Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

Old Fashioned

Senior Member
  • Posts

    596
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Old Fashioned

  1. I am sure that there are many of our fellow contributors who can think of dancers who one thought should have had a different career or a bigger one. Egalitarianism has never existed completely in any society and there is no such thing as true equal opportunity. Real life teaches us (if we can fairly objectively observe it) that not everyone is equal, but as far as is realistically possible we should all concur that they should be treated as such, but not on the stage and not in front of me when I am paying 160US dollars for a performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden..

    And this is why we do not have a true interpretation of MacMillan's R&J with Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable on film, and the ballet is still largely associated with Fonteyn and Nureyev. And let's not forget that when Sadler Wells Ballet first brought Sleeping Beauty to the States, the American people wanted to see Moira Shearer because of the fame she accumulated from The Red Shoes, but Fonteyn was pushed into the spotlight by dancing Aurora on opening night. In the latter case, an artistic decision was made over a financial one, and it was a brilliant move, but one can't help but wonder what kind of impression Shearer would have made. Both examples illustrate how the star system can be helpful or detrimental to the multiple people involved.

  2. A number of BTers have expressed confusion over how she could have a Cuban-born partner of Chinese descent and still be against immigration, still loved by that partner, and how her foreign-born co-workers would be able to stand her. She actually said that she is not against all immigration -- she said that those who worked were fine because they could be tracked by the government by tax and bank records, etc. -- but that she was against mass immigration. And I suspect many of her co-workers would not exactly embrace a free-market situation where all beautifully trained dancers would be eligible for the rare work visas that they hold.

    Yet she decided to join a far-right wing party with a blatantly racist stance and history. Couldn't she have chosen a more moderate party?

  3. You can find a few videos of Simone Clarke and Yat-Sen Chang at their website: http://www.yschang.co.uk

    What I don't understand is how Chang could have encouraged her to join the BNP. What exactly are his views on the immigration issue? Or perhaps that doesn't even matter and it's about letting the one you love believe in whatever she wants to believe in. Even so, I'm still scratching my head over this...

    There is one thing that Ms. Clarke has gained from this: publicity. I didn't have a clue who she was before hearing this story (and I have a feeling many others didn't, either). Now I'm afraid I probably know more about her than I care to know. Also, for those balletomanes who are considering boycotting her performances, they may not have to worry about seeing her on stage in the near future. Sorry to say I can't find the link to the article right now, but I read somewhere that she is considering a change of career (even plumbing!). Another aspect of her behavior I find odd is her determination to not socialize with her peers at ENB, other than Chang of course. I always thought dancers had such a strong sense of camaraderie. Once again, this leaves her the odd one out.

  4. As for Pride and Prejudice, the mere thought of seeing another Austen adaptation makes me want to stick needles in my eyes, but I’ll probably get round to it eventually. I'm glad to hear it's good.

    I was amused to read a review of the new P&P (I think in the New Yorker?) to see that this adaptation has been "Bronte-fied" and Darcy was turned into a sort of Heathcliff, not disimilar to something you said before.

  5. Is Top Hat better?

    No.

    I know how you feel. I was slightly disappointed when I saw the Fred and Ginger movies on first viewing, but then I came to accept them as they are. I don't think the films were ever intented to be great, they only serve as vehicles for displaying a great dance partnership. As for their singing, I enjoy their rather subdued voices. It doesn't overshadow their dancing and I find it to be a nice respite from the popular powerhouse singing of the likes of Bing Crosby and Judy Garland (not that I find anything wrong with that style, either).

  6. The only actress today that comes close to Garbo's radiance is Zhang Ziyi, who's also a natural scene-stealer. I just saw "2046" and without Zhang Ziyi I think the movie would have been simply a rather shallow movie about emotional emptiness. But Zhang Ziyi made it about so much more. Her heartbreak broke MY heart.

    No offense, but I just choked on my chocolate truffle when I read that.

  7. I've heard both good and bad things about Maina, and I'm not ready to take any 'sides', but this article is really making me question what Welch is doing with the company. I've never been more disillusioned with the way things are turning out.

  8. HB Hits the Road

    September 28, 2005

    Fall for Dance Festival

    City Center

    New York, NY

    Nosotros

    October 8, 2005

    Northrop Auditorium

    University of Minnesota

    Minneapolis, MN

    Nosotros

    Rooster

    Divergence

    October 11, 2005

    Harriman Arts

    Music Hall

    Kansas City, MO

    Nosotros

    Rooster

    Divergence

    October 14 - 15, 2005

    Dance St. Louis

    Fox Theatre

    St. Louis, MO

    Nosotros

    Forgotten Land

    Divergence

    April 27 - 29, 2006

    Les Grands Ballet

    Canadiens de Montreal

    Salle Wilfred-Prelletter,

    Place des Arts

    Montreal, Canada

    Giselle

    May 4 - 6, 2006

    National Arts Centre

    Ottawa, Canada

    Nosotros

    Divergence

    The Accidental

    They're going to be all over the place this season. I'll be happy to see the home company in NY- where they haven't appeared for more that two decades- although I wish they were bringing something else (like an excerpt from Gielgud's lovely production of Giselle).

  9. the mead drinking would put me off it.

    That suprised me a bit, too. But I doubt many kids under the age of 10 today, at least in America, would recognize what mead was, unless they were really good at reading context clues.

    Editing to add: No matter what people think of the contents in the Potter novels, reading them is still a more suitable and healthier pastime than playing videogames (which, sadly, are taking over the toy industry) or watching the latest trash on television.

  10. (Did Pippi Longstocking ever date?) 

    No, but then again I don't think too many 8 and 9 year olds are reading Pippi Longstocking anymore. When I was in elementary school, all the kids were reading Goosebumps ("dark" material) or Babysitters Club and the Sweet Valley series (which always dealt with relationships of that sort). Sure, some kids may go "eww, gross" at all the snogging involved, but it's nothing that they can't handle and they'll just get a good giggle out of it. It's not going to stop them from reading HP, either. Children these days are maturing a lot faster than we're used to thinking they do.

  11. My biggest qualm is that this is not a childrens book. I would not let elementary schoolers (maybe a mature fifth grader) read it. I feel very badly for the parents who are going to have to tell their children they can't read it yet because it is just to mature.

    I have to disagree. There are much worse things out there corrupting children than a harmless book. To me, it is still a children's novel that people of all ages can enjoy. Sure, there's romance, a bloodied nose, more bullying, death, and even a bit of "mead" drinking, but there's no cursing, sex, extreme violence, drunkenness, or drugs involved. I guess someone could dispute that there is violence, particularly at the climax of the novel, but what could it influence children to do? Throw around spells and hexes at each other? Better waving wands than waving guns. Besides, what I love most about the Potter series is that Rowling teaches us that the most magical and powerful thing in the world is love, not how one can yield a wand.

×
×
  • Create New...