Natalia

Epaulement...reverence...Alexandra, you have touched on two movements that are representative of the term 'Aristocratic Bearing.' And is there a ballet troupe on earth that is more 'to the manor born' than the Mariinsky-Kirov, the heirs to the Russian Imperial ballet tradition? That is why imported guests -- be they big-name-soloists or auxiliary corps members or mere 'supers' -- stick out like sore thumbs when populating the stage of Mariinsky-Kirov Petipa ballets. One either has "it" or does not. To the manor born. When I attend a Mariinsky-Kirov 'Sleeping Beauty' performance, I am transported to the the most beautiful Palace of Dance - to the Temple of Art. God Bless the Mariinsky-Kirov Ballet and Long may they reign!

dirac - I agree with you about Bezik's interview. Jamie Sale is quickly becoming the biggest whiner since Shae-Lynn Bourne (Canadian ice dance champion, with Victor Kraatz) was interviwed by Tracy "Let's Find a Conspiracy" Wilson, at the 1998 Nagano games. I'm just happy that the Kirov Ballet is in town, eclipsing the Olympics in my mind. I'll still watch the tapes, though. In the meantime, the skating order for tomorrow night's Men's Finals has just been announced. GREAT draw for Yagudin! 1 RYLOV Sergei AZE 22 11.0 2 TAKEUCHI Yosuke JPN 24 12.0 3 DMITRENKO Dmitri UKR 21 10.5 4 ZHANG Min CHN 19 9.5 5 CHIPER Gheorghe ROM 23 11.5 6 SKORNIAKOV Roman UZB 20 10.0 Warm-Up Group 2 7 LAMBIEL Stephane SUI 16 8.0 8 van der PERREN Kevin BEL 13 6.5 9 MURVANIDZE Vakhtang GEO 18 9.0 10 LI Yunfei CHN 14 7.0 11 DAVYDOV Sergei BLR 15 7.5 12 JOUBERT Brian FRA 17 8.5 Warm-Up Group 3 13 ELDREDGE Todd USA 9 4.5 14 STOJKO Elvis CAN 7 3.5 15 WEISS Michael USA 8 4.0 16 DAMBIER Frederic FRA 11 5.5 17 DINEV Ivan BUL 12 6.0 18 LIU Anthony AUS 10 5.0 Warm-Up Group 4 19 LI Chengjiang CHN 6 3.0 20 HONDA Takeshi JPN 2 1.0 21 PLUSHENKO Evgeni RUS 4 2.0 22 GOEBEL Timothy USA 3 1.5 23 ABT Alexander RUS 5 2.5 24 YAGUDIN Alexei RUS 1 0.5

Thanks, Marc. She is an absolute gem. I'll be watching her closely during the rest of the run.

I watched this AFTER last night's Kirov opener...I videotaped it, then saw aftermidnight. A good methodology for skipping through commercials, so the Kirov Ballet helped me in that respect, too. Delighted with Yagudin's first-place performance. Good for him!!!! On the other hand, Plushenko's quad-flop left him mopping the ice in 4th place going into tomorrow's finals....lucky to be in 4th, as it is. Takeshi Honda FINALLY put it together in the short program. Wonderful!!! Elvis was DEFINITELY in the house last night, giving us powerful performance that was ridiculously underscored. Tim Goebel could win it all tomorrow after that picture-perfect short program. WOW - do I see the makings of an artist beneath those quads? Alexander Abt --- a personal fave of mine -- was hampered by a dopey costume & tiny errors tonight...but still made the top 6 (as did all three Russians). His long program is a masterpiece of beauty, though, so I look for him to improve tomorrow if he can land all of his jumps fairly cleanly. How very, very sad for Todd Eldredge. Four years of additional training, just for an Olympic medal, up in smoke after three minutes. My heart goes out to him. [ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

