Jemil Akman

I am going to ad two quotes.

The first was from Marcel Marceau. He was describing a ronde jambe to a class of mimes and I was sitting in the audience. He said, "Think of it this way, someone has just dropped their wallet and you don't want them to see you push it behind you with your foot."

The second quote was from Linda Kintz (Prima Ballerina for Washington D.C.'S Late, lamented National Ballet). She and I were in a Pas De Deux class...actually, she and I were assisting the late Stanley Herbertt (from the old Ballet Theatre) as he gave the class. One teenage girl, with designs to go to New York to study, raised her hand and asked Linda, "Is it true that there is a lot of crime in New York and what do you do when you hear a gun shot on stage?" Linda didn't miss a beat and replied, "When in doubt, bourré out!" and she followed this up by a quick bourré out into the hall. 25 years later, I am still telling that story to dancers.

Even in the 80's when I was there (at the Joffrey) they were video taping productions of some of the classic ballets so those works will not be lost (but they will require translation by whomever stages them). However, your question is a good one. Who will be the driving force behind some of the classics in the reportoir? When he was alive, Bob Joffrey was the man who pushed, prodded and chewed them up... he tracked down obscure tombs, choreographers, artists etc... to recreate some of those old masterpieces. He was like a bulldog with a bone and wouldn't let go until he had tracked down and recreated every aspect of a classic piece. Jerry Arpino (as I remember him) was a great guy but his focus was more inclined to creating new forms of dance expressions and ways to interconnect dance. But not to worry... like I said, the classics are all on file... so they can be revisited... any volunteers???

"Paging Dr. Hodson....Paging Dr. Millicent Hodson...."

But what about the Ashton, Cranko and Massine ballets? I would hate to think that the Joffrey won't be able to readily stage those in the near future.

Ok, I can help you (hypothetically, since we are not supposed to do this).. If you want to transfer it from Pal to NTSC, some copy houses will do it for you (my company transfers Pal to NTSC all the time). Now if you want to do it yourself, go out and spend about $100 dollars on a dvd player that plays both (many of them do these days). So when you play it in the PAL mode, it will look fine on the screen. However, make note. This is an analog picture. Hook your output via the rca cables to another recording device that is NTSC and record it as an input. The quality will drop a smidge but in all PAL to NTSC tranfers, there is a loss... there is no going around it. You will now have a playable NTSC version. Good luck and feel free to contact my Film Company direct if you have questions. I am at gemstarfilms@earthlink.net in Hollywood. Good Luck!

A friend is desperate. She just got a great DVD via Amazon, but the seller failed to mention it was in PAL.

Anybody know any quick solutions? Will copy places convert copyrighted DVDs chapters intact? (This is of course in Berkeley, but we have the national chains)

I remember something about "Nero" allowing you to change the format from PAL to NTSC, but can't remember what that was or how it worked....

Thanks.

Actually, the Pas in Corsaire actually was choreographed (unless I misunderstood your inference) by Petipa... If you never saw Baryshnikov do it you can either check out the "Turning Point", a ballet film from about 1977, or you can check out his variation here at this link below: As for myself, this was the version that I always did (until the body said no more! :>)

http://www.mydanceclip.com/video/1290/mikh...-as-le-corsaire

Share with us details of Alternative Pas de deux you have seen and like.

I will start the list with a very enchanting Pas de deux from Le Corsair In ABT's version (in the Grotto scene), after the famous Pas de trois, there follows a beautiful romantic PDD danced on the DVD by Ethan Stiefel and Julie Kent, it preceeds the drugged flower episode. It is full of spectactular lifts, tenderness, and the most magical expressive music. It is not in the Kirov version, so may have been an addition by Konstantin Sergeyev the choreographer(after Petipa) Although not in the league of the famous, it is most definately a strong contender to be my favourite. You can see a video of this on YouTube under American Ballet Julie Kent Ethan Stieful, in the Entertainment Section - Ballet. The music is from the Grand Pas in Drigo's Ballet, The Awakening of Flora. Do look it up, I am sure you will like it.

As someone who worked with Edward, I have to say that he was a great man. We used to do lecture demonstrations at various schools when he ran the New Jersey ballet (Late 1970's, early 1980's). I never saw someone who loved passing on dance like he did... and he liked to push us to our limits.

In 1969 Life magazine ran a story about Villella, "Is This Man the Country's Best Athlete?" Two years later, Sports illustrated featured him in the profile "Encounter with an athlete".

around the time of the article, it came out in the press that doctors had ex-rayed his (Villella's) feet in the middle of the season and found that every bone in his foot had been broken at least once, some of them twice and some were still broken, although he was still dancing on them. They (Sports Illustrated) proclaimed ballet dancers the greatest athletes (and it was around then that many a football coach started sending their players to ballet class to build strength and grace on the field. In my case, he often pushed me to do things that I had never done before.

