shulie

Exactly, natalia! That is it! It is the DVD which is being marketed off as "Bolshoi" but it in fact is a Kirov production with Gabriella Komleva.

Those Kirov Classics are horrible quality. I bought two of them (Giselle, Cinderella) because they were sold really cheap around here- but I guess I got what I paid for. Bad bad picture and sound quality, faded colors, blurry pictures, menu in Russian (!).... oh well... Here is another thread: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=21069

Those Kirov Classics are horrible quality. I bought two of them (Giselle, Cinderella) because they were sold really cheap around here- but I guess I got what I paid for. Bad bad picture and sound quality, faded colors, blurry pictures, menu in Russian (!).... oh well...

Guess nobody knows anything about it. Oh well- Guess I either have to go to Australia or never see it.

I`d love to see it- because my former ballet mistress (Joyce Desiderio) was dancing in the ballet when she used to be a student at RBS.

I also wanted to mention Marika Besobrasova- she has taught (and still teaches- WOW!!!! ) generations of dancers. My former ballet mistress who retired from stage about 15 years ago used to be one of her students in Monte Carlo. Now she is an experienced teacher herself teaching for 11 years already. Funny!

Yeah and the ballet scene had to be in the first act because the members of the jockey club wanted to see pretty girls on stage before going to the club restaurant in the first intermission- they did never watch the whole opera, just the first act until the intermission.

Does anybody know something about Ashton`s ballet "Fashion Show"? It was staged in 1974 I think. That is all I know about it. http://www.ashtonarchive.com/ballets/1974.htm

I posted the same on the BT for Dancers board: I have recently come across reviews and pictures of the Australian Ballet`s version of "Swan Lake" by Graeme Murphy. I loved the pictures and the concept behind the new adaption of Swan Lake sounded very interesting to me. Unfortunately I am not in Australia and there is no way to see the ballet live on stage anywhere so I am asking if anybody knows if there are videos or dvds available... and where I can buy them.... I`d REALLY love to see it. Thanks, Shulie

I have been to Minsk Opera years ago when I was a kid (about 11) since I had a Belorussian friend. It indeed was a quite worn down building in desperate need of a refurbishment and complete make over. Lovely 19th century building- huge and looked surely fabulous when it was built- comparable in splendor and size to the opera houses of Vienna and Milan. Still everything inside was worn down and in a very miserable state- and this was the representative part for the audience only! Imagine how bad the practise and dressing rooms for singers and dancers must have looked! I got a ballet calendar from the Belorussian Ballet in 2001 and still keep it on my wall- the pictures are so gorgeous! It would be a shame if there was less money for the company than it used to be. I wish you luck and all the best- unfortunately shortage of money and cutting down on cultural institutions first to save money is a common disease nowadays- not only in the former Soviet Union countries- they fired our local classical ballet company years ago and made them into a modern dance company with 9 dancers instead of a full classical ballet company with soloists, demi soloists and a full corps- just because the modern dance company was so much cheaper to keep up!!! It is a shame! BTW: I was impressed back then in Belarus that they actually had mandatory ballet training in normal public schools! Cool!

In Germany and in Europe generally nude dancing has become almost the norm in contemporary dance (and sometimes too in classical ballets)- you will have a hard time finding a contemporary ballet without any nudity. If it fits in the concept of the storyline of the ballet I may find it acceptable (like in the ballet scene of Wagner`s opera Tannhäuser where a bacchanale in the realm of the Queen of Love and sex is shown) - but this is very very rare- in most cases it is just unnecessary and I do not find it esthetically pleasing. In some european ballet companies it already has gotten that far that a dancer has to sign a policy in his contract that he has to dance in the nude if the choreograper or the costume department demand that! Ughhhhh..... :mellow:

The first picture looks gorgeous! As if it was taken underwater!

I love Capriccio- it is such a rarely played gem! The young dancer`s part is actually hardly a few minutes long but with a lovely music and adds a lot of "flair" and elegance to the opera. I used to dance it at home in front of my record player :rolleyes: - i unfortunately have never seen Capriccio on stage. (though I am a frequent opera goer but no opera house around here does and did play it... grrrr) Have a lovely record from the 1970`s with Fischer Dieskau and Janowitz though I can live on quite well- though I`d die to be able to see it on stage!

bart: I absolutely agree though I do not have concrete casting suggestions right now- so many great dancers out there who would fit. Difficult to choose. There currently is a Capriccio on stage in NYC opera? How great! It is a gem- being such a lovely opera but relatively unknown and only a few opera houses put it on stage. I personally have never seen it on stage simply because it was not played anywhere- there was a time when I went to opera almost once a week visiting four different houses! Even if a miracle happened and it would be put on stage again in Germany I am sure they would leave the part of the dancer out and let the whole scenario be set on the toilet, in a brothel or in a slaughterhouse.... "modern theater" :blush: (read the post on this board about Cinderella being set in a brothel and you know what I am talking about) I have a nice recording of Capriccio I think from the 1970`s with Dietrich Fischer Dieskau as Count and Gundula Janowitz as Countess. Whenever the part of the young dancer came up playing the record I danced it at home in front of the record player...

The opera does have such a "ballettish" plot and music it is a shame it cannot be made into a ballet- though I am absolutely in love with several parts of the opera- like the monologue of the Marschallin and the trio of the three female voices "Hab mir`s gelobt" for dramatic soprano (Marschallin), lyrical soprano (Sophie) and mezzo soprano/alto (Octavian). Just heavenly music! (besides being a ballet student I have a very own affiliation to opera since I too am a classical singer in training) In today`s terms the Marschallin is a woman in the peak years of her life- she is not older than mid 40`s. The plot is set more than 250 years ago and back then a woman her age was considered an elder. Also in relationship to her lover Octavian who must be about 17 or 18 and Sophie who is in the same age range, maybe slightly younger (16 or 17) she definately feels old. I`d love to see it as a ballet with a famous ballerina close to retirement from stage whose dancing mirros "wisdom" as Marschallin, a young male dancer with a boyish appearance and a great ability for petit allegro for Octavian, a young newcomer as Sophie and a great older dancer with comedian talents as Ochs. Oh btw there actually IS a brief scene explicitly designed for a ballet dancer in a Strauss opera- the appearance of the young dancer in "Capriccio"- she has to dance a brief piece. And in "Salome" take the "Dance of the Seven Veils" which in many productions due to not-so-elegant singers is taken over and danced by a ballet dancer.