run, but if you can only see one performance, maybe the last one would be the best bet, as she danced the Sunday matinee in Fort Lauderdale. On the other hand, as Deanna Seay was replaced Saturday night (by Patricia Delgado), she might have some priority by way of compensation.

But Kronenberg certainly looked to me like she's "far gone in swandom," to appropriate Paul's felicitous phrase. (I never saw Kistler in this, though.) That was the performance of the weekend for me. BTW, Seay is to be seen in SL in the Youtube clips, Swan Lake 02 and 03. (Our too-seldom-present colleague leibling has posted some other identifications in the corresponding thread.)

Meanwhile, this thread has certainly grown. I will try to dig up some comments and answers regarding the history of this ballet, but I can say now that the picture on Garis's book cover is reproduced less cropped inside, on p. 95, where someone resembling Patricia McBride is looking on from the right edge; she has on a lovely tutu, but Odette's was different from the cygnets'.

Anyway, bart, the partly obscured man is likely the character of von Rothbart, as his tights and footwear are dark and, most tellingly, on the actual dustjacket I can make out the light-colored tips of the "feathers" of his cape, which hangs open from his extended right arm and closed from his lowered left. Even if you can't see that, you can see the wide strap at his right wrist and the narrow one above his right elbow. (I think someone has made known even the identity of the woman in white pumps with the purse on the left!)

Would my outline of this ballet from the 70's be of interest?

Did you also hear that it was Patricia Delgado with Sarabia on Saturday evening? cubanmiamiboy seemed think I was incorrect in what I had heard. It did not look like Seay to me, but I do not attend every program so I thought I had just forgotten her port de bras and line from last year.

Thanks for the heads up bart about the staircase at the Kravis. I am not able to attend, but it would be fun to meet up another time in one of our venues in the tri-county area.

Kronenberg is on the top of my own wish list. She has a qualities of mystery, inwardness, and alllure that fit the role very nicely. I'm glad to hear that several of you liked Guerra. In fact, I'm glad that he was dancing, since there was an announcement at the end of the season that he would be out for a while due to injur. I'm glad he's back.


And he appears to be wearing character boots. I think you're right. As for the lady with the white high-heels and purse ... she makes it seem as though the 11 a.m. train from Scarsdale has just pulled in and, by some miracle, has deposited the matinee audience directly inside the theater. Her slightly puzzled look suggests, "This certainly doesn't look like Grand Central Station."

Yes! Please!

Honestly, I identified the dancer as Seay, but of course, there's always the possibility of me being wrong-(I don't own binoculars, and my far sighted vision is kind of poor...add to that the heavy makeup worn by the ballerinas and then yes, you end up getting the possibility and hence the bennefit of the doubt). But again, I'm still positive that it was Seay.

To clarify, Deanna Seay DID dance Odette on Saturday night with Rolando Sarabia. Patricia Delgado danced the pas de neuf solo, replacing Allynne Noelle.

Thanks for the clarification, leibling. I'm relieved to know that I praised the right ballerina, Eddie's Company leading female dancer Seay-(according to my personal standards, if i may...)

Thanks to all for the continuing discussion and interesting comments. This is such a rich and fascinating program, that it's difficult to encapsulate it in one post.

Jack is right. Jennifer C. Kronenberg was excellent -- passionate and dancing with true 'Balanchinean risk' which may have been lacking in earlier casts. Carlos Guerra was superb in his partnering and his solo to the Act 1 Pas de Trois male solo music.

Interesting tidbit: The Balanchine Swan Lake's 'white pas de deux adagio' ends with the rarely-included brisk coda from Tchaikovsky's original score. As far as I know, only two other versions of Swan Lake include this coda. One of these is rather predictable: Peter Martins' 1999 version of the complete ballet has an Act II that is about 80% Balanchine,s, including that brisk coda at the end of the pdd. The second is less known: Rudolf Nureyev's ca-1965 version of SL for the Vienna Opera Ballet, in which the pdd ends with a SOLO for Nureyev to that music. Very odd!!! Nureyev smartly removed that atrocity from his subsequent stagings of the ballet in Paris.

I am looking forward to Jack's 1970s scenario of the Balanchine Swan Lake. In the meantime, folks may like to read my notes on the order of numbers in the Miami version and how it differs with the NYCB mid-1990s performance that I saw in New York --

1. Prelude music to Act II - curtain up halfway through. We see lakeside, with big 'doll swans' floating from left to right, behind the reeds.

