scherzo

Medora could shout, 'Yo ho ho!' and then everyone could reply, 'And a bottle of rum!' though this might be a bit hard to pull off.

Do you prefer the sets and costumes (except perhaps the tutus) of a ballet to be closely modelled on designs of the period in which a ballet is set? Or does it not matter to you as long as it works?

Masha Alexandrova (partner Tsiskaridze)

On the basis of the photos, that's the cast I'd hope to see when they bring it here

I had hoped to see this cast in London but in fact it is the only cast that I am not seeing (no advance casting: ). Out of interest, what is it about the photos that made this cast stand out to you?

Aha! Yes, that's it, it's used in the film of Karsavina doing exercises. Thankyou!

Some of the music gets on my nerves but apart from that I don't mind it. I do like the female variation.

Didn't Cynthia Gregory hate it, or did I just make that up?

Just for interest, a synopsis and other snippets here at Wikipedia.

There is on video somewhere a film of the actors' pd2 with Marina Kondratieva. The music is rather lovely.

Edit: Why do I recognise the music for the female variation?

I found this about Angara River:

"The Angara" is a poetic story about the life of young workers building a giant electric power station on the river Angara in Siberia. It's one the few ballets of artistic value devoted to modern life.

I will never understand how she was allowed to bounce so violently in her shoulders as she was supposed to be skimming the floor like an apparition.

I haven't seen this recording (unfortunately) but perhaps this was due to the camera being too close? For example, in the Royal Ballet's recent Giselle broadcast, Marianela Nunez's first entrance as Myrtha was spoiled (I thought) by the camera being too far zoomed in, and so rather than her gliding we saw her head and shoulders wobbling along in a rather un-Wili-ish fashion.

Oh right, that would make a lot of sense. I'd actually forgotten that the Bolshoi Theatre was closed!

Does a clam ever think, "There has to be more to life than this!"?

Oh yes, but they are also very good at repressing their crippling emotional problems, thus giving the impression of happiness to the world. I have this on good authority.

Does anyone else think that the Bolshoi stage looks rather cramped (or just small) in the above photos? I fear for the London Coliseum's stage: I don't know how large it is compared to the Bolshoi's.

Ooh, thankyou very much, Natalia: I've been curious to know the casting for ages (I'm seeing this in London). Your mention of the Pas d'Eventailes, which I had not heard of before, made me look up Le Corsaire on Wikipedia, and it has a most interesting history!

(PS: This being Wikipedia, I don't know whether this article has been plagiarised - if it has been recognisably 'borrowed', then please remove the link! Of course, inaccuracy is another matter... )

Will his name be better box office when he returns to ballet as a result of the television exposure?

Might he not return at all, depending on how far he gets and what happens afterwards???

There is a recording of Stravinsky's Bluebird on Naxos Music Library by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Neeme Jarvi. It's coupled either with Stravinsky's Baiser de la Fee or miscellaneous 'Russian Dances' including excerpts from Prokofiev's The Stone Flower and Glazunov's Raymonda. I discovered the Stravinsky Bluebird a few months ago, it's rather fun!

In "three, four or five years", she will go back to her land and establish a Royal Ballet of Spain, much on Royal Ballet lines. She is not troubled that her compatriot, Angel Corella from American Ballet Theatre, is ahead of her in setting up a Spanish company. "I don't want my company to be the first one; I want it to be the right one," she says, and it is impossible to doubt that it will be.

I don't think (or at least I hope) that Rojo's comments were putting Corella down as such, though they certainly are unfortunately worded. She's just saying that she wants this company for the right reasons and it just happens that Corella was that bit faster. I don't think that 'the right one' necessarily means that Corella's is 'the wrong one' in Rojo's view.

I might have missed this, but what sort of repertoire will be performed by the Ballet de Espana? Perhaps Rojo wishes to focus on different areas.

Thankyou for these! They look so beautiful. (But where does the Harlequin fit in?)

I didn't know there was Bakst online, so I just had a look and found quite a few miscellaneous Bakst designs (including some SB ones) here. The scenery ones especially are STUNNING. It's a pity that a lot of the costumes are for ballets that aren't performed any more.

I know that the 1921 production bankrupted Diaghilev but do you think there is room for the Bakst SB designs today? I'm sure the fabrics could be cheated slightly (Messell used pipecleaners, sellotape and sackcloth after all), and everything that I've seen is wonderful, especially the 'Fairy Carnation' (?) and the Bluebird. Though having looked at the extreme opulence of, well, everything Bakst, it may all look a bit OTT nowadays.

I'd like to defend the Dowell/Bjornson SB. It may be that I have a warped aesthetic thing going on (I like the NYCB R+J costumes as well) but....it's not that bad!!!

In the coda of the Act III pd2 in this production, there are big travelling lifts down each diagonal. I've never seen this anywhere else: where does it originate?

The Messel designs look much more interesting in the recording with Fonteyn than the present 're-imagining'. That said, I think that the RB's current production is the best that I've seen (though I've not seen the Kirov's reconstruction!). I find the Kirov's a little too pink, and the tutus while pretty are quite bland.

Poor old Lilac Fairy, she's put through the wringer: she ends up in a flimsy wire boat in the Dowell, dangling on strings in the new ABT, dressed in a rather inappropriate negligee in the Kirov and perched on a very thin but very tall rising pedestal at the end of the RB Makarova. Try filling out all of those risk assessment forms.

Is there any reason why the Bakst designs could not be revived?

I know it's a lot to ask, but would anyone be willing to identify the alumni l-r in any of the photos???

Natalia Osipova.

That is what's slightly worrying: while this deal is good, good news () for ROH fans, it would be a shame if other companies lost out due to this deal. For example, the only commercially available recording (as far as I know) of Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream is on Opus Arte, as well as recordings by the Royal Swedish and Dutch National Ballets. Well, we shall see...

I'm not sure that I get this: does this mean that Opus Arte will now release only ROH productions?

This month's Dancing Times has picked up the story. They might be more likely to publish the letter?

I know this thread is very old, but coincidentally I have just come across a comment posted by Mr de la Caffiniere on a certain video site which says that he is currently teaching Danish School-inspired ballet classes in Paris.

Haydn's Symphony No. 47 contains a palindromic Minuet & Trio movement. The only other palindromic piece that I can think of is in Lulu by Alban Berg...

...........I actually quite like the costumes........