Saturday, January 26, 2008

This afternoon's hunt

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Gary's pics

Here are some backstage pictures taken by Gary, another supernumerary.

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Four down, three to go

party1We're past the halfway point in performances now. That's good, though tomorrow will be a particularly grueling day, as we dance both matinee and evening performances.

Tonight's Prince Solor was very popular with the audience and got not only applause and cheers, but what I'll call teenaged girl shrieks. I think someone told me he's only 22, but he's already got quite a flare for the dramatic.

There was a little gathering of supernumaries after tonight's performance at 600 Restaurant, which is across the street from the Kennedy Center. Not that many people went, but it was fun nonetheless.

I drank some Domaine Chandon champagne, but most of the other people were having cranberry drinks of various kinds and sorts. I thought cranberry was passé these days.

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Thursday, January 24, 2008

More pics

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What do you think? Should I shave my head?

Here are a few pictures from the dressing room at tonight's performance.

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Another review

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The Washington Times ran a review of La Bayadère in this evening's paper. They called the production "stunning" and it's much better written than the one in the Post. You can read it here.

The photo above (by an uncredited Times photographer) is from the famous scene in act 3 when three dozen ballerinas come down the mountain in an endless stream of arabesques and amazing technique.

Review's up

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The Washington Post's review of the ballet is up. You can read it here. The Post requires registration, but it's free. There are a couple of nice photos there (above and below, here, plus, I think there was another one).

Above is Grigory Popov as the Golden Idol in act 2. This picture was taken during the dress rehearsal, so you can't see the gold body paint he wears during the performances. Below are Uliana Lopatkina as Nikiya (the bayadère) and Ivan Kozlov as Prince Solor in act 3 (in acts 1 and 2, she's in a gauzy, burgundy temple dancer costume). They danced the dress rehearsal and then they danced last night's performance (the three principal dancers change every performance).

Speaking of which, last night went well. Another full house. I'm feeling very weary this morning, though. Five more performances to go.

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Opening night

A full house at the Kennedy Center continuously interrupted tonight's opening of the Kirov Ballet's production of La Bayadère with not just applause, but outright cheers. Headlining tonight's cast was international star Diana Vishneva as the temple dancer in the title role, with Kirov principals Andrian Fadeyev as Prince Solor and Viktoria Tereshkina as Princess Gamzatti.

Meanwhile, I've had a long, long, hot shower; I've taken half a bottle of Motrin, my feet are iced and elevated, and as soon as I wind down enough, I'll be off to bed.

I'll be anxious to see if there's a review in tomorrow's Washington Post. The Post had photographers at this afternoon's dress rehearsal, so maybe there'll be something.

backstage05There is no better seat in the house for a ballet than to be on stage with the dancers. Even with front row orchestra seats and a pair of opera glasses, there's no way to see and appreciate the subtle details that go into performance. I could see the intense concentration on the face of a ballerina behind the smile and the glistening glow of her bliss and determination to be dancing. I saw the subtle quivering of the fabric of the trousers of a danseur as he struggled to stand perfectly still in a ballet pose, all the while holding a woman up in the air over his head. I noted the little droplets of sweat that collected at the ends of little tufts of a dancer's neck hair. I observed the critical eye with which the dancers watched and mentally critiqued their colleagues' performances and the occasional slight raising of an eyebrow.

Here are a couple of pictures of my costumes this year. The first picture is with my dresser while I wear my first act Brahmin outfit; the second is with a fellow super in our second act costumes—we look a little tired, cause we'd just come off the stage after a long and grueling period of standing still. While I don't know about him, I know that my feet had gone numb in my too-tight ballet slippers!

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

In the interim

I'm home briefly between the dress rehearsal and the opening night performance (7:30 curtain tonight!) for the Kirov Ballet's production of La Bayadère—The Temple Dancer—at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The Kirov Ballet, from the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, is one of the world's very top and most outstanding ballet companies. They are a national treasure of Russia and certainly an icon in the international cultural world. They make an annual tour to Washington, D.C., to perform at the Kennedy Center, and it's always a wonderful experience for the audiences. This year is going to be another splendid time for everyone.

For the third year in a row, I'm serving as a supernumerary—an extra, if you will—to supplement the cast. This year I have lots of choreography to remember. In act one, I'm one of the Brahmin priests. There are four of us locals helping six of the professional Russian dancers (three of whom are taller than me!) in an elaborate temple dance routine, and it's a bit nerve racking, since we open tonight and we have had only two rehearsals! In act two, I do more traditional "super" duties, carrying the ornate and very heavy litter chair for the majarajah, then I become an on-stage spectator, standing on the sidelines for most of the act. Of course, standing perfectly still, feet in first position, all that time is not nearly as easy as it sounds, and the muscles in the arches of my feet were cramping before we could move!

