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For those who hadn't discovered it - like me - if you click the You Tube icon on the lower right of the video and watch the clip on that site, hitting the Show More menu below the description will provide links to the rest of the ballet. Here's section two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpY5TEjj0SI&feature=youtu.be

Here's a clip of Farrell herself dancing the first (?) section of Eight by Adler with Chicago City Ballet way back in 1984. Did anyone here see this? Jack? I'm not a big Broadway-in-toe-shoes fan (Slaughter on Tenth Avenue excepted), and for my taste, this is a little awkward, but I'm sure some disagree. I did love what Magnicaballi made of the ballet as a whole.

Thanks, rg. I'd love to see these. I imagine that among the films shown were "Climate of New York" and "Man in the Woods," which I have seen. Here, from my public library, are descriptions:

Rough treatment isn't the only form of disrespect.

That's true. I was trying to think of someone who could just possibly, just maybe, have some basis for conveying LeClerq's experience, but as I said, the idea still wouldn't appeal. But given LeClerq's nature, there apparently is no such person anyhow. I object to this particular roman a clef on principle, for reasons explained.

Regardless of whether she had LeClerq's permission, Brubach would not be a stranger imagining her. Likewise, Hemingway knew the people he wrote about and had lived through what he described. A roman a clef can be kind or unkind, fair or unfair - it's not the genre per se that I object to.

For one thing, Hemingway wrote his own story. For another, he was a good enough writer to do it justice. I would feel differently if Holly Brubach, a friend of LeClerq’s, or Tobias, who has long been part of the ballet world, had written the book and written it well. I wouldn't love the idea, but it wouldn't seem in such bad taste. For an outsider to come in and take a beloved and somewhat mysterious figure and imagine her life in an apparently pedestrian manner is something else entirely.

Thanks so much for that wonderful report, Sandik. I had no idea that Balanchine liked to draw. But the "body like Hepahestus" comment puzzles me. Bart Cook wasn't ugly or lame. And still isn't, I suppose!

Thanks. Perfectly put.

In the video biography of Balanchine, he says that he always envisioned a large theater and large stage and had composed with that in mind. Nevertheless, some of them did look different, at least according to some of the contemporary reviews I've read. Concerto Barocco was one such mentioned but I am not sure about that. And Orpheus, which looked better on the smaller stage.

Aleksandrova's photo is on a poster in the Opera House lobby.

That could be the key. Perhaps what you see as an specialization I see it rather as a limitation, more when they publicly expose things like the Aurora's Wedding's failure, so it becomes a matter of "I can't" instead of "I don't want to". MCB has the "Ballet" last name on its presentation card. They ought to know how to do Sleeping Beauty. Paul Taylor Dance Group doesn't. NYCB does too. And they aren't a classical company. They are a neo-classical one. It is a different style. Good, but they still have to commit to full lenghts. Are they capable...? How do they dance them...? cubanmiamiboy, I appreciate your love for the 19th century classics, but I very much agree with Jayne and Aurora here. As infrequently as I’m able to see MCB, I'd still hate to see their concentration on Balanchine and their ability to dance his work on a high level weakened by an attempt to be all things to all ballet lovers, and I don't see why the word "ballet" in a company name should obligate it to dance all styles. Does the Ballet Nacional de Cuba need to dance a credible Agon? Credible Forsythe? And pretty soon probably (shudders) credible McGregor?

Understandable concern. I don't know what year she joined the company, but she was 16 at the time, and I just watched my tape of her terrific performance in Who Cares? in '83 when she looks to be in her 20's, So I think she probably absorbed the style from the man himself. Yeah, I can't imagine any new director could be so dumb as to want that, for her own sake or the company's.

As someone whose first love in ballet is Balanchine, I'm pleased that Lopez has been selected. But as someone whose first love is Balanchine, I'm also deeply grateful to Villella for what he's accomplished in Miami, and her selection seems like another slap in his face. I hope he stays busy coaching and staging here, there and everywhere for appreciative dancers and directors.

