Herman Stevens

I have an ignorant and irrelevant question. Who's the girl in the blue dress in the DBT group picture on page 136?

Why am I not surprised she was first cast in everything, her being Denver's wife? :rolleyes: Only with the very best dancers this would not be a turn-off. Recently I spent some time rereading Arlene Croce's old Afterimages, and found she was saying, at the time, one really could see too much of Suzanne Farrell. And I'm not comparing Sunal with Farrell, obviously. Herman I might hop over for the Bayadère, though, if it's going to be the last show.

I'm curious what this will mean for Aysem Sunal, the female star of the Flanders Ballet, and who (if I'm not mistaken) is married to the departing Director. I thought she was an excellent Giselle-type danser, and I would love to see more of her. Herman

Thank you Alexandra. That was a great idea, just to pick up the phone! Facts beat speculations anytime. The www can be a real nest of conspiracy theories, and I absolutely wasn't trying to foster one - after all Villella's Prodigal Son piece shows he was welcome in the Costas book. I can imagine, too, the NYCB people want to give good exposure to their current crop of dancers. It makes it even more obvious that Costas has (so to speak) taken over Martha Swope's work. Unfortunately I have never seen Villella and McBride on stage together, Mel, but I have to say the pictures I know really bubble with the fun of their collaboration. Herman

Thank you for your response, Alexandra. The jacket copy says Costas has been working with the NYCB "for more than 35 years", i.e. well into the Sixties, and I believe Villella retired fom the company some time after after the 1975 Ravel Festival, and his memoir mentions dancing at the Ford White House, but I might be wrong... I would have loved to see beautiful color pictures of two signature pieces of Villella's Harlequinade and Prodigal. And come to think of it, there's no Bugaku section either! Well. Who knows why? I just read your Scotch piece, with its lovely concluding sentence. Herman

Where's Villella Gone? it's a wonderful book. However, is it just my suspicious mind or am I missing something? I haven't spotted a single photograph with Villella - even though there are plenty Patsy McBride pictures. That should've taken some effort. It's almost like there were just two big guys in the past: Baryshnikov and Peter Martins, and nobody else. Of course Villella has a written contribution on Prodigal Son, so apparently he wasn't opposed to the book. So what happened? Herman

In the Dutch NB production the "Four Cavaliers" are usually taken from the upper tiers of dancers, too - and one or two principals were pretty unhappy getting to be a Rose Adagio Cavalier rather than the Prince who gets the Girl. In the end it didn't matter because it turned out many dancers were laid low by the flu when push came to shove, and everything had to be reshuffled. Thanks for putting the 'forward to Petipa" quote right. Herman

This would of course be quite apt when Tchaikovsky was knocking himself out, too, with what Benois called Passé-ism. Obviously, the funny thing about Beauty is that in some respects it harks back to older forms, and yet it was a giant leap forward, both as a musical score and as a choreography. I'm probably mixing up things, but didn't Balanchine later say: "forward to Petipa!"? I've been thinking about your Noverre thing, Alexandra. At the time I thought it best not to go and talk with Wright (I would have had to fight the question "why doesn't Lilac get her Prologue Waltz?" all the time). However in Beauty too much of the core action is danced anyway - the Rose Adagio for one thing - to call his version Noverrist. I have to say though that apart from the Fairy of Surplus taking over the Waltz, the Lilac role (given a good cast) is invariably quite moving in the PW production. The stateliness does work. As I said to my favorite Lilac of this run (Sarah Fontaine) I absolutely believed she was the source of all good. Herman

Thanks, Alexandra and Mel. Alexandra: I'd seen your use of the term danseuse noble before, and of course the Lilac variation in the Prologue pas de six is a Valse Noble. Mel: In the Wright version the waltz variation with those delightful sissonnes is indeed danced by a seventh fairy whom Arlene Croce (who over the years made a pretty penny bashing the Wright Beauty) chose to call the Fairy of Surplus. I thought Wright's logic: it's an important role so it can't be a dance role, was particularly delicious. However I wonder what Karsavina's role in this story is. Looks like it's one of those examples showing that oral traditions are rather hazardous. Perhaps you can't always trust the old folks. Herman

