Alexandra

kfw -- no, the Bournonville version runs about an hour.

Wonder what they'd think of "Abdallah?" (Seriously, it's a lovely sentiment, Natalia.)

I use Firefox, the Mac version, and have had no problems. (I do occasionally have them with Safari, however.)

It's a program of students from major ballet schools -- Paris, Royal, Royal Danes, others. Plus two dancers from the Kirov in Nutcracker pas de deux. If you like ballet, you'll probably like something on the program, if not all of it. Go see it!

It actually WAS upstage; I made a braino in the review and that ghastly editor didn't catch it Also, Kudelka's one-act ballet mentioned in passing is "The Contract" not "The Contract." (both errors have been corrected in the review now on line.) The quotes from Canadian reviews are all very positive -- "triumphant production!," that kind of thing, bart. There's another review on DanceView Tiimes, by George Jackson, called: Why?

This was Hubbe's debut, aged about 20 (!!!). It's an excellent cast (if it's the transfer from laser disk; it was also broadcast on Bravo). Sorella Englund is Madge, Ann Kristiin Hauge is Effy, and Silja Schandorff is the leading sylph. Rose Gad, Henriette Muus, and others who RDB fans may recognize are in the corps. Thanks!

A treasure chest of info for Ashton fans: Following Sir Fred's Steps

Thanks for this, Bart! Was it Graham Fletcher who played Miss Piggy? That's my (very vague) memory. I remember liking this, when it was first televised, for many of the same reasons that Mel did. Nureyev's "singing" in other bits was another story!

I'm looking forward to reading it too, Helene. A history note: the Ashton Romeo and Juliet was indeed choreographed for the Danes in the '50s, but disappeared from the repertory there in 1966. In the mid-70s, the company got a new version, by Neumeier, and Ib Andersen was the Romeo in that production. Thanks for putting up a link to that thread, Bart -- I was going to suggest that maybe we should have a discussion on "Romeo and Juliets"!

This just in: More cast changes. New York City Ballet Principal Casting for the week of January 3 through 8, 2006. Please note the following changes: Tuesday Evening, January 3, 7:30 P.M. CONCERTO BAROCCO: *Evans* (replaces Hübbe) FEARFUL SYMMETRIES: *A. Stafford (replaces Sylve), *Ramasar (replaces Marcovici), Somogyi (replaces Weese) SYMPHONY IN C: First Movement: Ringer (replaces Somogyi) Wednesday Evening, January 4, 7:30 P.M. CONCERTO BAROCCO: Evans (replaces Hübbe) FEARFUL SYMMETRIES: Ramasar (replaces *la Cour), Somogyi (replaces Weese) Saturday, Evening, January 7, 8:00 P.M. FEARFUL SYMMETRIES: Ramasar (replaces la Cour), Somogyi (replaces Weese) Sunday Matinee, January 8, 3:00 P.M. SWAN LAKE: SIEGFRIED: Askegard (replaces * Hübbe)

Anthony, I also wish the artistic issues were aired. And they never are, because the media doesn't care about ballet enough to air the issues (much more interesting to stir the dirt. There's nastiness here -- some Source threw mud anywhere it would stick, each story dutifully checked and included.) But if something like this had happened in something important -- say, table tennis or rhythmic gymnastics, much less football or the stock market -- it would have been covered thoroughly in all the major news media. If all politics is local, arts politics is nearly always very local: i.e., personal. Someone has a disagreement, perhaps, but then there's an Issue that pushes them over the wall and they resign -- leaving their spot to be filled by someone who will most likely share the views that the Leaver is leaving to protest. I think the School would be able to defend disciplining a student who was disruptive (which seems to be the Issue here, although the workshop was several months before the resignation). There must have been other policy issues. How much say do donors have in either day to day operations or general policy? How much do Board members?

Would it be possible, just once, to have a discussion on the substantive points of an article? Just a thought.

Thanks to Mark D for sennding this link to me. (It's to the homepage, but you'll notice a large Nutcracker. Click on him to get to the article, taking care to notice his visage.) Nutcracked Here's the permalink: Nutcracked

Yes, it's official. Here's the press release: THE WASHINGTON BALLET FORCED BY UNION STRIKE TO CLOSE THE NUTCRACKER Washington, DC—Prompted by the continuation of its dancers’ strike, The Washington Ballet has been forced to cancel all remaining performances of The Nutcracker. The American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO (AGMA) informed The Washington Ballet yesterday that the dancers will not show up to perform. “AGMA’s strike and its resulting effect on public perception is devastating, leaving us with no choice but to close the production,” stated Jason Palmquist, Executive Director of The Washington Ballet. “It is with profound regret that we are forced to close The Nutcracker and disappoint hundreds of local families who participate in this annual tradition,” said Kay Kendall, President of the Board of The Washington Ballet. For ticket refunds: · If you purchased tickets via the web OR by phone from TicketMaster: You will automatically receive a refund and this will appear on your next billing statement. If you purchased via phone or web and need more information, please call 202.397.7328. · If purchased via The Washington Ballet: Mail your tickets to The Washington Ballet, 3515 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016 by Jan. 9th for a full refund. Be sure to include your contact information. If you purchased through The Washington Ballet and need more information, press 605 now. · If purchased at a TicketMaster outlet including Warner Theatre, Please visit that same outlet for a refund OR call TicketMaster for more information at 202.397.SEAT (7328). · If you purchased through TicketPlace, please visit TicketPlace to receive a refund.

