MJ

I went to opening night at ABT, it was like going to the Oscars! I wore a suit, but everyone else had Tuxes and gowns on. There was a woman in a "southern belle" dress with way too many pink and yellow ribbons on it.

The Stamford Center for the Arts has lost almost a million dollars in funding for next year's budget. So sad. Many talented dancers performed for the first time on the Palace Theater stage. Everyone in Stamford is appalled, but there is little that can be done. The production has been losing money for years.

Stamford is building global headquarters, Ritz hotels, and a Trump tower! Yet noone will come up with the cash to sponsor a few Ballet performances! The money for performing arts organizations tends to gravitate towards Manhattan.

Graduation Ball has a "girl with pigtails" as well. Youtoobe has no posting yet of the ballet.

Is this a full length Ballet or a special piece made for the award banquet?

Did Al Gore drink imported bottled water?

A Marie Antoinette ballet would be beautiful. Think elaborate costumes. I was entertaining this idea with my co-workers after seeing the Sophia Coppola movie.

I was thinking Napoleon and Josephine would make a great Ballet.

I was looking at the AFI film list of the 100 greatest love stories (I won't link to it, but it is easily Gorgled Yay-hoo'd)

My Culling from The American Film Institute's 400 nominated list includes Chronologically:

Cleopatra (1912, 1963 )

Salome (1922)

King Kong (1933)

Show Boat (1936)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939)

Casablanca (1942)

Cabin In The Sky (1943)

The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (1947)

Samson And Delilah (1949)

The African Queen (1951)

An American in Paris (1951)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Singin' In The Rain (1952)

Kiss Me Kate (1953)

Brigadoon (1954)

Oklahoma! (1955)

Carousel (1956)

South Pacific (1958)

Porgy And Bess (1959)

Some like it Hot (1959)

Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961)

Flower Drum Song (1961)

West Side Story (1961)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

The Sound Of Music (1965)

Funny Girl (1968)

Sweet Charity (1969)

The Great Gatsby (1974)

Robin And Marian (1976)

Somewhere In Time (1980)

An Officer And A Gentleman (1982)

Splash (1984)

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Working Girl (1988)

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Ghost (1990)

Pretty Woman (1990)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Titanic (1997)

Never Been Kissed (1999)

Chocolat (2000)

Some of these movies have great scores, choreo, costumes, or stories that could translate into a ballet well.

Closer to the exact quote is "It is very difficult in classical mime to express, for example, 'your mother-in-law'." (Balanchine/Mason, Stories of the Great Ballets (1954?)

The Rule of thumb for the Mother of of a Groom is:

Show up, Shut up, and wear beige.

I guess you could include a mother in Law, but it would take 10-15 minutes of pantomime to explain to the audience who the Mother in law is. Lest we forget Cinderella involves a Step Mother, I did the pantomime with a painting of my dear departed wife.

I'm going to keep my own counsel here. One of my favorite ideas for a ballet has already been mentioned, so I'm not tipping my hand a millimeter.

A Ballet about bodily functions? that would be VERY um, ah, different.

Mike

Thank you for starting an interesting topic, MJ.

I think Rashomon has possibilities, Ray.

The Wizard of Oz - interesting, but you do need those special effects......

Fly my pretties, FLY!!!!

Red Shoes! Fairies! Munchkins! Dancing! Flying Monkies! Violin Solos! A rolling bed scene! and a Happy Ending!

Of course it would make a perfect ballet.

Toto danced by a man would work.

Act I Kansas/tornado/munchkinland

Act II Woods/witches dungeon/ castle scen

Act III Emerald City Finale w/transition back to Kansas a la Nutcracker (it was all a dream!)

The Wizard of Oz. Great opportunities for divertissements for the scarecrow, lion, tin man, good witch, and evil witch. Also, children's parts because of the munchkins...Maybe music could be an extended orchestration of the movie score.

I've also always wanted to choreography a Mario ballet. He would pass through all sorts of trials, only to realize that "the princess is in another castle," so ends act one. The backdrop would be slowly moving from right to left, just as it did in the old games. Again, music would HAVE to be an extended orchestration of the game's score.

Hopefully you refer to the MGM masterpiece and not the Disney Fiasco

As for Mario music, it is boring and repetitive. Having barrels rolling across the stage for Mario to "leap" over may be more suited for speed skaters than ballet dancers.

You bring up other subject areas for Ideas:

Video Games

Comic Books (Marvel and DC JEALOUSLY guard their intellectual property)

Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages! Here is your chance to be truly creative and suggest a popular story for a ballet.

Some Guidelines:

Story should have never/rarely been performed as a ballet.

Ballet companies typically have more women than men, choose accordingly.

Once you have chosen a story, give a brief description of what occurs in each act.

Bonus points for musical suggestions. (eg JP Sousa's Washington Post March)

Possible sources for ideas:

Fairy tales (Duh!)

