Amy Reusch

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 translation into English: ["What is the Opposite of En Face?"], and my terminology question ties in with a renaissance term "fiancheggiati" that refers to "flanking" which deals with one's angle toward one's partner. It's a forum only for teachers, but perhaps one of the historians in this community might post a reply on this thread here?

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!

I think we better include this link here: The Salt Lake Tribune, 5/20/06 Ballet director says he was forced to quit

Class isn't the kind of choreographic context in which overdancing can be considered to exist. Class is pretty much about technique and shape and not about nuanced interpretation...

Is Graham's company the oldest in America? Or just the oldest modern dance? Or did the early part of San Francisco Ballet's life as an Opera ballet company not seem to be the same troupe?

What, no red heads?

People used to complain about dancers over-emoting (which curiously enough, I haven't heard much about lately). I think dancers over-dance from lack of understanding the choreography and that encompasses the insecurity of not trusting the choreographer or audience, but also includes those over confident types who are pretty sure they're doing it "right". Yes a certain amount of maturity helps, but not if the dancer is determined to Peter Pan, in which case we end up right back in Leigh's insecurity realm. Ballet technique is so difficult, it's almost paradoxical that we could have trouble with dancers "over-dancing". Most of the training is struggling with "under-dancing" if you will... I like the blues analogy; hits the target. I wonder if gifted coaches are as rare as good ballet conductors. What makes for a good coach? Great verbal communication skill isn't necessarily a gift dancers are born with... but maybe talking dancer-to-dancer is a different type of thing?

- Jennifer Dunning in the NY Times about the 1,2,3 Festival at the Joyce April 27, 2006I've been wondering, lately, whether we've entered a new stage of technical prowess to the point where at times we've gone too far, and dancers can now be said to be "over-dancing" the choreography... by which I mean the rhythms and shapes are so emphasized that they are over emphasized... similar to over-acting a part. 50 years ago, perhaps, there wasn't such an abundance of extremely physically gifted dancers, and nuances in energy were more in evidence... artistry had to fill in... or, I don't know, the choreography had a different focus than shape and rhythm... I'm talking myself into a trap, here, I realize, but still.. Is there a dance equivalent to over-acting, and is it possible for technique to show too much?

My first thought was : how about a home for modern dance at Lincoln Center? It is kind of odd that it's been neglected there... but I can't seen any one company in residence the way NYCB is... however, I could see 1 or 2 week annual runs... Would audience be more likely to come to Lincoln Center than they were to go to City Center? City Center always just about financially breaks those companies trying to have a NY season, doesn't it? Fortunately, The Joyce came into existence. It would be nice if there were a subsidized house halfway between The Joyce and the State Theater. And my second thought was said by Carbro first: How about all those regional companies that have really improved in quality from what they were in the 1960s... Let the Met host the mega international opera ballets, and the State host ballets from the other states!

~ Ed Siegel in The Boston GlobeOkay, I'm willing to concede placing the composer's name after the title but before the choreographer's name in the program, following the conceit that the music probably came before the choreography... but... "changing the name of the production from "Tchiakovsky's Swan Lake"...! If you want to go to a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, go to a Symphony concert... if it's a ballet production, don't presume shock at the choreographer being credited! Or am I over-reacting, and the Matthew Bourne production was originally titled "Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake"?

.... I'm just wondering, did Shaker melodies travel out beyond the Shaker communes? It is a nice tune. For some reason, at some time in my life I was taught different lyrics to the melody ("Dance then, wherever you may be for I am the Lord of the Dance said He and I'll lead you all, wherever you may be and I'll lead you all in the Dance said He" is about all I remember)[since having made this post, I've discovered those lyrics came about circa 1963, but my question still stands.] Is it remotely concievable that the tune might have been used by non Shakers at a wedding?

Hands can be so expressive. If you would prefer that they not talk so much, you might ask that they hold a shape, say to display imaginary rings on the fingers... this would make them more of a shape element rather than a dramatic device... and holding that less natural shape in the fingers might lead to a certain tension that would tend to break at the wrist... whereas hands that were supposed to speak the heart might seem to be more attached through the wrists and arms to that organ. [though assumedly most corps work would also not want a lot of chatty hands] ... just a theory. Was Gelsey Kirkland famous for broken wrists? She was a Balanchine product in her early days.

I understand that Virginia Johnson will be in before the month is out to coach Con Amore on Ballet Academy East for their spring show... Ballet Academy East Spring Show info

I was very curious to see what "stuff" was (listed in the top bar menu on the website). I confess I was hoping there might be some video footage (Vasiliev took my breath away!). The word you're looking for is "Staff", not "stuff" "Staff" would mean the employees of the ballet, the people working for the ballet. "Stuff" means "lots of non-descript things" Nice photo choices, though.... very striking. Too bad English isn't a simpler language when it comes to spelling. Believe me, we native speakers all suffered learning how to spell English when we were younger.

It's funny, but even though NY is home to ABT, I can't say I've ever thought of it as a "New York" company. I wouldn't be surprised to hear someday that it had dual residencies in Washington DC or Orange County, CA. Come to think of it, has it never been the resident company at Kennedy Center? It doesn't have a home like NYCB does at Lincoln Center. I agree with people in the past who have said perhaps it's name shouldn't be "American Ballet Theatre" but "International Ballet Theatre", but otherwise I do think perhaps it's closest to being America's national ballet. I think Joffrey is more American in flavor, but it's not as large as ABT and doesn't tour outside America as much... and Joffrey spawned ABT's current artistic director, so perhaps that is close enough. There are a couple of companies out there calling themselves "National Ballet" but they're not nearly large enough to be in the same league as ABT.

I don't have the NYer article in hand, but in it Pete Seeger suggested that his father, with his interest in Appalachian folk music, had perhaps influenced Copeland in his composition of Appalachian Spring. If Copeland didn't know of the "Appalachian" in the title until just before it opened, then it seems the connection between Copeland's composition and Appalachian folk music is slight. The shaker tune isn't considered Appalachian, is it? I'm almost sorry Graham choreographed the piece, because I think it makes it difficult for anyone else to use it for dance. Why I don't feel this about Swan Lake, I don't know... perhaps because there have been many variations of Swan Lake? And I guess Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux isn't Swan Lake... Of course, a Graham piece to Tchaikovsky seems very very very wrong...

A question for those with access to the old Ballet Review editions: I am aware that Graham suggested the title... and that the piece was originally titled something like "ballet for Martha"?? I assumed the title came afterwards... is this a misunderstanding on my part? Did Graham suggest the subject and then Copeland write the music? Is there a connection between Appalachian folk music and the melodies of Appalachian Spring? I ask because in a recent NYer article on Pete Seeger, he suggests that his father might have influenced the composition, and to me this seems unlikely if the name came after the composition.

It will be great for whatever places ABT does their residencies... How will it be for the dancers, though? I guess the barre is always "home" for a dancer. I assume they'll be returning annually to these residencies or are they just short term? I'd spend a good portion of it on audience outreach... Oddly enough, I wouldn't spend it on acquiring new repertory... just on encouraging the audience to "get" what they can out of ABT already has to offer. By outreach, I mean finding as many angles as possible for audiences to connect with the dance (if they're doing residencies at Universities, there should be ample variety for approach: music, history, physics, athletics, scenario, glamour, classical, medical, visual aesthetic, anthropological, etc.).

And then there's this one: http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/st...ahchronicle.com Is there possibly a worse angle for shooting an arabesque?