Hans

Change one or two words--replace loud singing with high extension, for example--and the article could easily be about ballet today.

I would like to read the Saint-Simon, which Hilton mentions: Of course that snippet is mostly about Saint-Simon's writing in relation to the subject of Hilton's book.The Mitford book is another I would like to see, along with her book about the Pompadour (whom, try as I might, I cannot so far admire much)--they've been recommended by a friend as extremely entertaining.

I realized I forgot to mention what I thought of all the other books I've plowed through lately--I really enjoyed Athénaïs. Thought Lisa Hilton did a very good job of bringing this important lady out of relative obscurity without going so far as to whitewash or justify her flaws in the attempt to rehabilitate her reputation. She provides a very intriguing glimpse of Luis XIV's court, and it is interesting to consider this book in relation to similar ones about Mme. de Pompadour, Marie Antoinette, and Josephine Bonaparte. A Venetian Affair was primarily interesting to me as a collection of long-unknown letters detailing a (mostly) secret affair between one of the last statesment of the Republic of Venice--Andrea Memmo--and an English lord's illegitimate daughter with a Venetian woman--Giustiniana Wynne. However, it is more than that, as it evokes not just 18C Venice, but also Parisian and London society during the Seven Years' War and the decline and eventual fall of La Serenissima. Giustiniana had some extraordinary adventures, and she was an engaging writer (she eventually wrote a novel and a collection of essays), which makes the story even more fun to read. So far, Possession is leaving me totally cold. I am not able to care about any of the characters, whom I find irritating at best, and while the writing is indeed very good, once I put the book down I do not have the desire to pick it back up again except as something with which to occupy myself on the metro and at lunch, but maybe it just takes time to get into it.

It IS a page turner, my goodness...but don't read it while eating! Báthory did indeed bathe in the blood of virgins to keep her beauty from fading, but in order to get them to bleed, she tortured them in unimaginably appalling ways, and not just in her own castle, but wherever she went, even as a guest, she had her (also clearly very ill) servants set up a torture chamber for her. What shocks me is how long it all went on as she culled her villages and then others to keep the stream of girls coming, even as rumors spread. Eventually, her servants were put to death and she was walled up in her own castle as punishment.

Well, on my trip, I managed to both start and finish Athénaïs by Lisa Hilton, about Louis XIV's greatest mistress, and A Venetian Affair by Andrea di Robilant, a true story of a secret love affair between two young Venetians in the eighteenth century. I'm now starting on Possession, the basis for the movie with the same title starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and finishing up The Bloody Countess by Valentine Penrose, a bizarre, apparently true, tale of Erzsébet Báthory, an unbelievably cruel and clearly mentally ill Hungarian countess of the 17th century.

It seems to be normal for dancers to move down a rank when they change companies. It gives them a feel for the company in a lower-stress environment, and it is especially helpful when a change of style is involved (as in Monique Meunier to ABT and Alexandra Ansanelli to Royal Ballet) which arguably may or may not be the case with a move from NYCB to PNB.

The Libretto does not mention a Snow Pas de Deux, so I do not think it was in the original production. However, it is performed quite frequently in productions of the Nutcracker, at least in the US, either by a Snow King and Queen or by the Nutcracker-Prince and Marie/Clara. Each company usually has its own choreography for this dance, which is listed in this Synopsis of Dances as a "Transformation Scene."

Just finished Middlemarch by George Eliot.

Bart, in the Vainonen Nutcracker, Prince Coqueluche sometimes does a series of sixteen double fouettés at the end of his variation instead of the diagonal of cabrioles.

Actually, when done properly, they do not require more effort than the Cecchetti style. I actually find them easier.

Is this going to be the 1933 choreography or a Lacotte-like "reconstruction" with the same plot and completely different choreography?

Fedotov, easily.

Wow. And I thought Volokova was bad.

As much as I love fouettés (they are my ballet guilty pleasure) I never count them. As long as they work with the music, it is fine with me.

This link should give you lots of ideas.

The only thing I can say is that during my time at Rudra (a little less than a year), both the company and school were, while quite international, also extremely (but not exclusively) white. I don't know how that may have changed by now or what the situation may be like at other institutions.

