Hans

Not sure what the proportions are of blond to other hair colors, but the number of blonds is shrinking because the blond gene is recessive. Makes me feel a bit special . Alexandra, it's interesting that you mention Danish hair darkening as one ages--it happened to my father and is starting to happen to me, and I never knew quite what to make of that! Good to know it's normal. Re: Terekhova, I have a video of her dancing the Don Q pas de deux in which she appears blond and then one of her in the full ballet in what I suppose must be a black wig. I also thought of another dancer who, while not as famous as some of the above examples, I felt I should mention as a member of the "home company" around here: Brianne Bland of the Washington Ballet .

Try looking up Danish ballerinas . One dancer I can think of who is blond is Anastasia Volochkova. Also, Larissa Lezhnina. I'm not sure if Sizova was blond or not...her hair appears very blond on the 1964 Sleeping Beauty tape, but on a later video of her dancing the La Vivandière pas de six, it looks dark brown. Perhaps a wig in one of the cases? Elena Pankova is blond, too.

In many ways, it is impossible for a ballet to remain unchanged forever--styles change, different dancers perform the roles, sets and costumes vary, &c. The only really concrete part of a ballet is the choreographic text, but just as with any other part of theatre, the performance is equally important, which is why dancers must perform the steps with conviction, and this goes right back to why the education of dancers is so important--so that they understand the time period, what is appropriate, &c. Music history classes do this--they discuss world events and social trends and how they affected composers and their music. Dancers, when was the last time you had a class like this? And so you get dancers who think that Swan Lake is "boring" or "stiff" and irrelevant, and who become AD's who decide to make cuts and edit choreography and set it on a farm in Minnesota. Also, I don't think a comparison to opera is valid here. One can move about and act in a manner appropriate to any time period while singing the same music. In a ballet, though, it would look ridiculous to have everyone reverencing each other in 1950's tuxedos and evening gowns--the setting necessarily changes the movement.

Clara, that is a hilarious image! I think I'll be laughing over that one for quite a while The Petipa/Ivanov question is a good one. Besides the question of whether or not they would choreograph the same way, would audiences enjoy their new ballets, and what would the reviews be like? I imagine they'd have to do certain things differently because today's dancers are not as schooled in mime. I also wonder what they would think of Balanchine's works. Very interesting to ponder.

Yes, yes it does :green:

I sat in the top tier and didn't notice any changes--that also explains why I didn't notice the changes in the orchestra, but I do think that a cross aisle is a good idea, and so is handicapped accessibility.

I didn't really notice much of a change (read: what exactly did they do?) although I definitely enjoy the fact that the sightlines from the sides are so good. It could use some more decoration, but to be honest I'd rather have it austere than ostentatious. Was the design thought ugly when the center was built or was that just the prevailing taste at the time? I remember hearing that Lincoln Center was criticized a great deal in architectural circles, and I have to admit that I do prefer having everything under one roof. The KC will have the best of both worlds, though, with the new design of wings and a long plaza, along with the current view of the Potomac from the terrace.

Whatever they like . I would sit through it (if it really was Petipa or Ivanov, which is doubtful, but that's another thread) so that I could try to see why they did it that way and why it was so good that people kept dancing it that way for hundreds of years. If I knew all that and still it grated on me for some reason, I really do think I would still go to that act, if only for the music or the sets or the snow scene. If the production was really so bad that Act I was truly unbearable, Act II probably wouldn't be worth seeing. I think that ballets should be done as choreographed, no matter who the choreographer is. There's a double standard: "heaven forbid we change a single step of Kylian or Duato or Balanchine" (they're also aided by copyright law) but "Let's do Swan Lake--I've been dying to do one set in Arizona, and we can have a Dance of the Gila Monsters!" Regarding the issue of ticket sales, if the Louvre were faced with declining admission, I doubt the management would say "I know what will get them in here--seeing all their favorite works painted over in new fun colors! We'll have Versace design it; the Winged Victory can be lime green with gold leaf, and just wait 'til you see what they'll do with the Madonna of the Rocks...." :rolleyes: They would find a way to bring the public in without altering priceless, fragile, ancient masterpieces. Frankly, it seems arrogant to me to go about playing with the classics as though one considers oneself such a great choreographer that one can improve upon Petipa, whose works laid the foundation for so large a part of our tradition. Besides, the point is to continue the tradition, not hack it to death. If an idea for a ballet is really worth doing, it is worth doing as a new work with an original concept, even if it turns out not to be a masterpiece--it should be given a fair shot. If it is not worth doing on its own, what is the point of defacing a great work of art with it?

