su-lian

I like Elisabeth Platel very much, but she sometimes seems a bit cold...It's a pity. I also am a big Marie-Agnes Gillot fan. She has so much presence and authority and also a brilliant technique! Let's say that in general, I'm a big POB fan and that I really adore most of the dancers there for different reasons since they are all different. I think the level there is one of the highest, but then, I don't know other companies so well, so it's a bit difficult to judge. I also like Alessandra Ferri a lot, from what I've seen of her in Giselle and Romeo and Juliet, but that was only on TV. I'm sure all the ones who have already been mentionned are also great dancers, but I have neveer seen most of them, so I can't really say that I agree.

That seems interesting! I would like to see the result! How did you manage to make the lycra not look too much like a leotard? Something in between "stiff" and "leotard look" would seem good in my opinion, especially if it's easy to wear and can fit different dancers.

There are so many corps de ballet dancers I adore in Paris! My really favourite ones are Isabelle Ciaravola, who has a beautiful line and very long legs, Guillaume Charlot, who according to a famous french critic, is a future prince with a perfect style (but I'm afraid he's too old now to become Premier Danseur). There are also Nathalie Aubin, Fanny Fiat, Miteki Kudo, Christophe Duquenne, Emmanuel Thibault (no one understands why he isn't promoted), Yann Saiz,who has danced a few times with Elisabeth Platel (Raymonda, Midsummer's Night Dream...), Nicolas Paul and Stéphane Phavorin. These are all sujets, it is easier to get to know how they dance since they dance some more important roles as well as being corps de ballet. Otherwise, I would also say I like Alexandra Cardinale, Aurore Cordellier and Matthieu Ganio.

Sorry, a comma came in, it's: www.imagidanse.com Su-lian.

For a precise description, I'll try to do my best, but if you go to www.imagidanse.com, on the first page, where you choose your language, there's a photo of Elisabeth Platel in one of those tutus. They are quite large (but it doesn't really show on that photo), and a bit curved towards the floor (I mean not flat and completely horizontal) because of the weight and it shows particularly on a photo of the corps de ballet I have (I'll see if I can find it or a similar somewhere on the web). They have about 12 layers of "tulle" (I don't know what it's called in English), but I think, i'm not sure though, that each layer is already double. They don't have any feathers on them, just plastic ones. Su-lian.

This might be true in America, but unfortunately, it seems that here,the dancers are thiner and thiner, and when you look at the newest dancers they are so thin, that it is becoming nearly ugly. They look so thin and so pale! You nearly feel like being sorry for them (but you're not really because they are in one of the greatest companies in the world, so they are quite lucky). At least, that's what I think. Su-lian.

Thank you once more for all this everybody. I really like the Nureyev style tutus. Juliet, I suppose you wouldn't like to see it, but the swans at the Paris Opera do have quite heavy tutus (this is also partly why I asked the question since it really struck that they were different)! Su-lian.

It's true that sometimes (and more and more, especially with the newer dancers coming out which seem to be more and more technicians and forgetting to be artists as well, I mean, from one dancer to the next one can't really see the difference maybe, but if we go back even only 30 years ago, it wasn't the same at all) it becomes a bit much. I mean, how far can technical progress go, without damaging the art? I suppose it could be acceptable with roles which aren't very deep emotionally or with who we identify less because they haven't been given the same humanity (like Gamzatii who doesn't dance much, only one variation), but in others, especially the more narrative ballets and the more moving characters, it becomes unnecessary and more of a disturbance, even though you sometimes think it's impressive. Or I suppose it has to become so easy that the dancer can achieve it without thinking about it and still be completely focused on the interpretation and give a meaning to each movement, but I've never seen that. Anyway, thank you for the explanation, I was a bit confused at how one could do a 90° rotation with so much speed and then start again without the rhythm being broken. Su-lian

I have read in a magasine that someone wrote that they were taught to do 32 fouettes one after the other in a very fast way, and that this is how she is used to see them done by the Kirov, but that in Don Quichotte at the Paris Opera Ballet and the Nureyev Gala at La Scala, they were done slowerand not in series of four times eight but series of "three times eight, even if th third is double". She then asks if this is due to the choreography or if it is a change in style, because, from what I understand, Svetlana Zacharova does the same. Then Lorna Feijoo says what she thinks about it, and says that in some ballets where they try to make it as diffiucult as possible technically, they do them "by quarters (of a turn)" and then explains: "which means each finished at more than 90°: facing the audience, to the right, back to the audience, to the left ". I don't really understand what it's meant to mean for a fouette! Anyway, what do you think about it? I rather thought it depended on the dancer's technique how many they did, if they did doubles, or even triples as I have seen Laetitia Pujol do in Paquita...(neither mentionned the fact that the supporting leg should theoretically not move) and never really thought of it as a style, since as I have seen some who don't seem to be regular with any sort of "three times eight" or "four times eight" or whatever. Su-lian.

