atm711

Yes, yes, yes. It was precisely this influence that that bothered me about the Work. It smacks too much of "Sleeping Beauty". Earlier this year I watched the 1969 tape as I was looking for another ballet for my young grandchildren, who already love 'Peter and the Wolf" and Balanchine's Nutcracker. I decided against it because the flow of the story line was interrupted too many times with all those Divertissements, and the Ugly Sisters went on for too long. I have often thought that Ashton should have had another 'go' at it---and tightened it up, perhaps bringing it up to the level of "The Dream" (which I prefer over Balanchine's version ; it seems he also went on for too long). That said, I do admit that I enjoyed the ballet the first time I saw it during the Sadler's Wells first NY visit.

I saw Thursday night's performance. The highlight was undoubtedly 'Marguerite and Armand". I was never a fan of this particular ballet---I found it to be melodramatic and a bit corny---that was my impression of seeing Fonteyn and Nureyev. HOWEVER---last night I felt I was seeing it for the first time. Sylvie Guillem's dramatic abilities have not been overstated. While watching her sensitive, nuanced performance , the American actress Julie Harris kept cropping up in my head; she bore a resemblance to her facially, and also dramatically. I loved Massimo Murru's Armand---he portrayed him as young and vulnerable; a young man who probably needed his father's interference. (quite a contrast to the jaded Nureyev).

The 'Ondine PDD' was an odd choice for a divertissement. They showed the final death scene---and I am sure many in the audience were puzzled by what was going on. If they had to show anything f rom this dreary ballet---they should have given us Tamara Rojo in the 'Shadow Dance', which, for me, is the only part worth salvaging. Mara Galeazzi was a joy to behold in the 'Voices of Spring'---I saw shades of Makarova in her---if only she would tone down her tendency to mug.

It was a pleasure to watch Yoshida and Putrov in 'Scenes de ballet'---although my opinion of the work has not changed over the years---Stravinsky is best left to Balanchine.

I never saw her dance, but I imagine Diana Adams would fit the bill.  Was she, as I have inferred, an uncomplicated persona?

An uncomplicated persona?---I would say 'hardly'. The one word that springs to mind when describing her on stage would be 'serious'. Early in her career (read that as Before Tudor) she was one of the best Lilac Fairies I have seen and did a very dramatic Myrtha and a fairly good Helen of Troy. The descriptions I have read here of what constitutes an All-American dancer don't apply to her. She was not at all like Tanaquil LeClercq. LeClercq's wonderful 'quirkiness' set her apart from other dancers. Adams was in the classical mode. I would say she was a pretty complicated person---just think of her Tudor/Laing period.

John Kriza, who was "Mr. Ballet Theatre" for years had a repertory that was very All American Boy from that period (1940s to 1950s).  There was a problem filling his roles in Billy the Kid, Fancy Free and the like -- lots of interesting performances, but none that were quite in the same key, I'm told.  (Kriza was before my time.)  Then Robert LaFosse started doing these roles, and although he wasn't a copy of Kriza by any means, I remember several of my older friends saying, "YES!!!!!!  He's got something like the same "All American" quality."

All true about Kriza---but in a ballet like "Fancy Free" he was the son of middle-America, Lang the California devil-may-care, and Robbins the Savvy New Yorker. There was another performer at the time who could also be considered 'All-American'---the British born Frederic Franklin, who was a first rate cowboy in 'Rodeo"---in fact, I can envision him in any of Kriza'a so-called American roles. It was their exhuberance and charming personalities that set them apart, not their birthplace.

Sibley and Dowell are supposed to be there on the 15th, too...I hope so, because I'll be there. :rolleyes: There are two dancers I am not familiar with: Mara Galeazzi and Marianela Nunez---some background, please.

How fortunate for me that I asked you at the 'right time'. I have been peering through my magnifying glass and from the set of the mouth, high cheekbones and strong features I am sure it is La Anderson. I doubt if there were many Andersons at the Moscow Theatre School at the time. Once again, we Ballet Alertniks are in your debt.

Thanks so much---especially the notes on her repertory. She married a Russian singer named Ivantsov who, believe, was the original Soldier in Alban Berg's opera "Lulu". He was later relegated to playing the piano for class---and I can still hear her words starting a class---"Music, Mr. Ivantsov."---and the well-worn tunes would follow.

