atm711

I'm not sure I'm ready for the third 600-page biography of Robbins in five years.

Exactly how I felt---but I went ahead and read the new book. Now I am sure I wasn't 'ready' for it. More than I care to know about his sex life and angst. I will NEVER read another Robbins biography.

I found a review of the last performance Palma Nye gave with the Sadler's Wells company, in an old Ballet Today magazine, with a nice photo of her in Wedding Bouquet. Maybe you have it amongst your press cuttings - if not, let me know. Among other things it says that she was the first soloist in the first ever Sadler's Wells performance of Sleeping Princess, dancing the Camelia Fairy.

I also have a copy of that 'Ballet Today' issue--it was September 1950; the review goes on to say some very nice things about her 'le tricorne'.

For those who never saw her dance---there is a great quote from Denby which can give you an idea of what she was like:

"Moylan became one of Edwin Denby's favorite young dancers. Her 'graceful intrepidity and air of candor' reminded him 'of those demure ballet heroines who a century ago lept from the top of a twenty foot scenic waterfall into the arms of a partner." After she left Ballet Russe and NYCB she was with Ballet Theater, and I remember her so well in 'Les Sylphides'...she looked like one of those old lithographs. I saw her "Ballet Imperial" ( which she shared with Marie-Jeanne) and Dances Concertantes (paired with Tallchief and Magallanes); and I even saw her Sanguinic at that first disastrous performance of 4 T's. (since there were no 'wings' at that performance I can still see her in her costume looking warily at the puffed-sleeves of her costume.) I wish I could see that old Ballet Russe group do 'Concerto Barocco' again. The four soloists I most admired were Moylan, Ruthanna Boris, Marie-Jeanne and Patricia Wilde. By today's standards, they woud all be called 'petite'---and I miss their compactness (and the black leotards!)---I rarely see it performed today; the tall dancers of today simply to not have the sharpness of their more compact sisters---and those white tunics!---no, this is not 'Chaconne'.

Could that seated photo of her be by Walter Owen?

A beautiful photograph---the hands and face are as striking as the Nijinsky deMeyers photos. I saw him as a guest artist with Ballet Theatre (was it the 70's??) and he performed 'Bluebird', a performance that added to his legend, and also 'Le Jeune Homme et La Morte', a ballet in which I thought he was dramatically superior to Nureyev and Baryshnikov.

Very sad news. She was one of my favorites with the Denham Ballet Russe, and the only dancer I ever sent a bouquet (after 'Serenade'). She graciously invited me to an after performance dessert at the Russian Tea Room. I particularly admired her in 'Concerto Barocco'. Her compact physique was well suited to the choreography. She danced the Waltz in 'Serenade' in a production that today's audiences would not recognize which she performed in a playful and charming way. She was one of a trio in Balanchine's masterpiece 'Danses Concertantes' and played to the hilt in the Page-Stone 'Frankie and Johnny' (with F. Franklin as her Johnny). Her first ballet for Ballet Russe was 'Cirque de Deux' set to the Faust ballet music---witty and intelligent---like Boris herself. She was also a victim of the star system that is still alive and well today. We fans had hoped to see her expand her repertoire (and complained to management!). The New York season's 'Swan Lakes' were all performed by Danilova (I'm not complaining, really) and the Nutcrackers by Krassovska. However, she finally did get a chance to do a New York 'Nutcracker'; but--she fell short of what we expected. It was as though a beautiful piece of fruit hung on a tree too long, and when finally plucked, it had stayed too long on the vine and lost its flavor. (apologies for my poor poetry). I have a photo of her taken in street clothes on my Blog.

Rest in Peace, lovely Ruthanna.

what, no baccala??????

no---too smelly

I prepare the traditional Italian fish dinner every Christmas eve---7 kinds of fish; one for each of the sacraments...let's see---this year it was Calamari, Shrimp, Mussels, Clams, Octopus, Crabs, and Scungilli (Conch, to most people).......all the family comes and I usually collapse on Christmas Day----

From John Martin:

"Their performance was one of the most hilarious events . . . "

". . . fittingly to be described as a riot."

I'm surprised the promoters featured these remarks. I do not take them as high praise.

Indeed, I am sure they weren't meant as high praise. At the time he wrote this, Martin was firmly in his "Ballet is silly; Modern Dance is profound" stage---where he remained for the next 20 years...

the pelvis is thrust forward and the torso tilts back, then the pelvis is tilted back and the spine leans forward, and so on and so forth.

I have always loved this typical Balanchine movement which is most often described as 'jazzy'. But this movement, for most of us, was our entrance into this world---and it's completely involuntary on the part of the mother. Isn't this a more subtle form of Graham's 'contract and release'?

Good Grief---I never thought I would see my little Chinese Cookbook featured on Ballet Talk. This is the first Chinese cookbook I owned--it was given to me 40 years ago! Since then (and about a dozen Chinese cookbooks later) my skills are a bit more sophisticated. Also, acquiring a Chinese daughter-in-law helped.

My favorite 'Kitri' never danced the role. When Danilova left Russia with Balanchine's now famous small touring group, she was scheduled to dance Kitri upon her return...and we all know what happened then.

R&J is the one to revive--maybe they could throw in 'Dim Lustre'--but this is definetely the way to go--with the original sets, please. With all the histrionic interpretations out there I think we all deserve to see this one. I was fortunate to see Markova and Nora Kaye as Juliet with Hugh Laing. What a pleasure it would be to see the subtlety of the bedroom scene---Hugh Laing, with one brief jesture in a longing glance at the bed said more than all the 'throw-them-up-in-the-air' lifts. And think of what a great antidote this would be to the coming NYCB version

In Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, there is a very good commentary by Martha Siegel of the Boston Globe.

