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Most foks have probably seen this, as it's the only officilaly released version of Theme and Variations, but I will include it here: (Kirkland and Baryshnikov with ABT) I posted these links elsewhere, but they are great videos, and in the interest of consolidation, now appear in this thread: [Amateur video from the Théâtre du Châtelet, July of 2011] Theme & Variations (MCB) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDJmjSKjQoY&list=UU6ibh5197dqyQbEFNDUhtmg Square Dance (MCB) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRTlLj9aigw&list=UU6ibh5197dqyQbEFNDUhtmg&index=2 Ballet Imperial (MCB) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zdv681E8eyg

LOL! Anyone seeking a 'palette cleanse' after the Martin/Apollo version, might want to watch this (also you get to see the original prologue of the ballet): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlhH7EaqbRM And if anyone knows who is dancing the roles of the handmaidens, it would be great to know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWft-39NHAc Also, here we have the only longish clips I've ever found of Concerto Barocco: http://www.dailymoti...on#.UUOFFBmNSrI

Excellent! You've made my day with that info, Jsmu. I've noticed that there are various mostly out-of-print publications from the 50s through 70s on the subject of the NYCB, but it's hard to know which are worth seeking out. I've found one great one at the library: George Platt Lynes, "Ballet". A really awesome set of photos. And...I just happened to notice that someone had put together a nice slideshow of Tanny photos - a few I haven't seen before...(note: at the end you'll see a link to a Suzanne Farrell slideshow by the same poster - that's very nice too)

The Getty Images website has many different 'editorial use' images, but we only get to see the thumbnails, and no embedded images allowed. ;) Here are some of my favorites: Western Symphony publicity shots http://www.gettyimag...photo/160664792 http://www.gettyimag...photo/160664764 http://www.gettyimag...photo/160664793 http://www.gettyimag...photo/160664738 http://www.gettyimag...photo/160664736 http://www.gettyimag...photo/160664711 Home cooked meal http://www.gettyimag...-photo/92923954 http://www.gettyimag...photo/158640946 http://www.gettyimag...photo/158640890 http://www.gettyimag...photo/158640889 http://www.gettyimag...photo/158640831 Receiving flower bouquet http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/performers-in-scene-from-a-cbs-program-during-the-first-news-photo/53375298

Thanks very much for those details, Jsmu. Considering how great a publicity image it is, I'm amazed that there seems to be no record of this image on the Internet. The photographer might be someone like Baron, or Walter E. Owen, but there's something about the setup that reminds me of Cecil Beaton. I'm guessing it was done for a magazine like LIFE.

Tanny writing, with Mourka the cat 'helping':

Great comments, Quiggin. It's good to hear from someone who is a fan of the Wheeldon piece (not that I disliked it, I just had my various little issues with things). I'm familiar with Nancy Goldner's essay (and other writings) on Scotch Symphony, so I know a bit of it's background. For some reason though, I don't seem to get submerged into the piece quite the way I do with say, Four Temperaments, or much of Jewels. But I like to hear what other people perceive in these pieces - I may come around. ;) I would think that's what Balanchine was initially trying to do, though over time he developed and extended his own particular exaggerations of the "standard vocabulary". But Balanchine had great love and respect for the traditional dance forms.

Now that you mention it, I do recall reading in a number of places about how abysmal the dancing conditions were in those TV studios, and I believe it was Suzanne Farrell who said she wished that her taped performances were destroyed, since they didn't accurately depict how she danced on the stage. But it's important that we have these artifacts all the same (sorry Suzanne!). They act as a cultural record of a great many things. And it's great we have someone like Jack Reed to provide some additional, necessary details. ;)

