innopac

From Irina: ballet, life and love. Viking 2005 Irina Baronova writing about a memory from the tour to Havana where they performed at the Pro-Arte Musical. "One day Mr Yavorsky asked Jerry and me to come and watch a young girl in his class whom he considered very, very talented. Tania and Lichine came as well, as they were always interested in seeing new talent. The young student was just fourteen, beautiful to look at, already quite strong technically, and possessed that elusive special quality that a person is born with--either you have it or you do not. That young girl had it all. Her name was Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad dei Cobre Martinez Hoyo". page 206

From Irina: ballet, life and love. Viking 2005 Baronova writing about differences between Fokine and Massine: "Fokine's way of working was very different from Massine's. Fokine brought no books of diagrams, no notes. Both obviously knew exactly what they wanted, having worked it out before the start of the rehearsals, but Massine worked out details on his dancers, trying the movements this way and that. Fokine had every movement, every detail worked out in advance and showed the dancers his new work as if it were already complete--which it was in his head. Having chosen the dancers he wanted for each role--he knew their personality and technical capacity--his choreography brought out the best in them." page 253 After stating that Fokine's choreography is often "distorted" Baronova writes: "Fokine’s grandaughter, Isabelle Fokine, a dancer herself, has inherited a treasure--Fokine’s notes, letters and other papers, as well as films of some of his ballets. She tries hard to preserve her grandfather’s work. With this unique information in her possession, she is the one to turn to, but the nuances, the details, the ‘something’ that cannot be notated, will be lost forever when the last few of us survivors who worked with Fokine disappear through the pearly gates. The ‘soul’ of the works for which we were the original interpreters will then be scattered with our ashes." page 256

Clement Crisp on the lack of preservation of ballet on film. Written almost 25 years ago. "I am haunted by the impermanence of ballet. I find it tragic that in the century of the cinema, when newsreel film has preserved eighty years of nonentities, from the greasiest political opportunists to pop-singers, there is not one frame of the Diaghilev Ballet in action; that Nijinsky is to be seen only in five seconds of film that show an old man walking from his Vienna hotel. Even in the past thirty years a dismaying number of great ballets and great dancers have been lost to posterity." "Even an exceptional dancer lately retired, Lynn Seymour, cannot be seen as Juliet or Anastasia, two of her superlative roles. Ballet-lovers of a hundred years hence will know of these dancers through still photographs and the critics' words. They will not forgive us." Notes. The Nature of Dance Scholarship: The Critic's Task. by Clement Crisp. Dance Research, Vol 1 No 1 Spring 1983, page 125

Both films can be used as the basis for discussion of ethical and moral issues. 1) Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse The Gleaners and I because Varda illustrates the many aspects of waste in our society and she leads the viewer to thinking about the role of gleaning... the philosophical basis, the practicalities and different societies' attitudes towards gleaners. Brief article about Gleaning 2) Etre et Avoir Georges Lopez, the teacher in this wonderful film, was described as money hungry for suing after this film was such a success. And documentary film makers see the failure of the law suit with much relief. However, this case brings up several ethical issues. Georges Lopez Speaks Out Film's fallen hero fights on for his class: Teacher star of hit French documentary speaks out for first time after court defeat by Amelia Gentleman, 3 October 2004, The Observer The quotes in this article were not widely reported but here is the core of what Lopez had to say... 'We were misled. The production company told me and the children's families that they were making a small documentary about the phenomenon of the one-teacher village school and that the film would be used primarily for educational purposes. 'They said it would have a restricted screening and never discussed marketing the film to make it such a commercial venture.' "One child, who had been very stable and happy until the film's release, was so distressed by his unexpected fame, that he started wetting the bed, and became afraid of the dark. 'Other children have been teased at their new secondary schools because of their involvement. All have been subjected to a great deal of stress as a direct consequence of the film,' he said.

Is this the complete Les Sylphides?

Maurice Bejart Obituary - Times Online

What a great line - I love it! That deserves a place on the "Quotable Quotes" sticky!!

Have you made sure that the window the image is in is "maximized"? What browser are you using?

If you click on this search button for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum you can find two images from the occasion at the White House using the image numbers ST-225-31-62 and KN-C21922. ST-225-31-62 22 May 1962 Dinner for the President of the Ivory Coast and Madame Houphouet-Boigny. President and Mrs. Kennedy congratulate American Ballet Theatre cast of "Billy The Kid". White House, Cross Hall. Photograph by Cecil Stoughton, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston. KN-C21922 (crop) 22 May 1962 Dinner for the President of the Ivory Coast and Madame Houphouet-Boigny. Mrs. Kennedy and cast of the American Ballet Theatre production of "Billy the Kid". White House, Cross Hall. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

Giannina, I think your hunch is good; the World Vision TF# is disconnected. But maybe NVC ARTS might yield something. If I find something out, I'll report back. But thanks none the less for digging out the tape. And I feel if something was released once, there is a chance it will come out a second time. Richard Some clips of Onegin have now appeared on youtube: Marcia Haydée and Jan Stripling (by John Cranko) Onegin Ballet, on music by Tchaikovsky Stuttgart Ballet

Do you know if there are performances with Maris or Andris Liepa dancing Le Spectre de la Rose available on dvd or video? I just tried a lengthy google search without any luck. ps. I am with cubanmiamiboy on this one "I know...BTW, i miss Leonid's posts... "

Hi markcity, If you go to Amazon and search on prodigal son chaconne baryshnikov you will come up with a dvd and its cover I think has the photo rg describes in his post. Also there is "Ask an Expert"" online form on the New York City Ballet website.

