Helene

I wonder what control data the EU used in order to establish that Danes "can't stand seeing foreigners being successful." There are enough historical and "scientific" texts from the past that extol the intrinsic inferiority or superiority of one group over the other, and, in retrospect, we don't think too highly of them.

Last week I received a lovely letter under Christopher Stowell's signature from OBT, honoring the three dancers who retired at the end of the 2004-5 season: Tracy Taylor, Matthew Boyes, and Karl Vakili. (I assume it went to subscribers, donors, and ticket buyers.) I'm grateful that I was able to see all three over the last two seasons.

That was terrific, carbro

Welcome, Miss Christine! As carbro said, it's great to have a post from someone who has studied with Mezentseva, as well as having seen her perform.

I'm not sure Raymonda was supposed to be any more historically accurate than Madama Butterfly or Abduction from the Seraglio, for example, in the conflict of archetypes, both philosophical -- East vs. West, Christianity vs. The Other -- and dramatic. After all, the dangerous, sexy stranger -- in ballet terms, the flashy guy with the big jumps and excuse for the exotic divertissement -- is still a stock character in plays and movies.

Marriage to the Saracen would have been a strategic alliance between the Tsar of Hungary (Raymonda's uncle) and the Islamic east. Hungary was located at the crossroads of various competing empires. By the time Petipa set the story, the Saracen would have been considered and portrayed as the heathen compared to the civilized, Christian Jean de Brienne. (Dressed all in white in the Bolshoi production that toured to Berkeley.) He's set up as the straw man in this drama.

Well, not really: she is listed as being born on Sept 17, 1931, so she would have turned 74 on Sept 17, 2005, and so she still was 73. (Sorry, that's the math teacher in me talking ;) ) Yikes -- I'm already in the next fiscal year at work and subtracted from 2006

If the only dancers to really do A Month in the Country right were the original cast members, then I would say "yes" resoundingly. Even more than Symphonic Variations, which I could recognize as a great work, even if it didn't move me, I was floored by A Month in the Country. It was performed by Sandra Conley as Natalia Petrovna, David Wall as Beliaev, David Drew as Yslaev, Douglas Howes as Kolia, Gillian Kingsley as Vera, Derek Rencher as Rakitin, Jacqui Fallis as Katia, and a dancer whose last name was Conway as Malvei. (I think I've written either "Ch" for Charles, or "A") The ballet was performed during the Royal Ballet's 1981 tour to New York.

The Scherzo was choreographed for Patricia Wilde and Andre Eglevsky, and was reportedly dropped because no one else could do it at the time. According to Choreography by George Balanchine, in "ca. 1960" it was "permanently eliminated." It was dusted off for at least the 19 February 1989 performance, in which Katrina Killian and Gen Horiuchi danced the leads. The only thing I remember is that it was a virtuoso turn. I also just notice that Kelly Cass, Peter Boal's wife, danced the second movement, originally choreographed for Janet Reed, in that performance. The date is too early for the season ender; I'm not sure what the occasion was. The music listed in the book for the ballet is: "Red River Valley" "Old Taylor" "Rye Whiskey" "Lolly-Too-Dum" "Good Night, Ladies" "Oh Dem Golden Slippers" "The Girl I Left Behind Me." I'm not famililar enough with the titles of the songs except for the first and last to know if this listing includes the music from the Scherzo or just the current score.

MacLaine's Deedee did strike me as a very real person, but she lacked the carriage and body awareness that I've seen in every ballet teacher, regardless of age, weight, or number of children. Her character was supposed to be the co-director of a ballet school, who had once been enough of a singular talent in the equivalent of ABT to have a rising young choreographer choose her -- over Bancroft's Emma -- for a starring role in his first major ballet.

