Estelle

Perhaps I've been too influenced by the movie (I've read the book too, but it was long ago), but I really have trouble imagining Legris as Rhett (I wonder what he would look like with a moustache and darker hair...) On the other hand, I agree about Le Riche (he already had a moustache in Petit's "Le Guepard", and it suited him quite well ) What was Melanie supposed to look like? In my memory, she didn't look like Maurin, but except that I think that the personality of the character would suit her well. About Ashley: I can't help remembering the guy who played that role in the movie (he didn't look bright at all in my opinion), and so trying to imagine Peter Boal in his role is a bit odd. What about the smaller roles? Scarlett's parents, her sisters, her two previous husbands (not very flattering roles, I'm afraid), Aunt Pittypat...

Well, I probably am not very competent to write about it, since I started being interested years after Lifar's death... But from what I have read, yes, as you wrote, Lifar was taken far more seriously in France than in other countries- at least, as a choreographer. As a director, I think that most people (in France and abroad) agree that the level of the company improved under his directorship, and that he developed some bright dancers (especially Chauvire). Also, for example, I read that it was him who obtained that the lights of the Paris Opera were switched off during the ballets (before, they still were on- many people seemed to attend performances just to see the rest of the audience...). As a choreographer, in the 40s-50s-60s he seems to have been very popular in France (and gained much critical appraisal), and was "the" classical French choreographer. Now the situation is quite different, and it seems that he's sinking into oblivion (the last full Lifar program at the POB was ten years ago, and many of the dancers who worked with him passed away) - not a good thing in my opinion (I've only seen "Suite en blanc", and while I wouldn't consider him as a great genius, I found that ballet quite good, and it should be a company's duty to try to preserve its heritage). One of the only people who still seems interested in preserving his works is Claude Bessy, the director of the POB school (who danced many of his ballets when she was a POB principal), who staged several of this ballets for the school. Another "cultural divide" coming to my mind is musical comedies. While they seem quite popular in UK and in the US, in France all attemps to stage musical comedies were failures, except the recent success of "Starmania" and "Notre-Dame de Paris". A way to notice such "cultural divides" is reading books about dance history written by authors from different countries. Of course sometimes it just shows the authors' particular biases or tastes, but sometimes there are differences which are quite striking. For example, in several such French books, Ashton and MacMillan aren't even mentioned (and in general, there are very few things about the Royal Ballet). But such differences may depend on the period too (French books of the 70s were more likely to include long, enthusiastic pages about Bejart than recent ones). Alexandra, what you wrote about your experience was very interesting. One of the enjoyable things of this site is that there are people from many different places and backgrounds, and it's interesting to see how opinions differ sometimes (and also, for me, to compare what I read here and what I read in the French press, for example). And for example, I'm quite sure that if I hadn't read many reviews of NYCB performances on this site before seeing the company in Edinburgh last summer, my vision would have been quite different (and perhaps I would have enjoyed it less- at least, thanks to all the comments I had read, all that sounded a bit less unfamiliar to me...)

I've never seen that ballet, but it reminds me of "Les rois maudits", a series of historical novels by Maurice Druon about the 100-years war between France and England. (Not great literature, and probably not totally accurate historically, but good for long summers in a remote village). One thing that had striked me in that book was all the horrible executions and murders (depicted with quite a lot of details): the executions of the lovers of the daughters-in-law of Philippe IV (how do you say "ecartele"), those of the Temple knights (burned), quite a lot of people who had their head cut off with an axe, the death of Roger Mortimer... and also that horrible death of Edward II. Enough to make people have nightmares...

