bart

Yes, thank you, levi, for that very interesting link. You make me want to have another look at the ABT video of Mckerrow and Gardner in the pdd Helene mentions. I was especially impressed by a couple of points that relate to Tudor's thoughts about dancing his choreography, and his method of handling dancers to push them to where he wanted to be. -- McKerrow: when very new to ABT, he called her out of the corps during a work session and made her repeat a difficult step many times. Finally she broke: "this is too difficult." At that point he felt she had "gotten" something and allowed her to go to the back of the room to practice. The lesson she derived: Tudor didn't want you to try to "smooth over" a step that seemed difficult or awkward, but to work through it and (not sure if this is what she actually meant) make it your own. -- Gardner: At that point, Tudor "pushed through your point of resistance."Interesting. Tudor (as other ABT dancers warned the young McKerrow) was clearly a difficult man for many people to work with. There were those dancers who either just survived, or learned the knack, or were temperamentally suited to learn in this way. These are the dancers Tudor seemed to have appreciated and wanted to work with. A thought: One of the virtues of projects like Oklahoma City's is that it gets people thinking about Tudor. Some of us have mentioned what we see as a slackening in recent performances (as compared to Tudor's own glory days). This is not necessarily a bad thing. The whole process may help us to refocus on what Tudor in performance was like in the glory days and to find ways -- and people -- to push us back in that direction. Sincere thanks to McKerrow and Gardner (both looking and sounding very fine indeed). And good luck to all at Oklahoma City Ballet.

Those of us who have seen incredible performances of the best Tudor would have to agree with you. I never saw Kirkland in Leaves are Falling -- only a revival later on. My response to that work are based on later casts, with who-knows-what? levels of coaching and rehearsal. These ballets need to be believed in. Otherwise, they become just more in a long line of well-intentioned, dutiful, even ill-judged reconstructions of dance that lead nowhere. I have just been skimming through my copy of Donna Perlmutter's biography, Shadowplay. Perlmutter is pretty frank about Tudor's darker side, which includes badgering, bullying those who cannot or will not stand up to him, petulant refusal to help dancers with their roles if he felt slighted, etc., etc. There was a "good" Tudor and a "bad" Tudor. Those who stood up to him, like Nora Kaye, seemed to have fared best. This behavior seemed to escalate as he got older and the creative juices did not flow as easily.. Insecurity seems to have been at the core of much of the bad behavior. Feeliing slighted and undervalued seemed to be a trigger. Tudor's childish, ultimately self-defeating refusal to cooperate while Ballet Theater was preparing his works for a planned trip to Russia in 1960 is just one example. The following has to do with Tudor's "work" on Pillar of Fire:[quote [Lucia] Chase wasn't even certain about whether to choose Pillar of Fire as one of her tour offerings. Would the Russians like it? Did they want it? Tudor's response to her lack of support and shoddy preparations came in the form of a boycott. He attended only one rehearsal of Pillar, seeming like an alien to the scene, merely observing unfamiliar rituals. ""He just sat there," recalled Tommy Rall, who had been cast in Hugh {Laing]'s role. "There were all these new dancers and an impossible number of ballets being rehearsed, for lack of a better word. Nora told me that Tudor probably wouldn't help me, since he and Lucia had had a terrible fight. She spoke only once and that was to Nora: 'You've gotten fat,' he told her, "unable to condone her participation in an affair he discredited. ... Since he would not cooperate with Lucia she did the job herself. And now the cast would pay the penalty. "The only coaching I got came in John Martin's notice [in the NY Times]," said Rall. "It would have made all the difference to hear those words while I was rehearsing. He wrote that I came nowhere near capturing 'the elegant distillation of evil.' That little description was the key information that I never got." On the other hand, later on, Gelsey Kirkland drove Tudor batty by chronic lateness for rehearsals. Tudor would fume, storm around, and scream. But everything changed when Kirkland slipped into the studio. A colleague writes:

I saw and enjoyed Dim Luster at NYCB long, long ago, with McBride and Villella in the leads. I think it was coached by Tudor himself. This reinforces a point made in earlier posts -- the importance of good coaching by people who know the works intimately and feel commited to the artistic goals and aesthetic of the piece. I would love to have seen the ABT Pillar of Fire you mention, Natalia. It's no surprise that Gomes fit this perfectly. Wiles's success is more of a pleasant surprise.

