Farrell Fan

rkoretzky -- I don't really know, but www.dancefilmsassn.org might be worth a try.

The following is from a flyer I got in the mail: Dance on Camera Festival 2003 Balanchine/Stravinsky Fri Jan 17:7; Sat Jan 18:1 Music Dances: Balanchine Choreographs Stravinsky USA, 2002; 96 min This fascinating work celebrates the seminal collaboration of the 20th century between a composer and a choreographer. Conceived and written by dance historian and musicologist Stephanie Jordan, it shows the extraordinary range of ways in which Balanchine approached Stravinsky's music. The major focus is Agon, with excerpts from Apollo, Duo Concertant and the Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fee. Also included are New York City Ballet principal dancers Peter Boal, Albert Evans and Wendy Whelan, an interview with Suzanne Farrell, and rare rehearsal archive footage of Movements for Piano and Orchestra. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St., (212) 875-5600 Tickets: $9.50, $7.00 full-time students

I think you're right, Ari. What might have been most upsetting is that Dave Barry is the kind of witty guy we'd like to have on our side. It seems to me that the belching couch-potato conjured up here is just as unlikely to read Dave Barry as he is to go to the ballet. As someone said earlier in the thread, there's a lot of self-mockery in this piece, and the ending is absolutely delightful.

I'm uncomfortable with the kind of generalizations a discussion like this engenders. I don't know why certain men are uncomfortable viewing the ballet "package." Very deep psychological stuff is involved, I imagine. I think that very often a satirical piece like Dave Barry's is predicated on incomplete knowledge of a subject. I know I had some humor published in the sixties and seventies that was embarrassing to reread after I learned more about the subjects. But I don't see why it's necessary to pick between ballet and baseball. I've always loved both. I do hate football, however.

Except for his stereotypical use of the word "mincing," this is an absolutely hilarious column. Thanks for posting it, Alexandra. There's not much to rebut, since he's anticipated just about everything we could say.

He is a NY Times music critic whose work I greatly admire, particularly when it comes to opera. Toward the end of the piece he says "The performance clocks in at a swift 2 hours 15 minutes." This is something that came up earlier on this thread, when Calliope wondered if anything had been cut. With one twenty-minute intermission and two five-minute pauses, that leaves an hour and 45 minutes of music. I checked my old Sir Thomas Beecham recording and found it to be almost exactly that length. Oddly enough, Tommasini mentions that same recording (It's a classic). He says, "Though buoyant, Beecham's performance is much more leisurely." To quote Tommasini, "Go figure."

I think it's unacceptably presumptuous to call anyone "soulless."

The highlights of my year mostly took place from Oct. 23 to 27. During that time I saw five performances by the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center and went backstage to renew acquaintances with Suzanne. I also met Alexandra and got my copy of her book signed. An earlier highlight was my annual July visit to Saratoga Springs, where I had the pleasure of meeting Ballet Alert posters rkoretzky and bobsey.

This is my cue to put in a plug for Suzanne's "Holding on to the Air," which is in print in a nice paperback edition from the University Press of Florida, who also published Alexandra's great biography of Henning Kronstam in hardcover. I too thought Panov's "To Dance" an excellent book. Of the memoirs by Balanchine's wives, I thought "Split Seconds" by the first one, Tamara Geva, was the best. But that too has long been out of print.

Yes, I have the Fall issue, too. It came less than two weeks after the Summer issue. I can barely keep up.

I'm grateful for these recollections. I saw the ballet once and couldn't remember a thing about it.

Like another writer who caused a stir here with her "assertiveness," Diane Rafferty "trained as a professional dancer at the School of American Ballet," according to The Nation. As an unreconstructed fuzzy-thinking, bleeding-heart, tax-and-spend liberal, I am a subscriber to The Nation. But there's a lot of stuff in it I know not to read.

Anne Freedgood, the editor of this book, as well as of the works of many prominent authors, died on Dec. 15, 2002. She was a great fan of Balanchine's NYCB, and of Suzanne Farrell.

