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it's hard for a non-russian/soviet ballet scholar without a clear performance history of these works to discern just whose choreographic hand is at hand in these late 20th c. perfs. but here are a few factual notations from the nyplibrary for the perf. arts at linc.cent. note that beaumont's COMPLETE BOOK OF BALLETS has some background on the 19th century originals, but as i say, who knows how much of any of these roots were still flowering when soviet russian ballet put these duets back on stage. in any case, fyi: Satanella; or Metamorphoses (Choreographic work : Taglioni, P) Original title: Les métamorphoses. Chor & lib: Paul Taglioni; mus: Peter Ludwig Hertel and Cesare Pugni. First perf: London, Her Majesty's Theatre, Mar 12, 1850.//Perf: Berlin, Königliche Theater, 1852, under title: Satanella; oder Metamorphosen; scen: Gropius. Beaumont. Complete book of ballets. p 309. Diable amoureux (Choreographic work : Petipa, J and M after Mazilier) Original title: Satanilla; ili Liubov' i ad. Chor: Jean and Marius Petipa; mus: François Benoist and Henri Reber; lib: Saint-Georges and Mazilier. First perf: St. Petersburg, Bolshoi Theater, Feb 10, 1848 (O.S.)//Perf: Moscow, Jan 19, 1849 (O.S.)//Revived: St. Petersburg, Oct 18, 1866 (O.S.). Talisman (Choreographic work : Petipa, M) Chor: Marius Petipa; mus: Riccardo Drigo; lib: K. A. Tarnovsky and Petipa after the fairy play La fille en l'air; scen: Henrykh Levot, Matvei Shishkov and Mikhail Bocharov; cos: Evgenii Ponomarev. First perf: St. Petersburg, Maryinsky Theater, Jan 25, 1889 (O.S.) Talisman (Choreographic work : Legat, Nikolai) Chor: Nikolai Legat; mus: R. Drigo; scen: Orest Allegri; cos: Aleksandr Shervashidze. First perf: St. Petersburg, Maryinsky Theater, Nov 29, 1909. Ballet scenarios. The talisman. Beaumont. Complete book of ballets [1956] p 524.

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this book has been in the works for years now. i believe it was on wiley's 'plate' before he came out w/ his 'ivanov' book. i have not heard any recent news of a possible publication date for this petipa study, but it would seem to be preparation. we'll post news if/when we find anything firm.

if mem. serves the odalisques' music is heard on the recording of LE CORSAIRE which claims to be Adam. the Pas d'esclave, where the ballerina is unwound from her veiled costume by her partner, has music by one one Prince Oldenbourg. (that was the credit given when baryshnikov's abt first presented the duet w/ a. gudonov and s. jaffe (in her surprise debut), as staged by diana joffe in 1980 - this is the pas de deux for gulnare and lankedem in the slave market and something of a highlight staple w/ soviet ballet (a touring troupe led by vyacheslav gordeyev used to perform it as an excerpt). it never gained as much popularity outside russia as the ali/medora pas de deux made famous in the west by nureyev (and fonteyn), which is said to have been composed by drigo, interpolated for legnani in petipa's 1900(?) restagings of his multi-act ballet. (mindy aloff's notes on the pbs site for the abt 'corsaire' telecast, which i've printed out, but which may still be on line, confirm the ident. of the medora/ail (+ conrad) pas as being to the music of drigo, info. no doubt gained from a.m.holmes thru her connections to soviet ballet via dudinskaya.) abt's press kit for its current CORSAIRE production still gives the name of Prince Oldenbourg for its pas d'esclave. who knows if we'll ever know any of this for certain. maybe wiley's upcoming book on petipa will spell out some things w/ more certainty.

i'm no expert here at all. i have been told that to play PAL dvds from the region covered by england, france, etc. one's dvd player needs to be 'adjusted' to do so AND one needs a tv that has a PAL-compatible. but as i say, i'm no expert. my player has been adjusted and my tv can play PAL tapes. maybe others can chime in w/ more expert opinions and advice.

on p. 585 of the videography in my book, BALLET 101, i've got 2 commerciallyavailable tapes listed of the Walpurgis Night i assume you're looking for. the choreography is Leonid Lavrovsky's and was a staple over the years in the repertory of the Bolshoi Ballet. one performance, from 1956 is on THE BOLSHO BALLET, a tape with a number of bolshoi ballets, including ulanova's GISELLE. this perf. is led by raissa struchkova and alexander lapauri. another, called FAUST: WALPURGIS NIGHT can be found on RUSSIAN BALLET: THE GLORIOUS TRADITION, VOL. 2, it's led by ekaterina maximova and stanislav vlasov, it was filmed in 1978 and released on video in 1992. hope this helps.