Fiction and Non-fiction literature

American Tall Tales

Folk Tales (The "Fox and the Grapes" would involve a LOT of jumping by the Fox)

Greek Myths and Drama

Movies/Drama/Broadway Musical (NBC's "Raise the Red Lantern" was brilliant!)

Amusement park rides (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Urban legends

Historical events/figures (Napoleon and Josephine?) (The Salem Witch trials?)

Opera (your musical choice is already done)

A ballet based on a series of artist's music (Sousa, Led Zepellin, Kenny Loggins, Streisand, Snoop Dogg)

Have fun!

The sales engineer that I am, I'm constantly told to:

"sell the sizzle, not the steak"

The gala invite should have listed the celebrities attending, and the opportunity to see art at its infancy.

The AD can tell the audience that this is the beginning of a great company; expect some moments of brilliance, and please enjoy and appreciate the rough edges.

Another sales-y expression is:

"Ask/beg for forgiveness, but never ask for permission." Mr. Wheeldon is telling his customers they will not do their best.

I would have said:

"Expect moments of brilliance as we build a great dance company, with your generous assistance."

A few years ago, the NY Philharmonic asked NY State to help develop a summer location for the NYP. It never went anywhere for many reasons. They realized a suburban location within a few hours drive is key. Saratoga is too far for day trippers, and has to compete with the Berkshires (tanglewood and jacob's pillow).

My day trips to Tanglewood, I've noticed my group was the youngest there. Young people are not exposed to culture as much.

As Nutcracker season approaches, I'm curious if companies have tried to use the nutcracker franchise to grow their audience?

Hardest workers? Hands down, those who don't have a steady contract with any one company sufficient to provide a living wage, and have to take three as "independent contractors" in order to survive. These dancers also often have "day jobs" to pay the rent, food, etc. Only problem with that is, because of the dancer's schedule of day rehearsal and night performance, they have to take the graveyard shift. These poor people have been getting ever more numerous over the last twenty years.

Very True, Mr. Major Mel. I recall eating out one night after the Adult Intensive, and a Richmond Ballet dancer was our waiter.

Tip your waitstaff well!

Somewhere in Manhattan there is a hotshot criminal attorney whose daughter's braces, as well as her first two years of college, are now paid for.

If it goes to Jury trial, he would want a local lawyer to defend him. Upstate is considered the poorest state in the nation. There is a lot of animosity to "down-staters" The Manhattan lawyers can work behind the scenes.

Right you are. He picked an Albany lawyer. http://www.esjlaw.com/toc.htm

UGH! A PI Lawyer?! He will need a criminal defense attorney! I guess the Manhattan lawyers will take the train up to defend the accused. PI lawyers are VERY good at jury selection.

Somewhere in Manhattan there is a hotshot criminal attorney whose daughter's braces, as well as her first two years of college, are now paid for.

If it goes to Jury trial, he would want a local lawyer to defend him. Upstate is considered the poorest state in the nation. There is a lot of animosity to "down-staters" The Manhattan lawyers can work behind the scenes.

I suspect a plea bargain will be arranged, Saratoga needs the jobs NYCB brings each summer. Last thing Saratoga needs is reputation of artist harassment.

The key to a plea bargain is to keep it out of the papers, Paris Hilton went to jail due to her name and publicity.

In the NY Post:

http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/sto...mp;SECTION=HOME

Anyone know what Felony Possession is? I believe NYS has minimum sentencing (Rockefeller drug laws).

I hope Nilas gets whatever help necessary to get through these trying times.

I hope the company will offer discrete detox for other dancers with their addictions.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens - name of the resident dance company in Montreal.

Dejeuner - lunch

sur l'herbe - on the grass.

The Manet picture that is the original reference - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Luncheon_on_the_Grass

Ah, the "Naked Lady Picnic"

So the translation is "Big Canadian Ballet's Last supper (with spice)"? My French is very poor, I usually get slapped when I try to speak french.

I just saw Giselle in New Haven, Connecticut Nina was great. The company was clean and limited only by the size of the stage. The males in the Pas de Six were spectacular. Nina and the company got well deserved cheers from her fans in New Haven. I think a local male actor was used as a super, I could see his lips counting the steps, and his costume did not fit at all.

The Corps was strong, very strong. well trained and excellent technique.

Costumes were simple, but traveled well. Great scenery.

My only complaint: Lousy recording, sounded like an old LP. Second complaint, I could hear the dancers talking, The Shubert has excellent acoustics!

I hope the New York dance critics took the train up to see a wonderful performance. They can still catch a performance tomorrow.

I saw it again last night with my Girlfriend. Much Much cleaner, the dancers were more relaxed. The tech crew was quieter, the spider web sequence made sense. Less smoke. Dancers were on last night considering it was a double-header.

Word to the NYTimes: Beautty is a classic ballet based on a fairy tale, ABT has made it more colorful and appealing to children. Your reviewers should take that into consideration.

To Haglund, It was announced Gelsey would not perform after the Intermission due to an injury. It may have been the last time she danced on stage. I wonder if she was afraid of the flying by Foy bit.

