sandik

Oh, I love penguins, but I haven't seen this! I've always just watched whatever they had on, though I'm sure there's a playlist somewhere -- does anyone know where to find the list of what they've got in rotation?

It is indeed a very popular work, but I Googled around a bit and found it in the repertory of Ballet BC, Hubbard Street (where Tharp set most of her rep when she dissolved her first company), Pennsylvania Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Washington Ballet, Kansas City Ballet (run by former Tharp dancer Bill Whitener), and just this month at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Any idea when they might announce their 2006-07 season -- if he's not coming in till April, some of those decisions will probably be made before he arrives.

Watching the Classical Arts station the other evening I saw an excerpt from a video that set footage shot in the English countryside to the Elegie section of the Tschaikovsky Serenade for Strings. It was quite lovely, in a highly-edited way (no stepping in cowpies here!) but I think my favorite image was of a huge pack of dogs trotting down the lane, seen from the rear with their tails all up and quivering, as the violins hummed away.

All golf jokes aside, I looked at the Colorado Ballet website today and found no information at all about this appointment, just a note that said to come back later for more developments. This week the company is presenting a touring company of the Matthew Bourne Swan Lake, but they supposedly have another program coming at the end of March, Martin Fredmann's Cinderella in rotation with a mixed choreographer program, which is most likely already in rehearsal -- I'm wondering when they're actually bringing Gil Boggs into the picture, and how that transition will work

Like some of the other people here, I'm not exactly sure what you're thinking about. I'm sure you know that there are many dances that were created/developed with specifically religious uses/intentions. Some of them, like the little choir boys in medieval Spain (Los Seises) were developed by a religious institution and were a part of their worship, while others, like Alvin Ailey's choreography for the Leonard Bernstein "Mass," were more theatrical in nature. Some choreographers have used religious materials as sources for theatrical works (like Doris Humphrey's "Shakers") without really intending to make a religious dance, and there are some artists (like Kathy Thibodeux, who founded Ballet Magnificat) who want to draw a direct relationship between the two. There is sacred movement in the rituals of almost every traditional culture on the globe, and there are swathes of people who are creating new movement rituals associated with current therapy and self-improvement practices. Some people use yoga as a spiritual practice, and some use it to get ready for ski season... All of this back and forth just means that there are a wide variety of things that would qualify as religious/spiritual dance -- I'm not quite clear about where your interests are focused.

As was Imler. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Cue the sound effects!

This makes sense to me -- the beginning of the run felt a bit out of kilter, though I think part of my feeling comes from the actual choreography. I was there Sunday afternoon as well, and yes, they did seem to be out of sync, and not evenly spaced either. For a couple of sequences Maraval was "in the middle" with Herd in close on one side and Poretta further away on the other.

Not that memorable, no, but the cast list of the television program made my throat close up -- the late 70's Joffrey company was the iteration I knew best, and they had a significant affect on the way I saw ballet. Thanks for the lovely reminder!

I should have such detailed "senior moments!"

This is an excellent question, and I have no clue. I find that when I show Petrushka to students, I'm always giving the same pre-show talk that people do with Mark Twain -- the "context is all" speech.

Cynthia Gregory

Golly, it's a full, full year. I'd better keep taking my vitamins. Very, very glad to see Mark Morris on the schedule!

Thanks for bringing this up -- I remember that season very clearly, particularly the rush to get tickets when they went on sale. It was back before online ticketing, and several of us were dialing and re-dialing the box office phone number that morning, just like we'd do for rock concert tickets!

Was that niche similar to the Joffrey Ballet, before pop? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, Joffrey (at least during Robert Joffrey's life, and for some time afterwards) programmed the historical materials alongside the pop work, which sometimes made for some twisty evenings, but they were usually very able to carry it off. (and they still do have a commitment to historical rep -- their schedule next year includes some of their very riskiest revivals) Between the Americana work and the Ballet Russe rep, Oakland kept a big chunk of the heritage alive. I was always grateful to them for that.

Lots of companies -- yes. The Bay Area probably has the largest dance community on the west coast. Lots of companies doing this kind of repertory -- no. San Francisco Ballet does a bit of the historical work that Oakland performed, Lines is a contemporary ballet company run by a single choreographer, the other small ballet companies in the region don't have the same focus on their rep. Oakland filled a very special niche, which likely will be empty for awhile.

What's the perspective in Oakland -- can anyone hear speak to that?

I don't know if I'd characterize it as "worked up," but we are all very interested in seeing what kind of changes take place in company over the next couple of years. No one is complaining about the chance to watch some very skilled artists, but after 27 years of one set of parameters, we're curious to see where this might go next.

I run Firefox from my lovely new G-5 Mac, with no difficulties. The site was very slow to load over the weekend, but I don't think that was my browser.

Since the company only announced the casting for the second week (the week with the guest artists) today, I don't know that they're really thinking of the effect on ticket sales.

It is indeed Ohio Ballet that is having bad times. And of course Dance Theater of Harlem is in a precarious position still. I am so sad to learn that Oakland Ballet is closing its doors. I saw one of their Nijinska programs in the 80's and was thrilled that someone would bring attention to that repertory -- this is a real loss for the field.

This is an interesting development. Stowell and Russell had to grapple with the "guest or don't guest" situation very early in their tenure -- the board of directors pretty much insisted that they hire guest artists for the opening of their original Swan Lake (a couple years after they joined the company) when they felt that the company members were more than capable of the challenge. And they often told the story of how the guest artist took an obvious fall (right on the fanny) only to get up and perform with aplomb, as is often the case -- they felt that it was a lesson for their less-experienced board members. Although there was the occassional guest, for the most part they were determined to give company members as many chances to perform as possible. Of course I'm very pleased at the chance to see Thomas and Weese without leaving my time zone, but like everyone I'm wondering if this is a one-off or the start of a trend.

I'll be very interested in seeing Le Yin -- he's been in and out often enough that I've seen very little of him.

The first week casting is up on the website here http://www.pnb.org/season/val-casting.html Some interesting choices in the Marshall and the Tharp

Their website mentions the April shows (but doesn't give any program information) and doesn't have anything about June dates. Could you tell me where to find more up-to-date information about June -- I may be in NYC at that time and am very curious about what performances are available.

But they had plenty of opportunities to see the films of Fred Astaire, whose contract stipulated that he always be shown in full-body shots -- no individual body parts. He was responding to the work of Busby Berkely (and B's less-talented imitators) who was a master at using the human body as a geometric element in surreal musical numbers. I love Berkley, but also love the straightforward dance action of Astaire's films. I've never heard him speak about it, but I would be very surprised if Ardolino wasn't very familiar with these earlier films. I also wanted to speak up for Girish Bhargava, who was the editor on many of Ardolino's Dance in America programs. His work has an innate rhythmic life that was always used at the service of the choreography.