I voted for "it's on life support," which doesn't mean that this can't be reversed. Tudor performances seem to be dwindling down to (mostly) Lilac Garden and Leaves are Fading. It happens, these are only Tudor works I've seen a number of times over the past decade. Leaves are Fading is a lovely work, set in no specific time or place, which appears to have fared best. When I saw it at ABT back in the 80s, it made me think of Fokine more than Tudor. The Lilac Gardens I've seen in recent years have been weak tea for the most part. I'm afraid I have to agree with Helene: Lilac Garden is remembered for its story, of course, but what grabs the audience is the style in which the story is told. I've heard it described as a tragedy of manners. Only two MCB dancers -- Deanna Seay and Callie Manning, each dancing The Woman in His Past -- conveyed the tension between social constraint and almost unbearable passion, and created a compelling Tudor character. What about Pillar of Fire? Are there dancers today capable of doing justice to that?

MARGOT FONTEYN was asked to explain one of her performances: Source: George Balanchine Foundation QUOTE OF THE WEEK.

Thank you, rg, for thatphoto. It evokes so much ballet history. So much darning of point shoes must have taken place in those dressing rooms. I see Nijinsky on the wall. I wonder where and when it was taken. This is sad news. The generation of dancers who helped create a genuinely American ballet is slowly leaving us. The good part of the larger story is how long and productively Ms. Mounsey was able to practice her art as dancer, teacher, school principal, coach, and stager. Bernard Taper's biography of Balanchine includes two large photographs of Mounsey dancing the Siren, to Francisco Moncion's Prodigal Son. Here's another of the Prodigal Sun photos available on-line: http://artsmeme.imag...gal%20sonJr.jpg And a link to Mounsey's biography, from the website of the school she directed, Westside Ballet in Santa Monica, California.. http://www.westsideb...ol/faculty.html Mounsey was a Principal Dancer at the New York City Ballet from 1949 - 1958. (I started attending NYCB around the end of that period, but have lost a lot of the names and details.. I like to think I might have seen her as the Queen in The Cage, a work often performed around that time.) In 2011 -- age 92 -- she was among thirty female dancers honored by receiving the 2011 Jerome Robbins Award. All had worked with Robbins. Here's a link, with photo of the winners on stage, along with some of Mounsey's thoughts concerning working with Jerry. That's Mounsey in the first photo standing center stage, arms spread wide. http://artsmeme.com/...jerome-robbins/

. A big oops indeed. Thank you, sandik, for the gentleness of your correction. I've made an adjustment above. I wish I knew how these memory-switches occur. Just a half hour ago, while swimming, the thought hit me: "You typed TUDOR instead of Limon." I got out of the pool right away and biked home to make the correction. (I blush to confess I hoped to do this before anyone noticed.) In fact, I'm typing here in my damp bathing suit. I love the way we help each other out on B.A.

I think I wore out the same LP. http://plade-klassik...4cc1677a5788ef1 Yes! Aldo Ciccolini. So much clarity and elegance, combined with mystery and elusiveness. Llke nothing I had ever heard..By the way, I just looked up the complete program for the Joffrey's 1975 performances of Monotones. The Ashton was the opener, followed by -- Massine's Parade (also a Satie score, with the Picasso decor; -- Tudor's [corrected to Limon's; thanks sandik] Moor's Pavane (Danced by (get this !!!) Christian Holder, Jan Hanniford, Gary Chryst, and Beatriz Rodriguez), -- Robbins' Interplay. How often does one get to see programs as rich and varied as that?

Regarding the original question -- Balanchine (with Francis Mason) writes, in 101 Stories of the Geat Ballets: I love this moment and the long melodic line that it accompanies. I can't say I ever thought of it as Apollo's "reward" to Terpsichore. But there is a sweetness to it -- with a sense of quiet intimacy, before the music speeds up and turns bouncy as Calliope and Polyhymnia return to the stage.

