Petra

Ed and Alexandra, why do you hate TV? Because it's pervasive, because it's ubiquitous??? Isn't that just being snobbish - like Groucho Marx (or Woody Allen?? ) saying they wouldn't join a club that would accept them as a member. What is so innately elevated about the Greek myths or about ancient Greek society? I agree that you can't call someone well-educated (in the Western, dead white male sense) without that person being familiar with the Greek myths - however in the context of the period in which they were transferred into written form, I surely wouldn't have wanted to be a Spartan nor would I have wanted to be a woman or a slave in the Athenian 'democracy'. You just have to read Lysistrata to know that. I also disagree, Ed, with your list of times that one has to watch TV. War, terrorist attacks, suicide bombs, assasinations - those are the times when we should try not to watch TV, when we should try to understand what's going on as individuals and not see only the picture that is most suitable or appropriate or palatable to the masses. That's when the pervasity and ubiquity of TV is really dangerous - when we all have just the one memory of an event. Obviously, I don't follow my own advice - I share everyone's indelible memories of many tragic events (and a few happy ones). But that's just the point - these memories belong to everyone and therefore to noone.

Michael, thanks for the quote from Ballet Review. Perhaps the NY Times article suffered from an excess of editing?

The strangest and saddest thing IMO in this article were Wheeldon's comments on the NYCB dancers regearding how they have to be told precisely what to do and how they don't meet him halfway creatively. Strange because this is his home company - if you don't like your collaborative process... Well, that's like Michaelangelo saying "God, this Carrera marble - it just doesn't meet me halfway" - If you don't like marble, go off and paint a ceiling or something. If Wheeldon is happy to (presumably) be drawing a permanent salary from NYCB while having carte blanche to chorograph for other companies, I personally don't think he should be complaining about the material he has at his disposal there. These comments were also very sad, because this certainly isn't the company or school that created Kirkland, Kent and Farrell (I've never seen NYCB, so I'm just naming the dancers whose autobiographies I've read or seen.) Thinking back, this illuminates a lot of comments on the NYCB thread but Wheeldon said it with such authority and obviousness (that's not a word) that it was quite shocking - to me, at any rate. Perhaps no one else has mentioned this point, because to the NYCB-goer this point is indeed self-evident??

I had to read the original press release in three sittings - I kept on running to the bathroom:p I don't understand why anyone would want to produce this kind of travesty. Surely it would be cheaper (there's no point in commenting on the artistry involved)to film a live production and add narration / voices or even adapt a live production especially for a children's video. This certainly makes all previous threads on commercialisation of ballet and ballet companies completely redundant.

I really enjoyed The 25th Hour. Edward Norton certainly displayed his intelligence and others displayed a great deal of ferocity (is that a word?). The scenes of NYC (post 9/11) were tremendously moving - one scene especially takes place in an apartment overlooking Ground Zero and it looks like the dark side of the moon. Very much like Edward Norton's character's emotional situation. Highly recommended.

Wheeldon is going to produce Swan Lake for the Pennsylvania Ballet next year. Then one can gauge where his sensibilities truly lie - with Petipa, Ashton, Balanchine or Martins...

I'm not Neve Campbell's PR woman (nor even a great fan of hers), but I have read that she had ballet training as a child (possibly even at Canada's National Ballet School) and I'm sure that it was mentioned on previous threads on this topic that she was instrumental in getting the movie produced. Actually, I think that the current set of Young Hollywood players who often started as child stars or acted on long running TV series (people like Drew Barrymore (after rehab), Sarah Michelle Gellar) seem to have a lot of business acumen and are more involved with production of their projects than could be otherwise assumed from their age. I imagine that Campbell has made enough money from Scream et al. and now wanted to make something with "artistic integrity". (I sincerely hope Gellar will make the same choice after completing her Scooby Doo obligations:D ).

Dimming the lights is considered (at least in traditional productions - the kind of productions that actually have ivertures) an announcement that the show has or is just about to begin.

Maybe the video editor got a pair of ck jeans instead of overtime pay

Calliope, congrats on Yale, but as someone who has also been following the grad school application and acceptance process, I know that almost all Grad Schools of Arts & Sciences require replies on a common date, April 15th, specifically so that one can evaluate all offers before accepting one. (BTW, foreign students get a deferral on the downpayment until they arrive in the USA.) citibob, PhD programs also try very hard to accept students who can pay their own way. My husband was informed by professors from more than one school that although there were x places on the program, they would only accept x/2 applicants who could not a priori guarantee personal funding. As far as staying on topic goes, I don't really see how companies who do not receive state funding are supposed to finance themselves without 'selling out':) I'm not familiar with either NYCB or ABT, but it seems that the differences other posters have pointed out are more a matter of style than content - more cool New York-style vs. brash Americanism, than any real difference of opinion in what type of commercialism is legitimate.

Thanks, Mel. In light of my family's (almost definite) relocation to the USA this summer, I am on the lookout for cultural references I am clueless about. I have just acquired 'Pat the Bunny' for my son, and I was afraid that 'Bedtime with Bonzo' would be the next item on my list:p

Hans, I agree that classics are classics because they're good. However, part of their magic is that every generation can relate to them. I think many classics can and, to a degree, should be able to withstand changes, updates, revisions, whatever you like to call it. I think this affirms the worth of a classic as a classic. In fact, the Mona Lisa is a case in point. The Mona Lisa's worth as a classic was not decreased by smeone reproducing it and painting a moustache on it - it probably elevated the iconic status of the Mona Lisa. The same goes for R&J and West Side Story. I'm sure there's a never ending list of classics in every art form that have been the source and the basis for other works of art. I'm sure you'll agree with me that a creator who is unaware of the history of his art form is a very handicapped creator. (However, I don't think that someone going to see Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake should think they are seeing the classic Swan Lake. I agree with Mel's original post that to recognise a take-off, you have to be familiar with the original.) BTW, is it really that difficult to see a fairly traditional SL in the USA? Don't all the touring CIS companies have traditional Swan Lakes?

