~A.C~

We face oblivion, and destruction, and art must always be there.

It is all we can say. Just go back to your classes, your job, your play, and keep creating art. It is in time of war that many great works have been completed. Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture comes to mind. I think that the pen over the sword argument should remain in our heads.

Hi!This is affecting ALL of the D.C. metro area, so that would include Rockville. I'm here, and well. But, they are limiting entry into the city.

It is just a matter of preference, after all.

I don't neccesarily think elitism is a BAD thing. It's just that, in the U.S., at least, we tend to try to make everything 'politicaly correct', and 'democratic' where it cannot or should nt be done. Elitism seems to be an ugly word to many people, but it is just something that occured a while ago, and though it has changed quite a bit these days, it still exhists.

Elitism, by definition, means "the sense of entitlement defined by class or grouping." I think most people can aggree that this type of thing still exhists, and yet most don't want it to.

In many people's eyes, it's a form of prejudice. We should have gotten over it years ago, at least in the U.S. It's obviosly 'undemocratic' and makes people feel uncomfortable. It makes some feel insuperior, while others feel they lose integrety.

In most countries, especialy in Europe, elitism exhists, and is looked upon as something that is just "there." We can't change it. We really shouldn't. It shouldn't make you feel inferior because you are who you are, and we go only to enjoy the arts. As long as we remember that, most people can live with elitism.

O.K. What are the top ballet countries and why?

Wouldn't it be frightening if ABT sudenly changed it's name to Ballet Russe? (I don't know where that came from.)

Your sketches are very cute! I especialy like the Gizelle and Swan Lake ones. The drawings are incredible! Nureyev as Lucifer in extremely creative! The first two dying Swan ones are also nice.

I agree heartily, Estelle! The internet has connected many different types of people, and it was only a matter of time before dance fans got a go at it! Throutout my time on the net, I have been able to find ballet companies websites, so I could buy tickets and read reviews that I might not have come accross otherwise. This forum is a blessing! There are people from all over the wonderful world, and have different views, and I have found that everytime I go to the ballet, it's a better experience because I know that I'm not the only one who has been there night after night, analyzing choreophy, comparing productions, and revering at the performances. I want to thak you all for teaching me so much, and giving me such joy when I go to a performance!

Hmmm...yes, I've heard the history behind that name, but I thought from what you were saying that there were more still out there. :eek:

Ballet Russe...are they still around?

I have only heard of one ABT. Are you sure it wasn't the real American Ballet theatre on the road? They tour to different cities often, you know.

Now, this brings on a question. Why do ballet companies change their names so much? Can't they just leave it alone once they have it decided the first time? The "London Festival Ballet" sounds completly different from the "Engish National Ballet". Yet, they are indeed the same company. The Joffrey Ballet "of Chicago" or "of York"? Why should it matter? It's the "Joffrey Ballet"! I'm sure a lot of people are getting confused at this type of thing.

Hi everyone! It's been such a long time since I've been here!

Well, on the Moscow Ballet's production. The Moscow Ballet's Nut is a beautiful one. I would recomend it to anyone who likes to see splendid dancing, and the Nutcracker. The local performers are all instructed beautifuly, and the company regulars are extremely good! The sets and costumes are also very beautiful.

I must warn, however, that the Moscow Ballet's production is more of the Russian typicality. Hence, it is being billed as the "Great Russian Nutcracker." The part of Masha (You might know her as Marrie or Clara.) is played by a a corps soloist. There is no Sugar Plum Fairy, and there is much more dancing. For us ballet fanatics, that's a good thing. For people who shed away from ballet, it isn't quite their cup of tea. ;)

But, this is a wonderful production. Go see it. Tickets aren't expensive for this production. In most cases, it ranges from $18 to $38.

[ 08-19-2001: Message edited by: ~A.C~ ]

Victoria:

Well, yes, I agree with you on that. But it is only to be polite. But I see what you mean.

