perky

Let's think up some stage names that aspiring professional dancers should avoid at all costs.

Mya Tuleftfeet

Guy van der Plotz

Iva Harrybumskaya

Grace Knott

Hammertoe McGee

Wasn't it Kirstein's idea to have some Tudor and Ashton ballet in the NYCB rep. ? Reviving Lilac Garden, Picnic At Tintagel or Illuminations might be a nice although unlikely idea.

Also, maybe his biographers or researchers could look into which ballets were his favorites.

And also which ballets Balanchine gave Kirstein the rights to after his death? I can't remember which ones they were.

I get so fed up with ballet fans who fear any sort of change. If you had your way Violette Verdy would still be dancing Emeralds.

I don't think ballet fans on this board fear change, the argument is whether that change is beneficial to the company's original vision and the interest of the audience. NYCB discussions on this board always provoke lively sometimes contentious exchanges. I love this company. That doesn't mean the decisions that the management makes don't sometimes drive me to distraction. And I don't really want to still see Verdy dancing Emeralds, but I would like to see her coaching Emeralds at NYCB! :blush:

It's now up. Just took a real quick peek at it. Very nice visuals. Some new? information including a Lincoln Kirstein centennial planned for 2007. Will explore more later.

To me, the beauty lies not in a bunch of perfectly matched bodies, but how a group of diverse ones learns to move as one stylistically.

Helene, that's a very beautiful thought and exactly my own, although you said it much better than I ever could!

Imagine a Patricia McBride Giselle and a Farrell Myrtha !

I've never liked the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet score. Hearing it played in The State Theatre is not something I would look forward to. Is it really true that full length ballets=fuller houses? I can't think of any other reason why they would consider a full length Romeo and Juliet at The State Theatre. It just doesn't seem like R&J and NYCB go together. Instead of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you have a peanut butter and pickle sandwich . If Martins feels the need to do another full length, why this one? It doesn't have the soloist opportunities for the women that Petipa's full lengths do.

But there's loads of dance (if we aren't going to talk only about ballet), and it's somehow 'cooler' for guys to dance - they often perceive what they are doing as quite macho, whereas in the U.S. we'd probably think of some of it as rather effeminate/'too pretty for boys'. Bollywood obviously has a lot ot do with this. And you have classes for Bollywood dancing, classical Indian dancing, and folk dancing. And the boys are out there, whole heartedly, and they can MOVE.

The best part is that this seems to transmit all sorts of social/class boundaries. Of course, who goes where to dance during the festivals is a different matter... but everyone's dancing!

Bollywood actors do many things that most American men would clasify as "sissy", they dance, cry, hug each other and so on. In India it's completely normal for heterosexual men to hold hands or walk with their arms around each other. I remember my first time in Pune walking around with my husband in the neighborhood he grew up in. All the boys and men walking together were holding hands. I asked my husband if this was the gay part of town. He explained that's how they show affection for each other. Don't they do that in America? It made me realize how homophobic American society is. Any male behaviour beyond the status quo (sports, getting women in the sack etc,) is suspect to accusations of being gay. In my daughter's ballet class their are 16 little girls, no boys. I find it incredibly sad.

Personally, I prefer to see tights on a ballerina even if they are flesh tone tights. I've mentioned before on another thread a while back how much I hate! to see the tights cut off at the ankle then a pointe shoe on a bare foot. I remember starting to see this look on Heather Watts in Peter Martins ballets in the 80's. Unfortunately it seems to be a trend from that time period that stuck, unlike overpermed big hair and shoulder pads!

At one point several pals lifted him to their

shoulders as he waved and smiled. An Argentine flag was tossed onstage and he draped it

around himself.

It was an unforgettable experience - an indelible memory.

Those "pals" were David Hallberg and Marcelo Gomes Hallberg has posted two photos of Bocca from backstage on The Winger today.

Thanks drb for the link to Jacobs article! Lot's to digest.

Balanchine's The Nutcracker and Divertimento No. 15. And watching Concerto Barocco makes me feel like my soul has been purified. How perfect is that?

I don't think women dislike non-verbal comedy per se. Speaking as only one member of that demographic, though, I rarely laugh at slapstick. Visual comedy need not be slapstick. Have you seen Robbins' The Concert?

Well as a woman I hate the Three Stooges but I love Monty Python with it's Ministry of Silly Walks. I guess I dislike slapstick if that's all it is. The old Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies had plenty of visual humor, but wasn't bang bang pie in the face kind of humor it slowly but humorously built to a raucous finish, ( I'm thinking of the Inspector, Cato "practice" fights in his apartment.)

