dirac

There are Georgians and Georgians. Besides, I don't think Balanchine meant quite the same thing.....

I think where you sit does make a big difference. Sometimes I even wonder if it's the ballet. At SFB, there are nights when it seems as if the corps has no feet to hear, and others when everyone clomps off stage like Clydesdales.

But there's no Suzanne, Allegra, or Edward.

I don't think all basketball players think that way. I can't recall the name now, but I do remember reading about a couple of players who took ballet lessons, and they weren't Russian. In the NY Times a couple of weeks back there was a piece about Melvin Mora of the Baltimore Orioles, whose wife recently had quintuplets. The article mentioned that the bedroom for the boys was decorated with wallpaper representing ballplayers, while the girls' bedroom had ballerinas. "Guess it's never too early to make with the sexual stereotypes," I thought. I don't mean to pick on the Moras -- a utility infielder with quints has got enough problems -- but it's unfortunate.

It's hard to believe there was ever a time in NYCB's history that when Balanchine and Kirstein felt the need to augment the repertory, the guest choreographers had names like Robbins, Ashton, Tudor......

Farrell Fan, thank you so much for the lovely post. It sounds like a magnificent sendoff. I think the Caras photograph is reproduced Holding On to the Air, also.

Ray, I think that's a quirk of The New Yorker's website, which is not exactly on the cutting edge, technically speaking. The magazine itself, under the editorship of William Shawn, gave a regular forum to Arlene Croce at a time when dance criticism showed up sporadically if at all in the nation's weeklies.

What a nice idea. Would love to see Marie-Jeanne's Barocco.

Please tell us about it at some point, Farrell Fan. (It probably wouldn't be appropriate to do it on La Jaffe's thread, so maybe a "Memorable Retirement Gala" thread should be started?)

I suppose I'm going to have to break down and buy one. I have nothing against the technology, but since so many of the items I want for home viewing are older ones still unavailable on DVD that I have to buy on VHS anyway, I have felt no need to rush. (Also, the trailers, interviews, and "director's cuts" that are supposed to lure people into spending anywhere from ten to twenty dollars more on a DVD don't tempt me. They can't tell me anything about "Citizen Kane" I don't already know, to put it bluntly. The movie itself is just fine, thanks very much.) However, from what I've seen of DVDs they're a definite step forward. The only thing I object to is the forcing of the consumer's hand -- this is what everyone else wants, or what we want them to want, so we're going to make you buy it too by the simple expedient of taking away your options. And Alexandra is right -- replacing a needle requires Federal intervention these days. (I still have ambivalent feelings about CDs -- we gained a lot, but we lost quite a bit, too.)

dmdance, thanks for speaking up. I quite agree with you that it was nice to see in Billy Elliot a depiction of a boy who is able to transcend difficult circumstances through his love of dance. And I also agree that the dance doesn't have to be ballet. On the other hand, Billy is aspiring to be a ballet dancer, and yet the dancing we see him do -- tap dancing and "Flashdance"-style thrashing -- isn't what I personally hoped for when I went to see the movie. So that was disappointing. (However, from the ecstatic audience response the film received when it was over, mine was a minority opinion. ) I also meant that, precisely because Billy Elliot is more ambitious and serious in intent than Center Stage, it deserves to be judged by a different standard.

dmdance, thanks for speaking up. I quite agree with you that it was nice to see in Billy Elliot a depiction of a boy who is able to transcend difficult circumstances through his love of dance. And I also agree that the dance doesn't have to be ballet. On the other hand, Billy is aspiring to be a ballet dancer, and yet the dancing we see him do -- tap dancing and "Flashdance"-style thrashing -- isn't what I personally hoped for when I went to see the movie. So that was disappointing. (However, from the ecstatic audience response the film received when it was over, mine was a minority opinion. ) I also meant that, precisely because Billy Elliot is more ambitious and serious in intent than Center Stage, it deserves to be judged by a different standard.

Ah yes, the Fight ("You keep your hands off my DAUGHTER!"). It always reminded me of a recurring sketch on Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ladies and gentlemen, the World of History is proud to present the premiere of the Batley Townswomen's Guild's re-enactment of the battle of Pearl Harbor........

