Alexandra

I'm sure the situation is the same thing in Denmark, Pamela. You're right. The balletmaster's position should have been advertised, and it was not. But it's been done and no one is questioning it -- at least, not anyone with any power to do anything about the situation.

Thanks, Effy. I'm glad to have a Danish perspective on this -- I hadn't considered the opera angle. Why Christiansen can stay in power is one of the Great Mysteries of Life. What you've written certainly matches everything I've heard from dancers -- past and present. I hope you'll drop by often -- please feel free to post reviews of Danish performances. There are quite a few Bournonville, if not Royal Danish, fans here.

No one here seems very interested in what's going on at Scottish Ballet -- but it's generating three and four articles a day in the British press. There are larger issues at stake here. I hope at least some of you will read this article and that it will spark discussion We've talked about elitisim -- yes/no, good/bad -- before, but the Scottish Ballet issue has turned it into a street fight. What do you think? Scottish ballet 'facing ruin' in elitism row Dancers claim move to drop classics will alienate audiences and slash takings Gerard Seenan Thursday September 27, 2001 Like its fellow disciplines in the arts, the world of ballet is not unfamiliar with the concepts of slander and polite chicanery. But the animosity which has driven Scotland's national company yesterday threatened to descend into a barre room brawl. As Scottish Ballet's dancers called for the resignation of the company's chairman and chief executive, its artistic director, Robert North, claimed "monstrous egos" with "elitist views" were destroying dancers' careers and jeopardising the company's existence. Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,...,558730,00.html

Thank you for that one, dirac! Houston Ballet isn't the only company that tries to muzzle, or punish the press for not being its lapdog, but the pettiness seldom gets into print.

The official press release: ON MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2001 THE ROYAL THEATRE HAS APPOINTED FRANK ANDERSEN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND LLOYD RIGGINS 1ST GUEST INSTRUCTOR OF THE ROYAL DANISH BALLET. The Board of the Royal Theatre has today, on the recommendation of the General Manager, appointed Frank Andersen Artistic Director from 1st July 2002 till 30th June 2006. At the same time, on the recommendation of the new Artistic Director, the General Manager has appointed Principal Dancer Lloyd Riggins 1st Guest Instructor and special associate to the Royal Danish Ballet. Further, from 1st October 2001 till 30th June 2002 the General Manager has appointed Frank Andersen adviser in questions concerning the repertoire and planning of the coming seasons and adviser about the establishment and occupation of the new opera and ballet house at the Dokøen. From the same date Frank Andersen will take over the responsibility for the planning and coordination of the activities, which are planned in connection with the festivities on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of August Bournonville’s birth in 2005. As 1st Guest Instructor Lloyd Riggins will be assigned to the assistance both to the the Artistic Director’s development of long-ranged artistic visions for the ballet and to the determination and implementation of the repertoire of the coming years. For the present Lloyd Riggins will continue as principal dancer with the Hamburg Ballett. Frank Andersen and John Neumeier, as director of the Hamburg Ballett, have entered an agreement ensuring Lloyd Riggins suitable time for his work for and together with the Royal Danish Ballet. With the appointment of Frank Andersen the Royal Theatre and the Royal Danish Ballet are ensured the great artistic and managing experiences with the result that the ballet will be prepared for the large challenges of the coming years, first of all the securing of the Bournonville inheritance and the opening of the new opera/ballet house. At the same time the appointment of Lloyd Riggins will ensure that one of the greatest dancers of our generation – and not least one of the greatest Bournonville interpreters – will again be attached to the Royal Theatre. In this way he can contribute to the anchoring of an artistic line and vision also in the long term. ”The engagement of Frank Andersen, being an internationally experienced ballet manager, and Lloyd Riggins being a great dancer, will together with our wish to co-operate with other young ballet people give the Royal Theatre the possibility to work on a longer-term perspective than earlier, both artistically and administratively”, says Chairman of the Board Mads Øvlisen. The Board expects that the analysis of the conditions for management and co-operation within the Royal Danish Ballet, which is being made by the General Manager, will be ready in the beginning of 2002, and in this way the appropriate changes can be implemented in co-operation with the new management of the Royal Danish Ballet.

Thanks, dirac. Yes. Ballet politics only, please. There are, I'm sure, many message boards devoted to bombs, covert operations and what the U.S. should or shouldn't do, and this isn't one of them

Don't forget "Fancy Free" -- how many other ballets can claim a movie as a spin off?

Jeannie, I'm not at all surprised by your report of the way Andersen comes across -- personally I never found him charming, but I'm in the minority there. It was the backstage managerial skills and handling of people that were wanting. [ 09-27-2001: Message edited by: alexandra ]

Sad news indeed, Amy. Surely she's too young to retire from dancing. Is it known if she's gone to another company?

