innopac

Quote from a book review:

In the same year that Macfarlane was first shown the Peat Glossary of Lewis, the philological turnstile was cranked into action for a new updated edition of The Oxford Junior Dictionary. Words deemed irrelevant to a 21st-century childhood were removed from the dictionary, while other new coinages gained admission in their place.

When people began to grow alarmed by the deletions from the new edition, Oxford University Press was forced to release a list of words that had been removed. Among them were: ash, beech, bluebell, buttercup, cowslip, cygnet, dandelion, fern, heather, heron, kingfisher, lark, nectar, pasture and willow. New words coming the other way through the turnstile included: attachment, blog, broadband, bullet-point, celebrity, chatroom, cut-and-paste, MP3 player, and voice-mail.

There is an unavoidably tragic note to the excision of a tree such as "willow" or a waterbird such as "heron" from the linguistic landscape of future generations. Not to mention the removal of the chthonic poetry of "cowslip". One wonders too whether the "cygnet" is not somehow having its very future removed by being cut from the dictionary's pages.

Indeed, Macfarlane's implication in Landmarks is that if there is no need for a cygnet in the lexicon of new generations there may not be any swans around by the time they are old.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/landmarks-review-robert-macfarlane-laments-the-loss-of-the-language-of-nature-20150518-gh2g22.html#ixzz3ue5UuuOV

Documentary: El Sistema: Music to Change Life. (available on Amazon)

Also... Crescendo: The Power of Music -- about an El Sistema inspired program in Philadelphia. http://www.crescendofilmdoc.com/

Karsavina's brother was exiled from Russia by Lenin....

Quote from The Philosophy Steamer: Lenin and the Exile of the Intelligentsia by Lesley Chamberlain, page 114

Lev Karsavin had what could only be called a bizarre experience face to face with his interrogator. His sister Tamara, already world-famous as a ballet dancer, recalled the story he told her when they re-met 'after years of separation'.

He told me of an incident that had happened during his prison days. In the night he was awakened and summoned before the Cheka. These nocturnal examinations were particularly ominous and my brother had incurred their special wrath. The Commissar was stern; he put before my brother one of the incriminating points. 'You are in correspondence with abroad. Who are your correspondents?' 'My sister.' 'What's her name?' 'Same as mine. Karsavina.' 'You are the brother of Karsavina!' The Commissar veered round in his revolving chair. 'Giselle is her best part, don't you think?' 'I can't agree with you,' said my brother. 'I consider the Firebird one of her finest achievements.' 'Oh, do you?' The conversation wandered on to the principles and aims of the art; the prosecution was forgotten. 'Won't you write to your sister?' asked the Commissar at parting. 'Tell her to come back. Tell her she will be received with honours.' My brother's sentence was to be exiled with all his family, the government paying all the expenses.

Thank you to everyone who dedicates so much of their time to keep this site thriving.

Further link:

http://www.brainpickings.org/2012/10/22/helen-keller-martha-graham/?utm_content=buffer45530&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty: a film by Jeffrey Ruoff

In the 1970s, at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, USA, four male athletes joined a dance class. Their collaborative work led to the creation of Pilobolus and the transformation of modern dance. Pilobolus eschewed the bright lights of Manhattan and settled in rural Connecticut. On the eve of its fortieth anniversary, internationally-renowned, Pilobolus returns to New Hampshire for a Dartmouth-commissioned premiere of a collaboration with cartoonist Art Spiegelman. Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty focuses on the company’s lifecycle—including a founder’s death—its evolution, transformation, and regeneration. At their studio, on the road, in community workshops, and on stage, the arts organism Pilobolus thrives.

http://www.pilobolusfilm.com/dvd

I think this is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7irDmS3eig

When I was preparing Giselle for the first time, Maina put me in touch with Svetlana Beriosova, one of the great Giselles, and she talked to me on the phone for two hours, going through every step of the mad scene. She talked about weaving a pattern on the ground with the sword, making the sign of the snake, representing evil.

http://www.behindballet.com/lisa-bolte-on-the-mad-scene/

Does anyone have an opinion on the quality of these dvds?

