Hans

Sorry, it was a misprint in the newspaper. For a while, I was wondering where all the NYCB ballerinas were going!

I own a copy of that video, and it is indeed Patricia Barker, according to the cover.

P.S. I like the Vainonen version. Except the bats.

Whether he was or not, the dancers all seem to have crooked feet in arabesque. I also have a pair of ornaments apparently modeled on Marie and the Nutcracker-Prince after they've spent a few years in Confiturembourg--"rotund" doesn't do them justice:D!

One thing that often botheres me when I try to choreograph is that I get a good idea for a ballet in my head but can't find any music to suit. Do others have this problem? Petipa apparently never had to deal with it.

I just read recently that she and Alexander Ritter are now with Boston Ballet. Did I just miss the memo when it happened ages ago, or is this recent?

I have a very beautiful ornament depicting what appears to be the Sugar Plum Fairy (SPF) and her Cavalier, though they are dressed for a Bournonville ballet, and the SPF is holding a Nutcracker. They appear to have been trained at a Balanchine school, as their feet are winged to about a 45-degree angle:eek:.

Actually, I did also hear that that was its main point.

Amy, I think perhaps part of the reason classical ballets aren't always as intentionally funny is that when they were created, people went to music halls for humor. Also, humor is often a specific product of its time, and therefore quickly loses its appeal. Case in point: Nobody laughs during Coppelia, unless it is exceptionally well-performed.

I know Bejart has done some intentionally funny ballets, but none really spring to mind at the moment.

In the French, however, Coqueluche also means "darling" or "favorite." Knowing this helped me make sense of the Vainonen Nutcracker--the Sugar Plum Fairy has several cavaliers, but dances mostly with her favorite. Also, for anyone who finds the Nutcracker music getting on his/her nerves should consider this: for a while in Russia, it was performed year-round!

I've never seen it, but have heard that the Penguin Cafe is supposed to be funny.

Nobody's mentioned Darci Kistler's little paperback autobiography, which came out something like 5-10 years ago.

There is a male-male pas de deux in Bejart's Firebird, with an unusual 'flying' pose at the end that I guess could be read as a metaphor, if you want to go there. I think the choreography of that pas de deux is an excellent onstage 'bird' representation, definitely more convincing than Balanchine's generic lady in a red tutu.

These days, Bolero is always performed with a male corps and either a male or female soloist...I don't know if it was ever done using only women, but that would be interesting to find out. Perhaps one of my friends would know.

Also from the Bejart repertoire is a pas de deux of two men in a work I forget the name of, but I think it's to a tango, and appears to be more about 'blood brothers' than sexuality, though it is an intense piece.

On a more classical note, Laurencia includes...not really a pas de deux, but a dance for two men. However, they don't even look at each other, so maybe they're clones. The Ocean and Pearls Pas de Trois from The Little Humpbacked Horse has a cute female duet as well, but again, it's more like sisters or playmates.

Asylmuratova in Swan Lake, Lezhnina in Sleeping Beauty, Ayupova in Coppelia and La Fille Mal Gardee.

Cargill, if the entire Sleeping Beauty can count as a favorite moment, it is mine, too.

The final sequence of the grand pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty, which is surely one of the most difficult in ballet: from a semirecumbent posture, she rises to arabesque en pointe, performs two promenades with her partner, a penchee followed by a balance. I also like the Act I coda with the fouette rond de jambe sequence, and also various parts of the Rose Adagio.

Katharine Kanter wrote:

The same piece of litter choreographed on a "modern" dancer whose technique is, shall we say, limited

Do you mean "whose ballet technique is limited?" Modern dancers often have wonderful technique but are often faulted because it isn't ballet technique. By contrast, ballet dancers will perform a modern work hideously and be praised for their "good" technique--usually meaning high extensions and conventionally pretty lines (which isn't necessarily good ballet technique, either). Of course, if the modern dancer doesn't even have good modern technique, that's a different story.

Actually, I've heard that before she became a music star, Madonna was a ballet dancer. Either way, she's still more of an artist than Britney Spears if only because she does what she wants and doesn't pander to the public nearly as much (not to mention that she does have some singing ability). It is unfortunate that ballet companies have to "dumb down" their art in order to fill seats, but I guess if one doesn't enjoy the patronage of a czar, one does what one must.

I've been taught that dance is both aerobic and anaerobic--in other words, you have to work in short bursts of energy, but you have to do that for a long time. Consider the typical ballet class--short combinations performed throughout 1.5+ hours.

In an era when the most popular movies are 2+ hours long, I fail to see how ballets of similar length are somehow too long...especially when they have an intermission. Also, realism on the stage often doesn't work well--for example, Graham works are no more realistic than ballet, but the point gets across just as well. Even musical theatre isn't very realistic. If theatre were just real life put on a stage, I don't think I would spend $60/ticket to go see it. Come to think of it, movies aren't all that realistic. They may portray real events with naturalistic dialogue, but too much naturalism soon becomes tedious.

I used to think there was a Cuban method, but after having taken class with several Cuban teachers, I'm not so sure anymore.

That is definitely very impressive. I've seen Jennifer Gelfand do that, and Ashley Bouder, but they are more athletic. The Nutcracker pirouettes bothered me, though...Ivanov (or at least Vainonen) meant for Tchaikovsky's beautiful music to be danced to; presumably that's why they choreographed steps instead of leaving a void and saying "turn!" The athleticism seemed much more appropriate in the first piece, and I really liked the pirouette in which she changed from retire devant to derriere--it was more subtle (a rare quality in a Forsythe work).

Also, to what qualities do you refer, exactly?

Yes, that's it! I couldn't remember whether it was Grigorovich or Lavrovsky. Thank you!

Does anyone know where I can find a copy of Grigorovich's Walpurgisnacht? (At least I think he choreographed it...anyway, not the Balanchine one.)

In the theater of life, there are dancers, and there are watchers. Watchers wanted.

How about this:

The new Delta Theater--the first theater in its class with seats that recline all the way back!

I have that tape, too, and I love it . The only thing that bothers me is that the Ocean and Pearls pas de trois wasn't included, along with a few variations, I think.