atm711

That's the exact quality I have always missed in Tallchief's Balanchine makeover. At the time she danced the 'gypsy' she was still a soloist in the Company, and she was a wonderful dancer who performed with a sense of abandon that Balanchine reigned in. I would have been nodding in agreement when she spoke of "the fluid rotation of the shoulders and carriage of the arms"--because that's exactly the way she danced it. I wonder, did she speak of her 'shadow' which was performed by Vida Brown?

That marvelous clip of Soloviev is on Vo. 3 of "Glories of the Russian Ballet". I bought the tape not knowing anything of him--and I was completely nonplussed. The closest I came to seeing his talents live on a stage was with Jean Babilee; their physiques are somewhat similar. It is a must see.

This film by Paul Cox was probably shown in theatres, but I completely missed it if it was. It is now on DVD and I thought it was beautifully done. Derek Jacoby reads from the Diaries, while beautiful images of those wonderful familiar photographs of Nijinsky are shown. There are also excerpts from his ballets. I loved in particular the opening scene of a funeral cortege in a forest with a group of black-clad mourners following the casket (presumably carrying Nijinsky) and all the ballet characters he created are watching f rom the sidelines. The excerpts from his ballets are performed admirably by Australian dancers.

Thanks rg, for that photo of Boris---it has always been one of my favorites. I always loved her performance in that role--in fact, the only time I ever sent flowers to a dancer was to Boris when she performed this role. I can still remember fussing over the color of the ribbons, to make sure they blended with her costume. Indeed, the ballet looked very different then. It took me a while to get used to the long romantic costumes and flowing hair of later productions. I am not so sure that I prefer the current version. I like what Denby said about the 40's version: "the sequences suggest a romantic personal grief but the dancers themselves remain clear and open as in the morning classroom". My first reaction to the unidentified couple is Danilova and Franklin--I did not see her, but I know she performed it very earlyin the 40's.

Oh.

What 'gazongas'?

For me it was the music and the patterns, and I think it still is. As a child I listened to what was then called 'serious' music, and then I saw it integrated with movement. My first view of ballet on the stage was 'Les Sylphides'--it is no wonder that I have been 'hooked' ever since.

I still stick to my guns :rolleyes: It was Robbins (the Rhumba sailor) and Janet Reed who performed the PDD originally; he might have ceded the role to Kriza (the second sailor) later on. If anyone has a copy of the book "Jerome Robbins, That Broadway Man" by Christine Conrad you will see two photos of Reed and Robbins alone at the bar with the original bartender Rex Cooper in the background. I also like what Grace Robert (in her Borzoi Book of Ballets) said about the girls: "The girls.....might have been a couple from the gang that goes for cokes to the corner candy store" (by 'cokes', I am sure she means soda) This was written in 1945. As Eliza would have said, "I'm a good girl, I am".

In Fancy Free it was always the third sailor (Rumba) who did the PDD. There have been too many small changes over the years. One small change that has annoyed me is when PDD couple is sitting at the bar and the sailor mimics shooting down airplanes. I don't know when that was added but it's been around for a long time. I saw the mixed program this afternoon and was amused to see that the program still states: "Time: 1944, a hot summer night". If they still want to use this phrase, they should be attuned to the mores of the time. The whole ballet seems to have been 'sexed up". The PDD was too suggestive;at one point while Gomas was standing behind Kent and embracing her, his arm went across her breast and she was quite emphatic in removing it. I liked Herrera very much as the girl with the red pocketbook; she brought Muriel Bentley to mind. Bentley, although not a Latin, had a dark-eyed sultry look about her. The third girl to emerge (Melissa Thomas) had a much too 'come hither' look about her. Originally, the girl enters hesitatingly and unsmiling and doesn't offer the boys much encouragement. Perhaps they should change it to "Time: 2003, a hot summer night" and let it go at that. I always enjoyed "Three Virgins and a Devil". I looked at it as a parody of modern dancers of the 40's. The only thing the ballet needed this afternoon was those two old gals, Agnes deMille and Lucia Chase in the cast, although Erica Fischbach as the "Priggish One" was quite effective. 'Le Grand Pas de Deux" and Dvorevenko were made for each other. (A revival of 'Gala Performance' for her next season?) I need some help on this one:---Flames of Paris---what is the name of that step Saveliev did, where he almost threw himself to the floor, and then flipped over? I was looking forward to Wiles and Hallberg in "Theme and Variations", but came away disappointed. They had absolutely no sense of the style of the ballet. Wiles performed like a talented soloist; she was not a classical ballerina, she smiled too broadly and at times got too fluttery with the hands in the PDD as though she was in "Swan Lake", and too often thrust her head back in a broad grin. The 'corps' looked a bit ragged in the coda---after all those tour jetes their lines were messy.

