vrsfanatic

I am not able to actually address your observations leonid, however I would like to comment however that Mr. Wheeldon does come from a very rich schooling in Vaganova, as he was fortunate to be at White Lodge under the tutelage of the late Anatole Grigoriev and in the Upper School of Royal Ballet under Samuele (sorry, I do not remember his first name). Having read the article, I did not find his suggestions to have been so estounding to the Russian dancers as they are quite common analogies in Vaganova training and elsewhere. Mr. Wheldon should be able to navigate quite well in Russia as a choreographer. This is not a commenary on how the Russian audience will accept his work, only that he does have in his grasp a similar background. I believe you edited your post prior to my post?

Thank you Major Johnson. I have also emailed them. I know the videos work here.

Thank you volcanohunter for the heads up. Having seen two of the three on VHS, I can say they are interesting. The Bolshoi in Vegas and the Kirov in St. Petersburg does sound intriguing. Is there anyone who knows about Kultur DVDs and what format they have used? Having purchased a few DVDs overseas only to be confronted by them not working in the US, I am a bit apprehensive!

Thank you for the information. It is wonderful news!

Benvenuto ScarlettDiva! Your spelling is fine! Post edited. Sorry, I forgot which Board I was looking at!

Thank you for the information however, perhaps some of the times may be a bit different than what is posted?

mom1962 you might find a tremendous amount of information on Ballet Talk for Dancers regarding various schools. Please click on the link above to investigate the opportunities on this sister board!

Hans, is that actually taught somewhere in some program of study?

Perhaps differing schools of ballet will have even a different take on what constitutes "good batterie". It may not be an emphasis on a particular thing but more a matter of good versus not so good training! As is the case in many aspects of ballet there may even be a difference in the audience's opinion of good batterie and a ballet professional's opinion.

Andei Batalov of Mariinsky/Kirov has a marvelous batterie.

bart, I know a few dancers who are preparing to perform at various events, but until there is an official announcement, is it not considered gossip? I may be at Gusman on Wednesday evening and Kravitz on Friday night. The website does not seem to be very clear about whether or not Kravitz is happening. I will wait to buy my ticket for Kravitz to hear more about it on Wednesday. http://www.kravis.org/index.cfm?fuseaction...d=264&x=6882470 Here is the Kravitz link which gives companies and countries, but no dancers.

I am incorrect. I do get my years in St. Petersburg so confused. It would have been spring of 1994. She graduated in the spring of 1995. I know I was home by her 8th year graduation and that was the spring of 1995.

According to Mr. Yuresha, he and Ms Wright were left the rights to Pas de Quatre and Variations for 4. I suppose the only way to really know is to check the last will and testemant of Mr. Dolin. Mr. Yuresha has staged the pieces worldwide.

I cannot say how old Vishnev was, as I do not know her birthdate, but the video was made in the spring of her 7th year of study. Should be Spring 1995. It is a wonderful film. Years of enjoyment!

Thank you for posting that Marga. I always wondered where they ended up!

My copy of Divine Dancers arrived just as I was leaving on a trip oversees so I popped it in my luggage thinking I could enjoy it in some down time. That time was yesterday. Having seen Daniil Simkin in Jackson, this DVD does not do his immense talent justice. The couple from Dutch National were a surprising delight, while this is far from a best representation of Alexandrova and Feline. Somehow the DVD credits Jude with the Petipa choreography for Sleeping Beauty performed by Oksana Kutcheruk and Roman Mikhalev. Anyone out there familiar with this turn of events? It was nice to see how Mikhalev has gone and developed since his schooling, but a disappointment to see that he has left Russia for the West. Hopefully he will have more opportunity than he would have had in Russia. Does anyone know of his where abouts now? Mr. Jude seemed to indicate he had moved to his company in Bordeaux, however when I Googled Bordeaux nothing came up. Is Mr. Jude still in Bordeaux?

Omshanti, I am not quite sure that I was speaking directly to you in any of my posts, however I do believe we are saying the same thing. As in any profession, thinking could also be a level of awareness. In dance the educational process is to develop the body and mind into one. Respect is given also to you for your abilty to put into words many things I am not able to do. I thank all of you who have shed a shining star on an aspect of ballet that I have never been able to put a finger on. It is indeed intriguing and inspiring.

