dirac

She's very nice in it. Interestingly, she herself doesn't seem to have regarded it as any special breakthrough, or at least she didn't describe it as such in her book. For a change of pace, here's the Stan Getz Quintet Varsity Drag for interested listeners.

I understand where you're coming from, Natalia, but given the paucity of dance programming on PBS or anywhere else, I do think they should hear from dance fans. My understanding is that where PBS and NPR are concerned, the squeaky wheels that also send in donations do get the grease. Unlikely that they will be using this movie or any other ballet/modern dance programming on their pledge drives - often as not those programs get farmed out to the PBS cable channels in my neck of the woods, and you're lucky if they're shown more than once. Thanks for that link, tomorrow, I hadn't read that review. As California noted above, aside from her qualifications Homans has excellent connections. I remember when her writing first started appearing in TNR. Some of it was good, and on other occasions it elicited variations on "Huh?" If you do a search under Homans' name I expect some of those old discussions will pop up.

Better late than never, Terez. I have been meaning to get around to Astonish Me - it was generally well reviewed and I'm always curious about ballet-themed novels. I have not read Adrienne Sharp. Do you recommend any particular titles by her?

My cat, who often peers over my shoulder as I type, objects strongly. The internet is only giving the magnificent tribe of the tiger their due importance. I think "modesty panels" mean something different from the legends about Victorian prudery. My understanding is that it's not at all clear that covering furniture legs was actually a common Victorian practice (and it applied, allegedly, to piano legs and such, not sofas). I apologize, also. And any discussion of "piano legs" is in no way applicable to Ms. Lavine.

I add my thanks to PBS. I hope everyone here takes the time to let PBS know that this documentary and dance programming generally are appreciated, whatever you may think of the final product here. I wondered, also, choriamb. My hunch is that Burns was wearing too many hats, trying to provide within a limited amount of time a history of the company; some history of ballet, which he assumes, probably rightly, that a general audience will know little about; and a celebration of today's company and the art form. It's too much. I don't expect him to preach to a choir of balletomanes and I don't expect him to give space to every important dancer ABT has ever had, but as Drew and others have noted, important aspects of the company's history and artistic approach are missing. I think some of the slow-motion sequences were effective, but the device was overused, and I pretty much tuned out over the last twenty minutes or so of slo-mo with tributes to the ineffable qualities of ballet. I appreciate the sentiment, but. I think Homans was intended to play something of the role of commentator/guide that Shelby Foote did in big brother Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. Unfortunately she just isn't particularly engaging in that role. Clive Barnes, may he rest in peace, is a lot more fun. However, she seems to be the go-to ballet gal these days, so I guess we just have to get used to it, or her. Among the other positive aspects already mentioned by others, I particularly liked Julie Kent's contributions. Her anecdote about receiving a note from Makarova before her first Bayadere was especially touching and apposite. I still managed to enjoy a lot of the show, despite its failings.

Yes, I'm aware of that, kaskait. They were also people of great creative energy. And if you want really creepy, just take a look around some of the darker corners of the web these days. Makes Jack the Ripper look like Mister Rogers.

I dissent. The Victorians did have their creepy side, as do we all (and a lot of the furniture was awful), but they also get an undeserved bad rap.

Thank you for posting these, Buddy. I had not heard of them.

Chaplin was commenting on rehearsals, I think, and it's unlikely Garland got to the pre-recording stage on the picture. Too bad. Powell is fine in "How Could You Believe Me...", for instance, but with Judy it might have been another classic routine like "A Couple of Swells." Thanks for the tip.

True, but critical praise has never been the only criterion for promotion, either (although Copeland seems to have received her share). From time to time artistic directors have gone against critical opinion because they liked a dancer, for whatever combination of reasons. From the last thread, kfw wrote this, to which I didn't get the chance to reply: Racism is a difficult topic. I'm sure everyone here has the best of intentions, but people sometimes write things that, when read by others, may not sound so good.That's how it is.

Garland had apparently made good progress with the Royal Wedding score before her dismissal and Saul Chaplin said she handled it beautifully, so who knows.......

