canbelto

ALthough I do have a (very disagreeable) cat, I'm a dog person. And I think dogs exhibit many of the traits of dancers -- loyalty, persistence, work ethic, and ability to enduring pain and suffering. Also, dogs are very emotional, with very expressive faces, which I think is often the hallmark of a great dancer.

Quiggin, Ugetsu, Life of Oharu and Sansho are available in dvd. Which one do you feel is the best "starter" film? (For instance I feel Rashomon is definitely the 'starter' film for Kurosawa.)

Yesterday I saw The Hidden Fortress. I highly recommend it as it's considerably more lighthearted than most Kurosawa films (and most Japanese films in general, come to think about it). George Lucas admits in an interview on the dvd that it was the inspiration for Star Wars. The two bumbling peasants became R2D2 and C3PO, and the Princess obviously became Leia. Toshiro Mifune's character is a mix of Obi-Wan and Han Solo. Now does anyone have any recommendations for Mizoguchi films? I've dipped my toe into Ozu, I've pretty much exhausted Kurosawa (except for RedBeard -- going to watch that tonight), so anyone know where to start with Mizoguchi?

Yes it was hugely generous of Tito to allow his wife to finance his mistresses, freeloading kids, and jetsetting life Roberto Jr. was the one who really made my skin crawl. And so did Roland Petit.

So this is just a mix and match compilation. Thanks for the info.

VAI is set to release something called "The Art of the Pas de Deux, Vol. 2." Does anyone know the program on this release?

Warning: the PAL to NTSC process on Nero takes a long time, especially on my small laptop. But it's worth it, because the software was about $70 but it's solved the "what do I do when something's available in Europe but I want it NOW!!!" issue. The NeroVision program also allows you to create chapters and also do some minor video editting.

There is a foolproof way to transfer PAL to NTSC and vice versa. Nero allows you to do this. Here goes: When usin Nero 7 to convert a DVD(or video file) from PAL to NTSC use Nero Vision. When you load Nero Vision choose Make DVD - DVD Video, then import your DVD or add your Video files. When you have done that select Next and create a menu or leave a menu out, your choice. What you need to do now is click on "More" down on the bottom of the Nero Vision menu and select "Video Options". Here you can select NTSC as your video mode. There are other options here you can select to your liking. Having done that select next - next and burn the result to a DVD -/+R.

I find Petrushka creepy.

I agree with Mayerling, La Valse, and The Lesson as creepy ballets. I'd also like to offer Clavigo as pretty creepy.

I don't have a problem with Grigorivich's concept so much as its execution. Nureyev's version for the POB kind of has the same concept (with the tutor being sort of an Evil Genius), but Nureyev leaves more of the Petipa/Ivanov structure and musical arrangements intact, and he restores the mime.

As much as I find Schwarzkopf's actions reprehensible, I have to admit I don't "hear" her personality in her recordings or videos. Schwarzkopf could also be warm and endearing, in her champagne operetta recordings. Her Alice Ford also has a warm, clever personality. I do think art reflects personality, up to a point. For instance, anyone ever read Wagner's letters and diaries? His operas seem taut and terse compared to his letters. The guy was a gigantic windbag who loved to hear the sound of his own voice. I love Wagner's works but I can't say that I don't see the portentiousness, the megalomania, etc. in his operas. Mozart's letters are often witty and naughty, much like so much of his works. However, I don't think art is necessarily the best representative of personality. Basically, I kind of see three issues, whenever the point of Schwarzkopf is brought up, and they're all kind of separate, but they often get meshed into one debate: 1. Her artistic contributions. Schwarzkopf is a polarizing singer. You either like the sound of her voice and her style, or you don't, or you fall sort of in between (like me). But I know Schwarzkopf fanatics, who find her portrayals of the Marschallin, etc. without compare. There are the ES lieder fanatics, who think she's the last word on Schubert and Wolf. And then there are the people who are actively turned off by the sound of her voice and mannerisms. 2. Her personal behavior. Either its excusable or it's not. I know some opera fans who love her singing but attended one of her master classes and became completely disgusted with her as a person. I also know people who know all about Schwarzkopf's actions pre-and post-war, and find that they are understandable, given the conditions of the time. That's a personal judgement call. 3. Whether you can separate her personality from her singing. I know a guy who refuses to have any German music in his house. This guy is a huge classical music buff, but no Beethoven, no Mozart, etc. That's his prerogative. Personally I think he's missing out on great music, but ... It's kind of like whether I can watch an Elia Kazan movie, knowing that he was a "rat," as Chris Rock said. I personally can. But some people can't. I respect those who can separate Schwarzkopf's personal life from her music, and those who can't. It's a judgement call. Where it kind of gets muddy (and this is where most of the fights occur, as a longtime subscriber to several opera lists) is when the first three debates are mixed together. It often goes like, "How dare you judge Schwarzkopf's actions, when she made so many contributions to Wolf lieder?" Or "I don't know how you can listen to her, considering how disgusting she is as a person."

