kbarber

The NBOC's latest donor newsletter has a charming article about the many "dancing mums and dads" in the company, and also an interview with Greta Hodgkinson: http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2012/08/greta-hodgkinson-and-other-dancing-mums.html

It is unfortunate that Kelly always felt the need to come on butch -- he was tormented as a kid because of his dancing, even gave it up for awhile because the hassling was so hard to take. As the PBS special "Born to Be Wild" demonstrated, such anxieties and the apparent need to assure the public that male dancers aren't a bunch of big swishes - and I don't see what would be wrong if they were - are still very much with us. It's too bad.

The ballet world, I think, owes Gene Kelly a huge and possibly unacknowledged debt.

Certainly he was an active proselytizer for dance in general and ballet in particular, although his own gifts didn't really lie in that direction.

What I meant was, how many ballet dancers would never have become ballet dancers if they hadn't been inspired by Kelly to at least dance.

and another one: Edward Villella. Great tribute to Kelly from NPR here:

Happy 100th birthday to Gene Kelly, who inspired so many boys who went on to become ballet dancers to take up dancing in the first place, in a society generally hostile to boys doing ballet. John Neumeier is among those who mention him as an inspiration. But I am constantly coming across other instances of other dancers who do likewise. For instance, last year a group I took to New York met NYCB's Troy Schumacher, who though only in his early 20s, said he was inspired to dance by watching old Kelly movies. The ballet world, I think, owes Gene Kelly a huge and possibly unacknowledged debt. I'd be curious if anyone knows of other ballet dancers/choreographers who cite Kelly as their inspiration/idol etc.

Quiggin, all I can say is don't be deterred by Alastair Macaulay's trashing of Suite en Blanc during POB's latest visit to NY. My jaw literally dropped when I read his review; I couldn't believe he and I (and all the other people who were on their feet cheering in Chicago) had seen the same ballet. I was at the ballet with some very experienced ballet teachers and when I asked them if I had missed something that should have made me hate it like Macaulay, the word they used was "hogwash".

I saw Paris Opera Ballet perform Suite en Blanc (three times!) in Chicago earlier this summer, and ADORED it (as did everyone else in my group). It has to be performed with technical perfection, I think, but when it is, it is mind-blowing.

Second post in my "etymology of ballet terms" series: http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2012/08/history-of-word-fouette.html

I was very impressed by Courtney Richardson when I saw her in Forsythe's Artifact with the Royal Ballet of Flanders last year.

I have posted a "how-to" for making pointe-shoe shaped cookies.

http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2012/08/pointe-shoe-cookie-recipe-how-to.html

The National Ballet of Canada's 60th anniversary project to have fashion and other designers make 60 tutus will culminate with an auction of 56 of the tutus, with funds going to the Nboc. Karen Kain will be on hand. More info here:

http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2012/08/nboc-tutu-project-tutus-to-be-auctioned.html

To see the tutus, click here: http://national.ballet.ca/interact/virtual_museum/The_Tutus/

Thank you! This is truly informative. I like that it goes back to the roots and etymology of the word. The fine nuances in meaning become much more apparent this way. It is like the meanings that the word had at various stages of its 'journey' or development until present all left their traces in it in the form of subtle nuances.

In this context I was reminded how my flute teacher explained to me that when playing 'adagio', I should also have a 'sense of space' and not just play slowly.

A "sense of space"... how (unwittingly I'm sure) that echoes the distant origin of the word.

You're welcome, Ray. I'm glad you liked it! What you said may not be so true with some of the terms I'll be looking at in the next few weeks

I have started a weekly series of ballet etymologies on my website. Today we start with "adage", and you'll be surprised to learn where it came from! Plus, you can find out what "dance" has to do with falling over.

http://toursenlair.b...word-adage.html

Enjoy!

Katherine

I recommend you read the article I posted about as she addresses all these questions.

Alas, the price on jstor is $22.00 (U.S.) for a PDF file.

You might check to see if your local library has databases that you can access on their computers for full text articles. Many libraries have subscriptions. Of course, you might not care enough to do this. Just wanted to throw an idea out if you did really, really want to access it.

Yes, Birdsall, great suggestion. That's how I access it, through Toronto Public Library. It's fantastic to have this free resource to in-depth scholarly discussions.

I recommend you read the article I posted about as she addresses all these questions.

Interesting article by Beth Genné in Dance Research Journal (sorry I don't have the issue, but it's post 1997 and can be found on JSTOR) "Creating a canon, Creating the "Classics" in 20th-c. British Ballet" discusses in detail esp. Ninette de Valois's role in establishing Swan and Beauty as "classics"

any way of knowing whether these dvd's work on North American televisions?

But I gather from various complaints registered by others on Twitter that NBC cut Bussell and the section of closing ceremonies choreographed by Wheeldon. Apparently being a great dancer--whether modern dance (as in Akram Khan) or classical ballet (as in Bussell)--disqualifies you from American television.

Again? This is ridiculous!

Further irony is that one of the guys dancing with Darcey, Nehemiah Kish, is an AMERICAN.

kbarber, indeed, only if they would start the performances earlier. Movies starts at 6:30pm, 7pm, no one seems to have trouble showing up on time, I found it rather inconvenient when the show starts at 8pm. I got my season subscription nonetheless, if you decide to go to the Houston Ballet, message me, I can exchange my ticket to any date or seat available.

By the way, I don't find any live broadcast performance available from Emerging Pictures in Ottawa or Toronto area yet, where did you find the information above?

I wrote to the NAC to complain about late start times and no matinees (I think they're the only theatre in N America showing ballet that DOESN'T have matinees) and they were very dismissive, told me there was no demand. I find this mysterious since NBOC has THREE matinees out of 7 performances in Toronto for any given ballet. 8pm starts mean it's almost impossible for children or seniors to go to the ballet... or people who would like to come in to Ottawa from Kingston or Belleville, which would be quite doable on the train if there were a matinee.

I got the dates for the Cineplex broadcasts from a sheet that was handed out at Raymonda in June. I don't know why Cineplex is taking so long to post it to their website.

correction, the Bolshoi Sylphide is Bournonville, not Lacotte after Taglioni.

Hi little-junkie. I'm in Ottawa about once a month, maybe we should meet up. I want to go to Houston Ballet but wish the NAC would provide matinees as I have to get back out to Barrhaven afterwards.

Hello, here I am. It took me a while to find this thread again. I run the Tours en l'air ballet holidays, and would love to hear from any of you who want to join in our great ballet experiences. You can find information about the trips (and lots of other ballet stuff) on my website, or you can email me at toursenlair@gmail.com to be added to my mailing list. I look forward to meeting you (virtually)!

Katherine Barber

McKie and Konvalina will be guesting in NBOC's December performances of Giselle.

Is there any real chance ABT can perform A Month in the Country? I've always wanted ABT to perform that ballet, but from what I understand Anthony Dowell own the rights to the ballet, and so far he has only allowed The Royal Ballet to perform it. Has things change on that account?

Actually he also let the National Ballet of Canada perform it in 1996 (with Karen Kain as Natalia Petrovna) and it was repeated in 1997 but we haven't seen it since.

Interesting article complaining that gymnastics is not enough like dance! "gymnastics adherents yearn for more classically trained, balletic athletes who could dance and express as well as they could tumble."

//www.slate.com/articles/sports/fivering_circus/2012/07/_2012_olympics_gymnastics_female_gymnasts_used_to_be_fantastic_dancers_how_did_the_floor_exercise_get_so_graceless_.html