canbelto

This site has probably the best collection of photos, both historical and modern, that I have ever seen. It's truly a treasure.

I noticed that too, and thought it was weird. In fact, this film marginalizes the Lilac Fairy. First of all, she's not even in Lilac -- her tutu is some kind of grayish color. And second of all, she pretty much disappears after the Vision Scene. She doesn't lead the Prince to Aurora's bed.

Hi, I recently got the 1964 film of Sleeping Beauty, with Alla Sizova and Yuri Soloviev. I think that the dancing is beyond reproach, but I'm puzzled by the reshuffling of the music. The Rose Adagio comes before the garland waltz, and then in Act 3, Desire and Aurora's pdd is again the first dance. It's followed by the traditional divertissements (including a young Natalia Makarova as Florine), but then it's back to Aurora and Desire's variations and the coda. Also, the traditional Lilac Fairy variation is missing in this film. Does anyone know why these changes were made?

Just a warning about Bolshoi.net -- I went to the site and after reading some of the reviews, found it to be very distasteful. It is a thinly disguised trashing of everyone that is not Natalya Bessmertnova or Yuri Grigorivich. The "reviews" are cruel, with inevitable negative comparisons to Bessmertnova.

To go off the beaten track ... Harder to find, but there was a BBC telecast of Cinderella a few years ago with Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg that is a very fine performance of this ballet. And, there was also a version of Cinderella from the POB choreographed by Nureyev starring Sylvie Guillem and Charles Jude. In this case, Cinderella is a starlet, Nureyev a movie producer, and the movie ends with Cinderella signing a movie contract. It's a concept that actually works very well. Besides Guillem and Jude, the film is stocked to the brim with famous etoiles -- Elisabeth Maurin, Isabel Guerin, Monique Loudieres among them.

I have two Apollos on video, both with Martins and Farrell as Terpischore. One is from 1968 and it is the long version, and one is the truncated version from 1982. I must admit I much prefer the longer version, with Apollo walking up the steps.

Vishneva and Malakhov, from their Tokyo dvd, are a great Giselle pairing. Also, Cojocaru and Kobborg (seen them live too).

The topic of hyperextensions is frequently brought up on this board, but have you ever seen cases of underextension, meaning the dancer didn't have the required flexibility/mobility for a role? And did it bother you? The most prominent case I can think of is Miranda Weese. I've seen her both live and on video, and she has a very uneasy arabesque -- at times, it seems as if she has trouble getting it to 90 degrees, even. I saw the video of her Swan Lake (when she stepped in last minute for Darci Kistler) and I felt that her body (upper and lower) simply wasn't pliant enough to be a convincing swan. I also thought the ABT corps had trouble with Sylvia, and when I saw the Royal Ballet video I realized what was missing: a kind of easy fluidity of the upper body that really flatters Ashton's choreography. Don't think the ABT got the look right, maybe they will when this year. These are two cases I can think of, but can anyone else think of bad cases of underextension?

That's like many CEO companies, in which the board of directors are stacked with friends of the CEO or the top executives. Anyway the point of my post was that Rockwell's article hit upon many of the peripheral issues of Peter Martins' reign (how well he gets along with the board of directors, his conflicts with Farrell, Gottlieb, etc.), but he doesn't give an opinion of the state of the NYCB, dance-wise. Which is all I care about. And currently, I give them a thumbs down, especially compared to other world-class companies.

I am glad to have Lopatkina's Odette/Odile preserved permanently on celluloid, but what concerns me deeply is that this site, which is extremely reliable, slates the release to be in October, but says: * Tchaikovsky - SWAN LAKE (Highlights) Valery Gergiev, Kirov (Universal) If this is true, then this is bad news indeed. Why film at all if you're only going to film highlights? I hope the site's info is wrong but I know the guy who runs the site and he is very very reliable and doesn't put anything on this site unless it's verified.

I guess I'm in the minority in that I don't really care whether Suzanne Farrell or Edward Villela are coaches or not. I really don't care about the Martins/Farrell "feud" -- so two people don't have a good working relationship, and one gets the axe. It happens all the time, and it's just part of life. Suzanne's moved on, and that's that. I also don't care how well Martins gets along with the board of directors. I don't care about the Balanchine Trust. All I care about are the performances. When I buy a ticket to the NYCB, am I going to see a well-danced, charismatic, engaging performance? And from the times I've gone there, the answer for the most part is no. So on this very basic level, I think Martins has failed.

Yes it was! And Georgina Parkinson was another jewel fairy. I forgot the third jewel fairy. I liked Aurora's Wedding overall, I just was surprised that Fonteyn wasn't nearly as great as she was in the 1955 telecast. She is exquisite though in Les Sylphides (as is Nureyev as the Poet). And I loved La Valse.

