Ari

I don't know about Siegfried being fated to fall for Odile—I've never sensed any supernatural sources at work in Swan Lake, unless you count Von Rothbart. I've always thought of Siegfried as being something of a weakling, what with his imperious mother and fussy tutor, and always thought him pretty dumb to mistake Odile for Odette, when the choreography usually makes it crystal clear that this is a Bad Girl and the ballerina usually goes out of her way to live up to the image.

Dale, thank you for those wonderful quotes from Diana Adams. It's so gratifying to hear one ballerina praise another. But perhaps that is characteristic of muses, whose first devotion must be to the artist they inspire. You asked who Patricia McBride's predecessor was. I remember Arlene Croce once writing that the ballerina whom McBride most resembled was Marie-Jeanne, and went on to praise McBride's performance of one of Balanchine's works for M-J, Ballet Imperial (or Tchaikovsky Concerto #2). I must say I'm surprised by the relatively little discussion about Tanaquil Le Clerq. Many writers, including Croce, have stressed the importance of Le Clerq to the development of the "Balanchine ballerina." And her influence continued even after her retirement—Croce once suggested that Balanchine choreographed the Agon pas de deux (on Adams) with Le Clerq in mind.

Dale, thank you for those wonderful quotes from Diana Adams. It's so gratifying to hear one ballerina praise another. But perhaps that is characteristic of muses, whose first devotion must be to the artist they inspire. You asked who Patricia McBride's predecessor was. I remember Arlene Croce once writing that the ballerina whom McBride most resembled was Marie-Jeanne, and went on to praise McBride's performance of one of Balanchine's works for M-J, Ballet Imperial (or Tchaikovsky Concerto #2). I must say I'm surprised by the relatively little discussion about Tanaquil Le Clerq. Many writers, including Croce, have stressed the importance of Le Clerq to the development of the "Balanchine ballerina." And her influence continued even after her retirement—Croce once suggested that Balanchine choreographed the Agon pas de deux (on Adams) with Le Clerq in mind.

NYCB corps dancer Jamie Wolf is featured in a half-page profile in the November issue of Vogue. She's also a jewelry designer and the piece focuses on her fashion preferences.

Leigh is right. The original cast was McBride, Villella, and Pat Neary. Leland/Clifford/C. Neary or Frankfurt were in subsequent casts.

Ronny, we're talking about two separate things here: Delibes's score for Sylvia and Ashton's choreography. Delibes's copyright expired a long time ago, which means that any orchestra or ballet company is free to use the music without charge or supervision by any of the composer's heirs. Ashton's choreography is considered the best of modern attempts to stage the ballet in its entirety, which is why people have been discussing it here. There's nothing to stop any company or choreographer from making a new version. I don't know whether ballet librettists have a property right in their work. Interesting question.

Re "spinach:" Although I haven't read the piece either, I suspect that Barnes is referring to a famous New Yorker cartoon from the 1920s in which a little boy reacts to his mother's serving him vegetables by saying, "I say it's spinach and I say the hell with it." The line has become a way of calling a spade a spade. (In those days, children did not swear.)

Re "spinach:" Although I haven't read the piece either, I suspect that Barnes is referring to a famous New Yorker cartoon from the 1920s in which a little boy reacts to his mother's serving him vegetables by saying, "I say it's spinach and I say the hell with it." The line has become a way of calling a spade a spade. (In those days, children did not swear.)

I saw the Shanghai Ballet last week in Fairfax, Virginia (not the Coppelia but The White Haired Girl) and attended a talk by the company's director before the show. She said the company was founded in 1979 and both it and its school are supported by the state. I believe she said that there are one or two other ballet companies that also get government funding. Although I didn't see Coppelia, I think that Lacotte's reconstruction was meant to be of the original Arthur Saint-Leon choreography, not the more familiar choreography by Petipa, which is why you didn't recognize it, Amy.

I remember her, Alexandra, although I never saw her dance. She got quite a lot of publicity at one time. Her parents staged Giselle for her, but I never heard anything of her after that. Does anyone know if she joined a company and what became of her?

There's an item on the BBC website at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/a...rts/2281136.stm, but it's mainly taken from the ROH's press release.

Wow is right! I'm glad that someone bred in the Royal Ballet's tradition is taking over the company, at least temporarily. I hope she'll be able to steer the company back in the right direction. On the other hand, she's a real MacMillan fan, from what I recall . . .

I was surprised to read your negative comments on The Corrections, BW and dirac. I found it thoughtful, poignant, and frequently hilarious. It's true that the first chapter is extremely tedious, but it's not at all representative of the rest of the novel. If you skip it, dirac, you'll find that the rest of the book is lively, rich in character and incident, and often hysterically funny. By the end I felt I knew the Lamberts inside out, and hated to part with them.

