Alexandra

Thanks, Drew. I didn't have anything specific in mind, actually. I just thought it might be interesting to watch rehearsals over time, since we so seldom get to see them. I always find students' dancing touching, because they want to do it perfectly and work so hard to get it right and they all think it is a privilege to be in the ballet.

I know what you mean by "as if the vision scene were an allegory for ballet itself." On the DVD of Paris Opera Ballet's rehearsals for this ballet, Elisabeth Platel talks about dancing Nikiya at the Bolshoi, and saying that when they brought in the tutu for the final act, she almost cried, because it hit her what that tutu symbolized (bad paraphrase). After all that drama and melodramatic mayhem, you had the essence of classical ballet.

I wanted to start a thread for this, in the hopes of keeping the film clips together, and I wanted to put it here, rather than on Videos, because it's not professional level, and also I hope it will spark discussion.

These are students of the Kirov Academy of Ballet, where I teach and direct the academic program. But I'm really not posting it to shill the school, but to share what I get to see every day I asked Martin Fredmann, our director, if we could film bits of the rehearsals and put them on line, so that we could watch it build from week to week. I also suggested they film bits of the coaching, when it gets to that stage.

These are students aged 13 to 18 (nearly every girl in the school is in it, as they want 32 Shades as well as the 3 Soloists, Nikiya and Solor.) This first clip is the third or fourth rehearsal -- I think fourth, but am not sure. They rehearse for several hours once a week on this; the performance is in late December, but they started a few weeks ago. (The students are of all different levels, and come from different backgrounds. Most, though not all, have Vaganova training prior to coming to KAB. Some students have only been here since September, some for four years.)

The coach/teacher is Elena Tenchikova, of the Kirov and Stuttgart Ballets (and the man in the pink sweater is Martin Fredmann). The gray-haired woman is also a teacher at KAB, Mariana Lobanova.

I've always been interested in the process, and I hope and expect we will be able to see it change from week to week (one hopes it will keep getting better, of course!) Right now, it seems they know most of the steps, but they need to clean it, and standardize arm and hand positions, etc.

Here 'tis.

Oh, Google, and his pal Yahoo, are here all the time!

I'd like to add my thanks, Helene. I know how hard this can be, and you do a wonderful job. Always. (And I am perpetually grateful.)

Very sad news indeed. He did his final performance (I was told) here in Washington as Alain in "La Fille Mal Gardee" in 1976, if I'm remembering correctly (and I think I am, as that was my first full season of ballet). That's the only time I saw him on stage, but he is a legend.

I believe the premiere was last night. Did anyone go, or hear how it was received? (I did not see anything in Le Monde today.) Thanks!

Thanks, Tapfan. I just wanted to be sure I hadn't been misunderstood

I think the fact that this issue has been raised repeatedly in the media for at least 30 years is not encouraging.

Uh....yes. That was my conclusion as well, as noted in my first response.

Others have any opinions on this? Or perhaps not. This topic has been discussed here many times.

I think the way this becomes a nonissue is for corps de ballet to become more integrated. As it changes, perceptions will change.

I came to this conclusion long ago, when watching the National Ballet of Cuba dance "Giselle" in 1979. That company was the most integrated I've seen, before or since. At least half the corps, both men and women, had very dark skin. About a quarter had fair skin, and a quarter were....tan.

I noticed this for the first five minutes, and remember thinking, "This doesn't look "right." "Giselle" is set in the Rhine and there's no attempt to make these people look like Rhinelanders." And then the dancers were so good, so alive, so absorbing to watch that I stopped thinking about it. Their second act corps was very regimented then -- this was a different version. No corps was more "alike" than those multicolored dancers.

Ballet is about harmony, yes, and balance and symmetry. But skin color -- or hair color or eye color -- doesn't have to define symmetry. Style should define symmetry in classical ballet.

One of the many things that Helene does for this site is to post our Calendar. Click the Calendar Link at the top of the board (Forums Members Calendar Blogs) and you will find ballet performances from around the world posted day by day. This is a great way to keep up with what's being performed this month or week, whether for practical reasons -- you're planning a trip to Kansas City -- or just to know what's going on. It's also a great way to find ballet performances to talk about on this thread, which is why I posted this notice here.

This must take weeks to do, Helene, and we are all very grateful.

Well, then they wouldn't be as much fun, because I'd have to be more guarded

No, it's just live.

Thank you, Helene (and for your comment, Sandik). I've been doing these for four years now -- 4 lectures a season, keyed, at least loosely, to what the Kennedy Center is presenting. Some topics or questions have been suggested by the regulars.

It's fun, not very expensive, and I invite anyone who reads these boards and lives in the area to attend! It's fun to meet Ballet Alertniks!

I've seen Giselles who did not complete the hops on pointe, but would stop and go to Plan B, as Cristian put it, sometimes just skipping and skirt fluffing for the final few seconds.

...and don't you get some mixed feelings about it...as if telling yourself "Ah, you may get away with it with those who DON'T KNOW the choreography, but no with me girl..!"...?

