Old Fashioned

I've only seen Nina Ananiashvili perform live in the entire ballet. Don't think she's entirely suited to the role. Sara Webb is wonderful in the bedroom pdd. On video I've only seen Penney. How I long to see Seymour in Manon or R&J; perhaps I would have a different view of those ballets if I come across archive videos of her in those roles.

Wortham Theater's Brown stage is very good for dance. The seating is frontal, meaning the seats don't extend out to the sides of the auditorium too much. It's a medium sized theater with about 2000 seats, and sitting in the top section still feels fairly close to the stage since the seats were built more upward rather than backward. The only poor seats I've sat in are side orchestra. Most people complain about the balcony (top section) because the sight lines cut off the backdrop on stage, but I don't mind if I have binoculars and the dancers are always visible from there, and that's what's most important. Wortham's smaller stage, Cullen, is also good for dance but a lot smaller.

I rather like NYST. It's much more dance-appropriate than the Met.

Yikes! I hope he's all right. Please keep us updated. Sigh...I miss his dancing.

As for "the young" seeking excitement....I think it's dangerous to make assumptions about any group.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It seems as though most young people who attend the ballet are dancers themselves, and when they go to the ballet, they generally want to see "ballet." If they wanted something contemporary, they would go to the local modern dance troupe. This is a huge generalization, but it's pretty much the case, at least in my area where the public is not as exposed or educated in dance.

  It's important to keep some tickets available -- especially for younger viewers -- at prices roughly comparable to a movie ticket. That's a long-term investment for the company. It establishes what will ultimately become a core of loyal fans.

This is what I don't understand about Houston Ballet in its current state. Welch wants to attract a younger audience and wants to hear more cheering from this demographic, but it can't happen if they rarely offer rush tickets (right now, they only offer it during a single matinee- which I can never go to- for each program) or raise the cost of the regular tickets (the cheapest have gone from $11.50 to $19 for seats no one wants to sit in). I don't think this was much of an issue in the past, and their marketing team (or whatever else dictates ticket prices) should know better, especially since they must compete with the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Symphony, companies that almost always offer discounts. This is limiting the younger audience to their own dancers from the school, many of whom get free entrance. I also wonder if Welch knows that most of this cheering is coming from this exact group because they're rooting for people they know performing on stage.

Apologies to BB fans for turning this into a little venting session of mine.

After learning about John Lithgow's involvement with the NYCB in "Carnival of the Animals," I somehow imagine him as Don Q.

They should be confiscated at the door, like nail scissors at airports

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not a bad idea. If some theaters require a coat check-in, why not a cell phone check?

Hmm..is there an image of this I can find online?

There was a touching article in the Chron today about Webb's real-life love story, which Ari posted in Links. Here's a direct one: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/dance/3088800

It's a small reminder of the hope for a safe return of all loved ones stationed overseas.

"Sum-oy-jee"? At least that's how I heard it pronounced on a Live from Lincoln Center broadcast.

Do same-sex Canadian marriages count in the US? Congrats to the happy couple.

The review of opening night.

And yet — while the Houston Ballet corps brings youthful vigor to every market scene — how many market scenes with folksy dances can an audience take today? With the kind of magnificent-looking but cumbersome sets few ballet companies can afford anymore, this 1987 production is also full of necessary road-humps: Interlude scenes in which dancers parade through some silly or solemn business downstage while the heavy furniture shifts behind a scrim.

Maybe we need to learn to slow down again, to savor such beauty. But a friend may have summed it up best when we decided Romeo & Juliet was like Godiva candy: A worthwhile indulgence, but it feels a little like eating the whole box at once.

R&J is far from being my favorite ballet, but does anyone else get the impression the reviewer is speaking of multiple-act story ballets in general while implying mime is unnecessary?

I doubt most people here care. They definitely care more about what ballet they're seeing rather than who will be dancing. Subscribers or people on the mailing list never receive a "package" telling them who dances on what date, as ABT does. Sometimes casting is posted a week or two before performances on the website, sometimes it's not. Sometimes I have to e-mail them and badger them to post it. Many times when casting is posted, they only list the people dancing in the lead roles. For example, this past Nutcracker they only posted Sugar Plum Fairy, the Prince, and Snow Queen- they didn't have full casting in the Playbill, either!

Along with an updated website (yay!), casting for R&J has been posted. The four Juliets are Sara Webb, Barbara Bears, Leticia Oliveira, and Mireille Hassenboehler, dancing with Simon Ball, Zdenek Konvalina, Ian Casady, and Marcelo Gomes ( didn't realize he would be guesting again), respectively.

I have yet to see a decent photograph of Mireille Hassenboehler (for example, the recent cover of Pointe magazine ). She's a lovely person and an even lovelier dancer, but her beauty never comes across in still images.