There's a theory that says that Gothic-type stories are popular in times of rapid technological change, which was true in the early 19th century (industrialization) and, God knows, is true today. The theory goes that as science and engineering pioneer new ways of doing things that are based on the logical and the scientific, people turn away from the rational and embrace the power of the imagination. Happily for us, ballet is ideally suited to express fantasy, whether it takes the form of spirits or just of divinely beautiful dancers doing things that ordinary mortals could never dream of doing.

About The Four Temperaments—while it was admired by many critics who were primarily ballet-oriented (as opposed to modern), the assumption that Balanchine was working in an idiom more modern than classical was quite prevalent both at the time of the premiere and for years afterwards. Read Repertory in Review. I don't think it's possible for many new works of art to be fairly judged at the time of their premiere. Arthur Miller, who often writes about politics on one level or another, recently responded to the critical drubbing of his latest play by saying that he's always had this problem—when the play is new, all that people can see is its political stance, and it isn't until some time has passed that the aesthetic merits of the piece can be appreciated and all the elements viewed as a whole. By the same token, when an innovative choreographer premieres a new ballet, it's easy to see only its unusual aspects, and that may equate to "unclassical" in some people's eyes. So I get very uneasy when people start pigeonholing works of art as though there were clean, bright lines between categories that are always obvious.

About The Four Temperaments—while it was admired by many critics who were primarily ballet-oriented (as opposed to modern), the assumption that Balanchine was working in an idiom more modern than classical was quite prevalent both at the time of the premiere and for years afterwards. Read Repertory in Review. I don't think it's possible for many new works of art to be fairly judged at the time of their premiere. Arthur Miller, who often writes about politics on one level or another, recently responded to the critical drubbing of his latest play by saying that he's always had this problem—when the play is new, all that people can see is its political stance, and it isn't until some time has passed that the aesthetic merits of the piece can be appreciated and all the elements viewed as a whole. By the same token, when an innovative choreographer premieres a new ballet, it's easy to see only its unusual aspects, and that may equate to "unclassical" in some people's eyes. So I get very uneasy when people start pigeonholing works of art as though there were clean, bright lines between categories that are always obvious.

These works may be unpopular not because they're experimental, Ed, but because they're unfamiliar. A new classical ballet, or a new non-experimental opera, would face a similar uphill battle in finding audiences. As we've discussed before, an adaptation of a "known commodity" can alleviate this. I've had people tell me that Romeo & Juliet is "a classic"—no R&J in particular, just any full-length ballet to Prokofiev's score. I assume they are defining classics as conventional full-length story ballets with costumes and sets and scores that don't hurt your ear too badly and that are based on other works with an accepted cultural pedigree. That definition of classicism isn't mine, but it highlights the problem of defining classicism.

These works may be unpopular not because they're experimental, Ed, but because they're unfamiliar. A new classical ballet, or a new non-experimental opera, would face a similar uphill battle in finding audiences. As we've discussed before, an adaptation of a "known commodity" can alleviate this. I've had people tell me that Romeo & Juliet is "a classic"—no R&J in particular, just any full-length ballet to Prokofiev's score. I assume they are defining classics as conventional full-length story ballets with costumes and sets and scores that don't hurt your ear too badly and that are based on other works with an accepted cultural pedigree. That definition of classicism isn't mine, but it highlights the problem of defining classicism.

Part of the problem, I think, is determining what is "modern" or "crossover." To what extent do you want to ban experimentation from ballet? Does this mean that nothing outside of what we now think of as ballet (and there are lots of different explanations) will be permitted? Every great choreographer has innovated. What if some influential, self-appointed arbiter of classicism had seen The Four Temperaments in 1947 and declared it modern dance and therefore unballetic? Would NYCB have never gotten off the ground, or have had a much harder time than it did?

Part of the problem, I think, is determining what is "modern" or "crossover." To what extent do you want to ban experimentation from ballet? Does this mean that nothing outside of what we now think of as ballet (and there are lots of different explanations) will be permitted? Every great choreographer has innovated. What if some influential, self-appointed arbiter of classicism had seen The Four Temperaments in 1947 and declared it modern dance and therefore unballetic? Would NYCB have never gotten off the ground, or have had a much harder time than it did?

The Russian speakers on this board will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's pronounced ah-nan-YASH-vee-lee. If you were speaking to her in Russian, you'd probably say Nina Father'sName-ovna, but over here it's perfectly fine to say Miss/Ms. Ananiashvili. Is there a chance that you'll be meeting her soon, Old Fashioned?

Lolly, I suggest you tell your teacher that learning about classical music is an essential part of your training as a dancer. If she's a good teacher, she'll understand.

Playbill Online has a list of the 26 PBS stations that will air Contact. All but two (Boston and Indianapolis) will be showing it at 9:00 pm on Sunday, local time. On the East Coast, it will be live. Playbill Online article

Elizabeth Zimmer reviews Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo in the Village Voice.

Elizabeth Zimmer reviews Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo in the Village Voice.