Amy Reusch

I just passed the sad news on this evening to a former Harkness dancer who remembered working with him on Souvenirs. (She was a wall flower, apparently... sounded like fun.) I wish someone would put together a memorial tribute DVD of his work. Does Souvenirs exist on video? I'd love to see it again.

And a guestbook has been created as a tribute to Mr. Bolender here: KansasCity.com guestbook for Todd Bolender

I believe the intention was to make them available at low cost to libraries with non-circulating collections. Every unversity dance department ought to have them in their collection!

Actually, I think that depends a lot on the dancer in question... there are some people who remember choreography decades later as if they had learned it "yesterday", it's just in their bodies like muscle memory... when they hear the music, they practically feel their muscles twitch... and then there are others where it's a more fluid memory and subject to more interpretation. I tend to think there is a kind of phenomenon like "photographic memory" for dancers who are quick studies for learning movement... the kind who can watch a whole ballet once and then a few hours later show you whole se

I was just perusing the Wikipedia entries for Vaganova & Cecchetti (which were very nice for quick access info) and clicked on the Massine link. It has some info, but no list of his choreographies. I thought I'd mention it here in case someone here decides to take on improving the entry. I confess that I don't quite understand the Wikepedia editing model, but I gather that the general populace is allowed to add on to the entries. Wikipedia's Massine entry

Where is she now?

I just find a lot of the way it was shot & cut very disturbing. I find the framing of the close-ups odd (I really don't like cropping dancers off at the knees... if you're going to go in close, you might as well go for it), I don't know if it's the wide format aspect ratio, or what... and they almost always stay in too long. I don't mind the medium shots, many of which are very nicely done. It's interesting that they didn't go for a lot of side angle shots (which so many directors do to a fault)... Was it less distracting that way? I find many of the cuts still distracting with y

Apollinaire Scherr is often a fun read in Newsday... and I've been reading Robert Johnson of the Newark Star Ledger since his comment about ABT's hamster cage.... Their reviews tend to make me blink. (perhaps I'm reading too late at night).

It's a shame. The paper was once so great.

Come to think of it, both may be appropriate! but I was thinking of the former modified.

Now if I'd just get my act together and get back to work on Doris Humphrey's Grieg Concerto as I am supposed to, perhaps I'd remember such things! (where's the emoticon for pounding one's head with a hammer?). Thank you Bart! I'm still laughing about the Song of Norway at Jones Beach. (Now that one doesn't exist in the NYPL archives does it?)

Peer Gynt has been done... I'm not sure by which companies/choreographers... but I googled for you and there's at least this about Ben Stevenson's version for Houston Ballet in 1985: DANCE: HOUSTON BALLET PRESENTS 'PEER GYNT' I have this memory of a British children's magazine showing photos of a Peer Gynt ballet in the 1970s? done by I imagine a British company... but I'm not sure. I'm sure a little research would turn it up.

I remember it being in that building as well...

But I understand it is a rather strange Moor's Pavane and doesn't mention who set it? (Or does it in the video itself?) The complaint I heard at a Humphrey Symposium last weekend was that one of the male dancers does a very exaggerated sharply defined "turn in" and "turn out" in a way that is not in keeping with the other dancers who have performed the role and which renders his character oddly "wimpy". Any word on who set it?

The variation I'm concerned with uses the same music... and I understand it is known as the the Fan variation.... the only difference perhaps being in the tempo of the middle section... it's much slower for the echappes than the passes.

I suspect the answer is in this forum somewhere, but I couldn't dig one out with the "search" option. Why are there two different versions of the Kitri variation? And is the one with the echappes & pas de chevals losing popularity?

Whenever people start talking about "the Russian Back", I always think about Darcey Bussell's dancing and wonder why.

Or they could revive Tudor's R&J. I've heard it was very nice and would be curious to see it. I believe it uses the Tchaikovsky score and is fairly short (could it be one act?)... I don't know that would fit the bill for NYCB.

I believe Pennsylvania Ballet still keeps Cranko's Romeo & Juliet in their repertory, but it's not slated for the 2006-2007 season. I can't imagine them letting go of it! It's such a wonderful piece of music and Cranko put it to good use.

At what point did the terminology for ballet become French? If Italian terminology was being used in renaissance court ballets, and there were Italian teachers of dance in the French courts, when did the terminology change? Immediately or gradually? (I've never quite understood how ballet returned to Italy with French terminology... ) I have a suspicion that it started with the establishment of the Academy by Louis XIV but perhaps it long pre-dated that? On Ballet Talk for Dancers a discussion of "en face" has turned into an exploration of "effacé" and it's less than straightforward trans

Seems it coud play all those "Stars of..." and "& Friends" venues. We'd be delighted to see them in Hartford, having no company of our own any more (and would have been delighted even when we had a company!).

Rant on, McDuff... and welcome on board.

But on the other hand, it's about as "Fourth of July" as you're likely to get... (unless you really want a ballet about the signing of the Declaration of Independence)... hmm... who would we cast as Jefferson? Ben Franklin?... Pennsylvania Ballet should be protected from this kind of speculation

As well as Louis XIV! What an amazing accent they chose to portray the Sun King! He sounds more like a someone trying to sell you cheap wine than an aristocrat... most amusing! But, it was great to hear Louis XIV expounding on ballet's virtues in preparing one for the use of weapons. Do click on the "discover more" buttons... here's a quote from one of them:

It's been a while since I've seen these, but I do remember there being humor in them...: (truly laughing or just giggling, I'm not so sure now) Filling Station Graduation Ball Stars & Stripes Western Symphony Lesser known: Just One of Those Things (Christopher d'Amboise) The Elevator (Leigh Witchel) In a Nutshell (Gordon Peirce Schmitt) The Scrapple Divertissements (Elkins) - Now this one I do remember truly laughing!