tempusfugit

Ballet Nut, I'm also too young to have seen Plisetskaya, but what a ballerina! even on video she is incandescent. I DID see Terekhova and Anianashvili live in Don Q; both terrific (Terekhova used to do triple fouettes in the coda, among other things) I also admired Cynthia Gregory as Kitri. IMO this particular part is only suited to overwhelmingly brilliant technicians (not that any of the dancers above were ONLY technicians-- this was among their other attributes--) who enjoy showy firework displays; it's imperative that the tricks be tossed off.

Amen, Farrell Fan and perky! Who among us has not acted stupidly and unwisely, sometimes suffering the consequences for years? Kent certainly should not be penalized for her admirable candor: it is only her divine artistry onstage that occasions such uncharitable remarks towards the all-too-human rest of her life. While I couldn't agree more that she should have whacked Stern once and for all, :green: , jail simply WOULDN'T have showcased her talents in the same way. (Remember, this was before "Chicago"....) Does anyone recall one of the rare moments in Kirkland's first book where she shows compassion and wisdom towards Balanchine? {"I am sorry that Mr. B is gone. I have the feeling that we might be able to talk now. His disciples can defend him, but they cannot answer my questions with his inimitable voice...."} That was also Kirkland, and I think that is closer to the ballerina who wanted to give so much, the ballerina irreplaceable in our memories.

Mark, Striking a Balance is EXTREMELY fine. Newman is intelligent, sober, about as far from gossip as one can get; she asks great questions and gets fascinating answers from many sterling dancers. For example, her interview with Tanaquil LeClercq (there are lamentably few with this goddess) includes LeClercq saying "well, my feet weren't that good, and I could have had nicer arms.... I wasn't a beater, like Pat Wilde, or a turner... I wasn't a balancer...." If you've ever seen any footage of LeClercq's magic (and I use that word seriously) you'll be stunned at her apparently OLYMPIAN standards for these things. Of course, she was comparing herself to Tallchief (as turner), Wilde (as beater/jumper), and Toumanova (as balancer), so...... The interviews with Royal Ballet principals of the time are especially stellar. Deanne Bergsma ("when you are simply Deanne Bergsma {on stage, as in abstract ballets} it isn't really very nice"), Christopher Gable, Antoinette Sibley, David Wall, Desmond Kelly, and Nadia Nerina are all worth the price of admission all by themselves. Merrill Ashley appears, as does Alicia Alonso-- you can see that it is a marvelous range. there is a new edition with a few additional interviews which came out a few years ago, I think.

Old Fashioned, unfortunately I have yet to see Bears after her return. I do understand that she did not dance her scheduled Auroras, perhaps due to injury? I'm not in Houston much, so have not seen as much as I'd like. boydancer, I agree, Oliveira is a demon turner and that's much of what dazzled in her Cinderella variation, not to mention the VERY difficult sequences in Sanguinic (which look sooooo much easier than they are.........lol)

Old Fashioned, I wondered if you saw Sara Webb's performance in "Evening" (the pdd Ben Stevenson made for her to dance in Jackson competition)? I thought that even with a funereal tempo (it's the Rachmaninov Elegy, not the Rachmaninov Dirge) and dreadful piano playing, she was very lovely in it. I thought her legato admirable, and that may not be the first thing one thinks of in her dancing-- also, Leticia Oliveira in Sanguinic, and her Autumn variation in Cinderella? Mireille Hassenboehler's Choleric was INTERESTING...

Oberon, Evening's Waltzes hasn't been performed in quite some time. I believe the exit you recall was that of McBride and Bonnefous in their pas de deux to the Second Waltz. Both the Second and Third Waltzes were spectacular; the Third was originally for Gelsey Kirkland and Helgi Tomasson, both of whom were injured shortly before the premiere ( Kirkland, so she says, doing a dangerous and undanceable movement on which Robbins insisted....) Seems to me the ballet would be worth reviving, and odd that it is never done by other companies, but Kirkland's role was like most of the other choreography done on her at NYCB: viciously demanding and taxing. As John Taras once said, "I gave Gelsey very difficult steps but, of course, she could do anything..."

