Alexandra

I'd vote to keep the designs and the general mis-en-scene (and balance among processions, classical and character dancing, mime) and fix the inauthentic bits and stylistic anomalies. I'd nominate Doug Fullington to help out there

Do we have to worry that Bertrand, Beranger, Abdal Rachman have 14 solos apiece?

Thanks for reading our rules and your comment on gossip ;) This kind of guessing is okay! I honestly haven't heard anything. We'll be sure there will be a lot of full lengths, but other than that, the season hasn't been announced. Two new ballets that have been announced is a new production of Raymonda (by Anna Marie Holmes and Kevin McKenzie) and a new ballet by William Forsythe. Dale, Mary, others? Any news?

Effy, I've seen photographs of the set from "Etudes" that you mention too. I think perhaps having the busts of figures from Danish Theatre as a backdrop does make the most sense (and agree that it can't be a classroom; we think of it as a classroom ballet here, but it's not. I keep referring people to Alexander Meinertz's article on Etudes that's on the main DanceView site -- www.danceview.org in the Commentary section -- which I'm sure Effy has read). I have to say I wasn't impressed with Morten Eggert as a Bournonville dancer when the company was here, in miniature, last spring. But I'd very much like to see Boesen's Sylphide. I'd imagine she was paired with Lund because of his youth and gentleness -- he could be overpowered by someone like Schandorff. I do see a darkness in him, though, that could be interesting in James, and I'll be curious to see him as well. I hope you all will report on the other casts! nikolai, you do know a lot about the company! We have quite a few people on the board who are interested in the RDB, not only from the company's tours to the U.S. (speaking as an American poster) but some of us have gone to the Bournonville Festivals -- even the 1979 one! So we're very happy to have people like you and Effy and maria and kay reporting on what you're seeing. [Editing because I missed Mary J's post above; we seem to have been posting at the same time!] I think the reason you got those sets is because they were made for Frank Andersen's production in Sweden a few years ago. It's a shame, because there was a lovely second-act backdrop for Kronstam's production in 1992. It was very well-lit at the Kennedy Center -- better than at home, if I may say so -- and it was very light and delicate, a suitable bower for a sylph.

Thanks, nikolai! There have been other "naiv" (or innocent?) Sylphs -- Lis Jeppesen did it that way when she was very young. I've read the idea that The Sylph and Madge are sisters -- I believe it was Svend Kragh Jacobsen's theory. (It's not mine ) But I know there are people who read the story that way.

[copied from today's Links] A preview in the Salt Lake Tribune of Ballet West's upcoming "Giselle": Ballet West re-stages beloved 'Giselle'

I also have the Dreamweaver manual, and about 15 books on late 19th century New York to get through, which is what is getting in the way of "Atonement." I don't dislike it. I just want to read it slowly.

Paquita, what are some of your other "not fun" books?

Yes, we have lots -- make sure you check all the pages; there's more than just the list of topics on the front page. I don't know the Drina books, sorry -- I wish I'd read them as a child!

I thought the summer list was getting a bit long, so we could start another one for back to school/new season reading. Jackie has put up a topic on a specific book -- THANK YOU, JACKIE! You're Official Forum Heroine of the Week How about if we use this thread for a list of what's on the bedside table, and then start separate threads for any book we'd really like to TALK about? I really did start "Atonement." It will be my "read while you're sitting there waiting for the laundry to be done" book (I have to say it takes a lot for me to relate to characters named Jackson and Pierrot). I also picked up Alice Hoffman's "The Probable Future" and Dani Shapiro's "Family History," both of which look promising. I was also intrigued by the conversation with Edward Jones on the News Hour Friday night about his book, “The Known World.” Any writer who says (paraphrasing) "I figure if I make the character REAL, people won't care what kind of saddle he rides," is my kind of writer! (Jones was speaking in the context of impatience with writers who write pages and pages of description about what kind of leather the saddle was made of, and how long it had taken to tan it.)

Please do! And thanks for posting these on Links (which I'm copying to this thread) Some more reviews of Johan Kobborg's Out Of Denmark [Note: Only UK readers will be able to access this. The rest of us are expected to pay] The Times: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,68...-821981,00.html The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/sto...1044642,00.html The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml...ixartright.html Brown also wrote about the Kim Brandstrup piece on the program: I'm glad this piece was well-received. I'd seen Brandstrup's Othello ballet ,made for Mukhamedov a few years ago and liked it very much. Did anyone else see this program?

