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Ok, I saw the Saturday matinee performance, and although it was a 250 mile drive to and fro and I'm exhausted, I'll do my best to review the performance. Where do I start? Yekaterina Osmolkina was the Aurora (it was originally Olesia Novikova). Osmolkina is a very pretty girl, and a good ballerina -- when she's moving. Great jumps (the springy types that only Russian-trained ballerinas have), a good turner, a beautiful arabesque. The issue is when she has to balance on pointe. And there she is in big trouble. The Rose Adagio contained practically NO balances -- she just put her hand on one prince after another, without any pauses. Fine, ok, the Rose Adagio is tough. But even in the Vision Scene she was wobbling and shaking. She's been in the Mariinsky since 1999 -- I honestly dont see her progressing into principal. She doesnt have the personality or charisma of a Diana Vishneva. She's pretty, but also has some pretty obvious technical problems. The Prince was Vladimir Shkliarov, and he's a young dancer. Still in the corps. Ah, Russians and their turning. He has lovely tour l'en airs, and did a series of them in the Vision Scene. Then he does a double pirouette -- and wildly overrotates, so he ends with his back to the audience. He's promising though, and handsomer than most Russian male danseurs. I thought the corps was beautiful but tired. On the one hand it;s really great to see a corps where everyone arabesques the same way, and everyone's port te bras is the same. But they made some mistakes. During the Vision Scene one corps member did a turn and ended flat on her butt. Other than that they were very uniform, but somewhat listless -- I think the exhaustion of touring is getting to them. The Lilac Fairy was Tatiana Amosova. I didnt think much of her one way or the other but she does have one moment in Act 1 wen she has to turn, kick her leg up, turn once more, kick her leg up again, and repeat this (never putting the free leg down). Amosova did maybe 7 or 8 of these turns and got a lot of applause. I was racking my brain thinking where I've seen this, and then i realized that it's the same trick Balanchine has for the Dewdrop. By far the biggest disaster of the night was Dmitri Semionov, the Bluebird. He honestly had NO business dancing this role. His jumps had no elevation, and at the end of his variation he fell. What's worse, at the end of the coda he literally gave up dancing with Florine -- you could see her dancing, and him just sort of faking his steps. Speaking of mistakes, the "Jewel" fairies TOTALLY messed up their exit in Act 3. And the "Diamond" fairy is too large for a tutu. She stuck out like a sore thumb with the long, leggy fairies. The Puss-in-Boots and White Cat were absolutely adorable. But I'm saving the best for last -- Princess Florine. My god she was good. Her name is Yulia Bolshakova, and she is only a corps member but I envision great things for her. She's tall and leggy, but dances with incredible speed and panache. She also looks like (get this) Altynai Asylmuratova. The same dark hair, almond eyes, and general gorgeousness. Ok, maybe she's not as gorgeous but watching her was just magical. Like most Mariinsky ballerinas she is very flexible but the flexibility seemed to be a natural movement with her, and not a contrived "look." The Mariinsky orchestra played beautifully. There are many things to both like and dislike about the Sergeyev version. First of all, the erasure of the mime in the Prologue meant Carabosse hammed around onstage like a lunatic. And I dislike his choreography for the Act 3 pdd. It seems a bit ... empty, with little more than a lot of supported pirouettes. I miss the fishdives!!! One the other hand, keeping in mind more recent horrors like Kevin McKenzie basically gutting Act 4 of Swan Lake, it's nice to see how much Sergeyev respects the ballet and the music. And it's a very pretty production.

Helene, I totally understand what you mean about the Russian girl turning from "poor girl injured in the head" into "evil Russians." Perhaps the weirdest example of this was Katia Gordeeva, who became a saint when her husband and partner Sergei Grinkov died suddenly. There was even a film, as well as two books and an ad campaign with target, including a perfume line. Then she became pregnant with Ilia Kulik's baby, and all the endoresements and media attention stopped. One team that's almost forgotten but I totally loved was Natalia Miskuetchenuk and Artur Dmitriev. Unfortunately, personal differences between the two ended this partnership. The good thing about the Sale/Pelletier and Berezhnaya/Sikuharlidze is that eventually both teams became good sports about the "double gold" situation. They even made some joint appearances together on skating shows. And Elena Berezhnaya was too adorable, I think, for the media to *really* crucify her. But again, I hope both Totmianina/Marinin and Shen/Zhao are healthy and it'll be a good competition and there won't be any jingoistic ugliness. And Oleg Vasiliev needs to keep his mouth shut Speaking of coaching wars, anyone remember the Alexei Mishin/Evgeny Plushenko/Alexei Yagudin love triangle? It culminated in a bizarre news conference with Mishin admitting that he could only "love one son" (Plushenko).