ITA with this. In fact, I'd take it a step further and say, "If Schwarzkopf wasn't so talented, would anyone be making excuses for her behavior?" I think it's that aspect of the Schwarzkopf discussion that always irritates me a bit. I find it a bit akin to a celebrity obnoxiously screaming, "Do you know who I am?" In my opinion, being famous/talented/beautiful isn't an excuse for personally rephrehensible behavior. I'm not even saying I find Schwarzkopf's behavior irredeemably reprehensible. But to say, "she was a great artist, we should only focus on that" makes me bristle.

From everything I've read about Schwarzkopf, this is why I think she joined the party: ES was an only child of a schoolteacher and a "stagemom." I think she went to the Berlin Opera more than a bit spoiled and confident in her abilities to become an instant star. She was very young, and very good-looking. She was probably used to flattery and success. But once she got to the Berlin Opera, things did not go as planned. She didn't get along with the management, she didn't get along with her colleagues, she wasn't getting the right roles, they couldn't even figure out her fach. She also, I think, came down with tuberculosis. I think Schwarzkopf was an opportunist (nothing really wrong with that, per se), and saw that party membership, which required elaborate proof of 'Aryan' background, might finally get her career off the ground. She might have thought volunteering to 'watch' her colleagues would bring her closer to management and VIPs. She also wanted to get into a possible film-making career, and actually did make a few films, I believe. She probably saw this as a great networking opportunity. Is this honorable behavior? No. Was ES truly malicious? Hard to say.

Well I've seen this video and add me to the list who finds Zakharova unconvincing and ultimately unaffecting. Zakharova has two expressions -- one is a bland smile, the other is furrowing her eyebrows. Even her port-de-bras I found to be strangely unimpressive.

No I find this akin to Elia Kazan 'naming names' for the HUAC. There were plenty of Republicans in Hollywood, but not all of them crossed that line into actually naming names and thus ruining careers (and also, lives). In a totalitarian regime, Schwarzkopf could not have been as naive as to think that her 'informing' on a colleague would be totally innocuous. Plus, she got her facts wrong. Joining the party was actually a priviledge, not an obligation, by the time ES applied. It might have furthered her career, but she made it seem like she would have been kicked out of Berlin Opera had she not joined, which is not true.

I'm not so much bothered by Schwarzkopf's membership, or even her denial, as her excuse when confronted with the facts. Long after her career was over. She said it was like "joining a union" (it wasn't), and then pulled out the "I lived for art" line. True, maybe, but so many years after the fact, and when her career was no longer at stake, it seems rather disengenuous. I'm also bothered by the fact that she was hired to spy on her colleagues. That strikes me as a line I personally wouldn't cross, especially in a totalitarian regime. She might have truly endangered the lives of her friends and colleagues.

I think one issue of ballet that does have to be addressed is that some classical ballets do undoubtedly have some very old-fashioned and ugly racial stereotypes. Le Corsaire and Raymonda are two obvious ones.

