sandik

I saw Korbes as the Strip Tease Girl at the season opener last September, and she was very fresh and open -- she reminded me of descriptions of Suzanne Farrell in the role. And have you noticed all the television ads the company has bought for this program. I can hear one now, during the 11 pm news on channel 4, as I'm writing this.

"What's Opera, Doc?" is amazing! Our local history museum is hosting an exhibit about the golden age of Warner Brothers cartoons. Lots of sketches and cells, some timing sheets (very detailed) and a viewing booth in the back of the gallery with "What's Opera, Doc"? on the playlist.

They're taking a Ulysses Dove triple bill to Jacob's Pillow.

I love the whole thing, actually, even the parts that aren't really canon.

I was so happy to see footage of him in the recent American Masters documentary on Jerome Robbins -- I remember how sad we all were about his death.

It's running here in Seattle for a week. That seemed very contrived to me as well. Was she just looking for a different manufacturer altogether? I thought that by the time you get to her level, you've got people inside the company that you work with. No kidding. I was interested to see how infrequently the dancer asks questions, or even acknowledges the comments of the coach. If I remember correctly, only Vishneva seemed to have much to say in the process. The rest felt very silent. Is it just me, or are there some awkwardnesses in the narration? I know he lived into the 20th century, but Petipa is not usually referred to as a 20th century choreographer. And does the Kirov refer to all their female principals as Prima Ballerina? (that term gets bandied around here pretty casually, and it always makes me cringe)

I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm very fond of Kathak. Thanks to Microsoft hiring a large number of Indians, we have a fairly active community here, and there are several artists (Kathak and other styles) practicing locally. I'm a big sucker for rhythm, and there's so much going on in this work.

All my friends agree with you -- I had to be elsewhere, but everyone is chattering away about it.

I know they like to wait till the last minute to see how everyone is doing, but it makes it hard to organize the rest of life. I always try to see as many different casts as I can that first weekend, if I'm reviewing, but there's other stuff I have to see as well. (not to mention the family thing...)

The company has put a nicely edited film clip from West Side Story Suite up on their website here If I squint at it just right, it looks like Lucien Postelwaite is cast as Tony and I think it's Sara Ricard Orza as Maria, but that's harder to tell (hair down and seen mostly from behind)

My mother used to tell about seeing Lawrence of Arabia, which does have a cue for an intermission -- she said that after all those desert scenes she raced to the lobby at the intermission, and bought the biggest orange soda they had!

Found this femme fatale when I was reading along about Bryn Terfel on another thread.

This man, who bears a passing resemblance to John Goodman in The Flintstones, has a gaze that bores into your soul, a gaze that is, quite simply, magnetic. I like John Goodman, but have never thought of his Fred Flintstone as being particularly charismatic! Different theaters work intermission policies differently. In some cases, the house itself gets whatever profit from the concession, in other cases, a separate contractor comes in and gets the profit in exchange for taking on the burden. It's rare to go to an opera that doesn't have some kind of break, but that happens frequently in contemporary dance, especially in a program with a single, through-composed work. Overtime clauses can have different triggers -- in some cases they're based on the total time in the theater, and in others they're related to a specific time on the clock. I think it's interesting, though, when you compare opera/dance to film -- between the previews and the actual movie, we often spend 2-3 hours in our seats without any break (of course, we often do slip out for one reason or another, but we do this knowing that we'll be missing part of the show) Tangentially, relating to the thread on glamor, I noticed this article femme fatale next to the article on Terfel.

I haven't seen this production (can't afford to travel right now) so am extra glad for the reporting from everyone. Courtesy of my son's Humanities class reading Dracula, and an excellent lecture from film historian about German Expressionist film I've been thinking about the dark side of Romanticism lately (re-watching Nosferatu). The drama of SL won't really work unless Odile is fully realized, unless she is truly desirable, and I think this extends to the characterization of Von Rothbart. I don't think he needs to sweep the Queen Mother off her feet, but he needs to alluring on some level -- when he's reduced to a flapping caricature in spandex the balance is all off. We're Swanning up here soon, and am looking forward to seeing this dynamic again.

I must say that, as much as I appreciate your criticism, I'm always tickled to see your tourist commentary!

I agree. And I agree with this too -- Tudor!!