dirac, the horror! The horror! (The thought of Ali McGraw as Daisy). I think in the 1970s if anyone could have played Daisy it was Cybill Shepherd. Of course Shepherd at that point was completely controlled by Peter Bogdanovich, so it wouldnt have been likely. Julie Christie, if she could have shed her British accent, might have been a good Daisy too. But Shepherd would have been better -- Daisy at her core is ice cold, and Christie was naturally a warmer actress. Perhaps Faye Dunaway too. Anyway, any of these ladies would have been better than Farrow.

I'd wear Giselle's peasant costume. I think all Giselles look adorable in that dress.

I want to add: I hope Plushenko finally wins gold. He's had some really bad injuries since the Salt Lake City Olympics, but I think overall he's still by far the best male skater in the world from a technical standpoint. For the women, Irina Slutskaya is a skater that disappoints me more and more. Technically she might be excellent (huge, springy jumps) but her programs always let me down, and she's one of those skaters who gets less and less exciting as the program goes on. If it were a a duel between Cohen and Slutskaya, I think if Cohen manages to skate clean she'll win. I also hope that Shen/Zhao recover from their injuries. There has been a LOT of bad blood between the coach of Shen/Zhao (Yao Bin) and the coach of Totmianina/Marinin (Oleg Vasiliev). It all happened when another Chinese pair crashed into Totmianina and since then the war has escalated, with Vasiliev even implying that Zhao is faking his injury. Very ugly. So needless to say I hope both teams are healthy and it'll be a good pairs competition.

Did they mention who would dance on Saturday afternoon? I was psyched to see Novikova but it seems as if Kirov management has once again overhauled all their casting

Now that you've got me started I'll add a few more examples of this phenomenon: Scarlett O'Hara. Now, I worship at the shrine of Vivien Leigh and I think she didn't just act Scarlett, she EMBODIED Scarlett. There are so many things I love about that performance, from Vivien's almost manic, brittle way of talking, to the fact that she singlehandedly, against all the advice from director Victor Fleming and costar Clark Gable, made Scarlett a complex character, worthy of our respect and affection. But that being said, the very first line of Margaret Mitchell's novel is "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful." It's clear that Scarlett is very pretty, and quite the flirt. But Vivien Leigh happened to be literally among the short list of most beautiful women, EVER. Of course I got the GWTW dvd boxset which had some truly horrifying screen tests from the likes of Lana Turner and Katharine Hepburn, so I should thank my lucky stars that Vivien was ultimately cast An opposite phenomenon happened with Sense and Sensibility. Elinor and Marianne are supposed to be close in age, but next to the luminous Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson looked like a plain soccer mom. Thompson CAN look very beautiful, but in this movie the huge age difference between the two sisters really would have horrified Jane Austen, I should think. A movie that I think got things exactly right was "The Age of Innocence." Daniel Day Lewis was just about right as Newland -- mildly handsome but not really dashing. Michelle Pfeiffer was glamorous and appealing but had the kind of aged, world-weary look that reminded viewers that Ellen was running away from an abusive marriage. And Winona Ryder was perfect as May: young and innocent looking, but with enough steeliness to be scary. That scene when she tells Newland she's pregnant -- crying and gloating at the same time -- always gives me the chills. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a movie that got things totally WRONG was The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald is pretty explicit about Gatsby -- he's sort of phony looking, with an eager smile and "beautiful shirts", but in the end he's just a thirty-something "roughneck." In other words, not Robert Redford. And Mia Farrow bugged me to no end as Daisy, especially her pipsqueak rather whiny voice. Hello! Daisy's voice is supposed to be so alluring even Nick is totally transfixed by it. It's the most important part of Daisy. Did the producers and director even read the book?

