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Mel Johnson

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Everything posted by Mel Johnson

  1. I, for one, sight unseen, am willing to call for cheers for our young men of the RBS, who have done much to enlighten us, to cheer us, and to seek our assistance when necessary. All together: hip, hip, (Hoorah), hip, hip (Hoorah), hip, hip, (Hooray!)...and a tiger (RAAAAHHHH)!
  2. A book or a video is good thing to have when on "off-season" because it provides the dancer with a syllabus - that is, a detailed listing of what's to be done when. I can tell you from bitter experience that many dancers will short themselves on those things they are not the most confident about. If the book or the video seems to be perhaps below your level of technical accomplishment, even brainless, then work for detail! Make sure every tendu is letter-perfect, that the accents on the petits battements are all there and clear, that the relevés are absolutely correct! It's only for a month, after all - why not give it a try?
  3. Nureyev also staged the Laurencia pas de six for the Joffrey. Early seventies, if I remember right. It didn't last very long in rep, and I still remember Scott Barnard, our ballet master, complaining about it.
  4. Sometimes, I get mad at MYSELF! I tend to behave as though I were at a football game when I'm watching a ballet, especially (but not exclusively, alas) when there are people I know dancing. The bouncing, weaving me must be no fun at all to sit next to when I get worked up, and the barely-muffled cries of "Good girl!" "Attaboy!" "YES!!!" can't make the experience any more pleasant. Down, boy, DOWN!
  5. James, bless you for recognizing the importance of Ashton to all of us who love ballet, and I think you have a very strong case for saying that his was the true British style! You certainly haven't upset me, and I'm glad to hear that the information regarding an "Ashton Trust" is confirmed from another source.
  6. Perrot first showed up as a dancer in St. Petersburg in 1848, as a dancer. In 1851, they made him ballet master, and he was dismissed from that post in 1860 for prolonged absence caused by a badly inflamed foot. He produced restagings of the works of Mazilier and St. Léon there, giving them his own stylistic stamp, as well as staged ballets of his own, like Esmeralda, Ondine, La Vivandiere, Le Corsaire and Le Diable a Quatre. As to Perrot's influence on Petipa, it would have taken the form of the integration of the corps de ballet with the soloists and principals, dances which sprang from the dramatic content of the libretto, and brilliant variations for the ballerina. [This message has been edited by Mel Johnson (edited June 22, 2000).]
  7. I think Minkus-bashing came out of the 1950s rage for Tchaikovsky-bashing - "all it is is pretty tunes and loud." You haven't lived until you've heard a medley from the fifth and sixth symphonies and the 1812 Overture played on recorders, viols and lutes, with pop-guns for the cannon! Anyway, Tchaikovsky proved unassailable from this assault by pipsqueak musicologists, and so they lowered their sights to a composer with fewer partisans.
  8. In the 60's, we used to call the oompah music Drinkus from the near interchangeability of their styles, but I like it - it's opéra comique music related to von Suppé (who was Donizetti's nephew), Offenbach, and even Sir Arthur Sullivan. One thing has bothered me about the Kirov's little "Fairy Doll" pas de trois is that they cite Joseph Bayer as the composer. I've heard the whole of his "Fairy Doll" score, and not a phrase of it is in there. If that's not Drigo, I'm a monkey's uncle.
  9. Well, the Nutcracker premiered on a double bill with Tchaikovsky's "Iolanthe" as a light relief to the dark story of the opera. And didn't Pas de Quatre premiere on a triple bill with Rossini's opera "Moise" and something else strictly instrumental? Monster Mixed Bills were not unusual in the 19th century. Gottschalk used to give orchestral concerts that would go on for 5 and 6 hours - he needed the time to marshall all those people he would have on the program (ever hear his arrangement of the "William Tell Overture" for 10 pianos?)
  10. Historical note of incidental information already sent to Leigh: The Seven Lively Arts was indeed a smart and very of-the-moment Broadway revue of 1944. My first teacher danced in it. Her name was Ella Lauterbur, and she later danced on Broadway under the name Lee Vincent. She was Billie Burke's niece and was a student at SAB at the time she was selected to perform in "7LA" - I can place the year by recalling Stravinsky writing that he composed the finale to Scenes de Ballet while listening to the news of the Liberation of Paris on the radio - hence the "Grand Processional" effects in this section that make it rather tricky to choreograph. Paris was liberated in August 1944. The revue is covered in the Burns-Mantle series of "Best Plays of..." for 1944-45, with a complete cast list.
