Hans

The Vaganova Academy is not exactly a bad school. And considering that Asylmuratova is currently the director, I suspect that in eight years or less we are going to see it produce some very lovely dancers.

I think it's quite savvy of PNB--the podcast and now the myspace page. I'll be quite surprised if such celebrity dancers as Paloma Herrera and Ethan Stiefel don't have MySpace pages already/soon.

As far as American training goes, I think that would be extremely difficult to define. All kinds of training occurs in this country, much of it a conglomerate of what each teacher has learned. Even true Vaganova training only occurs at the Vaganova Academy, although students outside it may still be well trained and even look similar to Vaganova Academy graduates.

I fervently hope that another one of our members saw Michele Wiles! But beck hen, I am glad you are ok (he did come back to let you out, right?)

I have minor issues with Ananiashvili's technique sometimes, but they are truly minor indeed. One thing that impresses me about her fouettés besides the fact that they are amazingly fast is that she often does the first 8 with her hands on her waist, the second 8 using only one arm, and the last 16 using both arms. Most dancers would have to use both arms to turn as fast as she does.

No, Gelsey Kirkland is long retired. However, she does teach.

I also think some "expression" depends upon the audience member--consider how some people find a dancer wonderfully emotive while others find him/her cold.

...or at least pretending to, as the original Parisian La Sylphide is not notated and Lacotte did not use all of the notated Pharaoh's Daughter.

Thank you, Dale!

Whether anyone can answer that depends on whether anything's been published.

Oops--I think I read your question wrong. Dancers are of course still learning all of these steps; choreographers just aren't using them in their ballets. I get it now.

Maybe gargouilliade? Not that it was used frequently to begin with, but that's the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

To add to what Mel wrote, in Russia, lilacs symbolize wisdom.

But regardless, she's probably not going to put on tights just to land from a jump.

To nitpick a bit, we never actually see Odette as a swan--when she's onstage, it's always in human form.

A clearer way to name the Lilac Fairy in English might be "Fairy of the Lilacs."

They may also be called brisée dessus/dessous.

It is indeed an excellent resource. A more comprehensive (and cheaper) book is Gail Grant's Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet, but it does not have photos.

To echo Carbro's suggestion, if you do a search on Ballet Talk for Dancers, you will find quite a bit of material, not just in the Men's forum, but also in the Parents of Boys Who Dance forum and maybe other places as well.

Alexandra, do you mean Classical Ballet Technique?

To answer the question of whether the Lilac Fairy originally danced or not, one may look to the Kirov's reconstruction, in which the Lilac Fairy is in pointe shoes for the prologue (when she danced the entrée, adagio, variation, and coda with the other fairies) and heeled slippers and a gown for Acts I-III. So there is plenty of authentic material for her to dance, but (as far as I know) only in the prologue.

Oh, Ami1436, I understand about practical reasons for wearing tights that way in class. I usually roll my tights up to just below my calves or knees, anyway.

I think I could live without seeing the most over-played part of the Nutcracker polluting my favorite ballet, English tradition or not.

I mostly see this in casual ballet classes, as it makes it easier to adjust toepads, &c, if you don't have to bother with tights over your feet. Why it made its way into costuming I will never understand, as it is a supremely unflattering look, IMO. Whatever the artistic reason, a secondary reason was probably that bare legs are more comfortable.

I do...mostly what people have previously said about it on BT.