Alexandra

Thank you for posting about this program, Rebekah. I hope others who saw it will add comments. (I have to say I'm glad you loved "Les Noces." It's a ballet that never fails to thrill me!)

Mindy Aloff reviews Zakharova's "La Bayadere" at ABT for the DanceView Times: Svetlana Zakharova in La Bayadère She writes what I thought was a very interesting theory about the choreography.

Yes, I know she's with the Bolshoi now, but I thought Kirov fans who don't check our Links forum every day might be interested in this: Mindy Aloff reviews Zakharova's "La Bayadere" at ABT for the DanceView Times: Svetlana Zakharova in La Bayadère

It's spring cleaning time. I've moved a lot of topics into their company forums. I've left a "redirect" in this forum -- so if you click on the link, you'll be taken to its new home. I've also added several company forums, because we were starting to get posts about those companies: Ballet Arizona, Ballet Austin, and Colorado Ballet; Birmingham Royal, English Naitonal Ballets, and the Vienna State Opera Ballet. If I've moved your post, it's not because it was in the "wrong" place. This forum is for performances that don't have an obvious home elsewhere, or are for out of town performances of a company. We may move them around later, into company forums, which serve as both ongoing, active discussion rooms as well as archives.

If anyone is in the Phoenix area June 3-6, Ballet Arizona is having a two-program Balanchine Festival: Program A Serenade Apollo Theme and Variations Program B Allegro Brillante Prodigal Son Slaughter on 10th Avenue Here's a link to the program page, with dates and place details, and a slideshow of dancers in these ballets: http://www.balletaz.org/balanchine.asp Andersen has a high reputation among dancers for being an inspirational ballet master. I'd be curious how the company's Balanchine repertory looks -- so if anyone goes, please post! At least 20 people have registered on this board from the Phoenix area. So talk already!!!!

