salzberg

Originally posted by Manhattnik:

Dancing on My Grave: The Ballet!

I can just see the choreography for the passage, "I was like a little bird. . . ."

Originally posted by dirac:

I had a similar dream some years ago, Ed, only it involved some poems by T.S. Eliot and large singing cats.

Actually, I lit a full-evening modern work that was based on an Eliot poem -- not Cats, but Ash Wednesday

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Jeffrey E. Salzberg, Lighting Designer

portfolio: www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg

email: salzberg@suncoast.quik.com

Originally posted by cargill:

There is a very funny book of potted English history called 1066 And All That, a brief summary of what the average student might remember after leaving school, which divided things into Good Things and Bad Things, and I have to say that Edward II is a Very Bad Thing.

That book was written, of course, when England was Top Nation.

My Gawd, I thought I was the only person in America who'd read that book.

The novel that most obviously would be poorly-suited for a ballet:

[i[Dracula.[/i]

(Yeah, yeah, I know. . . .)

Originally posted by alexandra:

Leigh, I'm seeing a trend here. Maybe you should do "Citizen Kane, the Ballet!" next year?

I'm looking forward to the "Rosebud" Pas de Deux.

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Jeffrey E. Salzberg, Lighting Designer

portfolio: www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg

email: salzberg@suncoast.quik.com

I find it unlikely that Gone With the Wind will be done as a ballet.

After all, the lead character is a woman who goes to extraordinary lengths to appear unnaturally thin; wherever would anyone find a dancer like that?

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Jeffrey E. Salzberg, Lighting Designer

portfolio: www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg

email: salzberg@suncoast.quik.com

I'm not sure the two are mutually exclusive, Leigh. There are dancers to whom I'm incredibly attracted, but whose dancing I don't care for, particularly; likewise, there are dancers whose dancing I adore but to whom I am not attracted. . .and there are some dancers who attract me in both ways.

As Freud is reputed to have said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Originally posted by JerryB:

I find that I spend a lot of time thinking about what I see as harsh criticism of Peter Martins and NYCB.  Also wondering why there seems to be more anti than pro.

. . .Because he has had the misfortune of being successor to a genius. Be he good or be he bad, he will always be judged on whether or not he's Balanchine. . .and he never will be.

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Jeffrey E. Salzberg, Lighting Designer

portfolio: www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg - Now featuring "This Day in Arts History"

At a time when ballet companies are dancing the works of Martha Graham, I suppose it's not surprising that much more subtle issues of emploi have fallen by the wayside.

From a lighting designer's perspective:

"The art of lighting the stage consists of putting light where you want it and taking it away from where you don't want it," -- Max Reinhardt.

"The reason great art endures is because it's not edible," -- David Hays.

"Dancers live in light the way fish live in water," -- Jean Rosenthal

"It is better to have pizza you don't want than to want pizza you don't have," -- Jeffrey E. Salzberg

I'm finally getting around to reading "Dancing on My Grave" and just today read the section where she describes getting injured when Jerry Robbins insisted that John Clifford put her down at a 90 degree angle when she was supposed to slide to the side.

So. . . .

Question: was the injury Robbins' fault ("Ye canna change the laws of physics, Cap'n!")? . . .Or was this just another case of Kirkland's blaming everyone else for her misfortunes?

[This message has been edited by salzberg (edited May 06, 1999).]

A critic in a large Texas city which shall remain nameless (about 180 miles from Dallas, on Interstate 10, between New Orleans and San Antonio; has a major ballet company) once reviewed a ballet that wasn't even performed. . .and was *not* fired. Really.

In the case of the editor who is called by an artistic director who's demanding that a certain critic not be used, that editor should hang up the phone. . .and *not* gently.

[This message has been edited by salzberg (edited April 18, 1999).]

The inestimable Alexandra said: "Salzberg, I didn't mean that a critic shouldn't realize that the people she writes about are people, but that there should be a balance."

Oh, I know you didn't; you just sort of got me thinking on tangential lines.

She also said: "Too many critics (encouraged by their editors) like to write something witty."

Dorothy Parker once condemned a Katherine Hepburn performance with, "She ran the gamut of emotions from 'A' to 'B'."

Jeff Salzberg

The Houston Chronicle once started letting one of their Assistant Editors review small modern concerts. She was knowledgeable about dance, but not always. . .er. . .charitable.

I started introducing her to dancers we'd run into in the lobby during intermission, and she started to view them as real, live, humans; the personal comments vanished from her reviews.