Treefrog

It's interesting, isn't it, that upon moving to Chicago the Joffrey changed its name to "Joffrey Ballet of Chicago". And even more interesting that they dropped "...of Chicago" a year or two ago. The Chicago Swans?

Any BT'ers planning on attending? We have tickets for the gala performance and the Sunday matinee.

In June, the Joffrey will treat Chicago to a week of free performances and events in the city's outdoor Millenium Park. From the Chicago Tribune story (free registration may be required): "The Harris" is the Harris Theater, which is indoors. "The Pritzker" is the outdoor Pritzker Pavilion. The Crown Fountain is a fabulous pair of huge video screens that face each other across a watery plaza; the screens show huge faces, which occasionally spit out water. (Sounds gross, but it is very, very cool, and the plaza is a gathering place for waders of all ages.)

I wonder if that isn't just an effect of supply and demand. There are SO many aspiring female dancers that an AD can choose many wonderful dancers of a similar body type -- so that is what we get used to. Not so, perhaps, with the men?

I think that's the point of my question. Most ADs do hire by body type/aesthetic. This company is trying to do something different. Their claim is that the aesthetics rest in the movement and the expression and the interpretation, and not in the particular type of body. I guess the root of my question is: why do we put so much emphasis on the body rather than the technique?

In Links there was a link to an article to a small company, Bodiography, that emphasizes technique over body type. From the group's website: And from the Baltimore Sun's article: What do you think? Is it possible to separate the aesthetic of the technique from the aesthetic of the body in ballet?

That studio was at one time the main company studio. By the time the film was shot, the company had moved into different studios, and returned to that studio for filming. The new studios were not much better, and arguably worse: the main studio featured several huge pillars smack dab in the middle. Thankfully, the company has moved to much nicer digs. As for MacDowell shouting "Bravo" -- this is an entirely accurate characterization. Mr. Arpino is very generous with his praise ... or his cheerleading ...

This thread brings to mind the lyrics of a song by The Arrogant Worms, a Canadian humor (?) group: "She's my creepy stalker girl I'm the centre of her wacked out crazy and delusional world She follows me everywhere She's even got a bag with some bits of my hair Just go away you creepy stalker girl " Now THAT's a groupie! Bobbi, I have trouble seeing you in that role.

This is indeed very ugly. I, too, am confused by the word "strike". I know all contracts are not alike, but in our faculty contract the workers must 1) vote to strike, and 2) give management 10 days' notice of intent to strike. It is very clear what is a strike, and what is not. It sounds as though management is confused by the concept of a contract. (Our administration is fond of calling the contract "your contract", as though they weren't signatories and the contract was something we imposed on them. We have to remind them that it is "their" contract as well. I think this distinction comes about because labor contracts generally curb abuses of power by management. Management thus feels contrained. I suspect this is especially true of new contracts.) I'll be interested to see what the NLRB rules.

Personally, I thought the portrayal of the third Oompa Loompa in the back row after the Augustus Gloop episode was exceptionally weak. But the fifth one from the left in the Violet Beauregard scene? Masterful, just masterful! :blush:

I heard this piece when it first aired. My first thought was, "Boy, I bet THAT sparks some discussion on BT!" On the whole, I thought as commentary it wasn't terribly interesting. Sandik's comment was spot on: it fell into that "trash the ..." genre, without enlightening us at all. In fact, it just felt a little grinchy and mean-spirited. (For our non-English speakers, "grinchy" refers to a children's book called "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss.) Still ... there's little question that Nutcracker is overdone in this country. Not only does every company big and small mount a production, the music cannot be escaped. It's little wonder she feels saturated. I think her main issue, though, was that it isn't very entertaining, which I take to mean as there's no discernable character development or plot to whet the intellectual appetite, and no whiz-bang technical novelties to arouse the passion. "All" there is is art -- perhaps that's just too subtle for her to appreciate. However, there is a lot to be said for family traditions, and as traditions go, attending the Nutcracker each year is a pretty good one for the right sort of kid. Tanya Barrientos sounds like she is way too young to have kids, so she might not appreciate this aspect.

I absolutely agree with you about cinematics probably being good if you like the film. I meant only that I don't know enough to notice them or comment on them. dirac, I'd love to hear your thoughts when you do get to see it.

