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Solor

Inactive Member
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About Solor

  • Birthday 02/06/1981

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    Just got out of Pro dancin, balletomane, teacher, historian.
  • City**
    Right now OK, USA

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  1. I was wondering if anyone knows what the latest news is regarding "Ondine" being released onto DVD. Natalia mentioned in another thread something to the affect that one of the reasons the production went through was so it could be filmed and released (pardon me if Im mistaken) I hope the Mariinsky doesnt take to long - I want to see this ballet so badly - I was lucky enough to see clips online of the "Grand Pas des Naiads" - AWESOME! ---Solor
  2. Doug once mentioned an English translation of Petipa's instructions to Glazunov on "Raymonda".....I was wondering if this has been published anywhere? Thanks
  3. I just got done watching the absolutly incredible Grand Pas de Naiads from Lacotte's revival of "Ondine". The choreography was astounding....I mean really, it fits the Mariinksy LIKE A GLOVE. I was amazed at how much the corps de ballet danced during this pas, it was really something. The whole mood of the piece, the music, the opulence of it all, really moved me. I really havnt seen anything like this in a long time. Lacotte is truely at the pinnacle of his art. I really hope that the Mariinsky doesnt take 100 years to release this onto DVD, I really really really want to see the whole ballet! I could not believe how great Pugni's music was. I get a little annoyed with all of the negative comments directed at his scores, and usually they consist of the same exact comments made by the last guy - rum-ti-tum comes to mind. I find it rather irresponsible that people judge the composer based the few snippets that have survived in modern performance, as Pugni probably knew about theory of music than any composer working for the ballet theatre in his day. It is the same with Minkus, who got better as he got older, and unfortunately all that survives in performance is his earlier compositions. Theres a recording of his 1884 pas de deux for Petipa's revival of "Giselle", and the music is really sensational, sort of like Pugni in a different dimension. Regarding Pugni's score for "Pharoah's Daughter" currently in use by the Bolshoi - the score isnt even really his 100%. It was "reconstructed" from a violin repetiteur and a few surviving pages from the Bolshoi's old manuscript, from various parts for this or that instrument. If anyone has ever taken a close listen to the Bolshoi scores for Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake for example, youll notice that whatever manuscript they are use has missing parts in the orchestration, or variations on it. Sotnikov did the orchestration for Daughter. The Mariinsky didnt want to share Pugni's original. Anyway, it isnt exactly a good represntation of the man's talent with ballet music. Most of his surviving stuff in the active reperotry in modern times are not even in his own orchestration. His best stuff was likely when he was working with Perrot. There is the whole misconception of how Pugni borrowed all the time, which, at least according to Ivor Guest and Donald Sidney-Fryer, two men who have studied everything from Pugni's ballets to his masses, symphonies, and quartets, that he only did this once in a blue moon, and usually at the behest of a Balletmaster or dancer. Theres a bio of Petipa on this web page - http://www.balletalert.com/ballets/Petipa/...Lake/petipa.htm accusing the composer of basing his compositions on other people's melodies....not true! Reagrding the score of "Ondine" being used by the Mariinsky right now, did they get it from thier own archives?
  4. Im not sure of this is the right place to put this post (pehaps in ballet history?) I read Mel's bio on Brinza here - http://www.balletalert.com/ballets/Petipa/...uty/Brianza.htm I was wondering about the referance to her death being "reputedly a suicide", not to mention the fact that her date of death is not known? Are there any biographies on her?
  5. I was wondering what this is exactly, as I found alisting for it on Amazon.com. Heres the link - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006DBPI...glance&n=283155 I just purchased (finally) Beaumont's complete book of ballets!
