Jayne

"Selections from Apollo" Thank you Pherank for posting this. This "all star cast" is a good example of the variations of dance training: Zhanna Ayupova of the Mariinsky / Vaganova Patricia Barker of Pacific Northwest Ballet / "old school" 1950's / 1960's Balanchine Isabella Guerin of Paris Opera Ballet / POB School Nilas Martin of NYCB / RDB School One of the things I notice is the deliberation in the movements of Ms Ayupova, the quicksilver lightness of Ms Barker and the full bodied grace of Ms Guerin. I don't necessarily think Mr. Martin is the best example of Bournonville or 1980's Balanchine style. Then again, the role calls for some sort of roughness at the start, as Apollo grows over time. Anyway, I felt dissatisfied watching him. I'm trying to put into words how the Balanchine style looks different, and I think when it really works, the dancers look as if they are low flying starlings.

Doing a happy dance today. Looks like a great cast for my show. I didn't like "In the Upper Room" the first time I saw it, or on further youtube video bits. But I have to wonder if it's because I can't see much of the dancing due to those awful striped pyjamas? If they wore simple leotards would I like it more? I may have to do the old Balanchine trick and close my eyes and just enjoy the music.

Yes, it gets more "Jeff Gillooly / Tanya Harding" all the time. Sadly, Filin's eyesight may not recover as quickly as Nancy Kerrigan's knee.

Someone mentioned Kathleen Battle earlier in this thread. Today i was sorting some boxes and came across the Feb.21, 1994 edition of Time magazine. Amazing edition, it covers the Nancy Kerrigan / Tonya Harding conflict, the war in Sarajevo, the initial attempts at de-occupying portions of Gaza, the first free elections in South Africa (not so long after Nelson Mandela was freed), the brinksmanship between the USA and Japan on a trade agreement, the Tailhook scandal, and the initial Hilary Clinton - driven attempt at manditory employer paid health care legislation. The Culture section reviews the movie "Slackers", Edward Albee's play "Three Tall Women", and all the juicy gossip surrounding Kathleen Battle's firing by Joseph Volpe at the MET; http://www.time.com/...1940221,00.html It's hard to imagine that she would participate in behind-the-scenes interviews that the MET gives today, given her extraordinarily erratic behavior. I also think the pressure of a live performance in HD would crush her psychological health. Interestingly, Peter Gelb is quoted - he was president of Sony Classical Film & Video at the time. A couple of my favorite stories from the article: In Boston she telephoned the management of the Boston Symphony Orchestra to complain that the Ritz-Carlton's room service had put peas in her pasta. while riding in a limo in Southern California, she used the limo cell phone to call her management in NYC to complain about the temperature of the limo. Her management called the limo managers, who then called the limo driver to tell him to turn down the air conditioning. After her appearances at the San Francisco Opera, the backstage crew sported T shirts that read: I SURVIVED THE BATTLE Opera is a small professional world, and Joseph Volpe had a lot of respect for making this decision. I think the other impressarios decided "If she can't make work at the MET with Joe Volpe, then why the hell would we be able to work with her?" Anyway, she seems to have made a nice career for herself in concert performances. She didn't starve, and Harolyn Blackwell got a nice boost. I was lucky enough to see her not too long afterwards as Gilda in Rigoletto, which is a fun role. Sorry if this is straying off topic.

pretty typical for the accused to minimize their roles in crimes in an attempt o minimize jail time. We'll see if the judge buys it (doubtful). The man claims he's Julian Assange, hacking into servers and giving Russian papers his findings. But they don't publish the breathless scandal that he expected. So he moved on to hiring convicts???

Apparently she lobbied for O/O in December, and was told to "look in the mirror". This is her in December: I observe that her upper legs are slightly thicker than the super skinny girls. I also observe her strong jumps, turns, and control - all assisted by that extra 5-10 lbs of muscle. If she'd been born 30 years earlier, she'd be a star.

I could be wrong, but as I recall, Ms Volchkova sued the Bolshoi and won some sort of settlement. I read another article from yesterday's links (will try to find it) that the police wanted to wait to make the arrests, so they could continue their probe. The inference is that they wanted to see if there was a higher chain of command for this event, I assume they wanted to continue to monitor communications of the 3 suspects. But the Ministry of Justice pressed them to make arrests now. Time will tell, sometimes crimes are not "grand conspiracies" and crimes of passion are pretty common motives for violence. Our beloved artform celebrate them! The interrogation may have focused on Miss Vorontsova, and Mr. Dmitrichenko may have taken the fall in order to protect her from being implicated / railroaded. BTW I don't think she is fat at all, but she does look like her musculature is larger when she is pictured next to the stringbeans that are currently in fashion. If you look at old pictures from the 1960's Bolshoi, she would have fit right in (and considering this was Grigorovich's best time at the Bolshoi, I can understand why she would shine in his ballets). "Alas, that love, so gentle in his view, Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof" Romeo & Juliet, Wm. Shakespeare

HuffPo article by someone who doesn't like the METLive intermission interviews (but I love them!)

