dirac

Thanks. I actually didn't mean to imply that NPR had been broadcasting the Met and had stopped -- only that the show is hard to find in my neck of the woods. As for NPR -- I've written, threatened to stop contributing, all that good stuff. Not much luck so far. There was a piece in the Times awhile back that said that NPR had been deliberately cutting back on music programming to make room for more talk, because the latter was more popular with the paying customers -- evidently music lovers complain but don't write checks, a point I do understand. I hope that the late Joan Kroc's largesse frees up some dough for more music.

Thanks -- this is good news. It's nice that NPR is involved -- they've been broadcasting less and less music. It will be great to have more listening options, especially since I'm now reduced to hearing the Met broadcasts on an AM station that I can barely receive.

Oberon started a thread called "Changing Your Mind" on the NYCB board (link below): http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...showtopic=14499 and I thought this is an issue that could do with expanded treatment. Have there been instances when you changed your mind about a ballet you initially disliked (or initially adored)? And in instances where you didn't alter your first opinion, how long did it take before you decided, "I really don't like this" or "No, it's not me – this sucks." Or did you know right away? I may as well confess -- one of the first ballets I ever saw was Giselle. Couldn't bear it. That awful whimpering music, the capering peasants outside their picturesque huts, and what is her problem? A heart attack? a nervous breakdown? Both? The second act was better, but I certainly didn't want to sit through it again. I persisted, however, and eventually began seeing poetic meanings instead of taking everything too literally, which is what I was doing.

kfw, don't you realize ALL movie artistic directors and impresarios have to be vain, egotistical, and overbearing? Otherwise, there's no story. Imagine The Red Shoes with a Boris Lermontov who says,"What, Vicky, you want to marry this young man instead of letting me dominate you out of existence? I understand completely! You have my blessing!" Some drama.

Aloff says that Falkenberg's figure was ideal for dancing – I don't think she meant to suggest that Jinx would have been a successful ballet dancer in that time and place. (Certainly not with those substantial Forties gazongas.) I think she's pointing to the much closer connection between vernacular dance and ballet that was present then and doesn't exist now.

Thanks very much for posting at such length, bhammatt. A very enjoyable read, and it's great that you got so much out of the experience. I'm sorry the chat with Tallchief did not yield much, but it may be that she's said pretty much all she wants to say. I'll have to look at her book again and see if she says anything about Balanchine's piano technique there. Hard to believe she turns seventy-eight this year!

In the November 24 issue of The Nation, I see by the TOC that there is a piece by Lynn Garafola called "Diaghilev in Perm." I haven't yet had a chance to read it but will comment when I do. It is unavailable online.

Alexandra's right, Mazo does mention the injury in his book -- in fact, if memory serves, he was present at the rehearsal where Kirkland was hurt. His account corresponds to hers in the essentials, but he omits the give-and-take between her and Robbins that Kirkland describes. It's possible it didn't happen the way she says, but her account sounded pretty straightforward, IMO.

I agree that Julie Christie wasn't quite right for Lara, but at least she was convincing in that you could believe that three very different but exceptional men could love her all their lives. In her winter snugglies, Keira Knightley is a furball Winona Ryder. I do have to say that I thought no one was at his best in the Lean movie except for Rod Steiger, who was stupendous. I also thought it was a good idea for the television Russia to be grubbier than the movie one. But in other ways the show is less of an improvement than it might have been -- and there was room for improvement. vagansmom, the book is VERY DIFFERENT from either version. My opinion, Pasternak's method here is not really susceptible to dramatization, but plainly that's not stopping anyone.

I remember this show with great affection; you don't see casts like that in American miniseries. Wasn't Livia's speech addressed to the gladiators? I seem to recall her haranguing them about various subterfuges they were employing in order to stay alive. I did have a problem with the adaptation, however. I thought it relied too much on the sensational aspects of Graves' narrative, that is, the blood and sex. It's true there's plenty of both, but I thought it notable that although the series was based on both "I, Claudius" and the successor book "Claudius the God" it relied very heavily on the first volume and the reign of Claudius itself was given relatively short shrift (except for Messalina and Nero, natch). One of the great pleasures of the books for me are the historical digressions into such matters as Claudius' conquest of Britain and his noodling with the alphabet. Some of these things are not easily dramatized, of course, but I thought they might have made some room between all the copulation and bloodletting, especially in a series that ran to such length. Mashinka, Daniel Deronda has been shown here. It was very good.

