Marga

Diane, I almost wrote "European" clapping, assuming it to be prevalent all over Europe, but with no proof, stuck to what I knew. The Russians here in Canada and in the U.S. (at least New York) have started to make up a large part of the audience for certain ballet performances, and it is clearly they who start the rhythmic clapping. I also know that it goes on in Russia, hence my attributing its origin to the Russians. Does anyone know if this kind of clapping is native to Russia or did it begin elswhere?

I am an enthusiastic woofer, although I usually leave off the "f". I didn't know it was supposed to have one. My vocalisation, after a stellar performance, usually starts with a loud "wooo!" or "bravo/a" (I, too, attempt to match gender, but am thinking of giving it up) and is followed by palm-reddening clapping, my hands rising from my lap to a mid-air position somewhere near my head. Of late, the acclaim at the performances I've been to has taken on a Russian flavour, as the beat-your-own-drum North American applause morphed to the let's-all-clap-in-unison Russian cadence, which speeds up according to the pleasure the audience as a whole had in viewing the dancers. Personally, I try to get in a few more "wooo"s if the dancing warranted it. I'm usually moved to do more than I do, but rein myself in because by nature I am conservative and stop before my seat neighbours think I've gone bonkers.

In Britain's "Ballet.Co" postings, Ferri is quoted last year: "I only try to put in each role a part of myself, of my experiences, of my life, and the characters are changing with me over years. Of course I have to use different part of my life and me to act and live different role. I'm a mother of two daughters: this is a part of me that has nothing to share with Manon and I forget it and don’t use it"

Laura Hormigon and Oscar Torrado of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba guested with the Canadian Ballet Theatre for their production of Giselle last year. The first night, at the start of the daisy picking scene, Albrecht went to pluck a daisy from the garden in front of Giselle's house and couldn't manage to extract just one from the bouquet "planted" there, and the whole bouquet came up with the flower he was trying to pick. With too little music to do otherwise, he held the bouquet out to Giselle with such aplomb as if to say "I give you all these flowers to show you the depth of my true love!" The next night, the daisy picking went as it should. During the intermission I overheard an audience member speaking with her friend: "I wonder why he didn't give Giselle the whole bouquet of flowers tonight? Why did he change it? I liked that part, it was so nice!"

I dont think anyone is being snotty. I only think it's snotty to assume that by chance, because I was born after Fonteyn stopped dancing, that I must know next-to-nothing about ballet and that I should thus shut up. Oh dear, I didn't say "snotty"! I would never say that! And I wasn't even thinking of you, canbelto, nor do I feel that anyone here knows "next to nothing" about ballet -- quite to the contrary! And I would never think anyone should "shut up", nor would I use those words.

I don't know where your info on Fonteyn's weight comes from, but one thing I remember clearly from my youth is how tiny-waisted and slim-hipped she was. There were pictures of her then where she appeared astonishingly slim, so I would venture her weight to be closer to 100 pounds when she was in her prime. As for anyone "so little" (I am 5'4" and weighed 115 when I danced, and I always thought of myself as being of medium height and weight, never in a million years as "little" in any gradation) being able to capture the imagination, I can't even comprehend the question. To generalize that all dancers under 5'4" cannot capture the imagination of today's public dismisses an awful lot of stunning ballerinas, including Natalia Makarova, Gelsey Kirkland, Lucia Lacarra, Alina Cojacaru, Tamara Rojo, Daniela Severian, Rut Miro, Jennifer Gelfand, Tina LeBlanc, Pollyanna Ribeiro, Paloma Herrerra, etc. etc. etc. I saw Fonteyn dance, too, and in my early years of ballet watching she was my favorite dancer. To me, she was a supremely beautiful example of what every ballerina should be. Her dancing was mesmerizing, her form exquisite to see on stage. Her interpretations of her roles, her acting, compellingly vivid, even now in retrospect, and after having seen hundreds of ballerinas since my childhood years. One thing disturbs me in this discussion and that is the lack of respect shown by some posters for this ballet legend. I understand that in today's culture, where reality shows let us all judge the attributes of those who put themselves on display as contestants for large monetary prizes, there is a tendency to think that everyone is up for grabs, even long dead presidents and world leaders, as candidates for criticism and speculation. Civil discussion is fine, but disrespect is not. If you weren't there to see for yourself, then I don't think you have the right to be snooty.

Thank you so much! I had heard a lot of good things about Polina Semionova, even before she graduated from the Bolshoi (not Kirov), and was very interested to see how she danced. She is indeed a beautiful dancer. For those of you who think that maybe you clicked on the wrong link when the video comes up with a guy singing, wait a few seconds and you will see Polina. She dances to the song -- simply wonderful!

Thank you, sdj3! It is fantastic! There are hundreds of dance pics -- not only of Ballet Austin, but of dance companies and troupes from all over. I've bookmarked the site. It'll take hours to get through it!

