Jack Reed

Now that you mention it, I do vaguely remember a speech from the apron by a man in a suit holding a microphone, but I'm sure Arpino did not appear at any time. Speeches like the one you mention I tend to let go by me at the time, as they have more or less the opposite effect to, say, an overture, which whets our appetite; Arpino I would more likely have remembered, as he is the person whose judgement, presumably, primarily determines what we see. But I think your being a little uninvolved with the performance points to some weakness in it; ideally, it should grip us by its effects, on its own, without our "help", and I seem to remember such performances by the Joffrey at City Center in New York in the 70's. Imagine, for example, if, at the end, Petrouchka's ghost doesn't just berate the old Charlatan, as he is sometimes called, but, on the last sequence of complaining trumpet notes, turns toward us, and, as the Charlatan steals off in fear, the ghost berates us directly, for thinking he is just a puppet. I don't recall this happening Saturday evening, and I don't recall seeing a policeman being called in earlier, when the crowd is concerned, and being satisfied that it was only a doll after all; the appearance of a cop underlines the seriousness of something that happens. But my memory is not perfect! These are just examples, for me, of a performance of a big, psychologically sprawling work, that had some weak spots.

The best thing about Laurencia pas d'action for me was that the dancers were much less bothered by the pointlessly tricky choreography than I was. Like Treefrog, I really enjoyed how well it was danced. That was the point, I guess. From Treefrog's comments, I would like to have seen Kitten's Apollo, not that Calmels was terrible (I saw the evening performance on the 23rd, Saturday), far from it; his grandly confident way, not to mention his physical stature, suits him to the role, but the whole performance still left a sense of wanting more to happen, as some of us said when talking about the Ravinia run. Victoria Jaiani's Terpsichore was again the closest to a full realization of the role, the others being more careful and held back, especially in contrast to the fullness of Laurencia. I have some quibbles about the lighting, which certainly covered the Auditorium's stage, at least, but went greenish for the Muses' variations, and then lit the four figures on the steps to Mount Olympus at the end. The usual silhouetting better conveys the infinitude of the finale, IMO. Speaking of finales, which is your favorite Apollo, the original, or the modified version? A friend and I decided, I think, the original ending is better but the birth scene is expendible, so we would like to have the stair but skip the brief first scene. As for Petrouchka, I think it's supposed to overflow the stage! Anyway, I thought it was distinguished by Willy Shives's vivid realization of the title role. Maia Wilkins and Brian McSween gave good doll-dance portrayals of the Ballerina and the Blackamoor, but Shives gave his part more of a rag-doll quality; they were all as though "danced" by other forces, rather than, like the classical dancers of Laurencia, showing us their dance, but Shives's "Petrouchka" was all the more hopelessly, desperately pathetic for what he infused it with. For me, then, quite an achievement, and quite an experience, even a haunting one, in keeping with Benois's forecurtain and overall concept. No, we don't identify with any of this! But, if we're susceptible, we may be given pause by it, as the fair crowd is when the "love triangle" erupts from the tent in the fourth tableau. How can these puppets act like this? Or are they just puppets? Hmm... How mysterious... And finally, we can be frightened by it, as the cynical Old Showman is by Petrouchka's ghost at the end. He's already shown the credulous crowd that what they saw struck down is just a puppet! But up there, over the theatre, berating him! How? What? In the theatre, we suspend disbelief sometimes, and we are taken in, in the good sense. Willingly, in my case. And I want to add that I found Leslie Dunner's conducting of the two Stravinsky scores to be effective, especiall by contrast with the screechy recording of Apollo we had at Ravinia.

She also showed some at St. James's many years ago. I remember seeing a couple of fragments of two different performances of Baiser de la Fee, the part where the boy goes off to the right with the Fairy behind him, pointing over his shoulder into the wing. Some of the fragments were very short. But they were shot from the front. She complained on one occasion about her new camera not being as satisfactory as the old one she gave to some deserving group: "I gave away a Cadillac and bought a Chevrolet." This might help to explain why she did less later on. The question for us in this area is, of course, can we get to see any of this? I recently saw one of the Balanchine Foundation tapes (of Tallchief coaching a dance from Symphony in C) at the Chicago Public Library, but they wanted some indication of serious interest. Regardless of these, ahem, practical considerations, thank you, Mme. Hermine! It's good to know these exist and are in sympathetic hands!

Amy, I wouldn't tell you what to do, but I was glad I sprang for the hard-copy version at my favorite Border's. More pictures better reproduced.

