Alexandra

Estelle, could it be something by Lifar? The boys feet....the poet shirts...the ratio of men to women? I actually forwarded your description -- which I think is excellent! -- to several colleagues, but no one knew, or at least no one responded, which makes me suspect that it's a ballet not well known in America. Another gloves ballet is Lifar's Icare. The revision, with the girls in fusia gloves and hair like Audrey Hepburn, was very '60s. Ashton's La Valse also has the women gloved, if I'm remembering correctly.

Nice topic, FF I like almost everything on your list -- I'm not a big fan of Private Domain. I know what he was aiming for, but I don't think the half-fantasy half-memoir structure works. (But it must be awful to have to write an autobiography.) I'd add Kschessinska's Memoires. Karsavina was a much better person, I'm sure, but Kschessinska's memoirs have an undercurrent of viciousness and EGO that I love. One of the most interesting and well-written, for me, is Sona Osato's "Distant Dances" -- great title, too. If MOrris Neighbor is reading this, Osato's description of a youth spent dancing with the Ballets Russes will give you a good idea of what your mother was spared by not running away and joining them! Shame Tudor didn't write an autobiography. He would have been a perfect candidate for it.

Nice topic, FF I like almost everything on your list -- I'm not a big fan of Private Domain. I know what he was aiming for, but I don't think the half-fantasy half-memoir structure works. (But it must be awful to have to write an autobiography.) I'd add Kschessinska's Memoires. Karsavina was a much better person, I'm sure, but Kschessinska's memoirs have an undercurrent of viciousness and EGO that I love. One of the most interesting and well-written, for me, is Sona Osato's "Distant Dances" -- great title, too. If MOrris Neighbor is reading this, Osato's description of a youth spent dancing with the Ballets Russes will give you a good idea of what your mother was spared by not running away and joining them! Shame Tudor didn't write an autobiography. He would have been a perfect candidate for it.

Thank for raising that point, Bobbi It's one of the Diamond Project issues that we've been stepping around rather gingerly -- the stated goal of the Diamond Project is to create new ballets, defined as using the classical ballet vocabulary. Yet many of the works do not. Comments? (In addition to more gala reviews, of course -- and thank you, Michael, for yours! Was it really 7 hours long? This is back to the 18th century with a vengeance!)

Good point, Jane. I often think of this with Bournonville ballets. I've seen several generations now, either live or on video, and there's something about the structure that holds, and the fact that the dancers, even when they're clowning or hamming or ill coached, are so alive on stage, and so practiced in making something out of nothing that they'll give a performance -- and people who haven't seen a better version find something to like in it. I can chart the ups and downs of the Bournonville rep since the 1950s, but not before that -- I'm sure even what I think of as fine performances are quite different from the originals. The same thing is happening -- has almost completely happened -- with Ashton. I once agreed with the school of though that Balanchine was "dancer proof" but I've seen a few performances (NOT by NYCB) that proved that even something with a rock solid structure built to withstand problematic interpretations can become frayed. What DID Fokine and Massine ballets look like? (Or, since she's the same time frame, Isadora's dances? I've just been reading some firsthand accounts of her early performances where the writer catches the breathlessness of what it must have been like to watch her.) Should we even bother? (In pessimistic mode). I was struck a few years ago to hear a comment by a Ballets Russes ballerina who said, considering the state of the ballet world today, and how ballets that she knew now looked, she was glad Massine's ballets were dead. She'd rather remember them as they were. There's a very good case that can be made that ballet is only great when it is new and fresh and lived in -- alas, that wouldn't leave us very much to look at, would it?

Thank you for posting that, Brendan. I never cease to be amazed at the skills of bureaucrats in crafting lengthy press releases that say absolutely nothing!

Thanks for that, Effy! I didn't know Schandorff was dancing enough these days to be nominated So that's very good news. (Silja Schandorff is the ballerina pictured on each page of the main site -- Chosen, I might add, not as a nominee for World's Greatest Dancer, but because when I put up the site I wanted a ballerina that wasn't identified with any American company, so that no one would mistake the site for an ABT, SFB, NYCB site, etc. But she is an outstanding dancer, IMO.)

Odette, often the people who stage ballets don't know, but sometimes they forget and think that everybody knows I think that's one of the problems with teaching and coaching today. It's hard, when you get older, to remember that something that was once common knowledge is no longer taught, or mentioned, or easily available

I think what Leigh wrote -- "It's not that simple to target a discount so that it covers the people who need it without letting others through the cracks" -- is at the nub of this. If I were used to getting a particular discount, I'd be very upset if it were discontinued. I also agree with all the comments that have been made (on this thread and others) that if tickets were cheaper, more people would go. One of the biggest losses, I think, to ballet companies is the regular viewer who would go not just to each program, but to each cast. That's certainly what I did in my standing room days -- and I could do it for TWO DOLLARS a night! This is 20 years ago. Standing room is around $20 here, and I don't think most salaries have gone up 10 times in the last 20 years. At $2 a night, I could easily afford $16 for a whole week of standing room. I couldn't have afforded $80 a week -- $10 was the cost of an orchestra seat then. (Personally, I'd rather stand than see anything from the fourth ring, or even third ring. The second tier at the Kennedy Center (in essence a third ring, because there's a box tier) is to high for me. I don't want to only see patterns, I don't want to watch ballet through opera glasses the whole night, and I hate heights!) I always wished there could be the equivalent of a Frequent Flyer program for ballet fans. At the Kennedy Center, on all but the most popular nights these days, the last few rows of the center orchestra and the back sides of the orchestra are often empty. I'd rather see those seats filled. But again, there's the problem of how to structure it.

