BalletNut

Unfortunately, I have seen enough of La Lacarra to agree wholeheartedly with everything Parish has written. I also agree with linsusanr; Yuan Yuan Tan is a far superior ballerina in all respects. [ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

One thing I've noticed, and read about, is the way that whenever a ballet company changes directors, the whole makeup of the company seems to change as well, to varying degrees of course. For example, after Michael Smuin's departure from SFB, a lot of his repertoire seemed to leave with him, and a lot of the old Christiansen works as well. Nowadays, with Helgi Tomasson as director, I have yet to see SFB dance any of Smuin's ballets. Another case of this, which I have not seen as much of, is across the bay in Oakland, where Karen Brown took over the directorship of the Oakland Ballet. A few years ago the company had a repertory of many eclectic Americana and Diaghilev works, but after Brown came, Oakland Ballet seems more focused on modernish fusion pieces. There are also cases where the dancers follow the director, such as at the National Ballet of Canada, where several principals followed the outgoing director to Stuttgart, I believe. My question is whether this is a good thing or not. On the one hand, dance is a very fluid art form, and needs to move forward. Yet there's a part of me that regrets the loss of a choreographic legacy in favor of entirely new works. Opinions, anyone?

Jeannie, Misa Kuranaga is listed as an apprentice on SFB's website.

Prima B, I don't think any of us are belittling the effort and dedication it takes to be able to pull off long balances. The only thing wrong with being able to balance for "days" is if someone with that ability chooses to show it off at the expense of the choreography. The talent itself, however, is admirable.

Amen to Martins' Swan Lake, whose costumes and scenery are turkey enough without even taking the choreography into consideration. Helgi Tomasson's choreography for SFB's Romeo and Juliet is another turkey worth mentioning. Can't leave out Mayerling, which includes everything, it seems, except dancing. [ November 23, 2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

I am not terribly fond of balances that continue past the music; neither am I fond of ballerinas [no names] who call too much attention to them, performing them as flashy acrobatic tricks rather than integrating them smoothly into the rest of the choreography. However, when a ballerina who happens to be good at balancing uses her talents with subtlety and grace, that is what makes the balances truly heart-stopping.

The Balanchine Library, Volume 1: it shows the versatility and range of my favorite choreographer.

I couldn't have said it any better: that's my recipe for a perfect Aurora. I've seen, on tape. Veronica Tennant, who comes very close to my ideal. Too bad they cut her variation in Act 1. Irina Kolpakove: very delicate, but the tape I saw was shot when she was way past her prime, and her virtuosity was waning. Nina Semizorova Larissa Lezhnina Nina Ananiashvili: I saw act 3 adagio only, on one of those Russian compilation tapes. I'd love to see her do the whole ballet. Live. The only time I saw Beauty live, Lucia Lacarra did Aurora. Don't get me started. [ November 07, 2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

As I don't travel much, and not too many companies come here, the only production I've seen live was SFB, and overall it isn't bad, but it bugged me that Tomasson switched the "awakening" music around and gave the pages'/ladies in waiting dances to Aurora's suitors. The costumes were very pretty except for the robes in the prologue which looked like Obi Wan Kenobi should have been wearing them. On video I have seen the Royal Ballet's Dowell production, with its dizzying sets and wedding-cake costumes. Durante and Solymosi are both fine dancers, but their difference in height is a bit distracting. I understand it was unintentional but still... I also saw two of the Kirov videos, which were, of course, well danced, but I found the designs rather bland.

Perhaps Coppelius is classical ballet's version of a mad scientist. One way to explain the presence of peasants in royal courts [swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, et al] is to think about the palace at Versailles, which among other things provided a place for the noblemen and women to do peasant things like milking cows for entertainment rather than employment. Slumming, if you will. [ November 03, 2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

I'll second the nomination for Sleeping Beauty, and put one in for Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet.

I've posted way too much already about my opinion of La Lacarra, but I am not a fan of hers, and that's putting it mildly. For me, being able to count a ballerina's vertebrae from the balcony without the aid of binoculars is definitely a turn-off. linsusanr, I saw her Aurora last spring, and it was interesting alright. I even posted a little review on "Recent Performances" under SF Ballet: Sleeping Beauty. So did a lot of other people.

