dirac

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in the obits so far was that Shearer came from a musical family, on both sides – I recall reading that her maternal grandfather was a violinist and conductor, pretty much everyone could play an instrument, and there was always music in the house. Shearer herself had thoughts of becoming a pianist.

I think the problem is that Austen just didn't write enough novels, and so people are desperate for more Jane, any Jane. If only she'd lived to be as productive as Dickens!

This came out a few days ago in Playbill. It’s an interview with Millo where she talks about the cancellation and Birgit Nilsson, among other things. http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/3779.html

The “Brokeback” backlash proceeds apace. Stephen Hunter had this to say in The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0102477_pf.html You know, I have nothing against the family, it can be at its best a fine thing. As mentioned above, I had a few issues with the picture's treatment of the men's dilemma and family matters. However, I’m not sure that a sense of connection to The Great Wheel of Life had much to do with what Annie Proulx was talking about.

I think the name of Pavlova will always represent ballet. She’s become an archetype, in the way the name of Babe Ruth symbolizes baseball to people who know nothing else about it.

The obituaries and comments are coming in and we should avoid turning this into a links thread, but this is a good and representative one, from the UK Times, anonymous, as is the custom. Thank you for that recollection, atm711. I imagine her footwork in Act I was delicious.

A sad farewell to a lovely dancer and person – who knows how many people had their first experience of ballet by watching Moira Shearer and her colleagues in “The Red Shoes"? This also marks the passing of the last of the original “Symphonic Variations” ballerinas and the first of Ashton’s Cinderellas. And on top of this, a great beauty, a natural actress, a writer, and wife and mother. Here is the Internet Movie Database entry for Shearer.

Thanks for chiming in, GWTW. Munich is by no means perfect but I admired it, too. Eric Bana’s not getting the credit he should but I thought he was excellent – also Ciaran Hinds as Carl and Mathieu Amalric as Louis (the fellow with the dog). Also, it was the only movie of the season to offer filmgoers the chance to see Ehud Barak in a dress. When you work out your thoughts on Brokeback, let us in on them, please.

Curses! I looked up the schedule and I can't go see Weese. I can understand not wanting company dancers to miss out on opportunities, but. If Weese got herself invited to San Francisco to dance Ballo Della Regina, for example, I sure wouldn't cry about it.

I like George Clooney just fine, but to put him up there with Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg is pretty ridiculous (although not nearly as bad as Martin Scorsese losing to Kevin Costner). Munich is the most interesting of the nominated pictures but it’s unlikely to win. Brokeback Mountain would be my second choice. I extend my sympathy to the people who are now going to rent Crash. I don't think that Best Supporting Actor is going to be a nail biter. The Academy owes Giamatti and I think they know it.

Thank you for posting this, AmandaNYC. This is indeed sad news.

"In Her Shoes" was a chick flick, and a good one, too. Underrated.

There’s a distinction between “elite” and “elitist” in common usage, I think. “Elite” is often (though not always) used in a neutral or positive context, but “elitist” rarely is. The latter word carries an implication of entitlement. I don’t think Fugate was suggesting, even when you take the quote by itself, that Ballet BC supplies a non-snobby version of ballet in contrast to the customary snobby one or that she was trying to perpetuate said snobby stereotype. She intended to say that many people have a negative image of ballet that follows this line of thought, and that it’s wrong. I'll be watching the game, myself.

Manderlay, the second part of the trilogy, is now out and about. I hear it's not quite as long or extreme as Dogville. Bryce Dallas Howard steps in for Kidman and Willem Dafoe subs for James Caan. Lauren Bacall and Chloe Sevigny will be back, too.

Joan Allen was excellent in The Upside of Anger and although she hasn't been talked about it wouldn't stun me if she was in the mix.

silvy, I think Spielberg produced, but didn't direct -- so it's only his movie, sort of.

I'm looking forward to seeing LeBlanc. I'm inclined to agree with Talespinner about Kristin Long, I'm sorry to say. ballet nut writes: True, but Swan Lake really does stand or fall on the toe shoes of one ballerina, doesn't it? Reminds me of what Maria Tallchief says in "Six Balanchine Ballerinas" about the role of the ballerina (not specific to Swan Lake) -- something to the effect that people don't always realize the great responsibility of the first dancer -- "if I was no good, the ballet was no good." Paul Parish writes: Very true, Tan was unexpectedly good in that, although it's no masterpiece, to be sure.

I was just curious, silvy, as to what your friend eventually chose. I hope it worked well, whatever it was!

One of my nominees in the good-but -unlikely-for-a-nomination category is Gena Rowlands, giving Kate Hudson the heebie-jeebies in The Skeleton Key. This was one of those late summer entries that’s not going to snag awards for anyone involved, but Rowlands walked a fine line successfully between showing us some hambone and creating a character that was genuinely difficult to suss out. (Rowlands has never won, either, and also she could eat that little tweetybird Michelle Williams for breakfast.)

Much obliged for the info, JaneD.

I'm very sorry that I never heard her live, although I'd have been too young to really appreciate the experience, anyway. As Tommasini and others have noted, on recordings you don't get the thrilling sensation of hearing that giant voice ride the orchestra (and recordings don't do justice to really big voices). Nilsson was on my first opera box set too, Paul -- it was Turandot with Bjoerling and Tebaldi. I still remember bringing it home from Berkeley.

We often have a lively Oscar broadcast discussion around this time of year, so I thought I’d start a pre-emptive awards season thread for comments on the Academy Awards or any of the other shows. The process tends to be more of a political election/popularity contest, as opposed to a reward for actual artistic merit. On the other hand, it’s fun to talk about. Put in your two cents, please. The nominations themselves will be announced on January 31. A helpful schedule of upcoming awards below: http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?acti...N-FILM-01-24-06

Can't say that I'm eager to claim Hedda for the feminists, bart, but you're right, potentially they might be interesting dramatic ballets. I haven't heard of any attempts, but perhaps someone else has. The Wild Duck is one of my favorite plays -- would love to see it revived.

I regret to say that’s exactly what I meant by special pleading. (Not yours, the movie's. ) Alma has to live with Ennis, remember, on Ennis’ terms, until she finally calls it quits. I do not mean to suggest that Ennis is a Bad Person, only that if the picture was a little more honest about the consequences that Ennis’ kind of emotional shutdown often wreaks on families, particularly children, we wouldn’t stop caring about his fate but our feelings about him would be more mixed.

Canbelto, I thought Brokeback Mountain was excellent, and deserving of most of the praise it’s received. I had read that the film was static and dull, but although Ang Lee takes his time as he always does, I was never bored. It did seem that the filmmakers were anxious to ensure that Jack and Ennis’s hold on audience sympathy never weakens, and this involves a certain amount of special pleading and deck stacking in regard to the depiction of family relations and in particular the characterizations of the two wives. The picture is astonishingly faithful to the story in outline, although it’s constructed on a much larger scale – I think Proulx said it was the difference between a canoe and an ocean liner -- and that’s not all to the good. Some of the passages added by the scriptwriters feel like padding and in addition strike false notes, such as the Thanksgiving scene at Jack’s house and the scene with Ennis and his girlfriend. The picture gains considerably in strength close to the end – Ledger is very fine here, and the last frame of the film is a masterly bit of composition. Below is a link to the earlier thread on the season in film, which I closed – it has comments on Brokeback and other pictures of the year. I thought I’d re-post it here as it might get lost with the passage of time. http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=21053