dirac

Calliope, while I agree that you can't just cite the numbers and say, "See, there's a problem," such great disparities can be one indicator of the presence of such a problem (as no one would know better than Mrs. Robinson).

Hans, the first "Batman" in the series, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, is actually an interesting and original movie. Sounds like you caught one of the later ones.

If I remember rightly, Nichols remarked in a recent interview with Ballet Review that she didn't really see herself teaching. It's not for everyone. But she may change her mind, and if she does many students will benefit, I'm sure. Lucky you, PK. (Me heap big fan Bobby McFerrin).

I don't think it's tangential, either. I read recently that the contestants in international beauty pageants tend to conform to Western (in pageants, that usually means Barbie-like) standards in figure and features. This isn't something the pageants are demanding as the price of admission -- those are the girls that tend to advance through the process, and to win. I would agree that a remark like that shouldn't be allowed to pass. As Leigh says, it doesn't need to be done confrontationally -- sometimes people literally don't realize what they're saying. Although I must say that "white, like Snow White" is well, remarkably oblivious......

I also enjoy reading Macaulay – it was great seeing his byline in The New Yorker once upon a time, however briefly – and this is a very good piece for the reasons mentioned. He's honest, but fair. It's interesting that as an "Angry Young Man" MacMillan worked with another such, the playwright John Osborne on the latter's famous, or I should say notorious – flop musical, "The World of Paul Slickey." (Gielgud could be seen in the gallery, booing heartily; the author made his escape from resentful patrons down an alley. Several of Osborne's early plays received controversial receptions similar to those described by Macaulay here, so I imagine there was an affinity! Osborne later expressed considerable regard for MacMillan's talent, calling him a genius, not a word he threw around casually. Macaulay's assessment of the influence of Lady MacMillan is equally balanced. I wonder, though, if the dissolution of Royal Ballet style can be attributed not only to the current grab-bag approach to repertory, but in the deep stylistic divide between Ashton and MacMillan that became apparent decades ago; could any company in such conflict not experience a major crisis in style?

Cabriole's mention of Yo-Yo Ma reminds me of watching Leonard Bernstein, once called the Village Explainer by Tom Wolfe, conduct one of his classes for kids on television -- he was so intent and enthusiastic, and the kids were all sitting there looking genuinely enthralled.

kfw, I know you mentioned Weese's injury in your post. I was just emphasizing the context and didn't mean to imply you were leaving anything out.

In the current issue of Ballet Review, the topic of a company for L.A. arises in Francis Mason's interview with Christopher Wheeldon. The latter remarks that he thinks a company is a fully viable option for the city, if only there was a – I don't have the issue in front of me, so the following is approximate – visionary, charismatic, forceful individual with a capacity to create varied works that would appeal to all "strata of the populace." It may be just me, but I had the distinct impression that he was pointing to himself and clearing his throat, not for immediate consideration but for the future. More power to him, of course, although I thought his remarks perhaps a little cavalier toward previous efforts made in this direction.

kfw, if you're referring to the Times article on Weese, I gathered from it that her time spent watching television --not that I regard television watching as a low activity --I watch regularly myself --owing in part to a lack of mobility because of her injury. She also mentioned that her enforced time off gave her an opportunity to examine her life apart from the all-encompassing demands of dancing and that this has helped her creative side. It would be nice if dancers (if all of us) had more time for study and reflection. But a dancer doesn't need this background to be an artist, any more than Suzanne Farrell had to read and understand "Don Quixote" to be able to dance a ravishing Dulcinea at nineteen. Perhaps, also, a consuming concentration on one thing can enrich someone in ways that others less focused find difficult to appreciate?

I would be curious to hear more, too, PK. The general rule about stars not always teaching well seems to hold for other fields, too -- e.g., singing and sports. I've seen tapes of master classes with opera stars, for example, whose basic principle of teaching seemed to be, "Do it the way I do -- what's your problem?" Outstanding performers, through no fault of their own, of course, often seem to have difficulty understanding what troubles the struggling or the incompetent. All credit to those who make the transition from one field to the other successfully.