SEATTLE, WA -- Nationally acclaimed Pacific Northwest Ballet School (PNBS) closes the year with its 23rd Annual Pacific Northwest Ballet School Performance - an exciting showcase featuring nearly 500 students age 8 to 18 years old - Saturday, June 19 at the new McCaw Hall. This year's event marks the first School performance in McCaw Hall and the first time the School has presented two performances rather than one. Students from The Francia Russell Center in Bellevue perform at 12:00 p.m. and students from The Phelps Center in Seattle perform at 3:30 p.m. The two full casts take the stage dancing in a variety of works created especially for them by PNBS's distinguished faculty and featuring the highly anticipated world premiere reconstruction of Marius Petipa's Le Jardin Animé. Performances for the annual event are June 19 at 12:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Tickets range in price from $10 to $55 for children and $20 to $55 for adults and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at (206) 441-2424 (Mon. through Fri., 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.) or in person at the PNB Box Office at 301 Mercer Street (Mon. through Fri., 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. , Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) and at McCaw Hall at 321 Mercer Street 90 minutes prior to each performance. Both performances will feature the remarkable world premiere reconstruction of Marius Petipa's Le Jardin Animé ("The animated garden"), a 15-minute divertissement added to a revival of the full-length swashbuckler ballet Le Corsaire in 1867, with a score by Leo Delibes (1836-1891). The original choreography was by Joseph Mazilier (1801-1868), choreographer of the original Le Corsaire. The dances were performed by the captured heroine Medora and her friend Gulnare, joined by a garden of dancing flowers. When Marius Petipa (1818-1910) restaged Le Corsaire in St. Petersburg, Russia, he included Le Jardin Animé and likely made his own changes to the choreography. During the subsequent Soviet era, however, numbers were scaled back, choreography was changed at the hands of various stagers, and both dance and music for the ballerinas' variations were altered. Most of Petipa's contributions were ultimately lost. Fortunately, Petipa's choreography for Le Jardin Animé had been preserved in notation form using the system developed in the early 1890s by Maryinsky Theatre dancer Vladimir Stepanov (1866-1896). Stepanov had studied anatomy in Paris and returned to St. Petersburg with a new system of dance notation and plans to notate the entire ballet repertory. The Stepanov notations of many works in the Maryinsky Theatre repertory are now housed at Harvard University. They have recently been used by the Kirov Ballet for reconstructions of Petipa's Sleeping Beauty (1890) and La Bayadère (1900 revival). The notation for Le Jardin Animé is one of the most detailed documents of dance choreography from the 19th century. Le Jardin Animé will be revived from the Stepanov notations for the first time by dance historian Doug Fullington and Pacific Northwest Ballet School faculty member and former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Manard Stewart. This world premiere revival will be the first ballet reconstruction using the Stepanov notations in the United States. Choreographed for 68 dancers, from two lead ballerinas to twelve couples of young students, Le Jardin Animé is a beautiful kaleidoscope of dance and music sure to delight the audience as it did over 100 years ago in Imperial Russia. Two casts of students from Level III through the Professional Division will dance their way into dance history as they perform the reconstructed choreography to an orchestral recording of Leo Delibes' charming score, in its original 1867 orchestration. Pacific Northwest Ballet School acknowledges the Harvard Theatre Collection (Frederic Woodbridge Wilson, curator) for permission to use documents from the Sergejev Collection for the revival of Le Jardin Animé. Other highlights of the afternoon performances include "The Bullfrog Patrol" from PNB Artistic Director Kent Stowell's full-length Silver Lining (staged by Paul Gibson) and an excerpt from Stowell's Hail to the Conquering Hero (staged by PNB Ballet Master Anne Dabrowksi). George Balanchine, whose centenary is celebrated this year, is represented by "Fascinatin' Rhythm" from Who Cares? and the first movement of Symphony in C, both staged by PNBS Director and PNB Artistic Director Francia Russell. Also on the program is a modern dance work by PNBS faculty member Sonia Dawkins. In addition, students in Levels I through VII and DanceChance perform works choreographed by PNBS faculty members Marisa Albee, Elaine Bauer, Alice Bergeson, Lisa Dillinger, Flemming Halby, Dane Holman, Cynthia Jordan, Lucia Kuimova, Timothy Lynch, Meg Potter, Victoria Pulkkinen, Abbie Siegel and Bruce Wells. Bravo! due PNBS students for their exciting accomplishments and new pursuits As the year comes to a close many PNBS students embark on new endeavors. Many of the Professional Division students are moving on to join ballet companies nationwide, including: Jessika Anspach, Brennan Boyer, Erin Lewis and Sean Whiteman, Pacific Northwest Ballet; Stephanie Fenz, Ballet West; Elizabeth Fuller, Oregon Ballet Theatre; Marisa Keller, Cincinnati Ballet; Levi Mandel, Graham Pontarolo and Lauren Zelt, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre; Anthony Smith, Ballet Austin; and Kelly Tipton, Atlanta Ballet. Two Professional Division students will be continuing their higher education including Amanda Jenkins at the University of Massachusetts and Reed Hague at New York University. Several Level VII students are pursuing higher education, including: Katherine Cahoon, Vanderbilt University; Eva Grzesik, Barnard College; Ashley Klekar, Western Washington University; Carly Mayer and Chrissa Yee, New York University; Lindsey Merrihew, Stanford University; Pilar Ochi, Harvard University; Danielle Pavlovic, University of Washington; and Marisa Robinson, Smith College. The 23rd Annual Pacific Northwest Ballet School Performance is generously sponsored by Merrill Lynch and QFC, Inc. PNBS thanks the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Surdna Foundation. Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2003-2004 Season is supported in part by ArtsFund, Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, PONCHO, Cultural Development Authority of King County Hotel/Motel Tax Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington State Arts Commission, and Jet Blue Airways. New works and acquisitions during Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2003-2004 Season are supported in part by the Glenn Kawasaki New Works Fund. ABOUT PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET SCHOOL Pacific Northwest Ballet School, under the direction of Francia Russell, is nationally recognized as setting the standard for ballet training offering a complete professional curriculum to over 850 students. The School also provides comprehensive dance education to the greater Seattle area reaching over 10,000 adults and children each year through DanceChance, Discover Dance, Bravo!Ballet and other outreach programs and activities.

i've witnessed arguments -- jovial arguments -- among the Remembers, as to whether she made the trek across the bridge or not. I haven't heard the en pointe version, though (I remember readnig it in Danilova's book, though). Soon, we'll read she picked up the Poet herself..... I guess that's another qualification for Sleepwalker for me. I don't want to see a Sleepwalker who looks as though she COULD pick up the Poet herself.....

Thank you for that, atm, and a reminder of that beautiful Denby quote. I only saw Allegra Kent once, at the end of her career, but for me, she was The One. I also liked Kirkland, who was so ephemeral she was a pair of shoes, a nightgown, a candle and a face. There was no body. But Kent was a person, a mystery with an implied past. I wish I could have seen Danilova in this one. She's the one my friends (who also loved her "Raymonda") remember. All swear she picked the Poet up, carried him 'round the stage (which is true, I think; this has been dropped) AND up the steps in the tower AND all across the little bridge, or whatever it is. From the photos, I would have liked to see Mona Vangsaae's Coquette. She was in the 1956 Danish production. She looks world-weary, and the seduction, and the danger, is under the surface. She matched my image of the sophisticated European mistress.

