Alexandra

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE TO VISIT FIVE CITIES DURING TWO-WEEK TOUR OF JAPAN, SEPTEMBER 12-22 American Ballet Theatre will visit Tokyo, Sagamihara, Hamamatsu, Fuchu and Ohtsu during the Company?s tour of Japan, September 12-22, 2002. This tour will mark ABT?s first return to Japan since its last engagement in July 1999. Performances for American Ballet Theatre?s two-week tour will include Le Corsaire, staged by Anna-Marie Holmes, at the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo on September 12 and 14 and at Biwako Hall in Ohtsu on September 22, and Ronald Hynd?s The Merry Widow at the Bunka Kaikan on September 18, 19 and 21. Gala programs, which will include Stanton Welch?s Clear, Jerome Robbins? Other Dances, George Balanchine?s Sylvia Pas de Deux and excerpts from Le Corsaire and The Sleeping Beauty, will be performed at Green Hall Sagami-ohno in Sagamihara on September 13, at NHK Hall in Tokyo on September 15, at Act City in Hamamatsu on September 17 and at Fuchu-no-mori Art Theater in Fuchu on September 20. Principal Dancers for the engagement are Nina Ananiashvili, Maxim Belotserkovsky, Julio Bocca, Jose Manuel Carreño, Angel Corella, Irina Dvorovenko, Alessandra Ferri, Marcelo Gomes, Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent, Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel. Portions of American Ballet Theatre?s Japan tour have been generously underwritten by The Freeman Foundation. The Freeman Foundation?s support will enable ABT to provide education and outreach programs while in Japan, as well as scholarships to the Company?s Summer Intensive training program for five Japanese students of outstanding potential chosen through auditions in several of the tour cities.

