canbelto

I know it's cheesy but I also really like Officer and a Gentleman and Pretty Woman. I especially like it when Vivian sits in the taxi and "It Must Have Been Love" plays in the background. Ok, I admit it. I'm a soggy mushy sentimentalist.

I also love "Annie Hall." Especially the ending. In fact, I find that it's the sad endings that usually make me cry. When Bill Murray gets in the taxi at the end of "Lost in Translation" I was a mess ...

I'm glad people have mentioned Titanic, because, dammit, I start crying when Leo is in the icy waters, telling Kate to "never let go ..." The tears trickle ... In the Mood for Love - how can I forget that one? House of Flying Daggers is also a wonderful romance, and the scene where Wind cuts the wild flowers for Mei in the field is probably the moste romantic thing I've seen in movies in a long time. I also love Roman Holiday. Another one of those movies where I can't watch the final scene ...

Since so much of ballet has to do with romance, I was just wondering what are y'all's favorite movie romances. I'm a big sucker for romances, and my favorites are: Umbrellas of Cherbourg - the final scene always makes me cry and CRY It Happened One Night - for me, the gold standard of romantic comedies The Shop Around the Corner - the silver standard Casablanca - no explanation needed GWTW - no explanation needed Brief Encounter Lost in Translation - LOVED it!!!

I'd say Alina Cojocaru. She's a tiny, delicate dancer but whenever she's onstage you simply can't take your eyes off her. Diana Vishneva has a similar effect on me. And I agree with Carbro on Marcelo Gomes. I'd also add Irina Dvorovenko and Alessandra Ferri. Sylvie Guillem too. The above-mentioned dancers have something in common in that they make a plie look like more than a plie. Every movement from them looks special. Dancers in the past who I've only seen on video but seemed to have this same quality: Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Tanaquil LeClercq(!!!), MAYA PLISETSKAYA, Gelsey Kirkland, Natalia Makarova, and Altynai Asylmuratova.

I pre-ordered this, mostly for Zakharova. I've seen her live and on video and though she's not my favorite dancer I think she has potential to be a very regal, commanding, memorable Odette/Odile.

I've seen Gregory on a few things on tape. I think she (like a lot of American ballerinas) have a strong vertical alignment. Russian-trained ballerinas seem to have a much more horizontal alignment. This makes them look very elevated in roles like Odette/Odile or Giselle. The issue today is that I think many American-trained ballerinas still have a very vertical alignment, but they're expected to be all arched back and curved arms and bent elevated legs. Exhibit A I think would be Gillian Murphy's recently televised Odette/Odile. She seems so naturally earth-bound (in a good way) but seemed to be reaching for the Russian look, with mixed results, I must say.

I've heard Rudolf Nureyev, Vaslav Nijinsky, Irek Mukhamedov, Farukh Ruzimatov, and Altynai Asylmuratova all described as "Tartars." Excuse me if I sound really ignorant but what exactly does "Tartar" mean? Is it an ethnic group? AFAIK the above-mentioned dancers all came from different places geographically (Asylmuratova is from Kazakhstan, Nureyev from Ufa). Or is it sort of a general description of a kind of appearance?

I think Diana is very Russian. I would never mistake her for an SAB-trained dancer. I dont know how to better explain it but I associate Balanchine-trained dancers with a very sharp angular orientation, and Russian-trained dancers with a more squiggly, hula-hoop orientation. Diana's extremely fluid arms and arched back are for me dead giveaways that she's not SAB-trained. I noticed this when I saw Diana dance Rubies. There was just something "off" about it -- her soft arms were just completely out-of-sync with the jazzy, staccato music.

I thought the most damaging cut of all was the first part of Act 4, as it cuts one of the most moving scenes in the ballet, which is Siegfried searching among the swans and finally finding the forlorn Odette huddled in the center of the swan line. I think Corella's expressions dont really play well on the small screen. On tv, they look hammy. I dont know if Swan Lake is the ballet for over-the-top expressions anyway. I think quiet desperation works better in this ballet. I thought Murphy was a surprisingly regal, touching Odette. She had a quiet dignity about her that I found touching. I dont however think she's a natural adagio dancer -- her movements dont have the natural poetic grace of say, Natalia Makarova. I think with time Murphy will be a great Odette. For now, she's a very good Odette.

Well I saw it last night. I agree with those who say the corps were terrible, especially in the first act. I really loved Delibes' score, especially the music for the third act pdd. Very beautiful. I am surprised this ballet was created on Margot Fonteyn, as the role has a lot of things I dont usually associate with Fonteyn: fast footwork, and most of all, JUMPS! I never thought of Fonteyn as a particularly proficient jumper, but Sylvia's first act is practically all jumps. I thought Gillian Murphy was a very regal, amazonian Sylvia. I like how naturally classical she is. What she lacks is the winsomeness and girlishness I imagine Fonteyn brought to the role. I thought Beloserkovsky danced well but that the role is so slight and cipher-ish. My favorite of the night was Marcelo Gomes as Orion. Marcelo is like ABT's Maria Callas -- always striking and vivid and scene-stealing, even when he's not dancing.