For those who understand French, there's an online dictionary at: http://www.francophonie.hachette-livre.fr/ For "mirliton", it says: "mirliton n. m. Instrument de musique formé d'un tube percé de deux trous, bouché aux deux extrémités par une membrane."- you're right Major Mel... Actually I didn't know the meaning of that word before: I only know the expression "vers de mirliton" (mirliton verses), which just means awful poetry (and so thought that a mirliton was something like an awful poet... )

I know Monique Loudieres danced it in 1994 (I had seen another cast then, with Francoise Legree in that movement), so it probably was filmed then... Pity there are so few available videos of Loudieres (what did you think of her?) But we're getting a bit off-topic now... Alexandra wrote: It's a pity for Marseille that she didn't stay here (Petit had hired her at the beginning of her career), but surely she has a more rewarding repertory in San Francisco (and also I suspect that Pietragalla might not like to share the stage with another ballerina...)

Jeannie, I'm feeling a bit jealous. As far as I know, they last danced it in Paris around 1994, but they might have danced it on tour a bit later. I really regret they don't dance it more often...

Jeannie, may I ask which was the POB video of "Palais de Cristal" you saw? I didn't even know that such a video existed... Who were dancing the main roles? I saw the SFB in "Bugaku" in Paris, with Muriel Maffre in the main role. I have a good memory of it, but not very precise, as it was in 1994 and I was almost a newcomer then.

I'm feeling really jealous of all the people who saw that program- it really sounds wonderful... It's interesting to see that Quillere seems to get more interesting roles with the Miami City Ballet than with his own company (he used to be cast quite a lot in Balanchine ballets a few years ago, for example in "The Prodigal Son" or as the Melancholic in "The Four Temperaments", but now seldom dances). About "Divertimento n.15": reading the comments about it in Nancy Reynolds' "Repertory in review" (I can't quote them here, since the book is at my parents' home, but they were very laudative) really made me looking forward to seeing that ballet one day... Unfortunately, the POB hasn't performed it for about ten years (and the only other French company having it in its repertory is the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, but they don't tour much in France, and when they do they seem more likely to schedule full-length works by Maillot ).

Jeannie, thanks a lot for the explanation! From what you wrote, it seems to have some common points with "Western symphony" (that I appreciated very much in Edinburgh): some mixture of American traditions or stereotypes and classical ballet... and it works!

Jeannie, thanks for your review. That Balanchine festival sounds really interesting. Could someone explain to me what a square dance exactly is (who is the caller, what are the "rhymes"), and how it is used in that ballet? All what I've ever seen from that ballet is the male solo danced by Manuel Legris in the "Balanchine Celebration" video, and I think that it probably is the solo from 1976 you mentioned.

