doug

Helene, to whom was the RAYMONDA choreography credited? Petipa or Balanchine or Andersen-after-Balanchine? In the orginal, the two friends are named Henriette and Clemence. RAYMONDA is one of my favorite ballets, so I am always glad to hear about performances.

Just a note that Chapman was promoted by Stowell and Russell, albeit at the end of their tenure. She had danced many prominent roles by that point, in both the Balanchine and Stowell repertoire.

I've been involved with PNB for about 12 years and during that time most full-lengths have had a least 4 cast of principals and often 5 or 6. The new Aurora this time around is Mara Vinson. Louise Nadeau has danced the role in the past but opted not to this time. She is coaching Kaori Nakamura and Olivier Wevers. I expect next year's Swan Lake will have at least five casts.

Helene, you're right that Foster and Moore made debuts in The Bridge. They weren't initially cast to perform. Once they were, they were added to the PNB website casting but without the debut asterisks. My fault, actually ...

I think the title is meant as an honorary one, in recognition of Stowell and Russell's longevity and development of the company, rather than an attempt to state that they founded PNB, per se, although it must be admitted that the title suggests they founded the company. Pacific Northwest Ballet was indeed founded in 1972 and was at that time called Pacific Northwest Dance. Leon Kalimos was executive director of Pacific Northwest Dance when Janet Reed was hired in 1974 as ballet mistress and director of the school. Reed was never given the title of artistic director. When she left in 1976, Melissa Hayden was hired as ballet mistress. She was later given the title of artistic director, in January 1977, but by March had decided to resign. Stowell and Russell followed shortly thereafter in 1977.

Hi everyone,

Sorry to be silent. I do have copies of the notations in question, and I would love to be able to give definitive answers to these questions based on their content. However, I don't have time to delve into it just now. I can answer that the notation system's markings for pointe vs. demi pointe are clearly different. Also, the notations of Beauty - like the notations of many ballets in the collection - were made over a period of years, not at one single point in time (some of the Beauty notations, for example, date from Sergeev's years with the Vic-Wells Ballet - of course these are less reliable with regard to earlier performances in Russia).

There are arguments both ways about Marie Petipa. Did she or did she not dance on pointe - in Beauty or ever? We have photos of her in pointe shoes, we have notations (more than one) of dances containing pointe work that have her name on them, we have written history that states she was only a character dancer.

I'll state again that I don't subscribe to - and will not discuss - any sort of conspiracy theory with regard to the contents of the Stepanov notations from the Maryinsky. Thorough research of the collection does not support it. I'm not implying that the current discussion wants to move in that direction, but simply stating my position.

cheers,

Stacy spoke at length about moving from performing ballet to performing Tharp - everything from the physical differences to the different modes of working, dancer perception, etc.

PNB's 2006-2007 season is announced on its website.

I know the company is working to make it's Celebrate Seattle Festival clear for subscription renewals. The Festival runs three weeks. Weeks 1 & 2 includes 8 performances of the same program - a mixed bill that functions as Rep 5 of the regular season. Festival Week 3 includes 3 alternating programs.

I like that idea, too. NYCB came to Seattle in 1986 and presented a number of performances in rotating rep as part of PNB's season.

My immediate response is to state that the written and stylistic evidence within the contents of the Sergeev Collection virtually confirms that many of the notations in the collection are in the hand of Nikolai Sergeev. Some examples are signed and dated by him. But Sergeev was not the only notator to contribute. Some of the notations pre-date Sergeev's involvement with Stepanov notation, Sergeev worked with assistants who were also notators, and other items are in the hands of students and represent written classwork from the era when Stepanov notation was taught to the students of the Imperial Ballet School.

Sergeev also appears to have had a "neat" hand and - for lack of a better term - a "messy" or "less careful" hand. The "neat" notations offer greater detail than the "messy." Whether the difference between the two was due to time constraints, greater or lesser familiarity with a particular work, or a decline of interest in the notation system over time, I cannot answer.

I will certainly grant that Sergeev does not give the impression of being the most musical of notators. Many a waltz in the collection is notated in 2/4 time. But while these problems may cause confusion in reconstructing a dance from notation, they usually are not insurmountable.