Thank you so much, rg, for the clarification and the reference.

I read that these curtains, originally designed by Golovin, are painted. Does anyone know anything about the process of painting them or the material that has been used? In this post Jeannie Szoradi mentions that for a performance of Cinderella the curtain was changed. Does this happen very often? "The sunshine went into hibernation on Saturday, the second day of the ten-day festival. That did not seem to dampen the spirits of the audience, who entered the auditorium of the Mariinsky Theater to gaze upon a shockingly modern front curtain. Tonight, the flouncy blue-and-gold curtain by Golovin was replaced by a black-and-white depiction of New York City skyscrapers, thus portending an unusual night of dance from this usually ultra-traditional ballet company."

a link to an article about the Nature study comparing Britannica and Wikipedia : The Nitpicking of the Masses vs. the Authority of the Experts by George Johnson, The New York Times, January 3, 2006

Thanks so much Scherzo for the article. And Mel, you are right -- the music is the Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras #5! I will keep digging though, perhaps Bayana is based on a legend. If anyone is interested the clip is on youtube now.

Hi Dancerboy, Another interpretation you might enjoy watching is Igor Kolb's. This Spectre de la Rose is from the dvd The Kirov Celebrates Nijinsky but there are also clips on youtube. For me he creates the atmosphere that Mel Johnson put so beautifully into words "a rose's fragrance suspended about the girl's body, but easily fragile and wisped away by any sudden movement she might make."

Your point, Bart about "is an interpretation like this accessible to the audience actually watching the ballet" struck a chord with me. I interpreted Madge's loss/emptiness as comprehension of the evil that she had committed... So out of this arises the question -- whose interpretation is the most valid one or are they all equal? On another point -- I hadn't realised that James did not die in Bournonville's original productions. At this moment the fortuneteller enters to rejoice at James's despair and counters his reproaches with the icy laughter of revenge. She points to the background, where Gurn is leading Effy to the altar. The Sylphide's strength is decreasing little by little. James is at her feet. Her sisters surround her, and in their arms she breathes forth her spirit. Sylphs and sylphides veil the beloved body and carry it away through the air. Overcome with grief, the unfortunate James casts yet another look at his airy mistress and falls to At this moment the fortuneteller enters to rejoice at James's despair and counters his reproaches with the icy laughter of revenge. She points to the background, where Gurn is leading Effy to the altar. The Sylphide's strength is decreasing little by little. James is at her feet. Her sisters surround her, and in their arms she breathes forth her spirit. Sylphs and sylphides veil the beloved body and carry it away through the air. Overcome with grief, the unfortunate James casts yet another look at his airy mistress and falls to the ground in a swoon. The Ballet Poems of August Bournonville: The Complete Scenarios, Appendix Two by Patricia McAndrew et al. Dance Chronicle, Vol. 6, No. 1. (1983), pp. 52-78.

Found this on the web last night -- an interview with Sorella Englund from Dancing Times Magazine. Nov 2, 2005. Englund believes that it was Madge’s position on the fringes of society that helped her develop her talent as a fortune-teller. “She became very good at observing people. When you’re not the focus of attention, you see things very clearly and how other people act. “And so on the wedding day, she sees James, who in her eyes, has everything. And he very rudely kicks her out, maybe because he knows that she knows the same landscape as he does. Maybe that was the last straw. Now she decides to take revenge and won’t give up until it’s finished. “In the end, she gets her revenge. Her plan worked, because she is very intelligent. And now she is lonelier than she has ever been in her life. The emptiness is even bigger, because there’s nothing left, no plan, no passion. Her question is, ‘what now?’” From Talking About Madge An Interview with Sorella Englund by William Anthony

Could you also resolve an argument? In this performance with Englund are the roles for the 4 witches helping Madge performed by male or female dancers?

This question is based on the dvd of La Sylphide with Sorella Englund as Madge. The moment I am wondering about is after Madge resuscitates James and he dies from his grief. To me the look on Madge's face, at that point, is one of almost horror at the realization of what she has done. And yet when I look up various descriptions of the story they talk about Madge exulting in her victory. For me Leigh Witchel's phrase in a previous post "ambivalent triumph" expresses best the closing scene. I was also interested to read Alexandra Tomalonis's article La Sylphide Restored where she writes: "There were suggestions in the late 20th century that Madge is really in love with James, or is a Sylph who has lost her wings." Although I didn't feel in this production that Madge was in love with James, it seems to me, at this point she understands the evil she has committed. And in that realization the evil all the more powerful. Does anyone else see that moment of regret in Madge's face? How do you interpret the final scene?

Thank you for the heads up, innopac. I have not seen it. Could you (or anyone else who's familiar with it) tell us more about the film? I was expecting a traditional documentary based on the book... hadn't even realized Ben Kingsley was in the film. But it is a very moving film. Visually it is like a poem, smoothly blending images from the time, footage from films about the period, segments of performances of Shostakovich's music, Fellini like nightmarish episodes and acted scenes based on Shostakovich's life... with the music and spoken words weaving in and out. Connecting Shostakovich's Music to His Times

Testimony, the 1988 film with Ben Kingsley, is out on dvd.

That is so beautiful....

Thanks so much! If you have the time. popularlibrary, to write out the order of the clips I would really appreciate it.