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I also love this photo of Tanaquil LeClercq because it's so different from the usual ballet poses. I don't know which role she's dancing, but she looks so gorgeous, yet quirky. It's enchanting.

Not the picture you're talking about, but here;s one of an incredibly young Makarova: Young Natasha Ooh and I just found this beautiful grande jete from Svetlana Lunkina.

I don't think I'm alone in obsessively searching the web for beautiful pictures of my favorite ballerinas and dancers. Whenever I'm in a bad mood I take a look at them, and all of a sudden I'm in a good mood again. I thought it'd be fun to share some of our favorite ballet photos: This has to be one of my all-time favorites. I just love the body language between them. It looks so romantic: Marguerite and Armand aka Margot and Rudi I also love this picture of Fonteyn taking a curtain call. What a beautiful smile. Moving away from F&N ... I just adore this picture Cojocaru as Giselle. The way she's holding the flowers, the beautiful grande jete position ... It's just perfect. I love this picture of Altynai Asylmuratova's smile. Allegra Kent and Jacque d'Amboise in Afternoon of a Faun. What a beautiful position. Love this iconic picture of Karsavina and Nijinsky in Giselle. Adore this picture of a very young Sizova and Nureyev. I love this candid shot of Sylvie Guillem. Vishneva looks so beautiful in this lilac dress! And finally, the incredibly beautiful Alla Shelest as Giselle. Ok I'm done! What about yours?

Clara, Thanks for such a detailed explanation! Now I have a question: what do dancers like Alessandra Ferri or Svetlana Zakharova do for support? Their feet are so super-arched (a friend calls them "banana feet") that I imagine it'd be harder for them to balance without a super-strong shank to keep their feet solid. My friend's daughter has started on pointe this year, and her feet are "perfect" for pointe shoes: just the right arch, strong toes, etc. so in class she hasn't been crying with pain, unlike the other girls, for whom pointe shoes are very painful initially. I've also always wondered if Fonteyn's feet would have had less problems if she wore a more modern pointe shoe. When I see her dance her shoes are so tapered and narrow, and she famously did not have very strong, ideally arched feet to support her dancing. If she had been in Gaynor Mindens I wonder if she would have developed the extremely painful arthritis and all the other feet problems that plagued her throughout her career (as well as the snotty comments).

According to DV's website, she is indeed scheduled to perform R&J with the MT. At the end of the month she will (presumably) debut at the Bolshoi in Swan Lake. Then in June she is back with the ABT. I must say, when a ballerina is as universally in demand as Vishneva, it must be hard to turn down offers. Altynai Asylmuratova was another MT ballerina who also guested a lot although the MT remained her home theater.

I'm disappointed Vishneva won't be performing Rubies. I saw her in this when she came to NY and she was fantastic. However, I can't wait for Lopatkina's Diamonds.

That's a disappointment. Rubies has sort of become a trademark piece for Vishneva. But I'm happy that Vishneva has not left the MT permanently, as Zakharova did. I think Vishneva would look out of place at the Bolshoi. Vishneva's dancing is very athletic, but it also has the elegance that's a trademark of MT dancers. However is she still listed to film Ondine?

This doesn't necessarily mean she's cutting ties from the MT. She;s also on the roster of the ABT as a principal guest. If she were to "defect" to the Bolshoi though, that would be a huge hit for the MT. First Zakharova, now Vishneva.

I was furious when that "sequel" came out for GWTW. It sickened me, the soap-operaish way Scarlett and Rhett got back together. I always imagined something quite different. IMO, Rhett at the end of the novel is just battered from years of being hurt by Scarlett's foolish infatuation over Ashley. But they belong together. Scarlett will prove to Rhett how much she loves him, and Rhett will realize that they belong together, and they'll live happily ever after By the way, Rhett Butler is one of my favorite all-time literary characters. He's tough on the outside, but he's tender and loving on the inside, and he has a great sense of humor. I practically want to strangle Scarlett in both the book and the movie, because Rhett does everything possible at every situation to show how much he cares about her, and she's just oblivious. Scarlett! Men like that don't grow on trees! And slightly off-topic: what do you think about the ending to Cosi fan tutte? I've never believed that in the end the original couples just get back together. I think Mozart and da Ponte deliberately made the ending ambiguous. It's clear that the "test" opened a can of worms that can't be closed again. That;s just my take.