  11. There is, of course, the concept of a museum, or a ballet company, which is sufficently flexible to include in its collection/repertoire both old masters and new works.... Mel Johnson Speaking up for both museums AND ballet companies...
  12. OK - OK - I give! But in my lame defense, let me say that if you can't tease a friend of 29 years standing (Glebb), who can you tease? Additionally, let me thank Paul for the kindly notice of the good work of BalletAlert and Dance View - all of our online readers ought to see them at every opportunity and subscribing is the very best way to do it! No ads, all ballet, and beautifully and accessibly written, these publications are among the finest things American journalism has to offer in the dance field(not that I'm unbiased, you understand). Shameless boasting (my apologies, Glebb) and indecent plugging (sorry, all, Publicity Forever, you know) done, I should like to share with you a story not contained in the wonderful article on Elssler that might...well, you be the judge. On one of her US tours (I can't recall if it were the first or second, as my reference is at work) Fanny Elssler decided to make side trips and view the scenic beauties and curiosa of America. She decided to visit the United States Military Academy at West Point, whether for the former reason or the latter, I do not know, but should like to believe the former, as I have lived so near there for my entire life. The cadets were in Summer Camp on the Plain, today the site of athletic fields, and the lady and her partner, M. Sylvain, were staying at Cozzens' West Point Hotel, today the site of a tennis court. They decided one night to take a promenade of the Point and view the beauty of the Hudson River by moonlight and watch the night steamboats as they passed up and down the river - sort of like going to the beach at night in order to watch the submarine races. On their way back to the Hotel, they passed a line of the Cadet Encampment, and out of the dark came the cry, "Halt, who goes there?" They had passed the picket line of the Summer Camp and a fearsome (17-year-old) cadet with musket and bayonet had challenged them! Elssler was most upset, and expected the worst, as soldiers in Europe could not be relied upon always to be gentlemen! "Oh please," said M. Sylvain, rising to her defense, "this is Mlle. Elssler, the ballerina, and means the Corps no harm." The Cadet guard remained implacable - "I'm sorry, sir, but you have trespassed beyond permitted lines here at the Academy." Sylvain tried again - "But perhaps there is a consideration (jingling coins in his purse) which will persuade you to let this matter pass?" "SIR," said the Cadet, "I am a soldier of the United States Army, and money bribes are contemptible! However, if I might be so bold as to ask a favor of the lady..." "I?" said Elssler, "But I am only a woman who dances...what could I possibly do..." "La Cachucha, Mademoiselle, La Cachucha and nothing less! Then, I shall not report this incident to the Corporal of the Guard, and the night will have seemed to pass in all tranquillity." So with M. Sylvain gallantly humming the dance music, Fanny Elssler danced the Cachucha in the moonlight on the Plain at West Point, and the Guard Book for the next morning showed no unusual passages of the guard posts of the Summer Camp. You may choose to believe or disbelieve this story at your pleasure, as it is merely an "urban legend" of West Point, and the account was given under the nom de plume "Phoenix" the alter ego of a cadet sometimes called "The Mark Twain of West Point" (Blast it, book, why did you have to be at work?) At any rate, Fanny Elssler remained a legendary visitor to West Point, whose influence remained until the 1880s, if we may believe programs and scripts for theatricals performed by cadets - a good 40-year run! Elssler even lent her name to another West Point Legend - a cadet whose nickname was "Fanny" - not because he was a gifted cavalry rider, but because his beautiful hair was the same color as hers, and he graduated in 1861! His name was George Armstrong Custer.
  13. Glad you enjoyed the article on Elssler - now where the heck is it???
  14. Estelle, I don't know about modern-day NYC, but they would be falling back on a fine old New York tradition to name streets after living folk. To name only a few, Lispenard Street marks the former driveway of a wealthy family by that name, Houston Street is not named for the Texan hero, but for an early NYC Congressman whose house was at its end, and there is no Beach on Beach Street since Lewis Beach, the Congressman, changed districts and moved upstate.
