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Amy Reusch

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Everything posted by Amy Reusch

  1. Before I make a fool of myself in print (somehow I've never felt that serious about the internet... probably that brands me as an old fogey), I thought I'd check with whoever is listening here about the tradition of naming one's company "X Festival Ballet". My impression is that the first Festival Ballet was the Markova-Dolin effort and they named their company "Festival Ballet" because of that year's "Festival of Britain". Suddenly, it seems to me that there are many "Festival Ballet"s out there... Are they all following the London Festival Ballet precedent? And is it from the Markova days or were they inspired by the more recent form of the company? In other words, did other Festival Ballets only begin springing up in the 1990s founded by people who had been inspired by Markova, or were they inspired by Nagy?
  2. I never used to "get" Fred Astaire, until my toddler became a Fred Astaire addict. I don't have television, so videos from the library are our mainstay. Teletubbies, Blues Clues, Kipper, Pooh, all find their favor but the one constant for the past year has been "Fred Astairt/Top Hat and The Mommy Who Wakes Up!" (Beings who have recently learned to walk are fascinated by tap dance] A modern dance friend who didn't have even a VCR had given me her library of Fred Astaire tapes (Blockbuster Video had a sale of them for a $1.99 each and she just couldn't pass them up). The more I watch them, the more I like them. I guess it's the same for my daughter since she used to want us to fast forward until the dance sections, but now she's willing to sit through the dialogue as well. If I've watched them once in the last year, I've watched them two hundred times. It's fascinating what passed for "ballet" to that era of Hollywood. That ballet dancer in "Shall We Dance" with the contortionist cambre back on pointe is truly a bizarre reflection of ballet of the time. In some ways I seem some similarity in aesthetic between the Paris Opera dancers of "Ballerina". It takes a while to get past the differences in technique and style and see what they might have been offering... a very "soft" look predominates (to the point that straight lines must have been considered crude?) [This message has been edited by Amy Reusch (edited March 31, 2001).]
  3. Alas, I live in the boondocks... my neighbors are cows... and to boot, I have a toddler on my heels at almost all times... perhaps I'll get lucky and one of the local excuses for a university dance department will have one in their college library... But thanks for the reminder, I'll look in spite of my pessimism. Sometimes I'm happily surprised. I'm already expecting a ragged performance considering how many one-night-stands they've just pulled... I'm hoping to be surprised... Perhaps luckily for them, it's only a campus newspaper review (and not for the campus they're performing at)... I believe I'll be writing for people most of whom didn't see and won't see the performance and many of whom have never been to a city larger than Hartford. I'll think I'll make the focus of the article "Russian allure" and and after going on about the tradition a bit see how they measure up (maybe they will!) for a company under what seem to me to be limiting circumstances. [This message has been edited by Amy Reusch (edited March 31, 2001).]
  4. Well, actually, I've never thought of NYCB as my hometown company. I think perhaps the old Joffrey was my favorite. And my current favorite dancer is not a NYCB dancer, but Julie Kent, of ABT... and I suppose Baryshnikov is still my favorite male dancer... but I try to understand things from various perspectives... I think you're always richer "getting" what there is to get from art even if that means for that instant you have to throw out your old lens and look at it from a different perspective than is familiar.
  5. My apologies... perhaps any way of presenting a non-balanchine style in a negative light would be offensive... what I would like to have done would be to persuade those schooled in the classical style (I don't agree with Balanchine that NYCB was the home of "classical" ballet), who have difficulty seeing the result of their technique as anything but the epitomy of grace, realize that others can see it differently. I used to feel the rather same way perhaps as you do, about the Balanchine style... insect-like, sloppy... neurotic tension... I also had a hard time seeing beauty and grace in many of the modern dance techniques...but after learning more about the technique I've come to see it differently. I do think, though, that different techniques are better for different styles of choreography. I have no desire to see a Balanchine style dancer perform 19th century classics... but I also think classically trained dancers often don't look good doing Balanchine... interestingly enough, the men seem to fare better than the women... Nor do I think most ballet dancers dance modern dance properly... Alas, I've only seen the Kirov live once, in the 1980s in NYC on their first return to that city in decades... It was almost impossible to get tickets until they opened.. and then seats in the sold-out houses became easy to get... I was terribly disappointed... I'd never seen dancers look so bored on stage in my life, when they performed Chopiniana... they only came to life doing "modern" choreography... (the choreography, I forget what & who by, but remember that I thought it was pretty poor) Oh... and I'd agree with you about the tendu, but not about frappes... My point was about dynamics... the execution of the tendue should always be subject to the dynamics of the music not independent of it subject only to a model of training. [This message has been edited by Amy Reusch (edited March 30, 2001).]
  6. I don't' know, Victoria, in many ways American Ballet Theater has seemed to me like a European company even in its best American dancers... it seems to me to follow the European traditions so strongly... NYCB seemed to be breaking out into new aesthetic ground more often, even while ABT presented ballets with American scenarios. Who is more American, Agnes de Mille or Robbins? To help me see your view of the American dancer, I'm afraid I need to you to do a compare/contrast list against what makes other nationality dancers have their own national style. I see the difference between "American" and "European" dancers as... well... Americans would move "bigger" with a certain wildness. Bolshoi dancers were certainly known for moving "big" but I don't know about the wildness (some would call it sloppiness, but I see it as a different movement dynamic). The business about speed seems to me not a matter of moving continually faster but having enough speed to put more of a dynamic accent... think of Balanchine frappes... it wasn't just the speed at which the foot struck out but how daringly long it was held still out there before whipping to the next direction. I agree about speed not being the end all, particularly not at the sacrifice of adagio technique, but it still should be there as a tool when needed. Once you're used to seeing it, those who don't have it seem to be... well... constipated... or if you prefer, muscle-bound... or perhaps just a little dazed. Maybe American dancers are more distinguished by the "boiling pot" of their technical training rather than being the product of a "school" like Vaganova or Cecchetti... but I suspect this is true in all countries now. Maybe we should differentiate between what made for an "American" dancer in the 60s-80s and "American" dancers of the 90-00s (the current generation?) [This message has been edited by Amy Reusch (edited March 29, 2001).]
