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Pamela Moberg

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Everything posted by Pamela Moberg

  1. That time has come around again. The Nobel Prize in literature - impossible to guess. The Syrian poet Adonis is a favorite, so is Haruki Murakami. Adonis has been in the running for a number of years, but so has Murakami, though not for that many years. Those are the two top names here in Sweden. What about other parts of the world? Any suggestions? The announcement will be made on Thursday at 1 p.m. (Swedish time) so you will all know after about five minutes.
  2. Not exactly a humble abode I would say. And to think of that she spent her old age almost penniless in London. Very sad indeed... But not unusual, she was not the only great ballerina who had a miserable old age in poverty and sickness.
  3. Oh no, somehow one thought that she was one of those who would go on forever and ever. Many many years ago I was actually in class with her - if I close my eyes I can see her right there - so sparkling, so full of joy and that in a class! She was a true inspiration to all of us. RIP Madame Verdy.
  4. Ellen Rasch, born in Geneva 1920 to a Swedish military man and a girl from Odessa, started her ballet career in Stockholm. She was known as a very fine Giselle. In the early fifties a very ambitious dance film - in full Technicolor, and if memory serves it was the first color movie ever made in Sweden. It was titled "The Fire Bird" and about a ballerina, played by Ellen Rasch and her partner was Maurice Bejart. As a kid I remember I enjoyed "The Fire Bird" more than "The Red Shoes", but those two movies were rather similar. It might be found on Google as the dialogue was in English. After her retirement Mme Rasch opened a ballet school. Only a couple of years ago I saw a TV interview with her and she looked remarkably youthful although she must have been at least 85 at the time.
  5. This was not unexpected and if one can judge anything at all in this very short space of time, it was well received by the assembled press corps. The secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius, said in her announcement "... a monument over suffering and courage in our time...".
  6. The prize goes to the Belorussian writer Svetlana Alekseijevitj. Will be back with a commentary in half an hour.
  7. The Belarus author Svetlana Alexeijevitj is high on the lists, according to the betting people (Ladbrokes et al). Well, I dont know, she has written fiction, but she is mostly a journalist. For two years she lived in Gothenburg Sweden as the city council has a scheme for "authors in residence" - writers who are for some reason persecuted in their native countries. Taslima Nasrin from Bangladesh was another such author. Must admit that I am rather surprised - I havent read her books, but she used to have a weekly column in the local newspaper 2008-2010 and as far as I remember it was mostly about Chernobyl and Afghanistan. If she wins it will certainly be a political statement.
  8. Not to worry - I will report as usual and you will be the first ones to know. The day of the announcement will be Thursday 1 p.m. (local time). There have been some rather worrying reports here that the announcement will be delayed - what does that mean? Are there such profound disagreements? Anyway, the last I heard is that it will be on Thursday after all. I am rather clueless, no idea who it might be - anyway the perpetuals are on the lists in the papers, well, Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates. Not a chance I would say.
  9. How tragic, a very gifted dancer who had so much more to give. Rest in peace, Johan Renvall.
  10. Has anybody seen a DVD of the above? To my horror I see that it has got a nomination for Benois de la Danse. As I have said numerous times before, kindly leave a classic like SL on its own, it can stand on its own merits. I tortured myself to see this new take. And what did I see? Dancers splashing about in a great pool on stage - a total waste of that nowadays rare commodity, water. Had just read about California in the papers and the problems they have there because of lack of water. I found the whole thing lacking in aestethics. Comments welcome, I am curious to see what others think.
  11. A most disappointing performance in my view. There is no need for me to echo what all other posters have commented, I will only say that I totally agree. Generally I found the production (I have never seen this live, so sets and costumes were new to me) greatly lacking in atmosphere, costumes especially looked tatty and cheap. The entire performance left me with a sense of profound sense of disappoinment. When I have time I will post in another forum, the Bolshoi Sleeping Beauty. That was another piece of cake entirely!
  12. Hoping that you all are celebrating International Day of Dance in commemoration of the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre who was born in Paris, this very day in 1727.
  13. Jeans would indeed be considered bad mannered, people would probably stare. You could get away with trousers and a silk shirt, but not a t-shirt. People tend to dress up going to the theater. Hope upi will enjoy your stay and the performances you will attend! Please report what you have been seeing.
  14. Yes, Sandik, I felt the same, yet there might be hope for this world. There might be, I am not so sure- Kailash Satyarthi has been compared to Gandhi.
