Giannina

Strange that this topic came up at this time. I have just watched my tape of "Four Temperaments" with Merrill Ashley and Daniel Duell dancing the Sanguinic segment. Ashley is about as close to perfection as one can come. In class Balanchine is reported to have said, "Watch Merrill" in order to see how something is done correctly. Watch this; it certainly is how something is done correctly. Duell is a great partner for her; his strength during the lifts make her appear weightless. Such beauty. Along the same lines, I also watched Monotones II, my favorite ballet. Took Hans' dead-choreographer test and came up Ashton. It's my week! Giannina

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Oh, nuts; I hit the wrong button and didn't get to see the other possible results. Does anyone know what they are? F. Ashton (Isn't that nice!)

Remember laser discs? I have ballets on laserdiscs and am having a hard time finding some of them on other formats without paying a fortune. For a while I couldn't find Royal Ballet's "Manon", and now that I have it's very costly. Even more costly is "Prince of the Pagodas"; for a ballet that generally gets negative reviews it certainly comes at a hefty price. Does anyone know of a means of converting laser disc recordings to tapes or DVD's? Can you go to a VHS/DVD store and have it done? Giannina

The merchandise they offer is new, right? As opposed to used. Giannina

I do understand your English, and thank you for the report on the 2 Swan Lake DVD's. Royal Swedish Ballet was here several years ago and I enjoyed their production of Swan Lake very much. Giannina

Me too. Is that the one in which the lighting is so bad? Giannina

Yes, Carbo....a bunch of those. Great stuff. Thanks. I've been suffering guilt pangs lest I suggested that Belosterkovsky was a lesser dancer because he didn't do as many pirouettes as Corella. Not so; it's a matter of style. With Corella, who does multiple pirouettes better than just about anyone, it's a matter of "Here I am with my eleven perfect pirouettes, whizzing around in several positions and I just might corkscrew myself into the stage floor" whereas with Belosterkovsky it's "This is how you do 6 perfect pirouettes: graceful preparation, perfect balance, astounding turn-out, slow so you can see every one or them distinctly, ta-TA!! Giannina

My husband and I took a week long inland cruise (small ship; 139 people) in Alaska. Gorgeous! Home in time for me to take off again to welcome our new granddaughter, Sophia. Now we await the birth of our grandson, Jacob; when he makes his appearance I'll spend a week in Illinois getting to know him. Add to this reading, a week of ABT, knitting, and avoiding work as much as humanly possible. Giannina

We have a thread discussing exactly that in this Forum. It's titled "Good Videos" and it will give you tons of information. Giannina

Treefrog, I'm still not sure. Mr. Hosokawa stepped in front of Carmen in the kitchen when the shot was fired. I thought the shot hit both of them. But in the "epilogue" it states that the body of only one woman was found, presumedly Beatriz. Then if you go back and re-read about the death of Mr. Hosokawa it states that Carmen's head was to the left of Mr. Hosokawa's; does that imply that Carmen couldn't have been hit? Do I not understand correctly that Mr. Hosokaw was hit? Giannina

