pherank
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Posts posted by pherank
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Belated thanks for these, pherank. There's no question that movies in general look better when seen in the venues for which they were made, and also that some restored versions can make a great difference in your experience of the film. Even a lesser experience can make converts, though. I think it's a shame in some ways that old movies aren't used any more as filler for late night or afternoon programming. It wasn't the ideal way to see them but it made them hard to miss or avoid. Now, unless you have more than basic cable, they have to be actively sought out in repertory theaters or DVD.
I do find myself loving the TCM channel these days - they are able to find so many rare films (many of which are not avaialble on DVD). Once upon a time, they were notorious for trying to colorize all the black and white films, but they seem to have grown a great deal since those amateurish times.
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Well that's
Well, I went to the Première. My own feeling is that it is not a success
. The sum up of what I feel, heard and read after is that the Merce Cunningham piece is the real interest of the evening...It will pop up some day as the evening will be recorded for a TV broadcast!
Too bad, but not exactly unexpected. A person could have all the talent in the world for choreography and their first piece will still have problems. If you are lucky, it will be described as, "promising". ;)
It strikes me as being a bit bizarre to thrust Gillot onto a major stage for her first work, but they did what they did. Historically speaking, what master choreographer started out their career with a ballet for the POB, Mariinsky, NYCB, Bolshoi main stage? Precisely NONE that I can recall hearing of.
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Photos of Sous Appearance:
Those images definitely leave me wondering what exactly went on. ;)
Hopefully there will be some video clips of the dancing at some point. What has the audience reaction been like?
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Hello, Paris - I'll have to leave the technical details to some of the other, very knowledgeable, members on the forum (many of whom were trained in classical ballet), but I will say that there are often choreographed steps/movements that are not necessarily codified ballet steps. The language of ballet choreography is built up from those basics, but doesn't consist solely of those building blocks (if that makes any sense).
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I just heard that Osmolkina injured herself on stage during the first act of Friday's performance. She "crumpled to the floor" (in my friend's words), the curtain came down and the performance resumed with Shirinkina. Hopefully the injury is not serious!
Poor Osmolkina....she just got those Swan Lakes too. How depressing. And what a trooper Shirinkina is.
Anyone heard more on this subject? Apparently Osmolkina suffered a leg injury back in 2010, which caused her to follow the Lopatkina route, and dropped out of things to have a baby, then returned not long afterwards, apparently 'healed'. But it all depends on the actual type of injury. I wonder if it was the same problem reoccurring.
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...Wondering if you might know if Ulyana Lopatkina of Mariinsky is still dancing or if she is now planning to retire?I think she is age 39. I hope to see her !
Best Wishes!
I don't think the Mariinsky has a forced retirement age (like the Paris Opera Ballet). And they seem inclined to keep popular dancers about, even if they probably need to step aside and give the young ones a chance. The Mariinsky used to be a strict hierarchy but in recent years there have been some odd promotions (some dancers moving up before their time, or later than seemed fair). I think Lopatkina will continue to dance for a few more years. Then she most likely will be hired into the administrative level of the company or Vaganova School, perhaps Ballet Mistress...
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Thanks for your report! Last night, the transmission was about 5 or 6 minutes late. (I keep my watch set accurately, using my my cell phone's time.) How did the audio compare with their other webcasts?
It wasn't bad - not fuzzy or garbled. The video displayed an "HD on/off" button and I set that to ON. But I can't say I noticed a real difference in video or audio having done that. I'm assuming the music was pre-recorded since I didn't notice any signs of a live orchestra.
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Following on pherank's technical remarks, I found that the video started after the performance did, about 2-1/2 minutes past the top of the hour (5:00 here in Chicago), as Ted Seymour led Elisabeth Holowchuk in from the wing, audience right; and my audio was afflicted with a little echo. Did others have the same experience? Otherwise, the camera work was good, and might even have been rehearsed.
And the dancing! Beautiful! Just lovely! What a show! They even did the business at the end of Slaughter where the Gangster rises in the audience, and then did the ending after the ending - which looks like it might have caught some of the audience off-guard. (Like it should.)
Here's hoping they archive this one. It deserves it. We deserve it.
Hello Jack,
Yes, I too have seen Balanchine choreography danced live, on the Internet. And no illegalities to boot. Who'd a thunk it?
