djb

I read that when Tchaikovsky visited Paris, he was especially impressed by Bizet's music.

Susanne, thanks for your input about synchronized group skating. I suppose the problem is that skaters don't get practice early in their training in timing their moves to match what others are doing, so each skater is allowed to do what's comfortable for her/him.

Maybe a skater can enlighten me: I've noticed that in the group dances I've seen recently in exhibition skating on TV, the skaters are usually not well synchronized when they're supposed to be dancing in unison. Is the problem that it's just hard to skate consistently on a particular beat or that skaters just don't have the training in synchronized movement that dancers have (unless they're in pairs, of course)/?

I remember Maximova and Vladimir "Adonis" Vasiliev in the 3rd act pas de deux, but not in any other part of the ballet, which probably means they only performed the pas de deux in the performance I saw. Oddly enough, I know I saw Plisetskaya in the complete ballet, but I don't remember anything about her performance in the third act. That's OK, because I really only like the first act, anyway. I guess that's why I didn't think of Maximova when listing my favorites. I imagine she would be wonderful in the first act, though.

I also like Kurgapkina very much in the first act on video, even though it was filmed at the end of her career.

My favorite Kitri of all time was Maya Plisetskaya. I saw her live in the full-length ballet in the '60s. For dancers these days, I like Lorena Feijoo of San Francisco Ballet. In one of the performances I saw her in, I liked her as much as Plisetskaya.

I saw Feast of Ashes performed by the Harkness Ballet. The only dancer I recall is Brunilda Ruiz, as the youngest daughter. I suppose I remember her because she was very memorable! She had excellent dramatic abilities and a very expressive face that worked well in tragedy.

I especially enjoyed the interview with Antoinette Sibley in "Striking A Balance." I loved what she had to say about her first impressions of the Bolshoi. I also enjoyed Toni Lander's remarks about mime in ballets, and the value of studying it in school.

Oh - and one more thing: SFB's "blackout" Nutcracker performance -- sans makeup, wigs and special effects -- at which Ms. LeBlanc danced the Butterfly.

Ballet:

- Lorena Feijoo and Joan Boada in SFB's Don Quixote (esp. Feijoo)

- Daria Pavlenko in the Kirov's Diamonds

- SFB's Tina LeBlanc as the Butterfly in the Waltz of the Flowers in SFB's Nutcracker. She could have done any role, really; it was just great to see her again since she was out on maternity leave for the whole 2003 spring season.

Non-Ballet:

- Akram Khan's Kaash

- Ririe-Woodbury Company's Alwin Nikolais: A Celebration Tour

Thanks for the information, Ms. Leigh. And thanks, Alexandra, "Bournonville and Ballet Technique" is most likely the name of the book I was talking about.

Thanks. Was there ever any video of Bruhn performing Bournonville? That would be worth spending money on. I remember the amazing stop-action photographs of him that were in a slim book about...??? maybe Bournonville, maybe just Bruhn, I don't know. He looked perfect at every stage of a step.

Bournonville selections appear on some videos of excerpts. Rose Gad, who demonstrates in the above-mentioned video of classroom combinations, performs a pas de deux from "La Sylphide" with Alexander Kulpin on "Nina Ananiashvili and International Stars, Vol. 2." She also performs the pas de deux as a youngster in the video entitled "Erik Bruhn Prize." I don't remember the name of her partner in that one. I wasn't really impressed by either of the men, but Rose Gad was lovely in both videos.

Does anyone know how Fernando Bujones' performances of Bournonville rated? I know I thought they were very impressive, but is he considered to be a great example of Bournonville style? He performs some Bournonville on the video "Fernando Bujones: Winning at Varna," if you happen to have that one.

Whose choreography is it?

Back on topic: I enjoyed Kunakova's dancing on "World's Young Ballet" very much. She was very polished for one so young.

I don't know exactly what she's doing now, but she also has a website: maximova.com. It’s only in Russian, but if you don’t read Russian, you can still look at the pictures. Once you’re in, just keep clicking on the “продолжить" in the lower right-hand corner, and it will take you through every page.

OK, now I see that putting the Russian word in italics doesn't make it actually print in Russian italics here. Anyway, it's the word in the lower right-hand corner of the white rectangle.

Ballet: Pas de Deux

Dancers: Lyubov Kunakova & Marat Daukayev

Choreographer: V. Timofeev

Music: Burgmuller

It would be just an ordinary pas de deux in a romantic sort of style, except the man's arms are almost like a robot's. I assumed this was due to the choreography; I hope Daukayev doesn't actually dance like that all the time.