It sounds like it would make a fabulous court ballet, though! Yes! And quite the antithesis of Monotones.

Thank you, AlbanyGirl, for your suggestion of Satie. And thank you, thank you, thank you, Helene, for those links to Ashton's Monotones. (Unfortunately I could link only to Monotones II, not Monotones I. ) It's always interesting to recall that Monotones II (to Trois Gymnopedies) was created written before Monotones I. (to Trois Gnossiennes). Would love to have the chance to see the Gnossiennes from the same staging as your Monotones II. The black background and black, light-reflecting floor are marvelous. When I was a student, I had an lp recording of original piano settings of both the Gymnopedies and the Gnossiennes. (Debussy, I believe, did the orchestrations later on.) I listened to this recording obsessively. It was impossible not to imagine dancers as I listened. I saw planets moving through space -- strange sea creatures pulsing through the water. It was a gift from the ballet gods when I found, a few years later, that the Royal Ballet was performing just such a work on its New York City program. The imagery was similar, but the steps of course were infinitely more eery and precise than my imaginings. A decade or so later, the Joffrey revived both parts of Monotones a part of a triple bill. What a time it was to be watching ballet in New York City.

Congratulations to Natalia Makarova, whose career as a dancer, stager, and ambassador for ballet certainly merits this award. I love the idea of honoring distinguished immigrants from all parts of the world. They bring their talents to this country, succeed personally, and then use their talents and opportunities to enrich others everywhere. Regarding the sub-topic of the relative lack of Latino representation among the KC's honorees, I agree that this is unfortunate and needs changing. In the wake of the telephone incident, I suspect that next year's list will have a better balance. However, based on everything I've heard about Michael Kaiser, this incident is as untypical as it is bizarre. Losing control in such a manner is, for a public figure, unwise. Of course apologies are in order. As a former practicing historian,however, I would love, however, to know precisely what was being said by both parties immediately before this outburst. Context does matter, especially when it comes to understanding human behavior and judging it.

While driving, I just happened to hear an interview with Lopez on the Miami public radio station ("Cultural Connections," WLRN) It appears -- from this interview, the press releases, and what is turning up on the website -- that a new company "message" has formed as to the past and future of the company. Lopez, charming and articulate, handled things very well. -- stressing the similarities between Villella's and her own background, especially having worked with both Balanchine and Robbins; -- praising Villella's work "as an Artistic Director" and focusing on all the continuities; -- expressing enthusiasm for the 2012-13 season Villella put together;. Lopez mentioned three works in particular -- Apollo, a ballet she learned from Balanchine himself; Dances at a Gathering; and Piazzolla Caldera; -- emphasizing that Balanchine/Robbins and Tharp/Taylor will remain the core rep of the company; -- expressing delight that the company will be working a second time with Liam Scarlett this season; -- stating that her "main interest" in terms of new directions is allowing MCB's dancers the opportunity to experience choreography that contains new styles of movement, mentioning the works of "Nacho" (I think she said "Nacho" and assumed she was referring to Nacho Duato), Forsythe, Wheeldon, and others.

