Bonnette

I've been experiencing some strange behavior on Ballet Alert! -- but not on BT4D :

1. When I start to type in the "Reply" box, I"m not seeing any formatting options (bold, italic, etc.)

Hi, Helene. Of the issues you listed, this is the only one I have experienced - and it self-corrected today, as I am now seeing the formatting options (without needing to click on the More Reply Options button).

One issue I'm experiencing which others have not mentioned, is that the Mark All Posts Read link is quite unstable (and I realize that it has to be clicked twice - once to bring up a list of options, and again to select the appropriate option). The Mark All Posts Read links only seem to work for me 50% of the time.

Although we won't be able to arrive at a consensus about the issues raised in this thread, one thing seems clear: This is a novel, pure and simple, not a "novelization" based on solid research - the vaunted "hundreds of hours of documentaries and NYCB footage" do not exist, and neither Le Clercq nor her friends were talking; so, barring mediumistic intervention, there is no basis for the author's claim that Le Clercq's authentic essence has been tapped. This is what concerns me about the book - not its form, but its claims. These strike me as offensively opportunistic, even shameful. I would not have had such a strong reaction if the novel had been marketed as essential fabrication, rather than distilled essence - but then, who would have bought it?

I'm sure L'Clerq engaged in an awful lot of reflection in the years after she could no longer dance and before she decided not to take her own life. But the fact that she kept her reflections private makes me all the more loath to read someone's guess work. A third party's fantasy . . . I just don't see the attraction. But that's just me.

Whether or not the novel is satisfactory as prose, it remains an exercise in hubris - for the reasons alluded to by kfw (above), and which reverberate throughout this thread. "Novelization," "creative non-fiction," and other euphemisms aside, there is to me something profoundly repugnant about this choice of subject as the object of the form.

it's me too -

...make that three of us.

Wonderful article, Neryssa! Thank you so much.

The title (The Master's Muse) is equally annoying - as if Tanaquil Le Clercq's entire identity revolved around her contribution to Balanchine's genius. Please.

Well.....she was an inspiration to Balanchine, trained in his school, and her place in ballet history is defined by the roles he made on her, not to mention the socially recognized link of marriage. If anything the title's a bit obvious.

I know, and that's what sticks in my craw. The external circumstances and trappings of Le Clercq's life are there for all to see, but the author claims to have performed a heroic work of research in order to recover and proclaim Le Clercq's "essence"...which presumably involves deeper levels of significance than the title suggests.

The author's bio on the publisher's website says that she teaches writing, both fiction and "creative non-fiction." Oh, my.

(Edited to add: I went back to the publisher's site just now in order to post a link to the page, and all of O'Connor's biographical information has been removed. She does have a cute cat, though. )

Yours is a strong voice of reason and moderation, dirac. I take your point. For me, the sense is that Ms. Le Clercq was robbed once by polio - and I bristle at even the suggestion that her closet might be picked through again in a posthumous work of fiction. But you're right, I feel protective to a degree that might be excessive or unwarranted. And I certainly echo your thanks to Neryssa for this heads-up.

- either it is a biography or it is straight fiction. But to borrow a person, who at any rate has been alive in my life time, is IMO, a bit much.

Yes. The so-called "narrative history" genre is very problematic, since facts don't matter as much as moving the story along. For legal purposes, O'Connor's novel would probably fall into the same category so often encountered in film adaptations: "As suggested by..." But it feels like a cheap shot. The title (The Master's Muse) is equally annoying - as if Tanaquil Le Clercq's entire identity revolved around her contribution to Balanchine's genius. Please.

Thank you so much for that link, Neryssa!

Didn't she leave an archive?

I do not know the extent of what she left - perhaps rg has this information. Oh, how I wish she'd written her autobiography!

Unless O'Connor interviewed dancers and friends from the period, she knows much less than most people on this forum. She is imagining the rest... O'Connor has the right to do so but it just makes me uncomfortable. I don't know how to articulate my uneasiness and resentment - the latter which is silly, I suppose.

I understand this sense of resentment, in that imagining Tanaquil Le Clercq's life - as opposed to transparent discussion of her actual circumstances and body of work - feels like a violation to me. I agree with Natalia, it seems odd that so much avowed research should be used in the service of fiction (though, in fairness, the author is primarily a novelist and not a biographer). I have long hoped for a full biography of Ms. Le Clercq, and am sorry that this won't be it.

Yes, thank you so much for this. What a beautiful photo of both dancers.

That sounds like a reasonable assumption, Cristian. I googled "text enhance" and it is apparently an application that is viewed by many as a virus - there was a link to a site purporting to describe how to remove it, but I was afraid to click on the link to see what it said.

I don't see any such links in your post, either, Cristian.

That was very quick! And the site does come up much faster than before. Thanks, Helene.

Hi Kerry, welcome!

The Bishop's Wife (Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven).

Cristian, what a delightful card and message! Thank you so much, and my happiest new year wishes to you and everyone here!

Haven't seen Blonde. The reviews of the Oates novel did not tempt me to read it, although they were mostly favorable. I did read somewhere that Naomi Watts might be up for the part in the feature film.

Hi Dirac. I'd heard that about Watts, too. She's a fine actress, but at 44 she seems a bit old for the part (and she is perhaps too cerebral, as well). Actually, Montgomery was so good that I wish they'd slather the lens with Vaseline and gauze and cast her again!

And as for interpretations of Marilyn Monroe, the strongest I've seen so far is Popppy Montgomery's portrayal in Blonde.

Same here, and I have always been amazed at how seldom this performance is noted. Not only was Montgomery's portrayal precisely tuned and nuanced, she also looked the part - uncannily so.

Welcome, Meesh! As carbro says, your enthusiasm is contagious. I agree with you, this is an excellent forum - so glad your Googling brought you here!

Thank you, Cristian - and a happy holiday to all.

I was on track to become a professional dancer when a chronic illness pulled a switch. But I continued to take classes whenever possible all through my 50s, just in order to "touch the hem of [its] garment" - ballet is that sacred an art, and an atmosphere, to me. I suspect that many adults take classes for that reason.

2. Mark ALL as Read - the software allows me to mark threads in a forum or subforum as read, but I can find no way to mark ALL threads in a particular forum, and in all its subforums at once, as read; nor can I mark all posts across the entire board as read.

Hi Sandy. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of whichever page you're on, beneath the Amazon search box you'll see (in small grey letters) the words Mark Community Read. This is the familiar Mark All As Read command, with new wording. That command used to be at the top of the page, in a more prominent font and location.

It's just lovely, Helene - thank you for your excellent taste, hard work and dedication.

Edited to add: I know that you will be making changes, but the basic format is easy on the eyes and navigation is intuitive. Thumbs up!