I attended the opener last night. I've seen this glorious production many times, since it was introduced to the West in the June 1999 NYC-Met engagement. I've already described umpteen details in a lengthy review on Ballet.co.uk (posted in June 1999 - Bruce Marriott has archived it), so please go there if you wish to read about itsy-bitsy production details. Gorgeous company; gorgeous ballet! Diana Vishneva's Aurora is the glory of the Russian ballet! As Aurora, Vishneva radiates warmth & love from her very first entrance down the palace steps to the courtyard. She was perfect last night in the Rose Adagio (excellent balances performed calmly, serenely), without the straining hyperextensions of some of her colleagues. She even overcame shoddy partnering from one of the four princes (the youngest - Firsov?), who almost let go of her in a pirouette. Her three big solos -- one each in Acts I, II & III -- were crystal-pure; the audience 'oohed-and-ahhhed' at the developees in her Act II (Dream Scene) variation. I felt totally at-ease watching Diana Vishneva throughout the ballet & could delight in her artistry. An Aurora for the ages. A note on Vishneva's physical changes during the past year or so: Her physical beauty remains incomparable...but I wish that she had not changed her alluring raven haircolor to coppery-red! [Even if it was a wig, never before have I seen her dance this role with anything BUT her naturally-black haircolor! Her look was Fonteyn-extraordinary before. Go back to the black hair, Diana!] I was especially pleased to see that she has regained the sleek & ultra-slim (yet athletic-healthy-looking) physique that I remember from her 1995 graduation performances through about 1997, before she became more hourglass-shaped. The hourglass is now gone; Vishneva is sleek perfection now, in my book. Can't wait to see the 'new Diana' in Rubies tomorrow night. Igor Kolb's Prince Desire, while nicely danced, was less-than-princely. As much as I admire Kolb's technique, delectably-arched feet, and gracious personality, I simply cannot appreciate him as a 'danseur noble.' I even failed to realize the prince's arrival on the stage during the Act II Hunt Scene until he began to shoot the arrows! Uh...let's see, that LOOKS like Desire's red jacket & curly wig but..no...is it the Prince? To his credit, Kolb delivered a light and airy Act III solo that garnered robust applause from the audience. Veronika Part's Lilac Fairy was danced and mimed with majesty. Her upper body has - ahum - blossomed considerably since I last saw her in London. The altered physique works here; she looks very Maria Petipa-esque in those costumes now, so more power to her. I'm not sure if the 'new look' will work in the ethereal second-ballerina role of 'Emeralds,' which I have adored in the past. We'll see tonight, when 'Jewels' opens & she dances her waltz solo. My long-time-favorite mime in the world, Vladimir Ponomariev, was his wonderful hammy self as King Florestan, this time making googly-eyes at a younger queen, the glamorous Elena Bazhenova. I must admit that he was even hammier &, thus, funnier (for me) when his consort was Nina Borchenko, who did not make this tour. [About 89 Kirov dancers are here for the ballet season, out of 150-plus dancers in the company. Many famous soloists - Lopatkina, Makhalina, Ivanchenko, Thomas, etc. -- are dancing in Don Quixote, Giselle or Romeo & Juliet back home.] But even Ponomariev was not the 'top mime' on stage last night. I reserve that honor for Andrei Yakovlev as Catalabutte, the master of ceremonies who loses his red locks early-on. What an artist, this Yakovlev! I delighted in his carefully crafted characterization, replete with subtle comic details. Some 100 people on stage but my eyes honed in on his funny shenanigans & exchanges with the herald. I was so grateful for my close-up seat last night, as I'll be sitting up in 2nd tier the rest of the run & won't be able to admire Yakovlev-Catalabutte so up-close-and-personal. Bravo, Yakovlev!!!! The absolute-highlight among the