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Suzanne Farrell on Kennedy Center honors list.


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.... I thought the super-long, straight do made her face look kind of severe, and I like the softer, permed hair and the bangs. Very pretty.

Sorry to disagree, but in the times I've seen her in the "real", post-performer world, that hair has been the madeleine that stirred my tea: making her instantly recognizable and spurring an endless dancing stream of memories. But of course she is Suzanne, so I yield to her higher knowledge.

A very good job by CBS on the Kennedy Honors, 14 uninterrupted minutes. Jacques was terrific, and they let us see her company. Sure there were two "reaction shots", but they were both of Suzanne, and every chance to see her is a privilege, and an honor.

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Jacques is ALWAYS terrific! I was surprised that they didn't say how, as a child, she had a chair named Jacques d'Ambois that was her "partner." I was also very, very moved because I've known Julie Harris since I was a child, and the things they quoted her as saying were things that could also be said about Suzanne. They both put "truth" before anything.

I was very impressed by her company, too, and noticed this one ballerina when she came to a sudden stop, leading me to recognize her as "stop-on-a-dime Ansanelli!" She looked really wonderful.

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I thought D'Amboise was a hoot and the dancing was thrilling when you could see it, but the camera might as well have been in outerspace most of the time. As for the reaction shots during the dancing, I would have bet the house against anything so amateurish. I don't think my expectations were high, but I remember the nice job the Honors did with the Villella tribute in '97, and I'm pretty disappointed.

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I loved Suzanne's elegant black dress, as well as her new shorter 'do. As I said before I think it looks gorgeous.

I thought Jacque's mentioning of Suzanne leaving the NYCB in 1969 was so tactful. He did a great job. I wish they could have shown some clips of her as Titania. And it's nice to see Suzanne smiling and having a good time. I always thought of her as a bit of a glacial Diana, and I must admit I was jolted when I saw her giggling and laughing tonight. It's like my vision of her was ruined.

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I really enjoyed the show this evening, Tivo'd especially for Farrell's award. I have never seen her dance, and though the video excerpts too short, the glimpses of her art have really whetted my appetite. I shall do a search to see what DVDs are around.

Her pas de deux with Peter Martins (?) was exquisite and immediately brought tears to my eyes. What an artist.

I've been away from ballet for some time now. As a music student in London in the late 70s, I watched first class ballet for the first time on BBC TV's Ballet Month -- a month of Royal Ballet, Stuttgart, Flindt, Cranko, Ashton and McMillan that absolutely blew my mind. Seeing Suzanne Farrell has had an equally powerful effect. Totally inspired, I shall be purchasing Petrouchka tickets danced by our NBofC here in Toronto.

Please excuse the rambling post.

This is a wonderful forum, btw.

Regards from Toronto,

Anthony

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I really enjoyed the show this evening, Tivo'd especially for Farrell's award. I have never seen her dance, and though the video excerpts too short, the glimpses of her art have really whetted my appetite. I shall do a search to see what DVDs are around.

Welcome to BalletTalk, audiophile, and thanks for a great debut post! Not rambling at all! Well, maybe just a bit. :D

Farrell was -- IS -- unique in so many ways. Please try to view as many of the "Choreography by Balanchine" videos as you can. There were four vhs tapes in the original series.

:crying: Ordinarily, new members are invited to introduce themselves in our Welcome Forum. You've done so very well here. I hope you will post regularly about NBoC. Many of us are particularly eager to hear about their performances of Balanchine's Don Quixote, which Farrell is staging for them.

This is a wonderful forum, btw.
:yahoo:
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Well, it certainly zipped along at a good clip---quite speedy, but wasn't the dancing good? What we could see of it! Too far away, for the most part, but the costumes looked nice in the long shots.....colours and patterns read quite well on television.

Dancing was quick, clean ... corps was beautifully articulated ....Ansanelli looked wonderful and I shall miss her greatly.....

"So I'm a little confused. Is her company made up of students, or is it professional?"