I've come a bit late for this thread, perhaps, but I would still go to the ballet. Not as an act of defiance to those who would frighten me into staying home, nor as a way of trying to single-handedly keep a company afloat. I would go to take my mind off of those horrific images of collapsing buildings and people falling to their deaths. There is much to be said in support of escapism.

Glad to hear that you are all ok. My sympathies are with everyone who was affected by this despicable act. I pray that whatever steps are taken will cost as few lives, American or otherwise, as possible. We don't need any more bloodshed. "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth-- soon we'll all be blind and toothless."

While leafing through old Dance magazines, I once came across an ad for a school which called itself the "New World Ballet Russe."

Mel, it was seeing Mayerling that made me decide that political ballets don't really work! Not one of Macmillan's prouder achievements, IMO. But who did The Lewinsky Scandal?

Well as long as we're talking about politics, how about The Lewinsky Scandal? Maybe also one about the Hapsburgs and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a focus on the demise of the Crown Prince Rudolf? ;)

Here's one more I forgot: On the Kirov In London Video, Makar Vasiev starts having some kind of problem with his shoe during the coda of the Don Q pas, and right before he begins the turning leaps he bends over, rips it off, and tosses it onto the side of the stage before continuing. As he exits, he reaches over and snatches the shoe up on his way out. He does the turns on his shoeless foot. [ 08-19-2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

I've always been fond of painting, and my favorite things to paint, shockingly enough, are ballerinas. I've tried to do danseurs, but they usually wind up looking so effeminate that I just say the heck with it and turn them into ballerinas. Books? Most of my favorites are mindless reads of the drugstore variety, but I am quite fond of Catcher in the Rye and anything by Tom Robbins, as well as Maya Angelou. I also like to write myself, but seldom complete what I've started, unless it's for a school project, creative writing workshop, etc. [ 08-15-2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

I'm not sure if I've posted about it before, but SFB's Stern Grove performance in summer 2000 ranks up there. San Francisco's notorious summer weather was responsible for the cancellation of Balanchine's Symphony In 3 Movements. The dancers had to wear leg warmers and sweaters during van Manen's Solo, Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill Of Exactitude, and Mark Morris' Sandpaper Ballet. Smaller incidents, still worth mentioning: In Swan Lake, the costume for the man in the pas de trois had a gaping hole in the armpit. In Othello, one of the corps men's hats fell off and somebody else kicked it into the wings. Dring the Agon pas de deux, some of the man's stage makeup got smeared onto the woman's tights, leaving a long, ghastly streak down the length of her leg. All of the dancers involved shall remain anonymous. ;) [ 08-15-2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

Certain dancers, it seems, would benefit greatly from a dose or two of Modesty Enhancer, which is a highly versatile elixir. Among its indications are: to eliminate the desire to milk curtain calls to death; to improve the ability to acknowledge one's partner; also for the reduction of triumphant mugging following difficult steps. [ 08-06-2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

Some may find this harsh, but I think that if you are sick, and contagious, don't go to the ballet. Illness spreads very quickly in cramped places, especially if you are coughing and sneezing a lot. As SFB's season coincides with cold and flu season, there are several colds and cases of the flu I've endured that I have reason to believe came from a "cougher" at the ballet. I know it's an involuntary bodily function whose purpose it is to clear the lungs, but please cover your mouth. Try not to hum, whistle, or otherwise join in along with the music. I came to see a ballet and hear the orchestra, not an audience member accompanying it. If you are tall, keep your head still, and try to avoid big beehive hairdos. I'm very short, and I get tired of having an amorphous gray mass move into my field of vision when I am peering out onto the stage with my binoculars. If you are taking a date to the ballet, that's wonderful. What's not wonderful is two lovebirds going at it while I am trying to watch a performance. This is not the movies. Get a room if all you want to do is neck all night. [ 07-18-2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

Many well-meaning people have asked me what it is exactly that I like about ballet, since I neither dance nor teach professionally. Some regard it as an idiosyncrasy; others see it as a pathological outgrowth of my childhood "I wanna wear my tutu to kindergarten" phase, which I should have outgrown already. :rolleyes: In any case, I have been unable to come up with a suitable answer without going into lecture mode. How would you respond if asked why you like ballet? [ 07-09-2001: Message edited by: BalletNut ]

Hopefully Chidozie Nzerem will get promoted soon; I've always liked him. I haven't seen her, but Houston Ballet's Lauren Anderson is supposed to be pretty good.

Some people like him, and some don't. Where do you stand?