I like this observation she made (I think she was quoting someone else, but I didn't catch the name): "Things that are covered can be more suggestive than things that are open." Rewatching Elusive Muse earlier today, before listening to the Acocella lecture, I was just thinking to myself how much more sensual a sheer skirt covering the legs is than tights-and-leo only. Also makes me think back on an article written in the New Yorker awhile ago about how in some Middle Eastern cultures, men's obsession with the extreme covering of the female body can be viewed as a form of pornography.

Thinner is better, but I find it absurd when a dancer like Suzanne Farrell had to be told to lose weight (so what if she had some baby fat in her cheeks?). As long as one's weight does not hinder the ability to execute steps correctly and at a proper speed, I don't think it should be as large of an issue as it is. The problem is we've trained our eyes to become accustomed to the "ideal" form and we pick out the dancers who don't mold to it.

Jean Marais

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I knew I was missing someone from my men's list! While I'm at it, I'll add two of his leading ladies to my women's list: Josette Day and Lee Miller.

I've never understood the fascination with Zhang Ziyi. Gong Li by far outshines her. Chow-Yun Fat is another attractive Asian superstar, and newcomer Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior) is not bad, either.

IMO, no actress has every been as alluring as Garbo. That voice!

Others:

Rita Hayworth, Hedy Lamarr, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Anita Ekberg

Men:  Once I manage to let go of my heartthrobs of the past (Clark Gable, who may not have been classically beautiful but who oozed . . . something, and Gregory Peck, the Perfect Man )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So that's what I find wrong with many of today's leading men! Sure, many have pretty faces ,but they're missing that je ne sais quoi...

Thanks. I haven't seen Bride & Prejudice but the reviews of Bride & Prejudice make it sound as if the movie is patronizing the Bollywood style and Indian traditions. That's no way to draw the Janeites or those interested in world cinema to the box office.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

True, although I'm not familiar with Bollywood movies nor have I seen B&P. I only know of her through Indian friends of mine and seen a couple previews of the movie, which was enough to make me consider her one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Rai is Bollywood's current reigning star. She hasn't quite caught on in Hollywood yet- Bride & Prejudice isn't doing too well at the box office. I believe she was Miss World once.

We've had "Most Beautiful Dancers" and "Most Beautiful Opera Singers," and all this Oscar talk made me want to open a new thread on this subject. I would prefer to keep these lists to today's active actresses and actors because my list would be endless if it included from all time.

Women:

Juliette Binoche

Mariska Hargitay

Lena Olin

Aishwarya Rai

Uma Thurman

Kate Winslet

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Audrey Tautou- I don't consider her beautiful, but she's too cute to go unmentioned (BTW, for those who don't know yet, she'll be starring opposite Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code movie)

Men:

Johnny Depp

Joaquin Phoenix- didn't care for him until I saw Quills

I'm going to break my own rules here and include actors from the past because I'm not too attracted to many of them today, besides the ones above.

Laurence Olivier

Robert Taylor

Marlon Brando

Gene Kelly

Louis Jourdan

Omar Sharif

I enjoyed reading your review, Paquita. I felt the same way about Madame Butterfly when it was staged on Houston Ballet a few years back. Perhaps I would have liked it better had I seen Naomi Glass- who was supposed to lead the "first cast"- dance the role of Butterfly, but she was injured before she had a chance to perform it. The press declared Welch's choreography to be in the same vein as MacMillan's, but I wonder if that's anything to brag about.

As for the opera and the bowing to the American flag, I suppose it depends on the production. I've only seen Francesca Zambello's and don't recall that at all. However, I doubt many ballets that are based on operas follow the librettos or original production notes too closely.

That's pretty much what I'm talking about. But look at the ballet world- dancers are kept to an even stricter standard. How is it any different? Rarely do I hear of someone complaining of a dancer being too thin, but one displays even the teensiest extra amount of flesh, they're considered not having the correct body type.

Poor actresses. They are criticized for being too thin (yes, this does occur quite often actually. Think Lara Flynn Boyle) and too fat.

The gowns seem to be more and more similar these days

There were at least 3 women who wore similar strapless, red gowns (Zellweger, Sandra Oh, Emmy Rossum).

I can't say I like the fact that all these actresses are uber-thin nowadays, but it seems to be a necessary sacrifice for their "art." Is it healthy for actors to put on weight for certain roles (or lose weight) and then quickly shed off those pounds? I can't imagine that it does them any good, but that just comes with the work they do.

She's no thinner than most ballet dancers, or many of the other celebrities for that matter. I thought Zellweger looked fine, aside from the super-white make-up and dark hair.