Ostrich

I was fascinated by the following article, posted by dirac in today's LINKS section:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-spo...iers/article.do

....The man seems to be slightly overwrought and a bit confused as to the point he is making. However, it seems like I've heard this kind of sneering use of "ballet" as a put-down before.

How do you suggest that a ballet-lover (or -- worse! -- a ballet dancer) respond to such a position? Reason? Rage? Sarcasm? Just ignoring it?

I'm afraid this coach has been amusing the South African public for a while with his speeches. Sometimes he says something clever, but most of the time it is just confused, contradictory or even ludicrous.

As to how to deal with it, I think he should just be sent for a couple of ballet classes. In fact something like it was tried a while ago (it wasn't Springbok rugby players, unfortunately), and what the audience found most amusing was that the rugby players were quite unable to lift the petite ballerinas around.

Very interesting point that about good feet and beautiful feet, LiLing. A dancer who I think demonstrate the difference well is Maria Alexandrova. Her feet are not beautiful (I don't think so) - square, with little arch - but she uses them like pencil points, drawing as she dances.

It's often difficult to know which Russian ballet company is which. I saw the Russian National Ballet three times and their performance quality varied greatly. But then it might not be the same company as the Russian national Ballet Theatre. There were no Bolshoi/Mariinsky dancers when I saw them (a couple of years back).

Ouch, that hurt! The famous old Maly...

Thanks a lot for the report!

I know there is at least one video of ballet bloopers out there—does anyone know of it? It may be a Russian video. I remember it had lots of uninteresting falls and such, but also things like a dancer doing a circle of jete en tournant and getting wound up in a curtain and having to stop to move backward and unwind himself before continuing on.

This is not the video you're thinking of, but it features Dmitri Gudanov of the Bolshoi in a series of minor accidents. I love the first one (Giselle).

Not strictly a national dancer, but the Chinese dancer Sunrui is one of the most fascinating performers I have ever seen. He graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9CezNNiRs0

Dream of the Bamboo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oiL8aKYu3Y...feature=related

I feel that it's actually this transposition in movement and music that enhances the emotional impact of the narrative. I can watch graphic violence in a movie and not feel too upset while I'm moved by the plight of poor Nikiya in what could be described as a silly corny story.

This is a very accurate observation, for me at least. Sound and especially music increases my emotional involvement a lot and when a scene gets too upsettig I generally turn the volume down.

That is a fascinating excerpt. I don't really have anything to add to this discussion, but I remember reading in Beryl Grey's biography that she was amazed at the difference in partnering when she guested with the Bolshoi and Kirov. She mentioned that her Russian partners stood much further away from her than she had been used to in the West, allowing her much greater freedom of movement.

If I'm not mistaken, Merle Park, who was head of the RB School as well as a great dancer, was born in what was then Rhodesia; and the head of the RB, Dame Monica was born in South Africa.

You are not mistaken

A surprising number of well-known 'British' dancers were born in South Africa/Rhodesia

At the one-hand lift in act1, he even lifted his leg to arabesque position which was jaw-dropping.

First to say thank you

It looks sumptious. Alexandrova and Volchkov look stunning together, I think.

That is really fascinating. Her technique is not as 'bad' as I would have expected. I know that the speed she dances at is supposedly the real speed (more knowledgeable BaletTalkers keep telling us that these old films are not sped up), but it still surprises me every time.

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is "Enjoy!" I'm getting desensitised, but it used to have a nails-on-the-blackboard effect on me.

For me it's "waiting on" instead of "waiting for".

That's a good one. Waiting doesn't make one a waitor or a waitress.

Or a waitron either. With all due respect to gender equality, that' a word that really bugs me.

How and what are are some physical gestures and consciousness of body and space and relationship carry over into an average day and interaction.

Standing in 180 degree first position while doing the washing up or bending down to pick something up off the floor without bothering to bend their knees

Aha, mystery explained! I wondered how he could be in two places at once...

Thanks for the info, leonid. I'd love to see the Giselle with Fadeyechev!

Nerina was born in South Africa on 21 October 1927, where she received her early training (Cecchetti Method) which was completed in London where she came to live and study,

I know

Her stepmother, Mrs. Judd, used to live close to us. My mother still points out the house to me.

Is there any further information on her death? I can't find any obituaries by googling. She reached a ripe age, I think she must have been around 81.

I haven't actually seen such performances and am having a hard time visualizing what happens on stage. Are the large-screen videos shown at the same time as the dancing? Is there interaction?

I have never seen it done simultaneously (at least not with dancing). It's more like an introduction to the whole thing, or to illustrate the history of a particular gala, or dancer, or similar. I find it enough of a change having to adapt from the gigantic size of the dancers on the screen to the Lilliputians who appear on stage shortly after; I can't imagine you'd actually see the dancers if they showed the film simultaneously with the dancing.

Recently I attended a 'Nureyev Gala' where this was done - showing a film of Nureyev before the start of the performance - and I felt it really, really dwarfed the performance. Even when the film does not show a legend like Nureyev, I think the sheer size of the images have a tendency to shrink the live performance and it takes a while for the audience to adapt, although the 'electricity' of a live performance is something that can rarely be captured on film.

That said, I'm a real sucker for ballet on the big screen (although not in direct conjunction with a live performance)!

Off-topic from this thread's heading but following a digression, here is some video of Bhutanese dancers, much more impressive than those I saw at the Folklife Festival.

Thanks for the link! I have (to go even more off-topic) been interested in Bhutan and its culture ever since I saw the only two films shot in Bhutan, 'The Cup' and 'Travellers and Magicians'. But they didn't have any dancing in those.

Does anyone know what her neck problem is?

Irina Baronova?

I remember hearing that Dmitry Medvedev can dance a gopak, so maybe he knows something about dance (although I have no doubt that he has a specialised crew of people to deal with situations like this).

The Chinese can look young and little for their age, at least to Western eyes. But I do agree that some of the girls looked very young indeed.