grace

thank you su lian. i see what you mean about 'rwah-yahl' . it IS too late for the first printing, but i will make this change for the next time around. about twu OR twah, and 'on-tru-lu-say' OR 'on tru lah say' : i take your point, but i won't change these. my reason is that australians seem apt to pronounce the 'ah' sound as TOO long, like 'aaaaaah' or 'aaarrrr'. so i used the 'u' to try to keep it short...i hope that, with that explanation, you might find it more acceptable? about 'rotation', i think i need to keep it the way it is, because we would pronounce the english as 'roe-tay-shun', so it is not only the middle syllable that needs to change, to get a reasonable french pronunciation. i hope you agree? thank you again, for your interest and suggestions.

just want to say: what a lovely idea for a topic.

thanks alexandra. interesting info, boydancer: thanks for that.

the event sounds wonderful. lucky you to have attended. one query to anoushka, who writes about the music expert mentioning: i assume this is the 5/4 variation which RB audiences are familiar with (ashton's choreography). what i want to ask is: did the expert really refer to it as a "waltz"? if so, do you understand why?i am not trying to be 'clever', or to contradict you, but rather to discover if there is something about this piece of music which i have not previously understood (because i would not consider it a 'waltz). thank you for your information.

moving on, then...which "texas company" has stevenson gone to, and what's the news from there?

OK, now i've read it. it certainly IS wierd... first he insults a major american school, then the major british one. who is he? WHO does he THINK he is? how offensive the whole tone is; how superior and inelegant. i'm amazed this got published. one wonders about the quality of the newspaper, but one also wonders about the writer's intentions... quite extraordinarily innappropriate, IMO - REGARDLESS of what the performance was like. his approach does not lead me to trust his judgment, at all.in response to one of the 'stylistic' issues raised by posts above, cynthia harvey, when with the RB, said that she found that americans tended to stress the movement, whereas the english tended to stress the positions. each can learn from the other. that comment seems most appropriate, to me.

this thread seems to have some undercurrents i don't understand. i, too, was wondering which publication was being referred to. i will go and read the review, now that has been pointed out. for clarification about the RBS training methods over the years: - initially it was cecchetti-based, (de valois having come from study with cecchetti in the diaghelev company), - around 1985, merle park (as RBS director) initiated a change from what had gone before in RBS training, to a vaganova-based approach, - the RBS has NEVER had RAD training as part of its 'method' or 'training approach'. - it HAS, however, offered extra-curricular RAD (and cecchetti) syllabus classes, for those students who had come into its training programme from elsewhere (such as british RAD schools, or australia or south africa), and who wished to continue to take RAD exams. obviously, the now defunct RBS teacher's course included these syllabi (both of them). let me repeat: these RAD (& cecchetti) classes were EXTRA-curricular. - since gailene stock took over a couple of years ago, she has reviewed the vaganova-based curriculum, and has said in interviews that she has added a few things, making minor changes; nothing major. - she has also brought her very strong RAD-related coaching skills into the program (by this clumsy wording, what i mean is the skills which saw her coach so many genee winners from the ABS, in the past). - this part is a guess: someone with such strongly successful past affiliations with RAD work is likely to be continuing to offer those skills, in the new setting - so it is quite likely that there MAY well be now (over the last few years) some INcrease in interest or participation, in RAD syllabus and exams, within the RBS. there seems to be a complete misunderstanding with some americans i read online, that the RAD (royal academy of dance) has something to do with the royal ballet company and/or the royal ballet school. this is simply not the case, and never was. all three are british, all three have 'royal' in their name. the RBS is the feeder school for the RB: YES - THEY are affiliated. but the RAD is something else, entirely. hope that helps clarify what most of you DO already understand, i'm sure.

i am most used to thinking of/seeing Aurora as being in pale pink - as juliet says, and for the same reason: the dawn and the roses. monte: you are quite correct that different productions make Aurora's age different - i have noticed 15 years, 16 years, and 20.

for wjglavis: just to say that getting in and out of a tutu in a small space is a challenge better avoided... ;)

well, of COURSE i didn't mean to "give people what they want" if it is DANGEROUS to do so...i'm sure you realise that.

no - i noticed that you haven't posted in THIS thread. but i was referring to when this discussion about class CDs was held previously... (at least i THINK it was!)...maybe i'm imagining things...