On August 19th, on an especially rainy and cold afternoon in Edinburgh (it looked like February in Marseille), I attended a performance of the third program of the New York City Ballet. The first work of the program, "Serenade", was the oldest work of all the repertory of the three programs, but it looked as fresh as it had been done yesterday instead of 65 years ago. Having watched hundreds of times the NYCB video of this ballet, I was especially happy to see the NYCB dancing it "for real" (I had also seen it with the Paris Opera Ballet). I especially liked the opening section, so simple and yet so moving, and also the Waltz section, danced with charm and musicality by KyraNichols and Charles Askegard (he really looked great with that costume, what a line...). Helene Alexopoulos, as one of the three ballerinas, was very beautiful too. The end of the ballet, when the ballerina seems to be forced to accept some sort of sacrifice, was especially moving, Kyra Nichols' looks were heart-wrenching. And there also would be so many things to say about the great geometry of this ballet, all the beautiful ways to organize the corps de ballet... Right after that masterpiece of beauty, poetry and delicacy, the audience was thrown into a very different world: it was followed by Peter Martins' "Fearful symmetries". I'm afraid I can't find any word more positive than "very noisy" to depict the music, and, while most of the ballets I don't like usually make me feel like yawning, that one made me feel like taking an aspirin and buying ear-plugs. Everything looked hectic, even when the music slowed down there still was something very tense (partly in the music, partly in the choreography), and it seemed to go on forever. The opening part of "Serenade" (with all the dancers raising their hands) is a proof that some very simple moves can be enough to make an extremely moving sequence, but it seemed that Peter Martins had completely forgotten that while creating that work. There might have been some interesting steps, but I'm afraid the music and the infernal rhythm of all that prevented me from really seeing them, and all what remains in my memory is the sight of a lot of frenetic red things. The only positive aspect was that the dancers (M. Tracey, Weese, Borree, Millepied, Soto, Neal, Gold...) seemed to be enjoying what they were doing, but I couldn't share their enthusiasm. While most of the audience was positive, it was the only work of the three programs which caused a few whistles. Fortunately, the following work, "Tchaikovsky pas de deux", was far more pleasant. Unfortunately, Wendy Whelan suddenly fell during the first part (I guess her shoe must have slipped on something on the stage, because it was not in a difficult step), which caused a collective gasp of the audience, but she recovered quickly (even though she looked perhaps a bit nervous). I still found her too thin (and that pale pink costume didn't suit her very well), but she was technically bright, and I guess one has to be Peter Boal to look great even in that bizarre pale blue costume (with a kind of knot on the collar which makes it look like an old costume for little boys). However, that performance won't erase the wonderful performance of Elisabeth Platel and Nicolas Le Riche in that ballet from my memory. I was looking forward to seeing the last work of the program, "Western symphony", as I had never seen it (except an excerpt on the Balanchine Celebration video). I was not disappointed, and appreciated it very much: it is a work which has something for all audiences, a lot of humor and wit, some nice acting, but also some real choreography, with well-structured ensemble parts, pas de deux and solos. The brightly colored costumes were very pleasant too. The first movement, with Nilas Martins and Pascale Van Kipnis, seems to have been a bit disturbed by some technical problems with Van Kipnis' skirt (a frill was too long), and Martins looked perhaps a bit too naive, but the last two movements were excellent, with Ringer and Evans, and Kowroski and Hubbe, all of whom had great stage presence and danced beautifully. The finale was wonderful, and welcomed with much enthusiasm by the audience. As a conclusion, on the whole I was very happy to see all those performances, and have two wishes: I hope that the NYCB will come to France soon, and also that the POB will decide to dance all the Balanchine works in its repertory a bit more often... [This message has been edited by Estelle (edited August 29, 2000).]

Hey, one can't have everything! You already can see them in New York! (And I didn't tell you about the weather in Edinburgh...)

The second program of the NYCB tour to Edinburgh included four works of Balanchine. I attended it on Aug 18. It began with "Concerto Barocco", and when seeing it I realized again how deeply I loved that ballet, how beautiful the music and the choreography were (I had fallen in love with that ballet when I first saw it, even though it was performed by a not very uniform corps de ballet of students in Lyon...) and what a great feeling of harmony and serenity it gave. Indeed, just seeing it would have been worth the trip to Edinburgh. I especially appreciated Jennie Somogyi in the soloist role, with somthing daring in her style (but never careless). By contrast, Margaret Tracey, who danced the main role, looked a bit too calm (I'm afraid it was the general feeling Margaret Tracey gave me in her performances: a nice dancer with a clean style, but not showing much personality. But of course four performances aren't enough to judge a dancer.) Nikolaj Hubbe managed to have some stage presence in a not very rewarding role. The second work was "Duo Concertant". I was looking forward to seeing it, as it is not in the POB's repertory, but was a bit disappointed. Perhaps it is because I didn't like much to the music (but I guess I might just need some time to get used to it), and perhaps also because I found that the dancers (Nilas Martins and Yvonne Borree) were somewhat bland, with little stage presence and chemistry. However, the very end of the ballet, with the male soloist kissing the had of his partner in the dark, was quite moving and mysterious. I preferred the third work, "The Four temperaments". The three pas de deux of the theme alone would be enough to consider it as a great ballet, and all the variations were wonderful. I especially liked Peter Boal in the Melancholic variation (what a great moment when the female corps de ballet arrived on stage, with their threatening pointes), and also Albert Evans, who had some kind of feline grace and fluidity in the "phlegmatic" variation. Kathleen Tracey was very energetic in the Choleric variation, and the finale was stunning. It also was interesting to find some similaries between that work and "Agon", which was created 11 years later. The last work was "Symphony in three movements". While most of the audience received it enthusiastically, I'm afraid I was only half satisfied with it. Perhaps it was parly because of the music, that I didn't like much, because of the somewhat bizarre costumes (those shades of pink didn't go well together), and also because, as in "Agon", I had trouble getting used to the pairing of Jock Soto and Wendy Whelan in the central pas de deux (also, Abi Stafford and Wendy Whelan looked so dissimilar next to each other!) Also there was something which looked a bit too dated for me. It wasn't a bad work, and there were some really good moments in the variations, but after a masterpiece such as "The Four Temperaments", to me it looked like a rather minor work. Pst-scriptum: does anybody know how to find a recording of "The Four Temperaments"? I found a CD of it once in a French shop, was stupid enough not to buy it, and never found it again. [This message has been edited by Estelle (edited August 28, 2000).]

