dirac

Generally speaking, that's what autobiographies do (or any biography - the writer is creating a narrative, where some things in a life are emphasized, others deleted or downplayed. Some are more candid than others, of course. I understand why there were some things Tallchief didn't want to go into, but her book is actually less reticent than Farrell's, for example. It's too bad Diana Adams never wrote a memoir. I gather that she had retreated somewhat from the ballet world at the time of her death, so perhaps she didn't want to, but she was one of the crucial ballerinas at NYCB and seemed a most intelligent and thoughtful observer. She worked with de Mille on Broadway, married Tudor - I wonder what that was like -- and was muse and lover to Balanchine. I'm sure it would have been a great read.

The Academy Awards will now nominate ten movies in the Best Picture category, expanding the number from five.

Mirren is in her middle sixties, I think. Getting up there. Phaedra is an ‘older woman’ but the meaning of that phrase has changed over time and if I remember rightly from Racine’s text in translation, Phaedra can still bear children. Thanks for the review, Quiggin, and for the list, volcanohunter. I still buy the hard copy of the FT when I can find it.

Jacques d'Amboise should write an autobiography. That could be a terrific book. Merrill Ashley's Dancing for Balanchine has a good section on her time in the corps. Because she wasn't a prodigy she spent a little more time there than the Farrells or Kirklands and she has many interesting things to say about her climb up the ladder. I'd like to see a bio of Nora Kaye.

Thanks for the heads up, bart. I think Hughes’ version of Phedre has been produced before, so I’m not sure how new it is. Mirren seems rather old for the role but perhaps onstage this makes less difference.

Thanks, EvilNinjaX. "Hunger" from last year isn't a foreign language film, unless you find Belfast accents daunting, but it's a stunning piece of work.

Well said, Hans. Alexandra Tomalonis writes about the ups and downs of the Bournonville repertory at the Royal Danish Ballet in her biography of Henning Kronstam, and one thing I took away from the book was the importance of having the right company leadership at the right time - who knows what might have happened without Hans Beck? It may be that many of today's dancers are deficient in qualities needed for Ashton's repertory, but all the more reason to have them dance his ballets. At least you'd think an AD might think so.

Thanks, innopac. I didn't know there was a volume like this one.

Winter Season is a good book. Bentley's style in places is a little overripe for me, but as you say GWTW it's an invaluable snapshot of the company in that time and place. I think you'd really like it, agnes.

Very true, DeborahB, and I understand that sometimes his decisions really made people shake their heads, but I also think Beatrice is right to say that there is a line that shouldn't be crossed, and from her detailed and excellent report (thanks, Beatrice, I look forward to reading more from you!) Kistler may have crossed it as Titania. Slaughter was one of the ballets Farrell relied on as her hip was failing her, so perhaps the style of movement required for it will be easier on Kistler - and on the audience.

Thanks, sidwich.

Thanks for the link, carbro. Definitely worth reading, although I agree with you that it could be better organized.

I fully agree with you, miliosr, that Ashton’s heirs and fans can’t and shouldn’t look only to the Royal. I know Mason has a tough job. But I do think that an AD with real passion for and commitment to the Ashton repertory would manage to find more room for the company’s great choreographer. It was clear you didn’t mean anything personal against Boal, Drew. If his comment on Ashton means just what it says – I’m hopeful that it doesn’t, -- that is a big black hole in the background of the artistic director of a company like PNB, as Helene says. No getting around it.

Boal made a passing remark, folks. I wouldn’t read too much into it. It is most unlikely that he literally doesn’t know any Ashton, or that he holds Ashton in contempt because Balanchine didn’t revive Picnic at Tintagel or whatever. Yes, SFB performed a lovely if not overpowering Symphonic Variations and I wish they’d bring it back. (BTW, I was a bit disappointed with the Thais pas de deux, which I also saw Dance Theatre of Harlem perform. Maybe it looked different on Sibley and Dowell.....) (Very little Balanchine in next season’s schedule for SFB, as it happens.) Monica Mason seems to get defensive when asked about it in interviews. It should be part of the Royal’s mission statement to preserve and revive Ashton’s work, regardless of what other companies are doing, and maybe next time there will be an AD who really gets this and feels strongly about it.

