scherzo

But I sincerely doubt there's any hope for a certain LFLC Romeo and Juliet starring ABT's Makarova, McKenzie and a pair of sweatpants.

I think it might be Galina Stepanenko rather than Lopatkina.

I have seen Osipova live in Don Q ('her' role from here on in as far as I'm concerned) and some other ballets, and I agree that while on video she appears rather overbearing when seen live she is simply exhilarating. But I do wonder, without wishing to offend, whether she is causing such a sensation simply because she is the first dancer in a while to have such energy (often compared to Plisetskaya) which we associate with the Bolshoi's golden age, and not necessarily due to remarkable artistic merit?

Here's a hint. I don't think ANYbody actually knows what it means.

Thank you kfw for the link to the previous thread (note to self: there is always a previous thread!). Oddly enough, bart, I had an idea that plastique had to do with the actual poses, though that is probably due to my unimaginative mental link with the word 'plastic'. I like the idea of a type or quality of movement. Anyway, thank you all!

I've read many reviews which refer to a dancer's 'plastique' but I've never quite understood what the term means....Any thoughts?

I like this DVD a lot. A good opportunity to see the previous Kirov generation, especially Yelena Pankova, Larissa Lezhnina and Lubov Kunakova (saddled with a tutu best described as 'eccentric') in (mostly) good repertoire: I watch the Paquita a lot in particular. Very strong performances all round.

Lots of interesting stuff here!

I don't see how it sounds desirable to have these big cinematized, opened-up-for-the-masses ballets. They rarely get it right even when filming Broadway musicals. And the general population is not thinking about ballet in quite the same way as they are many much easier things--there's no budget for ballet-movies in Hollywood, that's just over, I think. Maybe Chinese or Indians will try something, but it will get that theme-parkish look, and there's enough trouble with such things in ABT stagings of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty already. I can see why you, scherzo, might dream of this, but I can't imagine it happening (even with poor products.)

I realise I might be taking your words the wrong way but surely ballet 'opened-up-for-the-masses' would be a good thing? There is always the conception that only a certain type of person goes to ballets (the idea of dressing up and sitting in opera houses surrounded by other 'patrons'), whereas cinemas are universal and unthreatening. Of course, it would be difficult to 'get it right', but surely with appropriate artistic consultation a satisfactory result might be gained. Although this is hypothetical since as you say there would be little or no budget for such a fiilm, unless some Hollywood dignitary makes it their pet project (Spielberg does Corsaire, anyone?). I think there could be real potential for filmed ballet as an art form in itself as opposed to ballet dressed up in film glitz.

Wouldn't you have to add elements to accomplish this? Additional music for the non-dance background scenes, for instance. Or -- assuming you were shooting on sound stage -- some sort of human (or willi) presence not found in the original choreography to establish mood. Any suggestions as to how this might be done while still keeping the original Giselle at the core?

What does anyone think about using ambient sound in certain places? I think it works really well in Nureyev's Don Q (my favourite filmed ballet, btw).

Unlike bart (and probably others) I like the idea of filming in real locations: a bit of glamour and the thrill of the unusual. I'd have to add myself to the Big Fat No list re: animation, though.

What with the phenomenal size of the budgets of some Hollywood films, it’s about time ballet got in on the action! Would there be a future for ballet feature-films? I mean those in the style of Nureyev’s Don Q, Fracci’s Giselle or the Thesmar-Denard Sylphide: realistic sets, (dare I say) special effects, dance filmed cinematically on a large scale. Surely an opulent Swan Lake or fantastical Nutcracker would pull in the crowds? Which ballets would (or wouldn't!) you like to see treated cinematically?

Grrrr...i want to go to Europe!! (to visit, IMO)

Hey, living in it's not so bad either......Though right now I could do without the weather....

Anyway, the Royal Ballet does use children in its traditional (tired?) Nutcracker. There are some quite interesting versions around England, e.g. Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! and ENB's version which I suppose is best described as 'zany'. Europe seems to go for 'concept', I guess which is not always so beneficial. (I heard bad things about Shemyakin's for the Mariinsky....?) For me, BRB all the way...

Sorry,

There is a clip on Youtube of a younger Maria Allash as Gamzatti in Bayadere: it contains what must be one of the more spectacular falls caught on film. Of course there is other stuff on Youtube floating around, the most dangerous of which is a Black Swan pd2 in which the man tips over backwards attempting a presage lift....

Urgh, could very well be - I just have a vague memory of a picture in a book. I'm confusing my myths! (And languages....oh dear....)

Thank you both for clarifying.