Stop! Don't send any more money!! We made it last night. Thank you very much to all who contributed. We had an almost 50-50 split between the two forums, as far as I can tell, which pleases me greatly. Thank you!!!

I think that was my favorite thing, of all he said in two years of interviews. It made me think, too. It was definitely key to his approach -- and how he could keep something fresh over 20 years. Many dancers have the same make up and set of face: this is James, or Albrecht, whether the person dancing him is 20 or 30 or 39-and-a-half. It was his approach to staging ballets, too (which I wish others would emulate!) The ballet was a Platonic Ballet. You didn't go in and rip it apart. You studied it, as you would a strange and wonderful new flower or seashell, until you understood it -- found the Platonic Ballet -- and then staged it. It would be revived by new dancers. It never changes, only the dancers change, and that makes it look new with every cast.

In Denmark, it's called Søvngængersken. (literally, The Sleepwalker) And they do call him the Baron (well, Baronen), as does the cast list in "Repertory in Review." I've read Host in reviews, but I have no idea where now. I would like very much to see Hubbe. I don't think he's anything like Kronstam was in the role (they're so different by temperament and appearance, and as far as I know, Hubbe never worked with Kronstam on this role) -- Kronstam was innocent and not dangerous in this, but Hubbe has an edge to him, and a dangerous Poet would be very interesting indeed! But I think he'd need to have a Baron and a Coquette that were very strong, and oozing decadence.

I always assumed the Sleepwalker was his wife, but, when you think of it, you don't know. Also, we always say The Baron, but it's The Host. I think that choice must have been significant -- it makes the stabbling more of a betrayal, more outrageous and decadent. Some Poets -- Baryshnikov, Yuri Possokhov -- make the pas de deux almost comic. "Aha! Light dawns! You are asleep and I can make you do anything I want!!" And I think the audience responds to that. That's quite a different feeling than the second act of "Giselle" (I think Kronstam used that analogy with Riggins, in the interview above, because he had just worked with Riggins in "Giselle" and could use some of the same cues.)

There's an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer today with brief interviews with the three Swan Queens (the Siegfrieds don't count, evidently.) See Links for the link to the article, but the Unveiled are: Dede Barfield Riolama Lorenzo Arantxa Ochoa

