Pamela Moberg

Marga and Rosie, I am going to answer you together. First Rosie, well, have you tried to phone the SVT (Swedish Television)? They do sell copies as I believe they made the films in the first place. They have a special department for the sale of copies and before they used to be quite exhorbitant about it. Now I do not know. But if you really know how to talk they might send you a copy for free. Good luck! Marga, the choreographer and film maker was I am almost certain, the American Donya Feuer, she has worked a lot in Sweden and Norway. She was also responsible for the choreography of Bergman's "The magic flute" (which is the only Bergman work I like. Sorry about that, I hear people rustling their hatchets ready to do me in for saying such a thing). Dont really know what has happened to Katja Björner, she was full of promise then. One could always check on the webpage of Stockholm Royal Opera House. None of these productions would be of a commercial interest in Sweden at any rate, so it would be a waste of time looking for them in stores. Producer or SVT direct would be best bets.

Jorgen, I did have a quiet chuckle about what you said about Swedish theaters. Actually, it is not funny at all, but all too true. And then I will reply to Koshka. Well, classes to take - dont know about that. There are certainly ballet schools there, but if they would have any open professional classes, I am not sure. Jorgen might know. Shows there certainly are, also concerts. About Danish arts and crafts, you might look up www.kunstruten.dk. As far as I remember, most is in English. As you probably know, Danish glassware (and Swedish glassware as well) is well renowned. Also Georg Jensen sterling silver, but it is horribly expensive.

Bad news, folks! I just looked up the Aarhus web site and read the following: Ticket sale started on April 1 and despite pouring rain all tickets were sold out in half an hour. The tickets were not very expensive either. That was Aarhus and Swan Lake. Then there are performances in the other towns which Jorgen mentioned. Suppose they will be sold out as well as those towns are very small (I have been to a couple of them) and the venues cannot possibly be so big. I am almost crying with disappointment here; of course I live so close by, I could go there on spec and hope for a return. And another thing - we now have a new, well equipped opera house here in Gothenburg. Are they coming here? Nope! I know where the trouble is. The Bolshoi is coming with 225 people including full orchestra and I assume that would be a bit steep for the good town councillors of Gothenburg who are a bunch of skinflints. And the opera ballet here has profiled themselves as a modern company, so it would be uncertain how people would react to classical ballet. :foot:

Thank you so much, Estelle, for your illuminating reply. In America of course, these kind of things do not exist, but in Europe there are various kinds of titles that can be bestowed upon people of special dignity. In Sweden, we have the Order of the Northern Star (my late brother had it) and the order of Vasa (my late father had it). Sorry, that was off topic, but I only wanted to explain European things, I did not want to boast in any way. Likewise, Margot Fonteyn was made a Dame, equivalent of a man being made a Sir, f. ex. Sir Lawrence Olivier. These titles conferred in England are in no circumstances hereditary. No, the Russian article only said something about "caballero" - I loved Barts's post about "the gents". Yes, it is true. Well, whatever it was, I am glad Tsiskaridze got recognition and I must assume it was in the "Arts and Lettres" category. Suppose one could get into the web page of the French Academy to find out. Still, cheers for Tsiskaridze, he probably worked hard to get where he is now. :huepfen024:

This is really a hooter -I rolled on the floor laughing. Now I will clarify things a bit. Tsiskaridze, and if he reads this I will offer my most heartfelt congratulations - this is an honor not bestowed on just anybody - especially not on one who is not French. I think that, we can be enormously proud of him and of ballet as a whole - such an honour is not given lightly. But, and here is the but, and where I started laughing. The Russian link reported that he had been made a "caballero". Now I will go into linguistic technicalities for a while - bear with me. A "caballero" - from the Spanish word caballo (horse) means a rider, but also rather oldfashioned, a real gentleman. Do not get confused with the word "caballa" - not a female horse which is a yegua, but that means a mackerel. That was off the point I know. The French Academy uses the word "chevalier", which really has the same meaning as caballero. Cheval means horse in French, and in the olden days a man riding a horse (as opposed to a man riding a donkey) was a chevalier. However, this old style remains to this day and you become a chevalier in France as a honour, quite an accolade, like in England you can become Sir soandso. But you certainly will not become a caballero - in Spanish it is just an ordinary word and has nothing to do with any type of title conferred. :huepfen024:

It is now so many years ago, but I still remember, please correct me if I am wrong. In Chaplin's movie "Limelight", Claire Bloom played the role of a dancer. Melissa Hayden doubled for Bloom in the dance sequences. If my memory serves, then I have actually seen Melissa Hayden... The library surely will have a video, it would be good to watch that again. May she rest in peace.