I really don’t think this matter constitutes a defacement of the inviolate realm of high art, or that they it's one step on a downward slope. They're jeans, after all. The logo isn't showing onstage (which would definitely be over the line). And leaving aside, of course, the issue of whether we want to see ballet dancers in jeans in the first place. Commercialism of this kind isn't essential to a free-market economy, but it's going to happen -- not quite the same thing. With limited government subsidy, arts organizations are going to have to do some scrounging in tough times. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Olivier also did print cigarette ads in the Fifties. Sigh. I take your point, Watermill, but I don't think his commercials signified a Luciferian fall from the heights for the arts. carbro, thanks for the Philip Morris explanation. You make an excellent point. Calliope, let me add my congratulations to the pile!

That is a terrific video, and it definitely shows a dancer capable of far more than supporting Martha and swooshing his cape. He also gave an interesting interview to Robert Tracy for the latter's book on Graham.

Judging from the video, I'd say both, too. I wonder how many total miles d'Amboise put in over the years, chasing the elusive Miss F. around the stage.

I think balletmama is right on the money, as it were. I'm also against the most vulgar forms of merchandising, but I've seen a lot worse than this. Parenthetically, in defense of Olivier. Although he made a number of movies, he was constantly returning to the stage, which doesn't pay nearly as well, for long periods, and while he was plenty solvent he was hardly rich by superstar standards. He was aging and in very poor health, and wanted to leave a nice nest egg for his three kids. I don't think those commercials were necessarily more damaging to the cause of art than his appearances in The Betsy and The Jazz Singer. It was said of the late George Harrison, by more than one observer, that his principal interests in life were a) God and B) the bottom line. I think he'd understand where ABT is coming from.

Some say that the quarterly is passé, but one of the nice things about them, and Ballet Review in particular, is that they are not consumer-oriented in the more obvious sense. It's assumed that you will be interested in reading a review of an NYCB season that's long past and you're not looking at it in order to decide if you want to go, and that you want to read what a dancer has to say regardless of whether or not the interview is absolutely up-to-the-minute.

Actually, I've heard a few howls at some performances, so ballet fans can be pretty darn demonstrative.

You don't have to apologize – it's my fault! Yes, it's a big book and hard to fit into a semester of heavy reading. I didn't mean to imply criticism of your teacher, and the film does follow an accurate historical outline. But so often in historical movies the devil is in the details. Back to the topic, in Ken Russell's Valentino film starring Nureyev, there's a sequence with Anthony Dowell as Nijinsky.

The film "The Turning Point" has some all too brief footage of Sibley dancing excerpts from "Giselle" and "Aurora's Wedding" with Baryshnikov.

Very sad news. Associated Press obit: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-...p-regional-wire

I was especially struck by the first book, Blessings in Disguise, which consists mainly of delightful profiles of other people, and it's not until the last minute that Guinness unveils a crucial piece of personal information with an air of "Oh yes, almost forgot this." I couldn't help thinking that in the memoir of any American actor it would have been the centerpiece of the books.

glebb's post reminds me to clarify that the book "Nicholas and Alexandra" is excellent and a fine choice for history class. Just not the movie, even though a great actress, Janet Suzman, is in it.

He was indeed a very good writer. However, he did seem to view autobiography as merely another way of not saying much about himself, an attractive trait but one that leaves a lot of territory for the biographer to cover.

They were showing that in history class !?! :rolleyes: Well, I suppose it could be worse. I once saw Gone with the Wind in a history class, and while it's a movie I adore, even in high school I wondered about putting it to such uses. (At least N&A weren't fictional.) Sorry, back to the topic. I remember looking for the dancers' names in the credits the last time I saw it, which was awhile ago, and not seeing them.

Thank you for pulling this out of the pile. It's true that sometimes mere clapping seems inadequate....