  15. Oh, boy - does that bring back memories - I've worked on flat and raked stages, but the worst time I ever had dancing was in New Haven CT, where I was supposed to be dancing at the "Festival on the Green". The first day's performances went fine; they had rigged an outdoor stage that I think must have been designed by the Theater and Engineering departments at Yale together - it was the best outdoor portable stage I ever worked on - but the second day, a nor-easter came through and tore up the festival site something fierce! We were transferred to Woolsey Hall, a concert hall at Yale whose prime function was to serve as a platform for concert music. The stage was very beautiful wood, kept highly shined with actual furniture wax! The management of the place (very polite, but very firm) wouldn't let us put rosin on the stage, for they were also very proud of the gloss, and this was the 60s - the Age before Marley - plus, the stage was raked a good 8 degrees. Well, we slipped and slid and knew this odd tendency to crowd the apron in "Les Sylphides" - and the only entrances/exits to either side were a couple of normal-sized doors, so the corps couldn't exit before the Grande Valse Brilliante, so we had to figure out what to do with them! My partner and I were dancing the Bluebird pas de deux(it was more or less a highlights program), and we kept noticing that if we did single pirouettes, we had a decent chance of ending where we had started, but all bets were off after one! Same went for double tours - start one place, end up a foot downstage. (And maybe not stop then, from the no-rosin rule) I will note, however that I never saw a more careful performance of anything! While nobody throttled down or marked anything, everybody danced with an extreme concentration on placement, and getting the heels ALL the way down at every opportunity! I ached for a good two days after that experience, and thereafter, if the Festival were rained out, the dance venue was made the old Yale Drama School Theater when we made a representation to the Festival producer of the difficulties of the beautiful but treacherous Woolsey Hall. Wow! wotta war story! Does this provide some anecdotal answers to the question?
  16. Hi Again Giannina - I just got the video you mention of the Kirov. I wondered what "Markitenka" was, too, until I saw it - thought it looked familiar - looked up the word - it's "La Vivandiere"! And a sunnily danced version, at that! The Joffrey did a version of it staged from St.-Leon's notation, as interpreted by Maria Grandy. I also got a big kick out of the "Paquita" grand pas, no matter where the variations come from! (A later addition - this post set me up perfectly to go in and turn on that wonderful little pas de six and watch it and watch it and watch it over and over again! Death by Vivandiere Overdose! ) Mel [This message has been edited by Mel Johnson (edited 01-16-99).]
  17. Regarding Vilno/Wilno - that's the Polish version of Vilnius. The Russian is Vilna. Remember, the Nijinsky family was Polish.
  18. Some people say it's Proustian; I don't care if it's Faustian or Jacobean or Armenian: I love "Dim Lustre".
  19. Just for the pure deviltry of it, I think I'll repost an earlier tale of woe entitled "La Sylphide Attrappe' " There was this performance of "La Sylphide", see, and Martine van Hamel was dancing the title role. I don't remember much of anything else about this performance's Act I, because when Martine tried to vanish up the chimney, she got stuck! She could come back down, but she couldn't go all the way up, leaving her feet dangling between heaven and hearth in the fireplace. Nobody watched James and Effie and Gurn and the rest of the good Scots' yeomanry spin out the story of Act I. Madge could have danced a can-can while playing a sousaphone and nobody would have noticed - we had all developed feet fixation. At first, the feet were very docile and decorous feet, framing themselves genteelly in cou de pied. But, after awhile, an occasional shake or flex became necessary to ward off cramp, and every little movement was greeted by the murmurations and chortlings of the audience. Of course, eventually, she could reenter from her perch in the flue, and things continued on without further incident. Afterwards, Martine, ever the good-spirited trouper, just smiled it away, and said, "Well, I guess that they just built the chimney for a smaller sylph!"
  20. Now there's a real idea! I would gladly pay a premium to see either one of these composite stagings! I think you're right about the litter, and the blowing curtains do find a resonance in my recall, and I haven't been to see a Royal Sleeping Beauty since 1975 (Did this production scare me away?). The Good Ideas Beauty could be wonderful, but the Bad Ideas Beauty would be a refreshing change from all the "Greatest Hits of Tchaikovsky" programs and albums that abound. What about "The Worst of Sir Frederick Ashton" or "Beethoven's Biggest Turkeys"? I think we would find in either case that the worst of those two (to name only two) is better than most people's best work.
