Estelle

I've often heard about Maria de Avila too. She was Ullate's teacher, and among her former students there was also Ana Laguna (Mats Ek's wife, who premiered many of his works). In 1992, the theme of the Biennale of Lyon was "Pasion de Espana", and I remember reading some articles about dance in Spain; if I remember correcly, there is no real tradition of ballet in Spain (unlike in Italy, France or Russia, for example). There are other traditions, like flamenco, or danza bolera. The main classical company featured in that Biennale was not from Spain- it was the ballet of Cuba! (By the way, is there a "Cuban school"?) And even now there are not many ballet companies there- mostly Ullate's own company, and the ballet of Zaragoza, so many Spanish dancers have to go abroad to find a job...

Ah, they have added some paragraphs at the end of the article. It says among other things that the Ballet National de Marseille had ended the year 2001 with a deficit of 600000 euros, mostly because Pietragalla's creation "Sakountala" had costed 1 million euros (I'm not familiar with such figures, but isn't it a lot for such a company?) The number of dancers of the company has decreased from 41 to 35, and the administrator says that the deficit should be around 150000-200000 euros for 2002. Actually I don't know how the other French companies work- I don't know if there is only one director for everything, or an administrative and an artistic one... At the Paris Opera, there used to be a "directeur de la danse" and an "administrateur de la danse", but when Brigitte Lefevre switched from "administrateur" (when Dupond was directeur) to "directeur" there was no "administrateur" any longer. But also there didn't seem to be a clear difference between the two jobs, for example I've read that Jean-Albert Cartier, who was the administrateur at the beginning of Dupond's directorship, has insisted on staging some Massine and Nijinska works. In Marseille, Pietregalla was so far the director (administrative and artistic) of the company, and also the director of the school, she choreographed several works for them, danced in most productions, and also performed from time to time with other companies or alone with a program of solos.

I've just seen the following news on yahoo.fr: http://fr.news.yahoo.com/021118/202/2usg1.html It says that Marie-Claude Pietragalla will leave the administrative direction of the Ballet National de Marseille, but will keep its artistic direction. The new administrative director, Marc Sadaoui, is someone form the Ministry of Culture and had been working with the company since May.

diane wrote: "It is sheer impossible to avoid second-hand smoke here. It is nearly everywhere." I agree with that- and I think it's especially bad in France (I'm really fed up with that attitude typical of some French people that "laws are for other people only"... about smoking in public places, driving while drunk or over the speed limit, etc.) One of my best friends is allergic to smoke (her eyes and throat itch a lot, it's a consequence of another allergy to acarians, I think). Well, it was totally impossible for us to find a restaurant to go to in Marseille, except in the summer season when we could have dinner or lunch outside. Very, very few restaurants there have separate rooms for smokers and non-smokers (though there are laws saying that they must- but nobody pays attention to that law, unfortunately) and in the few that have such rooms, the separation isn't good enough, there is some smoke going into the non-smokers part. Well, even at my wedding, though I insisted that smokers should smoke outside, there were people smoking in the dinner room (and my friend had to leave early). From what I've read recently, the percentage of smokers among people between 15 and 24 in France is the highest in the European Union (53%, while the average is 41%, Sweden has the lowest figure with about 21%- however, I don't know how those statistics were made). I don't know about dancers. But I remember an anecdote which was told to me by a POB dancer: in Roland Petit's "Carmen", the dancers of the corps de ballet have to smoke during a scene- and she said that each time they performed it, there were some dancers who had stopped smoking who started smoking again after performing the ballet...

It's interesting to read about the reactions about that "Sacre": if I remember correctly, most of the reviews about it I've read in French magazines were negative (but I don't remember exactly why). I haven't seen that program, as so far the few Preljocaj works that I've seen mostly made me feel bored, but perhaps if I have an opportunity to see that one I might give it a try...

Wow! I had read some reviews by Ms Barzel in the French-Italian "Ballet 2000", but I didn't know she was as elderly! She must have a huge experience.

Thanks for posting these reviews, Alexandra! But it surprises me that all the works are said ti belong to the POB's repertory: I didn't think "Flames of Paris" or "Ma Pavlova" were in the repertory...

Which Spanish dancers are you talking about exactly? I've read that most of the Spanish dancers who have become famous recently (Lucia Lacarra, Tamara Rojo, Angel Corella, Joaquin de Luz...) studied with Victor Ullate in Madrid, so perhaps it would be worth studying what's happening there. :-)

Thanks for the lovely stories! Now, Major Mel, when will you write your memories? You seem to have met about everybody in the worls of dance!

I've just found the following portrait of Lady MacMillan using google, and thought it might be interesting: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/...4236876,00.html

[Note: silly, I has missed the second page of the thread and was replying to Alexandra's post...] Also having a map would make it easier for non-new yorkers to understand the discussion By the way (sorry if it's getting a bit off-topic) I think it might be a bit interesting (even if somewhat morbid) to have some list of ballet-related cemeteries... A few years ago, the French magazine "Danser" had made an article with photographs of the graves of many ballet people buried in or near Paris. Are there some famous graves of ballet people in NYC? For example, is Balanchine's tomb there? Perhaps we could even start an "online ballet graveyard" with scanned photos of tombs or urns... The only one I can offer is that of Isadora Duncan's urn at the Pere Lachaise (last spring my husband's friends organized a weird "bachelor's day" (like a bachelor party) for him which started near the urn of Georges Perec at the Pere Lachaise, and since he noticed Isadora Duncan's name not very far he took a photo of it).