  6. Thank you so much RG for posting that. Its amazing how little of any of that survives in the production occasionally danced by the Vaganova School. How old is the manuscript you have, RG? I believe that in the 1890s Drigo added music to the ballet for Petipa's revivals? (the waltz/coda from the pas de neriads sounds alot like Drigo's waltz/coda from "Awakening fo Flora"). Heres a pic of Marfa Muravieva in the Saint-Leon/Minkus "Nemea" (AKA "Fiametta", AKA "The Flame of Love or the Salmander"), circa 1865?, which I scanned from Guest's "Letters from a Balletmaster". Not long after the premiere of "The Little Humpbacked Horse" she left the stage forever to marry. - http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/826/nem...ieva18649di.jpg
  7. what of "Ondine" Natalia? I am desperate, desperate, desperate to see this work, as I have read it has a whole extravaganza of Pas and variations, not to mention Ill do anything to hear a lost Pugni score, set to Lacotte's choreography.
  8. I was wondering if there is someone in the world today who is, technically, the heir to the Russian throne. I know that there is this one guy (I think he lives in Monte Carlo?) who is, technically, the heir to the throne of France (I think he's the Empress Eugenie's/Emperor Napoleon III's great great great grandson). Anyway, as anyone familiar with how the line of succession works, I am sure that there is without a doubt someone walking the planet today who is the heir.......I would imagine that something like this has been debated? Maybe not so much if he/she is the real successor but whether or nor they should be given a place of honor in Russian society? Are there people who feel that, at least one a ceremonial level (as in Britain), the house of the Tsars should be put back in place? I have looked at photos of the last Russian Royal Family and I find it very sad..........not so much what happened to the monarchy in Russia but what happened to THEM, as a loving family
  9. Having not been invloved in active "ballet circuit" for some time - what I mean is the endless auditions, classes at this or that studio, summer courses, tights, dance belts , pointe shoes, rehearsals, and everything in between that was my everyday life from 8 years old untill I was 22, the only real ballet contact Ive had (after a 2 or so year pause from the world of dance) is the little studio I teach at (which is just a modest but wonderful place) , and this board (which I love VERY MUCH!!!!! LONG LIVE BALLETTALK.COM!). Ive been so immersed in reading my much loved books, etc. about the old Imperial Ballet, ballet history, and researching this or that topic related to it, that I guess Ive become rather disconnected from the current state of the art of ballet, and I almost forgot what it was like to be a dancer "on the move". I recently joined the board known as Dance.net after browsing through it and finding that some of the members put up (god knows where there get them) really great clips of dancers in performance from around the world, even classes from St. Petersburg, etc, also many of the members, who are mostly teenagers, needed help finding music for this or that Pas or variation and me, knowing what a pain in the *** it is to find good ballet recordings wanted to help. Anyway one member put up a performance of clips recently filmed at the Mariinsky of graduating students performing the good ol' Grand Pas Classique from "Paquita", and eagerlydownloaded and watched the footage....and I WAS SHOCKED! I mean these Ballerinas-to-be coming out of the greatest ballet school in the world looked to me like Rhythmic Gymnists dancing to Minkus and Pugni on pointe and in tutus. I was like, what rock have I been living under?....is this ballet nowadays? I dont remember seeing dancers like this when I was dancing, which was only a few years ago. Maybe I did, but I think I would have remembered Ballerinas like this. Even Svetlana Zakharova, or Sylvie Guillem for example, for all thier 6:00 extensions and hyper-modern technique dont dance at all or look like these 18ish year old girls. I mean it was a TRIP....... One girl who was performing the Minkus variation in 3/4 with the big saut de chats (AKA grand jetes) at the beginning, really blew me away. After her jumps, she did a first arabesque where her leg was literally only a few inches away from making contact with the back of her head - and all of this in a classical tutu sur le pointe! I couldnt believe it! With the other girls it was the same thing - one performed the variation to Pugni's waltz (the white pearl from the under-water scene in "The Little Humpbacked Horse"), which begins with an a la seconde ecarte pose into glissade, attitude croise avant, etc. Not only did she perform the required a la seconde pose while in the splits, but had she leaned over just a little bit more over her supporting leg she would have been BEYOND the splits......they all had such flawless technique, I mean REALLY FLAWLESS. None of the Kirov school girls did anything more on that stage than perform mathematics, at least to me. There was no fire, just mathematically precise super-human tricks......grant it, they are still very young and have spent thier lives in school, up to that point anyway, like just about every ballet dancer, perfecting technique, and, needless to say, they have achieved it. Anyway, now to get to my point. This all led me to think, where can the art of ballet go from here? Can it evolve any more? Where will this art be in 100 years from now? Will it still be art? Will it be sport? Ballet technique 100 years ago, as we all know, was very different and not nearly as precise as today. But now it seems this perfection of technique has been achieved, but it seems the dancers are getting more and more extreme. Where will this art go from here?