All I can say, Alexandra, is that these days most media, including Modern Maturity, seem aimed at someone younger than me.

The January issue of Dance Magazine has a new look. Again. Since I started subscribing in the 1960s, I've seen more changes than I can remember. To just mention the cover, the name of the magazine has variously appeared in all caps, caps and lower case, as one word (Dancemagazine)as a big word DANCE with a little word magazine, etc. etc. In the new version "magazine" has disappeared altogether, and DANCE "bleeds" from the edges of the cover. But the most startling change is the disappearance of the vertical line in the D, so that it looks like a backward C. And it's not because of the bleed. It's that way on the inside too (but not in the small type at the bottom of the pages). The cover has a curious sepia look and on the inside it's frequently difficult to tell what's editorial and what is advertising. The feature "25 to Watch" is marred for me by the difficulty in reading the headings, which are in white against a pumpkin-color background. (Would you believe Alexandra Ansanelli is someone to watch -- where have they been?) Anyhow, to me, the whole thing looks like an upscale catalog rather than a magazine. I'd be curious to hear other opinions.

Thanks, Roma. You're correct, of course, and I think Iris Cohen is a lovely name. As is Roberta Sue Ficker.

This is a charming book, even if you never follow any of the recipes. There are amusing anecdotes and some unusual photographs including one of tiny tot Suzanne Farrell seated at table. She has several recipes in the book: Artichoke Omelet, Zucchini Omelet, Sauerbraten, Liver and Ham Loaf, Hot Potato Salad, Graham Cracker Cake, Filling for Graham Cracker Cake, and something called Pate Oscar. The last is what she used to feed Top and Bottom, her cats at the time. It requires 1 lb. lung, 1 lb. fish, 2 cups cumbled dog biscuits, 1/2 cup tomato juice, and 1 tsp cod liver oil. The book was published in 1966, by Stein & Day, a publisher who unfortunately is no more.

An hour and 45 minutes of actual running time coincides with the length of an old La Boheme 2-LP album I have (with de los Angeles, Bjoerling, and Merrill, for those interested). It lasts longer in the opera house, though, because there are usually three intermissions. But I like the idea of one intermission and two 5-minute pauses instead.

I haven't seen it, but from what I've heard and read, my sense is there were no cuts. It would be extremely difficult, not to mention unnecessary, to cut La Boheme. There's nothing extraneous in the opera, which is pretty much true of all Puccini operas, unlike those of many other composers.

I've been curious about the sound in this production, since it hasn't been mentioned, not even by Ben Brantley. It couldn't possibly be amplified to the ear-shattering levels of the average Broadway musical, I thought, where it's impossible to tell who's singing. Today I heard Mr. Luhrmann interviewed and I was glad to learn that he is very sensitive to this matter. In fact, like the New York City Opera, he never mentioned the dreaded word "amplification." Instead, he said that what the sound engineers did was "change the acoustical environment electronically." ;)

The best titles I know of are those at the Metropolitan Opera House, where they appear on a little horizonal strip on the back of the seat in front of you. They have to be turned on at the start of each act, but you don't ever have to turn them on at all. In any case, they cannot be seen by the person in the next seat. By contrast, the supertitles at the New York City Opera are in white type against a black background at the top of the stage. Maybe it's me, but when the stage is brightly lit, I have to strain to see them. I agree they are especially distracting in comedies. At NYCO's Gianni Schicchi earlier this year, the audience laughter totally destroyed Lauretta's aria "O Mio Babbino Caro." On the whole, though, I think the titles have made a big difference for the better.

I have a nice-looking miniature Nutcracker someone gave me one year. On the back it bears this label: "Caution: for decorative use only. Not for food use. May poison food." Merry Christmas.

I'm grateful to Ray for his appellation "Saint" to Croce. Or, as they say it in Firenze, Santa Croce. ;)

Are these bodies divided vertically or horizontally?

I managed to miss Darci's autobiography. Wonder if any copies survive?