Thanks Guiggin - have you been able to see this program? I went to SF to see Program 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (3/5 - 3/6). Last season, I seemed to see mainly Yuan Yuan Tan or Frances Chung, but this time around, I've had different luck. I actually did want to see Tan in "Scotch Symphony" this season, but it was not to be. On Tuesday night the cast was: Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets Dores Andre A very professional performance, as always, though it sort of reinforced my feeling that "Scotch" is a lovely bon-bon, but not a particularly deep or enthralling ballet. It's just fun, but doesn't exactly make my evening all by itself. I've been somewhat slow to discover Sarah Van Patten, but after seeing a number of stunning performances by her ("Four Temperaments", "Little Mermaid", "In the Night"), I've come around, and when she's "on" she's really startlingly great. Sadly, she didn't appear in "Foreign Lands" as scheduled (Courtney Elizabeth danced her role), so I wonder if she didn't suffer a minor injury. Also I was able to see Elizabeth Powell (whose progress I am keeping an eye on) again in the Corps. Ms. Powell was dancing with great flair and professionalism (I'm glad Tomasson is placing her at the front of the stage when she's part of the Corps - good choice!) [ Wednesday Night cast: Vanessa Zahorian, Taras Domitro Courtney Elizabeth ] Within the Golden Hour Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: Ezio Bosso Conductor: Martin West Vanessa Zahorian, Damian Smith Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada Dana Genshaft, Luke Ingham [ Wednesday Night cast: Lorena Feijoo, Ruben Martin Cintas Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada Dana Genshaft, Luke Ingham ] "Within the Golden Hour" was the biggest hit of the program on both nights, receiving a standing ovation on Tuesday night, and a partial standing ovation on Wednesday night. I find "Golden Hour" to be a mixed bag - there are certainly great moments such as the male danseur duet (Weeks and Scribner, I think) which was a virtuoso performance (big applause for these two on both nights), but there are various points where I'm left wondering, "Really? Why finish the section that way?" Or "Why is that step worth having there? Why not change to something that fits organically or has more impact?" So I found myself arguing (in my mind) with Wheeldon over his choices. And can someone explain to me what those awful wooden beam-looking 'decorations' are for, dangling above the stage? I know their movement signals a new ballet section, but they just look like wooden beams (even if they are painted with strokes of what may be gold metallic paint). The effect is ugly, and doesn't correspond in any manner with the costumes, which by the way, don't remind me of anything to do with sunsets/twilight/sunlight/atmosphere, etc. Totally inappropriate costume design in my opinion. They might look fine in another ballet, but I couldn't make any connections here. Maria Kochetkova was excellent, dancing with great speed and clarity - she's become the workhorse of the company. And I should add that Vanessa Zahorian was really great on Tuesday night, and I didn't expect her to be so riveting in a 'modernist' ballet - I've thought of her as best in more 'traditional' story ballet roles. When Damian Smith slowly, repeatedly, lowers her arching body to within an inch of the floor, and she passes her arms over its surface - without touching the ground - it was a perfect moment. For some reason Lorena Feijoo chose to touch her hands on the stage floor (or so it appeared) on Wednesday night, and that ruined the whole sequence for me - no magic moment. Just when I think I know a SF dancer's style, they do something altogether different, and very well. From Foreign Lands Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky Composer: Moritz Moszkowski (Courtney Elizabeth danced for Sarah Van Patten on Tuesday) Russian: Vanessa Zahorian, Davit Karapetyan Maria Kochetkova, Gennadi Nedvigin Italian: Pascal Molat, Sarah Van Patten, Dana Genshaft, Dores Andre German: Sofiane Sylve, Vito Mazzeo, Luke Ingham, Garen Scribner Spanish: Maria Kochetkova, Pascal Molat Sarah Van Patten, Gennadi Nedvigin Polish: Sofiane Sylve, Vanessa Zahorian, Dores Andre, Dana Genshaft Davit Karapetyan, Vito Mazzeo, Luke Ingham, Garen Scribner Alexei Ratmansky's "From Foreign Lands" struck me as being very much of the same vein as Balanchine's "Scotch Symphony", and for that reason I'm not sure if it was best to perform them both on the same program. But it is certainly possible that Tomasson was unsure exactly what "From Foreign Lands" would be like when the program was announced. No great surprises in the dancing, which was fairly 'traditional' in technique, but a lovely piece. The chosen music - Moszkowski - is fairly forgettable, and that has something to do with the general impact of the ballet. There were moments of humor, almost Balanchine-esque humor. I remember one of the dancers reaching down to touch the stage with the palm of her hand for a brief moment, and somehow, because it is outside the traditional ballet vocabulary, the step brought a smile to my face - it was a humorous touch in the Balanchine vein. Maria Kochetkova was once again a standout. I believe she would be a perfect choice for 'The Energizer' battery commercials. She never appears to tire on stage (though I know that's part of the illusion). Interesting, multicolored dance costumes too - especially the ballerina's feathered and shredded-looking skirts, but again, there was very little visual connection to the 'foreign cultures' theme of the ballet with these costume designs, so I can't say I understood costumes and staging for either "Golden Hour" or "Foreign Lands".

