carabosse

What a timely question. I am a dance student and fan, but instead of a personal ancedote I will share some geeky science news. Last night on NOVA I watched a segment about mirror neurons. Scientists have found that these neurons fire the same whether you are performing a physical activity, or simply watching someone else perform it. I was thinking that both dancers and dance fans probably have highly developed mirror neurons. On the NOVA website, there is an article where they are indeed looking at dancers' mirror neurons. They found more neuron activity when a person watched the style of movement they were trained in. Non-dancers had low neuron activity. I wonder how much these neurons can develop over time, either through physical training or observing. Check it out: NOVA Research Update

I was hoping for John and Charlotte to win, and was very disappointed. Kelly and Alec threw in a lot of fancy lifts in their final number, and Kelly fell out of the finish of each one. My boyfriend (not a big dance fan) even noticed the lack of strength and control. It seemed to me that the judges were scoring on popularity along with the the audience. Sure, Kelly was the "most improved" but she still lacked the style by the last week. My cynical opinion is that Kelly won because she will make a better promotional spokesperson for the next season.

This is a pet peeve of one of my teachers. She has explained that a quiet landing is possible by relaxing the foot at the proper time during the descent of the jump. Of course, when jumping in pointe shoes it is much much more difficult!

Also slightly off-topic, since this was a modern dance performance, not ballet. But you did bring up Radiohead.... Merce Cunningham did a performance last year with live music by Radiohead and Sigur Ros. Tickets were nearly impossible to get. There is a thread about it here, with links to some reviews: http://balletalert.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13998 I think you will find more modern dance companies using different kinds of music than ballet companies. This is probably for several reasons - tradition, smaller productions, more push to innovate rather than recreate. However, the line between contemporary ballet and modern dance is not always clear. Advertisements don't always include what music will be used in a performance, you only find out afterwards in the reviews. Maybe some marketing could be done to target the music audience? Awhile back the Joffrey Ballet did an evening of dances to music by Prince, called Billboards. Boris Eifman used music by the Future Sound of London in one of his ballets. These are just the first examples that come to mind, of contemporary music that I like used in ballets.

The Martha@ series continues (finally!) this week at the Jane Street Theater. Thursday 6/17 at 7:30 and 10:00 Jane Street Theatre 113 Jane, at the Hotel Riverview Ballroom Manhattan Phone: 212-239.6200 Tickets $40 and $50 The film Ghostlight will also be playing June 23 through June 29 at the Pioneer Theater. Two Boots There is also an article in the NYTimes: Martha Graham Like You've Never Seen Him

Regarding the higher arm in Cecchetti 3rd arabesque.... My teacher used to say imagine having a diamond ring on your finger, holding it up to the light so you could look through the stone. I've also heard the term "arabesque deux bras" from other teachers. -Danielle

There was also a brief review in the Village Voice last year. I was unable to catch the film at the theater, so I'm glad it's getting released on DVD. (from http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0245/shots.php)

I've seen wilis described as vampires in several synopsis. There is a history of "Giselle" on BalletMet's website, at http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Giselle.html. Included is a discussion of the origin of the word "wili" and their appearance in several cultures: "Meyer's Konverationslexikon defines Wiles or Wilis as female vampires, the spirits of betrothed girls who are jilted before their wedding night. According to Heine wilis came from a Slav legend of maidens who are engaged to be married but die before their wedding. They are unable to rest in their graves because they could not satisfy their passion for dancing when they were alive. They therefore gather on the highway at midnight to lure young men and dance them to their death. There is a Slave word 'vila' which means vampire. The plural is vile, and wilis is probably a Germanic pronunciation of that word as a 'w' in German is pronounced like a 'v'. (Puccini's first opera is based on the same legend, in Italian Le Villi.) In Serbia they were maidens cursed by God; in Bulgaria they were known as samovily, girls who died before they were baptized; and in Poland they are beautiful young girls floating in the air atoning for frivolous past lives."

"The Night Porter" (Il Portiere di Notte, 1974) is another film that includes ballet. Charlotte Rampling portrays a Holocaust survivor who encounters her former Nazi guard, now working as a porter in the hotel she is staying at. I won't get into the psychology of the film here, but just say that it is disturbing. One of the characters is a danseur, also a former Nazi. He still has a desire to perform, so he gives private performances for his friends in the hotel. There is a flashback scene where he is performing in a gymnasium for an audience of Nazi officers. I don't recall what the music was, or if he was performing a specific piece. His costume was just a small pair of white trunks. The dancing itself was rather good. The film was recently released on DVD, with a new cover of Rampling from the cabaret scene. Not a movie to share with the family, but interesting in a dark sort of way.

This past weekend I caught a Chinese variety show on channel 63 (NYC Metro area) that included an amazing dance segment. The ballerina was balancing on her partner's head, on pointe, in arabesque. She then did a prominade in this position. (I have never seen anyone do this on the floor - an unsupported, slow prominade on pointe.) Needless to say, I was astounded. Could this have been Jan Lee Ping? The entire program was in Chinese and the TV listings had no description. I would like to know more about this dancer. Anyone have any leads? Is there more than one dancer who has such balance? Thanks, Danielle