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Dog biscuits were good and now makea great party gasp as I eat one to remember old times. Also the monthly visit to Steak and Brew with the dance bag to load with bread and salad bar items for the month. Then there is the extension cord from the hall light so that one did not have to pay for electricity...... But back to food. My staple was carrots and rice with a once a week bonus of a small can of tuna fish. This was in the early seventies in Joffrey II at $50.00 per week.

Grace, those companies in China have wonderful schools attached. The schools produce gorgeous dancers who have gone on to win many international competitions.

Insects too at Miller in Houston. When I had to do the doll in Act II Copelia, it was awful. You could not twitch, or have your mouth slightly open. Between the mosquitos and gnats it was a competition between me and the bugs. The bugs often won. Even as Franz sleeping through Act II these pests were a bother. I also did Act III Beauty pas there and my partner and I ended up spitting insects at eachother one fine evening. It is hard to breathe without sucking in the buggers.

Ravinia was a Joffrey favorite back in the day as there was always popcorn near the dressing rooms.

Glebb will remember this too. Blossom Music Festival in July with 40F degree temperatures and hail dancing in unitards and then on to Wolf Trap with 105F degree temperatures doing Petrushka and Patineurs in wool jackets, padding, hats and wigs! If only we could have switched programming.... We complained to management during Wolf trap but we told how nice it was that the audience was seeing snow on stage to remind them of cooler times.... There was a performance by Joffrey at Ravinia of Arias' Heptagon, to the Poulenc Organ Concerto, where it thundered every time Christain Holder reached upward in his port de bras - eerie it was. I always had more awe of Christian after that one.

Universal Ballet Academy 25 Neung Dong; Gwangjin Gu; Seoul 143-180, Korea TEL: 82-2-2204-1022; 2204-1059

I feel sorry for Villar. His heart was definitely in the right place, but his business went belly up and he was caught having to fulfill pledges without funds. Kennedy Center had the right approach to this, keeping silent and respectful. I guess the MET counted its "checkens" before they cashed. In any case Villar made a splash, forwarded the idea that arts administrators need to be educated and advertised that the arts were as valuable as other causes. All of this received a great amount of press, which brought the arts to the public's attention.

Both Alexandra and Hans have hit the nail on the head. Kitri has a sense of flirtatious obstinence where Paquita takes her nobility with a "gypsy" fire attached. In relating to her partner, Kitri is more competitive and playful and Paquita less competitve and more romantic. Think a young Kate Hepburn as Kitri and Meryl Streep as Paquita. Sorry to use American tales. Even in concert, without the surrounding story, I enjoy it when the dancers make this difference. One does tend to see the same interpretation for both - Spanish with attitude. My partner and I used to have a fight before Don Q to get the juices flowing and treated Paquita as a "classical" work with stylized port de bras, but more mature in carriage.

I agree totally with glebb re: Ashton and Balanchine defining the music. For me, when I stage ballets counting is useful with a corps in order to gain a similar understanding of the musical rhytym for the choreography. It is only the first step! The next is to sing the music and finally to add the phrasing and volume changes to bring out the choreographic intentions, either as a story or an illustration of the music (hopefully both as I think the abstract ballets express a human emotion). Even when I rehearse the corps in ballets, each person must take on the responsibilty for musical expression and understanding. I remember working with Natalia Spitsnaya (Kirov) on Swan in Korea. She sang everything and I counted when we worked on the corps. By the end of the rehearsal period, I was singing and she was counting! Both are tools for differing phases of understanding and it depends on where the dancers are.

Apples and oranges. The best for me is when both are performing at Lincoln Center and I can intermission hop between theaters to see whom or what I think the most thrilling. It is fun to read everyone's opinions!! Mine is that we are fortunate to have both as food for thought. Here is another question - in the nineteen seventies and eighties NY was the dance capitol of the world. What about now?

