Alexandra

I don't think anyone has posted this yet (apologies if I missed it) but Tom Phillips wrote about this on DanceView Times today, as a dance event. Invitation to the Dance ---------------- I've read this thread with great interest -- I think it's the kind of discussion Christo would like to happen. Whatever your opinion, people are talking about it, and for the artist, that's good. And maybe people will look at the park differently? (Or maybe not.) In one of the TV interviews leading up to The Unwrapping, Jeanne-Claude told a story of two reactions to another project they'd done, this one in Hot Pink. "It's horrible! It looks just like a big bottle of Pepto-Bismol," complained one person. "It's beautiful! It looks just like a big bottle of Pepto-Bismol," exulted another.

There's a link to the article on today's Links.

Ah, Novorsibirks. One of the smaller Copenhagen suburbs Not I, I'm afraid. Paul, you might want to try asking that one on Ballet History. RG might know. All I can tell you is that Zephr et Flore was The Big Hit of choreographer Charles Didelot, the Frenchman who did two very productive stints in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, right before pointe work came in. He was partial to flying dancers (lots of wire work, for both men and women). I would suspect that this is a rechoreographed version rather than a restoration from memory.

A ddivertissement was interpolated in the late 19th century (choreography by Carey, I believe; I forget whether it's Edouard or Gustav) that became part of the "traditional production." Dinna Bjorn rechoreographed it in 2000. It was not successful. Lloyd Riggins will be staging a new Kermesse this season. I don't know whether he'll go back to the old version or make another one himself.

That reconstruction was by Hans Brenaa who, as Mel said, was the chief stager of Bournonville ballets. In the 1960s, he was the one responsible for the Bournonville repertory. He left in the mid-1970s after a tiff with the artistic director. He was brought back to the company in 1978 and staged most of the ballets presented at the first Bournonville Festival. He not only "kept up" the ballets, as the Danes say, but he actually brought two of them back from the dead: "Kermesse in Bruges," which, after a few very bad productions was thought to be too old-fashioned and would have been consigned to the dust heap but for him, and "The Kings Volunteers on Amager," which had been out of repertory for nearly 30 years and which he revived from memory. He had been a star dancer wth the company -- he created the turning role in "Etudes". And he was much loved. The ballet you saw, usually translated as "The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master," was first given in 1787 and is the oldest ballet in repertory anywhere. It's been changed quite a lot -- some dances are on pointe now, and the blackface characters have changed country quite a bit (from African cannibals to Caribbeans; I don't know what they are in your version). It's still in the RDB repertory, technically; there are people who can bring it back. It was last staged by Flemming Ryberg for the Theatre's 250th anniversary a few seasons ago.

A brief note on the practical side of criticism today. Many critics are interested in, and knowledgeable about, other arts (some aren't, of course), but newspapers and magazines are barely interested in reviews of dance; space is extremely limited. A newspaper review is usually around 400 to 500 words; tops, 1000. There's only so much you can do with that space. As someone who writes for newspapers, magazines and the web, I thought the web would provide more space, and it does, in theory, but practically, space is limited by what someone reading a web site has the patience to read on line. I wonder, too, how many readers would be interested in, or understand, pieces with a broader reach? I think kfw is right -- ballet is not at the center of intellectual life any more. And, one might ask, IS there a center of intellectual life in America today? If so, it's gone underground. The magazines that served such people are not viable in today's mass marketing world. As for people writing about something in which they are not steeped, shall we say, that's part of today's newspaper culture as well. I know of instances where a dance critic has told an editor that there's a need for a second critic on a partiicular night -- two premierres or openings, say -- and the response has been, "Can't Joe [the theater critic] handle that one?" The thought seems to be that if you can write a review of one thing, then you can of another; expertise is not valued. Or, if Brad Pitt, to pull a name out of a hat (no offense intended, Brad) suddenly decided to write about dance, once upon a time an editor would have known [big point here -- he wouldn't have had to have asked; he would have KNOWN] if Brad was truly a devotee of the art form and had actually seen, much less thought about, a dance performance. Today, they'd just start taking out the radio ads and painting the billboards. 75% of those polled would say this was great for dance, because it would give the art form more publicity. The dancewear line would be a HOT item, too.