I'd also love to have Balanchine's Coppelia released on dvd. Patty McBride is beyond adorable as Swanilda. I saw once on one of the documentaries a tantalyzingly brief excerpt of a Giselle with Asylmuratova and Ruzimatov. Oh how I wish that would be released in its entirety! "Dancing for Mr. B" is also pretty priceless, especially the rare footage of Allegra Kent in Symphony in C. And of course, it goes without saying that the MND film with Farrell, Mitchell, Amboise, Paul, McBride, and Kent NEEDS to be commercially released.

The ABT Giselle with Makarova and Baryshnikov is definitely on my "want" list. It's an incredible performance. Makarova and Giselle is that rare fusion of dancer and role that creates perfection. I'd also like to see the recent BBC telecast of Cojocaru and Kobborg in "Cinderella" released. Actually I wouldnt mind if every performance of the lovely Alina were released to DVD, as I'm positive I could never tire of watching her.

I dont think there is any full-length biography of Karsavina (besides of course her own memoirs) but she figures prominently in Richard Buckle's Diaghilev and Nijinsky, both excellent books.

Too bad this video hasnt been commercially released on dvd because it's by far the best Giselle on video. Baryshnikov is somewhat miscast as Albrecht, and I'm not a fan of Martine van Hamel, but sublime is the word for Makarova's Giselle. Every time I watch this I think I'm touched by god, even though I'm not a religious person at all. Makarova really makes her Giselle a Christian figure of mercy, forgiveness, and redemption.

I think this isnt only an American thing. For instance I comb the corps in the POB videos to find anyone remotely Mediterranean looking (olive skin, curly black hair) and I see none.

I posted about those three dancers because they danced at a gala that I now have on video. Guerin, Ayupova, and Zelensky were all obviously of a different training school than the NYCB, but they didnt look TOTALLY out of place. Today, I think they would. I mean, can anyone honestly picture someone like Zhanna Ayupova dancing alongisde Wendy Whelan and Maria Kowrowski in Apollo?

I recently saw much of the 1993 gala and I'd say that performances have really changed. I think "dropped" is too strong a word. But I do notice that back in 1993, Zhanna Ayupova, Isabel Guerin, and Igor Zelensky could dance in the company and look relatively at ease. Today, I think they'd look like a fish out of water. The style of the NYCB dancers has become more neoclassical. The elbows are sharper, the port-te-bras more exaggerated, the hips more off-balance.

Isnt Kolpakova the ballet mistress for the ABT? I've seen her at ABT performances. A TINY lady.

I read a long Washington Post profile of Farrell called "Dancing in the Moment" and highly recommend it to anyone interested in Farrell. Among the Farrell students that were profiled in the article was Amy Watson, now a rising star at the Royal Danish Ballet. The picture painted of Farrell is a complex one: demanding, remote, yet extremely sensitive and devoted to her students. It's a great read.

I cant believe I forgot: Yuri Grigorivich's Nutcracker has some of the ugliest costumes I have ever seen in a ballet production. But the ugliest of the ugly has to be the "Mrs. Bates" wigs the snowflakes have to wear. I'm not exaggerating -- they're straight out of Psycho, it seems.

I think Swan Lake is a special case though, because the ending was forced to become "happy" via Soviet censors. It's not a case of a new dance being added (i.e. the Giselle solo that was added for Spessivtseva) it's a wholesale change of the entire ballet's story. I really don't mind the post-Petipa changes to Bayadere, etc. but Swan Lake works much better with a tragic ending.

In my opinion, if the Kirov wants to do right by Petipa it would remove all the post-Petipa corruptions and mannerisms that currently infiltrate their Swan Lake. The lack of mime, the jester, the tacked-on happy ending, these were all added after Petipa and IMO ruin the ballet. Particularly the ending, which for me is unwatchable. Odette needs to die to redeem Siegfried. What's the point of having Rothbart's wing ripped off?

There's a ballet in Act 2 of Die Fledermaus, and often some additional dancing if there's a "gala" during Orlofsky's party. There's a video from Covent Garden in which the Act 2 party scene has Merle Park and Wayne Eagling dance to "Voices of Spring," choreographed by Ashton. Les Troyens also has a ballet, and that's actually usually kept in productions.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the point of these festivals was to showcase new works. Certainly Balanchine's festivals were often devoted to entirely new works. Wouldn't it not really be a dance festival if the billing was Swan Lake, Giselle, and Don Quixote?