pherank

Of course Agon is Stravinsky's nod to Webern, Marsenne and others. But that is how composers often work - in 'conversation' with other admired composers and their themes. Still, I like your list.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/books/doris-lessing-novelist-who-won-2007-nobel-is-dead-at-94.html

Just for fun: I think this oddity is the only song I’ve heard that mentions Fred Astaire, Isadora Duncan, the Ballet Russes, Nijinsky, Tosca and others. “But far beneath the notice of the noble Ballet Russes, lies the germ of revolution that would some day cook its goose.” Dancing for Nickels and Dimes

And it all could have been handled so easily: if Bolshoi staff wasn't happy with Womack's progress, they should have ended her contract. That would be the end of things and all would be legal and above board. Naturally, if someone is promoted to soloist, but they aren't given any roles, it's going to look rather odd. Good luck to Ms. Womack - I hope she is able to actually dance somewhere.

Dr. Linda Hamilton, NYCB Medical consultant and former NYCB dancer has many resource links on her website: http://www.drlindahamilton.com/wellness-tips/wellness-tips-injury-prone.html And she seems to agree with Sandik: "Unfortunately, if you're like most people in the entertainment industry, you'd rather sweat bullets than check in with a performing arts specialist for fear of having to take time off to recover. This is a common mistake that can have serious consequences. First, you miss the "magic" one-month healing period, where many problems resolve. Next, the longer you wait, the more you tend to compensate by favoring the sore area, creating more stress on your body."

If Prokofiev/Cinderella isn't really your cup of tea to begin with, then you are probably better off seeing a program that you know will move you. The production values for SFB's Cinderella are high, but I don't know that Wheeldon's choreography is so special that it must be seen to be believed. ;) Eshana you've reminded me what's going to be especially interesting about the 2014 season - Froustey and Messmer are going to be dancing too. ;) Froustey in Giselle would be great, indeed.

Another excellent episode - thanks Christian.

Podcast interviews with a wide range of people including various SFB dancers, choreographers, Stage Manager Jane Green, Principal Conductor Martin West, and Costume Supervisor Patti Fitzpatrick. http://podcast.sfballet.org/meet_the_artist.xml "A highly popular pre-performance discussion program, Meet the Artist Interviews spotlight the specific San Francisco Ballet repertory program to be performed that evening/afternoon. These highly informative talks feature Company dancers, guest artists, choreographers and conductors in conversation with a moderator. Meet the Artist Interviews last 30 minutes and take place in the War Memorial Opera House one hour before performance time on selected evenings and Sunday matinees. Meet the Artist Interviews are open to all ticket holders."

Quiggin's suggestion is a good one. I personally think that if you're going to bother to fly to another city to see a ballet performance, you might as well go a couple of nights in a row so you can see more than one cast. But I realize that's not always possible with your plans. But it should be good fun, in any case.

I ran across this unreleased photo by the great Robert Doisneau - from the looks of the round window it was taken in a POB practice room. One of my new favorites.

Today Dirac posted this Cinderella review by Maichael Popkin. This may give a good 'in a nutshell' view of what you would be getting into. ;)

These are two very different productions, of course - I suppose it depends on how much you want to see something with elements of NEW, or if you're going to be in the mood to 'worship at the altar of tradition', so to speak. Giselle will be a Tomasson ballet, but I recall he sticks to the traditional movements and stagings. You might want to read a few reviews of Tomasson's Giselle (from 2011) to get a sense of how things went: Rachel Howard: Giselles Stepping Out Ann Murphy: Touch of irony updates S.F. Ballet's winning production of Giselle Alastair Macaulay: Where Peasants Are Graceful, Dukes Deceitful and Specters Vengeful If you've been following the "State Theatre" tour thread, then I guess you already know how forum people have felt about Cinderella. If there's anything in particular you would like to know about, let us know. Have a great time CubanMiamiBoy! [We also have a thread on where to stay in SF if you aren't already staying with friends]

Here are some nice images from 2012 when a few representatives of the Mariinsky visited the KIrov Ballet Academy in DC. Left to right: Yuri Fateev (Mariinsky Ballet), Maria Shirinkina (Mariinsky Ballet), Ekaterina Kondaurova (Mariinsky Ballet), Anastasia Koshkina (American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation), Martin Fredmann (KAB Artistic Director/Executive Director) Maria Shirinkina, Ekaterina Kondaurova

One thing NYCB is doing right: At the 1/2 price TKTS booth at Time Square, I noticed last spring some NYCB performances on the big list of available tickets. Lots of tourists are on tight budgets and only go to things they get from TKTS, at least from the huge crowds I saw, many of them young. Just about every regional company has to be wondering how they can tap into the tourist market, so it will be interesting to hear what kind of effect this effort has on ticket sales and general interest in NYCB.

