Amy Reusch

This evening I heard Terry Teachout speak about Balanchine at the Wadsworth Atheneaum in Hartford... and bought his book... though honestly, I don't think many readers of Ballet Alert are the target audience for it... It's specifically intended for someone who has just or is just about to experience Balanchine for the first time and would like to know a little about him without being overwhelmed by a 3-inch thick book. I told him as he signed my book that there was a lively discussion of his book & Gottleib's book going on at the Ballet Alert site, and he said he wasn't surprised... that they had been doing joint book signing events. So, as a book intended for the first time ballet goer (or nascent balletomane?), what do you think? It's so hard to judge these things. I have an equally hard time figuring out what ballet class is like for adults who have never studied before.

Tanaquil LeClerq? I don't know if she would look modern next to the likes of Sylvia Guillem, but she looked like she would have fit in with the dancers of the 1970s. Did Alonso dance a lot more than the traditional story ballets? Wouldn't an ability to dance beyond Giselle have more to do with modern ballet technique? I'm sure she must have, but we always seem to see reference to her in the great "ballerina" roles.

That Louis XIV moved the art form from the court to the public stage when he became too old to dance himself is one of those things we all expected to learn about the founding of ballet... but it seems vague to me. When did the Operas in Italy begin to be on public stages? Did they precede the Paris Opera? Did they follow? Is the language of ballet mostly French for lingua franca reasons or because France was such a powerful country at the time? And if staged dance in Italy preceded the Paris Opera... what did they call it? It seems so many of the great ballet artists and masters prior the 20th century were Italian; where did they come from? France? Somehow I don't follow.

I don't think I can choose. For me the dancer gives life to the choreography. Lifeforms isn't as interesting as live performance (nor videotape for that matter). The number of works that are "dancer-proof" is so small that each one is remarkable. I think what Gottlieb is referring to is a sort of proprietory feeling... like an aunt or uncle's pride in their neices/nephews. ("I saw the spark in that dancer when they were just in the corps" gives the viewer kind of a feeling of ownership of the dancer's career when they come into their own?). Sort of allows an audience member to "own" a troupe in like way to a dancer "owning" a part. Perhaps it's just because I tend toward the Dionysian than toward the classical, that I find the dancers key to the pulse of any work.

Anna Kisselgoff in The NY Times had a review of the company published Nov 9, 2004 It May Be a Folk Troupe, but That's Just Its Roots

Thanks Dale. I missed your post, (obviously), somehow. Usually I catch the new posts, but I must have missed a few days and therefore missed yours. Interesting to hear from Oberon's friend that the audience was large and enthusiastic, when I had heard it wasn't well sold... perhaps the orchestra sold well.

