sandik

Cunxin also gave the Peggy van Praagh Memorial Address at the Body Talk conference in Melbourne last October -- a part of the text is in the latest edition of AudDance National Forum and the full text will be on their website soon. In his speech he talks about his early training in China.

<www.ausdance.org.au>

It seems that Nutcracker is one of those ballets that uses whatever marketing strategies it can to reach a much wider audience than the usual (like the bobbleheads that Pacific Northwest Ballet has in conjunction with its production). Think of the myriad shopping mall and tearoom appearances made in December. I admit that a basketball halftime is a bigger step in that direction, but it isn't a new course altogether.

he also has a sometimes dada-like tendency toward titling his works.

Very true! I've liked the work I've seen, though, and am sorry that the municipal government in Frankfurt has sqeezed him out.

NPR did a segment on this issue this morning, during "Morning Edition" A nice summing up of the the various players...

(Alexandra -- I don't know if you include audio links in the "Links" section -- perhaps you might want to move this there)

http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?pr...ec-2003&prgId=3

Many thanks for the information. In another forum I read a negative review of a Forsythe work that claimed he seemed to be parodying people with learning disabilities -- the reviewer seemed offended by his style in general but I thought perhaps there was some connection.

I imagine if Disney were to underwrite some kind of ballet company it would probably be along the lines of Matthew Bourne's Adventures in Motion Pictures, which generally creates a new, program-length show (like their Swan Lake) and then tours it as a stand-alone event. I don't think it would go to the difficulty of curating/commissioning a mixed repertory.

(and apparently Bourne is working on the Disney stage production of Mary Poppins)

We started out talking about the difficulty Boston is having with the balance between a resident company and a touring production, and no matter how many resources Disney put into a ballet company, it would most likely be a touring entity, leaving us with the same dilemma. What affect do these big touring shows have on the life of regional companies?

A review in the Financial Time of a mixed rep show by the Vienna Opera Ballet included mention of a "Slingerland pas de deux by William Forsythe. It is apparently an excerpt from a larger ballet -- could someone here tell me what ballet it is taken from, and is the Slingerland of the title a reference to the Slingerland who worked with dyslexic children?

the review -- http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?p...p=1016625900929

May I respectfully disagree with sandik at the follwing:

QUOTE

and I remember thinking it was a good role for a young dancer just moving into program-length works -- the arc of the character as she grows in skill and self-possession, matches the development of the performer, as she takes on a challenge and grows into a role.

UNQUOTE

In my modest opinion, Aurora is too big a role to be danced by a very young dancer- unless she has a lot of experience behind her, which is not very likely.  I think that in order to fully understand the different nuances required by the role in her 3 appearances (birthday, vision scene and wedding) requires a very mature approach.  Unless there is a very good coach behind, of course.  Say, like Juliet in the theater, who has to look young, but cannot be played by a 15 year old actress?

Nevertheless, she does have to look young!!! (like Juliet also  )

Silvy

I think we may agree more closely than you might think. I don't believe that Aurora is a role for neophytes, but of the program-length dramatic ballets (like Swan Lake, Giselle, La Sylphide...) I think the dramatic requirements of SB are easier to approach than many others. Yes, a more mature dancer will give a significantly more nuanced performance, but I think Aurora is a better starting place than Odette/Odile or Giselle.

I'm not sure what sandik meant by "getting zinged," but I stand by my opinion that Fonteyn was not a spectacular technician.  She had her strengths, but spectacular technique was not one of them.

Sorry for the slang -- what I meant to say is that I frequently see comments about Fonteyn's limitations which imply that physical amplitude (what I sometimes call the Olympics aspect of dancing: farther, higher, faster) is the ultimate goal of ballet. Like most people, I'm fascinated by a dancer's ability to do things I can't: to leap farther, beat faster, turn on a dime, etc. But I love it best when all those skills are in service of something beyond athleticism (unless that is the subject of the work) -- I'd rather see a beautifully phrased double turn than four fast rotations with no clear beginning or end.

I never did see her live, so I can't speak about Fonteyn in that context, but I am fascinated with her musical phrasing in the film and video I've seen. It seems to me that she often had a way of initiating or completing a movement phrase with a change in focus or a kind of quickness that gives the impression the movement itself was thrilling or vertiginous, even if it hadn't been. It's a very complex phrasing sequence and one I haven't seen in many other dancers.

