vagansmom

I also see Alain as possibly being on the autistic spectrum, but it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the ballet; for me, it enhances it. Every odd character in every book, play, film, ballet, etc. can be recognized as a clinical "type" by those with some kind of experience in the field. It doesn't change who the character is. I coach/tutor individuals with social and cognitive challenges. Some are on the "autistic spectrum," which includes Asperger's, others are clinically mentally ill. I have a sister with MS-related dementia and corresponding mental illness. So it's only natural that I view the world through the prism of my experiences and professional knowledge in that realm. I LOVE thinking about characters in the ballets I've seen, and wondering what they'd be like as students. Like all of us, I'm bringing my own experiences to the ballet with me. Other people with other types of knowledge and experiences will notice and think about the ballet in a way that I might not understand. Sharing our own insights with each other is what makes being human such an interesting and lively experience

Carlos Molina and Erica Cornejo will be performing Spartacus pas de deux at the Hoffman Auditorium in West Hartford, CT on May 31 and June 1 for two performances only. The event is sponsored by the local Ballet Theatre Company. Link for More Info and Tickets My pet peeve, Signage! While driving through downtown West Hartford this morning, I nearly caused a car accident trying to figure where the performance was being held. It was in very small font on the side of the banner hung at the West Hartford green. Didn't catch it till I was just about past the banner. Ballet Theatre Company's name was largely emblazoned across the banner, but that only further confused this individual's already addled brain. "ABT still uses the title, 'Ballet Theatre'?" I wondered, "but wait, these are Boston Ballet dancers!" A very muddled and befuddled moi trying to make sense of that and find out where the performance was being held. Had I not been such an ardent ballet fan, I'd have given up very easily. So my question: I'm not familiar with this school/company: Is it just a school company or does it include a truly professional company?

I am currently reading a novel by the Irish writer, Jamie O'Neill, called At Swim Two Boys. It's set in the early 1900's, around WW1, and documents the early years of the IRA while exploring the lives of two culturally different Irish boys who later become lovers. So it's both a great novel about the Irish fight for freedom around the Easter Uprising and an intriguing and lovely romantic story. O'Neill's prose sings. It's so delectable that I find myself reading and rereading, just to savor the novelty of his word usage and the vivid images his prose calls up in my mind. It's not just that he is writing in early 1900's Irish vernacular. He creates new verbs that feed the imagination. The only other contemporary writer I've read who has matched O'Neill's creativity is Annie G. Rogers, whose autobiographical book, A Shining Affliction, about the abuse of client/patient relationships (not in the way we automatically assume to be abuse though), was mesmerizing not just for its content, but also for her prose. Although my daily life is often filled with native Irish people here in America, I still had a bit of trouble getting into the rhythm of the language in O'Neill's book. But having been around so many Irish people my entire adult life, and visiting Ireland every 5 or 6 years, I'm conversant in the culture. That really aids my enjoyment of the book, especially since, at least so far in my reading, O'Neill quotes song passages frequently and cracks jokes that require one to understand the song's history. However, neither of the two people who recommended this book to me know much at all about Irish culture and song, and yet both proclaimed it as their favorite book in several years.

For those unfamiliar with MOMIX's "Skiva", here are some photos from rehearsal for the Joyce last year where Steven Marshall performed it with Yasmine Lee. I couldn't find any pics of him with Nicole Loizides in "Skiva." I think it was the first MOMIX piece I'd ever seen, way back around 1990. I never tire of it. Skiva Edited to add a "Whoops!" It won't let me post a link directly to the page with all the photos, but you can do a search on the page that comes up to see them all

I thought she was dead-on in her emphasis on upper body, but then that would make many members of the NYCB amateurs, wouldn't it?

When they came to my area years ago, my daughter was one of the local kids they chose to be in their children's show, "The Velveteen Rabbit". Aside from the fact that my own kiddo was in it (her first "partnering" experience!..well, sorta... ) I found it very appealing. I especially loved the high energy all the dancers possessed and KT Nelson, the choreographer, did a terrific job. It was one of the nicest experiences in my daughter's childhood dance life.

