pherank

It's a tangled debate, but interesting during the summer months when the American companies are on hiatus.

It's almost August -- aka the silly season in journalism...

That must be the reason for Breaking Pointe Season 2. ;)

Is Sophianne Sylve an American? I know she has been dancing in the US for a few years, but I still think of her as a French dancer (very beautiful, however).

How do we qualify adult dancers who move to the US to dance the American rep? When do they cross over to become "American"? Is Baryshnikov American after all these years? Makarova? It's a tangled debate, but interesting during the summer months when the American companies are on hiatus.

Still a French citizen, I believe. And a wonderful dancer. Sylve, like Verdy, is one of those interesting "cross-bred" cases (bad term, but I can't think of anything else at this late hour). They both had significant time receiving French training, but also lots of time at NYCB (and SFB for Sylve).

I'm wondering if analyzing the changes in the dance style and technique of these dancers wouldn't provide better clues as to what makes a dancer "American", rather than of the French or Russian schools.

Oops, forgot Farrell - that's too big an oversight...

Diana Adams
Merrill Ashley
Patricia Barker
Eleanor d'Antuono

Suzanne Farrell
Gloria Govrin
Cynthia Gregory
Melissa Hayden
Rosella Hightower
Sterling Hyltin
Carrie Imler
Nora Kaye
Allegra Kent
Gelsey Kirlkand
Carla Körbes
Sarah Lane
Tanaquil Le Clerq
Elizabeth Loscavio
Muriel Maffre
Patricia McBride
Sara Mearns
Gillian Murphy
Tiler Peck
Teresa Reichlen
Stephanie Saland
Maria Tallchief
Sarah Van Patten
Violette Verdy
Wendy Whelan
Vanessa Zahorian

And do Boston Ballet’s Kathleen Breen Combes, Ballet Arizona’s Jillian Barrell, or MCB's Jeanette and Patricia Delgado deserve to be listed on this level?

I was surprised no one mentioned Bouder until now. A decade or so ago, she was a star, and her performances were described in superlatives, and she even was invited to perform in Russia, in, if I remember correctly, "Giselle."

Perhaps it is because she is one of Macaulay's "part-time" ballerinas? But then so is Whelan, but I dare say most of the US ballet audience consider her a significant dancer of the current era. We get to nominate whoever we like on this forum. ;)

New York City Ballet has several candidates. Ashley Bouder, Maria Kowroski, Janie Taylor and Wendy Whelan are mature dancers but part-time ballerinas — extraordinary artists in only parts of their repertory. The ascent of Sterling Hyltin, Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck and Teresa Reichlen, however, has been of another order.

I'm reposting the clip of Toumonova and the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo in Swan Lake Act 2 PPD (new link):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyggCnNA_Sg

The same, but from a film called, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aAhKffljdI

The Dying Swan

Dragonfly dance from film teaser

Using the handy online alphabetizer ;) - I'm going to add two principals to the list (and they appeared on Macaulay's original group) - Van Patten and Zahorian.

Diana Adams
Merrill Ashley
Patricia Barker
Eleanor d'Antuono
Gloria Govrin
Cynthia Gregory
Melissa Hayden
Rosella Hightower
Sterling Hyltin
Carrie Imler
Nora Kaye
Allegra Kent
Gelsey Kirlkand
Carla Körbes
Sarah Lane
Tanaquil Le Clerq
Elizabeth Loscavio
Muriel Maffre
Patricia McBride
Sara Mearns
Gillian Murphy
Tiler Peck
Teresa Reichlen
Stephanie Saland
Maria Tallchief
Sarah Van Patten
Violette Verdy
Wendy Whelan
Vanessa Zahorian

There are a few here that were born in another country and never held US citizenship as far as I know, so they would be more questionable for this list (e.g. Carla Körbes and Verdy), but then, dancers like Hayden and Körbes dance/danced in the US, are from the "Americas", and Hayden is North American. So I don't see much point in quibbling over those details.

What do they have in common?

Hard to say, because we would have to talk in the broadest of terms. But there is a shared repertoire amongst these dancers.

I was reminded of this thread while reading a NY Times article about Woody Allen, his latest film project - with Cate Blanchett, and how Allen writes his female characters:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/movies/woody-allens-distinctive-female-characters.html

“People have criticized me for being narcissistic,” Mr. Allen said one June afternoon, over iced tea at the Bemelmans Bar of the Carlyle Hotel. “People criticized me for being a self-hating Jew, that’s come up. But not being able to create good women was not aimed at me very often.”

