diane

Ah, I hope you have a lovely, relaxing and invigorating time. I imagine the weather is gorgeous now, right? (even here in Germany we have been havng a taste of summer) Enjoy! -d-

So cool! -d-

Oh, I enjoyed this. So glad I was able to view it w/ no apparent regional restrictions. (I also did not think the tutus were the most flattering nor supportive; they seemed to distract through floppiness, but there are worse things... ) -d-

This was wonderful! I am fascinated by the apparent abandonment with which many of these older productions were danced. Have we lost something somewhere along the way? Are we/dancers/choreographers so obsessed with correct and clean technique that some of this ecstatic power is lost? -d-

I do think that it is important to allow for many types of dance to co-exist and if possible to help them in their existence. (that could well mean allotting tax money) Personally I prefer watching things which take time to learn and perfect. There is something about absolute control which I find fascinating - and something about lack of control which I find boring after a very short time. (one reason I prefer some painters/composers/writers over others) Now, this is a bit of an off-shoot, but it does have its basis in what we are discussing here: What does bother me about many of the contemporary dance styles and techniques is the apparent lack of really good training for the dancers in a well-thought-out technique supporting the style they are to perform, so that they do not end up injuring themselves more than the normal "fatigue" or "careless" injuries. There are not a few contemporary choreographers (those alive now) who work largely in "finding new language" and "new ways of movement". That is wonderful, and can be indeed very exciting to watch - and fun to do. I hear a lot about what goes on behind the scenes. (having been a dancer myself and now mother to two in the profession,) It appears that too many choreographers working towards "new movement" are not taking into account the toll it is taking on the bodies of the dancers; who are, regrettably, "a dime a dozen" and so highly replaceable. -d-

Yeah... there are many types of dance; and that is good! The more the merrier! -d-

My favorite parody of the original advertisement which I _thought_ was a parody is this one: -d-

The first time I saw this (the original) I was utterly convinced that it was a joke. I must admit that I was quite shocked to discover that, no, probably the people who made it were serious! The parodies are wonderful. I do feel sorry for the original model, who surely did her best and had no idea what she was getting herself into. (I also think the text was NOT her own) -d-

Fine here, too. Laptop, windows 7 (?) - with chrome. -d-

Very interesting! Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I saw Tanztheater Wuppertal a few times back in the early 80s. Just a few months ago I had the opportunity to go back and see another performance (not one I had seen before, though). The difference between the "older" dancers, those who had actually worked with Pina for many years (and there are still more than just a few, it seems, actively performing) and the newer, younger ones was somewhat striking. It is as if the newer dancers are more involved with the steps, such as they are, and they faithfully "reproduce" what was before. It does not seem "spontaneous" and as if they "own" what they are doing. Or so it seemed to me. Surely just subjective. The comparison with Stuttgart Ballet under Cranko and now is intriguing. Of course, Cranko died a very long time ago; the company has had a lot of time to find their way and incorporate his "spirit" into the current company without turning him into an icon. I also wonder if the fact that a ballet dancers' career is often significantly shorter than a dancer who does the sort of thing Pina Bausch did could have any influence on the way things are going? Or are they all financial reasons? Wuppertal is not Stuttgart, by any means. It will be interesting to see what happens; how things develop. -d-

^^ At least in Germany, where there are a large number of professional ballet companies, the languages most often used in the studio are English, French and Russian. (with local differences, depending on how many speakers of what languages are in the company and which the director/s speak/s). Most Europeans nowadays are at least bi-lingual, and many also have working knowledge of other languages, too. Pretty cool, actually. -d-

Very interesting. I am not an active dancer anymore, and when I was dancing, contemporary works were not quite as widespread nor as overtly athletic as they have since become. That said, I had similar experiences, in that after dancing a contemporary piece it took a bit of work to get back to where I needed to be for classical pieces. If there were not full six times/ week ballet trainings offered to the company, then technique tended to suffer; it was harder to find my "centre" again. I am sure there are other dancers who can comment more thoroughly! -d-

Thanks for this! Lovely music! I will now go on a search to see if I can get it where I live. -d-

That is strange about the shaky, uneven streaming for some of you! I was wondering if it had anything to do with what countries you are in? I have no problems, but I am in Europe. Where are you who are having troubles? Could that be a reason? (or very likely I am just totally illiterate about these things) -d-

I think the main problem - everywhere - is that not everything which is truly worthwhile can "pull its own weight"; this goes for public transportation, babies, science research, education, open wild spaces, theatre and the arts. (and probably a bunch of other things, but I wanted to try to be pithy) We as humans in societies have to be careful that we realise and accept this and then make amends - we have to be willing to pay for things, even if we do not get immediate, monetary "rewards". -sigh- -d-

Thanks for the links! I had heard about this, but did not know how to "get" to it. -d-

Ah, good, thanks! If you go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ht you can download the podcast, which is available "indefinitely", according to the website. (what _exactly_ that means, i do not know...) -d- (had to go back and insert link properly - sorry)

Yes, thank you! I will give the links to my students. (hopefully they will be able to follow the English) -d-

-sigh- There is no hope that San Diego Opera will somehow continue, is there? Once something like this is gone, it is really really hard to get it started again. As the quote of the beginning of the video said, "dying is easy...." I hope that the symphony is not going to be the next one. And then the museums.... and .... :( -d-

Very interesting how different countries/cultures go about funding things which are important to them. (especially "fringe" things, such as youth activities and "cultural" ones) There are countries, notably some of the Scandinavian ones, where reportedly most citizens would disapprove of a lowering of taxes, as they are quite aware of all the things which taxes fund and make possible in their communities. That does not appear to be the case everywhere. -d-

Ah, yes - of course! Sorry for my assumption! Are the "smaller" donations falling short due to everyone - across-the-board - having less and being therefore less able to share, do you think? -d-

Wow! That is interesting that the SD Opera was basically supported by one, big donation from one person at one time. That is of course hard to beat. So, so too bad. -d-

Yes, very sad, indeed! Are all of these entities privately funded? -d-

Thank you so much for the reviews, both of you! Very detailed, knowledgeable observations. What a treat to have been able to watch this! -d-

Thank you, Helene! That makes sense. -d-