saritachan

really would love to see Cinderella live sometime... but it seems to me it was not performed for the past 2-3 years and the only dvd existing is the Sibley Dowell one.

Hello! I do not have as extensive a knowledge of ballet repertoires as all of you. But I have a further suggestion for just a simpler, full length ballet, not just focused on themes of relationships and human emotions. Has anyone done Beauty and the Beast before? A village. A family mother, father and 3 daughters. A pretty girl but who does not fit in with the crowd. A self obsessed suitor for the Beauty. Scene where father asks what the daughters want when he returns from business. Castle scene. etc etc etc... final celebrations? There are, as all these famous stories.. many versions of Beauty and the Beast. Disney version? Will have nice teacups and forks and brooms dancing, but I am not particularly into those. (Although I had lots of fun watching ENB's Nutcracker with designs by Gerald Scarfe. Speaking of Alice and Wonderland, ENB also has a version. Re: cartoons by Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Haoul's Castle, Tonari no Totoro etc) They actually have a very nice music score. Slightly pop music though. But perhaps ballet cannot show the dramatic exagerations of proportions and portray the characters fully?

I have noticed that Russian Tutus are much flatter and less floppy than Tutus they wear in, say, the Royal Ballet (they slope downwards). Also, where is the tutu (round plate around body not the leotard) meant to be? below the waist? Around the waist? And if below, by how much? It would be really cool if someone could indicate to me where I can read about and see how a tutu is made!

Hum... interesting... So has there been any cases where dancers have had surgeries purely to add more "extension" to their legs? or any other parts of their bodies for that matter? surgery for more strength, more flexibility not for injury.

anymore suggestions? this post is not restricted to only pride and prejudice... I am not from the West so perhaps I am not aware of more folklores or ancient myths... Brainstorm people!

May i ask what was Balanchine's comment??? "intrigued"

This is exciting! Thank you for all the replies. I still have doubts about the Pride and Prejudice plausibility though... Jane Austen fans always put great emphasis on the wit of Lizzy and the dialogue, so much hidden meaning; plus, how do you contrast the huge emotion inside and the cold formal English manners outside? It would be fantastic if it worked out though.

Hello I am a member of Dance.net as well and I would like to offer my possibly ignorant but hopefully tolerable opinion. As you said, members of Dance.net are almost all teenagers and ballet students. Students/graduates from ballet schools are likely to have been so much engrossed into perfecting their technique in their classes that they are likely to focus on technique more than when they actually enter the performance/company world. But perhaps we can just give them a little bit more time and let them grow artistically during their time in ballet companies and make the conclusion then? I wouldn't ignore the fact that ballet has become more athletic than ever but with so much amazing choreography I don't think any sensible and aspiring dancers can ignore the fact that they are artists not gymnasts. One trend, however, that I feel uncomfortable with are circus in, well, mainly China in which performers wear pointe shoes. There is actually a link called "crazy video" where you can watch a particular performance. The girl was balancing en pointe on top of the guy's HEAD!! This certainly might mislead audiences but all kinds of art are susceptible to wrong interpretations. But thank you for bringing this issue up, I agree that it is one important thing we should be aware of!

Hello, As a matter of fact, I would like to raise a question. In the classical ballets, very often dancers wear wigs, especially blond ones. Aurora can turn from a dark hair princess to a blond bride. Now that dancers are getting more international, I have to admit, blond wigs for Asian dancers, do not look as appealing. Is that the sad fact about classical ballet? that it only looks good with Caucasians? I must say, I admire all dancers from all nationalities. I hope this reply does not offend anyone.

Dear all, Before I introduce myself I would like to simply express my respect and reverence to you all and your professional and interesting discussions! I actually discovered ballet about 5 years ago. When I was about 4 years old, I went to ballet classes as all other little girls did. Somehow, I chose to do badminton, following my brother and left the artistic world of ballet behind. I was always intrigued by ballet, but never had the chance to know it better. I became good friends with a budding ballerina in high school, and one day she showed my the ABT Now DVD and it all began at that moment. The pointe shoes, the drama, the costumes, the art... I was amazed. I started taking adult classes, I started surfing on the net about ballet, I went to see Mayerling with the Royal Ballet, only managing to get the sit in the Amphitheatre, being a poor foreign student, zillion miles away from the stage, but I felt the buzz. I have got the worst body type for a ballerina. But I enjoy doing weekly adult classes at my university and fantasising about me being a ballerina every once and a while (too often, some may argue) Going to the Royal Opera House as if I am entering my shrine, getting extremely excited as I discover more and more about the ballet world. This website is heaven for me. So much information, so much discussion, and so much intellect and passion! I thank those who set up and participate in this website and I look forward to you all correcting my misconceptions about ballet or enlightening me in the future! Thank you! Yours faithfully, Sarita Chan

Hello everyone, I am a new member and having read all your professional and well researched discussions, I am utterly in awe and have felt a little bit scared in giving comments, let alone starting topics. But I have finally plucked up my courage and here it is, my first, hopefully not stupid question to you all. I have recently read about Johan Kobborg, Royal Ballet that he loves ballets with stories and that he feels that newly created ballets nowadays are all quite short and plotless. So I thought about possible ballet storylines that can be created on dancers! In China, the budding ballet companies are not at all short of stories, from gods to passionate folktales. For example, the White Snake and they even are taking storylines from traditional Chinese operas! So are Western or ancient plots running out? Or are story ballets just not the trend anymore? What are the criteria for ballets with a storyline? Drama, passion? Pride and Prejudice, or any other English Classics written in the Victorian times would be unsuitable since the English society was best at containing and reserving their emotions! I would be grateful if you all can give some suggestions! Thank you!