Alexandra

There's a review of opening night on DanceView Times http://www.danceviewtimes.com/dvdc/reviews...rellballet1.htm

I'd vote for franglais (based on absolutely nothing ).

Thanks for these reports, Jack -- I saw other Ballet Alertniks there Tuesday night!!! (I didn't go last night). Come on, what did you think!

I hope it isn't the money -- I would be very surprised if that were the case at a company such as NYCB. As others have pointed out, giving corps dancers big roles has long been part of that company's traditions. In recent interviews (including one with Wendy Wheelan for DanceView) dancers have stated that Martins has a "sink or swim" approach -- throwing a promising dancer into roles, a lot of roles, and if they make it, great. The unstated implication is if they don't, well, then they've had their chance. From the outside, that's what it seems that ABT does, as well. (Of course, only the artistic director and his immediate staff really knows for sure what the policy is.) Elsewhere, there's the irresistible desire of some artistic directors to "discover" someone -- which is why they often overlook soloists, or senior corps. (Although, to be fair, sometimes able soloists or senior corps really aren't suited to principal parts). Another reason that some young dancers may be given more roles than others is that they're fast learners. I've lost count of how many dancer interviews I've read where they say an older dancer gave them the advice when they were kids -- learn every role, you never know when you can substitute (and they did) or that they were fast learners. I've seen dancers who aren't, to my eye, principal dancer material at all get thrown on at the last minute, learn quickly, get through a performance respectably; this happens a few times, and then they've become "reliable." The company knows s/he won't let it down (not a small virtue; think of the number of great dancers who are much injured or have had problems with nerves). In the best of all possible worlds, I think the company should look at the younger dancers, have a good idea who are the ones likely to go up the ranks, and give them a shot -- but BRING THEM ALONG, as it used to be said, not dumping 10 roles on them at once. Put them in something that suits them and shows them off, then put them in something that challenges them. Build confidence. The one dancer I can think of who has been "brought along" well recently is Gillian Murphy. She was spotted early (I did an interview for Ballet Alert with her coach, Georgina Parkinson, during Murphy's first season, where she said she thought Murphy was one to watch) but she wasn't given every leading role right away. And I think that's paying off. I think Helgi Tomasson has a good record of bringing dancers along, too. I'd be interested in hearing others' thoughts on this, not only from watching ABT and NYCB, but what about the Kirov, Royal, Pariis -- Marc, Jane, Estelle? Any thoughts on this? And what about other American companies, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City, Pacific Northwest, etc?

Welcome back, Rubria!!! I'm glad you remembered us. And thanks for the very appropriate and helpful OT comments, aspirant I was trying to come up with a list of Balanchine ballets danced by the RDB since the 1930s, and I'm sure this is incomplete, but it's a start: Apollo, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C, Serenade, Four Temperaments, Agon, Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Tzigane, Theme and Variations, Tchaikovsky pas de deux.

Good point, aspirant! In the 1980s and '90s (and perhaps before) the company regularly danced at both the Old Stage (Gamle Scene) and the New Stage (across the street, in a building that now is a dinner theater? I haven't been in it). They'd do modern or small cast works on the New Stage and bigger works on the New. I don't know if it really added performances (because before that, they'd often dance a one-act ballet with a two-act play, etc; the repertory was more integrated among the three arts). I hope you've made your suggestion about visiting companies! I've only seen dance at Tivoli a couple of times, but it wasn't pleasant. That has to be the widest, shallowest stage in the world! (or at least in the top 10)

Recall of the Shades is inspired -- their tutus are little cars. (Funnier if it were Le Volkswagen, but we can't have everything in this life.)

