Nanarina

Sadly a lot of Ballets were not filmed, it was quite a rare occasion for a film crew to do this.

It seems these days that the problem is also the old Ballets are not performed.

which is such a shame. Some of them would appear rather dated, but if they were brought back into production costumes and scenery could be revised, bringing them up to date.

It is very refreshing when you see a new Ballet that is worth going to see,certainly speaking for myself, I get tired of the same old thing. I am going to Paris this month to see Oneguin, which I have never seen before. That was why I went to see Les Dame aux Camelias last year, which has now been released on DVD with Stephane Buillion and Agnes Letestu, this was really wonderful as I saw them dance, and it was being filmed live at the time. One I will purchase I think.

Thank you so much for these very interesting clips about the Palais Garnier. It is such a beautiful building. I do not know if you have seen the film of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, but the set was in fact based on the Opera Garnier, including the huge chandalier in the middle of the auditorium.

This brought back a lot of memories of when I worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. There was a series produced by the BBC TV, that featured a series of programmes which I think were called "The House"

which were broadcast over quite a long time. It was made prior to the closure for the refurbishment, and included before and after.

Seeing how they shoved the Tutu's into those bags did horrify me, when I think of the care and attention we used to give to our Tutu's, which were packed flat in large square cases. But it looked as if they still used the costume rails with heavy duty covers to protect them.It was a mammoth task as we toured every week and did 7 performances, and the quantity of costumes and assessories was huge. We had our own train, and later huge lorries.

I can remember sitting like the Lady Costumier, hand sewing jewels and decoration on to the Tutu's, which I had made from scratch. Yards and yards of Net, satin, lining and support bone.taped hooked fastening, and

silk safety ties in the skirt.

Just an up to date mention, I am very pleased to have found out Aurelie Dupont is dancing Tatiana in Onegin, I think she is doing a small number of performances. And I am very happy to have got a seat in the front row for the last performance on 20th May 2009, with Aurelie (fingers crossed) dancing

and Nicholas Le Riche as Onegin, also Karl Paquet as the Prince. It will be a flying visit to Paris, via Eurostar, and one night stay leaving at 17.00 on the 21st.

I have not read the book mentioned, but to class Ballet as a Dance Sport does not seem to be correct, it is after all one of "The Major Arts", Art, Dance and Music. One can say in this technically brilliant age, that Dancers are very "Athletic" considering the lifts and jumps they perform. But taking Sport into account, just think how Balletic some of the Gymnasts that perform the floor excercises have become.

Performing very often to Ballet music. Though in this case you could not compare it to a peformance of a Ballet.

There is even an element of grace and beauty within the Circus world, which could have been helped by the performers taking Ballet classes. But surely the different genre's should be kept separate., even if elements of each creep into another.

Thank you for the link to Alina's Site, it is very interesting and with a nice personal touch. I like her very much both as an excellent Dancer, but also she seems to be a very sweet person. I must add one of her performances to my "want to see list"

The rewards were great,of a spur of the moment decision to go and see ABT in London, performing La Corsaire. Due to the difficulty of getting to the performance and back in a day, I had to go to the Saturday matinee. I had looked up the Cast beforehand, and was delighted to see that some of their major Stars were peforming that afternoon. The Dancers were Conrad- Gennadi Saveliev , Birbanto - Mikhail Ilyin, Ali -Herman Carnejo, Lankerndem - Jared Mathews, Medora -Xiomara Reyes, Gulnare - Misty Copeland.In the character of the Pasha Sayed was none other than Victor Barbee.

It was really wonderful, the atmosphere in the theatre was excellent, with an very appreciative audience, who appreciated the humour, as well as the quality of the dancing. The highlight for me was the wonderful pas de deux danced by Medora and Conrad, before the drugged flower episode. Full of spectacular lifts and tenderness between the couple, being one of my favourite Pas de deux's, it really made my day.

My only slight disapointment was with the English National Opera Orchestra, which did not seem to creater the same wonderful music as that of the American Orchestra on the DVD. music seemed "Thin" in comparison, with not enough Bass, or the emotion within the arrangement, which sadly seemed too loud and without the depththe lovely score deserves.

I went home very happy that I had made the quick decision to go while ABT were in the UK, as I felt there was little chance of me seeing them in their home theatre's in America.

My Goodness We are getting into the Technical side of things!!!

Having recently been "put straight" about the benefits of HD, I will try and pass the information I was given on.

I cannot answer about the USA or Europe, only for the UK.

In 2009 in the UK, there are only 5 Channels broadcasting in HD, and you need an HD Set to be able to receive this. You can obtain an HD Box, but you will only get an HD signal with the 5 original channels. If your TV is "HD Ready" you will still need a HD Box to benefit in HD until the Service is available in wide spread area's.

which could be a long time in the future. The only benefit in HD for sport, is if the ladies wish to see if the Footballers have shaved their legs. (My Cousins quote not mine).

DVD's - There are two kinds, 1. HD recorded only playable on an HD Player 2. Recorded in HD, but playable on a PAL or NTSC Player. If your television is HD Ready, I think you will need a HD Player to get full benefit of the system. I do not know about film, but this refers to DVD's.

I have a small number of DVD's, which I play on a PAL/NTSC Player, using a HD Ready Wide Screen TV, with surround theatre style speakers. The reproduction is definately superior to the older recordings, with much better sound, and clear real colour vision. You can certainly see the difference. A good example is POB Jewels, Swan Lake and Royal Ballet Sylvia and Giselle. Although this is not real HD, the viewing effect is very acceptable.

[Thank you for the fascinating history of the period in which this postcard originated, the story behind the making and colouring of photographs is equally interesting, I had an elderley Aunt, who worked in a Photography Studio, and actually was involved in the colouring of pictures such as this. They were originally black and white or sepia, then hand painted in the studio with water colours, by Artists.

Back to the status of the Opera over the Ballet at the Paris Opera, the same occured at the Royal Opera House, in London during the 1960's, when the Ballet. was certainly the poor relation The Opera were most definately more privaliged, with better wages, touring allowance, funding etc. That was until the Unions spoke up for fair treatment for the Ballet.

[Hello Everyone,

I also found the clips you mention, it came up with the Aurelie Dupont, Varna Competition item of the B.P.DD.

I am not very computer literate, but I do save things I like to my Favourites, and many of them remain. Only problem is I have a long list of favourites. At the same time as the Girls variation's there was also a clip of the Male ones as well. I have recently seen the AD BPDD,. still on the YouTubs video's on my favourites, somaybe the powers that be have missed this one!!! Could it work if it was attached to an email from for example my favourites ?. May be this is not possible. I am not sure how to post a clip to Ballet Talk. Sorry if this confuses you, but I am not a computer wizard by any stretch of the imagination!!

What a JOY

I discovered this visit quite out of the blue, thanks to a friend telling me about Freddy Franklin, decided it was not possible to miss the chance of seeing them in the UK. So I cut my visit to POB I plan for May short, and booked for Le Corsair. As I have it by them on DVD, I am really looking forward to seeing it. I can only get to the Matinee on Saturday the 4th, and get back home in a day. As you can imagine I am counting the days!!

Best Wishes to you all, enjoy your Ballet.

[

Dame Margot Fonteyn died penniless of Cancer in Panama, Paul Clarke a very talented up and coming Soloist died of a Heart Attack very young Diana ? drowned in a swimming pool, and Deidre O' connaire died after being hit by scenery all from The Royal Ballet. Patrick Bissell of ABT died of a Drug overdose. Hope I have not repeated what is already posted.

:clapping Thank you for the clip of Bocca, which has jogged my memory. I love the Balanchine Pas de deux, but I can actually remember seeing a production of Swan Lake, years ago, where this music was used for the Male Solo in Act 3, instead of the usual far less attractive melody which seems to prevail. But I cannot seem to remember where or when. Nureyev seems to feature somehow. There were new productions of Lac when I worked with The Royal Ballet, so maybe that is the connection. What about Nureyev's production of Swan Lake for the POB, he usually puts in more variations for the Male principal. I will have to get my DVD of that with Jose Martinez and watch it. Can anyone remember this ? Thank you.

There was also some other divertissements which used Tchaikovsky 's omitted music actually in complete versions of Swan Lake. a Pas de Quatre in Act 1 Everlyn Hart in a recording of the Canadian Ballets, N. Markarova's production, Pierre Lacottes production for The Swedish Ballet, 2 female Soloists in Act 1(?) also a Pas de Fianes, to different music than the usual Princesses variation, danced in the 1960's by the then London Festival Ballet. (Now The English National Ballet) It seems a real shame that this music which is very attractive with great melodies was not used. Perhaps it would have made the already long original production even longer. It does make you wonder what other gems may exist in the archives in Russia.

Hi

Thank you for your reply. I have seen Le Parc a few times now as I have the DVD. Fingers crossed I can get a seat for Aurelie in Onegin,. That would be super. As I have to travel from the UK it is very expensive to not be able to see the Dancer of your choice. I have seen other Stars at POB but Aurelie is my prefered Dancer. I have all her DVD's but am yet to see her in person.

I can remember going to a ballet performance at the Opera Bastille in Paris. It was the new Sacha Waltz's production of Berlioz 's Romeo and Juliette. It was a beautiful experience but seemed to go so very quickly. It would have been better with an interval, to make the evening longer, and give you a chance to visit the powder room, get refreshments etc. I had an excellent seat right at the front in the Partiere, where I could see very well. But on consideration just under two hours length of the feature was rather expensive at a cost of 150 euro.

Hello Welcome to the Site. I can relate to what you are saying. Here in East Anglia (Norfolk, England) we have recently had the heavest snow for years. It brought everything to a standstill. I was hoping and praying it would clear, as I had booked to take my two grand daughters to see their first live Ballet performnce at a theatre where they live in Yorkshire. Actually on the day, it had begun to thaw, but there were bad weather warnings, but still I set out. It was a good job I had allowed an extra half hour to get to the railway station, as half way there the spare wheel fell off the bus, and they had to get another one into service. But it still made me miss the train, and all the connections from Kings Lynn to Scarborough.

I arrived one hour late, but luckily it had not ruined the nice meal my Daughter had got for one of the girls birthday.

The visiting company were The Moscow City Ballet, the peformance was The Sleeping Beauty.

and it was really excellent. They had their own 60 piece orchestra, and the scenery and costumes were very lovely.

It was reasonable size stage, there was enough room for a fair size corp de ballet, and all the soloists.

The leading Ballerina Alevtina Lapshina was very good, with a high standard of technique, musicality and the beautiful lyrical Port de Bra of the Russian style. From the moment the curtains parted both the girls were enthrawled, barely taking their eyes off the stage. At end of every variation they joined in clapping like mad, smiling all over their faces. The only problem was it was so very cold in the auditorium, we nearly froze to death, having to put on our coats to keep warm. We later found out the heating system was on it's last legs, which despite be fully turned on, it just did not heat the fast area sufficiently.All the same it did not spoil the event, and now two very happy little girls keep asking "When are you going to take us to the ballet again Nanna?" Horefully it will not be too long.

I must admit I have never experienced a Dancer "flirting" with the audience, despite my often having to sit in the front row, due to my poor eyesight, I have never intentionally even made eye contact with the people on stage. I cannot see anything wrong in a Dancer outwardly showing they are enjoying performing, it is much better than a straight face with little expression.

Surely the place for flirting is at the stage door. In the same theme, I can remember a newly appointed Paris Opera Male Etoile , who was very attractive and obviously articulate, being interviwed for television. The Lady Interviewer, was very obviously flirting like mad with him. He seemed a very likable guy, and politely answered her questions, looking rather coy. She was very animated, and it seemed as if she was about to sit on his lap!!!!

I find the situation quite hopeless, as the Distribition List is so late in coming out. I want to get to see Aurelie Dupont dance in person, as my eyesight is failing badly, and I am restricted in where I can sit to see. I have been to see other people dance, but so far have not suceeded for Aurelie, only in a very frustrating situation, when I could not see the stage as the seat was too far away . There was a mess up with my booking for Sacha Waltz's Romeo and Juliet. The Paris Opera were fantastic and I got invitation tickets by writing to them. It was so upsetting to think my chosen cast were on stage, and all I could see was a dark mist with shadows. I had booked for Melanie Hurel, the next night, so that was the seat I had thought was to see Aurelie, but they gave me the wrong date. I also saw Agnes Letescu in La Dame, which I had chosen only to find AD was on Maternity leave. I am on borrowed time with my eyesight, has anyone in France got inside information on Casts please??? Any help would be most appreciated. Enjoy your Ballet Nan.

Margo Fonteyn was exquisite, as already said, she was not an exceptional Technician, but had great depth of feeling, she often lived her roles, even coming off stage in tears. She danced with the music, and at times made you wonder if she was going to finish with the orchestra, but she always finished on the beat, whilst any of us in the wings literally were holding our breath.

When Ruddi came onto the scene, she seemed to re-invent herself, which amazed everyone. shall never forget it. natural affection showed in their dancing, and Giselle in particular was spell binding. I was in the audience for their first performance, I will never forget the experience, like many other people from the time. The memory does not seem to fade. When you consider the fact that Margot was trained by a Russian Ballet Teacher, it is not surprising how the partnership was succesful with Ruddi's Kirov training at the Vaganova Institute. Margot was truly dedicated to her art. She was not difficult in any way, always friendly and appreciative of our efforts. I was very privilliaged to look after M & R's costumes for a couple of private tours. Her Tutu's were made by a person called Marjorie, who was a freelance Costumier, but we had them with all the other Soloist and Ballerina's for save keeping.

Really when you consider the technical abilities of Dancers today, they can almost be classified as Athletes as well as Dancers, with their superior techniques. All the same musicality, expression, Lyrical performance and of course the ability to act the roles are essential. As without them performances lose heart, and just become a series of steps with mime. This is why I like Aurelie Dupont of the POB.

What fantastic news, they are very lucky to secure the services of Manuel Legris. Am I right in thinking he has not been active in under taking choreography, at the Paris Opera, as have Jose Martinez, Kader Belbarbi and Nicholas Le Riche?

I always await eagerly the New Years Day Concert from Vienna, as there is often a high proportion of Ballet shown in the programme, on screen, but regretfully not in the concert hall. This year Malakov did the choreography, which was danced to some of the less known composers works. It is one of my ambitions to go, but the seats evidently get sold out very quickly So I will probsbly have to be sat isfied in watching it on television.

I have been interested in the Varna Ballet Competition for a long time, and now find myself wondering if you can go as a Spectater, if not for the classes and technical events, but to see the Prize Winners dance in the Gala's and receive their awards. (I would be interested in watching Master Classes if this was possible).

Have any of our members actually been, or would they be interested in going, maybe as a group? Irealise it would be difficult to co-ordinate people from too far away, but easier say for uk or French people to get together, and benefit from group rate reductions.

I am not talking about a commercial undertaking, but as a group of people with a common interest.

I plan to visit my Daughter who lives in Bulgaria, Summer 2010, and as it is only approximately 2 hours drive to Varna, I want to include

visiting there. If anyone is interested, you can email me direct. I hope this suggestion does not brake any rules, or is off topic.

Back to Clara .... If the Dancer is shorter than average and very slight, without over acting the role, it could work 9n stage, but not on film., when close up's could spoil the illustion.

An aside: "Young" seems to be undergoing something akin to grade inflation. "Fifty is the new thirty" now appears to be more than an aging boomer's witticism: I heard someone describe Caroline Kennedy as "a young woman" on the radio the other day and nearly sprayed coffee all over my keyboard. She's my age, for crying out loud. She and I may be many wonderful things, but "a young woman" is not among them.

Yes, even by today's standards, fifty is no longer young, but it's quite true that it's considered younger than it used to be (a Good Thing in my view).

I don't have any problem with young adults playing children on stage if they have the technical skill and artistry to pull it off. You can't get away with this sort of thing in front of a camera any more, although Mary Pickford built a great career on it and Ginger Rogers used regularly to impersonate children in comic and serious settings.

Examples of "infantilized adults" were given as "Lise, Swanilda, Aurora and Giselle". Now, I don't know about anybody else, but these are all young women of marriageable age, and I hope that I haven't become so aged that an 18-year-old seems an infant to me.

I would interpret those examples as being not ones of literal infantilization, but as examples of mature dancers being called upon to play the roles of much younger people. (It is too bad that there are relatively few roles made for mature women to dance as mature women, "A Month in the Country" being the example that springs most readily to mind, or the role fashioned for Karen Kain in "The Actress" by James Kudelka.)

You know the rather unkind saying they look like "Mutton dressed up as Lamb".

That's what Fonteyn initially said about dancing with Nureyev, and that pairing turned out quite well.

:excl:This old "English" saying has been around for decades, Meaning in other words you cannot make an old Ewe look like a spring Lamb

How right you are, Margot bloomed when Ruddi came into her life, there was no distubing the fact. They did nothing, everyone could see how happy they were. But it does not seem to be mentioned they were both trained in the Russian method, so their techniques also were compatable. I am sure some of you saw them dance, and can remember the electricity in the theatre.

Nanarina said "As in life, some people show their age more than others, they also retain their stamina. And of course their acting skills and makeup help them to play certain roles. But I find it rather off putting when you get an older dancer acting as a younger person, especially if they look old for their age. You know the rather unkind saying they look like "Mutton dressed up as Lamb".

One of the best and most convincing portrayals of Juliet I ever saw was Marion Tait towards the end of her career as a principal dancer with BRB. I was sitting on the front row of the Birmingham Hippodrome and within minutes of her first appearance I was convinced she was a young teenager. It was a profoundly moving performance that I will never forget.

Several years later, in her current role as BRB ballet mistress, she was coaching Rachel Peppin in the balcony scene at a Friends' rehearsal. She started to demonstrate the moves at the start, where Juliet is mainly entwining her arms. All of a sudden we were not watching Marion Tait in a track suit - we were watching Juliet - sheer magic.

A long time ago a friend told me that she thought you needed a certain maturity to act young and, over the years, I have come to the conclusion that this is true.

Hi JmcN - It is called living the role, I too think Marion Tait created her portrayals with great skill, you were fully convinced she was Juliet. Margot Fonteyn at 50, once amazed Dame Ninette de Val. of how young she looked and performed, appearing to revert to the young girl that joined the Sadlers Wells Ballet. However, I still prefer to see a younger dancer, in these roles, as long as they have had the life experiences to give the ability to feel the emotion they have to create. Perhaps if this is not the case, then an older dancer will have had the knowledge that is required.

What about the Wolf in the Wedding Scene Nursery Rhymes in the Sleeping Beauty ? I have also seen Wolf Hounds , Saluki's, Beagles, and Spaniels in both Ballet and Opera. It was rather a shock to enter a dressing room at the ROH Covent Garden, to find it full of Beagle's and that I knew their owner, a well known Dog Breeder, as I used to breed and show Dogs myself.