samba38

Jeannie, you make me smile with the Eifman at City Center reference. Exactly! Totally Russian. Also, it was interesting at the opening of Jewels to see the division in the response of the audience -- it went almost 100% along the lines of ticket prices. The big ticket subscribers glued to their chairs and the galleries, where people may have to work a bit harder to come up with big buxx ballet tix, on their feet for Zakharova

I'm out of my league coming on the boards here after Alexandra's expertise but what-the-heck. Jewels was an evening worth attention and argument. I have never seen this work danced by a company that had not cut its teeth on Balanchine. (one would expect a superb "Rubies" from a company created by Villella, for example). Emeralds felt like someone sounds who is trying valiently to speak a new language in a foreign land -- sloooow, careful, mannered and flat. The grammar is mostly correct but there's no rhetorical sweep here. On Rubies, the less said, the better. I like Rubies ferocious, fun and sexy The Russians, who seemed happy to admit this was over their heads, did seem to enjoy themselves even if they have no idea how to cock a hip American style. Then, thankfully, came Diamonds and it was a festival of delight. This was a Balanchine they could understand, music bred in their bones, and they were sumptuous. (also helpful: The orchestra sounded less like they were playing a funeral) I left looking forward to Friday's Sleeping Beauty.

yes, the DVD is superior to the video. I was amazed at the clarity and high production value of the 1969-transferred from film Giselle. And now I have a Covent Garden production of "Carmen" with our DVD hooked up to our stereo system and it's a knockout!!! We've also rented DVDs and for those pop culture moments when your kiddo wants to analyze every hairstyle in "Legally Blonde" it really can't be beat.

--Dances at a Gathering -- last performance in February. Even from the last row of the last balcony, we could delight in Ringer in the yellow dress. --Kent's Giselle (sorry but many men of ABT tend to mug to the audience, milking for applause after every sequence and it mars my memory of their work. Can't someone make them stop that? --The Royal Ballet's corps in La Fille. The character dancing was wonderful (seconding Alexandra here) but the corps -- creating a "character" in its exquisite precision and of-one-piece personality -- was a revelation.

Thank you!

Find a deep pocket private donor, a retiring dancer who has vision and guts or an an up-and-coming choregrapher with some managerial talent, create a small, actively engaged board of business-minded people (art is not their issue, money is) and try it that way. Toby Ansin did exactly this for Miami Beach back in the barbaric 1980s when we had music and ABT tours were selling well (thanks to another impressaria). Ansin seeded this with big bucks of her own, pulled together a private board and went after the prickly, aggressive Villella who was then embroiled in some bruhaha ( maybe Oklahoma?). Villella burned through at least one early board, several presidents, a ballet mistress (and more recently his choreographer) while building a first rate company. He regularly trashes the people of Miami who buy his tickets -- speaking ill of Miami from the Kennedy Center stage so maybe he'll want to decamp to your Sim City. Of course all this ignores the Balanchine "first, a school" maxim which I always thought spoke to audience-building and local connection as well. Wonder how Southern Ballet Theatre did this? Did Bujones launch his respected school before, during or after his company launch?

We've just splurged for a DVD player and tuned in our first purchase -- Carla Fracci/Erik Bruhn in Giselle. Gorgeous! So now we're on the hunt for advice on great ballet DVDs (opera, too, but that's not this board, right) that will play on a mid-price American DVD player (not formatted for european or australian stuff as other posts have talked about). If you were building a DVD collection, which would be the first ones you'd suggest?

Hotel Castex! I stayed there a few years ago with a Rick Steves tour group. You've seen Steves' shows on PBS - Europe Through the Back Door. His books are the absolute best for independent travelers on a low budget who have outgrown the backpack/sleep-on-the-station-floor days but still want flexibility and convenience. Sad for me though, when i was in Paris there was no ballet that week!

