Victoria Leigh

So are you saying, Alexandra, that you don't think the rivalry was really there? That the controversy over who would do the last variation, and who was the "reigning" ballerina, and the competition among them was brought in later? It very well could be, but I wonder... In any case, I rather like that bit of rivalry, an the idea that there was a little bit of competition there, albeit a friendly one and they all work together in the end

Quote from the article above: [He said there are fewer problems with singles and pairs skating. "The competitions are won on the ice and not in clandestine meetings before the event takes place."] After last night I'm not at all sure of that. I love the Russians and their program is very beautiful, but, at least last night, I really felt that the Canadians won it, in every aspect. I found the judging highly questionable, including the placement of Ina and Zimmerman, who I felt were far better than the Chinese. While I applaud the attempt at the quad throw, their program is choreographically and artistically not Olympic medal quality. There is no flow and no line, just tricks, and not all of those work. Just my opinion, of course

I'm very sorry that you are offended, but I think you know, if you have been reading Ballet Alert! Online, that this board is not in any way racist, nor are our members, and this topic most certainly was not intended to be that way. Nor did we feel that it was. The only reason that I am closing it now is to prevent a discussion on racism from occurring here.

All of the above, and more, Calliope. The art of ballet itself is an "unnatural" one in terms of the demands of the technique on the body. It requires rotation and flexibility well beyond what the "average" body was designed to do. Many dancers have pushed themselves so hard for so long to achieve the amount of these things necessary to become a dancer. Then there are those few who have all of those things to start with, but the technique has changed in the more contemporary work to things that push even those bodies to extremes beyond what is probably healthy. And then there is the factor that has been discussed elsewhere about the dancers in most companies today having to constantly switch from classical to contemporary mode, sometimes on an hour to hour basis. Which brings up the role of directors and ballet masters, and especially the scheduling of ballets and rehearsals. For instance, the company has class in the morning. It would stand to reason that the most difficult work should be done right after class rather than at the end of the day. But things don't always work that way. Often the principal dancers are the ones who have the hardest time, because the larger rehearsals will be scheduled first and the principals will have to wait until much later to do their rehearsals. Since their work is more demanding, it can be very hard to get that kind of work going after waiting around for several hours. (Example: during Nuts rehearsals, our company generally rehearses the Grand Pas and the Snow Pas couples first, saving the various divertissement for later in the day. This is good, especially for the principals. However, if it were done the other way around, it would not be so good.)

Actually, felursus, she was on that tour in '59. I saw her do Dying Swan, and will never forget it because it was both the most awesome and then one of the most destroyed things I had ever seen. Awesome the first time, but, to me, totally ruined by an encore! I was pretty young, and not very knowledgeable, but I somehow knew that was wrong, and the moment which had been so incredible was wrecked.

Sonja, that was great! I, too, have really enjoyed your posts on the master classes! Thank you

Interesting question, Jeannie! I have one theory on this, having observed this same phenomena in classes here when we have Asian students. There is this thing that I think might be called "work ethic". Also discipline. There is a seriousness of approach, a commitment, an intelligence perhaps, or just an ability to really concentrate on the task at hand. Perhaps because they are brought up with a bit more discipline than in some other places? I don't know. But I have certainly seen this. [ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: Victoria Leigh ]

A technician, thinking of this in terms of a dancer who is a technician as opposed to a great artist, is one who can do it all and do it well. They have all the steps, the incredible jumps, the amazing turns, the connecting steps, everything works perfectly. But something is missing. It could be the musicality, or it could be just that indefinable thing that makes someone a star, or a ballerina or premiere danseur. It could even get this person to a top position in a company, but still they might not be THE ONE that everyone wants to see in certain roles, perhaps especially in full length ballets. This dancer might even be a competition winner in bravura pas de deux, but yet when seen in the full length ballet, it's not there, even though all the technique is there.

pinkpixiedust, the best sites for ballet photos are those of the many professional ballet companies around the world. Most of them have a URL which consists of the company name and .org, such as ABT.org, sfballet.org, nycb.org, etc. There are also sites with direct links to all the companies, like cyberdance.com. Check out the Home Page of Ballet Alert! Online. There is a links section there.

Tradition is a funny thing, Lolly But in the theater, and in ballet, it is very important!

Yes, Lolly, it really is. In this country one says "mérde" to a dancer, but there are different sayings that are used in different countries. In Germany, for instance, it is "toi toi toi".

Most ballet masters are not choreologists, although some could be if they have studied some form of notation. Choreologists are not ballet masters, they are specialists in notating choreography. They can stage the works from the notation. Ballet masters usually stage it from a combination of video and their own experience in dancing it.

Amazon.com! Just click on the banner above You will also find some in stores like Borders and Barnes & Noble.

Let me add this about that The Youth America Grand Prix, like the Prix de Lausanne, is at least scholarship oriented, and I think they might be a little less geared towards the flash and dash whiz bang technical wizard philosophy. Our school did enter three students last year, for the first time, and while they are all lovely students, they are not tricksters and the artistry was primary in their coaching. They are beautiful and talented, and very strong, but not phenomenons! They all won firsts in the regional (one was a junior, two were in senior category at 15) and two of them medaled in NY. The school won Best School Award, which was very nice for us. However, my thoughts about competitions in general are as stated above. Those thoughts are my own and not necessarily reflective of the school

It's on an CD called Ballet Gala, conducted by Richard Bonynge on the London label.

