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For anyone interested in finding out more about Japanese cinema - here's a starter list... Ugetsu Tokyo Story The Munekata Sisters Early Summer Floating Weeds Sansho the Bailif Ikiru Woman in the Dunes Branded to Kill Tokyo Drifter The Hidden Fortress Red Beard Seven Samurai Yojimbo Sanjuro High and Low Stray Dog The Bad Sleep Well Throne of Blood Samurai Rebellion Chûshingura My Neighbor Totoro Spirited Away Grave of the Fireflies Hiroshima, Mon Amour (I see this as a French-Japanese co-production) Classic Japanese cinema is full of Samurai-themed stories, but there is plenty of humanity between the sword fights. ;)

LOL - Yes! My first A on a quiz in many years. There are so many others to mention from over the years: Katherine Hepburn (and Audrey), Deborah Kerr, Wendy Hiller...

It does seem that the consensus on Skorik is that she's not really ready to be a 1st Soloist, and was brought along, or pushed, too fast. It does feel a bit like a 'political' appointment - she's the favorite of someone high up and powerful. How many times has that happened in the ballet world? ;) I feel sorry for her, actually, as she may be experiencing sheer terror on some nights: that's not what any artist needs to develop their craft. This isn't just bad for the audience, it's bad for the dancer's psyche. Kondaurova moved through the ranks at a fairly typical pace for a principal dancer (though some think she should have been promoted to principal sooner), and she's proven to have that rare ability that every company director dreams of: a dancer who continues to grow and absorb new techniques and roles without hesitation, year after year.

Has anyone else run into the images of Nikolai Krusser? I find some of his work to be quite outstanding: a wonderful sense for movement, color, and composition. There's a quality of mystery to many of his images that I love. And I like his frequent use of the overhead shot, such as: http://www.photodom.com/photo/2109538 Here's his portfolio page: http://www.photodom....nikolai_krusser [Edit] And a few others: http://statics.photo.../17/1079987.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot...let_dreamin.jpg http://25.media.tumb...f2mwo1_1280.jpg http://www.photodom.com/photo/2106535

Crawford, Stanwyck, and Gish are all favorites of mine as well. ;)

I just read an interesting book, "Lee Miller, A Life" by Carolyn Burke, but had a really difficult time with it because I just didn't think much of the writer's style, and meddling in the subject matter. But Miller was a fascinating woman, to be sure, and a worthy biography subject. I happened to re-watch Jean Cocteau's first film, "Blood of a Poet" (in which Miller portrays a statue that comes to life), and that got me interested in Miller and her further adventures in the worlds of photography and cooking (yes, cooking). http://www.zimbio.com/Johnny+Lee+Miller/articles/zXPMc4H_l6r/Lee+Miller http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Miller-Life-Carolyn-Burke/dp/0375401474

Thanks very much for these, everyone. I've been wanting to know how things turned out for my 'hometown' ballet company in Europe. I wish there was more info on the performances in Moscow.

Yes, but did you like it? ;) I'm glad to hear that the Mariinsky continued to improve as the week went on. A fine write-up of the performance, by the way. I had much the same impression of Ivanchenko as you did. It's kind of sad really, and perhaps he's simply burned out, or even nursing some type of injury, but he just didn't seem to be emotionally engaged in the performance that I saw. I was just looking at some online photos of Kondaurova dancing with David Hallberg in Swan Lake and a Tudor piece, and I couldn't help but wish we could see THAT pairing in California. The touring orchestra is indeed small, but they don't sound tiny - I was pretty impressed by the sound they were able to achieve.

Well, it IS Orange County, and I can't believe that the Mariinsky has the name recognition and reputation with the general public in that area to sellout the Hall each night. (The name change back to Mariinsky from Kirov certainly throws off the non-balletomanes.) And it's worth point out that the top tier of seating isn't even being used, so the Segerstrom people must have known there was no way they were going to get enough people to come see Swan Lake each night. There were plenty of people in the auditorium on Wednesday night, Oct. 3, but there was still some open seating. Kondaurova got her standing ovation, and that's what counts - that the dancers coming from the other side of the globe feel appreciated for their efforts. Edit: I stumbled across this video documentary that purports to show Kondaurova in her Swan Lake debut. And I think it's safe to say that she has grown into the role since. Lovely girl. Unfortunately there's a lot of dropped-frames in the video so it's choppy. I would rather see "Big Red" in The Firebird, but that's just me - maybe next tour... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxJPVMQZ_f4

Yes, it was probably dumb luck that the creature escaped, but I can't imagine it found too many tasty bugs flying about the Hall either. I will just mention that this was my first visit to Segerstrom Hall - sound and seats were good, and the entire Performing Arts Center is impressive, who knew? (outside of LA patrons). The stage was smallish though, and that did have some impact on the visuals. I would not want to see the finale to "Diamonds" on a stage of that size - it would be really cramped.