Thanks, rg---a real treat.

Echoing Pamala's request----I would like to add mine---I would love to see a photo of Yelizaveta Yulievna Anderson-Ivantsova in her prime. She was a ballerina with the Bolshoi in 1917, and went on to become a very prominent teacher in New York for 35 years.

For those curious about Robert Gottlieb, here's a long feature/interview piece about him from today's Globe and Mail (also posted on Links):

What a marvelous article---I hope this gives him (Gottlieb) a large dose of RESPECT

The Divertissements are listed as follows:

l. The Drummer 2. PasDe Deux 3.Dance Impromptu 4.Competition

5. Tyrolian Boy 6. Perpetuum Mobile

These Divertissements are from the 1944 revival of Ballet Theatre, using the Dorati orchestrations.

The original version had the following Divertissements:

l. The Drummer 2. Giselle and the Scotsman 3. Impromptu Dance

4.Dance Step Competition 5. Mathematics and Natural History Lesson

6.Perpetuum Mobile.

The first performance was in 1940, using the Dorati orchestration.

#2 is listed as Giselle and the Scotsman, but should be La Sylphide and the Scotsman...to further add to the confusion---this and the pas de deux were danced to the same music---this is a quote from The Borzoi Book of Ballets, Grace Roberts:

"The high point of these (divertissements) was the oddly named Giselle and the Scotsman--more correctly La Sylphide and the Scotsman. This was an enchanting miniature tribute to one of the jewels of the romantic age of ballet-----its moonlit sentiment provided a striking and necessary contrast to the lively antics that preceded it.....

The substitution of a pas de deux of enormous technical difficulty, performed to brassy music for La Sylphide and the Scotsman, was unfortunate....it provided no contrast in mood to the rest of the action...."

It's hard to believe she is writing of the same piece of music.

The part I am looking for is "Part 3-Divertissement" and it is on album 11-9995 Side B, from RCA Victor records.

There is a third Divertissement in the ballet (out of six) and it is listed as "Dance Impromptu"---and I might add, Rosella Hightower performed it when I first saw the ballet......I can hear the music in my head---but cannot identify it.

Frederic Franklin was quite a handsome fellow in his youth---and he is still beautiful. :rolleyes:

I saw Ananiashvilli Friday night---and I have run out of superlatives I did notice a few welcome changes; her 'soulful' expression was noticeably toned down, but did manage to show itself a few times. (I was in the eighth row of the orchestra with my opera glasses.) Her second act coda could have been sharper, and the fouettes less harried---but I leave that to the technical wunderkinds---they need something to distinguish their performance. Her toned down expression brought her very close to Danilova's interpretation, and her Odette solo was much like Danilova's---could it be Franklin's influence in the Company? What a joy it was to see him on a ballet stage again.

To see "Tanaquil LeClercq," a woman who held herself with dignity, elegance, and humor, flopping out from under her polio-stricken legs was nauseating.

Dale, I found this line to be the most disturbing in your excellent review. My outrage, however, is directed to Martins for allowing such "a steamy load of crap" to be shown on Balanchine's stage. I am of LeClercq's generation and I saw her dance endless times in her prime and I know I made the right decision not to see this latest Eifman fiasco---leave him to his Brooklyn Russian audience.

While this was going on---I was across the Plaza at the 'Met' luxuriating in Ananiashvilli's 'Swan Lake"

This might help the discussion---it is from my trusty "Dance Encyclopedia" ed. Anatole Chujoy, 1949--it is an excerpt from a 1,000 word article written by Balanchine:

"All ballet positions are based on two principles: the horizontal alignment of each movement in space, and the vertical balance of the human figure. The alignment is an invisible horizontal line on which the dance is built; it extends unbroken from the point where the dance b egins to where it ends. Upon it the movements of the dancers exist, as upon a thread or a string of pearls is held.

The vertical balance of the human figure is tghe basis of the positions from which every ballet movement originates and in which every ballet movement ends. In the five initial positions the body is balanced on both feet. When a movement is started with one foot from one of these positions, the body remains balanced on the second supporting foot, erect, as though an invisable vertical line were drawn from the dancer's head to the floor.

the choreographer frees his mind from the limitations of practical time in much the same way that the dancer has freed his body. He turns not away from life, but to its source. He uses his technical proficiency to express in movement his essential knowledge."

please excuse my misspellings......

