drb

The danseur noble, as Mel wrote, did not do the showy technical work -- BUT this was not a lack or a weakness. He showed his beautiful lines -- and, yes, his deportment. And he mimed with authority. He danced the "stately measures" rather than quicker steps, but these were considered the more difficult, because they had to be perfect.

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Porteur noble would be an oxymoron. "Porteur" is a disparaging term for a male dancer who does nothing but hold up the ballerina. He does no dancing of his own, and the implication is that he can't.

So then I would never call Erik Bruhn (or, say, Dowell) a "porteur", but since he has all the characteristics of a "danseur noble" PLUS additional merits, could I call him a "danseur noble+"? Or must "danseur noble" be confined to historical discussion?

Leigh Witchel: "They're completely different terms. A porteur is simply a partner... the male dancer did nothing more than present her."

Mel Johnson : " the danseur noble did not do the showy technical work...[he was] dedicated to showing off the ballerina and displaying excellent deportment..."

Help!, Alexandra, I still can't tell the difference! Especially when one throws in "porteur noble."

I don't think we've seen any danseurs nobles since before WWII.  In the days of rigid emploi, the danseur noble did not do the showy technical work that we style as bravura these days.  He was a courtier-type, dedicated to showing off the ballerina and displaying excellent deportment and aplomb.  In the twentieth century, the emphasis was always on the "general-purpose" male dancer, so the danseurs nobles went the way of the danseurs grotesques, and were folded into other emplois, in these cases, the classiques and the caractères, respectively.

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Are there distinctions between "porteur" and "danseur noble?" To add to my confusion, I've also seen "porteur noble." These must be very carefully defined terms, else how could "danseur noble," taken simply literally, not include, e.g., Erik Bruhn?

Is there a useful, precise reference book on ballet terms for those of us (decidedly) non-scholars of ballet?

Front Row Center

It would have seemed natural that once he learned she was interested in Balanchine's romantic roles he would have engaged her on that topic: would have liked her to have a chance to say which ones and why.

As for Wheeldon, isn't she the first ballerina since Farrell to be a Muse for a major choreographer? Imagine how that experience has informed ALL her dancing. It would have been interesting to hear from her on that. Had Farrell not been a creative Muse for Balanchine, yet still danced the major roles made for others, I don't doubt that she'd have been a great dancer. But would she still have become the ultimate?

To some Wendy's role in "After the Rain" is her Everest. It is about as "must see" as anything in the rep. Other roles may, or may eventually, tower over this one. Certainly some of her recent Symphony in C's have attained a new majesty. But might not the Muse experience have helped?

She was asked about partners, and she diplomatically stated her preference for older ones, valuing what she learned from them, yet accepting her responsibility to give back by helping younger partners. She handled that with class and diplomacy. Too bad Mr. Soto was not brought up: might not Nureyev be mentioned when interviewing Fonteyn?

Clearly Mr. Rose had been prepped with the Times article, given his early questions re her husband's remarks. And it did lead to her charming description of her cooking-as-performance (even to being applauded by dinner guests!).

Obviously he didn't know anything about Wendy and was really let down by his staff. Someone should have given him a question with either "Wheeldon" or "After the Rain" in it. As it was, Wendy was stuck with having to give very short answers since the guy would not know what she was talking about.

One interesting remark was that her roles of choice would be romantic ones by Balanchine. He had no real reply to that, thinking she was talking about "the classics." Bet what she was talking about included Bizet second movement!

Worth seeing for the clip of her dancing in "Glass Pieces."

By the way, she looked great!

A heartbreaking story, but an inspirational life. May he dance with the Angels forever.

.... Augustine, from De Musica: "since to the attentive spectators all his gestures are signs of things, the dance itself is called reasonable because it aptly signifies and exhibits something over and above the delights of the senses." ...

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Here is a useful resourse by Yvonne Kendall, with references, for intersections between dance and religion across cultures and throughout history:

http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/culture/music/kendall.htm

Although Augustine is included, the author missed kfw's semiotic reference above.

Here's an example from the site:

St. Isadore, sixth-century Archbishop of Seville was, in fact, ordered by the Council of Toledo to create choreographies for certain council events. It has been suggested by some scholars that the invasion and subsequent influence of the Moors bearing the strong dance traditions of Africa resulted in Spain's retention of the practice of religious dance longer than other European locales. The Mozarabic mass included dance for centuries, even surviving an eleventh-century attempt to quash the practice.

The word itself is not merely "merde", but "MERDE!", which idiomatically carries with it a sense of "you go to hell!"  It's a sort of way to avoid the Evil Eye, or the theater gremlins.

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I'd been wondering about the use of the word "Merde!" in ballet. Of course one wouldn't want to use the expression "break a leg." Also on this thread its provenance seems to be traced to Waterloo.

Is it a universally accepted expression, or are some dancers offended by the term?