soloist men -- waking up the sleepy audience to huge applause -- was Vitaly Scherbakov as Bluebird. This very-young-looking lad SOARED! His Princess Florine was Natalia Sologub. The playbill listed 'Irina Golub' as the Diamond Fairy & I was so looking forward to seeing her in a big solo, as I have grown to admire this very young soloist since I saw her in NYC in Jan 1998 with a group of Vaganova students. So you can imagine my surprise when -- unannounced during the breaks or in the programme -- out comes veteran Elvira Tarassova as Diamond! Tarassova did a commendable job, a fine classicist as always...but my eyes were riveted to the beauty & magnificence (positions, technique, drop-dead-gorgeous face & flashing eyes] of the girl dancing Gold Fairy in the background. Who is she, this miracle? Wow! I looked in my programme after the show - it is an 'unknown' named Viktoria Tereshkina. Remember the name. She is slated to dance Diamond Fairy in the Sunday matinee. [Does anybody know when she graduated? Must have been in the last year or two.] Among the five Prologue fairies (beside Lilac), I most admired Xenia Ostreikovskaya's languidly-danced Fairy Candide (the first solo; silvery-grey tutu). Ostreikovskaya is a magnificent artist who may very well become an Aurora some day! The other fairies were: Fleur de Farine - Maya Dumchenko, always beautiful Breadcrumb - Elena Yukhovskaya (a petite newcomer who had nice moments but seemed to be essaying the solo for the first time Violante - Irina Zhelonkina - a true classisist...seemed tired...or troubled..or both, last night. Not into it at all. Too bad. Canari - adorable Yana Selina, in a role that she has made her own through the years. [selina was also a stand-out among the fairy-tale characters in the final act, as the White Cat, with Kirill Simonov a total 'hoot' as Puss-in-Boots. Audience loved them!] The corps de ballet was its usual impeccable self, especially those beautiful nymphs in Act II. I delighted in all of them & was especially admiring of Tatyana Nekipelova, one of Inna Zubkovskaya's protegees from the Vaganova class of '96. I hope that Nekipelova gets to reprise her demisolo role in the female quartet in 'Diamonds'...nobody dances that section with such gusto & Russian-Imperial spirit! The children were very well rehearsed & great fun to watch. Students from the Washington School of Ballet, they are, by far, the best group of 'guest kids' (non-Vaganova Academy) that I've seen in these ensembles (I compare with NYC 1999 & London in August 2000; Vaganova Academy was in the June segment of the 2000 London run). I bet that, after the show, the Kirov coaches gave the Washington children notes regarding the "Look-Ma! I'm dancing!"-type grins at their families in the audience, when they should have sported Mariinsky-aristocratic-aloofness instead. Those little cherubs in Lilac Fairy's boat are cute...but they should have remained completely still. Oh, well - they did a superb job overall. Bravo, children! I was disappointed in the 'flatness' of the sleepy audience (at least in center-orchestra section, where I was) & the lack-of-raport with what-was-going-on up on the stage, during much of the show. Perhaps they were waiting for more dancing in the Prologue? They warmed up by Act III & delivered a standing ovation at the end, with multiple 'bravos' for Vishneva & Kolb. [This appeared to be a 'more senior,' well-heeled audience in pearls & Channel suits....I do miss the gusto of NYB-Met audiences or the adoring Russians in the Mariinsky audiences. ] Welcome to Washington, Kirov Ballet! Ochien rada vudiet vas! Make yourselves at home, now & for the following nine Februaries (at least). And - most importantly - Gracias/Spasibo/Thank You to Alberto Vilar for making it all possible! [ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Mashinka - Please e-mail me at: jeannie@balletalert.com The best of the places may already be booked for the festival period but I have list of four B&B/small hotels in total. [i don't even get a commission for this. ]