Mr. Edgecombe-- if I may weigh in on more than one subject-- PLEASE don't let Culkin (admittedly one of the most emetic creatures ever to appear on screen.....) distract you from the lovely choreography and occasionally brilliant dancing(Kyra Nichols' Dewdrop, which is breathtaking even on film though it was of course indescribable live) in the Balanchine Nutcracker. Dale, I was amused because I too have worn out Balanchine's Ballerinas. I recommend it most highly, not only for the variety of dancers interviewed but for the amazing passages such as one in which Suzanne Farrell describes dancing to entirely different instruments in a performance of Chaconne (she could not hear the strings , which she usually danced to) and the results. The double sauts de basque are usually, although not always, done by the prima ballerina in the finale of the Tchaikovsky Concerto. Moira Shearer recalls thinking "well, even if I break both legs, I'll have a go at them....." , and Maria Tallchief appalled a (nameless) young ballerina at ABT by informing her that the step was indeed supposed to be doubles.

Grace-- was a bit of an aside, but come to think of it-- :-) I believe there's no practical way to compare two artists who have different sensibilities and different aesthetic concerns. (Ashton and Balanchine, for example) seems to me that these two choreographers' concerns were shown partially through their choice of Muse: Fonteyn, an ivory goddess with superb placement, epaulement, and deportment, and Farrell, an ivory goddess who broke every rule and took astounding chances. That the two choreographers found inspiration in such different dancers exemplifies the futility of comparison, if you see what I mean. the two dancers' white skin and physical beauty were just about their only point of similarity. :-)

I thought Alexandra pretty much nailed it. :-) but also wanted to say vis-a-vis Balanchine/Ashton, Balanchine/Bejart, or any other invidious comparison..... not only are the criteria different in terms of the viewer (as A. said, what percentages matter of steps, structure, design, drama, etc), they are vastly different and often diametrically opposed in terms of the creator, and that is an AESTHETIC difference. To Balanchine, steps were un question morale (lol) in the way that styles of ballet (one might say) were to Ashton. They both had muses (Farrell and Fonteyn) who inspired them for many years (not to say that either choreographer didn't have other great dancers/muses), but there the similarity ends. even in somewhat atypical ballets such as Balanchine's Don Quixote or Ashton's Symphonic Variations (well, I said SOMEWHAT atypical....) one sees the utterly individual and special touch of the master in less familiar territory. Balanchine never cast Farrell in a full-length nineteenth-century ballet (though she did dance Swan Lake in his idiosyncratic and wonderful one-act version), for various reasons of exigency, availability, and chronology, but also because it was not his first love or idea for the use of her gifts; conversely, Ashton never cast Fonteyn in a one-act like Tzigane, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, or even Chaconne or Mozartiana. it wasn't that Fonteyn had no technique to display (her Sylvia in the fifties was apparently dazzling) but that he was far too busy making Daphnis and Chloe, Marguerite and Armand, and his marvelous Sleeping Beauty. Monotones could never be Balanchine; The Steadfast Tin Soldier could never be Ashton. :-)

Leigh, there were indeed double saut de basques in the role; both Moira Shearer and Maria Tallchief speak of them (Tallchief says she told a ballerina at ABT about them and the ballerina responded "that's what John Taras said, but I thought he was kidding!") Roma, there was a beautiful mime passage which Balanchine deleted when he redid the ballet as Concerto no. 2 in '73 (the passage was in the adagio). I saw both Nichols and Ashley in the role frequently and was especially ravished by a Nichols performance about ten years ago at a Saturday matinee. the audience was rude, uninvolved, inattentive, and Nichols gave one of the all-time Experiences Never To Be Repeated. the swivel or quarter-point turns in the cadenza, which are notoriously hard and unreliable, were bagatelles to her. :-) The soloist role was never thought of as a demi part by Balanchine, who cast ballerinas in it (the young Tallchief with Moylan in the principal part, Patricia and Colleen Neary, Ashley, Nichols, Calegari, etc.) it's an extraordinary ballet, either as Ballet Imperial or Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no. 2.

dirac, Ursula Le Guin in one of her essays refers to one of her own novels, lol, as "populated exclusively by exquisitely boring Archetypes." Yes.......................