DefJef, another mistake you are making is assuming that racism is purely a black/white thing. I've done some research on the ballet companies during the Soviet Union, and at the Vaganova Academy, children from "adjoining" areas were not allowed to stay in the same dorm as people originally from Russia. Dancers like Nureyev were ridiculed for their "Tartar" background, and Maya Plisetskaya faced anti-Semitism. Vladimir Malakhov says one reason Grigorivich didn't invite him to join the Bolshoi was his Ukrainian background. (By the way, this is totally off-topic, but is Diana Vishneva Jewish? Someone who is Russian said that Vishneva is a "Jewish" last name.) The other thing you are assuming is that there is something inherently racist about ballet. There is not. The Cuban Ballet is very highly regarded, and that company is extremely "mixed race." Racism is something that's unfortunately prevalent in so many facets of life. For instance, take football (soccer). I watched a horrific documentary that showed neo-Nazis taunting dark-skinned players as "monkeys" and throwing them bananas. One victim of these awful chants was Thierry Henry, that French player you might have heard about because he happens to be one of the best in the world. In American football, there was a time when blacks were considered "unfit" to be quarterbacks because they were "too dumb" to call plays. I am not kidding. There is nothing inherently racist about football (both forms). But racism is there, because, well, there's always going to be a part of the population that is bigoted, ignorant, ugly, sadistic, and so insecure that they have to denigrate others to feel better about themselves. The way to fight racism is to look it straight in the eye, not to say, "humans are bad, nothing can change, we will always be racist."

Yes I agree Hans that Vishneva hides her less than ideal feet very well. Her feet are certainly not Zakharova/Ferri pretty, but she seems to have developed exceptionally strong foot muscles that allow her to balance on pointe , and they've become part of the "total package." Basically, Vishneva goes against every stereotype we have about a classical ballerina. Her arms are too long for her to have perfect port-te-bras. Her face is more striking than beautiful. She is not a china doll, and she doesn't pretend to be one. Yet she can triumph in roles like Aurora, Giselle and Juliet because of the strength of her personality and technique. She's never an ideal anything, but she makes her mark on everything. One dancer whose feet are IMO actually distracting is Alina Cojocaru. I love everything about this dancer, but her wide, large feet do detract from her line.

Actually, yes. Because while all dancers should have some degree of turnout or pointed toes, there have been many many dancers whose feet or turnout have not been ideal (Margot Fonteyn jumps to mind). The Bolshoi has always been known as a company with somewhat "ugly feet", and there have been times when this has been so egregious as to ruin a performance. For instance, their Swan Lake video when all the swans had feet sticking out like ducks is one example. But nowadays, even if their feet/turnout aren't ideal, I can enjoy their strengths as a company. Thank you leonid for expressing what I find so appealing about Vishneva. Another thing I love about Vishneva (that I know many people dislike) is her larger-than-life stage persona. Standing next to other dancers, I realize how short Vishneva is, but she never seems insignificant or slight. She grabs the spotlight and never lets go.

omshanti, please don't feel like I'm giving you advice, but you seem to have extremely fixed ideas about what is "right" and "wrong" in classical ballet. Nothing wrong in having high standards, but I really can't think of how elevated or lowered buttocks is an example of poor training or inferior talent. I think I understand what you are talking about, but I see it as an aesthetic preference that has evolved over time. Also, just out of curiosity, what is so unacceptable about Malakhov?

omshanti, from what you write, you seem to think that there is a right and wrong way to place the buttocks, and the right way is higher, as you say. But it seems as if a dancer like Asylmuratova (whom you mention as an example) can't help but have lower buttock placement simply because she has such a flexible back and her line emphasizes the extreme curvature of her spine, which would automatically "lower" her buttocks when she arabesques. Asylmuratova Whereas someone like Guerin (whom you also cite) naturally has a straighter back and this more conventionally erect posture makes the buttocks seem higher: Guerin But this aesthetic, IMO, indicates a difference in training, and probably, preference. Asylmuratova chooses to emphasize her flexible back, and this lowers her buttocks. So from my perspective, it's not necessarily "right" or "wrong" to place the buttocks a certain way, it's just a matter of preferring one kind of line to another. Getting back to Vishneva, since you obviously pay a lot of attention to technique, is there another part of Vishneva's posture/technique that bothers you?

I love the "walking" pas de deux from Emeralds. I just find the Diamonds pdd blah for a variety of reasons, one of them being the music. It's slow and dirge-like, and the pas de deux always seems like sullen marching to me. Again, seen this live, seen this on video, and it always is (to me) the least interesting part of Jewels. I don't like the music and I don't like the choreography. I do like the conclusion of Diamonds however, just not the pdd.

omshanti, just out of curiosity, do you think there are any great dancers today?