Having mentioned above with some enthusiasm Michael Tilson Thomas's recording of Tchaikovsky"s "Suite No. 3", I feel it's only responsible to add that I had in mind the one with the Los Angeles Philharmionic issued years ago on LP, because a public performance with his San Francisco Symphony I heard broadcast recently, and which might be issued on CD, is so different in respect of lingering over certain passages that anyone who is satisfied with the old one, with its steadier yet "breathing" tempos may be happier approaching the new one with caution. That said, the new performance certainly has other virtues, like the transparency of texture Mary J and I admire, so that if it were the first performance of anything by Thomas I had heard, it would make his name one I'd be careful to pay attention to in the future.

Great thread! Where do the marketeers come from? Does the board of directors hire the manager who hires them? I wonder how often boards are dominated by a few people with lots of money but little sense, or taste. It might be very hard for small contributors with taste to "educate" them, but wouldn't a few letters give them a lot of help? Can it hurt? I've only written a couple of times, and then on a different matter, the sound quality when amplification is used, as it is more frequently. It worked once - the sound the following season was so good I had to check that the pit was still empty - and the second time (a different company, when there even was an orchestra in the pit!), the jury is still out. On the other hand, I oppose on principle a board telling the director or ballet master what to do. It's like art by committee.

What an inspiring metaphor and a fascinating concept! But how? As the years roll by, doesn't the possibility of this reawakening eventually disappear for one ballet after another? Doesn't the project we're discussing mean that time is up for Cotillon already, for example?

Leigh, thanks. On reflection while reading your post, I realized the that the Cotillon I wanted and hoped for this time around is one a ballet master has breathed life into, one I probably can't have. I hadn't remembered that what I saw in 1990 was a Hodson-Archer prodution (Read your program, Jack!) and blamed the cast rather than their preparation for the fizzled "Hand of Fate" pas de deux and the remoteness (rather than presence) of much of the rest, more lively though that seemed than the H-A Sacre. (Liveliness related, perhaps to the recognisability of Balanchine's steps? And as he would say, did say, "Steps? Steps are what?" We have here a case in point, I think.) So maybe it's best forgotten, if in sorrow...

It's nearly all here: http://www.metguild.org/operanews/issue/ar...=893&issueID=40 Missing are three pictures, the one of the 1934 Mozartiana "rehearsal" on page 45 (it looks staged for the camera to me), and the two on page 46, one publicizing the American Ballet's apearance in The Goldwyn Follies and the other of Tamara Geva in Errante. But the text is all there, and I agree, it's well worth reading. Thanks, Helene! (There's another picture on page 2, uncredited and uncaptioned. Does anyone know what or who it's of?)

Dale, I'll second that about Cotillon. It and Les Noces are my favorites in their rep. I had hopes it might make it when they announced a Balanchine-centennial program, but no. As for M. Bejart, I wouldn't mind seeing his Sacre again, having seen his company do it once, but I'm not sure JBC has the men for it. And as for "quirky", well, isn't that the Joffrey? "Eclectic-R-Us", or something like that.

Jane, would you mind expanding on this a bit? For those of us who haven't seen the video in question. In due course, at least?

Indeed, Mel, and that Simon has been staging his works for decades. I think part of my problem with the performances, to the extent I had one, was that although I was in the center section, I had to sit 30 rows from the stage, and this distance reduces the effect. On the other hand, I was a few rows farther in 1990, when I saw MCB dance Apollo(along with Tarantella and Square Dance!), and I found those more satisfying, even though they were closer in time to my heavy attendance at NYCB, and should have suffered by that comparison. But the Joffrey dancers avoided the static sort of performance ABT gave of Apollo in the late 80s; that was like, here we do this and then we go over here and then we do that. The Joffrey dancers' performace flowed well, for much better effect than ABT's cast had achieved; and some of Victoria Jaiani's sequences were especially "large" and effective in her variation as Terpsichore. In regard to Tchaikovsky pas de deux I might add that I had a perfect seat for Ballet Chicago's performances this June, but Alicia Fabry's clearly shaped and outlined and strongly phrased dancing with everything beautifully finished, ornamented without mannerism or obscuration, was the main reason I found their performances such a rich experience. When the Ravinia Festival Special train the ticket seller had said would arrive soon after the performance failed to arrive - yes, Ravinia is the place conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos is supposed to have described as the only train station with its own concert hall - I shared a taxi part way home. One of my companions thought Tarantella was the best danced item on the program, and I think it was in terms of clarity and wit - Heather Aagard getting some laughs making Mr. B's droll sequences very clear - if not in passion: It was an anticlimax at the end to see her wait by the wing for John Gluckman to kiss her on the neck like a timid boy instead of taking her by surprise and rushing her off as though to have his way with her as Edward Villella had done with Patricia McBride. (Is it unfair to make this kind of comparison? I only know one standard, and if a performance doesn't hit the top mark, it's still as good as it is, and I think fans deserve this kind of detail. Sometimes comparison reveals more in both parts of it than we would otherwise get, by considering them only in isolation.) Square Dance is harder for me to get to with the Caller's interference, and Brian McSween's delivery was less rhythmic and inflected than I would have liked, too, though I also enjoyed some of the gags. (Dancers don't speak as a rule, so McSween may have been out of his element.) I'm one of those who prefers the purity and clarity of the revised version, but there was a lot of clearly executed dancing to enjoy here. It was led by Jennifer Goodman and Calvin Kitten; Kitten's jumps came with quiet landings, as had Shives's and Gluckman's, FWIW. The live onstage string orchestra brought me relief from the shrill amplification earlier in the evening, but Kevin Dreyer's lighting was inadequate at the sides of the stage all evening. (Does Ravinia lack enough electricity?)

