~A.C~

I might be a bit late, please tell me if I am, but did anyone have a chance to see the "newly restored" version of Don Quixote that was aired on PBS last week?

Ford's Theatre is in need of the money. There have been only a few interesting performances there, lately. But, I do wish he would support a theatre that holds performances of ballet and opera (or operetta, and heavier musical theatre), as you don't really see any of that type of thing at Ford's. I don't think it'll last, however, with Bush being pressed for better environmental standards. He'll probably forget about the arts. (And perhaps it's better that way.)

Recordings... Swan Lake - there is one beautiful recording with Antal Dorati's conducting, but I don't know if you will be able to find it. Look for it if you can. Whatever you do, however, stay away from the release of the Boston Symphony orchestra's recording with a big no. 2 on the cover. The Nutcracker - for a concert/listening, try the Valery Gergiev recording. Otherwise, the Antal Dorati with the Royal Concertabough - NOT the LSO, is a good one for practicing to. Sleeping Beauty - there is a nice one with Leanard Bernstien conducting. Anything else?

It bothers me very much when the audience reacts the wrong way more than when the dancer falls. Dancing at full potential, and trying as hard as possible is bound cause a few accidents. The only proper way to actualy go to a live performance at all is to expect a few mistakes and falls. When a member of the audience retorts a bad word about the company just because a dancer fell, or accidentaly hit a piece of scenery (which most people actualy don't notice) tells me a lot about the person. I see the person as innexperienced in seeing a ballet performed live, and expects mistakes to be hidden or be put at the end of the show as "out=takes," like you would expect on telivision. I feel that this person has little sympathy towards this poor dancer, who has worked so hard to become a performer, and has tried so hard to please the people. When this person happens to be sitting near me, I give them the usual speech at intermission. ("Don't you feel sorry for the dancer? They work so hard just to please you, and it caused them pain, and all you can do is critcise?") It's happened before. [ 06-11-2001: Message edited by: ~A.C~ ]

I would leave early because the performance is not what was expected. I have never been to a performance so wonderful that I wanted to leave early, and keep myself in a good mood. I makes sense, though: "If I stay any longer, something might go wrong, and that would spoil the whole evening!" I have only experienced that thought once, but I stayed for the rest of the show. Sleeping Beauty with a 'Russian Ensemble' company, Zelensky and Makarova, together. It got better every second. The mannerisms were just as I hope, and even better! Makarova's arms flowing in a fashion of tranquil dignity, that I knew I would never see anything like again! I left the theatre in the best mood I had been for ages! [ 05-12-2001: Message edited by: ~A.C~ ]

I think I've had enough of April Fools jokes. (There was one on every forum I go to!) But this ban on animals thing was hilarious! Good job to Bruce! Anyway, with that horrible MAD COW lingo going around in the U.K., do you think the British government will make a ban towards cattle in the performing arts?

What was wrong with the orchestra? I didn't notice anything.

The trouble with these ads is that they sound so sarcastic! No one - not even the true ballet fans - can take them seriously. It seems like nobody cares about it all anymore. Leigh, You're absolutely right. Everything IS done with a smirk! Alexandra and BalletNut, I actualy like brocolli, but haven't had brussels sprouts before. I don't really like M&M's that much either. But it's a good analogy nonetheless.

When people think of ballet, they think of a woman in a white tutu - not sex, or violence, and certainly not mud-wrestling. How these people come to associate these things in their ads, I don't know. However, there is no one to say that these things have no right to be in ballet. It's like Alexandra said, it's the dumbing down - not the bad ideas - that needs to be dismissed. These ads talk to people as if they had no sense of anything at all. No one likes to be talked to like that, especialy if you have a very good sense of everything! Ballet-goers tend to have good sense. We know what is wrong and what is right. We know that sex can be vulgar, or it can be fun. We know what we expect to see in ads for ballet, and it isn't what has been discussed here, to be sure. Why would a person who would like to see 'two ballet dancers die' go to the ballet, at all? The group of people these ads apeal to will probably not enjoy what they find on-stage. Also, bringing back BalletNut's young = ignorant question. Young does not equal ignorant. It's just that the vast majority of young people don't know what they make themselves out to be. Television and music have played a real part in this. You must admit that most of the young people who watch TV aren't going to turn to PBS for ABT at the Met. Most of them go to things that relate directly to violence and sex. The advertising groups see this and they think, "If we can make it seem like ballet is what's on TV, then we'll attract twice as much young people." I, personaly, don't think this advertising idea is realistic, but that's the case for many people. It is, anyway, a matter of preference. No one can help it if they prefer something over something else. All of us chose to like ballet, and is it our 'fault?' ~ Auvi I want a name, not initials. So, that's my first name. I felt left out and awkward with everyone here have a name, or a word to be called by, and me with only two letters. [This message has been edited by ~A.C~ (edited March 02, 2001).]

