Birdsall

I hadn't noticed the similar dance in Raymonda/Bayadere. Will have to re-watch. Not sure which dances you are referring to though. Yes, the character dances are cut in the Makarova version of Bayadere, but I actually like her version although a lot of people seem to hate it. I think it has been referred to as a "streamlined" version. I have seen videos of the reconstructed Mariinsky and also the traditional Mariinsky and the Paris Opera Ballet Nureyev version on video, and probably overall the dances and including more choreography is better.....but somehow the Makarova version also works for me. I think the painted backdrops are gorgeous and atmospheric. Her last act is sort of weak (not much dancing) and seems more like Solor and Gamzatti are getting ready for a funeral instead of a wedding (although we know it is, in fact, going to be their funeral), so I sort of understand why people don't like the Makarova version. I think it loses some of the Imperial Russian glamour also by not having a parade during Gamzatti's and Solor's engagement party or a fake elephant! LOL But we have to be thankful that Makarova staged her version when she did. It might be time to move on to a more authentic version at ABT, Royal Ballet and other places, but because her version has been around it sort of has by default become one of the normal alternatives and probably the most well known version to Americans at least. I have to say I do like the closure (last act when the temple collapses) as opposed to ending the ballet after the Kingdom of the Shades. I have to agree with people who hate Makarova's version that it is also a lot more stunning to see 32 dancers come down the ramp (in the Mariinsky and Paris versions) as opposed to 24 in the Makarova. But it is still stunning enough for me! LOL I have read that the reconstructed Bayadere was not well received and audiences get bored when they see it. I have watched it on video and enjoyed it immensely. Basically, I like all versions of Bayadere at this moment in time.

So are you saying that come April 1st there will be completely sold out shows and zero tickets available? I am interested in going to two Bayaderes. Thursday with Vasiliev and Friday with Vishneva and Osipova. Is there no hope in getting single tickets for those shows on April 1st?

At the L.A. Ring some huge guy behind me fell asleep and snored loudly. I actually got a kick out of that and laughed to myself. I mean, I LOVE Wagner's Ring, but there are stretches of it that are long winded!!! It made me laugh. So I think if the disruptions are normal (like coughing) or accidental like snoring, I can ignore and/or tolerate. I have to say I don't understand how someone can have jangly bracelets or earrings that make noise and not realize that they irritate people though. Same with unwrapping candy slowly. What are these people thinking? Or maybe they simply aren't thinking. Anyway, the noises that could have been avoided are the worst ones in my book. I even was okay with someone at an opera with some sort of breathing device that made whooshing air noises b/c I figured the person is ill and this is one of the few joys he can have right now, etc. Basically, I try to be tolerant of most things, but I hate the noise caused by inconsiderate or oblivious people. I keep my iPhone on silent at all times, b/c I just don't like to be bothered. I check it enough during the day to respond back to a text or call when I am ready to receive voicemails or texts. And this comes in handy when I go to opera or ballet. I know my phone is already on silent. And when the announcement comes on to silence your phones I actually look and double check that my phone is turned off even though it always is 24/7.

You are right. It is hard to get back into "the zone" when there is a disturbance even for audience members. I think I am a little A.D.D. so jangling bracelets or candy wrappers distract me and make it hard to enjoy a performance, especially when people draw out unwrapping their candy thinking they are making less noise by unwrapping it slowly. Instead, they are making noise for a much longer period. I would rather they do it as fast as they can. Things that are unavoidable like coughing do not bother me as much, but things that people could have prepared for (turned off phones, unwrapped candy and popped it in ahead of time, etc) really distract me. Before Rheingold (2 hours 45 minutes with no intermission) or first act of Götterdämmerung (2 hours) I unwrap cough drops and wrap them in a handkerchief so I can access them noiselessly during the performance if my throat gets dry! Years ago there was a commercial where a Brünnhilde-like opera singer was singing, and a cell phone went off, so she threw the spear and hit the phone with it! That made me laugh! I am sure it is very distracting for performers, and I do think the conductors get so sick of it.