Thanks for the compliment, Treefrog. Since you were there, too, evidently, would you like to add any details I missed? And what did you think of the dancing? Briefly, I thought it creditable but a little lackluster, not particularly concealing the strengths of the ballets as I have sometimes seen but not realizing them to anything like the degree I have sometimes seen, either. But then, I saw maybe 40 performances a year of Balanchine's company from 1973-1986! (Do those improve in memory as time goes by? No, the video evidence, which I rarely get to treat myself to, always serves as a confirmation.) Quite frankly, I enjoyed Tchaikovsky pas de deux more with Ballet Chicago's dancers, who happened to have better tempos on their recording, among other things. More when I have a chance.

Via the banner at the top of this page, I learned that Thomas's recording is available (new) for a mere $12. You can hear 33 excerpts from it, and our own Marc Haegeman speaks warmly of it.

The Joffrey Ballet presented an all-Balanchine program at Ravinia Park, the summer location of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, consisting of Apollo, a company premiere staged by Paul Boos with coaching of Polyhymnia and Terpsichore by Maria Tallchief, as we learned; Tchaikovsky pas de deux, staged, along with the rest of the program, by Victoria Simon; Tarantella; and their hybrid Square Dance, including the new movement, added by Balanchine in the 70s, among the original ones performed with the original onstage orchestra and square-dance caller. I picked the September 9th performance to attend because Maria Tallchief was scheduled to appear on a panel before the performance that evening. She came in on the arm of Gerald Arpino, the Joffrey's Artistic Director; Adam Sklute, one of the Company's two Assistant Artistic Directors, and Welz Kaufman, described in the performance program as a pianist who is in his spare time the Ravinia Festival's Chief Executive Officer, and who "moderated" the panel by asking questions when the others ran out of things to say, were the others. Tallchief said she first danced Apollo in 1947. She knew in high school that she wanted to be a ballet dancer, and so she learned French, but Michel Renault, who didn't understand English, couldn't understand the counts or anything else she said. Arpino said that he went into dance against his family's wishes. Maria was the greatest, one of his greatest favorites. He works topically from the news of the day, he said, and did a work about the wrongful execution of a man. Tallchief: It was beautifully done. Arpino: Bob [Robert Joffrey] and I were students at the School of American Ballet. Maria said not to tell this story tonight [Tallchief made a fist and frowned at him, then smiled at us] but one day she came in with an armful of toe shoes and said, Take these back! There's not one I can wear! Tallchief: I started with Nijinska who told me when I finished, don't go to the back, come to the front and see what your friends do, and it was beautiful! ... George never talked about ballet. If you talked about it, he would talk about cooking... He was first a musician, and a poet. [recalled her variation in Orpheus, singing some of it] Balanchine commissioned Firebird Suite so Stravinsky could make some money. George said, Never choreograph in class, but when he started giving me steps for Firebird, I thought, these steps are familiar; he'd been giving them in class... We started rehearsing Firebird at 6AM, but poor Frank Moncion was not a morning person. Balanchine underlit the Chagall backdrop "because otherwise we won't see you". Sklute: Maria coached our dancers in Apollo; afterward, they said, When is she coming back? They were like sponges, they soaked it up and wanted more. This program is purposely eclectic, as Mr. Arpino has preferred, and it shows Balanchine's range, especially Apollo, which is very different from the others. Tallchief: Agnes deMille gave me my name. I was Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief. She came backstage and suggested the change. Colonel Denham wanted me to be Tallchieva. [audience laughter] Cyd Charisse still knows me as Betty Marie. Arpino: Mr. B. was very generous. He gave us two struggling guys trying to make a company some ballets, including costumes, free of charge. Tallchief: He was a marvelous cook. Whether because she had warmed to her subject or had been energized by our applause or for some other reason, Maria Tallchief needed the help of no one's arm leaving the stage.