And a wrap can disguise a multitude of fashion sins. I'm going to dissent, in part, about dressing up. I agree that it can have salutary effects on behavior. However, since I travel some distance, often on public transportation, and am usually coming right from the office, where I don't have to dress up as a rule, I've appeared in some pretty casual wear (and I've seen jeans at the War Memorial Opera House, although not on me). In my experience, people new to attending, including teens, have a lot of anxiety about What to Wear, and hearing "no need to dress to the nines" can be reassuring. It seems to make it more of an everyday event in a good way – that is, not something that is only done rarely and with elaborate preparations beforehand. Even in prime seating I don't feel the need to dress like Mr. and Mrs. Venture Capitalist down the row, and even if I wanted to make a fancy evening of it with dinner beforehand I'd not be able to afford that and the tickets, too. (I also feel morally superior. Often as not, those people are there to See and Be Seen. I'm there for the art.) So I'd say dress down if you like, and don't stress out about it in any case. As noted, the color black can be usefully deceptive.

We are getting Divert, Serenade, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Waltz of the Flowers in Berkeley, according to the current listing on the Cal Performances website.

Ticketmaster just notified me that the Cupertino gig has been cancelled.

I remember Croce's beautiful tribute, although I don't have it handy, either. It's worth looking up. I also recall reading he was a great admirer of Patricia McBride.

Apart from being the wrong sex, I'm not pretty enough to come as Lifar. However, if dido can have Karsavina's eyes as the Firebird, I shall appropriate Fonteyn's entire body and come as the Firebird, too.

He's only appeared in one episode so far, the season closer. The final segments of the series begin airing in January. I thought he was...adequate. I'll believe it's really Sinatra when the ghost starts getting into fistfights and yelling at the help.

Yes, although there are a number of passages I can only describe as, well, mushy. Fortunately, they're outnumbered by the good stuff.

Is the shade of Ol' Blue Eyes hanging out at Baryshnikov's restaurant, Russian Samovar? Page Six reports: http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix.htm

I always liked the Odette costume Streisand wore in "Funny Girl." I could make my entrance to the party announcing, "Whaddya gonna do, shoot the svans? Dese lovelies? My svansgirls?"

djb, I agree Hilarion doesn't have to be repulsive or totally unsympathetic, but he should be clearly wrong for Giselle (and in the wrong) – a little beyond mere obnoxiousness. And he shouldn't be as appealing or attractive as Albrecht. As Edmund Goulding told supporting player Ronald Reagan during the shoot of the Bette Davis vehicle "Dark Victory," "Ronnie, we've already got a leading man." On the other hand, times have changed, and there's no reason for contemporary productions not to reflect that, within reason. For us, Giselle is just as important as Albrecht, peasant or no – a change for the better, IMO. And welcome to the board, by the way! I never thought of Gurn as a villain, either.

Thank you for the review, pj. I was sorry that the Kirov didn't do La Bayadere in the Bay Area (we saw the Fokine mixed bill and Jewels). Do report back on the Fokine program!

Figures will never come back.

In the case of an ordinary skater that might be so, but not Kwan. Everyone fades from the limelight eventually, but she has already proved herself a special case.

I can't recall a time when there weren't complaints from some quarters about Too Much Jumping. I remember reading an interview in the mid seventies with the late John Curry, who had to perform a grand total of three triples to take the gold in 1976, that these days it was all about the tricks these days and there was no artistry, blah blah. Lipinski's injury was to the right hip, I believe. I haven't heard of back trouble but it wouldn't surprise me. She was well known for being self-willed, her coaches' influence was limited, and the parents were not much of a help. Susanne, the pro scene here is not what it was. Since they changed the rules about "amateurs" earning money, an eligible competitor can now earn almost as much as a pro, so there's far less financial incentive to turn professional than there was before. In addition, since the professional scene isn't covered by the media as the competitions are, Kwan's public profile would fade pretty quickly in today's environment. And she clearly loves competing – it is a sport, after all. Until she starts losing with regularity, there's not much reason for her to quit, unless she just gets tired of the whole thing. We'll see. I must say I have never been less impressed by a program of hers.

I'm sure Paul's info is more up to date than mine. I'm going to Cupertino and Berkeley, so it will be interesting to see if I get something different each time, or the same program. Either way I will be pleased to see the company at last!