Ian, they are professionals. Many of them dance with other companies, others schedule their engagements around SFB, others dance with Farrell and have been with her for a while. She has definite things which she wants to see in her dancers and which she requires from them--watching the performance tonight, it is evident that they give her 150% effort and commitment.

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I always thought of her as a bit of a glacial Diana,

I have always thought of her as our answer to Grace Kelly; the outward calm (glacial, if you wish) but covering the fire within. I had the impression that the program cut her segment too short and I wanted to hear more comments from others.---I didn't like the bangs, it covered too much of her still beautiful face; although they looked great on Julie Harris.

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I can't believe I'm going to this great length to defend Suzanne's new 'do, but here goes -- I think Suzanne is of that certain age when hair starts to thin, and lose its lustre. So her superlong 'do no longer had its effect when it thins and starts to look limp. By cutting it short (but not too short -- just above the shoulders, I'd say), perming it (but not too curly -- just a gentle wave here and there), and dyeing it a more gentle sandy blond, I think Suzanne's taken years off her actual age. I thought her new 'do looked beautiful.

Farrell Fan, where are you? What do you think about this most important of issues? :wub:

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I was completely fooled (but delighted) by the order of appearance of the honorees. Who would have thought Suzanne would be next to to the socko Tina Turner closing? Apart from Suzanne's, my favorite segment was Tony Bennett's -- a real class act paid homage by a wonderfully diverse group of musicians -- Diana Krall, K.D, Lang, et. al., highlighted by that elegiac muted trumpet solo of Wynton Marsalis.

From Jack Reed's early post on this thread, I gather that appearances by Maria Tallchief and Arthur Mitchell were edited out of the Suzanne segment. I'm sorry about that, but have no complaints otherwise. She looked gorgeous, as always. "Divert. No. 15" was hard to see on my small screen, but I'm told by a non-balletic friend, that "the colors looked beautiful."

I realize not everyone is old enough to have seen Suzanne dance in live performance. That's too bad, because nobody who saw her leading the WRENS in "Union Jack" could ever again think of her as "glacial."

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I realize not everyone is old enough to have seen Suzanne dance in live performance. That's too bad, because nobody who saw her leading the WRENS in "Union Jack" could ever again think of her as "glacial."

..or anyone who saw her in "Tzigane," or "Slaughter," or "Meditation," or "Midsummer" (even on film) or "In Memory of..." or "The Four Seasons," or "Afternoon of a Faun," or "Chaconne," or........anything could think of her as glacial. She could be flirtacious, sexy, serene, serious, aloof, as the ballet required.

Suzanne, especially when dancing with Peter, would come onstage with a cool expression until the dancing brought a radiant smile and expression to her face: the joy of dance.

And, though I've tried to resist this topic, Suzanne's hair, was naturally always a bit thin and limp (forgive me!!), though beautifully enhanced onstage. I was surprised to see it colored and coiffed -- but pleased. She's never seemed self-conscious about her hair.

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And one more post about Suzanne's hair, and I promise I'm done: :wub:

Suzanne when she was young had these very cute round cheeks. As she's aged, obviously she's lost the beautiful roundness of her face. (And I am NOT saying Suzanne looks old, she doesnt, I'm just talking about the natural aging process that happens to everyone. For instance, I'm 26, and am told that I look very young, but when I look at pictures of me as a teenager the first thing I notice is how round my cheeks were back then, as opposed to now. In my case this is a good thing because I have a very oval face so losing the round cheeks has made my face a more complete oval. But this is OT.) The bangs and the face-framing locks have brought back some of the roundness to "Bobby Sue's" face.

As for the dancing, it was a brief piece, but I was astonished by the uniformity of the dancing. For an instance I thought I was seeing the POB or Kirov. Not to draw any comparisons, but I thought they looked much, much more uniform than the ... NYCB corps ...