As far as humorous ballets, I pick the above mentioned The Concert as being one of the best. I also remember a visit to New York in the late 80's where I saw a murder mystery spoof ballet at ABT called Murder that I enjoyed. I think personally I prefer the subtle humor of Balanchine's Union Jack, Tzigane and Western Symphony.

This week's photo's include four of Liebeslieder Walzer (yeah!!) and one of Tess and Albert in Momentum Pro Gesualdo.

My copy of New York City Ballet News, Spring 2006, finally arrived. In addition to an obvious feature on the Diamond Project choreographers, there are two feature articles, one on the history of Firebird, the other on Jennie Somogyi's return.

Firebird

The current red costume was created for Merrill Ashley in 1985, as Robbins wanted to get closer to the 1949 version of the ballet.

Just curious, is the Ashley 1985 costume an exact replica of 1949 Firebird costume? Tallchief always looks so stunning in pictures with that particular costume.

I have attended classical dance performances in India as well as here in the US. The last time we were in India I was fortunate enough after some loud begging to observe my niece's Bharat Natyam class. The dedication and many years of study to dance any of the forms of Indian classical dance finds much in commom with classical ballet. I love them both!

Just got this book and so far I absolutely love it! Lot's of interesting tidbits and stories that illuminate the world of ballet and humanize some towering figures. I might be biased however. If Mindy Aloff wrote an essay on the routine maintenance of lawnmower engines I would be first in line to read it!

This week's photo's are all of Mauro Bigonzetti's In Vento.

You can access the link at the first post in this thread.

With all due respect to Mr. B, he did have Lincoln Kirstein. Martins doesn't have that luxury.

Balanchine also had Betty Cage. Both she and Kirstein were both very loyal to Mr. B's vision. Martins may not have that luxury, but does he inspire it?

The article seems sort of wishy washy to me. I quess I've gotten used to reading polarizing comments on this issue

I ordered my two tickets by phone and am paying $75 for each, which is why we are only attending 1 performance. So while I am green with waves of overpowering envy, I'm happy for you Treefrog!

KARINSKA!!

Do wish this exhibit would tour.

I remember reading somewhere, perhaps Toni Bentley's Costumes By Karinska of everyone frantically waiting for Karinska to bring the costumes and then having to help finish the sewing on them right before the premiere of The Nutcracker. I believe she redid the costumes around 1962?

It's hard to pick which one of Balanchine's ballets is the wittiest. Union Jack, Western Symphony, and Stars And Stripes are all witty in thier own unique way. I've always found Agon to be the one that makes me smile and sometimes laugh in humorous delight.

Some standouts:

In the first pas de trois, the man's Sarabande solo is the movement I've read described as "stamping out a cigarette" , but I always think of it as squishing a spider. Then in the coda the three dancers do a sort of loosey goosey movement with the arms and legs that's totally unexpected yet delightfully funny (this is my favorite section of the Stravinsky score).

In the second pas de trois the amusing Amazonian strutting of the woman and the very end of the Bransle Simple and the Bransle Double. Each ends in a pose that's like a choreographic exclamation point that always makes me smile.

And then that extraordinary pas de deux. I read somewhere a theory that the movement in this pas de deux was perhaps Balanchine's commentary on the physical therapy that Tanaquil LeClerqc went through after her polio. I'm not sure about that but the man does manipulate the woman into strange, extreme and wonderous shapes. And maybe it's just me but it seems that though he is the one doing the manipulation of her , she is the one who is really in charge. The man even ends up completely prone at her feet ( or pointe) several times. To me it's Balanchines most delightful and wittiest pas de deux.

When I've read anything discussing Balanchine and humor in his ballets, I've never read anyone mention Agon. So.............am I odd or what? Does anyone else feel this about Agon?

Symphony In C and Vienna Waltzes, both thrilling swirling masses of white and Walpurgisnaught Ballet when the lead ballerina hurls herself into the man's arms while the corp of loose haired girls dance like the floor is on fire.

Please forgive me for being so hokey, but this is a DREAM COME TRUE!!!!! :huepfen024:

I usually can only plan a trip to New York to see City Ballet every 3 to 4 years. Now they will be only three hours away! I can go every night. I just hurt my knee jumping up and down on the couch in joy!!!