And Craig is a STAR. He can DO NO WRONG.

A few of my favorite clarinetists are Ricardo Morales from Philadelphia or Jon Manasse, the principal clarinetist for the ABT orchestra and Mostly Mozart Orch…although Stanley Drucker is a legend, unfortunately, he may be past his prime…(I didn’t think he was even still there at NY Phil)

ok! back to ballet

you also have to think…to be a critic, you can’t review everything positively (to support the “arts” and attract audiences), their ultimate goal is not to be a marketing tool. If a dance critic reviewed everything favorably, the critic would not have credibility and no one would really take their recommendations seriously.

I have not seen this production, but I did read the Times review. Without seeing the production, I don’t have a comment for how out of line Macaulay’s assessment was.

Gottlieb recently wrote a scathing review of NYCB, which was both a compliment to some and a slap in the face to others, so this type of critique is not unusual:
http://www.observer.com/2007/ashley-bouder-rescue-kyra-nichols-waves-farewell

I would definately count myself as a critical person – especially when it comes to orchestral performances. I know how much certain performers make and I know how much my ticket cost – and if I attend a sub-par performance, I let it rip. I don’t even attend NY Phil performances when I know Principal Clarinetist Stanley Drucker will be playing the entire concert (or even a major concerto). Those are my standards as a patron. If I were a writer, and had the opportunity to publicly say, “Retire – you can no longer play in tune” I would. The sad fact is, I don’t believe most patrons have a clue what a sorry state of affairs NY Phil is in – between some need-the-boot-but-good orchestra members to the current music director (yawn city).

And that is where the critic steps in – to educate, to illuminate, to give the reader a different point of reference to a performance, and to promote a thought process beyond an immediate gut reaction to a performance. However, it is my opinion that reading a review is only beneficial to the audience when they already have their own opinions of an art form. Otherwise, there is the strong possibility the reader will take on that critics point of view without developing their own.

Are there some critics who have a chip on their shoulder? – definately. Then there are those critics who blow smoke up the performers ass or have no clue about art and essentially lie to the public. Finally, there are the critics who really care about art and use their talent to promote great art. As a reader, it is up to us to weed out who we respect, who we concur with and then understand that we will never 100% agree with those critics we like.

I completely respect critics who are honest and want to warn the audience before we spend our hard earned money on crap. Now, what is crap to one person may not be crap to another – again, subjectivity plays a role and the reader must be educated enough to make up their own mind.

I wasn’t saying to get rid of the old, just that I liked that they were presenting a combination of old and new, like in Europe, where ballet seems to enjoy a much bigger audience. Then again, in Europe there seems to be a greater appreciation for the arts in general, which is a whole other issue…

Thanks again for commenting (it’s good to know who your readers are! — especially for me since I can’t always tell if they are ballroom people or ballet people are “crossovers”!) I personally think you should still see Kudelka, just to make your up your own mind and not rely on Macaulay’s (And, as Larry said, last year’s critic, Rockwell, did like it). Though if you’re a purist, you probably won’t like it! Still, it might surprise you…

Susan, I know how you feel about the Kudelka, hahaha

I’m sorry Tonya, but Cinderella bored me to tears. I’m all for new productions of ballets (which I prefer to “modernizing” classical ballets) but there was so little dancing that I found interesting here. I think this production is good for kids & family type entertainment – I’d love to see them take it on the road around Christmas or present it on a string of Sunday matinees, but for grown up dance fans – no thanks. I do agree that it was nice to see the men dancing in suits and, in fact I really liked the sets and costumes but I can only think of 10 -15 minutes of dancing that I enjoyed, or that drew me into the story.

I’ve been a lurker here for about a month now. I think I was sitting a few rows behind you at the Irina/Max (Veronika/Marcelo cancellation) Swan Lake but didn’t have the gumption to say hi to you in person! Maybe next time.

I admit, the reviews that I’ve read about Cinderella have kept me from seeing it. Even though I disagree with Macauley’s opinion on certain dancers and his style of writing irks me now and then, I am somewhat of the same school of thought as he is. I am also a “classicist” or “purist,” and the idea of Kudelka’s Cinderella makes my head spin. I’ve seen Othello and despise it. Just because the dancers are in point shoes doesn’t make it ballet.

I don’t see why ballet companies need works that are essentially modern to attract younger generations. Isn’t that basically the antithesis of what ballet is trying to accomplish? Younger audience members won’t be capable of recognizing what ballet is anymore. I’m not even sure they do now.

Sometimes I wish the classics would just be left alone. There’s nothing wrong with a stager of a classic to create a personal touch on the work, but to completely redo and update the classic to fit modern sensibilities is desecrating the integrity of the work. I lament that there doesn’t seem to be a single unadulterated version of Swan Lake currently being performed by a major company. For new ballets, I wish more choreographers would choose to explore the ballet vocabulary more often (without it being merely “classroom steps”) rather than ballet companies turning to modern choreographers for works.

I would love to see ABT perform Ashton’s Cinderella, which is my favorite version. Older works don’t have to be considered more boring or stodgy by younger audiences (I might be an anomaly in my taste, but I’m only 20 years old). Why can’t we be programmed to love and appreciate ballet as it is?

