Alexandra

From today's Links: Two reviews of the New York City Ballet at Saratoga: A Midsummer Night's Dream, reviewed by Mae G. Banner in the Saratogian. Guide to Strange Places, Concerto Barocco, and Western Symphony, reviewed by Joseph Dalton in the Albany Times-Union No one here has gone yet??

I was struck by nkflint's comment: Yes. I can see the point that a theater wants its artists to maintain a standard of decorum of which they approve, but firing someone for off-duty behavior that isn't criminal seems a bit behind the times.

Yes, please! That's the kind of review I love reading -- you got everything in! Who danced, what you saw and thought, how the audience reacted, and why. It's a very generous season. I'm jealous. In Washington now, we'll only get a company, even a major company, for a week, with one full-length and one triple bill. You had enough to really see the company. "Song of the Earth" is my favorite MacMillan ballet, too. I'm glad they brought a triple bill of MacMillan's ballets instead of JUST his choreodramas. (Thank you for bringing that word back -- we should use it here more.) It sounds as though you're going to St. Petersburg to see them, and I hope you'l write about if you do. I have great affection for "Marguerite and Armand" -- it was the first ballet I ever saw. It's not a straightforward telling of the story, but a fragmentary retelling; Marguerite is dying, and remembering. I'll be curious to hear how it plays there. Thank you again! And I'll echo Leigh -- please remember us when the season gets going and help keep us up to date on what's happening there.

Thank you for that, Jane -- I remember him as a dancer; very clean and understated. And thank you for your story, silvy. That happened before I was interested in dance, and so I have no memory of it. It's horrible -- a personal tragedy, of coruse, for many, but a tragedy for the country's ballet life as well.

I wanted to slip in a quick welcome to perky -- please don't go back to lurkdom! With a list like that, you've got a lot to share with us

By Jove, I think he's got it! I'll add, post a pronunciation guide to the top 25 ballet name, on my To Do list and make it a sticky. I know every time a new Russian ballerina comes along I have to ask how to pronounce the name, and I'm sure I'm not the only one! (Although I have learned the second syllable rule )

The "how do they decide who performs when" question is a good one. Sometimes it's the producer of the ballet -- or if s/he doesn't decide, s/he'll may at least have veto power. But the company direction will know which they consider the "first cast" -- the dancers best suited to the roles; sometimes, too, if there are two casts that are pretty much equal, but one dancers is beter known than another -- well, that can make a difference, too. I believe Ferri and Stiefel were the first-cast Dream in New York, no?

I deleted several OT posts on this thread -- all made in good humor, but this is a new poster with a serious question, it's in the Ballet History forum, and I'd ask that we keep to the topic.

Thanks for your question, Rodney, and welcome to Ballet Alert! I don't know the answer to this one, but there are at least two people who post her regularly who probably do, and I'm sure you'll get an answer shortly. (I moved your post into Ballet History from Moms and Dads, in case you wondered how it got here. That forum is for parents of ballet students to exchange tips and talk to teachers about their students' progress.)

Oh, what a great summer reading list! I'm jealous -- I'd love to read those books again for the first time! Please report in as you finish them -- we'd like to know what you think of them

Sylvie Guillem and Jonathan Cope awarded CBE: Royal Ballet Star Honoured

I'm curious why you think this was something started by Barnes? (I know older critic/historians who were here before Barnes, and wouldn't pick up a pronunciation from him anyway, who pronounce it this way; that's why I ask.) I'd be curious, too, how Russians pronounce Petipa, since he spent most of his career there! As you can see, Lee, there are no simple answers to anything in ballet But if you say PET ee pah in America (or, actually, pet' ee pah, only a slight accent on the first syllable) you'll fit in. Go to France, try Estelle's way

Also from today's Links: In the Guardian, Judith Mackrell reviews Michael Corder's new ballet for the English National Ballet, Melody on the Move.

And in today's Albany Times Union (thanks Ari!)

From today's Links: In Tutu Review, Tobi Tobias attacks the notion that heroines of Romantic ballet were frail, vulnerable creatures. Tutu Review is part of a dancewear site. Other articles are: Frederick Ashton by Clive Barnes Dance Injuries—Inherent Risks or Improper Training? by Mindy Aloff The Ballerina—A Swan Song? by Tobi Tobias Young, Dressed Up, and Dancing by Tobi Tobias.

From today's Links: Roland Petit has asked Yves Saint Laurent to design the costumes for his new work for the Kirov Ballet.

