Alexandra

TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 14, 6:00 P.M. (Conductor: Kuan**) SUGARPLUM: Ansanelli; CAVALIER: Woetzel; DEWDROP: Bouder; HERR DROSSELMEIER: La Fosse**; MARZIPAN: Fairchild; HOT CHOCOLATE: Rutherford, Higgins; COFFEE: Bar; TEA: Hendrickson; CANDY CANE: De Luz; MOTHER GINGER: Tworzyanski; FLOWERS: Reichlen, Beskow; DOLLS: Zungre, Pazcoguin; SOLDIER: Carmena; MOUSE KING: Ramasar; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: Fowler, Abergel WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 15, 6:00 P.M. (Conductor: Quinn) SUGARPLUM: Whelan; CAVALIER: Martins; DEWDROP: Kowroski; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Kramarevsky; MARZIPAN: Edge; HOT CHOCOLATE: Abergel, Fowler; COFFEE: Hanson; TEA: Ulbricht; CANDY CANE: Suozzi; MOTHER GINGER: J. Stafford; FLOWERS: Bar, Muller; DOLLS: Piskin, Peck; SOLDIER: Froman; MOUSE KING: Orza; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: Seth, Beskow THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 6:00 P.M. (Conductor: Kuan**) SUGARPLUM: Ringer; CAVALIER: Neal; DEWDROP: Taylor; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Fayette; MARZIPAN: Tinsley; HOT CHOCOLATE: Barak, Veyette; COFFEE: Abergel; TEA: Hall; CANDY CANE: Gold; MOTHER GINGER: Ramasar; FLOWERS: Keenan, Wolf; DOLLS: Hyltin, Flynn; SOLDIER: Severini; MOUSE KING: Seth; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: la Cour, Bar FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 17, 8:00 P.M. (Conductor: Cleve**) SUGARPLUM: Ansanelli; CAVALIER: Millepied; DEWDROP: Weese; HERR DROSSELMEIER: *Boal; MARZIPAN: Riggins; HOT CHOCOLATE: Muller, Orza; COFFEE: Reichlen; TEA: Carmena; CANDY CANE: Hendrickson; MOTHER GINGER: Tworzyanski; FLOWERS: Rutherford, Tinsley; DOLLS: Zungre, Pazcoguin; SOLDIER: Paradiso; MOUSE KING: Ramasar; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: la Cour, Bar SATURDAY MATINEE, DECEMBER 18, 2:00 P.M. (Conductor: Quinn) SUGARPLUM: Whelan; CAVALIER: Martins; DEWDROP: *Scheller; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Hendrickson; MARZIPAN: Hyltin; HOT CHOCOLATE: Bar, la Cour; COFFEE: Arthurs; TEA: Laurent; CANDY CANE: Hall; MOTHER GINGER: J. Stafford; FLOWERS: Abergel, Golbin; DOLLS: Piskin, Peck; SOLDIER: Ulbricht; MOUSE KING: Orza; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: Seth, Beskow SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 18, 8:00 P.M. (Conductor: Moredock) SUGARPLUM: Weese; CAVALIER: Boal; DEWDROP: Taylor; HERR DROSSELMEIER: La Fosse**; MARZIPAN: Tinsley; HOT CHOCOLATE: Golbin, Seth; COFFEE: Barak; TEA: Ulbricht; CANDY CANE: Severini; MOTHER GINGER: Ramasar; FLOWERS: Reichlen, Beskow; DOLLS: Hyltin, Flynn; SOLDIER: Froman; MOUSE KING: Orza; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: la Cour, Bar SUNDAY MATINEE, DECEMBER 19, 1:00 P.M. (Conductor: Cleve**) SUGARPLUM: Taylor; CAVALIER: J. Stafford; DEWDROP: Reichlen; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Kramarevsky; MARZIPAN: Dronova; HOT CHOCOLATE: Keenan, Ramasar; COFFEE: Abergel; TEA: Carmena; CANDY CANE: Gold; MOTHER GINGER: Tworzyanski; FLOWERS: Rutherford, Tinsley; DOLLS: Zungre, Pazcoguin; SOLDIER: Laurent; MOUSE KING: Seth; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: Fowler, Beskow SUNDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19, 5:00 P.M. (Conductor: Kaplow) SUGARPLUM: Borree; CAVALIER: Marcovici; DEWDROP: Weese; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Hendrickson; MARZIPAN: Riggins; HOT CHOCOLATE: Beskow, J. Stafford; COFFEE: Bar; TEA: Laurent; CANDY CANE: Ulbricht; MOTHER GINGER: Tworzyanski; FLOWERS: Barak, Laracey; DOLLS: Piskin, Peck; SOLDIER: Severini; MOUSE KING: Ramasar; DR. & FRAU STAHLBAUM: Fowler, Abergel

Yes. "Birds" was done for Washington Ballet. (The difference in the names is the Asian custom of putting what Westerners would call thle surname first. "Choo-San" was hyphenated (I think many peopl.e do this) to clarify which name was which. If he'd called himself Choo San Goh here, many people, trying to be good but not speaking Chinese, would have reversed them again, and called him San Goh Choo! "Birds," to a Ginastera score, if I remember correctly, was a very nice ballet.