Oh. Giannina

Ohmygosh! In my opinion tonight (Sat., July 26) was one of those ballet nights. AN EVENT!! ABT’s Don Quixote; who would have thunk it?! As wonderful as last night’s performance was, this one was better. The cast. How can I say it all? I am not a Irina Dvorovenko fan but tonight she was darn near perfect. My only quibble would be her 180 degree extensions; other than that she was sublime. This was a not a pixie young Kitri; this was a woman. Dvorovenko acted and danced like a woman. She was in control; she was lavish; she did not rush. She capped off her perfect evening with her final gesture at the end of the Act III pas de deux: as she and Basilio/Belotserkovsky finished their dance they paused for a second before dropping to their knees. Dvorovenko was in a passé pose (wording) and hit a balance that just wouldn’t stop. She held it; Belosterkovsky waited to move until she moved, the orchestra stopped, the audience held its breath, and with a flourish she dropped to her knee. Lordy! Maxim Belotserkovsky danced beautifully, but of the cast he was probably the weak link. The fact that he followed Corella’s performance last night didn’t help for those of us who saw both performances. Where Belotserkovsky would do 6 pirouettes Corella did 11. Corella was all smiles with a few perplexed side glances; Belotserkovsky was perplexed practically all the time, and showed strain as he partnered Dvorovenko. But as I said, he danced beautifully and was a joy to watch. Those in the smaller roles were equally noteworthy. I cannot say enough about Michele Wiles as Queen of the Dryads. Lush dancing. I wish I could name steps, but she does a series of, I think, develope to the side followed by a single pirouette in attitude. She stopped that pirouette facing dead center….not sliding by, not a couple of degrees off; dead center. Her entire solo was a lesson in grace and solid technique. As Amour last night Renata Pavam was petit and airy; tonight Maria Riccetto was more grounded but every bit as accomplished; a wonderful performance. Unfortunately neither of them appeared at the closing bows. Carlos Molina as Espada is the only dancer I’ve seen who can dance the opening steps of his Act II solo without looking like a doofus; he made the most of that and everything else he danced. Carmen Corella is one of the best Mercedes I’ve seen; her smile is every bit as dazzling as her brother’s. Guillaume Graffin, again in the role of Gamache, is the best comic actor in the company; you haven’t lived til you’ve seen him as one of the stepsisters in Cinderella. The stage is very busy during his appearance in Don Q. and he is almost lost in all the activity. It’s an honor to have been at Orange County Performing Arts Center tonight. Even my husband raved about the ballet, and he doesn’t rave very easily. Wish all of you could have been there. Giannina

The best place to find what's available is at amazon.com. Enter there through the upper right hand corner of this page; a portion of what you spend (you WILL buy, won't you?) will go to support Ballet Alert. Giannina

(This discusses the story of the book so don't read if you want to be surprised.) What a lovely book. I kept thinking the word "lovely" as I read it, and wondered how I could use such a term when reading about hostages/terrorism. But that's the tone of the book.....the evolution of emotions, the transformation of both hostages and terrorists, the unwitting creation of a world happier than the world from which they were wrenched. Of course the situation was doomed, and the only question was in what form the doom would appear. I could not help but compare the affect the music had on the listeners to the affect some ballets have on me: the disbelief that something can be so beautiful and pure, a desire to dance as well as those whom I watch, the feeling that lights have been turned on and I'm being dazzled; such was the affect both Roxane and Kato had on their audience. Knowing that the situation had no possible happy ending I was anxious to see how the book ended; but with each new chapter and new character development I found myself happily involved in what was going on in the house rather than seeing it end, as it must. OK, what do you think really happened to Carmen? Giannina

Don Quixote, Fri. July 25, 2003; starring Xiomara Reyes and Angel Corella. A wonderful ballet evening. This is the first starring role in which I’ve seen Xiomara Reyes and she didn’t disappoint. She easily fits the look and choreography of perky Kitri. Her dancing in Act I was especially good; she seems to thrive on the fast tempo and steps. Wonderful pirouettes and even better balances. She’s lovely in the more adagio parts of the ballet but I preferred her dancing allegro, if that’s how you state it. I found the final pas de deux, though very good, just the teeniest bit off from the standard set in the rest of the ballet; however all the solos were excellent. Then there’s cutie-pie Angel Corella. Sensational, as always, smiling non-stop (it must be wonderful to dance with someone who gazes back at you with that smile and seems to be having such a darn good time). His dancing is so solid and secure; you know he’s going to land those jumps, and complete a gazillion pirouettes without a hitch, all the while carefully partnering his ballerina. That one-handed lift in Act I went on forever! He’s no longer the young Spanish Leprechaun; he’s now an adult Spanish Leprechaun and all the more handsome. The two of them together had the audience on their feet at the end of the performance. The rest of the cast followed the pattern set by the stars and it was a night of great ballet. I’ve always liked the role of Amour; it has wonderful choreography and Renata Pavam was terrific. The 1st and 3rd acts are very busy with bits of business going on at every corner of the stage. It’s distracting, and it’s a shame to miss it while you’re watching the dancers. For example, Gamache (Guillaume Graffin) hams it up while choking on a hot pepper; why they add this I don’t know but it’s there to be seen. The sets by Santa Loquasto are beautiful. Giannina

