cubanmiamiboy

Interesting to see Burlaka's recreation of the Imperial production. I still much prefer Balanchine's choreo for both segments.

This is the same film that was presented on public television about two years ago. The cast does not change depending on whether you see it on Dec 5 or 10. Someone p osted a link to the casting above. Megan Fairchild is Sugarplum, Bouder is Dewdrop and DeLuz is Cavalier

I'm VERY confused. I went on Saturday the 5th to the movie theater. Was this a recording or a live performance..? Kelly Ripa conducted, but she had like two different outfits at different points, so I don't think it was live.

He,he...it is so funny to see how the Ivanov choreo for the pas stays intact in all versions up to the point of those devilish over the shoulder jumps and fish dives. That's when the choreo gets creative for a few seconds. ;-) Kuddos to the Royal for keeping it, although having decided against the ballerina being pulled on pointe over the shawl a la Collier. (Brava Leslie!)

Paris is a city I have visited a few times, and have enjoyed tremendously, and will always be a hell of a fun, wonderful, sparkling place. I'll be there soon. My prayers and support to this magnificent jewel of the world.

I feel this was not a good programming. Fancy Free and Viscera were just very weak selections, and the white compression of B's SL-(don't know how to put it in a different way)-is, by now and like it or not, not "enough Swan Lake". It looks more like a mid century curiosity. We need Jewels-(the whole thing)-back...Ballet Imperial, Theme and Variations...even Valse Fantaisie, which I enjoyed tremendously. Please, please...Lourdes...STOP putting so much weight on modern or pointe-less numbers!!

It was very interesting, dirac, as it was based on a real story. Now, the much more REAL story is how the director confronts the spectator to the fact that the prosecuted were common SS officials, whom at the time, and having never been touched by the West Germany government during Nuremberg, were enjoying a retirement, a pension and a national de facto effort on forgetfulness. The imperative statement of "this is the first time a government will prosecute its own soldiers" says it all.

Oh my...where have I been..? I didn't know they were a couple.

I went to see this last night. Catch it if available.

I'm glad somebody did. No, really.

As for me...I really pray that this hideous thing falls into perennial oblivion.

While I like your approach, that would be a little too confrontational even though it is effective. In reality, none of these steps ought to be required, as the offending party should know better.

We are talking about Neverland here, remember.. (aka Miami)

I ran across the name of Allynne Noelle, who will dance the Karin von Aroldingen role in Emeralds here this afternoon, concluding TSFB's too-little season.

I remember her as the Tall Girl in Rubies.

I notice we all concentrated in the SL discussion, but...how about this Viscera thing..? Is anybody here aside from Vicky familiar with this bore...?

I usually turn my whole body around and S T A R E with a long, hateful, Joan Crawford look right deep into the offender's eyes. It works more than not.

I come from a Spartan theater etiquette education. My lowest, most primal instincts seem to snap when triggered by the seemingly increased notion of chewing on something 25 hours a day.

Re: Zakharova. Putin needs to intervene. If so, end of the story-(as it is s usually the case) .

The tricky part is that there has never been a formal process to place such title. At government level, some of the past PBA have been Kchsessinskaya (by the Tsar), Fonteyn (by the Queen) and Ulanova and Plitsetskaya (by the Duma). Aside from those, the title seems to have been given unofficially, including Markova's and Alonso's. The French government could do it with Guillem,

This is another favorite video of mine of this ballet. I find Fonteyn exquisite to watch, REALLY giving character life and credibility. She really makes you believe that she's awakening to the rose's perfume.

I think Bessmertnova was wonderful in "Raymonda," and I was shocked when I found out how old she was.

As far as undisputed goes, we'll have to agree to disagree on that.

I'll chime in with Helen here about Bessmertnova. I absolutely ADORE the atmospheric,almost tragic aura to which she dances the role. If there's a doubt on how to really portray a princess in ballet, go see Bessmertnova's Raymonda.

Wow...Fillin's zaga has been quite a sad one...

Can you expand on this (Fancy Free as a downer)? I don't know Viscera, but I'm having a hard time imagining a program where closing with the Robbins would be a bad idea.

Well...Swan Lake was the only "real" ballet of the night. That Viscera thing was a (pointe) mess of boring music and endless gymnastics, contortions and lifts, and Fancy Free...well, an Americana cutesy that looks much minor (on my eyes) than B's staging. So I think they should had done Viscera first to get over with the contortionists of the world...then Fancy Free to get some amusing spirit in the house and finally Swan Lake to really finish the whole thing with a genuine BALLET feeling.

RIP Miss O'Hara.

In just about every "Swan Lake" I've ever seen, the Valse Bluette is used in Act II, often for the big swans, and Act II ends with Odile turning back into a swan and von Rothbart blocks Odette from following her.

I've never seen the Valse Bluette in Act II, but certainly in Act IV-(or Act III in the Russian productions). I'm not a fan of it...it doesn't really look coherent with the rest of the music, so I much prefer the shorter version of the original 77 score. Yes...the end of Balanchine's SL is pretty much how Act II ends...with Odette's transformed back into a swan, but with the Act IV apotheosis music.

I just saw Fancy Free last night as part of MCB's Program I. The business with the purse was done in a playful way. The girl never gave the impression of being threatened, even smiling as she was trying to catch it. Plus...the three sailors were danced by dancers who look VERY young...even younger than the girl-(and they probably are), so they didn't look menacing AT ALL. People laughed about it. I told my mother about this thread and she told me that this type of thing was very common when she was a teenager with the boys.

When I saw NYCB do "Act II, Swan Lake," it was advertised that way. Calling it "Swan Lake" would be confusing to people who don't know ballet and wouldn't know that it is a full-length ballet. To those who do know, "Swan Lake" plus other ballets would be a very, very long evening, and I would be curious if I had never heard of the Balanchine version.

I found something else interesting in the Balanchine catalog, entry 75, from the 1920's:

I remember noticing this, even though I perused my (hard) copy of "Choreography by Balanchine" many, many times. I didn't realize that Diaghilev presented "Swan Lake" this way and that this is where Balanchine would have seen it performed in a single act.

It would had been definitely a better idea to advertise it like Helene states above.."Swan Lake Act II", although the story line here goes a little beyond, as we see the encounter of Act II plus a tragic finale from Act IV-(Odette parts away with Siegfried and back to her swan form). So there's definitely much more than Act II as Balanchine uses music from Act IV-(No. 25 Entr'acte: Moderato in the '77 original score and Valse Bluette from the '95 arrangement), so technically this is Act II and Act IV. I still think it is ok to present it as "Balanchine's Swan Lake". At the end, and as Helene notes, this is what he worked with when making his mark in Diaghilev version. A couple of notes in the programme explaining that his vision is a condensation of a bigger former product would had been the right thing to do.

As per Viscera and Fancy Free, I don't think they were happy inclusions in this program. If anything, they should had reverse the order and leave Swan Lake for the end. Finishing with Fancy Free was a downer.