Balanchine expected his ballets to look 'different' when he was no longer around---but they also looked 'different' when he was around. They changed and evolved during his lifetime. Gottlieb seems to want to put Balanchine into the proverbial 'box'. I have been looking at Balanchine ballets for 60 years (good grief, did I really say that ) and they looked good then on non-balanchine dancers and will continue to do so---no Balanchine fan is advocating wholesale changes---just a bit of subtlety.

For great companies, as long as it doesn't utterly contradict the ballet, let them do Balanchine with their own native accent.  The ballets can handle it just fine.

This is something I have felt for a long time and it should be encouraged. It is refreshing to see his ballets with another accent and a softer edge.

No---"once bitten, twice shy"

Although I have never seen them perform it together---Patricia McBride and Peter Martins would be the definitive couple for me. McBride's joy in the role is intoxicating and Martins had that wonderful ability to dance 'on edge', most notably during a grand jete, and his beautiful clean footwork and positions.

Interesting question, especially Farrell's comments in your related posting (that she thought Balanchine may have eliminated the first variation because it presents the youthful, clumsy Apollo and male dancing had gotten to a level of virtuosity where Balanchine didn't want a male dancer to look clumsy.)

How far back did Farrell go with this observation? I have photographs of Andre Eglevsky (with Alonso, Zorina and Kaye) from 1943 performing Apollo---and Eglevsky was not behind the 8-ball when it came to virtuosity. B)

Paul Parish---I loved your description of Susan Jaffe in "Ballet Imperial" and I regret not seeing it. I saw this grandeur with Ananiashville. The first time I saw the ballet was with the Denham Ballet Russe (eons ago) with Marie-Jeanne and Mary Ellen Moylan alternating the leads, and there was very little that was "Imperial", although one could (and did) admire their strong Balanchine technique. The one stand-out of that production for me will always be Maria Tallchief in the secondary role. I felt I was seeing a completely different ballet. This season of ABT I am concentrating on Ananiashvilli, I saw her Raymonda and look forward to seeing her 'Swan Lake' again next week. Yes, Paul, you should definitely come to NY. It's too bad Danilova didn't alternate with Marie-Jeanne and Moylan---I might have seen the 'Imperial' then.

I voted for---"There is no greatest....." Surely, Balanchine wins as the most prolific, but it was the works of Fokine and Tudor that showed me, early on, what Ballet was all about.

From what I've heard about that performance, she must have had the murk totally obscuring her vision for some ballets......

I saw that performance and I am convinced that she came in late and reviewed 'Theme and Variations' from memory.

I saw Thursday's nights performance and I am in awe of Ananishvilli's "Ballet Imperial", she surpasses anyone I have seen in the role. She mesmerised me with her display of grandeur, and she brought Marcello Gomes right along with her. His second movement with the corps de ballet was pure poetry in depicting the mood of the music. Ananiashvilli had marvelous little touches: in the first movement she performed a unique Balanchine step--sort of a double pique turn done on demi-point with the back leg very low and stopping abruptly by bring the back leg forward sharply to the floor. This is repeated a few times. (Veronica Part had this same combination in 'Mozartiana' and had a bit of trouble with it) Also, at the end of lst movement she rose to her feet and with her expressive back to the audience, she raised her arms and surveyed the full female corps, and as they parted, walked down the center towards the back of the stage and walked off as only a great ballerina can. I liked Monique Meunier very much---there is a wonderful sense of abandon in her dancing---a bit too much abandon during a tour jete, she belly-wopped on to the floor and I was really concerned---she looked like she really hurt herself---but it did not mar her performance and she pulled herself together very fast. The other treat tonight was Xiomara Reyes "Tchai PDD". There was a marvelous flow to her movements. 'Theme and Variations' with Tuttle and Corella was a disappointment---it appears that Tuttle is out of her depth in this one and by the time the Coda came, she was out of it. Corella's turns had no delineation---in the passage with the double pirouettes and double tours, it looked like one turning blob. However, the audience loved them. :rolleyes:

I saw a video clip of Chelsea once (Nutcracker) and I was impressed with her beautiful 'carriage'.