Estelle

Thanks, now it works! The Ballet du Nord really has had a troubled history: the death of Alfonso Cata, the firing of Jean-Paul Comelin after some financial problems, the Preljocaj controversy, and now Delente resigning... I hope that the company will not disappear. And I already found it a bit sad that it changed from a real ballet company to a one-choreographer company (though I liked some of Delente's works- but she really isn't a ballet choreographer). About Marseille, I don't know much about the moral harassment problems, but I'm not sure that Pietragalla's apology ("I did what Nureyev did") makes much sense, as the context is very different, and also Nureyev's directorship didn't end exactly well... And in my opinion, some problems there might be her repertory choices (no consistent style, and a lot of works which are in my opinion second-rate), and the fact that she tried to d too many things at the same time (performing and choreographing and being the director of the company and the school and dancing with other companies as a guest, etc.) Being a company director should be a full-time job.

Thanks for the information, cygneblanc, probably if she was forced to resign, there will be some information about it in the French press soon...

Marianna, thanks for your posts about the Almaty Ballet! You write very well, and it's very interesting to learn about the Almaty Ballet and its Theater.

Thanks, Hans. Edith Wharton is one of my favorite authors too (and I'm happy that many of her books have been re-published in French recently).

I have never used the online booking myself, but I've heard that in recent months it hasn't worked well. Actually, I'm nostalgic of the period around 1996 when the phone number of the box office was a "normal" phone number (not one with a higher price), and it was a different one for ballet than for opera, and it was much quicker than now (and back then they didn't charge fees for phone booking... The costs are higher and higher while the quality of the service has decreased )

Viviane, I think it was a temporary problem: I tried the second number (the one which was on the season brochures) and at first it said "ce numéro n'est pas attribué", and two minutes later it worked ("bienvenue à l'Opéra National de Paris...") The first one (the one on the site) worked too.

Oh yes, now I remember he had done another show like that before, I hadn't realized it was the same thing. By the ways, here are some news about Dupond (in French) on yahoo: http://fr.news.yahoo.com/030108/202/2xc9w.html To summarize: the Paris Opera has lost its trial against Patrick Dupond. It's a final decision by the Cour de Cassation (it can't be changed). Dupond had been fired by the Paris Opera in May 1997 (he was 38 then, and so was supposed to retire only in 2004). The direction of the Opera said he was fired because he had refused three roles while according to his contract he could only refuse two, because he didn't dance in the 1996-97 season and because he went to the Cinema Festival of Cannes as a member of the jury in may 1997 instead of rehearsing the "Sacre du Printemps". But the Cour d'Appel de Paris in 2000, and now the Cour de Cassation, said that the firing was not justified (especially as Pina Bausch didn't want him any longer to perform his "Rite of Spring", so he didn't need to rehearse it). The Paris Opera had to pay 226000 euros to Dupond. Actually I wonder who is in charge of the human resources department at the Paris Opera. If I remember correctly, the Opera had already been condamned to pay a substantial amount of money to the conductor Myung-Whun Chung because he had been fired illegally. Perhaps they should hire someone knowing the French "code du travail", it would prevent them from wasting a lot of public money... Also, I think it's sad that Dupond's dancing career ended so badly. His directorship was somewhat controversial, mostly because he still was a principal dancer, and was accused of casting himself too much. But on the other hand, he added some valuable works to the repertory ("Theme and variations", "Allegro Brillante", "Le tricorne", "Dances at a gathering", "Moves", "The Concert", "Le train bleu"...) and had some good ideas, for example a gala with most of the living former étoiles of the company. It's a pity that he had to leave the company in such bad conditions. And it's a bit sad to see him now, he doesn't really look the same, as he had a severe car accident and had to go through some facial surgery... His book "Etoile" was a bit self-serving, and focused a bit too much on his Varna gold medal, but it was touching to read his homage to his teacher Max Bozzoni (who had even accepted to give him lessons for free when he was a kid, as his mother was too poor to pay for it). By the way, Bozzoni probably is one of the only POB dancers of his generation still alive (he premiered the fourth movement of "Palais de Cristal), and I think it would be a good idea to have some sort of homage to him.