Maria Tallchief and Nicholas Magallanes - 'Allegro Brillante' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YG2JwU32-4 I tend to agree with some of the commentators that the actual quality of the dancing is not particularly great, but you do get to see Allegro Brillante, so why complain? Edit: compare to some footage of AB on the big stage at NYCB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0xBZEbN2IY

I'm sorry I missed out on this...

Here's a short video of Manuel Legris in Square Dance:

Helene, if you do decide to go, you should try for this performance: Save the Date! SF Ballet's Cinderella Opening Night Ball Friday, May 3, 2013 http://clicks.skem1.com/preview/?c=11312&g=3867&p=fce8fec0c94b7b387c8285cb68c599c0&utm_source=mail2&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SavetheDate%3ACinderellaBallonMay32013-A

I'm looking forward to this one, as I plan on being there myself (if all goes well...). It will be the first time I've seen a Ratmansky ballet live on stage.

Right now, more is just better - I can't worry much about the display order, with so little to show... Darcey Bussell and Peter Boal, selections from Agon "DAY 4 - Serenade and Agon" "Agon de Stravinsky" - a fun 'homemade' video And on a different note - "Selections from Apollo"

Masha wishes Sylvie Guillem a happy birthday, and mentions that Guillem was "One of the main inspirations and reasons I left Russia." http://One of the main inspirations and reasons I left Russia.

Agon as danced by NYCB is currently available online: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Allegra Kent & Arthur Mitchell in Balanchine's Agon rehearsal:

There isn't a great deal of footage available on Tanny, certainly not available to the public, but there is fairly tangible evidence that there is more under wraps as it were, in the NY Public Library and Jerome Robbins Library collections (as mentioned in this thread: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/28838-tanaquil-le-clercq/ La Valse (in many ways Le Clercq's signature role) is apparently on film: http://www.worldcat.org/title/valse/oclc/438155528 Note the documentary website is at this URL as well, and there's some actual project info on this page: http://derekbritt.com/?portfolio=afternoon-of-a-faun

That's the great thing about going more than once, and sitting in different areas of the theatre - you may see completely different things each time. It really is difficult, or impossible, to take in all details when there's a lot of ensemble dancing involved. I can't say I caught many details within either Suite en Blanc or Borderlands - I had to focus on particular dancers, or the general look of things, but so much gets missed. Regarding the fallen dancer - it sounds like she did exactly the right thing. And, she was able to 'get back on the horse' and ride again, so good for her. I am curious which Corps dancer it was - Wan Ting Zhao? She was slated to be in both performances that day.

"Curse of the Bolshoi: Top dancer abandons ballet just weeks after theatre's artistic director was attacked with acid" Svetlana Lunkina has left the Bolshoi to live in Canada. See the URL in the Links thread to learn more: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/36747-friday-february-1/

I finally found one of the URLs where I had heard this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SotoZDXkSw4 "Coinciding with Ekaterina Kondaurova's debut as Titania in George Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream, the Mariinsky Theatre website disclosed that Kondaurova has been promoted to principal ballerina status, several hours before her debut in one of Balanchine's rare full length ballets." It's an interesting statement (and I don't have a way to verify). Of course there are internal promotions, and there are official, publicly announced promotions. And the Russians are good at making all this confusing.

I recall that Van Patten was subbing for Zahorian in "Cigarette" (not sure why, since Zahorian danced more than once that night, and then danced "Cigarette" the following night), but as I don't remember the performance standing out in any particular way, you are probably right. Letestu is a great French-school dancer - I don't think Americans appreciate her as much as she deserves to be. I'm with you here - I know the work of Joseph Albers - his writings on color theory and perception are classic, and I can't say that I was reminded of Albers while watching Borderlands. Why wasn't the connection made more obvious? I don't think there would have been anything wrong with presenting a take-off on his iconic color blocks style in the set and costumes: But McGregor went his own way, and that's fine, if you make it work. The "rippling bodies and extreme extensions" that you mention, and the sameness of costume, have gotten to be repetitious for me rather than a whole new novel in a new language. Interestingly, for all the quirkiness in the dancer's motions, McGregor's approach seems to strip the dancers of any individual personality in favor a mass of undulations. I don't, however, think that it was a mistake for you to hear the choreographer speak on his work - that adds another dimension to the piece that it certainly needed. For me: one dimension was still missing.

