Helene

the empty octave DOES sound at the end of Prokofiev's Romeo and juliet, that is truly desolate -- but the end of Swan Lake doesn't sound like that....

Maybe the end of Swan Lake is like the end of Ring of the Nibelungen: the best you can hope for is a do-over.

Oh, Farrell Fan, you

In a recent thread on the Paris Opera Ballet on new corps de ballet members, the term "surnuméraires." I'd appreciate it very much if someone could tell me what this means.

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=19988

To my mind none of the revivals have showed the rib-isolations, the beautiful (and very difficult) off-center placement of the spine, the big undulations through the back which were a BIG part of the excitement of the premiere -- Julia Adam REALLY put her back into it, as did Hoisington, David justin was magnificent in a different way, and Askia Swift was out of this world with the fluctuations in the lumbar spine -- They made it really thrilling.

I wish you had been able to see Jordan Pacitti perform the big male solo with PNB this spring. He was a dream in the role.

Thank you for the info, its the mom, and congratulations to your daughter on her performance in the Swan Lake pas de deux. You must be very proud.

There hasn't been a change to the software or an upgrade.

Is anyone else seeing the same behavior? If you have, please reply, and maybe we can get to the bottom of this. I know I've had what seemed like strange behavior with PMs when I've had multiple browser sessions open.

PNB certainly is blessed to have both of them (Noe and Carrie), along with Kara Zimmerman. 

We are indeed blessed in Seattle to have all three women. Did Kara Zimmerman dance in the tribute? She is a beautiful dancer, equally fluent in adagio and allegro.

On the ABT Swan Lake July 1-9 thread, FauxPas asked,

What "Swan Lake" 4th acts have you seen that really worked for you? 

I remember really liking the fourth act that Antony Dowell did for the Royal Ballet production that toured to NYC ten years ago. I think someone told me it was staged from the Sergeyev notations and was the original Ivanov choreography.

Someone told me that the best fourth act they ever saw was one that Nureyev did for the Berlin Ballet with Cynthia Gregory as Odette.

Of course then there is the whole question of tragic ending vs. happy ending, does Siegfried die and Odette live?, does Odette jump first or do they jump in the lake together? do Siegfried and Von Rothbart fight it out and the whole ripped off wing writhing on the floor bit or does Von Rothbart just observe? Does Siegfried kill Von Rothbart? Does Von Rothbart kill Siegfried? Do the swans kill Von Rothbart? does Wolfgang come back and kill Von Rothbart? Does Von Rothbart live on stripped of his powers? This act changes the most from production to production.

To return to the ABT Swan Lake July 1-9 performance reviews, please click here.

if the music is still playing, it is not a time to applaud. Wait for the music to stop.

Bravo, zerbinetta!

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Questions and Answers

What is ballet?

According to "The Oxford Definition of Dance," ballet is: "A form of Western academic theatrical dance based on the technique known as the danse d'école (the classical school) usually presented with elements of music and design to dramatic or lyric effect."


Why not just "dance"?

While the root of the word “ballet” means “to dance,” ballet is a type of dance based in a specific technique. The words are often used interchangeably, particularly in the popular press -- even sometimes in the specialist press -- and in the names of dance companies who do not perform ballet.

Ballet is a specific type of dance with a specific vocabulary and a specific tradition. Ballet Alert!’s founder, Alexandra Tomalonis, a dance historian and critic, created Ballet Alert! as a place to discuss it within that context, to shine a spotlight on ballet as a distinct art form and to help preserve its traditions. There are other discussion groups on the Net that discuss all forms of dance, and we think that approach is very valid, and needed. Our site has a different purpose.


Is ballet better than other kinds of dance?

That is not the position of the site. There are a lot of bad ballets and a lot of great modern dance works. Our only interest is to provide a place to discuss ballet.


Isn't ballet dead?

Seriously, we don't believe that ballet is dead as an art form. The language is still being taught, and taught well, to thousands of eager students, and dancers trained in ballet continue to give excellent performances in the classical and neoclassical repertory. We wish the works of more choreographers who use the classical vocabulary were presented by ballet companies.


Is Ballet Alert! associated with any ballet company or dance professionals?

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Do you provide forums to discuss classes, including adult classes, pointe shoes, summer intensives, schools, careers in ballet, and parents’ issues?

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Where does the name "Ballet Alert!" come from?

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I thought your name was "Ballet Talk".

It was for a number of years. We've gone back to our original name because many people confuse us with "Ballet Talk for Dancers", and the two sites have different missions.

I bought tickets to ABT GISELLE in LA specifically b/c Ferri was supposed to perform (and i live in Arizona).  The reason they gave that Ferri was not performing was that she performed 4 Giselles in 4 nights and suffered an injury.  that was as much as they would say.  Doesn't quite sound right, though...

