Juliet

I just finished Anne Edwards' new biography of Maria Callas. I always enjoy her writing, and as she actually knows something about music, this was a nice break for me.....along the same lines is Molto Agitato, a book about the Metropolitan Opera (of course I got it for the title alone...) Earlier this summer I reread Fonteyn's Magic of Dance (I always am struck by the good illustrations chosen for this book) Alexandra's mention of Touched by Fire (an excellent, excellent book) always reminds me of another favourite: Born under Saturn; the character and conduct of artists....by Rudolf and Margot Wittkower..... glad to hear that we are all reading and supporting our local libraries ;)

You want to buy one, I assume-- Fracci and Bruhn for wonderful dancing but irritating camera work. I also like the Baryshnikov/Makarova/Van Hamel...but I think the LaScala production with Ferri is beautiful (but then, I love Ferri) and the score isn't as chopped up as the ABT ones.... I have Alonso, Makarova, Ferri, Lynn Seymour, Bessmertnova, Fracci, the one with young Malakhov where his hair was still brown (I'm sorry but I don't recall the ballerina), and two more which I can't remember.....that's for complete ones--if you just want a particular excerpt, there are many othersavailable. I didn't check Amazon's listings.....but don't forget the BA link here!

One of my favourite movie treats is the part of Invitation to the Dance where Claude Bessy steals and eats the guy's sandwich while doing pirouettes...and she doesn't forget the pickle. It's in the first section called Ring-around-the-rosy..... I simply must see that Joan Collins one--is it really called Nutcracker? It sounds like something Rumer Godden would have written.... No, really I think the best casting for Joan Collins would be Tamara Toumanova.....but who would we get for Mama?

Well, I would imagine that Malakhov is getting things pulled together in his first season at Berlin; Bocca is probably tango-ing with Ballet Argentina who will appear a week after the City Center season; Ferri is probably doing family stuff or enjoying the glorious Italian autumns (I don't recall her appearing much here in the fall seasons recently); Tuttle is taking a break, and I thought that McKerrow was semi-retiring? I also agree that it is going to be a peculiar choice if Meunier does indeed do 3rd mvt. Bizet. Not that she can't, but why? She would be wonderful in 2nd...... Juliet

Doubt it, from the looks of this. I respectfully submit that a theatre (or any building which will house human beings for various pursuits) needs to be both beautiful and useful. This design may be the latter, but it certainly misses out on beautiful.

I think the Maryinsky design looks like the bubble wrap in the bottom of my kitchen trash can. The interior rendering looks like an interior of a french horn. Without the grace. I don't dislike the other two building designs. Have they lost their minds?:rolleyes:

You blinked, hon. (I am trying to get the hang of this Maryland stuff.....) They did it in 1999, I believe... Blonde woman from Boston Ballet did one cast, I think Magnicaballi did the other....I could be askew on this part, but I know they did it....someone with programs may be able to corect this casting.

You know, Bobbi, this isn't really a digression. I was also pretty disgusted by the brochure for the NYCB Winter Season. OK, we have yet another picture of Maria K in That Dress...yes we know she has long legs and wears her hair down and can look like a model on a rooftop. Is this a Seventeen shoot? Thats how it appeared (it was not chic or interesting enough for a Vogue shoot.) The back cover was not only unflattering, it wasn't remotely about ballet, or dance or anything other than a group of dancers sitting on a rooftop with a lamentable lack of makeup. Remember how Balanchine always spoke about "presenting yourself?" Can you imagine Danilova sitting around on a rooftop sans coiffure and in an unflattering angle? Right. Neither can I. How embarrassing for the dancers....all that work, sweat, years of training and they are on the cover of a national publication looking like they've just finished prepping for their SATs. (Not like they've been up all night partying, for then at least they'd have on interesting clothes and no one wears clothes like dancers.) Pretty bad job, I say--not edgy, comical, interesting, let alone indicative of the range of the company.

Perhaps they need to start reading books again. (My general remedy for what ails us.) Any information on who is being considered to succeed Canfield at OBT?

Well, I will never again be able to hear the Liebestod without thinking of the deli counter. That is one of the most unforgettable comparisons I have ever been privileged to read........ I have been going to opera for more years than you get to hear about, and I still have never figured out why they have to be so fat. Solid, yes, vocally strong, yes....... but Jane Eaglen makes Nilsson look like Tinkerbelle. They are getting fatter and fatter. I have accustomed myself to the Wagnerian repertory needing extra yardage, that is the way it always has been......but why not just limit it to an extra hundred pounds or so? That would seem to produce all the strength necessary.....you cannot tell me that great beefy limbs are necessary for vocal purity. I am not advocating pushing singers into a particular repertory because of their appearance, but I sincerely believe that the size of a great many singers is just as ruinous to their careers due to the health risks involved. Back to beauty........sorry for the tangent---it is a wide one, I know, but I really did love the canned hams image!

With all due respect (I also have red hair), I don't know of *any* directors who hire dancers who are unattractive, nor is there a particular animus against redheads. Quite the contrary -- there are just not as many of us! It is very common to "match" dancers and/or partners---makes visual sense on stage, and I always check the casting when I am designing a show to make sure that there is a good colour interplay. OK, I won't talk about hair colour any more!!! Body types, well, that's another tangled mess entirely......some people cannot change their genetic makeup. I think it is just as harmful to be disrespectful to thin dancers, assuming that they are anorectic, making snide remarks, etc. What looks good on stage is not necessarily what looks good on the street, remember. I am always struck when I see performers in street clothes, noticing how thin they look, when on stage or in costume they look perfectly fine to me. We all have a different aesthetic, which is fine. I dislike chunkiness (I don't mean fat), but there are dancers with a stocky build who move beautifully and I just have to put aside my own bias! Looks matter, of course, but everyone has their own set of what they like and don't like, directors included. It would be nice if this weren't so, but reality intrudes.

I completely missed the 80s (raising children) but am happy to hear that it was fun!

Funny, but hair colour never even occurs to me! They change it so frequently. Unfortunately, men's "look" matters just as much as women's, I think. One can make up in accordance with a character, but too often this vital point is somehow deemed not important. One may have the face of a farmhand offstage, but when dancing Siegfried, please get out the makeup kit. I do not mean to sound nasty, but it is very important. As is proper barbering--contemporary ballet can have a lot more leeway than classical, but I remain firm in my belief that Theme and Variations should not be done with a crewcut.

I saw this piece when it ran in print Vogue. Not to be a pig, but it also said that she stopped dancing when she was seventeen. Now, unless she's like Iolanthe and has lived for a good many years and is *still* only seventeen, the career may have been a "promising" one--cut short by who knows what cause. I was intrigued by her designs, with the references to costumes, but I thought that Vogue heaped on the Paris Opera/ballet connection a little too liberally. Looking for an angle.... But it still was fun to see---

I agree about Rob Besserer...... and also about how "ordinary" some on-stage stunners are in mufti and their flipflops. Interestingly, I think Nina Ananiashvili is a much more beautiful offstage and as she gets older......

Of course looks matter. Why not? A dancer's soul may be shown through their art and if it is beautiful as well, then that is an enhancement. I agree with Giannina completely on: "Make-up techniques are so advanced that almost anyone can be made to look beautiful." There are people with unfortunate physiognomies, but there is not a single reason to look bad on stage. Body build is another matter--we all have our particular preferences. However, although I may really not care for Ballerina X's natural build, what she does with her technique and artistry will generally render that secondary. A person has only so much control over how they are shaped, although their particular training may accentuate certain characteristics. As a costumer, I have a certain measure of control over appearance and generally a dancer and I will come to a happy agreement, but of course looks are important.....

Yes, of course!!! I didn't suggest discontinuing my subscription when I wrote but I made it abundantly clear what I thought.... but what a clever notion! I happen to think that the form letters we are receiving in response to our individual letters are insulting. Budget cuts, baloney. Cut television coverage. Less about the Hilton sisters and Lizzie Grubman..... Juliet

Yes, of course!!! I didn't suggest discontinuing my subscription when I wrote but I made it abundantly clear what I thought.... but what a clever notion! I happen to think that the form letters we are receiving in response to our individual letters are insulting. Budget cuts, baloney. Cut television coverage. Less about the Hilton sisters and Lizzie Grubman..... Juliet

Hear, hear! It is not only the Russians who use real feathers!!!! We just attach ours differently! As one of those who spend hours sewing/designing those small, but essential-to-my-peace-of-mind things, I'd like to hear what is important/charming/delightful upon notice too----- I like the red heels on character shoes....

I am past green. I am in deep sorrow indigo. My favourite production (costuming, I mean) of Sleeping Beauty and I didn't get to go-----because I didn't know about it..... That's no excuse, in my book.... I guess it will have to be eBay or plaintive queries--after all, people do tire of thiings they buy, or grow out of them or...... I loved, loved, loved some of those costumes........I don't care about shoes, I want the clothes! sigh

Also here--I like this site because they usually list tracks, and so if you are looking for a particular variation you know it is included before you buy the CD---mailorder surprises are not pleasant... www.christopherseminars.com Juliet

Hi Lolly, This sounds like my favourite way to spend a day and I am so happy that you got to go, *and* found pretty things which you will enjoy! Ballet sales are my favourite (they are the only things which ever fit me) but we don't have them here too frequently......although the NYC Opera does have a thrift shop on 23rd St...esp. near Halloween it is great fun. If at all possible these dresses need to be on padded hangers; ideally, they ought to be stored flat, if at all heavy--otherwise the weight of the skirts will pull at and weaken the shoulder seams. Cover them with something made of cotton--NOT plastic!--so they are protected from light and dust. I live in an old house with very few closets, so I store all my costume-y or old clothes on racks in cloth garment bags---the sort in which you can hang multiple garments. Be sure to stuff the shoes--the red-heeled ones sound wonderful:)

They were selling the Bjornson designs for Sleeping Beauty? Sigh..... Now I'm really sad. I hope that any of you who managed to go had a great time looking, however!!!

I recollect a discussion of this CD....someone was looking for it (I recall nothing more, I am sorry, otherwise I would have sent you a message.) I have two copies (periodically I check my CD collection--not frequently, but periodically!!!):rolleyes: Let me know via p.m. if you still need it.... Juliet

One wonders, sometimes, about "artistic license"..... The ballerina costume in Diamonds is indeed built of a darker, more beige fabric than the corps and the top layer of tulle on her tutu is gold. One wonders about such things....copying costume design is one thing, changing it and then attributing it to Karinska is quite another ....it is not as if the Karinska costumes are not available for reference. Those interested should see: /www.nycballet.com/costumeshop/diamondsphotos.html The Costume Shop section of City Ballet's site is quite wonderful and has been available for some time. Sorry to veer slightly off topic!