The story about Ms. McRae and the boy in the trashcan is true - I was there and the boy was not the Prince that year, but one of the party boys. She made us write out all of the choreography and turn in our notebooks. A favorite memory was Edna in the wings with us before our party entrance in Ms. Page's Nuts doing facial exercises with us - she had the widest smile. She really taught in the broadest sense of the word - technique, performance, responsibility and love. Patty Klekovic (sp?) was a pupil of hers and is now a great teacher for young children. I was never late for class, but could only imagine her wrath at such unprofessional behavior. She was also great with stage parents - they were not allowed near her nor us and were made to wait in the downstairs outer halls of the Opera House.

One underlying issue is attention span. I think that today if we are not at the bottom line within five seconds we lose attention or something else attracts our attention. I notice with my own children that it takes repeated exposure to the arts, almost subliminally, to entice them to look further. They have so much that stimulates them immediately with immediate rewards. To look or listen or feel a piece of art (dance, music, drama, fine arts) requires both interest and experience. To participate in today's version of life takes none - the product makes its own interest (the Bachelor) and the experience is participating (American Idol voting). Fortunately, my oldest (now eighteen), now is completely engaged in the high arts and actively seeks opportunities to view, discuss and review performances, art work and literature. My younger children also now look at art and listen to music and read more than the latest "escapist" teenage book. This is largely due to the parent's interest and stubborness as well as their friends and schooling agreeing that art teaches and must be a part of life. The challenge is to engage the young, but also somehow prove across the board that high art reaches everyone at some level in one's inner being. Sometimes it does take knowledge and patience to digest (think Chaucer) yet others do not (Ode to Joy). My youngest first learned of the joys of Shakespeare through the Reduced Shakespeare Company versions - but it was in the theater, she enjoyed them and is now not afraid of the text nor is not saying no to attending "real" performances of the plays. (Is the double negative a high art?) I am rambling a bit - but remember the Bugs Bunny cartoons always included some form of high art all the time and paid tribute. Fred Flinstone went to ballet lessons with Barney and got quite good! SpongeBob Square Pants does neither. Why?

Thanks to all - Rebecca was truly a fairy queen. Her multiple spots during pirrouttes made her seem as if she was sparkling all about. Her feistiness came through in the scenes with Oberon (Kevin McKenzie) and I just adored her in this role. This an Valentine were my favorites of the rep she danced that I saw at Joffrey. Needless to say her technique was very secure - to the point where she played her the character and changed her dynamics each performance. Kevin was also great in this. His elegance and ability to let the woman take prominence were well used here.

Thanks Glebb - you are right, it was Merle Park. As always your memory excels!! Hope the recent performances went well and the weekend takes off from a box office perspective -

Does anyone have a video or know where to purchase one of Ashton's Midsummer's Night Dream? I remember seeing one with Dowell and Sibley at someone's home in the 80's but cannot seem to find it now. Or if there is one of another company doing it, that is great. I love this version and want my students to see the combination of storytelling and ballet in such a marvelous form. Thanks -

There is a scholarship named for former Joffrey Ballet principal Philip Jerry. It is administered by former Joffrey Ballet dancer Michael Bjerknes. This year the scholarship will be awarded to a sixteen year old dancer (the age Philip joined Joffrey II) in the DC metropolitan area to assist with summer studies. This scholarship is supported solely by individual contributions. For more information please visit: Philip Jerry Memorial Fund Thank you for the chance to remember Philip Jerry.

I wonder how much of this athletism on the male side at least came with the Soviet performances in the West after WWII. The western men did not have nearly the technical ability nor the lift vocabulary by contemporary reports. I certainly grew up with the idea of showing no strain, and I think dancers still strive to make it look effortless, but the technial feats are much greater now and true to ALexandra's statement, audiences seek to watch such bodies show off. One other observation - The overall cultural aesthetic is now one of defined bodies, where as in earlier times it was more of a fuller figure. Bodies across the board these days are stronger, taller, faster, etc. whether in sport or dance. I enjoy the physical side of dance when used to express emotion or freedom versus sustain tricks. I do not care for limp, unphysical dancers as for me there is no emotion in the dance. If I want emotion in the face only, I can go to the movies. That is why I look to Bournonville as a test of how strong a dancer is - simple, physical, clean movement.