I've closed the other thread before it got too big. We can continue our lively discussion on the pairs outcome & begin to discuss the men/ice dance/ladies here, OK?

dirac - You make an excellent point regarding the jingoism of NBC, particularly regarding Russia. Remember my earlier comment re. the Opening Ceremonies & the theme of 'Stick-It-to-Russia' in the symbolism that came with having the 1980 Lake Placid USA hockey team light the torch. [Yeah...NBC co-owns a cable network that will soon air a docudrama about that hockey team...that "may just have contributed" to the selection of the torch lighters. ] Also, Bob Costas et. al. over-did the "Will Jamie & David end the 40-YR RUSSIAN DOMINATION in Pairs Skating" thing a bit! As this thread is becoming quite large, I will begin an 'Olympics, part 2' thread above this. We can continue our discussion on the pairs outcome + begin to talk about the Mens Competition, which begins tonight. [ February 12, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

I've replayed my video &, indeed, Jaime Sale's left foot appears to ever-so-slightly touch the ice as she comes down from the throw triple loop. I am flabbergasted that the NBC commentators didn't utter a peep about even the possibility of a two-footed landing. I noted it during the live show as did others who watched at my house. On the other hand, I too am disappointed with Ina/Zimmerman's 5th-place spot over Totmiamina/Marinin, whose skating left me flat. They have gorgeous long lines, though. Eastern European judges, in particular, tend to favor ultra-thin long torsos & ribbon-like tappering arms & fingers in the women...the 'Galina Mezentseva Plastique' as I term it. Maybe the bias toward this 'look' plays on the subconscious of the judges, when doling out the artistic mark? It happens even within the USA Nationals at times, especially in the ice dance. (I remember a magazine article about a highly-contested ice-dance nationals championship in the early '90s in which Renee Roca/Gorsha Sur won the gold over a team that was considered to have skated better on that night...but the woman of the silver-medal team had a curvy, less balletic figure than did Renee Roca. The Sports Illustrated magazine article that discussed this event was titled 'The Thinner Was the Winner.' I'm sure that we could have lengthy discussions on this issue, as it directly ties to a major issues in the world of ballet. Not sure that I wish to moderate that one, though!! ) [ February 12, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

ETA ROSSIYA!!!!!! Congratulations, Elena & Anton - GOLD medalists!!! My goodness, I am still giddy with excitement at the wondrous 'Thais' program & the correct result, IMO. No, Scott Hamilton, Sale/Pelletier did not skate a clean program; rewind the videotape & see Jaime Sale two-footing the final throw. All that said, Sale/Pelletier were also lovely & had the crowd on their side...but - but...as a ballet lover, I cannot help but give the edge to the sheer physical beauty of the Russians' lines. And, to top it off, Elena & Anton won despite the perceived handicap of having skated before the Canadians. And the Chinese, Shen/Zhao, went-for-broke with a quad throw that almost worked. Whew! What a great night of skating. Congratulations to all three medalist teams. It all came down to stylistic preferences in that second mark. And David Pelletier deserves a special medal for his very gracious sportsmanship on the podium, as he gave a high-five to Anton Sikharulidze...despite less-than-gracious hooting by the rowdy crowd. David Pelletier is a true champion, too! So NBC's touting of the "Toppling of the Russian Domination in Pairs" simply did not pan out this year. Tomorrow,look for more amazing Russians as the men's event kicks off, with Alexei Urmanov & Yevgeni Pluschenko leading the pack. Priama, priama!