I had the same thoughts! This is from an AP article that is circulating From The Moscow Times So the motive for the attack is revenge for calling his girlfriend fat???

I've never seen Ivan the Terrible, watching the clip posted in the thread, it looks like a lot of histrionic choreography. But maybe the full story works better? Has anyone seen Pavel Dmitrichenko in any other works? Thoughts on his abilities? I am concerned that his romantic relationship with Anzhelina (Angelina?) Vorontzhova will ruin her career. Maybe all the Grigorovich supporters should move over to his Grigorovich Ballet Company. The state could boost their funding and they could perform Grigorovich works to their hearts' delight and leave the Bolshoi alone to forge its own path. Then again, there was this review last year: http://arts.heraldtr...than-legendary/ Editing to add a video - just found a video of him in what appears to be "Golden Age" from the Bolshoi reopening gala:

The big difference is the opportunity to attend performances. The figure skating national championships and / or Skate America might come to your region once every 10 years, and the world championships eve less often. Ballet regulars are willing to subscribe to season tickets every single year. That said, I'd be interested to know what serious outreach has done to find out why ballet season ticket holders make their commitments, vs the spur of the moment single ticket buyers. Obviously the story ballets are attractive to bring children for the fantasy stories. Little kids are going to be bored at "Onegin", "Manon", etc.

Well that's Wagner for ya, have you read his views on Jews? I had to read them in the original German back in my university days. That put me off German literature permanently.

It's very politically profitable for Republicans to demonize the National Endowment for the Arts and Public Television. I wish we could deflate this issue by switching to a voluntary directive on tax forms to send $10 to the NEA. This would be similar to the option of directing $5 towards political campaigns. I think the majority of people would donate, and the NEA could set aside some of that money to fund grants of PBS broadcasts of Dance in America. It would be win/win for everyone - the Republican party could say they eliminated tax payer funding from involuntarily funding the arts, PBS would get more money than the usual way, American Art (dance and otherwise) would get more TV exposure, and dance companies would have more NEA funding. If 100 million volunteered $10 towards the NEA, that would bring funding up to $1 billion. Consider that the US population po is about 66% the size of Europe - and we should have similar quantity and quality of cultural institutions. I think pop artists would support the campaign too - imagine if Lady Gaga accepts her Grammy and says "Please give $10 of your taxes for the arts!" in her acceptance speech, it could be amazing.

I think it shows that the 'perception' in those regions is that the only way to get a professional position is to compete and build up awards / scholarships that they can put on their resumes. The Cubans have benefited from Soviet era access to international coaching of the highest level, and the legacy is being taught today. Based on the number of ballet companies in Europe and Canada / US, I'd say that Asia and Latin America are further back in the time line for developing audiences, secure government support and non profit funding. For that reason, dancers travel to "get seen" in competitions, or to finish their educations at schools in North America and Europe. Do you think NYCB, POB, Mariinsky and Bolshoi all use the same style? On the other hand, I think the polyglot nature of most rep companies is hindering additional style developments. If you look at the schedules for PNB, Barcelona and ENB, they share a number of choreographers for mixed reps. Maybe in 20 years they will all look the same? But maybe not.... The mods will tell you soon enough and move the thread if necessary.

I felt the same way at Christmas time in Buenos Aires and latter in Missiones for the actual day. The decor is everywhere, yet the humidity is stifling. It felt more like 4th of July or Canada Day to me. Everyone in shorts, the men barbecuing outside, and the women preparing salads and desserts. There were even fireworks at midnight (I hope none of them hit Santa's sleigh!) Teatro Colon did not have Nutcracker that December, but they were dealing with theater worker strike issues, so it's hard to say what they would normally put on.

I'll leave the sexism aside - I just thought Seth wasn't sharp, or as funny as advertised. The magic is Billy Crystal and Bob Hope's abilities to ad-lib with zingers that hit the mark, but didn't leave blood.

rejected, but she came out of the balances so gracefully that you don't really notice unless you're looking for the missing final turn with Mr. Mauve.