I find it hard to believe that someone doesn't realize it is his own phone, but I know that my Grandfather had a hearing aide that would make hearing in certain places with different acoustics to throw off his hearing. Maybe it is a case like that. Who knows? The cell phones going off problem is really annoying. Maybe they should make the auditorium a dead zone. I think they can do things like that nowadays, but maybe making an auditorium a dead zone would not stop the phone alarm clock. Also, maybe some crazy emergency in the auditorium would be even worse if nobody could call 911 due to it being a dead zone. I don't know what the answer is.

Thanks, MakarovaFan!!! Nice videos! Love Alexandrova's 3rd act variation! She has a bit more spunk in it than some dancers, and I think that variation requires some spunk.

Somewhere in the Keys?

Were you in the Everglades????? LOL

It does sound sadistic. It probably made them panic, "OMG! I only rehearsed 6! Have I forgotten to learn and rehearse one?" It is a good joke, if you are not on the receiving end of the joke! LOL

Thank you!!!! I bet Platel (who was interviewed in retirement) misspoke. He probably teased her that there are 6 variations (and, like you, I assume the entree is counted), and she accidentally said 7 when interviewed. Or maybe I misheard (will have to re-watch that documentary again). Or maybe he was exaggerating and teasing and adding a number like you suggest. Anyway you have helped to clear up what I was wondering about. Yes, I know Wikipedia is not reliable. I am a former school librarian, and it is actually a big NO NO to encourage students to use Wikipedia b/c it can be inaccurate! Not to mention most school districts spend lots of money on online databases with "official" information. LOL I have found Wikipedia useful in personal hobby stuff like ballet and opera for the most part, however. When I want info on a particular ballet it sometimes like the only online source for some of them (for more info than just a synopsis). But I figured somebody may have come across something about the danse orientale being a variation for Raymonda (since someone posted it on Wikipedia), but more than likely, now that I know there are only 6 variations for Raymonda in every production on the planet now I know the danse orientale was probably never choreographed as a variation for Raymonda. It actually does make more sense for it to be a variation for Abderakhamn at that point in the drama! So it makes sense Nureyev and the Bolshoi version does it like that. Although the Bolshoi seems to do it as almost a very short pdd for Raymonda and Abderakham.

Natalia, thanks for the response. Yes, it was the Japanese/Tokyo performance). Thank you also for telling me what actually happens during the POB version of Raymonda. I am hoping the POB dvd will one day come out (taped in 2008). The excerpts on YouTube do not seem to be full or are too difficult to figure out how to play in order since they aren't numbered. Why I started this topic was that in the Dancer's Dream dvd of Raymonda one of the dancers (I believe it was Elisabeth Platel) says that Nureyev used to tease her that there are 7 variations! He would repeat it all the time to make her nervous as sort of a joke. Well, every version I have seen on video only has 6 variations, so I am wondering what the 7th variation is in the POB version and where it was placed. Maybe when the dvd finally comes out we will find out. Or maybe Platel misspoke and meant 6 variations (that he would tease her she has 6 variations). When I saw the Dancer's Dream video I counted the variations in all the videos of Raymonda I've watched and never found a 7th variation for Raymonda. Then, on Wikipedia they originally listed the "Danse Orientale" as a variation for Raymonda that was cut before the original production. This is why the reconstruction does not include it. It was never performed as a variation. Since then the Wikipedia entry for Raymonda has been changed and says something else and no longer lists it as a "cut" variation for Raymonda. Anyway, before you told me what POB does with the danse orientale music (variation for Abderakhman) I thought maybe Nureyev found the original choreography for the danse orientale (that was never performed even in the original Petipa production) but you cleared that up. It is a dance for Abderakhman in POB. So my question now is: What is the 7th variation in the POB Raymonda? Where does it occur? Or did Platel misspeak and there are only 6 for Raymonda even in the POB version? Also, did Petipa ever intend for the Danse orientale to be a variation for Raymonda as Wikipedia used to say and cut it before it was ever performed? If so, could there be notations on how he had intended (but never carried out) how that would have been choreographed? Is there a lost jewel of a variation that is hidden away in some library that was never ever performed (turned into a mime sequence even in the original production)? I guess we'll never know!

