Comments on: Diana’s Beautiful But Aloof Prima Russian Swan, and A Snubbed Marcelo!

By: Swan Lake Samba Girl » Blog Archive » Tiny Tiny World | Tonya Plank | Writer, Dancer and Public Interest Lawyer

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:46:05 +0000

[...] So, not much has changed for poor Marcelo then? [...]

By: Swan Lake Samba Girl » Blog Archive » Diana Vishneva’s “Beauty in Motion” at City Center | Tonya Plank | Writer, Dancer and Public Interest Lawyer

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:20:15 +0000

[...] The show is meant to celebrate Diana Vishneva, the Russian ballerina who is currently a principal with American Ballet Theater as well as the Kirov Ballet, or Mariinsky Theater, in St. Petersburg. The middle piece, by Moses Pendleton, the modern, not ballet, choreographer who founded theatrical dance companies, Pilobolus and MOMIX, is the one that most celebrates Vishneva, because it allows her to have the stage entirely to herself. I don’t think she works tremendously well with others (which I’ve noted before), and I have yet to see what all the critics are so orgasmic about with her, but Pendleton gave her some brilliant props to work with — particularly a large mirror upon which she lay in various positions, she and her reflection together evoking a series of imaginative shapes, and a beaded headdress which she wore and spun around repeatedly in, making interesting forms with the material — and the result seemed to be the crowd-pleaser of the night (other than Richardson). [...]

By: Swan Lake Samba Girl » Blog Archive » I Finally Got My Dramatic Odette!: “Swan” Wrap-Up, Taye Diggs, and a Fun Reader-Participation Survey! | Tonya Plank | Writer, Dancer and Public Interest Lawyer

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 19:23:29 +0000

[...] Backtracking for a sec, I first saw Diana Vishneva and First Favorite Man , and, as I had blogged earlier, wasn’t very moved by Diana, mainly because she seemed to have no connection with Marcelo’s Prince Siegfried; her Odette (White Swan / Princess), as I said, existed in a completely separate world from him. [...]

By: tonya

tonya — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 04:03:16 +0000

Thanks Susan — I just found out tonight — I was there and they told us. Oh, I didn’t know it was Veronika who was injured — they didn’t tell us why; just that irina and max were dancing instead. I know I was looking forward too. But I’ve actually never seen Irina dance this and think it will be interesting so I’m still going to go. I’ll look for you during intermission.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 03:42:59 +0000

Newsflash!!!! According to Wolcott’s blog Veronika is injured & won’t be dancing tomorrow. ABT’s website confirms that Max & Irina will sub. Too bad, I’ve been looking forward to this performance all season!

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:59:15 +0000

Yes, Nina was great last night. I also thought she was still a little tentative in Bayadere, and a tad underpowered in Giselle, but this Swan Lake was great.

Unfortunately I ‘ll be with some friends on Saturday, so I can’t join you then but I’m going to Cinderella on Tuesday – anyone up for a drink before the curtain? Now that they’ve announced that Abrera’s subbing for Reyes I’ll probably go to one of those performances, too. Probably the Saturday night

By: delirium tremens

delirium tremens — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:11:43 +0000

I saw Irina last year. I didn’t love it. Good, but not great (surprisingly i found her giselle last year fantastic! which one wouldnt expect given the sorts of reviews she gets).

Nina was FANTASTIC. And I have never seen anything like Angel tonight. His jumps were of course lovely but his turns? holy crap….how many rotations was that and HOW was it humanly possible?!!! I mean WOW.

I was very disapointed in Nina’s Bayadere, so i’m not just being starry eyed. And yes her fouettes, while excellent, were not the speed demon ones of years past. But she was unbelievable. And if you’ve never seen her swan arms…how does someone do that!?

Both her Odette and Odile are so fabulous that i cant really say which i prefer…

I’d be up for meeting saturday–maybe lunch (brunch?) before the show?

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:37:08 +0000

i do hear great things about irina; anyone see her?

i wonder if Vishneva is more of a “romantic” ballerina; more suited for passionate roles like Manon & Juliet…? She’s wonderful in those roles. Would love to see her as Odette…but odd to think that in my memory, Gillian Murphy was the best Odette I’d seen, and she’s not my favorite usually. Do you think Odette/Odile is more suited for “technical” and classic style ballerinas? (I would consider technicians with classical flair = Gillian Murphy, Paloma Herrera, Veronika Part, Michele Wiles). (Oh, and I do know that the word “technical” has bad connotations but I mean it in the very best sense here).

By: tonya

tonya — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:28:11 +0000

Hi Susan! I know, I forgot about the one intermission too; I was kind of stunned when Apollinaire reminded me at the end of the intermission that there wouldn’t be another one — and then I remembered it was McKenzie’s version, not the original and he usually, as you said, shortens things up. Yeah, he does take out a lot in his versions — I noticed that in Sleeping Beauty too — it’s like he’s tying to make them shorter and sweeter, but then you do lose some of the power and depth.

