Alexandra

No one's calling for "four and a half hour versions". Of course classics are updated -- the Kirov productions are much changed from the original. The old Royal Ballet production, which was such a yardstick for so long, had many later interpolations. But all were done by people who understood the original productions and their rules. I don't know why one would assume that "black, brown and golden" dancers would not be valued members of a classical company. Look at the Cuban Ballet, which was -- I think it's less so now -- the most racially integrated company I've ever seen (and would there were more examples.) Homogenization is by having a coherent, consistent style. ABT did "Giselle" and "Coppelia" in their early days. The company started moving from a triple-bill rep to a 19th century classical repertory in the mid-1960s and one of the reasons -- rightly or wrongly; many argued vigorously that the way to maintain a high standard was to keep doing what ABT did best, the Tudor-Robbins-DeMille, etc. rep -- was to "compete internationally." There were several full-length ballets in the early and mid-1970s, and the landmark staging by Makarova of The Kingdom of the Shades scene from "La Bayadere." The company expanded in size and concentrated on the 19th century rep in the Baryshnikov era, as well as doing a lot of experimental work, as has been noted -- and reviving quite a few interesting ballets that hadn't been in repertory (and that were popular) such as Petit's "Carmen" and quite a few Balanchine ballets that weren't (for the most part) danced often by NYCB at that time.

Not at all rambling, miliosr. I think every point you raise is crucial. 1. Programming the classics -- I'm sure there are many people (especially critics) who want more "adventurous programming." Even the Kirov is now doing Neumeier, Forsythe and Eifman. For years and years and YEARS people chastised ABT for not having a house choreographer, even though the company really truly tried (it seemed, at least) to encourage new works by company members, other young choreographers (never forgetting what seemed like dozens of ballets by Glen Tetley ) When the company moved into the Met -- a very double-edged sword, for many reasons (problems filling the house, problems in erosion of classical style, especially diminution of linking steps and other classical niceties, because such niceties don't "read" in that house), there was a big push to find ANY full-length ballet. That's when what I call the faux classics ("Merry Widow," "Snow Maiden," etc.) came in. 2. Re today's substandard classics. Rewind tape. When the board brought in Baryshnikov, one of the specific charges they made to him was to raise the standards of classical dancing, and the classical repertory, which, I would argue, he did. I didn't love the stripped down "Nutcracker" and what was often called the Broadway "Don Q," but -- especially in retrospect! -- they were honest productions. And the "Sleeping Beauty" (MacMillan), and his "Giselle" (which is pretty much what the company has today) and "Swan Lake" were serious productions. Then Baryshnikov left and pulled his productions -- and several of the Kirovians on staff -- the new Artistic Director was a nondancer -- an impresario -- and the situation changed. miliosr asked how people viewed Baryshnikov's programming of modern dance works. Mixed. They weren't sell-outs. Many critics raved -- he was saving ballet,l which had become old and stale and really really boring, and needed to be shaken up (not an untrue statement, but some argued that the shaking up, in the past, had always come from within the classical tradition.) Some complained that he was getting things he wanted to dance, rather than building a repertory. I felt that ABT had become a bifurcated company. When the company toured, at least, it would dance triple bills during the week, always danced by the same very small group of dancers, and then do The Weekend Rep (always a full-length ballet) over the weekend. This produced a bifurcated audience, too. Baryshnikov said in his Charlie Rose interview last spring that he brought in these ballets because he realized the company didn't have a School. Good point. I don't remember it being made at the time. I remember more how ballet was dead and had to turn to modern dance for choreographers. When ABT started its City Center seasons, one of the early announcements said that a reason for this was so that the company could dance its core repertory (the Tudor, Robbins, DeMille, early Feld, etc. pieces) and a few are programmed each year, but that hasn't been the focus. As for what the audience wants -- really truly, if first-rate productions of the classics were substituted for what is there now, would people complain? If they were truly fine productions, brilliantly cast and staged? I doubt it. The eye and taste of an audience can be educated. Balanchine did that. I'll end THIS long post with a story. A year or two ago, the Kirov brought what I thought was a truly terrible "Giselle." very miscast (a long-legged danseur noble in the peasant pas de deux; two very young dancers who apparently had never been told "Giselle's" story in the leading roles, etc.) The audience seemed to love it -- lots of screams whenever the guy jumped high. which was about every six seconds. "Whoa! Whoa! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH." I spoke to a Russian friend at intermission. She looked glum. "This is a roadshow cast," she said. "The Russian audience wouldn't stand for this." Arlene Croce's famous "ballet is only good when it is great," is not a bad mantra Where does this lead ABT? Fix the classics. Then worry about the adventurous part. I'd like to comment on Helene's excellent point about the importance of the corps -- not as a group of junior medal winners, but as a CORPS with a SCHOOL -- but that will have to wait until later

