Glen Tetley costumed for American Ballet Theatre's Lady from the Sea in 1960. Photograph by Jack Mitchell. 

donald williams, stephanie dabney, and joseph cipolla photographed performing in glen tetley’s voluntaries by linda rich

A story of cobwebs and fishnets.

Top: sets & costumes by Nadine Baylis for Glen Tetley’s Ziggurat (1967, Ballet Rambert, music by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Jeannetta Cochrane Theatre, London).

Middle: sets & costumes by Jürgen Rose for Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser (produced 1972, filmed 1978, Bayreuther Festspiele, directed by Götz Friedrich, choreography by John Neumeier, Bayreuth, Germany). Hard to find clear shots of this one, so these are screenshots from YouTube. Will update if I find better!

Bottom: costumes by Natasha Korniloff for David Bowie’s The 1980 Floor Show (1973, directed by Stan Harris, choreography by Matt Mattox, the Marquee Club, London). Flame jumpsuit by Kansai Yamamoto, white suit by Freddie Burretti.

Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring (La Scala Ballet)

[#DANCE] Reviving a Masterwork - Glen Tetley's Dialogues Open Studio Rehearsal, Q&A & Reception  Thursday, April 6 | 6:30PM Dance Theatre of Harlem | Everett Center for the Performing Arts | 466 152nd Street New York, NY  Admission: FREE 

Master choreographer Glen Tetley's dynamic and sensual exploration of opposites, Dialogues was created for Dance Theatre of Harlem to Alberto Ginastera's powerful Piano Concerto (Op. 28) in 1991. Virtuosic in scope, Dialogues is a terrific vehicle for a new generation of company dancers. We invite you to get a behind the scenes look at a NEW PRODUCTION of this exciting work that appears as part of our 2017 New York Season at City Center. 

Zenaida Yanowsky’s Final Curtain Call with Roberto Bolle © ROH 2017. Photo by Alastair Muir

After 23 years with The Royal Ballet, last night Zenaida Yanowsky gave her final curtain call on the Covent Garden stage.

Her final performance at the Royal Opera House was in Marguerite and Armand where she danced alongside Roberto Bolle. Her last performance with the Company, however, will be in Australia in July, performing Paulina in The Winter’s Tale at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre as part of The Royal Ballet’s summer visit to Brisbane.

Zenaida Yanowsky’s Final Curtain Call with Anthony Dowell © ROH 2017. Photo by Alastair Muir

Yanowsky joined The Royal Ballet in 1994 and was promoted to Principal in 2001, and has performed leading roles in the classical and contemporary repertory: Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Raymonda, Frederick Ashton’s A Month in the Country, Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon andMayerling, George Balanchine’s Agon and Apollo and Jerome Robbins’s In the Night. Christopher Wheeldon created The Queen of Hearts on Zenaida for his ballet Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as well as Paulina in The Winter’s Tale.

Zenaida Yanowsky’s Final Curtain Call with Carlos Acosta © ROH 2017. Photo by Alastair Muir

She has worked with a wealth of leading contemporary choreographers in new creations and existing works including Wayne McGregor, Liam Scarlett, Mark Baldwin, Kim Brandstrup, Christopher Bruce, Siobhan Davies, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Flemming Flindt, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Cathy Marston, Ashley Page, Alexei Ratmansky, Glen Tetley, Twyla Tharp and Will Tuckett. She also received a 2016 Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Female Performance in Elizabeth by Will Tuckett. Liam Scarlett created Symphonic Dances for her in May 2017.

Zenaida Yanowsky was born in Lyon in 1974 and raised in Spain. She comes from a family of dancers and trained with her parents, Anatol Yanowsky and Carmen Robles, at their dance school, Centro Choreographers, in Gran Canaria.  After winning a silver medal at Varna in 1991 she joined Paris Opera Ballet. Further awards include gold medals at the 1993 European Young Dancers Competition and the 1994 Jackson International Ballet Competition.

Zenaida Yanowsky’s Final Curtain Call. © ROH 2017. Photo by Alastair Muir

Zenaida Yanowsky’s Final Curtain Call. © ROH 2017. Photo by Alastair Muir

Zenaida Yanowsky’s Final Curtain Call. © ROH 2017. Photo by Alastair Muir

Yanowsky has danced in a number of short dance films including Duet and The Sandman for Channel 4, the BBC’s Riot at the Rite, Leda and the Swan choreographed by Kim Brandstrup for Deloitte Ignite 2014, and a short film directed by Will Tuckett for the Matisse Cut-Outs exhibition at Tate Modern.

