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And Yelena Pankova is a absolute joy to watch dancing the excerpt in that Kirov video! Also a book I have mentions that although Saint-Leon is credited with the choreography, it was actually Cerrito herself who did it. Is this true?

Alexander Minz danced many character roles wonderfully with ABT. He was Drosselmeyer to Kirkland's Clara in Baryshnikov's staging of The Nutcracker. Lucky for us his performance in preserved on video.

Thanks Silvy, by the way I've completely changed my mind about McBride's feet being unattrative. I now think they are as lovely as her ageless and beautiful face

I have that video too. The clip of a teenage Maximova dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy solo shows such a light and delicate technique even at that young age.

Carlotta Grisi in the premiere of Giselle Mathilda Kschessinskaya in Esmeralda, and I want to be able to try on all the precious jewelry her royal lovers gave her. Fokine's Cleopatra with Ida Rubinstein, Anna Pavlova, Karsavina and Nijinsky. Nijinsky in The Afternoon of a Faun Premiere of Balanchine's The Prodigal Son. Marie-Jeanne in Ballet Imperial. Two lost Balanchine ballets when they were still being danced, Roma with Tanaquil LeClerq and The Seven Deadly Sins with Allegra Kent. Margot Fonteyn in Ashton's Cinderella and Apparitions. The premiere of Agon. Gelsey Kirkland dancing Barocco. Suzanne Farrell's return to NYCB in 1975, I think it was, dancing 2nd movement Symphony in C. Suzanne Farrell dancing Sanquinic in The Four Temperments. I could of course go on and on, but will stop here. and I just realized that is way more than five, sorry!

Your answer makes sense, thanks Leigh.

The first time I saw Patricia McBride dance was on The Steadfast Tin Soldier/Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux tape. I'm ashamed to admit now, but my first thought on viewing her was, "what terrible feet!" She had a way of standing over on her pointes that I found displeasing. But watching the tape through repeated viewings I slowly began to realize what an wonderfully appealing and beautiful dancer she was ( I even think her feet are lovely now.) She had such an open almost serene look on her face. You just feel happy watching her! The hint of coy mischief she brings to the doll part in Steadfast is so wonderful to watch. To all of those who saw her dance live during her long career please comment on what you thought of her. What were her best qualities, her best roles. Also I was wondering why she hasn't done a taped coaching session for the Balanchine Archives? Would love to see her coach Who Cares, Rubies , etc. Thanks.

My husband is almost a 100% percent sure that Parisa Khobdeh is a name of Iranian origin. As for Muslims and dance, in the Indian film industry almost all of the film actors, dancers, musicians and composers are Muslim. Most Muslims have a long history of respect for the arts. As for Muslims or Arab Americans in the West I'm hopeful that more will choose dance as a career and be successful at it.

Hops on pointe are one of my favorite ballet steps and watching Ashley do those amazing hops Balanchine made for her in Ballo makes me grin like an idiot everytime

Maia Plisetskaia, the most fiery redhead of all.

Alla Osipenko? I've just seen black and white pictures of her, but her hair appears very light.

Maybe a bit off topic, but facinating articles like Paul's are the reason I just subscribed to DanceView Times

And when Balanchine said "Just Dance" he was also there to correct them afterword if they did something he didn't like.

Former dancers who worked directly with Balanchine are so important to coaching because they can tell the dancer exactly what Mr. B. said about this step or that gesture. The dancers who coach and stage Balanchine ballets for instance at the Balanchine Trust are such importants links to the way Mr. B wanted his ballets danced that it should be a requirement to have them there if you wanted to stage any Balanchine ballet. Video is there to show the steps, but these very important people are there to help the dancer show those steps Balanchine's way. I suppose that's why some critics seem to go overboard on stating this issue with every review they write. Because it's not only a link to the past but a bridge to the future.

Thalictum in that same article I referenced in my post, at the end of it Gottlieb writes about a recent meeting he had with Martins to talk over many of the issues they disagreed about. Some of the things he says about that talk, "What I think he believes about the larger issues is this: that his essential job has been to preserve the New York City Ballet as an institution through a transition period that was bound to be fraught with anxiety and uncertainty; to keep it going in new directions; to find a new audience; and to preserve the Balanchine repertory without turning the company into a museum. That is a very tall order, and if he has succeeded even in part he deserves credit." also, " How can Martins-how could anyone-emerge easily from under the tremendous weight of Balanchine. Twyla Tharp, hardly the most effusive admirer of other choreographers, once said to me, "George Balanchine is God." No one can be expected to replace God successfully, but Martins has succeeded in keeping things going, which means making a future possible." No matter how Gottlieb personally felt about Martins, professionally he at least gave him props and acknowledged the tremendous challenge Martins faced. Also, Gottlieb has been in the publishing business a long time. He's a professional and I think, perhaps too naively :shrug: that he would TRY to keep any personal beef he's got with Martins just that, personal. Does he succeed it that ALL the time? Probably not. He's only human like the rest of us. But because he loves and knows Balanchine and NYCB so well I'm willing to forgive him that.