cygneblanc, I know what you mean about the discussions about promotions- well, it seems that here eveybody agrees that it's better not to start such heated discussions about it! About Osta: Katharine, I agree that Osta's repertory probably isn't as large as Maurin's now. On the other hand, she also is very good in the Balanchine and Robbins repertory (but I know you don't care for it...) And, as cygneblanc wrote, perhaps being at last an etoile will give her more self-confidence. In a recent interview, Aurélie Dupont said that being a premiere danseuse was not easy, because she generally had at most only one performance of the "big roles" (well, now, due to the lack of etoiles, the premieres danseuses get more opportunities), she knew that the direction would be watching her, and so any mistake could have been fatal to her career. That might lead some to dance in a rather "restrained" way... Still about Osta: an article by Paul Ben-Itzak mentioning her performance in "Paquita" and her promotion: http://www.danceinsider.com/chevalier/c010203.html Excerpt: "In the "Paquita" performance I saw, Osta made this statement, in her airiness as well as her lack of airs. This doesn't always serve her well; her entrance as Paquita into the gypsy lair was unspectacular. One didn't get that "the ballerina has just entered the room" buzz. But the naturalism with which she approached the role made the story believable, from her first understated glances at Bart's Lucien to her clean and earnest pantomime in the following scene, where she communicates to Lucien that her gypsy cohort Inigo (Yann Saiz) intends to give him drugged wine and then murder him. Her earnestness also had the effect of elevating her partner, with Bart, often wooden in his acting, getting swept up in the intrigue. Osta's own elevation made the dancing and the ballet. It was a throwback to the floating peris we only read about, and thus the money moment of the evening, a welcome reminder of why and how ballet is magical."

What about Diaghilev? Well, that's nearly the only example of artistic director who wasn't a dancer coming to my mind, the other one being Jean-Albert Cartier who was the director of the Ballet de Nice for a while, and before that of another company (I don't remember exactly where). But it depends a lot of the type of company, and the profile of the artistic director, for example are there some ballet masters besides the director, is the director also the main choreographer of the company, etc. And actually, I think one problem now also is that many directors are chosen mostly because they had a famous career as dancers, which says little about their abilities as company directors. I think that perhaps some education about the repertory would be useful- especially, to avoid the case of a director programming only the works s/he performed as a dancer (or worse, programming only works s/he wants to perform in as a dancer- perhaps "being both a director and a dancer generally is a bad idea" should be part of the education), or only works created in the last ten years...

Thanks for that URL, Alexandra! Actually, today I saw an ad in the metro for an upcoming show by Patrick Dupond (with more singing than dancing, it seems). But one word of warning: contrary to what it may seem at first view, this is not an official site. The link "pourquoi ce site?" (Why this site?) explains that it was done by a young women (unnamed) who was not especially interested in ballet until reading Dupond's autobiography, "Etoile" (but she says she still hasn't seen any dance performance).

Lolly, I talk about the POB because it's the company I see the most often, but I'm interested in reading your review of the RB performances! That surely looks like an exciting program (and Alexandra, your depiction of "Scenes de ballet" makes me regret once more that it's nearly impossible to see any Ashton works in France. A ballet inspired by Euclid, that sounds great! ) I saw "Sinfonietta" once, in 1995, at the Paris Opera. I don't have a precise memory of the choreography but I had found it pleasant to watch, and I especially liked the music, it made me discover Janacek.

An article by René Sirvin about the competition: http://www.imagidanse.com/francais/cadres_acceuil.html

Bienvenue cygneblanc! Actually I'm not sure Osta and Leriche are well suited to each other on stage, as he is much taller than her... I'd rather see her with a smaller partner, like Jérémie Bélingard for example. Here is a link to an article by René Sirvin about Osta's promotion: http://www.imagidanse.com/francais/presse/...nv-03/Osta.html

Well, it was a big surprise for me to learn about Clairemarie Osta's promotion, not because I thought she didn't deserve it (I'm very happy that she got promoted), but because I thought she was now considered as too old to me promoted (she's 32). I'm happy to be proven wrong, and hope that her last 8 years with the company will be great. She's already danced quite a lot of big roles (Gamzatti, Kitri, Paquita last year- saving the premiere after Aurélie Dupong and Agnès Letestu were injured), created Petit's "Clavigo" two seasons ago, and I especially like her in the Balanchine and Robbins repertory (for example I have fond memories of her performance in the first pas de deux of "In the Night" two or three seasons ago). I hope that Maris-Agnès Gillot will finally be promoted someday too (from what I've heard, the reason why she hasn't been yet might be her very tall height, which makes it difficult to find suitable partners for her- well, perhaps the direction is happy to have her as a première danseuse and make her dance three different roles in the same ballet, as in "Don Quixote" last season ) but nonetheless think that Osta's promotion was deserved, and should have happened earlier. In my opinion, she might not be a "great" principal like Platel, Loudières or Guérin, but she's a very valuable dancer, elegant and delicate. By the way, Katharine, while I agree with some of the criticism about the school's policy, Osta herself doesn't come from the POB school: she was trained at the Conservatoire, and got into the school only for one year (and I remember some interviews of her in which she said that it had not been easy for her to get accepted by the other students, who had known each other for years). But I wonder if it is a coincidence that three of the four last promoted principals weren't trained originally at the POB school: Osta from the Conservatoire, Pujol from the Besso Ballet Académie in Toulouse (by the way, in several interviews, she was very, very negative about that school, talking about "brainwashing" and accusing her former teachers to make money at their students' health's expense) and José Martinez from the Hightower school in Cannes. It makes one regret that the POB school doesn't accept any longer Lausanne medalists (as Osta and Martinez) and Conservatoire students. Some might still get into the company first as "surnuméraires", and then being fully hired by the company, but it's really difficult.

