vrsfanatic

Amy Reusch here is a quote from the Wheater inview in the Chicago Sun regarding his choreography. Mr. Wheater is indeed a very talented teacher and coach. He has seemingly endless energy and is a very kind and professional person. As for Mr. Goldweber, Paul Parish, he in now with Ballet West.

Interesting ballet history at the Cathedral. As a Cathedral baby of sorts...thank you Major Johnson for that information! All the best to Mr. Wheater and the company.

Yes, of interest! How does one find information on attending? It sounds fascinating indeed.

The finger grouping and line of the hand as it relates to the arm is one of the first things that should be taught in a ballet class. Often this aspect of ballet teaching is over looked. "Bad" hands can not only detract from the beauty of a dancer but deter the dance student from accomplishing many aspects of technique. Holding too much tension in the hands makes it very difficult to feel the body, legs and arms. When any part of the body holds too much tension, other aspects of training will not be accomplished. For the most part, if a dancer succeeds in attaining employment, the "bad" hands situation is not evident. Different schools of ballet teaching have different finger groupings and hand alignment. What may be beautiful usage of the hands and arms in one method of teaching may be frowned upon in another.

Link does not work!

http://www.hmv.co.jp/search/index.asp?keyword=kirov+ballet The Japanese website is available in English. Enjoy!

Mr. Hallberg has always had incredible physical facility, including his feet. Did he need time to gain strength as a professional performer and gain strength technically, definitely! He was/is an extraordinary American talent who has had an advantage of meticulous training. Experience can only make a talented and well trained dancer better.

He has been in Stuttgart for about 7 years, I believe. He was given the opportunity to work in Stuttgart and he took it. The whys and hows of teachers and dancers relocating may just remain a mystery. He continues to do beautiful work in Stuttgart, as does the entire school.

Yes, he is at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. By all professional accounts, a magnificent teacher.

Senior male Division...Silver Metal: Andre Silva, Brazil also of Texas Ballet Theatre by way of the Harid Conservatory. Bravo!

Thank you Natalia for the update. There has been "talk", but when it comes from you, it is what is happening or you would not say!

I believe the answer is yes.

The link does not work!

She was still listed the other day on the Mariinsky website and there were a few new photos of soloists. My guess is she is still there. Lucky people of St. Petersburg!

David McAllister, Australian Ballet artistic director is very articulate.

A brief obituary of a very great lady and master teacher... Janina Drazdauskaite-Ciunovas, known to most as Madame Cunova, former Lithuanian Ballet soloist, one of Australia's foremost ballet teachers of the Russian and RAD methods passed away peacefully on August 1, 2007. In 1996 she was described as "one of the world's 10 best ballet teachers of the 20th Century" in the book, 'The Art of Teaching Ballet - Ten Twentieth Century Masters' by Gretchen Ward Warren. Born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1914 and having trained at the Kaunas National Ballet School for nine years, she joined the Lithuanian Ballet Company and married her late husband Boris Ciunovas in 1934. In 1935 she began working with the new adminstrator Rene Blum touring London and Monte Carlo working with Alexandra Fokina, Vera Nemtchinova, Anatole Ohuhoff and artistic director Nikolai Zverev. By 1944 the political situation forced most ballet dancers to move west. Madame Cunova, her husband and her sister Regina joined the Vienna Stae Opera Ballet. At the end of the War they joined the entertainment unit of the USA Occupation Forces. Later in Augburg, West Germany they were forming members of the Lithuanian Dance Company performing throughout West Germany. In 1949 the family migrated to Perth, Australia joining the staff of Linley Wilson's Ballet School where Madame studied and taught the RAD. In 1958 she moved to Melbourne joining the RAD. Having taught in every Australian capital city and many regional centers she prepared students for examinations as well as being involved in RAD seminars.While in Melbourne she taught for Edouard Borovansky Academy, Ballet Victoria, the Victoria College of the Arts and the Australian Ballet School. In 1985 she performed as a Guest Artist with the Australian Ballet in the cameo role of "Ballet Mistress" in Gaitee Parisienne. In 1978, ABT ballet master, the late Jurgen Schneider, invited Madame to join him as his partner in Russian Ballet Teaching Seminars held through out the US, Australia, the Philippines and Japan until Mr. Schneider's untimely death in 1995. She was a beloved addition and a guiding light to Mr. Schneider's passion for the training of ballet teachers. In 1997 Madame Cunova was able to return to the National Vilnius Ballet School and the Lithuanian Ballet Company as a guest teacher. While in Lithuania she donated a life-size portrait of herself painted in 1939 to the Kaunas Musical Theatre, home of the orignal Lithuanian Ballet, where it now hangs in the lobby of the theatre. In 1998 Madame Cunova was invited to work in Bayamon, Puerto Rico at the Vaganova Method Workshop. Madame Cunova taught ballet until a few weeks prior to her death believing that discipline and strength would keep her strong. Her continuing efforts toward perfection were reflected in her everyday behavior and attitudes, including politeness, grooming, respect for others and grace. "A dancer should look special" was her motto. Her contributions to ballet were immense and a lifetime effort. She will be remembered and missed for her energetic nature, sparkling voice, imparting her valuable knowledge of ballet with strength and conviction to the very end. She leaves behind her loving daughter Inga, grand daughter Ingrid, great grand children Darcy and Tiara as well as her niece Ramona. Her many friends and students will miss our Janina dearly. May she find peace.

