dirac

bart and carbro contributed these comments in the General Reading forum: bart wrote: It's all there in embryonic form -- perculating slowly -- even when he was 24 and 25. The love of classical, structured dance (as opposed to modern); the development of a personal aesthetic that valued form over random self-expression; the recognition that there had to be a school; the search for an appropriate theater; and the effort to learn how to separate the good from the bad. And this was going on before he had seen much in the way of real classical ballet. carbro wrote:

Let us know what they're like. I haven't looked at anything about Marie Antoinette since I read the Stefan Zweig book as a kid.

Then I would definitely go with Solway.

Thank you for the list, BW. I read some very favorable reviews of the Rory Stewart book.

A speech like this, as well as Capulet's refusal to throw Romeo out when he crashes the Capulets' party, is an indication that the young lovers' marriage could have ended more happily had they kept their heads. And Friar Laurence marries the two not because he believes Romeo is truly in love, but because he hopes the match will reconcile their families. But instead, by killing Tybalt to avenge Mercutio's murder, Romeo himself dashes any possibility of a hopeful resolution for himself and Juliet, and the tragic events mount ever higher as the play continues. True, Klavier, but the actual text Martins or any other choreographer is working from is Prokofiev, not Shakespeare. I don’t see why in principle the conception of any character has to conform to Shakespeare’s as long as it makes sense in the context of the story and the score. Excellent point. Perhaps the core of the tragedy in Shakespeare is that their passion is such that it overrules their reason.

Haven't seen any of these in my area yet, but still looking and hoping. BW, we also have a Reading and Literature forum, feel free to swing by there, as well.

Well, it's certainly a matter of debate whether noble persons would engage in such behavior. But whatever the case, Martins's production, by all the descriptions, seems uninterested in the finer points of realism or historical accuracy. The children of the nobility elsewhere were indeed subjected to corporal punishment and wives were not exempt either. I can’t say what went on in Verona specifically, but such things happened. (When I first read about the production I assumed the slap was a try for period verismo, to show just how bad things could get for Juliet if she persisted in her defiance.)

My favourite, by a long shot (and I own several Nureyev biographies), is Peter Watson's biography, titled Nureyev. I couldn't put it down. The book also gives an excellent, detailed overview of life in Communist Russia as it tells Nureyev's story. I highly recommend it. I enjoyed that one, too. I also liked Otis Stuart's gossipy take, although I'd not recommend it as the one and only book to read, certainly.

I agree, zerbinetta. This certainly wasn't what I was expecting from Macaulay. The incident between Martins and Kistler is a matter of public record and not beyond discussion, but the elbow-nudging tone of the piece I found unpleasant. And, as you observe, location matters - this is the Times. The subject of the changing treatment of women in ballet is a legitimate one, but surely the oeuvre of Peter Martins is not the only place to look ("Shambards" comes to mind as just one example). (Not having seen R+J, I can't comment on the impact of The Slap, but corporal punishment would have been considered quite in order for such a rebellious daughter once upon a time, and Lady Capulet might even have joined in.) Yes, relations between the sexes have often been fraught with tension in Martins' ballets, and the point has been made elsewhere more than once, but unless the gossips know something I don't hauling up the old incident in this fashion sheds light on nothing.

Grissi, I haven’t picked up the Solway book in awhile, but my lasting impression was while it was thorough to the point of exhaustiveness, I found it awfully hard to get through – in fact I never did, quite – too verbose for the most part, one of those missing-the-forest-for-the-trees bios, although it’s useful to have around as a reference and if you're interested in Nureyev you should at least give it a try. I’ll have to look at it again. Looking forward to reading Kavanagh’s book.