From today's NYTimes: The Good, the Bad and the Tonys

Some comments from a Poet. This is a bit of an interview I did for DanceView in 1994 with Henning Kronstam, who was the RDB's great Poet and danced the role for 20 years. I liked the idea that the Poet was unfulflled artistically, that the encountered with the Sleepwalker opened his soul, and now he would be able to write, to fulfill his gifts -- or would have been, if he hadn't been killed. That, to me, is the tragedy of Sonnambula. It's the ultimate Outsider ballet. He's searching for experience, he finds it, and then he has to die. Another take on "don't touch your dream." For the young Poet, the Poet at 20, it's a tragedy because it's a young life full of promise; he's Icarus reaching for the sun. And for the older Poet, the Poet at 40, it's perhaps a deeper tragedy, because he's never fulfilled his talent -- perhaps dissipated it in the search for experience -- and he finally is granted his insight, life comes together for him -- and he has no chance to use it. DanceView: Your first leading role was the Poet in George Balanchine's La Sonnambula. Had you seen the ballet before it was in the repertory? Kronstam: It was danced in Copenhagen by the DeCuevas Company, where John Taras was ballet master at that time. Taras was doing the Baron himself, George Skibine was doing the Poet, Marjorie Tallchief was doing the Sleepwalker, and Jocelyn Vollmar was doing the Coquette. And right away, Niels Bjorn [Larsen], who was the chief at that time, thought that that was a ballet for us, and talked to Taras about it. And Taras came, he came into the class, and he said [pointing]: "That one." Q: I would think it would be a difficult role for a young dancer. Kronstam: Yes, because he has very little to dance. He is just standing there, all alone on the stage when the guests leave, and with the focus of 1400 people [the size of Copenhagen's Royal Theatre, Old stage] on him. So there I think I learned what it meant to fill the stage. And it was a role that was so close to my personality at that time. Q: So in that way, it was easy to do? Kronstam: Yes. He's a fragile person, you know. He's easily conquered by the Coquette, and when he sees the Sleepwalker, it's a soul that he has a contact with. She is so serene and so light, after all of the noise of that party. And he doesn't understand why he has to die for it, because there are so many beautiful things he could write. These are all things that John said to me a long time ago, in 1955: "You have to think, in the last minute, of all the beautiful things you would have said to the world before you just-stumble over." Q: I'd never thought that the Sleepwalker is somebody who's serene. I've usually seen it done as this mad woman who's been locked in the tower. Kronstam: No, no. She's kept there because she is his daughter, or a virgin bride, or something like that. She's never been let out, and has never been to parties. She is always closed in. Her whole desire is to meet other people. And to him [the Poet], she is the dream of his poetic writing, or his painting, or whatever he is. The first one, the Coquette, she is human life. You can paint her like this: boom, boom, boom, boom, and there she is. But the Sleepwalker is indescribable for him, and he cannot get in touch with her. It's a much bigger drama than where they just play with it, and say, "Oh, well. She can't see. Take the light up and down," you know. Much bigger. And of course, the Coquette is very important too. All the girls who get the Coquette say, "Oh, do I have to do that one? Why don't I get the Sleepwalker?" And she is so important, because she is building up the drama. The Coquette has to have a coolness about her. Because sometimes it's done like: "Well, tonight, I am just one of those whores. Kiss my hand." She is happy for his [the Baron's] big house, his big parties. She is happy for all the jewels she gets, and everything else. But she doesn't have him as a husband, because that one is up there in the tower. The Baron is an old man, and she sees a young, handsome man, and he is different, and that is what attracts her. Then, of course, if she can get him by her seductiveness-you know, maybe she doesn't even want him, but she wants to try it. Q: Why is the Poet there? Did someone invite him? Kronstam: Maybe somebody in the party invited him, and he doesn't know anybody. So when he comes in, he just looks around, and somebody is coming to say hello, and he doesn't know what to do. And then he sees a very beautiful woman, and she seems like she wants to talk to him. And that's what gets the interest there. Of course, she goes further and she tries to seduce him. But she is not heartbroken when she is taken out by the Baron. And then he just stands there and says, "Well, what was this?" Until he hears that SCREAM from the tower—and that's in the music. And it should be seen on his back that something has happened before he starts his walk back. It should be like, like somebody has—well, caught him, or something like that. And it is her spirit, which is a spirit that works with his—yin and yang. That's what it is. Q: In the pas de deux, he is trying to reach her? Kronstam: It's to wake her up, to get through to her. And she is just impossible. He gets more and more desperate, and not more and more playful—which I saw Lloyd [Riggins] do one evening. I went to him and I gave him such a hell. He was laughing at the part when she puts her leg out, and then he puts one arm, and then the other arm [on the ground in front of her leg to stop her]. He laughed over her, like it's fun, it's a fun play. I said, "Lloyd, this is not fun. You are trying to stop her. It's like Giselle. You want to get to this person. You want to understand. You want to talk to her." "Oh, I never thought about it like that," he said. I said, "Well, please do." Q: I asked you previously if they ever laughed in Denmark, and you seemed shocked at the idea. But in New York, every time I've seen it, the audience laughs at that part Kronstam: I have to think about it, if they ever laughed when I did it. No, they didn't. They didn't. Because it was a fight to get her to wake up. It's a beautiful role. Q: Did you keep finding new things in it? Kronstam: You don't find new things in the ballets. You find new things in yourself, because it's yourself that changes. Sonnambula I did for twenty years. Then you really get into the role, and you really know what it's all about. But now, with five performances, maybe with two casts, I think it's mad. The audience gets cheated and the dancers get cheated, because they never get the feeling of owning the roles.

I love the ending, too. In older versions (still done in Denmark in 1993) the Sleepwalker is stopped by the body of the Poet, as now -- but she doesn't step over him. She stands there. The loss is unbearable. The entertainers sense this and pick the body up and put it into her arms, and THEN she turns and walks, displaying the body to the crowd (which is why they hide their eyes), then walks into the tower. Perhaps one too many poets were dropped during this half-circling of the stage, or too many Sleepwalkers' backs were damaged, but it's an incredible ending.

I'd agree -- if it looks like a satire, then something's gone wrong, I'd say.

Thanks very much for that, Art. I was struck by your comment about the Grand Pas Classique seeming odd in context. In the original "Raymonda," the first act was a suite of classical dances, the second character dances, and then the third character-flavored classical. Were there no character dances in the second act?