Thanks for that -- it is interesting. I think it's going to be a Sons of Sam Horny Dilemma soon. It might be possible to have cross-platform discussions about a contract: "No, I wasn't offered $8 million a week. No, I did not demand my own private locker room with a pink shag rug and a red sofa. etc." Those are facts. But what happens when Poster X says, "He's got the lousiest fast ball"/"fourth position" I've ever seen. And there's a response, "That's not true! I do not!!" In the very early days of the Net, I'm told (Leigh could do this better) that there were a few artistic directors who posted. And I don't blame them. "No, I'm not an idiot, actually, and I do care about ballet, and the reason why we dropped Ballet X from the repertory is not because the mafia told me to or that I broke up with the choreographer, but because we lost the rights to the music" [i'm making that up]. But then what happens if the composer emails the webmistress, say, with a "That's a damned lie. I begged them to keep my ballet in repertory. And she did dump me!!! I can't post this, but what really happened is...." Look what happened here regarding a Certain Ballet Competition. The first year, several people raised some very reasonable, factual -- as in verifiable -- concerns, not opinions, about how late the competition started, etc. The directors of the competition took exception and posted that they were being unfairly treated. Last year, we had no comments on that competition. On the other hand, you can understand that an artist, reading, "I'm really in the know and my friend told me that Dancer X was fired because she sassed the director back at rehearsal on Friday," would want to respond if it isn't true. (Which is why we try to avoid "I heard this backstage" or "I happened to spot Dancer X at intermission and jeteed over to ask what was up." Unfortunately, too, the more people try to manipulate message boards, the more rules the boards have to have, and this could prove destructive. If every dancer and artistic director (composer, critic, writer, costume designer, etc.) sends a friend or surrogate to monitor the boards and protect their interests, posting each time anyone dares say, "I thought Mme. Drekova was a tad off-form last night," no one will be able to say anything. Yet, as the article dirac refers to points out, we're all interested in what's really going on and if a board could say, "Sports Star of the Moment X will be here to chat with you every Monday night at 9," that would be a draw. And many people reading the boards would believe everything they read, because it's "inside information." I see a vicious circle coming on......

Ah. You've got the holiday show Nutcracker, then, too. I've been told everyone between 12 and 75 is going to the hip hop Nutcracker (not put on by the Royal Theatre) instead.

Or, name the flowers! You can sponsor Philodendrum (sp?), the fourth flower on the left in the finale for only $1,000 a performance. Next, we'll have each dancer wearing a baseball cap with the sponsors' name on it. At first, they'll all be dance related, but give 'em a decade. It will help us identify them -- the duet danced by Dr. Pepper and Lean Cuisine, say.

Has anyone seen Nutcracker this year?

I love "Alfa Romeo and Juliet" (perhaps it would be "Alfa Romeo....and Juliet"?) It's not a pun, but I've always thought Sominex was missing a golden opportunity for sponsoring Sleeping Beauty. Nutrasweet (does it exist any more?) used to sponsor skating. Perhaps it would be good for a Nutcracker -- "The Kingdom of the [Nutra]Sweets." Or Splenda could do it. The first search I did on the internet was for "Swan Lake" and I turned up dozens of vacation communities. An obvious opportunity for a realtor.

Thanks for your comments. I've become reluctant to rely on stories regarding casting unless I've heard it from the instruktor and have a way of judging whether s/he's saying what they think, or what they know they have to say, or are giving a polite answer, or a political one. I've found there are usually four or five different versions of any story, often deeply believed by the person telling it, but sometimes someone's best guess rather than what really went on behind closed doors. (I write that having had to work on unraveling backstage stories for my research, and I'm sure the RDB isn't the only company with multiple versions!) Personally, I agree with Effy's comment: "With Cavallo you know what you get, but it is sometimes more exiting to watch a dancer who can give you what you did not expect." But I think this thread has shown that she has her admirers and her detractors, and we're unlikely to come to a consensus. I would have been interested to see her do Piano Concerto. I didn't see these performances and so I'll defer to those who did

Minty, I'm going to move your question to the Books forum -- you might want to browse through some of those threads, as I think topic this has come up before and you might find some suggestions in past posts. (And that's not to say that this can't be discussed again.)

According to a Kennedy Center spokesman, Peter Boal has an injured foot and will not appear before the weekend. He is down here, though, and there's hope

Aspirant, are you there? I thought of you tonight, watching the Suzanne Farrell Ballet do "Serenade." Bonnie Pickard did the Girl Who Falls Down, one clip in the hair, which was starting to come out of the clip from her last entrance before the fall, suggesting perhaps she'd started loosening it in the wings. When she fell, she did one big, bold movement and got the clip out and the hair fell (and, with her red hair, she looked beautiful, dancing with it long and loose).

