Symphony in C video question

[chrisk217]

Some Balanchine ballets have recently been on satelite tv among them Symphony in C with Allegra Kent and Conrad Ludlow in the 2nd movement.

Does anyone know when this was filmed? Looks like the 60s. Does anyone know who the other soloists are? The image is a bit blurry and I'm hopeless with faces.

Thank you!

[rg]

RM Productions filmed 15 NYCB balanchine ballets in Berlin in the late summer/early fall? of 1973.

the SYMPHONY IN C cast, which was to have included g.kirkland in the second movement until something derailed those plans - maybe kirkland's injury, thus summoning kent to berlin, is given on one televised version of the film as follows:

first movement: von aroldingen & bonnefous

second movement: kent & ludlow

third movement - cliffort & leland

fourth movement - morris & castelli

[chrisk217]

the SYMPHONY IN C cast, which was to have included g.kirkland in the second movement until something derailed those plans - maybe kirkland's injury, thus summoning kent to berlin

I'm sure Kirkland would have been wonderful but what incredible luck to film Allegra Kent in the 2nd movement. This is perhaps the most haunting ballet video of all time.

[ewb5689]

I ADORE Allegra in this video. She is absolutely divine.

[Helene]

Is this the color version that was excerpted in the "Dancing for Mr. B" video? There was another, black-and-white version that was used in the Balanchine bio on PBS.

[atm711]

Is this the color version that was excerpted in the "Dancing for Mr. B" video?

I watched this version last night. My granddaughter, who will be starting Columbia this month hopes to be taking some classes with Kent at Barnard and was so happy to have seen this clip. I, too, admired Kent greatly in this role. In fact, I always felt I was seeing it for the first time as Kent performed it. I did see LeClercq but never felt she was suited to the part.

[bart]

My heart is doing jetes. Any news about dvd availability?

[rg]

there are at least two films of SYMPHONY IN C w/ Kent in the second movement: the color version from RM Productions from the much maligned (by Balanchine himself) Berlin filmings in 1973, which has been shown on television here (if mem. serves) and in Europe around the time of release; it was even screened, maybe for a NYCB Guild event?, in one of the rehearsal studios of the (then) New York State Theater in the late? 1970s.

the other, as indicated above and excerpted like the color in some documentaries etc. about Balanchine, is the following:

[Lincoln Center Day, Sunday 22 September 1963] [motion picture]1963. 23 min.

Telecast on CBS-TV from Philharmonic Hall, N.Y.C., September 22, 1963. Narrated by Alistair Cooke and Jacques D'Amboise.

Choreography: George Balanchine. Performed by the New York City Ballet.

CONTENTS:--Symphony in C: 2nd movement (abridged). Music: Georges Bizet. Soloists: Allegra Kent and Conrad Ludlow.--Movements for piano and orchestra. Music: Igor Stravinski. Soloists: Suzanne Farrell and Jacques D'Amboise.--Symphony in C: 4th movement (abridged). Soloists: Patricia Wilde, Andre Prokovsky, Allegra Kent and Conrad Ludlow.

neither to the best of my knowledge has ever been considered for commercial release, but i suppose in this anniversary year for Lincoln Center and as NYCB moves into the 21st century, anything's possible.

[bart]

CONTENTS:--Symphony in C: 2nd movement (abridged). Music: Georges Bizet. Soloists: Allegra Kent and Conrad Ludlow.--Movements for piano and orchestra. Music: Igor Stravinski. Soloists: Suzanne Farrell and Jacques D'Amboise.--Symphony in C: 4th movement (abridged). Soloists: Patricia Wilde, Andre Prokovsky, Allegra Kent and Conrad Ludlow.

How wonderful it would be if they make this available ... and quite important for understanding the development of Balanchine and NYCB.

Anything with Kent would be a great gift. But it would also be fascinating to see Patricia Wilde again, a ballerina rarely mentioned on Ballet Talk, as well as Andre Prokovsky, who recently passed away. AND: Farrrell and d'Amboise -- a partnership that has been eclipsed in most people's minds by Farrell-Martins, but which was often beautiful, even stunning on stage.

[bart]

I've just had the chance to watch the Berlin Symphony in C tape. (Several times. ) The video quality is poor, with color phasing in and out and a general thickening and blurirng of images. Who knows how the concrete floor affected the performances -- but it cannot have been good. (A friend who was there says the experience was a "nightmare" and that Mr. B. was enraged.) Nevertheless, it's great to be reminded of the energy and momentum that the company brought to Balanchine in those days (even in adagio). The finale -- which always has, for me, a feel of ballerina competition -- is thrilling despite the poor videography.

