Nanarina

I am sorry but I simply do not agree with you about Aurelie Dupont, I find her much more appealing, and not just for her beauty or technique, for her musicality, feeling and expression, she does not need to over act, she feels her characters., and you can pick up the vibes. I find Agnes Lesetu to shallow and does not put herself fully into her roles. Her acting is very under stated. She makes me feel as if I want to push her and say "show more emotion".Also the rapor between her partner and Ex Jose Martinez seemed to be non existant. I find her better in none story roles like Diamonds where she excells with a wonderful technique. I saw her in Les dame aux Camillias when Aurelie was on maternity leave, and it weas acceptable ( I had gift tickets) But I know who I would have preferred to have seen. I agree Laeticia Pujol and Claire Marie Osta can act, but I would not put them above Aurelie. Maybe on par with their specialist roles.. I loved Laetica in Nureyevs Cinderelle she was brilliantly funny without going over the top. At the moment I havr two favourite Dancers, Aurelie, Alina Cojocaru, and a third gradually appealing more, Laura Morera.(Royal Ballet) I do not really compare them, I like each for different merits, muscality being very important.

Carbro I will enjoy lookibng it up and learning more about them. On the Tamara Rojo Snow White DVD, there was a very good guy who danced the main dwarf, Virtuoso Dwarf?) and I wondered if by any chance he has made it into Angel Corella's Company. I must try and find out his name and check up.

I loved the trailer, and look forward to the release of your DVD, I certainly hope to be able to buy it. Will it have English subtitles, if the main language is Spanish? It looks a very talented company, larger in size than I imagined. I do really hope they can be successful.

I think that funding could be a problem for them. Considering the talent of many Spanish dancers in other companies, it would be a good idea if their government would subsidize the veture as other countries in Europe do. Then their ia also the European 5b funding, which the Arts are included in.

It may be worth your time to look into that for your film 4mrdncr, I was able to get support for a venture of my own a few years back. (That is if the scheme has niot expired) Send me a private message if you wish to know more.

And finally it seems that global warming has now affected ballet, considering the adverse weather that had to be coped with. That is the joy of appearing in the open air. We had a sand storm whilst performing at the Baalbeck Festiva in Lebanon. Good luck with your future plans.

Markarovafan - I hope yiou will both enjoy it, as I did. My only complaint would be that I would have preferred less of Songe de Medea, it is certainly not my favourite ballet, but I like

Marie Agners Gilot, she is a pretty good dancer, but wasted in this ballet I feel. I think Fred Wiseman's intention is to let his films speak for them selves, without the need for interviews, and in this and the ABT earlier film he seems to achieve this.

Easy does it, Nanarina. As leonid implies, I think, the list would be a long one!

Certainly Balanchine's accomplishment deserves the celebration contemplation of it inspires. When we think of the number of works and the quality of so many of the ones we know, or knew, some of us find comparable precedent in the works of such artists as W. A. Mozart (who lived only half as long as Balanchine!) and William Shakespeare, but unlike them, what Balanchine made cannot be preserved by printing on paper, as you know: Ballets are perishable, even in the normal course of things when they are taught by older dancers to younger ones and kept in performance.

Yes, New York City Ballet continues, and continues to list many Balanchine ballets on its schedules, but among many of us who watched performances of his company, performing under his supervision -- I saw about 500 performances myself -- there is some controversy about whether these are authentically Balanchine's ballets or, in some extreme instances, caricatures of them. Most looked performed without that "inner understanding" they had. Consider why the George Balanchine Foundation began its Interpreter's Archive video series, showing role originators coaching younger dancers.

It looks to us like Peter Martins, NYCB's director, is little interested in maintaining Balanchine's ballets, and he seldom brings in originators of those roles to coach younger dancers, the usual, if not perfectly reliable, way ballets are maintained.

An outstanding company which does do this is Miami City Ballet, which I am traveling to see today, so I won't have a lot more to say about this controversy here right away or even have the opportunity to look for the threads discussing this topic which must be here. Certainly it deserves its own thread! But MCB's resources are more limited than NYCB's, and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet's even more limited, although they are both worth mentioning in this connection because (to many experienced eyes besides mine) they perform Balanchine's ballets very much in Balanchine's way, but within the limits of their much smaller budgets and consequent schedules.

Sarah Kaufmann's complaint is also being discussed at length in another thread here on BT.

Jack Sorry I do not know anything about the two companies you mentioned, we hardley ever hear anything about American Companies unless it is NYCB and ABT. I have been getting Dance Europe for a few months now, which does broaden the horizons a little for me. I have never been to the US, but did see ABT recently in Le Corsair, and Houston Ballet in Cleopatra some years ago when they visited London. I am rather out on a limb here in Norfolk, certainly well away from the Londod scene.

We have a small Arts Centre at Kings Lynn, where the stage is so small, the visiting companies are rather low in the scale of things. Then we have a good theatre at Norwich, but again due to the size of the stage, we do not get the main stream visitors, Northern Ballet Theatre come, which is a reasonable co. But the days of English National Ballet, Ballet Rambert (origional( and the Royal Ballet Touring Co, are sadly long gone. Though we did get a small number of Birmingham R.B. dancers at Kings Lynn for the first time, and guess what they performed Balanchine!!

Thank you leonid, for the links. The list I was going to use is in fact the balletnet.org you mentioned. I have counted, albeit with my dodgy eye sight, so I may have made errors, 429 listings. However some items include more than one work under a general heading.

I have also read the other link, it seems strange that the total number of Balanchines works are so

much lower than what this list gives according to the much higher number he created as suggested by the Washungton Post aerticle. Possibly the other mediums he choreographed for are included in the larger numbers, which we are unable to confirm nowadays.

This has been such an interesting thread, I like a lot of Mr "Bs" works, but not all of them. all the same I do not agree in what was written by Sarah Kaufman, only part of it. There should of course be room for other choreographers, but before success they have to face living up to the reputation of the ghost.

Nanarina's Tribute to George Balanchine sorry its rather excessive for me to type with my dodgy eyesight, but leonid has put a lin k on his post of what I was going to use.

`

Taper (in 1996, anyway) has some things to say about two points raised above about not why he didn't leave anything to NYCB and did leave so much to LeClercq:

"... My own sense is that at the time Balanchine wrote his will, he had little confidence the New York City Ballet could survive his death. Nor did that anticipation trouble him as much as some might suppose. ... In his lifetime, he had been involved with perhaps a dozen ballet companies that had disappeared, at least half of them companies in which he had been the central figure, including four in the United States. ...

"In short, I think one best understands this controversy about the will by remembering that for Balanchine the company and the school mattered principally because of what they enabled him to do. They were his laboratory, and his showcase too, but never his memorial. Process, not finished achievement, was his passion."

And

"[LeClercq's] continued well-being, as someone who would always be confined to a wheelchair, was of acute concern to him, and he bore a burden of guilt at having left her in 1962 in vain pursuit of his newest muse... Of his four former wives -- or five -- LeClercq was the only one mentioned in the will."

.Jack now you have explained the possible reasons behind the actions that could have prevailed it makes sense why George Balanchine wanted to leave Lechercq' secure in the event of his death. Did he ever have any children to follow in his footsteps?

Considering the fact that the NYCB survives to this day, and is one of the top companies in the world

perhaps thanks to Peter Martins and his dedicated team. GB took the right action in handing the reigns to him. I feel sure he would be very proud and happy if he knew. To think his creativity lives on to this day is wonderful and his heritage has been preserved for the world of dance

I have found a list of his many ballets, whether it is totally correct I cannot say, but all the same I wish to post it as a a tribute to a wonderful Choreographer If you know of any missing works, would you please add them..

With thanks to Jack Reed for the tip on Taper, the following information is taken from the following sources:

Lobenthal, Joel. "Tanaquil Le Clercq". Ballet Review, Fall 1984 (12:3), pp 74-83.

Taper, Bernard. "Balanchine's Will". Ballet Review, Summer 1995 (23:2), pp 29-36.

I. The legacy

II. Annotated list of ballets named in the Legacy (or known at the time of my writing)

III. Financial appraisal of the legacy in question

According to Taper, the will was drawn up (with consultation with T Sysol) and signed on 25 May 1978 with one minor addition of a codicil dated 18 June 1979. Initially he valued the ballets at nothing - it was Horgan who had, in consultation with the IRS after Mr Balanchine's passing, set money value on the legacy. I'll write about that in a following post.

About seventy percent of the rights and all tangible assets (save for two gold watches to his brother Andre) were bequeathed to Tanaquil Le Clercq, Karin von Aroldingen, and Barbara Horgan. Verbatim from the text, p 31:

Horgan and von Aroldingen were to share foreign royalty rights to all but twenty one of the ballets named in the will and media royalty rights to all but twenty five, plus all rights to those ballets not specified in it. They were to also share in any other unspecified assets."

Later in that column:

"Le Clercq was given the American performance rights to eighty-five ballets, of which probably sixty are actually viable." Lobenthal's article does not state precisely the identities of these, just that they were stated by name in the will, I have reproduced the list in the following post.

There are, of course, specific ballets given, in alphabetical order by last name, which includes some of the chief legatees:

Diana Adams: Midsummer Night's Dream

Karin von Aroldingen: Serenade, Liebeslieder Walzer, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Variations pour une Porte et un Soupir, Vienna Waltzes, Kammermusik No 2

Merrill Ashley: Ballo della Regina

Betty Cage: Symphony in C (later given to John Taras)

Rosemary Dunleavy: Le Tombeau de Couperin

Mrs André Eglevsky: Sylvia Pas de Deux, Minkus Pas de Deux

Suzanne Farrell: Meditation, Tzigane, Don Quixote

Barbara Horgan: Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Lincoln Kirstein: Concerto Barocco, Orpheus

Patricial McBride: Tarantella, Pavane, Etude for Piano

Kay Mazzo: Duo Concertant

Jerome Robbins: Firebird, Pucinella

In all, there was nothing given to Martins, the NYCB, or SAB. For further information on the backstage drama created by the bequeathment, consult Taper's article.

Horgan and von Aroldingen were the chief instigators behind the Trust and they convinced McBride and Dunleavy to deposit their ballet rights as well. I am sure that more have joined since, particularly as people have passed away or have retired from active participation in the arts. Interestingly, Taper notes that "[o]nce [the ballets were deposited in the Trust], the action was irrevocable" (33). Horgan acted as trustee-administrator for the Trust, though I don't know if she has continued in that role. The trust went into effect 30 March 1987.

Le Clercq did not join the Trust, but she did ask Horgan to represent her, something that (as Taper notes) some of the other legatees have done as well. I assume that the arrangement continued to her death.

I wonder fellow posters : Can we rightly assume that George Balanchines work went from having no value, to what the Trust thought it was worth.and aquired. And which they have been receiving licence fees for since its foundation. I cannot help wonder if there is a financial reward generated for the personel who instigated the Trust.? And if there is financial compensation to those who gifted their legacies. Or does all the income go into the coffers of the Trust itself. Considering the value of the ballets he created, I wonder how the fees are arrived at in the licence costs (Are they worked out on s percentage of the value given to the work by the Trust committee?) Cnsidering the many companies worldwide who must pay. No wonder they are so keen to protect THEIR interests. I find it incredable that the NYCB , SFB and Peter Martins were omitted from the legacies. Am I correct in thinking Martins was GB's protagy? And does NYCB have to pay royalties to the Trust to perform their founders works. To sum up. is it possible the financial benefits are obscured by the damand for original Artistic integrity the Trust claims to represent. Though as a registered charity, it has the need to create income to pay the overheads.

The film sequence in which he tries to rehearse a fragment of Giselle with a humorous Krassovska-(she ordering him to do the steps and both shouting in Russian while laughing at Zoritch's claim of being "too old" to run after her)- is just priceless... . Later on there is a moment of great tenderness when both share a kiss in the lips...

I'm sure atm711 got to see his dancing at some point...Would love to hear about it.

This was a wonderful DVD, which I still watch, the history one learns from it is amazing. Such wonderful people giving you an insight into a famous era. It is so sad to see them gradually disappear from our lives. God bless them, and may they perform forever on the big stage in the sky.

Thanks Mel, sorry if I am being thick!! But does it mean that the State the person lives in and the Government can benefit from taxes on a deacsed persons estate? In other words there are two amounts of tax charged. Inhertance tax in the UK is only paid once on the estate.

Now back to Balancine, no wonder they are so rigid on the perforance of his work, there seems to be so many people involved, which makes you wonder if there is a high level of conflict internally in the organisation. I may be totally wrong in wondering about this, but in any event personal feelings can effect even members of a commitee. when decisions are being reached. It only takes one vote, to win an argument, so the "against" voters point of view loses out. (which can be a disavantage if they are more moderate kind of people) I would like to be a fly on the wall during one of their meetings (As long as they do not spot/swot me)!!! (imagine the smilie in black with wings) Sorry.

In the US, the federal government has an interest in estates through the IRS -- i.e., the value of the estate and whether any portion is taxable -- and the state of residency has an interest both in terms of taxes (if there is a state estate tax) and in the way it is distributed, i.e., the state can have mandatory minimum distributions to spouses and/or children, regardless of the terms of the will, as well as define spouse (i.e. whether a spouse under a formal separation agreement is considered a spouse.) Each of the 50 states has its own set of estate law. There is no one federal set of laws.

Helene, This is where the two countries differ in the UK there is only (as far as I am aware) a Inhertance Tax, which is paid if the estate does not stay below a certain financial level. It can be paid at the owners request out of the proceeds of the estate before the funds are distributed to the beneficiaries as one payment to the Inland Revenue (Tax Office). There is no control or interest generated to the various County bodies, the only tax is payable to the central unit. Neither do I think any claim or control can be assumed by government/ County regarding a persons will. However there is a record office, where copies of people's wills are kept for reference purposes. This is often used by those into geneology research. and birth, death and marriage records are also kept for the same purpose.

As long as a will meets the legal requirements in respect to wording, and the correcrt information given concerning and signed by two witnesses, Once it is completed it is either kept by a Soliciter or the owner themselves.Until it is needed on the persons death. It is the usual practise that the will is read after the funeral.

That is a really wondwerful story Mel, just shows how people can comandere things when they are not entitled too. But my mention of "state" is in a slightly different constext. As follows.

When someone dies in the UK, without leaving a will, they are classed as intestate. And unless someone who is entitled to their estate makes a claim, it is taken by the government.

On a regular basis the relevant department publishes a list of deceased persons who have left money, property etc without making a will. There are a number of firms who work to trace any heirs who can end up to be very distantly related to the decesed. Some are reputable but others as in life are not. However the reputable ones are known as Heir Hunters, and in fact there is a regular morning programme on television that features their work. They go to endles means to find the true people and get them to sign up for their services. Some times it is only a few thousands of pounds, others hundreds of thousands. Often with the beneficiares finding people who they had no idea existed in their family. I often watch it, it is on morning TV, and very fascinating, the ofrficers travel miles seeking out people, call at rergistry offices and other public bureaus to achieve success. There is often a race between more than one Heir Hunter once the list is published to be the first to contact the people.

It must be worth their while with the fees they command for their company or they would not do it!!!

Re: comparing McEnroe to Nureyev -- YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!

Poor Ruddi, he was never that bad. Some of his antics were tongue in cheek.

You only had to witness his grin or twinkle in his eye. If you saw him having his hair cut in the early days by a rather large lady who was the then wardrobe mistreess, you would not have believed your eye's. He was perfectly behaved, appart from the expression on his face!!!

One reason why a "centralized entity" is counseled, but not actually required, in American wills is the access to that entity by a surrogate or other court having jurisdiction over the estate. They also like, but again, do not require, that witnesses live within about 50 miles of one another, for the same reason. I found this out when making my own first will (at age 23!) when I was in the Air Force. Later on, as a researcher, I found several examples of that system breaking down completely in military members' wills when all those named in the wills, testators, executors, witnesses, and beneficiaries all died within days of one another. Now, THERE would have been some interesting cases to watch going through probate!

??? I should think that would have been a nightmare. Would it have meant that if all the beneficiares had died within a stated number of days, the estate would have reverted to the state?

Here I think it is a total of 30 days has to elapse between the death and will becoming valid, than there is provision for the estate going to the next of kin regarding the original beneficiaries. Complicatesd or what!!!

Thank you so much Jack for looking up the details you posted.I had a vague idea about the diffferences between the Balanchine Foundation and Trust. It does seem to be very strictly controlled within their admionistration and mission statements, perhaps this is why they are so non flexible about the performance or accessibility of Balanchine works. It does seem wrong though that their (?) actions on YouTube if it is them who are causing removal of people's sites which contain totally unrelated work. I found this has affected my own YouTube playlists, as some of the videos I had on there were from Ket. and have also been removed (Marinsky Etudes).

According to the law in the UK regarding wills, evidently a person can be an Executor, and also a beneficiary, only if certain words are used in the details of the will stating this.But you are not allowed to witness a will. Also you do not have to use a court to oversee the estate. The Executor may have to obtain letters of Administration, or obtain probate. This can be by using a Soliciter or by going to the Probate Dept personally. When my Mother died 4 years ago I was able to sort her estate out myself, as her Soliciter had covered all eventualities in the writing of the will and it's witnesses.

Thank you so much again, enjoy your Ballet.

I was under the impression that an Executor is not allowed to be a beneficary of a will. So how does that work in the case of Barbara Horgan, who in different articles is stated as both.

Another point again concerning information on the Web (if it is reliable) states that the two initial founders of the Balanchine Foundation, were former associates of George Balanchine. Does that mean they were not his associates at the time of his death ? I do not have any books on him to check up. But I cannot find a mention of who they were. But there is mention of Barbara Horgan regarding the Foundation and Trust.

