whetherwax

I love this book. I'm new to the ballet worlds of history and everything else ballet encompasses, and I just want to say that as an uninformed reader i was blown away. The style is lively and compelling and the research seems massive. I was stunned to realise how even great stars continue to work on their technique. Aside from the rich learning experience re ballet there are two BIG learning( or reminder) tropes. One is how freedom is such a fragile thing, threatened by apparachiks and neo cons or any life haters and the other is how open to emotion and love those people with too few skins such as Eric B., can be. A reminder to have compassion for people who feel too much.

We've ranked the Shades, so who does the best Wilis? My favourite is La Scala - so neat and controlled, but I think that Miranda Coney in Geilgud's version does the best Zyulma. Her back twists (renverse?) seem part of the orchestration.

Thanks rg. It seems so very much a Barashynikov piece I dont suppose anyone else would be game to try it.

I've just seen Barashynikov on u yube do this ballet. Wow. Can anyone tell me who choreographed it and its history? Have there been other biographical ballets? (Come to think of it, Hookham the gunrunning ballerina would be a good one?)

I cant quite work out why Siegfried and Odette get together. Does Siggie commit suicide which allows him to kill Rothbart? Or is it just that his willingness to leap into the stream gives him enough ergs to kill Rothbart? I do like this version as I think Bolle gets enough space to give an emotional rationale to most of the story. It's just this end bit that has me confused.

Thank you all. I wrote to Opus Arte today Crisk217 - so we'll see.

Thanks for replying - so the Kirov performance is relished by those who love its historical truth ( in spite of those bad rug hairdos). I think Komleva is great - her hysterical fast dance before dying is wonderful but like Hans I find Asylmuratova so moving and Mukhamedov is good too. So you're saying that one's response is personal taste but if you have a sense of history and a good understanding of what is fine dancing your experiance is enhanced.That really no one could rank the performances and that any disapproval i pick up from browsing is the result of an individual response and not part of an agreed canon?

I've just got my 1977 Kirov bayadere. I have the Royal ballet one (and am saving for the POB one). I enjoy them both for differing reasons. The feeling I get from browsing the board is that the Kirov and POB ones are somehow better than the Royal ballet production. Could anyone give me an idea why this might be so. I want to understand the nuances of why certain productions are deemed more worthy. The Markarova third act seems to irritate some viewers. I want to understand what to look for in a good production. It isnt JUST personal taste - is it?

After spending six seasons there, Ratmansky left Kiev, of his own free will, to dance with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for three years, came back to Kiev for a couple of years, then became a principal with the Royal Danish Ballet. Eventually he retired from performing to concentrate on choreography, but he was never director of the ballet in Kiev, and I certainly don't think the opera house would have chucked him out. On the other hand, I can see how he might have been unhappy in the milieu of the Kiev Ballet's extreme conservatism. Your reading is most likely to be the right one . I had just googled him and got this - ALEKSEY RATMANSKY: A NEW WAVE FOR THE OLD BOLSHOI. It can certainly be read as Byzantine politics at work, and not actual sackings.

Off topic. But related to Kiev ballet - apparently Kiev chucked Ratmansky out and he is now at Bolshoi since 2004. He has a wonderful cv.

When I look at ballet snippets on youtube , I am often delighted by the erudition shown by some of the comments. Is it possible that some clever people from here have aliases on youtube?If so I am writing to encourage them to continue to write informative and welcome comment. (I am also sometimes amazed by the vituperation shown as well but that can be amusing and gives one some insight into the possibly adolescent ??? mind)

I'm with Volcanohunter on this.I do watch it for the snippets of great dancing but I find myself drawn to the Christine Walsh one. I dont really know why. Walsh is not a great technician and yet her overall performance is so emotionally moving and the whole ensemble works well. I am sort of at a loss to know why i am drawn to this one over the Fracci - Bruyn one when their actual dancing is so much better. It is probably that the Gielgud production with Walsh has more actual integrity because the filming is better.

Thanks to you all. I think it is the Ukraine lot. I found a truly wonderful tarantella on youtube after searching for kiev ballet The title is in Russian but the names are Ratmansky and one i couldnt decipher. The dancing is delightful and joyous and i think I may well be in for a treat.

I just bought tickets to a performance of Swan Lake by Kiev Ballet in Melbourne in May. This was totally on spec , ballet performances of overseas companies are fairly rare in Australia - so far away i guess - they get sold out quickly. I know absolutely nothing about the dancers or this company's history. Can anyone help?