Actually, i thought that Jean-sébastien Colau and Lise-Marie Lourdain only left for one year for the moment and were meant to come back to Paris next year (2003-2004). Well, at least, that's what Jean-Sébastien Colau said in a magasine, and their names are still at the end of the programmes of the Opera as part of the company. And there's aldo Frederic Olivieri who left quite a long time ago after entering the company in 1978. And many others too. Good luck!

Personally, I like the Raymonda's varaition in act three, but it would probably seem odd out of context without the sets and the court around. Then there are all the classics like Don Quichotte, Le Corsaire... Actually, it's difficult to choose ONE. I can understand why you ask!

Thank you very much for all this everyone. About tutus being uncomfortable, I have heard Paris Opera dancers saying that with Nureyev, the tutus were much heavier and they had to get used to it and their hips really pained at the beginning, so this is why I said they were. It is true that it is one particular type (I suppose), so you are probably right saying they are not uncomfortable. Also, I didn't mean to say the tutus I saw in Swan Lake by Bart in Berlin were decorated leotards with a basque(is it correct? I mean the skirt part) it was just a way to describe how much lighter they seemed compared to the ones in Paris. Anyway, thank you for giving your opinions. Su-lian.

Dear Silvy, Yes, I live in Paris (or rather on the outskirts, but I often go to see the Paris Opera Ballet) and have seen La Bayadere by the Paris Opera in 1999 with Agnes Letestu, Jose Martinez and Marie-Agnes Gillot. Only, I didn't realise how lucky I was and didn't know who they were (it was the first time I went to the Opera, I have been doing ballet for many years, but my interest for ballet itself, not just doing it, started just a bit before then) and I had seats as far back as you can get, so I didn't see much. I never the less spent a wonderful evening. But, I have the DVD of it with Elisabeth Platel, Isabelle Guérin and Laurent Hilaire and it is magnificent. I have also recently seen a documentary about that version on TV (it's called "Reves d'étoiles" and it's a series of documentaries of about 90 minutes on Nureyev's ballets which show extracts,show how the dancers practise it, how the choreography was made, why it is this way... basically explain Nureyev's version) and it was very interesting. According to it, Nureyev kept the original choreography for that variation, and it is very difficult technically, the kind of movements for Gamzatti are totally different than the ones for Nikiya which is more expressive, while this varaition is pure technique. About Swan Lake, the traditionally used music for the Black Swan Pas-de-deux is from act one, but some choreographers also use the music from the original pas-de-six from act three (Nureyev used the fifth variation from it for Odile , at least in the version he did for the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and some use its coda too), and some others also use the music which has been used for the Tchaikovsky Pas -de-deux by Balanchine, which was apparently meant for Swan Lake, but was never integrated in it. Some even mix the musics from the different pas-de-deux. I wouldn't be able to specify who used what exactly though, I have seen so many different versions of Swan Lake (Nureyev, Bourmeister, Bruhn, Ek, Bart...). About Drigo, according to the programme, it is Siegfried's variation in what was the pas-de-deux inact one and has become the pas-de-deux in act three (it's all so complicated!) that he composed after Marius Petipa asked him to. Su-lian.

I'm a bit late, but I like Clairemarie Osta quite a bit myself and I just wanted to add, especially for those who think she still needs progress, she said that she was very happy to be Etoile, but she now had to work. So, she might be able to satisfy more people in a bit of time. I'm not trying to convince you that she is good, or saying you are wrong, I'm only making a point which might give you hope.

P.S: I also have the CD of La Bayadere, and the variation is on it and no comment is made on it in the booklet. It's also the same orchestration as the version of the Paris Opera Ballet by John Lanchberry.