I dont think the NYCB is the "punk rock of ballet." I also take exception to the idea that for a performance to be "immediate" it must somehow be underrehearsed and chaotic. Part of the beauty of ballet is consistency. Discipline, hard work, and lots of rehearsals always make for a better night at the ballet, IMO. The great dancers, IMO, combine an immediacy and spontaneity with consistency. I recently saw the documentary "Fonteyn and Nureyev" and it had clips of F&N rehearsing Birthday Offering. "You want to do that again, Margot?" was the stern order of the rehearsal coach. Margot Fonteyn did not become prima ballerina assoluta by jumping around wildly. She was able to combine emotion and passion with consistency. The same can be said for an entire company. When I saw the ABT dance Sylvia this past summer I noted immediately how the corps seemed out of sorts and messy. This didnt make the performance more "immediate," it just detracted from the choreography. The ABT will need more time and more rehearsals for the corps to feel entirely at home with Sylvia. What I personally find dispiriting about the NYCB is how even in works that the corps or performers should know like the backs of their hands (i.e. The Nutcracker) the performances were sloppy and looked underrehearsed. This didnt make me think, "Oh, how immediate! How spontaneous!" It just made me think that I'd wasted my money.

I predict a rather weak year for pairs and ice dance. Remember 2002, with Sale/Pelletier and Berezhnaya/Sikhraulidze duking it out? This year there arent many compelling pairs. Zhen/Zao are injured, for one. The Russian pairs do not come near the artistry of B&S, or past great Russian pairs. The men will be interesting. Evgeny Plushenko has suffered a string of injuries but if he's "on" he'll be unbeatable. The real drama is with the women. I personally think it's over for Michelle Kwan. She hasn;t added to her program in years. She's a pretty consistent skater but nowadays that's all she is. Her programs have slowly but surely shed any interesting choreography. I hope that Sasha Cohen can get her nerves in check, because if she's "on" she'll also be unbeatable.

The Dudinskaya was disappointing, IMO. It was a radically shortened/rearranged Black Swan pdd, and Dudinskaya I admit is a dancer I don't really "get." She had an enormous reputation, but I never see much soulfulness or expression from her. She seems like a prodigious technician, but this video clip is late in the game for her. The Makarova is better. She dances to a horrifyingly souped up version of the Dying Swan. It contains a chorus (yes, I'm not kidding). Maya Plisetskaya for me is the gold standard for the Dying Swan (the Pavlova clips while intriguing IMO are too short for me to make a judgement). But Makarova's no slouch either, and what I always find interesting about Makarova's clips from her Kirov days was how little she changed when she came to the west to dance. Still a delicate, birdlike beauty, with a very soft lyrical style.-

I think Jane Austen never describes very specifically her characters' features because she wants the reader to use his imagination. That being said, I agree with those who write that Emma is obviously a pretty girl who is quite confident of her own looks -- her mentorship of Harriet I think always had a touch of snootiness and contempt. Therefore I think it's proper to make Harriet pretty but not glamorous. Notice that Emma is exceedingly jealous of Jane Fairfax, the girl who is actually a rival of Emma in terms of looks and accomplishments. Count me as one person who didnt like the Greer/Olivier movie. Besides "updating" the time to Victorian England, I thought that Olivier and the supporting characters were just about perfect, but there's something about Greer Garson that bugs me. She always seems a bit self-conscious and affected. Elizabeth Bennett is someone I think of as completely spontaneous and blunt to a fault -- if she doesnt like someone she doesnt hide it. Greer Garson's Elizabeth is too polite and arch for my taste. I think a more egregious example of beautiful star/plain character is Olivier as Heathcliff. In this case, Emily Bronte was quite specific in her description of Heathcliff -- he's of mixed race, and not very handsome. Cathy's attraction to Heathcliff is not really based on looks, but on a Level Z kind of connection. Olivier is Hollywood handsome. Joan Fontaine is also way too pretty to play Jane Eyre. Again, in this case, Charlotte Bronte is very explicit that Jane was nothing to look at, but Fontaine had that kind of doe-eyed beauty. But Orson Welles was perfect for the part.