Last night, I saw this ballet company perform at UConn's Jorgensen Auditorium. I think I saw the same cast as Natalia. I didn't hear the announcer's voice very well, it was muffled from where I sat, but I believe Anna Borodulina portrayed Giselle. Albert (Albrecht) was Yuri Mirov, and Egor Ivanov was Hans (Hilarion). I really liked this production, and most especially Borodulina's interpretation of Giselle. Why, she was a sprite even before the Second Act! Petite, with eloquent arms and an expressive body, she was fully convincing as a lively peasant girl who fell madly in love with a duke. She "wore her emotions on her sleeve", rather in this case, throughout every pore of her body. I've never had the privilege of seeing Alina Cojocaru in person, but have glimpsed her Giselle on youtube. Borodulina's expressive sprightliness reminds me of her. I thought, though, that Giselle's animation was in sharp contrast to what I found to be a rather dull Albert. I'd read Natalia's review and was looking forward to seeing Mirov in this role. It might've been an off night for him though; I know we can't expect a touring company to put on their A performance each and every night. In the pantomime of the First Act, he was rather wooden which is a shame because he possesses a princely style. It just wasn't enough, the pantomime wasn't clear enough. Not so for Borodulina though; she shone throughout every moment. I loved Ivanov's Hans. What a terrifically expressive body! I've never seen a better use of neck and shoulders in a character role. His musicality even rose up through his neck. Would love to see more of him. I think I liked the peasant pas deux more than Natalia. It was a secure dance by the time they got here to CT, although they were not perfectly in sync the whole time. I especially loved the male dancer, and because of his vitality in dancing, I thought, till I reread Natalia's post that he might have been the Albert she'd seen. The woman in the peasant pas had beautiful lines, and I enjoyed her dancing. My one quibble, and it may just be a pet peeve of mine, is that when she leaped ( grand jete? don't know the ballet term for those particular leaps, sorry), she had that goose-necked look that too many dancers nowadays have. (I checked the corps out on their leaps; most had beautiful upper bodies in the air). Other than that, I really loved her variation. The corps in the first act was a capable one. Other than one man who appeared to be off the music during one dance, they were all fluidly together. It was in Act 2 that I really began to like Mirov's Albert. I agree with you, Natalia. As you stated, it really was as if a switch had been turned on; I decided that he replaced his First Act weak battery with the "energizer bunny"! He was quite fine, and it was in his variations in this act that I found his character believable. I still didn't get the sense that his acting was vastly improved, but his dancing more than made up for it. "Technical whiz and noble", as you said. I was too far away to know if he cried real tears. This Mirta didn't impress me as many others in the past have. I really like a sharp, imperious Mirta, with haughtiness in abundance. Last night's Mirta was too soft for my taste. I think Mirta should stand out magnificently from the other Wilis and quite frankly, I got confused when the blonde-haired dancer came out for a solo variation soon after Mirta early on. What? I thought. Two Mirta's? There wasn't enough to distinguish this Mirta from anyone else on stage. The Wilis were sepulchrally magnetic, and I know I liked them because I got my usual tingles up and down my spine during their famous dance.across the floor. Is there a name for the thrilling section where they dance across the stage in unison in arabesque with their heads down? It was a great night out. I was delighted to have seen this "Giselle". I'd say the most memorable part for me was Anna Borodulina's Giselle. Her First Act sprightliness was endearing, her mad scene heart-breaking. In the Second Act, Giselle as a Wili was eerily captivating. I'd love to see more of her.