  21. Now there's a real White Elephant story! That production really lives on in my memory as the worst Beauty I ever saw produced by a major company. Now that I can look it up, it only was offered 73-75, and then was heard no more. I did have the good fortune to see Jennifer Penney as Aurora, but not much else good can I recall about it. Oh, yes, Wayne Sleep as Hop O'My Thumb - but for his dancing, not the dance itself!
  22. As with all De Gustibus threads, everyone is absolutely right! (Ya have to do a bunch of Anglican seminary to be able to reconcile all these apparently contradictory viewpoints!) Another trip to the archives and I have the program to the offending production of Beauty. The pas de quatre of the Fairies in Act III, together with some other eminently forgettable material was contributed by a frequent subject to the "White Elephants" and other threads here - MacMillan! This production didn't last too long (1973-77) and had sets by Peter Farmer, which moderated, but did not totally replace, the wrong-headed rechronologizing of the opening scenes to about Raymonda vintage, i.e. the Crusades, rather than going from late Renaissance to early Enlightenment. I remember thinking while watching it, "I want Oliver Messel!" But back to the Florestan pas de trois for a bit - the choreography there is not Ashton's, but Bronislava Nijinska (who apparently also added the "fish dives" to the grand pas de deux [thank you, Bronia!]); she also did the "Three Ivans", replacing whatever coda there was to the pas de deux. I like Florestan, too, but the entree is a real crib from the Act I pas de trois in Swan Lake. As Tom Lehrer used to sing in "Lobachevsky" - "Plagiarize! Eet's vhy God made your eyes, so dun't shade your eyes, but plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize! - Unly remember alvays to call eet please 'research'!" Always worked for me when I was stuck for choreography! As for the Swan Lake pas de quatre, I agree that it's terrific, but maybe not in Swan Lake! - it struck me as having a life of its own, best seen independent of a full-evening multi-act production. [This message has been edited by Mel Johnson (edited 11-20-98).]
  23. Well, for openers, there's alway the pas de howmany? that comes right after the polonaise. Now I ask you, folks, what was the last time you said to yourself, "Gee, I really miss the Florestan pas de trois (freely cribbed by Nijinska from Swan Lake)" or "I really thought the Ashton pas de quatre is some of his finest small-ensemble work" or "that Hop o' My Thumb variation is the greatest"? Now the "Red Riding Hood" and the "Cats" parts are fun to *do*, but after the first time seen, I have usually found them tiresome, except when livened by especially talented dancers (Adix Carman is the only Wolf I can even recall since the sixties). One of the worst problems the last-act divertissement has is that we know it from the 1921 Diaghilev revival, where all sorts of liberties were taken with the thing, even to the introduction of characters well-outside the Perrault tradition, like Innocent Ivan and His Brothers from "The Little Hump-Backed Horse". (Whey were they put in? There are two perfectly serviceable principals to do the coda of the pas de deux) They even included numbers from Act II Nutcracker. It would be very interesting (for me, anyway) to inspect the Sergeyev Stepanov notation of this scene to seen if the original choreography were transcribed in any way, or whether other factors may have been at play in the way we know the "Aurora's Wedding" scene today, with all of its ad hoc throwaway choreography, which usually doesn't mesh all that well with the surviving Petipa. Pusey Library, here I come!
  24. Jenny, as with all the De Gustibus threads, You Are Absolutely Right! And you even seem to have a growing crowd of supporters in re MacMillan's R&J, and I'm at least in your corner about that bit of Bayadere! I did think, however, that all the extraneous characters in the Cabinet de Fees made a lot more sense when I found out that the original production's final tableau was arranged around a large image of Louis XIV, in order to celebrate the joys of autocracy. That still doesn't help silly choreography, though.
  25. Not necessarily, Dale! I once ran across an article in British print entitled "Revoke-a-Knighthood, or what WERE we thinking?!" MacMillan figured prominently.
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