Hans

[Deleted by Hans - I posted at the same time as Leigh, and his post says the same thing mine did, but far more eloquently.]

Perhaps "stereotypical" (I don't mean that in a negative sense) would be a better word?

So there may well have been a section that is the choreographic equivalent of the Kingdom of the Shades (not that there needs to be ) but was lost and replaced with choreography by Lacotte?

How much of the production is verifiably Petipa?

Mireille, do you know if the video of Soloviov is still available?

I'm pulling the following ideas from the top of my head, so please excuse the disorderliness of this post! Well, ballet has certainly influenced fashion a good deal. I'm sure Alexandra will be able to elaborate on this, but the very first ballets, back in the 15th and 16th centuries or so if I have my history right, were political statements--shows of power by monarchs--as well as elaborate entertainment. The Rite of Spring caused a riot in Paris when it was performed, but I suppose it didn't really change society. My sister (a theatre major) brought up an interesting point recently. She was speaking of playwriting, but I think it applies to anything involving a plot. She mentioned the idea that there are no new stories anymore--they've all become cliché, in a sense. What artists must focus on is not trying to make up a new story but rather to express the "old clichés" in new ways. And when you think about it...when was the last time you heard a story that didn't boil down to love, hate, life, death, &c? So I don't think there's any point in attempting to express something that's never been expressed before, and I also don't think ballet needs to be political in a specific sense. Does anyone really want to watch presidential candidates debate via interpretive dance? Or a ballet about the Communist Manifesto? I also don't think ballet (or dance in general) has to cause a political change in order to be significant culturally. Dance is one of the earliest forms of human expression, and come to think of it, Native American dances are vital to tribal culture. Some people say that the reason the arms are held so stiffly to the sides in Irish dance is so that the English would allow the Irish to continue their dance traditions--because they appeared not to be enjoying it. If dance weren't important culturally, would the Puritans have bothered to ban it? Would the Soviet government have forced the Kirov to change the ending of Swan Lake if ballet is just a meaningless, "closed" art form? The defection of people such as Nureyev, Baryshnikov, and Makarova made newspaper headlines around the globe, so obviously ballet dancers have been big enough celebrities for their political actions to make a difference. That doesn't necessarily have to do with the art form itself, but it does show how important ballet was in the 60's and 70's. I'm sure I'll come up with more to add later, but perhaps this will help get some discussion started.

That's interesting, rg, thank you for all that information! All the versions of LHH I've seen have been credited to Ivanov, so it's rather nice to know that fragments such as the Underwater Scene really have their roots in Petipa, and maybe a little St. Léon. Do you happen to know whether St. Léon choreographed LHH for a company in western Europe first or did he choreograph it specifically for Russia?

Balanchine disliked noisy shoes, so NYCB dancers are obsessed with (and outspoken about) making as little noise as possible. You won't hear much pointe shoe noise from the Royal Danish Ballet either, but I suspect that the idea is less novel to them considering the company's much longer history. :rolleyes:

Maybe I'm influenced by Petipa's choreography for SB, which IMO is the most beautiful in all ballet, but I can think of a great many beautiful melodies, such as the Act I Garland Waltz, the Lilac Fairy's theme, the adagio of the Grand Pas de Deux in Act III and the adagio of the Bluebird Pas de Deux. Not to mention the gorgeous cello solo that begins the adagio of the Vision Scene. To me, Sleeping Beauty is just packed with elegant grace and harmony, each moment more beautiful than the next. I love Swan Lake too, but its dark and creepy eye-rolling melodrama, combined with harsh (for Tchaikovsky), bombastic, and sometimes downright ugly music punctuated by breathtaking moments of lyrical beauty, is no match IMO for the harmonious delicacy of Sleeping Beauty, in which no part of the ballet overwhelms another (the music for Swan Lake frequently overwhelms poor Ivanov's choreography at times) but all elements are combined in a whole of matchless perfection.

The tape with Plisetskaya appears IMO to have little or nothing to do with Petipa--Richard is right; all the choreography is by Radunsky. There is an old version generally credited to Ivanov, not Petipa, but I don't know if a tape of it exists.

Hm, well, I don't like ABT's Sleeping Beauty much either, but I prefer it to NYCB's version, which is apparently sponsored by Red Bull and Starbucks. I'm sure it won't come as a surprise that I prefer the Kirov's reconstruction (although it would be nice if they would fix the bluebird pdd). However, SB is my absolute favorite ballet in the world ever, so that's why I'm so picky about it. Bart, my dream cast involves Carlotta Brianza...oh, you meant for the NYCB version. I think Jenifer Ringer makes a gorgeous Aurora. It would be nice to see her with Peter Boal (not going to happen) or Nikolaj Hubbe IMO. Abi Stafford made an excellent Princess Florine; maybe we'll get to see her do it again some day--or even Aurora!

"Pas" can also mean, roughly, a dance, as in Pas de deux--a dance for two people. Therefore, presumably Kschessinska wasn't performing the ballet step pas/temps de fleche (though they may well have been included in the choreography!) but an entire variation called the pas de fleche or arrow dance.

I have the exact opposite reaction from Juliet--I hate the Martins Sleeping Beauty and would be happy never to see it again. As I've said before, if you're going to choreograph, get your own ballet (something Martins clearly has no problems doing) don't ruin someone else's.

Thank you for this hysterical picture, rg. It's not every day you get to see a choreographic genius cross-dressing as a hedgehog!

New York City Ballet already has a full-length Sleeping Beauty in its repertoire, choreographed by Peter Martins.

I recently bought three prints of paintings of dancers who, according to the costumes, appear to be dancing Chopiniana/Les Sylphides. The signature looks like "Charlot." I did some Googling and came up with the name of Jean Charlot, an artist of French and Mexican (Aztec) ancestry. Has anyone heard of any paintings of dancers by Charlot? I think they're beautiful and will happily display them regardless of any historical connections, but it would be interesting to know of any information concerning them.

Now if only we could do something to nudge some boys away from football and into ballet!

This is admittedly but I wonder what other choreographers' ballets might/might not transfer well to the practice clothes and no scenery setting.

I'm sure there's a tiny studio, somewhere in an underpopulated area of the US, where they teach you how to twirl a baton while toe-tapping on a trampoline.... :blush:

Trampoline is an interesting one that I haven't heard of. How does one hold classes in trampoline?

Also, with a digital library, it doesn't matter if someone else has already checked out the book you want.

I'm sure the irony of that is not lost on you--"failli" means, roughly, something like "failed"...and IMO, a school that teaches its students to say "lame duck" has clearly failed to teach proper terminology! :blush:

Yes, :blush:

I actually think the mime would work in that setting if it were done properly. What might not transfer properly would probably be all the processions IMO.

There's some information via a link on the left side of the page regarding guest access to the library. Here's a direct link to the pdf file.