  10. After RG mentioned that Wiley's book "The Life and Ballets of Lev Ivanov" contained the scneario of the Drigo/Petipa "The Awakening of Flora" i looked into the book. I found that it contained all soprts of valuable stuff (why hadnt I heard about this book before?). Anyway I quickly snatched up a copy off of Amazon.com, which I got for only $60.00! (other copies went for anywhere from $90.00-$250.00!). The copy was brand new, minus the jacket. I was very pleased! In the book Wiley mentions Ivanov's 1893revival of Petipa's ballet "The Sacrifices of Cupid". Theres also a photo of dancers costumed for the work. This work is not listed in Garafola's "Diaries of Marius Petipa"...I was thinking that perhaps it has another title?
  11. For those that have the Chandos recording of 'Pavillon', what music is used for the famous Pas de Trois and the Nijinsky variation? The liner notes and the track listings give no indication of this.
  12. While driving today, and listening to my CD of Adolphe Adam's "La Jolie Fille du Gand", I was stunned to fnd that the Entree to the ballet's Pas de Trois (for those who have it, CD 1, track 11), was the same music used in the Mariinsky/Gusev "Le Corsaire" as a lietmotive for Medora. For those who are familiar with the Mariinsky's version, Medora first makes her entrance in the prologue on a beach with her fellow greek girls. The music used for her entrance contains a theme that does not turn up in the Sergeyev-derived staging. (ABT, Boston Ballet, etc) This theme turns up in various guises (in the same way that Tchaikovsky used the theme for the Lilac Fairy in various guises in "Sleeping Beauty", or Adam's themes in "Giselle", etc) throughouit the Mariinksky's staging, likewise so do a few other themes.
  13. I think she means the "Blue Sea Flower" and the 2 "Red Corals" (AKA THE Floer anmd the Pearl)....which is one number (the first number leads into the second). This is from the Underweater scene, as far as I can recall, the whole "Grand Pas d'Ensemble" consists of a scene, Entree, an allegretto, a variation for the Blue Sea Flower which leads into a little allegro for the 2 red corals (2 ballerinas in red), a variation for a male dancer called ocean (which by the way is an obvious 20th century interpolation both musically and choreographically), a variation for the white pearl, and a Grand coda. The absolutely GLORIOUS "Waltz of the Animated Frescoes" set to Maestro Cesare Pugni's fabulous music is for 4 woman (I love this part in the full ballet - Ivan gets a magic whip from the Humpbacked Horse. He snaps the whip and brings the 4 woman painted on the wall in the Khan's palace to life......of course they are perfect classical danseuses!). The Frescoes is set up so that, primarily, 3 of the girls dance together, then each have little 16 bar or so movements where they dance alone. All 4 dont dance together til the end. The variation for the white pearl, which also turns up in the "Paquita" Grand Pas Classique, is available in the recording of "La Bayadere" and "Paquita" the Sofia National Opera Orchestra conducted by Boris Spassov. This is the only part of Cesare Pugni's score for "The Little Humpbacked Horse" that has ever been recorded to date.
  14. Unfortunately, as wtih most gems of the old Imperial Russian Repertory there is no recording in exsistance of this music, yet....... If I was a millionaire I would fund the recording of all of the old ballets from the Imperial Days.......
  15. "The Gal from the PX" - How about "The Gal from the Commissary"? As an American Army Brat myself I can appreciate those titles. Thanks very much Mel for the clarification!
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