I wrote a rather lengthy Amazon review here, but briefly, the highlights were: 1. Galina Ulanova's White Swan pdd. My times have changed in terms of technique, but Ulanova's purity and beauty of movement remain timeless. 2. Ninel Kurgapkina. Nowadays I doubt if she could become a famous ballerina -- her body shape is so different from modern ballerinas (large head, long torso, rather short legs) but she has an effervescent, joyful ways of dancing that is a joy to watch. 3. Alla Sizova and Rudolf Nureyev in their graduation performance. Makes me understand why neither spent any times in the corps before being named soloists. 4. Irina Kolpakova's Raymonda pdd. What a beautiful, pure style. 5. Alla Osipenko. Have heard of her, and seen her in Makarova Returns, where she comes across as compassionate, intelligent, and eloquent. Knew that she was one of the few dancers to defend Nureyev in his in-absentia "trial." But had never seen her dance before. She seems much more like the modern ballerina -- athletic and long-limbed. 6. Tamara Karsavina - no explanation needed Now I wish they HAD included: 1. Olga Spessivtseva's surviving Giselle clips 2. Some of Yuri Soloviev's dancing 3. Anna Pavlova's Dying Swan (which was in "Classic Kirov")

Another thing I love about Cary Grant is his (apparently ad-libbed) wit and sarcasm. In his movies you didnt NEED the wisecracking sidekick character actor, because Cary Grant WAS the wiseacre. Very few actors IMO are able to portray true wit. Grant is. With many famous stars, you want to LOOK at them. For instance Greta Garbo or Marilyn Monroe or Vivien Leigh -- they transfix you with their luminous screen presence, and you just look at them. With Grant, I always want to LISTEN to him. In fact, as good looking as he is, very often I find myself just LISTENING to that voice when I watch his movies. I anticipate his next sarcastic, witty comment, or the way he pronounces names and places. If I were blind, I dont think I could necessarily enjoy a John Wayne or Greta Garbo movie. But I definitely could enjoy a Cary Grant movie -- his words are enough to transfix me.

I also love Altynai's personality in this documentary. Very often I find ballerinas to be prematurely aged. Like they are all about work and discipline all the time. But Altynai actually seems much younger than her age (21). She's really giggly and admits she hates class and generally seems like she'd be fun to party with. I love how she seems to giggle her way through class and rehearsals. Very endearing. Later on she of course became a huge star but I hope she kept a little of that giggly and fun-loving nature.

In some of the documentaries during the 1980's Oleg Vinogradov really does come across as a jerk. In "Leningrad Legend" he gives this sob story about how he was threatened after he fired like 90 members of the Kirov Ballet. Uh, and you wonder why people aren't inviting you to parties??? I agree, Cygnet, that the Act 2 corps were flawless. Vinogradov was just trying to be nasty, I could tell. What exactly happened that led Vinogradov to resign from the Kirov?

I enjoy this documentary a lot, but two moments were cringe-inducing: One was Natalia Dudinskaya teaching the Vaganova students. Poor Veronika Ivanova gets a step wrong, and Natalia practically menaces her in front of everyone: "Veronika, WHAT WAS THAT STEP? Don't SHOW ME, TELL ME." Ivanova looks on the verge of tears. Another moment was when Oleg Vinogradov berates a corps swan because her powder had fallen off during the performance. What was she supposed to do? Not sweat? Ninel Kurgapkina can be seen coaching the girls, including Altynai Asylmuratova. So can Olga Moiseva. Best moment in the documentary: after the voice-over about how important it is for dancers to take daily class, I love how Altynai matter of factly admits she doesnt like class at all. Hee.

Hard to believe this wonderful actor only got nominated twice for an Academy Award and never won. Of all the golden-age actors, I think he was by far the most diverse. He was equally at home in the madcap screwball comedies, the cold Hitchcock suspense movies, and the traditional romances. He's such a natural comedian. I love how he will do anything for a laugh, such as in Bringing Up Baby when he wears a fur-lined bathrobe and explains it by jumping up and down, pumping his fists, and screaming, "Because I just went GAY all of a sudden!" He is a natural scene-stealer -- in Notorious he steals scenes from Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains, which is a tall feat. I'm watching him in Notorious currently and he does the impossible and makes this cold S.O.B. romantic. Oh, words cant describe how perfect his is. Gush.

I saw "Swing Time" tonight on TCM, and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. I love Ginger's earthiness, and her beautiful white chiffony costumes, and the final dance, but I didnt find the storyline amusing or believable AT ALL, and the Bojangles routine seems pasted into the movie senselessly. Plus I dont think Fred or Ginger were good enough singers to carry a whole song -- and thus one of my favorite all-time songs "The Way You Look Tonight" was somewhat ruined. I kept thinking what a great pdd it would have made had they DANCED it instead. Is Top Hat better?