I’m glad you thought the same thing I did regarding Marcelo and Diana not really working together (and SanderO said the same thing in a comment on my earlier post) — so it’s not just me! Yeah, Jennifer, I meant to say earlier, I do think she is a very passionate dancer and I can tell she puts so much of herself into her roles; she just throws herself into them, and that’s what is keeping me coming back to see more of her. But for some reason she didn’t really move me in this role. And she didn’t seem to work with him at all here — she hardly even looked at him, sometimes not even in his direction; it was like they were on two separate stages at some points — and so totally different from seeing him dance with Julie the last time I saw this ballet last year. Julie and Marcelo work so incredibly well with each other, almost like they were made for each other — but then I guess they’ve had a lot more time to work with and get comfortable with each other. And Julie’s almost the complete opposite of Diana to me — I find her much more interesting with Marcelo (or with another partner, like Jose) than on her own.

Anyway, have fun tonight watching Nina, you guys! I’ll do whatever it takes to be there on Saturday afternoon! Maybe we can all meet up then?

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:34:30 +0000

I’ll be at both performances, too. I actually went up to New Haven to see Nina in Giselle a couple weeks ago. She’s definitely not back at 100% yet but she has so much heart and such good instincts that hopefully we’ll all be too caught up in her magic to dwell on any imperfections

By: delirium tremens

delirium tremens — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:46:18 +0000

Susan, are you going to see nina and veronika?

I’ll be at both performances.

I hope Nina is the Nina I remember. I didn’t think she was quite on form in bayadere. And she’s one of my all time favorite O/Os!

And Tonya, whatever tix you can get for saturday matinee, get!

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:46:54 +0000

Hi Tonya! Sorry I missed you the other night – I forgot that there’s only 1 intermission in the McKenzie Swan Lake. it’s putting a crimp in my ballet social life.

I thought Vishneva’s performance was excellent, but I also agree with you that (comparatively speaking) it wasn’t one of the great ones. I don’t know if aloof is the word I’d use to describe her – I’ve seen aloof Odettes and they bore me to tears. Last year she had some problems in SL but this time I found her fascinating and beautiful with well developed dramatic & stylistic approach. Problem is, she doesn’t move me emotionally and for me that’s what keeps her from being a great Odette/Odile. I frankly think that while this production is pretty & tells the story well it really de-emphasizes all the emotional climaxes, so it makes it difficult for any ballerina to really break my heart – but others have come much closer (i.e Nina & Veronika). I also found her interaction with Marcelo strange. It felt to me as if each of them was emotionally invested in their roles but that they weren’t connecting with each other. Very strange, especially after that killer Manon.

I also agree with Delirium 100% that this is not her best role and that you should go see Marcelo & Veronika on Saturday, even from the balcony. They also create each performance anew, and they have incredible chemistry. Last year when I saw them I was just blown away by Marcelo’s Siegfreid. It was on a whole different level from his performance on Tuesday. Not that he was bad on Tuesday (our Marcelo – never!) just that he and Part seem to inspire each other.

By: tonya

tonya — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:46:37 +0000

Delirium, now after seeing Part in Bayadere and loving her so much, I really really really want to see her SL, but unfortunately it looks like everything in the section I really like to sit in is sold out! Are you going? I might just buy a balcony ticket (assuming they are still available) and sit all the way up there, although I can’t see that well from up there — I might just do it anyway and have the binoculars glued to my face all night… Other than that, I’m seeing David and Michele.

Haha, I had to look Robert La Fosse — found a picture of him on the Steps website — yeah, I can see the resemblance, but Vitali is more Russian

By: Philip

Philip — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:58:58 +0000

In his ABT headshot Vitali reminds me very much of a young Robert LaFosse…

By: Philip

Philip — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:20:02 +0000

I thought there was a general lack of chemistry between Vishneva and David H in the SLEEPING BEAUTY I saw but I attributed it to the lousy production and the notion that they were probably both miserable dancing in it.

By: delirium tremens

delirium tremens — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 06:06:17 +0000

as i said, i dont think this is her best role yet.

What other SL are you seeing? Are you seeing Part? because if you want hearbreaking connection between siegfried and odette, sat matinee is probably the place to get it (and its Marcello again! i know you cant resist!!! )

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:26:59 +0000

others have also noticed how vishneva is not the “easiest” dancer to partner…i have seen her last year in manon, romeo and juliet, and this year’s “Dream”…i think she’s a bit difficult to partner because when she dances, she throws herself so energetically into her partner’s arms, with absolutely no fear…and i’ve seen her partners struggle a bit. (malakhov handled her with ease; corella did not). she danced with malakhov last year in manon, and it was so amazing; she seemed so fearless, throwing her weight around like that, completely trusting her partner. (the third act pas de deux was the best i’ve seen; with vishneva and malakhov.) she doesn’t seem to adjust her dancing to make it “easier” for her partner to dance with her, her dancing sends this message: “this is the way i dance, you’d better do your job as a partner and catch me”. haha. i’m sure she’s not snobby at all, but after watching her dance…i love it because she throws herself completely into the choreography,…the girl is the picture, the guy is the frame…and i love that about vishneva… but others may see her as someone difficult to dance with, which i think is partly the partner’s blame .