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johnathan or coopers ballet from centerstage


Guest haylee

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Firstly how would you describe Coopers ballet from Centerstage, contemporary? Also who's ballet would you rather be in Coopers or Johathans. eek.gif

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coopers ballet!! talk about being centre stage, the dancer is completely and utterly in conrol of the stage. of all my non dancer friends who have seen the film, it is the scene with the red pointe shoes that leaves them reeling, definatkey the highlight of the film and an amazing role to dance!

btw this is not to say i would ever turn down jontahens ballet if i was offeresd a part!

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Guest pinkpixiedust

I LOVE Center Stage! I would definately want to be in Coopers ballet I love those red shoes I've even based my art project around red shoes!! Although Cooper was waaaaaay to sleazy for me and it was a bit cheesy in places but still one of my fav films!

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I guess it would depend on my mood, but I'd love to do the first part and last part of Cooper's ballet (the Michael Jackson part with the motorcycle, and the Jamiroquai finale). I could definitely do without the "bed scene!" The "adagio" scene is kind of cool, but the finale is even cooler.

Now Jonathan's ballet is great when you're feeling in that sort of more pensive mood. I love Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, so maybe I'm biased tongue.gif But all the same, I also wouldn't turn down a chance to dance it (even the corps)!

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Guest Katherine Arten

I agree, I could do with out the "bed scene" too, but I think I'd like to dance in either of them! I really want to die my pointe shoes red though. I liked Jonathan's ballet, it was really pretty.

d_frog cool.gif

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Speaking of the film 'The Red Shoes' - When I saw that ballerina being victimized by those two very egotistical males in her life to the point of suicide, my first reaction was,"Why doesn't she just stride off across the Atlantic and leave them in the dust?!" When I saw 'Cooper's' ballet in 'Center Stage' I thought "Oh, Good! Better late than never!"

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I found Cooper's "ballet" to be exciting and fun but the final performance was not what I expected. I thought it was going to be a jazzier contemporary piece but it was too POP, the Michael Jackson music too dated. They could have made it just as exciting with jazz music. The part earlier where Jody's character is upset with Cooper during rehearsal and then Charlie calms her down and tells her to "dance it out" is what I'm talking about. They have her dancing to just solo drum music and I loved that, the music was perfect but for the performance she danced the same steps to something else entirely and I think that ruined the feeling. Anyway, that was disappointing but they probably wanted to appeal to a broader audience. I hated the bed scene on stage, that was over the top sleazy and not necessary. They "Madonna-ized" ballet there which is cheap and nasty. They sort of were sending a message that sex sells and I don't think ballet ever has to do that. It can be sensual and convey torrid love story without being graphic (i.e., it was totally unnecessary for Jody to have to strip down to her black undies, what was the point of that)? I just always feel that the dancing should tell the story or convey the feeling, not the removal or lack of clothing or props.

I found Jonathan's ballet boring and nothingness, but they probably planned it to be that way. It was dark, dreary to me, sad. There was no real story to it ('course, we weren't meant to see the whole thing) and I would have loved to know what the heck it was about, seen more of it. I don't really know how Cooper's can be compared to Jonathan's in this way since we only saw a bit of Jonathan's and the entire Cooper's. But I guess if I had to choose, I would rather have been in Jonathan's since Cooper's was just overall too music video for me.

I'm not saying I didn't like the movie, I loved it overall. Finally there were some excellent scenes with male dancers. I loved the part where Cooper and Charlie are in rehearsal and sort of duking it out by trying to out perform each other. Incredible! But the finale wasn't what I expected or wanted at all.

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Amen, Andrew, Amen. Jonathan's ballet's costumes reminded me of La Valse, but as you mentioned we could not see the whole ballet so we can't tell much of the overall sentiment and plot. I wonder how much more Christopher Wheeldon choreographed for this -- I'm sure there were parts cut out for the movie. It'd be very interesting to see what else there was, and Wheeldon's ideas behind the ballet. It's hard to say, though, since it was choreographed for the sake of the movie with a point to be more or less upstaged by Cooper's number. Comparing the two is pretty much like comparing apples and oranges.

I'm just glad that they included both styles, since I'm sure many people enjoyed the "freshness" of Cooper's piece. As long as the movie doesn't make one style out to be superior to the other, portraying both is fine to me. (I agree totally about the bedroom scene, yikes.)