Restoration drama: bringing Bolshoi ballets back to life

By John Naughton, 01 December 2014, The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/culture/russian-ballet-collection/11263989/restoration-drama-bolshoi-ballet-technology.html

The Russian Ballet Collection

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/culture/russian-ballet-collection/

http://youtu.be/RP1hUbihxDI?list=UUXgs_Hw-0iBLwzAdb1z4aaQ

Vasiliev and Maximova in Rehearsal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsmOQ7TMrwg

Ballet Music: A Handbook by Matthew Naughtin (the music librarian of the San Francisco Ballet orchestra)

Part 1 -- How Ballet Works

Part 2 -- Repertoire and Reference

http://www.amazon.com/Ballet-Music-Handbook-Finders/dp/0810886596

From Amazon:

Musicians who work professionally with ballet and dance companies sometimes wonder if they haven’t entered a foreign country—a place where the language and customs seem so utterly familiar and so bafflingly strange at the same. To someone without a dance background, phrases and terms--boy’s variation, pas d’action, apothéose—simply don’t fit their standard musical vocabulary. Even a familiar term like adagio means something quite different in the world of dance. Like any working professional, those conductors, composers, rehearsal pianists, instrumentalists and even music librarians working with professional ballet and dance companies must learn what dance professionals talk about when they talk about music.

In Ballet Music: A Handbook Matthew Naughtin provides a practical guide for the professional musician who works with ballet companies, whether as a full-time staff member or as an independent contractor. In this comprehensive work, he addresses the daily routine of the modern ballet company, outlines the respective roles of the conductor, company pianist and music librarian and their necessary collaboration with choreographers and ballet masters, and examines the complete process of putting a dance performance on stage, from selection or existing music to commissioning original scores to staging the final production. Because ballet companies routinely revise the great ballets to fit the needs of their staff and stage, audience and orchestra, ballet repertoire is a tangled web for the uninitiated. At the core of Ballet Music: A Handbook lies an extensive listing of classic ballets in the standard repertoire, with information on their history, versions, revisions, instrumentation, score publishers and other sources for tracking down both the original music and subsequent musical additions and adaptations.

Ballet Music: A Handbook is an invaluable resource for conductors, pianists and music librarians as well as any student, scholar or fan of the ballet interested in the complex machinery that works backstage before the curtain goes up.

From the CFA website:

BROWSER COMPATIBILITY

Having trouble getting your video to load and play? First troubleshooting step is to try a new web browser. Our streaming videos work best in Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer web browsers. This is because our streaming videos have a customized H.264 codec and these browsers best handle this format.

http://www.chicagofilmarchives.org/search-instructions

Desert Island Discs, Radio 4

08 June 2014

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the ballerina Tamara Rojo

Ballerina, Artistic Director at the English National Ballet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/8a498cbc#b045xz2k

Dear Leonid,

I was hoping it was you. I have missed your posts.

Glad you are back

More have been recently added to this playlist. I especially enjoyed the one on Auguste Vestris.

The Playlist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auDNcfK0Wcs&list=PLFEuShFvJzBww3lVbFABGB0HbIxNQ2TiA

Ballet Evolved - The first four centuries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auDNcfK0Wcs

Join former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli at an Insights event as she explores the evolution of ballet steps from the Baroque period to the present day, with a little help from Royal Ballet dancers Melissa Hamilton, Yasmine Naghdi, Romany Pajdak and Claire Calvert.

Ballet Evolved - At the court of Louis XIV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDtpDlCf94g

Join ballet mistress Ursula Hageli as she goes back to the early beginnings of ballet. Were some of the early steps influenced by the sport of fencing in the court of Louis XIV? With Royal Ballet dancers James Hay and Nicol Edmonds.

Ballet Evolved - Auguste Vestris 1760-1842

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh8zsnJJSJA

Join Ursula Hageli as she introduces "le dieu de la danse" - Auguste Vestris. With performance from Royal Ballet dancer Valentino Zucchetti. Piano - Tim Qualtrough.

Ballet Evolved - Carlo Blasis 1797-1878

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZXFPjf7j14

Widely regarded as one of the fathers of modern ballet, watch how Carlo Blasis's writings have inspired the ballet techniques of today. With demonstration from Royal Ballet dancer Marcelino Sambé. Piano - Tim Qualtrough.

Ballet Evolved - Marie Taglioni 1804-1884

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DGp0qUcuuM

An introduction to ballerina Marie Taglioni, the most famous dancer of the Romantic era. Former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli explores her role in the creation of La Sylphide with Royal Ballet dancer Yasmine Naghdi and pianist Paul Stobart.

