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Merde , cantdance. What an opportunity! You may have to change your BA name to CANdance after that. I hope you'll report to us about the experience.

How about a "former dancer," also a "dance teacher"?One of the brief highlights (low-lights?) of the documentary First Positiion is a glimpse of Denys Ganio (former principal dancer with Roland Petit) smoking while teaching a ballet class in Rome. He seems quite a character. His very young, very talented student, Aran Bell, is a most appealing character, too. No one seems bothered by the smoke. On film, anyway.. Ganio is the father of Mathieu Ganio, Paris Opera Ballet etoile.

I agree completely and sincerely with this, Herman. Sometimes I think that my responses to things are depressingly dependent on what I have liked and seen before. (Like doing endless chaine turns in a long, deep, narrow trench..) Will have to take another look at this Act III, and especially the clapping variation, and bring a more open mind to it. canbelto, you've just given me something additional to look for when I re-visit the video. It's a body type I happen to like and one which one saw more frequently in both New York City Ballet and Ballet Theater in the 50s and 60s. The issue of different body types has been popping up on our current thread on Misty Copeland. Thanks for pointing me in a direction I hadn't thought about before.

jayeldee, have you had the chance to use the Search engine at the top of each page? If you look for "Shearer" in "Forums" you'll find many threads. Some of course just mention her name. But others talk about her extensively, and a few include photos from rg. Here's an example of a longish thread: http://balletalert.i...__fromsearch__1 Here is an example of a thread with a couple of photos from rg's collection. http://balletalert.i...__fromsearch__1

i was typing at the same time as Birdsall. In what follows, my focus is on the Third Act primarily -- Thanks, Herman, for putting these performances in historical context. My reference to "apparatchik" was not so much a literal historical judgment as an allusion to the image of uber-serious, uber-competent Soviet bureaucrats that one can see in films like Ninochka (before Garbo falls in love.) The clappling variation is an example: beautifully formed, emotionally dead, with no sense of mystery, joy, or the exotic. The problem is not just facial expression. I can't put my finger on it, but this was (for me) a very unsatisfying account of an iconic variation. I don't look for "passive suffering" in Raymonda. On the contrary. Act III should have some of the quality of an "Aurora finale"" it seems to me. The conflicts of the earlier part of the ballet need to be resolved with some sense of triumph, majesty, joy. You can't care if the protagonists don't seem to care. I acknowledge that Bessmertova in the dvd is more physically stressed by the role than a number of younger ballerinas. But I could not take my eyes from her. Alexandrova is a gorgeously formed dancer in an attractively old fashioned way. Somehow, however,my mind wandered and my eyelids occasionally drifted to the shut position as I watched her move beautiful step-by-beautiful step through this particular role.

I agree with Cristian about Bessmertova's Raymonda. An unforgettable performance. Unless you bring an inner light to the part, you end up with dull and cold. Which is what I felt about Alexandrova's performance. As seen on video, Bessmertnova, Kolpakova, Semenyaka, Guillem, even Gilot have soul, duende, whatever you want to call it. Alexandrova lacks this quality, for me at least. I usually don't like to comment on dancers' appearances, but this Raymonda's hairdo and facial expressions reminded me more of a rather ill-tempered Soviet apparatchik than a Hungarian princess who has had to go through an awful lot of misfortune before her triumph. A beautiful body and excellent technique do not a ballet heroine make. The production is sumptuous and beautifully lighted. I usually love long shots in ballet videos, but much of the Act III choreography -- those long, long, long formal Hungarian court dances -- might have benefited from some closer shots to let us see the dancers as persons. I adored Raymonda's two friends and was moved by the women in slow, ritualistic court dance that opens the ballet. Was interested to hear from the commentator that the galope was choreographed by Lavrovsky. It's long one of my favorite parts of the ballet -- a little bit of 19th-century Parisian fun on the Hungarian plains. (Nureyev's version for Paris really stresses this, as do the stage-filling red tulle dresses the girls wear.)

One of the most appealing dancers in the documentary First Position, Micaela Deprince, was awarded a full scholarship to the JKO School at the 2010 Youth America Grand Prix competition. This, despite dancing with a foot injury and not having a conventional ballerina appearance. (Ms Deprince is black and has a stronger, more compact, more curved body type than the current fashion prescribes) At the film house yesterday, her's was the most popular story and her prize got the most effusive audience response. Her JKO scholarships suggests that the school has an openness to a couple of realities -- 1) they need to develop many more pre-professional students than a single company could possibly accomodate; 2) classical ballet can be, as it used to be to a limited extent in the 40s as and 50s, a form suitable to a variety of body shapes, sizes, and colors. Regarding this issue -- and Misty Copeland -- I was delighted to find a long piece in the Spring 2012 issue of BALLET REVIEW -- a long interview with Ms. Copeland (trained at a variety of schools, including San Francisco Ballet), Natalie Wright (trained at PNB), Riolama Lorenzo (trained at Harid and SAB), Nikkia Parish (SAB and Texas Christian University), and Aesha Ashe (SAB). The long article-with-interviews by Ian Spencer Bell is called "The Caramel Variations." Ballet Review is not online, but if you are able to subscribe, beg, or borrow a copy, you will be well-rewarded.