They made quite the pair, didn't they? According to Caron, after she committed suicide as the Sphinx Babilée used to give her ponytail a tug to make sure she was really dead. Caron said in her book she was madly in love with him, as who wouldn't be. He was married, and the hopelessness of the situation was one reason the Hollywood offer looked good.

Hmmmm. "Caught up in her story"? "Lacking perspective," and "Being affirmed in that story by public opinion"? You've used the word "demonizing" more than once in this thread, but I haven't seen much of the demonizing you describe here myself. If people want to claim insistently that Copeland is the beneficiary of a form of "affirmative action" beyond her talent, there's enough evidence to the contrary that people are going to disagree, sometimes strongly. That's life.

I tend to agree, atm711, and Caron might agree, as well. In the postwar years life was tough for a young dancer in Europe, and her book says that when she came to the States the decision to concentrate on acting rather than dance was fairly easy. She may also have been considering career longevity. In Caron's most famous musical role, Gigi, there isn't any dancing!

The studio system, at MGM and elsewhere, had its good points. The stars worked harder and were paid less by today's standards, but many had fond memories.

Powell is great in Royal Wedding, although I might not go as far as Mueller. I think Allyson would have been all right (and she could have sung a very tender "Too Late Now," if not with Powell's delicacy). Judy - as a rule I'd rather see her on an off day than not at all, she's just more interesting to watch in most circumstances. But if she brought to the song the same attack she brought to the ballads in Easter Parade, then I definitely agree with you.

I think a new biography of Rooney is warranted, canbelto. Much of it won't be fun reading, but it was a major career and his was a major talent -- contained, unfortunately, in a very short package. He deserves a good book, let's hope this is it. How much of such a book dwells on the more unpleasant or painful aspects of private lives is really up to the biographer. It's possible to be honest without being sensational. (Some of the more sensational bios are also good books in their fashion.) There are also some once-big stars who didn't make very many classic movies but whose careers are still significant in historical terms.

A new biography is coming out. There is a need. I read the one that came out a few decades ago and it was not good. Depressing story about a very great talent. Hard not to wonder if Rooney's life might have turned out differently if he'd been even five inches taller.

An interview with Caron, in which she talks about her career and the new production of "An American in Paris." Very gracious about Leanne Cope.

Endlessly quotable. "For what I am about to receive, may I make myself truly thankful." "We'd all be pretty crackers if we went around doing just what we wanted to, wouldn't we?" Yeah, I've seen it more than once...... I do, too. Fred Astaire said of her in Royal Wedding that "She surprised everyone by her handling of the dances." I did wonder about Fred and Jane's mother, who waited thirty years between babies.

"Whenever I pray to God, I find I'm talking to myself."

Etting was right about Day, IMO. But then I think Love Me or Leave Me is a wee bit overrated and Day with it. From what I have seen and heard of Etting, she was a much softer presence than Day is in the movie. I didn't know that about Powell. It's an interesting idea. Possibly the public might not have accepted Powell in the role, but I'd have liked to see her in it.

Lesley Gore died on or around the same day and I had the impression her death got more attention. True, he'll always be best known for Gigi but I think among buffs he'll be remembered at least as well for Letter from an Unknown Woman. It's not a favorite of mine, but it is very highly regarded. Jourdan is very fine in it, an overlooked performance in some respects. He worked briefly again for Alan Jay Lerner when he was initially cast for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. His pipes proved inadequate and he was replaced with John Cullum. In the movie version the role was played by Yves Montand, disastrously. They might have done better to go back to Jourdan.

Historical dramas are in some ways far less egregious than they used to be and are held to higher standards generally these days. Given that the truth in this case was already dramatic enough, it was disheartening to see what was substituted for it, and I saw no particular reason to issue the movie a pass. I like Cumberbatch very well indeed but given the misleading treatment of Turing as a person I wouldn't say he was worth the price of admission.

I've been meaning to get around to posting this news. He died last February, a passing which didn't get the attention it deserved. Always a favorite of mine. A good actor and of course scrumptiously handsome - so easy to understand why Joan Fontaine pined for him and a desperate Suzy Parker was driven to go through his garbage. His wife died last year. They met while working together for the Resistance and had been married for over six decades. RIP. The New York Times The Telegraph