I would finally like to state that I do not wish to defend the reputation of Nikolai Sergeev because I feel that is beside the larger point: Whether he be characterized as a criminal, musical illiterate or balletic incompetent, the fact appears to remain that Sergeev contributed a great deal to the cache of ballets notated in the Stepanov method, whether we like that truth or not. And whether malice was intended in any of his other actions, his efforts and the efforts of others notating the repertory of the Imperial Ballet appear - upon study and comparison with contemporary and modern sources - to have been sincere.

In the main body of the Jardin anime notation, the two variations notated are no longer danced by the Kirov. A couple additional variations are notated separately and these include the Medora "Pygmalion" variation that is still danced (albeit in embellished form) by the Kirov.

Thank you, Ms. Brown, for your graciousness. Part of the difficulty working on Pharaoh was having only the notation pages and repetiteur pages that Lacotte provided. I had perused the entire notation during my visits to Harvard, but did not own a copy of the entire ballet. As far as things not being right in the score, I was always up front with Lacotte about discrepancies between notation and score. For example, the notation might indicate a certain combination is performed 4 times, when the music would only allow for 3 times, etc. This is not uncommon, particularly with N. Sergeev's notations (the notations are not all in his hand, by the way), which are more memory aids than the early examples that appear to be intended as works of art in themselves. Some of his Russian- or French-language rubrics in the notations are followed by a question mark (his own)!

As far as Lacotte not believing, so to speak, that a particular dance could be Petipa, it must be remembered that we view reconstructed Russian classical ballet on the other side of the development of the Vaganova school and that what has been handed down as Petipa often is a combination of Petipa and a series of subsequent changes or sometimes completely 'new' choreography. Seeing choreography closer to what was originally danced, or at least danced during the Imperial era, can be very disappointing to some hoping for something more bravura in style or closer to what is commonly thought of as Petipa.

In the case of Pharaoh, the dances often seemed very old fashioned (multiple - endless! - arabesque voyagee and emboite steps) compared to steps in Bayadere or Beauty or Raymonda. This made we wonder whether the Pharoah choreography changed much between the 1860s and the early 1900s when it was written down. The steps simply did not jive with Lacotte's nouveau classical style that he was employing to create his own dances for Pharaoh.

Re: the Harvard collection. It is housed in only 31 boxes and a detailed finding aid explains where each item can be found. The ballets are indeed cataloged by composer. The notations are stored in a number of large file folders within the boxes, so it is possible that the library representative looked only at the first Pharaoh folder before realizing the notation comprised a number of folders. Most decrepancies in the cataloging have been ironed out over the years and handwritten notes on the finding aid offer explanation. Mona Inglesby did an excellent job of identifying what is what in the collection either before she sold it to Harvard or in preparing to send it to the library.

The Pharaoh river variations are actually notated in the main body of the Pharoah notation. The items that rg lists as 'small balletic pieces' include a notated variation identified both as from La Source and from the rivers section of Pharaoh. I have a copy of this document but did not use it in my reconstruction because upon looking at it I didn't think it was from Pharaoh because it didn't match what is in the main body of the notation.

Most items are actually very well identified in either Russian, English or French. The 'small balletic pieces' folder, particularly the one mentioned above, is a mish-mash or catch-all of extra bits which makes it hard to determine in some cases what is included.

The International Ballet archives are stored separately.

For the record: I believe enough is notated of Pharaoh to allow for a reconstruction of at least the principal dances and much of the action of the ballet, and this is typical of most of the ballets notated in the collection.

Cheers,

I would have to check which Dancing Times issue it was (I believe sometime in 2000). My article discussed the Rivers variations, offering the choreography as recorded in the notation and discussion of the accompanying music from the two-violin repetiteur, also in the Sergeev Collection.

Hi, everyone. Right, it was actually Lacotte's view that most of the Pharaoh notation was unusable. Pharaoh is notated like many of the ballets in the collection - mostly by N. Sergeev and mostly just for legs and feet with groundplan. But this format is generally quite usable. I've not worked extensively on Pharoah, but I was able to reconstruct everything Lacotte provided. In the end, however, he used very little.