Joffrey summed it up, "Dancers are artistic athletes." People choose to focus on one or the other in this argument, but without both an artistic sensibility and an athletic capability good dancing does not exist. Of course one could paraphrase to "Athletic artists" dependent on one's preference.

glebb - I will show my age. Massine set his Pulchinella on Joffrey when I was in the second company. We were still on Sixth Ave and I was the one who ran out to Balducci's for his smoked salmon daily lunch. Francesca Corkle was the Pulchinella and wonderful. I remember Gary Chryst was a favorite of Massine's and I spent hours watching the principals rehearse. We boys were the pulchinellas and ran around in smocks. Massine as I recall was very old, until he hit the studio. There he was a force and so exact in what he wanted. Endless energy and drive. Very inspiring to watch him move and act with eyes that could drill a hole through anything. I also remember him a gentleman to the ladies and very gruff with us lower members - polite but watch out if you did not get it fast enough. It was a lesson in human capacity, working with that energy in the studio and then bringing him lunch in Mr. Joffrey's back office where he sat huddled over the desk and looking very tired.

Yes, a prince should be a prince and not confuse himself with the jester. In that case, it is Kevin who is the leader as both choregographer and director. Yet seeing ten priouttes in his Black Swan variation would not bother me (unless it happened again in the fourth act entrance and with a triple somersault of the cliff). You are correct in that there is a time and place for it and it is up to the AD or choreographer to enforce that discipline. I remember doing pas de deux with every lift one handed and as many turns as would fit, only to be reprimanded for my lack of taste - "this is not a circus" - I did it on my own and was not coached in that direction, although my partner was somewhat a co-conspirator. Bournonville always seemed to me the perfect balance of clean, exciting technique and artistry/acting.

But the focus on quantity has been building forever. Dancers naturally do this in their youth. The competition craze and the sports influence are huge in creating this atmosphere. Kevin was not known for his quantity, but for his quality as a dancer and I know firsthand that he does not emphasize numbers in his coaching. Yet audiences love it for the most part and dancers (especially younger males) will not hold back. Dancers always seek attention, and audiences going bonkers for mucho, macho (even with the women) fulfills that need. Also, it appears to my eyes that most of these dancers can do ten pirouttes in a perfect position and finish beautifully. Both quantity and quality. Same for Sylvie and her extensions - it does not bother me, but then I look for what whe is saying versus going orgasmic over how high her leg is. Unfortunately many in the audience gasp at the circus...... Unfortunately too, acting seems to be a lost art. I do not think the quantity is to blame, but is the result of a culture of television/movies (special effects), video games (immediate explosions) and winning is everything. But I agree with you that I would much rather see a clean, well acted/danced, personal performance over a bland, numerically exponential one. And I leave the theater usually without much enjoyment or as an AD used to say - BORING -

I believe that Mr. Arpino was the Associate Artistic Director while Mr. Joffrey was alive. It may have been Co Artistic Director. Maybe Mel has the answer.

Alexandra - that sounds more like many boards and executive directors, and I have heard some of those firsthand - especially the no live music and the all Petipa all the time......

Is this another example of the class system? High art for the rich, middle art is only understood by the middle classes and low art appeals to the lower class. Should we look at commercial art versus non-commercial art? Then we get into the argument about if something suceeds during its time is it high art? Or must the work await recognition in later times to be awarded the high art plaque? Is art a statement of the artist or a creation focused on the populace (this may be one in the same)?

I think that glebb was using Joffrey as a model that worked where the artistic director was not in the studio on a frequent basis. Does anyone have examples of where the artistic director does not plan the repertoire or hire the dancers (aside from Boston recently or Jane Herman at ABT less recently)?