Interesting question, Calliope I try not to draw conclusions from performance shots because it's so easy to be a second early or a second late, and that can be so distorting. Was there a moment when they were more together? Are they supposed to be scattered in the air? Or maybe one dancer really was always more "earthbound" -- I don't know. I'm not sure I'd know even if I had been there I hope others will respond to this -- it's an interesting question on many fronts.

I'm glad you got a video, Becky. I love the third variation (if I had to pick a favorite, I think that would be it). The first is also cool -- and usually (at least once upon a time) danced by a taller dancer, the second is more lyrical, the third very calm -- I think of her as the most like Aurora -- the fourth almost always called some variation of "Songbird" -- there are birdlike movements in it, and it's very quick, and Violante, the "finger fairy" is quick too. I don't remember if this was on one of the threads in the archives, but the story behind Violante is that Petipa had just seen a demonstraton of electricity and was fascinated by the sparks -- that's why her fingers point and dart about the way they do. I hope you enjoy learning and dancing this

Glad you got a ticket! I hope you post and tell us about it. Thanks, Gyro

As though he'd been reading our thread on "Becoming an Institution," Peter O'Toole launched into a diatribe about how institutionalization ruined the Old Vic and Stratford on Charlie Rose last night. Unfortunately, they don't provide a free transcript now, as PBS does, but here's the gist. This is a paraphrase from memory: If we wanted to do anything creative, Richard (Burton) and I had to go off and do it ourselves. The Vic became an institution....I don't know what you need to be a company manager now. If you can't act, you can't write, you can't juggle, all you can do is talk -- that's what they are. The British stage today is full of crushing mediocrities. I don't know why anyone goes. At the Vic, we'd act for nothing -- nothing -- just to do those parts. And people came from all over the English speaking world to act against the best. That's why there were great actors then and not now. To do a good play, we can't go to the Vic or Stratford now. We have to do it in the commercial theater and it's deadly, deadly. The same thing night after night, just to put money into the manager's pockets. You shouldn't be on stage more than three times a week if you want to keep performances at a high quality. ------------ O'Toole's idea of the "great days" was repertory theater, citing Burton's doing Hamlet one night and Caliban the next. The model he grew up in -- the actor-manager model -- has now been replaced by the institutional model. I thought it interesting that there were so many parallels betwen ballet and theater. Did anyone else see this show? Or comments on his points in general?

You know how I hate to beg....surely someone went over the weekend. Reviews, please!

I have no way of knowing how many students are really students who can't afford the tickets and how many were like my classmates at Georgetown when I was in graduate school there -- 30 and 40 year olds with very good jobs who took one night course a semester and one of their chief motivations was to get a student ID so they could get the student discounts. (This isn't supposition; this is from hearing them talk!) I can also be somewhat sympathetic to the company from personal experience in a parallel universe. When DanceView was Washington DanceView, we were under constant pressure to cover everything -- not just review it, but run big features and interviews on all local companies, big and small. (Well, yes, but you can't do 30 of them in each issue and one has to choose.) I was constantly getting letters and phone calls literally demanding coverage and lecturing me on how I had a duty to the community -- yet very few dancers subscribed. They wanted the magazine free, too. Some probably couldn't afford the $2 it then cost per issue, but many certainly could. I'm sure there are students for whom the new policy is a hardship, and there are undoubtedly students who do not abuse student IDs. This post is just to say there is another side

Thanks for posting that, BW. I think it's impressive that the writer seemed to respond to your email in particular, and made a good case for the company's reasons for this policy. The Fourth Ring Society does provide a very reasonably priced alternative.

Thanks for posting that, Paul. I really like the categories -- both that there are so many (costumes and lighting almost never get the attention they deserve) and for what they are -- I really love the "ensemble" award! (And, for these purposes, I like that all kinds of dance are mixed together.)

