canbelto

I found some more pictures of very plumb line backs:

Darcey Bussell

The uber-flexible Sylvie Guillem

Speaking of tights/notights/shoes, does Coffee dance barefoot? From the audience it always does look like she's dancing barefoot, but in the video I have she's wearing really thin slippers. Is it a matter of dancer choice whether she wants to wear shoes during the Coffee dance?

I've noticed the NYCB girls *always* wear really white tights, except for some ballets, in which case they wear black tights. They never go tightless, or wear flesh-colored tights. Don't know why -- was it Mr. B's preference or something?

I don't like nude pantyhose, mostly because the skin tone of the hose never matches your actual skin tone so you look like your legs have an unnatural tan. So I don't mind when dancers don't wear flesh-colored tights.

I still have fond memories of Klimova and Ponomarenko's "Polka." It was choreographed by Marina. These two usually had such serious freedances, that it delightful to see that they were able to be lighthearted and cute. It was also an extremely difficult dance.

Interestingly, I think there has always been "holding up" in ice dance, but the teams that complained about it weren't necessarily the teams that truly suffered. For instance, I truly believe the Duschenays were "held up" in 1992. Usova/Zhulin were much superior skaters. And I think Grishuk/Platov were held up, but Bourne and Kraatz were placed about right. The teams that suffered from G&P's "holding up" were Torvill/Dean, Krylova/Iforgotherpartner'sname, and Anassina/Pezzerat.

The good thing about the COP is the mobility of skaters now. Under the old system Evan Lysachek never could have moved from 10th to 4th.

Would be if there were tights. I think this is bare skin, canbelto. Going tightless seems to be a growing trend, and I don't like it.

The picture is of Altynai Asylmuratova -- you think going tight-less was "in" even back then?

But I can understand why dancers like to go tight-less. It probably causes less sweating, and I know a lot of dancers stuff their shoes with so many layers of "cushioning" that the tights don't even matter.

It's also strange how in La Bayadere, Nikya generally does not wear tights in the first act. She only wears tights when she becomes a Shade. Every Bayadere I've seen in the Makarova version (both live and on video) Nikya is tight-less.

Same for Medora. It's like when you're "exotic" you don't need to wear tights?

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I like seeing the satin on the foot -- it looks so pretty and more feminine. I don't like when dancers dull the satin ribbons on their shoes. I think a good exampl

e of the pancaked ribbon is this:

Isabel Guerin

OTOH, I think this ribbon/tight combo is too mismatched.

I'm with you about tan skating boots. But what I really hate is when skaters pull their tights over their boots. It makes their feet look huge. I wonder why they do it. Is it more comfortable?

I don't know whether I'm weird or not, but I really dislike it when ballerinas get flesh-colored ballet shoes that seem to meld perfectly with their flesh-colored tights so you can't see the line between the ribbons and the feet. I like ballet shoes that are slightly colored (a light pink, or off-white), so you can see the shoe clearly. Don't know why, but it's just my preference.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I offer this picture of Lucia Lacarra:

"Nude" ballet shoes

Compared with:Diana Vishneva

I don't mind the melding of the ribbons and tights when ballerinas are wearing white tights, as in Swan Lake. But the "nude" shoes make it look like the ballerina is dancing barefoot, and I really don't like it.

Does anyone else have little quirks like this?

I can't believe I'm saying this because it's usually my least favorite discipline but I am really looking forward to ice dancing. I think mostly because while the talent level for the other disciplines has been, to be honest, pretty poor. The pairs medalists of this year couldn't stack up with the winners in 1988, 1992, and 2002. (1998 was a weak pairs year, but very good for men.) The men this year suffered because so much of the field was so young and inexperienced. Lysacek, Weir, Buttle, et al I can all imagine improving enormously ... in a year or two. But with ice dancing, there is so much talent. The one team I *don't* think deserves much acclaim is Barbara Fusar-Poli and her partner Maurice. I have never like Fusar-Poli's style, and her partner is just not up to international skating levels, I'm sorry. Their choreography has always hidden his weaknesses and that kind of turns me off, when there are so many couples where the talent is equal.

I'm watching Olympic Ice and for one I really agree with Jamie Sale. About Weir's "I missed the bus" excuse Jamie said that the day of her LP she got locked out of her dorm. She said "It's an excuse and I don't think it's a good one." And I don't really like Jamie, but I agree with her. I also agree with David's assessment of Plushenko: "This is *not* entertaining skating."