Yes, if I was in New York I'd skip it for sure, presuming the Martins addition wouldn't be up to standard even of Diamonds, and not wanting to see the whole Balanchine work weakened by the insertion. Thanks for the laugh, mussel. For those who missed it, NPR's April Fool's Day story this year, replete with comments from Alan Gilbert, was on the discovery of Beethoven's 10th!

Great news, alright. She was scheduled to dance Diamonds with Suzanne Farrell Ballet in D.C. last November. Posters showing her and Momchil Mladenov in the ballet were for sale at the Kennedy Center, but that casting would have been a safe bet anyhow. Such a shame she couldn't do it.

Thanks for the link, Peg. From acting on Broadway to photographing Mother Teresa - what a life. I'm struck by this quote: He's sounds like a grateful man, a wonderful thing to see.

I don't know, if dance lovers who will pay to see shirtless male stars in bad choreography won't pay to see a female one in lowest common denominator work and work she's not trained in, maybe that's the ultimate compliment, an unwillingness to settle for mere entertainment or middling work from a true artist.

Oh yes, I doubt he regrets much about this project, if anything, but I do think he realized quite awhile ago that he's out of sync with current times. He's made a big chunk of his career out of that disconnect -- but I think he regrets the times he live in. Yes, quite probably. Then again, judging from this movie he knows he'd be unhappy with any age, that the basic problem is the heart, not the age. Thanks for mentioning the Kugelmass Episode, dirac. I think I may have read it long ago, but it gave me good laughs tonight.

Piazolla Caldera dates from 1997, I believe. Miami did it in 2004 but I don't know about other ballet companies. It will be included in the Taylor Company's season at Lincoln Center later this month.Cristian, it's "modern" only in the sense that it is NOT ballet. It's tango -- but not your typical tango piece. I'd almost say that it is closer to Tharp than to the other Taylor pieces in MCB's rep. Cristian, if you want a preview, pick yourself up a copy of the "Paul Taylor: Dancemaker" DVD. I don't think it has the whole dance, but it has excerpts. I don't know why, but Taylor's work largely leaves me cold.

I'm trying to show respect to the author, but I think she made a poor decision. Meaning you do think there is no right or wrong here? Then why express an opinion?

I don't think so. We disagree about what's tasteful, respectful and classy, and what's not, but that doesn't make them to-each-his-own questions. Sure it does. To-each-his-own questions are those that are value oriented, and cannot be resolved in some sort of objective fashion. Whether Lobenthal's review is positive or negative seems to be the issue here. One person writes positive, another negative, ergo to each his own. For me the issue is the book, not the review. Anyhow, I imagine we can agree that while values disagreements can’t always be resolved, they can be illuminated by discussions like the one on this thread. “To each his own” suggests it’s a purely private matter, a matter of mere taste. To which I would reply, there is good taste and bad..

I don't think so. We disagree about what's tasteful, respectful and classy, and what's not, but that doesn't make them to-each-his-own questions.

We don’t know if L’Clerq would have seen a good posthumous biography as a violation of her privacy, or if she wouldn’t have cared what people wrote after she was gone. But we do know that a good biography isn’t pretending to be something it’s not, and that a good biographer respects his subject in refusing to engage in wholesale speculation. I can understand a writer being moved by L’Clerq’s story and wanting to use it. But she should also be able to understand that for people like me, for whom L’Clerq is at the top of the list of dancers I wish I’d seen, the author’s project seems tasteless. It seems like the heart of the dispute here is who L’Clerq’s legacy belongs to, a casual ballet fan who stumbles upon her story, or the kind of fans who go out of their way to find out all that can truly be known about her and her dancing. L’Clerq may have said neither. But I wouldn’t pretend to put words in her mouth.

Do you remember any specifics, Amy? Was this during their 80's reunion tour? It didn't happen during their heyday in the 60's.