Thanks for posting, Cahill! Now I am excited to see Viscera. I like the other pieces too, so it should be a fun night!

Just watched Zakharova's Raymonda (not sure where it was filmed....different than the Mariinsky or Bolshoi or Paris productions). In this version (some slight differences in choreography from other versions) the Danse Orientale is danced by Aberderam as an attempt to get Raymonda to like him. This makes the most sense actually dramatically compared to other versions I have seen (Mariinsky leaves the music out altogether, Bolshoi turns it into a short dance between Aberderham and Raymonda, and the recent La Scala reconstruction uses the music but for miming the story along). I just thought it was interesting. I wonder if the Danse Orientale (right after the Spanish Panderos dance in Act 2) was ever actually choreographed by Petipa even if it was never actually danced in the premiere or even later productions. Has anyone seen the Nureyev Paris production? Is the Danse Orientale music included in that production, and, if so, who dances or what is going on during the music? I have only seen bits and pieces of the Paris production on YouTube. Supposedly, it is coming out on video one of these days (taped in 2008).

I forgot. The recent Little Mermaid ballet has a female lead, but the ballet makes it clear that the poet (Hans Christian Andersen or some fictional poet/writer) identifies with the mermaid, so that ballet has both a female/male plot but a gay subtext to that very plot. I wasn't sure how I would like it, but it works really well, in my opinion.

I think this sounds great, but--to quibble--Wilde's tragic later years get so much attention (they were featured in Stoppard's Invention of Love, for instance). I'd LOVE to see a treatment of "young Oscar." I read an interview in Opera News with David Daniels, and he said the opera is not a biography on purpose. It is centered around the trial apparently to highlight how unjustly he was treated by society back then, and I guess it will draw a parallel to some issues still going on today. That's my guess. They want it to be a relevant commentary on today or the issue of homosexuality. On the one hand that might be good. On the other hand I feel that true art does not try to comment. The issues come up on their own, and we see them whether the librettist means to bring up issues or not. Maybe I am wrong. But I agree with you. I was disappointed to hear it won't be a biography. What other stories about gays would make a good ballet? The thread is intriguing.

There is going to be an opera about Oscar Wilde's trial with David Daniels (counter tenor) singing the title role. I only bring that up b/c I think these issues are so relevant today and could start popping up in new ballets, since this opera is being buzzed about.

What do you mean? Are you saying it is better to wait a few hours on April 1 and then purchase or you pick a section and then it lets you go back later and choose your seat? Sorry I wasn't clear. Of course, this might be different in 2012, but the past couple of years, if you log in on-line right when the box office opens, you could only buy a seat in a certain section (orchestra, first tier, whatever) and then you were stuck with whatever seat they sent you later. I'm not aware of any way to go back later and specify the seat for the section you bought. That transaction is done. An hour or two after the box office opens, the seat-selection feature comes on and you can pick the actual seat you want and buy that. It seems that the section-selection feature is less site-intensive than seat-selection and that the site is overwhelmed with people trying to buy for the first hour or two. I just kept logging back in until I could get seat-selection and that happened an hour or two after the box office opened. The Met and San Francisco seem to be using roughly the same software for on-line seat purchase and the same thing has happened the first day single tickets go on sale. Thanks so much for the tip!!!!! This is great info!