I'm waiting for the reviews from today's performances!

As to last night, was it just me, or did others also notice that during the prologue, you could see through the, um, shower curtain? I thought I glimpsed an arm moving around back there, and when I trained my opera glasses (from the family circle), I had a clear view of the corps girls, who appeared to be standing around, laughing, and chatting before the shower curtain went up.

You musta paid extra to get that special insight! Nice way to introduce the fairies.

If lighted correctly, a sharktooth scrim can be opaque or transparent. The Shower curtains were noisy too.

Perhaps ABT will present "Psycho, a Ballet inspired by Sir Alfred Hitchcock"

BTW, Rear Window has a really bad dancer in one of the apartments.

When the prince goes to find aurora is a mess. There are so many theatrical devices it just gets clunky. Moving scenery, light changes, flying fairies and spider web outfits, I hope this section gets worked out to some lesser degree of chaos.

The wedding scene was well danced from top to bottom. Most notebly with the bluebird pas. Everyone knew Cornejo would be wonderful as the bluebird when he was jumping but I think his partnering was solid enough to warrant a few more leads. Reyes was a wonderful partner for him and while she may not have incredible extension like the taller girls she has a rock solid center and she's a delight to watch.

ABT sure has some lovely dancers.

Oh, that was a web costume? That section was confusing and distracting. A student or stuntman in siloette tangled in a spider's web (with Foy flying effects) would have been more effective, and immediately understandable. I thought he was goint to jump off and "fly" into the castle. He looked like a superhero.

The smoke effects filled the Met for over an hour, there must be a way to vent it up into the rope decks.

Costumes, beautiful, georgeous! A little quirky watching a Mazurka in baroque costumes, but it works!

Bluebird had a red breast, king and queen sparkled (they must have overslept, they missed their daughter's coronation!)

Fairys were great.

Spindle strangulation was a hoot! I think the peasants have more to worry about spindles than royalty.

Dancing:

Veronika redeemed herself after the gala fiasco, she deserves all kudos!

Wiles was great, I've never seen such s-l-o-w Lilac variations

Canaray was brilliant!

The men were up the usual ABT standards, perfection. The AD has added more men to a "Big Tutu" ballet without sacrifice.

Cornejo's Dream solo was brilliant.

The Mazurka troubled me, everyone seemed to be going through the motions and not getting into Character (literally). the mazurka is a big, brassy, number nad needs to be danced that way. I will say it was very clean.

Orchestra, pitch perfect. I agree there were more brass, which was enjoyable. Dream solo was beautiful!

Audience: Typical Boobs, taking photos, The Met needs to crack down on Cameras more. Cell phones going off, and almost 50 percent left before the curtain calls, including the idiots in front of me.

Scenery/tech: the stage techs need to speak softly and use quiet rubber wheels to move the sets, pyro was great! Scenery was beautiful, realistic, colorful and lifelike.

Story/Plot true to original, how do they all dress so nice after all spindles are banished? What is a spindle?

Conclusion, a beautiful ballet that will remain in the repetoire for decades, will do well when the company tours. excellent candidate for a HD/bluray DVD and hi-def broadcast on PBS.

After seeing the excellent Latin music Ipod + Itunes commercial, I was wondering if Apple would make a Classical iTunes ad. Ballet dancers would be the perfect match. The dancers would have to wear white earbuds in the traditional iPod + iTunes style.

A great Irish pub/restaurant with nice dining room in the back is Kennedy's on 57th between 8th and 9th. I enjoy having dinner in front of the fireplace. If you walk down past Fordham at Lincoln Center and make a left onto 57th street, it is a few doors down. Feels like my favorite pubs in Dublin. Cosmic Coffee shop is no longer there, neither is Coliseum books. Memories.

The Lincoln lounge sounds skanky.

MJ

Carbro, you bring back memories. O'Neal's Balloon was the place to go. Followed by a wait -- often huddling in the cold -- for the cross-town bus.

Helene, Villella here in West Palm does his talk before each performance. NOTHING -- except possibly a spectral visitation from Pavlova or Nureyev -- would keep our audiences from running away to the valet parking and the multi-tiered garage. Even those with walkers and in wheelchairs really MOVE to get to those cars.

A few times, with a small group of others similarly interested, we've strolled over to the restaurants in nearby City Place. Nice. But not New York.

Or even Lucca. (P.S. My paternal grandfather came to the U.S. from Lucca, so I'm a Lucchese twice removed. Oddly, there was a restaurant called Puccini's across from City Center on 55th (?) Street when NYCB was still peforming there. Great place for before the ballet.)

It seems, also, that not a few of the BT regulars run home to the computer while their thoughts and feelings about the performance are still fresh.

I took class in west palm at Ballet Florida, nice studios.

I will open this thread with a question:

Where do ballet fans go after the performance? Do you have a favorite bar or restaurant?

Cheers,

Mike