brbropus39

Hi. I've been looking for a book or collection of the ballet librettos by the French playwright Jean Anouilh. He wrote several ballets for Roland Petit, including Les Demoiselles de la Nuit (The Ladies of Midnight) and Le Loup (The Wolf). I've searched online and in several major and used bookstores, but no results. Thanks.

EvilNinjaX, I can't find your post where you mentioned the two sites that sell the Kumakawa dvd's. I don't know if it was somehow deleted or if I just can't find it for some reason. Can you please post them again? Thank you.

Whoops. I just realized that you emailed the web addresses to me.

What dvd's do you have of Tetsuya Kumakawa? Do you know if they're sold commercially? If so, where did you buy them? I saw a tape a while ago that had a few variations by Kumakawa: Corsaire, two different filmings of Solor's variation from Bayadere, and some jumps and turns in a studio.

I also saw him last summer in New York perform Ashton's Rhapsody with the K-Ballet, originally made for Baryshnikov. He was so incredible. He did a series of 540's like they were a walk in the park. And his turns, my god, his turns.

Wow!! I've never heard those versions before; they will be a great help to me, I'm sure. Thank you.

"I am not sure that this is anything other than what some dancer made up in an effort to make his divertissement make sense"

It's interesting that you should say that, Steven, because that is exactly what got me interested in Bluebird in the first place: I read an article in Ballet Review about Yuri Soloviev, whose interpretation of Bluebird was supposedly venerated by a great many audiences. He said, "The Blue Bird is a prince who has turned himself into a bird in order to see the princess, and when he dances with her he is singing to her and she listens to his song."

I'm not sure what style ballet it will be if I pusue it. Right now, I'm trying to be open to whatever ideas come to me. It might become anything from a very Petipaesque (haha. I don't know if there's another word for that) ballet to something more contemporary.

I kindof like the idea that it would be a romantic and poetic scenario/character-study type of ballet (e.g. Le Spectre de la Rose, Le Jeune Homme et la Mort) rather than following the older formula for pas de deux: having them dance together, a male variation, a female variation, and a coda.

Thanks again for your insights.

Has any choreographer ever made a ballet about Blue Bird, a sort of Sleeping Beauty "Spin-off" if that makes sense? I was thinking of making a ballet with that premise, expanding upon the Blue Bird character, and was wondering if anyone thought that was a good or bad idea.

I'm open to any suggestions.

Thanks, W.B.

Thanks, BalletNut. You answered my question perfectly.

BalletNut, I usually only buy classical story ballet videos for a specific performer or performers. Do you think that Kumakawa's performance is worth getting the tape for? Who else is there in the video?

I admit that I've never watched an entire Bayadere before. I have seen the variations, including the bronze idol, but I'm not very familiar with the ballet otherwise. Could you give me an idea of what the dancing is like, and how much there is in comparison with the character and pantomime aspects of the ballet? Thankyou.

Does anyone know of any videos featuring the Japanese dancer Tetsuya Kumakawa and where I could purchase them? There were several variations that he danced (corsaire, quixote, and 2 bayaderes) on a homemade/mixed video I saw a while ago, but I couldn't tell if they were filmed for video or television. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I just bought To Dance By Valery Panov at a used bookstore and can't put it down. Of course I'm not holding it as I write this, but it's still right by my side. I always enjoy reading autobiographies of dancers. I've read Villella's, Robert LaFosse's, Bruhn's, Nijinsky's, and biographies of Nureyev and Baryshnikov. I like them because they're like windows to what it's really like to be a professional dancer. For those who haven't read this book, I really reccomend it. It's a very intimate account of Panov's struggles and happiness as a dancer, child, man, husband and, most importantly, lover of life.

P.S. Does anyone know if there is a biography of Yuri Soloviev? Thanks

I save all my programs, even though they usually don't have much historical or sentimental value. The most recent of mine that has any meaning was ABT's Romeo and Juliet this summer, which was Ashley Tuttle's final performance.

I also have a program from this Summer's Ashton Festival at Lincoln Center, signed by Sylvie Guillem, who performed in Margueritte and Armand. I got to meet her because my friend performed with her once and went back stage to say hi.

My favorite program was from a performance that I'm too young to have even attended. It is the world premiere of Baryshnikov's Don Quixote or Kitri's Wedding on March 23, 1978 at the J.F.K. Center for Performing Arts, with Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland. I got it when I bought the book Baryshnikov at Work online and the program was enclosed in the book. Too bad it wasn't signed. It was a nice little treat, though.

I'm reading The Sybil right now. I'm definitely enjoying it, and it's very well written, but it's a lot different from Lagerkvist's other books I've read so far. I didn't read Barabas just because of the description on the back of the book. it sounded too depressing for me. His most well known book is probably The Dwarf, and it's also my favorite of his novels. I really liked The Marriage Feast, which is a bunch of his short stories, some really short, and most of them share the same macabre undertone. When I read his stories, even though his writing is very literal and easy to understand, I get the feeling he's not always saying what he seems to be saying.

Has anyone here read anything by Par Lagerkvist. I had never heard of him before, but I started reading a collection of his short stories not long ago, and am already almost complete with everything he's written.

While reading his books, it occured to me that many of his stories would make great ballets, literal or abstract. Most of his short stories and novels have a sort of fairy-tale feel to them, but also deal with very important subjects, almost political even.

Mr. Johnson, in what way did Loie Fuller and Jean Borlin incorporate film into dance? Or was it the other way around, incorporating dance into film?

