A case of unfortunate filming

[chrisk217]

I have watched today what must surely be one of the most clueless filmings of classical dance ever done: the Ashton Sylvia pdd (with Yanowsky and Bonelli, broadcasted on arte on Christmas day). Has anyone seen it?

For those who haven't let me try to describe a short part of it, let's say Bonelli's variation:

As the music starts we are backstage, watching the stage manager go throught his notes. Then we see Yanowshki, from the rear, bending over and stretching.

Bonelli starts his entrance. We see 5 seconds of a full body shot of the entrance before we change to the much more interesting (to the director, at least) foot and calf shot. In the next 5 secs the camera moves upwards to B's face and then we get a full body shot again. No more than 5 seconds pass and we move to an upper body shot. 5 seconds later we get a thigh shot (B. has nice thighs. He wears garters that hold up his socks. Now, that's what I care about when I watch dance )

It is by now obvious that the director cannot hold his gaze on any body part of Bonelli for more than 5 seconds at a time. What comes next is this (give or take a second): 5secs of a diagonical full body shot; 5secs of a frontal full body shot; 5secs of legs; 4secs of full body; 2secs feet and calfs; 4secs full body; 4 secs upper body; 3secs legs; 3 secs upper body; 4 secs full body; 4 secs legs; 3 secs upper body; 2secs calfs and feet; 5secs full body; 3 secs thigh; 2 secs full body; 2 secs upper body; 4 secs of legs; 2 secs full body.

And this is just Bonelli's variation. Overall, about a third of the pdd consists of fingertip shots, back of the neck shots, embroidery/waist shots, thigh shots, crotch shots, knee shots (of double tours en l'air! ), edge of tutu shots, head shots and of course the ubiquitous pointe shoe shots.

When not furiously cutting body parts, the director, one Roberto-Maria Grassi, occupies himself by choosing awkward camera angles. In this, he is aided by his having many cameras to play with, some of which are, apparently, moving.

I'm neither obsessive (well, except, maybe, for that counting of seconds thing above :rolleyes: ) nor a fanatic. What I am is very disappointed and in a way worried.

Disappointed because this was a great opportunity to showcase the poetry of Ashton's choreography to the general european art-following public (a public not necessarily very familliar with Ashton). Also disappointed because I waited a very long time to see this...

And worried because arte is a channel dedicated to the arts. The dance they show may usually be modern/expressive/fusion but they are supposed to have some understanding of the classical idiom, aren't they? If they edit in this way, what can be expected of other more commercial channels? The fact that they reduced the Sylvia pdd to a series of disjointed, well enframed shots shows that they are clueless (I can find no other word strong or apt enough) Clueless not just about Sylvia, or Ashton but about ballet itself.

It is in a way an advertisment-influenced view of ballet. Ballet edited to appear fast paced, sexy, intimate, lively. Of course, ballet left untampered is frequently all these things and much much more. But you'd never guess it from this senseless video.

OK, 15 minutes venting is enough... Now some questions - what I'd like to ask is: who watches such things as this? Are there people out there who prefer to see calf shots instead of both the dancers from head to toe? (What's the point of watching dance if you are not going to watch the dance but someone else's impressions of the dance? ) Is there a difference of preference between those involved in ballet and the general public?

Also: can't dancers/companies/choreographers veto badly editited videos? Do they have any kind of control over the end result? And if not shouldn't they?

If someone proposed of making a recording of a symphony with only the winds or only the strings everyone would think it a preposterous idea. So why is it considered ok to show dancers from the waist up on video? Is it a kind of condescention (thinking that the choreography does not really matter - visual omitions aren't really that important)? Is our need to see shinny, glowing body parts up-close that great?

OK. I'll stop here. Forgive the length of the post and the awkwardness of my English - I felt a bit strongly about the issue. I'd like to hear your comments on this or other videos and the issue in general.

[Jane Simpson]

I can't imagine anyone who's seen it will want to argue with you! It was terrible. The only bit I really liked was that we got to see Yanowsky's gorgeous backbend when she was carried on at the beginning of the pas de deux.

[carbro]

I will not argue that ballet is filmed most effectively by a single, stationary camera. However, the director who does not understand the need to see the whole body with enough space to give context should be banned from filming ballet. What you describe, Chris, sounds like the language of MTV, and it can be effective in that genre (although I tend to find these cuts way too fast, too). But the eye needs to absorb images in serious dance.

This kind of filming not only angers the educated viewer, but does nothing to capture the interest of potential new ticket buyers.

What a golden opportunity this was -- just wasted!