Copied from today's Links: Michael Corder's new ballet for the English National Ballet, Melody on the Move, is reviewed by Debra Craine in the London Times.

To follow up on what Estelle says -- of course she's right (she's French ) but there are accepted English and/or American pronunciations of non-English names so that we don't sound as though we're trying to pronounce a language we can't pronounce. I can give more Danish examples than French or Russian ones. Niels Kehlet is pronounced (sort of) Kay'l in Danish. (The ' means you think hard about a letter while swallowing). Americans think it's "Kay-let" When they're talking among each other, they'll say Kay'l. When they talk to us, they say Kay-let. Make sense? (I was rather startled when I began my book on Kronstam of how many people said "Hang Krwone-stam" until I realized that "Hang" was "Henning". In America, we'd say PET ee pah, or risk sounding pretentious. I'm curious about the British pronunciation?

I knew you would. There were a couple more that I wanted to add -- a lovely Frenchman with a long scarf who hits his head and says "Mon dieu!", for example -- but they add at the bottom of the viewable list (to the left of the post box) and they're so darned active that I thought it would drive us crazy to see six jumping smilies, so I settled for the little blue "speechless" man and the Party Animal. I don't think there's a way to reorder the smilies. We have enough, though Victoria, I do think you've solved it, and it makes sense. Remembering that hitting the Back button takes you to the page that is already cached, and clicking a link gives you a new page. (Not just for this, but for anything on the web.) Thanks! :party:

Thanks for that, Scoop. This was on my last summer's summer reading list -- and I never got to it. Next week, next week....I actually have three almost clear weeks, and I'm gonna read!

Thank you, Big Lee! (And welcome : ) Great questions. You're right. Fear of Mispronunciation is one of the great barriers. (I worried for years whether it was TERP see kor or Terp SICK aree. I've heard people use both.) It's PET ee pah. Russian names are usually on the second syllable -- Tou MAN ova, da NEEL ova. (Likewise, Mak KAR ova, Kar SA vina; and also for men: Noo REY yev. Thanks for asking -- ask more And I'm sure others have some too (including me.) Editing to add that we have both native French and Russian speakers on the board, so they may have a different take on this!!

Hi, plies to jetes -- welcome! What did YOU think? Was that two golds too many?

Good question, MJ. And one I can't answer -- I hope one of our New Yorkers can. And I hope someone will see this and report!

The Nureyev Gayaneh is worth the price of the tape for me. He is right off the plane -- messy hair and all -- and I've never seen anyone else dance like this. The zest, the delight he takes in the movement -- it's before he got tamed; the Prince in Sleeping Beauty is a bit raw, but he was only 23. It's the only video available now of Kronstam as a classical dancer (there were televised performances but he was in his 40s.) The studio (I'm sure for all the dancers) was tiny -- I saw the rehearsal tapes of this -- and the floor was waxed. What I wrote in my book I'll repeat here -- if I'd seen this tape 10 years ago, I wouldn't have given the Danes a second glance, but when I knew what to look for I was fascinated. She's very pure -- just a bit bland. And there are two things to watch in Kronstam -- first, the arms, the way they cross his chest, with a continual flow of movement. It's very rare to see that now. And secondly, the way he's doing the pas de deux in context -- it's not a concert number. He was the Romantic Prince, but he's not using that as a star persona; Florimund is a classical Prince, and that's how he dances him. There's also Carla Fracci very young, and Tallchief in a specialy made, very negligible (but blessedly competent) piece. I have to say I wasn't wowed by Hayden and D'Amboise. But this is TV, and it's not fair to judge. I do hope rg will see this one and give his take on it

I got a reply from my historian friend re Mlle Daunt: "No, the name does not sound familiar. However, the Paris Opera had sujets rhythmique in the 1920s, so dancers not trained classically wouldn't be out of the question. The leading rhythmic dancers in the later 1920s were Alice Bourgat and Mlle. Ellenskaia (they are pictured barefoot). I used to know another nephew of Gertrude Stein, the biochemist and Nobel Laureate, William H. Stein, but I believe he is no longer alive. Daunt is not in my book of Paris Opera Ballet photos, but it includes only dancers at least a rung above corps." I'd never heard of the "sujets rhythmique" -- how intriguing! This is in the wake of Isadora, I'm sure -- some of the modern dance experiments that disappeared during/after World War II. (They didn't do crossover dance. They used "plastique" and "danse rhythmique" as an accent, like character dancing.)