wjglavis

Thanks, James and Leigh, for the info about being a student extra; I was fascinated. (Still am.) - Wendy

James, I've often watched `student extras' - as you call them - on stage and wondered what was going through their minds. Do you get to watch the whole ballet from the wings or just bits of it? Do the older dancers speak to you? Do you get to do Class with them? I would love to hear more of your experiences and impressions. (But bear in mind that someone from the RB might be reading your posts and be careful what you say! I'm sure you're doing that already!!) I've seen some glorious Giselles: Altynai Asylmuratova, Sylvie Guillem and - on Sunday - Svetlana Lunkina. They were all wonderful in their VERY different ways and....do you know, I don't think I WANT to choose between them. (Unfortunately, I've never been in the UK at the right time to see Darcey Bussell in the part, but I hope to do so eventually.) It must be thrilling, though, to work on the same stage as Guillem (I've seen her do two very different interpretations of Giselle, and this one is probably different again.) But what's all this? Guillem too old and too tall??? (Take those dancers' names, Corporal Jones.) Speaking as a tall person myself, it sends me into a rage to be told that someone is too tall for a part. Believe me, tall girls are just as vulnerable as small ones. (When my cousin's daughter was 13 - the same age as Juliet - she was nearly 6 foot. AND she brought her doll to Christmas dinner. I rest my case.) Anyway, thanks for your post, James, and keep up the good work. - Wendy

I have to confess to having left the ballet early myself once or twice. Occasionally when a performance is running late (or isn't very good!) I decide to catch the last `good' train rather than get home at 2:00 a.m. At such times, however, it's important to plan ahead. During the last interval, I find someone in standing room who looks tired, swap tickets, wait by the door until the moment I have to leave, then creep silently away. (Though I HAVE had people in standing room tell me my tickets aren't good enough!)

Hi gabrielle, Dance Books in Cecil Court (London) is likely to have a copy. They have a web site you can explore: http://www.dancebooks.co.uk/ and keep a good supply of out-of-print ballet books. (That's where I got my own copy of Kschessinska.) Most booksellers I've tried abroad are pretty good about getting books to the States quickly if you pay by credit card. Be warned, however: Dancing in Petersburg won't be cheap; I'd guess 20 or 30 pounds (but for your sake I hope it's a lot less!!) Good luck. - Wendy PS -If you have trouble getting through to Dance Books, I think ballet.co.uk has a link to it.

I've really enjoyed reading all these reviews; it's great to see the bubbling over of enthusiasm. And it's been great, too, to be able to hear so much about the other performances. I went to the matinee and really loved it. In fact, I've been way too high to be able to come here to Ballet Alert and talk about my impressions....and now I find that EVERYTHING has been said already! If some Good Fairy ever granted me three trips in a Time Machine, then one of them would have to be to see `Beauty' at the Maryinsky (though I'd have to think about which year I'd go there, and who I'd want to see. Probably Kschessinska.) People are always telling me that you can't go back to the past. Well, maybe not, but you can give it a good try - as the Kirov have done this year. (Of course, if you really went back to 1890 or so, you'd probably be seriously disappointed by the standard of dancing, but that's another story.) Thanks Jeannie, for answering one of my biggest questions - which was whether they had a real panorama in Russia. (Any more details? Is it like thee original?) But what about Carabosse's disguise at the end of Act 1? Isn't it supposed to disappear down a trap in the original production? And, though I LOVED the fountain in Act 1, what about the fountains in the last act? Have just read Anna Kisselgoff's review in today's New York Times, which I found annoying. The last sentence, for instance:`how to make the classics come alive to a modern audience is still the problem.' For the modern audience I saw on Wednesday afternoon, the problem seemed to be to keep from jumping up and down with excitement. (And there are times when I get the distinct impression that Anna K. is not familiar with the earlier Kirov versions of this ballet.) Thank you to the Kirov for a thrilling production - which could have been a lot longer as far as I was concerned. And thank you Altynai for a gorgeous performance.

Just wanted to say I agreed with dirac. Karsavina's `Theatre Street' is, to my mind, one of the most fascinating ballet biographies ever written. Similar books which I also love are Alexandra Danilova's book, `Choura', and Tamara Geva's `Split Seconds' (the latter is mainly about her attempts to be accepted as a student by the Theatre School, but is written with great passion - parts are very moving.) Both of these are good on the difficulties of everyday life after the revolution. I also enjoyed Nijinska's `Early Memoirs', intersting for what she says about her brother, but VERY interesting on her own early life, with lots of detail about parts and costumes. And then there's Kschessinska's `Dancing in Petersburg' - though this is hard to find - which is surpringingly frank and engaging. Karsavina is a good choice to read first, however. (After that I became hooked on Russian memoirs!) -Wendy