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pherank

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Posts posted by pherank

    Jennifer Homans' biography of Balanchine

    in Writings on Ballet

    Posted

    2 hours ago, l'histoire said:

    Thank you for this wonderful list, pherank! I already have too much on my "to read" list, but I've added several of the ones I haven't read to it. I sometimes dreamily consider teaching a class on ballet history (it would never fill, so it never enters more than my random musings), but this just reminds me that there is SO much good writing on ballet from SO many perspectives (when I asked my grad seminar on "writing history" to share their favorite pieces of non-academic writing, my selection was Acocella's profile of Farrell from 2003, because the prose is simply so spectacular). 

    I've finished the book & while I still feel like it's way too long, Homans does "catch the spirit" of what she's writing about in many parts, which can be quite gripping. I'll try and write a more considered review soon. The long & short is that it does a lot of stuff great, does bring some new material in, but so much of the rehashing of previously-published pieces could be cut - I wish she'd let her own narrative/research shine. 

    Note that I fixed a mistake above - the dissertation was by Elizabeth Kattner-Ulrich (not Kendall). But Kendall's book references some of that same early Balanchine history.

    Jennifer Homans' biography of Balanchine

    in Writings on Ballet

    Posted · Edited by pherank

    20 hours ago, l'histoire said:

    I'm halfway through & I have to say, this book is too long by half (and I'm an academic, so used to plowing through overly-lengthy monographs), though I am finding it very nicely written and a good-ish read. Where was her editor? I'm not finding it "notably tactile" (per the NYT) - I admittedly have probably spent a lot more time reading & musing on dance criticism than many, though probably not in comparison to the balletomanes on this forum. It's reminding me of another good book in need of very good (and judicious) editing, Into Great Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest (on two other things I love reading about, WWI & high-altitude mountaineering, and also another book that should've have hundreds of pages chopped). 

    I'm hoping the 2nd half will lift my impressions, but judging by the footnotes, I'm not terribly hopeful. A decent addition to the rather limited library on Balanchine, but I think most people would be better served just by reading through the collected articles & interviews in something like Reading Dance or I Remember Balanchine. 

    Besides the ones that you've mentioned, I like to point people towards books like Charles Joseph's "Stravinsky & Balanchine", Elizabeth Kattner-Ulrich's dissertation "The Early Life and Works of George Balanchine (1913-1928)" [available as a free PDF online], as well as Elizabeth Kendall's related book "Balanchine & the Lost Muse". That last one is certainly an entertaining read.

    And there are of course all the "satellite" autobiographies and such in which Balanchine figures prominently:

    Tamara Geva's "Split Seconds"
    Alexandra Danilova's "Choura"
    Edward Villella's "Prodigal Son"
    Jacques D' Amboise's "I Was a Dancer"
    Toni Bentley's "Winter Season"
    Suzanne Farrell's "Holding On To The Air"
    John Clifford's "Balanchine's Apprentice: From Hollywood to New York and Back"
    Lincoln Kirstein's "Thirty Years/The New York City Ballet"
    Anatole Chujoy's "The New YOrk City Ballet"
    There's various Tanaquil Le Clercq books which naturally feature Balanchine mentions.

    All these books form a kind of interwoven tapestry of the Balanchine world. I don't think there will ever be a one stop tome that will provide all the necessary information and psychological insight people look for. And be truly entertaining.

    A bit off-topic but if enjoy learning about Balanchine's early days, the autobiographies of other Imperial Ballet dancers such as Tamara Karsavina's "Theatre Street" help to paint an engrossing picture of that unique world.

    Elizabeth II, RIP - the funeral

    in Other Performing & Fine Arts: Performances, Exhibits, Films, and Events

    Posted

    1 hour ago, abatt said:

    At Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral, the Choreography of Public Mourning - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

    This article may be of interest.  I have been mesmerized by the pageantry of   the  events related to the funeral.  

    Here's a quote:

    "But the ceremony wasn’t just notable for the remarkable precision and timing of its participants. It was also notable for its use of stillness and silence; the absolute immobility required at various points from the thousands of troops, and from the members of the royal family marching behind the coffin. The intentional discipline of these moments, before the dramatic striking of a staff, the command of an officer or the start of “God Save the King,” were as theatrical and emotionally powerful as any great stage performance.

    Movement has meaning. But just as we may not understand the gestural intention of a dancer’s mime in a ballet, we don’t have to comprehend the meanings of every formalized twirl of a baton, reversal of a rifle, or hierarchy of a formation to feel the comforting accrual of tradition and history that inform them."

    I found the (apparently unique) "Vigil of the 8 Grandchildren" fascinating, and creepy. And I realized later that what made it creepy for me was the fact that the grandchildren were all turned to face outwards (with heads bowed). And very much put on display before the public wandering past the platform. I've been pondering the symbolic meaning of that gesture ever since.

    World Ballet Day 2022

    in Heads up!

    Posted

    On 9/16/2022 at 9:54 PM, volcanohunter said:

    There will be at least 26 companies, including "core" presenters Royal Ballet and Australian Ballet. In years past, the main feeds included half-hour guest segments. More recently it was a decentralized affair, with multiple companies going live simultaneously on their own YouTube channels.

    Which begs the question: how exactly does one watch this thing? Or is really about taking a number of days to troll through assorted YouTube offerings?