I have to say that being on stage during this show is like living through a real life Russian twink porn video!

In act one, about 20 young guys in the corps de ballet are running around, wearing nothing more than what appear to be shredded boxer shorts! The sweat glistens on their lithe, young bodies, and they are so full of excitement and youthful enthusiasm, they remind me of an adult Lord of the Flies. In act two, half of those same guys are in nothing but tight red pants to do a wild, frenzied, athletic dance filled with masculine braggadoccio. The way the stage lights catch their muscles and their glistening hair is nothing short of pure beauty. Then we get to meet the guy who dances the role of the Golden Idol, and he, too, is nearly naked, wearing basically gold body paint, some jewels, and a hat, all the better to show off his splendid musculature and his excellent and dynamic dancing.

I'm not in the third act, so I got a pass and went out into the house to watch it. Act three is the famous "Kingdom of the Shades" scene, where the prince, despondent that his bayadère love has died at the end of act two, smokes opium to escape his pain, and he has this beautiful dream about his beloved temple girl. After all of the action of the first two acts, the dream sequence is slow, stately, and romantic. While the action looks simple when all 32 female members of the corps de ballet individually make their entrance to come down the mountain, the women are placed through incredible physical demands to get the unified precision required and, most especially for those entering first, to continue that repeated perfect performance over and over and over again. Then, of course, the prince and the bayadère have their solo and duet moments of virtuosity. And they lived happily ever after, at least so long as the opium lasts.

The four weekend performances are all already sold-out. There are still tickets available for tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday's performances.

For a bit of background about the ballet, there's a nice story in the Washington Post.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Friday, January 18, 2008

Anticipating aching feet

Remember back in early November when I said I desperately had to lose a large amount of weight if I expected to be able to dance with the Kirov Ballet when they come to town later this month? Well, I haven't lost any. In fact, I've gained two-tenths of a pound. :-(

Today I got an email: "You are invited to attend the audition for the Kirov Ballet’s performance of La Bayadère on Monday 21st January in the Kennedy Center."

Well, I guess I'll show up as requested at 9 a.m. and see what happens. If I get it, I'm going to need a list of volunteers to provide foot and leg massages Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.

Anyone wanna sign up?

Monday, January 14, 2008

Post-Golden Globe musings

It's time for the writers to get back to work.

Tonight the Writers Guild of America strike took its toll on the annual Golden Globes awards presentation. All kinds of hard working hourly staff and small mom-and-pop businesses like florists and caterers lost millions of dollars because with the strike, there were no stars, and with no stars, there were no parties or even a real award show this year. All this after other colleagues in collateral areas of Hollywood such as actors, makeup artists, carpenters, electricians, and other crew, have suffered through the holidays with no or extremely limited income.

It's hard to be sympathetic to wealthy strikers in safe—if not luxurious—workplaces like the writers. Yeah, they claim they've got a low average income, but the writers' guild, much like the actors' guild, is a combination of what I'll call full-time workers (the minority) and a bunch of people who were required to join the union but who may write only on a very, very part-time basis if at all (the majority), so if you take out the part-timers, you'll see a bunch of rich writers who are striking for a bigger cut of those elusive internet profits. It's all about greed.

So, writers, you've had your fun, but you're hurting too many of your colleagues and your industry's support service businesses, so stop this nonsense and get back to work.

Meanwhile, the strike has revealed some interesting things.

1) I actually liked the abbreviated "news conference" format of the Golden Globes award announcements tonight much better than the long, drawn-out, self-aggrandizing, normal show. It wasn't as boring.

2) What, exactly, do David Letterman's writers do? Now, I usually watch Letterman in preference to Leno, but this month, when I look at the two shows, Leno is doing just as good if not better than Letterman. Maybe Letterman needs to trim that big writers staff if they can't churn out any better work than what they're doing now. Leno's fine without writers. Conan sucks, but he does that with or without writers. Ellen (which Ryan tapes every day when he's at work) never went off the air during the strike, and I think her show has been great, if not actually stronger, without writers.

3) Several people I know in the D.C. area who belong to WGA and SAG have told me they don't agree with their unions and wouldn't belong if their dues weren't automatically taken out of their checks. They all say they wish California and New York had Right to Work laws so they didn't have to belong to the union.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Geriatric rockers

Does anyone else cringe when they see geriatric rock and rollers singing and performing with their bands?

I'm sorry, but I just can't deal with the concept. Right now, Ringo Starr is playing "live" from Liverpool, England, on the CBS Morning Show, and it's just creepy. To make matter's worse, there's a live English audience, which means everyone is politely sitting in chairs in the auditorium.

Starr is 67-years-old and looks it. His surviving Beatle compatriot, Sir Paul, is 65.

Eek! Right now, the audience, still seated, has taken to waiving their arms in the air. Reminds me of exercise day at the nursing home.