[The folloiwng is from the company's press kit] THE MARIINSKY THEATRE'S RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BALLET LA BAYADÈRE La Bayadère is one of the oldest ballets in the classical Russian repertoire. Its premiere at St Petersburg's Bolshoi Theatre in 1877 (ballets were staged at the Mariinsky Theatre from 1886) was a triumph for Marius Petipa, and this success has accompanied La Bayadère to the present day. The tragic love story of Solor, a noble warrior (in thepremiere, Lev Ivanov performed the mime role of Solor, and Pavel Gerdt danced the Pas d'action in Act IV), and Nikia, a temple dancer (dancedby Yekaterina Vazem), who is poisoned by her rival, Princess Gamzatti (danced by Maria Gorshenkova) provided Petipa with the basis for this visual feast. In 1877, the ballet was a colourful encyclopædia of knowledge about India: cool temples under a canopy of palms, majestic palace walls, fanatical fakirs flagellating themselves during sacred dances, lithe bayadères, brightly coloured veils, elephants, tigers, cobras and opium hookahs. This Indian exoticism was, however, created using conventional >ballet techniques of the 19th century. Since its premiere, La Bayadère, has undergone many changes. In 1884, Marius Petipa revived the ballet for Anna Iogansson, with almost no alterations. In 1900, at the benefit performance of dancer Pavel Gerdt, soloist of >His Imperial Majesty, and specially for Mathilda Kshesinskaya, prima ballerina of the Imperial Theatres, Petipa created a new choreographic version of the ballet (Mathilda Kshesinskaya danced as Nikia, Pavel Gerdt as Solor and Olga Preobrazhenskaya as Gamzatti with Nikolai Legat dancing the entree, variation and coda in the Pas d'action in Act IV). Academy artists Adolf Kvapp, Konstantin Ivanov, Pyotr Lambin and Orest Allegri designed new sets for the 1900 premiere. Yevgeny Ponomarev made sketches for new costumes. This was to be the last version of the ballet created by Marius Petipa himself. Some time between 1900 and 1903, this version of La Bayadère was recorded by Nikolai Sergeyev, Director of the Mariinsky Ballet Company using the Stepanov notation. The first major change to La Bayadère after Petipa's death came in the latter half of the 1920's with the loss of Act IV - the final act where there was a dramatic and choreographic denouement in Petipa's original: during Gamzatti and Solor's wedding ceremony, Nikia's shadow follows Solor, finally appearing to Gamzatti and the others present; lightning destroys the palace and everyone perishes. Retribution for the crime has been enacted. There are myriad theories explaining the loss of Act IV. One of the most widespread is that after the Revolution the Mariinsky Theatre lacked the technical staff required to produce the stage effects. It is possible that the sets for Act IV of La Bayadère were ruined when Petrograd was flooded in 1924. For some time, La Bayadère was performed without Act IV before disappearing from the repertoire of the Kirov (formerly Mariinsky) Theatre. In 1941, Vladimir Ponomarev and Vakhtang Chabukiani presented a new version of the ballet, with the music and elements of the choreography from the Pas d'action in Act IV (albeit without Nikia's shadow) moved to Act II and turned into a "wedding" Grand pas. In atheist Soviet Russia, it would have been impossible to stage a ballet, the final act of which was entitled Wrath of the Gods. Moreover, the logic of the plot had been damaged and Marius Petipa's choreography of the Pas d'action had become senseless. The future was to hold many more changes for the ballet, though it always culminated with the Grand pas classique of the Shadows. This is the state in which we inherited the ballet. > However, the legend of the full, four-act version of La Bayadère, surviving in many literary descriptions (in particular those of ballet master Fyodor Lopukhov and ballet historian Yuri Slonimsky) attracted choreographers interested in Marius Petipa's choreographic legacy. Starting in the 1980's in the west and in Russia, attempts were made to restore the full, four-act version of La Bayadère (one version by Natalia Makarova with the American Ballet Theater in 1980 in New York and another by Pyotr Gusev in 1984 in Sverdlovsk in the USSR). These attempts would always be complicated, however, by the fact that these choreographers did not have Ludwig Minkus' full score (in Natalia Makarova's version, the music of Act IV was completed by John Lanchbery) and the choreographic notation (Nikolai Sergeyev's records in the Harvard Theatre Collection were made available to Russian specialists >only recently). > >In 2001, the Mariinsky Theatre, the "house of Petipa", decided to stage a reconstruction of the full, four-act version of La Bayadère - the oldest surviving ballet in the repertoire of Marius Petipa's works. The aim was to return to Marius Petipa and Ludwig Minkus' original music and stage version of the 1900 production and, if possible, restore the choreography in accordance with Petipa's own last version in 1900. The aim was also to revive