  7. Estelle, please pardon my ignorance, but I'm curious about what you mean when you say "named".... Does that mean "named 'etoile'" or does it have something to do with taking a professional stage name?
  8. Anyone else enjoying the mental image of Nureyev in a committee meeting? I suppose he must have been in some when he directed the Paris Opera, but still his temperment seems like it would be the ultimate wildcard to make for electric committee meetings. Speaking of reputations of strong temperment, does anyone have any buzz about why Lou Conte retired from Hubbard Street?
  9. Isn't there something about fiduciary responsibility? Hasn't he abused his role as trustee, or does "trustee" mean that everything must devolve to his benefit? Would be nice if there were some way of making a special requirement for artistic legacy trustees that they have some responsibility to maintaining the legacy. Is there some sort of imminent domain available in regards to national treasures like the Graham repertoire & technique? (I apologize for my poor spelling). Where's Steve Keeley and his trusty dictionary? [This message has been edited by Amy Reusch (edited March 29, 2001).]
  10. Does the musician's union give you any breaks when your interim artistic director is a conductor? I'm not sure, Jeff, about reflecting one's home cities tastes being a bad thing... after all, didn't NYCB reflect NYC in some way that American Ballet Theater didn't? Didn't Diaghilev's original presentations reflect the Russian scene to the west? Picking up on one's local environment might lead to interesting developments. Isolation can be a bad thing or a good thing depending on what kind of talent is involved. [This message has been edited by Amy Reusch (edited March 29, 2001).]
  11. Thanks Juliet... The other thing I'm wondering is whether this is mostly a pick-up company. I think that is the tradition of festival ballets, isn't it? Wasn't the first festival ballet something Alicia Markova put together for some festival in England that was in such demand for return performances that it finally become a company in it's own right? Or is this a true company that performs at home in Moscow as well.
  12. That sounds like a wonderful idea... I wonder if it is possible. I apologize for my ignorance, I've never written a review for publication before. I wonder if he has time to talk to me on a one-night-stand situation like this performance will be. I guess I should ask the press contact person at the venue. So far, I've only sent out an exploratory e-mail to see if I can get the casting and some info on the National Ballet/Moscow Festival Ballet issue. It must be exhausting doing a tour of one night stands like this (although I guess it's all part of the game for most companies).. I can't imagine not feeling played out by the end of the run. I wonder where in the run this performance will be. It would be nice if there were a volunteer organization out there with it's goal to make the visiting dancers' lives easier... make sure they have food, etc... a place to relax, with magazines or whatever... a kind of gopher organization... but probably it would feel like just one more audience. Again, pardon my ignorance... but could you tell me about Vetrov? I was wondering how close to the Petipa original the performance would be. Unfortunately I'm not terribly familiar with the complete ballet, only the much performed grand pas de deux. I've seen that excerpt on film with Maya Plisetskaya doing those famous leaps, but other than that this will be my first full Don Q. What should I look for? ------------------ Dance Links: www.dancer.com/dance-links
  13. I'll be reviewing this company doing "Don Quixote" in a few weeks for Eastern CT University's campus paper "The Lantern". I saw their production of Swan Lake here a couple of years ago. The casting was impossible to figure out from the program for that performance as well. The jester was the only memorable dancing of the evening. At one point, Moscow Festival Ballet changed it's name to Russian National Ballet. Now it seems to be touring again as Moscow Festival Ballet. Anyone know why? I tried to find a website for them, but without success. I'm curious to know where their costumes and sets come from. I can't imagine they have the financial resources to commission new ones. I wonder about these productions... while I'm happy to see ballet being presented at college campuses, I wonder if we wouldn't be better off seeing some of the better American regional companies. I suppose they can't match the box office allure of an international company, particularly one with Russian references; but the quality of the dancing might not inspire a return visit. What can one hope from a ballet company touring small venues? If I remember, the Joffrey Ballet started off their first tour in a station wagon. Would our better regional companies consider touring to taped music? Are they allowed to? Is it cheaper to bring in a Russian company or is it just easier to fill the house if it's Russian? Why is it easier to see American modern dance than Americna ballet (if you don't live in the company's home town)? Pondering how to write a review without casting info, Amy [This message has been edited by Amy Reusch (edited March 28, 2001).]
  14. Nothing so fun as above, but perhaps a note for those N*t weary dancers... my parents took me when I was a three year old to see Princeton Ballet's version. I fell in love, right then and there, apparently for life... something about the men flying through the air... as far as I can figure, the Sugarplum held no enchantment for me, and pink tutus and toe shoes seemed a disgusting and misleading stereotype to me for years... maybe it was the tomboy in me, but ballet was about men flying, not tutu princesses... anyway, for those of you who dread December, just remember the little timebombs you may be setting off and dance your hearts out for the new-to-dance audience that old warhorse brings to the theatre... rumor has it, I was so enthusiastic that I kept jumping up and calling for more at the end of each divertissement... I don't remember much from age 3, but if I close my eyes I can still see the snow falling that night as we drove home... pretty good for a several-decade old memory... will probably flash before my eyes on my deathbed...
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