Alexandra

Oberon, I think there are a lot of people who feel as you do, and I think it has something to do with the stability of the repertory, as well as its quality. There have been times when the NYCB audience happily watched weeks of the Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauties and Swan Lakes because they were solid productions with sound choreography and generally well-cast. (In the 1960s and '70s, the NYCB and RB audiences had a lot of overlap, according to the friends I have who were watching during that time period. NYCB was the home company, of course, and there were probably some RB fans who would only go see Nureyev, or City Ballet fans who only liked "Agon," but there was a lot of crossover.) And there were people who could watch the same casts in Balanchine and Robbins works over and over and over without getting bored. That's one of the differences. We've talked before here about the difference in company loyalty -- even though there's great affection for ABT and it certainly has its fans, perhaps because it's always been more geared to stars than core rep, the fans drift in and out as dancers they like drift in and out. (????) I wanted to comment on what Michael said about maturity of the corps -- I agree. It's what I like about Paris and the Kirov; the corps are young dancers, perhaps quite young, but they present themselves as adults; they're not trying to be kids. Some of the dancers Michael mentioned in his list of NYCB corps people (whom I also enjoy watching) seem old, at 25, 26, compared to those dancing around them. But that said, I don't think the NYCB corps dancers are as relentlessly Young as others. One comment on Natanya -- even 10 years ago it would have been inconceivable that a woman from NYCB would go to the Royal, or vice versa; the styles were so different.

Wow! That was fast -- on your part and theirs. I didn't see Scherzo Fantastique, but I'd be up for reviving just about any Robbins. I'm sure these aren't revivable, but I've always wanted to see "The Guests" and "The Age of Anxiety." (Those, and Ashton's "Picnic at Tintagel" and "La Gloire," Tudor's Hamlet ballet.) One could have a whole festival of City Ballet lost ballets.

That's how I took it, too, dirac. To take off on your comment about vernacular dance -- with which I agree -- it's interesting that the vernacular in music AND dance split off from the "serious" brrand of same post-World War II. Perhaps it's one of the resaons for the lack of vitality in classical ballet today? During the Ballet Russe period choreographers used social dancing, popular dancing, but in narrative ways, distinct from classical dancing. But when ballet became more and more abstract it became (with exceptions, always, of course) either of the classroom or Not of the Classroom. Although maybe it would have been difficult to work in the Twist and the Watusi into ballets. When vernacular dancing became line dancing and turned away from touching, that divorced it from stage dancing. I liked what Aloff wrote about the type of Girl that Falkenberg represented, though. Those girls are what made up the corps in earliy ABT and NYCB performances.

Apropos of last names only, "Ballerino" in Italian is still a last name. I found a site, doing research for another project, that lists Italian surnames and places them geographically; you can click on a name and see where all the people with that name live. (There are still Taglionis and Grisis and Blasis around Milan!) And there are quite a few Sr. Ballerinos. I'd love to do a family history. So maybe there are some Balerinovs in Russia!

Several years ago? I have no details, just heard "Farrell moved." Now, FF, think hard and long before packing up and moving to Morristown!

Thanks but we want more ! psavola wrote: Not just why you went and what performance it was, but what and how were you watching? Steps, lights, costumes, smiles, jumps, stories, patterns? All of the above -- none of the above? Dig deep!!!

Why this was a state secret, I know not, but we just got this press release from the White House: National Medal of Arts Recipients for 2003 (Note that Tommy Tune, was also honored) November 12, 2003 President George W. Bush today announced the National Medal of Arts Recipients for the year 2003. The awards will be presented by the President in an Oval Office Ceremony today. The President will be joined by First Lady Laura Bush, Honorary Chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities and Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Award Recipients: Mac Christensen, President of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, accepting on behalf of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Salt Lake City, Utah) Beverly Cleary, Children's Book Author (Carmel, California) Rafe Esquith, Arts Educator, Fifth Grade Teacher (Los Angeles, California) Suzanne Farrell, Dancer, Artistic Director, Arts Educator (Morristown, New Jersey) Buddy Guy, Blues Musician (Orland Park, Illinois) Ron Howard, Actor, Director, Writer, Producer (Greenwich, Connecticut) Leonard Slatkin, Symphony Orchestra Conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra (Potomac, Maryland) Evan Andrew Smith, Chairman of the Board of KLRU, the PBS station in Austin, accepting on behalf of Austin City Limits, (Austin, Texas) George Strait, Country Singer, Songwriter (San Antonio, Texas) Tommy Tune, Broadway Director, Actor (New York City, New York)

I didnt see it -- there were probably links to reviews on the Links forum, and here's a link to the review on our sister site, DanceView Times A few Ballet Alertniks did go -- there's a thread on Recent Performances: http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...showtopic=13896 It is an interesting idea, to revive mixing opera and ballet on the same program. This program was danced by the Metropolitan Opera ballet, not the Kirov, I think (and Le Rossignol is by Ashton). Le Sacre de printemps was a new production, by the Met Opera's resident choreographer, a modern dance choreographer, Doug Varone. I wish there were more mixing of this sort, because I think it would help build cross-over audiences. I wonder how many ballet people go to the opera, and how many opera people go to the ballet? Some, surely, but it would be nice if there were more.