It's just a simple announcement -- get the dates and names,as Estelle did, and you've done it. (The last paragraph is that Andersen will start October 1st, nearly a year before his official appointment, to work on plans for the new theater that's being built and the Bournonville Festival in 2005.) The position was never advertised. The chairman of the theater's board gave an interview saying they weren't going to rush into an appointment, they needed to study why the theater administration had had so much trouble finding the right person, etc. etc. Then, with no warning, came this announcement. The dancers were not consulted, I'm told; it was presented to them as a fait accomplit. (This is exactly what happened when Andersen was appointed the first time, by the way.) The naming of Lloyd Riggins as "1st guest instruktor" is, I think, an answer to the dancers previous complaints against Andersen. He served his entire tenure (1985-94) under a vote of no confidence from them; a vote that was renewed seven years into his term. The Theatre Chief, Michael Christiansen, was interviewed saying that the vote of no confidence before isn't a problem, doesn't give cause for concern, nor was it a problem that he, Christiansen, had chosen not to renew Andersen's contract when it expired in 1994 (to bring in Peter Schaufuss). Riggins is still a dancer in Hamburg, and he said he was winding down his career but not that he was stopping (he's still in his very early 30s). Although Riggins is admired in Copenhagen, he has no experience staging, as far as I know. ("instruktor" is a Danish term for the person who "puts up" the ballets: producer, director, coach.) Andersen's great strength is public relations. When he had the position before he lacked people skills, among other things. But that was ten years ago. That might have changed. He does know the theater and how it works, how to work with the bureaucracy. (For anyone interested in the trials and travails of the Royal Danish Ballet in recent times, there are several articles in the Bournonville Archive, now housed at www.danceview.org Click on Archive, click on Bournonville Archive.) [ 09-27-2001: Message edited by: alexandra ]

Thanks for posting that, Jane! I hope other Aussies will chime in, if you've seen this production or this performance. There have been reworkings of Giselle, most notably by Mats Ek and, to a lesser degree, Sylvie Guillem.

I don't have anything to do with the site, so I don't know how they configured it, but the common thread of problems seems to be Netscape; the site isn't compatible with Netscape. If anyone has comments to pass along of this nature, why not send them to the bournonville site (I'm sure there's a "contact us" link) as posting about it here won't solve the problems

There are several versions, Mom, but I haven't heard of any that have made it to video yet. Try a search on Amazon; it's usually up to date (click on the banner at the top of the page). I don't know if any of the scores have been recorded, but again, try Amazon. (Of course, I may have missed a Dracula -- if so, please post the info )

Did you see Jane's post? If you have Netscape, it may not like you. (This is not Bournonville's fault.)

Good to see you again, Ballet Nut. I think everyone who posts here regularly has checked in now and is okay. We hadn't heard from Terry, but I emailed her to check, and she's fine -- she just moved to Paris! (I'm sure it's ok to post that as she said she'd be telling us about performances she sees there.) As a general note, please, this thread was put up so that people could communicate during the first few days of a terrible event. It was not intended to be a place for political debate, of any stripe. [ 09-24-2001: Message edited by: alexandra ]

I think there are many boards who don't have a clue what the artistic position of the director is. Many people on boards, especially of smaller companies, are very well-intentioned people who want to be civic minded, but are not knowledgeable about the arts. There are exceptions, of course, but pretty much they're you and me choosing designs for houses, or the new head of the hospital -- intelligent, willing people, but we won't know if they've forgotten to put in some of the plumbing, or the finer points of which decisions should be made by doctors and whether it's okay to have the nurses be pick up laborers. (The Scottish situation seems to grow more complex each day, with charges and countercharges and "no, we didn't mean that at alls," and as I know nothing more about it than what I read in The Scotsman (on line) I can't comment on that case more specifically. It seems, like recent events at Boston Ballet, it's hard to determine who did what and who wanted what, just that there is now a problem.) [ 09-24-2001: Message edited by: alexandra ]

I know of the Polish mime choreographer Henryk Tomaszewski only from Danes His 45-minute pantomime, Bagage (based on a Danish novel of the same name by Herman Bang) was one of the hits of the late 1960s in Copenhagen. The leading role of Franz Pander was one of Kronstam's great parts, and Flemming Flindt wanted to revive the work for Kronstam's jubilee performance in 1976, but they were unable to contact Tomaszewski. (This was during the Cold War, for our younger or more forgetful posters ) The company finally tried to work through the Polish embassy and eventually got the message that "the person you are looking for no longer exists." A premature obituary for a great artist who died yesterday. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010923/w...aszewski_1.html [ 09-24-2001: Message edited by: alexandra ]

Jeff, I think you're right -- unfortunately, this time.

Some very interesting comments -- thank you all. I agree that this will have an effect on our arts -- not just pop culture, but throughout the arts. Is the recent American interest in "Xtreme Sports" partly because we were in a "nothing can touch us" phase, but also because our lives were so secure many found this boring? I'm one of those who believes that, while the arts reflect our lives, they also are in opposition to them. When our lives are in turmoil -- or uncertainty -- we want stability, reaffirmation, something to cling to.