Amy Reusch's question above, "Is it just because it would be about the worst thing that could happen on stage?" makes a good point. However I've seen that happen two or three times, and each time the audience seemed not bothered at all. This was early in the career of a NYCB star, who still performs with the company, but no longer appears to have that problem. Kristin Sloan supplied the photo below of the long-ago offender:

http://www.phontographer.com/winger/archiv...io_the_don.html

The Kings are now in NYC. Johan Kobborg, writing from his hotel overlooking Central Park comments on how cold the weather looks from his window. He says the OC shows went very well and the dancers had a good time.

http://www.kobborg.co.uk/mess3/index.html

A quote:

"Chris's [Wheeldon] piece turned out really well, and the solo that Tim Rushton did for me seems to be a big HIT."

(don't be misled by the typo "20 Jan")

I would prefer that the dancers do not fall for me.  Injury may result.

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I absolutely agree with you. I hope my attempt at an ironic comment on falling-worship, referring to another thread, was not misunderstood. If nothing else, it hurts.

Sadly, the above link only remained free for a few hours after posting. While interesting, there were too many open questions. For example, Lorin Maazel (who has brought the NY Philharmonic to a new level of excellence--for the first time ever forcing me to subscribe) and James Levine (Met Opera) were just behind Mr. Barenboim. But Mr. Levine's income from his post at the Boston Symphony Orchestra was not included, and one would guess that that alone would have placed him well over a million in the lead. Nor was reference made to his Met Orchestra concert conducting, with its ticket prices far higher than those of any other American orchestra.

In ballet, different AD's have differing responsibilities: some have schools, some choreograph, some disfigure classics, some teach.... It was not given whether these functions received extra compensation or were included in the salaries. Odd that Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham did not make the list (or have I forgotten?): perhaps choreographic fees and royalties were not included!

Actually, to the right of Stowell's name it says that Francia Russell was paid the same amount as he, so their combined salary was comparable to that of SFB, and greater than that of ABT.

Making comparisons within this list is tricky. It looks like Orchestra leaders are way overpaid compared to Ballet AD's, but they are also chief conductors, and thus are the major performing artists for their orchestras. In ballet, the AD's contribution to the total package can vary greatly, vis. Balanchine, Bejart, ...

Not altogether a bad idea when Clara is played by Alina Cojocaru! But a pretty weak Nutcracker, nevertheless.

The WSJ issue seems mute, inasmuch as the article is posted for free on the WSJ website:

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB1139...MTYxMTE0Wj.html

#1 Daniel Barenboim, the AD of the Chicago Symphony, earns about 3 times Peter's salary, which itself is about twice that of the AD of ABT, Kevin McKenzie.

To bypass WSJ, New York Magazine (September 20, 2005) says NYCB's AD Peter Martins' salary is $619,000. What they don't say is whether that includes SAB or choreography. So it may not be unreasonable at all, especially considering the solid financial state of the company and school, and the (only relative to any other company) fair salaries paid the dancers.

Regarding 'The Lesson", it would not surprise me if Kobborg did all performances of this ballet.  I cannot figure how the others could have the time to learn a complex dramatic ballet on short notice.  Kobborg did dance it last night again as  Ethan S. bowed out due to 'knee injury' says the OC Register review today. 

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The OC Register preview article cited above on Feb 14 tells of Kobborg teaching the role to the others; indeed, taking Alina's part before she arrived so they would have sufficient time to learn their role. Kobborg's website also has a lot of commentary by him on the group's preparations. Good luck to Ethan.

Norway does not seem to be much of a skating nation these days - in the olden days they had Sonia Henie who won I think that infamous 1936 Olympics.

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She must have been pretty good: Gold in '28, '32, and '36. And 10 consecutive World Championships, beginning at age 15 in '27.

http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96apr/henie.html

Some rated higher up also run major schools. Was that factored in? Also, hard to make a point without seeing who (and which Arts) were in the other positions. For example, The Met Opera is a much larger business (albeit very unsuccessful in bottom line business terms) than any ballet company. And the nature of the job is very different at, say, a major museum. Were museums included in the list?

It is very hard to make a point re ballet companies unless the rest of the list is included. Is there a website you could reference for the rest of the list?

WELCOME BACK NINA!!!

Nina says she'll return to ballet dancing in 2007. From her official website:

"EXTRA SPECIAL BULLETIN! Nina gave birth to a baby girl on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2006. Mother and child are both in good health. Little Helene Vashadze, named after both her maternal and paternal grandmothers, weighed 3 kg (6.6 lbs) at birth and measured 52 cm (20.5 inches). Nina and Gregory are extremely happy and would like to thank all of those who have supported them throughout this eventful year. Nina plans to return to the ballet stage in 2007."

Friday night saw repeats of Tala Gaisma and Union Jack, and began with Christopher Wheeldon's 1999 ballet Scenes de Ballet, originally (and tonight) set on SAB students.

Tala Gaisma featured the same cast as reviewed above for Thursday's performance. The four stars again all shown brightly. But La Sylve... . "OOOOO-LA-LA-LA SYLVE!"

