dirac

"Additive" is interesting -- sort of like MSG? I don't mean to be a fuddy duddy and say there shouldn't be any coverage of pop culture, or less of it. But when I saw that story on the front page, I thought, this is too much.

I remember reading that Suzanne Farrell was particularly upset that permission was denied for excerpts from Mozartiana to be shown in Elusive Muse. It's a crying shame.

I have no stats on the subject, but I don't think that injuries are that much more prevalent now than they were a few decades ago (although it would be interesting to have some data on stress fractures). Personally, I have some reservations about Cohen, but there's no question that she would be formidable if she could manage to skate a clean long. Yes, Janet Lynn. She was just a little before my time, but I've seen the tapes. Unfortunately, talk about not being able to stay on her feet…

I’m sorry, this was too good to pass up. Scroll down to the last few paragraphs of this Associated Press item by Michelle Smith, where the Times' exec. editor, Howell Raines, explains the reasoning behind the Times' new regard for pop culture, and has good words for a recent front page story on Britney Spears: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/4558083.htm

I wonder if dancing in "Le Jeune Homme et la Mort" has the same effect?

Philip Hersh writes a what's-up-with-the-sport piece for the Chicago Tribune (11/15): http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...0294nov15.story

A good companion for the piece I once overheard translated as Ravel's "Lament for a Dead Baby."

TimeOut New York will present a Dance Audience Award at this year's Bessies. Quote from the text: "Consideration is open to all contemporary dance performances by independent artists in New York City during the 2002 season (July 2002 through June 2003).*" There's a form on the website for those who want to submit a nominee (link below): http://www.timeoutny.com/audienceaward/

Actually, I was speaking of most of the female dancers who were interviewed for the book, not the men, who are a different kettle of fish entirely. (And I should perhaps add, not all of the women.) (Weslow was a riot, incidentally. Just loved his little farewell present for Balanchine.)

Actually, I was speaking of most of the female dancers who were interviewed for the book, not the men, who are a different kettle of fish entirely. (And I should perhaps add, not all of the women.) (Weslow was a riot, incidentally. Just loved his little farewell present for Balanchine.)

I second Ari and BW. I always thought Siegfried was just a big doofus, myself. As for "I must follow my destiny" -- it sounds like the distant ancestor of all those I-gotta-be-hitting-the-road-now-babe songs from a much later era, IMO. Dream sequences are also a useful way of getting in some tricky dancing without having to provide a naturalistic plot justification for it.

Australian Dance Theatre cleans up at the Australian Dance Awards. Report in The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/...7490097182.html

In The New Yorker, David Denby reviews Almodóvar's latest, "Talk to Her," in which one of the leading characters is a ballet dancer, albeit a comatose one, and the film features excerpts from dances by Pina Bausch: http://www.newyorker.com/critics/cinema/?0...1125crci_cinema

Thanks for the link! Farrell Fan, I think the reviewer intended to say that while was pleased to see these ballets, she wasn't completely happy with the performances.

atm711, I actually agree with you, I just didn't feel qualified to be that forthright. However, I would add that Balanchine did appreciate independence in a woman, as carefully defined by himself. I'd add that Zorina never seems to have had to "become" independent of Balanchine as others did – she already was. It would be interesting to hear more candid testimony from the ballerinas, such as provided by Marie-Jeanne and Melissa Hayden in "I Remember Balanchine" for example. And by candid I don't necessarily mean unflattering – I'm just not greatly interested in further anecdotes about what perfume Balanchine told So-and-so to wear, or "I was there during his greatest period…." sort of thing….

atm711, I actually agree with you, I just didn't feel qualified to be that forthright. However, I would add that Balanchine did appreciate independence in a woman, as carefully defined by himself. I'd add that Zorina never seems to have had to "become" independent of Balanchine as others did – she already was. It would be interesting to hear more candid testimony from the ballerinas, such as provided by Marie-Jeanne and Melissa Hayden in "I Remember Balanchine" for example. And by candid I don't necessarily mean unflattering – I'm just not greatly interested in further anecdotes about what perfume Balanchine told So-and-so to wear, or "I was there during his greatest period…." sort of thing….