Royal Ballet Director, Kevin O’Hare, comments,

Zenaida has been an incredible member of The Royal Ballet for over 20 years and has illuminated the Royal Opera House stage in numerous performances with her extraordinary artistry and vivid dramatic skills. I have greatly admired her across the amazing range of roles in the repertory she has performed with the Company, and I hope we will have the opportunity in the future to collaborate on new projects in the next stage of her career.

On behalf of all of us at the Company, I extend grateful thanks to Zenaida for her wonderful contribution to the artistic life of The Royal Ballet.

Zenaida Yanowsky’s Final Curtain Call. © ROH 2017. Photo by Alastair Muir

Zenaida Yanowsky’s final curtain call After 23 years with The Royal Ballet, last night Zenaida Yanowsky gave her final curtain call on the Covent Garden stage.

14, 29, and 7

 Which ballets have you seen live? 

Oh boy…! Let’s stick with the big titles and with live meaning actually sitting in the theatre, not in the cinema, pretending the live thing is live for real.

Swan Lake - too many versions, Nureyev and Bourne included as well as Ratmansky reconstruction at ScalaSleeping BeautyNutcrackerLa Sylphide - both Bournonville and Lacotte (POB)La Bayadere - Ratmansky reconstruction for Berlin Sttatsballett includedLa dame aux camélias (POB)Onegin (RB and POB included as well as our national company)Mayerling (RB)Romeo and Juliet - sadly no world famous version, but should you ask a week later, I could have said Matthew Bourne’sGiselle - yet again, should you ask a week later, I could have said Akram Khan’s included! Also seen this one by POB.Cinderella - Jean Christophe Maillot among others and his version is a utter perfectionCoppeliaRite of Spring - Wayne McGregor’s (a world premiere for ABT, just so you know how fancy I am) and Glen Tetley’s among othersTheme and Variations, Serenade, Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, Prodigal Son, Chaconne and Stravinsky Violin Concerto by Balanchine (the last three by Boston Ballet)In the middle somewhat elevatedBeethoven’s 7th symphony by Uwe Scholz - and I LOVE this choreography to death!La Fille Mal Gardée - Ashton’s versionSimfonietta, Symphony of Psalms, Glagolitic Mass, 6 dances, Petit mort, Bella Figura, Ingido Rose and Last Touch by KyliánFancy Free by Jerome RobbinsSeasons’ canon by Crystal Pite - which is one of the best things I’ve EVER seen on stage

Then bunch of ballets performed by our national company like Little Mermaid or The sorcerer’s apprentice (which is coming back this season and I could be happier!) and other contemporary pieces which names wouldn’t tell you anything as well as different choreographies by Wheeldon, Ivan Perez, Rusell Maliphant, Anna Theresa de Keersmaeker, Hofesh Shechter, Alexander Ekman (who I adore!), Ohad Naharin, McGregor etc.

If you could promote any one dancer to principal, who would it be? 

Huh… I don’t really feel a massive need for somebody’s promotion right now, but I guess I can give it a go, so…Heloïse Bourdon, Marion Barbeau and Bianca Scudamore from POB (though with Bianca I would probably wait for a bit, since she’s so young, but I have no doubts about her being an étoile in the future - if she’s healthy and such). I have high hopes for Alice Catonnet and Naïs Duboscq as well, but there’s still time for them.Melissa Hamilton from RB, because I still don’t get why she’s not a principal yet.And that would be it, I guess, since POB and RB are the only international companies I follow closely, so I can actually have an opinion on their dancers.

What is your favorite Balanchine ballet? 

Ha! Bold of you thinking I actually have a favourite Balanchine ballet. This is such an american question anyway. I know Balanchine is a big name, but I think he’s much more important in and for american dance world, than he is in Europe and so is his repertoir and the general knowledge of all the pieces. So I am no expert, but…

Emeralds - because this needs to be mentioned, since everybody plainly ignores them and/or prefers the other two of Jewels, which is simply not fair. And I genuinely love Emeralds - when danced by POB, that is. I’ve seen them by RB and I understood immediately why people don’t like them, it actually scared me!Palais de cristal (or it’s Symphony is C in the US I guess)

I much prefere his symphonic pieces, since his Midsummer night’s dream is a nightmare and I seriously wanted to commit a suicide (or just murder anyone in the range of 20 metres) during his Prodigal Son. But I would love to see 4 temperaments and Goldberg variations.

These were actually great questions, so thank you for choosing them!

Carmen de Lavallade, a Dance Legend, to Skip a White House Reception

It is not just business executives who are moving away from President Trump after his remarks about neo-Nazis, white supremacists and protesters. The dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, who will be honored by the Kennedy Center in December, announced on Thursday that she will forgo the related reception at the White House.

