58 replies to this topic

[Estelle]

Quote

Originally posted by Mel Johnson:
And I don't think Taylor used 4'33", I think he just stood there in silence for about five minutes.  (Didn't Anatole Chujoy devote three whole column inches of blank space in Dance News to a review of this piece?)

I'm not sure, but I think it was mentioned in De Mille's biography of Martha Graham (but I think the blank review was by Louis Horst).

[Mel Johnson]

By Jove, Estelle, you're right!  Thanks for the memory jog!      Chujoy and P.W.(Bill) Manchester were the editors of the late, lamented journal, but Horst wrote a lot of the modern and pre-classic reviews.

[Mme. Hermine]

a little OT, but i can't help thinking of alexander woolcott's review of a play called "Wham!" which read in its entirety: "Ouch!"

[Leigh Witchel]

Peter and I finished the solo to Koto music today, but as we began rehearsal I looked at him and said, "I have a vision."

"What's that?"

"Mariachi band!"

Why not, I ask.  If we can do a dance to classical Japanese Koto music, how about a nice mariachi band, preferably playing classical Japanese Koto music.

[Mel Johnson]

There we go!  Fusion!  Great Lousy Idea!  

[Mel Johnson]

Emily, the bug thing is old, old as the hills.  Not only did Balanchine do one on that theme in the early 1950s, but Marie Taglioni (!) had a ballet called "The Butterfly" which featured creature transformations.  Of course, this was a magic butterfly, in Persia, but there still were "metamorphoses".

[Mel Johnson]

Emily, the bug thing is old, old as the hills.  Not only did Balanchine do one on that theme in the early 1950s, but Marie Taglioni (!) had a ballet called "The Butterfly" which featured creature transformations.  Of course, this was a magic butterfly, in Persia, but there still were "metamorphoses".

[BalletNut]

Well as long as we're talking about politics, how about The Lewinsky Scandal?

Maybe also one about the Hapsburgs and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a focus on the demise of the Crown Prince Rudolf?  ;)  

[Mel Johnson]

Well, it's been done!  Both of 'em.(see the original post of this thread et seq.)

[BalletNut]

Mel, it was seeing Mayerling that made me decide that political ballets don't really work! Not one of Macmillan's prouder achievements, IMO. But who did The Lewinsky Scandal?

[Mel Johnson]

Small company in upstate NY.  They did a rather chaste version of the story.  The names are withheld to protect the innocent.

[Steve Keeley]

Quote

Originally posted by BalletNut:
But who did The Lewinsky Scandal?

Mark Dendy also did a version of "Swan Lake" for a company in Germany that was set in the White House and, in the Siegfried role, featured a philandering president.

~Steve

[KayDenmark]

How about a ballet based on "I Love Lucy"?

There could be a memorable adagio based on the famous "chocolates off the conveyer belt" scene.

Of course, there would be quite a rivalry among male dancers to play the coveted role of Ricky Ricardo...character dancers could audition for the part of Fred Mertz.

Up next:  A ballet based on "Three's Company"....

[Mel Johnson]

And let's not forget "Vitameatavegamin"!