The video is generally disappointing, with several pieces of choreography that I didn't like, including one to the Bachianas Brasileiras #5. I did enjoy seeing Natalya Bolshakova in it, however. I wish there were more videos of her. I think she’s in one of the Moscow ballet competition videos.

The premise of the video was interesting: older-generation Kirov dancers coaching the young dancers. However, they didn't really show much of that. Kolpakova is the host, and starts by talking about the Kirov. Unfortunately, the French voiceover doesn't translate all of what she says, and the English subtitles don't even translate all of that. I think the English subtitles were based on the French voiceover, because the French mistakes in translation are duplicated.

One good thing about this video is that it has the best of several performances by Terekhova in the "Diana and Acteon" pas de deux that are available on video. Here’s a link to Kirov Soloists: Invitation to the Dance at amazon.com if you want to see what else is on the video. I’m glad I bought it for the chance to see a couple of dancers who aren’t well represented on video and for the very brief bits in the studio. But if you're just starting a Kirov video collection, I’d recommend buying other videos first.

(Sorry for getting off topic! And since I'm off topic, I might as well mention that this video is worth having for Kolpakova's performance in "Le Papillon." In her variations she does some of the most beautiful fast footwork I've ever seen.)

You can also see Kunakova on "Kirov Soloists: Invitation to the Dance." She looks very lovely in the pas de deux she's in, but I can't say much for the choreography.

I totally disagree that the sped-up music in the first act is an improvement. I don't think the music sounds better, and in some sections the kids could barely keep up with the music.

I was at the Saturday night blackout performance, and enjoyed it very much. Hardly anyone had makeup on, and no one had wigs/hairpieces, because of the unavailability of the dressing rooms. I think there was a special feeling to the performance that often happens when performances go on in adverse circumstances.

Later it struck me as funny that all these people (the audience) are in the middle of a blackout, out on the street you can smell the smoke from the fire that caused the blackout, and we're all hanging around expecting that the show will go on anyway!

Jonfb, the Russian split jump starts by jumping straight up in the air from both feet. However, that position can also be achieved during a traveling leap, which would make it a grand jete of sorts.

I’ve always been curious about The Figure in the Carpet because of the photographs I saw in an old NYCB program. But Handel’s music didn’t fit the picture I had in my mind of what the ballet would be like.

From an article titled “Figures in the Carpet” by Laura Jacobs (in The New Criterion online):

Among the lost Balanchine ballets most mourned by the late Lincoln Kirstein was The Figure in the Carpet from the 1960s, a work whose dances, he wrote, “suggested the age in which the arabesque of Islamic ornament wove itself into Western European fashion and design, just as the arabesque, our ballet position, fixed the place of Islam in a royal academy of dancing at Versailles.” Kirstein remarks that The Figure in the Carpet “was too unwieldy to maintain”; others suggest it was musically monotonous.

Ever see Dowell with Antoinette Sibley in Romeo and Juliet? Same sexual orientation as with Dowell and Makarova, but there certainly were sparks.

Komleva is one of my favorites among dancers who are no longer dancing. She also is very impressive in Pas de Quatre on video. She dances different roles on 2 videos.

In her autobiography, Suzanne Farrell briefly mentions her, describing her simply as someone named Gabriella who was wearing pink sweatpants. (She wears those pink sweatpants when she's shown coaching Mezentseva, in the documentary The Leningrad Legend.)

No insights here. I was just wondering whether many Ballet Talkers are familiar with the Tchaikovsky opera "Evgeny (Eugene) Onegin." I never saw the ballet "Onegin" live, just the video of the National Ballet of Canada performing it, with Sabina Allemann (sigh!) as Tatiana. I have to admit, I was initially disappointed to learn that music from the opera wasn't used, as my favorite Tchaikovsky waltz is from the opera.

My co-worker also suggested combining "Alfa Romeo and Juliet" with "Romeo and Gillette" to get "Alfa Romeo and Gillette." She's killed in a drive-by slashing with a 4-bladed razor.

My favorite is "Le Corvair (extremely demanding choreography that is unsafe at any tempo)." I wish I had time to come up with a plot. All I know is that the entrance of the Shades will become the Recall of the Shades.

One of my co-workers suggested breaking up the ballets into sections for sponsors who don't want to make a very big contribution, e.g., Waltz of the 1-800-FLOWERS.