Paul Collaborates On World Premiere NYC Ballet
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Here's another review of Ocean's Kingdom from the NJ Star Ledger. A pattern is emerging: The music gets praise as "a tuneful score" but poor Peter Martins' choreography gets blasted once again.
Then there is the, ahem, choreography. Martins meets McCartney only a tiny fraction of the way.
And citing the financial pressures facing the ballet industry, the reviewer added:
Still, some fresh, new ballet music has come into the world, along with a pile of publicity. Maybe a better choreographer will take the hook. ... Inviting McCartney into the house was an excellent idea. Perhaps what the ballet world needs most today is an unpretentious musical craftsman who can supply charming melodies and danceable rhythms for fairy tale scenarios that obliquely address modern concerns, like the threat to the world?s oceans, or at least engage real, human emotions. Peter Martins, however, is not the Petipa to choreograph for such a latter-day Minkus as McCartney.
So, not quite the success Paul hoped for, I'm sure, but still, it's good that his score is getting some praise. And maybe some other choregrapher will one day offer a new and fresher interpretation. Here's the link: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/09/new_york_city_ballet.html
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To be fair, Peter Marins' choreography was not exactly boring. Sure, the choreography the 'bad guys' wer given was a bit more exciting, but I think that the overall dancing matched the music quite nicely. I'll mention again that I think this ballet was much more suited to a ballet beginner or middle-level viewer versus someone who lives/sleeps/eats ballet for a living, but that doesn't diminish the beauty of it.
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walliebaby:
Thanks, Triplets. I pulled over at a truck stop after the first (of seven!) hours of driving back home yesterday night so I could watch them and make sure they came out okay, I'm sorry I missed you and the triplets there! Someday, I need to meet you all! Glad you all had as fantastic a time as I did, and I wholeheartedly agree that this ballet is a MUST SEE for all fans of Paul, and of good music.
I'm surprised you made it through the first hour prior to checking out the videos. Sorry we missed you as well! Hopefully we will have an opportunity to meet someday. Really nice to see that you are as pleased with the performance as we are. Thanks again for sharing your videos, very kind of you!
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I found music director Fayçal Karoui?s analysis before the ballet to be very odd. I felt like I was in a classroom. I didn't want to hear any of the music before the performance. I enjoyed it, the music gorgeous and interesting and can't wait to get the CD...and the theatre itself was a marvel too. My one criticism is that I thought King Ocean's costume was so uninspiring, it reminded me of a costume out of a Christmas Panto.
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Hi Triplets--someday, we SHALL meet! lol I need to shake your children's hands after watching them onstage with Paul. ) Gnome--I'm sorry you found the costumes so uninspiring. Like I said before, I really adored the terra punks' costumes, but I also liked the three drunken terra persons' suits quite good.
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walliebaby, please read my post again. i said king ocean's costume was uninspiring, not all the costumes. i thought the ocean world's female costumes to be reminescent of tropical fishes with their stripes, and long trains in the back like fishtails. The terran punks were awesome, with their markings reminescent of New Zealand/Maori tribe/Oceanic tattoos and their mohawks, and some of the terran jerkins looked leafy. The drunken Lords costumes reminded me of English dance hall era comics (some people thought they looked like zoot suits). I wonder what inspired Stella on the colorful dance scene, Cirque du Soliel, Dr. Seuss? Some thought Carnaby street sixties, but I didn't see that. And Scala's was more femme fatal than the heroine Honorata. I just thought King Oceans costume wasn't regal looking.
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I see that you had a critique of King Ocean's costume, which is fair, but I didn't see your praise of the rest of the costumes in your original p0st. I was posting about the rest of the costumes, not particularly in reaction to your original post, but just to make a statement.
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I see I didn't completely finish my thought of Honorata's costume; hers was was more Grecian Goddess while Scala's was femme fatale...Scala's reminded me of the wicked queen in Sleeping Beauty. As I said, I thought King Ocean's costume too plain, not regal looking, and people up in the high seats might not have even recognized him as the King of the ocean world; I just thought HIS costume looked very English panto, not the other costumes.
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Wow, this reviewer certainly has a bone to pick with Peter Martins, the choreographer! At least he recognized that Paul's score was good. When your title is "BEATLE BALLET FLOPS," you are certainly going for attention http//www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/09/new_york_city_ballet.html The reviews that I've read have been positive about Paul's involvement with the ballet, the music portion more than the storyline. However, Peter is being raked over the coals in most of them.
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walliebaby:
Wow, this reviewer certainly has a bone to pick with Peter Martins, the choreographer! At least he recognized that Paul's score was good. When your title is "BEATLE BALLET FLOPS," you are certainly going for attention: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/09/new_york_city_ballet.html The reviews that I've read have been positive about Paul's involvement with the ballet, the music portion more than the storyline. However, Peter is being raked over the coals in most of them.
