Alexandra

I saw "Gloria" only once many years ago -- the first time I saw Mark Morris, actually. I don't think it is performed frequently, at least it's not a year-in, year-out staple. I THINK it's completely choral music, but honestly don't remember. I do remember that, while I thought the piece was a bit too long, there were some very moving moments in it. The company 15 years ago had some extraordinary, unusual dancers -- real modern dancers, all different body types, earthy people, using their weight, nothing balletic about it -- and I liked them immensely. I remember it as being very good, if perhaps not great, choreography. I went with a friend who was already a Morris fan, and I remember saying, "Gosh, he's a real choreographer," and her response was, "You mean he knew what he was going to do before he started to do it?" which is as good a definition as any. It all seems inevitable, even if some of the invention flags in the middle. And there are moments and images that are still with me. I'd certainly go if I were in the city -- I wouldn't hesitate for a second. Whether it's worth the trip or not -- well, that depends how much you love the symphony. If you do go, I hope you'll tell us about it. Anyone else have any comments on this dance?

I don't think anyone has reported on this yet, but we can consider this a call for reviews Did anyone go? It's a new choreographers' showcase and it would be interesting to read the results.

I loved that episode too. They were re-running the Lucy Show here about five or six years ago and that was the only one I saw -- completely by chance. So it was perfect that it was the ballet episode It is perfect, deft, physical comedy. Gosh. In today's ballet world, she'd be doing Swan Lake, if only she could get those turns down.

Yes, Hans, I think Ashton's is to the Gold Fairy music. (writing this without looking it up.) Rodney, the danseur/danseuse noble was one of the three 18th century genres. Noverre describes and differentiates them in his letters. Prince Siegfried, Jean de Brienne, Florimund are all danseurs nobles. In the 18th century, this was the genre of the gods and heroes (there are quite a few discussions on this from the past under "employ"). I think the court dances in Sleeping Beauty are the noble genre, and the Princess Mother and Benno, in Swan Lake, the King and Queen in Sleeping Beauty -- not sure about the Countess; we're too far from the original.

Fascinating discussion -- thanks for raising these questions, Rodney. Two comments. I'm a defender of Marie Petipa's Lilac Fairy -- it's not that she was a bad dancer and that her variation was simplified for her miniscule talents, as is often written; nor is it true that she was a character dancer, although by the time she danced people may have understood the danseuse noble to be a character dancer, since there were so few of them. The Lilac Fairy is a danseuse noble role -- mostly mime -- and stately rhythmic measures were the province of that genre. It's the great gift of the Mariinsky's new/old staging, for me, because the costuming and footwear are accurate, and you see her as she was intended to be seen. I'd also comment on the Ashton Lilac Fairy variation. I've never read that he choreographed, or emended, the Royal Ballet version. I can't find any mention of that in the Croce that I've just skimmed again, and it's not included in David Vaughan's commentary on Ashton's contributions to Beauty. There's a mention in Croce of "the Royal Ballet's version" of the Lilac Fairy as being different from others, but not whose choreography it is. Ashton did choreograph a different variation for Aurora in the second act (better than Petipa's, IMO ) and also a variation for one of the fairies.

Yes. She wasn't much of a modern dancer, in the jazz routine she did earlier. But I think fashion models are the danseuses nobles of today -- it's all about display of the body, how to walk, etc., so she did get her chance!

Guilt pangs are good for the soul, Giannina Thanks for your second thoughts, as much as the first ones. And thanks, too, socalgal -- I hope we'll be reading more from you.

Thanks for that, Funny Face, and welcome to Ballet Alert! And of course, Audrey Hepburn was a ballet dancer briefly. I just saw "Funny Face" again a few months ago and the stunning part, to me, was the final fashion sequence in Paris -- including the run down the stairs in the red dress. The kind of performance only a dancer could give.

Hello, Guy! San Francisco is a fine company -- I hope you're having a great time. There will be a review of the Stern Grove performance on DanceViewWest next Monday.

Just got back from mailing out the last 100 DanceViews (it takes awhile when you have to lug them to the post office a sack at a time!) All issues have been mailed out, including to overseas subscribers. Those went out last Saturday. In this issue: Mary Cargill reviews ABT's spring 2003 Met season Rita Felciano reports on Helgi Tomasson's coaching of his solo from Baiser de la fee, as part of the Balanchine Archive Project Martha Ullman West reviews Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and the Eugene Ballet Denise Sum reviews The National Ballet of Canada’s 2002-2003 season Marc Haegeman interviews POB premiere danseuse Delphine Moussin Gay Morris's New York Report covers Rennie Harris, Jose Limón and Mark Morris Jane Simpson's London Report covers a lot of ground: At the Royal Ballet: Remembering Nureyev and an Ashton-MacMillan-Bintley triple bill; English National Ballet; Cathy Marston; Wayne McGregor; NDT2; Royal Ballet of Flanders; Raiford Rogers and Paul Taylor Rita Felciano's Bay Area Report reviews Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Stephen Pelton, Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet Theatre, Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet (DanceView is available only by subscription. If you'd like to receive this issue, we can start your subscription now -- the link to the subscription page is in my signature line)

Thanks to Ari, we have some links to London reviews (copied over from today's Links): The Kirov Ballet offered an all-Diaghilev program for its third bill in London: Chopiniana, Les Noces, and Scheherazade. Clement Crisp in the Financial Times Luke Jennings in the Guardian John Percival in the Independent Ismene Brown in the Telegraph Debra Craine's review in the Times is only available by paid subscription.

We're cleared for take off The problem Estelle and I (and perhaps others) experienced the other day was related to the conversion, they say. Probably a little bit of code that hadn't been changed. I'm told it's been fixed. This thread is now open again; sorry for the detour.