For Johnny Weir, I've got to say that missing that jump was a pure loss of concentration. And he must have known he needed another combination jump. He said, "I didn't feel my inner peace. I didn't feel my aura was right." I think he has some growing to do. One mystery is why Weir subbed his planned quad for a double axel. He could have gotten more points with any triple.

In interviews, Plushenko has said he wishes to continue to 2010. I wonder if he'll actually do it. I suspect not. Gold medalists rarely continue four years of eligibility. Of all the Russian male winners, I think my favorite had to be Ilia Kulik. Despite the giraffe costume, his skate was just perfect, and it was exhuberant. And he was so cute.

Wow after watching that I must say I've never seen an uglier Olympic competition in my life. Rubber legs. I really don't like this COP system that rewards rotations, whether you actually land the jump or not. Plushenko skated cleanly, but he seemed to clearly know he had the gold wrapped up, and his music was just flat out weird. The Godfather meets techno. His program was again really frontloaded, which gave it a really awkward feel. I felt like I could slice his program in half. First half: nonstop jumping, with some arm flailing. Second half: spins, spins, and more spins, with a jump here or there. He deserved the gold, but his program didnt' have the elegance of Kulik's or Yagudin's IMO. It's not a surprise -- Plushenko has always been known as an excellent jumper, but I found both of his programs disappointing.

I was really disappointed with Weir. He skated cleanly, and was one of the few men who's programs seemed well-choreographed and elegant. But missing a jump and then making up his choroegraphy as he went along really killed his chances. If there's anyone that truly "choked" it was Weir. I liked Jeffrey Buttle and Stephene Lambier but both of them made major mistakes. I'm also happy for Evan Lysachek for bouncing back after the disastrous LP. Sandhu of course broke my heart, AGAIN.

And was it just me or did Plushenko look really really bored on the medal stand? I think that's what happens when there's no close competition. It wasnt really a competition, it was more like a coronation.

Another problem with Weir was that with his offbeat, outspoken personality, he quickly became a favorite of the media, and has spent a lot of time doing interviews and whatnot. I think that it might have distracted him -- after the short program, NBC attempted to interview Plushenko, who curtly cut them off, saying that he didnt have anything to say until the LP was over. I think Weir, being very young, has been so wowed by the Olympic experience that he hasn't been as focused or concentrated as he should be. The mistake he made (skating through a planned jump) seems like a bizarre loss of concentration.

But the story that really broke my heart was Emanuel Sandhu. Sandhu perhaps with a clean short could have been within a point or two of Plushenko. His jump technique was great, his artistry superb, his spins are famously excellent. But his problem is also one of concentration -- after nailing a quad/triple he popped a triple axel and then fell on a lutz. His LP was even more of a disaster. So much talent, so much potential, but he can never hold it together. Such a shame.

One problem I see with Plushenko's skating is that it doesn't have the intensity that it did when he had that ginormous rivalry with Yagudin. These two hated each other, on and off the ice, but they kind of spurred each other towards new heights. In SLC, nerves got the better of Plushenko. But after SLC, no one has really stepped up and challenged Plushenko, and it's made his programs duller. He used to have really quirky programs that were not to everyone's taste. But now he does a lot of arm flailing, a lot of spinning, and nails his quads and 3axels, and does seem to be skating by the numbers. To his credit, he hasn't dramatically streamlined the difficulty of his programs, although he certainly could afford to, as none of the other contenders have a secure quad. But I do think his rivalry with Yagudin made his skating fresher and more exciting.

As for Johnny Weir, I see lots of style, lots of potential, but sooner or later he will have to start trying quads in competition. He supposedly lands them very consistently in practice; I honestly think it was a mistake on his and the coaches part to not program a quad in his program throughout the Grand Prix season. If he fell, so what. It would have given him some experience.

The most exciting event might actually be ice dancing. Navka and her partner (forgot his name) are the favorites, but Belbin/Agosto have been getting great "buzz." The judges seem to really like them; they have great chemistry and are a lot of fun to watch on the ice.