Ballet Evolved - August Bournonville 1805-1879

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoXJPFqmOKA

Continuing our exploration of the history of ballet, former Principal with The Royal Ballet, Johan Kobborg introduces the style of August Bournonville in rehearsal with Artist Marcelino Sambé. With former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli and pianist Tim Qualtrough.

Ballet Evolved - Fanny Elssler 1810-1884

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F89ijSRwTFg

An introduction to ballerina Fanny Elssler, famed during her lifetime for dancing The Cachucca. With Royal Ballet dancer Romany Pajdak, former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli and pianist Paul Stobart.

Ballet Evolved - Pierina Legnani 1863-1923

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyXq4ChEmc8

Pierina Legnani was reputed to have been the first ballerina to dance 32 fouettes. But as we find out, this wasn't strictly the case. Including demonstration from Royal Ballet dancers Akane Takada and Marianela Núñez. With former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli and ballet historian Giannandrea Poesio.

Ballet Evolved - Anna Pavlova 1881-1931

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDETpNnazmM

Discover more about Anna Pavlova, the most famous dancer of her day with former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli and Royal Ballet dancer Romany Pajdak as Anna Pavlova. Piano - Paul Stobart.

Ballet Evolved - Alicia Markova 1910-2004

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNl4NEEpPjI

Watch Royal Ballet dancer Romany Pajdak perform an extract of Ashton's Foyer de Danse - a work created on Alicia Markova in 1934. Presented by Ursula Hageli with Paul Stobart at the piano.

Judge Temporarily Bars Removal of Picasso Tapestry From Four Seasons

By Daniel E. Slotnik, The New York Times, 8 Feb 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/nyregion/judge-temporarily-bars-removal-of-picasso-tapestry.html

Thank you, thank you, thank you

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10600259/Vadim-Muntagirov-joins-the-Royal-Ballet.html

Paquita, Ballet-Pantomime in Two Acts, Grand Pas Classique by Marius Petipa; and Nuit et Jour, Allegorical Ballet in One Act, by Marius Petipa -- Piano Score

Ludwig Minkus
Editor: Robert Letellier
Cambridge Scholars Publishing: April 2010
ISBN13: 978-1-4438-1940-4
ISBN: 1-4438-1940-9

http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Paquita--Ballet-Pantomime-in-Two-Acts--Grand-Pas-Classique-by-Marius-Petipa--and-Nuit-et-Jour--Alleg1-4438-1940-9.htm

La Bayadère: Grand Ballet in Four Acts and Seven Scenes -- Piano Score
Ludwig Minkus

Editor: Robert Letellier
Cambridge Scholars Publishing: February 2009
ISBN 13: 978-1-4438-0177-5
ISBN: 1-4438-0177-1

http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Ludwig-Minkus-La-Bayadere--Grand-Ballet-in-Four-Acts-and-Seven-Scenes-by-Sergei-Khudekov-and-Marius-1-4438-0177-1.htm

"Valerie Grieg, who has died in Melbourne on 27 March in her 91st year, was an inspired teacher of ballet whose deep understanding of the classical technique and how it can best be taught are contained in her publication Inside ballet technique: separating anatomical fact from fiction in the ballet class. Inside ballet technique was first published in 1994 by the Princeton Book Company and remains an essential guide to body mechanics and the anatomical laws behind classical ballet."

http://michellepotter.org/news/valerie-grieg-1922%E2%80%932013

Many thanks. And thank you for posting the video.

It is delightful and a lovely tribute.

Does anyone know who the choreographer was?

Aschenbrödel (Cinderella): Strauss

This is on Amazon with the following spelling -- Aschenbrdel

"This wonderful ballet by the second Johann Strauss finally receives its world première recording on DVD! Recorded live in December 1999, this celebrated Vienna State Opera production combines everything a romantic ballet needs: excellent soloists, fascinating choreography and beautiful costumes. Aschenbrödel (Cinderella) is one of those stories that were made to be danced. Its cornerstone is a fabulous ball scene and at it has love, jealousy and romance at its heart. This version of Cinderella, danced to the music of Viennas musical hero, Johann Strauss II, is the composers only ballet score. The new choreography was created by Italian dancer and choreographer Renato Zanella, then ballet director of Vienna State Opera Ballet. It tells the heartbreaking story of a girl who is ostracised by her family and rescued by a prince with a touch of French flair. The elegant costumes are designed by Christian Lacroix, one of the leading Paris Fashion Designers and add to the pure joy of a delightful ballet evening."