Nanatchka

"chaos..." Who knew chaos could be so tiresome and tedious?

The whole point of going out is getting to wear one's shoes, no? Note: I have just acquired some 1920s Chinese embroidered evening slippersat an out of the way dealer in London. What Bloomsbury wore to the ballet....to see Lydia Lopukova before she married Meynard Keynes.

There will be another genius, at some point, possibly, but there cannot be another Balanchine. Even Balanchine, born now, in, say, Chicago, wouldn't have been the Balanchine we had. And even if we had a Balanchne clone, we'd need a Diagaliev, and a Kirstein. And a Tsar, too.

A word about the wonderful people called House Managers. If someone near you is driving you nuts, ask an usher for the house manager at intermission. She or he has seen and heard everything, and is prepared to either make it go away, or reseat you elsewhere, if possible. I cannot abide cell phones, cannot stand talkers, wonder why the enamored didn't stay home in bed, where they would be more comfortable, and have a particular loathing for babes in arms, because I am always waiting for them to cry. (Don't shoot me; I stayed home with mine when they were new, communing with the La Leche league.) Nonetheless, nothing but nothing is worse then a cellophane candy being unwrapped in a hopelessly furtive manner, while all around people think about what they would like to do to the noisemaker, possibly employing the coughdrop. Honorable mention to the person who dropped an iced coca cola in the Metropolitan Opera House, where it sloshed downstream, wrecking my evening slippers.

Just say no when contemplating: 1. Having dancers circle in a downspot, gathering in tighter and tighter, and in conclusion lifting up a single central dancer to the light. 2. Choreographing to a Ralph Vaughn Williams piece called "Lark Ascending." 3. Restaging Spartacus, or any ballet with shields. 4. Happy hooker scenes. 5. Having people look up at the sky or out into the wings as if somethng ominous were up or out there. 6.Unless staging Midsummer Night's Dream, say no to animal heads (such as sheep, which I have actually seen). 7. Novelty. 8. No more Hamlets. I don't care what kind of novel thoughts you have about the tutor, or Gertrude. 9. No weird or strikingly originalconcepts for Von Rothbart, and further, no giant Big Bird Suits. He is not a giant chicken. He is not a lizard. He should appear as a dignified and malevolent person, or evil wizard. 10. Tricks in ballet. Anything where the whole ballet is intended to stop while people applaud. Anything where the preparation reminds one of the Olympics.

Well watching Merce and aching in your own hips is a true kinesthetic response. I think you have to think of Merce's performances now not so much as dancing but as a kind of acting. Little essays on topics like balance, or look at you look at me, that sort of thing. THink Beckett, in particular Krapp's Last Tape and Happy End. And dear Alexandra, I so understand what you said about Fonteyn's "aura." I wouldn't have missed that, either. Not all great dancers appear marvelous when reduced to such aspects (as Arlene Croce said once, so memorably, of Patty McBride, "powered by desire alone," if I correctly recall), but those who do! (Nureyev, for instance, did not.)My husband once said, "You can always tell the choreographer--he's the only guy with grey chest hair. Still, I love seeing older dancers. I suspect this is because I like seeing people my own age on stage.

I really think the whole point of America is that anything can be American. Or any one. Balanchine had the passionate patriotism of the satisfied emigre (the kind of thing one only experiences, when when is born here, upon returning home from a very long trip to a very different country). In that way, even Stars and Stripes is the work of a "foreigner."

Imagine getting to the White House, thinking, "I can get anyone I want to come see me, " and deciding on Balanchine. Just amazing and wonderful. For no political purpose whatsoever, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis contined to support ballet after her short years in the White House. I remember seeing her with Caroline at Lincon Center here in New York. I don't know what the ballet was,but Caroline had wonderful red patent leather Mary Jane shoes. I was quite astonished, because I had thought only black ones were acceptable. My grandmother was rather shocked. I can still see those shoes so clearly. I hope they made Caroline very happy.

I was thinking here of leaving a mixed bill. For a full length story ballet, you do have to see how character develops. (Leaving because something was bad wasn't the issue here, we will recall.) Not only Aurora matures from act to act--I think Giselle does, too. And there are other characters one would like to see over the full course of a narrative.

Ooooh, you have just got me to admit a great luxury, a sinful indulgence--I adore leaving the theater after a great performance of something I love--I also like to leave after a premiere, if the dance is something I want to hold in my mind. Whatever I see last seems to sink in all night long. Sometimes I go expecting to leave after a dance (or two) and sometimes I sit there thinking, "It doesn't get better than this," and float off into the night.

The best thing about Sacre at the Joffrey was seeing the scenery. That you can reconstruct. The colors, the landscape, fascinating. THe most interesting thing about the movement to me was how familiar it felt. So much of it reminded me of Paul Taylor! The plastique, the torque, etc. But of course the Paul is vivid and in the here and how, and the Sacre was not. No way that dance was such a dud. Out of mothballs is one thing. Out of thin air is another. But I am still glad I saw it. Seeing Beatriz Rodriguez as the Chosen One made me understand that part of the dance in a way reading about it could not. [ 05-02-2001: Message edited by: Nanatchka ]

Gee, Alexandra, that's going to catch on. She's pregnant, and in the second act he gets stoned, as in pelted with rocks, not as in indulging in recreational drugs.But to answer the question-- She can have a broken heart either way, can't she? It depends on what kind of cad you want to make Albrecht. In re John Mueller: he is also THE expert on Fred and Ginger.