in full the sets and costumes of the 1900 production, which, except for a few changes and the loss of Act IV, had been retained at the Mariinsky Theatre until the present. Reconstruction work took several directions: I. THE MUSIC Through a strange misunderstanding, Ludwig Minkus' original score for La Bayadère was believed lost until now. The Mariinsky Theatre Music Library, however, has two volumes of Ludwig Minkus' hand-written score, as well as three manuscript repetiteurs (arrangement for two violins) with many notes for ballet masters and performers. The order of the sheet music of the original, hand-written score was changed in 1941 in accordance with Ponomarev and Chabukiani's version. All the music was first brought into line with the original, 1877 version of the score, and then all the necessary cuts made in accordance with the 1900 version. The Mariinsky Theatre is currently the only theatre in the world that has Ludwig Minkus' full, original score for La Bayadère. This score is the property of the Mariinsky Theatre. II. CHOREOGRAPHY Marius Petipa's own version of La Bayadère from 1900 formed the basis for the reconstruction of the choreography. The sequence of the ballet is described in detail in 1900 Mariinsky Theatre playbills and programmes, which are considered official working documents. > The restoration process of the choreographic and pantomime elements in La Bayadère was carried out using the following sources: > a) Marius Petipa and Sergei Khudekov's original text of the libretto and Petipa's staging notes for La Bayadère which are housed in the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum in Moscow with detailed notes on pantomimic monologues and dialogues. The libretto, written by Marius Petipa himself, is not merely a literary text, but also a document providing all the details required to restore the ballet's dramatic structure. > B) Régisseur (stage and rehearsal director) of the Mariinsky Ballet Company Nikolai Sergeyev's choreographic records in the Stepanov notation, housed in the Harvard Theatre Collection. This choreographic record of the ballet contains the notation for almost all the dances in the ballet. Exceptions were the variations which belonged to individual performers (such as Nikia's "extra" variation in Act IV, which was added after the premiere in 1900 especially for Mathilda Kshesinskaya and was her property) and those variations which in 19th century ballet were performed ad libitum (Solor and Gamzatti's variations in the Pas d'action in Act IV). > c) Manuscript repetiteurs (the "régisseur's" and "kappelmeister's" copies and another copy for Mathilda Kshesinskaya), which contain a vast amount of hand-written notes detailing choreographic combinations, dancers' entrances etc., as well as a literary text on the pantomime dialogues in synchronisation with the musical text. These manuscript repetiteurs were vital documents, allowing the musical and choreographic texts to be synchronised. > During the reconstruction process, the main principle was the complete restoration of the original dramatic and choreographic structure of Marius Petipa's version. This resulted in the following: > Act I. Scene I - Ritual of Fire: > 1. Petipa's original choreography of the Dance of the Priestesses has been restored (since 1941, this was performed with Vladimir Ponomarev's choreography). 2. The musical and choreographic structure of Nikia and Solor's Duet has been restored. 3. The music and the pantomime scenes, lost in the Soviet period, have been restored. > Act II. Scene II - Two Rivals: 1. The "extra" Duet of Nikia and the Slave, choreographed in 1954 by Konstantin Sergeyev for his wife Natalia Dudinskaya to music from the ballet La Esmeralda, has been removed. 2. The original, pantomimic Dialogue between Nikia and Gamzatti has been restored. > Act II. Scene III - Death of the Bayadère: > 1. The entrance of the corps de ballet for the Triumphal Procession in Honour of the Idol Badrinath has been restored using the score and repetiteurs. 2. The music and choreography of the lost Dance of the Slaves have been restored. 3. The sequence of the four bayadères' two variations has been restored. 4. The "extra" Variation of the Golden Idol, choreographed in 1948 by Nikolai Zubkovsky, has been removed. 5. The lost choreographic elements of the Indian Dance have been restored. 6. Gamzatti, Nikia, Solor and the four bayadères' Pas d'action has been moved to its original position in Act IV. 7. The choreography of the Final coda generale has been restored. 8. Nikia's Dance has been restored - in accordance with a note in Petipa's original libretto, the first part of Nikia's Dance is performed with a veena (small Indian guitar). Act III. Scene IV - The Appearance of the Shadow: 1. The music and pantomime of the Scene with Solor, Gamzatti and Nikia's Shadow have been completely restored. > Act III. Scene V - Solor's Dream. The Kingdom of Shadows: > 1. The choreography of the Grand pas classique of the shadows came to us practically unchanged. In the original in 1900, the corps de ballet of "shadows" consisted of forty-eight dancers. The tight touring budget means that the Mariinsky Theatre will be unable to stage the full corps de ballet of shadows in New York, which we have reduced to thirty-two dancers. The Mariinsky Theatre believes it to be artistically justified to maintain Solor's Entree and Coda, as choreographed by Vakhtang Chabukiani. 