Alexandra, you said:---"She was repulsed by the Man from the House Opposite and his nocturnal activities--I never got the idea that she was also attracted to him, or sexually curious"----That's where Hugh Laing comes in I found the sexual attracion to be very strong with Kaye and Laing, and some say it continued off stage as well. Dale, when doing your research on Kaye, I wish you would add Annabelle Lyon, too. I never saw her as the younger sister, but it is said hers was the definitive performance. As much as I try, I cannot find a description of her interpretation. For those who have not seen the ballet the best description I have read was written by Edwin Denby and can be found in his book "Looking At the Dance".

Well, Paul, you brought it up :rolleyes: I do not agree that a beautiful woman is not credible as Hagar. If she is a beauty, I think it strengthens the fact that she is so repressed, it's not her looks that keep her that way. Nora Kaye was an attractive woman and it was this quality that I missed when I saw Wilson; Wilson looked like an old-maid schoolmarm sitting on those steps, and one could be surprised when the Friend showed her attention. Hagar was a desirable woman and did not know it; that fellow across the way knew it, and just waited. Beauty is not an excuse for an ineffective Hagar.

I really do not want to get off 'topic', but I have to say something about the younger sister. I think she is getting a very 'bad press' as a malevolent being. She is young, she is obviously a teen-ager and she enjoys her emerging femininity. (somewhat like the old song--"I enjoy being a girl!"). Living with those two repressed women, it's a wonder that she turned out to be so feminine. Over the years, the portrayal of the younger sister has changed from one who might have been unthinking in her behavior to Hagar, to one who is consciously mean (since I can't say the 'b' word). I can't lay the blame for this on the current production, for I saw the same interpretation on an old 1973 tape with ABT.

Thanks.

Here is the first request for a non-Russian name: Michele Wiles---is it Willies (as in Giselle); or Whiles (as in, she whiles away her time), or perhaps Will-less.

For the past year I have kept a blank video tape in my player and I have recorded many of the excerpts---it plays on two channels in my area, and while surfing I generally 'hit it' and record---my tape is almost filled. One of these days I will play it---I have forgotten what's on it.

I remember Jinx Falkenburg from her talk radio days with her husband Tex McCrary. I never thought of her as a dancer, professionallyor otherwise. Ms. Aloff thinks she had a perfect body for Ballet. Given the time frame (40's and 50's) I think her "5'9" lanky body" would have been a hindrance for a ballet career. Today, yes--but not then. I think I read somewhere that one of the reasons Audrey Hepburn did not pursue a career in ballet was her height.

Thanks Leigh, now I can sleep tonight "Pretentious nonsense" --wow. I am one of the last people on earth who would put Balanchine down--but, there was Ballet in NY before Balanchine---Ballet Theatre in the mid 40's is the best example. They had very little Balanchine and did quite well with Tudor, deMille and Robbins---and yes, Massine, especially 'Aleko', a ballet I always enjoyed. It is true, his popularity as a choreographer was on the wane, but it's too bad Mr. Mason did not see him as a performer.

Ah, Leigh--what a tease your comments are Is your 'assignment' an article in Ballet Review? Then I shall have to wait MONTHS to read it . What questions could have made Tallchief evasive in her interview with Mr. Mason?