This is a terrific question, and I hope we'll get LOTS of answers. The first ballet program I saw was a Nureyev and Friends program -- Ashton's Marguerite and Armand, Le Corsaire pas de deux, Bejart's Songs of a Wayfarer, and Limon's The Moor's Pavane. Fortunately or unfortunately, I always try to figure things out -- ballet was completely new to me, and I remember trying to figure out WHY they were doing what they were doing -- what was the structure? Marguerite and Armand, for example, has a solo for Armand that didn't advance the narrative, but did portray his character. So I remember thinking, "Oh, that's how they tell a story in ballet." And then they did Corsaire, and I was totally confused, because it seemed to tell a story -- or at least suggest one -- but it was steps applause steps more applause more steps lots of applause. Songs of a Wayfarer, I got, because it wasn't a story, just ....just....well, two men dancing and being beautiful. Lots of subtexts, but it seemed to me they were up to the viewer. Then Moor's Pavane (I know now this wasn't the performance one would have gotten from the Limon company) seemed like parading around and waving handkerchiefs, a very reduced storytelling. I never could just love iit -- I wish I could, sometimes. I do remember that some of the movements were beautiful, some exciting (barrel turns), and, especially in Marguerite and Armand, I knew I was in the presence of great dramatic personalities, even if one might not call it great acting. I always loved mime -- it was a couple of years before I learned that this was old-fashioned and that most people hated it. I was always interested in the use of the hands and the eyes, and some of my most vivid memories of dancing over the past 30 years are of hands and of glances. The day after that performance I was at a magazine store, looking for magazines about dance, and the day after that in a book store and the local library looking for books about dance -- there were very few -- and then on a train to New York to see a weekend's worth of performances.

Thank you for that, Blondie. (And I hope you'll tell us what you think of the Kirov, too.) I'd like to put in a word for Fokine's view of the Duncan-Fokine matter. It's often said (and it's in many dance history texts) that Isadora influenced Fokine, but Fokine wrote that he had begun his experimentation before seeing Duncan's work, and, when she came to Russia, he was excited to meet her because he immediately recognized that they shared a similar view of art. The big difference, of course, was that Fokine wanted to reform ballet from within, and worked with ballet vocabulary (character as well as classical) and Isadora really was a free spirit, and wanted to do something totally outside the realm of ballet.

Others might answer differently, but I'd say that precise timing isn't necesarily musicality. Precise timing might let a dancer who wasn't musical SEEM musical. But to people who are musical, music isn't wallpaper -- great phrase; it means you're not really conscious of the music, something that's shared by many people, I'm sure. It's the impetus for their dancing. Cliff, if you don't enjoy music, then this aspect of dancing might elude you, at least for awhile. If you start listening to music, especially ballet music or symphonic music, you might become more aware of it, and it might add to your enjoyment of a performance. I grew up with music -- we played at least one album every night, and I was told who the composer was, and something about him -- and I played the piano, so I was lucky in that respect. (And I liked music, which helped!) But I did have huge holes in my music education, and I bought the Time-Life series of albums (this was right when I got out of college, years ago, when there still were albums). It was bits of this composer and that, but it exposed me to a lot of music with which I was unfamiliar. I think if you listen to music, and when it starts to become familiar, you might even begin to try to move to that music -- walk to it, find the rhythm, have the experience of matching your own movement to what you're listening to -- that might help. It also might be way too much work But to me, one of the great pleasures of watching dance is its relationship to the music, so becoming more aware of it may bring great rewards. If you're going to delve into music, start with something you like, and branch out from there. If you hate Tchaikovsky, then making yourself listen to the whole "Swan Lake" 6 times probably won't make you like him more. I'd want to be systematic and start with Bach and work my way through the centuries, but I do not love Bach, try as I may, and I'd probably never move on. So I'd suggest if there was one ballet you heard, where the music wasn't wallpaper, get that CD and listen to it. Then more by that composer, then others in that time period, then something a bit before and a bit after. Balanchine, especially, will mean more, I think, the more you're aware of music. Thank you for bringing this up -- I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way and have the same questions.

Thank you for that, BHammatt -- I'm glad it was a good experience. Scholarly conferences can sometimes be off-putting -- they're not intended as introductions, of course, but as a place to share papers on a very small aspect of an artist's career, or a theory -- perhaps an unusual theory. So I'm glad you found it interesting and that it sparked some ideas. You might want to check out this site -- http://www.balanchine.org/ If you go to the link Foundation Projects, there will be a link to the libraries that have copies of the Balanchine Archive Project videos. Anyone can look at them, and the opportunity to see dancers coached (especially by the roster assembled for his project) is so rare, and so enlightening, I'm sure you would enjoy them. I have to say it was wonderful reading your post -- I'm sorry I missed it the day you put it up; I'm catching up today -- and to see how dedicated you and your wife are to finding out more about ballet in such depth. The Balanchine web site also has a list of Balanchine events around the country, so you might find that useful. It might be a bit hard to find that link, so here it is, direct: http://www.balanchine.org/05/archive/2003cent3.html And citrus, thanks very much for the news that this symposium was filmed, and for the link to it. It's not up yet, but we can keep checking.