Mel:

Whatever! ;)

I have come up with one more:

8. When a performance is over, and bows have finished, the audience should face either the left or right (depending on seat location) and WAIT until those in front have left the row in order to get out.

Edging slowly away from the "Ballet in Fashion" thread, I think we should discuss the way an audience should act in a theatre, in a formal setting.

In the past few years, I think that dress has become the statement of position instead of proper behavior in a theatre. We have lost the proper way of acting in a theatre, and it has influenced the way we look at ballet. Here are a few examples:

1. An usher must not look you in the eye, unless it is being friendly. How many times have I been looked in the eye by an usher in a threatening way I cannot count!

2. The audience must be seated quietly during the duration of the performance - even during the overture. I can't stand loud audience members, not to mention those cell phones which should be in an altogether different category.

3. An audience member must clap appropriately at the END of the dance only. It is distracting and unnerving for performers to have to perform to clapping instead of music.

4. At the end of the performance, the audience is immediately to stand up to applause.

5. NO FOOD AND DRINK INSIDE THE THEATRE! And even if it is allowed in the theatre, you shouldn't eat in during the performance! (Unless, you have a medical problem where you must have a drink of water or medication in specified intervals.)

6. You must be polite to the ushers, and give the appropriate "Thank you" when recieving your seat location and program.

7. You must not utter an inappropriate remark to a patron trying to leave the theatre or trying to get to their seat. Just get your stuff out of the way and stand to make room!

Anything else that I have forgotten?

I seem to be the only one here who thinks that insisting upon formal attire is...wrong? Personaly, I think that you show your education of the arts by the way you act, and not by what you wear. I go to the ballet wearing slacks (usualy of a khaki style) and a sweater (usualy close-knead velvet black.) and dress shoes. I cannot stand ties or a jacket. I respect the arts like every other patron, but I do not think that what I wear should be any indication of my stature. We go to the ballet to be entertained by a grand art - not to show off our latest tuxedo or dress, and you might as well be comfortable while you are watching.

Does anyone else feel this way, or dissagree entirely?

That question is a very important one. People get so much involved and so much in love with something, they usualy don't ask themselves "Why?".

I like ballet for the following reasons:

1. Ballet is a way of expressing emotion through dance. It is aimed at presenting the human body in the most aestheticaly beautiful ways and movements, and it can illustrate feelings in a way words cannot. Even sitting in a comfortable theatre in the audience, watching a ballet, can help to allieviate some of the emotions I may be feeling at the time. The characters or subjects that are embodied by these performers can express joy, sorrow, anger, and chilvalry for me, and it is a wonderful thing to have.

2. Unlike opera or literature or film, ballet is not bent on presenting the material world as it really is. It shows the world inside of us. It is a world we would like to live in, but we cannot, and ballet offers a glimpse at this. This is a world of dream where love and happiness are all around you, and everyone is interested in something other than earning money.

3. Aesthetic wonders fill this stage that we are watching. As Jeannie said, beautiful costumes and gorgeous sets envelope beautiful and expressive people in a work that is aimed at showing beauty. It's enough to like anything.

4. I just do. I can't tell you anything else but that. Why do like what you like?

I aggree with Edd in that ballet suites are performed in the concert hall because the composers set aside these particular pieces to be performed on their own. The complete pieces were created to be performed accompanied by the staging.

However, I also agree with you Melissa, in that the complete works should be performed in a concert setting more often. As you aid, details are brought out, and you are paying more attention to the music. I have always been fond of the concert setting in particular because a concert hall is usualy more developed for acoustic than a proscenium theatre would be, and that you can actualy SEE the performers completing solos and such as they arenot hidden out of sight in an orchestra pit.

There are many ways of getting around this, however. When you go to your neighborhood music store (one that carries classical music as well as popular), you will find ballet recordings under the composers' names. (Opera can usualy be found in a following and separate section.) this is where you will find that detail and quality that you find at the concert hall. though it is isn't as great as being in front of the orchestra, you can still "feel" the music. (I like listening through headphones. It brings out the richness. Make sure you have a good brand.) Valery Gergiev's conducting is ideal for the concert hall. His Nutcracker is probably the best there is. Also, Charles Mackerras is one of those conductors who makes everything seem perfect in his recordings.Antal Dorati's older Mercury Living Presence recordings are also very beautiful.

