dirac

There was never a more welcoming welcomer. We never met but our electronic exchanges were always warm. The board won't be quite the same without her. My condolences to her friends and family.

An interview with Millepied by Judith Mackrell in The Guardian.

A review by Jean Lenihan of Sari Wilson's Girl Through Glass. Has anyone read it?

“Float like a butterfly” is credited to Ali’s corner man, Drew “Bundini” Brown, who wrote for him (although Ali did produce other verse). Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see

Thank you, Alexandra. That was a pleasure to read. How fortunate Mr. Phillips was to see Ali live. It was in the end a tragedy for Ali when he learned he could hold still and take a punch. And another. And another. I don’t think boxing will be banned – whether it should be is arguable, although I am inclined against -- but I would suggest respectfully that surely it is the brutality of boxing and not its status as good theater that will, or should be, the overriding consideration in such a case (?) Ali’s great opponent Joe Frazier is not mentioned in this piece, but I cannot say that I really “enjoyed” watching the two of them try to kill each other during the Thrilla in Manila. (Nor was it amusing for Frazier when Ali’s sense of aesthetics, or "fun," led him to taunt Frazier as a “gorilla," (sometimes embellished as "ugly gorilla"). It was life, all right - neither man was ever the same - but it is fair to wonder if the spectacular theater was worth it.

Thank you for the thank-you, Josette. Feel free to pipe up with your own views any time!

It's nice how enjoying one interesting book can inspire readers to look further. Sounds like a great reading list. Farrell's bio and Kent's bio are an interesting contrast. There's a fine interview with Le Clercq in Barbara Newman's collection of interviews with dancers, "Striking a Balance." Le Clercq's is one of the best. Her voice was unique. I only wish that the documentary had been made during her lifetime with her as a participant.

MacDonald was a particular favorite of Mayer's, although they had their ups and downs.

Ya got me on that one, miliosr. Yes, it would have been more accurate to say that MacDonald was the only one rehired by Mayer, who always liked her. How could I forget "Torch Song" ? Not to derail the thread, but the mention of that masterpiece invariably reminds me of the great Carol Burnett parody "Torchy Song" with Burnett ("But that's my POSE!"), Harvey Korman, and a great set of put-upon chorus boys.

Yes, Garbo, Shearer, Crawford and MacDonald were the four highest-paid actresses at MGM. MacDonald was the only one to return to the studio, for a brief stint in the late forties.

“Maytime” is now available and so is “Rose Marie,” along with some of their lesser efforts, like “Girl of the Golden West.” I quite enjoyed “New Moon,” although it’s basically a retread of “Naughty Marietta.” Nelson Eddy, the pride of Rhode Island.

Thank you for the link. I hadn't seen this, and don't know her other work. I would note at random that dancers often have irregular periods, but so do female athletes. And it's not as if "the Russian" invented the "unnatural demands." I don't think the last three lines are intended as mockery (well, not entirely). I took the eucharistic reference to mean that the women and girls put up with the physical difficulties and challenges because through the dance body and spirit become one. Makarova once compared a developpe in "Swan Lake," I think it was, to the "opening of a missal." The last line seems a little fudged -- "our regular transubstantiation of Hoc est corpus." - or maybe she just wants the rhyme there. Also - I think of dancers not so much as "giving in" to the demands of their art so much as meeting the demands of their art. Different kind of "demand." You give in to sexual demands, for example. Is that what she's getting at? (But then there is the pairing of "giving in"/"gives us.")

Thank you for that reminder, Mme. Hermine. I had forgotten about the defenestration of Peterson. I tend to agree with canbelto - Corella should stop talking. He just keeps making it worse.........

I was also….taken aback...... by that quote. Wow. Yeah, Smuin didn’t go quietly. However, I think the need for a drastic overhaul of repertory and training for the company was much plainer in San Francisco at that time. There seems to be a consensus that some changes were needed at Pennsylvania Ballet, but Corella’s, uh, management style certainly raises questions, to say the least. As you say, time will tell. Best wishes to the dancers remaining, departing, and arriving.

I'm sure everyone expected that he would bring in new people and discard others. I doubt anyone was expecting a bloodletting of these proportions. Well, sometimes what goes around comes around, and perhaps when Corella's time comes his dismissal will be no kinder. He has certainly set the tone.

Oh, I wouldn't blame it all on the flu just yet. Too bad. Extraordinary talent. Thanks for the links, Kathleen.

I am so sorry, sandik. What a loss, and at such a relatively young age, 57. Yes, indeed. Seattle and a critic, William Arnold of the Post-Intelligencer, played a crucial role in saving a wonderful movie, The Stunt Man. In the seventies such things could happen.

I ended up running late to the performance and thought, "Well, no biggie, I'll just miss Continuum and I'm not crying about that," only to learn when I got to the theater that I had missed T&V instead. Argh. Grrr.

"Ted Casablanca is NOT a fag. And I'm the dame who can prove it!" Duke almost wound up as a cautionary tale about the bad things that happen to child actors, but she survived. She was great in "The Miracle Worker." I hadn't heard about Ken Howard. He was a wonderful Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and had a fine late turn in "Michael Clayton." I always liked The Colbys. I wish that one would turn up again.

Many thanks for reviving this thread, Margareta. As you may know, a documentary was released on Le Clercq's life not too long ago (discussion thread here if you're interested). Sort of a boomlet of interest in Le Clercq and her dramatic story. How did you like the book?

Thanks, lmspear.

I think the British tend to use the plural (as in "The Royal Ballet are going on tour," "the public don't know what they want" and "the family have expressed their wishes"). American usage tends more to "it" or "its." I'd say it's one of those "when in Rome" questions. If you're an American writing for an American audience , "it" or "its" will seem more natural and less of a potential distraction for your readers (and less distracting for you if you avail yourself of style/grammar check, which may correct you if you go for the plural).

The shows appeared briefly on one of the several vintage television networks but I haven't noticed them in the listings recently.

Thank you for reviving this thread, Tom. Coming late to the party on this one, so I may repeat points made by others. Analogies between ballet and sports are natural to make. Both require intense and concentrated application from a young age with equally intense and specialized physical training (and all that such training implies, with issues involving weight, nutrition, injuries). Both athletes and dancers must cope with the loss of their powers at an age when many people are still getting started in their chosen professions, or the abrupt ending of careers by traumatic and irreparable injury. Because of this, you’ll find some of the same arguments among sports fans that you do among ballet fans: Were the champions of X era as good as the champions of today, and vice versa? And as with dancers, the answer tends to be, Yes and No. (Peter Martins recently made such an anology with tennis players: If you put Bjorn Borg in his prime out on a court with Roger Federer, what would happen? Borg with his little wooden racquet would get clobbered. True – up to a point. If you put Borg out there with the advantages in scheduling, equipment, and training that today’s top players have, he would be exactly the type of opponent that gives Federer fits.) Ballet also offers the kind of kinetic thrills that sport can offer, when we marvel at a dancer’s sheer physical prowess. Sports can also offer a kind of aesthetic pleasure when an athlete also has grace along with skill; Federer is often compared to ballet dancers. It’s around there that the analogies taper off, because ballet has the added dimension of creativity; it has possibilities that expand far beyond winners and losers, faster and slower. And because it is art, and high art, it’s more difficult and reaches fewer people in spite of the crowd-pleasing aspects it does possess.

Thanks, mimsyb. I suspected as much. I’m sure Vikander was just fine. I do like to see the supporting awards go to the genuine article and not to leads, though. Stars already get so much attention in comparison to their colleagues and the supporting awards are one of their few showcases.