I hope that the theme of Jody expressing that other types of dancing are more fun than ballet class doesn't send the message to too many folks that ballet somehow isn't worth it ...

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Hmm, I think I would have to say that I agree with Andrew on pretty much everything! Yes, the bed scene was cheap and highly unnecessary. And I agree, the difference in effect of the dance to drums and the same combination with the music they used was very different. But yes, they must please the general public. Okay, I am done, I think. cool.gif

[ March 08, 2002, 08:22 PM: Message edited by: pdance ]

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Cooper's Ballet was tacky. And I am not just talking about the bed scene. I just thought it was cheesy, and although I would love to be in the audience to see it, and I would have fun dancing it, I thought it was over the top and it is overrated.

Now that I have stepped on everyone's toes, let me comment on Jonathan's:

I liked the costumes, and I liked watching Eva/Zoe what's-her-face even more. I haven't seen the film in a while, but for some reason, it was Balanchine-like. Maybe it was some promenades she did en pointe, but with her knee bent. (Maybe I am making this up, again, sorry.) And I thought that whole section in the circle with the main pas couple in the middle was pretty cool. I like watching pretty bodies dance, and there were some good ones out there. And I do NOT like ballets that try too hard, which is what Cooper's did and Jonathan's didn't.

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IMHO coopers ballet was always meant to be a bit larger tha life. In the film cooper is this ehotistical, womanising and at when disscussing his choreofraphy a little pretentios,character and i think that this is reflected in the ballet, its definatley trying hard to prove a point and contrast with jonathens ballet and also trying to appeal to the average film going audience.

anyway i guess what im trying to say is that like mostn of the film, its a lot of fun but not to be taken too seriously. i love the idea that all the girls who would only make the corphs can suddenly have thier own star ballet made for them!!

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Originally posted by pdance

Hmm, I think I would have to say that I agree with Andrew on pretty much everything!  Yes, the bed scene was cheap and highly unnecessary.  And I agree, the difference in effect of the dance to drums and the same combination with the music they used was very different.  Bucool.gif

[ March 08, 2002, 08:22 PM: Message edited by: pdance ]

I begged to go see the movie for a VERY long time. I was sort of dissapointed when I did see it though. :)

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Guest DaNsTa

Centrestage was a great move! It showed the hardships most ballet dancer have to face, their little time to spend with friends and their 'habbits' they seem to be stereotyped with. I was very please with both of the performences, they were howver VERY different. BUT to answer the question...Id love to dance Coopers ballet, for the reason 'its different, it fun, its less restricting', NOT saying i would hate to be in Johnathans Ballet, but it seems boring, very usual and restricted. Ballet is about FUN not boredom or sumthing u HAVE to do, u do it coz u love it! As for the bed scene in Coopers ballet, it was very contrasting, we got to see the sexier side of ballet...the more 'excentric' if u like, side and i loved it! They were merely expressing themselves and thought that way possible. We must not analyse everything to the core, coz they might have put it in there just because..!

BUT I LOVED IT!!!

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I loved it when Jody's parents came backstage after the ballet - having just seen their teenage daughter humping around on a bed in black lingerie in front of several hundred people, all they could say is, "We're so proud."

That is NOT what my parents would have said.

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Call me a stick-in-the-mud (guilty as charged), because I vote for "none of the above".

Ever so often I become enchanted by a piece of contemporary choreography, but as a general rule I like classical story ballets the best. ABT's Romeo & Juliet excerpt qualifies as the best dance in Center Stage (wish they could have shown more).

All too often, companies mount half thought out contemporary pieces because their dancers are bored doing yet-another Swan Lake.

-As a season subscriber, those classics are what keep me coming back year after year.

-As an over-the hill amateur dancer, comparing my limited abilities performing in a classical piece to a professional performance points out how extraordinary their abilities are.

Don't get me wrong. New pieces give life-force to a medium that could become stagnant otherwise. But performance nights are limited and precious. They should never be wasted on a lab exercise that is not ready for prime time.

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Guest rhythmicgymnast

Jonathon's Ballet. It was beautiful, even if cooper's was funky, I'd go with the black and white tutus, tiaras, tights and european pink pointe shoes, dancing to Rachmaninoff (sp?) anyday.

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