2. Entrance of the Hunters (short piece) - eight hunters in medieval outfits, carrying crossbows, soon joined by Siegfried. Look at the passing swans in awe. As the music crescendos, the hunters run off, leaving Siegfried alone to see...

3. Entrance of Odette and initial dance together - No bourees...Odette hops onto the stage in a high pas de chat, a-la Ballo Della Regina! The ensuing duet introduces a unique leitmotif of Balanchine's version: high quick-split-leg lifts. Siegfried will lift her thus several times later, most notably in the coda of the pdd. Near the end of this initial dance, Von Rothbart appears in very-heavy cape, mask, boots. This is not a Bolshoi-style dancing role! Von Roth controls Odette, who momentarily holds onto Siegfried's bow, before rushing off stage.

4. Entrance of the Swans, all in ca-1895 Imperial-cut white tutus (rather than NYCB's girls all in black tulle, in a 1920s sort of cut) - a very different, 'light and uplifting' take on the traditional steps usually performed by the swans in this entrance. Balanchine's is lighter but, generally, slower-moving. Instead of constant runs-into-arabesque, there's a bit of a 'stop-pose' built into each arabesque. Lots of interesting patterning...ending in a dramatic long diagonal line; as Siegfried enters, the swans change the positions of their arms in Giselle-like 'peel off' manner, one after the other. At the end of this section, two solo swans (also in the Imperial-cut white tutus) enter, followed by Odette in short modern tutu; all clustered to the upper-right corner (not two lines in the center, as in Soviet versions).

5. Waltz of the Swans - very beautiful, though quite different from either the traditional Ivanov and the K. Sergeyev Soviet versions. When the two solo swans perform the familiar mirroring moves, the entire corps is on its knees, gently swaying back and forth. Very effective in that the two soloists can shine brighter - Balanchine knew how to bring maximum punch to a segment.

6. Pas de Deux, Odette and Siegfried - with swans standing on sides in double-rows, with the hunters sometimes entering, standing in the middle of each double row, swans resting their heads on the men's shoulders. With the exception of the coda, this dance gives the two principals 95% of the Ivanov choreography. The big difference is that brisk coda, ending with a series of high split-lifts (the leitmotif mentioned above) and a snappy final pose that somewhat breaks the romantic mood.

7. Pas de Neuf to Tchaikovsky's Act IV slow "Dance of the Little Swans" (which Ashton used for the start of his Act IV) - a soloist flanked by 4 corps girls on each side. Beautiful use of arms by corps - ever changing patterns. Difficult soloist steps, including a prolonged 'hopping pirouette' in back-attitude pose.

8. Pas de Douze to Tchaikovsky-Drigo's lilting 'Valse Bluette' - soloist plus 11 corps girls. Balanchine's masterpiece within this ballet, IMO. Three clusters of four girls, moving 'in cannon'. The viewers eye is constantly challenged and delighted to see the kaleidoscope of patterns. Balanchine cleverly shifts the clusters into four groups of three girls, then switching back to three groups of four.

9. Odette's solo - very similar to the Ivanov and Soviet originals. major change is the final diagonal, which here is cut short, with Balanchine's Odette launcing into a series of pique turns around the circumference of the stage.

10. Siegfried's solo to Tchaikovsky's Act I Pas de Trois male solo music - this is 80% Petipa's choreography, as seen at the Kirov, etc. (one of the very FEW bits of Petipa that remains in the Kirov version!). Balanchine seems to have added more difficulty, with entrechats-six in-between the traditional back-and-forth leaps in the first enchainement. [At NYCB in the mid-1990s, Siegfried danced a totally-different variation to the powerful 'Dance of the Big Swans' from Act II...the music that Balanchine had originally used for a 'Jumping Pas de Trois' for Patricia Wilde and two corps girls. Wouldn't it be great if NYCB could resurrect that famous Pas de Trois this winter? Hint-hint.]

11. Presto Coda - return of the swans, all entering in twos, to 'forward chugging' movements. Then the two soloists...then Odette appears, performing an energetic diagonal with high leaps, rather than the traditional pique-arabesque renverse series of poses.

12. Finale to Act IV 'storm' music that ends the full-evening ballet - the greatest patterning for the full group of 20 corps swans here. Lots of little running in a constantly-changing spectacle. In the end, Von Rothbart appears and commands the swans to depart. They do. Odette leaves with 'Plisetskaya style' bourees and swan arms, moving into profile as she nears the wings; leaves stoically. Siegfried and the Hunters left alone, heads bowed, with Siegfried kneeling as the 'doll swans' float by and the curtain falls.