Alexandra

Welcome back, Marianna -- and thanks for posting this. (And thanks, too, tutu14, for your comments.)

I've never seen it, and so can't help, Jasper. Here's a link to the Hamburg Ballet's web site -- the info on Nutcracker just says music by Tchaikovsky; no individual pieces are given. But it also has a fairly detailed scenario, and a link to a video. http://www.hamburgballett.de/e/index.htm (That's the home page. It won't let you link to an inside page, apparently, but if you click on Repertory, you'll find Nutcracker; and if you click on info, you'll find.... information about it!)

Welcome, Peppermint! I'd like to echo the thanks -- this was an important symposium and it's wonderful to have such a complete report on it. We're very happy you've found us, and hope you'll join our discussions.

"plastique" had a previous life, too. In the early 20th century, there were "plastique" classes -- influenced by Dalcroze, Isadora and Laban, I believe. They served the same purpose that modern or jazz classes might today -- to loosen up dancers, give them something that was "free dance". (I write that as a non-teacher, and bow to a teacher's better explanation.) Nora, I should have put up an explanation on the Dancer of the Month thread -- so thank you for your comment, because it made me realize I hadn't been clear. We didn't mean this as an award, but we want to spotlight dancers and give a bit of information about them. Pavlenko seemed a good choice, since she had a recent success in Calilfornia and London.

Tobii Tobias has a piece on the ABT season so far in her Arts Journal blog. PATCH WORK She includes comments on the Contemporary Works program.

I think people generally are using Recent Performances for Companies that don't have a home, or special performances, like galas. Sometimes performances of a company on tour -- those are moved into their home forums when the discussion subsides. It's fine to put an announcement here -- but I'm going to close the thread so we have discussion only in the MCB forum.

You might get the girl before midnight, Gurn, but James is still gonna lead the reel!

Thanks for the reports on Acosta -- I wondered how people saw him. How would you compare him, as a technician, or personality, or dancer generally, to Carreno? nysusan -- a belated comment. Thanks for your report on the contemporary evening. I think a lot of people here liked the Harrison ballet last season, so don't feel left out! (This seems to be one of those pieces that the critics bash and balletgoers enjoy.)

Hello, Traviata (great name!) and welcome to Ballet Alert! Thanks for bringing a French singer into the discussion. We have forums for each of the different large and medium-sized ballet companies, and, of course, that includes Paris Opera Ballet. It's in the European Ballet Companies section -- I hope you'll post about the performances you see.

Hi, Blondie -- welcome to Ballet Alert! and thank you for posting that. It does sound interesting -- someone else had mentioned the panel discussion a week or so ago. I hope you go and tell us about it (open invitation to all, of course)

A very interesting article in today's ArtsJournal newsletter about a nostalgia for Modernism in the post-9/11 world. For those interested in Po-Mo (postmodernism) or curious about what the heck it is, this article in the Statesman explains a lot: Ransom exhibit reminds us we are all moderns now

Thanks for that, Luxie -- therre are a number of small Russian companies around, especially at Nutcracker time. What were the names of the principals you saw? And, if you still have the program, who is the director? Some of our Russian ballet followers might have more information if we have the names. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I'm especially pleased to see that hats are making a come back -- we may be starting a trend!

When not running an eatery or being haunted, Baryshnikov is currently starring in "Sex in the City." I don't have cable (DC is odd this way) and so haven't been able to watch -- we had a few comments on the season opener, but nothing since. Has anyone been keeping up with this? How's he doing?

I haven't read this since it came out, but I remember being fascinated by it, because there are very few books that deal with people who aren't stars, and she was so honest about her career. I remember a sentence "Then my ambitions were put on a diet, like the rest of me." I think this is probably very much Real Life for 95% of the ballet dancers in this country.

The first thing I remembered reading about Osipenko (the Party affiliations not usually written about publicly at the time) was that she was "too thin". She had long, long lines at a time when these were not fashionable. I never saw her dance live (I have seen a couple of videos -- djb, I don't know if the one you're thinking of is with John Markowsky? The Act II pas de deux with Osipenko and Markowsky is on the "Russian Ballet, The Glorious Tradition, Vol. 1" video by VAI). Of course, she'd fit right in today!

Thank you for posting this, Katharyn -- you're right, I think, and I think it's worldwide -- dancers are retiring at a younger and younger age. When I first became interested in dance in the mid-1970s, there was grumbling that Balanchine would "throw out" his ballerinas when they hit about 35; this was too young. The retirement age for women was 45-ish, for men 40-ish. (There were exceptions, of course, and people were also worried that Fonteyn had set a new goal -- dance until you're 60.) One thing that is happening today, at least in some companies for corps dancers, at least, is a matter of salary. Dancers get raises every year, which means that a 28-year-old dancer who's been with the company for ten years is considerably more expensive than an 18 year old new recruit. And so people are cut for that reason. Another reason is the switch to athletic ballets, nonnarrative ballets. During the Ballet Russe era, you had roles for character dancers. You don't today. And so anyone much over 30 is disposable. Only a star with a following might hope to hang on for a few more years. When you're facing retirement at 30, then ballet will be a stepping stone in a longer career that will culminate in stock brokering, or something of that sort!

This just in: Angelina Ballerina, star of her own award-winning television series on PBS, will dance her way into American Ballet Theatre’s ABTKids day on Saturday, November 1 at 11:00 AM with a special appearance in front of New York’s City Center. Angelina will also be on hand immediately following the performance to take photos with ABTKids ticket holders. ABTKids is a special hour-long family friendly performance by the renowned dancers of American Ballet Theatre. Scheduled for 11:30 AM, ABTKids features selections from ABT’s Fall season and is recommended for children between the ages of 4 and 12. Angelina Ballerina will re-appear at City Center at 1:30 PM prior to ABT’s Family Friendly Matinee on Saturday, November 1 at 2 PM. Tickets for ABTKids are priced at $15 and $20. Ticket holders can meet Angelina Ballerina just prior to the 11:30 AM at City Center.

Carabosse said we could all come over to her place, but we'd have to find it. Golfo looked at the floor and fidgeted, so I guess the Blue Grotto is out. Dracula seemed a bit over-eager. Maybe we should be post-postmodern and have it backstage, with the whole backstage area exposed and lots of harsh lighting? BTW, I got an urgent email from Death in "La Valse" reminding me that I'd promised him he could be a doorman this year. Apologies.

Thank you, Jane.

Oh, I've hired Von Rothbart and Golfo (from Napoli) to be the doormen. Great ideas, everyone -- last time we did it, as I remember it, nearly everyone wanted to be Swamp Thing (from ABT's Swan Lake). It was THE costume of the year.

Mel has just volunteered to spend the entire evening under the floorboards, peering up at women's skirts, looking for a string to yank, but that's okay.

Think of the social possibilities -- the Canto Vital Guys meet the Svangirls!! Polka at 9

Auditions for rats and svangirls Thursday, noon. (But Carbro, you could do Madge in a different make up! We want everyone to be happy.)

Ballet-related costumes only, please. This wasn't meant to be a thread about what we were really going to do on Hallowe'en. Hans, the Talking Porcupine has decided potential.....