Thank you, Beckster. I'm glad you're posting more about what you're seeing, too I think one of the things you wrote: Is true for most people. I can remember when I started watching ballet and was still trying to "figure it out," I would be upset when I read that a performance I had loved was the death knell of ballet Giannina addressed this too, in her post above. It will always happen, I think, but the more you see, the more firm in your own opinions you'll become and it will bother you less, I think.

I was talking with one of our modern dancer/choreographers yesterday, who said something so brilliant I have to post it. "They train them one way and then they go and injure them in another."

It's a Jeff Good to see you! Cher might be a little bit old for O/O, yet perfect for the Princess M.

Thank you for taking the time to write about these performances, Giannina -- your enthusiasm is infectious!

Thanks for those reports, Marc. The "Corsaire" does sound dispiriting and matches what I've gotten from friends in emails (with promises to post -- are you out there today? ) I haven't heard any reports about "Swan Lake" yet and so was all the more glad to read yours. In the performances I've seen from him, I've found Zelensky uneven, yet I've always thought the potential was there, and am very glad to read he was in such good form. Londoners or traveling Kirov watchers? What did you think?

Helene, I'm sure Dale didn't mean anything accusatory by saying that she "didn't think it fair to say" -- just another way of saying she disagreed. We're all speculating on someone's motivation for joining or leaving a company -- we won't be able to solve it here Both Meuneier and Part have a lot of fans, at least on this board, and I'm sure there are many people who are hoping to see them dance more frequently.

grace, it's not a thread. It's an entry in Petipa's diary. I don't have the full cite within easy reach, sorry.

That's a lovely story, piccolo -- and you're not late at all. Any thread can be revived.

While I agree with everyone who said that it's not ideal to put a young dancer on for two performances of a full-length ballet in a day, it can also happen that a company has three dancers prepared for a role and two of them just can't go on. I'm not privy to their reasoning for doing this, but one could be that an audience that's bought tickets to Coppelia is not going to be happy with a triple bill. I wouldn't want them to say "You're it!" to someone at 10 in the morning and have them learn the role in a day, either. It's a ballet that needs preparation. I'd also say that it's not a corps part; it's a ballerina role. (Not that I don't think Fairchild might be up to it; I've only seen her in two small parts, but she immediately went on my Most Promising list, but I don't think I'd want to see six corps dancers trotted out in it either.) Reading these threads made me think of the way ABT started on what to me was a wayward, downhill path in the late 1970s. Doing a steady diet of full length ballets means that you have to change the way you train and cast people. Stamina counts more than speed, say. In ABT, people were thrown on without any preparation -- one of the worst I can remember was when Basil went down in the third act and someone threw a tambourine to Peter Fonseca and said, "do it." Or something of that nature. And he got to do Basil's solo and the coda. OOn other occasions, you had Harvey in the 1st act of Don Q, Tcherkassky in the 2nd, and Someone Else in the 3rd act -- they had a hard time getting through Don Q, much less 4 of them in a weekend. The Swan Lake where D'Antuono did the third act without a Siegfried was also a high point. The next step was demoting Swanhilda and Franz to corps parts and the entire triple-bill rep -- Theme, Billy, Fancy Free, Miss Julie, ballets made for stars -- to soloist parts as though they were consolation prizes. You aren't good enough for Aurora, dear, but you can do Theme. I make this point only because, as one who (not out of choice!) studies the history of ballet companies from a structural point of view, this may be an aberration, or it may be the Dawn of a New Day. Watch this space

Susane, there may be one, but I don't know of it. You might write to Bournonville.com and suggest it -- it's something they might want to do, in preparation for the upcoming Bournonville Festival.

One wonders if the Swans will also be trained in the martial arts? That could make for some interesting choreography..... not to mention feathered bicycle shorts.

I don't think we've had this topic in months, if not years, so it's great that you raised it. I can only give a short answer now -- I'll try to answer more fully later, but perhaps someone else could give their view? First, it sounds like you didn't like the ROLE (choreography?) of Aurora, and so didn't care much for either dancer? If that's correct, three things. One, you may never like the role Two, you may not have seen a very good :Aurora; when you do see a good or great one, she'll make you like it, or at least see the point of it. Or three, that you're expecting something else from Aurora -- something more realistic. I think this is a general perception today, in this age of Juliet and Manon and Kitri. We expect action heroines Aurora is a classical role, and the more pure classical ballets you've seen, the more you appreciate it. (Of course, some people like it first time out, and others will never like it. I was terribly disappointed in the first "Sleeping Beauty" I saw. I later realized it had been a very bad performance.) As for judging Don Q variations in competitions, I think that's different from watching a performance. At a competition, judges will be looking (one hopes!) for specific technical things -- turnout, placement, how well certain steps are done, THAT certain steps are done. Fouettes can't travel or wobble, for example, and there should be 32 of them. There should also be some characterization, as well as phrasing -- the way the steps are dance in relation to the music, that there's a flow to the dancing, not just putting one step out after another -- but I'm afraid that doesn't count for many "points" in competition. When watching a ballet, people also give different "point values" for different things. Some give, say, 8 out of their 10 points for technique. Someone else might say, well, they've got to meet a basic technical standard, of course, but then I want to see characterization and musical phrasing.

Suzie, I gave an answer to your last question, but it's such a good question, and such an important one that I've split it off and moved it to the Discover Ballet forum for more discussion. Thank you for asking that! (I think it's such a good question because the one I asked -- constantly -- for at least the first five or six years after I started watching ballet : ) Anyone who'd like to discuss this topic, please come to: http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...=0entry100551