sandik

Has anyone here seen either of those performances?

Did anyone here see this -- I'd be curious to know how it went.

Carla Fracci -- how long did she perform?

Louis XIV -- why not a real king?

Several theaters here in Seattle have these now -- they're mostly used for children, but I've seen shorter adults with them as well. I'm 5'3'', tall enough most of the time, but not when I'm sitting behind tall people, especially tall women with big hair. I haven't tried a cushion yet, but I've certainly thought about it!

The dance historian Brenda Dixon Gottschild has written several times about the general African American influence in Balanchine's work, anatomical and rhythmic. She grounds this in his early exposure to musical theater performance circa Cabin in the Sky, where he learned a great deal from Katherine Dunham. The Black Dancing Body : A Geography from Coon to Cool, 2003 Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance: Dance and Other Contexts. 1996

GWTW, no although that would have probably been less noisy. I was meaning a cellophane bag. They are in the same category are people who unwrap candies wrapped in crinkly paper. Actually the muncher would take a few chips out of the bag (crinkle, crinkle) close the bag (crinkle), pick up a bottle of water, open it (pop) and take a swig(gulp) This only went on a very few minutes after which he decided it was easier to move somewhere else than deal with me. I got several thank you's from people in surrounding seats during intermission. Richard <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I was at a performance of the Mark Morris company last weekend, and was sitting quite close to the choreographer. The opening work began in silence, with maybe 2 or 3 minutes of stillness before the music started (played live, for which I was very grateful). There was a couple who were whispering back and forth during this time (very annoying) and after an increasingly uncomfortable time, Morris shushed them, very distinctly. I'm not sure they knew who he was, but they quieted down right away.

Well, without Henry Higgins, I can certainly make do with Jeannette MacDonald! I've always put the accent on the first syllable of ballet, for no good reason at all except that an accent on the second syllable has always sounded stuck-up to me. I'm not sure if this is a regional accent thing (born and raised in Seattle, but with midwestern parents)

I was very interested in the announcement earlier this week that ABT and Boston Ballet were adding the Kudelka Cinderella to their repertories, especially the comment by Mikko Nissinen that they'd been offered sets and costumes for the Ashton version but chose not to take them (the implication was that they didn't want the Ashton, not that they didn't want the sets, etc) I've seen the Ashton on tape, but don't know anything about the Kudelka beyond the reviews. Has anyone here seen both, and can you speak about the differences?

I was emailing Doug about something else and just answered him there, but didn't think to post here as well. Thanks so much for mentioning Robert B -- he slipped my mind yesterday, and I'm chargrinned. This is what I remembered off the top of my head yesterday "Morris and Joffrey, yes, but also Gerald Arpino (left merchant marine in Seattle, met Joffrey here and they both trained with Mary Ann Wells before leaving town) not all ballet. Val Caniparoli Trisha Brown Pat Graney Ann Reinking (choreographer now, not really main contribution, though) Bill Whitener (same) Syvilla Fort (more teacher than choreographer, but back then the distinctions weren't as crisp) Bonnie Bird (same) There are people who've come here as dancers, and become choreographers while they've been here, like Wade Madsen, or Dennis Spaight."

Thanks so much for posting this -- I had to miss the post-show discussion this time around and was very disappointed.

Choleric as well -- though they do have all four listed at the bottom (you can click to read the other descriptions)

I had a couple of comments that I wanted to make but couldn't get into my review, so I'm taking advantage of Helene's extensive description and piggybacking! Helene's observation about the two male parts in Moor's Pavane is astute -- it's very interesting that Limon made the less complex role for himself, since he was an excellent dance actor, but Lucas Hoving, the original Friend, was a stunning performer and this role must have been a fabulous vehicle for him. I never saw his work live, but the video of the original cast that's floating around is well worth the price (I think it's currently available on DVD) -- even in a blurry, black and white kinescope you can see the power of the technique and their mastery of it. I got the chance to see Olivier Wevers and Christopher Maraval as the Friend last weekend, and both of them had very interesting interpretations of the part. Wevers, who could have a great future as a character dancer if he chooses, gave a slightly more presentational perfomance -- without being too overt it was clear that he thought as much about how the audience would see his actions as he did about the relationship with the other characters on stage. This helped to focus our view of Bakthurel Bold's Moor as well -- he's come a long way since he did this role a couple of years ago, when he seemed uncomfortable with the emotional expression of the part, but he's still seems to be looking for more nuance in the general sense of betrayal, and the interaction with Wevers created some of that. Maraval, dancing with Stanton as the Moor, seemed to deal with him, and the other characters on stage, a bit more directly. Wevers and Ariana Lallone have performed this work several times before, and they're still adding to the details of their relationship (his hand coming around her chest as she leans back into him is almost lascivious -- it's clear just from that one gesture that her controls her sexually) but the thing that I noticed most clearly this time is that they are almost the same height -- when she leans toward him and they both "spy" on the Moor and his wife, their heads are on the same plane -- it makes them appear more as equals, which makes her seem more culpable at the end. In the same production, Louise Nadeau is much smaller than Bold, it sets up their dynamic before they even get started. Chalnessa Eames performed the Friend's Wife, and I think this was a debut. It's certainly a good part for her -- she seems willing to grapple with the weighted quality of the movement and to move through the phrases rather than going from shape to shape, which is a temptation I've seen other ballet-trained dancers fall into doing this work (though no one here this time). And in the section where she's managed to get the handkerchief, she understands the difference between fast and quick -- one of my all-time favorite parts of the work, even in that old film, is the sequence where the Friend's Wife is playing with the kerchief -- tossing it in the air and catching it. Pauline Koner snatched that piece of fabric out of the air, almost like a fox would snap at its prey. It's a wonderful feral moment, and a big key to that character's motivations and reactions, and not always something that dancers get clear. Between this, and her part in Paul Gibson's new work, Eames had a great performance, and it was a treat to see her with more clarity.