OttowaMom, my opinion is that ballet is not about competition. It is an art, not a sport. If some of the professional competitions, the IBC, help young professionals find better jobs, then that is their main validity. I do not find them valid for students. Prix de Lausanne and Youth America are about scholarships for students, so there is something valid there. But still, I think that way too often competitions create monsters. Bring home a top prize or a gold medal, and suddenly this student is about being a "star", or a winner, and not about developing as an artist. I have seen way too many young dancers ruined by becoming a "star" way before they become a dancer/artist. They are not able to go the route of most dancers, from school to apprentice, to corps de ballet, to soloist, to prinicipal because they are a gold medal winner and think they must start out as a prinicipal. Major mistake. Too much of the growth of the dancer and of the artist is missed this way. They become brilliant at certain tricks and solo variations, but they cannot handle a normal repertoire of works by many different choreographers. In terms of the type of competitons your child did in the early years of her training, they are fine for fun and developing confidence and performance ability, but unfortunately the schools who do a lot of this kind of thing do not spend enough time on technique and the dancer is seriously behind in classical technique if they decide to go into a professional school. One cannot, unfortunately, learn ballet technique in a situation where they are busy rehearsing lyrical (whatever that is), hip hop, jazz, tap, modern, and what they call ballet. They will learn to perform, but they will come out with little to no technique. So, that is what I think of competitions for younger dancers It is just my opinion, of course, and there are many others who feel differently about this.

Not end of story, Manhattnik I'm with Juliet on this one!!!

I came out Stravinsky the first time, but with just a couple of little changes came out Rachmaninoff the second time! I prefer the second one

I came out Stravinsky the first time, but with just a couple of little changes came out Rachmaninoff the second time! I prefer the second one

Watching Sarah Hughes last night I felt the problem is primarily her shoulders, which go up in a lot of positions she takes, especially her spirals. But you are also right about her body just not quite coming together with the length of her arms and legs. Perhaps she is still growing! There is a lack of coordination right now in terms of her upper body, but that makes it even more amazing to me that she pulls off all those jumps so well. I thought Kwan was totally amazing last night, and Sasha Cohen is certainly right up there, with incredible potential and so much natural talent. I thought Ann Patrice McDonough was very lovely, but did not care for her mixed up R&J music arrangement. Also liked Jenny Kirk very much. Nikodinov had a disappointing performance, which is really too bad, as she is also very lovely. But what a wonderful group of young American skaters in the Ladies field right now!

Just watched the Women's Short Program, and it was really quite wonderful. So many fine performances. Sasha Cohen was just breathtaking, in my opinion. Her line is exceptional, she really has speed and covers the ice incredibly well, and the jumps were all clean. Excellent performance!

I'm not really sure it is, Calliope. A classical dancer's training really does not include the kind of brutality that is taking place in some contemporary works today. Even if they see these works as they grow up, I'm not sure they realise how different they are from what they are learning in class, and how damaging they can be. The emphasis on excess rotation and extension is known, but not the kind of movement being used in many of these newer works. Also, I think most dancers are eternal optimists (which is not always a bad thing ) and just don't think it will happen to them. They do not expect injury. Because of that obedience factor that you mention, which is very true, they trust the teachers and the choreographers. Two principal (female) dancers retired this year, at 30 and 31 years old, primarily because of reaching the point where the years of injury and pain got to be too much. And their careers were both in what is considered to be a primarily classical company. Besides the contemporary works, which most likely caused a lot of the problems, they were, IMO, frequently overworked. And, as dancers do, they most likely overworked themselves in many cases. I blame my own serious injury, that put me out of commission for 2 years in the middle of my career, more on my own obsession for overworking than on anything having to do with the work itself at that time. There were other factors involved, especially in terms of medical knowledge and type of care at that point in time, however, I did not help things at all. But the points about the work today are most valid, and as a teacher I just have to wonder where this is all going and where I am leading these kids. No matter how much I work at keeping the technique as safe as possible and developing them slowly and carefully and correctly, what happens when they actually start performing with a company? Scary. But they want to dance, they are driven to dance, and would I have let anyone take that away or change my mind because I might get injured? No way!

Not meant to be a comment on the work, Juliet, as I actually did not see it when it was done here year before last. But I know that it is Septime's production being done out there. He is doing it again here this spring.

I'm with Tony Geeves! Thank you for that information, Katherine! I have felt for a long, long time that grand plié in everything but second position could, and perhaps should, be eliminated I eliminated 4th position grand many, many years ago, and then stopped doing all grand except second at the beginning of the barre and only putting in a couple of them later on. I would love to not do them at all, but unfortunately the students must still learn to do them and do them correctly because they will be expected to do them when they go anywhere else, and in auditions. I too believe that they are unnecessary and potentially harmful, especially with young students who do not have strong placement and control or those who do not have good rotation. [ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: Victoria Leigh ]

Yes, it is the same one.