cargill

Do keep in mind, though, that Russian casting is often subject to change! So I would choose by the ballet rather than the cast. Mary

I don't know how much of a ballet background he really had, but the little squib did say he had studied with Mordkin--I expect briefly when he was studying theater in New York.

Unfortunately, this didn't happen, but I was recently looking at a 1938 Dance Magazine (it was called American Dancer then, I think), and in the announcements section, there was a piece saying that the new star John Garfield, who had studied with Mordkin, was trying to interest the studio in making a film about Nijinsky, with Garfield, of course, in the starring role. It would have been something, I expect! Mary

I ordered a copy via Amazon UK, and it came very quickly. It is a gorgeous book, large photographs all on glossy stock. I certainly recommend it. Mary

I forget what opera it was (or maybe it was a Broadway show), but it was pretty bad, and had a horse, who did what horses often do. One writer commended the horse as being both "an actor and a critic".

Actually, I would prefer Joan Crawford as Myrtha!

About Giselle's weak heart, I remember reading that originally, when she was French, she killed herself, so was buried in unconcecrated ground, which is why Myrtha was able to dig her up. Then when she migrated to Russia, the censors (bowing to the Orthodox Church) wouldn't allow a suicide on stage, so she developed a bad heart. The French version always makes more sense to me.

This was performed by the New York Theatre Ballet a few years ago, and I remember enjoying it very much. I just looked it up, and it was done in 2004 and here is what I wrote in DanceViewTimes . Balanchine’s A La Francaix, too, is a rarely seen comedy, and it was enterprising of the company to find a rarity in this Balanchine-saturated year, where every company seems to be doing the top five Balanchine hits. The work was created quickly to fill a repertory hole, and is a riff on the French Romantic era, from the punning title (Jean Francaix wrote the music) to the pushy sylph. It begins with two matelots dancing with a frisky young girl, who are brushed aside by a suave tennis player (Steven Melendez with a debonair false mustache). The sylph (Melissa Beaver) then absconds with him using all the sylphian clichés—there is a whole lot of whispering going on. Eventually she morphs into a very earthbound bathing beauty. It was a very entertaining bauble.

There is a wonderful book by Barbara Barker called Ballet or ballyhoo, the American careers of Maria Bonfanti, Rita Sangalli and Giuseppina Morlacchi which has lots of information about The Black Crook. It was based on her dissertation, as I recall, but it is very readable. Mary

I know that is is off the topic, but I just wanted to say that yes, the Trocs do have their serious side, funny though their productions are. I did an interview with the Russian stager Elena Kunakova, who had worked with them staging some of their OTT Russian productions, and she said they were wonderful to work with because they took style very seriously, and really wanted to get the distinctions right. Which is one reason, I think, that their spoofs are so funny, and not just silly. Not ever as far as I can tell, no, so -- I should have been clear, sorry -- I disagree with Ray, whom I thought you agreed with, that the Trocs have shown men can perform well on point. Technical achievement aside, they can camp it up well on point, that all. But campy was good enough for me, at least for the Swan Lake (and Dying Swan) spoofs.

This is a new, fairly obscure (no listing in Amazon, and only about 10 libraries listed as having it) book called Alexander Shiryaev : master of movement, which includes a translation of Shiryaev's autobiography. He was a famous character dancer (he actually was the choreographer of the hoop dance that New Yorkers see in Balanchine's Nutcracker), who was also facinated by the possibilities of film. He tried to get the Maryinsky to agree to letting him photograph dancers in the early 1900's, but the authorities thought that the postcards were enough, but he did some filming on his own. These films were only recently discovered, and there is a facinating documentary, which this book talks about. His autobiography only mentions the films in passing, but has a lot of information about the Petipa period and especially the development of character dancing (Shiryaev was, according to this, the first person to systematically develop character classes), and he taught from the early 1900's through the Soviet period.) Shiryaev was the grandson of Pugni, and his mother was in the Maryinsky corps, so he basically grew up in the theater, and his observations on the Italian influence on the older French school, with the arrival of Cecchetti (Shiryaev was in awe of his dancing, but didn't think much of him as a mime) and the Italian ballerinas was very interesting.) There are wonderful pictures, too.

Cubanmiamiboy, I don't think that idea is at al far-fetched. I interviewed Peter Boal a while ago, and he talked about Robbins coaching him in Dances at a Gathering, and he said this about the beginning and the end. He talked a lot about the opening solo. He told us “You are an older man, you’ve been through a lot, and you return to the dance studio where you first studied. You walk into that room, and you look at the barre over there, and you remember who stood there, and you remember that they were your friend, and you look over there and you think ‘I never liked that person’, and the teacher used to stand there and the piano was there. And then you begin to dance.” But it has to register at the beginning that this is a place that I knew when I was young. The lighting definitely makes it seem like it takes place out of doors. Yes, but whatever his own image when he choreographed it was, he felt that the ballet studio was the best metaphor for us to grasp. The ballet studio where we had learned to dance is our frame of reference. For others it could be the playing field I grew up on or the house my grandmother lived in. Everybody has the significant location where life and feeling and understanding really began, and for dancers it is the ballet studio. He wanted that sense of returning. Yes, “I am remembering”, or “I am remembering too much”. It is an important thought, but it is also a passing thought. And the final gesture at the end of the ballet of touching the ground is hard to put into words without sounding awkward, but it is a place where I lived, where experiences happened, but it is just a place. I must say that Robbins would die all over again if he knew how many words I am using to describe this! It is all about memory, and everyone has an individual reaction. Mary

One of the most amazing entrances I have ever seen was Bouder's debut as the second lead in La Source. She came bounding on as a virtual unknown (I think she had been in the company for about a year), and the entire audience gasped. It was just so unbelievably musical.