Reviews I have read have complained more about the choreography and Stella's costumes tha McCartney's music
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some of Stella's sketches; maybe a little mad max, blade runner influence in the terran punks too. http://www.refinery29.com/static/bin/entry/ce0/350x500b/69616/1.jpg http://www.refinery29.com/static/bin/entry/d69/350x500b/69618/4.jpg http://www.refinery29.com/static/bin/entry/eed/350x500b/69617/2.jpg http://www.refinery29.com/static/bin/entry/e5a/350x500b/69620/3.jpg
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NY Times review; I didn't see this posted yet, so I apologize if it is a repeat. Some nice photos, can see some of the costumes in the photos. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/arts/dance/paul-mccartneys-oceans-kingdom-review.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1
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I've found a review of the Ocean's kingdom disc: http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/New-orchestral-music-features-North-South-2187802.php -
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yankeefan7:
walliebaby:
Wow, this reviewer certainly has a bone to pick with Peter Martins, the choreographer! At least he recognized that Paul's score was good. When your title is "BEATLE BALLET FLOPS," you are certainly going for attention: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/09/new_york_city_ballet.html The reviews that I've read have been positive about Paul's involvement with the ballet, the music portion more than the storyline. However, Peter is being raked over the coals in most of them.
Reviews I have read have complained more about the choreography and Stella's costumes tha McCartney's music
Unfortunately, any criticism of the production is being taken as a criticism of Paul - even when the reviewer says that he/she liked the music.
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femaleanimal:
yankeefan7:
walliebaby:
Wow, this reviewer certainly has a bone to pick with Peter Martins, the choreographer! At least he recognized that Paul's score was good. When your title is "BEATLE BALLET FLOPS," you are certainly going for attention: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/09/new_york_city_ballet.html The reviews that I've read have been positive about Paul's involvement with the ballet, the music portion more than the storyline. However, Peter is being raked over the coals in most of them.
Reviews I have read have complained more about the choreography and Stella's costumes tha McCartney's music
Unfortunately, any criticism of the production is being taken as a criticism of Paul - even when the reviewer says that he/she liked the music.
You are absolutely right. Paul is getting blamed with headlines like "McCartney Ballet Panned." Poor Paul. He must be very disappointed. BUT, here's yet another review that totally slams the choreography and says positive things about the music (critics aren't saying Paul's score is "genius" or anything but almost all of them have praised it). This review is from the Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d2629776-e5ef-11e0-8e99-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Z0Cx3E3x
The score, conducted by Fayçal Karoui at the gala premiere, may not rate with Tchaikovsky ? film composer John Williams would be a better likeness ? but McCartney does catch the melancholy otherworldliness of an underwater domain that has appealed to choreographers and their composers almost since ballet?s beginnings. Woven into the undulant theme are helpful dramatic cues such as a heated drum solo for the villains? rabid pursuit of the good princess and her beau, and a slurry waltz for a drunken trio clowning around at the royal ball.
Ah well, I guess Paul is used to being a big target. I've read mixed reviews of Stella's costumes. The Financial Times review praises her costumes but the NYT Times review called them "intrustive, unflattering, and cliched." Ouch!
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well it really doesn't matter what those so called critics think does it? the only thing that counts is that WE THINK STELLA & Paul DID FATASTICLY, BRILLIANT, WHAT MAGIC THEY CREATED!! for that MOST BEAUTIFUL THING, THAT MAN CANNOT PRODUCE ANYWHERE! Stella and Paul did it all! anyone their in that Room was more than Fulfilled with LOVE PEACE & JOY! FOE EVEA! their CUP Runith OVER!!! THEY WANTED MORE, MORE, MORE! NOW THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED! and I just feel LINDA LOVED it all, and was Watching it all!! how Proud of Paul and Stella she is!!! we know what is real and not real don't we? once Linda said this very thing!
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maccalindandme:
well it really doesn't matter what those so called critics think does it?
Unfortunately, yes, it does.
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maccalindandme:
.for that MOST BEAUTIFUL THING, THAT MAN CANNOT PRODUCE ANYWHERE! Stella and Paul did it all! .
Ummm....both man and woman helped produce this things... and as far as the critics, Art critics have to criticize in snobby manners. They feel they are not taken deeply if they actually like something as in the art world, it is considered deep to be negative and fluffy to be positive. Even if they make a compliment they have to include at least one negative like: This piece of work is brilliantly supurb except for that blue backdrop that looks like the sky threw up. That's just an example. and these people are paid to do this too and take themselves so seriously within their own little bubble of what passes for a community. The rest of us just care about our own opinion. and I gather there is no choir music in this production?
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The headlines are definitely using Paul's name to attract the readers, and only after reading the critiques are people able to see that the choreography, not the music, is being trashed. Unfortunately for Paul, he is by far the biggest name attached to this production, as the average person wouldn't recognize Peter Martins' name. It's much flashier to say, "Beatle's Ballet Bombs" than "I Don't Like That Choreographer for the New York City Ballet and What He Did to the Production of Ocean's Kingdom!". Heck, you'd need a 4 foot long paper for that headline... lol lol While it is much flashier, however, it's also misleading, as 95% of the reviews have appreciated Paul's music... o
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You're quite right; outside of the NYC metro area, Peter Martins name is relatively unknown.