That's what I get for only looking at the pictures first.

There is actually some evidence, I understand, that overprotection from germs and the like can create greater vulnerability to them -- apparently immune systems get better with exercise. People do seem to fret overmuch about the occasional whiff of secondhand smoke, when we are surrounded by so much else that is bad for us. (I have a theory about this, but I'll spare you. ) However, I'm not sorry to be spared the uninhibited huffing and puffing that went on everywhere years ago – was virtually inescapable, in fact. People would just blow the stuff directly into your face, and think nothing of it.

I seem to remember from Martins' book that, after his first performance of the ballet as a last minute sub for an injured d'Amboise, which was in 1966, or '67, I think? Balanchine rehearsed him in it and told him, in essence, "You're doing it wrong," and changed virtually everything Martins was doing. It's off topic, but Martins' account of Balanchine searching the length and breadth of Europe for a suitable Apollo is such a striking contrast to current practice. Today, the ballet would be Ballet No. Three on Program Seven and everybody and his brother would have a crack at it, probably. Of course, the company was on tour at the time, but still.

I think you're right, and there's also the number he staged for her in The Goldwyn Follies, where she emerges from a fountain clothed in gold (and totally dry), and I forget much of the rest, but she winds up posed on this huge golden horse. It's too bad he didn't get to do more for the movies – he was clearly very open to the possibilities of the medium and willing to experiment. He was supposed to stage "An American in Paris" for the movie, if I'm remembering right, but he was a little too eager to experiment for Goldwyn's taste, apparently.

I think you're right, and there's also the number he staged for her in The Goldwyn Follies, where she emerges from a fountain clothed in gold (and totally dry), and I forget much of the rest, but she winds up posed on this huge golden horse. It's too bad he didn't get to do more for the movies – he was clearly very open to the possibilities of the medium and willing to experiment. He was supposed to stage "An American in Paris" for the movie, if I'm remembering right, but he was a little too eager to experiment for Goldwyn's taste, apparently.

The Bartlesville Civic Ballet plans to stage "The Nutcracker." Item from the Ponca City News: http://www.poncacitynews.com/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=35254?Local_News

However, genius will find a way, no matter who happens to be available, and Balanchine did find ways to remind all of these ladies that none of them were indispensable to him. Galatea does have power over Pygmalion, but only as much as he chooses to give her. (The wise Muse does not miscalculate the extent of this power. It's clear from Farrell's book, for example,that when she delivered her ultimatum to Balanchine in 1969 she really did not believe he would fire her. Guess again, Suzi.) We are forgetting Vera Zorina. She was never a major ballerina, but all evidence indicates that Balanchine was seriously bananas over her for quite a long time. (Now that I think about it, wasn't Zorina the last of Balanchine's women to be truly independent of him? She had her own career on the stage and Hollywood, and though he choreographed for her and did a great deal for her, he wasn't her boss and she was not professionally dependent upon him otherwise. Not that this is necessarily significant.)

However, genius will find a way, no matter who happens to be available, and Balanchine did find ways to remind all of these ladies that none of them were indispensable to him. Galatea does have power over Pygmalion, but only as much as he chooses to give her. (The wise Muse does not miscalculate the extent of this power. It's clear from Farrell's book, for example,that when she delivered her ultimatum to Balanchine in 1969 she really did not believe he would fire her. Guess again, Suzi.) We are forgetting Vera Zorina. She was never a major ballerina, but all evidence indicates that Balanchine was seriously bananas over her for quite a long time. (Now that I think about it, wasn't Zorina the last of Balanchine's women to be truly independent of him? She had her own career on the stage and Hollywood, and though he choreographed for her and did a great deal for her, he wasn't her boss and she was not professionally dependent upon him otherwise. Not that this is necessarily significant.)

The San Jose Symphony packs it in. There is a brief reference to the new ballet-run Symphony San Jose towards the end of the item: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/4520479.htm