I wonder if it's as much money as numbness and priorities. People are being extremely generous to Red Cross and other funds set up to aid the victims -- I don't mean at all to disparage that, of course. But we haven't put our money under the mattress.

Thanks for those comments. I think LMCTech goes right to the heart of one of the Great Divides among balletgoers: those who are more engrossed by content than form will be bored with "Giselle" by the third or fourth viewing. Those who are primarily interested in form and structure OR classical dancing (they'd be almost as happy watching a class) can go an infinite number of times as long as the dancing is good. (I don't mean to imply that either is right or wrong, although I'm obviously in the latter camp. But some of my best friends. . . . ) Richard, I totally agree with you on mime -- I've never understood why most people are so bored by it, or actually hate it, but they do. I also agree that today's balletmakers can't make story ballets, much of them are banal. Perhaps because we've become so dependent on love stories as the only possible ballet narrative (the Greek myths of the 17th and 18th vcentury at least gave you war, treachery, betrayal, and a few other ways to pass the time). Most story ballets today are two pas de deux -- that could be plopped down in any ballet -- and a whole lotta filler, and the only rule seems to be, whatever you do, don't use mime!

I was wondering what other ballets might become suddenly popular, or rediscovered, in the present climate. Europe had several World War II ballets; we did not (we weren't involved in the same way--we at home, that is.) "Fancy Free" was quite different from what Ashton and Massine were doing. Is it imaginable that a 30-something choreographer will do a new "Stars and Stripes?" If you had to plan a season and you wanted to match the mood, what would you program? (I remember Ed voted for "Coppelia." That's something to think about, too. The World War II period was a high water mark of comedy.)

This was a letter to the editor in the Washington Post today. It relates very specifically to violence in movies, but I think it might be applicable to all the arts. Obviously, this is just one person's reaction; others may not be bothered by violence at all. But it's something to think about. Do you generally agree, generally disagree? Do you react differently this week to TV and movie previews -- and ballet company marketing, which has stressed aggression, if not the special effects violence of movies. (On the other hand, if we're going to be in a militaristic period, we may be seeing a lot of aggressive art.) Anyway, here's the letter, from a gentleman in Atlanta: "For many years, a debate has taken place in this country as to whether the violence portrayed in movies has had a negative effect on society. I always felt that any such effect was minimal and that it is the responsibility of individuals to decide for themselves what they wish to view. I found films such as "Die Hard," "Deep Impact" and "Independence Day" a welcome diversion from the routine of reality. "Now I can never look upon these types of movies the same way. If I do, I will not be thinking about the impressive special effects. Instead, I will be thinking of the thousands of lives lost on Sept. 11. I will not be marveling at the realistic sound effects. Instead, I will be thinking about the many children who lost their mothers and fathers on that horrible day. "The portrayal of an exploding building, a hijacked airplane or a chaotic aftermath will never again be entertaining, no matter how good the special effects may be. For these types of films are no longer diversions from reality. Rather, they have become reality, and I'm not going to pay money to see that."

Why not indeed? Balanchine used to program Stars and Stripes during the 1970s, when patriotism was Out and flags were little in evidence. It bothered some people, and others seemed to think, "Well, he's an old guy and he's foreign" -- it was definitely against the mainstream mood of the country. Have you noticed that the photographs of firemen, children, etc. are beginning to look like Norman Rockwell illustrations? I think there will be a Big Change in the arts. Whether something noble, or merely hokey, comes of it is still an open question.

I would imagine they'd have trouble selling Farrell with or without the current crisis if it's not on subscription. No stars, an unfamiliar repertory and not on subscription -- it was a gamble. (The repertory would not have been unfamiliar 15 years ago, but it is here, now.) There's no novelty, it's not a festival, nothing is packaged to sell (nothing is packagable) -- just workaday, serious repertory, like you'd get in a big city Personally, I give a tip of the hat for the Kennedy Center for taking the gamble. It seems that they're behind what Farrell is doing and are willing to build for the future. I'll take the opportunity, especially now I know that tickets are cheap, to recommend this, and suggest, if it's possible, to try to see a program towards the beginning of the run and the same program at the end of the run. One of the most enlightening experiences in my balletgoing career was Farrell's first season, with the Washington Ballet (which has never looked better) where each night built, the dancers gained confidence from performance to performance, the whole thing caught on fire, and the last weekend was extraordinary. I didn't get the same sense last time in the Terrace; partly repertory, partly because she didn't have the same level of dancers. It takes a decade to build a company, but if you're interested in this sort of thing, it's fun to watch the building. On the larger question that Eugene raised, all signs say that, at least in New York and Washington, people are not going to the theater. As of now, six Broadway shows, which were doing well before September 11th, are closing this week and more are expected. I think part of it is that people aren't in the mood, or perhaps feel that art is frivolous? Maybe when the NFL takes to the field this Sunday people will think things are returning to normal How do you all feel about going back to the ballet? The dancers have no choice; they have to rise to the occasion. Will we be there when they do? [ 09-21-2001: Message edited by: alexandra ]