"Cain and Abel" was indeed created in 1982 and premiered at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. I am afraid I cannot be of much help there, but I could give you some suggestions You could get in touch with the company, here is the address:- Cullberg Ballet, or email: margareta.wall@riksteatern.se Riksteatern, S-145 83 Norsborg. Sweden They also have a home page, both in English and Swedish, simply search Altavista for Cullberg Ballet. Good luck! And if there is anything else I could do, please dont hesitate to ask me. Only sorry to say that I dont know that much about Cullberg Ballet - never been my favorite company - but it might be easier for me to find out from here.

Just had a look at the website - well, seems a bit late in the day to hop on a plane to Girona - whereever you are in the world. I am not that far, but even so... Lovely program and I realise I could get a very cheap flight. But what interested me more was performances of "Luisa Fernanda". For those not familiar with the genre, I will give a very brief explanation. "Luisa Fernanda" is just one - there are many others - zarzuela. Now think Viennese operetta stuff - a zarzuela is an operetta, but in Spanish. If one should try to distinguish zarzuelas from Vienna operettas it would be that zarzuelas are more about ordinary people, whereas Vienna operettas are all about counts and barons and princes. A kind of musical comedy, in fact. To explain the subject further and make the word zarzuela understandable to everybody in the world, I will simplify and say: Think "Merry Widow" with a Spanish touch.

Reading Leonid's long post with great interest, I thought it might be interesting to know about the Swedish State ballet school. My daughter went there, so I have the facts. Day pupils (there are no boarders in this country) are accepted from form four. Here that means that the pupils are ten or eleven years old. Dance classes every day including Saturday morning. Otherwise normal school curriculum - minus sports and gymnastics - to follow the rules laid down by the Ministry of Education. After grade nine, which is the last form in the general education plan, pupils can apply to high school for another three years. I believe that the only dance high school is in Stockholm. This tuition which is on a truly professional level is absolutely free of charge. As DD lived rather far from the school she was also given a free transport pass. School meals are also free of charge. There are at the moment three state ballet schools, in Stockholm, Gothenburg (where we live) and in Malmö (in the very South of Sweden).

What, are we not allowed to £$€€$£@ when we feel like it! Good grief, this outburst was a good thing, I found both signs for English pounds and euros. Seriously, I found the discussion most interesting - in the beginning I wanted to post something, but then I realized that it was so trivial what I wanted to say. My statement was mainly about looks and then there came this horrible thing about Ms. Wilkinson. It made me so sad and was so hurtful I really felt into exploding. By the way, I am a master swearer in a number of languages. A discussion like this one is what is needed - alas, there are too many people pussyfooting around real important issues. Too many scared people pussyfooted in the early thirties and we all know what happened. IMO BalletAlert is refreshingly honest and open on all subjects and will forever be my favorite ballet site and I am full of admiration for the administrators and moderators. Now to find all those tip hats and things!

The Peasant pdd with music by Burgmuller - imagine two dots over the second "u". was first choreographed by Coralli. Then I suppose we can say that Petipa tampered with it, and I suspect so did some other choreographers. Coralli's version was first seen in 1841, so it is a bit hard today to imagine what it looked like then.

You dont mention where you live, but my advice would be to try an antiquarian book shop. If there is no such shop in your vicinity, just search the net. In my experience, these days all self- respecting antiquarians have their lists on the net. Start your search in France as the book is probably only in French. Almost sure that you would come up with something. I myself have found many rare books this way. Good luck!

Carbro, Just remember that this is South Corea, you will most certainly be very safe from any spy stuff. I have a satellite dish which means thousands of channels, 99% of them either plain idiotic, or porn or some God channel - masses of those. I know because I have been through them all - and the only one I found that showed any ballet was arirang. (In comparison, Swedish TV has recently surpassed themselves - they have sent five 10-minute programs about new choreographers - all modern writhing on the floor barefoot). And here you get full length ballets and gala shows almost every day. I have been able to see NYCB stars which I will never see in a lifetime. If it isnt ballet it is classical concerts, so I have recommended the channel to all my musician friends. If I should feel disturbed myself it would be, as I am a non-believer, that there is one advert that has some religious overtones. At last I can see some classical ballet so I am in heaven!