Has anyone seen The Squid and the Whale? I'm not one to comment on cinematic virtues. I'm a content kind of person. The portrayals of this dissolving family left me cringeing in horror and sympathy. My husband and I actually started arguing about which of our friends and relations were MOST like the emotionally frigid father/husband. We know a couple who share that insistence on their rights vis a vis the children, all the while remaining oblivious to their obligations and what's best for the kids.

I don't know why you think this dates you, Mel. Migdoll is still the official photographer for the Joffrey, and he does lovely work.

In A Leap of Faith, Sid Smith of the Chicago Tribune writes about the Joffrey's rise, fall, and subsequent rebirth as a Chicago company. What do long-time Joffrey watchers think? The piece is largely a social study, long on history and economics and politics. But it has this to say about the Joffrey's artistic transformation: I must say, I'm appalled by a board co-chair who "admits candidly that '(he's) no aficionado of ballet'." But, in this city, I guess it's always who you know. If he can raise money and visibility and support, I suppose it doesn't matter if he personally enjoys the shows. But how can you truly support something you are not passionate about? Can you be the proselytizer that is needed?

Bart, I'm interested in your response to the article about the Joffrey in yesterday's Sunday Tribune. But, I'm going to open another thread for that so that this thread can be about the current performance. I am happy to say that I have switched my tickets to the first Sunday of each two-week run. No longer will my reviews be of the "wish you could have seen" variety. The Dream is the raison d'etre for this performance. Yes, it's true that the trio of dances (Kylian's Return to a Strange Land and Arpino's Celebration are also on the program) showcases the Joffrey's diversity and eclecticism, but this is the piece that is really worth going to see. It simply is charming. First of all, it is a wonderful length for a story ballet. Everything that happens onstage is integral to the story -- no national dances plopped in, no dream sequences, no tutus. Just a nice, straightforward condensation. So straightforward that one can follow the story even if one (ahem) arrives as the curtain goes up and doesn't have time to read the program notes, and is so illiterate as to never have read the original Shakespeare. A great deal of credit goes to the fabulous acting and mime. I don't think of this as a strength of the company, perhaps because story ballets are not their bread-and-butter. But the gestures and expressions were all crisp and crystal clear, eloquent and amusing. I saw the cast that is mentioned in the reviews (the Joffrey usually has just two casts, except for Nut). The casting was terrific. Calmels is a wonderful Oberon, grand and jealous and charming all at once. I guess I ended up agreeing with both reviewers: while not rock-steady in this choreography, Calmels is commanding and a treat to watch. Given his height -- albeit lovely, classical proportions -- the wonder is not that he does it well, but that he does it at all. Keppley was energetic and engaging. Their pas de deux was beautiful. But, it was Calvin Kitten that stole my heart. If he was to retire tomorrow, I could happily say I saw him in the role he was born to dance. His insouciance shone in this impish role, and his astounding bounds and leaps -- quick and precise -- were simply a treat. His diminutive size played off perfectly against Calmel's height, just as Puck's spritely charm bounced in, around, and off Oberon's commanding demeanor. Kitten's performance was one for the record book. Special mention goes to the corps of fairies (my gosh, the Joffrey has an actual corps? 16 dancers strong!) who flitted and flew, and stopped on a dime to listen attentively, and generally set the stage for the main action. And special mention also to Ally Shives, daughter of dancer Willy Shives, who is all of 6-8 years old and who hit her musical cue exactly after feigning sleep for a good 10 minutes. Return to a Strange Land was certainly a contrast. Everything in The Dream is lush -- the set, the orchestration, the costumes, the choreography, the story -- and everything in Strange Land is stark. The lighting is dim and dappled, the costumes are simple tights and leotards, the music a single piano, and the choreography is reduced to pure movement, form, and emotional essence. Maia Wilkins and Victoria Jaiani have the right kind of plasticity to enhance the fluidity of the choreography. At times, the cantilevered forms and careful shapes that echoed one body to another were breathtaking. Wilkins and Shives displayed once again the organic dance relationship that allows them to transcend the choreography -- ANY choreography -- and transform it into something beyond the mere steps and shapes that define it. Celebration, if I remember the program notes, premiered at the Joffrey's 25th Anniversary celebration in 1980, was last performed in 1981, and was revived for the current celebration. Note to planners of the 75th: don't even think about it. There's a reason it's been shelved all these years. Let's start with the Shostakovitch score. It's in a minor key, for starters. This is a celebration? Second, the music's not even all that danceable. Third, both Shostakovitch and Arpino seem to have been enticed by Broadway, only I'm not sure if the result is more appropriate to Man of La Mancha or Fiddler on the Roof. At any rate, I really thought the choreography was pretty boring. It didn't flow, didn't climax, didn't do anything. It just seemed like a bunch of steps thrown together, albeit a mix of classical ballet and ethnic (mostly Russian) folk dance. The costuming didn't help, either; where a mix of lively folk-oriented costumes might have helped to differentiate the scene, instead we got a single palette of lovely but bland rose-colored dresses and tunics. The dancers performed well, but in the end, there wasn't much in this piece to draw them out.