I can really relate to others feelings, regarding what will happen to our precious mementoes

after we are gone from this world,. I have two large cases of things, programmes, autographs tour

details, staff paperwork from when I worked with The Royal Ballet. One ofg my very prized items is a Souvenier programme from the IX Festival International De Baalbeck in the Lebanon Where the touring company performed a special production of Raymonda, which Rudilf Nureyev choreographed for us. It was the first time it had been danced in the west. The programme or booklet was sined by Ruddi and Margot for me, with a personal message thanking me for my help. (I looked after the costumes for their private appearanxces and compnay tours) It means a great deal to me, and I wonder what will happen to it when I have gone. My grand children are interested in Ballet now, but may not be in the future. Maybe I should leave the tings to say The Royal Ballet archive or a museum.

This DVD is available for a very good price on french amazon (16.99 euros) as well as "Romeo & Juliet" also with Rojo and Acosta, at the same price. I guess this could interest those leaving within the eurozone.

In general Decca releases seem to be much more affordable than Opus Arte.

It seems very strange how prices differ from country to country, even through Amazon a CD Zone price including postage was cheaper last time I purchased a DVD, and even to buy and import from the USA with the additional postage it was quite a lot cheaper than ordering from Europe. This is ideal as I have been able to make my DVD player multi regional, by using the remote control, It is very simple you just need to know the make and model of your appliance and can find the code to use on the internet. This means you can buy almost any DVD and save your pennies.

Interesting reading.

I know you asked for Giselle, but as you said you like Margot Fonteyn, I thought I would tell you about a wonderful documentary about her, it was realsed a few years back, but is still available, simply called MARGOT (DVD)

it has a black/white photo on the front of her standing in a arched opening.

It tells her life story from beginning to end, and has quite a lot of excerts from her performances. Features Ruddi and her other relationships. With interviews with her friends and family. I should warn you though I found it very sad in parts.

I was recently given a free copy of The Times Newspaper, and came accross the following review by their Critic Debre Craine.

DANCE

In the Spirit of Diaghilev - Sadlers Wells - Three Homages and a Blasphemy

Four World Premiers on a single night. No one could accuse Alistair Spalding the boss at Sadlers Wells of thinking small. But then neither did Sergei Diaghilev whose legenday Ballet Russes (1909 -29) is being celebrated in it's centenary year. Spalding though isn't interested in re-visiting the past, rather he has invited a quartet of choreographers to make something new in the spirit of the great Russian innovator(I have omitted the reviews for the other choreographers )

As is his wont, Javier De Frutos set out to shock and offend with his Eternal Damnation to Sancho and Sanchez a ludicrous piece of violent tosh.A resoundingly

vulgar cartoon satire of the Pope and all he represents. It's a homage to Jeran Cocteau (who wrote scenarios for Diaghilev)it is set to Ravel (another Ballet Russes composer) and embraces Balanchine's Apollo. The graphic duets are lurid and sexually abusive, and some may draw the line at seeing a pregnant woman

punched in the stomach and garrotted with a rosary. It's not often you hear boos

at the Wells, but these were well deserved.

I did wonder if the later could be the case. sometimes you see a notice when a clip cannot be played, as it is removed. Is it YouTube trying to avoid action by the copyright owner? Yet they encourage people to use their site, by up-loading things. But I get the feeling it is at their own risk, so YouTube do not get prosicuted. Or am I mis guided about this?

I sincerely hope they will .Also why is it the "powers that be" are able to get sites closed down, on YouTube featuring works credited to other Choreographers as well as Balanchine.

When reading the Mission Statements of the Trust and Foundation, their requirements to grant permission for officially performing licensed Balanchine's Ballets, are very stringent. And although they are stated as being "Non profit making, there must be considerable income generated from the programmes and services they insist on providing. It would seem that both organisations are well and truly tied up with Red Tape.Which leaves them little scope for flexibility., or to at least be able to reduce their control.

Full details of both organisations are available on the Internet.

I was just wondering if anyone could give a complete list of Giselles officially released on DVD (maybe even VHS) or at least which ones they consider the best and most important.

For example, I'm wondering if there's one released with Natalia Makarova or any other ballerina which is considered outstanding in the role. Do not recommend the ones with Alina Cojocaru and Galina Ulanova because I already have them and they're very good, but I'm looking to purchase something new.

Thanks so much in advance!

There was a Fonteyn/Nureyev/Mason(or Parkinson) version released on Video, but I am not sure if it ever appeared on DVD.

Also The Australian Ballet released a performance on DVD (2000) with Christine Walsh and Kelvin Coe, New production by Maina Gielgud after Petipa, Coralli and Perrot. Costumes by Peter Farmer/ Quantum Leap/Australian Broadcasting Company. I think this may still be available try Amazon or Ebay.