I did see Murphybut I thought of all the three ballerinas in the part, McKerrow seemed the likeliest to succeed. I don't recall who said it, but he recounted how Tudor originally chose non-stars for the cast, and had great success. Perhaps the same road should have been used this time. I was also disappointed with the interpretationof the younger sister by Xiomara Reyes. I have an old grainy tape of "Pillar" from 1973 and I found Reyes interpretation to be identical with the portrayer on this tape. (without looking it up, I can't remember who it was). I don't know what Tudor was looking for in this part, but these two interpretations lack sublety. I never saw Annabelle Lyon, but I did see Janet Reed and Norma Vance do the part many times. Their nastiness was not so overt. At times you could think--she is such a sweet girl, and then you would get a glance of her underlying maliciousness. Reyes and the girl on the 1973 tape are so close, I wonder if this was used as a study piece? I also felt that Reyes and Gomes were not in tune with the 1900 setting of the piece. There was something too modern about them.

About the "Pocketbook" scene in "Fancy Free": It was very playful and good-natured. The girl appeared to enjoy the attention, but wouldn't admit it to the s ailors---which was pretty typical of the time--look, but don't touch! One never felt there was a threat of rape. She was a bit haughty and might have thought the boys beneath her!.

In reply to Michael's query: ".....more naturalness....more innocence.....Perhaps the women don't matter too much in this; (Fancy Free), perhaps they are caricatures and it's the sailors that Robbins was really interested in." The beauty of the original cast of women (Janet Reed and Muriel Bentley) is that they were above all, natural. They could have been any young woman you would encounter on the streets of New York or riding the subway. I like what you said a bout this production evoking the 'feeling' of WWII. This is something I have always found missing. I'll be seeing it next week.

Alexandra, I can still sense Fonteyn's presence in the whole ballet. It cried out for her. I saw last night's (Thursday) performance and I could not help thinking "You can't go home again" (Ah, Thomas Wolfe you were so right ) It was a very nostalgic evening for me, and I came away missing three ballerinas--Fonteyn, Kaye and Danilova. From the moment the curtain rose on "Pillar of Fire" I had my doubts---there was Hagar (Murphy) sitting on the steps in an olive drab dress After all those famous photos of Kaye in her pea green outfit, how could they make such a change? And why didn't they use the Jo Mielziner costume and sets? All this, before a step was danced! Murphy looked too small and self contained for a dynamic Hagar; Hagar must show what she is feeling deep within her. She needs a sense of abandon when she hurls herself at her partners; I thought she might rescue her performance with the final PDD, but it did not happen. Marcelo Gomes (wearing a black business suit ) had a couple of sexy moves with the legs that looked more James Cagney than Tudor. Here, I will extend my nostalgia to Hugh Laing. Paloma Herrera (that most uneven of ballerinas) danced Raymonda. I did not like the costumes of Barbara Matera. They were much too fussy---the corps and soloists had tutus with long sleeves and the ballerina's costume was too wide and overladen with appliques. Karinska, where are you? I would gladly had revisited the Ballet Russe 1946 production with Danilova. When ABT does the complete "Raymonda" next season I hope they have the good sense to give all the performances to Ananiashvilli :rolleyes: If all of the above appears to be too negative, I must add that I attended the performance with two friends who had never seen any of the ballets. They loved it

Silvy--I don't know why English ballerinas perform the Princess Florine with fluttering hands and arms, but it probably goes back a long way. Moira Shearer did much fluttering. My favorite Florine has always been Alicia Alonso, who danced it in a very classical manner. She was like a diamond, brilliant and regal, and her variation was done with much attention to small transition steps, a quality she seems to have passed on to Annette Delgado and Barbara Garcia in the recent Cuban ballet performances of Black Swan and Swan Lake.

On Oct 21, Amazon will release a DVD titled: "Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera". There is no further mention of what is on the DVD :shrug: Who are the dancers? What are the ballets? Is this a video tape that is being reissued on DVD? Help!

Roma, I was curious about the music for the Prince's variation in Swan Lake. At the beginning of the variation I thought--"How Nice--Alonso is using the same music that Youskevitch danced to"-but then, it veered off into something unfamiliar--it easily sounded like Minkus.