I have enclosed a link to the article. I hope others enjoy it and get much out it.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...85347/index.htm

Thanks, garybruce. Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6vjoxIdPfs

It's a wonderful segment, and even better -- I think -- if you replay it without the smaaltzy music (which has little do to with the choreography, anyway). I love Villella's opening: the handsome closeup followed by his graceful hand-miming of "dance." You definitely get a sense of VIllella's stage presence and charisma, qualities which grew over time. One of the things I remember is the way which, once he matured, he could hold your eye even when standing still and looking with concentration at his partner. It's one of the qualities which made him a much better Siegfried than people who never saw him in these roles might think.

It was good to see even a clip of Kukla and Ollie at the beginning of the segment. Also -- PLEASE! -- stick around at the end for the Bacchus After-Shave commercial. First I thought it was some sort of Monty Python take-off. WAS there such a product? And was there ever a real ad campaign like this?

Not sure what to say here but I am a recent member returning to my roots of dance. A little about me... I started dancing as a kid on the Mississippi Riverboats (they are now all Casinos) and spent summers performing at the Muny Opera in St. Louis (and all the other theatres on the Starlight tour circuit) and winters with the St. Louis Civic Ballet under the late great Stanley Herbertt. I also studied under Michael Simms, Nathalie LeVine, Gary Hubler and many others.

After high school, I went to Oklahoma University and studied with Miguel Terekhov, Yvonne Chouteau, Victoria Leigh and Ko Yokohiro before being invited to go to the Joffrey Ballet in New York. I ended up performing with them for six seasons and went on tour with Nureyev and friends. My mentor there was Meredith Bayliss, and when she relocated to Los Angeles, I often popped in on her class to watch or give a few pointers to the men about pirouettes until she passed away.

In my career, I worked on Broadway, also at the International Festival in Europe, performed with Gene Kelly, Chita Rivera, Ann Reinkin, and with about a dozen different ballet companies. In the 1990's, I returned to college (Lindenwood) and in addition to completing my education, I also filled in for the head of the department to teach all her classes for a year when she stepped out for medical reasons.

I don't dance as much now but it keeps popping back into my life. A friend recently wrote their first feature film and wrote me in as the older, out of shape Russian Ballet teacher who yells at the kids and makes them cry. Fun stuff and the kids were really good sports.

I don't get a chance to write as often as I like but fee free to say hello and reconnect if you know me... or not. Ok, enough said... Keep Dancing!

Jemil Akman

For the last fifteen years I have had an intense interest and involment in the world of ballet. For the past fourteen years I have worked as a ballet accompanist (pianist) I also took ballet classes for five years so as to better understand the art.I am first and foremost a musician but ballet has enriched my life and has been central to me for a long time. I recall clearly having intense , almost cinematographic dreams about ballet dancers and indeed these recur today.One such vision of the night was an indescribably beautiful piazza in Italy where multi-coloured fountains desribed beautiful arcs and curves and between were dancers in intricate counterpoint.I received the coup de foudre when in my father"s house and chancing on a television documentary of Balanchine and four dancers recalling the great choreographer .This would have been shortly after his death.Images imprinted themselves upon my inner being, subsequently I developed a deep interest and knowledge of this extraordinary man.This in turn led me to a deep engagement with the choreographic process.To me, dance reveals the inherent divine image in humanity and affirms the glory of embodiment.As a pianist I loved the role of being an adjunct (albeit an essential one) in the studio.interacting with teachers was also a joy, some more than others! it is wonderful to have chanced upon this site which serendipitously was made visible to me when researching notable dancers of the NYCB.

Ah, permit me to expand upon your definition. Perichoresis is derived from latin two words , Peri (circle or round, as in perimeter) and choresis as in choreography or dance. It was actually used in the bible numerous to describe the relationship of the trinity and was translated as "Dancing around in the same essence of".

I don't know how I know that... oh right, latin class :>)

Mary, I have seen Janet Combs dance, and in my own choreography! As you probably know, I taught her when she was a student at OU, and she danced a major role in a Poulenc Concerto that I did for the company there. She was indeed talented, and very lovely!

Of the Indian Ballerinas, I have seen Yvonne Chouteau, Maria Tallchief, and Rosella Hightower. Never saw Mocelyn Larkin or Marjorie Tallchief. I adored Yvonne Chouteau! What a lovely dancer and beautiful person. I also took classes with her at OU, as I was still dancing when I was teaching there.

[This message has been edited by Victoria Leigh (edited February 27, 2001).]

Hi Victoria,

I too studied with you and partnered Janet Combs in Nutcracker for a few years. Do you remember me? Jim Akman aka Jemil Akman.

I honestly would have loved to see my teacher, Janet Combs, dance when she was younger. She wasn't famous or anything, but from all that I've heard, she was quite talented. I'd also like to see Alicia Markova or any of the five Oklahoma Native American ballerinas dance. There's probably a video of all of them out there somewhere, but I've never seen it.

------------------

~*Mary*~

"Do or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda

Hi Mary, I was actually Janet's partner in a few productions. Ironically, I just finished restoring a piece of film that features her as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the I read your note... Karma. I am glad to share it with someone who knows her. The link to see Janet Combs in Nutcracker is at:

http://www.spike.com/video/ballet-russe/3024260

This is from about 1977 so apologies for the poor quality.

Jemil aka Jim Akman