Exactly, Jorgen. And, like Effy, I know people, including dancers and "experts," who prefer Gad or Schandorff over Cavallo, and who were surprised when she was made a principal. I'm not surprised there are opposing views -- there usually are. I don't have anything against Ms. Cavallo either, but she's not the company's prima ballerina assoluta, and I think her career should be looked at in perspective. Anna, yes, she did dance the leading roles in the ballets that you list, but she was not first cast in most of them, either at premieres or repremieres. As Jorgen points out, one could compile the same list for several others. To be fair to all the RDB dancers, though, they've had so many directors in the past decade, each with a different aesthetic, that making a list of who danced what doesn't say as much about the dancers as it does about the directors, in some cases. (Michelle Larsen was the Sylph and Juliet of choice a few years back.) There were dancers who were benched by Schaufuss who resurfaced under Gielgud, only to disappear again with Eliason, etc. Or the other way 'round. There are directors who like to use Cavallo, yes, but I've also interviewed directors who did not, for some of the same reasons expressed here. As for the critics, I don't have the impression that Cavallo is universally acclaimed (I don't read all the reviews, but I do get regular reports, as several of my friends are critics there.) She gets mixed reviews -- perhaps less so from one critic than the others -- as do the other dancers. I also think it should be said that the "Bournonville Award" is not the Oscars. I hope my Danish friends will forgive me for saying that there seem to be a lot of odd little awards that pop up there from time to time -- I remember a Hans Christian Andersen award that disappeared as suddenly as it appeared a few years back, for example (and that had nothing to do with H.C. Andersen), and various Scandinavian Friendship and Cooperation Prizes. It's not that there's a venerable Bournonville Trust that's been protecting his works all these years and gives out awards to the greatest exemplar of his style, voted on by all the members of an Academy. Effy, I don't think comparing dancers is wrong at all! I think most people do it, and I thought the way you laid out your comparisons was very useful and very interesting. We all have measuring sticks, and it's interesting to read when someone can set out why so clearly.