Ah, we are allowed to vote for the dead! I think if I had to pick Most Beautiful Balleriina of All Time, I might just vote for Karsavina.

The latter. When the curtain went up, you saw dancers, usually dimly lit, pattering around like little horses, using as much weight as possible (and still be dellicate) so that you could hear their toe shoes. No more than a minute, probably, but that was the initial impression for most (not all) ballets. I never saw the Romeo and Juliet, Joseph. It's wonderful that you can remember something you saw as a child!

Nice topic! I don't have a candidate for THE most beautiful dancer, but I'll nominate Veronika Part as one of the reigning beauties. If the Very Recently Retired are allowed, I'd also say Asylmuratova and Elisabeth Platel.

The works Goh did for Washington Ballet showed quite a range. His "Fives" was the company showpiece until it was dropped from the repertory a few years ago. He had a gift for making the company look more accomplished than it actually was -- it was a very young company (in all sense of that word) when he joined it. Fives is for ten women and five men -- all of them, when it was new, promising, but none yet at soloist level. But he makes it LOOK as though the company has soloists. He did neoclassical ballets -- some in tutus! -- but was most known (and it was less usual back in the 1970s) for his unitard balllets. If he had a signature, it was to begin his ballets before the music, with the dancers' toe shoe sounds the only accompaniment.

I have to say I don't see a similarity at all between Kolpakova and Dudiinskaya. They're different physical types, different employ, and were generally cast differently. Kolpakova was known for her lyricism, Dudinskaya was a bravura dancer. Aurora was one of Kolpakova's greatest roles, and in her day, she and Fonteyn were the two Great Auroras. I agree that classical style is always evolving, but in the great companies there's also a connection from generation to generation. There was a clear Aurora line at the Kirov in the second half of the 20th century -- Kolpakova, Sizova, Lezhnina. Others danced the role, of course, but that delicacy and porcelain qualty is something that is revered in some circles The ballet wasn't "Kitri has a Birthday!" Aurora is a specfic type -- more compact, as they say now (classically proportioned, 90 degree arabesque, not because they couldn't get the leg higher but because it suited the role). Any long-legged Aurora looks "off" to me, because the lines aren't symmetrical. But others wouldn't care a fig about that! I saw Lezhniina in the early 1990s and would say that she fit beautifully into the company. Nor was she viewed as an oddball. Rather, there was excitement that the company had yet another Aurora in the Kolpakova-Sizova line. The glory of that generation of ballerinas is that there was such a range of types, yet all recognizably Kirov. I think Lezhnina might look out of place at the Kirov now -- but so do Makhalina and Ayupova, and so would Asylmuratova! Not that there aren't dancers like that still in the company, but theirs do not seem to be the preferred styles at the moment. Canbelto, the fiishdives were added in Diaghilev's London production, so the Kirov really isn't elminating them. The arms en couronne in the Rose Adagio were also an English addition, and Kirov ballerinas usually don't do them (at least,, not those I've seen). Sylve does -- but this is Dutch production was staged by an Englishman. Back to the safer ground of the production on this DVD -- I just watched it again, and one thing I really admire about it is that, when Aurora falls asleep after priicking her finger, the court just doesn't go dark; it's nuclear winter! The ancient birth-death-resurrection myth is really clear (without intruding too much, or Making a Point). The dancers generally have beautiful stage manners and make me believe they're at court, and the Queen (Alexandra Radius?) is a Queen!

Thank you for posting this sad news, Ballet Mom. There is already a thread about this on the National Ballet of Canada forum, here. I'm going to close this thread, so that all discussion of Serge Lavoie will be on the same thread. As Leigh wrote when he posted the news on the NBoC forum, this has been a terrible month for ballet.

I will never forget two performances, of Swan Lake, by Paris Opera Ballet at Wolf Trap years ago, during a typical, awful Washington summer when it was 90+, even at 8 p.m., and high high humidity. At the evening performance, I was sitting quite close, and could tell, when the curtain went up on the ballroom act, that the costumes were still soaking wet from the afternoon -- so wet that the colors in some of the dyes had run. I can't swear that all of the dancers in the evening had, oor had not, danced that afternoon, but I think it would be horrid to have to put on wet costumes (on the other hand, I guess, within five minutes they were just as wet.....) That performance, by the way, made me love that company. It ranks at the top level of professionalism. They did not dance as though it was 90 degrees with 98 percent humidity. And they could have gotten away with it in that house, but they didn't.

atm's blog is, indeed, a treasure! Ari gathered together a wonderful collection of obits and appreciations for Dame Alicia on Links, December 3, and I thought they should also be on this thread: Dame Alicia Markova died yesterday at the age of 94. Guardian news story Guardian obituary New York Times Independent Telegraph news story Telegraph obituary London Times Scotsman Financial Times

Hey! The woman just died!! Seriously, gossip about dead people is still gossip. If someone wants to read Markova's biography and post about an incident in her life, that's one thing, but I don't think it's helpful to speculate about half-remembeed stories. She really had a remarkable life, child star, prima ballerina in both the Old World and the New, founder of a company (what is now English National Ballet). I'm not sure even our most senior posters will remember her dancing, but if anyone does have dancing memories I hope they'll post them.