This was the former company of one of my favorite local ballet teachers... so of course she made sure we all knew it was coming and organized getting group tickets. And this show, unlike the Nilas Martins one earlier in the week, seemed to be sold out. Wow. Talk about getting a bang for your buck. There were lots and lots and lots of dancers on stage (I can't tell you how many because I forgot to count and except for 4 dancers, not one of them got their name in the program)... and a small orchestra! This was in the new smaller theater at the Bushnell. I can't imagine what subsidized this performance, although I'm assuming the artists weren't paid per diems on par with what AGMA dancers get.... I hope someone in the community wined & dined them. I haven't seen a character company in decades. I remember being thrilled by the broadcast of the Moiseyev in the 1970s, and tried to see them when they returned to NYC in 1986(?). I had just become engaged and my fiance and I thought it would be a nice occaision to introduce the parents-in-law (my parents loved folk dance, and his widely-travelled mother's parents had come from Minsk), but unfortunately the Jewish Defense League perpetuated one of their terrorist attacts that evening, and almost as soon as the curtain went up, they set off a smoke bomb and the Met had to be evacuated (not an auspicous sign for our engagement, but we've lasted close to 20 years anyway). I'll never forget the woman wandering around Lincoln Center afterwards trying to persuade lingering audience members to sue the theater. To this day, I wish I had been less polite (lingering parents-in-law not withstanding). I was hoping to see something reminiscent of the Moiseyev. I don't know my character/folk dance, but this was pretty good. As usual, the women are not given very much interesting stuff to do, although they do get to wear some beautiful costumes (I always worry about dance performances though where we think more about the costumes than the choreography). They did not, however, do what I had expected... that gliding effect of taking tiny steps in long skirts.... still, like birds, it was the men who got to show off...the women were mostly demure ornaments (though with plenty of fast footwork). Keeping their corps work spacing however was probably at least as viruostic an endeavor as the men's double tours, considering they're probably on a long tour of one-night stands on various sized stages. Mostly, though when there's a large group of people all mostly doing the same thing; it often seems to me that it's more fun to be dancing the dance than to be watching it. The women did have one interesting piece, however: "Vyshyvalnytsi (Emboideresses)" staged by Pavlo Virsky, wherein using long streamers of what unfortunately looked like long chains of day-glo sausages they wove several interesting patterns. I wish they had chosen other colors... I can't imagine day-glo chartreuse and day-glo orange having been used in earlier times, but I do understand that it's probably true to traditional aesthetic to use as bright a color as possible. They did an interesting dance with Tambourines, but I missed the jingles on the tambourines... it seemed kind of hokey to have the orchestra lamely simulating tambourine sounds when you could have the real thing... but perhaps with the acoustics of stage performance it would have just been too muddy. They worked quite strikingly as drums however. Another piece of interest was "Zaporozchi (National Ukrainian Dance of Cossacks)". It begins with a long study of pikes. I was trying to explain to my six-year old the deal with the pikes... how it was about the only way to stop a calvary charge, as the horses would come on too fast to be able to stop and too close to be able to turn aside, and would be impaled on the pikes...but that everyone had to be brave enough to not to move for if one lost his nerve, the calvary would be able to break through... but unfortunately I seem to not been quite cogent because she spent a lot of the dance wondering in misery why anyone would want to do that to a horse. But, I'm hoping (knock knock, holler HOLLER) Major Mel could be prevailed upon to talk about the cossacks and the tradition of dare-devil dance in their ranks. We tend to only hear about the awful use of the Cossacks in progroms, etc. But I understand theirs was a unique society in the old Russia... that everyone else was either gentry or owned by the gentry... but that the Cossacks were a democracy of sorts... that serfs might runaway and join the cossacks (was this a mix-up in the pronunciation of circus?)... that they voted for their leaders or battles or some such thing? But that they had terrific hazing? (hence the daredevil stuff?) Or was that just to keep up their nerve? And that this different social class was one of the reasons the Tsar would use them for tasks he would not put his other regiments to? I also remember hearing once somewhere that the Turks had a recruiting dance they did to lure men into the army? Anyone know any of this? My memory is hazy and unreliable, I would welcome correction and/or elaboration here. At any rate, this was one of those pieces it's probably wise to bring young boys to, in order to encourage an interest in dance. At some point they put away their pikes and came out with scimitars(?) curved swords at any rate... at this point my daughter refused to look for fear someone was going to have their foot cut off. The program says they "partake in a soldier game before the audience". Sometimes I wish I had a DVD with footnotes for all the dances. I'm not sure at which piece in the performance one of the guys got started in on repetive double tours... but after several in a row, I began to be amazed and wondered if I should count... I did not start at the beginning, but this guy did at least 10 double tours one right after the other. On the whole, though, even with the jumps, I still prefer elevation to extension... male dancers these days are getting to be so supple, with line we look for in women, but they seem to miss out in elevation in their jumps... I'd rather see a little meat on their bones and a high jump than hyperextension and lightweight limbs... it cuts back on the bravado... it's not the same thing to acheive height jumping by lifting your legs up beyond a perfect side-to-side split ... it doesn't soar as well as someone with less extension reaching the same elevation but without acheiving it by leg flexibility. A high kick doesn't seem to carry as much force. On the whole, the audience roared it's approval. It's always fun to be in one of those clapping interactions with the dancers on stage.... and they'd regularly throw in a crazy ritard just in time to keep the audience clapping from getting away from tempo... and then they'd start them off clapping again. Very effective.