Here's the 'skate order' for the last three groups in tonight's Pairs LPs (finals). WONDERFUL final three teams...one right after the other! No guarantee that NBC will show any of these except for the two American pairs + top three! Source: http://www.icecalc.com/events/owg2002/results/ (save the above link, if you're interested in obtaining all such lists, throughout the competition) Warm-Up Group 3 12 - (place going into finals)- KAUTZ Mariana / JESCHKE Norman (Germany) 11 - SCOTT Tiffany / DULEBOHN Philip(USA) 10 - PANG Qing / TONG Jian (China) 9 - ZHANG Dan / ZHANG Hao (China) Warm-Up Group 4 5 - INA Kyoko / ZIMMERMAN John (USA) 6 - PETROVA Maria / TIKHONOV Alexei (Russia) 7 - BERANKOVA Katerina / DLABOLA Otto (Cze) 8 - ZAGORSKA Dorota / SIUDEK Mariusz (Pol) Warm-Up Group 5 4 - TOTMIANINA Tatiana / MARININ Maxim (Russia) 1 - BEREZHNAYA Elena / SIKHARULIDZE Anton (Russia) 2 - SALE Jamie / PELLETIER David (Canada )3 - SHEN Xue / ZHAO Hongbo (China) [ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Great commentary, guys! Kate - you lucky gal, right there in the thick of things. Will you attend tonight's finals? One POSITIVE note on NBC's coverage, that I forgot to mention yesterday: the very FAIR and unbiased TV commentary of Sandra Bezik & Scott Hamilton...especially Bezik, especially with regard to the Russians-vs-Canadians. Bezik corrected Hamilton, when he tried to belittle B&S's death spiral; Bezik said "No - it is perfect." Later, during the Canadians' program, either Bezik or Hamilton noted the slower speed, compared to the Russians. AND, after the Canadians' 'final flop pose' onto the ice, Bezik immediately told viewers that this would NOT result in a deduction of points (in other words, not to be used as an 'excuse' in case S/P came out of the SP in 2nd place). Very, VERY unbiased reporting by a former Canadian pairs champ herself. Hat's off to Sandra Bezik!!! NBC did show 2 out of 3 Chinese pairs (out of a total of 8 pairs shown) - Shen/Zhao AND Zhang/Zhang (the #3 Chinese pair) were shown at about 11:15 pm, near the end of the telecast. WOW - they, too, have breathtaking throws! NBC omitted the #2 Chinese, Pang/Tong...and 11-12 others. Still fumin' about Petrova/Tikhonov and my beloved Poles (mistakes & all) not having been shown!!! I wrote an e-mail to NBC to complain about Costas' rudeness regarding the arts/danceportion of the medals ceremony. There's an e-mail link in the NBC Olympics website, which Alexandra posted on another thread in this forum.Too, I telephoned my local NBC affiliate & spoke with a director-level staffer to voice my complaint...anyone else who was offended may want to do the same. *Last night (Sunday), in the midst of the downhill skiing, NBC broke away to show a few seconds of modern dance on the main thoroughfare in Park City...wonder if they are getting the message already? [ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Thanks for all of the information & comments. Boy, do I envy the European & Canadian viewers - we're stuck with NBC here. (Ed - You live in the right area of the USA!)I'm just tuning in now (Sunday morn),as my home computer was down. Here are general impressions on Opening Ceremonies & last night's Short Programs in Pairs - note my 'Plusses' and 'Minuses' for each point. OPENING CEREMONIES - + One of the most beautiful Winter Olympics openers & (shock!) NBC showed it in-full, even showing every single country-delegation (replaying those countries that paraded during commercials) + PLENTY of skating & dancing! Remember how NBC cut-out the 'artsy' dance portions of the Syney ceremonies? Not here. I loved the group-skating choreography by Sarah Kawahara (also the choreographer of Michelle Kwan this year). + Wonderful skaters from the past (Button, Fleming, Hamilton, Hamill) carrying the torch into the stadium + Best Moment - When US skaterSasha Cohen gave her cell phone to Pres. Bush, who happened to be sitting beside her among the USA athletes, so that Bush could say 'hi' to her grandma! - STUPID, ASSENINE Bob Costas commentary - not just the "stone faced" Iran quip. He was pathetic throughout, calling out several times "the temperature is now 25 degrees farenheit..." Big F***** deal!!!! - Overall jingoistic nature but that is to be expected in this country. (Sorry - just my opinion - no offense intended!) Nobody bothered to tell NBC that the Cold War is over, e.g., making such a big deal about 'Ending the SOVIET-RUSSIAN 40-year winning streak in Pairs skating' or giving the honor of lighting the Olympic flame to the 1980 Hockey team 'Who crushed the Russians' OK - they won. And Sweden won four years ago - why not give them a hand in lighting the torch? Give me a break. - Breaking for a commercial just as the Russians were entering the stadium; we barely got a glance at those gorgeous imperial-era coats with the tall cossack hats & the far muffs of the women. [OK - that's just my personal disappointment. ] PAIRS SHORT PROGRAMS - - ALL TIME LOW this NBC coverage - only eight couples shown out of 19. I've been videotaping Olympic skating since I bought my first big clunky Beta recorder in 1980 & the number of couples shown has shrunk from virtually all teams having been shown by ABC (in 1980/84/88) to about half by CBS (1992/94/98) to this crap last night!!! - NO, it was notshown "live" as NBC claims.All of us had the skate order. The top Russian team, B/S, were the 3rd couple to skate, in actuality. NBC showed the warm up of group one & immediately showed B/S...skipping over the first two teams.Not enough time for those two teams to