Another example would be Shaw's Pygmalion. Shaw in an afterwards pointed out the improbability of Henry and Eliza marrying. According to Shaw, she marries Freddy, and her flower shop is not a success either. However, audiences have always felt differently, and with good reason. The whole play has been about the relationship between Higgins and Eliza -- how Eliza grows into a smart, strong-willed young woman by the end of a play. "Fit for a king," as Henry says. For the 1939 movie adaptation, Shaw grudgingly supplied a "happy ending." My Fair Lady of course follows that ending. But as much as Shaw points out the impracticality of a Higgins/Eliza match, emotionally it's very believable. It's clear by the end of the play that if Higgins isn't overtly in love with Eliza, he has developed feelings for her. And Eliza's developed feelings for him. Shaw was wrong -- Higgins and Eliza *do* belong together. It's not mere romantic nonsense to feel that way. The relationship between Higgins and Eliza is the heart of the story. The ending Shaw supplied was ambiguous. Shaw shouldn't have written that epilogue. As for Rhett and Scarlett, I've always known in my heart that they'll get back together. They are soulmates. It's too bad it took Scarlett 12 years to figure that out, but I have always been certain that they belong together and eventually Scarlett will win him back.

Yes Grable had the misfortune of being not beautiful enough to have the reputation as a screen legend despite mostly forgettable films. Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner also made very few memorable films, but their reputation rests on being, well, unimaginably gorgeous. If Betty Grable had a male counterpart, I'd say it would be someone like Robert Taylor. He was handsome, wholesome looking, not much of an actor. He carved out a niche for himself but he's certainly not remembered as a screen legend.

Ok, I think the idea that if Violette Verdy, Allegra Kent, Maria Tallchief, Patricia McBride, Edward Villela, Jacque d'Amboise, Suzanne Farrell, Arthur Mitchell, Melissa Hayden, all came back to coach the NYCB is just something Gottfried needs to get over. It's not going to happen. Plus, even if it did happen, it wouldn't magically solve all the NYCB's problems. I think the main issue with the NYCB was that back in the day, it was *the* American ballet company where budding ballerinas and danseurs aspired to dance. New Balanchine and Robbins works were probably treated the way movie buffs treat the November/December releases -- it's like, what masterpieces will be in store? In other words, the NYCB really had dibs on all the best and brightest American dancers. The SAB was seen much the way the Vaganova Academy is treated in Russia -- it had the best teachers, the best students, and basically the NYCB could pick and choose. The idea of Mr. B creating a ballet for YOU (!!!) was something ballerinas dreamed about. Plus, when Mr. B's ballets were created they had the advantage of literally being something never before seen onstage. Today, Agon-ripoff leotard ballets are a dime a dozen. And so on. Nowadays, there are much more top-tier ballet companies in the U.S. The ABT is no longer a place that culled the best foreign dancers -- it still has a very international cast, but it's much more homegrown. There's also the San Francisco Ballet, the Pacific Northwest, the Boston Ballet, Joffrey ... Plus, the huge draw of the NYCB (new, interesting works created special for one dancer by two choreographical gods) is no longer there. I don't think ballerinas go to sleep at night and dream of Peter Martins creating a ballet for them. Wheeldon? Maybe, but he's still a young talent. I'm sure ballerinas still dream of dancing Symphony in C, but the excitement of being new and cutting edge is not there anymore. Plus, you can dance Symphony in C in so many companies. It doesn't have to be the NYCB. Balanchine wanted his ballets to go to the world, not to the NYCB, and so it's turned out. The rest of the world gained, but the NYCB probably lost its appeal So it's not so much that the NYCB has regressed as much as it is no longer automatically head and shoulders above all other American ballet companies. And I'm not sure if anything can be done about that.