In Repertory in Review the costumes, décor, and lighting are attributed to Esteban Francés, assisted by Peter Harvey. In Costumes by Karinska it says "Karinska created several costumes from Francés's designs, but perhaps the most charming was the silver-blue tutu made for Dulcinea's reincarnation as Marcella the shepherdess, in mourning for the death of the Poet." As to why Balanchine chose the Spanish painter, Francés, for both scenery and costumes: "Balanchine hoped to achieve some of the weighty effects of 17th century Spanish culture."

I own several copies of Dance News Annual 1953. I have yet to find one for a different year. Doing an internet search of the used book sites only produces dozens of copies of 1953 at widely varying prices, some as inexpensive as $5.At this stage the "annual" seems to be an idea that had great hopes for the future but now, 52 years later, should be considered a one volume book!

Okay , I found my reference: Holding On To The Air, pg. 167: " 'Other people, however, were decidedly distraught. I overheard complaints by other dancers: "When Suzanne's finished dancing, Mr. B waits outside her dressing room and then they go out to dinner while the rest of us go on with the performance.' I cannot deny that this happened on occasion, but more often than not I was in the last ballet, so frequently we were the last people to leave the theater." Farrell explained that she started to lengthen the time it took for her to change and remove makeup and said she would meet him in the first wing when she was ready. In fact, she did ask him whether they should stay until the end of the performance. He replied, "I give them company, I give them ballets, I give them rehearsals, I give them class if they want to come. I already give them everything." So, I guess, according to Farrell, it wasn't a regular occurrence, but happened often enough to cause discontent among the other dancers.

I seem to recall that he was not always there, especially in the Farrell years when he was besotted with her. I think Suzanne Farrell mentioned in her book that he would leave the theatre -- with her -- when she was finished dancing and not stay to watch the other dancers, which caused much resentment on their part.

We can't afford it. My story is typical. I was a ballet student who went on to major and earn a degree in dance at college. Dance was life and I didn't think anything would change that. Going to the ballet every week was simply a part of life. My NYCB subscription was paid for by my parents. Passion for ballet transferred to motherhood. I loved it so much I had 6 children. A ballet teacher's meager earnings didn't allow for any extras, so I never went to the theatre. For 2 decades I saw no more than 5 ballets. The costs of raising a family still don't permit many ballet tickets. We make our choices. There's nothing I'd like better than to see every ballet performance humanly possible!

Hélène Ballon fits the bill! (I am fresh from reading in "links" of her troubles with Charles Jude at the Bordeaux National Opera.)

Since the editing of my previous post by a moderator has removed its essence, I will let published words speak for me so you can draw your own conclusions about what retirement might mean to Evelyn Hart: Quotes from the introduction to Max Wyman’s biography of Evelyn Hart, published in 1991 by McClelland & Stewart Inc., Evelyn Hart: An Intimate Portrait: Max Wyman: “Perhaps the most significant of all the items on display at her home is one of the smallest: a tiny, framed postcard, sepia-tinted, of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who in the words of Ruth St. Denis at her memorial service in New York, ‘lived on the threshold of heaven and earth as an interpreter of the ways of God.’ If there is a single dancer to whose example Evelyn aspires, it is Pavlova.” pg.15 Max Wyman: “Ethereal, spiritual, she shows us the raw, ungovernable centre of her soul.” pg.15 Veronica Tennant: “Her spirit infuses her body. She has an extraordinary, God-given instrument…..there is so much in her soul and her spirit that she wants to express……there’s a bountifulness about it, it seems to replenish all the time, and it emanates from every part of the body. Whenever I watch her dance I’m absolutely transported.” pg.15-16 Galina Yordanova: “I don’t see anyone in the world like her – she’s alone.” pg.16 Rudi van Dantzig: “There are certain people who are almost born for what they do…..Ulanova was one. It is as if Evelyn is created for dance.” pg.16 A Vancouver fan: “I can barely breathe as I watch every second, every movement you make. You are to me the most rare and precious of all that true dance is….. May your soul soar.” pg.16 Max Wyman: “Since childhood, the need to dance has consumed her, and she has fought against great odds to fulfill that need.” pg.17

That is quite true, Bart, but it also depends on the personality, emotional maturity and realistic world view of the dancer. Evelyn Hart has said in interviews that she has no idea what she wants to do when she stops dancing. While most of us wish there were more time to try different things in life and are eager to move on after spending decades following the same path, there are those few who have absolutely no desire to do anything but what they have been doing. In ballet, the addiction to dancing and the physicality of it can be so acute that good sense and reason never enter the mix, much less desire to do anything else. She has been fighting her encroaching retirement for a few years already, mostly by being in a state of denial about the need for it -- ever. Evelyn Hart is a "creature of the dance". There have been very few true creatures of the dance. Merce Cunningham is one, also, and fortunately, being a modern dancer with his own company, he, as Martha Graham did, can go on dancing until the end of his life or pretty close to it. [snip-post edited]

I stopped in at the State Theater Saturday afternoon when I was in New York for the weekend (I live in Canada). I picked up several of the brochures in question. If anyone wants one, I can send it for the cost of postage and the envelope. It's a large brochure (8½ x 11), so I will put it in a large envelope so as not to fold it. I also have an extra brochure from the subscription series, with the tutu-wearing Carrie Riggins and Stephanie Zungre on the cover and the titter-producing Peter Boal's Apollo pic inside. I, too, don't think that even the Peter Boal picture is anything so terrible, but I know how, if you haven't seen the pics, you kind of do want to see them for yourself! PM me with your address and I'll PM you mine if you'd like one.