  15. Reading the papers this morning it appears that the choice of laureate yesterday has been very well received. Now the translators have to get busy Early this morning Norway announced the Nobel Peace Prize. It goes jointly to Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi. Now, was that political? India and Pakistan! Malala is well known, but Mr. Satyarthi is a long time campaigner against forced labor of children which is very common in Asia. He has campaigned, not only in India but also in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other Asian countries against small children working. So, maybe not so political, rather a theme here, the welfare of children. Worthy cause I think. I think I have explained this before, but for those who think it odd that the Nobel Prize is divided, here is the explanation. When Alfred Nobel made his will, Norway belonged to Sweden. After independence from Sweden in 1905, it was decided that the prizes should be shared between the two countries and that is why Norway awards the Peace Prize. By the way, Malala is the youngest ever recipient of a Nobel Prize. That is girl power
  16. I have found the following which I have translated from Swedish: "Gare d'Austerlitz" a book about Patrick Modiano by Per Arne Tjäder (he is a Swedish writer and dramatist). Here is the publisher's blurb: "Patrick Modiano is born in Paris in 1945 and most of his novels are about Paris. His Paris is a city of memories where the past and the present all the time merge together; and where the people never know when the cracks from the war and occupation, or from the Algerian conflict in the sixties will open up beneath them. It is an environment where one at any time can meet ghosts from past eras and where one at the same time find that time is actually transparent, but also that one mystery only leads to the next one. The experiences of the writer himself is there in the background. Often one can feel a sense of threat in the air". As far as I can figure out, the book by Mr. Tjäder is only available in Swedish. For myself, I actually think I will read this before embarking on any of Modiano's books, it might serve as a good introduction.
  17. Well, I really don't know what to say except that the Swedish Academy has managed to find someone rather obscure. Patrick Modiano has apparently written a lot about Paris and the times during and after the occupation. I must admit that I have never read anything by him. He is not a writer of big tomes, his books are very slim volumes, a wonderful language - to appreciate that one ought to read in French of course, and in a rather philosophical nature.
  18. The French writer Patric Modiano! Will be back in a short while.
  19. I did enjoy World Ballet Day a lot - saw it in utter comfort on my big TV screen (with a cable from the computer) but must admit I had rather square eyes after that marathon. Company class I always find most interesting - and works in progress gives you such an insight. But for heavens sake, couldn't the Bolshoi find something more riveting than that awful Legend of love? I remember, as a youngster, seeing an old Soviet movie of that ballet, and I can assure you, if memory serves, that it was no better now. That is what I call old Soviet trash - that is what I thought then, and IMO it had not improved. Oh yes, a gushing presenter - I couldn't agree more.
  20. As usual I will report on the Nobel Prize which will be announced tomorrow at 13 hours local Swedish time. You will all know about one minute later. I am totally clueless - cant even guess. Murakami has got high odds, Joyce Carol Oates is further down the list, so is the eternal Philip Roth. If you look at Ladbrokes Betting you will get a clear idea of how it is going. Anyway, I don't think it will be a woman - we have had a few in the past ten years, it wont be a Swede, that is for sure. Well, about twelve hours to go, then we will all know - until then, I bid you all a good night
  21. That is what I would call a rather disappointing performance, nevertheless, Cubanmiamiboy, thank you for enlightening us. Back in the days. I was in class with Aldous at the Rambert, she was incredibly technical and I was rather envious. I used to console myself with the fact that she was so very thin and very tiny, whereas I (at 5'8'') felt like a giant and had much more to throw around, hence it was much harder for me!
  22. Kathleen O'Connell, I could not agree more with you. And Sandik, you really have a point there with your idea of "heritage works". There are those blue plaques on buildings in England, we have World Heritage Sites which are really a very diverse lot of buildings and places. They can be anything as long as it is worth preserving for posterity - my husband's last place of work was Grimeton in the west of Sweden, a very early radio station, just to give you one example. Why can not works of art also be "world heritages", be it music, ballet, opera, plays. I have always found it a bit odd that West Side Story should be a Romeo and Juliet. The subject could not be more general, boy meets girl, somebody opposes, for family, religious, financial or a myriad other reasons, good heavens, it happens everywhere all the time, I fail to see anything Shakesperean there. It is just life, has always been life and will always be.
  23. The dancer who created the role of "Miss Julie", Elsa-Marianne von Rosen, has died at the age of 90. Being born in a castle into a family of nobility, ballet was certainly not on the agenda. That is why Elsa-Marianne did not go to the only school (in those days) which produced dancers for the Royal Ballet of Sweden. Hence, she could not be employed there either and it was not until 1950 when Mary Skeaping was called in from England to do the full Swan Lake at the opera house that an exception was made and she appeared as a guest artist. After that she became a member of the Swedish Royal Ballet. Her ballet training had been done privately and in Copenhagen where she studied with Harold Lander. Her Stockholm debut took place at the concert hall where she had an evening of ballet. She took the jobs she could get, toured a lot and met Birgit Cullberg who did "Miss Julie", based on the August Strindberg drama, for her. The ballet was a great success and still lives in the repertory of many companies. Together with her husband, the writer Allan Fridericia, she started a company "The Scandinavian Ballet" which disbanded after a few years. She has also done choreography and been a director of ballet companies..
  24. A wonderful documentary, seen it twice already. It is always very interesting to see dancers of that caliber in class. I think I will make a DVD of it, though the technical quality was not good, the commentaries mostly drowned.
  25. Marisol, interesting to know that you will go to college in Lund. This is purely a university town - a very old and famous university at that - but I doubt there will be a wide choice of ballet classes there. A better bet would be Malmö, which is Sweden's third largest city and within commuting distance of Lund. I do not know which level you are at, but check out Malmö- Unfortunately I cannot advice you right now, but as I live near Gothenburg which is situated a bit further up the West coast of Sweden I could find out for you. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you need any help!
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