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pasdequatre

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    balletgoer
  • City**
    New York
  • State (US only)**, Country (Outside US only)**
    NY
  1. I read most of this book last year. I'm glad I'm a distant poster on this topic since I hope no one reads this as it is not a positive review. But as I recall, I returned it to the library unfinished because it was just not interesting. It takes talent to turn a true life drama into soap opera. Not worth going to the library for.
  2. Drew, very grateful for your precis of the evening, since I am relying on Ballet Alert posters to convey the ballets to me. (I can't attend til mid-April.) I appreciated Drew's interpretation of what I called "impassivity" as "spirituality". I think that's right.
  3. Thanks also to Vipa for this amazing video of Suzanne as I remember her. Notice her perfection of form, the use of her arms, always in place. And Ib Anderson's legs create angles, pictures, in the air. And when he's almost done, there's Suzanne, flying on, then striking a "ready" pose with her arms at her waist, about to fly into space. They maintain the "preghiera" theme of the first movement, in their solemnity. Notice also that despite what vivace movements Suzanne is dancing, her expression is utterly impassive. This stands further study. I have a book called Mozartiana by Robert Maiorano and Valerie Brooks which traces, step by step, the creation of Mozartiana by Balanchine. I'll also look at the portion of Suzanne's memoir on Mozartiana. She was a phenomenon, and her like will not be seen again. Thank God she has her own troup and is teaching. Can't they come back to New York? How did she find a dancer who resembled the young Balanchine in Meditation? Must learn more about Mozartiana. Page 1: "Simply, with great delicacy, Balanchine leads Farrell by the hand." The opening description from the pas de deux we just viewed. If you want to know more about how Balanchine choreographed (and I do), locate this valuable book.
  4. Definitely worth supporting. I thought the Ashley/Lopez looked like Concerto Barocco, but they were wearing formal tutus, not the white skirts they perform in now.
  5. Thank you, Jack, for giving me some hope that I have seen the "real Balanchine" style in my time. ViolinConcerto, you have led me to "In Balanchine's Classroom", which apparently is a work in progress. And what a film it is! I was enthralled, particularly by Violette Verdy's opening statement that we each have part of a quilt, and we all put our pieces together, and she has a good part of the quilt. That is so generous, she is in collaboration with her colleagues and fellow disciples to transmit the teachings of Balanchine. That really answers my initial question. And wonderful footage of Balanchine leading class, evocative photos - Merrill Ashley and Lourdes Lopez dancing together in ??? (from my generation). I do hope this film is completed, The dancers speak eloquently, some like Darla Hoover charmingly demonstrating with her hands the increasing tempo Balanchine asked for. In fact, this work in progress deserves a topic of its own. Maybe someone will start one?
  6. Thank you for your thoughtful answer, Jack. You have been so fortunate to see the company over many years when Balanchine was leading it. I came belatedly around 1980. Suki carefully describes Balanchine technique in her book, whose name escapes me.... I also was greatly impressed by Suzanne Farrell's company when they visited New York over a year ago. Meditation was so real, so like it was in the grainy video I have seen from 1963, the original. Thank you also to ViolinConcerto, with the lead to Dance Films Association, which I will have to track down. Interesting to hear what the dancers have to say.
  7. I tried this online link and it did not work - the 0 would not move to 1 or 2. It's better to go to the box office.
  8. If anyone is reading this far, do not miss the January 19, 5 pm free onstage demonstration "Ballet is Woman", which a poster mentioned earlier. It will include company dancers in Western Symphony, Serenade, and more. Best of all, there are still free tickets available at the Koch box office. I wish I could go.
  9. If there is any question I would have liked to ask Violette Verdy at a lecture I attended, but didn't dare, was - do the teachers who pass down the Balanchine legacy, who worked with Balanchine, agree as to the details of his technique? I'm not a dancer, but I wish I could compare notes on Suki Schorer, Violette, Allegra Kent, Peter Martins, and Suzanne Farrell, to name just a few. Do they agree on the principles of the technique or are there rival memories, and rival schools of thought? Just thought I'd throw it out for discussion.
  10. Oh how I miss NYC Ballet! I'm new, and I think I registered prematurely, for I can't attend any performances until after mid-April because - well, let's just leave it at that. But I have tickets for two performances in May and June, and look forward to commenting. And I also enjoy the skillful descriptions of the posters here, especially cobweb. So I will read until I can write.
  11. I studied my Darci Kistler T-shirt of Darci in Swan Lake pose - and to my surprise, her feet appear to be in a lake, she is surrounded by trees, and in the background the buildings that surround Central Park. Could this T-shirt be the poster you are referring to? I've had it for years, I won it in a WQXR contest. I doubt this is of any help to you, but Suki Schorer passed me as I was wearing it and asked me if Fairway was crowded (I was on Broadway near the market). Odd how a T-shirt can identify you! Yes, the words "Darci Kistler, Swan Lake in Central Park; photo by Richard Corman" in small letters on the side of the photo. I hope you find your poster. These things do pop up unexpectedly if you keep searching.
  12. Thank you Bart and Albany Girl for your understanding comments. On Balanchine's birthday in January, NYC Ballet has started a tradition of interesting lecture programs on his legacy, and I hope they will do that this year. If so, I'll be there and report on the day's doings. The dancers are interviewed, there are onstage demonstrations. It's really so uplifting an experience!
  13. Thank you for the info, Abatt! Very interesting - I didn't know he was married to Rebecca Krohn.
  14. To Bart: I have learned the most from watching Balanchine's ballets over a period of many years at New York City Ballet. At first I thought ABT was the ideal, with beautifully produced story ballets and emotionally wrenching performances. I was at first dismayed by NYC Ballet's stripped down aesthetic, the lack of scenery, the bare bones costumes. This isn't ballet! I thought. But I continued to attend NYC Ballet (maybe it was less expensive than ABT?) and as with any genius, George Balanchine convinced me of his way. I came to love not just The Four Temperaments, but the music of Hindemith. I came to Apollo and learned the sounds of Stravinsky, unknown to me before. So Balanchine opened for me not just a world of movement, but a world of music. And with the music of Tchaikovsky, Balanchine did not invariably do the expected - the frou frou I had seen before - instead he introduced me to the beautiful severity of Serenade, and its mysteries. Balanchine is the sum and substance of my love of ballet. He is the Petipa of our age. I revere his genius. I admire Robbins' talent. I delight in Wheeldon's better ballets. But I always come back to Balanchine, his mastery of a wide range of styles, his revelations of movement and combinations, his inability to repeat himself. Many have done "homage" to Balanchine, or tried to imitate him. Balanchine did not imitate anyone else, not even himself. I still thrill to the first notes of Apollo, I sink back in relief as I hear the introductory measures of Serenade, I know all is well in a world where I can escape - to Balanchine.
  15. Glad to see Adam Hendrickson is guesting as Herr Drosselmeyer this week and next. He retired last season, but I met him a while ago and he has such a puckish demeanor, offstage as well as on. I'm glad he's still dancing. What a talent! It was too bad he was just not as technically spectacular as Daniel Ullbricht, who blows away all competition. Hendrickson would be able to extend his career in a different company - Boston or Pennsylvania or Peter Boal's company? I wonder what he's doing.
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