Yes, there's that Another mistake Management makes these days: the dancers come out of school fully finished artists. Plop them in any ballet with any partner and any rehearsal master/mistress, give them no rehearsals or overcoach them, give them one performance a month or 15 a week, cast them in anything and everything (if they can d the steps they can do the role, right?) -- hey, it doesn't matter. Or, it may not be the training, Mr. G. Natalia, we can only pray.

Thanks for that. It is interesting, and scary. It could merely be that Gergiev knows so littlle about ballet that he thinks a school can be reformed and start churning out stars in three years (with all the planets aligned correctly, it will still take her a decade). But it also could be another of those shot across the bow statements he likes to make. Remember last year when he gave interviews saying Vaziev was on his way out? It may be their version of our "trial balloon" and "see how it plays in Peoria." Vaziev is still there. There could be two "trial balloons," the second being that to "patch up" he's going to start importing dancers, and if that's the case, it's over.

I'm afraid Washington, D.C. is another "one of those places." The Kirov corps here, in Swan Lake or in Shades, for example, has been up to Kirov standard, but not, for the most part, the soloists, the recent gala here being a screaming example of that. And this does no honor to the Kirov, if they think it makes them "cool" to show such disrespect to a city, whether it's Amsterdam or D.C. or Podunk, Alaska. (Not meaning to imply that anyone said otherwise!) The DVD goes to all cities, though, and I don't think it shows either the company or the ballets at their best. (But I'm still not sorry I bought it )

It was revived for Baryshnikov in the mid-1970s. That's the last I've heard of it, and I don't remember who staged it. I only remember favorable comments, but I'm generally of that opinion that whether ballets look faded, or interesting, etc., is completely dependent on how they're staged and how they're danced. I've been re-reading the Taper biography of "Balanchine" and just rediscovered the story of how Diaghilev cut Terpsichore's solo (!!!) over Balanchine's protests, because he said it was "boring." Balanchine argued that it wasn't his solo that was boring, but the dancer (who was not Balanchine's choice for the role). I'm with him on that one Re Pavilion, the only thing I remember about that staging is that the article (most likely in "Dance and Dancers") quoted Baryshnikov as commenting after the performance on the strength of Nijinsky's thighs.

Fokine (since he's visiting DC right now): Petrouchka Chopiniana Firebird (I never saw Coq D'Or, or Le Pavilion d'Armide, or Thamar, and I can't judge Scheherezade by any of the productions I've seen, in the theater or on a TV screen)

Balanchine: Apollo Serenade The Four Temperaments Liebeslieder Walzer Jewels (for its daring; but on alternate Tuesdays I'd choose something else. I'm high on "La Valse" right now.) Ashton: Symphonic Variations Scenes de ballet The Dream La Fille Mal Gardee Enigma Variations

August Bournonville: 1. "A Folk Tale" 2. "La Sylphide" 3. "Napoli" 4. "The King's Volunteers on Amager" 5. "Konservatoriet"

Colleen, when the boards split, the post counts changed because some posts were in forums that are now on the other board, OR had been made early in the board's history and had been deleted in the days when we had to cut posts to stay within our allowable size. (I lost 4000!) So that's the explanation for the first. For the second, I can't say -- you're at 55 now.

I just got this one, and I agree with Marc -- For Ayupova fans, she dances the Young Girl in Spectre, and is the first I've ever seen in the part that made me understand what Karsaviina might have been like (i.e., she's not a prop).. However, the choreography is.....perhaps not what we are used to. These stagings are Isabelle Fokine (except for Polovotsian dances, I write without checking the box!) But it is a good chance to see the current Kirov stars.

Treefrog, I posted the press release in its entirety.

I don't think the City Center season has yet been announced, so she wouldn't be withdrawing from them. I really don't think they're trying to mislead anyone. They're offering information about a change to announced plans.

I don't think it's misleading. They're saying she's withdrawing from performances this spring at the Metropolitan Opera House.

