73 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

It is certainly hard to see this PDD now after watching it here in all its real glory, IMO...
bart...this one is for you, but be quick, before it's gone for good...

[bart]

Thanks, all, for these clips and comments.  The fuzziness of the video is more than made up by the great clarity and detailing of the dancing.  

I made a quick comparison with the Kistler/Zelensky performance in the 1993 Balanchine Celebration tape.  I have always liked that, but Kirkland/Baryshnikov, dancing the same steps, show us ... more.

[Rosa]

*sigh* Simply gorgeous.

[DanceActress]

Wow! What artistry! Thank you for posting these clips.

[duffster]

DanceActress, on 15 November 2010 - 03:33 PM, said:

Wow! What artistry! Thank you for posting these clips.

[duffster]

duffster, on 15 November 2010 - 06:41 PM, said:

DanceActress, on 15 November 2010 - 03:33 PM, said:

Wow! What artistry! Thank you for posting these clips.

              Simon, these clips are wonderful. They make this ballet look easy, while doing the difficult transitions,a true testament to their artistry.

[ViolinConcerto]

Ray, on 15 November 2010 - 05:03 AM, said:

Thank you so much for posting this, one of the performances that I can point to when people ask me what got me started as a dancer.  

It's a shame though that we can only enjoy this performance, from the 1970s, in a form that looks like a kinescope from the 1950s.  Why can't our venerable dance organizations, charged with preserving Balanchine's work, do something about remastering and redistributing this.  Yes, I know it's about money and permissions, but it's also about institutional will:  do they care?  

Enjoy it before the "Balanchine police" take it away--censorship is something they seem to have plenty of time and energy for.

Does the Foundation or Trust (whoever it is) take off clips only from NYCBallet performances, or ANY performance of Balanchine?   Kirkland and Barishnikov did not dance in NYCB at the same time as far as I can recall.

[Simon G]

ViolinConcerto, on 15 November 2010 - 08:23 PM, said:

Does the Foundation or Trust (whoever it is) take off clips only from NYCBallet performances, or ANY performance of Balanchine?   Kirkland and Barishnikov did not dance in NYCB at the same time as far as I can recall.

Yes, you do not mess with Mr B's Foundation. Have you seen Pulp Fiction? Do you remember Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta's characters? They're like that, only with ballet.

[ViolinConcerto]

Simon G, on 15 November 2010 - 08:33 PM, said:

ViolinConcerto, on 15 November 2010 - 08:23 PM, said:

Does the Foundation or Trust (whoever it is) take off clips only from NYCBallet performances, or ANY performance of Balanchine?   Kirkland and Barishnikov did not dance in NYCB at the same time as far as I can recall.

Yes, you do not mess with Mr B's Foundation. Have you seen Pulp Fiction? Do you remember Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta's characters? They're like that, only with ballet.

Well, to mangle a quote from Barry Goldwater, "Extremism in the preservataion of beauty is no vice."

[jsmu]

Quote

Quote

Yes, you do not mess with Mr B's Foundation. Have you seen Pulp Fiction? Do you remember Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta's characters? They're like that, only with ballet.

Well, to mangle a quote from Barry Goldwater, "Extremism in the preservataion of beauty is no vice."

Indeed--and just what good is accomplished by this particular wild extremism? Denying both the knowledgeable public, which is starving for performances like Kirkland's in T&V which literally can no longer happen live, and the potential public which might, enraptured by such ravishing accounts of Balanchine, become balletgoers?
Ludicrous and deeply wrong. Balanchine, by the way, called his own ballets 'butterflies', and said that no one wanted to see last year's butterflies. Apparently the Foundation is determined that no one see them except at steep prices in a few cities a few times a year. Not coming soon to a theatre near you.

[perky]

Her dancing in that clip is both delicate and luxurious. It's simply intoxicating!

[richard53dog]

perky, on 17 November 2010 - 03:41 PM, said:

Her dancing in that clip is both delicate and luxurious. It's simply intoxicating!

Thanks a wonderful way to describe it!!!!

I've watched this several times this week. It's a bit addictive.

I can only hope that this ABT program sees a commercial release one day. They have already released a few of their mixed programs but this one seems much stronger. I'd love to have it in some version better than one of the fuzzy old copies of people's VHS tapes

[4mrdncr]

I remember watching this performance live on PBS when it was first broadcast.  
THAT was when I first became interested in Balanchine's choreography beyond just dancing it.  
THAT was when I truly appreciated the beauty, exquisite control, and precise phrasing, of both principals (ie. a showcase for virtuosity instead of the bravura of previous PBS broadcasts)
THAT was the music and costumes I remembered despite many subsequent incarnations at ABT and elsewhere.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting this.  So short a view, but it's restored my memories and soul from a time when I was still young, still innocent, and still dancing.

Two years ago, I was able to view the whole performance at the NYPL Performing Arts archives etc. at Lincoln Center.  I think they have a 3/4" master, but I don't remember the wrinkle.  The original was probably recorded on 2" quad, or maybe 1" by then.  But like everything else, it all devolves to who owns the rights to release it.  And if it's the B'Trust, then we have a long time to wait.

But after my experiences in LA, I am not surprised by the obtuseness of those who do not recognize the value of an audience that is many many times larger than those that can travel to or fit into a theater, no matter how many performances are held.  Or the value of cross promotion of an art form, or dancers, or a company.

[jsmu]

Fraildove, on 14 November 2010 - 08:48 PM, said:

Wow. Seeing her dance like this makes her career even more tragic in my eyes. Being to young to have seen Ms Kirkland live, video snippets are all I have seen. I usually will not judge a dancer on he basis of a video since generally artistry is lost. If that holds true with Kirkland, I can not even imagine what she was like live. I hope more videos of her will eventually find their way to the public so that many more generations will be able to see a glimpse of the artistry so rarely seen today

Fraildove, although I was too young fully to comprehend her brilliance, I did see Kirkland a few times live. Multiply the greatness by a power of 10,000 (from the video) and you have some idea. BTW, there are a few clips of her on YouTube--one in the Giselle Act 1 variation which is jawdropping...the attitude turns are beyond beyond. She, like several other great artists, had a ravishing unreality, a quality of evanescence which is impossible even to describe in words.

[papeetepatrick]

Simon G, on 15 November 2010 - 11:33 AM, said:

Just wanted to bump these to the main page so as many people get a chance to see them as possible, before the inevitable intervention.

Just found these by accident, must have been busy during most of the viewing.  They're still here, though.  Sublime, thanks.