Alexandra

Oh, Glebb, that is priceless. Thank you for posting that! (One never knew that the Queen got involved in the more mundane matters of ballet etiquette. Busy Queen.) I forgot to comment on the youth movement aspect that Morris Neighbor mentioned. I think that's certainly true for the 1960s and currently ballet companies are very young -- 30 is now considered old (it was 35 in the late 1970s, and people were complaining that the cut off should be 40, some, 45). But this hasn't always been true either. The Ballets Russes had lots of older dancers -- i.e., 30-year-olds. The grand old companies (the two Russian companies, Paris and Copenhagen) had average ages in the 30s, and it's interesting to see photos from the 1940s and 1950s, because you'll see the teenagers try to look as mature as possible while today, of course, you often see 30 year olds trying to look 16. The Baby Ballerinas were exceptions -- that's why they got that name. I think there have always been exceptional young talents (think of the Romantic ballerinas who were stars at 15 and 16), but the average age of the corps is lower now. Back to Glebb's comment, I remember seeing Fonteyn on a talk show once and the interviewer asked whether he should call her Dame Margot or Mrs. Arias or what and she said, "Oh, no. Miss Fonteyn is quite all right." I guess the Queen was busy that day.

Oh, Glebb, that is priceless. Thank you for posting that! (One never knew that the Queen got involved in the more mundane matters of ballet etiquette. Busy Queen.) I forgot to comment on the youth movement aspect that Morris Neighbor mentioned. I think that's certainly true for the 1960s and currently ballet companies are very young -- 30 is now considered old (it was 35 in the late 1970s, and people were complaining that the cut off should be 40, some, 45). But this hasn't always been true either. The Ballets Russes had lots of older dancers -- i.e., 30-year-olds. The grand old companies (the two Russian companies, Paris and Copenhagen) had average ages in the 30s, and it's interesting to see photos from the 1940s and 1950s, because you'll see the teenagers try to look as mature as possible while today, of course, you often see 30 year olds trying to look 16. The Baby Ballerinas were exceptions -- that's why they got that name. I think there have always been exceptional young talents (think of the Romantic ballerinas who were stars at 15 and 16), but the average age of the corps is lower now. Back to Glebb's comment, I remember seeing Fonteyn on a talk show once and the interviewer asked whether he should call her Dame Margot or Mrs. Arias or what and she said, "Oh, no. Miss Fonteyn is quite all right." I guess the Queen was busy that day.

The use of "boys" and "girls" backstage varies also. I watched an ABT rehearsal in the 1980s where the boys were "boys" and the women were "ladies." In Copenhagen in the 1990s, men were men (herrer) and women were women (damer). That's the way the rehearsals and classes were scheduled on the bulletin board and that's how dancers were addressed in class or rehearsal by the older dancers/coaches. (Kirsten Ralov barking out "herrer" was something to pay attention to.) I once watched a rehearsal there where a visiting stager referred to the men as boys and they (very politiely) protested. "Well, I have to call you something!" she said. "Men" they suggested. "I know," said the lady from Venezuela. "I'll call you muchachos." And she did. (The men gave up at that point.) I've been told that Russians think they're men and women rather than boys and girls, too, but I don't know that of my own knowledge -- I'd be curious about the French backstage customs.

The use of "boys" and "girls" backstage varies also. I watched an ABT rehearsal in the 1980s where the boys were "boys" and the women were "ladies." In Copenhagen in the 1990s, men were men (herrer) and women were women (damer). That's the way the rehearsals and classes were scheduled on the bulletin board and that's how dancers were addressed in class or rehearsal by the older dancers/coaches. (Kirsten Ralov barking out "herrer" was something to pay attention to.) I once watched a rehearsal there where a visiting stager referred to the men as boys and they (very politiely) protested. "Well, I have to call you something!" she said. "Men" they suggested. "I know," said the lady from Venezuela. "I'll call you muchachos." And she did. (The men gave up at that point.) I've been told that Russians think they're men and women rather than boys and girls, too, but I don't know that of my own knowledge -- I'd be curious about the French backstage customs.

What about Rossini! Anna Laerkesen, Danish ballerina turned choreographer, said in an interview, "When you hear Rossini, your feet just start moving." For a Danish ballerina, yes. I wonder if a New York or a St. Petersburg ballerina would have the same impulse? I'd also nominate J.P.E. Hartmann, whose work is barely known outside of Denmark, as an excellent composer of ballets. He's somewhere between Delibes and Tchaikovsky. Not in quality -- I'm not attempting to rank -- but on the light-dark/deep scale.

What about Rossini! Anna Laerkesen, Danish ballerina turned choreographer, said in an interview, "When you hear Rossini, your feet just start moving." For a Danish ballerina, yes. I wonder if a New York or a St. Petersburg ballerina would have the same impulse? I'd also nominate J.P.E. Hartmann, whose work is barely known outside of Denmark, as an excellent composer of ballets. He's somewhere between Delibes and Tchaikovsky. Not in quality -- I'm not attempting to rank -- but on the light-dark/deep scale.