Hi, I'm wondering if I may revive this topic. This past November / December Peter Wright's Beauty was reprised by the Dutch NAtional Ballet, and PW came over to coach the dancers in the mime parts (among other things). In this production Lilac is a mime role. From Prologue through Finale she wears a big big dress which even requires her to turn her back to the audience when walking back during the curtain calls. Walking backwards (as all the others do) is impossible. In a rehearsal talk PW said the Lilac Fairy role was "a very important role" and that's why she didn't dance. Oh, methought. So why does Aurora dance? Her role is fairly important too. I checked my Wiley, which has a Petipa list putting Marie Petipa in the Waltz in the Pas de Six (hardly a walking piece); but there's also a review of the first production which seems to point to a dancing Lilac Fairy. PW claimed Karsavina had handed down this mime Lilac to him. Let me say I love a lot about this production, but I would be interested in some input on this Lilac matter. Did Marie Petipa dance or didn't she? Herman BTW Sofiane Sylve, now of the NYCB, was a spectacular Aurora in this run. These were her last performances as a DNB dancer and she was beauty and beast in one body.

Serenade is Mr B's Swan Lake IMO. After that come Symphony in C and Violin Cto. Herman

thanks anyway, Glebb. So you know Jeannette Vondersaar? That's funny. I have never talked with her, but I can tell you that she's had a busy Fall at the DNB - first she was the Queen in Swan Lake (Van Dantzig's version) and then she was the Queen in Beauty. It was a monster season, but I have to confess it was like I lived in a dream from October through Xmas. Herman

critical shortcuts She became a swan / village maiden / mechanical doll / princess / sacrificial virgin. Upside: you don't have to define the dancing. Downside: doesn't mean a thing. Herman

Hi Glebb, Thanks for your response. I did get to see a lot of Gaël and Sabine this December, when Sleeping Beauty (Peter Wright version) was on fourteen times - out of which Gaël had to dance Desiree five times. (I saw four of 'em.) He was first cast, partnered with Sofiane Sylve who has now left the DNB for good for the NYCB, but also took on two other Auroras. Sabine was a lovely Breadcrumb and a Florine with the kind of filigree point work dreams are made of. So forgive me for being ignorant and curious at the same time, but did they achieve any popularity in the short time they were in Boston? What kind of stuff did they do? I'm also asking because I am preparing a piece on Gaël. Herman

That's very kind of you, Viviane. I'll do what I can... Alexandra - do you know what's so funny? The way I heard it Van Manen made Four Schumann Pieces for Dowell to make a point that he wasn't too hot about Nurejev's style wanting the Royal Ballet to focus more on Dowell. And then Nurejev got to dance the part anyway... This time around however Gaël Lambiotte is the first cast, 4SP being revived especially for him. Perhaps you've seen him; he danced in Boston for a couple of seasons, with his lovely wife Sabine Chaland. Herman

Thank you, Alexandra. You're very kind. Tomorrow, btw, I'll be sitting in on rehearsals for Van Manen's Four Schumann Pieces. Can't wait. Herman

I ordered the Costas book a couple days ago. I'll be writing a feature when the Dutch Nat Ballet celebrates the Balanchine Centennial, so I should be able to claim the bill... Herman

Obviously this is a rather tardy response, sorry. I loved this performance of Prodigal Son, if only because I love Yulia Makhalina. Her siren really messed with my mind, if I may say so. I have to confess I watched the opening duets mostly with my eyes closed. The dancers were clearly not used to a stage this small. I thought Gergiev did a fine job with Prodigal Son. I was at a couple of symphonic concerts, too, and by now I'm pretty sure Gergiev is a great accompanying conductor, and a very iffy conductor when there are no singers, solists or dancers holding him back. I had expected much from his Prokofiev Sixth symphony (my favorite), but it fell way short - though interestingly it wasn't too fast this time. V.G. had mixed the Rotterdam Phil and the Kirov Orchestra for this symphony and it didn't work out real well (no doubt due to lacking rehearsal time). I'm curious what's going to happen dance-wise at the 2004 Gergiev Festival, which will be devoted to Tchaikovsky. All regular ballets are to big for the small (and lousy) Rotterdam Schouwburg stage - so perhaps we'll get a Bluebird and a grand pas de deux from the Nutcracker? Herman

Hi, as it happens this is my first post on this forum, and I'd like to supply the previously unknown third piece for the Balanchine Centenary come March: it's Who Cares?. It's going to have a specially designed set. Agon hasn't been done for ages either. I'm looking forward to it. Herman