This just in: THE WASHINGTON BALLET FORCED TO CANCEL FRIDAY NIGHT PERFORMANCE OF THE NUTCRACKER Washington, DC—Prompted by the continuation of its dancers’ strike, The Washington Ballet has been forced to cancel its Friday evening, December 16th performance of The Nutcracker. The American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO (AGMA) informed The Washington Ballet at 5:00pm today that the dancers would not show up to perform tomorrow evening. “The Washington Ballet is saddened and disappointed that the dancers have chosen this time of year and these performances to walk out. We are hopeful that we can bring this situation to a resolution and salvage the remainder of the run,” stated Jason Palmquist, Executive Director of The Washington Ballet.

I said COMPUTERS not DVD players If you have a computer with a DVD player, which almost any computer sold today will have, its DVD player will take multiple regions. I've done it on four, three Windows and one Mac.

Diane, you'll be able to order it from Amazon. I've ordered DVDs from amazon.uk and the French Amazon site and gotten them in a week. I've also learned (thanks to a post Helene made a few months ago) that most computers can play a DVD in any format, so cross-platforms may not be a problem.

It does (The Danish version came out earlier this year.) Lots of quotes from students about her classes, the things she changed in London and in Copenhagen, how she got the effects she wanted, etc. She's certainly one of the most influential, and most respected, teachers working in Western Europe mid-20th century, and I'm very happy this book is out.

Volkova was Stanley Williams' teacher (and Helgi Tomasson took classes with her as well). She, and her partner Alexander Pushkiin, worked with Vaganova. The first thing I'd ever heard about Volkova was that she was "the first to bring the Vaganova method to the West," which isn't quite true; she developed her own method. But she was an important -- and unsung -- teacher/coach in London during and shortly after the War (what the DanceView chapter is about). She came to Copenhagen in 1951, after the Lander Scandal left the company wiithout a teacher, and was formative to the company and its school. Volkova had contacts with everyone in the ballet world and brought choreographers like Ashton and Balanchine to Copenhagen. Couple that with her development of stars like Bruhn, Kronstam and Kirsten Simone, and Volkova can be credited with bringing the RDB back to international standard, key to its international success in the 1950s and '60s. She trained Danish teachers, mostly importantly Williams and Kronstam, whose pupils are now in important positions iin Denmark and elsewhere. Meinertz is a friend and long-time colleague, but I'd say this even if he weren't: this book is wonderful, delving into Volkova (and classical ballet's) roots in 20th century Russia, where HER teachers were struggling to save classical ballet after the Revolution, as well as her work with the Royal and Royal Danish ballets. I believe there's already a publisher for the English version, and I'll post that news when it's official. Thanks for reading the article, Bart (and posting about it).

I've always wondered why "Picnic at Tintagel" did not have a longer life. Quotes from the three critics included in Nancy Reynolds' "Repertory in Review" (pp. 138-140) are all completely favorable. Here are some excerpts: Anatole Chujoy: "Exactly the kind of woork the company needed, telling a story succinctly without depending on program notes to eke out choreographic vagueness, and giving he dancers one of their rare opportunities to characterize.. . .Ashton's craftsmanship was everywhere in evidence, and in the passage foor Iseult and Tristram he also showed us Ashton the fine and sensitive artist." John Martin: "It iis extremely simple and unpretentous, it is expertly planned, beautifully realized in stage terms, smart and stylish.. . .Ashton has made the middle section wonderfully romantic, wiith all the magic of Round Table days, and he has designed a lovely pas de deux as well as some crisp and lively formall dramatic action. But he has managed to frame it all in a delicately sopisticated sense of humor, which keeps it ffrom being lush or whimsical." Walter Terry: "Ashton's drama is concerned with an ominous moment preliminary to crisis. At the picnic, desire of the lovers for each other and the swelling anger of the husband draw close to catastrophe.. . .The love duet itself is a work of great beauty. Even its prelude is remarkable, for he has given the waiting Iseult movements which proclaim her yearning for Tristram, her impatience in awaiting his arrival." I don't know how many performances the ballet received, but Reynolds lists alternate casts so it was not a flash in the pan. No reason is given for why it was dropped from repertory, but there's no indication that this was because it was unpopular or a bad ballet.

Isn't EVERYONE seeing this film? Go, go, go! It's as wonderful as everyone says it is. (I had the same quibble as Natalia about the music/matching; everything seems to be danced to "Coppelia".) It's been held over in Washington, and the showing I attended was nearly sold out.

Please keep us informed, Ian. A lot of people are pulling for you.

The ballroom idea was tossed out before the premiere. It was Gautier's idea, but the theater management thought it was not stageable and the libretto was revised to be what we know today -- with a heck of a lot more mime! (Even the Skeaping production didn't put back all the mime). Marion Smith's "Opera and Ballet in the Age of Giselle" has a lot of detail on the age, and the balllet.

I think long red silk cloths have made their appearances in ballets for quite awhile; I'd guess this has Chinese theater/opera roots too. I wasn't reminded of either Eifman or MacMillan though -- too restrained -- and the choreography itself was quite bland, off-the-shelf ballet. I liked some of the effects in "Red Lantern" very much -- the shadow puppet theater deflowering, the way violence was depicted in an indirect way.

Good to read you, as always, Drew. It's this last point -- the public face -- that troubles me as well (and if "Tarantella" had been danced, I'd feel the same way). Couple this with the rep they're taking to Copenhagen, and I wonder what the company's identity is these days.