Victoria Leigh

Estelle, Violette is now at Indiana University. She has been there for quite a long time I believe. [ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: Victoria Leigh ]

Jane, just a quick note on using this board. It is not necessary to quote the post just above yours, as it is visible here when you open the topic. Also, you can edit your own posts when you make a mistake by clicking on the little icon with the paper and pencil which is just above the post. (And I just had to edit to correct a typo ) [ January 03, 2002: Message edited by: Victoria Leigh ]

Jaana, it's really not that simple to explain, because there are a lot of uses for the word contemporary and it gets used for practically anything that is not a 19th century classic like Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, etc. But it is also used to describe works that are ballet, but not exactly "classical", like works by Forsythe or Tharp and lots of other "contemporary choreographers". I'm sure someone else can do a much better job of explaining this, and I don't have time to go into anything further right now, so will leave it for others to continue. Just wanted to give you a quick response this morning

Jaana, it's really not that simple to explain, because there are a lot of uses for the word contemporary and it gets used for practically anything that is not a 19th century classic like Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, etc. But it is also used to describe works that are ballet, but not exactly "classical", like works by Forsythe or Tharp and lots of other "contemporary choreographers". I'm sure someone else can do a much better job of explaining this, and I don't have time to go into anything further right now, so will leave it for others to continue. Just wanted to give you a quick response this morning

Are they doing the whole 3 act ballet, BW, or just the Pas de dix or Grand pas hongrois, which is the large divertissement section from the wedding scene? The ballet is described in most every book on ballets, like Balanchine's or Beaumont, and the Oxford Dictionary of Ballet, etc. There are also several video tapes available.

An ABT Calendar, of course!

Check out ARB and what they are going through right now. There was a story (see Links from yesterday, Dec. 23) about their new ballets being scrapped, company cut by 4 dancers, and the salaries of the rest of the dancers cut from $26,000 to $16,000. That's a very long way from NYCB, and really shows the degree of difference from company to company. It's very hard to think of any professional dancers today only making $26k, and anything less than that is totally impossible in terms of making a living as a dancer.

Prisma, welcome to Ballet Alert! Online!, and thank you for reporting in such great depth about AB's Nuts! It sounds quite different in some parts, but there seem to be a lot of very different productions around these days. The more I see these "new" productions, the more I appreciate the traditional. I usually wish that people would accept a classic as a classic and just do it and not keep trying to make it better or more different by adding dancing animals, plopping flowers, etc.

If that is true, it is way, way beyond anything I have ever heard of for a corps de ballet dancer, even in a major company! Have things really changed that much in a few years? Even with overtime I find that about double the figures I have heard about. When they tour they get a per diem, but they also have to pay for hotels and meals, while still paying rent in NY, so the per diem probably barely covers their daily expenses on the road. I'm not sure about NYCB, but in most, if not all, companies the dancers are paid on a weekly basis, and their contracts vary anywhere from twenty some weeks a year to maybe 46 weeks for a very few. Even they make $700 to $1000 a week, (and smaller companies pay much less than that) that doesn't come close to a six figure salary. Calliope, I'm not trying to be argumentative here, but I'm really concerned because I think that young dancers reading that might think they can earn that kind of money and if that is happening at NYCB I think it would be the only place. Do you know what the average weekly salary of a corps dancer is in that company, and how many weeks a year they work, not counting overtime or per diem as I don't think they are regular enough additons to figure into an average salary and per diem is not salary anyway. [ December 24, 2001: Message edited by: Victoria Leigh ]

Estelle, I saw Violette dance quite a bit, and also had the great privilege of working with her and getting to know her. Needless to say, I adored her, both as a dancer and as a terrific person! She was beautiful, with a very clean and precise technique, lovely, very French, articulation of the feet, wonderful lightness and speed, and a unique musicality. Her style when I knew her was still very French, and even when she danced Balanchine works I felt that she was different from all others in the company. Perhaps it was more her personality than her style, but to me she was always different, and I loved her!

