dirac

Binoche is too short for Farrell. Pacino is right for Villella in many ways, but he could never play a dancer - his torso is disproportionately long and he's really quite short in the leg. Not that noticeable if he's photographed carefully, but there's no hiding in tights. (If there ever was a movie, it would be best to go with real dancers and not actors, in any case, IMO. But we're just having fun here.) Welles didn't resemble Kirstein, but he had the physical and vocal presence to convey a theatrical sense of Kirstein, if you will. Lithgow's too mild.

I just realized my post reads as if I'm suggesting Bresson would cast Leaud. Didn't mean that, obviously. Welles is a great idea for Kirstein.

It’s not that he isn’t speaking to ballet fans, I’d suggest – he is -- but he’s speaking to others as well. I'd say ballet is entertainment and it wouldn’t be doing its job as a performing art if it wasn’t. But great ballet isn’t only entertainment. .Well, the 21st century is barely underway. I expect that things will look different decades from now, and some of us reading this board today may not be around to see it. Genius doesn’t come with the mail, and the high expectations loaded on Wheeldon’s shoulders aren’t entirely his fault. People are looking around for ‘the next Balanchine’ and there may not be anything like him for a very long time.

I thought of Truffaut too, Quiggin. Bresson wouldn't have occurred to me but I think you're on to something. (On the other hand he might cast Léaud as Balanchine.) Alan Rudolph isn’t a director on that level but he’s taken an interest in the period and he can handle a crowded canvas.

Quiggin does have a good point about facial structure, though - cheekbones, profile are indeed somewhat similar. But I'd still say Clift is too conventionally attractive.

The Ivanova idea is a great one, Quiggin. Montgomery Clift is an interesting idea, but he would be too handsome. Not that Balanchine was unattractive by any means, but he does seem to have had some insecurity about his looks. He can't be an obvious heartbreaker or someeone the girls would automatically swoon over. Depending on how long of a movie we’re talking about, room should be found for Holly Howard, Josephine Baker, Marie-Jeanne, Allegra Kent, Diana Adams, and Lucia Davidova, not to mention a few acerbic asides from Melissa Hayden, who could be the Eve Arden figure. Balanchine’s story would make a better miniseries, I think, or a theatrical film focused on a given period in his life. There’s only so much you can squeeze into a feature film, even if it ran to two and a half or three hours. If I had to choose, I might opt for his early life, including the Ballet Russes period (“Young Balanchine”), which would make a very interesting and colorful film, or his Vera Zorina period. The Farrell years present casting issues and I’m not sure how appealing a movie centered around a sexagenarian with erotic designs on a teenager would turn out to be. Nope. Good idea, although he’s a little long in the tooth to play the younger Balanchine. Fun topic, bart.

Thanks for those two detailed reports, GWTW. These both sound as if they're worth checking out.

Seems to me that reviving a ballet like this with all the trimmings is what ABT is for (or should be). Times are going to be hard for everyone in the next few years but when there's a will, there's a way. It's part of the company's heritage.

I wouldn’t say ‘only a newspaper article.’ Denby wrote a lot of his best stuff for the papers. Macaulay is writing for an audience of general interest readers as well as dance fans, which does make a difference. It doesn’t make the writing sloppier or necessarily inferior. Most of us posting here would certainly agree that ballet never left, but the intelligentsia’s interest in ballet peaked with Diaghilev and later with Balanchine. However, I don’t think ballet will ever return to the time when many people, even highly educated and cultured ones, did not know what it was or condescended to it.

'Meh' enters the dictionary.

I would add that Macaulay was probably using popular 'genius' figures that would be recognized immediately by general interest readers, as a sort of shorthand to indicate the kind of company in which Balanchine belongs and, as Sandy says, to flesh out his points.

Thanks, miliosr. I haven't enjoyed a Bond movie in years the way I did 'Casino Royale' so I was looking forward to this one and hope to see it soon, although the reviews have not been entirely encouraging and when I first saw the title in a headline I thought it was a new papal bull. And directors like Paul Greengrass don't grow on trees. I will be curious to see how certain elements introduced in Casino Royale will be developed in Quantum of Solace. Daniel Craig is a real actor and wants to give Bond some depth, I'm sure, but on the other hand I'm not sure how much I want to see of 007's tormented soul.... Casino Royale has been turning up on cable and I saw it again recently, so I'll be prepped.

I'm referring to situations where it's pretty clear when it's a casual How are you or a more probing and genuine inquiry, although I quite agree that there are people who have trouble distinguishing between the two.

Thank you for reviving this venerable thread, innopac. I saw the Soviet film 'The Cranes Are Flying' for the first time not long ago and it was very good.

I can certainly see your point, innopac. Amazing how much wear and tear a few phrases get.

Respectfully, leonid, I come of a working class family and we’ve all at one time or another asked people how they were as a matter of courtesy. Good manners are not necessarily related to class, not in the US, at any rate. In my work I come into contact with people who could be described as upper middle and/or upper and some of them are quite unspeakably rude and don't seem to know any better. Otherwise, I agree, asking “How are you?” even if you’re not terribly interested is a mark of well-intentioned politeness and not the opposite (sorry to differ with you, innopac). There are few things more annoying, in fact, than the person who takes a “How are you?” that is clearly pro forma as an opportunity to tell you exactly,but exactly, how they are. It's correct to say "I couldn't care less" but the more emphatic "I could care less" has been heard colloquially for decades.

Forgot to add that I agree strongly with the Telegraph commenter who mentioned "It is what it is."

Thanks for posting this, kfw. These lists come up from time to time and they're always fun. Jargon phrases and words go in and out of fashion - probably a decade or so 'Hopefully' and 'Finally' would have been on the list (they're still around but have lost their novelty and hence the annoyance factor has receded somewhat). I'm not wild about 'With all due respect' but it has its uses, especially when you're disagreeing with someone (not least on the internet). I wouldn't flog yourself over #8, either, a misdemeanor I've also committed. It wouldn't surprise me if, many years down the line, it becomes more or less standard usage - such shifts do happen. Any other pet peeves in this department, BTers?

Thanks for the link, Old Fashioned. Good to hear from you. I'm sure the Administration will do something for the arts, but I fear in the current environment - the news gets worse every day - it will be low on the list of priorities. Symbolic gestures can help too, of course. I don't think that his fabled White House concert netted that many new listeners for Pablo Casals, but I'm sure it made him and musicians feel good (and their listeners also). President Kennedy's public commitment to high culture was a Good Thing even if he was also looking to put some gloss on his administration and his own taste leaned toward show tunes.

You have a wide range of interests, perichoresis. As does your teacher, evidently.

Thanks for posting, papeetepatrick. My first instinct is to say of course the houses should be preserved, but there may be more to the story. It's not only changing musical tastes that spelled the end for Tin Pan Alley, I suppose, but the development of performers writing their own material instead of looking to outside songwriters.

I add my thanks to Alexandra's, cxllqhy. We love these kinds of questions at BT, and I hope this commences an interesting discussion

I thought I would move and revive this topic from Everything Else Ballet. Thanks, Ray, for posting it (although I'm inclined to agree with Paul that the NYT article is not exactly gripping). I don't think anyone on BT would say that it's either or between Bel and ballet - or that the two can't mix. It's just a question of knowing which is which, I'd say. Nice to know there's so much interesting stuff going on in Philadelphia.

Good point, JMcN. Maybe Paris shouldn't be too appealing...

Thank you for posting this, drb. I'm irked that I didn't find any of this for the Links. I hope Vishneva is able to recover her things.