Well, the price of the tickets is a bit too high for me!

I'd add to the list Saint-Léon, Perrot, and also poor Giuseppina Bozzachi and Emma Livry, they had such short lives!

Manuel Legris in Petit's "L'Arlésienne". Not a great ballet, but what a great dancer! Seeing Isabelle Guérin on the POB stage again (in Robbins' "Other dances"). Getting to see the Kirov ballet for the first time (and with their magnificent orchestra). The POB school program ("La fille mal gardée" and "Scotch symphony"). Seeing two of the only remaining real ballet companies in France: the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse in a Balanchine mixed bill on tour, and the Ballet National de Bordeaux (especially their "The Four Temperaments", and what a joy to see Charles Jude on stage again!) "Swan lake" at the Opéra Bastille, not so much for the ballet itself, but because I saw it with (and thanks to) Giannina

Neumeier's version (premiered in 1997) will be performed again at the Paris Opera within a few days. I'm not really a fan of Neumeier, but at least it was a good idea to commission a ballet on that lovely score (and what a wonderful cast for the premiere: Loudières, Platel, Legris, Martinez, Le Riche...) Darsonval did stage a revival (of Aveline's production, after Mérante) in the late 1970s, but unfortunately it seems that the POB direction has no intention at all to revive it again.

By the way, Zakharova will be invited again to dance "Paquita" in January. I wonder if the fact that the POB has started inviting again some guest stars means that there really is a problem in the female principals department, or if it's just that the direction thinks that it's a good opportunity for the audience to see dancers from other companies (after all, there will be at least four other Paquitas from the company). I think guest stars also are an issue for smaller companies. On one hand, inviting guest stars to dance the main role of their productions is more likely to attract a wide audience, but on the other hand, it's not good to develop the local dancers (and to attract good dancers in the company). And for example, a major change in the Ballet de Toulouse when Nanette Glushak became its director a few years ago was that she decided to stop inviting guest stars (generally from POB) for their main productions, and gave the roles to local dancers (well, some new dancers were hired too, and the repertory of the company was changed). I don't know how the local audience reacted then, but now the level of the company seems to have improved quite a lot, and they seem to have many talented soloists able to dance the main roles. But probably making such a decision must be a bit hard sometimes, because it takes some time to grow good dancers, and the transitional period can be a bit difficult (especially with a small budget).

Zouaves and légionnaires! Oh God. What else, some Chasseurs alpins with their big strange bérets? Polytechniciens with a tricorne? Saint-Cyriens with their casoars? Sounds like the défile of July 14th... Eek! :eek:

Could someone explain a bit more how "Tricolore" was (how many dancers, which music, etc.)? My copy of "Repertory in Review" isn't with me... But probably "Emeralds" or "La Source" are a better homage to France that such a ballet (was there really something about the Garde Républicaine? Argh, I've always found their uniforms quite ugly...)

In French, it is "harcèlement moral". It is a rather recent term, I think, and it's a bit like "sexual harrassment" (harcèlement sexuel), it refers to people who are badly treated at work by their colleagues or superiors (insulted, criticized all the time with no reason, etc.), sometimes in order to force them to resign. A book about it was very popular one or two years ago. The title of the first article in Libération "L'Opéra de Paris épinglé pour harcèlement moral" (The Paris Opera criticized for moral harrassment), and it focused mostly to what was written about the working conditions in some technical teams (costumes, wigs and make up), where an unusually high number of employees had resigned, had left earlier than planned for retirement or had been away for sickness, the term "harcèlement moral" wasn't about the POB school.

Well, quite a long time ago there also was Marie Taglioni's "mal de genou"... ;) Also, it depends on what you call "internationally renowned", but for example Maria Tallchief had a daughter before retiring, Lynn Seymour had three sons, Zizi Jeanmaire had a daughter...

What an impressive list! It's interesting to see the names of Thibon and Motte, they were very young POB principals then (that generation has been a little bit forgotten now)... What a pity such a book is impossible to find now.

Sorry to reply late (I had missed that thread), but the list mentioned by svemaus also includes quite a lot of modern dance companies which have very little to do with ballet. I think the list of companies hiring ballet-trained dancers would include: -Paris Opera Ballet (but it's almost impossible to get there if you don't come from the POB school) -Ballet National de Bordeaux -Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse -Ballets de Monte-Carlo (in Monaco) -Ballet National de Marseille -Ballet du Rhin (but their repertory includes more and more modern dance) -Centre Chorégraphique National de Nancy et de Lorraine (same remark as the Ballet du Rhin) -Ballet de l'Opéra de Nice -Ballet Biarritz And that's about all.