From what I’ve read, the reconstruction of Sylvia was done pretty liberally, with a lot of guesswork involved.

Unlike Balanchine, Ashton did not teach, which may have had some long term consequences. Alexander Grant has said that dancers do not have to be trained in an “Ashton style” – properly coached, they can dance his ballets. Hi, Drew. Nice to hear from you. There could be any number of reasons for Boal saying what he did. It’s possible that, as Helene notes, he meant to say something to the effect that doesn’t know Ashton’s work as well as he does Balanchine’s or Robbins’, for example, which would be reasonable enough. (It may also be, however, that he doesn’t think, for his own reasons, that Ashton is right for his company but doesn’t want to say so bluntly.) I agree. Balanchine (and Robbins) have one of the world’s great companies dedicated to performing their works. Other companies of varying size and strength may have Balanchine in and out of their repertories, depending on the AD, but for NYCB to be dancing the repertory year in, year out, is crucial, regardless of what you may think about Martins' stewardship of the company.

Thanks for posting, miliosr. Doesn't sound good:

Thanks for the information, rg.

Thanks so much, Ray. I can't number myself among Mahler's fans, but I hope those who are appreciate this link.

Rockwell reported from out of town regularly, as I recall. No complaints here. Macaulay is a fine critic, the Times continues to afford him and the other dance critics space and travel even in this difficult economic time and if anything he's improved since joining the paper.

You remind me that I haven't seen any of Tati's pictures in years. Must rent one or two. I'm surprised Traffic isn't available??

Thanks, Ray. It is interesting that modern dance, which traditionally has been the place to find women acting as independent creative forces, now seems to be less hospitable towards them. My initial reaction to Spalding’s comments when the article was first published was, “What a hopeless wanker.” First he says that he wants to hire more women, but they’re not ‘assertive’ enough and then goes on to say that he can’t choose more women because ‘I have to choose the best.’ If the women are inferior, it’s hard to see how encouraging them to increase their assertiveness quotient is going to help, unless Spalding is asking to be set upon by hordes of untalented pushy broads. Urrrrgggghhhh. On the other hand, you have Charlotte Vincent in the same article claiming that women are too powerful: "One problem is that we are not bold, muscular creatures fawned over by the women who run the dance world. I am not suggesting there is sexism but there is something that does not celebrate women in the way men are celebrated. Within the field there is an obliviousness to the problem." In other words, women – presumably company directors panting over their hunky proteges, in this view, – are part of the problem? I , too, am curious about this. You might think that ballet, with its Madams and Mims and powerful ballerinas, would produce more active female choreographers than it does. Instead the ballerinas tend, with some exceptions, to get shunted off to the school, and while they may run companies, they often don’t create ballets for those companies.

Leigh reviews the Ailey company in today's Post: http://www.nypost.com/seven/06112009/enter...love_173620.htm

Thank you for posting this, SimonG. Odd. The whole thing sounds like a variation on the Balanchine Trust idea, but I agree, without Cunningham’s company performing the works regularly it is difficult to see how any continuity of style and training will be possible. Perhaps Cunningham, for his own reasons, doesn’t want the company to go on without him and is willing to accept the risk this poses to the survival of his work as living art. (He does leave open the possibility of starting up another troupe – it just won’t be ‘his’ company.)

You're very welcome, bart. atm711, what's been happening recently with NYT Sunday pieces is that they don't show up electronically until Sunday or close to it, but when they are posted the date given with the article is usually two or three days earlier. So a link that appears in the Sunday print edition can sometimes be found online by Saturday, but the article itself can be dated as early as Thursday or Wednesday. It's kind of a pain. (The M.O. with the Links is to go by the date with the article itself, to make it easier to determine if an article has already been posted and for the sake of uniformity, in so far as uniformity is possible.....)