Lynette Halewood has just posted her review about two of the NYCB performances in Edinburgh (that of the 17th (reviewed above) and that of the 19th matinee) on ballet.co.uk: http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/891.html# Michael: I think that the audiences generally were very positive, at all the performances I attended. The only piece which had some negative reactions (but most of the audience still was positive) was "Fearful symmetries"). However, I found the applausing a little bit tepid compared with what I am used to at the Paris Opera (for example, the clapping never got synchronized, and the curtain went up and down not so much), but I really don't know if it's a matter of moderate enthusiasm or just a cultural difference. And while the comments differed about the dancers and a few of the works (most notably "Dances at a gathering"), it seems to me that everybody was unanimous about the enthusiasm for all those Balanchine masterpieces. [This message has been edited by Estelle (edited August 28, 2000).]

Mary Cargill, I'm apologize: it was by mistake that I wrote that Ringer danced the role of the girl in pink. In fact, she danced the girl in yellow (I guess it's what you mean by "apricot") in both casts. (The girl in pink was danced by Kyra Nichols in the first cast and Yvonne Borree in the second cast). Sorry for the mistake. Actually, after reading some of the reviews about "Mozartiana" on this board, I really regret that they didn't bring it on tour (I wouldn't have minded seeing it instead of, for example, "Fearful symmetries"... ) Leigh, your question about the repertory for mature ballerinas is interesting (but perhaps it would deserve its own thread?) How old is Kyra Nichols now? You mentioned only the Balanchine repertory, but I guess that Robbins' "In the night" could be listed too. It's a pity that none of the works you listed are in the POB's repertory, because they have (or have recently had) plenty of mature ballerinas (Platel, Guerin, Arbo, Gaida)...

Here's the URL of Ann's review of the three programs: http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/885.html#

