TATSU

Hi, Nadezhda You can see her bio & pictures on following: http://www.aha.ru/~vladmo/natalia.html Ledovskaya is a very lovely dancer with smart tecunique. I love her Kitri

There 4 documentary titles about Sylvie Guillem available in Japan. I haven't seen all of them but the contents are following: - "Evidentia" Including excerpts from "SMOKE"(MATS EK), "BLUE YELLOW"(JONATHAN BURROWS), a solo (WILLIAM FORSYTHE), etc. http://www.warnerclassics.com/nvcarts/pr/d...ce/evidenti.htm - "Sylvie Guillem" (1993) [PILC-1161, Pioneer] Including excerpts from "Swan Lake", "Manon", "In the Middle Somewhat Elevated" (FORSYTHE), "Wet Woman" (EK), etc. - "Sylvie Guillem au travail" (1987) [PHVG-4004, Nippon Phonogram] A documentary about SG in her POB days. Including rehearsal scenes of "In the Middle Somewhat Elevated", "Raymonda", "Cinderella" and so on. - "Sylvie Guillem", (2001), [TDVT-0005, TDK Core] -- maybe available only in Japan Including rehearsal scenes of "Giselle" (her own production for Finnish Ballet), "R&J", "Don Quixote."

I know there are two videos of Trocks. Vol 1 contains Swan Lake, Raymonda, etc. Vol 2 contains Le Sylph, Dying Swan, Paqhita, etc. They are VHS, from TDK Core Inc. Unfortunatelly, they are sold only in Japan. If you read Japanese, you can buy from Amazon.co.jp or TDK Core's Web site (http://www.core.tdk.co.jp/cjbal01/index.htm.) You can contact with TDK Core Inc. in following: 104-0032 1-9-6 Haccho-bori Chuohku Tokyo JAPAN TDK Core Inc. Tel:03-3555-1132@Fax:03-3555-0029

Hi, v. oh. Asian Pacific IBC is held by Japan Ballet Association every other year. The last one was in 2001 in which ZHANG JUN from Singapore won a prize. The 9th Asian Pacific IBC is to 2003 8/13-17 in Tokyo. Contact with Japan Ballet Association: TEL 03-3499-5524 FAX 03-3498-7001

The competition is held every three years. The next will be in 2005. Most of works for the modern dance division are danced without pointe shoes, though I can't classify which work is modern and which one is not. The official Web site says, "the theme and form of the dance to be performed is without restriction," so contemporary ballet with pointe shoes will be accepted. May be the only difference between the classical and modern divisions is whether the works are originated for the competition or not.

And the final result for the classic ballet division: Gold Medal: - MENG Ning Ning, CHINA - JIAO Yang, CHINA Silver Medal: - Priscilla YOKOI, BRAZIL - Jean-Sebastien COLAURANCE, FRANCE Bronze Award: - Asta BAZEVICIUTE, LITHUANIA - Tomonori OCHI, JAPAN - YU Bo, CHINA Special Jury Award: - Maiko UEMURA, JAPAN - Serhat GUDUL, TURKEY Special Choreograghy Award: - E.Wesolowski "BROTHER", POLAND Junior Recognition Award: - Polina SEMIONOVA, RUSSIA - Carlos CABALLERO HOPUY, CUBA An award ceremony/awards gala will be held on 17 Feb in Aichi Prefectural Art Theater. Congratulations for all of prizewinners! [ February 19, 2002: Message edited by: TATSU ]

Prior to the classic division, the final result for the modern dance division: GoldMedal: - Seok Hun RYU & Yun Kyung LEE (KOREA); "Romeo and Juliet II" (chore. Seok Hun RYU/ Yun Kyung LEE) Silver Medal: - Eun Sung PARK & Sung Yong KIM (KOREA); "WHERE IS MY MOON?" (chore. Kwan Jung SON) Bronze Medal: - Edward CLUG (ROMANIA) & Valentina TURCU (SLOVENIA); "FIRST LETTER" (chore. Edward CLUG) Special Jury Award - Adriana MORTELLITI (ITALY) & Corneliu GANEA (ROMANIA); "80% Polyester 20% Elastan" (chore. A. Mortelliti/C. Ganea) Special Choreograghy Award - Seok Hun RYU & Yun Kyung LEE (KOREA); "Romeo and Juliet II" (chore. Seok Hun RYU/ Yun Kyung LEE) [ February 19, 2002: Message edited by: TATSU ]