DOH! ....oh leigh! that's wonderful. ;)

i think it was lynn stanford's that victoria recommended...victoria? knock, knock...are you there? ;)

i haven't been able to read the article, but i am 'with' fendrock. i have noticed cabriole's attitude to this question before, on other boards, and read her comments with great interest, as i know her posts to be always informative and often thought-provoking. i think that she and i probably believe in the same thing here, even though we seem to express it as if we differ. maybe it is the interpretation of the word 'recreational'? whatever it is, i believe that the vast majority of kids and parents ARE looking for recreational training, and should be provided with that. yes, i DO believe that it is appropriate, in a business market, to give people what they are looking for. (sorry, mel! ;) ) vocational training ought NOT to be forced on, or even 'offered' to, children and parents who don't want it. to me, the word 'recreational' simply means for fun, for pleasure, for exercise, towards social ends....it says nothing at all about the QUALITY of the teaching (teaching methods, teaching styles, etc). one can have good or bad recreational teachers, just as one can have good or bad vocational teachers.

last night i saw, for the first time, some choreography by Australian Simon Dow, the previous AD of Milwaukee Ballet, now AD of West Australian Ballet. two of his works were presented, a pas de deux from Spartacus, and his Rite of Spring. i wonder whether any members have seen any of his works before, and can offer any thoughts about either of these works, OR about his choreography in general? postscript: i think this 'rite of spring' is a new creation.

understood, leigh. "Godwin's Law"? :confused:

samba's post is very interesting to me....food for thought. when you write "Genius and good character are no more or less likely to mix ", it seems to me that, in general, we may be more likely to ASSUME that good character WOULD mix with genius - since 'genius' seems like a virtuous quality, as is "good character". i guess it comes down to how one defines 'genius'. is it an amoral description - extraordinary competence AT something/anything? or is it more than that - a complex of human qualities? i suppose one COULD define hitler as a genius AT what he did... but i would never have put that word together with his name - i guess 'genius' DOES have some moral meaning to me - which is a bit wierd, when i think about it. i guess i grew up assuming the word 'genius' was attached to 'good' people - which must be where we are getting this discussion from. maybe lots of us grew up thinking that....

thanks for all that info, garyecht. maybe i should get that one. my favourites are those by nigel gaynor (an australian pianist who played for the australian ballet, and has now moved to england as music director for a company there). he has 4 class CDs out - called INSPIRATIONS, NATIONS, SENSATIONS - and i can't recall the name of the other one. in contrast to garyecht's CD, these have relatively short tracks - 32 or 64 counts, generally. the music is bright and motivating, with suitable tempi and dynamics for the exercises. gary - in general, i often use NON-plie music for plies - regardless of which music i have for class. often i find plie music too laborious and uninspiring - too solid. so: try the centre adage music, or some other track. btw, i recall a long thread at balletalert where class CDs were discussed, and victoria mentioned a favourite pianist who has lots of CDs out...

on a different focus entirely: i have never seen such a 'sweet' - or pretty- looking picture of pavlova... probably you have all seen the marvellous studio photo of cecchetti taking class with an equally illustrious line-up of stars at the barre?

seems to me there is more scope for errors in this level than in the other one - so any critiques will be welcomed. i would have expected 'serre' to mean zigzag, or jagged - but one of my collaborators had already put in "closely or tightly packed" - and she probably looked up a dictionary, so i'm probably wrong. any thoughts on that one? the INTERMEDIATE level is coming later...