I hesitate to add to this conversation, but I wanted to underline a couple of things. The young man in the Wired article is not typical of most autistic people, as the author points out. Very occasionally savantry comes with autism, but most often not. As other people here have noted, there is a wide spectrum of autism, from "high functioning," where the person may appear slightly disoriented or spacey, to profoundly affected, where the person cannot function without significant support. Temple Grandin, whose book "Thinking in Pictures" is very readable, is an excellent example of someone who could be classified as "high-functioning."

I have not read everything in the field, but as far as I know, it is not universally accepted that autism is hereditary.

There have certainly been savants in dance, if by that you mean someone who can learn an extended sequence by seeing it once. In "Dance to the Piper" Agnes de Mille said that Frederick Franklin could learn a tap routine the first time he heard it.

"Like conversations with furniture, the psychological profiling of dead persons is seldom productive."

Is this anything like hen dentistry?

See  Harper's magazine -- I think it's the December issue -- (articles not available online) for some of the gruesome details.

Thanks for the reference -- I've been wondering who was covering this.

"Although Fonteyn wasn't a spectacular technician, as far personality goes, I think she was the perfect Aurora.  And she did hit some pretty nice balances in the Rose Adagio."

Fonteyn is always getting zinged for not being "a strong technician," but from the video I've seen she seemed to have a fantastic ability to modulate what she was doing -- to make us think that something was hard, or thrilling, or fast, or whatever extreme quality you might want to see at that time. I've only seen parts of her Aurora on tape, but I was struck by her musicality in the Rose Adagio, the very slow build through the four balances until at the end you felt her triumph as she tossed her flowers in the air. It was amazing.

We saw a bunch of Auroras last spring in Seattle, and I remember thinking it was a good role for a young dancer just moving into program-length works -- the arc of the character as she grows in skill and self-possession, matches the development of the performer, as she takes on a challenge and grows into a role.

"...I've lost track, how much does the Wang get from Boston Ballet for the Nutcracker?  Is it a portion of the house or a flat playment?"

It may be more complex than that. If the Wang presents both local and touring shows during the year, they may need to maintain a good relationship with a company who controls a significant number of available shows. Even though they (the Wang) are a non-profit organization, they still compete with other presenters for audience, and if there are other venues in the area that might have the capacity to present, say, touring Broadway shows, there is a built-in competition for content (the shows) as well as audience. It's certainly possible that the Rockettes dates are just a part of a larger agreement that includes several other bookings.

I don't know enough about Clear Channel's position in theater, but I know they are a tenacious competitor in recorded music -- my music colleagues are extremely passionate about what they see as an ultra-controlling monopolist. If they have entered into theatrical booking as well, I can imagine they would approach it with the same principals.

Thanks so much for posting the link. I had lost track of when the show was opening.

For people in the area, it is indeed a fabulous collection, and well worth seeing. Alas, I am 3000 miles away, so if anyone goes, please post your thoughts!

From the press release:

BOBBLEHEAD NIGHTS

Bobble on down to McCaw Hall for Nutcracker on November 30 at 5:30 p.m. or December 17 at 7:30 p.m. and the first 1000 kids in the door get a FREE Nutcracker Bobblehead! This limited edition little cutie is sure to delight even the most discriminating Bobblehead collector.

SIT IN THE PIT!

Ever wonder what goes on in the Orchestra Pit during a Nutcracker performance? Here's your inside ticket to find out! Spend the performance with Maestro Stewart Kershaw or Allan Dameron – up close and personal with the acclaimed PNB Orchestra! PNB is offering two exclusive Orchestra Pit seats for $100 each for most Nutcracker performances. Contact <marketing@pnb.org> to make your reservations – and remember to wear your dress black!

The restaurant promotion is pretty standard for performing arts groups, but I don't think I've ever seen a ballet-themed bobblehead before.

I don't want to make this into a contest (especially if Corny Collins isn't here to judge) so perhaps we can agree that we both love it equally. I do get up and do the Madison along with everyone on the screen, and though I appreciate the Mashed Potato guy, I'm fonder of the scenes in Motormouth Maybelle's shop.

I saw the touring version of the Broadway show (it opened here in Seattle before it went to New York) and though it was great fun, it was more singing that dancing. And for all that Harvey Fierstein was excellent, he wasn't Divine.

I'm goofy about any movie where people dance with conviction. When Chicago opened there was the usual blather about whether we can accept movie musicals at the beginning of the 21st entury. We seem to be able to accept that people might break out in song -- what's so strange about dancing...?