I think it's also cultural. I've noticed that Russians tend to perform in boxier shoes. That was something I noticed when I saw the Kirov -- the corps de ballet all wore shoes with very boxy platforms that made more noise than I was used to. They weren't that attractive to look at, but the beauty of their corps de ballet (uniformity, port te bras, etc) more than made up for the fact that their shoes didn't look all sleek and slim.

I have to agree, the overly boxy Gaynor Mindens are not aesthetically attractive. However, for someone with very arched feet like Cojocaru, they might provide the proper support. Here's a picture of Alina's super-boxy shoes. I have to say, they do kind of mar her otherwise line. But that's just nitpicking. Mostly I thank my lucky stars that there's a ballerina as lovely as Cojocaru.

Adding to Han's reminder that the Back is not just a pretzel, but a continuom of placement that affects even the most minor movements, I have a few pictures: Alina Cojocaru as Ondine Cojocaru as Odette In both pictures, she's not even especially stretching out her back, but you can just sort of see the natural curvature. For comparisons, here are pictures of Tamara Rojo. Look at the plumb line: Rojo as Aurora More Rojo carbro, I agree about Ruzimatov. In fact, the quality you mentioned is one reason I've never really warmed to Ruzimatov. From what I've seen, a lot of his dancing seems to be more 'showing off' than actually creating a character. Angel Corella had a bit of this when he was younger but he's matured into a serious artist, although he's technically as spectacular as ever. And for those who want a picture of Rudolf Nureyev's uber-"Russian back", here are a few pictures that show that Rudi could sure arch his back: Nureyev For a beautiful picture that really shows how the Russian back is a continuom of arched placement: Sizova and Nureyev For a comparison, somewhat similar position, but look at how straight their backs are: Bruhn and Nerina

Hi, Dana Sanderson's site lists the release of a Swan Lake of the Kirov, with Valery Gergiev conducting. Does anyone have any idea who might be dancing? Was there recently a Russian telecast of Swan Lake? I'm intrigued/excited about this.

Another issue I see is that fans of a certain discipline are often disinclined to see the "dark side" that comes with any very competitive, demanding career, be it films, sports, dance, tv, etc. An example would be the "home run craze" during that season Mark McGwire passed the previous record of 61 home runs set by Roger Maris. At that time, there were already whisperings that McGwire was using steroids. But the fans didn't really care -- they loved seeing Big Mac hit out of the park. And understandably. If there is a sport that causes such sweat-inducing tension as baseball, I haven't seen it. I know during games that go into extra innings, every crack of the bat makes my heart leap. But now, McGwire has admitted to Congress that he did indeed pump himself up with dangerous steroids, as did a lot of other baseball players. Fans of college basketball often don't consider the cruel methods that many coaches use (i.e. Bobby Knight) or the awful system that recruits talents and then drops their scholarships as soon as a knee gives out or whatever, leaving the players with little to no education and no prospects for a professional career. (For a good film about that, watch Hoop Dreams.) My point being, I love ballet, but I like to think that to deny the issues of anorexia, cruel teachers, racism, injuries, et al doesn't help anybody. The goal should be improvement. And I think there has been improvement in the ballet world, as I've noted in my previous posts. I see more ballerinas becoming mothers (which in itself is a sign that they are at a healthy weight, as dismenorrhea is one tell-tale sign of anorexia or being severely underweight). I see more dancers taking time off for injuries. I know friends whose children are enrolled in ballet schools and they all say the schools have courses on adequate nutrition and healthy strength-building exercises. I know a girl enrolled at the Boston Ballet school and she loves her teachers -- she says they're demanding but kind. Improvement, not denial, I say.