thanks estelle - seems like i haven't done too badly. i understand what you say about the accented syllables. this is probably not going to be paid much attention to (by the readers), anyway! i think i will change deux from 'dur' to 'duh' - last night i was thinking that was too much like homer simpson - but now i've remembered that he says 'doh'! not 'duh'! ;)

i am putting this here in the hope it will attract the attention of estelle or other reliable and knowledgeable French-speaking posters. i am under time pressure to put together the theory component of a couple of levels of our ballet examination syllabus. students are expected to be able to translate the names of syllabus steps which are new to them, at each examination level. i would like to ask anyone who has an informed opinion to comment on the following, if there is anything there which you think should be translated differently - or pronounced differently. i may not necessarily change what is here, for a number of reasons having to do with locally accepted pronunciation, and/or the meaning of the word in the context of the ballet step - but i am very keen to know if anything is wrong here, and would appreciate that being drwan to my attention. this stuff will probably get sent to the printers tomorrow or the next day - so please dive in and comment. thank you! ELEMENTARY royale ‘roy-arl’ royal rotation ‘roe-tus-yon' rotation compose ‘kom-po-zay’ composed entrelace ‘on-tru-lu-say’ interlaced un/une ‘urn/oon’ one deux ‘dur’ two trois ‘twu’ three quatre ‘kut-r’ four cinq ‘sank’ five six ‘sees’ six Numbers 3 to 5 should be demonstrable as entrechats. grand saut de Basque ‘gron soe d barsk’ big jump of the Basque (country or people) petit pas de Basque en tournant pronunciation: ‘pe-TEE pah d Basque on toor-NON’ translation: small step of the Basque (country or people) turning

i am putting this here in the hope it will attract the attention of estelle or other reliable and knowledgeable French-speaking posters. i am under time pressure to put together the theory component of a couple of levels of our ballet examination syllabus. students are expected to be able to translate the names of syllabus steps which are new to them, at each examination level. i would like to ask anyone who has an informed opinion to comment on the following, if there is anything thjere which you think should be translated differently - or pronounced differently. i may not necessarily change what is here, for a number of reasons having to do with locally accepted pronunciation, and/or the meaning of the word in the context of the ballet step - but i am very keen to know if anything is wrong here, and would appreciate that being drwan to my attention. this stuff will probably get sent to the printers tomorrow or the next day - so please dive in and comment. thank you! PRE-ELEMENTARY add to battement: serre ‘se-ray’ closely or tightly packed Students have now learnt battement tendu, grand battement, battement glisse, battement sur le cou de pied, petit battement, battement fondu, battement retire, battement degage, battment frappe, battement en cloche, battement pique & battement serre. renverse ‘ron-vair-say’ reverse chaine ‘she-nay’ chained entrechat ‘on-tru-shaa’ interwoven temps de cuisse ‘ton d kweese’ step of the thigh The following should be expressible in English, as individual words and as phrases: degage & temps lie ‘day-gu-zjay & ton lee-ay’ disengaged & linked movements releve en ecarte & assemble en tournant ‘ru-lu-vay on ay-kar-tay & uss-om-blay on tour-non’ rise (wide open) & assemble, turning grand jete en avant ‘gron zje-TAY on uv-ON’ big throw forward sauté fouette raccourci a la seconde pronunciation: ‘sow-tay fwe-tay ru-kor-see u lu se-KOND’ translation: jumped whipped shortening to the second Jota ‘HOT-u’ is a Spanish dance in 6/8 rhythm

i am still mulling this one over, in the background, and am grateful for the insights offered here. in another thread, the word 'homogenisation' came up. what a great word! very useful. this will help me explain my initial question. i was thinking that the word 'globalisation', if taken literally, implies that things 'from all over the globe' get picked up, or get spread, 'all over the globe'. this could be likened to homogenisation - where different things get all thrown in the pot together, and stewed till it all comes out the same. whereas 'americanisation' implies that (only) american things get spread all over the world. this is what i was getting at with my initial query: in ballet, do we really have a homogenised form of ballet, or homogenised fashion in ballet, spread everywhere? or do we have what are essentially (stereotypically considered to be) "american" fashions/tastes/characteristics, spread everywhere? still thinking...

i admire (and am envious of) you ALL.