QUOTE "I'd even venture that neither would have risen to such peaks had they not been damned with an illness that limited their ability to interact regularly with the outside world." Ah, precisely why I want to write my paper! Both O'Connor and Dickinson suffered from an autoimmune disease; O'Connor, whose dad died of lupus, had advanced stage lupus (with lupus nephritis) when she was doing her best writing, and Dickinson had kidney nephritis, believed back then to have been Bright's disease, which is now a term not used. Instead, it's usually considered as part and parcel of another condition, most often autoimmune. Could Dickinson have had lupus? Perhaps. She was described as "in fragile health" from her teen years on. Both authors died from complications related to their nephritis. Both were physically limited by their disease, and turned more to their inner lives. I agree with you, dirac, that even many healthy women of the past, and sadly all too often in present times, lead constricted lives. But I do believe that their diseases actually gave both O'Connor and Dickinson a chance to nurture their talents. I do remember, way back in high school, reading an interview with O'Connor where she said that when she was given a 5 year prognosis to live (lupus back then was only diagnosed at advanced stages within a few years of death so treatment for the nephritis was by then useless), she decided to give up on everything except her writing.

That image exists in most people's minds because of Shakespeare's play. I've always read that he exaggerated Henry's recklessness and turned him into a rabid war monger. Other careful reading shows that he was a fairly timid boy who wasn't thrilled at the prospect of eventually becoming King. However - and this is why he so fascinates me - once he assumed his reign, his war strategies were ruthless, effectively disregarding chivalry. He believed that chivalry ultimately caused more deaths and prolonged wars. As a young man, it's true that he was reckless in his pursuits, but once grown, he was actually a leader who believed in diplomacy and cared for the less fortunate. I like it that he was a complicated man, often with seemingly opposite ideals pulling at him.

I've never read The Agony and the Ecstasy but might be spending a few weeks in Italy this summer, so thanks for mentioning it. I love pairing a trip to a foreign land with a historical or biographical novel set there. In 1996(?), I spent a summer in Ireland, and brought Trinity with me. It happened to be the worst summer for violence in Ireland and Northern Ireland since the 1960's, with all kinds of riots as the result of the Orangemen marching through Catholic neighborhoods, and IRA activity near Limerick (far from the north) that resulted in someone's death. So, there I was with my spine tingling as I read about the 1800's riots while the Orangemen were marching, and I turned on the news each day to hear stories of the very same thing happening. Bart, thank you for your description of P.D. James's writing. I am going to seek out a book of hers; what do you recommend as a first read? As I've mentioned, this year I tutor a wide age range of students, so my reading has been dedicated to keeping up with their required reading. I am currently knee-deep in Shakespeare and loving it very much. Next week, I begin his "Henry V". I've never read it, so I am delighted it was on a high school senior's list. Ever since I read Denise Giardina's biographical novel Good King Harry, I've been fascinated by his life. The king who never wanted to be king: I am looking forward to the read. We've finished the usual high school Shakespeare fare, and I have been so delighted to get the chance to read all these plays again. I read them with such different eyes now. I've also, as you probably can tell from my signature, been rereading the poems of Emily Dickinson. I have an anthology of her poetry, and, in the few short minutes dotted throughout my day, have been reading them. Her poems and Flannery O'Connor's short stories have always been quite dear to me, although O'Connor's prose can be quite wicked. Two women whose writing was, I believe, shaped by their illnesses. I'd even venture that neither would have risen to such peaks had they not been damned with an illness that limited their ability to interact regularly with the outside world. Some day, if I ever find the time, I'd like to write a paper comparing their responses.

I too have come to rely on youtube to watch figure skating. With only the most basic cable package, we get very few channels. I always view figure skating jumps from an aesthetic viewpoint as well as an athletic one. Some skaters have luscious jumps. Their position in the air is lovely, they are not all hunched up and over, their jumps are corkscrew-like, they land with a beautifully placed back leg that is not swinging around wildly in an effort to finish the jump without falling. When she was "on", Sasha Cohen could jump like that. Toller Cranston too. Paul Wylie. Michelle Kwan in her very best years. Johnny Weir often. I think that their jumps showed artistry as well as athleticism. To me, the best figure skating artist is the one who seamlessly connects the technical aspects of their skating with their artistry, so that there is never an awkward-looking position while they are on the ice. I imagine that was the original purpose of skating to music. The musicality of some skaters is exceptional. I always have to refer back to Toller Cranston when it comes to musicality, artistry, and athleticism - he had it all.