Here is the official notice from the Martha Graham Center Pearl Lang 1921-2009 It is with great sadness that we bring you news of the death of the great American dance artist and teacher, Pearl Lang. Pearl passed away on February 24 at the age of 87. She suffered a heart attack while recovering from recent hip surgery. Pearl was still teaching the advanced class at the Graham School weeks before her surgery and her renowned composition course as recently as last summer. She will be remembered by generations of Graham dancers for her dedication, passion and her unrelenting commitment to the highest ideals of the art form. Her influence in the Graham world is immeasurable. We will miss her profoundly. A short film celebrating Pearl is posted on our web site at www.marthagraham.org We are collecting remembrances of Pearl to share online. Please send us your own memories of this extraordinary woman at: marthagrahamschool, or e-mail mgschool.myspace@gmail.com. Information about tributes or memorial services will be posted at www.marthagraham.org

Oh my lord, what a fabulous story! What an amazing perspective you would have had, and on such a bravura work too! I envy you seeing Gades and his ensemble in this context.

This comment in a different thread by Helene "L'Elisir d'Amore: I've only seen this once, when I was comped, because I'm too much of a grump to see a comedy that's not bittersweet." got me thinking about how to start watching opera, since this was the first one I ever saw. (the local opera company had an education program at the time that went out into the schools with a chamberized version of the work, alongside some other orientation and classroom stuff, then took us all to see a matinee of the actual production). I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Elixer, because of this. So, what was your first opera, or, in a perfect world, what would you suggest as a first opera for someone just coming to the art form?

I think there's self-parody, but not self-delusion. This was an intelligent woman, who had written plays and gotten arrested for them, only to be inspired with what she saw in jail and write about that. Wrote scripts, had big power in Hollywood. I am sure she would say she was glamorous, and she ought to know. My local PBS station just ran their series on comedy which included several extended clips of West. Talk about being aware of your affect on people!

I'd forgotten the magical aspect of the word -- many thanks for the reminder! Thinking further about this topic: I think my original example about animals might be flawed, since they do preen in order to attract attention from potential mates. So perhaps there is intention in the animal world as well. Still, I think I'd like to hold onto the difference between glamor and elegance (and yes, peacocks look lovely and sound awful -- perhaps they have the same kind of glamor as silent film actors? Lena Lamont...)

I've been following this thread with interest, and have written and erased a few responses, because I'm not sure that my 'definition' of glamor matches the dictionary or the definitions I've seen here. I'm still not sure what I think about it, but did have a couple of thoughts to add. I do think that glamor is not strictly 'natural,' while elegance can be. (that is, I don't see examples in nature of glamorous animals, while I do see elegant ones) I think glamor has an element of self-awareness in it, that elegance might not, and perhaps that is the crux of it for me -- glamor is, in some way, intentional. It is the product of intervention -- you have to do something to yourself to achieve it. I don't think it's innate, although I have heard people refer to 'unconscious glamor,' so perhaps to achieve it while attempting something else. Of course, I could be drawing a semantic distinction that means something only to me. This is the opening paragraph of a recent article on Sylvie Guillem by Debra Craine in the Times: "Sylvie Guillem is unbelievably elegant but she hasn't made the slightest effort. Her face is scrubbed free of make-up, her long auburn hair is tied back with casual aplomb, and she's dressed like a truck driver. Scruffy and natural - is this how ballerinas are supposed to look? Yet there has always been something extraordinary about this glamorous French artist, and no matter how much she downplays it, her innate charisma can't help but assert itself." And, for those of you who follow the ballroom dance world, Juliet McMains book on the industry is titled "Glamour Addiction."

A small observation -- I didn't necessarily like all the changes they made in the format for the Academy Awards this year, but I do really appreciate the shift in announcing the winners. In the past, they would always give the names of the individuals and then the name of the film they had worked on. Invariably, the audience in the theater would start applauding after the first couple of words, and would drown out the rest of the information. This was fine if they were announcing the acting awards, or the directors, or if you had a really good memory for the list of names for the craft awards, but not so good if you didn't. I noticed tonight that the presenters started all their "and the award goes to..." statements with the name of the film, and then the individuals. Much easier to follow along!

And they were harrowing enough, I've always thought. The gods know the second-hand reporting of the actual hearings is pretty grim. Thanks to Jack Reed for the credits on The Cage. I thought it was a nice, substantial excerpt, and I'm really grateful for it. I thought it was quite interesting to insert the Ed Murrow "Person to Person" interview footage. It's fascinating to compare the "casual conversation" style from the 1950s with contemporary interviews. And it reminded me of the interview with Liberace from the recent film about Murrow -- I think everyone in the theater cringed when Murrow asked Liberace if he'd met a "special" woman yet...

Anyone who goes -- please report back!