I hope it has not gotten into print anywhere that I feel the notation mostly unusable! I believe just the opposite and continue to work with ballets notated in a similar fashion to Pharaoh.

Harvard documents list $7500US as the price paid for the collection.

Cheers,

Yes, the variations were danced to Delibes' original music using Bonynge's recording. Medora's variation was danced (at least in some St. Petersburg productions) to Delibes' original music prior to the 1899 revival of the ballet in St. Petersburg. Gulnare's variation was danced to music that has yet to be identified (best guess at the moment is Pugni), but that music was similar in rhythm, tempi and length to Delibes, so we transferred the notated choreography to Delibes' original music. Not "authentic," but this allowed for use of Delibes' entire score.

Yes, you should contact the Gershwin Estate about the pieces in question. After a certain period of time (75 years in most cases, I believe, in the US), a piece passes into the public domain. Music rights to popular music of Gershwin's era are usually considered to be inextricably linked with lyrics rights, which usually attach even if the pieces are performed without lyrics, so this may produce various rights holders for varying pieces. This info is really just scratching the surface. I've not dealt with the Gershwin Estate, but I have dealt considerably with the Jerome Kern Estate and found those involved very helpful and accommodating.

Yes, Lacotte used some of the notated choreography for the waltz you mention (the variation for 2 girls and the subsequent male variation), but he added the 12 corps girls (as far as I know -- I only have the notation he sent me). I've not looked closely at any choreography for the Rivers corps, only the soloists.

Perhaps he felt the scene was too long. I think the variations, as notated, are charming character dances.

The Bonynge recording uses the original Delibes orchestration of his music. Solor, be careful about stating "it is obvious" until you have been able to look at source material and read a description of it. The violin rehearsal score used for the 1899 revival of Corsaire doesn't guarantee re-orchestration of Jardin anime music by Drigo. I have not been able to see the orchestral performance score of the 1899 production, however. This is not available in the West, so far as I know. I've written about the Jardin anime music in Dancing Times, Sept 2004. The interpolated variations for 1899 are not by Delibes but by other composers.

MinkusPugni, here we go again. You simply need to be better read in order to make the sort of statements you're making. A lot of scholars are working hard to sort out these details and blind claims such as yours that will be sitting on the internet to misguide well-meaning Google-ers won't help.

rg has a Russian publication on Paquita that is good source research. POB's program book for Lacotte's Paquita also offers excellent detail about the provenance of many Paquita variations. Ends up Delvedez composed more than was thought, Minkus less. This is now substantiated fact.

I must have missed Helene's comment.

I was very interested to re-read Jillana's comments on training having recently been told of the same issues (no heels down, putting foot down after closing fifth) occuring during a recent staging of a Balanchine ballet outside of NYCB.

I would think that those attending NYCB do indeed care about whose choreography they are seeing, but I may be too idealistic. I know this is true for me the few times that I am able to see City Ballet each year. I often see them performing ballets that PNB also performs. I tend to prefer PNB but that well could be because I am used to seeing a certain way of moving, a certain way of working on pointe, a use of the leg in arabesque, etc.

I believe it is reasonable to expect City Ballet to be giving high-standard performances of Balanchine ballets and to include many of his works in the repertory. That said, high-standard will mean different things to different audience members.

Hi folks, Mr. Boal will be at all PNB post-performance Q&A sessions this weekend, beginning this evening. Cheers,

I *think* she danced third movement and maybe first movement solo girl. But I would have to check.

Actually, Jardin anime was composed in 1867 by Delibes (only) for a revival of Le Corsaire in Paris. Eventually, a musical arrangement of the divertissement was included in La Source as the Naila waltz. The history of that development is still a little sketchy, but Jardin (originally Valse, ou, Pas des fleurs) was all-Delibes. The autograph is extant.

Minkus Pugni, you really must get hold of some literature based on sources and read it. Hans is quite right, Shades was originally Act III Scene 5. Act IV is Scene 7 and subtitled "The god's wrath." The ballet concludes with an apotheosis.