Well I think one of the themes that runs through the three tragic classical ballets (Giselle, Swan Lake, and La Bayadere) is forgiveness, which was very important in Christian theology. In Giselle the symbolism is the most obvious, but in La Bayadere Solor has to spiritually reconnect with Nikya in the afterlife after having betrayed her in real life. In Swan Lake no matter what the ending is, there has to be the scene of forgivness for Odette and Siegfried. I think that's what makes these ballets so powerful, and why they're the staples after so many years.

Hee, loved how Dick Button said "Dying Swan" was a specialty of Anna Pavlova and Maya Plisetskaya. Is he a secret member of Ballettalk?

I thought Plushenko's skating was excellent but the choreography had little to do with the music and it was WAY too frontloaded.

I heard Gorchakova as Elisabetta in Don Carlo in, maybe, 2001. She was, to be frank, terrible. The voice was barely audible -- what I could hear was a shrill, curdled top and little else. She didn't attempt to act -- she literally stood in front of the prompter's box the entire time she was onstage. She had no sense of the role whatsoever.

I think that as good as Totmianina and Marinin were last night, they didn't have the artistry and charisma of past Russian pairs like Gordeeva&Grinkov, Miskutchunok &Dmitriev, and Berezhnaya&Sikharaulidze. There has been a drop in quality. Of course pairs seems to go in cycles. After 1994, it was a relative wasteland. The pairs that won were nothing to get excited about. Even in 1998 Kazakova and Dmitriev were nowhere as polished and beautiful as M&D. B&S's partnership was then in its infancy; they had an ugly spill in the final moment of their LP (which Anton called "the new landing position"). But then Shen/Zhao came up through the ranks, B&S polished their partnership, and along came Sale/Pelletier. So by 2002 the issue was too much talent at the top. I can only hope for a revival in the future.

I cant wait to see the men's short program tonight. Plushenko will probably win, but the skater that fascinates me the most is Emanuel Sandhu. When he's on (which is not often) he's just out of this world.

One has to think after last night that one reason American pairs aren't on the podium is because they're not, well, tough enough. Seeing Tatiana and Maxim, Shen and Zhao, and Zhang and Zhang last night made me have enormous admiration for them not only as athletes but as people. They all must have nerves of iron. I thought the judges perhaps got carried away with Zhang and Zhang and I would have given the silver to Shen/Zhao but all of three pairs were champs in my book.

How about New York City Ballet, the premier American ballet company? (I don't know how accurate that is, considering theres the ABT and San Francisco Ballet, but ...)

I checked online -- their names are John Baldwin and and Rena Inoue.

Last night was the first night of Olympic skating. I thought the American pair who completed the throw triple axel (can't remember their last names) were undermarked, while the Chinese teams (especially Shen and Zhao, who are one of my favorites) were overmarked. S&Z in particular had some major mistakes in their programs. I love them and think Zhao is incredibly brave to skate so soon after a career-threatening injury, but their program had problems. I think Totmianina and Marinin were obviously the best of the night. It's funny, T&M are much more consistent than Berezhnaya and Sikhralidze, but also not quite as artistic IMO.

Michelle Kwan also pulled out of the Olympics. So no Dan Jansen-like last chance miracle for her. I am sorry for her, but I think with all the injuries she's had she might not have medalled anyway. But I do feel bad that she now seems to have three serious injuries in a row.

When the Kirov came to Detroit I saw a rather bizarre fall. It was during the Vision Scene, and the corps were dancing in a circle, when all of a sudden one of the girls just seemed to slip and fall straight on her butt. The corps stopped for a split second to allow her to get up again, and then continued right along.

Uh, for the geographically uninformed, where is Jacob's Pillow?

Another question is how we stereotype performers based on their ethnicity. For instance one of the reasons I love Altynai Asylmuratova's Nikya so much is her exotic, Asian looks. Is that racist? One of the joys of Maya Plisetskaya's swan is her narrow, long face with the sharp nose that really makes her look like a bird. Those are somewhat "stereotypical" Jewish features. Is that racist?

No, she had her son before she left Russia. She continued to perform for Diaghilev until his death ...

Antoinette Sibley I believe is a mother. I *think* it's a son. Or two. I heard her mention her children in a documentary but I really don't remember the details.

Alicia Alonso's daughter looks strikingly like her mother.

Tamara Karsavina had a son.

Lynn Seymour I believe had three sons (one set of twins).