atm711

I caught up with that last night and it was wonderful. I loved that 'Sheherazady' ballet--especially the PDD with its snippets of "Apollo" and an "Agon " in the making.

There is a great Alex Gard caricature of Fleishmann, Nelson Rockefeller and Warburg as ballet angels. Fleishmann and Rockefeller, in wings and tutus, are floating above on a cloud holding bags full of money, while Warburg has plummeted to earth and crashed on his wings.

Thanks for the memories, rg. I saw Ashton and Shearer perform the Tango in that first magical season of Sadler's Wells in NYC. Somehow, the sash seems right to me---it is in keeping with his outrageous performance.

Thanks, again, rg---I did look it up in your book first.......

Well! all this talk has sent me scurrying back to my Mezentseva tapes of "Swan Lake" and "Giselle" once again. :sweating: I do not believe I saw her 'live', if I did, I do not recall. In defense of forming an opinion from a 'taped performance'---I think this is a valid way of assessing a dancer, we are not talking 'excerpts', but two long ballets. She would not make the list of my favorite Odettes or Giselles. As Odette, I felt she never made a connection with her Prince, and as already pointed out, her technique , her extensions in particular, were not fluid, which surprised me---it could have been an old recording from the l950's and not l986.

There is something that did impress me about this tape----and I hope someone (rg?) can enlighten me----In Act IV who were the two soloist white swans? The closing credits are in Russian.

“First he did this.  Then he did that.  Then he almost went there, but decided not to because the weather was bad, so he went over here instead” brand of biography

This is exactly what the Jowitt book IS NOT. If you have not seen the works she cites, you will have a pretty good idea of what they were all about. It is so refreshing to read a bio of an artist's work----.

When I started Deborah Jowitt's book, I called it "wonderful." On another thread, Ive referred to it as "excellent." Now that I've finished it, I haven't changed my mind, but must admit there were many pages I found a chore to get through. Jowitt goes into detail about everything Robbins ever did, including theater pieces that never came to fruition, usually because be backed out. Of course I realize it's valuable to have all this on the record, but I just wish there was a way to write a comprehensive biography without being quite so comprehensive about it.

Although I am only a quarter of the way through the book I am luxuriating in this aspect of the book--and I am in awe of all of Jowitts details. I saw many of those early musicals ('On The Town', Billion Dollar Baby, High Button Shoes, and Look Ma) and she has jolted my memory. I saw 'Interplay' for the first time when Robbins did it for Billy Rose; it looked like a carefree romp and made little impression on me; however, when he did it for Ballet Theater, Sharaff's costuming (using Mondrian-like colors) brought it together, along with the artful lighting.-----so far, so good. I am separating the man from the artist. B)

I am reading it, too---and I have to keep saying to myself---"Separate the man from the artist" ...there is only one word to describe him--schlemiel. In 1942 he got out of the draft by admitting his homosexuality and ten years later he 'named names' to HUAC because he feared he would be identified as a homosexual. :shrug:

We are fortunate to have benefitted from his legacy for 50 years since his death. (the choreographers Fokine, Nijinsky, Massine, Nijinska, Balanchine). All we need now is another impressario with his exquisite taste, and the rest will fall in place.

She looks like she could out-"Nautch" Miss Ruthie in those photographs.

The Mordkin production of 'Giselle' (with Lucia Chase in the title role ) must have been a doosie. This is a description from Grace Roberts (Borzoi Book):

"This presentation retained some of the pantomime that has been omitted from recent 'Giselles', notably a scene in which Berthe gathers the peasant girls around her and tells them of the legend of the Wilis. Mordkin, a master of pantomime set this scene in a convincing and dramatically vivid manner. Another memorable, though less a dmirable feature was the costumes of the Wilis: strange, modernistic headdresses and draperies of cellophane that crackled in a most disconcerting manner." I recall seeing photographs of that production, and in addition to the cellophane, they were dark and dreary.

I do not mean to denigrade Lucia Chase's dancing talents (she was a memorable ballerina in Petrouchka, and irreplaceable in the deMille and Tudor roles)--but Giselle must have been a stretch.

Thanks, rg. I particularly enjoyed the many photographs of Mordkin---I only know of him from his later years as a forerunner of ABT. He was a very handsome fellow in his youth.---and that photograph of Spessivtseva --what a devilish look in her eye.

Yes, I did see Tallchief's 'Firebird' and in that wonderful year of 1949. October gave us Fonteyn's Aurora, and this was capped by Tallchief's 'Firebird'. Up to that time I had only seen the Ballet Theatre Fokine version with Alicia Markova, who was a sprite of a Firebird with her light-as-air jumps. Tallchief brought out the aloofness and drama of the bird, and she looked gorgeous. I did see LeClercq in the 2nd movement of the Bizet. I know some people who saw her were crazy about her performance (including Jerome Robbins), but my first real satisfaction of the role came with Allegra Kent's performance---although, must add, I have never really been satisfied---it's better in my head. B)

Unfortunately, Ari, her daughter Irina died a short time ago and she was supposed to do it. I don't know anything about the other editor of "Memoirs", Jean Rawlinson, so maybe there is still hope for the next volume.

My favorite is Bronislava Nijinska's "Early Memoirs", it has the sweep of a Russian novel. If you have ever wondered how Vaslav Nijinsky danced, read this book for the wonderful descriptions by his sister.

I have always loved the over-the-ear coif of Tamara Toumanova.

I saw Balanchine as Drosselmeier and Don Q and also the Mazurka from Life for the Tsar. In the latter, his true self was exposed to the audience and he appeared to be uncomfortable with the whole thing. He was more effective with heavy makeup and costuming.

I particularly welcomed the part about the late start of Ashton and Tudor. They were born at the right time---with their lack of strong technical skills they would never have made it into one of today's companies, and think of what would have been lost ---and what is more than likely being lost today.

Well, Danilova'a Odette and Tallchief's Eurydice satisfied me--but I think it was before your time, Leigh. But, keep the f aith Leigh---In over 55 years of watching Symphony in C I have not found the ideal interpreter of the Second movement. :shrug: One performance I would love to see again is the 30-year old Fonteyn in "Sleeping Beauty"---she is still there dancing around in my head (and this, from someone who is not generally over-awed by her).

This is, indeed, a very touchy subject. Tickets to ABT are very expensive and my standing room days are long over. When I spend top dollar for a ticket, I want what I consider top performer. I can easily accept any performer on a mixed bill program---but when it comes to an evening long ballet, I am very choosy.

he was nude (and sprayed wit red paint), his wife was nude (and shook it, shook it....)

Sprayed ALL over ---and 'shook' what? :sweating:

Sorry about that last post, Silvy---I confused Vassilieva with Mezentseva of the Kirov, who is a very fragile Giselle. Vassilieva is more of the healthy peasant girl variety.

I have a copy of it. I bought it mainly for Malakhov, since there is not too much available of him on tape. Vassilieva is a particularly fragile Giselle, and it is a lovely touching performance. However, I would only buy it if you already have Makarova, Fracci and Ferri.

I saw it performed by a very fine dancer, Colette Marchand, with "Les Ballets de Paris" in NY in 1949. She was a beautiful, feminine woman, and when I saw it, again a year later with NYCB (with Hayden) something was definitely missing.

"acerbic and sour"---

Certainly not in "Romeo and Juliet" or "Gala Performance" (the Classical Symphony). Where, then?