Jack Reed

Okay, I'm not to proud to confess that now I realize I have seen those two short LeClercq clips, the one in the PBS Balanchine bio some time ago, the Valse one as recently as July at Jacob's Pillow, where they have a very nice library and archive. Chalk it up to her effectiveness here in Faun that she blew away those memories of her! Here's hoping that AFI set turns up.

When I order something online, I give the banner at the top of this page priority, but when Amazon fails me, I'll look further, and in this case, after Arkiv Music failed me too, I ordered from VAI and had the d'Amboise DVD a week later, yesterday. So far, it's been pretty well done most of the time, although feet or hands or even heads are cut off now and then, as seems to be inevitable when the director isn't someone like Merrill Brockway. Bolender's The Still Point isn't much, and the circling camera in that one starts to make me dizzy, but Apollo is satisfying, and as for Faun! I've never seen LeClercq dance before! WOW! Worth "the price of admission," right there. That's as far as I've got; I don't know how it is for you, but when I've experienced something really fine, I like to "let it be" for a while.

(from Edinburgh, Scotland) Thanks for the encouragement, Farrell Fan; maybe while I'm seeing Ogden tonight - at least it's my assumption that she'll be cast - from a center stalls (orchestra) seat, more apt language will come. Meanwhile, speaking of language, I see I've given the wrong idea about the umbrella-bearer's reception - these audiences, like the residents of Edinburgh seem to be generally, are far too sophisticated about good, proper, modest, polite, civilized behavior to applaud something like that entrance: just a little subdued but warm vocalization ran round the theatre for a moment. In the meantime, there were some more cast rotations and changes Monday night: Magnicaballi came back to her role and Redick to that of the Juggler, Lisa Reneau danced Rigaudon Flamenco with Du, and Pickard took over Danza della Caccia from Parsley, who nevertheless appeared as usual in Act III. I was quite taken all over again with Magnicaballi, partly because I was watching from a closer seat in the stalls instead of in the circle, because she gives so much without seeming to, if that language makes sense; it's just there, so nicely modulated, too. At the end, just as the curtain comes down, she shows her real grief and love of the Don, not quite throwing herself on his body for a last embrace, and then sinking to the floor; not sobbing (too much!) but crushed. (I think this bit may be a change; I remember at some point, Marcela/Dulcinea, kneeling on the floor by the Don's bed, leaning her forearms against the side of it, clasps her hands and raises her gaze to the starry heavens in prayer.* (My often frustrating memory tends to collect images and words without their contexts sometimes.) But I don't mean to emphasise this detail: Her whole performance ebbed and flowed with life. No, several lives (read on). Lisa Reneau was, if possible, even more effective in Flamenco than Mahoney-Du. This company goes from strength to strength, that is, when nothing is actually going wrong, as when Mahoney-Du herself, as it happened, couldn't continue at Jacob's Pillow several weeks ago, and a substitute had to be found, but part of me continues to believe this is all humanly impossible anyway. That's where, for me, some of the wonder comes from. The Festival has been laying on some lectures apropos the performances, and while I missed Farrell's on Sunday afternoon, which began before the performance ended, some of what she said turned up second-hand on Monday in the animated and intelligent remarks of Dr. Giannandrea Poesio, a performer turned critic and dance historian. Certainly the revival of Balanchine's Don Quixote might bring up some questions additional to the usual ones about performance, and I gathered from Poesi that Farrell had said that once you notate a dance you leave no interpretive room. "I couldn't agree more," he said, but went on to add, so "my dance-notator friends won't kill me" that notation is okay, valuable, if it's not missused in the way Farrell warned about: No one should ever say, Poesi said, we don't have a record of that [move], so don't do it. He gave his understanding of her claim that there's no pantomime in Don Quixote: The role is all pantomime, he said, but not [literal] pantomime, and he illustrated what that was by giving us some hilarious examples of literal pantomime, reciting the words as he indicated them. This way he made the point that this kind of thing can be ridiculous; but Balanchine's ballet is a tragedy. Today, Poesio said, new choreographers take all sorts of odd bits, maybe even putting a curtain between the dancing and the audience, put them together, "and shake." The result is a pastiche. From an historian's point of view, Balanchine had already done it, in a less agressive way, in 1965 when Don Quixote premiered; it didn't look right at the time. Nutcracker was booed in 1893, likewise the first Swan Lake; Rite of Spring. Don Quixote is a celebration of Balanchine's artistic passion for his new ballerina, he said; "[Marcela/Dulcinea], with its multiplicities of characters, is the hardest in the repertory." [Take some more bows, Heather and Natalia.] * 30 th August 2006: Since I wrote this, I have become satisfied this prayerful version was never done! My memory and imagination were working overtime.