Auvi, Elizabeth Wisenberg was a Clara last year, and also Star. This year she is too tall for Clara! She is dancing Star at almost all of the performances, and is also in Chinese, Flutes, and Flowers. I think the Clara you saw was Puanani Brown. Very tiny, with dark hair and beautiful feet?

Thank you for the positive words about our Nuts, Bard and Alexandra! I too think it is better this year, but then it's hard to know about my objectivity since I'm way too close to it. But it has been going well, and all three of our Grand Pas casts are lovely. Briane Bland is a delightful Sugarplum, and Laura Urgelles is very lovely too. Glad you noticed Richard Krocil, Bard! I think he is quite elegant, and has enormous potential. Extension, feet, and a jump to die for. Weakness is in turns, with that beautiful long line but not a solid enough center for multiple pirouettes. Some of that is confidence, though, and I think that is already improving during this run. He did a very nice Grand Pas last night. He has the European manners of a real Prince. He is from Moravia, actually, and just came to this country last month. He dances Grand Pas with Laura, and also Flowers couples as well as Snow Pas. I agree about the audience problems, but then, it's Nuts, and of course there will always be lots of very young children there. I do have to object to those who bring infants, however, as they can be very disruptive. We had several at the second show yesterday. Parents were in and out all the time when they started to get fussy. Never a good idea to take a baby to any kind of performance. We have also had the occassional cell phone, and people trying to take photos, with flash of course.

Ah, but finding your central balance point IS technique, Prima_B! And welcome to Ballet Alert! Online.

Hello Clara, and welcome to Ballet Alert Online! You have posted in the Video Swap Shop, but I think you meant to be in the Young Dancers forum, so I'm moving this topic over there

rg, you did mean Roberta, not Robert, right?

Estelle, thank you for that information! I will definitely look forward to seeing that documentary! vrs, actually Violette was trained in Paris, I believe primarily by a teacher named Madame Rosanne, or something like that. I used to know, but it's been a long time. And she danced with ABT even before working in NYCB. I never really thought of her as a Balanchine dancer, as I think she was very rooted in French training. That may have changed over the years but not at the time I worked with her.

What a lovely idea for a topic, DEDG I have lots of memories, but I think the two most special might be my experiences with Violette Verdy and Dame Margot Fonteyn. Dame Margot was guesting with ABT when I was a there, and meeting and talking to her was very special because she was such a gracious LADY, in the true sense of the word. She seemed to have a genuine interest in all of the young dancers and spoke to them easily and willingly, not at all condescending nor concerned whether she was talking to a principal, soloist or corps member. As an even younger dancer I had the wonderful opportunity of working closely with Violette Verdy for several months. I was 19 years old, and the understudy for her role in a ballet we were performing in London. She worked with me daily and coached me in the role. She was the most musical dancer I have ever known, and also most generous in imparting her knowledge and giving of her time to work with me.

Hello, Iluv_ballet, welcome to Ballet Alert Online! This forum is for the discussion of what the village people do in the ballets that are filled with peasant and village people What we do here on Ballet Talk is discuss Ballet! There are lots of different forums, including several for students which are listed under Special Groups. I would suggest that you start by reading some of the topics, become familiar with how we work here, and then post to the topics which interest you.

Interesting point Alexandra, about the possibility that our preoccupation with line since somewhere in the 50's might have contributed to the lack of attention to the upper body. I'm not sure if this is the case or not, but it could be, although I feel that there is no line without it involving the whole body, including the upper back, arms, hands, head and eyes. The freedom that seems to be allowed in these areas today has created, in many companies, a lack of uniformity in the corps, and led to extreme mannerism. As a teacher of advanced teens and professional dancers I find that it gets harder and harder to maintain a sense of tradition in many ways, not just in terms of technique. There is such a focus on higher/bigger/more that it is hard to keep them focused on basics such as the path of the arms and placement of the head that creates a uniformity in the movements and lines. Perhaps a part of it is also the great emphasis on freedom and individuality in our society, and of constantly trying to find new ways to do everything, which is great of course, however it can lead to a lack of discipline and respect for tradition. I certainly don't want to keep everything in the 40's, or in any other place, however there are some things that do need to be preserved and cared for in this most non-democratic of art forms!

