Hans

Bejart will be in the history books, especially in Europe. I still don't know what I think about him--his work is interesting but not moving IMO.

I can see the limited-edition Sean John tutu now...let's just hope she doesn't have too many pirouettes with all those chains around her neck! Hm...ever seen a fairy with a gold tooth before? Sometimes (actually, often) I think the Trocks should read Anything Goes for inspiration. They'd do a great job putting these into practice--better them than NYCB. I'm always vaguely afraid Peter Martins is reading and saying, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

I love the Hip-Hop Fairy bringing bling!

I wouldn't put Christopher Wheeldon on a par with Petipa, but his works are so much in demand that I imagine they'll survive. I'm waiting to see how much success Avi Scher has--hopefully a lot!

I just had to dredge up this ancient topic to add my modern fairy--the Fairy of Aggression, sometimes known as the F--- You Fairy. Yes, it's that familiar "finger" variation...but with a different finger. She (he?) arrives first to the christening because she cut off all the other fairies on the highway with her Hummer, and she gives Aurora the gift of getting her own way--an important quality for today's children.

I'm at work, so I can't go into too much detail, but here is my quick list: 1. The way he used both mime and dance to tell a story. 2. His choreographic structure in the pure dance sections. (Balanchine once said that you could learn everything necessary about how to structure a dance from watching Petipa.) 3. His infinite inventiveness within the formal structures--Petipa is never boring. 4. His sense of what was appropriate for each dancer and ballet and his ability to meld the two.

Although I've never seen it, I'm pretty sure that my favorite Act IV is the one from 1895.

At SAB if you don't wear Freeds, you will be severely mocked. By the teachers. UBA students are allowed to wear whatever they like, and I believe the same is true at POB. The Kirov and Bolshoi theaters make their own shoes, which I believe the students wear as well, although that may have changed.

"101 Not-So-Great Ballets" with descriptions of pieces like the Bourne Swan Lake. "The Art of Teaching Gymnastics, Tap, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Flamenco, Ballroom, Modern, Lyrical, and Something That May or May Not Be Ballet" profiling Dolly Dinkle teachers. It could have all the elements of the original Gretchen Ward Warren book, but with hilarious (and terrifying) misinformation from the teachers, as well as sample exercises at the end.

Watching Sizova demonstrate in class will redefine "turnout" for you! I would choose her as my all-around ideal ballerina, although I'd graft on Fracci's acting ability.

I voted for the Kirov (big surprise, right? )

There's a tape of Cinderella with the Berlin Opera Ballet that is truly terrible.

I prefer the Ashton.

Finally, a solo for Bystrova! Even if she was substituting for someone else. More please, Mr. McKenzie!

Beriosova--see the Swan Lake pas de deux with Nureyev from the Bell Telephone Hour.

This has been mentioned before, I think, but Farrell and Nureyev. Sizova and Soloviev (actually happened). I think Carla Fracci and Peter Boal would be interesting to watch. Lezhnina/Fadeyev, too, or better yet, Lezhnina/Soloviev. Asylmuratova/Carreno. Forgot one--imagine Lezhnina/Boal!

Well, actually, I know she's at NYCB. But has she been dancing much lately? She was definitely *the* favorite student among the SAB dancers six years ago. (I cannot believe it's been that long!)

I think part of the problem with Act IV is that the powerful music is meant to accompany a huge flood, which most companies can't afford, and to which a lot of flapping and running about in an anguished manner can't really compare.

Is there a DVD of Fracci's Giselle? Carbro, I saw Ferri's Giselle at the Kennedy Center a few months ago, and for all my criticism of her fading technique (although her movements were incredibly plush and velvety) I would say that she does approach the ballet as an organic whole and succeeds.

Didn't Farrell also coach a young Larissa Lezhnina in Scotch Symphony? If so, she is also on the Kirov Classics tape, dancing the Fairy Doll pas de trois and a variation from Paquita. I can't remember whether Lezhnina is the same age as Pankova.

Thank you, Carbro. I wonder if when talking about pirouettes "Russian" means something more like "Bolshoi." At the Kirov Academy, I was trained to do pirouettes from second more along the lines of what you describe as the Danish way (although we often did more than two, the movement had to be light and elastic). I've also never seen a Kirov dancer perform those aggressive pirouettes from second, but many a Bolshoi dancer (Mukhemadov leaps to mind) has.

I found that ABT's corps is quite noisy at the Kennedy Center, and that the Kirov is about average. I suspect that some of it has to do with dancing in an opera house--the entire building is designed to allow you to hear everything! I remember hearing Beverly Sills talk about when the New York State Theater was designed and how Balanchine wanted as little noise as possible coming from the stage and the NYCO wanted as much as possible.

This isn't entirely on topic, but it puzzles me that when Russian and/or Vaganova-trained dancers do pirouettes from second it's labeled hyper-masculine, whereas Danish dancers (male and female) perform pirouettes from second all the time and are held up (at least in the US) as models of restraint. Regarding arrogance, I agree with VRS. And doesn't everyone think his/her system is the best? The proponents of the Balanchine style, POB, RB, as well as Kirov and Bolshoi all look down their noses at each other to a degree, and I suspect that this is one thing that helps keep the styles as intact as they are. We could just as easily have threads regarding "Balanchine Arrogance" or "Paris Opera Arrogance" as on the Russians.

When I started taking classes at age seven.

I would like to see the Washington Ballet and more ABT (especially Wiles, Tidwell, and Karen Uphoff).