I loved seeing Leland and Morris again. Both are dancers I remember enjoying but can't quite place in my visual memory. Bonnefous in the first movement is fast and rather exciting, and Aroldingen -- who often gets a bad rap, it seems to me -- carried off the allegro quite well.

Kent by 1973 was clearly not the dancer I remember from her youth. 2nd Movement was her role at the time I first attended NYCB, and she made it my favorite part of the ballet. By 1973, much of Kent's flexibility has been lost. So has some of the risk-taking I remember. There's an unexpected hesitancy in such things as the dive downward to a 180-degree arabesque, with head touching the knee. I've been told that she simplified some of the pirouettes (possibly at the spur of the moment) in this video.

I suspect that the 1963 CBS-TV video, mentioned by rg above, would give a sense of just how delicately and confidently she flowed through this part when she was in her prime. Viva Kent!

I wonder what Kirkland was like in the role. Did she dance it in New York? Did anyone see her?

[rg]

kirkland danced the 2nd mov. on a number of occasions, if mem. serves.

her partner was Nolan T'sani.

see notations below from NYPL cat. data on some of Lucia Wayne's silent films from the time; the SYM/C segments are set off here by three asterisks. (the recently posted youtube of GK's Giselle solo is from this same 'source' but unlike the youtube w/ newly added musical accompaniment, these library's copy - a gift from GK herself - is all in silence - so far, no sound added:

[Gelsey Kirkland] [videorecording] 1974.1 videocassette (93 min.) : si., col.

Recorded in performance at New York State Theater, New York, N.Y., by Lucia R. Wayne.

Excerpts from various ballet performances, focusing on Gelsey Kirkland.

Danced by New York City Ballet: Gelsey Kirkland and others.

Irish fantasy [excerpts] (ca. 15 min.) / recorded on February 3, 1974 (matinee) ; choreography, Jacques d'Amboise ; scenery and lighting, David Hays ; costumes, Karinska ; danced by Gelsey Kirkland, Jacques d'Amboise, Bart Cook, Francis Sackett, others.

Don Quixote. Act II, Pas de deux mauresque [excerpts] (ca. 5 min.) / recorded on February 7, 1974 ; choreography, George Balanchine ; scenery, costumes and lighting, Esteban Francés ; danced by Gelsey Kirkland and Victor Castelli. Lacks male variation.

Don Quixote. Act II, Pas de deux mauresque [excerpts] (ca. 6 min.) / recorded on February 13, 1974 ; choreography, George Balanchine ; scenery, costumes and lighting, Esteban Francés ; danced by Gelsey Kirkland and John Clifford. Lacks male variation.

Tarantella [excerpts] (ca. 6 min.) / recorded on February 15, 1974 ; choreography, George Balanchine ; costumes, Karinska ; danced by Gelsey Kirkland and Edward Villella. Lacks much of choreography for male dancer.

Monumentum pro Gesualdo [excerpts] (ca. 7 min.) / recorded on February 16, 1974 (evening) ; choreography, George Balanchine ; lighting, Ronald Bates ; danced by New York City Ballet: Gelsey Kirkland, Tracy Bennett, and others. This segment is identified in title on frame as "Monumentum/Movements," but does not contain the second ballet, Movements for piano and orchestra.

Monumentum pro Gesualdo [excerpts] (ca. 7 min.) / repetition of footage above.

***Symphony in C [excerpts] (ca. 30 min.) / recorded on February 16 and 17, 1974 ; choreography, George Balanchine ; costumes, Karinska ; lighting, Ronald Bates ; danced by Gelsey Kirkland and Nolan T'Sani, others. Includes two repetitions of second movement, and three repetitions of the choreography danced by Kirkland in fourth movement.***

The cage [excerpts] (ca. 7 min.) / recorded on June 21, 1974 ; choreography, Jerome Robbins ; scenery and lighting, Jean Rosenthal ; costumes, Ruth Sobotka ; danced by Gelsey Kirkland (the novice), Gloria Govrin (the queen) ; Robert Maiorano ([first] intruder) ; Francisco Moncion ([second] intruder), others.

A midsummer night's dream. Act II, Divertissement (excerpts) (ca. 10 min.) / recorded on June 30, 1974 ; choreography, George Balanchine ; scenery and lighting, David Hays ; costumes, Karinska ; danced by Gelsey Kirkland, Jacques d'Amboise, and ensemble.