Re: Gottlieb, I went back and dug out an old article that he wrote for the Vanity Fair Dec. 1998 issue. The reason I kept it for so long is because it's an unusually insightful and ultimately moving look at Mr. B. and the NYCB. Gottlieb discusses how he came to be involved with both Balanchine and NYCB on both a personal and a professional way. In the early 70's Lincoln Kirstein asked him to serve on a new board of directors he was establishing for City Ballet. Eventually he began to work in the front office, helping to schedule the season, overseeing the marketing and as he calls it being a general "handyman" for both Balanchine and after his death Peter Martins. So when I read a review by Gottlieb I know that I'm reading something by a critic who knows what he is talking about. That doesn't mean I agree with him. I think he could use a little more restraint when talking about dancers he doesn't like. And perhaps a small part of his dislike of Martins regime has to do with the fact that it was an angry Martin who felt Gottlieb should withdraw from the board in the late 80's due to Gottlieb being editor to Arlene Croce at the time. Croce having written in The New Yorker several unflattering articles of Martins and the company. Does Gottlieb's sadness over this event color his judgement of the company today? Probably a little, but I think he does a good job of at least trying to keep a neutral point of view, and it's obvious that his love and knowledge of NYCB and Balanchine show through in his writings. So that's why even if I think he should cool it a bit with the attacks on certain dancers, I still respect and look forward to reading his reviews.

Sounds like a dream For those of us unfortunately unable to attend, does anyone know if any or all of it will be filmed for posterity and future viewing?

The Arlene Croce essay mentioned earlier is indeed included in her book "Writing in the Dark, Dancing in The New Yorker", page 98. Another of her essays from that book that comments on Diamonds is "A Balanchine Triptych" page 449. It has a wonderful passage describing Farrell in the adagio, "And when she bends her head low and stretches both arms out above a forward extension of her leg, "horse" passes into "unicorn," and the "hunt scene" becomes an allusion to the unicorn tapestries. Farrell is both the lady and the unicorn, and in a sense she's the hunter, too, on the scent of her own mystery." A dancer I would have liked to have seen dance Diamonds is Allegra Kent. I believe she danced it for awhile after Farrell left the company in 1969.

Actually Markarovafan it's not so far out on a limb to say that Vasiliev just might be better than Nureyev or Baryshnikov. I've heard it both said and written before. Check out the chapter on Vasiliev in the book The Great Russian Dancers by Gennady Smakov(sp?). Wonderful pictures and commentary on him. I have a video of him dancing Don Q. full of fire and brio and unbelievably handsome! His jumps and turns take by breath away.

Alright! My two favorites from that era. Mikhail Mordkin and Mathilda Kshessinskaya. Thanks RG. More Please!

It certainly is one ballet that depends a great deal on it's correct casting. Leibling, could you expand a little on your interesting post? I would quess that Rubies would be the soubrette part and Diamonds the dansuese noble part but what would Emeralds be?

Since I'm on Eastern time I bailed out of the telecast after about an hour and a half. No way I'm staying up until midnight! The show itself was ok I suppose, a bit on the bland side. The opening bit showing Billy Crystal interspersed into the nominated films was very funny, although I don't exactly want to see Crystal's naked body with it's saggy breasts again any time soon. As for the fashions I'm pretty much in agreement with Ed Waffle. There were waaayyy to many nude or beige color dresses. I like color! My first thought on seeing Angelina Jolie was that she needed to invest in a good bra. But the more I looked at her the more I liked her dress and style. She's a little on the edgy side when every other lady dresses safe and I appreciated it. She really is a beautiful woman. Liv Tyler I thought looked the best. Lovely glowing skin topped off with that rich black hair, then showcasing it all with a simple but elegant black gown. Wonderful. I have not liked the way Nicole Kidman has looked lately. I think it has to do with her makeup. She always looks sort of on the verge of death. Too washed out or something. But I did like the dress. No, Renee Zellweger did not look her best last night, but she didn't look bad either. In my opinion she looked better this year than last year when she appeared way too thin, almost skeletal. I hope she keeps some of the weight on that she gained for Bridget Jones Diary 2. She looks healthier. It was nice to see Sean Penn win and get a standing ovation. Especially after he was vilified by the right wing last year for his political beliefs. Ditto Tim Robbins.

I know where your coming from Farrell Fan, my last name Shaikh has been pronounced "Chic", "Shakhi", "Shiekk", and so many other variations I've lost count. My favorite one I heard at the drugstore awaiting an Rx being filled was "Mrs. Smackem"! Thanks to Bobbi for asking the correct pronounciation of Miss Bouder's name

There's only one instance I can think of where I would have booed at a ballet performance. You hear those stories of how Nureyev acted spiteful or downright mean toward some of his female partners on stage. Not only would I have booed him, I would have picked up a bunch of those radishes Oberon mentioned earlier and flung them at his head. However in the end I quess I just too bashful to boo. :shrug:

Our very small local ballet company put on the full Sleeping Beauty a few years ago. I thought it was a mistake. This is a BIG ballet, big score, big cast, big ideas, that needs a big well rounded company to perform it. The artistic director had to reduce it so much to fit her small company and small stage that it was like watching the Empire State Building reduced to a small plastic trinket. Leave SB to the big companies with the resources to pull it off and a more unified style of dancing. At the opposite end of the spectrum I did see the Bolshoi dance SB a few years ago. I've always had a fondness for the Bolshoi, they dance BIG! Loved it.