[Note: silly, I has missed the second page of the thread and was replying to Alexandra's post...] Also having a map would make it easier for non-new yorkers to understand the discussion By the way (sorry if it's getting a bit off-topic) I think it might be a bit interesting (even if somewhat morbid) to have some list of ballet-related cemeteries... A few years ago, the French magazine "Danser" had made an article with photographs of the graves of many ballet people buried in or near Paris. Are there some famous graves of ballet people in NYC? For example, is Balanchine's tomb there? Perhaps we could even start an "online ballet graveyard" with scanned photos of tombs or urns... The only one I can offer is that of Isadora Duncan's urn at the Pere Lachaise (last spring my husband's friends organized a weird "bachelor's day" (like a bachelor party) for him which started near the urn of Georges Perec at the Pere Lachaise, and since he noticed Isadora Duncan's name not very far he took a photo of it).

Hi Danceon, thanks for telling us about the performance you attended! It must have been an exciting evening to attend a ballet performance for the first time... But could you tell us a bit more, for example which ballet company was it, in which theater/city did it take place, and what was the name of the choreographer? Also, were there some scenes that you especially liked?

I know what you mean atm- even if for me it was a much shorter period... I started being interested in ballet around 1991, when I was 16, my parents accepted to attend a performance occasionally but weren't especially motivated, and neither my friends. What a relief it was to discover alt.arts.ballet in 1995, just after I had got some access to the Net in my university in Lyon (and in that period there weren't many web pages about ballet, most companies didn't have a web site yet), and to see that there were some other people sharing my passion! And I find reading this site much more convenient than reading a.a.b., thanks to the moderation and the existence of various sub-forums- I just regret that some a.a.b. regulars seldom post...

I know what you mean atm- even if for me it was a much shorter period... I started being interested in ballet around 1991, when I was 16, my parents accepted to attend a performance occasionally but weren't especially motivated, and neither my friends. What a relief it was to discover alt.arts.ballet in 1995, just after I had got some access to the Net in my university in Lyon (and in that period there weren't many web pages about ballet, most companies didn't have a web site yet), and to see that there were some other people sharing my passion! And I find reading this site much more convenient than reading a.a.b., thanks to the moderation and the existence of various sub-forums- I just regret that some a.a.b. regulars seldom post...

As Major Mel, I saw Alexandra's messages on alt.arts.ballet about this site, and so after a while I had a look at it... and quickly became addicted!

As Major Mel, I saw Alexandra's messages on alt.arts.ballet about this site, and so after a while I had a look at it... and quickly became addicted!

Well, I didn't know that there was a ballet dedicated to me!!! Of course I'm green with envy not having seen all that. But that's great to read about it anyway!

I know that it's a bit difficult to post reviews while knowing the choreographer is reading, but (Leigh, close your eyes ;) )... how was it?

Oh, I really was sleepy when I posted that I meant 82, of course.

While browsing the last issue of "Danse- Conservatoire" (I didn't buy it, so my memory isn't very precise), I noticed that it announced that the former POB étoile Roger Fenonjois passed away recently, at the age of 1982. Here's what the notice about Fenonjois in Jacques Baril's "Dictionnaire de la danse" (1964) says: born in Paris, French dancer and ballet master. Training and career at the Paris Opera Ballet, promoted to principal dancer in 1946. [The "Danse- Conservatoire" article also said he left the Paris Opera in 1948.] Ballet Master at the Teatro Sodre in Montevideo, 1949-1951, 1954-56, at the Grand Theatre de Bordeaux, 1952-54, 1956-57, now [1964] ballet master in Lima. Foundator with Leone Mail of the "Ballets 53". Main choreographies: "Quadrille", Paris Opera, 1946, "La Calle", "Paillasse" for the City ballet of Lima. Married with Lolita Parent, ballet master of the Grand Theatre de Bordeaux. Fenonjois also was in the first cast of Lifar's "Suite en blanc" in 1943. He's not listed among the male POB principals in the first edition of Ivor Guest's "Paris Opera Ballet", but is listed in the second edition (as being with the company between 1936 and 1949). By the way, it is quite sad to read that list of principals, because so many of them have passed away in recent years (Peretti, Ritz, Renault, Algaroff, Van Dijk...) without getting much attention from the media...

Manhattnik, thanks for the explanation about Palais de Cristal/ Symphony in C. I was imagining if it was possible for some dancers to change their costumes between movements, but probably it would be too complicated (and the finale would look a bit awkward)- and anyway, probably in 1947 the POB corps de ballet was large enough to have enough dancers for each part. I didn't know that the change in costumes was because of the doubling up... Actually I like both sets of costumes, it gives different atmospheres to the ballet but both are great. (The only costumes I didn't like were those of the men in an excerpt of video with Allegra Kent in a documentary- I think it was already discussed here- with the bizarre white socks for the men... )

Alexandra, thanks for the explanation. So, if I understand it correctly, the difference for "Symphony in C" is that if you double up some corps roles, then there are fewer dancers on stage for the finale? I wonder if some corps roles were doubled for "Palais de Cristal"- and also, how does the stage of the Palais Garnier compare to that of the City Center? (Oh, to see the gorgeous finale of "Palais de Cristal" on stage again... )

Leigh, what do you mean by "doubling up corps roles"?

Thanks for the information Jorgen! Actually it was the first post I made on this board four years ago, but it's still interesting to know that Anna Polikarpova can be seen on DVD.