(from Edinburgh, Scotland) Sunday's matinee (27 August) brought Natalia Magnicaballi into the Dulcinea/ Marcela role, Matthew Prescott into the Juggler role, and Bonnie Pickard and Erin Mahoney-Du exchanged Rigaudon Flamenco and Ritournel, with Andre Vytoptov partnering Pickard and Gillian Crighton accompanying Mahoney-Du. (The Ritournel role is a solo; a small child, behind the dancer, moves around to keep a half-umbrella of pink ostrich feathers over her head. Crighton, even smaller than Lauren Herfindahl in the first cast, was warmly received onstage by the matinee audience, which then promptly fell to attending the dance itself.) I was delighted with Magnicaballi's dancing: Wonderfully clearly articulated in continuous flow to cumulative effect, her movement was deliciously phrased, in place and through space. "Breathtaking," I wrote in my program, and I remembered what my professional friend said at Jacob's Pillow after seeing Magnicaballi's Tzigane: "Magnicaballi was a beautiful dancer when I saw her a couple of years ago, and now she's better." In both roles, she makes characterization grow out of the moment in a competely natural-looking way. I'm sorry to say that Matthew Prescott was not always in control of the sitation this time, in a short quick-moving role which requires a bit of catch with Sancho Panza, some juggling with three pieces of fruit, and some jumps; Prescott kept impressive line in turning leaps, but back on the ground the fruit tended to get away from him. Redick makes this little character bit exude flavor continuously, but Prescott needs to cook it some more. Mahoney-Du is a taller, longer-limbed dancer than Pickard and makes the Ritournel more expansive rather than nuanced, within an envelope. There are some little jetes which seem to hang in the air in slow motion while she holds the hand of her partner, who stands at one side, and details like that which just blaze out to us repeatedly. We'd sure see a false move if she made one, but she doesn't. In the evening, the first cast returned, although the printer had Magnicaballi in some middle scenes; somebody needs to remember to "search and replace." I warmed more to Ogden's dancing, or she warmed to the role; she brings a kind of cool, clear, young naivety to it while Magnicaballi feels it a little differently, gives it to us differently, not that I would ask for it either way, I'm happy again to have both, and Ogden's dancing later in the evening seemed to me better to connect phrases and so, to have more effect. With her, you see clear technique more; with Magnicaballi, it's there all right, but it's a little more subsumed; she's perhaps gone a little farther beyond it. (I'm still not satisfied with my description of Ogden's dancing, FWIW.) Farrell Fan, that's far from a complete list! I'm such a poor typist, I just skimmed the huge cast, but as there is so much beautiful dancing before us, I keep feeling I must work at it some more, and let people know who deserves credit. At least, I can count up the sections and mention that next time. (I had imagined it would be pouring here, so I'd be online more; Rudolph Bing is said to have started the Festival to pump up the end of summer season business as the rain returns, but except for a light shower while I was on the upper deck of a tour bus, it's been pretty dry.)