2. Petipa's original choreography of Nikia's Coda has been restored. > Act III. Scene VI - Solor Awakes: > This short scene was cut together with Act IV. Now it is has been completely restored. > Act IV. Scene VII - Wrath of the Gods: This act has been completely restored using Nikolai Sergeyev's notation and director's notes in the original repetiteurs. 1. The Wedding Celebration has been restored. 2. The music and choreography of the Dance of the Lotus Blossoms for twenty-four ballet students have been restored. 3. The music and choreography of the entree, adagio and coda in the Nikia, Gamzatti, Solor and four bayadères' Pas d'action have been completely restored. 4. In the original, the music and choreography of Gamzatti and Solor's variations in the Pas d'action were to be performed ad libitum, i.e. left to the performers' choice. This was a typical practice in 19th century ballet and in classical art in general (for example, the cadenza ad libitum in the first part of piano concertos). Ludwig Minkus' hand-written score contains no variations - only the words "followed by Solor and Gamzatti's variations" are written. The choreography for these variations is, therefore, not recorded in Nikolai Sergeyev's notation. It is only known that in 1900, Nikolai Legat performed the variation to music from the ballet Le Papillon. In terms of character and technique, Vakhtang Chabukiani's choreography for Solor's variation (1941) does not match the style of a late 19th - early 20th century ballet. The Mariinsky Theatre therefore considers it appropriate to use the Male Variation from the ballet The Talisman to music by Drigo, which was choreographed by Marius Petipa. No records remain of which variation Olga Preobrazhenskaya (Gamzatti) danced. The Mariinsky Theatre considers it justifiable to retain Gamzatti's Variation, choreographed by Pyotr Gusev in 1947, which is a perfect exemplification of Petipa's choreographic stylisation. 5. The final Earthquake Scene and Apotheosis have been restored using notes in the repetiteurs. III. SETS The Mariinsky Theatre's set designs for the 1900 production of La Bayadère did not change over the course of the 20th century. The sets of the first three acts were carefully restored from the original 1900 canvases that are stored in the Mariinsky Theatre archives. The sets for the scene Solor's Dream. The Kingdom of Shadows have been restored from Pyotr Lambin's original model, which is kept in the St Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music. The sets for Act IV were restored from original sketches and photographic materials in the collection of the St Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music. The working mechanism of the stage scenery in the Earthquake and Destruction of the Palace scene was restored using assemblage blue prints kept in the Russian State History Archives (the Archives of the Board of Imperial Theatres). Now, at the start of the 21st century in the electronic age, this ancient machinery may seem somewhat naive and archaic, but it is precisely this scene which caused such a sensation among the audience at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1900. IV. COSTUMES The costumes for La Bayadère for the 1900 production have been restored from original sketches by Yevgeny Ponomarev, kept in the St Petersburg State Theatre Library. Technical descriptions of the costumes of La Bayadère, housed in the Russian State History Archives, were used in the reconstruction of the costumes from the 1900 production. Where possible when selecting fabrics, the costume restorers used those described in the archive documents. Some of these fabrics are no longer produced today and the Mariinsky Theatre's costume technicians used similar materials. The costume department strictly observed the principle of sewing by hand. > So - the original score, Nikolai Sergeyev's notation of the choreography, the original sets and costumes - all of these priceless resources have allowed the Mariinsky Theatre to restore the original, naive, archaic version of La Bayadère, which has the power to move us to this day. It demonstrates the joyful surprise and innocent delight of 19th century Europeans as they became acquainted with the vast world around them. The fate of La Bayadère was cemented by the artistic belief and great mastery with which Marius Petipa tells of India, love, cunning, retribution and the mysterious journey of the soul to the afterlife. When the dancing shadows descend from the snow-capped Himalayan peaks wearing European ballet tutus, no-one would dream of reproaching the choreographer with conflicting ideas - we delight in the miracle occurring before our eyes. Pavel Gershenzon