Thanks, dirac. After all these years, I still swoon for Gene Kelly, and his wife's letter to the editor makes me love him even more.

I would venture to say that if ballet dancers could afford to have agents, they would. What ballet dancer doesn't dream of having a person whose job it is to seek out the very best possible financial and artistic opportunity for that dancer? It's a no-brainer to me: if you've got the money, get the agent. Trouble is, here in the USA, the average ballet dancer's salary is so small that s/he may not be able to exist on that salary alone. S/he may teach at a company-connected ballet school to help make ends meet, and often has various odd jobs (waiter/waitress, etc.) when the company's on hiatus. An agent is merely a pipe dream to such a dancer.

Sorry, I hope my post wasn't interpreted as critical of delibes. Not at all, I am very grateful to you, delibes, for taking the time to translate and share this with us. It's very enlightening to me that being a Russian ballerina, even now, after communism's (mostly) demise in Russia, still means in some respects that one is a kind of politico. I had thought that died out with the former regime. I just got so interested in the interviews that I wanted to see it all. Thanks too, drb, for pointing the way to the original article. I will head off now to put it into a translator.

I have never seen Zhakarova dance, and I know nothing about her other than the interview excerpts I just read on this thread. I didn't take her comments to be vain statements at all. With all due respect to Delibes, I thought that they illustrated the difficulty of understanding the emotional content of text that's been translated, especially since her statements are excerpted. The question was, "This season has been special for you, your triumphs on London and Paris, then winning the State prize, the MP's seat. Has something switched on in your sense of who you are?" Zaharova answered: Wasn't she just stating the facts there? If she has been constantly first-cast, then yes, she IS the first ballerina of the "first theatre in the state." To the question, "When you enter the theatre and go on stage, do you consider yourself the best and the first ballerina?" Zaharova answered: " Mashinka quoted only the first two sentences in the reply, and seen in that light, it could make it look as though Zakharova is mean-spirited, but in looking at the whole reply (that I just quoted), I think what Z. meant is a lot clearer. I took that first sentence to mean she's always thinking she has to strive to be the best with every performance. I thought her comments state that it is a heavy responsibility, a difficult mantle to wear. Her comments about keeping a distance between herself and the other dancers tell about how responsible she feels to live up to that title, that she has to deny herself certain pleasures, can't do the normal pleasures of socializing because she feels beholden to take care of her body at all times. My opinion is that she confesses quite the opposite of Mashinka's interpretation. With her last statement in the above quote, Zakharova is saying that she CAN'T think of herself as the best or else "that could stop me in my tracks." That's a humble statement, not one of bravado. I took that to mean that she's always worried that she has to prove she's the best. We all know the mantra in Olympics and other sports competitions about how hard it is to be the defending champion, that you have to live up to the title you've been given, and that everyone is looking for you to fall. I thought Zakharova's statement reflected a certain amount of fear of the weight of such a title rather than hubris. About Zakharova's comment: I would love to have read her thoughts in between those two sentences. Any chance you can supply them, Delibes? In any case, again, I did not read that first sentence as hubris; I simply read it as factual. All ballet dancers know what it is to work in the theatre. Perhaps she should have said, "I know as much as anyone" rather than "better than anyone" but hers was an oral interview (correct, delibes?), not a written one. We, most of us, don't phrase our thoughts perfectly every single time. I liked her comment about sensing the envy of colleagues -that envy is a natural part of ballet company life. She seemed to just accept it. And I agree with Zakharova's opinion about avoiding smoky, noisy clubs and preferring ceremonial events. I much prefer the latter myself. Note: this is my edited version of my first posting. I had to take it down and rework because my keyboard has a tendency to jump my sentences into the wrong passages sometimes. What came out in my first posting was a crazy, mixed-up version of the order I'd actually written it in.