Great question, Birdsall. Thanks for raising it. We've had several threads over the years about the confusing performance history of Raymonda, but this question of the "pas de dix" remains a puzzler. I found a 2005 post from Doug Fullington (of Pacific Northwest Ballet) in which he gives a detailed outline of Petipa's 1898 Raymonda. Raymonda, Jean, and 8 couples dance what is called a "Pas Classic Hongrois." It seems to me that the actual pas de dix may be the earlier portion of the larger Pas Classique Hongrois, before the other couples arrive. The last time I saw this, by Paris Opera Ballet, this was the way it was done. In this pas de dix the 5 couples dance in unison; Jean and Raymonda dance alone; Raymonda is partnered briefly by each of the other 4 men; the 4 men have a variation, as do the women. It is a real "pas de dix," followed by an the arrival of more and more dancers, culminating in the grand finale. A quick Google reveals that many, many sources on the internet are just repeating the rather opaque Wikipedia article on Raymonda: This implies that both terms refer to the same thing, which can't be right. I'm looking forward to what our experts say. I know that Balanchine choroegraphed a ballet called Pas de Dix in the 1950s, a grand divertissement which did indeed have only ten dancers: 5 women, 5 men. His 1973 Cortege Hongrois -- "conceived in the late style of Petipa" -- has 2 couples (one classical, one character) assisted by 16 additional couples. Some of this came from Pas de Dix; the rest was Balanchine taking from other parts of Glazunov's score. There is a grand pas de deux at the end, something not found in the current Soviet version. The thread containing Doug's post on the 1898 Raymonda is here. It's Post #1. http://balletalert.i...__1#entry161461

Thanks, jayeldee, for bumpong up this thread. Shearer, definitely, belongs on our list. I started re-reading the earlier posts and found that a number of posters mentioned Violette Verdy. Coincidentally, I had just read her contribution to the I REMEMBER BALANCHINE compendium. It sparkles with life, energy and intelligence. Not unlike the way she danced.

Don't know, but here is the curtain call. Maybe someone can identify the curtain. That "braaah - voh" certainly sounds American to me.

Thanks, Alexandra, for the Link to the Dec. 2002 Ballet.co interview. I hope everyone gets the chance to read it. The art of ballet is transmitted, in the studio and on the stage, from one dancer to another. I have the feeling that our experience as audience members is also transmitted, and very much influenced, by audience members who came before us. Writers like Mr. Percival carry ballet history in their visual and emotional memory. I learn so much from such writers. I will miss his voice. The ballet.co interview is full of delightful nuggets of what it was like growing up at ballet performances during the Second World War and the post-War era. I was intrigued to learn that Mr. Percival was a conscientious objector during the War, performing his alternative service as a hospital worker. It was fun to read his account of competing with an equally young Clive Barnes for "my" favorite cheap seat in the galleries at Covent Garden. (Later, Percival replaced Barnes as the ballet critic of the Times, when Barnes left for the U.S. to join the New York Times.) Also: it's amazing to be reminded of a time before Margot Fonteyn before she had developed fully, a time when Percival felt that she might have something to learn from Alicia Alonso and Nora Kaye during Ballet Theater's first London season. I was delighted to read him say, of his years at Oxford, "The biggest thing was the visit of New York City Ballet to Covent Garden in 1950." Also, his appreciation of Jean Babillee (whom I never saw on stage) and John Gilpin (whom I did see), as well as his conviction that Ulanova was The following is a Percival insight which I hope will get many members of the ballet audience thinking:

I find myself in agreement with Jayne's point -- that there are other companies than ABT out there, many of them first rate by any set of standards. ABT's conservative business model seems to be to stress the glamour and return again and again to a small menu of the most recognizable story ballets in the classical rep. Stars sell tickets to the audience that wants that kind of rep. Maybe ABT is NOT the place for dancers who do not fit the mold or are not sufficiently box-office worthy to fill the Met and other huge auditoriums. Maybe, in other words, ABT is NOT "America's National Ballet Company" as its publicity claims. After all, opting to be a museum of classic story ballets, performed by a wide range of exciting international stars, is a valid mission all on its own. Alternatively, maybe the arrival of a genuinely serious, talented, prolific house choreographer, Ratmansky, will open a small door to ABT's changing its policies eventually. Possibly with a change of administration. After all, Baryshnikov reinvented the company in the 1980s, and that worked for a while. P.S. for clarification: Acocella's article makes a distinction between "guest stars" (like Cojocaru, with only three performances this spring) and those willing to make a longer commitment for the entire Met Season.(Osipova, who has committed to the entire run. PP.S.: Thanks , for the clips of Celine Gittens. She captured my heart at about 1:00 into the second video. I hope we will hear and see more of her. Definitely.