    Ukraine invasion & the arts: Gergiev fired by his agent, etc.

    in Other Performing & Fine Arts: Performances, Exhibits, Films, and Events

    Posted

    On 9/12/2022 at 11:26 AM, volcanohunter said:

    His colleagues are reporting that Oleksandr Shapoval, formerly a leading soloist of the National Ballet of Ukraine, who danced with the company from 1993 to 2021 and subsequently taught partnering at the Kyiv Ballet School, was killed in battle early this morning in the Donetsk region.

    Sadly inevitable, as this conflict grinds on.

    World Ballet Day 2022

    in Heads up!

    Posted

    Looks like there are 24 logos, so there will be 24 one hour segments - presumably pre-recorded. SFB said that they would be showing some company class and some rehearsal time. That's a lot to pack into 1 hour. Hopefully WBD will publish an hour by hour schedule before the date.

    SFB 2022 Miscellaneous

    in San Francisco Ballet

    Posted · Edited by pherank

    Could it be? SFB hinting that they will be participating this year in the World Ballet Day broadcast:

    "Save the Date 📢 #WorldBalletDay returns Nov 2nd 📢 Join us for this global celebration of ballet and get a behind the scenes glimpse into rehearsals for our Repertory Season. More details coming soon!"

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CiiIFJjOxBX/

    Will it be live footage, or pre-recorded?

    Why Does Marius Petipa Matter?

    in Writings on Ballet

    Posted · Edited by pherank

    Why Does Marius Petipa Matter?
    Alastair Macaulay lecture first given at Houghton Library symposium “In Pursuit of Petipa”, Harvard University, in November 2018

    "Or does Marius Petipa matter at all? He has become the most enigmatic and ambiguous choreographer in history.

    Much of the choreography we now see that’s called Petipa is not Petipa. Many of us watched for decades something called the Le Corsaire pas de deux before we came to realise that a more authentic version of this was a pas de deux à trois. It then took another decade or two before we discovered that none of that was by Petipa anyway: it was added in 1915, five years after his death, by Samuil Andrianov. In the case of Swan Lake’s Odile-Siegfried grand pas de deux - often erroneously called the Black Swan (she’s not a swan; Petipa never dressed her in black) - I’ve spent over forty-seven years years watching Odile’s choreography change out of recognition. In the 1950s, Balanchine remarked that Siegfried’s solo in that pas de deux had been changed decades before. It took ages before I found that one of the most crucial moments in the Odile adagio, its ending, had been edited away in the early 1940s."

    https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/txs2x77hbfrx09xk18o4eth6q49ngg

    Jennifer Homans' biography of Balanchine

    in Writings on Ballet

    Posted · Edited by pherank

    A New Yorker "LIfe and Letters" article from the Sept. 12, 2022 edition - taken from Homans' new book, Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century:

    The Return
    Touring the Soviet Union, George Balanchine confronted his homeland's fate.
    –Jennifer Homans

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/12/george-balanchines-soviet-reckoning

    [I've never really understood why the The New Yorker insists on changing the titles for articles when posted online - seems like that only creates confusion for readers.]

    "On October 9th, after three days of rehearsals, N.Y.C.B. opened at the Bolshoi Theatre—elegant, Old World, plush red and gold, with crystal chandeliers—to a house packed with Soviet brass, including Yekaterina Furtseva, the Minister of Culture, a tough and cultivated woman neatly dressed à la Ninotchka, whom Balanchine grew to like. Nikita Khrushchev, the U.S.S.R.’s leader, was notably missing from his private box. As the evening began, the audience solemnly stood for the Russian national anthem, followed by “The Star-Spangled Banner,” with Robert Irving at the podium conducting an orchestra of Soviet musicians. Balanchine had chosen a program of four ballets, all plotless: “Serenade,” “Interplay” (by Jerome Robbins), “Agon,” and “Western Symphony.” For this momentous opening night, he wore his Sunday best: a Mississippi riverboat gambler’s pegged pants with a rodeo rider’s silver-embroidered shirt and string tie"

    Ukraine invasion & the arts: Gergiev fired by his agent, etc.

    in Other Performing & Fine Arts: Performances, Exhibits, Films, and Events

    Posted

    Ratmansky's latest Instagram posting:

    Wherever in the world I go now - since February I have been to San-Francisco, Munich, Dresden, Sydney, Melbourne, New York, The Hague, Amsterdam, Madrid, Seattle and London - in every city I see flags and other symbols of Ukraine everywhere. It seems the whole civilized world is supporting Ukraine and it warms my heart. As my friend Kyoko from Japan said, the more Putin tries to destroy Ukraine and its culture, the more it is present in the world. Next week the United Ukrainian Ballet, a remarkable company of dancers who fled the war, will perform my production of Giselle at the London Coliseum. Many caring people contributed to this project, I want to hug them all. And in two weeks Pacific Northwest Ballet will premiere my new ballet, set to the music of the outstanding Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, in Seattle. It is called 'Wartime Elegy'.
    СЛАВА УКРАЇНІ!

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CiJWB47KnoL/

    Ukraine invasion & the arts: Gergiev fired by his agent, etc.

    in Other Performing & Fine Arts: Performances, Exhibits, Films, and Events

    Posted · Edited by pherank

    IMO, Gorbachev was a pragmatist - but in the 'Old Russian Style', which did not preclude force of arms when that was called for by the Kremlin hawks. I doubt that makes him a humanitarian. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to politicians who make humanitarian 'gestures', shall we say, but that's about as much as we get from most of our politicians.

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