Mr. Allen may not wish to recall it, but his movies have also drawn charges of chauvinism and sexism, by detractors who have said they frequently depicted women as neurotics, shrews and prostitutes.

The Paris Opera has uploaded a slide show from the POB's season. Lots of beautiful photos on display.

http://www.operadeparis.fr/#diapo_ballet

Great shot of the company arrayed on the Garnier stairs.

Since you wrote in email that posts disappear after a short while, Inwas trying to test this systematically.

Since there's no indication that other video links are disappearing from other threads, it's possble that there is a system parameter that is deleting the posts, but that is not the system paradigm, which fornother similar errors -- example: attempting to post more links per thread than we allow -- prevents the post from being accepted and displays an error message.

I was going to suggest that you start Part 2 of this thread.

Hi Helene, my wording may have been misleading - it *may* be more accurate to say that the updates disappeared overnight. Mme. Hermine's post was dated this morning at 4:10am on my email, but I have no idea if that is Eastern/Central/Pacific time. I posted the last 2 evenings, and then the next morning they were gone.

Does the server run some sort of "cron job" in the wee hours of the morning?

This is the first time I've run into this issue, so perhaps, it will just hiccup and go back to normal. ;)

The credits list Lopatkina, Somova, Tereshkina, and Kondaurova, but I thought it was Kondaurova at the beginning and end and Lopatkina in the print article.

Somova looks so grown up. Motherhood must really agree with her.

Definitely no Lopotkina, as you say, Kondaurova gest most of the screen time. I'm guessing this is just a teaser for something longer, perhaps. But I'm not certain where that longer film might appear.

http://andyfiord.com/films/vimeo/50138654

I believe we see Kondaurova, Somova and Tereshkina(?)

The big ballets are critical to box office, and almost all of them, with the exception of the Tetley "Rite of Spring" that PNB no longer does, are ballerina-heavy, especially the spring/summer ballets. As long as the workshop is scheduled around graduation weekend, the women will be between a rock and a hard place in terms of participation.

That's why I'm thinking the learning and exposure need to come earlier - not just at the professional level. It's almost too late then. Obviously not everyone makes it from Advanced Level to professional - many do not. But some of those students will continue to have an association with the dance world, and I have to think that anything they learn about the larger world of dance/ballet will make them feel a part of something important, and bigger than themselves. It will help to foster a lifelong interest.

As Tamara Rojo said, “You can’t have female choreographers just for the sake of it. Ultimately, it’s not about gender or nationality--it has to be about talent.”

And I sort of agree, sort of. Mostly the very talented rise to the top, but also artists that play the people game well and network, make connections, and market themselves successfully rise to the top. But for a real shift to take place in attitudes and opportunities, it is definitely about the numbers. If ballet culture truly wants more female choreographers - at least as many as there are male choreographers - aspiring female dancers have to be introduced to the art as part of their regimen. Education about, and exposure to, choreography as an art form can make a big difference.

As part of a 'well-rounded' education in the world of ballet, dancers need to be learning about more than ballet dance technique. There are many components to what makes ballet, and there is a history behind, and thus a reason for, things being the way that they are. But it seems the average young dancer knows little about the world they have stepped into. I'm often surprised to learn just how little the dancers understand about the ballets they are performing in, the people who originally created them, and the music they are dancing to.

So here's my trial balloon (and I confess I don't know to what extent this already exists at large ballet schools): my thought would be that as part of the general training process Advanced Level dancers need to take the following (and I'm thinking in this order):

1) If it doesn't already exist, a class in Ballet History and Aesthetics

2) A class discussing Music and Composers associated with dance. What makes for good dance music (in any genre)? This class would be both music history and music appreciation 101 as it relates to dance.

3) A class in the teaching and tutoring of dance technique to lower level students. The dancers learn basic teaching methodology, and are assigned one or more pupils for tutoring/mentoring in, say, specific dance techniques. [The Adv. Level dancers would have to be supervised in their tutoring.]

> There's nothing quite like being forced to convey information and think about why one does things in a particular manner to get the brain looking at everything in new ways, and learning so much more. Teachers often like to say that they learn more from the students than the students learn from them.