Seattle Times has a new story on the 2013/2014 season: http://blogs.seattletimes.com/artspage/2013/02/27/pacific-northwest-ballets-new-season-begins-to-take-shape/?prmid=head_main highlights: World premiere ballet (currently untitled) by Twyla Tharp, who’s in residence at the company for several months this year, and which will be showcased in an all-Tharp program to open the season in September. That rep would also include the return of Tharp audience favorite “Nine Sinatra Songs” and a PNB Tharp premiere, “Brief Fling.” World premiere from Alejandro Cerrudo (currently resident choreographer at Chicago’s Hubbard Street Dance) Local premieres from Jiri Kylian (“Forgotten Land”) and Crystal Pite (“Emergence”). Repeat of “Giselle,” new to the company last year, will return with new costumes by Jerome Kaplan (“Romeo et Juliette”) Repeat of “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Repeat of Ronald Hynd’s “Sleeping Beauty” Kent Stowell’s perennial “Nutcracker” ​I like most of it, but I think they are reviving Midsummer too soon. I'd rather see something else. I'd much rather see a triptych of Balanchine short stories: Sonnambula, Slaughter and Prodigal Son (all in the PNB rep). Alternatively, I'd love to see PNB bring in guest dancers from OBT and put on Vienna Waltzes (which requires 55 dancers, PNB has about 45 currently). I think that would be a great Valentines program, and the OBT dancers are looking at reduced contract weeks, and this would be win/win for everyone. I'm more interested in seeing more David Dawson and Kiyon Gaines than some of the others. But that's just me.

If it makes you feel any better about the NYCB sets, when I see this set from ABT's Sleeping Beauty, I can only think "Thomas Kinkade, painter of light" - and that's not a compliment.

Everyone's a critic now, especially with so many reality fashion shows, fashion police, and judgy mcjudgy "experts" telling us what to like and dislike. What is fashionable now will be deplored in 5 years' time and then will be revived back into style in 20 years. The 70's look was coming back, then it was the Grecian look, and now we're edging towards 80's prom dresses. On the one hand, we're bored when the actresses don't take risks. But when they do take risks, we criticize them. I liked Halle Berry's dress, it looked very 40's glamour to me. She's not as young as some of the other actresses, but I thought she looked glamorous and the curves of her body looked fantastic. Anne Hathaway's dress was a safer choice, it reminded me of the Audrey Hepburn dress revival from the mid-late 1990's. I think I still have a bridesmaid's dress in Aubergine in my closet that is pretty similar. Loved her jewelry. Given her short hair, why not go Audrey Hepburn on the night when you're a shoe-in to win? In the stage musical, the role of Fantine doesn't grab your heart as much as Eponine. But in the movie version it is the reverse. All credit to Anne's performance for making us love her in that role. She should have won for the difficult Rachel Getting Married role. I loved to hate her in that role. She won for both the Les Miz performance, and also her body of work. The men have it much easier with the penguin suits. Loved Daniel Day Lewis's silver hair. So much better looking on men than the tinted dark hair. If you're 57 you will look 57 whether you have silver hair or dyed dark hair.

I'm a huge Shirley fan and she did a good job last night. But if you want to see her really kick it, see her Glastonbury performance:

I have to disagree on Jardi Tancat. I love it, and when the dancers are on stage, I can't take my eyes off them, it's a very emotional piece. There are plenty of youtube videos if you haven't seen it yet, the dancing is much closer to Martha Graham than to Balanchine, but I think it's an amazing experience for the audience. My facility in Catalan is zero, but perhaps if you grow up with Spanish as your native tongue, some of it will come through in the music. BTW some of the parts are supposed to be silent (no tape). I'm surprised MCB does not have more story ballets this year, as they bring in more $$$ than other pieces. But I notice a pattern in the AD's choices: Jardi Tancat, Don Q, West Side Story. I think the AD is trying to find a connection to the latino population in the area, without transforming the company into Cuba National Ballet's Northern Branch.

Figured this would fit into "everything else" BuzzFeed has a tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek ode to "Center Stage" called "26 steps to becoming an amazing dancer as told by Center Stage" http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/26-steps-to-becoming-an-amazing-dancer-as-told-by-center-sta

Broadcast on 12 Feb.2013 http://www.kuow.org/post/art-preserving-balanchine-ballets An interesting discussion of how the steps are recorded, and passed on.

Great article from The Guardian My favorite quote: This is a far better explanation than I could write describing the difference between competition dance - with its hyper emphasis on technique - and why the audience comes to see the dance.