Definitely was a bat, and definitely not Teamsters jurisdiction. The topmost seating section was actually closed to the audience and I did notice some 'personnel' walking about up there trying to think of what to do with a bat. Die Fledermaus passed really close over our heads when I was standing with a few other people by the front of the stage. I thought I was going to get whacked in the head. The main thing is, it was gone before it could ruin the last of the performance. Could you imagine a bat crashing into Kondaurova as she's being held aloft? That would be memorable.

I was able to see Kondaurova as well on her first night and I thought she was very strong. Obviously the Odette-Odile role requires a dancer of strong presence, as well as technical ability, and Kondaurova looked like a star, and a consummate professional. And that surprised me a bit, as she is still young - I expected her dancing to look "young and fresh". But she managed something close to the spellbinding quality of Lopotkina as Odette, and Odile I liked even better as she shows a lot of eye contact with the audience, and Rothbart, and it was hard to take my eyes off of her through much of the performance. Which is what we pay for. The Corps naturally put on a solid performance (they all look like they're no more than 18 years of age). But of all the ballerinas on stage it was pretty obvious who should be dancing Odette-Odile, Ms. K towers over everyone else in spirit as well as physique. The low spot for me was Evgeny Ivanchenko as Siegfried: simply dull and plodding, technically uninteresting. He brought no spirit to the role, and his 'acting' was practically non-existent. Fortunately his lifts were competent so there was little impact on Kondaurova. In fact, Siegried's dullness did serve to make Kondaurova look even better. When Siegfried tore off one of Rothbart's wings, he stopped there (and Rothbart collapses anyway). But I thought, "That is so Ivanchenko, doing things half way, half-heartedly." Why not struggle with Rothbart in a realistic manner? I much preferred the dancing of Xander Parish (as well as his stage presence). Parish deserves better roles. Hint, hint. I also enjoyed the bat that got loose in the performance hall during the break period - fortunately it found its way back into the night sky before ACT III. Since I was sitting in the 3rd row, I was able to see every detail, and during the encores I was standing against the stage and just missed a fantastic shot of Kondaurova taking her bow in front of the curtain (about 20 feet away). But the darn usher noticed that I and the person standing next to me had our phones out, so she motioned us away from the stage area. I'll always regret not having that extra few seconds to get the picture. ;)

Nice photo! I wish it was higher resolution. Letestu is slumping against the balcony so that takes off an inch or two. But she's clearly 3 or more inches taller than Dupont. When Gillot and Dupont are standing beside one another in Neumeier's "Sylvia" there's quite a difference in heights. Gillot makes an excellent Roman/Grecian goddess.

Lucky you, Trieste - hope you got an autograph. What you are saying about her height makes sense though. She towers over the other POB ballerinas in any video/image, except Letestu, who is supposed to be the tallest of the group.

Do you know about this website? (Looks terrible, but summarizes in English the Ballet magazine articles): http://www.russianballet.ru/eng/info.htm

I haven't read d'Amboise's book, though I own the DVD on d'Amboise which includes a live interview. He's definitely a character, and not afraid to say whatever springs into his mind.I don't think he worries much about other people's feelings. This reminds me that I had heard of some kind of falling out between Peter Martins and Suzanne Farrell regarding her retirement, but that makes little sense going by Farrell's description of events: once her hip had been replaced her years as an active soloist were basically over. And it was Martins who effectively ended their dance partnership to work full time as company director.I wonder if anyone knows more about this original "falling out" (I'm not thinking of her more recent dismissal from the NYCB's teaching roster to cut costs). I personally like to buy hardcover copies of books that I admire most - usually on Amazon or eBay. I believe I spent 5 cents for a very good copy of the Kirstein book (only the book jacket had some markings). Effectively paying for shipping and little more.

I'm reviving this thread to mention that there's an article on Marie-Agnes Gillot in Dance Magazine that has some interesting facts about her life: http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/July-2012/The-bold--the-beautiful I had no idea that she had suffered from scoliosis as a child and wore a metal brace for years. It's also hard to believe that she is only 5'7" tall - I always thought she must be close to 6' with that Olympian physique! Somewhere else in the Forums I posted some info on her upcoming choreographic debut at POB (this Fall, 2012).