> When dancers learn about the art of choreography, they will need to be able to work with others in a respectful, open, orderly and efficient manner. They will need to decide whether they will be collaborating, or dictating to other dancers, how to decide between the two approaches, and how to do that in an effective (not frustrating) way. Therefore they need to know someting about the teaching process.

4) Finally(!), a beginning level class in the fundamentals of choreography and dance composition. [including selecting music, costumes, props]. I do wonder if this necessarily should be a mixed class (both sexes), or if many girls will learn best in an all-girl class (and perhaps the same for some of the boys).

5) There should be an option to continue on with Choreography Workshops, if the dancer has the interest and aptitude.

And if this all sounds a bit like a college study program, well yeah! Give them college credits for these studies if it involves actual classwork. But I'm thinking these classes would have to begin with lecture, round-table discussion and journaling. Nothing more involved than that. Obviously only the largest ballet schools are likely to get funding for such studies, but it would be a start.

Some photos...

Ratmanksy - At Foregin Lands

Robbins - The Concert

Erik Almas photo

Suite en Blanc

with Tiit Helimets in The Dance House

Ekaterina Kondaurova dancing La Mort du Cygne - Plisetskaya watching from the audience (sitting beside Putin - how lucky)
[Mariinsky II Opening Gala]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH22aornAzs


Kondaurova TV documentary with clips of Midsummer Night's Dream, Le jeune homme et la mort and more:

"Very often we see relationships approached from a male perspective."
"She added that the lack of female choreographers is partially down to women taking breaks to have children and that they are ‘not aggressive in self-promotion’."

If only what Rojo said was half as interesting as some of the implications that people seem to be finding. I can't actually find an explicit 'argument' in Rojo's statements. She makes an observation, yes, and I think a valid one. It's obvious to me that males are going to be creating any art from a male perspective (although I would add, an 'individual' persepective as well). Even if it is a male trying to truly understand what it might be like for a female, he isn't experiencing anything as a female, so there you go.

RE: ballet choreography being weighted towards men - What do people propose to change, and how, and what will be the presumed benefits? That would be interesting to know.

Thanks, atm711. What an inapt comparison by way of making an interesting point. Is she saying that male choreography for women is essentially about sexual desire, as pornography is? I'm not sure that needs rebuttal. And would that apply to choreography by gay men? That makes no sense period.

The article is here, and she makes an assertion I haven't seen before:

Miss Rojo said that men often approach dance choreography in a ‘more physical’ way by starting with the steps, rather than women who often begin with the ‘emotional landscape’.

She told Time Out magazine: ‘Female sensitivity is different. And there are issues that I want to see on stage approached by women.

'Very often we see relationships approached from a male perspective.

[ . . . ] it shapes the way you look at things. It tends to be a more physical approach. Men start with the steps. I find women start with the emotional landscape.

‘They say, “This is the situation, let’s find a language for it”. With men, it tends to be, “this is the language”, and then you try to work out the situation through the steps.’

I agree - the comparison doesn't really work well. What I found curious, and more interesting, was her talk about how male choreographers work VS female choreographers. Which is just interesting, but it doesn't preclude one or the other, and doesn't make one approach superior. I guess she would be more comfortable with the "this is the situation, let's find a language for it" approach. In reality, each choreographer will be a bit different from the others, especially given the fact that there is no agreed upon method, no formula, for creating choreography that will just work for all artists.

all for PR and it's working. Last time she used the term S-E-X to refer to her mixed bill that included Petite Mort. I'll give her credit for piquing the media's attention and getting her all kinds of free PR. Wayne Eagling certainly wasn't doing it!

Agreed - I just see this has her obvious way of drawing attention to the company. It just happens to be kind of lame to have to resort to talking about "Porno". So much for art and any notions of 'nobility'.

But to get at a slightly larger question, since there are ballerina roles in many 20th c works that don't necessarily have the "old world" quality that Perron references, what are the qualities of a contemporary ballerina, and who is making works today that highlight those attributes?

Certainly a valid question, Sandik. And a difficult one, I think, because it would be partly tied to the choreographers whose works they danced (and the choreographer's particular gestural language, which is under constant development), and partly tied to the dancer's company environment and training.