I think that "Balanchine didn't like acting" is one of those blanket statements that does need qualifying. I interviewed Judith Fugate, who said Balanchine's nickname for her was Sarah Berhnhardt (because he knew her first as Clara in the Nutcracker back when Marie was Clara). She remembered several times when he singled her out for her abilities, and told a wonderful story of him carefully demonstrating the way the girl in Coppelia found the key--Fugate was the original--stressing that this part was for "Judy the actress". A number of people have described how careful he was to maintain the Prince's mime in the Nutcracker, which is all acting. Possibly he just didn't like bad acting. Mary

Well, for a start this sentence belongs in the old Pseuds Corner. From the start, the black-and-white costumes express the severity and isolating lack of middle ground between each extreme of humor, reflected more so in Hindemith’s varying piano melodies. Mary

Here is their press release. Mary Columbia Ballet Collaborative FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE COLUMBIA BALLET COLLABORATIVE RETURNS TO MILLER THEATRE April 9th and 10th at 8 pm Columbia Ballet Collaborative (CBC) proudly presents an engaging program of contemporary ballet works in its return to Miller Theatre. CBC, founded in 2007 by five professional ballet dancers enrolled at Columbia, is comprised of students from all four of the University's undergraduate colleges. Featured in The New York Times, Dance Magazine, Vanity Fair and TimeOut NY, CBC provides a platform for the collaboration between professionals in the New York dance community and students of Columbia University. This unique organization is student-run and directed and includes members who have danced professionally with Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Washington Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. This season’s highlights include a performance by New York City Ballet (NYCB) principal dancer and Barnard student Teresa Reichlen in a premiere by Justin Peck, fellow member of NYCB and Columbia student. CBC’s resident choreographer Emery LeCrone, who has choreographed for North Carolina Dance Theatre and Oregon Ballet Theatre, will premiere a new work this season. The program will also feature a new work by former NYCB principal, Monique Meunier including a guest appearance by NYCB soloist, Craig Hall. Regarding CBC’s focus on fostering new works, the New York Times has said, "New choreographic voices are rare in ballet, and the collaborative’s contribution in this respect has been vast already." These performances are part of Miller Theatre's Columbia Performers Partnership, which promotes young artist development, fosters interdepartmental collaboration, and shares Columbia University's artistic talents with a broader audience. Tickets for the April 9th and 10th performances at 8 pm are $12 and $7 with Columbia University ID. Tickets are available online at www.millertheatre.com/Events or at the box office: Miller Theatre Box Office 2960 Broadway (at 116th street) 212-854-7799 For more information about Columbia Ballet Collaborative, email us or visit us online. Website: www.columbiaballetcollaborative.com Email: columbia.ballet.collaborative@gmail.com Facebook: The Columbia Ballet Collaborative

This is a bit off topic, but on the subject of Martins and Apollo, I have heard him say that he didn't think Balanchine really likes his (Martins) version, that Balanchine thought the role should be demi-caractere. I saw Martins coach Ethan Stiefel at one of the Guggenheim Works in Process series, and Martins was wonderfully clear and vivid, stressing that it wasn't a classical role (feet forward, and not turned out, that kind of thing). Mary

I feel like the super-competitive English chair in a David Lodge novel, who was trapped by a gormless British academic playing the "what great work have you never read--more points for the most famous" into admitting he had never read Hamlet. I never like watching Suzanne Farrell, all those flappy hands and exaggerated extensions. To be honest, I came to the NYCB after several years watching the Royal Ballet, with their understated pure lines and beautiful upper body, but she was one dancer I never enjoyed. (The fact that the first time I saw her was wearing underwear in Bejart's ultra-trashy Nijinsky might have something to do with it.) I understand now what I missed. Mary

In case anyone is interested the Fox Movie Channel is showing Tonight We Sing on Monday, August 17, 6:00 am ET.

There are so many! But my strongest influence would be Dowell, so pure and so elegant. I was so fortunate to see him many times in The Dream (as well as in other ballets), but in that one, he just seems completely irreplaceable. (Not that I don't see that ballet as many times as I possibly can.) On the other hand, I also loved Alexander Grant for his ability to create such vivid characters; I didn't seem him when he was young, but he must have been an amazingly strong dancer. Ib Andersen, who I saw in the 1979 Bournonville Festival, and who was the perfect Carelis in Kermesse in Bruges. Of the dancers today, I would say Marcelo Gomes, for his generosity and warmth (and as Jane would say, he is easy on the eye).

Great question! The first ballerina that I saw live that made a major impression on me was Svetlana Beriosova. I saw her in Enigma Variations, and her grace, grandeur and air of resigned dignity is something I will never forget. She was a very special dancer.

I agree. I hadn't really noticed her much, but she was stunning in Company B last fall, and wonderful in Airs. I loved her Myrtha, she was really casting a spell. She also did a big swan that was so musical. She is very special.

It is interesting how far reaching an appearance on Letterman is--I was at a physical therapy session today, and was talking to someone with an injured foot about high heels, and someone else piped in saying he had seen a ballet dancer on Letterman and was surprized that she was wearing such high heels (about 6 inches he said)--but he was very impressed by her!

Somehow I missed this thread, but wanted to add that I saw Amparo Brito in Washington when the Cuban Ballet played there in the late 70's/ early 80's. She did Zulma in Giselle, and I have never forgotten it, one of the best things I have seen. I was always expecting her to become better known, and am glad that she got some appreciation! Mary

I got the impression that Dvorovenko's fouettes facing different parts of the stage were intentional--I saw her turn 1 1/4 times until she faced the front again and then she did them straight on. I thought it showed astounding control--a circus, but a tremendous one. Mary