Ah yes, the Fight ("You keep your hands off my DAUGHTER!"). It always reminded me of a recurring sketch on Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ladies and gentlemen, the World of History is proud to present the premiere of the Batley Townswomen's Guild's re-enactment of the battle of Pearl Harbor........

ballet_shalom_ forever, that kind of cutting is pretty common in movies during dance sequences. Leslie Browne got the same kind of assistance for the Don Quixote pas de deux with Baryshnikov in The Turning Point, to cite only one example.

ballet_shalom_ forever, that kind of cutting is pretty common in movies during dance sequences. Leslie Browne got the same kind of assistance for the Don Quixote pas de deux with Baryshnikov in The Turning Point, to cite only one example.

Well, Kenneth Tynan once said that a critic is someone who knows the way but can't drive the car. Giving back-seat directions sort of comes with the territory. I don't see anything wrong with comments on structure -- a recent example that occurs to me is Tobi Tobias pointing out in an otherwise admiring review that in Martins' "Morgen" there were too many consecutive pas de deux. (Advice along the lines of "Go back to Russia" is plainly counterproductive, as they say nowadays.)

True. The late Herbert Ross wasn't exactly Stanley Kubrick in the Directors' Pantheon, but he knew how to stage a ballet sequence for the camera.

True. The late Herbert Ross wasn't exactly Stanley Kubrick in the Directors' Pantheon, but he knew how to stage a ballet sequence for the camera.

Both of you make good points. And hey -- they never said they were making a documentary. I'm not saying no one should nitpick -- it's very useful to have knowledgeable people point out things that movies and books get wrong. But considering that movies with the dance world as a subject don't grow on trees, I don't think too much complaining is in order. Center Stage is far from perfect, but on the other hand, how many movies at the local multiplex feature the dancing of Ethan Stiefel? On the other hand, I have no problem with people beating up on Billy Elliot, which had pretensions to Seriousness, and did not present any real ballet dancing. Perfectly useless movie from a dance perspective.

Both of you make good points. And hey -- they never said they were making a documentary. I'm not saying no one should nitpick -- it's very useful to have knowledgeable people point out things that movies and books get wrong. But considering that movies with the dance world as a subject don't grow on trees, I don't think too much complaining is in order. Center Stage is far from perfect, but on the other hand, how many movies at the local multiplex feature the dancing of Ethan Stiefel? On the other hand, I have no problem with people beating up on Billy Elliot, which had pretensions to Seriousness, and did not present any real ballet dancing. Perfectly useless movie from a dance perspective.

I saw this, too. I would also be happy to see more dancers on the program, although older ones tend to have a little more to give to an interview, frankly. It would have been nice for Jaffe to have an entire hour, or forty-five minutes -- I realize she's not Julia Roberts, but she's just as attractive and rather more articulate. It was interesting to hear her relate how the bottom basically dropped out of her career when Baryshnikov departed ABT -- from first cast to fourth or fifth must have been a vertiginous descent. A reminder once again of how vulnerable dancers are to the vagaries of ADs. (Of course, there were those who felt slighted by Baryshnikov when he arrived, so what goes around comes around, I suppose.) I was also struck by her anecdote about coaching -- what if she hadn't bumped into her ex? It's perfectly reasonable for a dancer turning forty to think twice about rolling on the floor and assuming pretzel positions, I'd think. And to want to do more roles that benefit from the presence of dancers who have done a little living. Oh, well. Her praise of Carreño was more than genuine. That's called gushing, I believe. "He's such a guy !" she told Charlie, looking positively girlish. It was cute.

In Commentary, Terry Teachout discusses Rachmaninoff -- his work, life, and bad press. There's a discography at the end of the article: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/teachout.htm

Yes, he's just being candid. Given the circumstances, what he's describing sounds pretty typical. (And there's no guarantee, even if they were "expected to make a masterpiece" and given all the time and the pick of the dancers they wanted, that any actual masterpieces would emerge. ) I would agree, however, that it's a little troubling that he would say "this isn't really the environment" where he could expect to do "the best work." I'm glad Balanchine didn't see things that way, or the first Stravinsky Festival might not have happened.

I've never seen it and so have nothing useful to say, but wasn't there also a Royal production with Sarah Wildor awhile back as well?