I had the luck to attend four performances of the New York City Ballet in Edinburgh, on Aug 17, 18 and 19, at the Edinburgh Playhouse. The Playhouse is a big theater, and I wouldn't count it among the nicest ones I've ever seen. The main principle of its decoration seems to be "the more red, the better", so it almost looks as if it had been built by the count Dracula, the sight lines from the stalls aren't good (I was told that it used to be a cinema, which might explain the unsufficient rake) and at the intermission everything is so crowded that it would almost make one become claustrophobic. The first program included "Agon", "Dances at a gathering" and "Symphony in C". I saw it twice, on Aug 17 and Aug 19. The casts were almost the same, but there was one big difference for me: I was at the front balcony on the 17th, and in the stalls on the 19th, and realized then how bad the sight lines in the stalls were, and how better the ballets looked when seen from above, especially for "Symphony in C". I had already seen "Agon" twice at the Paris Opera, in 1995 and 1996, and also the excerpts on the "Balanchine Celebration" video. I was wondering if it would look very different on stage, but the difference wasn't striking (perhaps it is just that my eyes aren't trained enough to see the differences). Peter Boal was as wonderful as on the video, except that it was a thousand times more exciting to see him on stage. He probably is the dancer who impressed me the most during those performances, and now I would feel ready to see him in almost any choreography. I loved his stage presence, his very pure and clean style, and also some kind of pleasant modesty in his stage demeanor (he surely isn't a dancer who would change the choreography just to show off a higher jump or more turns). On the ballet.co.uk forum, Ann Williams called him "a stage aristocrat", and I wholly agree with her. All those qualities reminded me of Manuel Legris (probably my favorite male POB dancer now with Jean-Guillaume Bart), I'd be interested in hearing the opinion of the people who have seen both of them perform. (By the way, there's a nice photo of him on Leigh Witchel's web site at http://members.aol.com/dnceasever/upcoming.htm and I envy the people who will be able to see him in September in the solo Leigh choreographed for him. No, I haven't been paid to write that! ;-) ) In the second cast, Boal was replaced with Alexander Ritter, who danced it well, but didn't impress me as much. Maria Kowroski was nice in the second trio, especially in the wonderful "Bransle Gay" solo, but I found her a bit too "sweet" (I had had the same problem with Maurin at the POB). But the big difference was the pas de deux. It used to be danced in Paris by the principals (now retired) Jean-Yves Lormeau and Francoise Legree; Lormeau was a tall, slender dancer, and Legree, while well-proportioned, was very feminine, with nice curves. In their pas de deux, the energy seemed to come from him, and she was somewhat passive and manipulated. In Edinburgh, the roles were danced by Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto, who were just the opposite. Whelan danced quite a lot in the four performances I saw, and I'm afraid I always had some trouble getting used with her unusual, very skinny and muscular body shape. I admired her strength and command of the stage, but would have preferred a bit more of sweetness in her dancing (especially in "Symphony in C"). Also, I found her pairing with Jock Soto not very good, because their body types are so different that it makes both of them look not very good (she looks even skinnier and Soto's torso looks even larger). However, their interpretation of the pas de deux was interesting, with a strong, fast, powerful female and a rather passive male. The second work of the evening was "Dances at a gathering". Many of the reviews in the British press had been very negative about the choreography, so I was a bit worried before seeing it, but it seems that my tastes differ from those of most British critics, since I liked that work a lot (even though I found it a bit too long at the end). Of course, its style, structure and atmosphere are very different from those of "Agon", but there is more than one kind of good ballet... I enjoyed very much the lovely, delicate Chopin pieces played by Cameron Grant. The dancers that I preferred were Kyra Nicholas as the woman in pink in the first cast (alternating with Yvonne Borree), so moving and musical, and Damian Woetzel and Peter Boal as the man in brown (respectively in the first and second cast). Woetzel was especially bright in the fast solo variation towards the end, displaying great virtuosity and some wit and humor, while Boal was at his best in the opening slower, dreamy solo, there was something in his dancing that brought me close to tears. I also liked the lyricism of Helene Alexopoulos as the woman in mauve, the joy and virtuosity of Jenifer Ringer as the girl in pink (*correction*: yellow), and the poetry of Maria Kowroski as the girl in green. The program ended with "Symphony in C". I had seen "Palais de Cristal" at the Paris Opera in 1994, but, except the costumes, my memory wasn't precise enough to enable me to see the differences in the choreography. The British reviews had been very negative about the corps de ballet in that work, but again, I somewhat disagreed with them, and I don't know if it's a matter of taste, of technical knowledge (mine is very limited), or if it is because they saw the program of Aug 14 and I saw those of Aug 17 and Aug 20 and the dancers had improved in three days (or that they had more experience than me with the company, and were comparing with better days) There sometimes were a few problems of angles of the dancers'legs or arms, and I found the corps de ballet not as disciplined as that of the POB, but on the whole it was very satisfying. In the main roles, I didn't like much Nilas Martins in the first movement, he seemed to be doing his best, but his best seemed not very good for a principal dancer of a big company, and it was a bit embarrassing to see the two male soloists of this movement (Jared Angle and Jason Fowler) seeming more at ease than him. His partner, Margaret Tracey, danced cleanly, but left me a bit cold. In the second movement, I had the same reservations as before about Wendy Whelan, but found that her silhouette was better paired with that of Charles Askegard (what a nice line, by the way- I'm afraid that standing next to him wasn't very flattering for Nilas Martins at the end of the ballet). On Aug 17, I found the moment when she touched her knee with her head a bit too forced (she stopped for a second before finally doing it), it looked better on Aug 19. In the third movement, I enjoyed very much Jennie Somogyi and Nikolaj Hubbe, with with great stage presence and dazzling virtuosity. In the last movement, Abi Stafford looked very young but did a fine job, well partnered by Alexander Ritter on the 17th and Albert Evans on the 19th. The finale was exhilarating- when all the dancers of the previous movements came back on stage, I felt like a three years old kid discovering that hey, there still is another parcel under the Christmas tree... This is a ballet I could see many times in a row without feeling bored, and I regret even more that the POB direction doesn't program "Palais de Cristal" more often. Well, for those who haven't fallen asleep yet, I plan to write something about the other two programs as soon as possible (and also to improve the clumsy editing). [This message has been edited by Estelle (edited August 28, 2000).]

