Diana L

I have to admit, for certain ballets, I will seek out the casting and go specifically for the dancers, not necessarily the ballet.

And when I get there and there's either a slip in the program or the announcement comes on, my stomach does do a bit of a flip.

The whole experience has definitely opened my eyes to dancers though, that I may not have seen before and how interpretations vary from person to person.

I try not to look anymore at casting and just go and see what happens, after all, even the same dancer never gives the same exact performance!

HBR has an interview with Mark Morris. It's actually a very funny interview. When I first saw the cover I was shocked they were interviewing a choreographer!

there is a link for the article

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/products/hbr/o...t01/R0109C.html

I apologize if it's already been posted on the links board.

I have to say, I agree with dancers. If I took a job and all of the sudden the job description changed, I wouldn't be too happy either.

Maybe they should incorporate a "Diamond Project" type of a deal. 2 weeks of contemporary pieces, it would be a good trial run to see if the audience in fact is there. To just change it though seems a bit drastic.

I admit I like the no-brainer films mentioned.

The images I always find the worst are actually found on the news. In the U.S. sensational journalism is extreme.

One image from the Sept 11 day is the footage of people in the streets of foreign lands celebrating. I found that harder to watch than what I saw from my window.

What was done was in some ways "political" and I hope that there aren't any ballets done on it.

In 50 years from now (if they can wait that long) this will be a movie but until then we'll have our tv's to watch.

I opted not to get my Nutcracker tickets this year and decided to make donations instead.

I think this attack came at the absolute worst time for America with the economy already on the brink, our President predicting a long war and the stock market reeling, the last thing on many people's minds is seemingly already over priced tickets.

I was shocked at some of the shows that closed, mostly because they were the tickets that were affordable.

Has there been much of an impact outside of the States?

I think "the show must go on".

I watched "To Be or Not to Be" last night with Carole Lombard. It was one of the funniest movies dealing with a theater company during WWII.

In relation to what's happening now.

I don't know if art has a role except to continue on as usual. I know for myself, when things happen in my life, I find comfort in the seat at a ballet.

If the unfortunate thing of war comes about, it will have a financial impact on everything, including the arts. I for one though, am now really looking forward to ABT's "La Fille"!

I like Carla Korbes, but with Martins you never know, he loves a dancer for a season or two and then you're not sure what to make of it (or they get injured). Speaking of is Ansanelli back?

"restraint of style" sorry, what does that mean? I may be misinterpreting, but I always Margaret Tracey had a nice daredevilness about her. I'll never forget seeing her do Tarantella and just going for it all.

And tying up all loose tangents of mine.

Peter Hansen was a prince I adored, did he retire?

oh, sorry. I thought we were supposed to respond with ballets and how they are performed now. I always thought that you'll never get the same performance twice anyway and that the steps evolve in a new way everytime someone knew dances them but that overall the meaning (for lack of a better word) doesn't change.

Concerto Barocco and Serenade

When the same mistakes are made over and over. And of course, when nobody pays to see it anymore!

With regard to Wheeldon, I wonder if it's not so much his making mistakes but possibly they hyped him too soon?

I suppose it all depends on who is judging whether it's a mistake or not too.

ouch.

Has anyone heard or can anyone confirm that Margaret Tracey and Peter Boal are retiring from New York City Ballet?

Thanks.

Seeing as the Internet is relatively young, have you found that you have learned more about ballet and how has it affected you when you go to a performance, or has it?

I have this site as my start up page when I log on to the internet! I've found I make a note to try and watch some of the dancers pointed out on the boards, I go to some performances that I may not have gone to before and overall helped my understanding of ballet.

And the company's websites are informative too.

I'd add Larissa Lezhnina, Tina LeBlanc, Darcey Bussell, Wendy Whelan, Elizabeth Loscavio and Julie Kent.

I've never seen the book, did they list many dancers?

but Janie Taylor is featured in Elle magazine's 25 who's who.

I'm coming in on this late and may have read too fast. But do we know that Albert Evans has not been given those opportunities?

I understand the point of the thread but I don't really think skin color or ethnicity really is the reason behind most of the casting decisions or opportunities given/not given.

A light and airy topic....

I just finished reading Allegra Kent's biography, she seemed like a real hoot.

Who's biography/story would you like to see next?

rkoretzky,

missing your daily reviews!

Nietzsche once said that "Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos"

I think in some ways, we're going through that chaos right now.

In 100 years people might not know who the heck Balanchine is and someone might find some tapes and come up with something similar with their own twist and it will be new again.

rkoretzky, I think part of what Gottlieb was saying is that all that you love, 4T's, Dances, 4 weeks at SPAC, slowly it seems to be disappearing. I can't say what NYCB looked like past about 10 years ago, but in that time it's changed. I don't only want to see "new" Balanchine during some Celebration and be subjected to new choreography that I'll never see again, but that's me.

For the past 3 seasons we've seen "new" girls like Taylor, Bouder, Kourbes and a few others pushed while it seems some (like Rutherford) are just given a few parts here and there and then they disappear back into the corps. I'm in favor of cultivating new talent but Martins has a lot already there that he's not using.

I think City Ballet is in a transitional mode, they're trying to keep their past and mold there future and we're all going to experience the growing pains.

And in some defense of critics, I don't think they have to "mean" but sometimes too they're voicing their opinions.

I thought he was a bit harsh (but he has never been pro-Martins) but some of his points are IMO correct. Especially the "sink or swim" stance at NYCB and the decline of the Balanchine rep. Both are reasons I didn't go but twice this past season, down from my normal 15-20. I also didn't go to ABT for the reasons he mentioned, they were very predictable and I didn't want to spend the money on performances that I feel I had seen a hundred times (same casts).

Based on that, I'll concentrate on his criticism of City Ballet.

The "new talent" watch. I can't help but to wonder just how calculated some of the last minute replacements were this season, it's either that or Martins has no confidence in soloists as understudies. Again, the point was brought up of how much do these young dancers understand what it is that they're dancing? And those that are thrown into their roles that have been there for a while (I felt he unfairly compared van Kipnis to Nichols, it's IMO a perfect example of why you can't compare dancers) who's coaching them.

I feel like I'm just repeating the article. but I agreed with him. Instead of spending this time and money on pieces and works that are going to disappear, maybe City Ballet needs to cultivate the talent they have their in the dancers and the choreography.

For me ballet has challenged my thinking without a word ever having to be spoken.

Thank you Victoria, that's what I was looking for! I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but I agree that I feel just as pushed as some of the dancers in some roles and that maybe they're not ready to be put in some of the roles that they are in.

Whenever I see a SugarPlum Fairy debut by a really young corps member as good as they are, I never feel they're the matriach that perhaps the role calls for (matriach may be too strong of a word...)

Is the lack of ballerina because of the push or because there are so few matured dancers who are made to be role models before they're ready?

After I turned the computer off, it came to me what I was trying to ask.

Does ballet need to change? Does it need evolve?

If it does, why?

I hope I can articulate what I'm trying to ask.

It seems that there's a big gap between companies and within companies.

In the golden years of ballet when you had the Fonteyn's and Nureyev's, Tallchief's etc... why was it so different than it is now?

Why did their seem to be a flourish of genius about back then? Why was something back then so new and "uncharted", why isn't that happening today?

Basically I'm trying to figure out what it is that's changed in the ballet world (aside from $$)?

And I apologize if anyone feels I'm aging them, that's not my intention. Other art forms continue to flourish, but I'm not sure ballet is.