Your questions make a lot of sense and of course there is no one true answer. In story ballets, the craft of choreography should enhance the acting of the performer. If the choreography is not well crafted, the performers may look over done while acting. Also, some performers are good actors while others just simply, are not. There are many reasons to cast a dancer in a role. One being to hopefully develop the dancer. All dancers have to begin somewhere. Generally speaking the more seasoned a dancer, the acting abilities are stronger, but this is not always the case.

In coaching dancers, students and professionals, one often discusses at this moment try to remember to do this or that, or making analogies to various emotions when training the feeling of a particular movement, port de bras and lift of the back. These things are repeated endlessly in rehearsal so that it is performed that way on stage. Each dancer is different in what they think about while they are performing. Some think technique more often than others and others do not think about it at all. At some point however I am sure it does pop into all dancer's minds..."eek, remember heel forward here, knee out (side) there, get on your freaking leg...go, go, go!" The actual mechanics and thought process of how to execute a step is definitely not part of the performance process. There is no time! That has all been repeatedly gone through in the classroom and rehearsal. The dancer who needs to think before doing is the dancer who is off the music! The dancer who entertains the audience is the one who is thinking more often than not..."wow, this is great fun!"

What I meant was why discuss ABTs R&J on the M. Lavrovsky thread! I know both versions extremely well and cannot find any point of comparison, except maybe the music. Go ahead, discuss the Lavrovsky and discuss the MacMillan, but they cannot be compared, IMO! Paul, I find the Lavrovsky a masterpiece and the MacMillan adequate.

...or leg held to the side or front at 90 degrees, dependent upon which school of training one is discussing, otherwise known as tours in big poses! When tours in big poses are done in sequence the tours are spotted.

How does one compare the L. Lavrovsky choreography to the R&J currently in rep for ABT, MacMillan? I am confused!

I cannot find the link either. If anyone has any official information, it would be just great to hear what is going on!

When I made this statement in my origninal post, I did mean MY American training, meaning I was not discussing a particular style or methodology. I was told I was taught Balanchine training, which in the 1960s was considered an American version of Vaganova, as far I can tell. When I began studying the teaching of Vaganova methodology in the US, prior to my studies in St. Petersburg, my childhood teacher asked me why I felt my studies were necessary since after all I had been trained as a student in the Vaganova method. My teacher was one of the "pioneers" of the Balanchine early years in the US. As for an American style of training, as of yet this has not been established. There are noted teachers of children such as Marcia Dale Weary who have studied with various teachers of pedagogy to develop their own programs of study, however only time will tell if such programs produce lasting results that will enable choreography to develop into an American style.

It is important to recognize the differing levels of training when one is discussing the artistic development of a step, a class and individual dancers. The Vaganova program has 8 years of study (well even that may be changing again). In the first 3 years, the fundamentals of body placement, coordination, basic leg movements, jumps, arms,heads and musicality are strictly taught. In the 3rd year nuance is introduced by elaborating on the breath of movement through the carriage of the arms and heads and well increased tempi. Movements are taught to the students with an importance placed upon artistic expressivity of each pas. Each movement has a particular musicality and way of being done that is adhered to and further developed. Such strict attention is given to the usage of the back, head and arms that they become an intrical part of the whole. By the 6th, 7th, and 8th year of study these nuances are just considered to be the way it is done, part of the whole. When I say in my American training technique was about mechanics, for the most part I am discussing perfecting the leg movements, balances, turning movements, turn out, and pointing the feet. Arms were important, yet there were no real answers about how the arms moved. It was known that they were held in the back and that the shoulders were down with a long neck, but it was never taught exactly how to do it so that it looked to be part of the whole. There were arm positions but no answers to how the arm moved mechanically from (for example) over head (3rd position) to the side (second position). Although this is a mechanic, it is a mechanic that becomes the artistic expression of ballet. The study of focus (eyes) and the head were never isolated from the the shoulders. Yes, of course I was told they should be used separtately, but again it was never studied how to do it. There was a lot of talk about the idea that it should be done, but the study did not produce the results. In Vaganova schooling there are strict goals mechanically and artistically for each level of study that are directly related to stage work. In this way, the ballet class must continue to be for the development of the whole artist not just the mechanic or in American terminology, the technician. As with language, perhaps the cultural differences of the two countries allow for differing sentiments in the teaching of goals of ballet. Please just a thought. Not a dogma!