My experience was the same as yours - the performance seemed to have started early and was cut into abruptly at 6pm/3pm with the actual broadcast. My hope is that this will be archived with the other Farrell Ballet videos and we'll get to the see things from the beginning. Dancing was very good throughout, just too short! I'm really, really happy to have seen some of the original choreography to "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" - I've been wondering what that looked like for some time. I only know the Gene Kelly version.
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Just a reminder - the Suzanne Farrell Ballet presentation will be available online, today, at this URL:
http://www.kennedy-c...ams/millennium/
6pm EST/3pm PST
Look for an additional video link to appear on the page right at 6pm/3pm. You may need to refresh the page at that time to see it (but if they're smart, their using a technology that will refresh the page for you).
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Casting is now online for the Sous Apparence/Un jour ou deux Programme
Only one cast for the Gillot : Vincent Chaillet, Laëtitia Pujol, Alice Renavand
Three casts for the Cunningham : Emilie Cozette/Hervé Moreau/Nicolas Paul -Stéphanie Romberg or Laurence Laffon/Florian Magnenet/Fabien Révillion
Thank you - well hopefully no one gets injured beforehand. I'm not really familiar with Chaillet myself, but Pujol and Renavand should do fine in the modern piece.
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an excerpt of the public rehearsal
Thanks Silvermash. Very interesting. It gave me the idea that having a choreographer/director on stage with the dancers should be part of the choreography. ;)
I like those kinds of things. But I doubt that's what Gillot will end up with.
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To see real stylistic diferences, get THE trilogy...Ulanova/Fadeyechev, Alonso/Plisetsky and Fracci/Bruhn. The bits of Markova/Dolin and Fonteyn/Nureyev on Youtube are priceless too.
Thanks very much, I will do so.
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"Master and Margarita" is one I need to tackle myself. I started it once, and was more confused than attracted, got interrupted, and never went back.
You're not necessarily alone in that, pherank. It can be tough to get into. We have a BA discussion on the book here if you're interested.
[sorry for the late reply - I forgot to follow this thread} Thanks for that link, Dirac - I may need it! I will try again with M&M before long.
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I love seeing photos by former dancers who've then made a career out of photography, like Rosalie O'Connor and Angela Sterling.
Helgi Tomasson's son, Erik, who didn't dance as far as I know, has done some lovely work for San Francisco Ballet.
I am reminded also of the (now former) SF Ballet dancer Quinn Wharton, who has been doing photography/film work (such as the Tiit Helimets and Co. Estonia Tour 2011). Wharton's dance friends (such as Sarah Van Patten) appear in many of his still photos.
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Comments : We shall know soon how it turns... 20 dancers are involved I heard: 10 females and 10 males, all on pointes.
Thank you, Silvermash. I was wondering about the casting for this dance piece. I'm actually kind of shocked there will be pointe work. ;)
Here's hoping it goes well for Marie-Agnès and company.
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This may be asking too much, but can anyone provide an English translation of Gillot's comments on her upcoming choreographic debut?
Can be simplified, rather than word-for-word. ;)
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We attended 3 performances of the Mariinsky Swan Lake ballet here in Costa Mesa Segerstrom Arts center and found all of them to be absolutely magical experiences that transported us to heaven for a few hours! Truth, beauty and grace all within a package of love and total commitment to the moment and movements. Can't wait for them to return!
Welcome Kev, 3 performances - that shows real dedication. ;)
I'm glad you enjoyed the performances.
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Danilova and Doubrovska worked with Balanchine very early in his career. SAB is now run by dancers who worked with Balanchine in the 60's and 70's and who are more familiar with how his ideas and teaching evolved.
Just to set the record straight -
George Balanchine died in 1983.
Felia Doubrovska (1896-1981) joined the staff of the School of American Ballet in 1949(?), teaching the advanced girls' classes, and she remained on its staff until a year before her death at 85.
Alexandra Danilova (1903–1997) taught at the School of American Ballet from approximately 1964 to retirement in 1989.
My apologies to the others for the off topic chatter. I do look forward to hearing more first-hand reports from Paris!
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If interested, there are quite a few Katya photos (and video clips) at this URL:
http://www.tumblr.co...rina+kondaurova
A few are from the recent US tour.
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I believe if you don't like POB style, the different casts all looks the same in Serenade.
POB dances Balanchine in its own way and you may like it or not. I think personally it's the way it should be when you "import" a choreography in a with a strong stylistic tradition.
I also think Agon fared better because the personality of the dancers gave a very interesting turn sometimes to the pas de deux, especially Aurélie Dupont/Nicolas Le Riche and Eve Grinsztajn/Stéphane Bullion.
