Nora

At a performance of ABT's Swan Lake with Ananishvili last week, a friend of ours fell asleep and started to snore during the performance! At least when it's someone you walk in with, you can punch them in the ribs. She was not only wakened by another one of my seat mates, but we doubt that we'll share Ananishvili with her again!

Thanks again, Mme. Hermine! I tried to access the ny library myself but without success. I have to go back and watch SB again.

Thank you, Mme. Hermine! I'm going to write it down and stick it in the jacket of the video!

I was watching my tape of An Evening With the Royal Ballet the other night and wondering yet again, as I do each time I watch it, who was that lovely soloist in Les Sylphides? Having been filmed at the height of the craze for Nureyev and Fonteyn, the film only credits N & F and "Artists of the Royal Ballet" for Les Sylphides. Now, I know she must have had a name, and even one that I might recognize or find in an old program, but I don't recognize her. It also made me wonder if at another time, everyone would have been given credit, principals, soloists, and even corps. However, because it was N & F, other names were dismissed. How many other dancers through the years have been lost in the shuffle to a Nureyev, a Fonteyn, a Baryshnikov, a Makarova, a Kirkland, etc? I'd like to know first, if anyone can identify the ballerina in this performance of Les Sylphides for me, and second, can you think of any other dancer that you particularly liked who was not noticed because he/she was forced to dance in the shadow of another?

I have been sitting here blithely reading and enjoying these comments thinking that I certainly have nothing to add to the conversation because the last time I saw a dancer fall was in 1965! Now, that in itself is incredible! When you think about the feats of artistic athleticism that are accomplished onstage everyday, it's amazing that it doesn't happen more often.

Mel - I'm probably not the only one who doesn't know about Denise Jackson. Could you explain? Thanks.

Don Q with Nureyev and the Australian Ballet is one of my very favorites. I think he is better here than in any other video I've seen him on. Lucette Aldous who plays Kitri is very vivacious, although I will leave it to others who know better than I how good she is. I suspect that she could have been better. Robert Helpmann has the title role, and co-directed it with Nureyev. It is even listed in one of my video guides as being "not just for ballet fans." It has been recently remastered, but I have seen some of the old copies still on sale, most recently at the Kennedy Center gift shop. If you buy it, make sure you get one of the new ones; when I first bought it two years ago, I kept playing with the controls on the tv and video to get a better picture! Silly me.

The recent performance of Miami City Ballet's Jewels sent me back to my videotapes of New York City Ballet. As I watched Elusive Muse, a documentary on Suzanne Farrell, again, I was reminded that she left NYCB in 1969 for several years. Does anyone know if Diamonds was danced by anyone else in her absence? I know that she returned sometime in the 70's, but does anyone recall seeing anyone else in that part during that time period? Just curious.

My sister and I saw Jewels over thirty years ago with Villella, McBride, Verdy, Farrell, d'Amboise, and it was an experience I have never forgotten. I took her to the matinee today for her 50th birthday, and we both enjoyed it thoroughly. Being thirty years older helps to appreciate the complexities of a work of art, and I expected to enjoy it, but I was enthralled and delighted beyond my expectations. I loved every bit of it, but my memory of thirty years kept a special place for Emeralds. When the dancers began, they seemed to just scoop the music up in their arms and send it out to us on a new wave. The depth of movement in the choreography just seemed to bring out phrasing in the music I would never have heard. I've never experienced a ballet performance before where the music and the movement seemed to work so beautifully together as if they were conceived at the same time and all of the same thread. Although the house was not full, the audience was very enthusiastic, chuckling and laughing during Rubies, oohing and aahing over the costumes and scenery. I've rarely heard an audience start to applaud before the music stopped! But they did this afternoon. I've waited over thirty years to see this again, and was I thrilled!

Has anyone seen the Malakhov video of Giselle? The video itself is of a rather poor quality; rather like something your favorite uncle taped for you on the night of your big recital. The dancing, however, is very fine. The ballerina is Ludmilla Vasileva, and the production, if my memory serves me correctly, came from Perm. None of the other dancers are credited. I thought Vasileva did a beautiful job, especially in the mad scene. Has anyone else seen it? If you have, I would love to hear the opinion of a better educated viewer.