For the last couple of years, for the first hour or two on that big day (April 1 this year), you can't pick individual seats, but only sections. I assume that's because the site is overwhelmed. But then the seat selection feature comes back and you can pick your own seat. The same thing happened last month when single tickets went on sale for San Francisco Ballet. But it has been worth the wait in both cases to see what's available and pick your own seats. What do you mean? Are you saying it is better to wait a few hours on April 1 and then purchase or you pick a section and then it lets you go back later and choose your seat?

I think Brokeback Mountain might make a great ballet as well! LOL Great painted backdrops of Wyoming, males and females in torment, a tragedy, etc. There are so many possibilities! It has been a long while since I read Maurice. But I'm sure you're right that it would make a fascinating ballet.

Hi Bart Birdsall! FYI "Legend of Love" was Yuri Grigorovich's second great success. It remains a favorite in the Russian rep. That ballet and his redux of "The Stone Flower," (Prokofiev's last ballet), put him at the forefront of Soviet ballet choreographers. "Stone Flower" was his first big success. When he mounted his version of "Spartacus" in 1968, that supplanted Jacobson's version and he was the undisputed "choreographer of the Party." That ballet and everyone concerned with it received numerous Soviet awards and titles. Cygnet, thanks for the info! I am surprised how much I liked it. I wonder if it will ever become more popular (played) in the U.S. I think the choreography is unique and exciting. I suspect many dancers would love to dance this ballet.

I have been watching Legend of Love this New Year's Eve on YouTube (can only find first half of a Mariinsky performance with Lopatkina and 2nd half of a Bolshoi performance, but it makes a complete performance in the end). It is a fun way to spend New Year's Eve, b/c I am unfamiliar with this ballet and love it! I didn't think I would like it at all, but I am really enjoying it. So will try to finish it before meeting friends out for a New Year's Eve celebration. Happy New Year's, Everyone!

Cristian, if you will be at the Jan. 27 Kravis performance we should plan a meeting, and the other Bart should come too. It can be inside the Kravis somewhere....just to say, "Hi," since we are all online! Fun to meet actual people. Anyone else who is reading who will attend, let us know. Not sure how we would find each other though. I know some opera lists created a pin or simply set a time and place to meet like at a restaurant, and I have gone to a few meetings over the years at operas.

I'm going to see the Jan. 27 8pm performance at the Kravis Center with my mother. Can't wait! I love *In the Night* and *Ballet Imperial!* Keeping an open mind for Viscera. Wonder who will dance what! If anyone else will be at the Kravis on Jan. 27 maybe we could have a meeting in the lobby at intermission. Just a thought.

Last time I went to the Jackie Gleason Theater was for a Concert Association of FL concert version of Bellini's Norma, and there was no food at that time. I guess things are changing. This surprises me. To fit tables in there they must have had to take some rows of seats out which would make less tickets that they can sell. I wonder if it makes the whole thing viable. I would hate people eating and drinking inside a performing arts center too, I think, although I have read that centuries ago people ate during operas all the time in their boxes and chatted and pretty much ignored what was going on on stage until a good aria came about! I guess we are going back to those days where no one is really there to see the show. It will just be a party to attend! Already people seem to think they can exit and enter whenever they want at opera houses. I am always happy when there are good gestapo ushers, but most are old and volunteering as ushers, so sometimes they don't care and let anyone in at anytime during the performance.

I just typed in my zip code in the Ballet in Cinema website to see if the next ballets will be carried in my own city (I have had to drive over an hour to see most but recently a local movie theater carried the repeat of La Esmeralda and the live Sleeping Beauty). I was hoping my local theater would continue showing them and eventually be listed for the rest of the Bolshoi ballets, but not only are they not listed for my local movie theater, but I notice that most of the theaters within 100 miles from me no longer list any of the ballets except for the one I have been going to in a city over an hour away. It looks like many movie theaters are dropping these transmissions! I also searched for my parents' zip code b/c I am going down there a lot this winter and spring, and same thing there. Many theaters that were listed carrying them no longer list any performances! This is bad news, if the movie theaters are ending their participation in the Ballet in Cinema performances. Very sad!!!