(from Edinburgh, Scotland) The run got off to a slightly bumpy start last night, except of course for when the dancers themselves were in action, but before I get into that, let me tell you who the main ones were: Don Quixote Momchil Mladenov Dulcinea, Marcela Heather Ogden Sancho Panza Eric Ragan Juggler Jared Redick Rigaudon Flamenco Erin Mahoney-Du and Runqiao Du Danza alla Caccia Shannon Parsley, Benjamin Lester, Andrew Kaminski Pas de Deux Mauresque Chan Hon Goh and Jared Redick Courante Sicilienne Gina Artese, Melissa Barak, Elisabeth Holowchuk, Alexei Agoudine, Radoslav Kokoszka, Neil Marshall Ritournel Bonnie Pickard with Lauren Herfindahl Knight of the Silver Moon Runqiao Du Solo Maidens Shannon Parsley, Bonnie Pickard Cavaliers Matthew Prescott, Jared Redick Variation I Bonnie Pickard Variation II Shannon Parsley Variation III Jared Redick VariationIV Heather Ogden Merlin Benjamin Lester Night Spirit Erin Mahoney-Du The production was slightly reduced compared to Washington, owing to the smaller stage in the Edinburgh Playhouse, with fewer books in the Don's study; thus Marcela's Pieta (?) poses are done on the stairway, and Sancho Panza enters from the back instead of tottering charmingly down the stairway, and the red-eyed monster was absent entirely from III ii. But the dancing! The dancing was present in every sense: When the villagers get into it in I ii, I start to think, "opera ballet", but it's better than that, it's better made and better danced than any opera ballet I ever saw. Easy, high extensions, large, clear, flowing, strong. And this part was another harbinger of the high level of the whole evening, the first being Mladenov's Don. In the first performances in Washington, I thought he grew into and filled out this huge role as the week rolled on, but here his first moves were a full realization of this energetic - driven, even - dignified yet naive old man; and Ogden as Marcela moved about his study fully in character from the start, too. (Robert Gottlieb, in his review of the premier, criticises Mladenov as sometimes "busy," but Nabokov's music is pretty busy too; what's Mladenov got to work from?) Besides Ogden, whose phone number one gentleman I spoke to at the first interval already wanted, Mahoney-Du and Goh were the great standouts in this fine company, at least from my distance half-way back in the Circle (or First Balcony); Parsley and Pickard were excellent, too. (The generally attentive audience included a young woman behind me who said, just after the Mauresque "I liked that!") I was glad to see both again, especially after Mahoney-Du's (minor) injury at Jacob's Pillow and Goh's long absence, but even if I'd never seen them before I would have enjoyed their dancing hugely. That's the right word, I think, because the effect of their dancing was large across the distance, it seemed to eliminate distance, and yet it was contained and beautiful, especially Goh's. (I want to say more about Ogden's dancing of her large role, and I hope some language adequate to the job will occur to me soon.) As to the (minor) problems, the start of the long evening was delayed a quarter of an hour while "a minor medical problem" was dealt with; the sight lines in this former cinema being a little marginal for the stage action, I couldn't tell what that was, and for the same reason I missed completely the period of several minutes when the very fine "Orchestra of Scottish Opera" played on just fine with one section in the dark (but I heard about it later).

Many thanks, Lynette H! Just what I need to know, that confirms and adds to some of the bits I've been finding on the Web, and explains why most of the front of the Circle is so well sold.

The new Harris Theatre here has one of those virtual-view things, but I find it inaccurate.

The site is complex, but I didn't find it so hard to use, although I got to it by a different address. If you use this link http://www.eif.co.uk/ you get a page which looks the same but has a different slide show going in the middle of it. When I saw a slide of Don Quixote, I clicked on it and went to this page http://www.eif.co.uk/E151_Balanchine_s_Don_Quixote.php What's really nice is the seat-choice page you eventually get (it loads slowly) if you click one of the BUY links in the right column: You see exactly which seats are taken, which are available, and what their prices are, and you select the one(s) you want, like you do when you reserve airplane seats! I know of no American theatre using this technology. But, where does one sit in this theatre? Where are the best seats? Is the main floor ("stalls") level, so you can be blocked? How far back is the "cicle"? Anyone here ever sat in the Edinburgh Playhouse? I suppose price is a good guide, but the top-price L40 (40-pound) seats are unavailable at the moment - sold, or never were? - so I'm wondering where to aim for. Anyway, the bottom of the Don Quixote page has one of the nicest examples of "further information" I've run across: That's my kind of festival site!