Prodigal son was all Agnès Letestu...
Sounds great to me. ;)
The POB are always respectful of the source material, and dance techniques, and even if they can't really transform themselves into graduates of the School of American Ballet, they do try very hard to get things right. I think they deserve credit for that. I still wish I could have seen it.
And as a contrast - I've posted this link elsewhere, but it happens to contain a lovely 'demonstration' of the closing scene of Serenade (and since we don't get to see it in the Froustey video):
http://www.kennedy-c...id=M4781&type=A
(Skip to 29:30 in the video timeline. Note that there are long blackouts between scenes - that is not a technical problem.)
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Pherank - While most people would agree with you that the NYCB "lacks precision" and that their arms are "not so good", I would point out that his ballets are danced the way Mr. Balanchine liked them danced. He was very particular about port de bras in class, hands, and - particularly - fingers, but he was not interested in everyone looking the same - having their arms at the same levels and getting into strict lines. He called it "synchronized dancing" - like the Rockettes, whom he admired for what they did so well. But he was not interested in having his ballets approached that way. He wanted each dancer to dance as big as they could and if the lines weren't perfect, so be it. Same with the arms. Most ballet goers don't agree with him. But they also don't agree with many of the changes he made to his own ballets - like eliminating the birth scene from Apollo. To him the birth was old-fashioned and almost vulgar. He much preferred the condensed, more abstract version he did in the 70's. I myself very much like the Paris Opera approach to Diamonds. With all the beautiful feet and legs shown so well in perfect lines. To me it's more clear than how it's presented over there in NY. But I would never argue with Balanchine's right to present those works however he saw fit.
Hi Rock, I'm actually in agreement with you on most of your points. But I do think that the NYCB Corps, of say, the 1960s and 70s, had a more precise line than we see today. The impression I get looking at the more recent performances is that everyone is kind of 'doing there own thing' within the framework set down by Balanchine, but there's very little sense of the Corps operating as a truly unified whole, which we still get from the Mariinsky and POB Corps. A bit ironic given that Balanchine placed so much importance on ensemble dancing, rather than 'star turns'. Without Balanchine (Danilova, Felia Doubrovska, etc) overseeing the school, things are going to take a different tack of course.
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I was reminded of this topic while watching the Suzanne Farrell Ballet demonstrate basic ballet steps in this excellent video:
http://www.kennedy-c...id=M4781&type=A
I found out about this particular video archive from a post elsewhere by Jack Reed. Note that there are 3 wonderful 'sample' performances along with the ballet step demo. The oddity being that there are a number of long 'blackouts' where the screen is blacked out and we wait in real time for the next piece to begin. But just be patient - it is worth it.
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Ask and you shall receive!
The video was great to see, btw. The only problem is that it's all about Mathilde Froustey, and keeps fading out when the ensemble is left alone on the stage. As if those are the boring parts!
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...As for Soiree Balanchine, it's the same problem I always have with POB dancing Balanchine - they just don't understand Balanchinian movement. It's too academically correct and the energy and spirit aren't there.
Serenade needs work. I was completely unmoved by the ending, which is a first. Almost like the dancers weren't really listening to the music. They were listening to the counts but not to what Tschaikovsky was trying to say through the music.
Sorry to hear that the performance wasn't a particularly good one. I imagine different nights/casts did better than others. I can think of quite a few companies that could do with a little of the "academically correct" though. Balanchine performed without precision can be a fright. I happened to dig up the NYCB's "Bringing Balanchine Back" DVD to catch some glimpses of Serenade and that segment (with Darci Kistler) fairs pretty well, but Symphony in C, Symphony in 3 Movements and Western Symphony look all a muddle due to the Corps lack of precision. Energy and speed are there, but no precision. I laugh every time I hear the comments from the Russian dancers about NYCB: "The legs very good. The arms not so good." "Not so good" is putting it mildly - arms at every angle. And different degrees of curvature/straightness. No one seems to realize how much this blurs the choreography and renders it indistinct. Not so good. ;)
Classic Russian Films
in Other Performing & Fine Arts: Performances, Exhibits, Films, and Events
Posted
I had forgotton how hallucinatory that (opening?) scene was. I think it is because they are using a wide angle lens to photograph all these forground figures - it makes the humans in the scene look plastic, and unreal, whereas the sky, clouds, and panorama are 'real'. A great looking film.