have skated their programs during the one commercial that aired between the warm-up & B/S.So NBC is flat-out LYING (deceiving) the public by posting the little "live" word on the screen. - Bob Costas showed his contempt of the arts (and modern dance in particular) when MOMIX and Pilobolus were performing as a prelude to the awarding of the medals of Women's Moguls Skiing competition. Costas assumed, when the cameras honed in on the Medals Ceremony Theater, that the medalists would appear right away. They did not; instead we were treated to about 10 minutes of modern dance & acrobatics. Then Costas' voice began to apologize to viewers for 'Sorry that this is what is on...if Siegfried & Roy comeon next, we give up!' WHAT A SLAM ON DANCE & THE ARTS!!! JERK!!! + On the positive side - the Russians were BREATHTAKINGLY beautiful. So were the Canadians...but,IMO, it was called corrctly (Russians 1st; Canadians 2nd) due to the superior line (long & balletic) of the Russians, their speed, & overall elegant beauty. For tomorrow night's finals, the Canadians promise to be less 'hee-haw cutesy' & will turn up the romance/elegance level to meet the Russians...it will be close, folks! - Russians B/S's first-place standing is all the more remarkable because they had the worst draw among the top teams - and judges tend to mark conservatively at the beginning. The Russians were THAT GOOD - garnering 5.8s & 5.9s so early. Sure, the judges left a little room for the Canadians & Chinese to possibly top them, but it came of naught. - NBC totally skipped over the #3 Russians, Petrova/Tikhonov, who were the World Champions from the year 2000, as well as my personal faves, Zagorska/Siudek of Poland, world medalists from 1999. Huh?????? What's the collective IQ of the NBC television production crew, I ask? So it's on to the Pairs Long Program (the finals) tomorrow. Standings thus far: 1. Berezhnaia/Sikarulidze (Russia) 2. Sale/Pelletier (Canada) 3. Shen/Zhao (China) 4. Totmiamina/Marinin (Russia) ***the above 4 teams will be in the 'final warm-up group' of skaters - huge advantage, usually, as higher scores reserved for them*** 5. Inna/Zimmerman [ February 10, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Hot off the press! Here is the result of the 'draw' for the Pairs Short programs skate-order. The event takes place tomorrow night. To be shown live on NBC TV in the USA, 8:00 - 11:30 pm, in the East & Central time zones (then repeated in its entirety on NBC, beginning at 12:30 am). As always - check your local TV guides. Full TV skating schedule found at http://heatherw.com/mk/sch.htm Now for the Pairs Short Program draw - ****source: US Figure Skating Association web site, with my comments in () Pairs Short Program Start List 1. Cobisi / de Pra ITA 2. Bestandigova / Bestandig SVK 3. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze RUS (TERRIBLE draw for them - will have to be fast & picture perfect, as judges tend to mark the early couples lower) 4. Ponomareva / Sviridov UZB Warmup 5. Totmainina / Marinin RUS 6. Shen / Zhao CHN (OK draw - ahead of B&S...but look who follows them!) 7. Sale / Pelletier CAN (EXCELLENT draw for them, as their two main competitor-couple will have already skated - B&S and Shen/Zhao. Today's practice reports, though, say that Sale/Pelletier are a bit shaky in their throw triples - Jaime unable to land a single one - so this should boost their confidence. I hope that Jaime is not injured, though. Very odd, the news about the practices.) 8. Zagorska / Siudek POL (Good draw...they are my favorite team to pull a major surprise if they skate cleanly - she is petite & delicate; he is tall, so their lifts & throws are spectacular! I have great hopes for them!) Flood 9. Petrova / Tikhonov RUS (hmmm..great draw if they can skate as they did two years ago) 10. Ina / Zimmerman USA (EXCELLENT draw - could surprise, just like the Poles) 11. Scott / Dulebohn USA (good for them) 12. Longlois / Archetto CAN Flood (funny how the last two sets of teams contain no 'major names' - NBC will probably skip over then, although I hope that is not the case) 13. Pang / Tong CHN (my current favorites for the NEXT Winter Olympics in Turin 2006 - she is ballet-thin & he can throw her half-way across the ice) 14. Chuvaeva / Plamarchuk UKR 15. Savchenko / Morozov UKR 16. Kautz / Jeschke GER Warmup 17. Krasiltseva / Znachkov ARM 18. Zhang / Zhang CHN 19. Berankova / Dlabola CZE 20. Lariviere / Faustino CAN [ February 08, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Siren - Alas, not Peggy Fleming, who has an exclusive contract with rival network ABC (as does Button). Scott Hamilton's commentating partner at all events will be Canadian choreographer Sandra Bezik. She has had a long-standing contract with NBC; she commentates for the annual World Pro Figure Skating Championships, held every December in the Washington, DC area. Hmmm....in the World Pros, she is a tad prejudiced in favor of skaters for whom she does the choreography (e.g., Tara Lipinski). Bezik has a very nice delivery style, though (nice voice, on-camera presence, etc.). It will be interesting to hear her comments on the Pairs competition, which begins tomorrow, as this was her discipline; she & brother, Val, were Pairs Champions of Canada in the 1970s. On another topic - One figure skater has been selected among the eight USA athletes to carry the tattered 'September 11th US Flag' in tonight's opening ceremonies. He is US National mens champion Todd Eldredge. Way to go, Todd! [ February 08, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

