Hans

I have worked with so many weird tempi that that scene doesn't make me laugh anymore--it just brings back bad memories! And I don't like the way the audience laughs at the ballerina when she falls. She was just trying to keep up, and after performing all those balances, too!

Some background info on the two: Paquita is a noble girl who was kidnapped by gypsies as a baby. Kitri is the daughter of an innkeeper in a small village in Spain & is therefore not nobility. I think some of that comes through in the choreography, though--Kitri is more brash than Paquita, who is naturally refined (because all nobility is born with refined manners, at least in ballet:rolleyes: ). Kitri just wants to have fun .

Didn't post what I thought earlier because it was just too much typing . I liked it, although it was filled with ballet clichés (I guess they weren't clichés when the ballet was choreographed). Irma had some beautiful, intricate steps, but (and I never thought I'd say this) there was too much dancing. In a printed introduction by Fleming Ryberg that was handed out, he explained that he had cut certain mime passages that he thought were redundant or incomprehensible to today's audience, thus leaving room in the music for more dancing, which he obviously imagined and is clearly not Bournonville. Several dances went on far too long, beyond all reason. It's a cute ballet, but the plot is not terribly logical or easy to follow--you need a synopsis or a good understanding of ballet conventions and mime to comprehend it, but I suppose that's the case with a lot of ballets. The last act was particularly incoherent. I think it's worth keeping around, but perhaps does not show Bournonville to his best advantage, though there are some lovely choreographic sequences. I was more interested in the film clips, which I'd seen before but couldn't remember very well. It struck me that in terms of technique, we really have not come very far at all in the last 100 years. All of the dancers had very clean feet and legs, and--I can't emphasize this enough--they weren't fat. Dancers back then (at least in Denmark) were apparently quite thin without being skeletal. Use of the torso was also much more apparent--the arms moved much more easily through the classical positions, relaxed but still well formed. The positions seemed natural, not affected the way they often do today. Ellen Price was impossibly light as the Sylphide. I think it was because of the way she used her plié, as her heels were on the floor and she did not jump very high. Her pliés were very controlled, but not deep, so while her jumps were not spectacularly high, they had more of a weightless, floating quality that I have never seen in current dancer. Maybe Asylmuratova could do it. I did not notice the small amount of space they were dancing in, except when the camera cut off the dancers' heads. The dancers used the space they had admirably. At the end of the film we were allowed to ask questions, and I would like to highlight one in particular: A man mentioned that when the RDB brought another Bournonville ballet to the KC, it had been 90% mime and 10% dancing. Jackson replied that when mime was done well, it was dancing, the equivalent of recitativo in opera. Could we print that on fliers and send them to all the dancers in the world, please;)?

Thanks for clarifying--I wondered if maybe you just had a lot of frequent flyer miles!

I know about the Balanchine Swan Lake--in fact, I would love to see NYCB do it:). I also knew Balanchine choreographed only the garland dance from SB and that his Nutcracker does stem from the original--thanks for the reminder, Alexandra. It's still easy to think of NYCB as synonymous with Balanchine, just as it should be:).

I love Edith Wharton. The only problem is that I've already read everything she ever wrote that is currently commercially available . Ari, I don't like James' later works much, either--and neither did Edith Wharton! I'm afraid my reading this summer is going to consist mostly of social psychology textbooks and course catalogs.