Thank you very much for that, Hockey Fan. The "feathers" theme seems original! I was especially interested in your comments about the young Siren -- it IS always exciting to see a young dancer reinterpret a role that suits both the ballet and her generation and I'd like to see that one. I hope you'll keep us posted on PNB's season! Other Seattleans? (??) What did you think? And would anyone like to volunteer to keep an eye out for newspaper links for this and other programs this year? We try to get all of them on the Links forum, but someimes we miss. Also, it would be nice to have them in the company forums, too. I'd like to do that this season. Doug had posted these on Links Saturday, and I'm copying them here (and thank you, Doug!): More previews of PNB's Swan Lake: In today's The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- cover story by freelance writer, Alice Kaderlan Halsey in "What's Happening". http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ae/ In today's The Herald -- cover story by Mike Murray including section cover photo. http://www.heraldnet.com/ae/story.cfm? In today's The King County Journal -- story by Carole Beers. http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/sto...ory/html/143791

Thanks very much, Effy and Nikolai. Effy, I was glad, too, to read about the decor. And I agree with you about Gurn -- he HAS to see the Sylph. It's in the mime. He sees her twice. (Kronstam's view on this, as he told it to me, was that the Sylph has been there all the time, but no one could see her, until she chose to "materialize herself" to James. Then she's "real" -- she can be seen, not only by him, but by anyone else who is there. Also, re Leigh's comment about Madge and James, that was Kronstam's view, that he's frightened by the witch because she can see into his soul and dreams, but I think that was a personal interpretation not a production standard.) Effy, am I reading you right, that they've cut the mime scene now where Gurn explains that he saw a creature flying? Also, does Effy have a solo? I know Bjorn took out the Brenaa one and added one of her own, but I wasn't clear whether the whole solo had been cut, or three was a new one, or the Brenaa had been put back.

Gatto, let me add my welcome -- and please feel free to post your PBS topic! LunaTick -- great name -- welcome, too, and thanks! Check out our Dancers Forum. You'll see little tiny numbers at the top left, like this: (13) [1] 2 3 ... Last » Keep clicking -- there are a lot of topics about dancers there. (If you don't see 13 pages, go down to the bottom of the topic list, and you'll see a menu box where you can choose to display topics "from the beginning." Somebody on this board has seen just about any dancer you can think of (within the last 20, 30 years, that is!), so ask if you don't find something on someone who interests you, ask away!

Probably a wise move. Volochkova suddenly became the only Bolshoi dancer many people who might find your poll have ever heard of. I hope when Hurricane Anastasia blows out to sea, you can start the poll again, Marc. Let us know.

I'm here -- I live close to the river, but if it flooded, it didn't get to me. My street lost quite a few trees in the other storms this year, so perhaps all the weak ones were felled; I don't see any downed ones now. Glad others are ok.

Or not? A quickie, yes or no poll. Feel free to expand your answer in the space below.

mbjerk wrote Can't think of many -- but how many times does ballet get a story on the front page of newspapers AND on the Today Show. For those coming late to this thread, please check today's Links in the Links forum. There are several substantive stories that do get at what's behind the ice cream.

Yes, espeically if a ballerina brings a partner with her, passing over the company's men, who might -- just hypothetically speaking, of course -- then wish to turn the tables if the originail partner, for whatever reason, no longer wishes to dance with her. There are some substantive stories in the news today -- check today's Links thread. Some are quite good, interviews with Russian critics and dancers.

I don't have the strength to copy all of them, but there are tons more stories in the U.S. press today about Volochkova, most of them serious (i.e., getting behind the ice cream and into the politics), with interviews with Russian critics, dancers, administrators -- and, in the Washington Post, even Mikhail Lavrovsky. All on Today's Links thread: http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...pic=13508&st=0&

Carbro, I've read the story, from Bruhn, about Markova being too hard to lift because she wouldn't help -- it was one he often repeated (I always thought it was ungentlemanly of him, and besides, as you point out, it's his job to make her look weightless, in my book). Paul, you already have at least one ditzy blonde on the ballot -- the one running around in the pink convertible? (forget her name). I always thought Volochkova would be perfect for Vegas, though -- in her fan-catching mode, at least. I should also say that I have several colleagues who saw her when she was 18 and loved her. Thought she was going to be the Kirov's next great ballerina -- very pure, and so beautiful. Then the Madonna syndrome set in (although, as I've said before, I've also seen her dance some very beautiful performances.) I think there are quite a few dancers who would be in the 5'6 - 110 pound range. I remember a story from about 15 years ago of a young ballerina at a major American company who was 5'7 and weighed 120 pounds when she was 19 being told she had to lose ten pounds -- and she did, and strength was not an issue. Willpower is a strange and wonderful thing. It also has a lot to do with body frame. I also know of two Washington-trained dancers who, at 17, were 5'4, 5'5 and weighed 90 pounds, according to their press people, and it was believable. They had very straight bodies (no hips, perfect for unitard ballets) and were small-boned.