Natalia, thank you so much. I just got on BalletAlert to find out if anyone has seen their "Giselle" and poof! here's your review! I will definitely try to get myself a ticket to see it when they come to CT; I'd been reluctant to give up a night's work for just anybody, but the quality of performance (and the price of the ticket) have swayed me to take that evening off.

Here's a nice interview with Marlee Matlin: Marlee Matlin Talks About DWTS The first show is this upcoming Monday.

Like Dirac, I too was especially pleased that Hansard's song, "Falling," won the Best Song category. IBecause I had my busker years way back when, I turned on the Oscars simply to see Hansard and Irglova sing that song together. Their winning was the icing on the cake. I thought the finest moment in the entire show was Stewart's for bringing Irglova back out to to speak, and her thank-you was lovely. I have a different view on the gowns: I LIKED them for their simplicity. Also thought Mirren's was by far the best.

And I took Kaufman's criticism to be the hefty price tag - $60 per ticket - for that "no-frills frugality." That does seem steep to me for a studio performance.

I've got his Gibbons and Byrd recordings, but on audiotape, not CD, and I no longer have a tape player that works. In fact, very little of my collection of music is on CD because my husband and I were very busy paying college tuitions and ballet tuitions till just recently. So I am gradually converting my music to CD, and using iTunes for the rest of it. I happen to like the large collections. Maybe it's the teacher in me, or maybe it's the lifelong music student in me, but I like listening to and dissecting another musician's progression through her/his musical life. I like the history of a musician's career, including the duds. I like hearing how the nuances change over time, with the acquisition of new technique and new maturity. I enjoy the comparisons. I even like listening - but only to a certain degree, not to the point where it feels like I'm witness to a loss of dignity - to the decline of the skills in later life and seeing how the artist compensates for such. It's the record of a human's life with music, and I very much enjoy sharing in that as an audience. I think - I know - I'm obsessive in this way. When I like someone, I like someone. I don't know how much people have checked Gould out on youtube, but there's so much there visually as well as musically. He was constantly taping himself, and there are some very funny recordings posted over there.

I'm not a pianist myself. Any inkling why he hated Mozart? He played him a little, but grudgingly.

I don't know how many Glenn Gould fans there are on Ballet Alert, but I am certainly a passionate one. Here is a link to an NPR page that discusses this new 80-CD release. I am simply drooling over it. I have never heard an equal to Gould's "Goldberg Variations." Glenn Gould Now to find a way, in my latest self-imposed economy of thrift, to pay for it.

Thanks, sidwich, for the detailed explanation of connection and frame. I'm looking forward to seeing Matlin's ballroom dances now. I don't watch DWTS all that much, preferring SYTYCD (I don't work nights during the summer), but I'm going to learn how to advance record on my new DVD player so I can come home late after work and watch it. Are all the dances in the ballroom style or do they do more contemporary sorts of dances, ala SYTYCD? If so, then those would be the difficult ones for Matlin. I'm remembering Wade's dances in particular. I agree with others who've said that Yamaguchi may be the dancer to watch. I'm thrilled that she's doing this; I've been a big fan of hers ever since I saw her skate as a junior champion. Talk about work ethic! This woman is incredible.

I saw Donald Rumsfeld at a NYCB performance 4 or 5 years ago. I'm glad someone mentioned Edward Gorey. Why, one could write a whole book about his enthusiasm and support of the NYCB! I believe they still sell the famous"Gorey Five Positions [of ballet]" on NYCB T-shirts, mugs, etc. Much of his artwork and books for children reflect his devotion to ballet, and the NYCB in particular.

Because of her deafness, Ms. Matlin must be considered at a disadvantage as compared to the hearing dancers. I am really looking forward to seeing what strengths she uses to make up for this handicap. A girl in my daughter's ballet class was moderately deaf; a lovely dancer, she used vibrations to guide her through music. But her deafness is not as profound as Ms. Matlin's.