Althought, I wish that it was possible to find more concert performances, I think we can live by buying recordings, or closing our eyes while playing a videotape. (I would do this at a live performance.)

LCMTech:

Ushers are bad everywhere. Moving won't help. I tried it. It didn't do any good. Sometimes I think it's gotten WORSE!

On Topic:

I think this problem is quite revelent. People pay a large amount of money to show affection in a formal public place like the opera house. That doesn't sound correct, does it? Please permit me to change the discussion or it will go nowhere:

I think we should discuss what we can do to change such behavoir. Well, for one, I think there could be announcements at the beggining of the show, along with the usual "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to our production of...". Here's a few I like:

"Please remember to turn off your cell phones. If this is not possible, please leave the theatre and go into the foyer."

I think cell phones shouldn't be permitted altogether in the theatre. If something drastic happens, there should be a public-use phone in the main foyer on the desk.

"Please be considerate of those around you by staying quiet for the duration of the performance."

This is a polite way of saying "You're in a formal setting, so shut up." It might work. (?)

I also think that in theatres that do not have efficiently slanted seating arrangement, there should be a hieght restriction for hair and hats! ;)

I cannot tell you how much I agree with that!

Alexandra Posted:

>>Thank you for posting that, bijoux. Your post holds the only possible solution to this -- being oneself, and to hell with stereotypes, which is obviously easier said than done. I did an interview a few years ago with a black dancer here who runs a summer program for inner city kids, and he said he consistently ran into two attitudes: whites who (still) thought blacks shouldn't be dancing ballet because they couldn't, and blacks who thought blacks shouldn't be dancing ballet because they shouldn't--because it wasn't a "black" art; they should be tapping. I frankly don't know how one could deal with that -- yes, doing what you want to do no matter what people saisd, but it must take an extraordinary amount of courage. We had a thread on racism (in general) in ballet last year and I think almost everyone here was aware of the problems, at least in theory, but at a loss to know what to do about them. Media images of people of color performing and enjoying the fine arts would obviously help. <<

It is very difficult for me when I think about the people who aren't able to "be themselves" because of their race or gender. It tells us something. It tells us that segregation and racism still exhist today, but not in the way people think. This segregation occurs in the minds of the ignorant individuals who embrace every snide comment on being "black" or "white." This is a more abstract but more tragic type of separation, than that of the 40's or 50's. I wonder WHY is it considered so wrong to be black AND like classical music and ballet? Classical music is music just like any other type of music on earth. It is as lovely and as beautiful, as simple and as complex, and as emotional as any other type of music. So, why is it almost "forbidden" to be a lover of classical music when you are a man?

I think it is a matter of appeal. Foriegn names are much more appealing than local ones. We see Russian names in the Washington Ballet Programs. There are Japanese dancers performing at the SFB. The only places things like this occur is with companies that have had a strong history. Kirov, and Bolshoi have remained, for the most part, Russian.

[ 06-13-2001: Message edited by: ~A.C~ ]

The main reason that American company corps aren't very ideal for most is because the corps is seen as "background" for he pricipals. A sort of heirarchy develops. Dancers in a corps want only to break out of that and become a pricipal solo artist. Little attention is ever given to these dancers' precision, these days.

For a 12-year-old, the NYCB may seem like the perfect haven of dance now, but somewhere down the line, she will discover the truth about taking part in such a group. She only wanted to become part of it because she wants to get above it.

[ 06-13-2001: Message edited by: ~A.C~ ]

I think it was Eck's version that I saw. I found the version you mentioned at Suncoast. I might get it.

Is that by any chance the all-male version, with the men is feather-pants, and cross-dressers that I saw on Broadway a few years back? If you don't want to see Tchaikovsky's music torn, stay away from that one!

Thank you.