I especially like your last point, Paul. NEVER say you hated a performance when you're in the theater. Why? Because his or her mother is seated behind you. Always.

I especially like your last point, Paul. NEVER say you hated a performance when you're in the theater. Why? Because his or her mother is seated behind you. Always.

An earlier staging by Bruhn, very much "after Lander" -- Gurn was a comic character, although not a middle-aged one. I think Bruhn staged and directed it without "rethinking" (think of that! How revolutionary!!!) although there are a lot of details missing. The Met production (which I have to say I do not like at all) where James now lives in a grand house, was done because the other designs, and the scale of it, were just too small for the Met.

I'm sure they were, Victoria. The flying on broomsticks were one of Lander's comic inventions put in in the 1930s -- like making Gurn an old, red-haired clown instead of a younger man -- I'm told.

Thanks, Mary. I'm sure no one meant to be critical. But I wanted to stop the thread from being focused on this, and I really wasn't sure how it would be interpreted.

You know, guys, the two names are easy to confuse, not to mention the possibilities of typos. Sylvia, it does seem strange for ABT to be doing twice as much Ashton in a season as the Royal Ballet, isn't it?

Thank you dirac! I love the Flex Our Feet and Lie on the Floor in the Fetal Position Night. Wish I'd thought of that. Maybe we could shorten it to Fetal Flex Night -- there are more and more of those evenings turning up. Just a few words on the Moth. How did the Moth die? And who was the choreographer?

Terry, I haven't seen her. She is very young -- still a teenager, I believe. And, unless I'm mixing her up with someone else, which is quite possible, I think she's leaving to join San Francisco Ballet.

That was one of the first dance history books I read. It's wonderful -- lots of gossip

That was one of the first dance history books I read. It's wonderful -- lots of gossip

She was always a favorite of mine, too. I was so happy when I first discovered Asylmuratova and Platel -- there ARE young, great ballerinas out there, I thought. And now both have retired. Sigh.

Marc Haegeman's interview with Altynai Asylmuratova for Dance International (November 2001) is now on line. They've put all the articles on one page, it seems, so you'll have to scroll down a bit, but it's definitely worth a read http://www.danceinternational.org/winter20...012002black.htm

Glebb, you are very sweet, but I don't know nearly enough to write a book about Romantic ballerinas. Have you read Ivor Guest's books? He even has a biography of Cerrito, I think, but the Romantic Ballet in Paris, and the Romantic Ballet in London are fully of wonderful ballerina stories.

Glebb, you are very sweet, but I don't know nearly enough to write a book about Romantic ballerinas. Have you read Ivor Guest's books? He even has a biography of Cerrito, I think, but the Romantic Ballet in Paris, and the Romantic Ballet in London are fully of wonderful ballerina stories.

And, as another aside to Bobbi and everyone , the new software lets us have a "window of opportunity" to go back and edit something without the dread "edited by" appearing at the bottom. (There's a Preview feature, too, if you want to see how it will look before you post it. Hit the Preview button, right next to the submit button.) BUT if 5 minutes later you realize you've accused Balanchine of choreographing Rodeo, you can sneak in and change it before anyone knows

While some of the people who took part in those first discussions may not want to go over the same ground, there are a lot of people posting now who weren't on the board the first few months and I'd be interested in your take on this question too. We've had nearly 400 people register since January 1 (!!!). Only a few have posted. I'm very happy that in the past few weeks we've been hearing from a lot of new voices -- please chime on this one, too

BW, it's fine to revisit this question again, but there's a whole archive devoted to Classicism that answers -- or at least addresses -- your questions, so you might want to browse through it http://www.balletalert.com/forum/forumdisp...p?s=&forumid=35

Alas, poor Fanny. Glebb, I don't think so. They revived the livsglaedens dans (translated as "Dance of the Joy of Living" in the 1950s, but that's the last I've heard of it. I don't think it survived Beck's tenure as director. It's a shame, because, judged by those solos in the third act of Napoli and the dances in Coppelia, Beck was a wonderful choreographer. He didn't think so -- he couldn't structure a ballet the way Bournonville could, he wrote -- but he sure could do steps! I'm sure Fanny Cerrito would have been a wonderful Little Mermaid. Probably a great Teresina in Napoli, too

Alas, poor Fanny. Glebb, I don't think so. They revived the livsglaedens dans (translated as "Dance of the Joy of Living" in the 1950s, but that's the last I've heard of it. I don't think it survived Beck's tenure as director. It's a shame, because, judged by those solos in the third act of Napoli and the dances in Coppelia, Beck was a wonderful choreographer. He didn't think so -- he couldn't structure a ballet the way Bournonville could, he wrote -- but he sure could do steps! I'm sure Fanny Cerrito would have been a wonderful Little Mermaid. Probably a great Teresina in Napoli, too