We need to know what Jiří Kylián desires in a dancer, and Wheeldon, Forsythe, Taylor, Tharp, etc. (and now-deceased modern dance choreographers like Alvin Ailey). And I think it would be difficult to identify any 'movements' at work as it seems to be part of the art of choreography to strike out on your own and not fall into place as a disciple of any one established choreographer.

The need for speed, hyper-flexibility, and Balanchine's notion of a continuous flow of steps seem to be well established in modern ballet. 'Pure dance' is popular amongst the modern dance choreographers (and cheaper to produce). But beyond that I can't say exactly what has been established. Do you think partnering has changed appreciably?

Something I didn't convey well earlier, as I fumbled for words, was that I doubt that people wanting to see great renditions of traditional story ballets are admiring the performances for their 'quaint' and 'antique' qualities. And just because the stagings and costumes depict past eras of human history, the audience doesn't necessarily feel disconnected - in fact, most of us are easily able to put ourselves in those places, times, and situations. And this brings me to the important part, something that seems unique to this artform: traditional ballets that are well staged and well danced provide the audience with a moment of living history. And if the performance is really exceptional, "transcendent" as some like to say, then for a short while, it is as if we see the unbroken chain before our very eyes: an unending ritual passed through the generations of dancers. I think that moment, for me, comes up most frequently and obviously in the procession of the Shades in La Bayadère. Watching the procession, its easy to feel as though we're seeing an ancient, but still living and still vital ritual. It's kind of eerie when the sensation hits you, but it is most definitely beautiful. This effect is much less common in modern ballets of the present day, in my opinion, but there was a time when a Martha Graham, or Isadora Duncan could evoke something deep and ancient in their dances. Modern ballets strike me as often being insular and private (as in 'your own private world'). The persepectives shown (if they can be discerened) are so often personal, interior, psychological and not communal. That is of course my own reading of the modern ballets I've seen, and I'm sure there are examples that contradict this.

If you haven't seen it yet, Dance Magazine editor Wendy Perron responded to Macaulay's essay on the DB blog here.

It's great to hear Perron talk about dancers doing exemplary work in modern ballets. But I think she inadvertently ends up criticizing more than just Macaulay's preferences when she states,

"But to me, his sense of ballerina grandeur is a bit outdated. He says that people think of ballerinas as having an “old world” quality. This is true for Swan Lake, Giselle, and Sleeping Beauty. But while the classics are still treasured, the ballet world has exploded beyond the classics..."

I find that "ballerina grandeur", and even an "old world" quality is precisely the quality that ABT fans (one obvious example) appreciate in their dancers, and Macaulay is very familiar with the ABT audience. But fans of Paul Taylor's company aren't necessarily looking for grandeur in the dancing - they've other concerns. It really is a mixed bag of expectations when you look at particular companies and their associated regional audiences.

I shudder to think of it. Really we all need to hold the line on the tidal wave of craptastic television. I cancelled my cable 6 months ago and Xfinity can't seem to get over it. They call me weekly (against my specific instructions) trying to get me to sign up for bundled deals. I keep saying to them "I use my DVD player to watch movies and cultural arts, I don't need cable anymore". After all, I would be paying good money to watch.....Snooki?

Back to MCB, there are other companies (San Jose Ballet comes to mind) that had unfortunate separations, but hopefully they all continue on and thrive and the bitterness subsides with time.

Re: cancelling Xfinity - Good for you, Jayne. Put your phone on the Federal Do Not Call list and let Xfinity know: no more telemarketing.

Fortunately, MCB seems to be in much better shape organizationally and spiritually than SJB has been, and there's no John Fry to make a mess of things (yet).

This blog post tells about Ms. Tan serving as a jurist for the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition. From the photos I see that Ulyana Lopatkina was also a jurist:

http://www.sfballetblog.org/2013/07/yuan-yuan-in-beijing/#more-7007

Courtney's LinkedIn profile states "Classical and Contemporary Performing Artist and Instructor" in/near Charlotte, NC.

I suppose that means she is actively looking about. Not fun.

I've been wondering where Courtney Elizabeth will end up - I've haven't even heard rumors about what happened with her.

Yes, Moulin Rouge the film is one of those projects that marked the (now prevalent) tyranny of the special effects department buffoonery over all content and aesthetic considerations. I like how Wikipedia describes the film as an "Australian-American romantic pastiche-jukebox musical". Say that 10 times fast.