This past weekend, Ballet Arizona closed its season with its Innovations program: 2B, a 2003 one-movement ballet by Ib Andersen extended by two movements, Agon, and Theme and Variations. I saw the Saturday matinee and evening performances. I was rather frightened when I read last week that 2B was set to a Polenc piece for two pianos, but it was choreographed to a concerto, not the solo piano work against which Christopher Stowell's recent piece for PNB fought gallantly. The ballet opened with two couples and the first movement alternated between them dancing in parallel and the sets of two men and two women performing contrasting movements. The most striking parts of this older movement were the quirky humor that Andersen injects into the piece, like the use of sudden heel turns, but even more so, the extensive way he uses the floor, making the ballet work on multiple physical planes. The second movement begins with a single dancer onstage in an orange leotard, to a short piano solo that sounds like ballet class music -- a contrast to the rest of the concerto except for the reprieve -- and the choreography resembles a class exercise. As the music expands, so does the choreography, and about 2/3 through, she is joined by two men in royal blue tights and blousy shirts, who dance around her and eventually partner her. While the individual moves looked "easy" -- single pirouettes, for example -- the requirement to phrase them together for such a duration without a break in form, a bobble on a stop on both pointes in fourth, or a loss of energy or concentration -- all done with few visible preparations -- made it look impossibly difficult to me. Kenna Draxton, a tall amazon with long legs but also a proportionally long torso, danced the role, and was riveting in her command of the stage and her two cohorts. The last movement was for four couples, beginning with the four men. One moment they were flying across the stage in big jumps to all corners, and an instant later they formed a line across the stage, and I still can't figure out how that change happened; it came out of nowhere. The women's entrance was clever: as the men stood in a line across the back of the stage, the women entered one at a time and circled each man along the row. The only thing that looked forced was the very end, where the entire cast re-assembled, but for such a short time, it looked like there might not have been enough rehearsal time to fuse the cast for a more extended passage. But the final stage picture was gorgeous: the costume design is attributed to Andersen, and the colors -- teal, orange, royal blue, mint green -- not only looked fantastic together onstage, they represented a southwest regional pallette. The demands of this ballet, in contrast to the lightness and wit of many passages, seemed rather draconian: for example, the dancers were asked to go from full throttle to a quieter passage of quick rondes de jambe (on the floor), which, to do cleanly, need perfect placement, turnout, and control. The contrasts in the ballet were dictated by the music, and, unlike many choreographers, Andersen does not falter when a grand sweeping musical passage retracts and turns to development. That ability, to me, is a litmus test; it's when the choreographer responds to the change without "Then a Miracle Happens" before continuing on the original path. It looked even better from the Balcony than from the Orchestra; from higher up, the patterns and particularly the placement of the couples in the first movement were quite a bit clearer. It is impossible not to note the resemblance in the second movement trio to the second pas de trois in Agon, but with the exception of a couple of partnering phrases, the similarity is more in the DNA than the actual steps. Even if Agon had not been on the program, Draxton's performance in 2B screamed for her to be cast in the role. (She danced it in the evening cast.) Three of the four men in the ballet were cast as the demisoloists in Theme and Variations, and while their parts in T&V don't require quite the number of quick juxtapositions of weight and direction they performed in 2B, the bar is set for the main male role in Theme, and 2B is going to get them there if they're not already and will keep their skills honed. The two main couples in the first movement were Natalia Magnicaballi, paired with Ilir Shtylla in the matinee and Michael Cook in the evening, and Lizbet Companioni and Joseph Cavanaugh in both performances. In the matinee, I wasn't sure if the main couples were supposed to be in unison -- they were in the evening -- or they were supposed to follow the first. Shtylla looked underrehearsed in the role, and he and Magnicaballi seemed to be just a beat behind Companioni and Cavanaugh. Companioni had more energy and strength than I've ever seen from her, and more than held her own with Magnicaballi onstage. (Was she always a redhead?) Cavanaugh was magnificent in a role that showcases his flexible back, enlivened torso, and grounded plie. (He reminds me a bit of Soto.) And Cavanaugh and the elegant Cook together were a stunning combination, particularly when the men danced in unison. Draxton was a cool, modern goddess in the second movement. Among the Principals and demis, only Sergei Perkovskii, replacing Elye Olson in the evening, danced both casts in Agon. The afternoon's performance was like nothing I'd ever seen before in phrasing, emphasis, and energy, particularly among the women. It was as if I was listening to a performance in Dutch -- some of the words sounded somewhat familiar. It was truly a contest, starting with the sense that the stage was split in half, with Nancy Crowley leading the blue team and Giselle Doepker leading the white team -- over water rights in Arizona. Ginger Smith and Lisbet Camponioni threw themselves into the Gaillarde, each trying to outdo the other. James Russell Toth's direct interpretation of the Sarabande was rather alien from the rest of the performance -- a West Coast visitor teleported into the NYC subway at rush hour. Again Companioni danced strongly, and Ginger Smith is a wonderful addition to the Company. In the second pas de trois, Sergei Perkovskii and Ilir Shtylla were comrades, joined by Giselle Doepker, who looked uncontrolled, rushing about the stage without every having her legs quite under her. I may not just "get" Doepker as a dancer, at least in the black and white rep. (She was the corps dancer in Theme who had beautiful expression in her arms and shoulders during the adagio intro to the section where the ballerina performs balances supported by the women.) Nancy Crowley and Joseph Cavanaugh led the most aggressive pas de deux I have ever seen. That Crowley's approach would be balanced differently was clear from the start, in the height of her knee in the frappes at the beginning of the movement. The standard interpretation that I've seen of the central woman's role is that the man mainly manipulates the woman's limbs into a position, and in response she springs back or pretzels out of it, like a cyber being. Crowley fought back each time with red-blooded intensity, and when the man was prostrate on the floor as a result, it was almost as if she had flipped him. At one such point when Cavanaugh was on the ground, and Crowley raised her arms in modified high fifth, she flicked her wrists and looked like she was about to gore her bullfighter. (Ole!) Because she was so powerful, Cavanaugh's role was more vivid by contrast, not just the puppetmeister role to which leading men in the role are often delegated except for the solo passages. The dancers threw themselves into their roles in both ballets, and there were a notable number of slips and slides. I wasn't sure if there were intermittent slicks on the surface, or if it truly resembled the skating competitions where the first fall spooks the other skaters and causes a domino effect. I really wondered whether Richard Tanner, who did the staging, had a completely different take on the ballet, but the evening's performance was much more familiar. The opening was competitive, but I didn't get a sense that there was a wall separating the two halves of the stage. I haven't seen any other Company that cast Gaillarde to such strength: Paola Hartley and Kendra Mitchell radiated warmth and power along with technical prowess. I had to look twice to see that it was Astrit Zejnati in the Sarabande, switching styles from Theme to Agon seamlesslessly. (James Russell Toth would have been equally at home in this cast.) In the Second Pas de Trois, Perkovskii was joined by Robert Dekkers, in another rendition of friendly competition in the Bransle Simple. In the Bransle Gay and Bransle Double, Kenna Draxton fulfilled the expectations that her performance in 2B promised. If I have one criticism, it is that in both casts, the final lift and "toss" into arabesque was a bit tentative. Natalia Magnicaballi and Michael Cook are a wonderful pairing, with matching lines and elegant style. Their interpretation was dynamic, but understated, spinning a web until the final pose. The last ballet on the program was Theme and Variations, with the same cast for all five performances (in four days, and with Agon duty ) The Company performed this ballet with the same Principals in last year's Balanchine Program, and I believe it's also part of next June's as well. (The Company site is under construction, so I can't confirm right now.) I love both dancers, Paola Hartley and Astrit Zejnati, in general, and in these roles in particular. Hartley moves between allegro and adagio with ease. She is not tall, and she was flanked by the tallest of the tall women in the Company. When she first took the hands of the two women on either side, it looked for a moment as they raised their arms that they would lift her from the floor. That she was able to command the stage from there was remarkable, and the ravishing supported adagio with the corps women made me see that this passage in Theme is a crystallization of the White Swan pas de deux. Her Odette must be something. Zejnati is the personification of "Old World Charm" -- elegant and attentive, with a streak of humility. His attention to detail, particularly the way his arms shadow the woman's, in timing and shape, and how they balance her gestures, is a welcome reminder of an almost lost art. The four demis were even stronger than last year, with the welcome addition of Ginger Smith joining Kendra Mitchell, Lisbet Companioni, and Kanako Imayoshi as a beautifully matched quartet. I'm looking forward to seeing three performances in next year's season. Although the move to the smaller Orpheum Theater was a financial burden for the Company, I'm going to miss it with the move back to Symphony Hall (four of five programs). It is no converted hockey rink!