I'm sure the costumes were by Oman; much was made of their similarity to those she did for "Enigma Variations" at the time.

They are indeed by T-O, and were compared to the Enigma costumes in the first wave of reviews. I seem to remember that Arlene Croce thought they were a bit over the top (making a comment about the blue ribbon that Natalya wears and the tutor kisses), but as I recall, she didn't like the ballet as much as Enigma either. I've only seen it on tape, but it is a beautiful, leisurely work. I've heard some chat about other companies trying to get the performance rights, but whoever holds them is apparently quite choosy.

Is the name of the book Nutcracker Nation?

Yes it is, my apologies for any confusion!

Does anybody else like Hairspray as much as I do?

I don't know -- do you like it as much as I do?

I think of Hairspray like I think of Giselle -- a work in which dance is a metaphor for life, the main mode of communication, and the subject of the piece. How they dance is who they are, dancing is important in their world, dancing has the power to change events. What's not to like?

Of course it was Fille I was thinking of! Sorry.

Now I have the clog dance music from Fille going though my head -- could be much worse on a Monday morning!

I haven't yet read Jennifer Fisher's book, but with all the turmoil surrounding the Boston Ballet/Radio City dichotomy in Boston I was wondering what those who had seen the book thought about the issue. Fisher was interviewed for the Boston Globe for this, and although she discusses the cultural and artistic heritage of Nutcracker, she doesn't mention the place it holds in the financial health of these groups -- is that point of view also missing from the book?

The program's notes about Mr. Christensen were a really well done.

If they aren't too long, or copyrighted, could you post the notes here?

The tricky part of this question is to know how much is a change in your attitude and how much is a change in the dancer. I found Patricia Barker (Pacific Northwest Ballet) a bit dry for the first few years I watched her (to be fair, at first I didn't see her consistently and so may have missed wonderful moments). Recently, I'm more and more interested in her dancing -- in part, I think, because she's really become a more expansive performer. But how much of the change is in her and how much is in me?

I saw the Saturday matinee of this program, the only mixed rep this autumn. I've been trying to focus on some of the soloist women lately, see who's being positioned to advance. The company has a strong group of principal women right now, but you always have to be looking forward.

Noelani Pantastico is certainly getting a lot of opportunities right now -- she was the opening Aurora last spring in their Sleeping Beauty, had a go at Odette during the run of Swan Lake and led one of the movements in Taylor-Corbett's Mercury in this rep show. She's got a strong technique, but even in powerful work she's not a percussive mover -- she has a kind of serenity that overlays whatever she's doing. She can use this to her advantage in the right situations -- she performs one of the main women in the Martin's Fearful Symmetries where she looks like an odalisque in those pretzel-twisted shapes, implacable, but detached. She was just fine with the technical parts of Beauty, and the acting didn't ask her to be anything beyond what she is, a charming young woman. (I've often thought this was a good "first" program-length ballet for an aspiring woman -- despite all the fuss made over the balances in the Rose Adagio, it's a do-able work) Her Swan Lake wasn't as developed, which makes sense to me -- the technical stuff was all there, but the characterization was weaker, a kind of generalized sadness in the white acts and an imperious quality as Odile. I would have like to see more transformation when she meets the prince, and more seduction when she's gaming him. It was fine as a first performance, but more because it showed where she can go, rather than where she is. She reminds me a bit of Patirica Barker when she was at the beginning of her career, not technically per se (Barker has always been an agressive technician) but in a kind of hyper-respect for choreographic details -- they both seem to do exactly what has been asked of them in that regard. Barker has really bloomed in the last few years -- as she's found more fluidity in her upper body she's aquired a stronger expressive nature to go along with it. Pantastico is at the beginning of that process, but if all goes well, it should be a treat to watch it unfold.

  "...popular dancing, but in narrative ways, distinct from classical dancing.  But when ballet became more and more abstract it became (with exceptions, always, of course) either of the classroom or Not of the Classroom.

Although maybe it would have been difficult to work in the Twist and the Watusi into ballets. When vernacular dancing became line dancing and turned away from touching, that divorced it from stage dancing."

And after that anatomical side trip, back to the regularly scheduled programming?

I think Alexandra is dead on about the changes in social dance being reflected in theatrical dance. Although I can think of examples of 60's-on social dance in ballet, they haven't been especially successful. For the most part, they exist as stand-alone dances, while works that draw from earlier social dance styles seem to incorporate aspects of that dancing into the classical tradition.