Oops, muddy writing on my part. I don't think the local teens will model themselves on the romantic style of the Giselle corps. But I do think teens all imagine themselves as individualists, soloists, and never see the value and critical importance of the corps and its contribution to a show. Of course most of this is the self-involvement of teen years. But it is aggravated by exposure to corps after corps of leading companies where a gaggle of 19-year-olds from myriad schools dance as if they were tots in the back of the classroom waving and wiggling and hoping the teacher will call on them. The kids read only bios of teens who spend 38 minutes in a corps before leaping to soloist/prinicpal and they go to summer intensives where anyone still standing by week 3 can get a variation and there's no time to drill the corps. So maybe I'm out of touch on dance reality but don't dancers still have to pay some dues? And pay them well?

I won't attempt a review here but I wanted to toss a comment and a request in the mix. To see a corps dance take themselves seriously, perform with precision and become one as a "character" in a ballet is a rare treat these days. It was one of the great delights of the recent Royal Ballet vist to KC and I enjoyed seeing the Cuban corps in Giselle -- even if, as the above experts say, it was very 1940s. It was great for the little "corps" of local teen dancers in the audience, who are rarely taught dance history (unless they are lucky enough to have teachers like Victoria who make connections for them). And now my request: To those who see this weekend's shows, please talk about Myrta. The opening night Myrta, as my ruthless kiddo says, "couldn't intimidate a puppy."

Are we sticking to Bible-based titles for an Eifman pscyhodramatic ballet honoring the man who forbid "acting" by his dancers? Something with Jacob could work. Two wives. Two concubines. Tribes of rival kids founding nations of their own. A few lost tribes... Lots to work with. Just think what Eifman could do with the rape of Dinah. Actually, I enjoy Eifman. I just don't think he fits this particular mission. Wouldn't Wheeldon be a better choice?

I'm eager to read views from the dance vets. Will this be the fellow who can shake sense into ABT and salvage their administrative mess? Here's a repeat of the link: ABT has a new executive director. Jennifer Dunning reports for the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/17/arts/dan...nce/17APPO.html

Okay, I'm changing my tune now. Thursday's program, the last night of that rep, was delightful. Even the weaker moments were full of possibilities. Natalia, who was lovely in Duo Concertante Wednesday, kicked it up several notches when her partner was the radiant Peter Boal. Something about the assurance of a perfect partner... Slaughter had snap and verve. Didn't know Huys could tap! Plus the costuming turned Farrell's choices of a variety of body types for the corps to an advantage. They all had legs and knew how to use them but each brought a distinictive personality to her role and that works in Slaughter where you don't want to see it in a Balanchine leotard ballet. (don't have my program with me so I dare not mangle titles any further).

I concur on Boal's Apollo. It was the finest I've seen since Baryshnikov about 20 years ago when I had not one clue what I was seeing and was just starting to watch ballet. But overall, I'm not as enthusiastic as Alexandra. Wednesday was my first chance to see Farrell this season so I can't compare it to earlier performances in the run. Unfortunately, I can compare it to the time-after-time versions that Farrell has presented here. (Thank goodness we'll see some different rep tonight). Farrell's choices of dancers -- thirty-somethings surrounded by youngsters -- is probably to be expected by a new company but I'm disappointed in her choices. I think she's not taking full advantage -- beyond the lovely Chan Han Goh and Natalia Magnicaballi -- of the chance to bring dynamic new-to-most-americans dancers to the front and make some stars of her own instead of leaning on the fading Fagundes and some of her other seniors. No one flashed any exceptional talent in the corps either although it woudl be interesting to review this group at the last stop on their tour and see how much they've learned and grown with expert coaching. When it comes time to plan next season, I hope she'll be braver in rep and casting. It takes incredible guts to launch a company but once launched, you can't lose your nerve!