“In light of the socially divisive and morally caustic narrative that our current leadership is choosing to engage in, and in keeping with the principles that I and so many others have fought for, I will be declining the invitation to attend the reception at the White House,” Ms. de Lavallade, 86, said in a statement... 

Ms. de Lavallade took Alvin Ailey to his first dance class, and later appeared in ballets that he created for her, as well as others choreographed for her by Lester Horton, Glen Tetley, John Butler and Agnes de Mille. In her statement, she said that she was grateful to be recognized by the Kennedy Center, and that she still planned to attend the award ceremony there on Dec. 3.

Her decision not to attend the White House reception — which is unusual — follows that of another of this year’s honorees, Norman Lear, the television producer known for his political activism, who has announced that he will forgo the reception. Representatives of Mr. Lear said Thursday that he still plans to skip the reception and accept the award.

dance theatre of harlem promotion photo for production of glen tetley’s dialogues, 1991. 

photo by martha swope.

Glen Tetley in Pierrot's Tower

yvonne hall and augustus van heerden photographed performing in glen tetley’s voluntaries by linda rich

New York Season is coming up! Starting April 19-22 ---- Programs: 4/19Wed - 7:00pm OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION & VISION GALA •Equilibrium (BROTHERHOOD) Darrell Grand Moultrie •Pièce d’occasion DTH Students and Company •Chaconne José Limón DTH with dancers from the Limón Dance Company •Return Robert Garland ------- 4/21Fri - 8:00pm •Brahms Variations (NY Premiere) Robert Garland •Chaconne (DTH Premiere) José Limón •System (NY Premiere) Francesca Harper •Vessels Darrell Grand Moultrie •Talkback with the choreographersimmediately following the performance ----- 4/22Sat - 2:00pm •Brahms Variations Robert Garland •Change Dianne McIntyre •Return Robert Garland •“Meet the Ballerina” event immediately following the performance ------ 4/22Sat - 8:00pm •Vessels Darrell Grand Moultrie •Glen Tetley Tribute Special Guest Artists •Dialogues (New Production) Glen Tetley •Return Robert Garland #DanceTheatreofHarlem (at New York, New York)

David McAllister in Glen Tetley’s Gemini (The Australian Ballet, 1991)

Bethany Kingsley-Garner, Owen Thorne, and Luke Ahmet in Glen Tetley’s Pierrot Lunaire for Scottish Ballet’s Dance Odysseys, August 2013. © Andrew Ross.

Lithe and sinuous, Ahmet was carelessly confident in his negotiation of Pierrot’s home in the clouds and, when earthbound, scampered anxiously about like a balletic Frank Spencer. Thorne was a fine Brighella, a playground bully strutting around with wide sweeping gestures and nifty footwork. Kingsley-Garner was a demanding, conniving Columbine, conveying much by the toss of her head and angle of her nose in the air.

Brunilda Ruiz, Original Joffrey and Harkness Dancer, Dies at 83

Brunilda Ruiz, an American ballerina of depth and passion who from the 1950s to the ’70s excelled in a broad range of 20th-century choreography as a founding member of both the Robert Joffrey Ballet and the Harkness Ballet, died on Aug. 13 at her home in Waldwick, N.J. She was 83.

The cause was cancer, her daughter Alicia Sutherland said.

Gifted with a highly dramatic presence, Ms. Ruiz also showed off the perfect classical form that Joffrey, one of America’s best ballet instructors, had instilled as her teacher and, later, as company director.

Her favorite role was in Joffrey’s homage to Romantic ballet, “Pas des Déesses,” which she danced with her husband, Paul Sutherland, who was also a member of the Harkness and Joffrey companies as well as American Ballet Theater. She also danced in the ballets of George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, Jerome Robbins and Gerald Arpino, among others.

Ms. Ruiz, who was born in Puerto Rico, was an important role model for future Hispanic ballet dancers, said Sasha Anawalt, the author of “Robert Joffrey” (1996). “She was in many regards a pioneer consciously or unconsciously — the epitome of grace and moral stamina,” Ms. Anawalt said in an email.

Like other Latin American dancers in American ballet, including Francisco Moncion, Alicia Alonso and Nicholas Magallanes, who had all been prominent since the 1940s at New York City Ballet or Ballet Theater, Ms. Ruiz was not viewed strictly as a “Latin” dancer. But on the Joffrey’s first tour in the South, in 1956, Ms. Ruiz discovered that restaurants would refuse to serve her — the group’s only Hispanic dancer — unless she was joined by other dancers.