Translating the name of the ballet really isn't too horrible as long as the meaning isn't changed. Most ballet titles come to the U.S. and U.K. in English. The Tchaikovsky ballets were all translated from the Russian. It never has detracted from the work. It is only so the majority of the audience can understand what the title means. What is wrong with that? I do not not consider the fact that most people don't speak the native language of where the ballet came from to be ignorance. It is just that we haven't grown up speaking that language, and the title is translated to whatever we speak.

If the younger generation really wanted ballet, this would not happen. Most young people aren't going to spend a Friday night with their friends at the ballet, are they? Trying to attract them with MTV or Hollywood styled ads is getting to be ridiculous. There is no need for this. If we just assume that these people are intelligent, as they probably are, then we can attract them with more classic adds. Lets see: What about an add with the original title of the ballet, with the company's name, and that actualy has a picture from the ballet?! Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Since the Nutcracker premiered at the Maryinsky, I don't think this 'new' [note those quotes] will last. They will have to go back to the original ballet sooner or later when audiences will expect what used to be one of the best Nutcrackers in the world. The Hoffmannesque approach has been done already. Shemyakin thinks he's quite original and thought provoking, when really, he comes off as vulgar and typical. The Hoffmann tale, has yes, been left behind, but with reason. People these days don't want to go to a ballet full of dark and emotional undertone. Shemyakin, IMO, doesn't understand what Hoffmann wanted, himself. Hoffmann had his reason for writing the story the way he did. He wasn't a very very emotionaly healthy person. He was ugly, and suffered a horrible childhood. Petipa had his reasons for abanding the work. He realized, and so did Tchaikovsky while writing the score, that they really had no right to toil with Hoffmann's emotions. They created a story that was a fairy tale, and became fit for ballet. With Shemyakin's version, he doesn't know what he's talking about. The Nutcracker is a classical, romantic era ballet. They should leave it that. By far, the only company that, to my knowledge and IMO, has created a Hoffmannesque Nutcracker has by the PNB in Seattle. They did it with as much taste as possible, and I doubt this new one will.

If the company did settle down in another city, there would probably be risks involved. NYC has been home to the company for quite a long time. The problem is, NYC also happens to be the home of the Broadway/off-Broadway district, the Met. Opera, AND the NYCB. Is there room for ABT? It has survived and endured there through decades and decades. There are major cities without a ballet company. But, if Eugene is correct (which I do not doubt) it will be a regional company, and not a national one. New York is regarded as an 'official' place where professional performance can be found. If they leave the safety of NYC behind, what would become of them?

I thought that there was already a 'Ballet Barbie.' But, this idea, to me, is horrible. What can a 60 year-old surviver of complete and utter plastic-surgery be doing at the ballet? The idea of Barbie herself should be bagged. Aside from Britney Spears and FOX, Barbie is on my no.1 list for corrupting little girls. The grotesque little toothpick of a doll in ballet? I don't know, considering the pink-obbsessed children who buy these toys. The Nutcracker doll idea will not introduce children to ballet. It will introduce ballet to children - in the wrong way. They will grow up thinking of tutus and pointe shoes as fashion statements. They will go to see Nutcracker thinking it will be a summer Disney cartoon, and to Swan Lake expecting Odette to look like an icicle, and Siegfried to look like a new member of *N'SYNC. Really, those who support this idea aren't thinking about what it is. I, for one, am annoyed that they try to use a figurine that screams 'Surrender yourself!' to children, as a gateway to the arts. It won't work.

Let's see...this will be fun: 'The Three Musketeers: A New Ballet' and just think, there could be sequels like, "The Man in the Iron Mask!" Ha! Bring in that guy from "Titanic"! "The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Beauty's Only Skin Deep" What fun it would be to see the ABT try some like THAT! I can just see it now, Quasimodo doing a chair dance with Esmeralda in the Cathedral while Frollo dances carying a torch! Now THAT'S Entertainment! Here are some for the kids! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Alice in Wonderland (Poor Carroll!) what about...MIRACLE ON 34th STREET! Well, that was fun.