More on sacred dance in the US today, from USA TODAY in April, 2000 "Setting devotion in motion Spiritual dance troupes lift minds, bodies at religious services" Bowing. Uplifting. Bending in torment. Leaping in joy. The Bible is threaded with a choreography of worship, prayer and celebration -- with dance. Long before written liturgy, sacred dancing embodied people turning and returning to God. Stifled for centuries by Western religious leadership, dance thrives once more among traditional believers and spiritual seekers. Whether in a church or on a concert stage, spiritual dance can be as deep and as ethereal as a journey into the soul. It can be a great embracing invitation, a gospel message aimed straight at the heart. "Dancing is God's visual voice," says Lutheran pastor Michael Edwards-Ronning of New Jersey, whose wife, Christy, leads an evangelical dance company called Mustard Seed. "In a world today where there's such a sense of separateness, you symbolize your whole journey in life as a sacred dance. Its purpose is to unite body and soul," says Carla DeSola. A pioneer in the sacred dance revival of recent years, she leads workshops from Ohio to Oahu. Between Palm Sunday and Easter, her Omega West company will dance several Easter vigils at churches in the San Francisco Bay Area. And, in these weeks before Passover, JoAnne Tucker will revisit Scriptures for ideas for her Avodah Dance Ensemble, based in New York. The 29-year-old troupe performs at synagogue Sabbath services, in workshops and at interfaith events. "We're looking for sophisticated concepts that free your spirit and send your energy up in prayer. We're not talking about the Jewish Macarena," Tucker says. The rising call for sacred dance stems from a yearning "to be uplifted, to be carried away, to be transformed," says dance historian Joe Nash. "The body is a vessel to communicate with divine forces, no matter what religion you belong to. You find it in the Bible. You find it in the whirling dervishes and in Hassidic Jews." The Sacred Dance Guild has nearly 800 members, dance troupes of all denominations and traditions. Other groups, more specifically evangelical, such as the Christian Dance Fellowship, have members from New Zealand to Mississippi. This is a leap from the early '90s, when Tucker co-authored a survey for Dance Magazine that found 300 groups under the sacred dance umbrella. Internet sites, such as www.christiandance.com and the Sacred Dance Guild's site, www.us.net/sdg, offer links to countless classes, performances and groups from the professional Ballet Magnificat to tiny Mustard Seed. Christy Edwards-Ronning, 27, began dancing in church during her high school years at her pastor's request. She studied dance and movement in college, then went to Lutheran seminary, pondering whether to preach. There she realized dance was her way to speak of Jesus as the Word made flesh. Mustard Seed, founded four years ago, welcomes untrained dancers of all ages and sizes because, she says, sacred and liturgical dancing is judged by a different measure than the performance standards applied to concert dance companies. It is held to a higher authority. "If the dancer's desire is to seek and glorify God, then people will find God in the dance. When the dancers' hearts are not pure and there is a spirit of self-glorification, people get extremely turned off." Michael Edwards-Ronning recalls some parishioners who have steamed up to him to announce, " 'I think dance is sinful!' What do you say to that?' " He answers with Psalms that swirl with joy. He cites Miriam in Exodus and King David dancing before the ark. He delves into church history, explaining that Christmas and Easter "carols" were choreography for entire villages of worshipers, like pre-medieval line dancing. As Western religions became more hierarchical and women were pushed to the background, dancing faded away. "Sacred dance today is a welcome re-establishment and rebirth of a good gift which God gave," says the pastor. Tucker, tracing the same trend through Jewish life, sees the "root of prayer in physical expression -- going to a place and making offerings. Only later did our liturgy become one of words." Her work is grounded in the tradition of the Midrash, stories that expand and explicate Scriptures, "filling in the gaps. What the rabbis did verbally, we do non-verbally," Tucker says. Her company recently danced the sermon, blessings and Torah commentary at Temple Emanuel in Kensington, Md. Emanuel's rabbi, Warren Stone, views sacred dance as "a renewed understanding of the relationship between the mind and the body. This is happening across the board in contemporary society." Modern dance choreographers address this same yearning to connect mind and body. The most popular works in their repertory are often those that address the struggles and triumphs of the spirit. The late Jose Limon, who called himself a Catholic atheist, expressed the fierce hope he saw in the ruins of Eastern Europe after World War II with a dance choreographed to a Latin Mass. Missa Brevis, recently performed at New York's non-denominational Riverside Church with a 60-voice choir, "uses this Catholic setting to make a universal statement. It could be any group of people bound by their beliefs and convictions who, from these beliefs, rise and go forward," says Carla Maxwell, artistic director of the Jose Limon Company. "A choreographer doesn't announce he's doing a spiritual piece, but it comes through," says Nash, who retired from modern dance to work for the National Council of Churches. Nash points out that in the black church, the idea of religious dance dates to the ring shout on the plantations, when slaves, forbidden to gather in prayer, would dance and call it "shouting" in outbursts of fervor later formalized in the Pentecostal churches. This same reaching for the heavens undergirds works like Alvin Ailey's 1960 classic Revelations, in which dancers are transported by gospel music. Not everyone wants or needs a choreographer -- or an audience. Sacred dance workshops are sprouting up everywhere. DeSola started one of the USA's first major dance ministries, Omega at New York's St. John the Divine Cathedral in 1975, then opened Omega West at Old St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in San Francisco. Her message in workshops: "When you dance Scripture, you move it in your body, and it becomes alive for you. You learn things you couldn't know by reading. You make it your own."