I don't know the casting yet, but there will be a new production of "Swan Lake" by Christopher Wheeldon at the Academy of Music from June 4 - 12. There's at least one interview with Wheeldon about this -- you might try doing a search on the Links thread for Wheeldon + Swan Lake.

We now have $835. Thanks very much to those who have contributed thus far, but we're still $400 short. I'm beginning to know how public television feels. Our statistics show that 3500 people read this board every day. (That's "unique visitors," not one person clicking 3500 times, but 3500 individual visitors.) Yet only 28 people have contributed thus far. That's less than 1 percent! I'm sorry I can't offer t-shirts or funny hats or coffee mugs.....but that would take even more money! I ask for money only once a year. I cannot afford to pay the expenses of this site. If I don't get help from our members, I have two choices: one, shut it down; two, go to a mandatory paid subscription: no one will be able to access the site until they've paid a small fee. So please, if this site is useful to you, or provides entertainment, information, of whatever, check our Fundraising page and make a small donation to keep it going. Thank you!

Enough to fund the arts in this country, if they cared! Think of the Oil Guys, not to mention the Lords of Silicon Valley and its Seattle suburbs. And then there are the NBA and the NFL multi-Ms. Not to mention the Sitcom Stars that make $1 million per episode.....

Dance Europe has a monthly calendar of performances all over Europe: http://www.danceeurope.net/docs/EXCERPTS/PERFS.SHTML And Culture Kiosque also has a calendar: http://www.culturekiosque.com/calendar/cal...gory&Category=5

Big news in the dance world -- this press release just in. Oprah Winfrey Gives $1 Million to The Ailey School Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program to offer students the chance to study at the prestigious Ailey School (New York, New York)--Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Judith Jamison recently announced a $1 million gift from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation to establish the Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program. This donation is to create a permanent endowment for 4 – 8 talented students to study each year at The Ailey School, students who would not otherwise be able to afford the School’s high-caliber professional training. “Oprah Winfrey’s generous gift will provide a world of inspiration and opportunity for aspiring young dance students. Her leadership will help extend Mr. Ailey’s pioneering legacy far into the future,” said Ms. Jamison. The Oprah Winfrey Foundation scholarships will be provided in perpetuity to students between the ages of 18 to 23 for full-time study at The Ailey School. Recipients will benefit from a comprehensive array of technique classes, performance opportunities and support services that enable them to develop into versatile and expressive dancers, well-prepared for the rigors of a professional career. Ninety percent of the current members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are former students—a great testament to the success of The Ailey School’s training. Graduates have also joined other renowned dance companies around the world and appear frequently on Broadway, television and in film. “The first Oprah Winfrey scholars will be students from the Chicago area who are selected at The Ailey School audition in the city in May,” said The Ailey School Director Denise Jefferson. “The Oprah Winfrey Foundation gift will have a lasting impact on generations of talented and hardworking students—giving them the opportunity to receive a world-class education in The Ailey’s new center for dance.” Ailey’s new home, which is currently under construction, will be the largest facility in the United States dedicated exclusively to dance. Slated for completion in November 2004, the 77,000 square-foot state-of-the-art building will consist of 12 studios, a library, an archive, costume shop, physical therapy facilities and a 5,000 square-foot black box theater. Oprah Winfrey scholars will have the opportunity to study, learn and perform in this extraordinary new building. Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, actress, producer, magazine founder and editorial director, educator and philanthropist, established The Oprah Winfrey Foundation to support the inspiration, empowerment and education of women, children and families around the world. Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation will continue its commitment to raising funds for students to attend The Ailey School on scholarship with a gala event at the Apollo Theater on June 2, 2004. The Ailey returns to the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, “where stars are born and legends are made,” for a one-night-only event featuring performances by gifted students from The Ailey School, as well as artists of the world famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the dynamic young dancers of Ailey II. This extraordinary performance will begin at 7 PM at the Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues) and will be followed by a gala reception. The event’s celebrity guests include india.arie, Jesse L. Martin, Natalie Portman and Matthew St. Patrick. Attire: festive dress. Prices for gala tickets range from $150-$10,000. To purchase tickets, please call Quay Whitlock at (212) 767-0590 ext. 223. Proceeds from the gala will provide scholarship assistance to deserving students of The Ailey School. This internationally renowned training institution serves approximately 3,500 students annually, offering more than 200 classes per week. The Ailey School is the official school of the prestigious and critically acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

I think it's nice, too, for this celebratory season, to show that Balanchine is danced around the world. The company isn't dependent on guest stars, isn't bringing them in to shore up the home team, but to supplement it.

What happened to Megan Fairchild?