i have none of my possibly useful notes at hand, and perhaps some of those who specialize in russian ballet will chime in (is jeannie in the countryat present? or reading this from mother russia as i type?) but one prince oldenbourg is repsonsible for the music of the slave-market duet, where gulnare is unwound from her chiffon 'wrapper,' and known as the 'pas d'esclave'. otherwise mel's commentary seems to cover a lot. anton simon, is, i believe, responsible for one of the alternate solos used for the famous drigo 'pas de deux a trois' - it's the one we also see on occasion in the 'dream scene' of DON Q. but now that i say this i think it's not the one included in the gusev/vinogradov 'text' of the ballet as done by the kirov. (it's the variation known to fonteyn and nureyev watchers, from the version the pas nureyev set for himself at the royal ballet, as a standard pas de deux, and that fonteyn did consistently.) maybe john-michael or doug knows further details. (i can't recall if alexandra put into her archives here a little fact sheet i cobbled together when the kirov first brought its CORSAIRE to nyc and which is probably in sore need of re-editing, but it is a start to some of the identifications of the bits and pieces that make up the current soviet/russian CORSAIRE stagings.)

as mel indicated this is a soviet re-make of the once-famous 19th c. st-leon ballet. the film itself is quite a pretty production, with sparkle and candy-colors befitting the look of a fairy-tail. there are even animation details if mem. serves. the choreographer as you can see from the credits below also danced the character role of the king (or tsar) in his ballet. he's not known for much else choreography-wise, but the film has become rather well known mostly because it stars plisetskaya. and yes, vasiliev is also stellar as ivanushka, the story's simple but pure-hearted brother. The little humpbacked horse [videorecording] / produced by Mosfilm ; released by Corinth Films ; directed by Zoya Tulubyeva ; script and choreography by Aleksandr Radunskii ; music by Rodion Shchedrin. 1961, c1988. (85 min.) Notes: Maya Plisetskaya (Queen Maiden), Vladimir Vasiliev (Ivan), Alla Shcherbinina (Little humpbacked horse), Alexander Radunskii (King), and members of the Bolshoi Ballet. Libretto, Vasily Vainonen and P. Maliarevskii after the tale by Ershov ; design, Boris Volkov ; photography, Mikhail Silenko. Filmed at the Central Documentary Film Studio, Moscow, in 1961.

there are no videos of cranko's ballet on the market, to the best of my knowledge. the work might have been telecast in germany at some point, but i don't think it was ever put on the commercial market. perhaps euorpean readers here might have some further insights.

thanks for the vote of confidence regarding further book(s). i think after doing one, most authors say 'never again!' but then one learns to never say never. time will tell. re: bayadere and beauty on cd and dvd, when i asked him myself at a public interview session in nyc this past summer, makharbek vaziev said, yes, both would be recorded: audio and video, but gave NO specifics as to time, label, etc. so all one can do is hope.

one person said MM had pulled or twisted something: knee? calf? i forget... and that as of now, she's probably out for a week.

I have 3 selections from ESMERALDA listed in my book’s videography, BALLET 101. All, however, refer to the famous Pas de Six, where La Esmeralda is asked to dance at the wedding of her beloved, Phoebus, while she is partnered by the poet Gringoire. The credit I believe I got from the tapes lists Pugni or Drigo as composer. Here are a few others in the NYPLibrary for the Perf. Arts at Lincoln Center. I’m not sure if they remain available commercially, nor if they would offer you what you are looking for. (FYI: American Ballet Theatre recently performed Ben Stevenson’s pastiche pas de deux called ESMERALDA on a gala with Nina Ananiashvili and Jose Manuel Carreno, but this was not released on video. I suppose there is chance that on one of the 3 [or is it 4?] cassettes released as “Nina Anaiasvili and International Stars” there might be a performance of ESMERALDA, but I don’t have time right now to check my tapes of this series.) So here are a few leads: The Romantic Era (1980): Pas de deux from Esmeralda: reconstructed and choreographed by John Gilpin; music by Cesare Pugni, danced by Evdokimova and Schaufuss. The Ballerinas (1985) Esmeralda: two variations and coda, perf. by Fracci, Jeffries. World’s Young Ballet (1969): Nina Sorokina and Yuri Vladimirov in Peace and war (chor: Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Lubovich Vasil'ev) and Esmeralda. Holiday For Ballet (1981): Esmeralda: pas de deux / performed by Natalia Arkhipova and partner. Moment of Light: Evelyn Hart docu. (1992) [this was shown I think on canadian tv and there are copies around but I don’t think it’s been commercially released]: Back in Winnipeg, she performs Agrippina Vaganova's La Esmeralda with Manuel Legris, a guest artist from the Paris Opéra Ballet.

