dirac

Not to toot our own horn, but this information was posted in an article in the Links some time ago. Apart from the occasional article or interview, I don’t do a lot of “research” on the show, preferring in the main to watch it as it comes. It wasn’t all that hard to read the tea leaves on promotions and it was fun to guess. Josh is probably going to die when he hears about bad boy Zach. Sklute was very rough on poor Rex (he needs a company leader and not a drama queen, one gathers) so get it together, Rex. Beckanne, or “Becky-Anne” as Wendy would say, tells us she was unhappy at not being “casted” as Cinderella (and elsewhere the troupe’s hypercorrective tendency with singular personal pronouns is again on display, I fear). I liked Sisk coming in for her meeting armed with notes. In rehearsal footage, we see Rex struggling with “Cinderella,” emphasis on the struggle, but whether Rex is really having much trouble or the focus on him gasping for breath is for dramatic purposes is a question. A Ronald sighting with Katie (back in town for a visit) at Beckanne’s party, which made me realize we’ve hardly seen him at all this season. Rex Loves Allison: The Sequel is rearing its ugly head. I’d be happy for them, given the non-supportive stance of Young Dr. Kildare back in Motor City but no, please no…..

Yes, it is the same program. They're also doing a new ballet by Millepied, "Reflections," but not in Edinburgh.

The article linked to below and the recent profile in The New Yorker (available online only to subscribers) suggest something of the direction in which Millepied might go. The New Yorker piece mentioned that he is soliciting new work from Wheeldon and Ratmansky for the POB, surprise surprise, and also from Justin Peck. It also suggested that given the other demands on Millepied his own choreography will likely take a back seat. This is from The Herald of Scotland – LA Dance Project is performing pieces by Forsythe, Cunningham, and Millepied in Edinburgh: 　

I have every sympathy for them and they're certainly low on the corruption scale considering what the 1% is doing in Russia and elsewhere, but much of the behavior and activities described are dubious enough that I don't think passion for the art form is sufficient justification. It is too bad.

I was interested by this: and this: Sounds like a sleazy business, even if it is low on the sleaze scale. I tend to agree with Ratmansky on this one.

I've seen worse. Articles on the internet are often poorly edited and proofed (and all writers need such help to some extent; F. Scott Fitzgerald couldn't spell for beans).

I was amused when one of the girls in the bar told Chris Ruud that she’d had a crush on him when she was eight. An Old-Married-Guy-Moment for Chris!

Interesting topic, Buddy, and one that could go in a number of directions. I would say offhand that different nationalities can possess "Swan Lake," but an American Swan can be very different from vieille Russie. Thoughts?

Beats flying in from Utah. Last night he explained the circumstances of his residency wouldn't allow a move. Assuming that's true, we don't have any indication that he would insist she stay at home, although as far as we know she has no training except as a dancer. He does want kids. These days not all couples can afford a non-working spouse regardless of ideology. No reason why he can't wait a few more years, though. If one of them meets someone else, such is life. (Allison should remind him, or someone should remind her, that engagements in Victorian days could last for almost a decade.) In any case I hope DeBona makes up her mind quickly, because I'm getting a bit tired of hearing her talk about it to all and sundry, including the friend with the important eyebrows, and this subplot could wear out fast. But then she might get together with Rex again. I'm trying to be loyal to the show but I don't think I could face that.

There’s also Garbo’s tormented Grusinskaya in "Grand Hotel" and of course the recent example of Nina in "Black Swan," slave to and victim of the pursuit of perfection. It is nice that in other respects we’ve gone beyond the concept of ballerina as quasi-sexless sacrificial lamb to her art (those last photographs of Pavlova are not happy ones). I agree. And any final judgment is tough in DeBona’s case because our information is limited and she’s the only one who gets to talk to the camera. It’s a fact that sustaining an affair or marriage at a distance over long periods of time is difficult under any circumstances and the partners may drift apart. They've already broken up once before - DeBona’s Tilton complications took up much of last season.....

Thanks to you, too, Buddy. I think Balanchine's view of painting and other visual arts diverged from Diaghilev's in important respects. There’s a story that Lincoln Kirstein once invited Balanchine to visit a museum during Balanchine's early days on American shores. “No, thanks,” was the reply. “I’ve been to a museum.” I wouldn't take that story too literally even if true - we know that Balanchine was in and out of museums - but Balanchine made relatively little use of those arts in his own art.

In defense of Josh, it was actually Zach who didn't know who Napoleon was. I add my thanks, love_ballet. Good catch. I have read that when writing for many general-interest publications you have to be cautious about most historical references pre-Hitler. Napoleon isn't a figure in American history and it's not at all surprising to me that a teenager might not know exactly who he is, although it would be nice if he did. On top of that Zach is in a profession that is all-consuming.

Balanchine took the young Suzanne Farrell to see this painting, and told her she reminded him of Venus.

No, I haven't seen it. Will try to catch it. Right now it's pledge season, so you know what that means.....

I’m afraid I disagreed with Sklute’s reasoning. I think his fears are probably overblown, for one thing. Also, who runs the risk of looking bad if Josh’s appearance as Napoleon is taken the wrong way? Sklute. But that is not the dancer’s problem. If he is best for the role, cast him and take a chance. It’s a moot point for poor Josh, but he Zach doesn’t need to know who Napoleon was to dance the role properly. His coaches should give him all the guidance he needs. Having said that, it couldn’t hurt to look the fellow up and I’m surprised no one supervising the production suggested that the dancers rehearsing the part do so – a peek at portraits of Napoleon alone would surely have been helpful. I have relatives by marriage who live in Salt Lake City. Nice people, nice place, with some good dance studios by the look of it.