It must have been a terrible publicity campaign. How else can it have happened that I missed this? Yes, I had heard there was to be some sort of Nilas Martins & friends kind of performance at Hartford's Bushnell... I assumed it was going to be one of those "Stars Of" performances... you know the type... various pas de deux and maybe "Who Cares" concert version ... no real 'stars' other than the name floating the company... I was just at Bushnell to see Virksy Ukrainian National Dance Company and I before I could find the program pages pertaining to that, I come across the Nilas Martins pages.. What!!!???!!!! They did Concerto Barocco with Wendy Whelan, Janie Taylor and Charles Askegard? Pas de deux from Mozartiana with Maria Kowroski & Nikolaj Hubbe? Allegro Brilliante with Ashley Bouder & Nilas Martins Apollo with Yvonne Boree, Rachel Rutherford & Miranda Weese (and Nilas Martins) I did see a day or two before the show that I could have gotten a second ticket free as a student of the community division at Hartt... but it was too late to choreograph child care, transport, etc. Though if I'd known who was going to be on stage and what the program was to be, I'D HAVE DONE IT SOMEHOW! There were several other dance lovers I knew in the audience tonight, and except for one or two, they were all as shocked as I at what they had missed. From the one I spoke to who went, it was a simply amazing performance ... and the house was not very well sold at all. I can believe it, except for Baryshnikov's solo tour (which was also not very well publicized to the general dance community... I didn't find out about it until it was sold out... and having bought dance tickets at the Bushnell the year before, I should have been on the mailing list... though they must have hit the potential donor list well enough), there haven't been dancers of this quality on stage in Hartford the since 8 years I've lived in this area. And I missed it. Well, be warned... perhaps like the Baryshnikov tour, this troupe's tour is starting out in Hartford... If they come to your city, look carefully; you might not want to miss it.

I believe that he was looking to get a film made of the story of his life... not a documentary, either... It would be interesting, wouldn't it? But who could possibly play Jacques? He's larger than life and 'of a certain era' that it seems it would be difficult for someone else to play Jacques as well as he does. The stories are wonderful. Could it be that they are all true? He has a wonderful stage sense. I'll definitely run out and buy the book!!!

Just a footnote: I don't remember Meredith Rainey as being unusually tall in real life... tall, but not VERY tall... it must have been very effective casting. He always was wonderful in Agon. I think last time I saw him in it he was opposite Leslie Carothers (who is fairly tall herself -- with the line to match). It must be interesting to watch a dancer improve over the years in a role. I can believe he really "owns" it now.

What is the difference between trademark and copyright? I seem to remember that the Balanchine technique is trademarked, or at least seeing something to that effect on a program. I assume trademarks last as long as the corporations that own them do? Why can you trademark technique but not a choreography? Why can Coke be protected but not Concerto Barocco?

Errrr.... Ummm.... I enjoy the thread title, but I must footnote that I didn't come up with it... I'd hate to have the Trust or the Foundation or the Times think I was positing myself as an authority on those matters.

I'm a little surprised the New York Times would get The George Balanchine Foundation and the George Balanchine Trust mixed up. It can be confusing, but on the other hand, we're talking the New York Times. I believe Ellen Sorrin is the director of the Trust and Lourdes Lopez the director of the Foundation. The George Balanchine Foundation Board & Staff NYCB Personnel

I don't know why, but the NY Times' AP article is shorter than the one on Yahoo. Here's the link for that Ballet Master Basil Thompson Dies

"puddle"? I'm afraid I was up too late watching election returns for my imagination to fill out the picture... could someone explain this to me? Do you mean the lake was reduced to a puddle? Or she fell "splat" as if into a puddle? Or there was water on stage? I'm sorry if I'm being dense.

AP's Obituary for Basil Thompson (in the NY Times, page down) Beats me why this wasn't linked in the Dance Section of the NY Times Arts, but it wasn't. I'm hoping people will add some personal memories of Basil Thompson here. [i'm sure Major Mel must have known him.] I had the pleasure of studying with him at NJ Ballet in perhaps 1980... must have been just after he left the Joffrey? First we had his ex-wife, Alaine Haubert... whom isn't mentioned in the obituary... but I believe they had a child together? Then she headed out to teach at a university in Hawaii (later returning to become ballet mistress for ABT... though I don't believe she's there now...) and Charthel Arthur took over her classes... then she headed out to Grand Rapids and Basil Thompson took over... we had a regular conduit to Joffrey talent in those days! It's been a long while, but I still remember a correction or two of his... about arabesques mostly... he was always getting after us not to resemble railroad crossing signs, if I remember ;). In some ways his style reminded me of Patrelli's. Years later, I ran into him again when I was shooting for Ballet Chicago and he set a charming "Coppelia" on them. It was one of the last things they did as a company... Meredith Benson was wonderful in it, although she had already performed the ballet as set by Frederic Franklin on ?Cincinatti? Ballet (or was it Cleveland?). For some reason, the word "droll" comes to mind when I think of Basil.