Regarding "West Palm Beach." It might be better to think of this as "Palm Beach County," since MCB's audience during their visits to the Kravis Center (2000-plus seats) attracts audiences from a number of prosperous, culturally involved communities within a 30-minute drive of West Palm. The population of the country is 1.3 million, most of whom are full-time residents or people who spend 6 or more months a year in residence here, which includes the entire MCB "season.". A great many are transplants from the Northeast, especially the New York metro region and are familiar with the Balanchine tradition favored by Edward Villella. "Palm Beach" itself, though the focus of most of the big-donor appeals, is actually a relatively small part of the audience. They donate less to MCB, in toto and as percentage of total donations, than one might think. MCB's biggest subscription audiences at any of its venues are the Saturday and Sunday matinees at the Kravis, whose audiences are made up mainly of ballet-loving women from other communities, from Boca Raton (to the south) to Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter (to the north). Palm Beach County is primarily a touring stop for MCB. For each Program, the trucks pull in late Thursday night; there's a tech rehearsal on Friday afternoon; they are on their way home to Miami Beach right after the Sunday matinee. What's missing is the sense that MCB has a real, meaningful, visible, ongoing commitment to ballet in this community. Some of this has to do with the fact that MCB is merely a "renter" at the Kravis Center. They make use of Kravis facilities but are not "presented by" it. That is an important distinction, one of the results of which is that they don't get full attention in the Kravis's advertising and promotion. It seems like the new management at MCB is seriously re-evaluating its efforts in venues like Palm Beach County. That is wonderful. A couple of things I hope they will consider are .... -- a closer alliance between MCB and the Kravis, with a sincere effort by both to define the Kravis as MCB's "home in Palm Beach" and MCB itself as "a ballet company for the Palm Beaches"; -- effective use of Loudes Lopez, an attractive, articulate advocate for ballet. Lopez will have a lot on her plate during her first season, but being visible here is the best way to put to rest negative feelings about Edward Villella's treatment by the Board, and to convince people that MCB is safe in her hands; -- a visible physical presence on the Kravis campus itself, an expanded role for the Palm Beach Liaison (former NYCB principal Philip Neal has done a great job with relatively scant resources), and possibly more involvement of the MCB Guild (which seems to have been allowed to lapse), student apprentices, and other volunteers; -- regularly scheduled workshop performances (lecture demonstrations, or versions of Open Barre, possibly, or performances by the School, with younger dancers as soloists) in the Kravis's smaller theater, the Rinker, or its black-box Helen Persson space); each performance could be a fund-raising opportunity, with basic costs covered by a local donor; low ticket prices, with mailings to all donors on the PB MCB list); -- more effective use of the large and beautiful Kravis lobby prior to performances or during intermission (displays of costumes and artwork; videos; dancers in costumes interacting with the public; mini-performances or even a mini-barre; this could be something that utilizes students from the school as well as some of the younger members of the company. -- a formalized, regular lecture/demonstration series at one of the smaller venues at the Kravis, bringing in Lopez, and key members of the artistic team; an example could be the presentations Villella and Haydee Morales gave at the Society of the Four Arts 2 seasons ago). -- consider extending these small-scale events to other venues in the county, including the Society of Four Arts on the island, but also campuses of P.B. State College, the clubhouses of some of the larger residential communities, etc.; -- consider joining and working with the Palm Beach Cultural Council; Michael Kaiser seems willing to think outside the box in order to preserve the box itself. Having people on the ground who get to know (and be known by) the community might be a good way to start.

This happened during a Joffrey visit to Paris in the early 90s.. The nature of the "shock" is not what one might expect. The 10-minute video, however, is stunning. http://www.nytimes.c...acaulay-history

This is precisely the "right place" for your news, brokenwing. Thank you so much.A reminder to everyone: We have a separate thread to discuss artistic and performance issues involvling the new season. It's here: http://balletalert.i...12-2013-season/ It's hard to know what "new donations" means in the context of the Herald article. How nice if it included a substantial number of new DONORS as well.. It also would be nice to get an idea of whether this $3 million was given by a handful of the super-rich, or whether it also includes a return to confidence among the small-to-medium donor group as well. All, I assume, will be revealed eventually. In the meantime, it seems best to go with the positive spin given to things by Michael Kaiser: Lets hope this trend continues.

THE ECONOMIST is not a magazine where one ordinarily would expect to find a long and serious article on ballet. But this week's issue (Sept. 22-28) includes a supplement, "Intelligent Life" with just such an article. It's by Julie Kavanagh, author of Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton. The article has a secondary title, "The Tiger." http://moreintellige.../dancers-demons

An interesting, ambitious, and quite varied program. I love the idea of programming Balanchine's 4T's with those two pieces by Kylian and Forysthe. Thanks, swanchat, for posting this. I hope you'll tell us some of your impressions of performances as the season develops.

