perichoresis

Thank you. Recently found this: " O Earth, weigh lightly upon me, I trod so lightly upon thee" Greek Epitaph " My dancers fall that they might rise" Martha Graham.

All dances are too long. - Doris Humphrey I demand of the dance that it reveal the divine in man. - Doris Humphrey

It was said that Tudor " could choreograph to the very eyelash.

Such a rich, evocative, description of the Russian émigré teachers, their quirks, temperaments, nature of their classes, seen through such a personal lens. What an experience and heritage you have Richard!

Also ":Airs" Paul Taylor

I have at times thought about the eras of history, in which cultures and artistic forms have flourished then declined. For instance Renaissance Italy was a well spring of great artistic achievement, its extraordinary achievements in architecture, sculpture and painting. Out of Europe came the great musical masterworks and more relevantly on this forum, the art which we love...the ballet. To me it seems ,considering the rise and fall of such things mentioned above that leads me to wonder if and when the art of classical dance may fall away. This consideration seems pessimistic but I raise it just as a point of enquiry. In regard to musical compositions I think truly enduring and great compositions ceased around about half. way through the last century.Huge turning points in history ( ie the industrial revolution) wrought vast changes in society, modes of living etc. Now we are in a new equally profound time of change ( that is the era of the electronic and internet technologies) One thinks of the context in which such an immortal work...Bach's Mass in B minor was created, supremely talented composers, employment by the church, a time where people had time and space to listen, ..and I mean really listen.I hope with all my being that the glorious art of classical dance will go ion and on. One thing I am sure of, people will always dance in one form or another, for movement and time and space are our realities.

What is it with Kylian, Mozart, and sword-play? In three ballets Birthday, Six Dances, and Petite Mort, all to the music of Mozart, the great choreographer has to a lesser or greater extent employed the rapier to augment his work.In Petite Mort six rapiers are integral to the work, almost serving as partners in themselves, six men provide astonishing sword-play but in an almost military way, only after this do six ladies join the chaps in Mozart's sublime sensual music.The work is suffused with aggression, sexual tension and energy, but also stillness and vulnerability.A Freudian sub-text no doubt springs to mind ( particularly as the French employ the term Petite Morte "little death" in a sexual context.) But kylian is too nuanced and dimensional to be reduced to such analysis.Six dances ( Mozart's Six German Dances) provides ribald, earthy and surreal fun, with disturbing under-tones , witty , coarse, and fast, The composer himself I'm certain would have loved it, his scatelogical Rabelasian earthy humour ( read his letters!) is wonderfully well represented.The chalk dust on wigs, the bizarre, witty nods to the Baroque and Rococo times...I am wondering, is it only when Kylian uses Mozart's music that the swords come out? Was Kylian ever a fencer?

extraordinary!!! Elgar once said "I have sung the trees' music, or have they sung mine? His nickname for his daughter was "fish-face" Poor girl!

It has been an age since I've contributed, but the thought occurs to me, which ballet/ballets, would you most dearly love to see but as yet have not. There are more than a few on my list but Ashton's "Enigma Variations" is a work I have long desired to see. For a start I adore this composition of Elgar, the portrait of friends within.The great noble "Nimrod" variation has become a signature for state and solemn occasions.England had not had a great composer since Purcell , and when the Enigma Variations ( Elgar's first masterpiece) was heard, England realised that here was a composer of international stature. The Edwardian evocations of courtesy and wonderful eccentricity, portraits in music of Elgar's circle of friends, inspired Ashton to realise this marvellous music in a work so quintessentially "English" I understand that a bicycle has a "role" in this ballet( The composer called his bicycle "Mr Phoebus" ) I think the ballet ends with a telegram given to Elgar , conveying the conductor Hans Richter's agreement to conduct Elgar's first symphony in Ab. At its rehearsal, Richter said to the orchestra "Gentlemen, let us rehearse the greatest symphony of our time, and not only in England" But that is another story... It would be most interesting to see what readers have in mind.

The following dialogue was selected from a book.Here goes.... Frank "Yo! What's shaking? Tony "Not much buddy-boy.repaired another 72 cubic Freez-O-Matic today.ain't they the worst? Frank "Fuggedaboutit.Faulty freon tubes left and right.Gimme that side by side Kenmore any day I always say. Tony "Didja get a look at that prima ballerina tonight? Whoa, what a dancer. Frank "You got that right.Never seen such a line.She musta practised with a tape measure. Tony "Yeah, how about that pas de deux-did you catch that amazing pointe work.Quick but delicate, like a Rapid R-53 staple gun. Frank "And those 32 fouettes in the coda. It was like she was drillin' a hole in the floor at 900 rpm with an 18 volt Black&Decker cordless. Tony "Yeah but what's with her partner? No turnout at all during his variation.Sheesh! Frank "Yeah, what does he think he is, a Ramelson 11/64 straight handle skew chisel? Tony "And he totally messed up his menage.turned it into a diagonL halfway through. He coudda used a plumb bob level.Whadda louse. Frank "Yeah... got something stuck in his dance belt. Tony "See you at Beethoven's 9th tonight? Frank "count on it. Go figure! Ciao Tony

Sorry to misquote your name Sandy.Accuracy is a virtue most particularly in your field.

I appreciate your insightful observations Sandy.You have an observant eye and mind.I am a bit isolated here in New Zealand but worked for two years in Australia, both at the National Ballet Theatre in St Kilda, and also at the Victorian College of the Arts.But it was at Danceworld 301 where I played briefly for Gelsey Kirkland.Back here at the new Zealand School of Dance I saw Concerto Barocco quite a few times.And I agree that Bach and Balanchine are in fact almost certainly in the divine sphere as we speak.I read somewhere that Balanchine somewhere had dancers held vertically upside down doing entrechats.Apparantly this was to indicate an inverted fugual theme.sounds extraordinary but my memory is usually quite impressive.Bach and Balanchine share the architectonic gift, constructing on occasion cathedral- like forms in their work. Being men of faith (Devout Lutheran and Russian Orthodox) and having faith myself I rather think Sandy's celestial hope for them is in fact predicated on reality.But that is entirely another subject.

To answer the questions, I am a pianist.My father had degrees in mathematics and physics and I seem to have inherited his love of both.I recall my father factorising number plates on motor vehicles.Numbers seemed to be his friend.For instance 13 squared = 169. 31 squared =961.The transpositions are nice. Our teacher is a woman of high intelligence and given to somewhat cryptic remarks on occasion. Rarely do her observations border on the mysterious but this remark came so far out of left field it took me a few minutes to fully appreciate its depth.Possibly my imagination was heightened during the time.I was about halfway through the character variation when she uttered this.I thought it was rather elegant that the requested direction she wished her dancers to inscribe was an ellipse around the studio.I thought of the elliptical orbit the sub-atomic particles will soon take around the vast large hadron collider.I think her linking Rutherford with magnets was a highly imaginative remark but I doubt whether she really understood as Sean has pointed out the inconsistency between the two.Quite some years ago I began to explore the feasibilty of writing a paper on the physics of the ballet studio (Newtonian laws) but I didn't get too far.Someone told me that a Polish physicist did this about forty years ago.Perhaps I was interpreting too deeply implied meaning .

Many thanks for a swift and informative reply.I can see why the other brandenburs mentioned didn't last for long.