Actually.....no

I agree with what Drew wrote above. I'd add that I don't care about the technical perfection except A) at a ballet competition or B) when technical perfection is the point of the piece. (Recognizing that there are many others who would have undoubtedly hated Pavlova's "Dying Swan" because it was not a bravura piece )

Re Albrecht's brises, there is much more film available in the past decade and Albrecht was dancing brises in the 1950s, at least. I remember when Baryshnikov staged Don Quixote fir ABT there were some who thought that Baryshnikov had taken Medira's variation from the Corsaire pas de deux and gave it to Dryad when, as noted above, was not what happened. It's natural yo think that what one sees first is the accurate choreography. I thick we've gotten much more demanding about accuracy in variations in the past 30 years. Before that, it was more about giving a performance, or making the ballet work. (this is being sent by iPad so please forgive the typos. )

I wonder what "Giselle" did before that solo was added (by Petipa, way after the premiere)? I don't mean to suggest that anyone today would be trying to be "authentic," but in almost every ballet, there are steps that we think are necessary to the role, or our enjoyment of it, but weren't part of the ballet originally.

I can't remember seeing a ballerina not do the hops on pointe, but I've seen Giselles who did not complete the hops on pointe, but would stop and go to Plan B, as Cristian put it, sometimes just skipping and skirt fluffing for the final few seconds.

I'd agree that one clip doesn't prove anything about any dancer, and I take Simon's point that this was probably an off night -- I also saw Sevillano many times (not as often as I would have liked!) but she was certainly technically competent (and, for me, a magical performer). The larger point of what one can change -- I think that's why solos were always called "variations." There are dancers who packed their variations in their suitcases with their costumes and it was expected. The St. Petersburg audience wanted to see Legnani's fouettes, and she was happy to perform them. I think this post straddled the line. I'm sure Cristian didn't mean to insult a dancer, and his question was about whether we thought the variation was acceptable -- but in this case, we'd need to see more of that particular dancer to know whether this was her version or a one-off.

It's the You Tube Curse. If it's on film, it's Truth. But sometimes it's not.

I think for the balance of the discussion, we should steer away from imputing motives and stick to the idea of what can be changed. Simon, I loved your account of Sevillano and am very glad to have it here. She's a dancer who did not become the star many of us thought she would be. I first saw her at 15, I think (?) as Ashton's Juliet, and I was stunned not only by the quality of her dancing and her acting, but that she was the only one of the then-LFB ballerinas who looked as though she were dancing ASHTON, with Ashton's musicality and Ashton's lines.

Wonderful news indeed! Thank you, Sandi.

DO NOT DISCUSS THE DISCUSSION. Do not complain about the rules.

This thread has devolved into speculation. There has been no news in the Danish press for several days. There has been no news, that I know of, in the American press. If there is something else that happens IN NEWSPAPERS we can, of course, discuss it on another thread, but I am closing this one.

Note: This post was made in response to another post, which has since been deleted.

This has quieted down in Copenhagen. There hasn't been anything in the press for several days. I think most people there want the Theater to deal with whatever problems there are, or were, or have been caused by all the questions, outside of the glare of speculation and rumor. I think that's a very good idea.

Vipa, the woman in the tarantella was likely either Lis Jeppesen (shorter) or Mette Bodtcher (taller). Jeppesen was one of their great ballerinas, the Sylph of the 70s, 80s, and 90s (and many roles as well. She's on the DVD of La Sylphide. Bodtcher wasn't a star, but gave star performances in dozens of roles and was always a vivid performer.

Thanks, atm. Yes, the Elo. They brought two new Kobborg ballets to the West Coast -- I haven't had time to check the NY rep lately, I regret to say. I hope you'll write about the weekend performance as well.

Sorry it's too much, Patrick But I don't think they're showing either full-length ballet in New York, just Act III, so just let it wash.

Did anyone go to the opening? I'm curious how the New Choreography program went over up there. (We didn't get it down here.)

I wrote two long pieces for danceviewtimes

I will say that I believe both "A Folk Tale" and "Napoli" are great works of art. I think very few people really look at the works below the surface. There is a great deal there. Or was.

During the Renaissance, dancers wore masks, even to balls (think of the ballroom scene in "Romeo and Juliet.") there are many drawings of early ballet dancers wearing masks. There are also many in which they are not wearing masks, or dancing barefoot. They're drawings, so we can't take them as gospel. In the book I use (Carol Lee's) she gives Maximilien Gardel credit for discarding the mask. Others do as well. The reason was that a reviewer credited Gardel's performance to another dancer, and he was quite angry and said he would dance as himself. Gardel is around the same time as Gaetan Vestris.

I hope everyone who can get to see "Bright Stream" does. GO!!! It was a big hit with the audience -- lots of laughs all the way through - and I felt as kyeong did, that every dancer shone. It's the best thing I've seen ABT do in years, and shows what those dancers can do with the right material.