#NYC Ballet

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michaela mabinty deprince (1995-2024)

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today, september 13th, 2024, the ballet world lost an extraordinary dancer and woman.

michaela mabinty deprince was born on january 6th, 1995, as mabinty bangura, in sierra-leone. she was orphaned, her parents passing to due to both direct and indirect causes of the civil war in her home country. she was demonized by her caretakers for her vitiligo, being called a “devil’s child”, and suffering from other forms of neglect and abuse. in 1999, deprince was adopted by an american couple along with another girl, and they were taken to new jersey, united states of america.

her hopes of becoming a ballerina had been planted when she found a ballerina on a magazine cover in her home country. she didn’t know of ballet at the time, but treasured the picture and dreamed of dancing. this dream blossomed into truth when she moved to the states, being put into ballet lessons soon after her arrival. deprince was a four-time participant in youth america grand prix, one of the largest ballet competitions in the united states. she was awarded a scholarship to study at the jaqueline kennedy onassis school of ballet, the associate school of american ballet theatre.

despite facing racial discrimination and other hardships in and out of the industry, deprince persisted in her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. in 2012, at the age of 16, she became the youngest member of dance theatre of harlem, and the next year, she joined the junior company of the dutch national ballet. she soon rose through the ranks, joining the main company and attaining the rank of soloist. she was the first dancer of african origin to ever join the company, and a shining advocate and role model for black women in ballet.

her other accomplishments include being an ambassador for war child holland, a dutch organization working to improve the wellbeing and resilience of children directly affected by war. she visited uganda and lebanon through the organization. she also appeared in beyoncé’s 2016 music video for ‘freedom’.

she will dance among all the stars in the sky. rest in peace beautiful michaela mabinty, you are already so missed. ♡

[sullennymphet]

[dance-world]

Joseph Gordon - New York City Ballet - photo by Peter Lueders

[k-wame]

NAAUUURRR HE'S GORGEOUS

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nyc nutcracker costumes 2006

[enthraud]

Photos by Elizaveta Porodina for the New York City Ballet

[thisisjohannasstuff]

New York City Ballet Presents George Balanchine's JEWELS

[imyournewcrush]

Opening night at the New York City ballet 🩰

[enyoalkis]

Me and Slowpoke went to a New York City Ballet show last night 🩰

I used to take ballet classes briefly in my childhood and then again for 1.5 year after graduating university. I no longer do classes due to time, personal, and financial reasons, but I still love watching ballet shows!

I wore this Lolita coord to the show! Slowpoke also liked the view of the Lincoln Center.

[staticsnowfall]

balanchine’s “jewels”

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“the ballet had nothing to do with jewels. the dancers are just dressed like jewels.” — george balanchine

considered the first full length abstract ballet, jewels consists of three acts: emeralds, rubies, and diamonds.

each jewel has a different choreographic technique, costuming style, and composer assigned. all costumes are designed by the renowned designer, barbara karinska.

first, is emeralds, in the elegant and romantic french style, wearing long green tutus and intricate bodices, with composition by gabriel fauré. the middle act is rubies, in the flamboyant and acrobatic neoclassical style, dancers clad in vibrant red ensembles inspired by the american jazz movement, with composition by igor stravinsky. finally, comes diamonds, in the classic and precise russian technique, donning majestic and pristine white tutus, with composition by pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky.

jewels was inspired by the collection of new york city jeweler claude arpels, which balanchine had admired. pearls, black diamonds, and sapphires were also considered for additional or replacement acts, but ultimately balanchine settled on the renowned triptych of acts known today — because in his opinion, those gems were too difficult to stage.

jewels premiered on thursday, april 13th, 1967, at the then new york state theatre on the upper west side of manhattan. the roles were ultimately choreographed for the abilities of the original starring cast — emeralds featured mimi paul and violette verdy, rubies with patricia mcbride, patricia neary, and edward villella, and diamonds closed with a pas de deux between suzanne farrell and jaques d’amboise.

the choreography, costuming, and music come together to create a ballet akin to a concerto or set of modern paintings. with no set plot, the idea of different jewels only serves to connect the three acts of drastically different styles of dance, costuming, and music. the meaning can be interpreted to be anything the viewer desires. ultimately, it is a display of great achievement by the artists of the new york city ballet, and a pinnacle of balanchine’s intricate choreographic standard.