I like Allegra Kent's name, too. I always think of the poem "The Children's Hour" -- "grave Edith and laughing Allegra, and Alice {?} with golden hair." I may have the other names wrong, or switched, but I remember the "laughing Allegra." I hope someone who saw her dance more than I did will respond. I saw her late in her career, and on several films and videos (there are several bits of her dancing on the Balanchine biography that PBS showed many years ago). She had quite a range, a bit quirky in "The Unanswered Question," beautiful in a tutu role in "Symphony in C" (second movement; that's on film), and mysterious and Romantic in "La Sonnambula." And always musical.

From today's NY Times: Behind a Century of Photos, Was There a Jewish Eye?

From today's New York Times: John Frankenheimer, Resilient Director of Feature Films and TV Movies, Dies at 72

36 entrechat sixes

We got this photo at DanceView and the color is so brilliant I wanted to post it. (It will lose its point in black and white.) Members of the Mark Morris Dance Group perform the world premiere of "Kolam", part of Yo-Yo Ma,s Silk Road Project. The Project, a research, performance and educational initiative founded in 1998 by Ma, is designed to illuminate the cultural and musical traditions of the Silk Road, the ancient network of trade routes that connected East Asia to Europe. "Through the Silk Road Project we are striving to bring new ideas, talent and energy into the world of classical music," comments artistic director Ma, "and at the same time, nurture musical creativity drawing on wonderfully diverse and distinguished sources of cultural heritage around the world. PHOTO CREDIT: Ken Friedman

I thought it odd, too, Lynette. Perhaps the critic is too young to have remembered that the Royal Ballet once defined the way Swan Lake was danced in the West! (Of course, there are history books.....) About Leaves -- I hadn't thought about its nationality. It doesn't seem particularly American, or English. Perhaps because expatriates never quite fit into either world?

And Ari has the British press reaction on Links today. I've copied over her post: Silver Lining, the Kent Stowell ballet to songs by Jerome Kern that opened Pacific Northwest Ballet's London season on Tuesday, did not go over well with the local critics—to put it mildly. Judith Mackrell in the Guardian Debra Craine in the Times For a review in the Evening Standard, see July 3 Links.

There's a review by Lynette Halewood on ballet.co of PNB's opener, "Silver Lining." http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/2860.html

I was an American studies major as an undergraduate and we used to kick "what is American about..." around a lot. I don't think it's just the music, because Robbins' ballets to Chopin and Tchaikovsky look American, and Balanchine's Western Symphony is Americana, to me, but is a son-of-Petipa ballet. I think Juliet's point about realism is a good one. (As an aside that may not be uninteresting, our first gothic novel, the name of which I forget, had to have scientific underpinnings. No statues with bloody noses here -- a la Walpole -- but spontaneous combustion, with a footnote as to its possibility. We don't do fantasy well.) I think any ballet by an American will have some American footprint in it (any modern dance, too; I don't think Morris's works would be mistaken for Russian or French). Balanchine's works, even the jazzy ones, remain European, to me. An outsider's view of a culture he knew well, although I think Who Cares? is 95% American Tudor remained an Englishman. I don't think you can change your background. And DeMille is an American even when her subject matter is not -- Three Virgins and a Devil. (Cheekiness, a slangy quality to the movement.) Billy Rodeo Fancy Free Stars and Stripes Since Balanchine programmed "Stars and Stripes" on the 4th of July, or other patriotic moments (when the hostages were freed, I believe), even during the decade when patriotism was Absolutely Out, I'd have to let it be on a National Fourth program, but I still think it's Russian, an idealization of America

I was an American studies major as an undergraduate and we used to kick "what is American about..." around a lot. I don't think it's just the music, because Robbins' ballets to Chopin and Tchaikovsky look American, and Balanchine's Western Symphony is Americana, to me, but is a son-of-Petipa ballet. I think Juliet's point about realism is a good one. (As an aside that may not be uninteresting, our first gothic novel, the name of which I forget, had to have scientific underpinnings. No statues with bloody noses here -- a la Walpole -- but spontaneous combustion, with a footnote as to its possibility. We don't do fantasy well.) I think any ballet by an American will have some American footprint in it (any modern dance, too; I don't think Morris's works would be mistaken for Russian or French). Balanchine's works, even the jazzy ones, remain European, to me. An outsider's view of a culture he knew well, although I think Who Cares? is 95% American Tudor remained an Englishman. I don't think you can change your background. And DeMille is an American even when her subject matter is not -- Three Virgins and a Devil. (Cheekiness, a slangy quality to the movement.) Billy Rodeo Fancy Free Stars and Stripes Since Balanchine programmed "Stars and Stripes" on the 4th of July, or other patriotic moments (when the hostages were freed, I believe), even during the decade when patriotism was Absolutely Out, I'd have to let it be on a National Fourth program, but I still think it's Russian, an idealization of America