ABT's Nuts and Martin's Swan Lake There are, unfortunately lots of others whose titles I don't even remember because the ballets were not worth remembering, but these two are the biggest disasters I have ever seen.

The Ballet Nacional de Cuba opened last night (11/20) at the Kennedy Center with Giselle, and tonight they presented Coppelia. I was blown away last night. The Giselle was danced in the romantic period style, and this, to me, just seems SO right. I always wondered why the style was not maintained in this ballet the way it is in La Sylphide. There were some rather sad looking costumes, especially in Act I, and the dancers shoes are also quite sad looking. This aside, on the whole I loved the production. The corps de ballet was perfectly matched in size, and rehearsed to the eyelash. There was not a fingernail out of place Giselle was Lorna Feijoo. It took her a little while to win me over, but once she did, she REALLY did! The problem early on was poor make up, so she didn't look very pretty, and something that is hard for me to get past, which is a tendency to sickle her right foot, especially when being lifted. However, by the variation I was coming around, and her mad scene may have been one of the best I've ever seen. Her second act was breathtaking, and I never even saw a sickle foot. Albrecht was danced by Oscar Torrado, who is very beautiful as a dancer. He has long, long legs and very nice feet, and lovely technique. I did not feel that he was a strong actor. The Peasant Pas de Deux has been transformed into a dance for 6 girls and 4 boys, which I thought a bit strange, but still enjoyable. Tonight's Coppelia was more mixed for me. The second act was purely delightful, but I had a few problems with the first and third acts. Swanhilda was the charming Viengsay Valdes, who is an exceptionally strong technician. Her pirouettes of all kinds are amazing. However, with the short tutu used in the first and third act, I had a bit more trouble getting past her legs and feet, which, though not at all bad, are just not exquisite. She also has a tendency to sickle, and I found this throughout the corps de ballet as well, with an overall lack of really fine articulation of the feet. This puzzles me, as I think the overall training of the dancers is exceptional. But there is a weakness in use of feet. Franz was danced by Victor Gili (last night's very fine Hilarion). He is a fine actor/character dancer, with a good technique too, however, he did appear to me to be a bit too old and too heavy for the role of Franz. The soloists in Dawn and Prayer were disappointing. Prayer (Ivis Diaz) was very pretty, and danced well, but she needs some work on the line of her left leg in arabesque. Overall I really like this company. There are always things one can pick apart, but they presented good ballets with a lot of good dancers who were strong, energetic, enthusiastic, and charming. I appreciated the attention to the details of the pantomime in both ballets, and to the romantic era style in Giselle. The corps in Giselle was exceptional. The company deserves much better sets and costumes, and the blinking/moving lights behind the scrim in Act II Giselle (supposed to be wilis before they appear)MUST go! The idea is a good one for lights, if they just flickered like one here and one there, but this is a moving bank of lights that look like some kind of alien invasion.

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Dancers who ignore the music while doing more pirouettes just because they can. Some of our young whiz bang male dancers today go for it all, no matter what, including whether they are on the music or not. It is all about tricks and not about the ballet, the role, the quality, or the music. Some of them look like they are in a competition instead of a ballet

Dancers who ignore the music while doing more pirouettes just because they can. Some of our young whiz bang male dancers today go for it all, no matter what, including whether they are on the music or not. It is all about tricks and not about the ballet, the role, the quality, or the music. Some of them look like they are in a competition instead of a ballet

Lovely topic, Glebb, and I definitely second your thoughts about Violette! Fonteyn of course fits this perfectly too, and another that I felt had this quality was Toni Lander. She was elegant and beautiful, a lovely technician but not a powerhouse, and always very much a lady. All three of these ballerinas were humble but not lacking in confidence or security in their roles, and they all worked openly with younger dancers, coaching and encouraging them. Lovely role models!