I had trouble finding much information online about Fuller's use of film in her dance. I did find out about her innovations in stage lighting and her other explorations in the field of science (she was even a close friend of Marie Curie), but no luck with with her usage of film. Do you know where I could learn more about it?

Thank you,

W.B.

Ginastera sounds familiar to me for some reason, and I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the older ballet, Painted Birds, which was choreographed, I believe, by either Toer Van Shayk (spelling?) or Rudi Van Dantzig, but I'm not sure. Do you know if there's any connection?

There is an exhibit of works by the German painter, Gerhard Richter at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin. I didn't have a chance to see it first hand, but a friend showed me pictures he took of the exhibit. He has a very modernist and post-modernist approach to art, and uses a varied assortment of mediums. Recently he has created a collection of mirrors. I thought it was really interesting how such simple objects as mirrors can be turned into art. It makes me realize how just about anything can be made beatiful or interesting when approached artistically.

I completely agree about Carla Fracci. I cannot believe I forgot to include her. In my opinion, she is by far the most gorgeous ballerina ever.

I have a book called "The making of a dance: Medea" with her, Baryshnikov, and the choreographer, John Butler. In the book, she is much more mature than in the other books and videos I have seen of her, and I think it makes her all the more beautiful.

I also emphasize Stella Abrera. She was on the cover of Dance Magazine earlier this year and, as it says in the magazine, "Her glamour and sex appeal come from another era."

I recently read an essay by Daniel Nagrin about choreographers incorporating the use of film into their works. He said that he expects to see more of this in the near future. He used pop music as an example, claiming that the next obvious step from stage performances was the music video, and that it is possible that dance will take the same path.

I've always considered film to be nothing more than a substitute for live performance, but after reading Nagrin's essay, I have been thinking about it more and more, pondering the possibillities. I wouldn't be interested much in using special effects or anything like that, but I thought using film might allow for the choreographer to accent a specific aspect of his or her piece, furthering what they want to convey to the audience.

Does anyone have any opinions about this?

-W.B.

I don't think Einojuhani Rautavaara's music is considered ballet music, since it hasn't been used for any ballets yet (that I know of), but I highly recommend it. I bought some cd's of him recently and now I'm hooked.

He's a Finnish composer, similar to Jean Sibelius. Much of his music reminds me of Stravinsky in that it sounds unusual while still being very musical. Just thought I'd share that for anyone who enjoys classical music in their spare time.

I was watching a copy of Born to be Wild: the leading men of ABT the other day, and noticed that Yoel Carreno can be seen dancing in the Cuban nightclub with Jose and some other people. Too bad they just show him "dancing" instead of actually dancing, if ya know what I mean. Just thought it was interesting cause I hadn't noticed it until now.

I'm going to add Sylvie Guillem to my current list. At first, I didn't include her just because I wasn't sure what criteria I was using, whether or not I think she's beautiful for her dancing or for her actual looks and features. I've decided, though, that she deserves to be mentioned for her dancing AND her features. I think she has a very interesting, and perhaps exotic look about her.

I am also going to add Alina Cojucaru. From photos I have seen of her, I thought she had a young and girlish look, but after I saw her in the Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty, I found her absolutely stunning.

When you say, "If he had a signature, it was to begin his ballets before the music, with the dancers' toe shoe sounds the only accompaniment," do you mean that is how he bagen working on a piece in rehearsal, or that is how his actual pieces began onstage and the music joined after the dancing started?

If you mean that's how he would start rehearsals, I think thats interesting because he seems, from the Baryshnikov documentary I mentioned earlier in this topic, to be inspired mainly by the music.

If you meant the latter, I think that's also really interesting. I've thought of doing that in one of my own pieces, beginning the dance without music. I've only heard of one other choreographer doing that, and he was Jerome Robbins, but I don't know what his ballet was called. I remember hearing about it from Peter Martins on the Diamond Project on TV.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the Most Handsome Male Dancers discussion, so I thought I'd start a similar search for the most beautiful female dancers.

I've decided upon Julie Kent, Stella Abrera, Janie Taylor, and Irina Dvorovenko. (In no particular order)

What ballets of his did you see, Grace? Also, if you're interested, I would love to hear what you thought of them. I'm always excited to hear what people like and don't like about different choreographers because I choreograph some, myself.

Is Sarabia pronounced Saravida? (with the accent on the "vi" part) Someone told me that, and I'm curious what your answer is because you seem very knowledgeable about pronunciation of their names. Also, why do you spell Yoel's name Carreno as Carre-o? And how old is Acosta's nephew, Yonah? Just curious, thanks. That's really exciting about Sarabia being at Boston. I hope I get a chance to see him dance live instead of just on videos.

Ismene, I'm making an assumtion, but from your article, it sounds as if Alicia Alonzo might be responsible for Joel's ( Yoel's ? ) hault in immigration. You say that "She can kill visa applications with a phone call" and when you "ask about the New York frustration, his face clouds: 'I try not to think about it.'" Is this true, do you think? Do you think he will eventually join NYCB at some point? And is Rolando Sarabia going to be officially with Boston?

In your article, the teacher of Carlos Acosta's nephew Yonah says, "He will be great, probably greater than Carlos." I think that's incredible. I've always thought that Carlos is as good as someone can be. It seems as if there's no room for improvement. It's exciting to think what Yonah and all the other Cuban prodigies will be like when they get older.