Socalgal, I didn't see it, but I think the consensus was it wasn't going to make the all-time Top Ten list of artistic endeavors. But I, and several others, thought her quite different in regular company performances -- and yet another but, still many others (see the Kirov forum) think her talent overrated across the board. I think one of the earliest news stories called her Russia's "most loved and loathed" ballerina.

Yes! And he was choreographing a brand new ballet -- "Giselle" -- too. (I don't think she won that one, either.) Network news report: ABC closed with the Volochkova story tonight. That's the only news I watched -- any others?

* Rachel Berman, former principal dancer, Paul Taylor Company, rehearses the exuberant "Company B" * Pulliam Deffenbaugh exhibition, "Dancing on the Walls" benefits OBT * OBT dancers show off their "Rubies" at Tiffany's * "New Beginnings," Christopher Stowell's debut program as artistic director of OBT, Oct 11 - 18 at Keller Auditorium * Ballet luminaries attend opening night Rachel Berman, a one-time principal with Paul Taylor and one of the few dancers entrusted to teach his ballets 'round the world, is in Portland to rehearse "Company B" with OBT. With music by the Andrews sisters, "Company B" is an exuberant crowd-pleaser. Ms. Berman is available for interview through Sep 30. Her full bio is attached but here are a few highlights: numerous TV and film productions with the Taylor Company both in the United States and abroad, including the Emmy-winning "Speaking in Tongues" for PBS, Emmy-nominated "The Wrecker's Ball" (including "Company B"), and Academy Award-nominated documentary on the Taylor Company, "Dancermaker"; featured in the "Vanities" section of Vanity Fair, in a March 1997 cover story of Dance Magazine (“Taylor’s Buoyant Heroine”), and Dance Teacher; award-winning soloist; associate producer at Dancers Responding to AIDS, a fund raising program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Ten percent of the proceeds from Pulliam Deffenbaugh's October exhibition, "Dancing on the Walls," benefits Oregon Ballet Theatre. Gallery owners (and ballet fans) MaryAnn Deffenbaugh and Rod Pulliam conceived "Dancing on the Walls" in tribute to Christopher's Stowell's debut season as OBT's artistic director as well as the centenaries of the births of choreographers George Balanchine and Frederick Ashton, whose work will be seen in OBT's 03-04 season. "Dancing on the Walls"exhibits a range of interpretations and mediums. Works range from the literal – George Johanson drawing OBT dancers as they rehearse and Ellen George’s miniature ballet barre, to the abstract - Sol LeWitt’s aquatint, Wavy Lines with Black Border and Kris Timken’s pinhole photographs of flowers dancing in the breeze, Movement Suite. Christopher Stowell, as well as many of the artists, will be present at the 5:30 - 8:30 PM, October 2 First Thursday reception. Pulliam Deffenbaugh is located at 522 NW 12th Ave.; hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 - 5:30 PM. Tiffany's welcomes the OBT production of "Rubies" with a glittering event from 6:30 - 8:30 PM on Wednesday, October 8 at which two OBT dancers will model rubies from the Tiffany's collection. The dancers will be dressed in clothes from Marios, a very special stone will be on display, and party-goers can benefit OBT by purchasing a $15 "Key for a Cause" which offers a chance to open a Tiffany's vitrine and, if successful, to win a bauble inside. This event is very much in keeping with the glamour and glitter, sass and jazz of George Balanchine's "Rubies." Tiffany's is located at 330 SW Yamhill; phone: 503-221-5565. "New Beginnings," the debut program in Christopher Stowell's debut season as artistic director of Oregon Ballet Theatre takes place October 11 - 18 at Keller Auditorium, SW Clay at Third. The program includes Balanchine's jazzy "Rubies" with music by Stravinsky; Helgi Tomasson's romantic "Twilight" with music by Mendelssohn; Kent Stowell's provocative "Duo Fantasy" with music by William Bolcom and Paul Taylor's exuberant "Company B" with music by the Andrews Sisters. Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, co-artistic directors of Pacific Northwest Ballet (and Christopher's parents), Helgi Tomasson, artistic director of San Francisco Ballet (and Christopher's former boss), and his Portland-born wife Marlene are among the many luminaries expected at the gala opening night reception.

Estelle, thanks for the information on the Dupond matter -- and I think there are other dancers who have won money -- reimbursement of back salary, or something of that sort. I was thinking, though, of getting one's job back -- that I don't think has happened. It's the same in business or any bureaucracy. They may need to keep you, legally, but they'll give you an office in the basement and no work. A company may be forced to take a dancer back and list them on the roles, but not force them to cast the dancer or give him/her performances. I've posted a long, long list of links in the Bolshoi forum, and also on the Links forum for today's news. It's been a long time since any ballet story has gotten this much coverage -- shame it's not about ballet