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choreo. by george balanchine, costumes by barbara karinska, photography by martha swope; 1967

[tikitania]

Nutcracker Season!

Nutcracker season can elicit an array of feelings. Some love it, some hate it. I was falling into the indifferent category. I don't live in a major city, so the month long onslaught of ballet school-civic rep level productions has me a bit bummed out…and ready to tune it all out. AND THEN…I stumbled upon this very interesting panel discussion lead by ballet critic, Alastair McCauley, comparing the original Lev Ivanov Sugarplum PDD to the Balanchine version, getting into the nitty gritty of the score and the choreographic language that can be found in both versions, pointing out the various ways in which Balanchine quoted Ivanov. This is so interesting and only available online until Dec. 17, so hurry and watch it while you can. Who knew about the original version of the Sugar Plum sliding across the stage on point on a hidden stage tracking device?! If you do anything, watch this first video with the panel talk and demonstrations. The videos I included after that are just if you want to get obsessive like I did to dig deeper. Panelists: Suki Schorer, Wendy Whelan, Sara Mearns, Jonathan Stafford. (Watching Suki coach is worth watching!) NYCB Dancers: Chun Wai Chan, Ashley Hod (Balanchine version) & Anthony Huxley, Emma Von Enck (Ivanov Version)

MacCauley mentions the Fonteyn version a few times during this talk, so I found it for you. The tempo is certainly much faster, and it really makes you appreciate Fonteyn's speed! But I actually prefer the slower tempo, which allows the music to really soar. But I also wondered if it was the audio quality of this historic recording is simply too compressed and tinny to do it justice.

The Mariinsky dances the Vasily Vaionen version of the Nutcracker, and I wanted to see how it compared to the Ivanov version. I really love the Mariinsky version. It's a departure from Ivanov, but still very classical and regal. PPD below with Baby Shakirova.

BONUS: If you want to watch the full Mariinsky Nutcracker, here's a 1994 recording with Larissa Lezhnina and Victor Baranov. And for some real fun going down the rabbit hole, this is an amazing Soviet black and white recording of the PDD with the late Svetlana Efremova (SHE IS AMAZING!) and Sergei Vikulov. Notice that the extra four cavaliers are not in this one, so the choreography is adjusted. I have a thing for soviet era black-and-white ballet films. Not to be overlooked, the Grigorivich version at the Bolshoi is worth mentioning. There are a few things that stood out to me. Its religiosity, for one. The PDD essentially starts with Masha and her prince praying together as if at a mass. And then, towards the end, are the huge lifts that end with an upside down ballerina (not my favorite pose…)

Interestingly, ABT's version by Ratmansky also incorporates the same big lift, but transitions into a spin. You can see it here, and it's a much smoother transition. Ignore the weird speed manipulation in this video. It can give you motion sickness.

AND….I found this POB version. The Nureyev choreography is horrible and Tsikaridze knows it. He can barely hold back his own laughter as how bad this performance is. When I watched this, my first thought is that Nureyev must have been a misogynist because the Sugar Plum/Clara choreography is so god awful that it seems like he's trying to humiliate ballerinas. Poor Myriam Ould-Braham, she does her best to dignify the choreography with her impeccable technique, but there is no saving this. Another thing that bothers me is that the couple are hardly dancing together, it's like a bad ballet class where they dance side to side. I hope this version soon disappears forever. Watch at your own risk. It made my blood boil.

Okay, that's it for a while. I may go see the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker if I have time. But I will mostly be focused on taking time off with the family, puttering in the garden, and catching up on my ever-expanding to-do list. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

[elaine-of-shalott-blog]

Principal dancers Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley in George Balanchine's Duo Concertant, music by Igor Stravinsky.

New York City Ballet, Fall 2024

[dance-world]

Jovani Furlan Junior - New York City Ballet - photo by Alinne Volpato

[theghostwrites]

oh to be in the 1966 NYC Ballet production of movie version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

(Photographer: Martha Swope)

[enthraud]

Elizaveta Porodina for the NYCB

[thisisjohannasstuff]

Ballet Unbound