Bart is right, unfortunately, I would like to add. Spain has produced some fine dancers who work outside Spain, by necessity as there isnt all that much worthwhile work in the country. That reminds me of Sweden a couple of centuries ago -the artistic climate was pure awful to say the least and people with ambition had to decamp. (This sort of goings-on you have today as well, the difference being that today's sports stars decamp because of the high taxes). Just think of the ballet stars being born in Sweden in those days. Marie Taglioni born Stockholm 1804, Didelot born Stockholm 1767, and Johansson born Stockholm 1817. They were all Swedes and became icons elsewhere. When will managements and governments learn to hang on to their stars...

DefJef asked me to clarify my thoughts about dance in Spain. I am real glad that you are interested in the subject! I am starting a new thread as this will be totally off topic in the "cissy" thread. Spain really has a long and glorious past dancewise. (So has Sweden, but that will also be another thread). To start with, there were the old court dances - stately sarabands etc. There is an old book, probably out of print but could maybe be found in the library. I have it, cant find it (my library is in disarray), but the book is by Caballero Bonald, publ. late fifties, and it explains everything very clearly. Speaking of folk dance, jota is one example, being danced in the center and north Spain. Flamenco was purely a southern dance form, influenced by Moorish and Oriental dancing. Flamenco is often compared to the blues as it was the song and dance of the poor and the oppressed. At various times flamenco has even been banned in Spain. There are masses of different types of flamenco, from the very grave to the more jolly like sevillanas and bulerias; those dances are danced - more or less expertly - by ordinary people at fairs and parties today. When I started teaching classical ballet in Andalucia I was the only one doing so. I remember having one summer course pupil from Madrid who had been to ballet school there. She was very lacking in basic knowledge, it must have been a Dolly Dinkle type school. But all was not black and sombre. I have heard about one teacher, in Zaragoza, Maria de Avila, and she enjoyed a good reputation. Judging by her pupils - some have taken part in the EBU competition for young dancers, she really knew what she was talking about. Many Spanish dancers have won major competitions in the past ten years. Then along came Victor Ullate towards the end of the sixties. Now I think one can justly say that Spain has become a dance nation one could take seriously. I first traveled to Spain in the early sixties and naturally I sought out both flamenco and ballet. I can only say that as far as I remember the standard of the ballet was abysmal (OK, I am being polite here), so it must be concluded that enormous progress has been made in a very short time. One thing I find very interesting is that many old ethnic Spanish steps have found their way into the classic ballet vocabulary. Pas de basque (northern Spain) and renverse (flamenco) are originally Spanish folk dance steps. Personally I am not so worried about the dance scene in Spain and I try to follow it from my cold north as closely as I can. There is an awareness and they seem on the right path. What worries me no end is ballet in Sweden, I fear they are forgetting their classical vocabulary because of all the modern stuff they do. But that will have to be yet another thread. Hope the mist has lifted a bit now, DefJef, but try to get hold of that book and you will find yourself an expert on theatrical Spanish dancing!

I said it before and I will say it again: this is one of the most interesting discussions any time. Omshanti pointed out that in the case of India, they have a very rich and deep culture of their own. Yes, I do agree. Here we can draw parallels to Spain, at least southern Spain where flamenco is popular, but also the north where they have jota etc. So, Spain has a dance heritage, that we cannot dispute. Yet, in the beginning of the seventies I started teaching there and balletwise it was virgin territory. I cannot remember meeting hostility, but indifference. "Why do we want ballet, we have so much dancing of our own". But most people were favorably disposed. Then look at Spain today! There are quite a few Spanish dancers about, both male and female and they are good, world class. What I mean by setting this example of which I have personal experience, is that a country, we can name India or any other Asian or African country, can quickly become a ballet nation. The girls will start and then the boys will follow. Things do change very fast these days.

