dirac

I didn't know he was ill, either. Very sad news. A favorite performer of mine, in any field, and a great ambassador for dance. He guested with San Francisco Ballet during the Smuin era, some time in the seventies, if memory serves.

As an aside, I just remembered that there were four Balanchine segments, not three, but one hasn't been shown again because they couldn't get releases from all the dancers, apparently. Too bad. Yes, Ashley looks beautiful on the tape, doesn't she? I think she looks better in Four Ts than in the Ballo della Regina tape, although the latter is pretty awesome, too.

Well, blogs are by definition self-centered, although some are less ego-driven than others. I suspect it may be therapeutic for writers to get the Me Myself and I stuff out of their systems. Teachout's isn't the worst I've seen in that respect by any means. As for his analysis of how he knows a masterpiece, well, it doesn't seem that far from the famous comment from Columbia Pictures' Harry Cohn that Teachout quotes, but that could be me.

piccolo, this sounds like one of the three Dance in America programs from the mid-seventies that showcased Balanchine's choreography. They've been re-released as the Balanchine Library series, sans the introductions, which I think is an unfortunate omission. Villella's commentaries were written by Arlene Croce if I remember correctly and if you're interested in an extended analysis, I'd recommend her long review of The Four Temperaments collected in Afterimages which discusses the revival. I'm of two minds about reading this kind of interpretation before seeing something for the first time. On the one hand, it can prepare you for what you're going to see, but on the other hand it can inhibit your own response (especially true in the case of a writer with Croce's firepower – you start to see things her way whether you want to or not). I also liked this particular video. I thought the ballet came across well, although the massed grouping of the finale doesn't have the impact it would in the theatre.

It depends on what you expect from an interview. This particular one is a standard issue visiting-ballerina-on-tour piece, although there were some interesting things (and thanks to ballerina1023 for posting it). Expectations for personal revelations should not be high. I remember that she did discuss the effects her tribulations had had in a general way for a Dance magazine cover story a few years ago. Obviously she's not going to say anything like, "Yes, my career has been irretrievably blighted by injury." (Balanchine didn't like his dancers talking about injuries to the press, and I'm sure she hasn't forgotten that, either.) It's a pretty personal thing, after all.

I don't think it's a short term threat. The sound isn't good enough, and people aren't going to pay premium prices to hear canned music, which is really what this is. In the long term, who knows?

As an aside, I took a look at the survey itself and it notes that women constituted 62.9% of balletgoers in 1992 and 68.9% in 2002. I think ticket prices are crucial. It's all very well to talk about "outreach," but you can't reach very far if people can't afford to go.

You know, Farrell Fan, that name did ring a distant bell for me, too, and your post reminded me -- Astaire was a ballet dancer, "the great Petrov" -- Peter P. Peters, I think his 'real' name was -- in "Shall We Dance." One of only two times I can recall Astaire looking a tad silly (the other time was when Ginger and he essayed a fiery Spanish dance in "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle." Too funny. It may be appropriate, in a way, that Baryshnikov's character is not a dancer, since he is appearing here in the avatar of A Celebrity, which is his true value to the show.

Thanks for the kind words, Doris. We're always open to (limited) rambling, especially in the summer. Since an actual vacation is not in the offing for me this year, I amuse myself by reading and seeing dumb movies, although I confess my appetite for the latter is now exhausted after exposure to several of Hollywood's current big budget offerings. (I saw Jaws again recently on cable, the flick that got the blockbuster era rolling, and it's amazing -- a story! characters! strong script! strong actors! Those were the days.)

Thanks, piccolo. Uh, not a match made in heaven, I would think. I love the character of Carrie on her own terms, but setting her up with an Anselm Kiefer type doesn't really seem the way to go. What are they going to talk about? Her eye shadow? I'll miss the show, but thank goodness they're shutting it down after this season. Along with Miranda's baby, this gimmick of bringing in famous faces is another indicator of serious We're-Completely-Out-of-Ideas desperation. However, I'll keep watching anyway......

Cher is ageless, O thou unbelievers.

I second that. I've never seen it on even the most well stocked newsstands in my area. And the subscription is a very good deal.

If you rent or buy "Dancers" I'd also recommend that you hit the mute button every time the fair Miss Kent appears within camera range. This venture may be misguided, but I still think it's a Good Thing that people are still interested in bringing ballet related projects to the screen minus the participation of any Russian defectors. Good luck to them.

carbro, I have never seen Jose Manuel Carreno live, but after watching the Black Swan pas with Susan Jaffe in that PBS special, I fear the ushers may have to peel me off him, should the company return to the Bay Area any time soon......

glebb, if Mendes directs and we have "Swan Lake Meets the Road to Perdition" I shall leave the country to avoid it, if need be. You know, this project doesn't have to be awful, although it probably will. Putting aside the silly "for the masses" rhetoric, if you found a director with a genuine visual imagination and gift for shooting movement (none of which I've yet seen from any of the directors mentioned in their work for film), you might have something interesting, although it wouldn't be a real Swan Lake. Ewan McGregor is too short for Rothbart. At least van Damme would be scary (in more than one sense).

My first ballet was the SF Ballet Nutcracker, I forget with whom, and darned if I can recall anything about it. At the time, it didn't make much of an impression -- I was about nine or so, had taken some lessons because my sister did, but I wasn't immediately enthralled. (The Nutcracker did not help much, I'm sorry to say.)

Astaire's influence goes far beyond that of any briefly fashionable dance team such as the Castles, fortunately.

That's funny, Mel. The only thing missing would be an announcement that Salinger and Pynchon would be appearing jointly on Oprah to publicize the book. Farrar Straus and not Knopf?

I found this to be a departure from earlier books of McEwan's that I've read. He hasn't manifested much interest in the childhoods of his characters – as far as he's concerned, they don't seem to have any. So I was surprised and interested that he chose a child as protagonist. (There are references to Jane Austen, – there is an epigraph from Northanger Abbey, and the first section of the book takes place at a country house, where amateur theatricals are planned, but don't come off, as in Mansfield Park.) I was also reminded of other works – at first I thought, "Ah, The Go-Between meets The Children's Hour.") I can see why McEwen thought he needed the plot twist at the end – imposing a neat fiction on messy reality is what got Briony into difficulties in the first place, and it also gives the novel's title its meaning ("Some bloody atonement, Briony," I imagine the unfortunate Robbie muttering out in the ozone somewhere). But I also think he might have done better without it. He's already made the point, and the ending is a trifle DuMaurier, not really worthy of him. I agree with you, scoop, that McEwan is saying, in part, that we organize our reality, but I don't think he's also saying that's a good thing. The account of Dunkirk is virtuoso stuff.

I don't think ballerina1023 was angry, just a little indignant at perceived one-sidedness.

ballerina1023 is aware of that, I'm certain, and intended to type "successor" not "predecessor."

True. I recall reading that her health has been poor of late, so while it is a loss for us I hope it was a graceful release for her.

I agree, Farrell Fan, the idea that marketing people are merely fulfilling the needs and demands of their clients may seem like one of those obvious points, but in a discussion like this the issue can become muddied and Leigh's clarification is helpful, I think.

Ari, I didn't intend to refer to the publication where the remarks were made -- only the referencing by name. It's quite correct that in the past The New Yorker discouraged direct attacks on other critics, but of course, in those days, the magazine discouraged other things now currently permissible . You may well be right, Thalictum, and welcome to the board. It's just our luck that Acocella has such wide interests, I guess.

Thank you, SwanQueen, and I'm very glad that you found us, too! We just eat up compliments like that.