Marga

Thanks to new member Shirabyoshi for reviving this thread! I'd like to add a few of my favorites to Hans's list. At the top of my exquisite feet club roster you will find this trio of sublimity: Evan McKie (who is not only a member, but the President) Tiit Helimets Joey Gorak David Hallberg is there, too, of course, but Hans already mentioned him.

Thanks bingham! I found the reference: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/35342-2012-city-center-season/page__view__findpost__p__304801 Yet - there's nothing on the October 5th square of ABT's calendar.

ABT doesn't do Bard every year, and they performed there last November. They'll be in Barcelona late October. The ABT calendar shows no performances in November at all. The Fisher Center's calendar only goes up to August 2012. I wish they did go to Annandale-on-Hudson every year. The house is packed, the tickets are cheap, and the seating is great! The Bard campus is gorgeous with rolling lawns, stunning fall colours, grazing deer, and bucolic views.

I'm trying to find the right place to send you, but have to get off the computer right now. In the interim you can contact the filmmaker Quinn Wharton directly. I'm sure you'll get results from using the address below. http://www.quinnwharton.com/email/

The DVD was released awhile back. I received my copy months ago.

I don't post much anymore, nor do I write any more reviews here, but count me in the Veronika camp! After all, she's my homie, as she's half Estonian! I've followed her development from afar and occasionally in person, and she has performed a few times with Canadian Ballet Theatre when my daughter danced there, so I've seen her in class and rehearsal as well. She is exquisite and technically flawless, striking in her physicality and humble about it at the same time, very sweet to talk to and still quite shy. Her embodiment of certain roles becomes the raised bar for others to measure themselves by. She can't really be compared to anyone else, so unique is her performance artistry, and she leaves her audience in distinct camps: those who would drink out of her slipper and those who wonder what all the fuss is about. The first camp is growing by leaps and bounds! All hail the goddess Veronika! May she be blessed with the partner of everyone's dreams! (just for fun: her last name in Estonian is "duck"!)

She never shows. She was MIA for the Carreno and Corella farewells as well. She was in attendance at the company's farewell party Sunday night.

I saw them in the videoclip at 4:23. So lovely! Gardner's looking buff! I edited my post in the quote above to show the correct time that McKerrow and Gardner appear on the clip. (Senior moment error had me posting the length of the clip instead of the moment on it when the two appeared.)

I saw them in the videoclip at 4:23. So lovely! Edited to fix the time!

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what NIFME stands for! Could you spell it out for me?

Who is this "La Karsavina" everyone seems to know?

I've seen it a dozen times, bart. All the Bolshoi dancers who guested with my daughter's studio's Nutcracker did it. It is lovely.

Helene, I watched the pilot episode online. We don't get the channel here that broadcasts Bunheads, so J and I got caught up last week while in NY. I really liked it! J and were huge Gilmore Girls fans, so it was almost a given we would love this, ballet or no ballet. That it does concern ballet is the icing on the cake!

In the following Washington Post article published May 11th, the rest of the story about the 'pink and princessy' young dancer Rebecca Houseknecht, is told: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/first-position-dancers-at-a-breaking-point/2012/05/10/gIQAoTcbIU_story.html

My daughter, who's a ballet dancer, and I attended one performance a week ago. I wrote a little about it on my Facebook page. I should flesh it out, but don't really feel like it a week after the event. I've had so much other to do in the past week. I'll post what I wrote to my friends, but it is a little one-sided and derogatory of a lovely dancer who is much more dynamic in other roles (as far as one can tell on YouTube). "J and I were at the Bolshoi's Swan Lake Thursday night. Quick critique of a couple of things: I would have loved to have seen Alexandrova and Skvortskov (he's such a hunk and she is absolutely stellar!), but J's schedule only allowed her Thursday night. Anna Nikulina, whom we saw, first danced Odette/Odile at the age of 19 so I expected much more from here - she's had 7 years to mature in the role, but still looked like she had some 'ballet school' to shed. She was so intent on her (perfect) technique that I saw little artistry in her interpretation. I found her Odette to be too remote and unattached to her Prince Siegfried, Semyon Chudin, who tried his best to pull some emotion out of her. She was alternately icy and resigned to her hopeless fate (a different ending makes hopeless the correct word). Her Odile was slightly better acted, but still left so much to be desired! Alexandrova would have been dramatic and passionate and warm as Odette and wily, harsh, and manipulative as Odile. So sorry to have missed her! We were sitting in the second row so saw all the facial expressions - and lack of them - on every dancer's face. There was a fantastic actress among the brides - the Spanish bride - and both J and I were riveted by her reactions during the brides' dance. She's the only bride who revealed any of the story and emotions behind the dance. If there was a "star" of this production, I'd say it was the corps. They were very homogeneous physically, so that helped the effect, and of course, all have had identical training, but gosh, they were SO together no matter what they were doing. A true marvel. Petipa would be proud! In addition to appreciating the endless line of highly arched and instepped narrow, long feet on all - ladies and men - we appreciated the fun and perfection of the "Fool" whom we have never found annoying, like so many others do, and who in this Swan Lake has great choreography and appropriate jestering behaviour. Typecast for physique, he'd be a wonderful premier danseur if emploi didn't drive role-casting. The "Evil Genius" also deserves applause (and he got it in spades) for his exemplary dancing. He was invisible to the Prince at the lake while he danced behind him and around him performing his sorcery with arm movements and apt Von Rothbart-y expressions. He was likable! I was actually glad he remained physically intact, not losing any parts of his body in the last act of this version. And I didn't feel a single pang about Odette's expiration. Only poor Siegfried, advancing forward centre stage, in a completely bereft state, had my sympathies. J was moved almost to tears. I'm just jaded." By the way, the theatre was pretty much full the night we went, the 3rd performance. There were three casts of principals that each danced twice. We saw the 'third string', as it were. I also remember that someone made a comment about the new sets. I thought they were fantastic, as were the costumes.