This helps me to understand where Edward Villella was coming from -- what he was visualizing -- when he set this ballet on his company. He knew all the originals. This must have affected his casting of the quick-silver, super-springy Jeanette Delgado and Renato Penteado for the Scherzo on the Dance in America video. (Delgado, then a corps member, also danced this in 2006 -- with Alex Wong.) I wonder why companies don't train the dancers UP to choreography like this, rather than eliminating it. I understand Paul's point about tightening (concentrating) the effect. But deleting the Scherzo seems like a kind of fudge. Having grown up with the original, I miss the movement when it's not there.

Thanks, Marga. I made the change. It is indeed a beautiful name.

Right. Sorry for the mistake, which I often make for some reason. I got "Scherzo" in my first post but "Rondo" (wrong !) on the second. Thanks, sks04, for catching this.

I agree with your husband, AlbanyGirl. Toumanova is a real beauty. So many photos reveal this. We also have comments from admirers at the time, many of whom were by no stretch of the imagination balletomanes. Danilova certainly knew how to make the most of her photographic opportunities. She knew how to shine for a camera, even in later life, just as she knew how to make an impression when entering a room. Sometimes it seems that she is achieving this by sheer willpower.

Helene, I should have checked the information on the box. I don't know how many have been released since then, but ABT had at least three: "American Ballet Theater Now: Variety and Virtuosity" (1998); Ashton's "The Dream" (2005); and the Murphy/Corella/Gomes "Swan Lake" (2005).New York City Ballet appears as a Live from Lincoln Center production. in "Swan Lake" (1999) and "The Diamond Project" (contemporary choreographers, i.e., no Balanchine) (2002). I'm sure there are others. The two Balanchine ballets on the MCB video Might be a problem if it ever comes to negotiating rights from the Balanchine Trust.

Not to my knowledge. The Midsummer Night's Dream of Pacific Northwest Ballet -- a regional company comparable in size and quality to MCB -- WAS released commercially on dvd, so there is always the possibility. The Rondo [EDITED TO ADD. I MEAN "SCHERZO." THANKS ksk04 FOR THE CORRECTION], especially, is a rarity which few even in NYC have the chance to see..

I just had the chance to compare on side-by-side screens the original Allegro section with Miami City Ballet's televised version from 2011. It seems apparent that someone was looking very closely at this old video. Many details of gesture and characterization -- the kind of thing that is often lost when ballets are passed on only by the memory of dancers who performed in or observed them -- are very close. Jennifer Kronenberg has a lot of Diana Adams' charm and a similar body type (those long gorgeous legs, for example). She seems to be channeling Adams' plush quality of movement. Adams, however, seems more natural and spontaneous while relating to her partner; Kronenberg is more knowing, more of a coquette. It was marvelous to be able to watch this as the two danced side by side on different screens. Carlos Guerra is more balletic than Herbert Bliss, especially his feet. Guerra wears softer shoes and is less of a hoofer, but he's a charmer, too -- and equally enthralled by his lady. MCB's corps is technically more precise than the NYCB corps of the 1950s -- crisper, cleaner, with greater technical consistency -- than NYCB in the 1950s. I'd probably give an edge to NYCB for energy and for the illusion of true spontaneity. There are two points in the Allegro in which the original NYCB version outshines MCB's: -- The pas de deux's highpoint comes as the cavalier/cowboy promenades his ballerina while she does a developpe a la seconde, transitioning to arabesque. In the 1950s video, the music swells to make this clear. MCB's music does not swell, so the full effect of this promenade -- with its witty allusion to the grandeur of classical ballet -- is lost. -- The tempo of the end of the finale is much accelerated in the 1950s version, noticeably faster than Miami's version. Miami's dancers have nuance and precision at their slower tempo tempo. NYCB's dancers have greater energy and a heart-racing, almost desperate joie de vivre. The similarities, however, outweigh the differences. Both sets of dancers are joys to watch. I'll be checking the other 3 sections over the next day or so. I'm especially interested in comparing the Rondo -- with MCB's Patricia Delgado and Yann Trividic dancing Tanaquil le Clercq's and Jacques d'Amboise's parts. Villella decided to revive this section (the "dance with the hat" as it is sometimes known) MCB as far as I know is the only company to perform it.