PRINCIPAL CASTING FOR THE WEEK OF DEC. 9 – DEC. 14, 2003 GEORGE BALANCHINE’S THE NUTCRACKER™ TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 9, 6:00 P.M. (Conductor: Quinn) SUGARPLUM: Weese; CAVALIER: Martins; DEWDROP: Borree; MARZIPAN: Tinsley; HOT CHOCOLATE: Rutherford, Higgins; COFFEE: Reichlen; TEA: Ulbricht; CANDY CANE: Suozzi; MOTHER GINGER: Danchig-Waring; FLOWERS: van Kipnis, Taylor; DOLLS: Fairchild, Flynn; SOLDIER: Carmena; MOUSE KING: Ramasar; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Fayette; HOSTESS: Abergel; HOST: Hanna WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 10, 6:00 P.M. (Conductor: Moredock) SUGARPLUM: Ringer; CAVALIER: Soto; DEWDROP: Somogyi; MARZIPAN: Bouder; HOT CHOCOLATE: Golbin, Hanna; COFFEE: Abergel; TEA: De Luz; CANDY CANE: Hendrickson; MOTHER GINGER: Ramasar; FLOWERS: *Hankes, Hanson; DOLLS: Dronova, Labean; SOLDIER: Suozzi; MOUSE KING: Seth; HERR DROSSELMEIER: La Fosse**; HOSTESS: Beskow; HOST: Fowler THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 11, 6:00 P.M. (Conductor: Fiorato) SUGARPLUM: Borree; CAVALIER: Hϋbbe; DEWDROP: Weese; MARZIPAN: Riggins; HOT CHOCOLATE: Abergel, Seth; COFFEE: Hanson; TEA: Carmena; CANDY CANE: De Luz; MOTHER GINGER: J. Stafford; FLOWERS: van Kipnis, Taylor; DOLLS: Hyltin, Pazcoguin; SOLDIER: Severini; MOUSE KING: Orza; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Hendrickson; HOSTESS: Bar; HOST: Hanna FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 12, 8:00 P.M. (Conductor: Wong**) SUGARPLUM: Ansanelli; CAVALIER: Woetzel; DEWDROP: Kowroski; MARZIPAN: Edge; HOT CHOCOLATE: Keenan, Fowler; COFFEE: Krohn; TEA: Hendrickson; CANDY CANE: Gold; MOTHER GINGER: Danchig-Waring; FLOWERS: Abergel, Beskow; DOLLS: Dronova, Labean; SOLDIER: Ulbricht; MOUSE KING: Ramasar; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Kramarevsky; HOSTESS: Bar; HOST: la Cour SATURDAY MATINEE, DECEMBER 13, 2:00 P.M. (Conductor: Fiorato) SUGARPLUM: *Fairchild; CAVALIER: *De Luz; DEWDROP: Bouder; MARZIPAN: Mandradjieff; HOT CHOCOLATE: *Barak, Veyette; COFFEE: Arthurs; TEA: Ulbricht; CANDY CANE: Gold; MOTHER GINGER: Ramasar; FLOWERS: Bar, Krohn; DOLLS: Hyltin, Pazcoguin; SOLDIER: Froman; MOUSE KING: Seth; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Fayette; HOSTESS: Abergel; HOST: la Cour SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 13, 8:00 P.M. (Conductor: Quinn) SUGARPLUM: Kowroski; CAVALIER: Neal; DEWDROP: Ansanelli; MARZIPAN: Edge; HOT CHOCOLATE: Bar, la Cour; COFFEE: Reichlen; TEA: Carmena; CANDY CANE: Suozzi; MOTHER GINGER: Danchig-Waring; FLOWERS: Hankes, Golbin; DOLLS: Dronova, Flynn; SOLDIER: Severini; MOUSE KING: Orza; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Kramarevsky; HOSTESS: Beskow; HOST: Fowler SUNDAY MATINEE, DECEMBER 14, 1:00 P.M. (Conductor: Moredock) SUGARPLUM: Borree; CAVALIER: Hϋbbe; DEWDROP: Ansanelli; MARZIPAN: Riggins; HOT CHOCOLATE: Beskow, J. Stafford; COFFEE: Krohn; TEA: Suozzi; CANDY CANE: Gold; MOTHER GINGER: Ramasar; FLOWERS: Keenan, Wolf; DOLLS: Fairchild, Flynn; SOLDIER: Ulbricht; MOUSE KING: Seth; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Hendrickson; HOSTESS: Bar; HOST: la Cour SUNDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 14, 5:00 P.M. (Conductor: Wong**) SUGARPLUM: Ringer; CAVALIER: Tewsley; DEWDROP: Kowroski; MARZIPAN: Fairchild; HOT CHOCOLATE: Hankes, Orza; COFFEE: Hanson; TEA: De Luz; CANDY CANE: Ulbricht; MOTHER GINGER: J. Stafford; FLOWERS: Reichlen, Muller; DOLLS: Hyltin, Pazcoguin; SOLDIER: Froman; MOUSE KING: Ramasar; HERR DROSSELMEIER: La Fosse**; HOSTESS: Beskow; HOST: Fowler * First Time in Role ** Guest Artist PROGRAM AND CASTING SUBJECT TO CHANGE (12/2/03)

Thank you!!! This was fun to read, Michael -- I can't believe you got so much in!! (everything that's important; you have a future here ) I've been curious about this Cinderella, and about Michael Corder's choreography generally. I'd seen some tapes of his early work and liked it. Curious, too, about Oakes and Edur -- they'rer Britain's secret superstar couple. Not secret to Londoners, of course, but one doesn't read much about them in American magazines. And -- wonderful to hear that David Wall is coaching.

I haven't received anything more specific than this -- Glebb might know, if he's around. It opens in LA and NY on Christmas Day and then is released in "other cities" "later." If you check the reviews on rottentomatoes (which I think is www.rottentomatoes.com ) there's mention of the dancing in it. It sounds like there's a LOT of dance.