This is going to be a bad end-of-year -- this is the third death of a major ballet person in a week. Thank you for posting this, Estelle, and for posting the links, too. I'd only seen his "La Fille Mal Gardee," and that, on tape. He was one of the few choreographers still making classical ballets.

Sadlly, even Washington Ballet, for which Goh made at least a dozen ballets, does not perform his work now. (They've done one or two in the past few years, but they've put aside what was the company's core repertory.) There is a Goh Trust -- but I haven't looked to see if it lhas a web site -- and people who are active and able to stage his ballets. A few seasons ago, there was a mini-Goh surge; several companies performed Goh ballets in a single season, but you're right, now they're rarely seen.

I'm sorry to read that -- and, so close to the death of Maude Lloyd, this has been a bad few days for British ballet. I was just watching bits of Markova dancing on the "Portrait of Giselle" video, and was really astonished by the strength -- light strength, but strength -- and clarity of her dancing.

When ballet first moved into the theater, there was an obligatory defile -- three times around the stage -- and descending, as Mel wrote, from the court ballets. It was cut in the early 18th century, according to Carol Lee's "A History of Ballet in Western Culture."

Sad news indeed, Jane; thank you for letting us know.

I still hope for honesty and objectivity. Honesty -- not meaning "I've told The Truth!" because I don't think there is a "truth," but in writing what you belileve, i.e., not saying that Maestro has come up with another winner when the work is awful, just so you can get invited to the inner circle parties and stay on the Christmas card list. And objectivity in the sense of separating one's taste from judgment -- and friendship, personal ties.

We're getting way off topic, but yes, even with trade presses, I know many people who've had to pay for the images and the index. These are people who've written for small presses, but also some of the very major ones. Some have had to pay for copy editing. The author also has to pay for any changes made after the copy edit. In the one European country I know -- Denmark -- the publisher pays for such things, but does it through grants. Back to Teachout and Gottlieb, has anyone read both? (I've read neither.) Laura Jacobs, writing in the Washington Post today, came down heavily on the side of Gottlieb. (Not to imply that these gentlemen were intentionally dueling.)

Thanks! The pauses may be just part of the settling in process, and the dancers may look more engaged, too, when they've had a few performances. Fingers crossed!

Re indexing: That's still the way it is (not only in my experience, but according to others I checked with when I learned that I either had to do the index myself, or had to pay the publisher about $2,000 for them to do it). Everything within the covers of the book is the responsibility of the author -- that means paying for the permissions for photos. The publishers graciously provide the paper, the ink, and the cover.

Thanks for these -- and welcome, greyhound! Georgia, I've been curious about the Boston Ballet's new "Nutcracker" -- I agree with you about adults playing kids. Especially when you have real kids next to them, I think it looks silly. How was the second act?

Perhaps because we're just knee deep in great Giselles and Albrechts? (not) I thought the "Giselle"-boom was fueled by Markova and Alonso, Fracci, Kirkland and Makarova. It sputtered along for awhile, but I think it's looking for Grisi IV. Is there a company in the world today who has a really truly top of the line, into the history books "Giselle"? ABT is bringing to D.C. I'd just assumed they'd be dancing it at the Met.

Amen! Thanks for that, chauffeur (and thanks for bringing the topic back up).

I just got it and have only watched it once, with half an eye, but I agree it's a good production. The designs aim to be grand rather than beautiful, but the first act, especially, I think, really shows the contrast between the heaviness of the court, with its processions, and the lightness of the fairies. I like it that Lilac is in a dress -- but she could go off and change and come back to dance, as one reads was done in the original production (and her dress is one I don't like, a generic doll's ball gown, far from the gorgeous dresses in the new/old Kirov). The direction is very fine -- I liked Sylve. Not as much as Lezhnina (whom I've seen dance the role on stage) who has what is, for me, the perfect line for Aurora, and that beautiful Kirov schooliing. Sylve has facility and technique but no schooling, meaning you're not going to bask in the beauty of her lines or expressive arms. But the Act I solo is beautifully done -- there's a graciousness in her dancing that goes beyond merely "nailing it." The Rose Adagio is odd -- I've never seen anyone handle balance problems the way she does. That toe is planted, as though held to the floor by a magical turning magnet; there's no fear she'll fall off pointe. But she'll twist and shift a bit in the upper body and hips. I also liked her acting in the pas de vertige; it's very clear. I was less impressed with Lambiotte's Prince and the third act divertissements, but it is very well filmed and I think it's certianly worth having -- it's a model of how a classical ballet can be made to look contempoary (in the sense of being done in this time) without making it kinky.

Copied over from today's Links for discussion: Daniel Wakin of the New York Times News Service in the Berkshire Eagle on belt-tightening at American Ballet Theatre: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,14...2561403,00.html