Bonnette

Welcome, Lily! This forum is such a delight, filled with people who genuinely appreciate all aspects of the ballet. Glad you found Ballet Alert.

My thanks, too, for this great information.

I, too, thought that Corday was a delight...beautiful dancing, lovely mischievous twinkle, eloquent mime.

That should be 9:45 pm EDST for the start of Tales of Hoffman.

Yes! You are so right. Thank you for correcting this...my mistake just dawned on me and I came back to amend the post. Thanks again.

On TCM tonight (April 17, 2011), "The Mysterious House of Dr. C" will be followed immediately (at 7:45 PM EDT) by "The Tales of Hoffmann," featuring Moira Shearer and Robert Helpmann (among many wonderful dancers).

I thought it was strange that they never mentioned the company that Sarah dances with (ABT of course), but they repeatedly used footage of ABT classes and rehearsals.

I, too, thought that was odd. Maybe ABT preferred that the company name not be mentioned, though of course the studio and her fellow dancers would have been recognizable to the cognicenti.

While this story probably won't hold the public interest for long, there might well be repercussions involving future cinematic casting/crediting/contractural/promotional decisions - on the parts of dancers and production companies, alike; and that could have implications for other types of doubles, even (perhaps) retroactively. It's an interesting dilemma. I agree with Ms. Lane when she says that the promotional pitch for this particular film - touting Portman as a balletic wunderkind - is the main concern here, compounded by ongoing misrepresentation after the fact on the part of the motion picture studio and principals.

Oh, that is amazing! I'd never heard of it and am glad to learn this!

Oh, my. I grew up watching The Edge of Night, The Secret Storm and As the World Turns at my mother's knee; All My Children and One Life to Live seemed like upstarts at the time, but now they are hoary war horses whose time has run out, like sands through the hourglass - oh wait, that's Days of our Lives! . I think that Ms. Lucci is already forging a career path on one of the home shopping networks (exercise equipment), and hopefully she has invested her past earnings wisely.

Cristian, you find the best clips! Thank you, this was just wonderful to see.

That's just lovely. Thank you, Mme. Hermine.

Wow, the deaths just keep on coming...I know it's to be expected in an aging population, but it's hard to take. RIP, Mr. Lumet, and thank you.

The problem is that ballet is an art where it's difficult to tell an untruth. What a dancer does on stage, how they get from point a to point b, is brutal honesty, and there for everyone to examine unmediated. Movies to a great extent are composed of lies - of "cheating for the camera" and of all sorts of little compensations for reality. Pasting an actress's head on a dancer's body seems fairly grotesque to me (I haven't seen the movie), and of a different order than lip syncing. The comparison to boxing and other sports falls short as they don't have the precise vocabulary that ballet - and other traditional forms of dancing - do.

I think what you've said is brilliant. That first sentence nails it (for me, anyway).

In a perfect world, Portman would have acknowledged her debt to Lane in terms of the dancing involved - Portman's acting ability in the film does not seem to be in dispute. But even her closeups fail to pass the believability test for me, which should at least have been part of a successful performance based on - if not about - the ballet. She can't make me believe her in the role, because she neither looks the part nor moves her arms in a balletic (or even graceful) way. When questioned, a simple statement from Portman to the effect that she could only aspire to do justice to the skill, hard work and dedication of real-life dancers would have sufficed.

Hi Helene, I figured it was something like that, and am glad you were able to get back up and running so quickly. Hope you're able to get to the bottom of the mail situation without any further problems, and thank you for working so hard to keep Ballet Alert's cyberdoors open!

The shoes are too high though...Some pearls around her neck would be fine too...

Absolutely, I agree. Platform spike heels have no place with this simple, elegant look - and pearls would have been a lovely addition.

Cristian, you've made my day!

I love all of those images, and of the dresses there simply can't be one more sublime than Hepburn's. Honestly, it's just so refreshing to see these. Thank you!

Oh, so do I!

Lovely photo!

Cristian, maybe take a look at this site when you get a chance - they have vintage formal and informal wedding gowns, veils and complete wedding paraphernalia. Some of the gowns are reproductions, and some are genuine vintage. The beautiful Spessivtseva's costume in the photo is quite similar to some of the apparel on the website.

Cristian, what a fun project! I found this dress on a Google search for vintage prom dresses...the model isn't exactly "of the period," LOL, and doesn't show the dress to its best advantage, but at least you can see the entire gown if you scroll to the bottom of the page. Your friend will probably have more luck finding what she wants by looking for circa-1950 prom dresses, than wedding dresses per se. Hope this quest has a very happy ending! (I think we need a clinking champagne glass emoticon.)

Edited to add: Here's another confection! The site (Blue Velvet Vintage) includes vintage-inspired and genuine vintage garments (like this one). It's wonderful!

I liked this:

"My only wish is that Natalie, Darren and certain others who worked closely on the movie, could have grasped the beauty and the heart of true ballet."

Amen. We all know the movie wasn't "about" ballet as they continue to stress, but some respect for the art form if you are using it as the mode to tell your story would have been lovely. The arts industry, especially ballet, is in such dire straits in this country it would have been great if any of the stars/director/producers would have thought to use their platform (even if just on the PR side of things!!) in some way to show people the beauty of the art.

I think Lane has proved herself to be a true class act in all of this.

Yes, I agree with all that you have written, and with everything Ms. Lane says in the piece.

Parenthetically, The Daily Beast has a good article about what the author calls "the death of the triple threat," which is among the issues Ms. Lane raises in her WSJ piece.

Thank you, Stecyk - excellent piece, and I thought very restrained. It was not behind a subscription wall.

He was fine playing the heavy in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, too...though the movie itself was not one of my favorites. What a versatile actor. I agree, dirac, Granger was marvelous in Strangers on a Train and Rope - he had such a wonderful chemistry with his partner in the latter (John Dall).

He was one of my favorite actors...so many have died this year and last. Blessings to Mr. Granger.

Maybe I should add that there are often other names besides LeClercq's on many of those pages, as well.

Thank you for that. It doesn't surprise me...though I was hoping for a chapter!

Thank you so much for that information, Jack. It sounds like a wonderfully entertaining book, full of balletic anecdotes. 40 pages of LeClercq references in one place, albeit scattered, sound good to me! We need a biography - if I were younger and able to do the research, I'd take on the task myself. Thanks again.

If only Amazon had furnished D'Amboise's book with a Search Inside feature! I have a particular interest in Tanaquil LeClercq and wonder - for those of you have the book - how much space is devoted to her. That aside, at some point I will order the book because it sounds like such a wonderful record of this dancer's life and devotion to his art.