glebb Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 I've been studying a video of the Stuttgart/Cranko "Romeo and Juliet." The Juliet is Stuttgart principal dancer Sue Jin Kang. She is very beautiful. Has anyone seen her perform live? Link to comment
Arabesque Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 I saw her earlier this year when the Stuttgart Ballet came to Orange County to perform Romeo and Juliet. While I didn't really like Cranko's version all that much, I thought Sue Jin Kang was beautiful as Juliet. Along with her beautiful dancing, she was very believable. She danced so freely as the young innocent Juliet, you felt her turmoil when torn between her family's expectations and her love for Romeo, and her pain as she mourned Romeo's death. I had never heard of her before this performance and I was very impressed by her. Link to comment
glebb Posted September 20, 2003 Author Share Posted September 20, 2003 Thanks Arabesque. It would be interesting to find out why you didn't like the Cranko version. Link to comment
Arabesque Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 I saw the San Francisco Ballet perform Romeo and Juliet in Los Angeles in, I think, 1994. Tina LeBlanc and David Palmer were Juliet and Romeo. I don't remember what version SF Ballet dances, but that performance made such an impression on me. I absolutely loved it, the dancing was all so fantastic and I was riveted the entire time. It was one of the first full-length ballets I had ever seen (I had only seen Swan Lake previously). I think I remember more dancing in SF's version. I thought some of Cranko's version was a little slow and drawn out. It's hard to put my finger on, but I think I had such an idealized ballet in my head and Cranko's version fell short. Link to comment
BalletNut Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Arabesque, SFB dances a version choreographed by Helgi Tomasson. Link to comment
Arabesque Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Thanks, BalletNut! Link to comment
glebb Posted September 29, 2003 Author Share Posted September 29, 2003 Thanks for the explanation Arabesque. I know Tina LeBlanc and David Palmer. They are great artists. The Tudor, MacMillan, Nureyev and Ariaz versions are the only ones I can recall. I've never seen the Smuin, Stevenson, Tomasson versions. I wish to see Ashtons. I love the Cranko R&J for many reasons. I also admire it for being the first Western production. Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 Not to be disagreeable here, but I think that the Ashton version pre-dates the Cranko by some years, and the debut of the entire ballet took place in Czechoslovakia in 1938, so it depends on where you consider Brno is? Link to comment
glebb Posted September 29, 2003 Author Share Posted September 29, 2003 Thanks for correcting that Mel. What luck, having Ballet Alert to help fix things. Forgive me for asking but has there been a recent revival of the Ashton version, or is it lost? I know that Christopher Newton is busy working on a reconstruction of Ashtons "Sylvia" from films, for the Royal Ballet. Link to comment
Paul Parish Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 well, Glebb, you were onto somehting Cranko's is the first to come out after Zeffirelli's ROmeo and Juliet, which REALLY changed everybody's understanding of who r and j are -- Ashton's -- no I didn't see it, but I've seen pictures, like Tudor's _- didn't see that either, but I've seen the pictures -- are from an era when R and J were thought of as being kinda like Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard, which is more like Ulanova than a modern teen-aged girl.... re ashton's Alexandra might know -- it was for the DANES, wsn't it?If anybody would still know it, it would be somebody there, righ? Link to comment
glebb Posted September 30, 2003 Author Share Posted September 30, 2003 Norma Shearer cracks me up! Link to comment
carbro Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Ashton coached Kathy Healy (who was then still in high school) when she danced his R&J with LFB. Early '80s, by my estimation. Is that recent? :shrug: Link to comment
Reinhard Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 (edited) Hello Glebb, I think your original question was about Sue Jin Kang... I have seen her dancing here in Stuttgart in so many roles. She is a wonderful, dramatic ballerina. She appeares so fragile but has so much power. You would not believe. Sue Jin Kang is the only dancer from the Marcia Haydee era and joined Stuttgart Ballet in 1986. Marcia Haydee couched her in all the leading Cranko roles. Ms. Kang was outstanding as Tatjana in Onegin and, for me, most beautiful as Marguerite Gautier in Neumeiers Lady of the Camellias. But Sue Jin Kang is not only a dramatic ballerina. She showed her talent as a comedian as Katharina in Crankos Taming of the Shrew and in The Concert von Jerome Robbins as the grazy lady with the hat. In 1999 she won the Prix Benois de la Danse for her role in Lady of the Camellias. Sue Jin Kang and former Stuttgart dancer Robert Tewsley have been something like a dream couple in the Stuttgart Ballet. I am glad you like her too. The whole bio of Sue Jin Kang here: http://www.stuttgart-ballet.de/english/e_b...ang_suejin.html Greetings Edited September 30, 2003 by Reinhard Link to comment
glebb Posted October 1, 2003 Author Share Posted October 1, 2003 Thank you for the greetings and the information Reinhard. Lucky you, being able to see the company so much. I am so happy to have been touched by the Stuttgart miracle. I saw the company at the MET not long after Crankos death and I'll never get over it. "Voluntaries" with it's original cast has never been topped. I actually got to take company class and would gladly have left for Germany that very day (if I had been invited.) Back in the 70s and 80s Joffrey Ballet did many Cranko ballets: "Opus One", "Pas de Deux Holberg", "Jeu De Cartes", "Broulliards", "Pineapple Poll", "Taming of the Shrew", "and Romeo and Juliet." Those were good times. I flew to Saint Louis about three years ago to see Stuttgart Ballet perform "Onegin." I had previously seen Makarova and Haydee (in NY.) My friend Georgette Tsinguirides gave me a biography of Cranko called "Theatre in My Blood." I need to read it again. I would love to see Crankos "Swan Lake." It sounds fascinating. PS. The partnership of Kang and Tewsley does look special on the video. Link to comment
Reinhard Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Hello Glebb, up to now I have not known that Romeo and Juliet with Sue Jin Kang and Robert Tewsley has been taped. As far as I know, it is not available here in Stuttgart. How did you get it? I fully agree, the partnership Kang/Tewsley was very special. It is a pity that it is over. Greetings Link to comment
glebb Posted October 2, 2003 Author Share Posted October 2, 2003 It is not a commercially available video. It is archival and used for study. Link to comment
Reinhard Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 Please copy it for me....lol :rolleyes: Link to comment
glebb Posted October 8, 2003 Author Share Posted October 8, 2003 Dear Reinhard: I tried to Private Message you but because you are a fairly new member of BA I am not sure you have PM privileges as of yet. I'm sorry that I am unable to make a copy of the video. I use it at work, not at home. Too bad ballet companies cannot afford to produce performance videos for commercial release. Best, Glebb Link to comment
Reinhard Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 I was afraid it would not work. But anyways, thank you very much. Greetings, Reinhard Link to comment
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