Young children going to ballet is another interesting issue. I saw a lot of parents with their very little kids, and I love the fact that people are introducing their little ones to ballet (because I think, maybe, subconsciously, that might be one thing that brought me back to ballet later in adulthood), but most of them seemed to get very restless during most of the ballets. From the matinees I attended, I thought Gillian’s Sleeping Beauty seemed to hold their attention spans the longest of all the ballets, but still there was still a lot of seat-kicking and “mommy, when can we go?’s” going on! I’m sure I did the same thing when I was younger (and totally embarrassed my mom!), and yet now, I’m so thankful for her “forcing” me to go back then

I’m not sure whether Cinderella really attracted the “younger” crowd though…if you mean, children, then yes… there were lots of children at Cinderella. But there were lots of children at Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake (I saw a mother run out because her child was crying during Julie Kent’s fouettes!).

It’s just difficult balancing what the balletomanes love about ballet (dance, choreography), with attracting new audiences who love flashy, glittery, “modern” stuff.

Perhaps we should ask Kevin MacKenzie for the use of dance belts for male dancers as part of the costume wardrobe for ABT? Talk about attracting a younger audience…

Also, Jennifer, I meant to say — I know Macaulay was critical of Julie too, and I know I can’t get upset when some critic rants on a dancer I like, but I was more upset that his general attitude seemed to be “out with the new in with the old.” Men in tights is classical, and while I like men in tights, I also like them in other things as well I just think ballet needs to attract young audiences and I was so happy that ABT took a chance and did something new out of the ordinary for them, so I was really upset that a critic — and a big one — was kind of aligning himself with an older school of thought and harping on them for it.

Actually, I’ve found that average people are just as likely to. I’ve come across at least one blog review of one of my performances that was *cruel*. Dismissing my dancing, and implying the only consolation for having to sit through my performance was my chest. And it wasn’t anonomous, the guy signed his name to it without a care.

But, of course, that was just a small, local non-artsy performance. But I’m sure there are people all over the place saying very harsh things about dance performances on their blogs, in emails to their friends, in person to their friends, etc. The only difference is they don’t have a newspaper to publish them. Even so, they have no qualms about making their opinions heard, even when those opinions are nasty and mean-spirited.

Ariel, they actually get hate mail?! Wow. Yeah, I can understand both sides. As someone who dreams of someday getting her novel published, I can only imagine getting slammed by reviewers! I know I’d be so sensitive. But I also know if I want that, if I want to be a public person like that, I’ll have to toughen up. (and Sascha Radetsky and Lar Lubovitch could be the first to review me — I’m still feeling bad about that Othello review; I now cannot say enough good things about Sascha … ) It’s an interesting debate though, what the purpose of criticism even is, like Benita says how much effect it actually has, and who actually reads the reviews (is it only people like us, fans, and the dancers and dance-makers, or do people who don’t really know that much about ballet but are interested in finding out more actually read those reviews and take them into consideration in deciding whether or not to go and try something?)

No matter how much critics claim to have nothing personal against the performers, whenever someone says something about a performers craft, its definitely going to hurt them. People who are insulted in such a public venue sometimes feel like they have to defend themselves, explain their reasons for a bad performance, reprove their abilities to their audiences. On that side, I DO see where they’re coming from. You work so hard forever and only to have one person dislike it and perhaps ruin your future performances. No one likes having that much of their future in the hands of someone they’ve never met.

On the flip side, having written reviews, I can see the other view. The average person would never want to say potentially mean things for all the world to see and sign their names to it like they do. It’s not all easy, and it’s not done with malicious intent (though most people think that it is). I feel sorry for some of the critics, only because there’s never one that everyone likes–I mean, everyone might like them in the beginning until they read a review that they don’t agree with, which is almost inevitable. As Anne Midgette says, hate mail is an “occupational hazard” and unavoidable.

On the critics side again (I know this is super long) performers, dancers, musicians, whatever, are not bullet proof and should not expect to be. Every performer should enter that field with the understanding that people are not going to like them, that they may fail, or have bad nights, etc.

Cinderalla was fun, with a modern…but I wondered, when you take away the glitter and the glitz, what is really left? I wasn’t so sure there was much substance behind the ballet. The choreography was not very smooth (imo), and the phrases seemed incomplete much of the time. The ballet dancers didn’t get much of a chance to dance that much, except for the prince…he seemed to get really great steps to dance in that ballet.

Marcelo, on the other hand, was a fabulous prince…what a hottie in his white suit! Perhaps we should all petition that tights be rid of (I don’t really like the tights anyways; and I’m not even a homophobic straight guy) and be replaced by debaonair suits?

Your points on women loving the male dancers is interesting to me. My mother is always saying that she prefers the male dancers to the point that she gets bored when the women are dancing! I love both the men and the women but I get a huge thrill out of knowing that ballet is an art form that reveres women, to me, it’s a lot like the fashion industry where the female models become the big names and make the most money. Of course, there is a nasty flip side when all of the expectations are placed on one sex, especially when it is placed on women and all of the ancillary body image problems that go with it. I think ballerinas are the absolute pinnacle of female beauty and even as a straight woman, I think they are most beautiful creatures on earth with male dancers right behind them of course.

Dance companies do have it hard when it comes to reviews. A movie or tv show is going to garner tons of reviews, so you are pretty much assured that someone will find something nice to say whereas dancing has the New York Times and not much else. I wonder if the reviews actually impact the box office or if ballet is critc proof, sort of like Michael Bay movies!