I'm on the fine-if-you--have-the-classics-but-they-have-to-be-better side of this one I think for the past decade, at least, ABT's productions of the 19th century repertory have been substandard -- which standard? Haglund's is a fair question, and I guess the answer is: the standard of that repertory in its glory Ballet Boom Days when the Royal, the Kirov, the Bolshoi of that period set a very high standard. If you want to be a great international company, that's the standard you have to meet, and I don't think the current ABT productions even come close. I think that people like what they're used to, and if one has been going to ABT (or NYCB, or name a company) for the past 10 or 15 years, and like what you're seeing, then the idea that there's something missing or amiss is unpleasant, but Macaulay's is not an off-the-wall position, and there are those who are very glad someone is finally blowing the whistle. ABT has some wonderful dancers, often dreadfully miscast, dancing mostly second-rate productions. It's something that's fixable and we might very well enjoy those old classics more if they were better. The "more adventurous repertory" is another question. What? Some nice Wayne MacGregor? I'd prefer ABT to stage more of THEIR core repertory. I remember reading an interview with several ABT dancers in the early '80s -- they were upset that the company was getting more and more Russian classics, and said the reason they'd wanted to join was, as one put it, "that treasure trove rep." But "Jardin Aux Lilas" et al are swallowed alive by the Met, and, as others have noted, it takes an opera house production to fill an opera house. Which brings us back to those productions....

The Washington Post has reported that Luciano Pavarotti has died. Italian Tenor Pavarotti is Dead

A new gallery about Osipova and Vasiliev, in rehearsal and in performance, has been added: Photos Terrific photos, Marc!!!!!!

Thank you, atm That was my take as well. She was so bitter, I almost felt sorry for her, but it seemed that her whole life, or her perception of it, had been to be validated -- twice she auditions to prove she can do it, and then spits on the chance she was given. This is the ballet story that publishers like, though -- this and "Dancing on My Grave." Ballet is bad for you. People are mean, not everyone can make it. They love that story.

This Friday, Houston Ballet will open its season with "The Merry Widow." Here's the listing on our Calendar: Houston Ballet If you go -- and we've had several Houston Balletgoers here! -- don't be shy. Tell us how it went.

There's a Mixed Bill at PNB tonight -- see the listing on our Calendar: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...p;event_id=2511 Works by Nacho Duato, Marco Goecke, Olivier Wevers, and Stacey Lowenberg. It's one night only -- anyone who goes, please report!

As Leigh posted above: It's the way the board was organized in its first six years. We had a thread called Recent Performances to discuss performances from all around the world and we wanted to get back to that sense of community.

Yup. I think the critics aren't quibbling about subject matter or the use of pop music, or anything but the choreography.

Helo, Diane! It's good to read you again. I never saw Bruce's "Rooster," unfortunately, but I'm sure it's possible to do a good ballet to the Stones, or any other group (both Beatles ballets I've seen have been quite awful too, but one lives in hope ) I hope all this chatter hasn't stopped anyone who saw this from posting -- if you liked it, tell us!

You make good points, FF, and if there's a way we can put a subtitle on it to make it really really really clear that Anything Goes is not an invitation to post, as one early Ballet Talker memorably did, "So, is Dancer X gay?" I'll consider it. Thank you!

It's been used a lot before. I sused it in a Washington Post review about "Merry Widow" back in the early '90s (the editors had a debate amongst themselves how to spell it, and it came out dansical, I think), and was later told by several people other previous usages in print, one by Croce (but I can't remember the cause).

Cristian, what an inspired idea! The Trocks doing Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake -- in drag, of course, which would turn the swans back into girls. ;) I think we may have turned a corner here! Back to "Satisfaction", I was genuinely curious. We have a few Londoners here -- any comments?

Why the take on lovely "Swan Lake"?...Leave it alone!..(I'm very protective on my favorite ballet.. ) I'm sure that wasn't a suggestion!!! Just trying to come up with something so horrid that everyone owuld understand it. (As we speak, some enterprising soul is probably planning "Swan Lake for Nondancers!") But I hope not.