This might go better in Ballet History, as it is a film and not a performance, but this is the place for reviews, so I thought I'd put this here first. The Kennedy Center is showing a series called "Lost and Found" in which it shows modern films of reconstructed ballets that were considered lost. The other two that will be shown are Excelsior and Die Puppenfee (The Fairy Doll). Monday, June, 2nd was supposed to be "Sylvia," but the war in Iraq interfered with negotiations between the Kennedy Center and the Paris Opéra. Abdallah was choreographed by August Bournonville in 1855 in Vienna. It has been reconstructed by Toni Lander, Bruce Marks, and Fleming Ryberg from Bournonville's notes. In the last century, it has been performed at Ballet West, Boston Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet, being added to each time as new material was found. The film I saw was of the Royal Danish Ballet from the 1990s, and Abdallah will be performed at the Kennedy Center the next time the RDB visits in an even more accurate version, as new notes have been found in Vienna. The plot rivals Le Corsaire in exoticism and complexity, and between acts I and II we were shown short film clips of Danish dancers from 1902-1906, so I am going to try to write this as accurately as possible, but I may leave some details out. Plot Synopsis: Act I: The ballet takes place in Basra, a town in the Near East. The town square is filled with people as Abdallah, the hero of the ballet, enters. As he is talking to his friend, Irma, known as the "Gazelle of Basra" enters, and Abdallah asks her and her two friends to dance. They perform a pas de trois, and Irma and Abdallah fall in love. Irma gives him her necklace as a token of her devotion. Her mother, however, opposes the union and forces Irma to put on a veil and go back inside. After they reenter the house, an army invades the town, seeking to kill the ruler. They leave the square in search of the ruler, who enters the square and implores Irma and Abdallah to hide him. Abdallah takes him to a hiding place as Irma dances to distract the soldiers, who give up their mission and leave. Act II: The ruler of Basra is grateful to Abdallah for hiding him and wishes to thank him. Abdallah refuses money, so the ruler gives him a magic candelabrum with five candles. Each time Abdallah lights a candle, he gets a wish, but the ruler warns him that he must not light the last candle. The ruler leaves to resume his rightful place in the palace, and Abdallah lights a candle and wishes for new clothes. Four genies appear to grant his wish. He then lights the second candle and wishes for a palace with servants. For a while, he is satisfied as the servants lay a feast and dance for him, but then he lights the third candle and wishes for wine and a harem, which appear behind the back wall of the stage. The girls dance for him, and he performs a pas de chale with the main harem girl. However, Irma and her mother enter. Her mother is very impressed by Abdallah's apparent wealth and status and urges Irma to marry Abdallah. However, the harem girl appears, and Irma is unhappy at Abdallah's faithlessness. He tells her she can join the harem, but she and her mother will have none of that and Irma leaves distraught. Her mother, though, stays to scold Abdallah, and he lights the fourth candle wishing for her to disappear. She burns up and sinks into the floor. He celebrates with the harem girls and his servants and thoughtlessly lights the last candle. Everything goes dark. Because of his greed, he has lost everything and is restored to his former status. Act III: The ruler of Basra's palace. Everyone is celebrating because the ruler has been restored. Irma and her friends dance a pas de cinq with two of the court gentlemen. They play with a servant boy, and the men dress him up as a girl. He dances with Irma, but the head servant soon enters and Irma throws a veil over the boy to hide him. He is discovered, and flees the room with Irma. Irma confides to the ruler that she is unhappy at Abdallah's faithlessness and he concocts a plan to reconcile the two. Abdallah is brought to the palace blindfolded. The blindfold is removed and he is shocked to see the ruler of Basra standing in front of him. The ruler tells him that he has found a girl for Abdallah to marry, and she has very beautiful feet. Irma is brought in wearing a wedding dress, veiled, and Abdallah inspects her feet. Not knowing it is Irma, Abdallah rejects her. She throws off the veil, and he recognizes her and gives back her necklace in repentance for being unfaithful to her. Touched by this gesture, she softens, and the two are reconciled and immediately married. There were no credits, but we were told that the dancers were suspected to be Kenneth Greve as Abdallah, Heidi Ryom as Irma, and Silja Schandorff as one of Irma's friends. The video clips from the early 20th century included the Reel from The King's Volunteers at Amager, performed by Valborg Borchsenius and (I think) Hans Beck, along with another woman. Next was a children's dance from a ballet with Elf in the title--can't remember the exact name. After that were two versions of the sylph's opening variation from La Sylphide performed by Ellen Price, then a dance by two women with unknown composer and choreographer. Then the Tarantella from Napoli by Valborg Borchsenius and Hans Beck, a "Jockey Dance," and a "gypsy" dance performed by Borchsenius. Finally, there was a grecian dance performed by four women from Orpheus and Eurydice.

I nominate St. Petersburg as the ballet capital and perhaps New York as the dance capital. But how about London? That's certainly a place to see good ballet. Dale, did you really mean that PNB is an easy day trip from NYC? It seems like Seattle is rather a long way to go for a day trip ;).

To say that NYCB has its own "style" of Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake is like seeing the Bolshoi perform Napoli with Russianized choreography and saying "Well, the Bolshoi just has its own style of Napoli." It is either Sleeping Beauty or it isn't, and in NYCB's case, it isn't. It's not the problem of the Maryinsky and Royal Ballet productions being different because of slight differences in stagings that became more pronounced over the years, but that both stem from the original. It's a case of deliberately changing steps and character with no regard for Petipa, and if anyone did the same thing to Balanchine, the dance world would be outraged. But Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake are old classics, which seems these days to mean "fair game." Edited to correct spelling.

What about Herrera, Wiles, McKerrow...? And Jaffe until recently. All right, I'm not a huge fan of Herrera, but you see the point. NYCB's ballerinas don't exactly measure up to the Farrell, Ashley, McBride list of previous years, either. I don't know why some people can forgive ABT's bad choreography more easily than they can forgive NYCB's. I can't. But I will say that ABT's productions of the classics are not as bad as NYCB's. Not only that, but the dancers at ABT understand the classics better than the NYCB dancers. They don't give you swan arms when Odette is supposed to be human or two or three incoherent mime gestures when a speech is necessary. They understand their roles.