GeorgeB Fan, would you like to say which recordings you've investigated and found unsatisfactory? It could help. In the meantime, I'd like to suggest the one conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. For me, it enlivens the music as his better performances do; it doesn't cheapen it. It sounds as though he has great respect for the score, but by no means worships it. He's one of the three best living conductors, for my money (I'm thinking here of the whole classical repertory, not just ballet; and the other two are Pierre Boulez and Colin Davis.), not that everything he does is first rate, but when he doesn't whip it up or drag it along, it's fresh and vital. I also value highly his recordings of Nutcracker and Swan Lake and wish he had done Sleeping Beauty; meanwhile his recordings of Mozartiana and the Suites Nos. 2 and 3 (the latter never reissued) sound superb to me, too. Yes, I've wandered way OT from Giselle; that's how enthusiastic I get about Thomas's best work!

Only the Rubies pas de deux was part of the original broadcast which included the other Jewels excerpts - maybe this is what you both meant - performed by Patricia McBride and Robert Weiss. I think it was broadcast twice more, too, but the rest of the ballet, never, unfortunately.

Having finally gotten to these myself, I'd like to suggest turning down the treble control about half way - fine-tune to your own taste, of course. My friend and I found the sound much more listenable this way, with strings less dry; otherwise it seems nearly to cut the ear. But this won't do a lot for the performance, of course.

I remember a Fracci Giselle with Ivan Nagy, it must have been in the 70's. I don't think I have an eye for technique as such - as I'm reminded, watching videos with a young dancer - but I respond to technique's effects - or the lack of effects of its absence, as my sharp-eyed friend points out. Anyway, Fracci's effects were pretty special - amazing! - "lighter than air", and all that. As to the Croce remark, it needs to be located and accurately quoted, I think, to get the most out of it.

Do check out Ari's post in this forum about the reissue of this series of videos: http://balletalert.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16886

NYC, or maybe better yet, Washington, D.C., again some day, as we might infer from the second item.

I looked in a suite in the Mayflower on Monday (7th June), and found a lovely view of Central Park and, for this light sleeper, marginally acceptable evening rush-hour noise from Central Park West ten stories below as well as from the window-mounted Emerson Quietcool air conditioner in the bedroom. But no pots or dishes in the kitchenette, so not much advantage in paying suite rates. Then on the plane back I ran into friends who had stayed many times in the Mayflower over the years but not this weekend, because it was full; looking on the Web, they had decided to try the 57th Street Holiday Inn, and were enthusiastic in the event. In a room on the back, they didn't get too much street noise - 57th Street is a major cross-town thoroughfare - and they really liked using the exercise room and having breakfast on the roof-top terrace. Three restaurants! they exclaimed. [As though there weren't enough in the area.] They expect to return. Not cheap - about like that parkside suite - $450 or so, I think, but check, especially as rates fluctuate seasonally. Years ago I stayed some in the West Side Y and found it adequate except for tobacco smoke sometimes seeping into my room from where I know not. Being somewhat asthmatic, I found this a real problem, until I plugged up some gaps around some pipes. I suppose it would depend who's next door, or downstairs. And I seem to remember a little instrument practice, but not late.

I don't like not getting it, and so, if I don't get it, I will often work at getting it, because I neither like it nor dislike it until I get it, or think I do, and the fruits of this labor have often been good to have. If I don't get it, what would I be liking or not liking? Something else, right? Something not apprehended, something other than the thing I don't get. But many seem to me not to like something they don't get. They don't distinguish between the part they get and the part they don't, I think.

One of the best I've seen! Thanks, Susan. And I think your comments are right on! Here's a direct link to the beginning of it: http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/far0int-1

Point taken, carbro, but while there are the large-cast ballets, there has sometimes been a "Ballo" or, so help me, a "Divertimento 15" on the program, too. I expect to be there, though, regardless.