I wanted to thank bart for correcting the title of the Gamonet ballet I got wrong; I may not think a lot of his work, but I do think he deserves accuracy in reporting at least. (I've checked the title of the other one, and my memory served me better that time.) And I want to thank bart again for mentioning the article at all: I had given the magazine only a passing glance on the rack, because, ordinarily, I don't buy dance magazines; I didn't recognise Mary Carmen Catoya on the cover because it's an image on paper and I recognise dancers more by what makes them interesting and rewarding to see, how they move. How much movement can you show on paper? (Uh, oh, there's another thread!) That said, there are some nice pictures in the article, including one which implies movement, the one of Jennifer Kronenberg as The Siren: Notice how her left foot is an inch off the floor? The whole shot brings back that moment in Prodigal, her cool dominance contrasted with the creepiness of the Drinking Companions; it's well chosen, like the others. They're not all so well captioned, though: Notice the one of Luis Serrano and Carlos Guerra on p. 39? That's who they are, folks, left to right, but the caption names them in the reverse order. Tsk, tsk! Yes, MCB is a treasure, all right.

That's interesting, Juliet; I felt Friday's was the best overall, although there wasn't a huge difference. One thing, though, it seemed to me that Parsley outdid herself Saturday evening. Would you like to tell us what you saw? I remember re-reading with pleasure and profit your long post in another thread about this company, and I'd like to read more like that. Farrell Fan, that remark about giving Momchil a few pointers reminded me of Ms. Farrell's reply to a question about whether there's only one way to dance Balanchine, at her post-performance talk Thursday: She said, Balanchine gave me freedom, and I give my dancers freedom... I'm comfortable with adaptation; he would expect that of me... I want a ballet to be memorable and not a memory. You only have one now. Of course, this speaks to broader issues than the one you have in mind, but I think it says something about her general approach and how specifically she intructs her dancers, or does not instruct them. At other times, she's said she doesn't want them watching videos and imitating. For her, dance is now. That's part of her public "secret," I think, of how her company dances with such brio, to use Juliet's excellent word from that other thread. On the other hand, I wasn't at the rehearsals. In this connection, it seemed to me that Tzigane was not so incendiary in tone Saturday evening, even though Magnicaballi danced with Mladenov again; and in the matinees, her partner was Du, more danseur noble than Mladenov, a professional critic sitting with me Saturday evening said, and although some near-violent movements were if anything more clearly rendered by him - turning her by his arm over her, ending in her back bend, whipping her around some, or, later, nearer the end, throwing her hands away from him - they did not take this material so strongly to the next level.

(from Lee, Massachusetts) Last night's performance was sensational! The short version is that everything was as good as the best of Thursday evening, and much was better than that! That high level was attained as soon as the curtains opened on La Source. Bonnie Pickard has done Source before, and looks born to it: Nuanced and subtle, she nevertheless had a (low-key) friendly smile for her fine partner, Runqiao Du, and soon included us in her happy gaze. Shannon Parsley was the demi; normally a bold and direct dancer I have often admired, here she debuted in this more ornamented role. What a debut! She looked quite happily at home in it, and I look forward to seeing this cast again. Elisabeth Holowchuk and Benjamin Lester gave a considerably more energized Clarinade this time, rising to near recklessness in the musical crescendo just before the quieter ending, where they make their way off stage like exhausted marathon dancers. This was not quite on the level of Mahoney-Du and Mladenov that I recalled, but more appropriate than last night. Holowchuk was deadpan all the way through, but as she took in our enthusiasm, she broke into a grin. Then, Tzigane, with Mladenov crisply showing in his characterization, as distinct from his apparently flawless partnering, a little contempt for the smoldering Magnicaballi, who replied with sultry glances across the stage as though challenging him. A smoky performance! Mladenov cooled himself a little for the complete Divertimento, which belied the "porcelain" label it sometimes gets, in this supple, flowing, living performance, in which Erin Ackert again replaced Mahoney-Du. Again I was struck by the Andante's surprising beauty after some hints of stress in the Variations, but evidently that comes with the territory: The Andante is slower, and each woman has a partner to support her. Seeing the entire cast on the smallish stage of the Ted Shawn theatre ended the evening with a bigger bang than Thursday evening, and I thought for a moment the enthusiastic audience would get the curtains open for more well-deserved bows, but it looked like that venerable rule of show-business, "leave 'em wanting more," was the rule here. There were some cameras in the theatre tonight, including one at the left front corner of the seats, a useless spot, I think; from one of the people involved I learned that Jacob's Pillow had in mind some publicity, including something to show potential corporate donors, and although nothing is certain at this point, a program on the institution on PBS wasn't impossible, so those who weren't there might someday get some glimpses of these superb performances. Jacob's Pillow is a pleasant place day or night, I'm finding, but when you've had such a high evening, you especially don't want to go home.