That may be another one, Viviane. The one where I bought my prints was Witches Ball. I do recall a couple of other print shops in Cecil Court but, at the time that I compared them, WB had the most ballet-related items. I am sure that there are other areas in London. And when one goes further afield, one finds real treasure-troves...such as a little shop in Plymouth, near the quai, with tons of ballet books & prints, although that is not its lone subject. [Gee, I really should put my ballet-related business cards into a rolodex.]

Why, thank you for the compliment, Mary Lynn. Indeed, we will all be hoping for a secure Olympics. How many hundreds of million$$$ are being spent just on security...just on tomorrow's Opening Ceremonies ...just on the protection of President Dubya Bush? I don't think that they'll be selling pretzels in the stands! [Just kidding!! ] I wonder if a skater will be selected to light the Olympic torch? To date myself - I remember the opening ceremonies of the 1972 Olys in Sapporo, Japan, when the Olympic torch entered the stadium carried by a local young female skater. She entered the stadium, skated around the frozen track, and slipped on the ice as she rounded a corner - poor thing!...but, to her credit, she did not drop the torch. And how about the Lillehammer Olympics, when a famous local ski-jumper held aloft the torch while performing a spectacular jump onto the stadium?

Hi, Glebb! There is an antique-prints shop in Cecil Court, London, which has many ballet-theme lithographs and such. It occupies the spot directly opposite (across from) the old Dance Books site. Its name is The Witch's Ball. If memory serves, it was still there last summer. I will try to dig-up the business card; I'm sure that telephone assistance for England could help, if you're in a rush. You have name of shop & street. There are many other lithograph shops in the area but this one, as I recall, focuses on theatrical arts themes. The owner always has LOTS of ballet items & she is extremely knowledgeable on the ballet-lithographs topic. Warning, though - they are pricey but they are beautiful & authentic with certifications/registration, e.g., I paid about 600 L for a Fanny Elssler-Cachucha 'Beautees de l'Opera' lithograph after lots of bargaining with the lady who owns the shop! [ February 07, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Michelle kwan was interviewed in this morning's NBC Today show. Of special interest, IMO, was her announcement that, unlike her plan in 1998 nagano, this time she is planning to have fun & savour the entire Olympic experience, including marching in tomorrow night's Operning Ceremonies and staying in the Athletes' Village at least part of the time. Good for her! [in Nagano, she & her team of coaches/sports psychologists/choreographers/family, etc, etc, opted to stay at a swanky hotel to 'shelter' Michele from the media glare until the last possible moment. She missed all of the fun aspects of the games...while teamate Tara Lipinski did all of the 'fun' things & WON!!! Tara was relaxed & sparkling on the ice; Michele was technically perfect but 'tight' in her delivery, back in 1998. It made a difference.]

I received this news through a friend affiliated with the Budapest competition. ANNOUNCEMENT Issued by the Management of the Competition The dates of our next - JUBILEE - Competition have changed! The 5th International RUDOLF NUREYEV Ballet Competition (RNBC) will take place in BUDAPEST, on March 11-17, 2003 in honour of the great dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, to celebrate the 65th anniversary of his birth and commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death. Produced by EuroDance Foundation Roland BOKOR Director-General H-1431 Budapest 8, P.O. Box 122 Hungary Fax: 00-361-333.1836 e-mail: eurodance.bp@gmx.net PLEASE CONTACT THE EURODANCE FOUNDATION FOR MORE INFORMATION Budapest, January 31 2002

I love both posts, Patricia & OCmom. You made my morning with some laughs!!! Annual meeting at office...I'll need a laugh or two to survive til 6 pm. Hold the fort.