This just in from ABT: NINA ANANIASHVILI TO WITHDRAW FROM PERFORMANCES AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE Due to personal considerations, American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Nina Ananiashvili has announced she will withdraw from scheduled performances this Spring. Ananiashvili plans to return to the Company in early 2006.

From Mr. Rockwell's first letter to Mary: On that, I think we can all heartily agree -- both on the importance of renewing and extending, and the healthiness of discussion. On the first, cf course, there are those Devilish details, but that's what the discussion can be about!

Casting changes: Thursday, February 3, 8:00 P.M. The Four Seasons: Winter: *Fairchild (replaces Bouder); FALL: *Bouder (replaces Weese), *De Luz (replaces Millepied) Saturday, February 5, 2:00 P.M. Stars and Stripes: Tinsley (replaces Bouder) Saturday, February 5, 8:00 P.M. Stars and Stripes: *Bouder (replaces Ansanelli)

I thought cargill was making the argument that Wagner was one of the good guys, and the connections between Wagner and Hitler and Wigman et al were pretty clear! (I thought that letter was beautifully written, Mary, with a lot of interesting points.) I've enjoyed Watermill's comments as well.

Herman, I agree -- but this is where the confusion comes in. That's not crossover. That's borrowing from something else and grafting it on to a classical base. It's like a pot of chicken soup, and someone throws in some cabbage. It's still chicken soup. Balanchine borrowed from everything -- so did Ashton, so did Petipa, so, probably, did Noverre. Beauchamps borrowed from pigeons. But they borrowed movements and changed them, made them something else, in the same way classical music uses folk tunes. When those cowboy songs are in Dvorak's "New World" symphony, they're not cowbooy songs any more. They just lend flavor. Crossover is when someone from outside of ballet makes a dance, sometimes not even on the ballet dancers, but on his or her own dancers, and sets it on a ballet company. It doesn't use the material of ballet. It's having a chicken leg on one side of the plate and a hunk of cabbage on the other. And that's the distinction. Editing to add: Re Balanchine's finales, you can see the same thing in the bits of "Excelsior" (Manzotti) that we have, and in Petipa. Whether they were borrowed from music hall, or the other way around, or both borrowed from something earlier is hard to tell at this point. The ending of the first act of Excelsior looks like a halftime show routine, with the ballerina marching, head and torso bent forward and arms swinging, leading her squad of ballet girls. Deborah Jowitt, the long-time dance critic of the "Village Voice" who's also a (modern dance) choreographer has written about this in several essays; I quoted one of them in mine. It's not just those calcified "ballet freaks". The crossover trend was of great concern to the modern dance world as well. Another of Rockwell's points, that the dance audience isn't as fragmented as the music audience -- well, I don't know the music audience. I've read articles about the way radio music is segmented, and there are distinctions among distinctions. I've never read surveys on this, so anything I have to say is anecdotal, but I've either known, or talked to, many, many people in the time I've been writing who say they have never, and would never, go to Dance Place (our small, local modern dance theater) and indeed, at DP and other similar venues, the audience is usually young people, with the only elders relatives of the dancers or critics. And I see very few of the local modern dance people at ballet performances -- some choreographers do attend. When I go to the few "ethnic" or folk dance performances, the audience seems drawn from the ethnic group of the company. there are some hard core dance fans that are interested in just about everything, but I don't think this is a general condition.

Yes -- I think that pas de deux was moved from the now lost 5th act. I don't think the rajah's daughter would dance for her guests, either, and (as in Raymonda) that pas de deux makes more sense as a wedding duet than a betrothal one. Solor has barely had time to get used to the idea!

I've always felt the same about Sleeping Beauty! I've been watching the Nureyev one for Paris (on tape) and that is so Baroque. It's the only one I know where it's clear that the fairy tale characters are courtiers. And at the end, like in the old court ballets, the dancing courtiers and the watching courtiers come together on the dance floor and dance. I agree that a ballet a entree seems out of place in India, but I think Petipa took old forms and plunked new dances down in them. Like the 17th century ballets, they were loosely related in theme, but didn't tell a story, and that fits the dances in that act. (Presuming that what we see, from the parrots to the girl-with-a-jug, are Petipa's.)