Alexandra is right in saying that first you get some experience/examples under your belt and then you make your own decision. I have been around ballet for eons and I still make decisions that raise eyebrows. To wit: I have an adult daughter who knows little about ballet and had seen only one "Swan Lake": Peter Martin's on TV. I took her to a performance. I simply loved the ballerina who danced Odette/Odile and I told my daughter that she'd be hard pressed to find a better interpretation. She didn't like it at all, and when we met my very savvy ballet friends at intermission they, too, hated it. I felt ridiculous, but I still think of that performance and sigh. That's one thing about an art form; we have the privilege of being moved by all sorts of stimuli. Giannina

There's a video called "Bournonville Ballet Technique; Fifty Enchainements". You can find it at: http://www.dancehorizons.com/instr.html Giannina

I'm sorry, cececinderella, but I don't know of any studios. Giannina

Wed. night. The program opened with “The Dream”, a dream of a ballet. Alessandra Ferri, Ethan Stiefel, Herman Cornejo and Julio Bragado-Young starred. They were wonderful, though Ferri was not the Ferri of yore. I love Julio Bragado-Young in the role of Bottom; his simplicity and confusion are heart-tugging. The final pas de deux is one of my favorite ballet moments. I first saw this ballet starring Sarah Wildor and I doubt I’ll ever find a better Ashton dancer than she is. The audience applauded everything; I mean everything! It was so distracting that I was on the verge of jumping up and shouting “Quiet, for Pete’s sake!”. The ballet was taped for future broadcast on PBS; that will be a treat. Next came the pas de deux from “Don Quixote” (replacing “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux”) starring Paloma Herrera and Gennadi Saveliev. Herrera has slimmed down and once more has sculpted legs. I never did relax during the ballet; Herrera and Gennadi seemed just a tad unsure of themselves and I feared disaster throughout. Herrera sacrificed some steps in order to hold a balance longer than musically required. For the fouette lovers I must say that Herrera did a bang-up job, though she did travel a bit; the first half were single followed by double; the last half all singles. The evening ended with ABT’s new ballet “Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison". Oh, dear! Well, it was nice to see Julie Kent loosen up a bit (she looked good…like she’d gained some weight). But, as the final song states, “My Sweet Lord”!! Giannina

I've seen the ballet twice and simply love it. It's one of those that moves me to tears; it's so sweet and melodic and graceful. Mmmm. Giannina

Thank you SO much, Sylvia. Giannina

In the June issue of "About the House, The Magazine of the Royal Opera House" there's a production listing of "The Sleeping Beauty Insight Morning". What is that? Is there a fee? Thanks for any info. Giannina

I just finished DVC. My impression....well, one of my impressions; there are tons!....is that never have I seen a bunch of scholarly people so blind to the things about which they are scholars. And that dying Jacques Sauniere sure got a heck of a lot done in his agonizing last 15/20 minutes. Farrell Fan, I love your bookish conversation, especially the bit about "padding the puzzle"! Giannina

In the latest issue of Ballet Alert! Victoria Leigh wrote an article titled "Facility" which dealt with the progress of dancers in class. She reminds us that some dancers may have talent but will never progress to a professional company. Ms. Leigh says that these students should not necessarily quit dance lessons but could continue as a hobby or a recreational activity. I would like to hear from students, probably adults, who take dance lessons for the above reasons. I would like to know what they derive from the lessons. Do they see themselves improve or do they stay at the same level? Is it a "downer" to see the young students in the class move to a more advanced level? Do they get tired of the classes? Do they get bored? Does it exhilarate them? It takes so much work; why do they do it? Everything! I know it increases their appreciation of ballet in general, and brings more insight to the performances they attend. Giannina