I don't think this will be much help to you, but I can say that this piece of music is not from Don Quichotte, also by Minkus, because I have the music sheet of it at home (reduced for the piano), and this piece is not in it, so, unless the edition is not quite accurate (as it might be, one never knows, ballet music has been so used and interchanged as you have pointed out) this is not from Don Quichotte. Another thing is that in the programme of La Bayadere of the Paris Opera,Nureyev version, the one which Elisabeth Platel danced, it does not specify anything about this variation, while it does about some others which have music from other composers or change of order (in the three shades' variations)... So, once again, if no changes to the original music have been left out, one can suppose that this music is from La Bayadere and by Minkus himself, there is enough evidence to think it is. Also, I would say that the programmes from the Opera are quite reliable, since they specify some changes (music not actuaaly by Minkus, but integrated in his music as part of Don Quichotte) about Don Quichotte which aren't mentionned on the music sheet I have, but apart from that, it is the same as the music as in the Nureyev version, and so according to the programme, the "original" music. Now about Le Corsaire, I don't know what to say. There have been so many "borrowings" of music, that I don't really know who to trust. It could turn out that it is not by Minkus, but considered as part of La Bayadere and therefore not mentionned as a change (but that would surprise me since other changes have been mentionned), but since not by Minkus, his name will not appear in the list of composers who wrote Le Corsaire. Anyway, personally, I think it's from La Bayadere and by Minkus, even though it is only what I think and might not be correct. Hope it'll help a bit. Su-lian.

Thank you for your opinion! At least now I can more or less see what some other people expect, which is nice!

This might be a silly question, but what do you think tutus should be like today? What I mean is that I've been looking quite closely at the tutus while watching Swan Lake by the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin in the Bart version, and if I am not mistaken, their tutus are made in one piece, and the top ("bustier" in french) seems to be quite light, thin, a bit like a decorated leotard (no offense meant, they look nice). The thing is, I'm more used to see the tutus like at the Paris Opera Ballet which are still made in two pieces and the bustier still has a corset (at least I think, forgive me if I'm wrong) and looks quite thick, heavy and stiffer. The bottom part also looks heavier. Both look very nice, and from a distance, one can't really see the difference, but I think I prefer the heavier ones, they have a certain weight and seem to give more presence (I think I'm probably just being fussy here) although they are more difficult to wear for the dancers, and I am aware of it. So, do you think tutus should be traditional but difficult to wear for the dancers, or should ballet evolve, allow more freedom to the dancers and make them wear lighter tutus?

Dear Alexandra, You probably know this already, but the video and DVD of Romeo and Juliet by Nureyev with Loudières and Legris is available on the Paris Opera site (21 euros for the video and 38 for the DVD, but you might also find them for cheaper on other sites).

Actually, Nureyev himself said:"I am convinced that Renaissance Verona and Elisabethan London-cultures divided betweenold superstitions and the desire for a new world-were highly sexual and violent-something that reminds us of our own age" if this can help you understand. About Monique Loudières, I saw her ecently in the Hommage to Nureyev. She was absolutely magnificent in Cinderella even though she is going to be 47, and my teacher and another professional also thgought what she did was incredible for her age (I don't mean to say she's old, but it is unusual to see a dancer who can dance so well after 'retiring age'). Su-lian

Indeed, it seems that the length of the curtain calls are a bit short, although they do vary, and the ones after the Hommage to Nureyev were very long. It seemed that the audience and the dancers wanted it to continue. Concerning Paquita, I have seen the same cast two years ago, and nearly the same on the 1st of february this year, the only difference was in the pas de trois which was danced by Miteki Kudo, Alessio Carboneand Muriel Zusperreguy. I know one shouldn't only look at the technique, but I was really impressed by Laetitia Pujol's triple fouettés in the Coda of the Grand Pas. One of my favourite Sujets were nearly all dancing that evening: Isabelle Ciaravola, Guillaume Charlot, Nicolas Paul. I had good seats, in the 1st loge, just next to the stage, so it was very interesting to ba able to see everything from so close. My only regret was to arrive late because of the RER strike, but I only missed about ten minutes, and the rest was so enjoyable that even without the begiining, it was probably one of my best evenings at the opera (even if I got back home at two in the morning because of the same problem), the cast was a very good one. The Grand Pas was certainly very entertaining,but I found the polonaise preceding it a bit too long, but it is only my opinion. Su-lian

I have been able to see the final on Mezzo on Sunday. The Australian Alexander McRae won the first prize. He was really good, and all the finalists too, but I think he deserved it. When I saw him dance, I thought he would probably get the first prize. The second and third prize were also won by male competitors, the second was a chinese I think, but I can't remember anything in great detail (actually, I was hoping to find the results here, but I haven't found them), except that in my opinion, in the classical variations, the best dancers often danced last (the best James from La Sylphide was the second one, the best Aurora was also the last Aurora...). I very much liked the brazilian girl too, but I can't remember her name, something like Celiza. I hope someone will be able to give a better account of it than this. Su-lian.