Hans

A friend of mine told me that Darci Kistler made a mistake onstage and said "S---!" so loud that at least the first ring could hear it.

Mikhail Fokine had a child with Helene Alexopoulos? Help, Mel!

Ulanova's mother was a dancer with the Kirov.

That takes us into American-born dancers who were not trained in the Balanchine style. Do you think it's possible for them to be "all-American?"

Mel, I can just picture a frightened Odette miming to Siegfried that, "I was turned into a swan by an evil gerbil...." Or maybe an evil rabbit, something along the lines of Donnie Darko. Editing to add: I just realized that opossums are nocturnal creatures, too. Just what we need: a hillbilly Swan Lake!

One of my problems with McKenzie's prologue (and especially the prop) is that Odette tells the audience exactly what happened in mime, thus rendering the entire prologue pointless, especially as it makes sense dramatically that we learn Odette's story from her when we (and Siegfried) meet her. As for making it obvious that Odette bourrées onstage as a bird and then changes into a human before Siegfried's eyes, that is up to the ballerina and her coach. The dancer must make the transformation obvious (not that it doesn't hurt to have swans swimming on the lake beforehand, as in the Kirov's version, so that Siegfried isn't just running around aiming at the stage wings).

I feel ill....

Unfortunately, it just rolls around on its little wheels, but I'm sure the next version will speak (and possibly spray). Carbro, that's such a cute story

Hi Ian. I'd definitely say it's Swamp Thing Continuing on the subject of the cute furry animals in Barbie Swan Lake, one of my friends gave me the toy skunk--with a remote control. Yes, all I have to do is press a button on the pink and green controller and the little plastic skunk goes zipping about the room. Maybe that will be the next thing they use in the stage version, kind of like those Nutcracker productions that have remote-controlled mice.

Well Alexandra, ABT has a big furry swan... :green:

I, too, have only seen Mezentseva on video (Swan Lake and Pas de Quatre) and I can't say she left much of an impression on me either way. She appeared quite secure technically, although I have trouble looking at her feet (it makes me wonder how those arches got into the Vaganova Academy). Beautiful long limbs, though. Her acting seemed flat to me, especially compared to the wonderful expression of Kolpakova, Yevteyeva, and Komleva in Pas de Quatre.

Well, there's already a competition called "American Dance Idol." I am truly surprised that no one has done a lesbian Giselle yet, especially after we all practically choreographed it for the AD's a year or so ago on here. But in all seriousness, sometimes after reading company brochures, it makes me wonder if living out here isn't really such a bad thing after all :green: Of course, after seeing Kevin McKenzie's Nutcracker, I doubt I'll ever truly dread anything again. :cool2:

Danish people are GORGEOUS...not that I'm biased or anything ;) I'd say Belotserkovsky, Andris Liepa, Angel Corella, and of course, Nureyev. Also, I desperately want to add Victor Baranov, but I'm so fascinated by his legs and feet that I honestly can't remember what his face looks like. I do recall that he and Larissa Lezhnina complement each other perfectly.

Just saw The Company via Netflix as well, and...let's just say that if I hadn't already lost my desire to be a dancer, that movie would have killed it. Between the awful, prissy AD and the horrifying choreography (even La Vivandière was a strange and ugly mixture that I've never seen before), it makes me hope that the representation of the Joffrey's rep (as well as the personality of the AD) was skewed.

Legs: Larissa Lezhnina/Altynai Asylmuratova Feet: Alla Sizova/Larissa Lezhnina Arms: Fracci, Kolpakova, Plisetskaya Hands: Usually if the arms are good, so are the hands

My tape of the Kirov dancing the Carnival in Venice pas de deux says the music is by Pugni.

I voted for "There isn't a 'greatest.'" If the poll asked whether Balanchine was the most influential choreographer, I'd say "yes," (at least in the US), but I think others, such as Fokine and Ashton, were equally talented.

I've mentioned this before, but...The Lord of the Rings as a ballet on an operatic scale as...The Lord of the Ring Cycle. Just imagine. Or Shrek as a ballet. ::Shudders::

I heard that SAB did Chopiniana as a practice-clothes ballet. I didn't see it, and I didn't want to.

The Kirov's Sleeping Beauty reconstruction traveled across the ocean a while back and I missed it, so apparently if I want to see it, I'll have to go to St. Petersburg...been waiting for that chance for a while now. I'll second perky's nomination of A Month in the Country (in London, anyway), and I'd also go almost anywhere to see Lavrovsky's Romeo & Juliet.

Apparently they're for people with low arches who have trouble getting over regular pointe shoes....

Mme. Bovary, if you haven't read it already.

It doesn't say "of Chicago."

The Age of Innocence, which made Edith Wharton the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize. Also, Crime and Punishment, which is not as bad as it sounds, Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, and Vanity Fair.

I would set up a Ballet Alert! Foundation. I'd also give a sizable amount to the UBA and WSB. (Actually, I saw a drawing once of Stage III in UBA's construction--they never got beyond stage one, and it was very grand. It would be thrilling to be able to hand them a blank check and say "finish it.")