Union Jack. The casting was nearly the same as last week, but tonight Kyra Nichols brought back memories of Patty McBride's personal magnetism dancing Costermonger with Nilas Martins, surely one of his best roles. Teresa "Legs" Reichlen seems to be placing her own personal stamp on the Farrell role, one of Balanchine's great unheralded creations. She brings a special airy lightness of step, I'd not seen before, to the Wren's Queen.

But the night belonged to The Kids! What a wonderful teaching ballet Mr. Wheeldon gave them. Admirable risk-taking on the part of the then young choreographer to use the score for one of THE greatest ballets of the 20th Century. Wouldn't it be nice if some of that generous Diamond money could be used to purchase Ashton's sublime masterpiece for NYCB? The new generation of City Ballet dancers could surely do the work justice. And it would be in safer hands than it is with the company that neglects its supreme genius.

But, The Kids: The almost-grown ups with the Big PdD, did it full justice. Kathryn Morgan and Jerome Tisserand danced as if they were already here, both with stage magnetism and strength, and I look forward to when they join the company. But everyone deserves mention. So, in the typography of the program,

BRETT FUKUDA LINDSAY TURKEL

Madeleine Martin Rebecca Tran Brianna Abruzzo Alixandra Domney

Austin Bachman Harrison Coll Oliver Oguma

Ghaleb Kayali Connor Cohen Jerimy Rivera

Isabelle Bachrach, Genny Berman, Miwako Chimura, Anjelica Fellini,

Allegra Herman, Ashley Hod, Emily Inglis, Emma King

Arden Pickoff-Rafferty, Emma Sameroynina, Skylar Schreter, Hayley Welsh

DAVID PROTTAS EZRA HURWITZ

Ellany Abbott, Callie Bachman, Lola Cooper, Shelby Elsbree,

Kay Ohta, Chantelle Pianetta, Helen Ruiz, Kristen Segin,

Alies van Staveren, Isabel Vondermuhll, Lillian Watkins, Mallory Welsh

KATHRYN MORGAN JEROME TISSERAND

SARA ADAMS, PUANANI BROWN, JACQUELINE DAMICO, MEAGAN MANN,

LEAH O'CONNOR, ERICA PEREIRA, SARAH WILLIAMS,

ANTHONY HUXLEY, SEAN ORZA, JUSTIN PECK, JOSE SEBASTIAN, AMIR YOGEV

Gabrielle Baden, Anne Shannon Baxter, Lauren Brown,

Priscilla Crommelin-Monnier, Alicia Fecto, Jenna Kesneck, Courtney Muscroft, Brittany Pollack,

Sylvie Volosov Rood, Rachel Sherak, Lucy Van Cleef, Lydia Wellington

Please forgive typos, it is getting late!

While ABT's site continues its silence, Cleveland's Playhouse Square site gives the following casting for La Corsaire:

Thursday, March 16, 2006 – 8 p.m.

Medora – Irina Dvorovenko

Conrad – Maxim Beloserkovsky

Ali, the Slave – Jose Manuel Carreño

Gulnare – Stella Abrera

Lankendem – Gennadi Saveliev

Birbanto – Herman Cornejo

Friday, March 17, 2006 – 8 p.m.

Medora – Paloma Herrera

Conrad – David Hallberg

Ali, the Slave – Gennadi Saveliev

Gulnare – Xiomara Reyes

Lankendem – Herman Cornejo

Birbanto – Carlos Lopez

Saturday, March 18, 2006 – 8 p.m.

Medora – Julie Kent

Conrad – Marcelo Gomes

Ali, the Slave – Jose Manuel Carreño

Gulnare – Maria Riccetto

Lankendem – Sascha Radetsky

Birbanto – Jesus Pastor

Sunday, March 19, 2006 – 2 p.m.

Medora – Paloma Herrera

Conrad – David Hallberg

Ali, the Slave – Gennadi Saveliev

Gulnare – Xiomara Reyes

Lankendem – Herman Cornejo

Birbanto – Carlos Lopez

http://www.playhousesquare.com/Events/Even...spx?EventID=824

Now ABT has posted casting. It agrees with the casting above

I think the women of this decade are the best group, in terms of quality, charisma, and quantity, since the 70's. It is a great time to be seeing ballet.

Admittedly we don't have the choreographers of that era, but we still have their ballets. But choreographers come along a couple of times per century.

The men aren't of the old level. Who is the new Dowell, Bocca, or Woetzel? Let alone Vasiliev, Bruhn, Nureyev, or Baryshnikov. But Ballet is Woman, so these are glorious times.

Sterling Hyltin is featured in Playbill:

http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/3809.html

She has been influenced by Darci Kistler:

'At one performance, Ms. Hyltin was particularly inspired by Darci Kistler's dancing. Then, to top it off, the youngster attended a class taught by Ms. Kistler the very next day. "She's really elated when she dances," Ms. Hyltin says of the principal dancer. "And that enthusiasm carries over into class and reaches the students."'

Regarding her dancing, she says that

.... what she loves about dancing: "I like to be light, but also sharp with my feet. Light, but sharp."

Good point, kfw. Two of the dancers who are most "spiritual" in the balletic sense, Farrell and Lopatkina, are both deeply religious, one might even say mystical.