rg

is it possible Kistler meant 'affectations'?

the workshop staging of SWAN LAKE is only what Balanchine arranged in part. the cygnets quartet was probably eliminated by the move in '64 to Linc. Cent., or so Arlene Croce once suggested to me. Kistler must have gotten her sense of the choreography for this ubiquitous number from videos of other productions - i don't know of any films of Balanchine's version. here's what the Balanchine cat. on line says about Balanchine's own revisions: << Revisions: New York City Ballet, changes from first years in repertory: 1956, traditional ending of pas de deux replaced by coda for corps de ballet (to Tchaikovsky's original score rather than the traditional Drigo interpolation); 1959, PAS DE TROIS omitted and new Prince's solo added to that music (Grand Waltz from Act II), replacing original Prince's solo to fourth variation of pas de six (Act III), traditional entrance of Swan Queen in coda rechoreographed; 1964, traditional Swan Queen solo replaced by new choreography (to Un Poco di Chopin, Op. 72, no. 15, 1893, orchestrated by Drigo) and subsequently changed several times, Prince's solo rechoreographed (to music from Act I pas de trois) and subsequently changed several times and often omitted, pas de quatre (DANCE OF THE FOUR CYGNETS) replaced by WALTZ BLUETTE for 12 Swans (to orchestrated version of Valse Bagatelle, Op. 72, no. 11 in E-flat), role of Benno omitted; 1980, traditional Swan Queen solo and entrance in coda restored. >> the climactic ending of the segment staged by Kistler finishes not with Balanchine's own moment for Odette flanked and supported by two swan maidens but with a version of the moment - a turned, shoulder lift - that Peter Martins's devised to for his staging of SWAN LAKE.

David Hallberg appeared among the cast of very many to croon "We'll Meet Again" as a capstone to Colbert's final show. He waltzed a little w/ Katie Couric as part of his appearance.

if memory serves, OTHER DANCES was a "wedding present" from Eugénie Delarova to Makarova, that is Delarova commissioned and paid for the dance; it was first shown at gala, perhaps to benefit the NYPL, as follows: Other dances : The 1st and last pieces performed as duets; the others performed as solos. Chor.: Jerome Robbins; mus.: Frédéric Chopin (Mazurka, op. 17, no. 4; mazurka, op. 41, no. 3; waltz, op. 64, no. 3; mazurka, op. 63, no. 2; mazurka, op. 33, no. 2); cos: Santo Loquasto; lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley, Jr. First perf: New York, Metropolitan Opera House, May 9, 1976, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova. source: Performing Arts Research Center. Program, gala benefit, Metropolitan Opera House, May 9, 1976. i imagine it was most likely slated for ABT's rep. from the start but that the decision to take it into repertory only became a done deal after the first outing.

glimpse, by way of this rehearsal photo in plain light on the limited stage of Royal Festival Hall, of Sizova from London, 1970 when, among other appearances, she performed the COPPELIA Pas de Deux with Mikhail Baryshnikov, who was then making his British debut.

a friend writes: << See Nevskie Novosti (The Neva News) from today 1.10 pm (local time). See link in Russian http://nevnov.ru/culture/sobitiya/umerla-balerina-alla-sizova.html If you go on yandex.ru many more news agencies confirm the sad news : Interfax.. >>

f.y.i. signed photo showing the dancers in a concert number performed in Florence, with Wide World Photo captioning, dated June 18, 1951. the number has been identified as a "Rubinstein Waltz," tho' its choreographer isn't named in reports about the appearances, or at least not as far as i can tell. Denby wrote about the appearance(s).

to the best of my recollection, this is the program (see scans) that was filmed for LFLC. f.y.i.

F.Y.I. according to a filmmaker involved with footage related to the 2014 School of American Ballet Worskhop, Live From Lincoln Center has named Dec. 12 as the air date, or at least, i suppose, ONE air date.

scan of a portrait photo of Farrell while she was part of Bejart's Ballet of the XXth Century.

Ratmansky is not in town. he was off to Munich during the day on Saturday, which is likely why he chose to take a bow w/ Whelan at the last perf. of PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION last Sat. eve.

another news photo from '56 with Ulanova at Stratford. Ryndin can be seen at the left edge of the frame.

stagings of Fokine's FIREBIRD include the tossing of balls, representing the golden apples, by the enchanted princesses, from the magic tree is Kastchei's garden. it's true Balanchine's staging had a number of revivals, but i don't think any included the tossing of the golden apples; current stagings said to honor Fokine's choreography do include this "ball" tossing. but they're the size of apples and not a single large ball, that said Fokine's staging also involved the breaking of a large egg from a secret casket, said to be the way to destroy Kastchei's soul.

three more glimpses of the Bolshoi Ballet's 1956 London appearances, complete with 'period' captioning from British news services. i wonder if the hapless Mayoress in the Stratford photo is the woman in the fur coat on the right.