What is "Bedtime for Bonzo"?? I thought that post-modernism and a certain type of referencing B-movies (I'm thinking of movies like Ed Wood and Pulp Fiction) erased most of the differences between A-movies and B-movies. Also, I haven't seen The Dreamcatcher but in Israel a short Matrix movie is being shown before the main feature. Maybe double billing is making a comeback?:eek:

Wow - I think it was immediately after that run of "Midsummer Night's Dream" ended that Leigh travelled to America to join Laurence Olivier and to audition for GWTW.

One of the oddest things when visiting the amazing and stupefyingly massive Temple of Karnak in Egypt is looking up at the impossibly high pillars and seeing 200 yr. old graffiti written and engraved by French and English soldiers in the 5000 yr. old pillars. The graffiti itself is so high up because when the French "discovered" the temple, it was buried in the sand. Of course, this graffiti really is just a footnote in history compared to the incredible beauty, grandeur and general magnificence of the whole Luxor/Valley of the Kings area. P.S. In case you hadn't noticed, I would truly reccomend a visit to Egypt (and to Israel - while you're in the area)

A Degas dancer would probably be knocking back an absinthe. ;)

This was a triple bill, with Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments' opening. Wow, what a way to start. This is the first time I've seen it, and it just blew me (and my companions) away. What tremndous choreographic invention - every step on its own seemed so original and unexpected and almost counterintuitive -yet each step seemed to move inevitablly into the next - at the end, there is a sense of completeness about the composition. I have no way of comparing this performance to any other. I thought the dancers danced very well considering this is not their 'natural tongue' at all. It's a very 'Russian' company - at least half the dancers are from the CIS and I assume most of the others have been trained by Russian teachers. Only Choleric was underpowered which made the tremendous imapct of the finale too surprising than I thought it should be. The 2nd ballet was a world premiere by teh company's artistic director, Bertha Yampolsky titled 'Optimus' to music by Elgar. As I have yet to enjoy any of Yampolksy's original ballets, I came prepared to dislike this piece, and I wasn't disappointed. In the program notes, Yampolsky wrote that at this time of chaos she wanted to bring some harmony and optimism into the world. She failed in her self-appointed task: I was not cheered by the sight of one woman floating around in a nightgown and long black hair nor by the other dozen dancers who wore red and black leotards rolling around a very dim stage. The closing ballet was 'Bach Division' by Krystof Pastor to music by.... I saw this ballet last year too, (I think it was a world premier then) and it was enjoyable this time too, however it soemtimes looked too much like an aerobics class and not a ballet. Also, 3 completely abstract ballets (unless they are all of 'Four Temerpaments' caliber) is a boring program. Please, Bertha, think of a more interesting program next time. A final comment - There were supposed to be 4 performances of this program this week. I know that at least 2 were cancelled due to a combination of funding cuts and the war/security situation. I was very glad to have supported the Israel Ballet in these times which are difficult for all, but not least for the arts.

I think there are 2 different issues intertwined here. One is why aren't there any new fairy tale/fantastic ballets and the other is balletic spinoffs from opera. I think the main reason there aren't new 'fantastic' ballets is that they are very difficult to choreograph and stage, much more so than abstract and dramatic ballets. Just as science fiction (books/TV/movies, whatever) has to be excellent in order to be good, and not just campy entertainment, so with 'fantastic' ballets. The element of suspense of belief is that much greater than with other genres, so the ballet itself has to be 'better' (whatever that means. ), in order for it to be considered more than a juvenile ballet. I don't know much about opera but are there many 'fantastic' operas? I would assume not, seeing that opera singers look less fairylike than ballet dancers.

Marc, what a wonderful post. I'm a great believer in analogies between architecture and society, and you really made me 'see' both St. Petersburg and the Kirov.

Maybe she was wondering, noe that Brody has set a precedent, who would be going for her throat next year...

There's not much Ashton though - just 1 full length ballet and 1 short ballet, much less than MacMillan and Balanchine. British posters, do you think Cinderella needs a new production? When does the current production date from?

I remember reading an interview with Antoinette Sibley where she said that at the end of one season Kenneth MacMillan gave her a copy of Manon Lescaut (the novel) for her summer reading, and teh following season MacMillan choreographed it. I would assume that reading any background material would help (or at least, not harm) the dancer's perforamnce, even if the chorographer has departed from the original text, as it could help the dancer understand the choreographer's choices. This is probably subject to the dancer receiving excellent and extensive coaching during which s/he would be encouraged to ask lots of questions and there would be time to have indepth discussions about the ballet being rehearsed.

Sorry for the culturally challenged question about the chicken feet. After browsing through this issue of Vogue, I must say I found no real words of wisdom for the uber-short (such as myself:D ). I can only assume that all the women featured as 'short' are such fantastic dressers that they don't look short. Yuan Yuan Tan looked fabulous in the (ballet) studio shot, though I wouldn't have guessed that was her Swan Lake costume without the caption.

What do you mean by chicken feet? How do you eat them?

Well, even though it looks like I will be in America next year (yes!yes!yes! ), I don't think I'll get to see Facade. Portland isn't anywhere near Philadelphia, is it?:confused: