fendrock

What did you think of the "All Balanchine" Program? We attended the second Saturday matinee. I don't have the expertise to provide any kind of technical critique, but can share a few impressions: Ballo della Regina - I had read a great deal about the speed and technical ability required to dance this ballet, made originally on Merrill Ashley. I had not realized, however, that the corps plays a lovely part in this piece. I was especially struck by the use of the arms. Monumentum Pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra - Watching theses pieces made me feel almost as if I were viewing those original tapes of early Balanchine, in black and white. The dancers were in rehearsal clothes, and had blank expressions on their faces. I would have very much liked to have had the chance to see more than once, because there was so much to absorb. Prodigal Son - This was actually my least favorite. Melanie Atkins danced the Siren, and I did not find her as alluring as I would have expected. (Was this the dancer, or the role? -- it's hard to act sexy throwing a heavy mantle around). Also, the crawling of the repentant Son struck me as theatrical, and I didn't agree with the interpretation of the son returning to his father -- his father forcing him to crawl on his hands and knees up to him, whereas both the text and the natural instinct of a parent would show the father moving forward to embrace the son. All in all, a great program, and, I might add, extremely well attended. P.S. For the Alexander Ritter fan -- he was not listed as dancing in any performance this weekend.

The Boston Globe recently had an interesting articile on Merrill Ashley coaching the Boston Ballet for their current Balanchine program. Here's the URL: www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/082/living/Belle_of_Balanchine_s_Ballo_teaches_piece_to_Boston_BalletP.shtml One of her comments on NYCB style -- ''Clean footwork at that tremendous speed'' is what Ashley cites as the Boston dancers' main difficulty with ''Ballo.'' ''It's not second nature for them,'' she says. ''It's really only City Ballet dancers who have that urgency.''

We saw La Fille on Saturday, a production with much the same casting as that seen by bbfan. The exception was that we had Christopher Budzynski as Alain, and I really enjoyed seeing him in the role. The place was packed, so word got out that this was a light hearted piece, easy to enjoy. I was intrigued by the big part played by dancing with ribbons in this production. I can't say that the ribbons did much for me, especially when danced by the ensemble in Act II. There is one part where half the dancers are down on the floor with their heads above the ribbons, while the other half are on pointe, holding the ribbons above their heads. The dancers on the floor looked rather awkward. I also enjoyed Lise miming her dreams of being a wife and mother in Act III. This follows a charming part where Lise is pouting about being stuck at home, and she puts her chin on her knees and comes bumping down a set of stairs. These touches of everyday movement in combination with traditional steps were definitely part of the charm of this ballet for me.

The definition of good taste can definitely fall into the same category as that of being politically correct -- namely, that which is safely in good taste (ie, the black dress and pearls). The interesting area, as always, is where people disagree. I would propose that things in bad taste are frequently not well thought out, whereas those in good taste adhere to some kind of aesthetic principle or plan. I'm sure there is someone with an artistic (or perhaps, pyschology?) background who can explain to us why choosing pink as a color scheme is counter to basic artistic principles. Maybe because it is suggestive of the red of bordellos, for example? It's also interesting to mull over why bad taste can be acceptable if it is "tongue in cheek" or some how otherwise explained away. Note that this works with watching a movie, like Hairspray, but not for living long term with pink cushions.

[Note: This confirms some of the news under the "CNN reports problems" thread...] Apparently, we are not the only ones who have worried about the impression left by all the empty seats at Boston Ballet performances. As a Boston Ballet subscriber, I recently received a letter from Valerie Wilder explaining changes in the upcoming Boston Ballet season schedule. According to this letter, Ms. Wilder has “observed that [boston Ballet] has more performances than other similarly sized or even larger ballet companies…also…there are many empty seats in The Wang Theatre, particularly for the mixed repertory programs.” Thus, “beginning this fall, Boston Ballet will adopt a performance format similar to ones that have proven successful at other major Northern American ballet companies. Two productions will be performed in tandem over a three-week period – a full-length ballet and a repertory program… in addition, the balcony of The Wang Theatre [with the exception of the mezzanine] will be closed and will no longer be available for subscription or single tickets. “ In closing, she notes that this season the Boston Ballet experienced a 10% increase in subscription sales. [note that a recently posted link gives a figure of "600 additional subscribers"]

I suppose we could quibble over what retains students, and whether or not the market is asking for "Solid teaching, with a well-defined curriculum and syllabus." Offering a financial award to teachers who retain students is not, in and of itself, a sign of schlocky teaching. I suspect that the primary distinction between a good school and a Dolly Dinkle school is its attitude toward the end of year performance. Do students attend to learn ballet, or do they attend to practice a routine they will display in rented costumes in May?

I think it is an interesting question, because I want my daughter to get a "good" ballet education, and I do believe that takes more than one class a week, even if she has no professional aspirations. For those who are opposed to recreational training, are any opposed because they feel it is not really possible to train recreationally and learn ballet in a significant way?

In terms of child abuse charges, what about the reports in the Parenting thread of hard-working, aspiring young students being told harshly and abruptly that there is no hope of their ever becoming a professional? The psychological scars of this mishandling must be considerable.

I believe this column suggests that many parents are looking for a dance related activity for their offspring, and are happiest with a single class a week, with a spring performance at the end. Wouldn't this be considered "recreational," even with top-notch instruction?

I just purchased Following Balanchine by Robert Garis at www.salebooks.com for $5.98. They also have an autobiography by Jose Limon, as well as some other dance books at bargain prices.

Sylvia mentions Madonna as someone who goes to the ballet -- she was a dancer prior to becoming a pop star, as she was a dance major at the University of Michigan. I knew some of her classmates, who danced for May O'Donnell.

I appreciate what Vagansmom means about tutus. For me, to a certain extent, I enjoy art more if I can somehow identify with it -- either with the joy of movement, the depth of the expression, or perhaps even what I've somehow imagine the art form to be. Given this need to identify, it is easier, somehow, for me to appreciate corps work and the type of dancing Vagansmom described as liking first. I find tutu dancing to be far more abstract and based on pure, classical (and may we say, more arcane) ballet. Therefore, I think it is harder to appreciate. True balletomanes might groan -- but this is embodied by the fact that many find the dances of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier to be the dullest part of the Nutcracker.

This is interesting, as I don't recall Boston Ballet using guest artists, at least, not in recent years. Must be somewhat discouraging for Boston Ballet dancers. Do you think Nissinen is having an outsider as a tactic to encourage ticket sales, or is it more likely to be that he didn't feel he had an appropriate dancer available to him within Boston Ballet?

The "Etoiles" film will be shown the week of Jan. 15- 18 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Check their web site, www.mfa.org, for details.

I believe Francis Mason's book mentions Rat as a nickname for Balanchine. He was apparently called this as a young boy at the Imperial School, because of his teeth and the fact that he sniffed a lot. Girls as Party Boys is necessitated by the lack of boys in ballet. I suppose it could be changed so that all the families in attendance at the party happened to only have girls, and then we could have tomboy girls (with horns/guns/drums, whatever) chasing the girly girls (with their dolls).

I should have voted false, as I didn't actually read the statement... Many geniuses/real artists are incredibly focused on their area of genius/art. This may mean that they often prefer to pursue their passion at the expense of acting "decently". As an example, I am reminded of a passage from Maria Tallchief's autobiography, where she decided to separate from her husband because she enjoyed dancing more than being a wife (not that this means that she wasn't a perfectly nice person, just that she put artistic accomplishment ahead of her personal life at the time).

4Ts, that's an interesting angle, but I would think that those attending the ballet tend to be childfree, and thus encouraging folks to bring the kiddies could discourage other potential attendees?

Here's the list. Since most of these are out of print, you'll probably have the best luck tracking them down through interlibrary loan. --------- Merrill Ashley: Dancing for Balanchine Suzanne Farrell: Holding on to the Air Margot Fonteyn: Autobiography: Margot Fonteyn Allegra Kent: Once a Dancer Gelsey Kirkland: Dancing on my Grave (she also wrote a sequel which goes into excruciating detail about performing -- I think Romeo & Juliet -- with the Royal Ballet) Peter Martins: Far from Denmark (this was writting at a fairly young age -- about 20 years ago -- so it doesn't provide as much of an overview of his life as I would like.) Maria Tallchief: Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina Edward Villella: Prodigal Son: Dancing for Balanchine in a World of Pain and Magic

I went to a student production of the Nutcracker last night, which was held in a small theater (about 300 seats). I was struck by the small size of the stage. This clearly had an impact on the choreography, for instance, the snow corps only had eight members. This made me wonder -- is there such a thing as "standard" stage size? Does choreography frequently reflect the size of the stage used by the choreographer (as an example, maybe Petipa)?

(This thread inspired by the reference to Allegra Kent's autobiorgraphy in the "Ballerinas You've Never Seen" thread.) I've read as many dancer autobiographies as I could find, and find it fascinating how each reveals something of the dancer's personality. As I recall, Allegra Kent had a wry view on any number of topics, including her mother and her marriage. I remember being struck by how important it was for her to have children (she had three, I believe), and what a (negative) impact this had on her dancing career. Edward Villela, in his autobiography, talks about how hard Balanchine's compnay classes were on his body. He had to go elsewhere to take class, and felt that Balanchine always resented it. This was in striking contrast to Merrill Ashley, who absolutely adored Balanchine's classes and tells of taking class even when others took the day off. (Perhaps tellingly, Ashley did not really write an autobiography, but more of a technique book with autobiographical bits thrown in.) Peter Martins also found Balanchine's classes hard on the body, and preferred to take class with Stanley Williams. He feels that Balanchine initially misunderstood his ability to be something other than a classical Bournonville dancer, and seems to have been the most successful in terms of speaking frankly to Balanchine and seeing his relationship with Balanchine change. One of my favorites was Maria Tallchief, who seems to have developed a striking maturity as a person as well as a dancer. (Some autobiographies leave you with the impression that the person never thought about anything other than the next dance class or performance.)

'Tis the season -- will you see the Nutcracker this year? If so, which one and why? The Boston Ballet does not include the Nutcracker in its subscription season, and I do not attend. One year I heard about a big bear being featured, sponsored by Filene's (and said bear was of course available at the department store). At that point, I decided it was commercial entertainment, and that I could miss it. I will, however, see two different student productions. I do love it when the Nutcracker is an opportunity for students to really get out and dance for an audience.

The complete quote from Nissinen is... "For the company dancers, who have probably danced hundreds of Nutcrackers, I demand that they not only dance well, but that they dance as well as possible." This acknowledges what must indeed be a big challenge of the Nutcracker season, dancing the same work night after night, yet attempting to keep it fresh. I must say, I've always wondered how the orchestra gets through playing the same score for a month straight. (The article profiles four local Nutcrackers, and as a proud mother, I must digress and say that my daughter is dancing in one of them, the Massachusetts Youth Ballet production.)

I'd very much like to read the Diary, but have been unable to find it on my own. Could you provide a link? Thanks!

Yes, Leigh, that is the music to which I was referring. Interesting that you reduced the number of dancers the second time around -- I'd make it with a corps of at least eight or so...maybe I'm thinking big because the music seems big?

If you had free reign to choreograph something, which music would you choose? I’d choose Josef Suk’s Scherzo.