Yes he did! I think that's part of the reason why he and Fonteyn were so successful. He made her more Romantic, more pliant, and she made him more classical. They cross-pollenated each other, to great effect.

dirac, I agree about the snail-paced Capote -- even though it was only 90 minutes, it seemed much longer. But what I liked about the movie was that it was NOT a biopic, the way "Ray" and "Walk the Line" were biopics. It was a story about moral ambiguity, something that's much harder to capture on film than one might think. In recent years, I can think of "Do the Right Thing" that did the same thing -- present a situation where there is no right or wrong. Do the Right Thing was ultimately a superior film. It was funnier, livelier, and the issues it presented seemed organic to the story, while Capote's moral quandry seemed a bit contrived. But still, I always like movies that don't have clear answers to questions.

And Svetlana Zakharova's!!! You can go here click on the galleries and drool at her hair. Diana Vishneva, however, has long but sort of thick and coarse hair, but somehow still manages to look chic during practices. I wish Lopatkina would grow out her hair. Her dark, super-short hair-cut IMO makes her look a bit severe-looking, and from all the interviews I've read she's intelligent and super-charming.

I know that Makarova had a major hair disaster in her first tour to London in 1961. She was set to dance Giselle the next day, and put curlers in her hair, but misjudged the timing completely, and parts of her hair got burnt off. She donned an emergency wig for her performance, but it was a big success anyway. As I said, Giselle is probably the most difficult ballet to pull off a wig, just because the hair is such a big part of the ballet's tradition.

One thing I did like about Capote was that it got the "glib, sophisticated NY socialite" thing out of the way quickly. There's the cocktail party scene, and the joke about his scarf, but the heart of the movie is firmly centered on Capote's moral conumdrum, which I like.

Her hair is long now, at least from recent pictures I've seen. I've seen pictures where it's actually somewhat stringy and she's not wearing much makeup at all, and it kind of ruined the image I had of her as an impeccable glamour queen. More Sylvie stories: I heard this interview with her on the BBC in which the interviewer rather tactlessly asked her how she was dealing with "the ravages of time." "Ze ravages of time, as you zo kindly poot eet," Sylvie shot back. I wondered about the safety of the interviewer for a day or two. Back to short-haired ballerinas: here's a picture of Darcey Bussell in a really really big, intrusive wig, dancing Ballet Imperial. Her hair must REALLY be supershort nowadays. ETA: Irina Golub of the MT also has short short hair.

According to Diana, she will be performing in October with the MT: growsonwalls: Dear Diana, are you sick (flu, cold) or are you injured? Either way, hope you are healthy soon! Get well soon! Diana: I had a flu. But I began to work already. Thank for wishes Nora: Sorry to hear that you will not be able to dance Ondine because of your health. How disappointing! Anyway, get well soon. I look forward to seeing your performances again. Do you have any plan to tour with Mariinsky Ballet this year? Diana: Thanks for wishes. I plan to participate in performances of Mariinsky theatre in USA (October)and Japan (November - December). This is wonderful news, and for those who are big fans of Diana's unique, charming English (that I affectionately call Dianglish), there is even more wonderful news to be found in these answers. Diana, it seems, has finally learned it's "Thanks" instead of "Thank." I will miss "Thank" though ...

Yeah I did like the scarves. About the Manon wig, I guess I've seen too many opera Manons, where Manon looks dreadful in the final scene, but she doesn't wear that kind of wig. But thanks to the people who point out that it's a convict wig ... The Cinderella video with Guillem/Jude uses Guillem's bob to great effect. When she's Cinderella she wears a dowdy wig, pulled back by a bandana. But when she becomes a 1920's starlet, out comes the fashionable bob. I think it was probably to accompany Guillem's short hair at that time. I wonder if subsequent Cinderellas at the POB have to wear a 1920's bob wig to play the part.