I didn't intend to question the legitimacy of Duberman’s enterprise or the quality of his research. I meant that no prospective biographical subject would be likely to regard such revelations without some ambivalence, if he were around. Frederick Ashton and John Gielgud, for example, knew what kind of books were coming and who was going to write them and they didn’t mind and they did. Unless you’re dealing with a total exhibitionist I’m sure any subject of a candid biography would have such feelings. I’m not quite sure that I would regard the destruction of papers as ‘sanitizing’ if it’s done by the original possessor of those papers. Ava Gardner gave her maid a package of papers to destroy (the maid believed they were Frank Sinatra’s love letters). That’s not sanitizing, it’s keeping something precious to yourself private, surely.

Sometimes, Ray, such things are like Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of pornography: ‘I know it when I see it.’ And such reactions will differ from reader to reader. (I haven’t read this book yet, but in my experience Duberman knows how to handle these matters.) Well....I doubt if Kirstein’s ‘willingness to expose himself’ would have reached this degree - but biographers can't necessarily worry about that too much.

Well....the article was raising questions. I didn't agree with everything in it, but I didn't think of Kourlas as being deceitful.

Sorry, bart, I missed this earlier. I couldn't agree more.

Oh, Talespinner, I couldn't agree more. I don't think it will happen, though, because at every performance I've attended of the company's Don Q, admittedly as few as I could manage, the audience goes bananas. I saw Smolen and Helimets together at last Saturday evening's highly dramatic performance, but wouldn't presume to judge them on a night when they were called in from offsite to come to the aid of the party. She does not strike me as a natural Kitri, however. I don't have any problem with Helimets' ethnic background (I think the whole you-gotta-be-Latin-to-do-it-right business has gotten completely out of hand) but he seems a little too sweet and bland for Basilio.

Promotion of diversity, handled intelligently, would serve the art form, and such promotion doesn’t have to involve any lowering of standards.

And what did you think of the performance?

Thanks very much, Klavier. Joel Lobenthal takes a more measured view, which sounds plausible. (Meaning no disrespect, Klavier. )

Thank you, Ray. What a great site! Much to look at.

The San Jose Mercury News has been posting regular updates. Apparently Halberstam was not working on a Korean War book, but on a book about the ’58 Giants-Colts game – he was heading to an interview with Y.A.Tittle. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5740849?nclick_check=1 (Warning: this link has a photo of the Camry in which Halberstam was riding. No surprise that he didn't survive.) http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5737688 Correcting my earlier post – as the memory bank jogs, I recall that it wasn’t a character based on Halberstam, it was Halberstam himself, arriving at the home of Rick Redfern and Joanie Caucus to interview Rick for his new book. (‘I don’t write books. I write tomes. Tomes about power.’)

Well....I don’t know that I would go so far as to characterize age 68 as young, but there is no doubt that he died while still creative and energetic, and it was too soon. Unhappy news, indeed, and I wish the best to his family and his company.

I admired particularly 'The Best and the Brightest,' but offhand I can't think of a book of his not worth picking up. And a reporter so diligent that President Kennedy asked the publisher of the Times if he would please take Halberstam off the Vietnam beat.

David Halberstam has been killed in a car accident, age 73. Can’t quite take this in yet, in part because the accident happened in a location I drive by all the time, and also because for me Halberstam’s one of those personages who's always been there, like the Queen and Woody Allen, and every few years or so there’s another one of his books with the overexcited run-on sentences and emphatic style (there’s an old Doonesbury cartoon where a character based on Halberstam is asked how he likes his coffee, and he says something like, ‘Black, completely black, utterly without cream and sugar’). A great reporter is gone. Rest in peace. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5733552

Thanks for posting, Drew. A very interesting point, and although I haven’t seen or read the trilogy it sounds plausible in light of some of Stoppard’s other work.

It sounds from the reviews in general as if a) the personal styles of Didion and Redgrave are not a great combination, as probably might have been anticipated, and b) the material wasn’t dramatized sufficiently. (As to whether Didion is properly ‘letting go’ or not, it’s certainly not for anyone to say, and Lahr might not have said that if the production had come off better.)