(from Lee, Massachusetts) Yikes! I messed up some of the the cast identifications above, so if you're just checking here, also check my corrected posts. Juliet is right about Erin Mahoney-Du, sad to say; I was looking forward to seeing her, too.

In anticipation of the usual questions, here's the cast list, from the printed program: Featured Artists: Ashley Hubbard Natalia Magnicaballi Erin Mahoney-Du Shannon Parsley Bonnie Pickard Runqiao Du Momchil Mladenov Artists of the Corps de Ballet: Erin Ackert Gina Artese Amy Brandt Kristen Gallagher Elisabeth Holowchuk Sara Ivan Katelyn Prominski Lisa Reneau James Reed Hague Ian Hussey Andrew Kaminski Benjamin Lester Neil Marshall *NOTE: Evelyn Kocak arrived Thursday (?) to replace Erin Mahoney-Du

NOTE *corrected cast identification! (apologies to all for my mistakes) (from Lee, Massachusets, about 10 miles west of Jacob's Pillow) The troupe has twenty dancers here currently, about enough to present the small-cast repertory suited to the small stage in the Ted Shawn Theatre, but not quite enough to cover completely, on short notice, for the injuries we all know can occur, so that last evening's program was somewhat truncated, as we shall see, although opening night, Wednesday, was reportedly given completely; I was laid up that evening, and missed it, however. (I anticipate a complete presentation tonight.) So: La Source opened, with Shannon Parsley and Momchil Mladenov as principals and Bonnie Pickard in the demi role; I would have to say it was intermittently effective, with some principals' sequences looking as though they might be favoring something physically, especially Mr. Mladenov early on, and then there would be some passages beautifully and effectively shown that exemplified why we go to the ballet, making you literally thrilled that such movement could be devised so appropriately to that music, and then the music would repeat and the movement would be different and an even better complement to the musical thought. Ms. Parsley's later variation in particular impressed me this way. After intermission, the Clarinade pas de deux, with, I believe, Elisabeth Holowchuk, and *Benjamin Lester, a member of the troupe new to me. (The printed program had it differently, but there was no announcement other than a placard outside I missed in the crowd.) This was a more careful rather than abandoned rendition than the one by Erin Mahoney-Du and Mr. Mladenov I saw at the Kennedy Center last November. After a pause, Tzigane, led by Natalia Magnicaballi, who is cast in all the performances, partnered this time by Runqiao Du; this was the most fully and completely achieved work so far, I'd say, and the audience really warmed to it. After intermission, Divertimento No. 15 excerpts: The Allegro music was played as an overture, after which we got the Theme and Variations, which was, inevitably, stronger in some variations than in others, and to conclude, the Andante, which was quite lovely throughout, even by Ashley Hubbard and *Erin Ackert who had looked less well-favored in the variations (First and Fourth respectively), and this brought the evening to a strong and well-appreciated conclusion. More when I have a chance.

Egad, folks! She's right, of course! Tending to prove that better and worse televising (or filming) of dance comes and goes without regard for the epoch when it takes place.

Thanks for that, Alexandra! (It's good to know you're around.) I had no idea Jacob's Pillow was quite that extensive, never having been there, though I find now that the map on their website shows 26 buildings, by my count. My other comment, a footnote to the ticket information, is that the Saturday matinee performance (8th July) has been sold out for about a month.

bart, I've seen so few recently-produced dance videos - the only other one I can think of offhand is the RDB Sylphide - I can't really say. (The Sylphide one was fine in that regard, IIRC.) But the Honors TV program, which wasn't a dance show, of course, had good lighting only for the half-second after the end of the dancing! They could have done that right through, and we could have seen Farrell's dancers to better advantage. An opportunity not firmly grasped, although at least there were no partials.