Brunilda Ruiz was born on June 1, 1936, in Rincón, Puerto Rico, to Maria Francisca Perez De Rivera, a homemaker, and Eusebio Ruiz De Sanchez, a restaurant worker. Two of their nine children had died, making Brunie, as she was called, the youngest. Her father traveled back and forth to work on the mainland and from 1934 to 1936 moved his children over, a few at a time.

Brunie was six months old when she arrived. She grew up in Spanish Harlem and attended the High School of Performing Arts, where Joffrey, a promising young choreographer, taught her ballet.

He chose Ms. Ruiz and five other dancers — Arpino, Glen Tetley, John Wilson, Beatrice Tompkins and Dianne Consoer (Ms. Ruiz was the youngest) — to create his first ballet troupe. They set out in October 1956 on a national tour in a station wagon and a U-Haul truck. Robert Joffrey remained in Manhattan to teach and help with the tour’s finances.

This and the tours that followed were sometimes grueling: a series of one-night appearances that could be delayed by sudden obstacles like snowstorms. But audiences often waited for hours for the company to show up, and the tours introduced ballet to audiences around the country.

Ms. Ruiz married Mr. Wilson in the 1950s and gave birth in 1957 to their daughter, Mhari T. Wilson, who traveled with the troupe as her mother continued to dance. The couple divorced in 1967, and Ms. Ruiz married Mr. Sutherland the next year.

In addition to her husband and two daughters, Ms. Ruiz is survived by a brother, René; two sisters, Margo Ruiz and Aura Celia Gonzalez; four grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

A major change in Ms. Ruiz’s career took place in 1964 when Rebekah Harkness, the Joffrey Ballet’s chief financial backer, tried to assert artistic control. Robert Joffrey left to form a new Joffrey Ballet in 1965, and Mrs. Harkness formed the Harkness Ballet. Most of the dancers, including Ms. Ruiz, remained under contract to Mrs. Harkness.

Her decision to remain with the new Harkness Ballet displeased Joffrey, but he took her back briefly to his company in 1968. Writing in The New York Times, Clive Barnes welcomed her presence, taking note of her dazzling classical style in Balanchine’s “Raymonda Pas de Dix.”

“Simply because Miss Ruiz is such an exceptionally strong dramatic dancer, it seemed almost surprising to find her amid the coruscating brilliance of this Balanchine gloss upon Petipa and Glazunov,” he wrote, “and yet she danced it exquisitely.”

Ms. Ruiz retired from performing in 1971 but remained active for many years as a mentor, ballet mistress, choreographer and teacher.

As early as 1961, Claudia Cassidy, the dance critic of The Chicago Tribune and a fierce Balanchine partisan, had singled out Ms. Ruiz as an outstanding dancer with, she wrote, a special quality: “She dances right in the heart of the music.”

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Thursday, December 6, 2018

Go to Geffen Hall and get a senior ticket for tonight's N Y Phil performance.

Later:  For me the highlight of the concert is the opening piece.  Bach, orchestrated by Anton Webern.   I recall a ballet in which the choreographer, Glen Tetley, used just about every note of Webern.  (There isn't a lot to draw on. The composer was murdered when still quite young.  Long story here. A tragedy. It takes longer to read his biography than to hear all of his music.)

The first half of the show: songs of Shubert and R. Strauss.  This, for me, much helped by super-titles.  Without a translation I wouldn't know if the songs were about love or death. 

Speaking of songs...The "Me Too" people...and others...are really down on "Baby, It's Cold Outside"..."He" coaxes "Her" to stay...despite her (rather mild, I thought) protests.  Urges her to drink something (who knows, might be slipping her a roofie)...Etc.  So, that song is out.  Even the comic ad-libby version with Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. 

Friday, December 7, 2018

Remember Pearl Harbor, the old song goes...

Evening: On Tom Reney's jazz show, WFCR...Bennie Wallace.  I owe Bennie a phone call.  (There is a book in his Hollywood experience.)

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Play duets with Dale in the afternoon.

Evening. Party. Inwood.  Its hills (and those long steps!) bring to mind San Francisco.  Festive get together.  I end up playing a few notes on a djembe. 

Note: Our president continues to embarrass us.  More people close to him face jail sentences.  The more he is in denial.  Sometimes it is good to go to the Fox channel and see what the opposition is thinking.  I do so...they are crowing about witch hunts and hoaxes.  Trump says his numbers are up, after saying polls are inaccurate and phony.  He managed to show up at the G H W Bust funeral and didn't disgrace himself too badly but all the while seemed like the long tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.