Not yet

Here's a link to the obituary in The Washington Post. It is written in a more personal tone.

It was hard for me to believe Shirley MacLaine was ever a creature of the stage from her portrayal of Deedee in The Turning Point, and the irony was that she was a dancer and musical theater actress in her early career, with a reprise in Postcards from the Edge. I thought Bancroft's portrayal of a careerist, who forged her career when ballet didn't have the legitimacy afforded by the Ford Foundation grant in the 60's and the subsequent ballet boom, and when women were expected to be domestic, was dead on, particularly the frustration with, distain for, and ultimate lack of understanding she showed for the more talented friend who didn't have the single-minded will that made her own career possible. And as far as believing her as a dancer, to me she looked like every bone and joint was stiff and aching at that part in her dancing life. Where I felt director Herb Ross really let down the actresses and the story was when instead of keeping the camera zoomed in on the physical fight between the two women, he panned away for cheap chuckles over at catfight. The recognition of how far they had come and how deep their resentments lay would have been more effective -- and respectful -- by showcasing the talent that Arthur Penn described ,and which was quoted in the New York Times obituary: ""More happens in her face in 10 seconds than happens in most women's faces in 10 years." According to IMDB.com, Bancroft was born in 1931 -- which conflicts with her age listed in the NYT (73) -- Hoffmann in 1937, and Ross in 1940. Pace Anne Bancroft, and condolences to your husband an family.