I've only lately found time to watch the whole video, so I'm adding my two cents worth late, but I would first like to thank the other posters here not merely for making me aware of it but aware that I could get a version playable on my equipment, intended for the North American market, in contrast to the "PAL" designation on the Amazon UK site. (This reminds me again of how sketchy Amazon's product descriptions are. I don't understand this. If Amazon were to post accurate and complete information for its products, no telling how large they might become! On second thought, as the sales rankings they do post imply, they flourish selling well-known merchandise, not what we buy.) Overall, I have mixed feelings about the value of this presentation of Jewels. It's certainly a fair introduction to the whole suite, I'd say, for those who don't know it, being the only video of all of it, as far as I know, but anyone interested in it really should also see the excerpts on Nonesuch 79838-2 in the "Choreography by Balanchine" series. There, the dancing, under the choreographer's direction in 1977, is radically different - they "just dance," the Paris dancers perform - but so is the televison direction (by Merrill Brockway): The dancing is clearly visible nearly the whole time, using cameras in deceptively simple ways, basically showing space and letting the dancers dance in it, rather than the overcomplicated, busy, and more interfering technique here. (Shameless plug: Just enter "Choreography by Balanchine" in the box at the top of the page and click "Go.") This new one has in its favor the 16:9 wide-screen format I find more agreeable than the standard 4:3 aspect ratio; which ratio the PBS broadacast uses remains to be seen. I have no use at all for partial views of a dancer's body. "Partials" were inflicted most liberally on the principals, which is partly why I too found the corps' dancing so enjoyable. Indeed, the Paris dancers offer virtues of their own which, while not exactly authentic or maybe even appropriate, nevertheless deserve to be seen more continuously. And the music on the old video is more enlivened by the conductor (Robert Irving), too, if not as beautiful-sounding as on this new one. All in all, the higher energy level the choreographer preferred, and many of those who grew to love his art did too (and still do), was conspicuous by its absence in this new video. I haven't seen POB ever before, as far as I can remember, so there was that value for me too. And with so much bad lighting in ballet today - did anybody here see the Divertimento No. 15 excerpt on the Kennedy Center Honors television program last December? - I was pleasantly surprised to see the stage clearly and simply lit and to see Jennifer Tipton credited. I'd like to see PNB's Jewels, too, on stage or on video, especially if the first thought in making their video is to get out of the way and let us see the dancing. But the company whose Jewels most deserves wide distribution today in my experience is Miami City Ballet's. In a time when there are many Giselles, Sleeping Beauties, and so on, on video, I'd really like for us to be able, someday, to look back at this effort as the first Jewels on video, not least because I recall Balanchine's ambivalence about televising a ballet, because then people will think that's the only way it should be danced; if there were several videos available, people could compare, discuss, become discriminate, and savor, instead, as sandik suggests. Oh, and then there's the documentary, which really is better than we'd expect from its title. (I'd say it even contradicts its title a bit.) It suggested the source of one of the problems I have with the performances: How these dancers, especially the ones in Emeralds, look for the story, the character, the mood, how they analyze! I wanted to say, as Balanchine was supposed to have said sometimes, Don't think dear, just do! But some of the intellectualizing resonated. Some of the best of that came from the director, Pierre Cavassilas: "We find ourselves today watching a ballet which completely transcended its own time... Through these ballets we will find a part of the emotions which were [balanchine's] during his life and artistic encounters." (I am depending on the English subtitles, which, by the way, didn't always play in my Pioneer equipment, although on the other hand I hadn't any blurry-motion problems.) Even though he too struggles here with the necessity of characters (it's in chapter 9 at about 43 minutes and 5 seconds into the documentary), I found this like a fresh breeze, having been depressedly aware for so many years recently here in America, at least, of the perverse (because distracting) nonsense that to enter into an artist's intimate life you must study his biography and the history of his place; M. Cavassilas has the connection the right way round: If you want intimate experience of an artist, enter into his work, absorb it, become him; and "transcending its own time" is my working definition of greatness. (This man's a better philosopher than director! Vive la France!) So there's a lot to like here. Two cheers! But only two, because the two essentials, IMO - authentic dancing and unobtrusive televising - are compromised. [This last sentence added 7th September 2006]

I'll not make it to Edinburgh, so I'm looking forward to that, Watermill! But I expect to see most of the run at Jacob's Pillow and report what I see as best I can...