Oh yes, and Allegra Kent was born Iris Margo Cohen. That's why she is often seen with an iris -- it's her signature flower!

And Tamara Geva was Tamara Gevergeyev, Vera Zorina - Birgitta Hartwig, and in case there's a single soul on these boards who doesn't know it, George Balanchine was born Georgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze, his last name reflecting the region of his birth, Tbilisi, Georgia.

Jacques d'Amboise was Jacques Joseph Ahearn. Merrill Ashley started out as Linda Merrill, but since there already was a dancer by that name in the company, she altered hers.

I am the mother of 3 sons and 3 daughters. My eldest son (31) has read voraciously all his life, mountains of books in every genre, but he is an unusual soul. My second son (24) probably has not read any of those "are these Chick Lit?" books. As a comedy writer and cartoonist, he's always been drawn to quirky humour (Farside, Bizarro-type things) which he reflects in his own work. He's always got a book with him, but I don't see him as a big reader. My third son (14) is not a reader at all -- has never read for pleasure. In school he's had to read a few novels (right now it's Moonfleet) and I see that his interest can be engendered, but, so far, only if a book is forced upon him! (Sometimes I think that my daughters got the rest of the reading genes -- after child/son no. 1 -- and left little for their brothers. My DD, for example, inhales books and cannot live without them. Whenever anyone in our Estonian community visits Tallinn, where my daughter dances, I send another book along for her. She favours the classics.)We are an arts-oriented family. Our children are artists, dancers, singers and writers, except for daughter no. 1 who is a biology teacher (as well as a folk dancer!). I think that makes a difference in their reading choices and their preferred social milieu. Also, our 2 oldest sons have never been interested in sports, and that makes a difference. And, our home has always been filled with music (my husband is a French teacher by trade, a performing singer by vocation), as is our life in the Estonian community (does anyone know of the "Singing Revolution" which was instrumental in the overthrow of Communism in Estonia in 1991? Estonians are a singing people). That makes a difference too. Our sons have not had to hide their interest in the arts from sports-immersed friends, since they didn't have any such pals. Our social circle includes dancers, opera singers, musicians, writers, artists and songwriters so the children, both sons and daughters, have always been exposed to the arts at a high-quality level. This makes the biggest difference of all. It's been their life. This is their normal, and no one is embarrassed by it, either to discuss their interests or to go to performances or museums. Now, if we were a hockey family......

In her video, "Makarova: in a class of her own", she displays a rock solid turning ability -- knocking off multiple turns just for fun as well as doing turns as part of center work and variations. I have heard the story, however, of how she once fouettéd right into the wings during a performance of one of the classics -- was it Swan Lake? I guess staying on spot during fouettés was not her strong point.

As pleasant as the announcement is, many people still think it doesn't apply to them. Last time I was at the State Theater (last month), my friend and I were annoyed by the "VIP" who made a call standing up at her seat soon after the lights were turned on at intermission, carelessly disregarding the rules of the theater. Even though she was waxing enthusiastic about the performance -- "Oh my God! You should be here!" -- it was annoying. And she wasn't the only one we saw. Those blue screens were flashing throughout the theater during intermission (reminds me of the blue swimming pools one sees dotting the landscape on airplane landings). It sure does ruin the mood.....

I agree with you, Richard. She was a real star at City Ballet. As soon as she stepped onstage, she was accorded the thunderous applause due such luminaries. Everyone knew that Millie Hayden was crème de la crème!As for the topic of this thread, my offering is Galina Mezentseva. She is really a striking woman in casual photos, and a superb technician and artist, but her ballet pics and videos just leave me cold. I have to urge myself to like her, and I don't know why since she is an incredibly talented ballerina. I've fallen in love with so many ballerinas, but I groan (yes, really) when she, and not some other dancer, is featured in a ballet video. It bothers me a great deal that I have this reaction to her. I wish I had seen her dance in person, without the hindrance of photographic or videographic representation.

You're welcome, dirac (and carbro!).I spent some time viewing most of the other video clips, too -- Larissa Lezhnina in a bit of Diana and Acteon, for example. Some of the dancers, male and female, are stunning! I wish more companies did this. Sylve's I watched over and over! It was the first clip I viewed and was so mesmerizing that I initially thought her turns were not executed in real time but were on a loop, as some online animations are. I had to watch the clip 3 times to make sure it was really just her, no gimmicks attached, doing so many different multiple turns, so fast and perfectly straight, all on her left foot, without ever bringing the working leg down! It seemed other-worldly to me, as in impossible-to-do-in-this-world!