Mashinka

I'll draw you up a new list of three Maria Alexandrova Ekaterina Krysanova Natalia Osipova That is alphabetical order, try and see all three but don't waste your money on Zakharova.

I loved this appreciation of Hitchcock's Psycho: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8593508.stm It really was a milestone of a film and I can remember how shaken my older brother and his wife were after seeing it, my brother was literally trembling so the comments about it being quite unlike anything that had gone before are quite true. As I was too young to see it at the time of its release, it was some years before I got to see Psycho for myself and the film world had moved on in great strides by then, but I was still shocked by what I saw.

Now hold on there, as an impartial Irishwoman I feel very uneasy about such unfair aspersions being cast upon British actors. In the case of Dangerous Liaisons the American actors cast in the film just happened (to my mind at least) to be better than those in the London play and as I mentioned, the authentic settings added a great deal to the overall enjoyment of the film, but as the story is set in the 18th century and depicts the corrupt Ancien Régime “superiority-superciliousness and a remoteness in time, place, class” is exactly what the plot is all about: Wealthy people with too much time on their hands getting up to no good. Moving on to another filmed play, C.P. Taylor’s Good was shown on TV a couple of days ago and it really didn’t have the impact of the original stage production at all, perhaps that was because taking it out of the claustrophobic confines of the stage somehow diminished the horror of it all. Although after a gap of almost thirty years I don’t remember fine details of the production, I still vividly remember the sense of shock when the central character comes on stage near the end of the play dressed as an SS officer. Opening up the story which in the original had almost a domestic feel in many of the scenes seemed to dilute the impact that the original play had as the central character was on the whole a fairly ordinary likeable man struggling to juggle his job and family responsibilities. Viggo Mortensen was uncannily like the actor who created the role, the matchless Alan Howard, with the same demeanour and even the same hairstyle, though I imagine Mortensen might be too young to have actually seen the original stage production. I’m not knocking the film actors as they were actually quite good, but the film just didn’t work for me. Alan Howard: http://www.alanhoward.org.uk/goodnewyorkpost.htm Viggo Mortensen http://goodthemovie.com/about-the-film

These were not high class movies so I hestitate to recommend anything at all but you could try the Colossus of Rhodes with Rory Calhoun (Sergio Leone's first film) or The Sign of the Gladiator with Anita Ekberg; as I've already said, attractive people and poor plots. Non-Italian actors in the leading roles seem to have been fairly common in these films, and who could forget the American Steve Reeves as Hercules unchained.

I think my enjoyment of these kinds of films stems from the fact that I watched them at an impressionable age - pre and early teens. Apart from the Hollywood efforts there were a number of Italian ones with some awfully attractive people and weak story lines, interesting that the American films often had a biblical bent and the Italian ones were more secular in content. Richard Burton (in general he made a number of duff films) never looked at home in the ancient stuff, I much preferred Victor Mature who always portrayed sincerity rather well. I also liked Charlton Heston, particularly in the Ten Commandments, though Yul Brynner stole the show in that for me. Thought the relatively recent Troy was awful with the exception of Brad Pitt's Achilles and Sean Bean's Ulysses as both actors played their parts as if they had actually read The Illiad and knew what their characters were all about. Regarding Alexander, I've never quite understood why he's called 'The Great', they probably didn't do body counts in his times but at a conservative guess he must have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands, to me his 'achievements' are on a par with Adolf Hitler's.

I didn't think Amadeus worked so well as a film, the script was cleaned up with all the scatological references taken out, so that one of the aspects of Mozart's character that Salieri despised wasn't very apparent. Another film of about that time was Dangerous Liaisons and having seen the original London cast of the play I'm inclined to say almost everyone and everything was far better in the film, particularly as the sets for the play hardly evoked the 18th century at all whereas the film benefited from those wonderful locations.

A fresh crop of sword and sandal epics are soon to be released: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...ic-1925949.html Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe was in fact written for children, albeit older ones, and was a favourite of mine as a school kid: a real historical mystery and I look forward to seeing it. Must say I've always enjoyed this category of film and the anachronisms just add to the fun, but I agree with the article that Kubrick's Spartacus was a cut above the rest.

She is buried close to her husband and near the home of her son, what is sad about that?

Written to coincide with an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, this article is all about a teenage love affair with Grace Kelly. She really was a screen icon and her very brief film career gave her a unique status amongst screen stars as she was always eternally young and beautiful to her adoring public. Much of the emphasis is on her clothes, but she was a star of the '50's and women's fashion was never more flattering than in that decade. I visited her grave in the cathedral in Monaco a few years ago and joined a lengthy, slow moving queue for which a quick look at her resting place was a kind of modern pilgrimage. Sadly the wonderful pictures in the original newspaper article aren't reproduced on line, but the prose on its own conjures up memories. For the record my favourite among her films was To Catch a Thief. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...ly-1925369.html