Just a couple of quick thoughts in passing - too quick to look anything up, even: Thanks for mentioning the article here; that's one magazine I don't check as regularly as I should, obviously! (Maybe a link in the "print" forum is appropriate?) I saw MCB dance a few of Gamonet's ballets, and I don't miss them. One, Grand pas Classique I think it was, merely made the dancers look awkward, which is bad enough, but the worst one in my limited experience kept me out in the hall on subsequent returns to the theatre, not in protest but just to protect myself. Retelling the story of the crazed old matriarch, The House of Luisa Alba, or something like that, treated us not only to the spectacle of the title character caning a young woman, but in another scene, some one else, understandibly having had enough of a miserable life, hangs herself, realistically, in full view, on a raised place, stage center. Yikes! Dancers? In something like that? What a waste! And dancers don't have time to waste! Now, I'm not categorically opposed to strong stuff in art, and in fact I'm taken when something is evoked with economy of means, but these were literal, graphic depictions, and I couldn't get anything out of them but shock. If I have to be shocked, I want at least as much strength of craft in the process as one gets from Antony Tudor, although so far I find the shocking aspects of his ballets gratuitious and, consequently, flaws. I think bart's point about completeness or comprehensiveness is arguable either way. Not having read the article myself yet, I gather it's essentially about MCB today, its recent past and near future, and while Gamonet was on board for a time, with the clarity of hindsight maybe it's possible to see that his presence didn't contribute that much to where the company is now.

And if I'm not mistaken, there's an interpolation into the third act of his Coppelia for a principal variation, although maybe this ballet can be thought of as belonging to a genre where some carpentering or tailoring of the score for performance was as much the rule as the exception. Regarding symphony first movements, I remember reading Balanchine's complaint that the trouble with them was that they were too repetitious, probably referring to the exposition-development-recapitulation form they usually took. I've been thinking that ViolinConcerto might possibly have had in mind Mozart's music for Divertimento No. 15, of which Balanchine used five of the original seven movements. But I strongly agree with ViolinConcerto's remark about serving Terpsichore. I think this is important because some of Balanchine's detractors have tried to snipe at him by pointing out his supposed misuse of music, citing examples like the ones we've mentioned, as though a ballet were a concert or a recital with dancing alongside, when really IMO Balanchine's works incorporated music as an integral component more organically, rather than just a mood- and time-establishing element, than we usually see, so that each new, greater whole is what must be appreciated and judged. Yeah, papeetepatrick, performance is never the same twice, sometimes involving a little risk-taking. A little like life itself?

ViolinConcerto, could you please detail what you said about Balanchine's deleting movements in Concerto Barocco?

Don't let 'em get ya, Bill! While I'm interested in this discussion as a Midwestern tourist to the Kennedy Center ballet programs, I really want to second my friend bart's thanks to Giselle05 for the link to the Kaiser article. I couldn't put it down! Not only is he a walking fireworks display, shooting off brilliant ideas on every page, he knows how to write a good read, too.

Yeah, that's them, all right! I didn't see the performance, but I'd recognise them from your description, dufay, thanks for the post, it warms my heart!

I watched this just last evening, having bought a copy as result of reading the discussion here, and while I was annoyed by so many "partials" - shots showing only a partial view of someone - evidently the doirector, Thomas Grimm, is another television person who doesn't realize dance expression is about moving in space and that expression is consequently reduced, not enhanced, when the camera closes in so that we don't even see a dancer's whole body - I had a fine time with it because we could so often see the literally wonderful performance - full of wonders, one after another after another, as has been discussed here at length - thank you all! The hour flew along as though it were little more than half that.