Uh, Romeo and Juliet??? (Cranko, MacMillan, Lavrosky, doesnt really matter. The right dancers can make this ballet hot.)

Can I pipe up and say at this point I'd rather see the POB do Jewels than the NYCB? The issue is not "style," but rather the quality of the dancing. The POB corps is the most wonderful and uniform in the world. At its present state the NYCB corps does not match the POB by a longshot. I think Jewels would benefit from the discipline and uniformity the POB can bring to just about anything. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Anyone have any opinions of Novikova, the ballerina I'm scheduled to see?

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing Novikova in Detroit. She's so pretty, and she sounds like a real young talent.

Hans that is fascinating! Because I have a video with Alicia Alonso doing the Black Swan pdd (a rather odd video). She must be WELL into her forties, yet she does a quintuple pirouette, and in her 32 fouettes she turns like a top, and more importantly, NEVER leaves the box/block of marble in which she started turning. So no travelling whatsoever. And she ends with a big triple. And I'm like, this woman's feet are not feet -- they must be made of absolute steel. at around the same time, Alonso filmed her Giselle, and while it's very beautiful, there her technical weaknesses are more exposed. The film cuts away from both her developpes because she's wobbling so badly. But anyway Alonso definitely turned like a top

When I say Nureyev wasnt a good turner, I'm not talking about his ability to pirouette with speed. Nureyev I think was a very good turner while he was actually rotating. But I started to notice that he never could stop rotating and finish in a clean 4th position. He often just puts his free leg down, or trips ever so slightly. I never saw him live but it's just something I've noticed in the videos. In comparison, Mikhail Baryshnikov turns with lightning speed and but knew how to snap to a perfect 4th position. Among the current crop of men, I'd say Angel Corella is an excellent turner. As is Herman Cornejo. Marcelo Gomes's turns arent quite as impressive. Not that theyre bad, but I see Marcelo Gomes for reasons other than his turning. (Like the fact that he can switch from being a deliciously campy villain to being the most romantic of danseur nobles, and of course his utter complete hotness ) Of the dancers I mentioned above, Gomes and Nureyev are by far my absolute favorites, by the way. And to move to a different topic, I think the Russians are peerless as far as jumps go. Whether theyre adagio or allegro dancers, the majority of them seem to be able to give the illusion of being suspended in the air.

Well it's not that they CAN'T turn, it's that I notice their turns are more deliberate, slower, and don't have that fast, snappy quality. Of course Maya Plisetskaya is an exception, as are others. Natalia Dudinskaya for example. But I've noticed: - Veronika Part, not a great turner - Alina Cojocaru - I adore everything about this beautiful, enchanting ballerina, but I've seen her try to turn and it's not a thing of beauty either - Natalia Makarova - again, I adore Makarova but I think her turns are very weak and slow - Rudolf Nureyev - again, one of my favorite dancers. But he consistently starts turns and then can't finish them. He just sort of stumbles out of the turns. - Svetlana Zakharova - I remember being underimpressed by her turns in La Bayadere which I saw live, and in this new Swan Lake video I thought her turns were the weakest part of her arsenal - And I have to disagree about my personal favorite ballerina of all, the divine Altynai. I think she is divine in every way but her turns I also find to be surprisingly disappointing -- slow, often very deliberate, as if she has to pause and set it up. She doesn't turn with the kind of abandon I look for. For instance, compare her turns to Isabel Guerin's in La Bayadere. Guerin's turns seem somehow cleaner and faster, and more spontaneous. - Galina Mezentseva - Yulia Makhalina Perhaps weak isnt the right word. I just find that Russian turns tend to be slower, more "set up", with less abandon. Of course there's Maya Plisetskaya who rips into her pique turns like a wild animal, or Tatiana Terekhova the queen of triples or Nina Ananiashvilli, et al. So it's not a wholesale generalization. But I'm just surprised that dancers (like Cojocaru or Zakharova) who seem perfectly trained in EVERY other way, seem suddenly very lacking whenever they have to pirouette. Maybe I've just seen the wrong Russians, but it's something I noticed.