Back to "The Company," we got a press release from Sony today with some useful links: To view the trailer for this film or to visit the website click on the links below. Trailer windowsmedia http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/classic...Trailer_300.asx Quicktime http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/classic...Trailer_300.mov Website http://www.thecompanymovie.com This is a limited release feature that opens in NY and LA 12.25.03 if you are interested in getting dates and times for your individual city, let me know and I'll see what I can find out. Please pass this email along to anyone who you know that loves ballet, and help support this wonderful film.

Adding to clarify that I take Farrell's point that a dancer needs performances to grow. You can't just rehearse for a month and expect a young dancer to give a mature performance; they have to have more chances than that. But I hope this statement isn't read by young artistic directors -- the same thinking that leads to "We only play show tunes in class. Balanchine liked show tunes" [a real life example] -- as "we don't have to rehearse. It all happens on the stage." Of course, the structured improv people would go along with this (there's a big Improv Festival in D.C. this week.... I hope I won't be seeing those methods at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater tonight, but it is a school of thought....)

I'm copying this over from today's Links: Suzanne Farrell talks to the Baltimore Sun. There's much more to this article -- a very interesting interview, I thought -- but I was struck by the same comment that Ari pulled for her Links post. "Clearly what we have here is a new model for a ballet company...We dance more and rehearse less." I was surprised by that, first, because one of the overriding trends of the past decade, at least, has been that ballet companies are rehearsing less (the same amount of studio hours, but divided among more casts). But also because the past few seasons when the SFB has started its tour in DC, the company has been rehearsing, and Farrell has talked about how important rehearsing is. I'm told that dancers must be available for the entire rehearsal period to join, and that this has occasionally been an issue for dancers who are dancing in their regular company's off-season, for example.

Jane, I was curious about your comment about Barnes being pro-MacMillan. Was that in the 1950s? (i.e., very early?) or when he was in Stuttgart? I ask because I've read and been told by many people over here that Barnes was supportive of Cranko at the expense of MacMillanl, as he thought Cranko was more suited to the Royal, among other reasons. There were several New York critics who were very pro-MacMillan (in the MacMillan v. Cranko context) and I've always heard of Barnes being on the Cranko side of that divide, at least from the time he was in New York, which was about 1965, I believe. Simon, I think when one starts looking at how much "darker" (i.e., to some, "more interesting") the original fairy tales are than "Sleeping Beauty" or "Nutcracker," that's the path many take when they revive them and spice them up to make them more real, just like the book. Again, with classical ballet, I'd say it's not the story. It's what's done with the story, the story is an excuse for dancing. (I'm sorry I missed the Mother Theresa ballet, actually. It sounds like one for the ages...in its own way.)

Seveal more good points raised. (Amy, I agree with you on Spartacus. It succeeds, in that it does what it set out to do, and it makes its points through choreography.) Leigh's point about embracing the ballet blanc is an interesting one -- in the great ballets, that's the heart of the matter. In lesser works, it's filler. A classical ballet doesn't need a big set piece, but it helps -- better a ballet blanc than yet another Dance of the Harlots. But here the classical/realism divide comes in. If you want to stick to vivid, linear storytelling, a ballet blanc gets in the way. In fine, or sophisticated, choreography, the divertissement, or set piece, or ballet blanc complements the story, perhaps presenting a poetic image or an abstraction of a central point. I'd second Hans and Amy about ballet telling SOME stories better than any other medium. A line from Bournonville -- hee thought Faust was better suited to ballet because Faust's speeches "became tiresome." And this is related to the debate over Onegin -- I've seen wretched, average and sublime performances of this ballet, and it's a wonderful vehicle to discuss "what is a great performance" -- must there be great choreography, or is a skeleton that can be fleshed out by great artists enough? BUT I wonder if we're so used to choreography being defined as steps and patterns that we forget the power of gesture (which is why some stories are told best by ballet, or dance). Some of my most vivid memories of dancers are of a single gesture or look -- the turn of the head, a hand barely raised. These, to me, are dance. They're not classical dancing, or virtuoso dancing, but they're dancing. (Whether Tudor would appreciate this or not, I don't know, but I always remember "Lilac Garden" as a series of still photos -- the freeze, the Episode's jump onto the Man, the Lover and Caroline looking to the wings. And am always surprised anew when I realize how much movement and classical dancing there are in that ballet.