Jude, there were many differing opinions on both Kevin McKenzie's version for ABT and Peter Martins' for NYCB. I think a lot of those threads should still be up -- take a look through the ABT and NYCB company forums for some of those posts (set your viewing option to expose all posts), or do a search for McKenzie AND Swan Lake or Martins AND Swan Lake.

Great poll, Manhattnik. I don't think either are good. The question down here, after the recent visit by the Grigorovich version, was "which is worse, this or Kevin's?" or "Peter's" depending on who was asking the question. At the end of the run, I think most of the people I was talking with agreed that, as much as we disliked the Grigorovich, we'd take it, hands down, over either or both of the other two.

A company press release dated July 1, 2002. BOSTON BALLET DANCER WINS THE SILVER MEDAL Medal winners are announced at USA IBC (BOSTON)- Boston Ballet dancer Sarah Lamb won the silver medal at the USA International Ballet Competition on June 28 in Jackson, Miss. Boston Ballet dancer Emi Hariyama received the Robert Joffrey Award of Merit. "We are so proud of Sarah and Emi," said Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. The USA IBC is an "olympic style" event held every four years and is the official international ballet competition in the United States designated by a Joint Resolution of Congress. Dancers from around the world compete for scholarships, medals and cash awards in this prestigious, two-week dance event. This year's events will conclude on June 30, 2002.

Thanks very much for finding this for us, dirac. I read the article as much more about sexual politics than the decline of classical music, and I think she's absolutely right. Women have dominated American dance criticism for the past three decades, and I'm convinced it's because men don't want it. If there were money in writing about dance, if it were prestigious, the ratio would be quickly reversed. The author's "old she-goat" line reminds me of something I ran across when researching my book. In a certain northern European city in the 1970s and '80s there were two older critics who happened to be female (the men of their generation had left the field because of death, or other good reasons) and who understood classical ballet. The younger men who were entering the field were very much dance-theater people many of whom, I am convinced, didn't have a clue what ballet was about. Pretty steps set to music, an old-fashioned awful thing that should have died in the 1950s and, since it hadn't, they did everything they could to hasten it out the door. The women were called "the aunties." What's fascinating about dance, especially classical ballet, is that it gets it from both sides. The intellectuals scorn it, the "general public" likes it -- at least the "Swan Lake" or the musical-like ballets like "Merry Widow" although many, especially those who've never seen a ballet, seem afraid of it.

I'll bet "The Joys of Stripping" would sell more copies than "Sisters of Salome." You have a future in publishing, dirac thanks for this.

If your favorite company isn't in the U.S.A., but not on this list of "international ballet companies either," you can fix that! One of the reasons we started the forums for individual ballet companies is to give people a place to talk about their home companies. We want to hear what they're doing and what you think about it. Please tell us about that company (here or over on "Recent Performances" if you prefer), and encourage others to do so as well. If there are enough people to sustain a conversation (it only take three or four) we'll be happy to make a forum for your favorite company. What to talk about? Dancers, repertory, company news. Did you just get a new artistic director? Interesting guest artists this season? What are you seeing? We'd love to read reviews. We have people from all over reading this board, and they may well zip out of Lurkdom and join in. So start talking and let us know about your home company!