-goro-

You must be horribly disappointed.

Was it the box office who gave you the reason, or was a company representative?

Farrell_Fan, you were the victim of a system glitch, but it's fixed now. We're sorry.

The study guide on Lamberena, in .pdf (Adobe) format.

On p. 7, it lists the premiere of the ballet by San Francisco Ballet, where Caniparoli danced, as 28 March 1995, with Evelyn Cisneros, Eric Hoisington, Jennifer Karius, Jeremy Collins, Julia Adam, and David Justin.

In the General Reading & Literature forum, balletbooster brings to our attention a book called Mozart in the Jungle - Sex Drugs & Classical Music.

While much of the hype about this book focuses on the wild times in the classical music world of the seventies, the focus of the interview was on Tindall's research into the disparity between the salaries of performers and artistic directors, conductors, etc. She includes the ballet world in her discussion, as there are many similarities in the way artists are treated across the board in many of the performing arts. This is all part of the book, but it is not getting the press time that the more titillating subject matter is receiving.

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...topic=19984&hl=

The closest equivalent in the US is Kennedy Center Honors, which is described on its website as

The Honors are America's equivalent of a knighthood in Britain, or the French Legion of Honor--the quintessential reward for a lifetime's endeavor.

Past honorees in ballet include:

1978 George Balanchine (first group)

1980 Agnes de Mille

1986 Antony Tudor

1989 Alexandra Danilova

1993 Arthur Mitchell

1995 Jacques d'Amboise

1996 Maria Tallchief

1997 Edward Villella

2000 Mikail Baryshnikov

The list of past honorees is located here.

Since the awards are televised -- each year's group of 5-6 is honored together -- the Kennedy Center Honors home page has a link to telecasts. It requires RealPlayer.

I think there are two factors to keep in mind. There are some people whose learning style is to imitate, and no about of verbal instruction or description can replace a demonstration of the "what is" and/or "to be." Numerous professional dancers have described how they didn't know what Balanchine wanted until they saw him demonstrate, and not being able to demonstrate was one of his great concerns in his last decade as he struggled with several illnesses.

The second is the developmental stage of the student. Not every kid is ready to absorb artistic subtlety from one of the great ones. When you add in an intensive situation, where a young dancer may be away from home for the first time, and/or not automatically the best student, and the program is expensive, it's not surprising that a student or parent will complain about a teacher. It's also not surprising, alas, that the complainer will make a blanket statement about that teacher -- too old, doesn't do this, too absorbed in his own career, a name but not a teacher -- instead of saying, "I'm not getting what I need, and I'm upset and disappointed."

The VAI video version on Nina Ananiashvili & International Stars includes Nina Ananiashvili, Darci Kistler, Rose Gad, and Tatyana Terekhova. This version is also shown on Classic Arts Showcase.

The "Firestone Dances" VHS only has a variation performed by Carla Fracci.

It depends on whether it's acceptable to take the music from a video version. Pas de Quatre appears on Nina Ananiashvili & International Stars (Volume 2 of the DVD and Volume 3 of the VHS/PAL). VAI is the studio. I'm fairly certain it was filmed live, with the usual coughs and applause.

As usual in Message boards people never follows the story line and debate about the original subject they leave messajes that sound more like personal psicotherapy than friendly debate.

I think the thread spoke to the underlying issue of why a competition, and the arts in general, accept money and goods from corporations that provide unhealthy products. You certainly are entitled to your opinion of whether our responses satisfy you. You may consider this a standard discussion on this board, and you have the option of not participating if it doesn't meet your standards.

Again, something that may change, but many dancers who were hired from other companies started as soloists for a year, and then were promoted to principal, although some have come in directly as principal dancers. Russell, who did PNB core casting -- choreographers for new works often got their choices -- said in Q&A's that she believed in giving the dancers roles that stretched them. As a former Saturday afternoon subscriber to NYCB, I loved seeing the "kids" get their chances in major roles.

It must be very difficult for ballet schools, particularly those affiliated with professional companies, to keep kids from smoking. But it's not just the support of Philip Morris: it's also the examples of their role models and idols who can be seen puffing like chimneys in the neighborhoods surrounding the theater and in neighborhoods where clusters of dancers live.

If Balanchine, a known anti-smoker, couldn't change the minds of dancers who would do anything else to please him, I'm not sure this is possible, particularly since people in general view smoking as a weight-loss aid.

Thank you, blizzardqueen!

I, too, wish I had been at this performance. Marcia Dale Weary and CPYB have produced so many great dancers, and I've always been astonished not only at the strength of their base technique, but how individual each dancer's stage presence is. In my opinion, CPYB and Alicia Alonso's school are the two great breeding grounds for dancers.

The Winter variation from Prokofiev's Cinderella and the music Jerome Robbins used for Winter in his The Four Seasons from Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani might work.