Helene

About ballet rep, dancers in companies with mixed training, primarily neoclassical companies, often say that it's difficult on their bodies to mix rep, since the demands on them made are very different. I can't imagine what it's like for a company that is heavily, if not exclusively, based in training for a specific rep to keep changing back-and-forth. To apply the opera rep model makes much less sense for ballet: while singers can change their training approach based on the role -- recent Seattle Opera Turandot Marcy Stonikas said she doesn't train Leonora in "Fidelio" and Turandot on the same day because the tessitura is different -- unless they are big stars in rep companies, while the roles make different demands on their voices, the hierarchy traditionally has not been as rigid in opera rep companies. In opera someone who sang Wotan -- or any other long, difficult role/one that carried an opera -- on one night might sing Pope Leo in "Atilla" or Pimen in "Boris Godunov" the next. This happens among younger dancers -- tonight's Swanhilde on Sunday afternoon might be next Friday's Swanhilde's-Friend-Who-Finds-The-Key, but it's rare for Principals in companies to take on smaller roles, even if it would be wise for them to be cast that way to preserve their health. No one would expect a soprano to sing Turandot, Violetta, Abigaille, Brunnhilde, and Donna Anna every night for a week. Singers who do one or two roles at a time have breaks between performances, and often schedule Mozart or another vocal-health-restoring composer among their engagements. Dancers are reliant on management to make those decisions for them, and it's often not pretty. Mariinsky bass Evgeny Nikitin talked about this in the "Sacred Stage" documentary. He said that when he gets a contract in the West for one or two roles over a few months, it's like being on holiday, but when he's in his home theater, changing roles from night to night is what keeps his voice in shape. Dancers at the Mariinsky don't have the same luxury.

It's so nice to hear about Richardson and Boada of Royal Flanders Ballet. I saw them in a performance of "Apollo" in Gent in 2008, and I was impressed with both of them. I can picture them in "After the Rain", PDD. I'm also thrilled to hear about Kochetkova and Nedvigin, two of my favorite dancers at San Francisco Ballet.

No, I doubt Russell would consider Fateev her equal, but, then again, there aren't that many people on the planet who are. (Originators of roles who can coach them are another story.) Nor would she expect the Mariinsky to dance Balanchine in Balanchine style after having so little experience and training in it, and she would know from personal experience, having been one of the first two stagers, along with Suzanne Farrell ("Scotch Symphony"), sent to the Mariinsky to stage Balanchine ballets, in her case, either "Theme and Variations" or "Ballet Imperial." If he claims expertise, which I wouldn't be aware of, it's not just "self-styled."

Phyllis Diller died today at age 95. From the "New York Times": http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/arts/television/phyllis-diller-sassy-comedian-dies-at-95.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all Rest in peace, Ms. Diller.

Fateev worked in Seattle on Balanchine stagings, and Francia Russell, one of Balanchine's earliest hand-picked (in the 60's) stagers and one of the ballet's most respected, said very good things about him, and she's not the easiest person in the world to please.

The opera house in Gothenburg, Sweden is built at the edge of water and looks like a ship. I've heard the new opera house in Copenhagen described that way, but I didn't get that impression when I visited last.

RDB goes to Ofelia Beach for Ballet Relay today through Wednesday for free performances. bing translates the Facebook post as: Check out the photo:

This stunning Marc Haegeman photo of Smirnova and Chudin in "Diamonds" appears in a two-page article in "Dance International" Magazine:

She dances the Lilac Fairy. I've seen her. We're anyone to remove SB from the repertoire, they would lose her performance.

It's written by George Jackson. Thank you for this.

Vaganova was many things, but a pure traditionalist she was not. She slashed mime from the classical ballets, a 180 from the idea of reconstructions. She actively adjusted her methodology to support current changes in choreography, and only stopped when she thought the trend had gone too far in the direction of gymnastics/circus. Somova's prominence in the company, her aesthetic, her technical weaknesses, and the years of awful, artistically suspect coaching of her were Vaziev's brain children. If Fateev hates reconstructions, he would hardly be the only one: the company's prima, Uliana Lopatkina, leads that faction. The Mariinsky New Year's Eve celebration DVD, which, ironically, features the Wedding Act reconstruction, ends with the chorus onstage in formal wearing, crowned by Lopatkina, in elegant clothing, making a grand entrance worthy of Cinderella in the Ashton, and Gergiev defers to her like a suitor. She's on the record for not liking the reconstruction and not wanting to dance it, so it's easy to do the math.

Not that I remember. At one point, they put the swords down on the floor in a crossed position, but if I remember correctly, they weren't holding them during this choreographic motif, which was repeated.

Gorgeous photos.

Star Trek could be the great space opera, too. Seattle Opera just posted this photo of one of the Act II dancers: https://www.facebook...53776037&type=1 The caption says they were modeled on Chinese women warriors' garb. They had some tricky choreography to do in those costumes, including a low-ish full jumping turn to a lateral fall to the ground. I cringed when they had to do this at the end of Act II, after spending 20 minutes or so kneeling and sitting on their heels for "In questa reggia" and the riddle scene.

I'm not sure anything describes "at ease" more than Cynthia Gregory softly rolling off pointe from her balances. There are so many magnificent details from that performance. I think my favorite is the way she presents her heel before and during her final curtsey. Many thanks, kbarber!

It's funny how we see these things: I always thought he was based on JFK, who could appear intellectually lazy, and whose interest in women was, em, formidable, but, as Lyndon Johnson learned the hard way, underestimating him was deadly. I didn't even think the original Kirk had other people do his homework, and he was the only one to outsmart the magic computer by changing the rules.

"Surprise Me" selects a page, which could be random or algorith-driven: the photo might not come up by clicking it. Also, I got a message that I'd get a bigger sample by logging in. I'm not sure if Bart was logged in. If not, then the photo might not be in the smaller sample for users not logged in. If Bart wasn't logged in, there might be a greater chance of it being selected.

It's always hard for me to remember that Captain Kirk had much of a brain, either, but he must have, or he wouldn't have passed all of those science courses. (Or, I should say William Shatner as Captain Kirk. I'm fairly sure Chris Pine's Kirk excelled at video games.)