Bunheads is toast. I did not like the show as much as I had wanted and hoped to like it and stopped watching after a few episodes, but sorry to see a dance-related series go and sorry for its fans and the talented people who worked on it. Too bad.

Not sure I'd say that, Jayne. Callas’ musicianship was second to none. She was also an exceptional actor, but she only began relying on acting effects later in her career when her voice was failing her (although Callas really never had a “later career”; the great Callas of history and legend was almost gone by her mid-thirties, exceptionally early. There's been a lot of discussion about this, but her technique remained sound; it was her voice that failed her - “faults of departure not of arrival,” as it was said. (She did set an unhappy precedent in that before Callas it wasn’t generally accepted that voices could be expected to collapse like a house of cards; after Callas this was treated almost as normal.) I don’t think her example applies to “part-time” as Macaulay uses the term here, because what I take him to mean is that the dancers to which he refers only become ballerinas in the larger sense within significant limits. Those limitations may be, but are not necessarily, technical ones. I have read observers who saw Kistler in the last years who noted that even when her body was failing her utterly, she could still at fleeting moments perform with an authority and create effects that some of her replacements, even if they could do the steps as Kistler could not, were unable to produce.

Yes, it would have been nice to see more from the archive at the expense of some of the talking heads (definitely not Farrell, who made some penetrating comments, as she usually does).

Oh, I wasn't referring to Shawn's troupe. I meant the tone occasionally struck by the broadcast.

Hi Dirac, I was confused by your comment, because in the online version of the episode, this is exactly what happens - Ronnie takes his shirt off, and there's the lovely licking of tequilla off of Ronnie's belly - and at least one other dancer. There's definitely a lot of alcohol and drunkeness in the party scene, and I kept thinking, "Their parents must be so proud". ;) Not that I haven't been there myself, but I never would have allowed my private behavior to be recorded by TV cameras. There's a level of narcissim at work in this culture that just didn't exist when I was a 20-something. Perhaps their parents really are proud - because the kids are getting exposure! http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/breaking-pointe/its-not-brain-surgery-its-ballet/?play=bbe877f3-dedc-4245-8d0d-c001a1056491 Somebody was licking tequila off Ronnie and I missed it? Damn. Sklute seemed to like Sisk for the role of Cinderella better than Somes did, so Sisk's instincts were right (of course, when the stager keeps getting your name wrong and calling you "Becky Anne" that's never a good sign). I note that amid all the boy-girl stuff and the ginning up of "drama," some serious personal questions do arise. Allison DeBona's dilemma - whether to stick around for a few more years of dancing or give it up, probably forever, to follow a guy who's pushing her to join him in a place where there's no company -- is a genuine one. Ronnie's recovery is another.

I haven't seen Wheeldon's "Swan Lake" but photographs suggest that some of its scenes refer very directly to Degas' paintings of dancers. BTW I like your title for the thread, Buddy.

This PBS documentary was shown in my neck of the woods last night and it was pretty good. It would be worth seeing if only for last glimpses of interviewees Merce Cunningham (looking a little wan) and Frederic Franklin (bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever). Structually it’s a little loose – we hop from choreographer to choreographer and clip to clip – but the dance segments are enjoyable and the setting of course is beautiful. Also heard from are Rasta Thomas, Judith Jamison, Bill Irwin, Paul Taylor, and Mark Morris (his work isn’t for everyone, but it’s for anyone? Gee, where did that come from?) We get some history at the beginning, with a few shots of Denishawn and Teddy with Miss Ruth. The marriage is mentioned, Shawn’s homosexuality is not – come on, people, it’s the 21st century – and the manliness of Shawn’s enterprise is reinforced with photos of shirtless young men with saws and hammers, building Jacob’s Pillow with "their bare hands," as Bill T. Jones’ voiceover helpfully informs us. I was pleasantly surprised by the interview with Suzanne Farrell and to see extended clips from her company (although you could argue that time from those clips could have been more fairly distributed to lesser-known troupes). The longstanding association between Jacob’s Pillow and the Royal Danish Ballet also gets screen time, with remarks from Nikolaj Hubbe.

sandik, you put me in mind of Romney's portraits of Lady Emma Hamilton - Emma's speciality in the days before Sir William made an honest woman of her was to appear in tableaux vivants, usually inspired by images from antiquity (as Isadora was):

Sure, you can find sexism in the theater - you can find it in many if not most areas of show business, period. Rojo may well have chosen to be provocative, but there's more to her analogy than that.

He didn't need any reason, but plainly he must have had something in mind (which wouldn't necessarily require him to forbid performance of the longer version). Also, as Suzanne Farrell notes in her book, cutting away at his own choreography is one thing and doing the same to Stravinsky's work another. She was puzzled enough to bring it up to Balanchine directly: ("You don't usually cut music like that." "No, I don't." End of discussion.) DanielBenton, yours is an intriguing possibility. I don't know if I agree offhand but it's something to think about. I wonder if Balanchine thought the old choreography a bit dated? Thanks for pulling up the old thread, cubanmiamiboy.