Thanks bhammatt. (I'm sure there are plans, and that your guess that he wasn't ready to announce them is more likely.) Did they actually give background for the ballets on the Fokine program? (And, if you go, I hope you'll tell us what you think.)

Cliff, is any of this useful? If not, speak up! (And others, too.) Another thought is that if you ever had social dance lessons, whether it was counting ONE two three ONE two three for a waltz, or if you found yourself moving to the music and then the rhythm changes and you have to change the pace of your dancing -- that's musicality. A reaction by the dancer to the music.

This seminar was yesterday, and I wondered if anyone had gone -- bhammatt, did you go? We'd love to hear about it!

I didn't see Bystrova in class, but in performance, in the pas de trois from Fairy Doll -- she had the projection, the acting, as well as the technique. I haven't noticed her in the corps -- but that wouldn't worry me. It would be how she dances a solo. I believe she had one chance at a Shades solo, but I didn't know anyone who saw her. (She was one of our first Dancers of the Week, when she won the Princess Grace Award.) I also hasten to add that I'm not nominating her for Ballerina of the Future, just as a promising dancer who's disappeared in the corps.

I havene't had time to check this until now, but the photos are striking. They really show his range -- thank you! The only thing I've seen Ponomarev do is the King in Sleeping Beauty -- I couldn't take my eyes off his hands! To be fair to American reviewers, Marc, I think in DC he (and the other character princpals) were listed in the corps -- or in Artists of the Kirov Ballet.

Thank you, Juliet! How was the house? Here they only did one night, a week night on a university campus, and so it was not a full house. A happy house, but not a full one. And, if you could tell, did it seem like ballet fans, or the regular Joyce audience (which I gather is contemporary dance fans)?

I wanted to bump this up one more time.. I know it was during ABT season, but didn't anybody see this program?

This is one bio (from the Netherlands Dance Theater page- .During one period, Forsythe's work was very influenced by Bausch, and I think it's significant that "he was interested early on by modern dance, rock and musical comedy." Nothing wrong with that -- but it's not the same history as someone whose introduction to dance was in a ballet class. (And, as Leigh pointed out, the Joffrey at that time also had a very eclectic repertory.) I feel much as Zerbinetta does about Forsythe's work -- there's definitely a craft and a mind at work, but the emotional range is limited. If the works aren't pretentious, the program notes sure are! And the works I've seen are so episodic that I can't tell how much craft there is, in the sense of structure. I haven't seen a work that develops a theme, or that is more than fragments of athletic movement that hang together. That said, his dances can be exciting because they are so physical, and you can sense the dancers' excitement to be performing them.

Thanks for that -- I didn't know about that one, and will now be able to look for it.

I'm glad somebody mentioned Maria Bystrova. She's been in the corps for what, five years? And the only soloist roles I'm aware of her doing are Older Sister in Pillar and Rosaline in Romeo and Juliet. This, for a very classical dancer. (I saw her school performance at 14 and was bowled over. To me, she was a ballerina then. Beautiful schooling, beautiful technique, a very fresh, gentle, but authoritative stage presence.)

I agree with your comments on Fancy Free, Michael -- I was serious about wanting to read a performance history of it. In what I first saw at ABT in the 1970s (and, according to several older colleagues here, what had been done at ABT since the late '40s) the odd-man-out theme for the Second Sailor and the leadership of the Third were very much a part of the ballet. The best thing I've seen Michelle Wiles do is the fourth movement ballerina in Symphony in C -- at several performances, she had more authority than the other three ballerinas. It could be that the role particularly suits her, or that she's in the stage where she shines in smaller roles, but isn't yet quite bit enough for larger ones? (She was also a very fine big swan) There is a ballet, "Cakewalk," Amy, but neither it nor the Concert are in ABT's rep. It's another sign of changing times, though, that ballets intended for (and still enjoyed by) adults are relegated to childrern's fare. I don't know whether this is societal pressure or company attitude, but it's the same force that turns "David Copperfield" into a children's book, or all of those harrowing grand, ancient legends into "fairy tales".

Oberon, you might be interested in this site -- Jerome Robbins Trust and Foundation It's intended for companies or artistic directors who want to stage his ballets -- it's all practical information, like how many dancers, running times, etc. I don't know how repertory is selected each season at NYCB, but the Trust may well have a say in it -- what ballets are possible to stage, which ballets the Robbins stagers think might be appropriate, are there any dancers who would be particularly suited, etc. You might try writing to the Trust and asking if there's a possibility that this ballet will be seen again -- who knows?

Thank you for this, Effy -- and we'll look forward to hearing from your report. I'm sure your description struck a responsive chord in many who read this board