Thank you, Estelle. That's exactly what I meant

This is the monthly newsletter from Ballet-Tanz, a German dance magazine. The third item may be of interest to our British visitors. Newsletter AUSTRIA - victims of government intervention? The Austrian government's state secretary for the arts, Franz Morak, has prevented Dominique Mentha, director of the Vienna Volksoper, having her contract renewed (until 2006) without comment. For head of ballet Liz King, who has so far not managed to match the success of her début production "Schwanensee remixed" (with Catherine Guerin), that means staying until at least 2005. However, the additional municipal funding that King receives for Tanztheater Vienna, which she founded, is to go towards two productions with the Tanzquartier next season. GERMANY - victims of closure orgies? The Berlin bear is raging. The wave of cuts that are threatening Berlin's small but efficient institutions have been greeted with outrage. On the endangered list are Podewil (home of the "International Tanzfest Berlin") and several atelier and fine arts programmes. The refusal to name successors to the directors of dance centres Hebbel Theater and Hallesche Ufer is an additional cause for concern. Arts senator Thomas Frierl insists that this is just a reform of the arts scene's administration. However, the size of the cuts makes this reasonable intention seem improbable. THE NETHERLANDS - Wayne Eagling to go The director of Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam will leave his post in 2003, having been accused of mismanagement and neglecting the "Dutch" repertoire in favour of international productions, thereby clouding the ensemble's image. Does this mean that HNB will now become as aimless as the NDT? IN THE MAY ISSUE: +++ A lot of money gets spent on the arts that the artists never see. Impending financial crisis has sparked off the financing and structuring debate once again. How efficiently must administration work for art to exist even when the coffers are empty? +++ From ritual to club: Ong Keng Sen on dance beyond the culture market +++ Kader Belarbi: the star of the Paris Opera profiled +++ IN THE JUNE ISSUE: +++ Song and dance - more and more dancers are breaking into the music market. The success story of the union of dancer and singer +++ Theater der Welt invites two unusual choreographers: Sarah Chase and Padmini Chettur +++ Nina Ananiashvili: the star of the Bolshoi profiled Their site is www.ballet-tanz.de

Thank you, Manhattnik. I was worried that Massine would feel hurt, and I think he had quite a temper I would love to see more Massine. I saw the Joffrey's revival of "Les Presages" and thought it very interesting. I don't think it was as successful as their revival of other Ballets Russes works -- I would love to have seen the Bolshoi, around 1950 or 1960, do it. You need men who think it's just another day at the office to bound on to the stage as THE HERO. The Joffrey dancers gave one of the most sincere performances I've ever seen -- I think they were very well coached and they were trying as hard as they could to do the work justice. But it's just not an American work I'd also like to see Choreartium -- any of his early symphonic ballets. The Paris Opera's revival of Symphonie Fantastique was very interesting -- dated costumes, and we're not used to animals bounding about on stage, but still interesting.

Becky, the third variation is comparatively calm. There are six fairies, including the Lilac Fairy, and they have different names in nearly every production. You might be interested in checking our Sleeping Beauty forum in the Archives (the last forum on the main list). I'm pretty sure there was some discussion about the fairies.

Please! Make many ballets A press release from American Ballet Theatre: AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE'S MAKE A BALLET PROGRAM TO PRESENT "HARLEM'S FIFTH" FRIDAY, MAY 10 at 7 P.M. at THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS ACADEMY Fifth Annual Make A Ballet Program to Showcase Student Choreography, Design and Performance On Friday evening, May 10, 2002 at 7 P.M., sixty ninth grade students from The Frederick Douglass Academy will celebrate 5 years of Make A Ballet with an original performance titled "Harlem's Fifth". The performance will showcase the skills and talents learned through American Ballet Theatre's Make A Ballet program. Under the tutelage of teaching artists from American Ballet Theatre and school faculty, Make A Ballet students perform, design, produce and administrate a year-end performance. This year's program "Harlem's Fifth" includes several works of dance including Spanish Soul, Reflections and Keepers of a Dream. The Make A Ballet program was first launched at The Frederick Douglass Academy in central Harlem in 1997. Since that time, Make A Ballet has expanded to three additional campuses -- Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey, Intermediate School 218 in Washington Heights and Long Island City High School in Queens. Performances by Make A Ballet students will be excerpted at American Ballet Theatre's Young People's Ballet Workshops presented this year at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 21 and May 28 for New York City public school children. Since the launch of the Make A Ballet program, The Frederick Douglass Academy has added a dance program to its curriculum and three dance faculty members. In 1999, the New York State Council on the Arts awarded Make A Ballet a prestigious Governor's Arts Award for the program's contribution to the artistic life of the state. The Frederick Douglass Academy is located at 2581 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. in New York City. Tickets for "Harlem's Fifth" are $5.00 and are available at the door at The Frederick Douglass Academy or by calling 212-477-3030, ext. 3264

There's actually a section on NYCB's web site that's called...Where Are They Now? There's a listing of everyone who's danced with the company AND an Alumni Directory, that lists former dancers who've gone on to other companies, or other jobs. Here's the link to the directory: http://www.nycballet.com/about/where_directory.html

Thanks so much for posting that, Susan! What a good idea, to recap the season. I hope others will chime in

I saw most of this -- unfortunately, I got a phone call at half-time, and I didn't have a tape in! I didn't know it was going to be on until about ten minutes before it came on. I was thoroughly entranced by Baryshnikov, both talking and dancing. There was a LOT of footage, from all aspects of his career. I liked the modern dance excerpts too, Lillian. I'd seen some of them on stage, but not all. For those of you who missed it, I'd heartily recommend you read the transcript -- THANK YOU DALE for posting that link. He said some very interesting and surprising things. (And his English sounded a lot better than it reads ) For Baryshnikov fans, or for those curious about what he's up to with White Oak, there is an excellent (IMO) review by Sarah Kaufman in the Washington Post today about the latest White Oak program: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...4-2002May5.html