Ostrich, Very good point there! Asia seems to have taken to ballet in a great way, and not only the two countries you mentioned, but also the Phillipines, and a TV station broadcasting lots of ballet, Arirang from South Corea. (More details in another forum). They do not seem to have troubles with men dancing. Yet, in Asia there are white spots on the map. India!? Quite a few Arab countries as well. Personally I can speak of where I grew up as a child - Sweden. In my childhood male dancing was really frowned upon - good grief if a f.ex. a bank manager's son suddenly would announce that he wanted to do ballet. He would have been disowned on the spot! Luckily, that attitude has changed, as I saw when my daughter went to the Swedish state school. The parents of the boys attending there all seemed to be very proud of their sons. I also lived in southern Spain, in Andalucia, and was quite involved with flamenco. There were no sneaky feelings or whisperings behind the backs of boys and men doing flamenco - if they were good they were idols! And those guys were generally very macho. This is one of the most interesting threads for a long time, IMO. :huepfen024:

"It would be nice to hear your opinion" Indeed, there were some opinions. Your views branched out all over the place; it was very comforting to hear that so many had such strong opinions. The film really is worth seeing and no doubt it will in due course be broadcast everywhere so hopefully there will be more views. Yes, I agree that there was about too much Tito and too little ballet. Still, I do feel sorry for her, she was worth a better and more dignified end to her life.

Dont know about the States, but here in Sweden you would never see a guy in uniform at the theater. They might be in the army, navy, air force etc. but go out in civvies. What struck me, though, is that at the Maryinski I saw literally masses of young guys in uniform. It really intrigued me. Maybe they came to watch a sister, brother, girlfriend, what have you, or maybe they got a very hefty rebate on tickets, which in those days when I went there, were rather cheap anyway. Culture for the masses - not such a bad notion is it after all? That at any rate was a good thing with Communism, the only good thing I suspect.

Leigh, That is the problem going in the tourist season, people going to the theater just to be able to say they have been there. When I was there, some years ago now, it was late November, thankfully not a tourist in sight and I thought people behaved beautifully. I believe that large center box was just for so called "official performances". I have heard of Grand Dukes who sneaked out of their boxes and sat in the first row in order to be close to their favourites. Maybe that is what people are doing these days. But I do think it is a wonderful place - I am born and brought up with those kind of old plushy theaters and I just love them Please let us know all of what you have seen! Have you seen any school performance? I did, it was most interesting.

Indeed not, nevertheless I found a lot to be true. I will of course not divulge my sources here, but I actually have some inside information. The real problem, IMO, was that Fonteyn was treated like some kind of royalty in England, and she also behaved as such outwardly, always covering up - so I think we can conclude that this film came fairly close to the actual truth. My own personal feeling was that I felt desperately sorry for her - she cant have had many happy hours in her life, not off stage at any rate. Then of course her taste in men was immature to say the very least. But who am I to judge! Constant Lambert one might have views on, but consider the circumstances! She was young and on the brink of her career and here was somebody who actually composed music for her. I think I would have fallen flat if the devil himself had composed music for me. But without a doubt, Tito was the final disaster, pity she didnt go through with her divorce. Then again, we must consider England in those days, the sixties. Divorce was not thought of as "quite nice" and the divorce laws were rather old fashioned and odd.

The American ballet director at the Gothenburg Opera Ballet in Sweden has announced that he will leave after next season. The reason is difficulties in collaboration, the company has amongst other things complained that they were forced to dance in too many works by Nicolo Fonte (good friend of Irving), and that they did not have enough opportunities to perform. The whole atmosphere appears to be very infected indeed - nor is this the first time. Last time it was even worse - the then ballet master was ousted in a far from nice manner. One day his portrait was pinned to the notice board, pierced with pins in real voodoo style. It cant be fun to be a ballet director! Most interesting to see who will be next... As you see, there is a job here, any prospective applicants for the post?

The Swedish TV has just broadcast a film on Margot Fonteyn. It is simply called "Margot" and is made by Tony Palmer who is a veteran in the field of opera and theater. It is a long film, 2 hours and 55 mins - also available on DVD. This film was made in 2005. Has anybody seen it? It would be nice to hear your opinion!

Phenby. Alas, I cant answer your question fully - I dont know if Bugaku is still being performed. But I have actually seen it and I was most impressed. It must have been in 1965 or thereabouts - NYCB guested at Covent Garden in London. Moving around Europe I have unfortunately lost the program, but I know I saw a triple bill and the only ballet that has stuck in my mind is Bugako. I also have a faint memory that the Englisher werent that overwhelmed - OK, I can partly understand that, way far off their style. Anyway, only having seen it once I would put it on my list of favorite ballets.

The grand old lady of Chinese ballet and folk dancing, has passed away. Born in 1916 in Trinidad Tobago, she studied in London, both classical and modern, before going to China. Tonight there was a memorial program about her on CCTV (Central China TV) and there will be another next Sunday.