The dancers passed Round I were following (* - finalists): Name -- Sex -- Nationality -- Company Olimpia Cristina CHETA F -- ROMANIA -- Oleg Danovsky Ballet Company-Constantza Zhanat ATYMTAYEV -- M -- KAZAKHSTAN -- Swansea Ballet Russe Marcin KUPINSKI -- M -- POLAND -- National Ballet School In Gdansk Izabela SOKOLOWSKA -- F -- POLAND -- National Ballet School in Gdansk *Keigo FUKUDA -- M -- JAPAN -- K Ballet Studio *Yudai FUKUOKA -- M -- JAPAN -- K Ballet Studio Shino ONISHI -- F -- JAPAN -- Kitayama･Onishi Ballet Company *Satomi SOI -- F -- JAPAN -- Tanaka Chikako Junior Ballet *Akira EYA -- M -- JAPAN -- Akamatau Masaru Ballet Company Joseph PHILLIPS -- M -- U.S.A -- North Carolina School of the Arts Viktorija IZOTOVA -- F -- LATVIA -- Latvian National Opera *Polina SEMIONOVA -- F -- RUSSIA -- The Bolshoi Ballet School Sergey VASYUCHENKO -- M -- RUSSIA -- The Kremlin Ballet *Takuma OSHIBA -- M -- JAPAN -- Miyagi Noboru Ballet Studio *Tomonori OCHI -- M -- JAPAN -- Ballet International de Ochi Eri MORI -- F -- JAPAN -- Ballet International de Ochi *Isa MORI -- F -- JAPAN -- Wakui Ballet Company *Priscilla YOKOI -- F -- BRAZIL -- Especial Grupo de Dancas Classicas Rene SALAZAR DAVID -- M -- BRAZIL -- Especial Grupo de Dancas Classicas *Maiko UEMURA -- F -- JAPAN -- Tsukamoto Yoko Ballet Studio･Nagoya･Teatre･de･Ballet *Serhat GUDUL -- M -- TURKEY -- Ankara State Opera and Ballet Kenta SHIMIZU -- M -- JAPAN -- Soda Ballet School KIM Joon-Bum -- M -- KOREA -- The Korea National Ballet HONG Jung-Min -- F -- KOREA -- The Korea National Ballet SHIN Hyun-Gi -- M -- KOREA -- The Korea National Ballet *Jean-Sebastien COLAU -- M -- FRANCE -- Ballet de l'Opera de Paris Nanae MARUYAMA -- F -- JAPAN -- International Performing Arts/Ishii kiyoko Ballet Institute *Carlos CABALLERO HOPUY -- M -- CUBA -- Escuela Nacioanal de Ballet *Asta BAZEVICIUTE -- F -- LITHUANIA -- The Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet *FANG Zhong-Jing -- F -- CHINA -- Shanghai Teachers University Arts College *MENG Ning Ning -- F -- CHINA -- The National Ballet of China *YU Bo -- M -- CHINA -- The National Ballet of China Ilke KODAL -- F -- TURKEY -- Istanbul State Opera and Ballet *LU Meng -- M -- CHINA -- Liaoning Ballet XING Dongting -- F -- CHINA -- Liaoning Ballet *JIAO Yang -- M -- CHINA -- Liaoning Ballet ZHAO Yuan -- F -- CHINA -- Liaoning Ballet As you can see, most of participants are Asian. I can't forecast who will win a prize because I'm not there. I just know the result from the competition's Web site. I've only seen some Japanese dancers. Among them Mr. Akira EYA seems to be close to a prize, IMO. He is short but has smart technique. Mr. Yudai FUKUOKA is also a promising young dancer. He has received many prizes in internal competitions but I'm not sure he is ready to win in such an IBC. I heard Ms. MENG NingNing and Ms. FANG Zhong-Jing both from China are good dancers. The results for Final will be announced on 16 Feb. [ February 14, 2002: Message edited by: TATSU ]

Nagoya International Ballet & Modern Dance Competition -- Classical Ballet Devision Round I Results: http://www.tokai-tv.com/event/calender/mai...t/e12kekka.html

Stuttgart Ballet came to Japan after its eight years absence. The company performed John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet and Taming of Shrew, and I saw both in Tokyo. As far as I can see, Sue Jin Kan won the biggest praise among other dancers in these performances. In R&J, Sue Jin Kan/Robert Tewsley and Yseult Lendvai/Vladimir Malakhov were casted in Juliet/Romeo. Kan was beautiful, delicate, and really passionate Juliet. I adored her exceptional expression. The pairing of Kan and Tewsley was fine. The passion and dynamism they showed in the balcony scene were far beyond the other pair Lendvai/Malakhov. Marcia Haydee performed Lady Capulet was a big present for Japanese ballet goers. Sue Jin Kan was fine as Kate in Shrew, too. She completely changed from a lovely young girl to a rough, crabby shrew. Philip Balanchievich (sp?) was really handsome Petrouchio. His strong techniques excited the audience. The dancers were generally well trained. I've never seen a company such that all dancers had so beautiful legs! I hope the company returns again soon with Cranko's another masterpiece, Onegin. [ February 12, 2002: Message edited by: TATSU ]

I believe the reason why the dancers, especially Japanese, are eager to participate in IBC is they don’t have good environment to dance in their own country. For example, the first national ballet company in Japan was founded in 1997 (just four years ago!) Although there are many private companies in Tokyo, they generally don’t pay enough salary to their dancers. It’s natural for talented young dancers to seek their job in Europe or USA. IBC is good chance for them to advertise themselves.

She moved to Royal Danish Ballet several years ago, and she has already retired . [ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: TATSU ]

I've seen Peter Write's, Vladimir Vashiliev's, and Constantin Sergeyev's. I like Write's production best, because it's the most logical and dramatic, IMO. It clearly shows the difference in social status between peasants and aristocrats in Act I (for example, Giselle never look at Bathilde directly until knowing she is Albrecht's fiance), so I can straightly understand why Giselle despaired so much when she knew Albrecht was an aristocrat. [ 04-24-2001: Message edited by: TATSU ]

XinXin, Ifm little bit pity you donft enjoy it. I, however, totally agree to your negative impressions of UENO Mizuka. She has much more reputation than she deserves. Audiences say WOOOW when she kicks her leg sky-high, but the admiration is only to her physical ability not her artistic talent. I donft know why the company cast her in big roles. Her Odette I saw last year was just awful...

I'm not sure the historical ratio of men and women in audiences for Japanese traditional performances (such as Noh and Kabuki). I can say, however, the audiences for those perfomances today are predominantly female. I think the tendency, more or less, has been kept from hundreds years ago. I wrote in the previous post, "there is no tradition of escorting their wives." It means, most of Japanese don't think that husbands should bring their wives to the party, theater, or other public occasion. And it doesn't mean HUSBANDS won't take their wives out: sometimes (or often?) WIVES won't take their husbands out. When going to the theater, wives generally choose their friends as companions, not their husbands. Maybe they want to devote themselves to dreamy performances rather than take care for their ordinary husbands -- well, it's just my imagination .