But I thought that the whole point of the Nutcracker was that it isn't logical--Marie is either dreaming or really does travel to a fantasy land, and neither scenario calls for logic. As for whether a ballet's story should be re-worked, I would say (and keep in mind this is totally IMO) "of course not." Classics are classics because they are on some level timeless and they should be allowed to remain that way, not edited by AD's with a desire to put their own stamp on something without the ability of the true choreographer to create something original, whether it's good or not. I'd rather see a thousand new works of mediocre quality that showed at least some sort of original/creative thought or concept than the National Ballet of Heck's AD scrawling a moustache on a previous genius's Mona Lisa.

Thalictum wrote: "And his comments on the Kirov restoration of Beauty being overlong are ludicrous. Don't tell us how much you love Beauty when what you really mean is you love Beauty highlights, or Beauty edited." "The idea that Martins' text is loyal to Petipa "as we know it," is just a preposterous statment. There is hardly one bar's worth of enchainement that he hasn't fiddled with." I completely agree .

"Martins’ own insertions are in stylistic harmony with Petipa." Really. Would that be the neoclassical Sapphire variation (which wasn't in the original), the addition of a man to the Jewels pas de quatre (unlike any pas de quatre Petipa ever choreographed) or Lilac's boring and repetitive extra variation in Act III? Considering that NYCB's dancing is not in stylistic harmony with Petipa, I don't see how any of Martins' choreography can be.

I remember Knapp too from SAB. I hope she's doing well.

They look very thin to me. I don't see why there would be any trouble partnering them except for maybe all those layers of clothing. Another thing to think about in terms of their technical skill is that those ballets still challenge principal dancers at the very best companies around the world today. So while they might not be hired for reasons of style, their technique was undoubtedly excellent.

Don't tell me he partnered Princess Florina wearing those....

That's what she was referring to . Thank you Mel for jogging my memory.

I was required to read it for school, and Geraldine Brooks came to talk about it. It is based on a real town in England during that year; she did a great deal of research, and there are many historically factual incidents. I am pretty sure that she mentioned someone of the time period calling 1665-1666 the "year of wonders" in writing, but am not 100% on that as this talk was at the very beginning of the year. I had a similar response to vagansmom; while plenty of the events were quite plausible and based on historical record, I found the characterizations and some of the speech to be too modern as well. However, it was really fascinating to listen to her tell us about everything that really did happen, the historical documents she read, and what the town is like now. I remember her saying at one point that a sign pointing the way to the town reads "plague village" and that it struck her as ironic that such a sign would be used to indicate an attraction! But it is true that the town really did seal itself off from the outside world, was given provisions by a local noble, and that it successfully prevented the plague from spreading, even though the cost in human lives was enormous.

Everyone at SAB said "ow" as in "powder"...god knows why she didn't correct us :shrug:

I prefer only six fairies (including Lilac). I don't know why. But Petipa managed to put her front and center most of the time, so I don't really see what the problem is. There are only a few times that she is really part of the group, and a good Lilac should be able to make it seem as if she is "front and center" even then.

I believe it was MCB, DTH, and the Paul Taylor co.

Alexandra, to me, it doesn't seem as if Fokine was really "wrong" in any way...more that the Danes just turned his ballet into La Sylphide, which they were used to. Also, if they had a woman dancing those steps, no wonder they thought it was too athletic.

Sorry, I misunderstood the original post.

Are they going to take down the Harmony building too or just remodel it? I used to have a friend who lived there; it was a nice getaway from SAB every now and then.

If that scene is the same as the one on the Solymosi/Durante tape of the Royal Ballet Sleeping Beauty (I lost my copy so can't look at the cover), then I agree, it is positively hysterical. I especially enjoy it when Lilac taps her forehead impatiently ("THINK, you imbecile! Ugh, men!") while the prince just stands there looking ridiculous until his "Ohhhhhhhhhh" moment and then runs up to slobber on Aurora.

I heard about this in December. While a Washington-themed Nutcracker sounds like fun (but...cherry blossoms in winter?) I will dearly miss the Day version. I do look forward to seeing what Webre does, though.

From the review, it sounds as if Nixon basically created his own ballet, using traditional material and music when he couldn't think of anything himself, then stood on the shoulders of Petipa/Ivanov and Tchaikovsky, as so many other AD's have done. One would think they'd realize they're doing a disservice to the art, but apparently not....