It is a curious name... When you said that, I realized I had never gotten around to finding out what "Phrenic" meant... I'm embarrassed to realize I had been blurring it to mean something similar to "frantic"... Instead it seems to mean "of the mind, or pertaining to the diaphram"... Dictionary.com search results for "phrenic"

And here's the press release... (I assume it's okay with Ballet Alert to post this? I removed the e-mail contact addresses as a spam guard) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media contact: Tobin Rothlein, 267-847-0025 October 29, 2004 PHILADELPHIA’S PREMIER VIDEO AND DANCE INNOVATORS ANNOUNCE FORMATION OF NEW DANCE COMPANY PHILADELPHIA, PA— Philadelphia’s premier video and dance innovators Amanda Miller and Tobin Rothlein announce the formation of miro dance theatre, a new contemporary ballet and multi-media company to further advance the integration of dance and multimedia while allowing for more in-depth development of new work. Miller and Rothlein will preside over the company as artistic director and producing artistic director respectively and have assembled a Philadelphia-based touring company of dancers with a highly developed and unique style of movement. Company members have performed with such prestigious companies as Lines Ballet, THARP!, Donald Byrd, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Suzanne Farrell Ballet. “With miro we want to move beyond our formal and classical training to explore and embrace the most contemporary ideas in dance, performance, and multi-media techniques,” said Miller. Rothlein adds, “miro dance theatre is unique not because we mix multi-media and dance but for how we mix them. We believe that dance, video and visual design are all equal partners on the performance stage.” Continuing with Miller and Rothlein’s five year history of bringing an edgy, contemporary sensibility to classical dance through the founding and directing of Phrenic New Ballet, miro dance theatre challenges the classic forms through experimentation and discovery. Miro dance theatre seeks to extend and share its vision with the general and artistic communities through outreach in the forms of residency activities, open workshops, master classes, and through access to visiting artists. --more-- Page 2 Miro dance theatre already has several performances scheduled in the coming months. • Miller and Callender, with video by Rothlein, will perform with the Singing City Choir on November 13th at the Philadelphia Cathedral on 38th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia. • miro dance theatre has been invited to perform in The Remember Project on December 4th at Saint Mark’s Church in New York City. • Miller’s work, from her residency in The Choreographer’s Project, will be performed on December 11th and 12th at Susan Hess Modern Dance, 2030 Sansom Street. • The company directors are working on plans for miro dance theatre performances in London, England in the fall of 2005. Miro dance theatre has brought together a truly talented and forward thinking group of dancers. In addition to Artistic Director Miller the company consists of: Tanya Wideman-Davis, former dancer with Lines Ballet; Donald Byrd, Dance Theatre of Harlem; Jessica Lang, Juilliard graduate and former dancer with THARP!; Rhea Roderick, recent performer with Phrenic New Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Rick Callender, former dancer with Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Miro dance theatre encompasses the many artistic avenues through which emotions can be expressed and stories can be told. To learn more about miro dance theatre please go to www.mirodancetheatre.org. --end-- miro. dance. theatre. PO BOX 54551 Philadelphia, PA 19148 www.mirodancetheatre.org

Received the following e-mail today: remember us Phrenic New Ballet folk from the PA Ballet. We've spawned a new company --I will send you a press release--, but here is the info if you could please add the new company to your links. 1. name of company: miro dance theatre 2. address of site: http://www.mirodancetheatre.org 3.please list under modern and ballet if thats ok ARTISTIC DIRECTION AMANDA MILLER: ARTISTIC DIRECTOR TOBIN ROTHLEIN: PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

After having misplaced the book for several days, I finally uncovered it and read the remaining quarter(?)... I have to say that it does pick up again after his 2nd marriage and return to China.... perhaps he was just going through an adjustment period after coming to this country and the book reflected the culture shock.

How did Fokine get excepted? I thought he was one of those who felt particularly wronged by so many companies mounting his work without his permission... or was he just the first one to try to fight for his rights? How did that whole thing with ABT & the Cubans work out? Or was that La Sylphide? I once heard Christopher d'Amboise in a pre-performance talk tell how Balanchine had offered his father the rights to "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" and that his dad, not quite realizing the full implications had sort of graciously demurred... (much to his son's chagrin).

Phrenic New Ballet to Re-Emerge As Two New Companies Anyone know why? (Perhaps this should be a subcategory under the PA Ballet forum?)

Did she stop in the mid 1960s? I wonder why she stopped? Has the Newberry transferred the films to DVD? She has some story of Balanchine holding back the curtains so that she could film. Are they all shot from the wings, I wonder?

Are they all silent?

Thanks, Drew, that sounds very plausible. From what I gather from the book, it's plausible that Bush Sr. would know the names of more dancers, choreographers and ballets than Li Cunxin would have been exposed to.