The Judas Tree raises its ugly head again in London very shortly, with the leading role now allocated to Carlos Acosta. The following article from the Independent marks the event. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...es-1922946.html This is part of a MacMillan Triple Bill and is annoyingly sandwiched between the two other works making it impossible to arrive late or leave early to avoid it. The other two ballets are Concerto, which hasn’t had a revival for a very long time and is a personal favourite of mine, and the uncharacteristically jolly Elite Syncopations. I’ve seen this ballet just once before and detested it, the only saving grace of the work was the enigmatic performance given by Leanne Benjamin, a dancer of remarkable interpretive skills. MacMillan was fascinated by rape and starting with The Invitation, a sensitive piece about youthful sexuality and seduction, he returned to the theme frequently, but nothing quite matches Judas Tree for unabated violence both physical and sexual. The question asked is whether Judas Tree is the most barbarous ballet of modern times, perhaps it is, but in my opinion Eternal Damnation to Sancho & Sanchez is as bad or perhaps worse. I find it extremely disquieting that the modern trend of violence against women is now considered a suitable source of entertainment in dance houses as well as else where.

I share your pain Nanarina The exchange rate between the pound and the Euro makes ballet trips at least 20% more expensive than they were(don't even mention the Danish Kroner!) I can't see things changing in the near future either so ballet fans are going to have to dig deep to get to Paris and other European venues for a long time to come.

Ballo Della Regina? Isn't that the one with the fiendish passage danced almost entirely en pointe? Wonder who in the RB will get to dance that, though I can think of a few that shouldn't even attempt it.

I saw Le Loup with POB well over ten years ago with Kader Balarbi in the title role, it is a very beautiful atmospheric piece, a real master work in my view. I would like to see it in the repertoires of other companies and I belive the Bolshoi are scheduled to dance it in the near future.

Viengsay Valdes is certainly vulgar (yes very nice dear, now go away and ponder on the meaning of tasteful) but from what I've seen of her she has very strong technique. There have been dancers in the past that have been vulgar with VV’s perfume of the circus about them, but they all had strong basic abilities. What makes Somova unique is that her vulgarity isn't down to misuse of technique, rather it is vulgarity tacked on to very weak technique. Yes, I agree she is very pretty and for all I know a nice warm generous human being to boot, but as a dancer she is fundamentally lacking in every aspect of performance. Anastasia Volochkova, another very pretty girl, was also vulgar but technically everything was there – she just chose not to use it. Somova isn’t in that category. What we see in Alina Somova is the ‘dumbing down’ phenomena infecting the art of ballet.

If comparisons of this kind are being made it's worth noting that one dancer is new to the role and understandably not yet impressive whilst the other has danced the same role for her entire career and still serves us a dogs dinner.

I can’t comment on touring conditions in the US but in the UK and Western Europe the dancers often find themselves at the mercy of unscrupulous impresarios, I heard a real horror story about one of these groups regarding the reneging on the payment of per diems whilst in England. Another group was bussed across to Britain from the former Soviet Union and back to save the promoter money on air fares. The coach tour isn’t always the ordeal it might sound though, as I once joined some Russians on part of a tour around Spain and the coach journeys were a riotous round of drinking and flirting with everyone appearing to have a great time. But these were relatively short distances; spending up to sixteen hours on a coach for three or four days must be unbearable for dancers with few opportunities to stretch their muscles. There are certain organizations out there that exploit these artists quite appallingly.

If I recall correctly, Jorge Donn was Argentinian, not Belgian and of course Bejart was French. Bejart in fact fell out with his adopted country somewhat when he upped sticks and relocated to Switzerland. At the time that Farrell was a member, the company was highly international with dancers from umpteen different countries. The Ballet of the XXth Century was never Belgian in any sense other than having the Brussels base.

Over this side of the pond there are whispers that he may have been freeing himself up to take on Ms Mason's job when she retires: but that's the cynical Brits for you.

Really? Perhaps living with the mother in law was why her earlier marriages failed.

Emmanuel Thibault.

I very much agree with Aylmer and Leonid concerning the RB's recent performances of this work. On both the nights I went the work was so devalued that one section was actually omitted. I now understand why during his lifetime Robbins was so picky over the casting of this ballet and I doubt if he would have sanctioned that RB revival in such an underpowered state.

What are 'border line extensions'? You mean as if she has a sideline in sending emails inviting people to buy worthless share certificates?

Two photos of Nureyev's Swan Lake Vienna production (1964/5/6?) photographed by Snowdon. They first appeared in one of the Sunday magazines at the time of the premiere, either the Sunday Times or Observer, and were featured in a retrospective exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery in the '90's. Both photos are hugely suggestive of movement as Snowden has used the technique of an in focus central subject surrounded by a swirling corps of swans. In one, the central image is that of Fonteyn, a still, sad, downcast figure amongst the swans and in the second Fonteyn has her back to the photographer and the focus is on Nureyev, with the expression on his face a mixture of love, longing and despair: two pictures that will haunt me forever.

This was originally part of a double bill with Handel's Acis & Galatea which was packed with dancing; Dido & Aeneas however is not, so view it as an opera alone as the dance element is slight. Sarah Connolly is wonderful as Dido.

It offends me when Zakharova is called a 'prima ballerina'. She is clearly nothing of the sort.