atm711

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.

Based on the 'Don Q. I saw---no way is the Cuban Company in Alonso's image. I am going again today and will try to keep an open mind There is much I want to say about Alonso, but I will put it on my Blog.

The biggest thrill of the evening was seeing Alonso's curtain call.

I saw the Cubans on Wednesday night in 'Don Q' and it was performed by Valdes (??, spelling?, I lost my program) and Joel Carreno. The ballerina was a practiced crowd pleaser. She was not content to merely hold an arabesque indefinitely, she changed the position into passe, and then developpe front . I could almost hear Carreno saying "How do I top this?" He, by the way, is a dancer with a charming stage presence, lyric line and gorgeous feet. The male corps was impressive, especially in the toreador sequence; I was also struck by the shorter legs of the female corps---this is not to criticise---we have been conditioned over the years to the longer look.

Could it have been jealousy that made him treat her that way? She was, by far, the better technician.

How does this affect NYCB's "Chopiniana" this winter. I was looking forward to seeing it in unconventional costumes.

Well now I know why my arthritis has been bothering me lately---I saw that first U.S. performance--FYI the rest of the program was--'The Rake's Progress', 'Facade' and 'Hamlet'.

One afterthought to the above---all four ballets were shown for the first time on October 12, and Fonteyn had leading parts in all but 'Facade'.--Amazing :sweating:

A shining example of how it can be done is Margot Fonteyn's autobiography.

I am not quite sure what you mean. I have Fonteyn's autobiography, and I felt it was evasive. (she didn't have too much to say about Lambert or Petit). Does this mean I thought her dancing was evasive? It has been a few years since I have read it, but I can see it's time for a re-reading.

While reading 'Angelina Ballerina' to my 3 year old granddaughter, her 6 year old brother was listening in. When the story was finished he turned to me and said "Don't boys dance"? As you can imagine, that was all this grandmother had to hear! I thought about what videos I should send him and decided on the Balanchine Nutcracker because of all the children in Act I. I told his mother that he would probably only be interested in Act I; but he was glued to the TV for the entire ballet, and then requested a repeat. For his second tape I sent him the Royal Ballet's delightful version of "Peter and the Wolf", performed by students of the School. Both of these tapes have an honored place alongside the Disney fare. I have been looking for a suitable 'Cinderella'---the Ashton version did not hold their attention---.

I'll be at NJPAC---I bought my tickets months ago---I can see it pays to wait :angry: It would be nice to meet---shall we carry a 'Dance View' or perhaps a red rose?

I borrowed this video from my library a couple of weeks ago---I hope they show the 'Ondine'--the shadow dance is worth the whole thing.

Sorry, it doesn't ring a bell. Are you sure this is his stage name?

BW, I don't think it is a case of being "protective". It seems to me she went to the performances with preconceived ideas; and was too pleased with her cleverness. Others on the board, whose opinions I respect, have welcomed her. Let's keep an open mind

I, too, have regrets for having missed the performances. I enjoyed 'Rideau' last year. I am not familiar with the writings of Mindy Aloff, and I hope Leigh turns her off. She took a lot of baggage with her to the performance; she was also much too condescending.

How times have changed Irina Baronova had stopped dancing for a while and put on weight. When she did come back to class there was a lot of buzz around town. The talk was: "Baronova is back taking class at Vilzak-Shollar and she looks wonderful, she has slimmed down to 126 lbs."

I don't have an issue with a short dancer doing the gigue, but I do have an issue with an inelegant dancer doing the part.  I think it's been turned into a "rustic" part and that's not what I think the intent was.

Leigh, in the version I saw with the Ballet Russe in the mid 40's, the Gigue was danced by StanleyZompakos. He wore a colorful costume (red with touches of yellow) and he was more muscular than Castelli or Andersen. I can remember being taken aback the first time I saw the current version.

What's the problem. Volochkova says she weighs 109 lbs. The NYTimes measured her height as 5' 6". I voted Yes--and I think it is bad publicity for ballet for the right reasons. Perhaps ballet companies will re-think their policies of skinny dancers.

Yes, Estelle, that is probably the ballet. It was quite successful and featured a very large cast, including Renault. The other Lifar works were not too well received. Well, if you have seen Charles Jude dance you will have a good idea of what Kalioujny was like.

Estelle, the only other dancer I recall is Darsonval in the 1st movement. I don't believe it, but I cannot recall who did the 2nd movement! That season, when POB came to New York was pretty exciting for us. In adddition to "Palais" they performed 'Suite en blanc' and 'Two pidgeons' and a work with Grand Guignol characters. I can't recall the name, but I saw it more than once because it was such good fun---perhaps you might know. It was also a time when Lifar was being criticized for his WWII behavior and there were pickets outside the theater. I was determined, though, to see him up close, and I managed to track him down and have him autograph my copy of his biography of Diaghilev.

It could be suggested that Balanchine came home (and according to Anatole Chujoy, had to be talked into setting the ballet for his own company), and saw that his own dancers could not do what the POB dancers could and change things.  And I have to admit, on the surface, the later version is less "technical."

Having seen the POB and NYCB perform this work in 1948 this comment rings true to me. The POB was in New York in '47 or '48 and I know I saw this version first, and then the NYCB performance. It was quite a contrast . What we saw at POB was elegance and bravado; NYCB came up short on both. I only saw POB dance it once, so I cannot answer any questions on choreography. Maria Tallchief was the only ballerina in the production, and the men, at the time were technically weak. In contrast, the POB had Alexandre Kalioujny (all elegance and beautiful line, perhaps an early Erik Bruhn) and Michel Renault (good dancer with an ego to match Bujones).

I noticed the omission on Sept. 13th---but I thought it might be because they had an expanded section on Sept. 7th where they had extensive coverage and listed the coming season.

Oh--how I would love to see that Guggenheim show! I haven't given up yet on seeing it--I am trying other devious ways B) I don't know if the 1944 version I know is the same as 1933. There are many kudos out there for the present version, and especially Farrell's performance. While I do (and did) admire her in the role, I was always a bit disappointed in the present ending. I missed the final PDD with Danilova and Franklin--who depicted the witticism of the music so well.

Well!! After all that I am happy to say I have my tickets. I will be there Wednesday night and Sat. Mat.

Alexandra, my introduction to ballet was also through Beaumont's book. During The War my older sister had a beau (an English Naval officer) who came to our shores often during those years. He took her to the ballet many times, and as an appreciation for her company, and the comfort of being a part of our family when he was in town, he gave her a copy of the book. My sister and the Englishman remained friends until his death ten years ago.

I bought a copy last year at www.Alibris.com. They had two versions--one published in 1938, and the other a few years later, 1942, I believe.