Thanks for the comments, Alexandra. I had seen "Axioma 7" about 5 years ago, when it was performed by the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve (which had premiered it) at the Aix festival. It had a half-circle of chairs too, but if I remember correctly it was quite different from the work I saw yesterday (I don't remember a man in a red dress, but well, my memories aren't very precise. I remember Leigh had written some comments about it a long time ago in alt.arts.ballet, perhaps he remembers it more precisely than us?) Anyway, that short work was far less interesting than "Perpetuum", which was danced recently by the POB- not a masterpiece in my opinion, but at least it had some humor and imagination... Thanks for the information about Susan Hendl. By the way, Jean-Albert Cartier seems to be an interesting person, from what I've read. For example, if I remember correctly, it was him who was the administrator of dance at the Paris Opera at the beginning of Dupond's directorship, and who suggested to add works such as Massine's "Le Tricorne" or Nijinska's "Le train bleu" to the repertory.

Most French cultural festivals, including those dealing with dance, take place in June or July, so that August nearly is a cultural desert here. Moreover, most of the dance festivals feature only modern dance. So I was quite happy to see that the small Paris summer festival "Paris quartier d'ete" included some dance performances in August, and with ballet dancers. "Europa Danse" was in fact a dance summer program for young dance students (between 17 and 21) from various European countries (this time Austria, Estonia, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden), taking place in Grasse (a city of the South of France near Nice). As far as I know, the program was created by Jean-Albert Cartier, a former administrator of the POB and of several other French ballet companies. The dancers worked with various professors (including the former POB principal Monique Loudieres) and choreographers, and performed in Grasse, then in Paris, outdoors, in the gardens of the Palais Royal. Unfortunately, the program notes said nothing about the training of the dancers, but I recognized the names of two French male students, one from the POB school (Romain Schott) and one from the Conservatoire de Paris (Franck Laizet). The content of the performance was quite typical of the trend to mix ballet pieces with "hybrid" ones: works by Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Ohad Naharin, John Butler, Blanca Li, and Mats Ek (a work of John Neumeier was announced in the festival's brochure, but cancelled later). The performance began with Georges Balanchine's "Allegro Brillante", staged by Susan Hendl. I appreciated the beautiful choreography, but the dancers looked a bit nervous, especially at the beginning of the performance (one could hardly blame them, given the difficulty of the choreography). The main female soloist (probably Sara Ricciardelli- the program notes aren't very clear) was quite charming, with a nice pointe work. It was followed by a short work by Mats Ek: "Pas de danse" (1990-1992 [sic]), for two couples of dancers, on some traditional Swedish music. It began with a striking, somewhat melancholic, solo for a male dancer in a brownish green suit, who was later joined by a female dancer with a blue dress for a somewhat melancholic pas de deux. Then two other dancers (a man in blue and a woman in green) joined them, and started dancing a far more joyful and lighter pas de deux, on some waltzing music (sounding a bit like some valse musette on an accordion), and it gradually became a pas de quatre. While that work had little to do with ballet, it was for me one of the most enjoyable of the evening; all four dancers (Wendy Paulusma, Kristina Oom, Mauro de Garcia and Jaime Garcia) looked very at ease with Ek's expressionistic style, and the joyful atmosphere of the end was quite communicative. While brevity was one of the qualities of Ek's work, it wasn't exactly the case with the following piece, "Central station", by the Spanish choreographer Blanca Li (created in 1994, but never