I have a sneaking suspicion the "Evening at the Royal Ballet" Aurora's Wedding wasn't the 'typical' one the RB was staging, because it also has a Nutcracker divertissement, which just seems bizarre. I might be wrong but I suspect the film was designed to showcase as many Royal Ballet stars as possible in one film. Strangely, Margot Fonteyn is not nearly as good in this film as she was in the 1955 telecast. Not technically, but personality-wise. She isn't as radiant, and oddly, does not smile throughout the entire pas de deux. But the film is valuable if only for Antoinette Sibley's radiant Florine. As for the Vikharev reconstruction, I'm surprised he took out the Lilac Fairy's variation. I know it wasn't originally in the 1890 production but it's become such a beloved part of Sleeping Beauty that I'm surprised he didn't give a nod to tradition there.

I do have a Giselle with Sylvie Guillem, and she doesn't use her usuall high extensions at all. I was very surprised -- she was really a beautiful, touching Giselle. I'm hoping Zakharova will be the same way.

I'd also recommend Richard Buckle's "Diaghilev" and Tamara Karsavina's "Memories of Theatre Street" for insights into two of the most important people in Nijinsky's life, and perhaps, the only two people besides Bronislava who truly cared about him.

I sent a letter to Louise Nadeau and she wrote back a beautiful long hand-written letter. Nowadays, some dancers have their own websites where you can ask them questions, and they answer. The three sites I've visited that have this feature are Diana Vishneva, Johan Kobborg, and Sylvie Guillem. Kobborg has a great sense of humor and makes sure to answer every single comment people post, as does Diana Vishneva.

I have reservations too about Zakharova as Giselle. I could imagine her being breathtakingly beautiful in the role, but I can also imagine her being totally miscast.

Natalia, all I can say is :huepfen024: :huepfen024: :huepfen024: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

According to their website, TDK is releasing a Giselle, filmed in 2005 at La Scala, starring Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle.

If this article is missing something, I think it's the complete non-mention of all the international ballet companies and their performance of Balanchine. Jewels has practically become a staple of the Mariinsky, and in general many, many ballet companies across the world are performing Balanchine. And from the little I've seen, they are doing it very well indeed, in their own style. And the ABT. They've consistently performed Balanchine over the seasons, with great results. Really, Mr. B wanted his ballets to belong to the world, not the NYCB. And that's what happened. So in a way, we should feel grateful.

The Suzanne Farrell ballet isn't a permanent stable company though, not the way the MCB, PNB, and SFB are. It doesn't have a set roster. It's still a pickup company.

Let's not forget the DAR Hall's very ugly racial history (like not letting Marian Anderson perform). I think another issue is the public's stereotype (right or wrong) that those Russian troupes are only good for the classics like Swan Lake, etc. Alexander Ratmansky talked about it -- that whenever they tour, he's always asked to trot out Swan Lake or Don Quixote. During the Cold War, these tours had a level of fascination because the styles of dancing were so different, and because, as a rule, the U.S. companies *didn't* perform La Bayadere or Don Quixote. But now so many companies perform the same repertoire, that it is a little disheartening to see a tour of the Kirov that involved yet another series of Swan Lakes. Especially since the Kirov could perform, say, Jewels, and I dare say it would equal if not surpass a NYCB performance of Jewels. In other words, I think it's discouraging that in recent years Russian companies have tried so hard to "think outside the box" by broadening their repertoire, but these efforts haven't changed the perception of the Kirov or Bolshoi as Petipa, Petipa, and more Petipa.

Natalia you're depressing me and I'm trying to think positive because this is definitely a road trip I will make! At least it could be someone like Tereshkina! Or Bolshakova! Knock on wood ...

Nowadays, in nearly every Swan Lake production, the adagio ends with a penchee. Sometimes 6:00, sometimes 5:45, but the point is, the basic position is the same. But I wonder where this position started, because it certainly wasn't the accepted ending pose in the 1950's or even 1960's! The first ballerina I saw (on video) to do it was Natalia Makarova but she couldn't have been the first -- it must have been something done at the Kirov before she started dancing. In documentaries like Backstage at the Kirov and Children of Theatre Street, it's clear that all the ballerinas are taught the penchee ending, as we see Olga Moiseva specifically coaching Altynai Asylmuratova on the penchee pose, and Galina Mezentseva also ending the adagio with a penchee. So ... does anyone know how the penchee started? Where it started? By the way, I think it looks beautiful, if done correctly.

Wow Kirov coming to Chicago with their Swan Lake. Let's hope Lopatkina, Vishneva, and Pavlenko all show up.