At the Friends luncheon last winter, when Parker made a presentation about this series, she said that she is trying to figure out how to get tourists who always take in a Broadway show to venture a little farther north to Lincoln Center and take a look at the NYCB. I do think that was the primary audience for the AOL series. If that is the case then I think she's at least mostly succeeded in striking the right tone. Now it's all about finding a way to those 'Braodway tourists'. Perhaps they are exactly the ones to use AOL. ;) I'm curious - now that forum members have seen a number of episodes, what is missing? What would you like to hear more about? Quiggin mentioned the Swan Lake episode being strong - should they focus on particular masterworks?

This all points to the question of audience (and why I mentioned that it looks like a recruitment tool): Who exactly is the audience for these presentations? Ballet 'fans' will certainly take interest, but I got the feeling watching the videos that NYCB is definitely trying to talk to Middle America as well. Whether or not the videos speak effectively (and responsibly) to the general public is another matter, but I do think this is a kind of outreach effort - beyond the dance community.

Looks like Bouder to me ( but I could be wrong).

Teresa Reichlen also pronounces the names "Mearns" and "Bouder" at about 00:30 in the Swan Lake episode - perhaps differently from what most Americans would guess at. http://on.aol.com/show/cityballet-517887470/episode/517997072

Amongst the nominees for the UK's 2014 National Dance Awards we have the following: Outstanding company San Francisco Ballet Best female dancer Maria Kochetkova (San Francisco Ballet) Best classical choreography Mark Morris (Beaux for San Francisco Ballet) Outstanding female performance classical Yuan Yuan Tan (in RAkU for San Francisco Ballet) [The qualifying works have to have been performed in the UK between 31 August 2012 and 1 September 2013] Congratulations to SFB, and Mr. Morris, for this recognition - win or lose, it is good to be noticed.

It is great to hear that the "black glove" footage made it into the documentary - that's a moment that is written about in many places with regard to Le Clercq, but most of us have never actually seen it.

The more I watch this short film, the more I like it. The movements are finely articulated - no blurring of steps or the all important arm movements. This is definitely the film that carefully lays out the alphabet of movements for Balanchine’s La Valse. The other amateur videos about don’t reveal the same clarity of movement or purpose as we see in this performance. It’s the ‘language’ of the arms that I find most fascinating about La Valse, and what makes it distinct from other Balanchine ballets. I can see Tanny’s great sense for drama, but she does not overdo any of the ‘emoting’ - she makes a short statement, if you will, and then moves into the next part, and the next, with great economy of motion, and emotion. Balanchine doesn’t overcrowd the choreography with useless details, and neither does Tanny. This all looks carefully laid out, perhaps as a contrast to the bacchanalia of the final waltz. One thing I wondered about - a couple of times during the PDD Le Clercq holds her arm straight up in the air, like a Maypole, or snake rising up, and I don’t recall seeing that in videos of Lopatkina or Pavlenko. Do the NYCB dancers still incorporate this arm movement in recent versions? She also uses a kind of Gypsy/Flamenco arm flourish at the end of the lifts that catches the eye. I don’t recall seeing that movement used by the Russians either (although it might actually suit them well). If only we could see the ‘three fates’ dance from 1951 as well. If only.

Yuan Yuan Tan is one of five "exceptional artists" being honored this year by Dance Magazine at The 56th Annual Dance Magazine Awards. Congratulations to Ms. Tan. ;) Here's a recent article in W magazine: Yuan Yuan Tan Loves Audrey Hepburn, Loathes Exaggeration The ballerina shares a page from her personal stylebook. http://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/2013/10/yuan-yuan-tan-ballerina-style/

The order of selection was interesting to me too - in 1957 we see Lucia Chase and Jerome Robbins selected, the next year Gene Kelly, the next year Astaire and Balanchine. I assume these selections had as much to do with popularity in a particular year as lifetime achievements. The very first year of the awards was all about dance on TV (so it had a different purpose in the beginning).

From a film by Tiit Helimets (Principal with SF Ballet) representing the three colors of the Estonian flag - this is part 3, White: Also, she appears in the Sean Hayes music video for the song Gunnin For more clips and photos of Ms. VP I recommend looking at the Projects page of her website: http://sarahvanpatten.com/projects/

This was interesting PeggyR - I happened to see the link on her Facebook page. The dancing is certainly only part of things: the fashions and the video editing are obviously a big part of this multi-media effort. I'm not sure either what prize was won for the video. ;) I'm wondering who did the choreography - Sylve?