Vagansmom - It takes trememdous power & control to maintain the long backward-outside edge that leads to the lutz jump, especially for finely-boned women. [The tall & muscular Viktoria Volchkova of Russia or Julia Sebestyen of Hungary are rare examples of women who truly lutz, rather than 'flutz.'] Dainty physiques compensate by shifting body weight to the backward-inside edge (making it a 'flip' jump rather than 'lutz') just before the right toepick jabs the ice for the take-off. Tara Lipinski also had a noticeable flutz. Michele Kwan less so but she, too, flutzes. Sarah's seems to be the more noticeable flutz among the current female competitors. It's an unconscious habit; once 'registered' in the brain, almost impossible to change...so I am told, as I've never tried to lutz or flutz myself.

Siren - Your best bet is to go to the supermarket & purchase your local edition of TV Guide, it will be tailored specifically to your viewing area. Here in DC, we buy the "Washington edition" of the magazine. Cost is under $2. *The issue that you need was published yesterday; it has a sultry-looking Michele Kwan on the cover (quite a photo - no little prissy ice princess she!). I normally would say to look at the 'free' TV pull-out from last Sunday's paper but that would only include information about this Friday night's program. By the way, ALL of the skating will be on NBC. Some of the less-often-seen sports (curling, etc.) and complete hockey games are being shown on the sister-networks, CNBC and MSNBC. But, as far as I've seen, all of the skating + opening/closing ceremonies are on the main NBC channel. ****UPDATE: A friend just passed-on to me the following URL, with perhaps the most comprehensive skating-on-TV schedule around. All times listed here are EST in the US....so that TV guide might still be necessary if you are in Mountain or Pacific time zones, where NBC might be purposely delaying the telecast to ensure that they occur during the lucrative 'prime time' period. http://heatherw.com/mk/sch.htm Quite a bit of skating on TV beyond the big networks, isn't there? Time to buy 12-packs of blank cassettes at the discount store! I'm sorry that I don't get this 'ESPN Classic' that is showing highlights from old Olympics, such as Grenoble 1968 (Peggy Fleming & the Protopopovs). Wouldn't it be great to have a 'Dance Classic' cable network...ugh... [ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

One more thought. Will any of our Canada-based readers be following the Olympic skating? You, my friends, are the truly lucky viewers, as Canadian TV will be showing all of the skating events in their entirety and, I suspect, much fewer commercials than in the USofA. As most of you know, skating is practically a national sport of Canada (as it is in Russia). Watch out for Sale/pelletier in paris + Bourne/Kraatz in ice dance. And we cannot forget the original 'quad king' Elvis Stojko (several-times World champ in the mid-1990s), who refuses to give up without one more shot at Olympic gold.

Hi, Beverly - As the moderator of this forum & also the person who posted this particular topic, I feel compelled to answer your well-stated post. Although I am sensitive to your concerns, the analogy to basketball is not quite right, as athletes representing all races have been playing & excelling in basketball & other team sports (baseball, soccer, volleyball) for as far back as I can remember in my over-40 lifetime! However, in the case of ballet competitons, the upsurge in medal-winninig performances by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean competitors is a relatively news phenomenon (1990s), even though a Yoko Morishita would earn top medals once in a blue moon before the 1990s. Secondly, there is the all-important fact that this art --- classical ballet -- is one that was forged in a part of the world far removed from Asia, i.e., classical ballet is a 'native art' of Europe, and not just any Europe -- the royal courts of Europe. To praise any nationality that is not of European roots that can persevere and succeed in European Classical Court Arts (like ballet) is tantamount to praising any non-Asian performer who succeeds in, say, classical No Theater of Japan or Shanghai-style acrobatics of China. In short, it is a miracle. [And, no, I do not count the Latin Americans who succeed in ballet in this category, as we latinos are already born with European/Iberian blood in our veins.] Furthermore, please don't forget the spirit of our posts. Our (certainly my) intentions in all of this are to compliment & not denigrate the dancers of China, Japan, etc. My hat's off to them for their spectacular achievements, surging to the top of the ballet-competition podiums (and principal status in top professional companies) in such a short time! It is a fact that cannot be ignored and, as a 'civilized' forum that includes contributors of intelligence & a certain degree of maturity, we should and must address it. But your concerns have been duly noted and, of course, we all try to phrase our views sensitively. [ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]