Well, I decided to travel to Costa Mesa and see Ekaterina Kondaurova, whose dancing I really do like, though Swan Lake would not have been my choice of ballets to see her in. But what the heck, I won't be flying to Russia anytime soon. Please no more casting changes!

I know this is off topic, but regarding these Wikipedia statements: ["Balanchine staged Apollon Musagete for the Royal Danish Ballet in 1931. Following his move to the United States two years later, the work was performed by his American Ballet in 1937 with Lew Christensen in the title rôle and subsequently becoming a feature of Balanchine's New York company and of many other companies the world over. In 1978 Balanchine made major changes to the piece, discarding the ballet's prologue which depicts Apollo's birth. For a revival with Mikhail Baryshnikov as Apollo in 1979, he also omitted Apollo's first variation and rechoreographed the ending of the ballet. This revision saw the piece concluding not with Apollo's ascent to Mount Parnassus but rather with the earlier memorable tableau of the muses posing in ascending arabesques beside Apollo. In the 1980 staging for the New York City Ballet, Apollo's first variation was restored. Suzanne Farrell restored the birth scene for her company in 2001, as did Arthur Mitchell for his Dance Theatre of Harlem performance at Symphony Space's Wall to Wall Balanchine in conjunction with City Ballet's Balanchine centennial."] Does anyone know if the Royal Danish Ballet stages the 1931 version of Apollo today? (And note that if Farrell can "restore" the birth scene, then it is possible to get the Balanchine Trust to approve potentially any version of a Balanchine ballet. There would of course have to be proof that it could be done accurately and "respectfully".)

Note that my comment was only on Kirkland's general attitude about Balanchine and his ballets (coming from her own statements), not her artistic/physical abilities. I've seen the "T & V" video myself (many times), and it's a great performance, indeed. "...The backlash focused in great part on Balanchine, who was, of course, not present to defend himself, and one of its loudest voices was that of Gelsey Kirkland, a former New York City Ballet dancer...Her bitterness about Balanchine I found most curious. Balanchine recognized her talent. He promoted her, choreographed for her, and encouraged her in every way, as he had many dancers over the years. But for her own reasons she obviously didn't want to accept the opportunities he offered her, and she seemed to resent him for it. Balanchine functioned on a plateau that, clearly, wasn't for everybody, but to abandon the challenge of Balanchine for an approach to dancing that seemed more like an act of defiance than an act of love and respect for one's craft was something I could not comprehend." --Suzanne Farrell

Reminds me of Gelsey Kirkland going to great lengths to complain about working with Balanchine, and how she (basically) disliked dancing "Theme and Variations" because it was so demanding. But then Kirkland had a lot of 'emotional issues'. As you pointed out, there are definitely dancers who have no real work ethic unless they are forced to give a darn. As for the schmaltz - it is, as they say, SHOW BIZ!

That's what I was wondering. No problem.

Nichols seems to have the best approach, indeed. As you pointed out, the individual stagers each have their own predilections, and personal athletic strength's - each stager is going to be stronger with certain choreography (and so they probably tend to stick with the same approach, rather than continue to work on their own weaknesses). One thing that doesn't seem to get mentioned much with regard to these Balanchine stagers is their ability to teach.To teach with clarity and enthusiasm, and convey information well, is a gift in itself, and I have to believe that plenty of stagers are just not good teachers. Obviously Balanchine had the gift - he could create and convey his choreography to large numbers of people many, many times over. But the average dancer, and the average soloist, is not necessarily going to be able to teach others with any genius.

Sadly, I think it is somewhat inevitable that the original intricacies of the Balanchine technique be lost over time. And it doesn't take very long. It's often mentioned that only the dancers (such as McBride) who received the original choreography and 'hands-on' attention from Mr. B. really got things right. And even though many of those same dancers tried to pass on the dances intact, the very act of communication seems to keep smoothing the edges, again and again.I remember Suzanne Farrell's description of her staging of "Scotch Symphony" in Russia, and it just sounded like a nightmare, but she wrote about it as just being part of the business. But the end result was nothing like any "Scotch Symphony" seen in the U.S. I think we can be certain that what we THINK is Petipa, is in many ways different from the original choreography.

LOL, I may be wrong, but you seem to dislike everyone in these roles. ;) Send us a video link of a good interpretation of Rubies.