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30 yr anniversary, Balanchine, ballet, blonde, career, criticism, dance, danish, director, george balanchine, new york city ballet, new yorker, ny times, nyc ballet, ocean's kingdom, paul mccartney, Peter Martins, stella mccartney, successor
At 66 years old, Danish, former ballet dancer Peter Martins is the longest serving ballet director in the United States of America. He is also currently the longest standing director of ANY arts organization in the United States. On April 30th 2013, Martins will be celebrating 30 years of directing the New York City Ballet. On that day the ballet will also be remembering the life of its former director and co-founder George Balanchine.
It would be an understatement to say that Martins knew Balanchine. He adored him. Martins discussed how he met Balanchine in an New York Times interview with Roslyn Sulcas.
“George Balanchine. I was asked, at the last minute, to fill in for Jacques d’Amboise when City Ballet was dancing at the Edinburgh Festival in 1967. I met Balanchine on the street in Edinburgh, walking with Suzanne [Farrell, the ballerina]. I felt an instant affinity with him. I was smitten. More than the dancers or the repertory, it was him.”
Although surprisingly enough, even though the two men were well acquainted, when Balanchine died many of his fans had high expectations for Martins. The fans didn’t think that Martins could or has lived up to the legacy of Balanchine
Many publications have thoroughly criticized Martins career in light of Balanchine’s legacy.
For not bringing in former dancers to coach, and producing his own “dull” ballets Arlene Croce wrote in 1993 in the New Yorker, that when the City ballet was taken over by Martins a “catastrophically swift decline.”
The New York Times also criticized Martins’ career.
MR. MARTINS and his dancers have no feel for mystery, taste or formal etiquette; they have flattened Balanchine’s exquisite ballets into straight-talking, ”can do” common-sense dances. In their hands, eloquent, elevated works like ”Symphony in C” and ”Divertimento No. 15” become timid, tense and arid; the ferocious intensity and rhythmic wit of ”Stravinsky Violin Concerto” are lost to smooth, glassy ease. Gone are Balanchine’s daring, spirited performers who truly were aristocrats of art… The dances, like the dancers, look pretty enough; but we no longer know what they are about.
Another example is the LA Times review on Paul McCartney’s ballet ‘Ocean’s Kingdom‘, choreographed by Martins. The review highlights the elegant costumes of Paul McCartney’s daughter, Stella and that’s about it.
The review dismisses McCartney’s original musical creations as “screams”, and Martins choreography as boring.
Peter Martins’ dances are not just forgettable, they’re boring. There’s running around in circles and cheerleader-style symmetry that looks as if the choreographer were setting the piece on student dancers — not one of the finest companies in the world. Besides a brief acrobatic duet by Megan LeCrone and Craig Hall, there was nothing that showcased the artistry of the City Ballet principals or corps.
Yet despite all of this intense criticism, Martins is overly optimistic about his career.
I have an internal clock in this sense. I have unfinished business still. My plate is pretty full, and I have a lot of energy. But on the other hand, it will become apparent if it is time for me to go. I watch everything and everyone; I don’t miss a trick.
To read more on Martins’ 30 year career Click HERE.
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