16 replies to this topic

[Estelle]

carbro, on Jan 29 2005, 10:18 PM, said:

Estelle, on Jan 29 2005, 08:03 AM, said:

  . . . (though the inclusion of Limon's work in the "ballet" category is quite surprising...)

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I'll say!  Is it a "classical" program, Estelle, or a program of "classics"?  Big difference there, at least in English.

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Well, the page about the upcoming programs is there

http://www.ballet-de...eunimaitre.html

and it just says "programme classique", which, I think, would mean "classical program"
(program of "classics" would be something like "programme de "grands classiques").
However, there are not many details on that page, so it's difficult to understand what is really meant. But since Limon's work is or was in the repertories of several ballet companies (in France, the POB, the Ballet du Rhin and the Ballet de Lorraine, though they haven't performed it for at least a decade), perhaps some people believe it to be some ballet. And for example a lot of French critics call choreographers like Kylian, Duato or Ek "neo-classical", which I really find odd (especially for Mats Ek, as his style doesn't use any ballet steps...) I sometimes get the feeling that for some critics, any dance work which includes some decent music, a vocabulary requiring some technicity, and some links between the music and the steps is considered as ballet (especially as there are more and more modern works soundtracs which are a mixing of several noises and speeches, steps taken from ordinary gestures, no plot or logic, etc.)

[miliosr]

In the Summer 2006 issue of the late, lamented Dance Now, Jean-Guillaume Bart had this to say about the appointment of Frederic Flamand as artistic director of Ballet de Marseilles:

Two or three years ago I was commissioned to create a short ballet for the School of the Ballet de Marseille.  It was a fine success, the girls were ecstatic because they could perform in tutus and realise their dream of being classical ballerinas.  But then a bit later one hears that Frederic Flamand is taking over the company in Marseille.  They might as well close the School.  There's no use for it anymore, since it will no longer find a company for its graduates to join.

I don't know what's become of the school but, if this reportory is any indication, then Jean-Guillaume Bart was right:

http://www.ballet-de...-THE-REPERTOIRE-

Funny that board members were stressing about Limon's The Moor's Pavane.  The Moor's Pavane might as well be Swan Lake compared to this repertory!