forlkot

I love the music of Ravel for Daphnis et Chloe but have never seen the ballet staged. I would like to know about any performances of this work preserved on video, particularly about ones that members can recommend. I noticed on Amazon a VHS tape of a performance by Sydney Dance Company (by Graeme) which got a very low grade from the sole reviewer. Has anyone else seen this performance? Is it really as bad as the reviewer claimed it to be? Keith Tribble

This is just a footnote in followup to Jane's comment dated 26 May 2013: In the spring of 1993 I met with the late Vera Krasovskaia, one of the most prolific and revered Soviet/Russian ballet critics and historians, at her cottage at Komarova outside of St. Petersburg. I had gone to see her about my research on the ballet librettos of Aleksei Remizov, but somehow the conversation turned toward Oklahoma where I live. I was greatly surprised that someone as well-read as Krasovskaia did not know Agnes Demille, had never heard about DeMille dream ballet from Oklahoma, nor read Dance to the Piper or And Promenade Home (although Krasovskaia read and spoke English). Then again, not so surprising. The iron curtain was not just a military or political phenomenon, but even more essentially an information barrier.

I just watched a telecast today of Romeo and Juliet from the Bolshoi today (performance recorded on 12 May, I believe). It seemed to be well danced although Nikulina's interpretation of Juliet was rather shallow without the tragic notes many other interpreters have found in the part. Most disconcerting was a lack of thematic continuity in Grigorovich's ballet narrative. For example we saw Juliet taking the fatal love potion alone in her bedroom and then immediately afterwards dancing with Romeo who should have been banished from Verona by this time. Was this Juliet's dream? If so, Grigorovich should have found some way to make it clearer to the audience. This sort of incongruity occurred several times in Grigorovich's choreography, particularly concerning appearances and reappearances of the title characters. Did you see this production yet? If so, what do you think of it? Did any other members watch today's telecast?

I am working on an article about Julie Sazonova and Sergei Lifar based on their correspondence. Sazonova (1884-1957) was the author of two books about Lifar, as well as articles and reviews. I would appreciate learning from members about any recent research on Lifar and about Archival sources (apart from the archive of the City of Lausanne). I would especially like to hear about films of Lifar's performances and from anyone who has viewed the Lifar videos housed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (Lincoln Center). I would also like to read opinions about Lifar as a dancer/choreography and members' assessment of his proper place in ballet history. - Keith Tribble (Oklahoma State University).