I was able to see opening night, and the first 2 programs the 2nd night (I was feeling too run down to stay for the electronica score of Borderlands a second time). This was my first time seeing the complete Suite en Blanc ballet, and it was fairly entertaining as a whole, but it struck me as having a great deal of marshmallow fluff and visual 'silence' in the middle sections. I enjoyed the opening and the finale (music too, which was new to me), but found the middle sections to be rather listless, and not nearly as clever or captivating as descriptions made out. But again, the overall impression is that it is a very NICE ballet. I'd be happy to have someone technically experienced to explain the import of some of the dance sections. Robbin's In the Night was well executed both nights. Lorena Feijoo got the plumb role as part of the 3rd couple on opening night - and danced with great drama as expected. But Sarah Van Patten, dancing the same role on the 2nd night, was just sharp as a knife - a truly great performance, and the audience gave her the big applause she rightly deserved. Applause on opening night was generally big and warm throughout - it was just good to be seeing the company again doing what they do so well. McGregor's new Borderlands ballet was certainly very interesting and the SF company has the dancers to really pull off this kind of modernist dance. I applaud McGregor's explorations into a new dance language - it doesn't happen to be quite my cup of tea as he favors particular kinds of movements that don't speak to me, yet. And I always have trouble with canned electronica music thundering from the P.A. system. I just get a headache. I consider myself to be a music person, and this musical composition didn't strike me as being particularly interesting, original, danceable or helpful to the choreography. The big surprise for me here was the inclusion of Elizabeth Powell who is new to the Corps de Ballet (and SF Ballet fans will know her as Clara from the Nutcracker DVD). Well, Powell has grown up (mostly) and, it seems quite a coup to have been chosen to be part of the world-premiere cast for Borderlands (12 dancers who dance each night of the program, no rotations). I was left wanting to see more from her, and I do understand why McGregor would have selected her to be in his piece: she has the right feel and the technical abilities to be able to pull this piece off along with Kochetkova, Sarah Van Patten, Sofiane Sylve, etc. That rather floored me. I like her deportment in general (she was also part of the Corps in Suite en Blanc), but she definitely has the moves and flexibility for a McGregor ballet. I also wanted to mention that I stayed at the Inn at the Opera, which was recommended in one of the pinned SF Ballet threads, and if you're a balletomane, or stalker (kidding!), that is the place to be. The Inn is literally next door to the SF Ballet building and student dance center, and about 50 yards from the stage door at War Memorial and another 50 yards to the side entrance to get into the building. So you will see a lot of the dancers and administrators when you are out on the street. (There is also the Sage Cafe on the other side of the block which is frequented by everyone in that area.) The first morning I was there the first person I saw on the sidewalk walking towards me was Davit Karapetyan. Later to be followed by Lorena Feijoo walking with Helgi Tomasson (she was agitated about something, and talking excitedly, and Helgi was typically unfazed (or nonplussed!) looking). And I saw both Karapetyan and Tomasson on the street the next day too), as well as Corps members drifting in and out of the theatre. As a side note, while I was sitting in at the edge of the orchestra seating, a striking woman appeared next to me out of the exit curtains, gazed about for her seat/friends/associates and then walked off, and it popped into my head that she was the woman in a video I had watched the previous night about Suite en Blanc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIsSRxE42LM And that would be Maina Gielgud. The next day I bumped into her at the elevator in the Inn at the Opera (it is a tight squeeze getting in and out of the elevetor as it is an old building, so the person getting in and the persons getting out have to literally squeeze by one another - a bit comical). And on the 3rd day as I was leaving to check out - there she was in the elevator again, so I asked her if she was the stager for Suite en Blanc, and she replied yes, and we exchanged some pleasantries about how well things had gone, and how diverse the company is in its abilities.

A few more images I hadn't run into before... At Capezio - fab coat! Used as cover of the novel, "Master's Muse". And one large image: http://sinemkarisir....12/09/gaia1.jpg

I happened to see this on the Classic Arts Channel in the middle of the night (don't ask) - some great partnering and execution. Markovski is truly as 'strong as an ox'. It looks to be from the "Glory of the Kirov" DVD, performed in 1974, choreography by Fyodor Lopukhov.