I miss Maria Calegari, the beautiful NYCB redhead. As for partnerships--what about Farrell and Martins? Lately I find myself missing dancers even while I am watching them, but that's another story.

I am reminded here of Starr Danias touring in Act II (Victorianish costumes) Giselle, it was really pretty vile, but on to something I will make up: THE IRISH GISELLE The Villagers are Irish Step Dancers, and do various Riverdance routines. Ditto for the Wilis.The score is the Riverdance Album, or of its kind, but played "live" on a huge pumped up sound system. None of this--dance or music-- is at all authentic; it must be glossy and charmless. Also, the music must be very loud. Meanwhile, the story stays the same, and Giselle is still a ballerina. However, instead a flower Does He Love Me? number, she does a little Shamrock Dance. Just for variety, Myrtha wears a Flamenco Outfit and character shoes, and does a nasty little Spanish dance. (Or you can combine the items in the thread, and make them all step dancing lesbian drug addicts. What about a transexual Hilarion?) or: LEATHER GISELLE, also known as L'il Giselle Bondage. Motorcycles. Guns. Club scene. Puff Daddy Albrecht. G.Lopez Bathilde. L'il Kim Giselle. Music is Rap. I just remembered that I saw a Romeo and Juliet that had a German Shepard on a Watch Tower. I am not making this up.Whenever we have a thread like this, I worry that someone will read it and do it, but really, they already have....I mean, how about we make Mytha a Giant Lizard....

I am reminded here of Starr Danias touring in Act II (Victorianish costumes) Giselle, it was really pretty vile, but on to something I will make up: THE IRISH GISELLE The Villagers are Irish Step Dancers, and do various Riverdance routines. Ditto for the Wilis.The score is the Riverdance Album, or of its kind, but played "live" on a huge pumped up sound system. None of this--dance or music-- is at all authentic; it must be glossy and charmless. Also, the music must be very loud. Meanwhile, the story stays the same, and Giselle is still a ballerina. However, instead a flower Does He Love Me? number, she does a little Shamrock Dance. Just for variety, Myrtha wears a Flamenco Outfit and character shoes, and does a nasty little Spanish dance. (Or you can combine the items in the thread, and make them all step dancing lesbian drug addicts. What about a transexual Hilarion?) or: LEATHER GISELLE, also known as L'il Giselle Bondage. Motorcycles. Guns. Club scene. Puff Daddy Albrecht. G.Lopez Bathilde. L'il Kim Giselle. Music is Rap. I just remembered that I saw a Romeo and Juliet that had a German Shepard on a Watch Tower. I am not making this up.Whenever we have a thread like this, I worry that someone will read it and do it, but really, they already have....I mean, how about we make Mytha a Giant Lizard....

I was humming "Springtime for Hitler" right from the top of this one. Meanwhile, you know what really depresses me? That the art people have these arguments over is so incredibly crappy.It reminds me of Salmon Rushdie and that unreadable book called The Satanic Verses. You might say the fatwah did him a favor, from a p.r. point of view. But to return to the topic at hand? I haven't been to Brooklyn, and thus cannot venture an aesthetic appreciation (or not) of the latest art to offend our Mayor. However, the photos of the art didn't bother me--not that I would want them censored if they did. But the Catholic Church has a nice tradition of speaking out against art, right along with their tradition of inspiring it. So where were we? Oh, right. First, I don't think the work is really about what it is accused of being about. Second, even if if were, I would't want it censored.(Speaking of bothered, there are NO cockroaches in the works of Merce Cunningham, no matter what Alexandra has implied.) A final note on censorship: Ironically, there is a" Lady Jane Grey" in a once censored work: Lady Chatterley's Lover. She isn't a person; she is a body part.You might want to rethink your signature, all things considered!

Not only does Manhattnik go to Starbucks, he brings back cookies. I could have used on on Thursday--I found the Wheeldon upsetting. So many contortions. From the fourth row, Whelan looked like a circus act rather than the very grand ballerina she is. Agreed, two piano ballets is bad programming, but maybe when the evening was scheduled Wheeldon hadn't selected the music. As for Scotch--suddenly, after the pastel Robbins and the noir Wheeldon, there they were. Steps with intrinsic meaning. What a concept.

Let's remember that Bambi's mother dies in the story. One can only wait for reports. And for the headline: Thumper is the New Benno

In re-reading this ever diverting (and probably highly predictive) thread I came across Estelle's mention of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I just want to point out, that although it is not a ballet, that Paul Taylor has chore0graphed a marvelous ironic version of this tale. (With Elie Chaib as a very vain prince.)It would be nice to see it again.

How about The Iliad and or The Odyssey? (I would mention the Aeneid, but Mark Morris got there first. And did a good job--to my mind, speaking just for myself, no one has to bother complaining about his playing Dido. So I guess no fair using novels that already have libretti.) Maybe epic poetry doesn't count....This leads me to the novels of James Joyce. Bloomsday, the Ballet.Takes 24 hours, since danced in real time. Go ahead, cast Leopold Bloom!