We already have a long thread on ABT's "male principal problem." Included in this are a number of posts about female dancers who are rising through the ranks (or not), and the larger matter of ABT's emphasis on guest dancers during its Met season. Joan Acocella has weighted in on this in "Bring in the Ballerinas: ABT's Guest Policy" -- in the latest issue (June 25) of The New Yorker. The article is not available on-line, though an abstract IS available, here: http://www.newyorker...ancing_acocella My eye was captured by the last few paragraphs, which includes a review of Natalia Osipova's Firebird ... I have never seen Copeland dance, but I relate to the idea of "deep-digging movement ... good humor, and sexiness," and human lushness. (That is how I remember Balanchine's Firebird being danced in the old days.)

Thanks, Helene. I'm looking forward to this.

Kristen, I've read your post several times. Thanks for those beautiful verbal snapshots of dancers we often only know from the perspective of the audience, video clip, or p.r. release or article. As I get older, I find that watching dancers in class, in rehearsal, and backstage (the few tijmes I've had that privilege) is often even more emotionally powerful than the performance itself. Or, rather, powerful in a different but equally valid way. Your post has, for me, the quality of the informal back stage and rehearsal photos that Martha Swopes and Steven Caras took at New York City Ballet during its glory days.

You are right, Neryssa, about the American Masters documentary on Balanchine, though the clips are few and rather short compared to what is available. Much archival footage can be viewed at the Dance Collection and other libraries, but one must physically be there to access it, as far as I understand. Digital distribution for Balanchine (and Robbins) and the NYCB seem to me to be much less than for other choreographers and companies. The challenge for documentary film-makers is daunting. A "dance documentary" without extensive video footage has a huge handicap. Like you, I found myself hoping that Nancy Reynolds' involvement will mean greater access.

VIOLETTE VERDY, in I Remember Balanchine: Recollections of the Ballet Master by Those Who Knew Him. (ed. Francis Mason, 1991).

Thank you, Lynn, for your tribute. It's not "belated" at all. I am astonished and touched by how many people have personal memories -- invariably fond -- of Eddie Bigelow.

Challenge grants are becoming more and more common. They appeal to the desire to be a "smart" donor (the other side of the coin of the "smart consumer."), since very dollar one gives is worth two dollars to the company. They do raise money and expand the mailing list of donors to be hit for future gifts. I suspect that a more important function is that they assure the really big donors that the regular audience also cares enough to contribute to this cause, even if the amounts they (we) give are relatively small. Rich people like to give to winning causes, as do most of the rest of us.

Let's hope this is one of the rare NYCB documentaries in which rigidities over permissions, rights and pay-offs are resolved.A friend who taught a master class of students in the capital of a southern state asked those participating how many had heard of Balanchine. Only two responded "yes." Let's hope that Le Clercq and her incredible story -- conveyed through images not usually available to filmmakers -- will help change that.

Thanks, Mme. Hermine, for another video surprise that actually tells us a lot about the state of the art. Sarafanov's eleven double turns in the air -- is this something of a record? "Balon" doesn't do this kind of movement justice. His legs are springs.

I'm also a fan of the Bourne, which I saw only once on stage but have revisited several times on video. Abatt, I agree that the musicality and choreography are strong points, though I find the story-telling portions, especially those involving the oedipal relationship between Queen and Prince, drag the work down. Macaulay's NY Times review gives credit to certain elements of the Australian Ballet version, but on the whole shares the negative impressions of our posters. For example: And: And: Bourne, I think, avoided these traps. The photo that accompanies Macaulay's review refers to Diana's famous statement, taken from her calculated and rather manipulative tv interview. "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." It's a stock ballet situation, which looks particularly clumsy in this photo. The stiff, frumpy costumes suggest a 1950s, or possibly an Edwardian, time-frame. An overdressed Lilac Garden? Mayerling? The original Swan Lake story line benefits from a fairy-tale magic that transcends any particular time period or set of personalities. The Prince and the Swan are ideal types, not figures puffed up and melodramatized by the tabloids. That -- combined with a willingness to trust Tchaikovsky's score more or less as written -- is what continues to draw audiences over many generations. Having said that, I'm glad the Australian Ballet production seems to have been a box office success.

It's great to read the different takes on the updated (truncated? mutilated? desecrated?) Swan Lake. When I read about this production in the NY Times, I found myself thinking about Matthew Bourne's version. There does seem to be an audience for this sort of thing. For a few years, anyway.

This is thrilling.. It's rare to find someone who can convey upper-body subtleties and perform strong turns with equal skill. Aurora mentions that Ms. Womack is considering two offers. Which would be the better choice, given the differences between the two companies -- a corps position with the Bolshoi or a soloist position with the Mikhailovsky?

Markova's focuses on removing exaggerations of movement that have crept in over time. Our contemporary idea seems to be that "Romanticism" may indeed require extreme arching, extending, and sinking to the floor, just as we see in the Paris dancers' first attempt. For Fokine, movement is more restrained and also more natural. An example of "less is more"? .