We may not weant to see militaristic images but I think there's a longing for to see art's response to suffering and the battle for justice. Perhaps this is a good time for performances of Lamentation (see photo at http://www.pathfinder.com/photo/gallery/ar...rgan/cap02.htm) or The Green Table.

Certainly the national mood is a bit grim right now but I suspect the reason people are holding back on the arts -- ballet and theater -- is not because they fear seeming trivial at a time of tragedy. They fear spending money. Recession is the greatest enemy of the full house and the fat underwriting budget. People are hanging on to their discretionary (read: entertainment, travel, home improvement) funds because unemployment is rising, their investments are sliding and they are worrying about their mortgages, kids' tuition etc. Those corporations that do support the arts are shifting their funds to benefit and relief donations right now. And people who do spend will save up for the best and the certain. They will buy one program but not two for Farrell or skip Farrell and wait for the Cubans or the Russians this season. They'll buy the Producers but not a new show because they won't see as many shows. I'm sitting on money that was supposed to go to new windows and waiting to hear about layoffs at my husband's office. Kiddo will see a lot less ballet this year. We'll be buying only one subscription, not two, for our company, etc. And it's not the smoking Pentagon rubble out my window that's causing this....

This is a question for those who have had the privilege to attend IBCs and other first rank competitions, and for the choreographers out there. Judging only by what I read, and a limited knowledge of the pieces some DC folk take to competitions, it seems that no one uses established, technique-based modern or contemporary ballet choreography for that part of the competition. While they all do selected classical pieces for the most-critical ballet section, the "successful" modern that scores with judges seems to be the Las Vegas/modern-meets-lyrical stuff that shows off athleticism but may not have "brains" behind the bravura. (oooh I'm harsh for someone so ignorant, I know! But I'd love to see a talent like Rasta do some serious modern with the same flair he brings to ballet, not just the pop schlock I've seen him do so far). My guess is that the judges themselves are not educated in modern/contemporary and are seduced by enjoyable flash. And many of the schools these wonderful ballet dancers come from have no serious technique-based modern curriculum. But setting aside whether these kid, who arrive equipped to dazzle with DonQ and Corsaire variations, are capable of sophisicated modern/contemporayr work. Can competitors use a variation from Taylor or Tharp, Cunningham or Parsons or even better, Martha Graham or Jose Limon? Has anyone seen someone use The Moor's Pavane for a partnering piece? (Ha ha, I'm trying to imagine that today's teens even know who Limon is or have seen even a video of that work! My kiddo has been shocked this summer at 2 top SIs to realize that her classmates have almost zero dance history background.) Could it be that laws about fair use forbid pre-pros from taking these to competitions?