John-Michael, I saw Asylmuratova dance Esmeralda (pas de six, I think it is?) twice. Alexandra does not exaggerate in calling it "wondrous". one of her very best parts, which is saying a lot. if you can find the video I believe you'd be stunned. she certainly does a lot for a tambourine....

what a marvelous discussion. Alexandra's observations about "Amager" , the unfamiliarity of mime, Noverre; Katharine Kanter's on specialization and the (non-imitative)nature of danced mime; Manhattnik's on Anianashvili's exquisite mime in Swan Lake... To pursue a bit further Katharine Kanter's observations (and Kirsten Ralov's quote).... I myself was a gymnast and see a parallel in the abolition of figures in figure skating (!!!!!!!!) and compulsory exercises in gymnastics. it's the dreadful "jumping up and down" view of any "athletic" endeavor-- okay, enough of this, where's the good stuff? LOL. I watched the compulsories from the Barcelona Olympics on a cable special, the "triplecast", and saw every competitor's exercises. it was astounding. every strength and weakness, everything the gymnasts strenuously eschewed in their optional routines becauses it wasn't their favorite thing to do, was transparently obvious. amplitude, fluidity, flexibility (or lack of same) were under Klieg lights. Perhaps that's why compulsories and figures had to go? I sincerely hope mime never suffers a similarly ludicrous fate.

Toni Bentley's own story is "pathetic"? one of the best, most incisive writers on dance, who wrote the brilliant Winter Season at age 22 or so, and also provided us with the fascinating Costumes by Karinska? (No, I'm not employed by Bentley's publishers. lol) what would be "pathetic", her honesty on the subject of ballet's vicissitudes? and is it OKAY that Balanchine enjoyed a strip club? Wagner was anti-Semitic; Picasso hardly treated women well. the foibles and imperfections of artists --outside their art -- are legion. we're lucky that geniuses such as Balanchine-- or Picasso, or Wagner-- USUALLY spared us their bad taste within their work. :-)

Calliope and Leigh, thank you both for eloquent appreciations of Square Dance. I concur absolutely. wondered if anyone has read the interview with Wilde where she says that originally the ballet was so hard (fancy that) she could barely get through it, and that then they didn't give it for a while and when it was revived she was several years older and feared the worst. however, she found that with the NEW MAN'S SOLO:) it was in fact easier for her than it had been. apparently the small breather was a huge help. only have one slight quibble with Leigh: surely you weren't thinking of the ballerina part as being "without furbelows"? grin. not only gargouillades but the incredible enchainement near the end...Calliope also makes the point that Square Dance, impossible as it is, is supposed to look FUN . Wilde looked as if it were the most delightful bagatelle and she warmed up with it every day before breakfast.

Amanda, I agree completely about Borree's inability to manage the steps in Square Dance. not only the turns... the petit allegro in general is either anemic or simply absent. You probably all know that Patricia Wilde, on whom the role was made, was one of the spectacular dancers of her period; there is a Bell Telephone Hour or some such thing from 1963 which has her performance of this role. to say it is revelatory is an understatement. of NYCB ballerinas I have seen in the role, only Ashley and Nichols (both dazzling technicians themselves) came close to doing all of Wilde's original steps. The role is unfortunately one of those which is usually dumbed down and simplified out of existence, alas-- Wilde's footwork is of a caliber rare even at NYCB, and not appearing in this ballet currently. Why don't they cast Bouder, Somogyi, or Taylor in it? :-)

Amanda, I agree completely about Borree's inability to manage the steps in Square Dance. not only the turns... the petit allegro in general is either anemic or simply absent. You probably all know that Patricia Wilde, on whom the role was made, was one of the spectacular dancers of her period; there is a Bell Telephone Hour or some such thing from 1963 which has her performance of this role. to say it is revelatory is an understatement. of NYCB ballerinas I have seen in the role, only Ashley and Nichols (both dazzling technicians themselves) came close to doing all of Wilde's original steps. The role is unfortunately one of those which is usually dumbed down and simplified out of existence, alas-- Wilde's footwork is of a caliber rare even at NYCB, and not appearing in this ballet currently. Why don't they cast Bouder, Somogyi, or Taylor in it? :-)