The only periodical I read on paper is DanceView; everything else is online. Dragging all that paper to the recycling bin every week is a pain. Acocella is extremely out of touch. I get the most reliable dance reviews here on BT, not just from the members but from the Links forum.

I think that is the case at some schools in Europe, although I don't know for sure how universally it applies to all children. For example, at the Vaganova Academy, in the past vrsfanatic has mentioned that the students generally attend a sort of pre-ballet program which involves floor exercises, learning how to point their feet, straighten their knees, do battement tendu, &c (not sure how many times/week this is). Then at age 10 some of them are taken into the Vaganova Academy proper, and they begin real ballet classes. In other countries, students might begin studying ballet or pre-ballet at age 8 at a local studio and then audition at age 10 for a larger academy where they have class 5x/week. By the way, I should qualify my statement above that "anything less than 90-minute classes 5-6 days/week usually indicates a school that is not serious about ballet" to "anything less than 90-minute classes 5-6 days/week at an intermediate/advanced level in the US usually indicates a school that is not serious about ballet." But now we have gone rather far I can start a thread for this over on BT4D.

Unsatisfactory? He was with ABT, often dancing soloist roles although he left before he could be promoted. Doesn't sound so unsatisfactory to me! He may have found the prospect of a career at ABT unsatisfactory given the fact that he is quite talented at many forms of dance, but from a purely balletic standpoint, it doesn't get much better than that. More hours do not necessarily equal better training; however, at schools with good training one usually finds the students dancing more often. It really comes down to the quality of the teaching, but anything less than 90-minute classes 5-6 days/week usually indicates a school that is not serious about ballet. I don't have experience with a broad range of European schools, but at the big academies in Europe (i.e., Vaganova, Bolshoi, Royal Danish, Royal, and Paris Opéra) the students are in ballet class for 90 minutes 5 days/week starting from day one. This is not the case at SAB and most other schools in the US. I don't know whether there is a correlation between these schedules and burnout--I would say it is perhaps a case of there being more than one way to (forgive the inelegant expression) skin a cat.

I think it is appropriate. It is majestic "court pageant" music, serious rather than sad.

As I see it, the whole point of applause is that it's optional. If you liked the performance, applaud. If you didn't, don't. I am no defender of the "walking ovation" during which people who (presumably) enjoyed the performance don't feel the need to express their appreciation and gratitude for the artists' hard work. However, anyone who thought the show was bad is under no obligation to remain once it's over. I recall reading here on BT once (perhaps the original poster can clarify if s/he is reading) about a performance of a very badly choreographed ballet during which all the dancers performed very well. At the end, when the choreographer came on to bow, there was silence. Then someone handed the lead ballerina a bouquet, and as she stepped forward to take it, the house erupted in applause. When she went back to her place in line, silence again. It certainly sent the message about the choreography will still showing appreciation for the dancers' performance. (By the way, I do think bringing a scooter into the theater is going too far.)

Top Three: 1. Kirov Reconstruction 2. Sergeyev 3. Paris Opéra, although I could do without Nureyev's added choreography. (I'm sure the 1946 Royal would be on here, but I haven't seen it or its reconstruction.) Bottom Two: 1. NYCB 2. Royal Ballet (I believe staged by Dowell--the one with the hideous Disney/Goth costumes and tilted set) I'm guessing the new ABT is going to be on here once it arrives at the Kennedy Center, but I'll reserve judgment until then.

I agree with Richard and Koshka--people are allowed to leave when the performance is over if they choose to. No one is obligated to stay and applaud, and if they didn't like it, there is no real reason for them to sit in their seats (although it would be nice), and I don't mind missing a moment or two of the bows. As a performer, I think it would be extremely disheartening to see a lot of people walking out as you're bowing, but that doesn't mean they should be forced to stay. I wonder if this is perhaps another manifestation of movie culture, in which most people leave the moment the credits start to roll.

I read that Petipa asked Tchaikovsky to use Vive Henri IV.

Just because Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale does not mean it has to be Disneyfied. The great thing about it is that one can look at it simply, without reading any layers into it (thus it does not need to be dumbed down) or one can go through and find all the symbolism one likes; it appeals either way.