Are you referring to "Basic Principles of Classical Ballet Technique" by Agrippina Vaganova? I always thought the illustrations were very clear. What don't you like about them?

I chose ABT. I've pretty much stated my reasons on the related thread: basically, I feel that NYCB is too regional and stylized to represent all of the US, and its dancers are not strong enough, too weak and sloppy, and the performances are unpolished. I'm glad NYCB exists, but even though it meets the BA requirements for an "International Level" company, I don't think that automatically makes it the best in the country. ABT has better dancers, and it performs classical ballet. To be perfectly frank, its second-rate productions of the classics are, IMO, no worse than the weird Nutcrackers and Swan Lakes frequently seen at other top companies. NYCB has a school and a style, but ABT is made up of some of the best dancers in the entire world.

I agree, Silvy--and in fact, Medora's Jardin Animé variation is not exactly easy even though it is short. I noticed the choreographic changes as well. Maybe it was "Le Corsaire" choreography, kind of the way there are "Cupid" arms and "Spanish" arms for that variation in Paquita ;).

Unless NYCB has improved dramatically in the 3 years since I've lived in NY, I think their dancers just can't compete with those of the Kirov (which to judge from its last performances at the Kennedy Center is in decline) or even the Bolshoi. ABT has the dancers even when it doesn't have Cojocaru, but not the repertoire (though it could if it wanted to, IMO) or a single style. Part of the style issue lies in its structure (corps, soloist, International STAR!) and also the lack of a consistent training ground for its dancers. In short, which company would you choose to be the American flagship ballet company? Even with its second-rate productions of the classics and incoherent corps, I'd choose ABT. I think they embody the 'melting pot' of American ballet better than NYCB with its neglected Balanchine and mannered dancers.

That surprised me, too, especially as there is a perfectly good variation for Medora in that scene that would have suited Kent fine. Of course, it is kind of short, and it isn't that well known in the US, so maybe they wanted something more substantial for her to dance.

Now THERE'S a weapon with which to defeat Rothbart! Maybe they should put it into NYCB's production to make it clear how Rothbart dies.

I either think they're both the best or neither's the best--I think ABT is better at classical ballet; NYCB is better at Balanchine. Neither one is doing either style very well right now, as they both mangle their heritage. They should be the top two companies in the US, the ones we would be proud to show to the rest of the world, and although they may currently be the best relative to the other US companies, I do not think they are at "world-class" level right now.

Maybe we'll be spared from the likes of "Barbie Giselle"--I wonder how they'd configure that one to appeal to children!

I've seen Corsaire danced in all kinds of colors, but never in red. Sometimes it is danced in a long dress, sometimes in a tutu with long sleeves, and I've even seen it danced in a pink and blue tutu with pink scarves similar to those worn by the Shades in La Bayadere! If Petipa meant the variation sometimes danced by Cupid in Don Quixote to be for Cupid, he apparently forgot (or chose to ignore) that Cupid is male.

"Going to the ballet for the plot is like going to the opera for the recitatives." --George Balanchine

Generally in English, the "amphitheatre" is sometimes called the mezzanine or the first or lowest balcony. The rest of the levels have varied names depending upon the theater (sometimes the term "loge" is used, sometimes they're called "rings") but they are usually called balconies.

Su-lian, are the seats on the main floor the "parterre" in French? I think that corresponds to the English "orchestra" or "stalls" (American and British terms, respectively ).

I just had the most horrible idea: Mary, Mother of God Barbie. Comes with a little baby Jesus and "Joseph Ken." Worse idea: Wiccan Barbie. Strange idea: Famous Ballerina Barbie Series! Fonteyn Barbie, Ulanova Barbie, Sylvie Guillem Barbie, Pavlova Barbie...the possibilities are endless! Maybe the stress of four recitals in a row is getting to me....

To answer your question Alexandra, I think that because Ballerina Barbie has such short achilles tendons and because she turns out from her knees, she must be a Balanchine dancer. Therefore, I am pretty sure she does have bunions ;). The only incongruous feature is her glued-together fingers, which suggest RAD training....

Heck, why not give Barbie her own ballet studio...or company. Anyone want to go see the "Barbie Ballet?" Or maybe they could make some of those do-it-yourself ballet technique videos featuring Barbie. When you think about it, it's really appropriate that Barbie would be danced by someone from NYCB--it's a miracle that either one has any achilles tendons left!