at a NYC interview w/ makharbek vaziev while the kirov at lincoln center w/the 'new' bayadere, the artistic director said there were plans to release both these recent efforts. however, and i'm afraid i think this is a BIG 'however' no details, dates, or specifics were offered. so who knows if or when this will come to pass...

both the tape and DVD of this title are on ebay often. right now, i think.

curious about which 'swan lake' 'pas' this might have been: the 'Pas de Neuf'? or has D.W. danced Odette in Balanchine's "Swan Lake"?

not able, right now, amy, to check precise dates, but it's likely that 'magic of the dance' was aired around or near the time of the NYCB 'live' telecast (and repeats). balanchine never danced his own coppelius, i've seen it since its saratoga premiere and catching its rep. performances in nyc regularly, certainly consistently in balanchine's lifetime. i have no idea about the videotape rules at ABT, tho i suspect they are strict.

from my more knowledgeable friends i hear that yes the technology is indeed here. blank disks i gather can still be rather pricey, AND i'm told that a better method - something called 'blue somethingorother' - is just around the corner and that it might be worthwhile to hold off still more and get this improved method of transfer from video tape to CD. but as i say i have no first hand info. i think there are some on this site who are already making transfers from tape to disk so they might have far more reliable and helpful information.

hi amy: neither NYCBs nor ABTs 'Coppelia' has been put out on video and only NYCBs to the best of my knowledge has been filmed formally. as you recall NYCBs was telecast as an early (and it turned out the ONLY) Live From Lincoln Center/Great Performances during that era (Balanchine greatly disliked the results of the filming). however the image you have of Coppelius dancing w/ a rag doll i think is one you might be confusing with Petit's modernistic Coppelia, and in which Coppelius is danced by Petit himself. this scene is excerpted on Fonteyn's MAGIC OF THE DANCE. in the end of Balanchine & Danilova's production Coppelius just runs on in distress and dismay carrying his denuded doll after it's been 'switched' by Swanilda for her escapade. This little moment is also in Lacotte's last act. BTW as british readers might point out, there is now a recently filmed version of de valois' petipa-based Coppelia on tape and on DVD it's led by Leanne Benjamin and Carlos Acosta. i think you'll find it closely related to the structure and details of both Balanchine's and the ABT version you mention here. i don't think Petit's is filmed complete, but i could be wrong.

at the geo. wash. univ. perf. there was a coppelia doll but she remained seated behind a closed window casement and did not have the little 'blowing kisses' automated-mime moment we're used to. (could this have been a conceit of petipa's and not been part of Saint Leon's version?) in any case the dolls in the workshop of act 2 were definitely distinguished one from the other: one was chinese but more royal-seeming than usual, complete w/golden winged crown, there was persian looking one, and a differently turbaned fellow there too. one doll, a literally black standing figure of a man, was a mannequin, but the other dolls - the persian, the other turbaned one, and the chinese dolls - did very precise little actions when wound up as is traditional: the persian turned the pages of a book, the other turban-wearer played cymbols and the chinese doll played a xylophone. but coppelia was most definitely behind her window in act 1 in geo.mason, except she didn't move at all.

too bad there can't be video-grabbing and streaming here, so one could see the clip in question and answer your question. d.w. had a few solo roles but w/ no more to go on than that this was a solo rehearsal in a studio w/ piano, it's rather difficult to guess which dance she was working on. i'm personally unfamiliar w/ the PBS series you mention, but other BA post-ers might well be familiar with it and be able to identify the dance for you.

i'm not aware of this item's being released on DVD. i've not seen it anywhere on shelves, nor advertised as available. if you learn that it is and have a distributor name to go with it, i'd love to know about it.

though he didn't get far, Julian Ringdahl (sp?) spent some time in the co. after hubbe joined.

if mem. serves Natalia Balaknicheva is the student/subject of the russian film about the great perm teacher sakharova, called TERPSICHORE'S CAPTIVE

dept. of slight clarification: after checking tonight w/ a colleague it would seem David White's remarks noting a DanceMag-sponsored NY-area prog. due to begin soon(?) - written by W. Perron and hosted by S. Jaffe - will be on TV not the radio as suggested here earlier. none of this, however, is at all official, and to be sure that would be cable tv, perhaps NYC's MetroArts, which is also planning to air the Bessie Awards ceremony sometime soon.

at this evening's NY Bessie Awards ceremony DTW director D.White announced that NY Mag would be appointing a dance critic in 2 to 3 weeks. also he announced that Dance Mag was about launch a half-hour(?) radio(?) show - it all went by quite quickly in his opening remarks - written by Dance Mag editor Wendy Perron and hosted by Susan Jaffe. i have no more details than these, perhaps someone else was there listening more attentively or who knows further particulars.