performed in France before). I wasn't familiar at all with that choreographer (whose recent works for her company have been quite successful in France), and my first impressions were rather positive, especially thanks to the nice choice of music (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by J.S. Bach), and the clear steps and well-structured ensemble movements for 10 dancers (5 couples) with short, navel-showing white costumes. But after a while, it became so repetitive that I started feeling somewhat bored- as my boyfriend said, it looked as if we were caught in the middle of a never-ending work... Some parts which looked humorous at first view became tedious when repeated two or three times, there was no real differences between all the roles, and the steps were more or less the same in the adagio parts and in the allegro ones (giving a somethat frenetic feeling). For me, cutting half of it would have been better- at least, it would have left me less time to notice all what I didn't like... After the intermission, we saw the first minutes of John Butler's "Itineraries" (1970). I hardly had enough time to notice that the costumes reminded me of Bejart's "Rite of Spring": the sky had become greyer and greyer, and some drops of rain started falling. It was not enough for the audience to be excessively disturbed, but the dancers had to leave the stage for security reasons. Everybody waited for about 20 minutes, and then the performance resumed, but the organizers decided to skip two works: Butler's piece, and also, unfortunately, the Swan Lake pas de deux (act II, Nureyev's version, staged by Monique Loudieres) which was supposed to follow. That was disappointing, and I felt sorry for the dancers (all the more that there were only three performances of that program, and that the "Swan Lake" cast of that evening was supposed to dance it only once). The last two works were, in my opinion, the weakest ones of the evening. "Les Jambes" (the legs) was a short excerpt of Blanca Li's piece "Stress" (1997), featuring four young female dancers (Melodie Masset, Nathalie Dupouy, Maria Seletskaja, Djamilla Samad), each of them holding a sort of plastic leg, which was used for various acrobatic steps, and also as if it were a weird hat, a phone, a golf club, etc. It was very superficial, but at least light and humorous, and, unlike Li's other work, had just the right length. The last work, danced by all the students (30 dancers), was Ohad Naharin's "One, who knows" (1990). The scenery looked quite similar to his work "Axioma 7", with a half-circle of chairs facing the audience- but I found it infinitely weaker than "Axioma 7", and in fact it is the emptiest dance piece I've seen in a while. It began in the dark, with some roaring music from the movie "Pulp Fiction"; one could barely make out silhouettes with dark suits, white shirts and black hats. Then the lights went on, and a recorded voice said a quote- something about beauty, actually it almost sounded as if it had been written automatically by a computer, and I couldn't manage to see its link with the piece. Then the dancers, who were sitting on the chairs, started singing (in Hebrew, so I didn't understand the lyrics) a loud and very repetitive song, while doing some sort of "ola" (as in sports stadiums) from left to right. And they did it again and again. Nearly nothing else happened (one dancer abruptly left the stage, another one stood on his chair, the rightmost dancer repeatedly fell flat on the ground). At the end, during the last few "waves", the dancers took off their clothes, so that everybody (except the rightmost dancer) wore only grey underwear- and that was all. If there was anything to feel or understand in that piece (except some brutal energy, mostly because of the music), I failed to get it. On the whole, I was glad to have an opportunity to see dance students from many European countries, and enjoyed "Allegro Brillante" and "Pas de danse" quite a lot, but also felt a little bit disappointed, partly because of the rain, and partly because of the choice of works. [This message has been edited by Estelle (edited August 14, 2000).]