For those who don't see Dance Magazine regularly, there is a very touching obituary in the new (May) issue of the magazine by Joseph Carman, which does discuss her struggle with eating disorders, but also speaks about her many attributes as a performer.

Off the top of my head, there's singing in his Romeo and Juliet too, as part of the entertainment in the ballroom scene, though not really potrayed as opera.

Well, it looks like it's taught by Iris Fanger, rather than the person I thought it was, but this seems to be the class. 21M.670J Traditions in American Concert Dance: Gender and Autobiography Explores forms, content, and contexts of world traditions in dance that played a crucial role in shaping American concert dance with attention to issues of gender and autobiography. Explores artistic lives of dance artists Katherine Dunham, Alvin Ailey, Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and George Balanchine as American dance innovators. Lectures and discussions analyze these artists' works, taking into consideration historical and political contexts. Viewing assignments and attendance of Boston-area dance performances help students identify visual, musical, and kinesthetic underpinnings of choreographic structure. "From Isadora Duncan to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Twyla Tharp and Bill T. Jones, 20th century performers and choreographers transformed dance into the liveliest of arts in the New York lofts and opera houses, Hollywood films, and Broadway musicals. The course will explore the achievements of these innovators as artists, rebels, and change agents for the empowerment of women, racial equality and gay rights. Lectures, discussions, in-class films and videos, plus two off-campus dance concerts. " reading per week: 100 pages writing per term: 30 pages (three 10-12 page papers, evenly spaced throughout semester) no quizzes no midterm exam closed-book final exam

...is what I get if I try the link... someone must have told MIT that they were violating intellectual property rights. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, I think these were for a class that a friend of mine taught -- the trick to making a site like that is to make sure that the kids in class can see it, but that it's not open to the general public. Usually a password is enough, but it looks like this got out of hand.

When I saw it, the prince crowned himself. Perhaps it was toned down after the initial criticism that suggested this was a metaphor for the passing of the Company from Balanchine to Martins. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, Napoleon crowned himself!

I'm confused. Was the Royal Ballet Sleeping Beauty supposed to be choreographically accurate? I remember some significant changes (compared to most other productions) For example the final pas de deux had a lot of lifts. Is the RB's SB closer to Petipa than the versions usually done? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well... The short answer is that, in general, the RB production is, in many parts, quite close to the version that Sergeyev set on them from the notation he smuggled out of Russia. (notice all the qualifiers in that sentence) But the sets/costumes make no claim to authenticity -- there have been many different productions of the ballet at the Royal with quite varied sets, which is some cases have influenced the way the choreography is seen. The production that's referred to here had a very distinctive look, with a kind of skewed perspective that gave some people a bad case of vertigo. I think that the audience reaction was exacerbated by the fact that for many years the RB had what was thought of as a near-perfect set, by Oliver Messell (and since it was the one that many people saw as their first Sleeping Beauty it gained a kind of tangetial authenticity) The bigger question you're asking, about the authenticity of the production as a whole (which I am assuming includes the choreography), is part of a huge discussion in the dance world, and although it may break out here as well, I wanted to answer your smaller question first.

I missed seeing the original link -- many thanks for pointing it up here. I agree absolutely wiht Rachel Howard about this. The "art" card cows people, which is a shame. You comments at the end about 4T's made me smile. Several years ago I took a relative who'd seen very little dance to a performance at Pacific Northwest Ballet. I don't remember the opening ballet, but the middle was Who Cares, and they closed with 4 T's. He was a big fidgety during the first two works, and then dead still during the Hindemith. His comment at the end was "now I get it."

What fun! This is cheating a bit, since I learned them at one point but never performed them, but I love Isadora Duncan's solos "Mother" and "Revolutionary." Also "Marble Halls" by Mark Morris. Other than that, any part in Tudor's Dark Elegies, though the solo that Agnes de Mille originated is especially wrenching. Any of the fairies in Sleeping Beauty (though I like Canary the least) And the Lilac Fairy, because she gets the best music. Theme #1 or the Sanguinic woman from Four Temperaments.

Well, the gentleman behind me at Pacific Northwest Ballet last Friday is part of the "bravo" school, but he seems to swallow the first syllable and shout the second, so it was "...Vo! ...Vo!"

I have a feeling that between the donors, the audience, the press and the general public he will be "introduced" many, many more times before they're finished.

I've always had great sympathy with the old New Yorker cartoon that condensed everything on the North American continent west of the Hudson River into about 2 inches of landmass -- here in Seattle anything on the other side of the Cascade Mountains (about 45 minutes east of here by freeway) is "back East. From Wenatchee (apple growing community) through Minnesota and out to Long Island.

Well, yes, as someone who lives west of The West (Washington state), I've always chuckled at the metaphorical construction, but I think Graham really was thinking of a pioneer community, whatever the compass point. And in contemporary minds, all pioneering happened west of wherever.