Alas, I have no talents like you folks above. My garden looks as if our house was abandoned last year and I have no musical or artistic abilities. Even so, packing kiddo off to SIs creates some rare playtime for me and if you count the culinary arts among "other arts" I might qualify. I spent much of July working on a peanut-butter chocolate pie recipe (with my secret crust!)I want to enter in the Virginia State Fair this fall. Wish me luck! Otherwise, I'm a words gal. Writing is what I do and reading is how I relax. Best of summer so far is a novel that seems to be screaming from the headlines: "Martyr's Crossing" set on the checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah (not exactly light stuff but this is the only time of year I can do the heavy reading -- few interruptions!)also a strange work of non-fiction about my favorite game -- SCRABBLE. The book is called "Word Freak" by Stefan Fatsis and it's a glimpse into the weird, wonderful world of tournament SCRABBLE. Once upon a time I loved theater and opera but there's no moola left after ballet for those indulgences. Alas, at 52 my idea of a musical blast is driving with the windows down playing George Thorogood and the Destroyers ("One Whiskey, One Scotch, One Beer"). Kiddo cringes at this.

Sad to say but McBride is having a little dama now -- Jean Pierre is recoving from emergency bypass surgery. He had a heart attack at his Chautauqua summer program last Monday. Perhaps the tale of the two of them, a successful ballet marriage, might offer more fodder. But, as you say, not a lot of tension, bed-hopping or meanness. I think... I was surprised (perhaps revealing my ignorance) at how readily Tallchief trashed people in her bio.

Hayden did her own book, didn't she? I think I saw it years ago. I've tried to find the 70s bio of Verdy, even posted on a back order site for out of print books, but no luck. I wonder if she had given a copy to the U. of Indiana library now that she's teaching in Bloomington.

Well, I can speak the contrast between pre-Spisto and Spisto-era on the press staff and on education. 1) Press. Then -- Prompt, thorough, pleasent and reliable. Press kits the size of phone books. Interviews readily arranged. Now --Not even the nation's largest newspaper doing an advance (an inherently positive kind of story)could get a call back, a usable photo or key interviews in a week. 2) Education. Then -- ABT NYC and Alabama seen as well run programs with serious classes, sensible organization. Now - 5 programs best characterized by many parents so far (Orange County starts Saturday) as a massive ripoff. A rip-off audition tour charging double to trade on the ABT name. Utter chaos in administration. A policy of no returned phone calls or emails. Overbooked classes in all locations. Housing and supervision subcontracted in 4 of 5 locations with one clear disaster on the books --Detroit. Is this all Spisto's fault. I have no idea. But if 30 in 40 people couldn't/wouldn't/shouldn't have stayed with him, he was certainly responsibly for bringing in quality people to do the jobs.

Good points Leigh but it's hard to escape the impact of the first companies you watch when you begin to love ballet. You may change your taste,improve your critical eye, etc, but somewhere in the back of your mind is always the first choreography that made you a fan. If your town didn't get much Balanchine, you can be a late-blooming fanatic for him but it takes some work. And New Yorkers who cut their teeth on Mr.B's contemporary works while there rest of us subsisted on swans, sylphs and wilis may have a lingering loyalty.

Now speaking up for the South... Growing up in pre MCB Miami was like living in the ballet dark ages except for a few stars troupes (Nureyev, Jacques D'Amboise (mangling the spelling, I fear) that drifted through Dade county auditorium. It wasn't until around 1980 that a local impressaria scraped up enough money to bring in ABT. The newspaper was practically in cahoots with the part-time critic and feature writers cranking out stories to try to introduce scruffy hinterlands to high culture. Of course once ABT danced into town, people went mad for it. We'd get 8 day, almost 2 week annual visits. And the only time I ever heard of some fellow named Balanchine was when the company did Apollo. On another note, I loved felursus comment about Graham and Clytemnestra! I made a similar mistake with kiddo when she was about 9. Took her to see Robert Wilson's "Snow on the Mesa" with the Graham Company and she was crying in misery by the end. We have a rule that you can't say bad things about a performance until you get in the privacy of the family car so folks who know us can tell kiddo's review by how fast she's heading for the door. That night she nearly ran over old ladies sprinting for the parking lot! A big set back to her modern education...

Yvonne, I love your resale idea. I could cover a chunk of kiddo's SI bill with the stock on her dresser -- of course she would kill me first!