I was partly moved to ask this question by the extraordinarily cavalier way in which Margot Fonteyn flings her arms out in preparation for supported pirouettes in the film of Sleeping Beauty Act III.

Hans, is Vaganova 3rd sometimes called 4th position in other training? I'm slightly confused.....

For supported pirouettes are the arms usually wrapped, then? I assume a proper 1st position is impossible without inflicting pain on both parties involved.....

I think Cranko's Antigone was created on the beautiful Svetlana Beriosova. She recited Russian text as she danced....

Especially in supported pirouettes, I've seen a large variety of arm positions, some less beautiful than others. (I mean ordinary pirouettes when the choreography doesn't specifically have the arms in fifth or anywhere else.) Do different schools have different ideas of where to put one's arms during pirouettes (of any kind)?

I like the idea but I'm not sure there are enough women in Lord of the Rings to constitute a ballet...

I agree with 4mrdncr about the importance of melody. Apart from anything else, a full-evening ballet won't really be a box-office smash with difficult music - that's combining two 'scary' art forms! Would it be true to say that ballet is an art form which is now less respected by modern composers who wish to be taken seriously?

Re: a story, I have a feeling it's already been done, but how about Don Juan?

Igor Youskevitch was a member of the Yugoslavian Olympic Gymnastics team when he got hired by a ballerina as a "pickup partner" for a season, but she fired him when he started getting more applause than SHE did. He learned fast.

I was able to watch Katherine Healy as a youngster in class, and it was always obvious when she was devoting more vs. less time to skating. The usual forward impetus seemed effortful -- not really the right word, but the best I can do right now. Also, while she was a very strong turner, it took her a while to differentiate the technique of pirouetting from the skaters' spin. There are advantages to cross-training, but also disadvantages.

That's very interesting! I was considering starting a thread a while back about cross-training ballet and skating (after having discovered Ms Healy) - could you or anyone elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages?

Katherine Healy! There is some fantastic footage of her performing sextuple and septuple fouettes out there, which surely must have been aided by her skating training (something to do with 'centre'? I'm flailing here...). She has had a very interesting career, all told - danced for Frederick Ashton and Roland Petit - look her up!

Also, I think Alina Cojocaru at least trained in gymnastics, which is partly why she is so flexible?

Do gymnasts have more attack than lyricism to their movements? Which is fantastic and exciting, up to a point... (TBH I think Osipova is as far as this trend should go.)

If anyone (like me) was wondering whatever happened to Ms Volochkova, she seems to be appearing in a reality TV show in which celebrities learn to ice dance.

I think that the video of Osipova shows her performing the 1st bridesmaid variation which is to the same music. It certainly suits her very well (those jumps!).

I must say I had forgotten about the Terekhova version...sorry! I should have put 'other' in the options, shouldn't I...

This is about Kitri's Act III Grand Pas variation. I know there are probably several versions, but they broadly fall into two categories: the version which contains grand jetés, attitude turns and pas de chevals, and the version which contains many bourrées and rélevé passés.*

This is a question about the choreography: I know that some ballerinas sparkle in both, but go for the version which you generally prefer to watch. And of course post why you went for either one!

*I think those are the correct terms - my knowledge of ballet vocabulary is decidedly limited.

Yes, there was a big brouhaha here in England a while ago, which was especially amusing to me as I had only a few weeks earlier heard a radio programme comparing recordings of certain piano works, and the presenter picked Hatto's as superior to all others (including, I think, some of the 'borrowed' recordings).

I like the idea of Bathilde reappearing if she is really in love with Albrecht, rather than taking a 'You must marry me because of this ring' approach and hauling him off. If she and Wilfried have been out all night it makes sense that she has decided that she does love Albrecht after all - courtly ladies do not wander the forests at night (except in ABT's Swan Lake, apparently). It would make her a more 3D character than just a betrayed lady in a pretty dress, and would also contribute to the idea of love in the ballet as a whole.

Of course, this would soup up the ballet no end. Overkill, perhaps?

Interesting that you mention Dupont in Rubies. I have never experienced this partnership live but I find that she and Manuel Legris make a very comfortable and likeable pair, and perhaps had she been partnered by Legris in Rubies (as I think was originally planned???) the performance might have had a very different dynamic. (Just guessing, though...)

I also like Maximova and Vasiliev.

In a Dancing Times review of the Royal Ballet's Swan Lake Jonathan Gray wrote of Lauren Cuthbertson (in an otherwise positive review, btw) that her hands and feet are 'proportionately too small to be seriously considered for a perfect classical line'.

So, what is perfect classical line (proportions, carriage, geometry etc) and who has it?

Cupid in Don Q. Grrr.