Is your home company not on this forums list? One of the reasons we started the forums for individual ballet companies is to give people a place to talk about their home companies. We want to hear what they're doing and what you think about it. Please tell us about that company (here or over on "Recent Performances" if you prefer), and encourage others to do so as well. If there are enough people to sustain a conversation (it only take three or four) we'll be happy to make a forum for your favorite company. What to talk about? Dancers, repertory, company news. Did you just get a new artistic director? Interesting guest artists this season? What are you seeing? We'd love to read reviews. We have people from all over reading this board, and they may well zip out of Lurkdom and join in. So start talking and let us know about your home company!

No one wants to play? I've always been fond of Ninette deValois's formula, from the 1930s, for the company she built (rather than inherited) that the repertory should be: one-fourth classics (i.e., Swan Lake); one-fourth modern classics (i.e., great works created for it), one-fourth national works (i.e., audience and identity builders, in her case, ballets on British themes) and one-fourth novelty. Today, it seems to me that most companies are either one-half classics and what I call faux-classics (full-length story ballets that don't usually meet the choreographic gold standard) and one-half novelties. Or one-half resident choreographer ballets that probably one can't really call modern classics, and one-half novelties. So there's a start -- what would your formula be? Or make up a company and give us a season of four or eight programs and what would be on each program! (please)

I think that some people think they hate mime because they aren't familiar with it and don't know how to watch it -- or even that they're supposed to watch it. I've found this in several classes I've taught. When I show a video of a mime scene everyone seems to be waiting for the dancing to start, and get restless after awhile. When I show them what's going on -- it seems obvious to me, but these are ballets I've seen many times, and I'm attuned to them -- they become interested. One of the saddest comments I've ever gotten was after I showed a video of La Sylphide to a group of people that weren't arts people at all, and few had ever seen dance. But they were interested. And afterwards, one man came up to me and said, very angrily, "Why don't they teach this in school? I was taught how to read a poem, hear a piece of music, and appreciate a painting, but never a word about dance. I never thought there was anything to it before."

I agree with that. There's also the very human reaction that if we're told we won't understand something, or that mime is boring, we'll expect that. (I remember being a bit embarrassed by liking "King's Volunteers on Amager" so much after I read the stuff in the program book about how "despite its being rich in mine" and reviews that "although the first act -- nearly an hour! -- is completely pantomime..." I was so uninformed, I didn't know. I was also sitting in the third row, where I could practically hear the dancers breathe. I think the comments several people have made about mime and gesture not carrying well in big houses is a good one, too. Tudor at the Mercury and Tudor at the Met must be very different experiences! And the Bolshoi MUST do big gestures, as well as big jumps, because they have such a big stage. The dancers can't all huddle in the middle and exchange glances.

I almost posted "this would make a great board game!" Not only the question Leigh posted, but its natural spin off, Ballet Monopoly, where you, as company director, steal dancers from each other and block your rival from getting all the good ballets. (NOT that that happens in real life; no, no. Pure fiction.) Seriously, I think this is an excellent question and I hope we get some good ideas. Do you want to be a one-choreograapher company? Do "the classics?" Do you hire a resident choreographer? Do you do a mixed rep? Lots of scope for imagination here.

Welcome, Tessa! Now I wish I'd made a forum for Pennsylvania Ballet when I first put up the company foorums. I hadn't included one because we hadn't had any posts on this -- Ray's was the first that I can remember. We do have several people from Phillie, so I hope this will become more active. I'd hoped the company forums would become a place for news and discussion of each company, reviews, talk of dancers, etc. It takes three or four people to make this happen -- we've got that now, so take it away

I think you're right that some stagers think the mime is confusing -- why they don't think that ballets that need 17 pages of program notes to explain what is not going on stage, but was told very well in the novel is beyond me. But I do think there's a general dislike of mime. Once a presenter asked me how much dancing was in a particular ballet -- a ballet "rich in mime," as they say. I hedged. "Well, it depends on what you mean by dancing." "I mean jumping up and down," he said. (Of course, I agree that good mime, well-set and clearly performed mime, IS dancing, as several have noted. Bournonville, about 60 years before Fokine's Petrouchka, wrote "pantomime is the dance of the turned in feet.")