No, no pirate editions, but several from Dance Books, UK, the company you mentioned. So, I guess your find was lucky, indeed! Here is one of them.There are a few others which are cheaper. They're all from Dance Books, published in 2009. http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=5992783041&afn_sr=para&para_l=0

I, too, have a vast ballet library, which I believe might be the biggest personal ballet library in Ontario, if not all of Canada. I have a few special finds and also 'hoard' particular books, like The Ballet Cook Book, of which I have about 20 copies, buying them whenever I find a fair price. I bought my first two copies of The Ballet Cook Book from Tanaquil LeClercq herself, for $5 apiece, in 1968. One of them I had signed by LeClercq and Balanchine and a very large number of dancers, a couple of conductors (Robert Irving and Hugo Fiorato) as well as Beverly Sills, who was there, and Jean Dalyrymple. There is thrill in the hunt for old ballet tomes. I just looked up Benois' Reminiscences of the Russian Ballet on addall.com and found many copies ranging in price from $1.79 to $54.00 (for a 'fine' First Edition copy). The Rolf de Mare book was re-issued just a few years ago. It's available at various affordable prices.

Nothing better fits the category of haunting ballet music for me than the adagio pas de deux in Symphony in C. Every time I hear it (and my classical radio station in Toronto plays it regularly) I picture Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins dancing it. It is achingly beautiful - and the only piece of music I don't mind hearing on the radio as often as it is presented. (On the other hand, I'd like to sneak into the station and do damage to the hunting music from Giselle, which seems to be the only Giselle music the station owns, and many other pieces that are played ad nauseum, like the Mozart used for the theme from Elvira Madigan.)

I'm sorry to hear about Hugo Fiorato's death. He was second in command to Robert Irving during my days of watching the NYCB. I just learned from this 8 year old thread that Fiorato was actually passed over in favour of Robert Irving when Leon Barzin retired and again when Andrea Quinn was hired (thanks, Farrell Fan). There is a lot of interesting information in that thread. I remember Fiorato as a dapper-looking man who was precise in his conducting (my regular seat was right behind and one seat to the right of the conductor) and very good to watch. RIP. ♥ http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/15692-hugo-fiorato/

Got me for a few sentences. In fact, until the Fabergé egg, which is used in the National Ballet of Canada's Nutcracker. That's when I said "wait a minute...."!

Vocalization during "Little Corsaire" would certainly fit in with the choreography, but it wasn't then that she shouted out. She was in a tutu, held up high, and triumphantly called out what did sound similar to what your wrote, although I would have understood "Au bord", so it wasn't that. I think it was at the end of Act I when Conrad's pirates "kidnapped" Medora, rescuing her from the Pasha, whereupon they all triumphantly left for the grotto.

