sandik

Mel's citation of Fokine is an interesting one in part because of his connection to Diaghilev's Ballet Russe, a company that was most definately in the vanguard of its times culturally. There have been other times in the past when dancing has been the leader of the pack, as it were, reaching into new territories and setting standards, not just for itself, but for other arts as well. I think the English ballet pre and post WWII was in a similar position, as was American ballet in the 1950's. If you want to expand the field to include modern dance, the list becomes even longer. (Just think of Merce Cunningham) Right now, I don't think dance holds that place. I like the image of the canary and the coal mine -- the arts in general do that for our overall culture, and dance might serve as the first indicator. Like most parts of the country, people are cutting back and worrying about money here, but overall I'm hopeful about what's going on. I see much work that I like in a conservator role (including a lovely production of Sleeping Beauty at Pacific Northwest Ballet last week) but I also see some exciting new material that's worth supporting for itself, not just for its worth as a place holder for hoped-for future dances.

as the Graham company is coming back from their long legal battles, and they could use every veteran they can get to revive that repertory.

From a writer's perspective, there's a big difference between working on something that will be used as a consumer guide (should we go) or something which is a record of what you saw and what you thought, but isn't designed to come out while a season is still open. Few papers do overnights anymore, but there's still a kind of time pressure with a weekly or daily paper that you don't always have with a monthly or a quarterly.

The Maryhill Museum in Goldendale, Washington (state) is currently hosting an exhibit of memorabilia about Loie Fuller, including lithographs, playbills and photographs. I haven't been able to go yet, but if you are passing through eastern Washington, this would certainly be "worth the detour."

One example of choreographic revisioning, or more accurately, recontextualizing, is Balanchine's "Theme and Variations" (1947). It has a totally different impact as a stand-alone work than it does as the closing section of "Suite No. 3" (1970). Personally, I'm much more fond of the original, automonous version. For my eyes, by the time I get through the preceeding movements in the later version, the clarity of the initial moments is lost, and the structural patterns lose their impact. I'd love to hear from someone that likes this amended version better and understand what they're seeing.

I saw Spirited Away last summer when it first got to Seattle, and although I thought the plot got a bit out of hand at times (and I have a feeling that was mostly a function of translation) it was visually gorgeous. I love Totoro more, because the characters are so engaging, but I felt Spirited was almost a baroque feast. It's not anywhere near the dish of these two films, but the short subject Pikachu's Vacation that played with the first of the Pokemon films (yes, I know, but I have a 9 year old) made me think of the production numbers in Busby Berkeley films, especially Dames. (But only if you have some extra time!)

though I think some of his other work is more distinctive than Talk. He works in the auteur tradition, I think, as someone with a very specific vision of film, and I'm happy to see that (and him) recognized.

It's actually pretty ironical -- the more "electronic" the process becomes, the longer the deadlines. When reviews were typed on paper, edited on more paper and then set in type, papers frequently ran actual "overnight" reviews. Now, when almost everything is done on a computer and ink doesn't hit paper until the actual print run, very few papers print reviews the next day. Here in Seattle if a show opens on Thursday, you might get a review in the Saturday paper. If you open on Friday (as many smaller shows do, because of theater logistics) you won't read anything until Monday, often after the run of the production has closed. Sigh. (hello back to you, Mme A!)

I live in Seattle, and am very interested in seeing how things play out in Portland over the next few years. Canfield's OBT seemed to me to be a very personal company -- he has clear and in some cases pretty radical ideas about the development of ballet, and was willing to push ahead with them. That's a tricky thing to do with a small company that means many things to its home community -- it will inevitably frustrate part of the potential audience. I haven't seen much of Stowell's dancing since his student days, but I remember him as a smart and skilled individual, and haven't heard anything about him since to change that opinion. He's got a new piece on the next Pacific Northwest Ballet rep I'm looking forward to seeing. His plan for his first season at OBT is an extremely canny piece of programming -- aesthetically, logistically and financially. I am sorry to see that he's changing Nutcrackers, partially because I've heard good things about the Canfield and hate to see something like that go out of production. The point about Nut familiarity is a good one -- in a year of so many changes it might have been nice to keep something, but there are all kinds of pragmatic considerations involved in those decisions. And,for me, the Ashton is a big, big plus! PNB doesn't do any, and I miss it.

Soloistmom -- I'm glad you liked the program. The Stowell was a substitution, and one of his more successful works. He was supposed to make a new ballet for this program, but like many companies, PNB is having some money troubles and is trying to save where they can. I thought that Nacho Duato's "Jardi Tancat" was very well danced, perhaps even more than Dumais' "Scripted." The company has had it in its rep for several years, but they've had to replace some dancers in it this time around, and I was very impressed with the level of ensemble work despite this change. I sincerely doubt that the Time's critic left before the program was over, but the paper frequently has to cut reviews down (for space considerations) and she may have wanted to write more thoroughly about fewer works than give a cursory few words to each dance. Just an idea.

Though I'm sure that part of the justification for "Billboards" was financial I also think of it as a descendant of the Joffrey's long-term interest in cross-over work, of which Tharp's "Deuce Coupe" is probably the best known (and in many ways the most succesful)