I liked the tribute to Robert Redford, not especially for Redford (who's never been a real favorite of mine) but for the appearance of the ever-handsome Paul Newman. If there's a more handsome octagenarian in the world, I haven't seen one.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the entire Honors show -- what a worthy set of honorees. I rather would have seen the Tallchief and Mitchell tributes to Ms. Farrell than the numerous actors and actresses who praised Ms. Harris, but tastes differ of course. I actually liked the reaction shots of Ms. Farrell during the ballet (and the rest of the program). She certainly seemed to be concentrating. And those formal gloves -- shades of La Valse! It also was fun to see the Tina Turner tribute immediately after Ms. Farrell's. Beyonce and Company's dancing to "Proud Mary" was so different -- and yet not soooo different -- from the SFB's dancing to Mozart in Divert. No. 15. And I must say, the world of ballet is lucky to have Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg as a supporter. She provided a warm introduction for Jacques D'Amboise, just as she helped set the stage for the ABT Swan Lake on PBS last summer.

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We need poorly placed reaction shots, so we can check out the famous folks in the audience and how much they are enjoying it all. These are essential. After all, how would we know the dancing was good if we were unable to see celebrities beaming appreciatively?

I’d have liked Farrell’s segment to be longer, but it was okay if not the best they’ve ever done, and I second Farrell Fan’s comment that the scheduling of it just before Turner’s boffo finish was surprising and pleasing. I feared they’d stick her in the middle somewhere.

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I'm upset I was unable to watch. Can somebody tell me what was included in the Farrell section of the television broadcast? Was it just Tallchief and Mitchell who were cut?

What was included were film clips of her childhood and early career, most of which came from the film "Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse." As in that film, Jacques d'Amboise could not consistently say "Suzanne." Most often he called her "Susan Farrell." At least he never said "Suzahnn" as he does in the film. I'm not complaining -- Jacques is endearing, whatever he does or says. There was no mention made of her other, less-endearing NYCB partner, Peter Martins, but he was seen in a snippet from "Chaconne." Aside from that, her company performed part of the finale of 'Divertimento No. 15." Unless one had a huge TV screen, this was a bit frustrating to look at, but I loved the two reaction shots of SF watching her dancers. You could understand why they go all-out for such a boss.

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You think maybe someone "reminded" Jacques that "Suzahhhn" sounds silly and pretentious, and that "Susan" was his overcompensation? I do think, though, that he was more adorable than usual.

The Div. 15 segment was marvelous, but I think a more knowing eye could have filmed it to better advantage. On my 25-inch screen (the largest my apt. can reasonably accommodate), the company showed, above all, their great joy in dancing, and what better tribute to their ballet mistress?

I thought the Redford segment the weakest, but overall, this was the best KC Honors broadcast in many an eon.

A few years ago in a brief ceremony, Walter Cronkite -- KCH's longtime host -- handed the reins over to Caroline Kennedy. What a perfect hostess she is, both as her father's daughter and for her own interest in and support of the arts. Her cheeks are less round than they once were, and boy, does that make me feel old! I did enjoy the reaction shot, as she appeared, of her beaming Uncle Ted.

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To my eye, Caroline Kennedy has become very beautiful in her middle age, which she cannot be said to have been in her youth. I saw her at ABT this past summer &, although she photographs well enough, she is even lovelier in person.

Does anyone else think the awards ribbon/medallion thing could do with a make-over? It looks like shredded Italian flags held together with closepins. Ugly.

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To my eye, Caroline Kennedy has become very beautiful in her middle age, which she cannot be said to have been in her youth. I saw her at ABT this past summer &, although she photographs well enough, she is even lovelier in person.
Completely agree that photos do Caroline no justice. She is unusually attractive in person.
Does anyone else think the awards ribbon/medallion thing could do with a make-over? It looks like shredded Italian flags held together with closepins. Ugly.

Thank you. Yes! Very garish and downright tacky. Not at all fitting to the status it represents.
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Please try to view as many of the "Choreography by Balanchine" videos as you can.  There were four vhs tapes in the original series.

And these videos are available as DVDs, too. The video quality isn't much improved, but at least when you watch them for the umpteenth time, they won't degrade. There are more Balanchine videos still on tape that weren't transfered to DVD, but they are probably out-of-print by now --- they may be worth tracking down.

--Andre

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