People might be interested in having a look at a ROH press release posted on ballet.co.uk about the last RB promotions: http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/news/479.html# What is the hierarchy at the Royal Ballet? Is it Principal/ First Soloist/ Soloist/ First Artist/ Artist? How many students from the RB school usually enter the company each year? I was a bit surprised to see that there were so many dancers from other companies joining the Royal Ballet, it sounds quite different from the POB (there most dancers come from the POB school, it's very hard to get there from another school or company, and there hasn't been anybody entering directly as a Principal since the early 70s). [This message has been edited by Estelle (edited August 04, 2000).]

Thanks to you all for the information about the castings! The casts are on the NYCB web site indeed, and also those for their Japanese tour later in August. Kistler will dance the second movement of "Symphony in C" indeed. But I won't see her in that role, since she isn't cast on Aug 17 (or perhaps I'll convince my boyfriend to attend a fourth performance on Aug 19 evening! ) She'll also dance in "Duo Concertant" (partnered by Nilas Martins) on Aug 15 and 18, I'm loking forward to seeing her. The casts for "Symphony in C" are: Symphony in C: 1st Mov.: M. TRACEY, MARTINS 2nd Mov.: KISTLER, ASKEGARD (14,19) or WHELAN, ASKEGARD (17) 3rd Mov.: SOMOGYI, HÜBBE 4th Mov.: *A. STAFFORD, EVANS (14, 19) or A. STAFFORD, RITTER (17) What is the order of the roles listed for "Agon"? Is it pas de deux- male soloist- female soloist- females of the pas de trois- males of the pas de trois? Peter Boal is scheduled in "Agon" (14, 17), "The Four Temperaments" (18), "Tchaikovsky pas de deux" (19 matinee- with Whelan, as liebs wrote, the other cast is Whelan- Woetzel) and "Dances at a gathering" (19 evening). I'm so glad to be able to see him before he retires! I'm also glad to see Kyra Nichols (she'll dance in "Serenade" and "Dances at a gathering"). Leigh, you'll probably be happy to notice that Miranda Weese will perform in "The Four Temperaments" and "Fearful symmetries" there. Well, all that makes me feel very enthusiastic, I'm looking forward to being there!

It reminds me of a special issue of the (alas now defunct) magazine "L'avant-scene ballet/danse" about "Giselle", published in the early 80s. It included a series of portraits of some famous Giselles (mostly French, since the magazine was quite French-centered: Darsonval, Chauvire, Pontois, Thesmar..., but not only) and it was interesting to notice how different from each other all those ballerinas looked, and yet all of them were great Giselles.

James, thanks for telling us about what you saw. I agree that the main roles of "Giselle" are very demanding roles, and that it must be very hard to be convincing in both act I and act II. I'm afraid I've seen very few "Giselle" on stage, and surely there are people much more experienced than me on this board who will post later, but one Giselle I appreciated quite a lot was Monique Loudieres (POB principal who officially retired in 1996). Unfortunately, I never saw her with the POB, but only with the Ballet de Nancy et de Lorraine in 1997. I saw her only at the end of her career, but she quickly became one of my favorite dancers, thanks to the purity of her style, her grace, and the way she had to portray true, lively characters. Both acts were really wonderful. Among my biggest regrets is not having seen her in "Giselle" nor in "La Sylphide" with Manuel Legris, her usual partner (they were so well suited to each other), and that the POB didn't decide to film them in these ballets (they were filmed together only in Nureyev's "Romeo and Juliet"). I saw Carla Fracci's "Giselle" only on video (the ABT video with Erik Bruhn), but liked her very much.

Ann, sorry to reply so late, but I was on vacation, far from computers. I'd like to email you, but what is your email address? (It's not displayed).

There's a entry about it in Koegler's dictionary. It says it is based on Lope de Vega's "The sheep well", and tells of the rising of the peasants of a village in Castille, "lead by Laurencia and her fiance Frondoso, they storm the palace of the Commander who tried to seduce Laurencia and kill him". It also says that it was "frequently revived through the Eastern Bloc", and it mentions Nureyev's staging.