Given Volkova's influence and dedication to the Company over so many years, and all of the students' and dancers' lives that she touched, hopefully there will be an extensive effort to honor her 100th birthday.

Antonia Franceschi was Cecchetti-trained by Margaret Craske. Craske's student Diana Byer teaches the technique at the school that is affiliated with New York Theater Ballet and coaches the Company that way as well.

This will be posted as soon as we get word from the Company

In Hungarian, the "s" is pronounced "sh", and "ly" is pronounced "ee" (long "e"). There's no "l" sound in "ly." Here's a pronunciation guide to Hungarian: http://www.math.nyu.edu/%7Ewendlc/pronunci.../Hungarian.html Oh, the mess I used to make out of trying to pronounce the name "György," when "gy" is a simple "j" sound (as in "judge").

I never really though of him as angelic-looking, despite the blond curls. Having seen him yesterday from about 10 yards away, I must say he is the most early-thirties-year-old-looking early-fifties-year-old I think I've ever seen. (In real life, not after a team of air-brushers and make-up artists have done their best.) While he still could be the child of the snowbirds in the audience, I suspect most think he's no older than their grandchildren, and they just don't believe him when he says in Q&A's that he's an old man. Gable was like taking all those British WWI era poets' version of Youth on a Pedestal and adding red blood to it.

The cast lists that I have recorded follow. (Jack, please tell me if the programs say otherwise): 30 April 1993 Matinee Mother Goose Lisa Hess, Delia Peters, Christopher Fleming, Judith Fugate, Paul Frame, Jonathan Pessalano (school kid), Jeri Kummery, Michael Puleo, Toni Bentley, Stacey Caddell, Cornell Crabtree, David Otto, Susan Gluck, Roma Sosenko, Espen Giljane, Douglas Hay, Max Blechman (school kid), and I one I can't read (looks like Schane, maybe a school kid?) Kammermusik #2 von Aroldingen/Lavery Nichols/Luders Four Seasons Winter: Matthews, Peter Frame, Lisa Hess Spring: Nichols/Daniel Duell Summer: Saland/Joseph Duell Fall: Kozlov/Kozlova/Horiuchi 30 April 1983 Evening Divertimento No. 15 Theme: Victor Castelli/Peter Frame Var 1: Elyse Borne Var 2: Lisa Hess Var 3: Stephanie Saland Var 4: Lourdes Lopez Var 5: Sean Lavery Var 6: Kyra Nichols Magic Flute Katrina Killian/David McNaughton Symphony in C Calegari/Luders Farrell/Martins Melinda Roy/Daniel Duell Lisa Hess/Joseph Duell It was Joseph Duell's birthday. I bought a keychain from the Gift Shop with a replica of a ticket, and it's dated Apr. 29, 1983, the last NYCB performance for which Balanchine was still alive. The seat is Orchestra Left N127. Does anyone know if that was Balanchine's seat (or Kirstein's)?

Many thanks for the review, Michael. I really appreciate the way you see the beauty admidst and in the ruins and express it so clearly.

This is the thread about the 30 April 1983 performances: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...topic=19597&hl=

When companies start out with recorded music and add live music, the subscribers' expectation is that live music is a special treat. The exceptions are most often for individual works with specialty scores, like In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and Jardi Tancat. (Maria del Mar Bonet is one of the greatest singers alive, and her recordings of traditional and original songs are a high point of any performance of the piece for me.) And in the modern dance realm, Mark Morris breaks his own "live music only" rule when he choreographed to Yoko Ono's music in Dogtown, for example. Nutcracker is often not part of a subscription series, for various reasons: a regular subscription is for X number of adults only, often at night, and the parents want to bring children and sit with them; subscribers will pay for the additional ticket(s) for Nutcracker; some people don't like to have performances scheduled during the holiday season, etc. Some companies, like Ballet Arizona, offers it as part of the full-season package, for those who want it. Ballet Arizona also offers a "make your own subscription" and advertises up front which will have live music (and the venue). So does Oregon Ballet Theatre, which has two venues and live music for some programs only. Does anyone know of a company that has downgraded to recorded music that previously would have been performed live, with orchestra, at least at its home base (as opposed to on tour)?

It sounds like a wonderful presentation. I particularly love where you played part of the Bizet and asked the audience to imagine a ballet to it, and then showed the actual choreography.

I agree with the T-shirt that reads, "So Many Books, So Little Time." If it's tough going, and not required reading, I would suggest putting it aside, and picking it up in another 5-10 years. There's plenty to read in the meantime.