A wonderful interview for sure. Try to see it.

Marley flooring can be made in whatever color a designer would like. As with most things, it is only a question of money. In the 1986/87 (?) Baryshnikov production of SB for ABT, the floor was a different color for each act. It is a wonderful aspect of staging when the floor compliments the set design. Does not the MacMillan R&J use a parquet design for the Ballroom seen? Maybe my memories are of the Lavrovsky! I have not seen the MacMillan in almost 20 years! In the Mariinsky, the floor changes color according to each act, but as I stated before they use a carpeting of some sort. As for the rake of the Bolshoi, it is quite a rake, but many non-Russians have successfully navigated the terrain! Sorry to hear of Mr. Cunxin's troubles.

As with most ballets, I tend to like a ballet if it is well danced artistically and techincally. I have wonderful memories of seeing Grand pas Classique in Russia, performed by Diana Vishneva while she was still in school. Quite remarkable. No complaints from me!

My late husband, a ballet master/company teacher, defected from East Germany in 1971 eventually settling in NYC. Because he had connections with others who had defected, he was connected immediately with Howard Gilman, who was quite generous with many of the well-known and less well-known defectors of the 1960s and 1970s. Shelter and food was provided while my husband was able to secure work in his field. I know of quite a few of that era who were taken care of most generously by this very generous patron of the ballet and music world.

The floors of both Vaganova Academy and the Mariinsky studios are mostly raked. There are theatrical reasons for this but also technical, balletic reasons as well. Not to get headed down that road, but much of Vaganova schooling is also based on a raked floor. There are/were a few studios used mainly for pre-ballet that were not raked. Being of the generation that began studying ballet on wooden floor, performed on wooden floors and then had to adjust to "marley", a linoleum, yes is was more difficult to turn, at first, but the adjustment was made quickly and with little thought after the first few days. When I find myself on wood occasionally, it is actually difficult to turn because the turns are so much faster.

Floors, in the US were wooden for a very long time, centuries I believe, now most stages are covered in a soft plastic surface, known by many different names. When I lived in St. Petersburg from 1993-1995, the Mariinsky and the Maly stages had been covering their very special Russian wooden floors in a muslin carpeting/matting, as had been the practice for centuries. I do not know the name of the wood but I had extensive conversations with my Russian language teacher about the floors because they were different from any I had seen. They were of course, unwaxed, but they were very rough, unfinished wood. I would not describe them as gooved however. The same floors were used in the Vaganova Academy. As for slippage, dancers fell as often on stage and in the Academy, as everywhere else in the world. The sound was a low, hollow thud unlike the crack one hears on today's floors in the US.

Thank you all for your insight. Had work not been a priority, I would have been there. Knowing both dancers, I was hoping the partnership could be the beginning of something special. I remain hopeful!

Calendar is off! Thanks for fixing it! Please do tell after the peformance!

So did anyone go? Did anyone see the performance last night?