whetherwax

I,ve just been re enjoying my lovely Het National Sleeping Beauty and marvelling at her technique and general sweetness and power. I also am bemused by the fact that she is so lovely to watch and yet has wide shoulders and large calf muscles - so nice to see someone who is not the conventional form dancing so brilliantly ( mind you I havent seen her in the flesh , maybe DVDs distort a little and she is really a typical ballerina shape.) Anyway, I know she went to America but i wonder where she is now?

I've just read this biography and liked it very much. I was wondering whether any of those who had disliked it at first, put off by the reviews, had changed their minds. I ask for a few reasons, one is that we do change, each time we read something, we, and it, are different, and another is that I loved the rounded understanding this biography gave . I thought it showed its subject in great clarity as a very conflicted amazing person, full of charm ,discipline, grace and blind spots. I also liked the insight about ballet given by the author where she says that dancers "were already mutually possed of an anatomical familiarity that a married couple might almost consider indecent" p248. It seemed to me that the sexual dimension that appeared to give offense was really a very mundane and yet valuable part of the biography in that it gave greater understanding. Just as Julie Kavanagh's book on Nureyev illustrates the extraordinary clashes of social values developing at the time. Also, when I contrast it with a new biography of Robert Helpmann by Anna Bemrose which is a very strong, heavily researched ,well written hagiography,I miss the gossip about Helpmann, which shows his wicked sense of humour and powerful personality, which Daneman has included in her Fonteyn bio. The gossipy aspect also gives a better understanding of social mores in an historical sense. I think it is a very good biography. Have people changed their minds?

Nice to know then, that it is Penney who has been beautifully immortalised on the DVD

Thanks so much for posting this Leonid. I have recently fallen in love with Manon after seeing the Australian ballet do it. I couldnt believe that we had such a powerful story so beautifully choreographed. I find myself in total agreement - from my very inexperienced position!!! - with Dame Antoinette that this ballet is on a par with Swan Lake. I'm sure there will be many who will disagree, but its nice to know that others love this ballet.

Do people find that their responses to ballets on DVD changes with continued viewing? I have just rewatched a few of mine and I find that I am a different watcher . I found Prince of the Pagodas so full of longuers re the narrative when I first watched it but now I can enjoy the look and dancing and I dont see the ridiculous story. So too the cinematographically awful Giselle, with Bruhn and Fracci. I loathed this when i first saw it because of the cameras intrusion, but I have become inured to the watery wilis. ( Bart, when they do the wilis' temps leve(?) and the camera zooms off into the water I thought that it might be a lost piece of your Swan Swamp!) I can now see so much more in this version. Do attitudes change much? Have you hated something or liked it and found that you, or it ,has changed?

What a nice little youtube series and what an extraordinary 15 year old!!

Anne, thanks. The problem in Australia is the exchange rate. Au$ 73cents american at present and the postage is fierce. We are a long way away here. When the au dollar is up I have a little amazon frenzy.

Oh yes!!! The dance of the little crocs ( or crocks , depending on how fit they are)

Has anyone seen this performance? They are doing a combined presentation with the Aboriginal dance company Bangarra with a piece that could be fairly confronting or at least certainly different - an Aboriginal interpretation of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. French reviews are hard to find. They are also doing Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake.

Bart, seeing Manon is not your cup of tea, maybe the ashram could move to the swamp and rehabilitate all those whores. Manon could do environmental tours.

Managed to get a copy of the RB version for under $30 in Melbourne - magic at work I think. ( I know you are all sick of my whinging about the cost of imported DVDs in Australia and the lack of titles generally but i had to have my last say on the topic). I totally agree with everyone abpout the dancing of the principals. Penney's fragile delicasy(sp) and Dowell's precision and grace are a revelation. I take Anne's point about the steps being created on Dowell. I do however enjoy the drunken and louche antics of the Australians - they are not so obviously playing for laughs. Heathcote and Summers ARE much better than Dowell and Penney in the last act - I think because it needs RAW energy and Dowell and Penney are too elegant. I like the look of the Aust ballet staging too. Colour and clarity.

Bart also had another clever little question about the differences in male and female responses to Manon. In some ways the ballet could be seen as a little chick - lit except for the tragic ending. (The romance is clear to see.) One's response can only be abstract here but I would have thought this was a ballet for everyone.

This is so interesting.! As far as the music goes I hadnt encountered Massenet and although I see that there is no integrity in the overall score , I like the way there are little motifs used with each character. I love the sumptuousness of the score. I have bought the Aust DVD although Innopac and Ann both like the Royal one ( Only AUS 29 dollars!! enchange rate appalling and likely to remain so). I do find that Aust Ballet has lots of brio and looks marvellous . Nigel Burley is a great Lescaut , Justine Summers is breathtakingly pretty and dances well but was a little too young when it was filmed for the acting skill to have kicked in. Stephen Heathcote does wonderfully ( He played Monsueir GM in the live version ) but he too is a little unconvincing in the acting at the end. I was impressed by Ferri and Bolle on U tube. Because he is so tall and she so small the dancing had a very powerful feel in the last moments - an emotional blast. As far as the degradation of women goes I admire MacMillan for trying to deal with such issues. It is not as if they dont exist and certainly in the past when women had no economic security they were certainly at the mercy of degrading forces. Actually many ballets - even the fairytale ones - deal indirectly with female degradation. Giselle and Swan Lake come to mind - the heroines were dead keen to get their men to swear fidelity ( read economic security).

I've just seen Manon for the first time. I had good seats and I was completely knocked out. It seemed such a modern story although set in pre revolutionary France. (People tell me the Aust Ballet DVD is as good as the live performance so that's next for the piggy bank) As well, the choreography was so fresh and the mixture of humour and tragedy was very acutely resonant for aspects of our times. As I trawl through this site I'm not finding much comment. Also I wonder whether the Bolshoi, Maryinsky or POB, DO manon? None of them feature on u tube.There is a great Bolle Ferri last scene there though.Do people generally like this ballet?

War of the Flowers by Tad Williams. The fairy Mafia ( Lord Hollyhock, Lord Larkspur etc) in spider web suits trying to bring down the human world. The music would have to be very special.The attack of the Goblins and the dragons would give great scope.

Thank you so much for introducing me to such a dancer. (And to Ilyaballet)

I'm confused too. Were you doing a particular set of steps??

I have been watching the Aust. Ballet's joyous Merry Widow. The corps seem to be having SO much fun. There is heaps to do for the male dancers. The costumes are great. Which ballets really please the corps? This one certainly looks as though they would enjoy it - yet a more challenging ballet may be better ( actually I dont know whether the Merry Widow is more challenging than Swan Lake come to think of it.) What ballets please the corps?

I notice in Links for August 31 that the reviewer of Interplay says exactly the opposite from me about the role of narrative and abstraction. Do people respond to narrative when they are new to ballet and maybe develop a taste for abstraction as they grow more competent at responding. ( I love Balanchine for the precision, but he is a special case) Or are there two kinds of people in the world - Those who love narrative and those who dont. (Or as I think Robert Morley said - there are two kinds of people in the world - Those who say there are two kinds of people in the world and those who dont)

In the youtube "From russia with love" Osmolkina had a tatt on her right arm when dancing the section of Diane and Acteon. I assumed it was intended as part of the barbaric aspect of these mythological beings? ( just by the by her partner let go of her when at the height of the lift and she appeared to be floating - amazing)

My third visit to live ballet on Saturday was great. David McAllister commissioned ballets from the following choreographers: Stephen Payne, using Richard Mills' Symphony of Nocturnes ,created Night Path an exploration of subconscious fears emotions and dreams which was exciting and moodily eerie. Nicolo Fonte, using Ross Edwards' music, made a vivacious explosive sort of exploration of quote" I took the idea of a journey and interpreted it as an abstract manifestation of our shared human longing for transformation." This one was called The Possibility Space. And the one I enjoyed most, Semele was choreographed by Matjash Mrozewski music by Gerard Brophy. The designers in order were Michael Pearce, Marcus Pysall and Adam Gardnir. The sets were simple but great, using silk drapes and lights. Now, the reason I enjoyed Semele most is that it had a narrative. I know this is rather oldfashioned of me but it gave me a focus which allowed me to resonate to things i know about classical mythology and human relations which added a vast hinterland of my own experience. I find that with abstract ballets there are too many responses that can be made to what i'm seeing and i get a bit lost. Anyway , the story of Semele is that Jupiter is in love with her and Juno jealously destroys Semele by telling her to ask Jupiter to reveal himself in his godlike glory which he does, and Semele is scorched to death. The dancing was sublime and sexy, the costumes and props were simple and jupiters power was revealed by a huge orange cloak fanned by a strange wind machine sculpture .The cloak became a third partner in the dance. The dancers were impressive - Madeleine Eastoe, Lana Jones and Rachel Rawlins among them.Also Adam Thurlow and Kevin Jackson. And as the costumes were often quite skimpy I saw how dancers are definitely elite athletes. Lighting from the side, shewed every muscle in their thighs in a way hidden by white stockings. Very powerful indeed. As for my experience, I bought real tickets at $80 , and had the time of my life 5 rows from the front. The extra cost is worth it. Also I was amazed by how many people were at the matinee. Not just grey haired affionados, but heaps of 20 - 40 somethings and a smattering of 8 - 12 year olds, although they too like a narrative and were a bit non plussed by the abstract ballets and the very sensual Semele. Next stop " Manon".

You seem to be doing a great deal of historical reading Canbelto. For a mix of history and literature I am loving Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell. I 've just finished re reading it and enjoying the BBC 4 DVD ( a brilliant adaptation). It gives such a picture of England in the 20's 30's up to the 70's. It consists of twelve novels and has 300 characters. Erudite and amusing.

I'm pretty unskilled at analysis Innopac, mainly because i dont have a ballet background. What I should do is have another look at both of them and have a think. However my first reaction was that the Seregi one was very episodic and there seemed to be little continuity in the narrative. Also the dances of Crassus' girlfriends were somehow irrelevant. In truth though my attention was scrappy because i was a little turned off. I will try again.

Her beauty and delicacy on my DVD of POB La bayadere is enchanting - as well, her wry sense of humour is shown in the Dancers Dream look at this ballet. Wish there were more DVDs .She's certainly tops for me.

Thanks Innopac. I had stupidly overlooked Libraries. I do use City library but it has only a few ballet books, so i tend to think I must buy. Yes Vaughan is there, AND Bart, Ms Goldner is there too. thanks.