I don't know what is more offensive---Martins or Kirkeby---an ice-palace R&J...--oh, to see the Renaissance inspired Tudor work once again.....fortunately my spring vacation will have me in Italy when this is taking place.....

How was Bill Nighy, atm711?

How could I not mention him?---in a word, Marvelous. I'd love to say more about the plot, but I don't want to give too much away for those who might see it.

I saw a new play by David Hare yesterday--'The Vertical Hour'. I have been a fan of his ever since I saw 'Via Dolorosa' and was looking forward to seeing his latest work. Supposedly, it was about opposing views of Iraq, but like that place itself, the play became a muddle of words, words, words (apologies to Eliza). It was a five character play and it took most of a long Act 1 just to delineate the characters. I was surprised to read in the Playbill that Julianne Moore had considerable stage appearances. Most of the play was set on a fairly bare stage, which absorbed most of her voice; and there was a bit of grumbling on the way out of the theater that a good part of her dialogue was not heard.--and she had many long tedious diatribes. There were two scenes in a confined office setting, and she fared much better. The playwright had her going full force in a very wordy play and I missed seeing the nuanced actress I admire.

Time-Warner cable in NYC...it will be shown tonight on Channel 713, WNETDT---at 8:00 PM

I woke up this morning to my local radio station (WQXR) playing a lovely subdued waltz by Balanchine. It is part of a recording called "Tolstoy's Waltz" (BIS CD1502) and it is described as "...Romantic era music written by amateur composers who made reputations in other fields.....Tolstoy, Polenov, Pasternak, Diaghilev and Balanchine...." a full description is available on the WQXR.com site---I ordered a c opy from Arkiv.

I went last night expecting to be disappointed by Part's absence, and came away astonished by her replacement, Hererra. She evoked, for me, the essence of Maria Tallchief's performance. When I saw Tallchief and LeClercq, it was Tallchief with her darker, richer tones who left a lasting impression as the one true Ballerina on the stage. I saw this same quality last night in Herrera---and all was not equal on the stage last night; Wiles paled in comparison. While watching Elo's new work and being lulled by the monotony of the Glass score I couldn't help thinking that these new modern day choreographers are so fortunate to have at their disposal such a bevy of extraordinary technicians--(imagine what a Balanchine would have done with this quality 60 years ago)---are they worthy of it?--They dazzle the audience with the proficiency of the performers and give us little else to admire. The Green Table has lost its punch for me. Except for the brilliant opening/closing scenes, it all looked cartoonish. To go against the current, I found Hallberg disappointing as Death--he was more Halloween-ish than profound.---I wish I could find that old Joffrey tape.........

This is not my day I have matinee tickets today to see a play that got poor reviews which I thought would be offset by seeing Veronika Part tonight.....A-r-ggggh

Thanks for that pungent review. No fan of Mark Morris, I avoided seeing his 'Sylvia'; I suspected much of what Laura Jacobs beautifully states.

and wouldn't I love to see a Sylphide on this company with Janie Taylor and Ashley Bouder alternating as the Sylphs, and Jenny Ringer and Miranda Weese alternating as Effie.

Yes, yes.---instead we are getting another truncated 'Sleeping Beauty'.

As to the best batterie--my vote goes to Peter Schaufus.

they are walking coat hangers...no protruding bumps allowed... Oh, what women will put up with.

As to the Bolshoi, first of all you have to get over the shock of seeing the rare 1913 "Moment Musical" (to Schubert), in which the male lead is an exact replica of a smirking and simpering Zero Mostel in a rather baggy diaper and greased-down page boy wig.

Bart, my reaction was the s ame as yours---although I thought he was more like Oliver Hardy. But I think we owe Mr. Tikhomirov an apology; he had a lot more going for him that one would suspect from that clip. I am currently reading a biography of Elisabeth Anderson-Ivantsova, a Bolshoi ballerina circa 1916. She was a respected ballet teacher in NYC and was a stickler for the Bolshoi style, which she learned as a student of Tikhomirov. ...."he trained the constellation of male dancers adorning the Moscow ballet at the beginning of the 20th century--Mordkin, Novikov, Volinin, Fyedor and Alexei Kozlov, Zhukov,...."(Lawrence Sullivan).

If there are any former students of Mme. A out there it can be purchased at www.Xlibris.com. In the last issue of Ballet Review, Marian Horosko wrote an article about it.

It is worth the price of admission just for the performance of Ekaterina Geltser and Tikhomirov in the 'Moment Musicale' :rolleyes:

I saw it last night and can't believe I sat through the whole 2 and a half hours, and worst of all, bought the thing From the production point of view, it was put together so badly and had entirely too many talking heads.--and the use of music!---to emphasize a dramatic point the music became very loud. I was disappointed in the dance clips. When they showed the black and white clips of Sleeping Beauty on the first American tour they gave the impression these were the actual clips of that first performance--it wasn't--Robert Helpmann partnered her and it looked like Michael Somes in the clip.---and they are still playing that old Helpmann statement that during that appearance of the Rose Adagio she did not take the hand of the last prince---but, instead held a magnificent balance---it never happened--not at this performance. Instead of listening to Roland Petit's lack of gallantry it would have been nice if he could have come up with a clip of her in 'Demoiselle de la Nuit'. At the time, I subscribed to Richard Buckle magazine 'Ballet' and he had practically a whole issue dedicated to the ballet--and she looked at her most beguiling in the white cat costume.

In a word---it was tacky.