In my next life I want to come back as Svetlana Lunkina! Or Nina Kaptsova! I've seen both dance in person, Lunkina many times, and have hob-nobbed with each lovely lady a little, so today my eye was keenly on them whenever they danced (Medora and Gulnare). Ruslan (Skvortsov) was his gorgeous self, and Andrei Merkuriev (as Birbanto) interpreted the role well. But my sweet ladies! How perfect were they?! Lunkina's turns were dead-on everytime and in every incarnation. Her fouettés fast and furious. Kaptsova, with her Suzanne Farrell overbite, was as charming as she was technically flawless. Everything each of them did was unassailable. Lunkina does not come across like Zakharova, or Osipova, or even Alexandrova. She is her own pristine, delicate, unassuming self - the same self who told me once how much she loves to dance, how ballet is everything to her and how she tries each time she's on stage to serve it well. She doesn't knock you down with her virtuosity, nor make you swoon with her very presence, as some others do, but she is as pure as the driven snow (and with her hair dyed black, reminds me of Snow White). She is ballerina, above all, and carries herself through all her perfectly executed steps, with dignity and a little almost-restrained playfulness (when appropriate). Skvortsov was her ideal partner, as he exhibited similar traits. A noble pirate! Burlaka and Ratmansky's version has painstakingly restored so much from the 19th century and expanded their remake to remarkable proportions. They present a completely jam-packed jardin animé, for example, overflowing with group dances large and small, solo variations, and much mime. They've also included a children's dance for the young'uns in the grotto (two boys and four girls ages 10 or 11). The only thing they've reduced is the pas de trois, which is instead a pas de deux for Medora and Conrad, as we've sometimes seen. So, all those slave poses of humility were changed to hunky pirate poses of bravado. Loved the addition of the 'Little Corsaire" folksy dance that Medora liltingly and joyfully performed during the celebrations in the grotto. The absolute giddy happiness on Lunkina's face and in her steps was such a delight. She had a quick change back into her tutu, topped with a red pirate-y overlay to match Conrad's garments, as soon as she finished her lively little diversion. Wonderful insert! The three odalisques - Olga Kishnyova, Anna Nikulina, and Anna Tikhomirova, were more than adequate in their variations, but not (yet) something to write home about - except, perhaps, for the third, Tikhomirova. Her variation is always the most memorable and liked, and she performed it very well. Still, these chosen ones have to mature some more. I'm sure nerves (at being part of a worldwide broadcast) played a part. A few funky, personal observations: When Conrad was poisoned and Medora attemped to leave the grotto for help, she reminded me of Clara and the Mice. At each exit she approached she was suddenly turned back by a pouncing pirate or two - they leapt at her from all the wings until they surrounded her. A little Nutcracker reference. With all the pains taken with costuming, restoring and creating many new - there was a very interesting interview with the head of the costume department during one of the intermissions - I thought it funny that Medora's guardian's shoes were store-bought. He wore leather pull-ons, dyed blue, with those big stretchy elastic inserts on both sides of the foot! At the very beginning, as soon as Skvortsov appeared on stage, he got applause - not from everyone, but a small claque-ish smattering. However, when Lunkina first appeared, up on a balcony, not a single clap was heard (if you discount mine). I thought, oh, perhaps they're waiting for her to come from the wings - but no, she never got any 'recognition' appaluse. And that about sums up how people react to Lunkina, even those who adore her. She's simply there. Respected, honoured, but not someone to elicit wild behaviour, of any kind, from her audience. True to her word, you can see she simply loves ballet, but is not going to be showy about it. There was a spoken word in this ballet! (Or perhaps two words - in any case, two syllables I didn't understand). It was shouted out by Medora! She was being held aloft and was in a spirited mood. Anyone know what it was and why it was included? The shipwreck - which Medora (with her hair down) and Conrad alone survive - was staged lavishly with the addition of fog and visual effects that I suppose had to be present in the theater, too - no? The boat snaps dramatically in half, held together by a thin layer of its bottom, but broken and totally out of commission. As the storm raged and pirates went overboard left and right, I found it amusing that one of them, leaving the ship from the back, jumped into the 'sea' feet first, as if he were jumping down to the floor from a crouched position on a tabletop or something (which, in reality, was exactly what he was doing!). Totally wrong kind of disembarking! Anastasia Stashkevitch and Vyacheslav Lopatin were standouts in the Pas d'esclave - especially Stashkevitch! Wow! All the character dancers were given a lot to dance and provided wonderful diversions from the tutu dances. Now, get this. The theater I was at is up the road a couple of miles from one of the prides of the Canadian arts - the Quinte Ballet School - the generously subsidized Quinte Ballet School. It houses serious ballet students from all over, year-round, has a prestigious summer intensive program, runs a recreational ballet school for local students as well, and generally thinks it's the cat's meow. I was - naturally! - expecting the theatre to be FILLED with students and staff from the school. What a rare opportunity for a school outing (even taking into consideration that they don't cotton to Russian ballet) - and on a free day, a Sunday, to boot! Don'tcha know, there was NOT ONE student nor teacher nor staff member from the Quinte Ballet School of Canada at today's production of Le Corsaire! In fact, there were only 25 people in the audience. And, except for the grandmother - who appeared younger than I am, with her granddaughter (who may or may not be a student at the school - or at some other studio, I didn't ask) - every other person there was more elderly than I, by 10-20 years. It never ceases to amaze me.

My favorite Drosselmeyer! He was magical. RIP.

"New" dancers to think about since last we posted on this. Paul, I love your 'breastbone' addition to the list and went looking for pictures of Sarah van Patten to see for myself. That made me start thinking about other less talked about features, such as the small of the back (I haven't come up with the proper candidate for that yet). I will submit Isabella Boylston for feet, back, and legs and Misty Copeland for instep, hyperextension, and muscles.

I'm glad you started this topic, Gina. I've been thinking about Zina Bethune ever since I read her obituary. I first saw her on "Doctors and Nurses", coincidentally, when my mother was watching this soap in the 60's. I also found out about then that she had been a NYCB dancer. Because of that, I looked for her for years, especially when the internet made it easy to find info on people. I never did discover where her life had led her until I read of her accomplishments in the obit. What a tragic end to a lovely person! To read that the animal she left her car to rescue was actually a dead opossum makes it seem even more senseless. I remember the first time I saw her on the soap, she was standing behind the counter in the nurses' station with her hair in a chignon, or was a French twist. She stood so straight and was so pretty that I watched the show several times after that just to see her! RIP, Ms. Bethune.