I'm a learner and so i buy what I can of the same ballets done by different people. I first watched the Metsensva version and loved it - particularly Myrtha, and then the Australian ballet one with Kelvin Coe and Christine walsh which i found very moving although not a technical tour de force. The The Fracci Bruyn one? Well I love the dancing - what one sees of it. I was really rather horrified when they moved away from the glorious chugs on to some water!!!. For me the whole white ballet magic was completely lost although as I said what one could see was good.

On the basis of your kind replies I was all set to visit this ballet only to find that it is sold out!!. I guess that this is a lesson to me. CARPE DIEM. It Has got some very good reviews.

Swan Lake is about to start in Melbourne. Has anyone seen it and would you give a comment? I have his Nutcracker - which I can see is an interesting piece -but I am very in love with Lopatkinas version of Swan lake and I fear Murphy's will not match up. As well, for the price of the tickets I could buy one if not two DVD versions.

Yes ,those are the ones. There's three clips in that archive.

In my copy of Cyril Beaumont's Ballet Design Past and Present, I found on page 156, a photograph of a scene from a ballet called Beach with design by Raoul Dufy. The pose of the dancers is exactly that of the pose by Petrof and the female dancers in the selection of home movie clips mentioned elsewhere. The ballet was choreographed by Massine and performed in Monte Carlo in 1933. The home movies on the beach were made later. I like to think of the dancers having a spot of word play and dancing Beach on a beach.

In my DVD with Sylianne Sylvie and Gael Lambiotte there is a PDD after the wake- up kiss. The Lilac fairy tells them to dance together and all the other sleepers fade away - (to clean up dust of 100 years I guess) It seems very appropriate, like a time when they can get to know each other before the Wedding and not be rushed to the altar. It is not in my other Sleeping Beauty DVDs - Paris Opera and Australian Ballet, and I'm learning enough to realise that some PDD s are interchangeable. Where does this lovely little PDD usually hide?

Cubanmiamiboy, I just watched the Het nationale version of 2004 again, prompted by your question, and I do recommend it. Gael lambiotte and Sofianne are really really good and the whole visual presentation is excellent. It also has the mime which I think adds a psychological depth to the ballet. I suggest you try to get a chance to see some of it before you buy. Perhaps a library has a copy? Or sometimes you can get a good idea from watching Youtube.

The Het Nationale version with Sofianne Sylvie was my first buy and i love it. It is a sumptuous production and pays homage to the whole Sun King look. Sofianne is technically sparkly and crisp. But not really a meltingly romantic version.Prince Desire is super, full of powerful grace. It also has some great extras ; Peter Wright and Sofianne documentaries. Plus some nice stuff about showing children how to participate. I then bought the POB version and found it a bit busy although pleasing and the principals are lovely. The Australian Ballet version with Christine Walsh is romantic and sweetly dramatic but some people have criticisms of the technique.

Thanks Carbro, I do look at those demonstrations - I still get a lot of it confused tho, and I think that there is nothing quite like seeing it in relation to a real ballet - to actually see for example that the Wilis leave with 2 jetes dessous followed by grande jetes en avant en attitude, makes it work for me. I guess it would be a limited market but then i think of all those little ones out there learning their steps -maybe an ideal Chrissie present for the teenage set - Commentary on the Nutcracker!. I am constantly surprised though to find how difficult it is to get ballet DVDs so perhaps the demand is slow. ( Perhaps a small demand in Australia because there's not such a huge audience as US or Europe) If it comes to that the demand for commentary on film is probably limited - it was only Peter Jacksons determination to record the whole process on LOTR that made it happen (I think that was great because he recorded the workers as well as the stars.)

I've been watching my Giselle tapes with my new copy of Ballet 101 open in order to learn names of steps etc. (What a joy this book is). On my copies of Lord of the Rings and Pride and Prejudice , Peter jackson and Joe Wilson have a commentary selection. One can watch the film and listen to the director's commentary, a great learning tool for film buffs and students. How good it would be to have a similar path on Ballet DVDs with someone as learned as Mr Greskovic or others on this site, commenting on each ballet? Does anyone have influence with Decca or Opus Arte? Or has it been done? On my copy of the Sleeping Beauty by Het Nationale Ballet, there are some documentaries with Sir Peter Wright discussing his aims and intentions, but I think a dedicated commentary would be so much more useful. One could watch the Ballet as intended or watch it with commentary. How do other people think on this?

How I would love to go. Retiree funds dont run to much. I hope someone plans to attend and to tell us all about it. There are some fascinating reviews of new ballets at the Adelaide festival in the Melbourne Age and I believe Sophie Guillam ( sp) was gong to be there too.