NYC's WINS radio has reported the death of Geoffrey Holder, yesterday, Oct. 5. here's a link to a NYT obit: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/arts/geoffrey-holder-dancer-choreographer-and-man-of-flair-dies-at-84.html?_r=0

another English publicity photo from the Bolshoi Ballet's historic tour to London in '56 with Zviagina and Struchkova; this print comes via an Australia newspaper, where use of the foto in '59 led to the the paper's misidentifying Raissa Struchkova as Olga Struchaova.

hard to say, could have been the first scene, or they'd just finished warm-up/class, or... but then again, surely the news caption writer asked someone what these dancers were doing or planning to do and SWAN LAKE was mentioned.

f.y.i. the accompanying scans of the backs of the two photos date and identify the subjects depicted, each documenting a moment from the first week of the company's now legendary run at Covent Garden in Oct. of '56. the dancer identified as Sussana Zviagina (sometimes spelt Svyagina, as in the International Encyclopedia of Dance) is seemingly not that well known, certainly hers is not a name someone who knew the Bolshoi Ballet in the West would think of alongside Ulanova, Struchkova and Kondratieva, still here she is, along with Radunsky, somewhat better known, more or less, as a character dancer. Svyagina has only mention in the IED, where she's listed as having performed the role of Thérèse in a 1960 revival of Vainonen's 1932 FLAMES OF PARIS.

the attached snapshots, one of a displayed item and another of the accompanying label's credits, were taken last night at the opening of DANCE & FASHION. the dim lighting throughout the gallery, necessitated by the fragile condition of fabric items, made getting details and color in a snapshot tricky, so this view of the boxed presentation of one of Lifar's golden slippers from his appearances as Balanchine's APOLLON in 1928 isn't precisely accurate to the item itself, which is in the collection of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the NYPL for the Performing Arts and which i don't recall being on display previously. understandably, the gilded leather and satin ribbons have oxidized as well as aged in the past 80+ years making for an item darker still than this slightly enhanced photo suggests.

if mem. serves the GISELLE video w/ Nureyev and Seymour, w/ the following credits, includes some of this Minkus pas de deux music, w/choreography by Mary Skeaping, if i read the credits correctly: Giselle / produced by Magnetic Video Corporation/Twentieth Century Fox ; directed by Stanley Dorfman and Rudolf Nureyev ; produced by Stanley Dorfman ; choreography by Peter Wright after Coralli and Perrot ; music by Adolphe Adam. 1979. (76 min.) Notes : Choreography for Pas des vendanges, Mary Skeaping ; costumes, Peter Farmer. Performed by the Bavarian State Opera Ballet Rudolf Nureyev (Albrecht), Lynn Seymour (Giselle), Monica Mason (Queen of the Wilis), Youri Vamos (Hilarion), and Gerd Larsen (Berthe). Music performed by the New World Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Coleman.

um would that be new BOOTS? tho' the thought of a foot 'stretch/exercise' involving new book bindings has its intriguing aspects. typos are somethings i often achieve, usually making other, actual words rather than just odd misspellings, thus making for a kind of unintended poetry in the end..

the German films were done in Berlin, in '73, and mostly likely gave Balanchine even more displeasure than the Live from Lincoln Center COPPELIA. not, btw, that past negativity from Balanchine should prevent re-release of any of these 'vintage' films now that time has marched on and the dancers and dancing recorded in them, however less than ideal, are part of history that deserves revisting.

the one who likely didn't think COPPELIA was well shot was Balanchine. it was the first and last "Live From Lincoln Center" project he agreed to. 'dancing matchsticks' is how i recall GB described the look of the ballet on the tube. o'course there were close-in moments on McBride and Tomasson, etc.

the original cast of FAUN was LeClercq and Francisco Moncion, not Jacques d'Amboise - this kinescope is the same one included on the d'Amboise compilation already on the market.

Vladimir Dokoudovsky, Tatiana Stepanova, Nina Stroganova captured in what was then called a 'strobo-scopic' photo in 1946. Photographs of dancers during this era were generally made in studios; eventually, the so-called "action photo" came into use for those captured in actual performance. This strobo type indicates a studio shot catching motion in a time when camera exposure times were slower than they eventually became. BA members might be able to determine which of these women is Stepanova and which Strogonva (misspelt on the captioning). The costuming left-to-right seems to be Graduation Ball, Blue Bird pas de deux and Les Sylphides (or perhaps as the sylphide in the La Sylphide pas de deux in Graduation Ball?