Ed, we had a discussion about Atonement sometime back. I don't have time to look up the thread, hence can't warn you if it has any spoilers. You may or may not want to read it now, but know that it's there when you are done with the book. I agree that it is worth sticking with, and that things pull together more the more you get into it. They are deliberately murky at first. As for me, I have just re-read The Gatekeepers, which is about college admissions at Wesleyan. Since Wes is on my DD's college list, and we visited there last spring, I thought it would be useful to reacquaint myself with this journalistic account. It was neither more nor less alarming and/or depressing than the first time around. I am searching for a good read right about now -- something to entice me away from the computer, where I am spending far too much time playing word games

Here are the reviews: Sid Smith in the Chicago Tribune Hedy Weiss in the Sun-Times They are an interesting study in contrasts -- not least for their respective descriptions of Fabrice Calmels as Oberon: Smith: Weiss: Do you suppose they attended the same show????

Bart, that's a "preview" more than a review. The show opened last night. I'll be going on Sunday. (Hedy Weiss may be a "theater critic", but I think she's the better of the two dance reviewers in town, the other being Sid Smith of the Tribune. He tends to talk more about the stories and the history, and his writing seems a little esoteric. Weiss seems to have more working knowledge of dance forms and terms, and has a better eye for the execution of the steps.)

I saw "L'Allegro...." at the Harris Theater in Chicago last weekend. I adored it. So much modern dance seems caught up in pretentious interpretation of a theme (usually involving love, loss, sex, abuse, or other relational stuff). Not this! I loved the purity of the musical expression. The rhythms, the repeats, the intonations -- all were caught through movement. The dance made you hear the music differently. It made you see the music. And then, just when you were lulled into thinking it was pure expression -- Bam, he hits you with a literal movement, or even a cliché (e.g. the bird, the hunt). It keeps you on your toes. Or maybe it's just comic relief. The costumes are wonderful, especially the simple drape and flow of the dresses.

Here's a link to a contemporaneous thread: Fire at the Mariinsky destroys costumes. As Hans indicated, the fire was nearly two years ago.

Bart, I didn't get the idea that the kids were going to expand on their own choreographic ideas. Did I miss something? I thought it was just a way of auditioning -- see which kids could move, had interesting interpretations of music, etc. Sort of the way Billy Elliot auditioned. P.S. Wouldn't it be great if the Joffrey actually had a ballet school here in Chicago?

This short article was in Sunday's Chicago Tribune: Although the article does not specifically mention the race or ethnicity of the students, I'd expect that most or all of them are African-American or Hispanic. Lockett is African-American. The Joffrey has a history of giving talented kids scholarships and placing them with ballet studios to continue their training.

for not forgetting Joffrey! In light of Alexandra's last comment, though, I wonder if this isn't exactly the sort of company that might change radically with a new AD. It was founded, after all, as the vision of one man, and has only had one other AD since -- a person who was closely associated, personally and professionally, with the founder. What happens when Arpino leaves? I imagine that its repertory of smaller, eclectic works will buffer it somewhat. But performances in recent years have depended heavily on Arpino/Joffrey choreography and ... um... a perfectly reasonable new AD might feel justified in jettisoning some of the more dated and less interesting pieces (not saying those are one and the same). From this could come great growth ... or not, depending on what replaces it. And then, there's always the question of whether the Joffrey style would be maintained.

When my husband has a spare item that might be of interest to his virtual running community, he "VBay"s it -- that is, he offers it up to whomever expresses an interest, and picks a random name from those who respond. No money exchanges hands. I don't know if this would be in keeping with Board rules, but you might "Bbay" the tapes on BT4D, if you want to educate a young dancer, or here if you don't care what age balletomane receives them. If you have many, though, shipping could get costly.