Good question -- it didn't go, though; we renamed it. It's the Everything Else Ballet forum (and all the posts are there). We renamed it because there have been so many times when people took "Anything Goes" literally, and would post something -- gossip, off-topic posts, politics, etc. -- and be (quite understandably) miffed when we told them that well, not ANYTHING goes. Board history: we called it that for purely technical reasons. The first Ballet Talk board did not allow ordering of forums. They went up alphabetically. I was going to call it Miscellaneous, but thought (wrongly, I now think) that I wanted it to be first, and that meant it had to start with an "A". And "Anything Goes" was all I could think of. Thank you for asking, FF.

The "danger" Mel mentions is something quite a few friends of mine remembered. One friend who saw his American debut (out at BAM, that was famously not covered by the New York Times because it wasn't in Manhattan) said that he was like a young panther pacing in a cage. When people talk about his stage presence, and his electricity, that's what they mean. About his partnering, I saw performances lilke Mel described, but I also saw a lot of performances -- with Fonteyn, Karen Kain, Lynn Seymour -- where he was extremely solicitous and tender.

Often newspaper reviewers are more positive (not always!) because they're writing for a more general audience -- people who don't care whether a foot was pointed, or sickled, or turned in, or the opposites. In a dance publication, or in a nondaily review (somewhere like the New Yorker) writers are often more detailed, and that can seem harsh. The difference between NYTimes reviews, in some periods, and those in the New Yorker, or New York magazine (when Tobi Tobias wrote there) were often quite stark!

Did anyone see this one? dirac posted a wonderful excerpt from the review of a critic who got No Satisfaction from the ballet, and I wondered what people thought. (I've copied over the link and dirac's excerpt from the Links forum.) The Telegraph

I saw the Solor, only in his one-act version for the Royal when he was past his prime, but I loved it. He still had the ferocity, and he DANCED it. It was never just steps or just counts. A waltz was a waltz; I thought him very musical. I learned what a "double assemble" was from him -- or rather a review of Anna Kisselgoff's in 1976, saying that Nureyev had restored that step, which he had dropped a few years previously. At the time, very few men could do them, and they were thrilling. Sometimes he would look into the air as if it were an enemy, meet space eye to eye, and hurl himself into it. I remember that, too, and the yearning. I think Nureyev did yearning better than anyone -- and he takes Top Honors in Cape Handling, too. (Not a bad fencer, either.) The Towel Dance happened in the West, in Erik Bruhn's back yard, if I'm remembering correctly. It's either on the Nureyev biography video or Fonteyn and Nureyev partnership video. dirac, I agree with you, and the others, who've pointed out that some of the inclusions of later footage, juxtaposed to early Russian or defection events, is very misleading. (And I will never forgive them for including this one: "And who should come running in from the toilet!!!" with Nureyev rushing on stage as Armand. Thanks, guys. I always thought he'd been riding.) If you'd seen the clilps, you could place them, but someone seeing this for the first time will assume that the sequence where Nureyev meets the press, that I mentioned above, was immediately post-defection when it wasn't, and the Cuban dancer whose story is being told over footage of Lucette Aldous with Nureyev in Don Q should sue

The idea is to keep doing what we've been doing -- which is put up one thread announcing an event/performance and then close it and start another one when the performance takes place. The difference is where -- the former (the announcement) would go on Heads Up! and the when the curtain falls, it's in Recent Performances. The Ballets forum has always been for discussion of a ballet separate from a specific performance. Make sense? editing to add: I forgot to respond to Jack's comment about frequent changes. For those who weren't here in the site's early years, we had some exciting times. We had to move web hosts about every six months because we'd outgrow their capacity for bandwidth. The site itself actually has only been significantly reorganized twice before, although we have added forums as the board grew.

Are we equating or confounding physical beauty with dance artistry on this thread? It will probably end up being both, and perhaps something else as well Good point -- perhaps people can make the distinction, if there is one (for some, the nomination(s) will include everything, I would imagine).

Papeetpatrick posted on the BP Male Dancers thread: Go to it! Call for your nominations for the Most Beautifully Proportioned Female Dancer.

ngitanjali, it's being broadcast in some areas, so you might offer your mother a once-in-a-lifetime chance to redeem herself I'm not sure it's out on DVD yet -- the Kavanagh biography is available on the PBS site, but not the DVD, and it's not on Amazon either. But when it is, yes, I think the archival footage is worth it. There's film of Nureyev with the De Cuevas company as well as in Russia.

I don't think he practiced it, but he was Muslim. There's a story in his autobiography of how the family living with them when he was a very young child, who was Christian, tried to bribe him with food to say Christian prayers, and he refused. I think one of the wisest things in the film was something Theismar said (others have said it to, but she said it very well): his religion was dance, and beauty. The reaction in the church, I'm sure, was an aesthetic one.