atm711

I just got my copy (from Amazon and it is beautifully done. I enjoyed what Paul Parish wrote about 'La Sonnambula'. The Sleepwalker truly was a role waiting for Allegra Kent--and I liked Paul's pairing her with Kronstam (whom I did not see)--all this set me to fantasizing-------a while ago Al Pacino played the part of a director in a film (can't remember the title) who creates a "Star" using computer technology and fools the public into thinking she is real. Isn't there some technical wizard out there who can re-create Kent and Kronstam in 'La Sonnambula'? :rolleyes:

If you keep watering down expectations ANYONE can become an actor, or even a President----can Ballet be far behind?

I saw the film last night on a local New York City station (WNYE-TV Channel 25)-- what a treat I agree with Manhattnik, Jenifer Ringer is her heir. It was quite an evening--following this documentary there was a film of Nureyev (1966) in Le Jeune Homme et la mort with Jeanmaire. This is not the version I remember with Jean Babilee. In the first version, I recall the Girl (Nathalie Philippart) was not overtly sexy; she was dressed in white and she was somber throughout; Jeanmaire, on the other hand, wore a costume similar to the one she wore in Carmen. Petit might have changed it for his wife; I can't recall how the Girl was treated in the Baryshnikov version.

Ahem!! There is more to New York C ity than Manhattan. Believe it or not the show can also be seen in the other four boroughs, and I suspect some New Jersey locales as well. B)

How far back does the Russian happy ending extend? In reading Beaumont (1938) he states that the Soviet version of Act IV, Rothbart injures Odette and she dies, and Seigfried (or the Count as they identify him) stabs himself and jumps over a cliff. I have sometimes wondered if the happy ending had any correlation to the great suffering of the Russian people in WWII, perhaps it was a good thing to leave the theatre on a high note.

Pamela, I'm pleased that you got to see Carreno--truly, a 'fabulous guy'. Andre, thanks for giving a name to his 'scissoring cabrioles', that describes it well.

For me, nothing can top Bronislava Nijinska's "Early Memoirs".

IMO the 2003 lows: The Eifman ballet in "Who's Who" and my disappointment in Herrera's "Swan Lake". (We all know you have the technique, Ms. Herrera,--it's time for some artistry).

Peter Boal's 'Apollo' with the Farrell Ballet. I don't know when, if ever, I have seen a more nuanced interpretation of Apollo. He started as a sweet-tempered lovable youth and matured into a deity before my eyes. Alicia Alonso's curtain call with the Cuban Ballet.

Go for Murphy. I saw her debut a couple of seasons ago and I found it to be a smashing success.

Never having seen any of the "Ring" films, or read any of the books, I have been impressed with all the enthusiasm I had read on this thread--and I thought, well, this time I will go to see the film. That was before I read Caryn James article in today's Times. She resurrected my apprehension when she called it a "boy's toy". She said "Any movie so popular has to grab an audience across all lines of age and sex. But both demographic and empirical evidence suggests that the trilogy is still primarily a boys' toy. The well calculated hype and exaggerated praise (the New York Film Critics circle last week voted 'Return' best picture) has obscured what the series really is: an FX extravaganza tailored to an adolescent male's fear of sentiment and love of high-tech wizardry." Whew I have concluded that the film is not for me---the only war book I ever enjoyed reading was "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom".

I have always harbored a secret desire to see Maria Tallchief dance Nora Kaye's Ballet Theatre roles. Tallchief had a great dramatic potential that was never fully developed with NYCB, or her later ABT performances. She would have been a formidable Tudor dancer---but then, I remember reading somewhere that she did not approve of some of Tudor's methods.

I did not find Peter Martins to be a cold dancer--what I always sensed about him was a shyness or embarassment of b eing on the stage---he never seemed comfortable--although I always enjoyed seeing him. Now as to the other Martins--well Christmas is coming------time to be charitible. Happy Birthday, Beethoven--and to my departed friend Ben Harkarvy who was born on this day in 1930.

The responses are much too polite for me. Generally, a loud "Schuss" stops the clatter. However, recently at a performance of the Farrell Ballet in New Jersey a very lovey-dovey couple sat in front of me. Their heads were continuously together and they couldn't keep their hands off each other. When the houselights dimmed I tapped them on the shoulder and assured them that I did not come to see the back of their heads. They left at the first intermission.

Well, I thought I was being clear. They did not 'seem' like a heterosexual couple--they 'were'. I have seen this underlying sexual attraction in other partnerships i.e., Martins and Farrell and Makarova on the videotape of her 'Swan Lake' with Ivan Nagy, something I don't see or feel in her Swan Lake with Anthony Dowell. Carbro--I guess you got it.

In a recent 'blog' on Alicia Alonso I said the following about her partnership with Youskevitch: There was a joy and romance that permeated the partnership of Alonso and Youskevitch. People who saw them together thought they were in love, so compatible was their partnership which had a sensuous undertone. While they were not romantically involved off stage, their performance shows something extra not easily found when performers are of different sexual orientations. Yes? No? well, it's a quiet Sunday and the snow is buffeting my windows.

A pox on the WSJ

I remember Isabel Mirrow from her student days and early years with Ballet Theatre. As a d ancer she was quite different from her daughter. She had a lovely soft romantic side to her movements; her technique was not formidable but she more than made up for it with something sadly lacking today--expression.

Anatole Chujoy states that 'Mozartiana' "originally staged for 'Les Ballets 1933 in Paris. Revived and given once by American Ballet, Met Opera House, NY in 1936..", and then the 1945 version. I would just like to add my appreciation of Maria Tallchief as the Coquette and I, for one, was happy she got the part, others I have seen in the part pale in comparison.There was an underlying mysterious quality about her interpretation which was so appropriate for the ballet. As much as I love Danilova, I fear she would have had more woman-of-the-world weariness. The sonnambulist is one role that, I felt, did not suit Danilova. I knew this for certain when I saw Allegra Kent in the role.

In the Balanchine version as danced by Tallchief and Eglevsky in a 1957 telecast there is no clap.

Yes, I was there. I saw the program Saturday night at the New Jersey PAC. I was going to hold my peace and not say anything---but since you asked Alexandra...... I have not seen DTH for a few years, and I did not see much beauty in their "Serenade". On seeing it, my first impression was---'This is probably what it might have looked like back in 1934 when Balanchine was choreographing with students. The reviewer might be right when she said the taped music was too fast; the soloists, in particular, had t rouble keeping up. The male soloist in the last segment had my sympathy with the girls throwing themselves at him and having to catch and lift them. He looked a bit unsteady; most of the girls were amply built. "St. Louis Woman" started off well for the first half hour; but after that it got very repetitious. There was one pas de deux after another--not much variety. It went on--and on--and on...after the climax of the murder, I thought surely it is over---but no---there were at least three more climaxes.--It was much too long at 70 minutes.

Soloist Soloist I was expecting Principal.

How well I remember Danilova's brilliance in the passe-retires of the coda; in fact, the whole variation. The ABT ballerina I saw this past season was an anemic copy. I have a marvelous photograph of Magallanes and Danilova taken during a performance, probably at the Ballet Russe premiere. I will try to post it on my blog. P.S.--I do not recall hearing a clap, maybe yes, maybe no--Danilova was so exciting in the part, it could have been overlooked.

I think it's because of Ballet Alert that I don't get to clean the house much anymore. I am much too busy keeping up with new posts and if that wasn't enough, I have added a Blog.

There is a video of Osipenko in the Act II adagio of Swan Lake (1972). It is on Vol. l of "Russian Ballet: The Glorious Tradition", with her endless legs she could step right into NYCB and look elegantly at home.