diane

I like that. ^^ Now I want to see this film. One thing that has often bothered me with "dance films" is that they have too much of a "plot", whereas all I want to do is watch the dancers. Definitely - to each his own! -d-

Catherine, your book sounds quite fascinating. Is it up somewhere for sale? (please excuse my ignorance here, if you have already said somewhere all of this and I missed it!) -d-

Richka, what a nice recounting of the visits to Las Vegas, thank you! I can just imagine it - Mr Zoritch telling stories at dinner, while you had to wait. (by the way, as for being a vegetarian at such dinners - so true! As I eat vegan, I usually just bring my own food. ;) ) -d-

It is on the German Google site, too. -d-

Oh, I would also LOVE to read more of your recollections! Thank you for taking the time to write them here! -d-

Good question. I thought he was asking for applause... but I may be wrong. Whatever, he is quite young and the films are really fun to watch. -d-

It is? Where? -d-

Yes, unfortunately, this user very often removes the video only a day or even hours after posting. If I have no time to view it right when I first find it, it is gone. -sigh- -d-

That was lovely! I had meant to only glance through at the photographs, and ended up reading the whole thing and thoroughly enjoying it. -d-

Very nice! Thank you for mentioning this! -d-

Some things just do not "pay for themselves", but it does not make them any less "valueable" to those who benefit from them, and actually to the whole society. For example: Public transportation, The Arts, Children. -d-

I also feel the way you do, I think. No one has asked me to "define ballet", though. It will be interesting to read what others have to say! Thank you for mentioning this. I would reply that ballet (as I know it) has more to do with the conveyance of emotion - however abstract that can be - and less with acrobatic and sensationalism than does circus. For me, ballet does not try primarily to "wow" and cause audiences to "gasp", but to move them in other ways. That said, there are many other "types" of ballet - and how it has changed over the years - which I would define as having really become something else. -d-

This brings up another question for me: It is common to have such a short run of a production (during one season), does anyone know? -d-

canbelto, I agree; I also very much enjoy watching the ilyaballet videos. They are well done and very informative. -d-

oh, dear, the videos which were linked here have all been removed! -d-

Really sad that it has come to this. A true sign of the times, I fear. In times of economic stress, usually the arts are questioned. The ballet is a traditional victim - most members of a company are young and often do not or cannot effectively speak out and protest. They just go elsewhere. Dancers also often have contracts which can be very easily terminated - not so orchestra members, for example. I sure hope that something happens to change this situation. -d-

Thank you for posting this! I wonder, what do you think are reasons for the differences now and then? Could it be that part of it is that audiences expect different things, too. Also, I do wonder sometimes about the speed of older films; is this an accurate rendition of what it was then? I do not know. In Germany in the later 1980s I got to see the Bolshoi, but not Bayadere. (spartacus, it was) It did not appear to be quite as fast as this shows, but quite impressive nonetheless. -d-

thank you! lovely to see! -d-

I thought you might like this one, as it also shows a cat who is at least trying to be in charge of when her person wakes up: -d- ps: mods, please remove if it is not permitted to post links such as this.

keguri, very well said! Thank you for your thoughts on this. Another thing: There is of course also a much more homogenous society in many european countries, which does make it _somewhat_ easier to decide which things are important. I would venture to say that all cultures are important, and nearly all of them have at their center music, dance, literature (and more).... and this we can (and really should) find ways of supporting. Where to begin, when so many citizens are struggling to keep up a minimum of life-quality is a huge challenge. -d-

?????? No idea what happend there! I did not even use the "b" word!! (round object ....) weird.... what I had actually typed was more along the lines of, "... if used to help many people." But, hey, that is obvious anyway, I guess. Never mind. (say it in Edith Bunker voice ) -d-

quote: But of course, this also has to do with the very different way that the arts are funded in Europe. yep. Very true. There has to be the idea that things which are worthwhile having are worthwhile having for everyone, and therefore everyone will pay for them; in the case of Germany through taxes. ("taxes" are a wonderful thing, if used got msnx people!) I have lived in Europe - in four different countries - for over thirty years. There is a different feeling here and a stronger respect for things-which-have-gone-before than I have noticed in many parts of the USA. -d-

Such a shame! -d-

The most wrong thing I ever witnessed was when I was still dancing, and during a performance of "Romeo and Juliet". In this version, there is a huge bed in the center of the stage for that big pas de deux -which is managed around and over and on top of said bed. Immediately afterwards is a "black out", and when the lights come back up, the stage is empty, and everyone for the next scene are all standing around the sides, in position. Except it wasn't. Empty, I mean. When the lights came back up, the bed was _still there_. We all looked at each other, made a few fervent nods and eye-brow raisings, and then we started the dance, just going around this humongous bed for the entire scene. I wonder if anyone in the audience even noticed; perhaps they thought it was an interesting twist to the story. ;) -d-

like a flash flood. -d-