[Mel Johnson]

And the sad thing is that they've been doing this sort of "director's/editor's art" thing to ballet for a long time. There have been dreadful 1950s filmings of soviet ballets which featured the ballerina's feet, followed by a closeup of the trombonist's upper lip, to shots of an enraptured audience (at what, the trombonist's sweaty lip?) I seem to recall even a better producer than that once damned by a critic for a filming that was "more Czinning than Czinned against"!

[carbro]

Ah, but in the 50's, no one had yet seen the masterful dance filming of Emile Ardolino. He knew exactly how to train in on (our out on, as the case may be) the moment. You were unaware of his work, because it never called attention to itself. A true servant of his art.

[bart]

Many in the media seem to believe that people are so easily distracted that it is essential to distract them BEFORE they become distracted. What a great idea!

I am not familiar with the arte channel. Is it French? If so, they have wonderful examples of peformance filming in their own country: the recent Paris Opera Ballet videos of the Nureyev Romeo and Juliet, Lacotte's version of La Sylphide, and Ivan the Terrible, for instance, or the Kirov program of Fokine revivals

These are good records of the performance and also visually beautiful, dramatically coherent, respectful of the dancers, and faithful to the choreography.

[chrisk217]

I seem to recall even a better producer than that once damned by a critic for a filming that was "more Czinning than Czinned against"!

Mel thank you, this was hillarious

carbro, I have seen the "choreography by Balanchine" videos and I consider them the best directed dance videos. I've read somewhere that Balanchine's judgement was sought and respected by Ardolino and I've always wondered how various other videos would look if choreographers would only supervise the editing. Living choreographers, that is...

bart, arte is a satelite channel, broadcasting in french and german. They usually play half an hour of dance each week. I dont have satelite, but a friend sometimes tapes the dance and I get to see it. Some of it very interesting.

Here's a link to their dance page: http://www.arte-tv.com/fr/art-musique/danse/260244.html

They frequently (but not always) use filming techniques like the ones described above. I guess it's less noticeable when the dance is contemporary; it's does not discord with the expressive, experimental climate. It's much more noticeable when they start cutting away at something that is highly stylizised, very musical and full of nuance.

I agree about La Sylphide. Incredibly respectful. But in Ivan I think the director antagonized the dancers at times. The Kirov celebrates Nijinsky was directed by Ross McGibbon of the BBC if I remember well.

Other very interesting dancers at this gala were Dvorovenko and Belotserkovsky from ABT (they danced the (lyrical) Corsaire pdd), and Lorena Feijoo and Boada from SFB (they danced the DonQ pdd). They all met with the same inglorious fate in the editing room.

[bart]

bart, arte is a satelite channel, broadcasting in french and german. They usually play half an hour of dance each week. I dont have satelite, but a friend sometimes tapes the dance and I get to see it. Some of it very interesting.

Here's a link to their dance page: http://www.arte-tv.com/fr/art-musique/danse/260244.html

Thank you so much for the Link, chrisk217. There are three GREAT clips from a longer 2000 documentary of Sylvie Guillem dancing in a studio setting to piano accompaniment. Just click her photo. Bits from R&J pas de deux, Don Q (???), and something else. The camera creates the sense of fast movement across the studio floor. So expressive, light, joyful, intense, and free.

[Dale]

An aside (and thanks for the link - lucky Europeans) --

http://www.arte-tv.com/fr/art-musique/danse/396610.html

Click the drop down menu for Ferri, Wheeldon, Nijinska, Guillem etc..

[bart]

Thanks, Dale. The drop-down menu is wonderful, with a wide variety of "dance" including Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, etc.

The Ferrri -- in 3 or so minutes Petit's Carmen, partnered by Laurent Hilaire (!) -- is wonderful dancing, though it exposes some choreographic awkwardness in transitions from pose to pose.

The location -- under the dome of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo -- can't be beaten for this kind of video. The circular wall evokes a plaza de toros, with the dancers in the middle of the ring.

This is definitely a Llink to save and enjoy at leisure.

[Edited later: thanks, chrisk217 for correcting me on my name confusion of Bejart instead of Petit. I've seen the work several times in full, starting before there WAS a Bejart, but the memory cubuicle was mis-labelled. I changed it above.)

[Mme. Hermine]

hmm, i looked at the page and it didn't mention this gala performance on christmas day. anyone have more information on it on the web or otherwise? thanks!

[Jane Simpson]

Arte broadcast two half-hour programmes of extracts from the Gala des Etoiles du XXIème siècle held in Paris in September last year - one on Christmas Day and one on the next Sunday. I particularly wanted to see the Feijoo/Boada Don Quixote pas de deux, but apart from all the fidgety editing, it was broadcast with a tiny snip - the whole of the entree/adagio. But if you want to see Feijoo's fouettes from vertically overhead, this is the programme for you!

[sandik]

Ah, but in the 50's, no one had yet seen the masterful dance filming of Emile Ardolino.  He knew exactly how to train in on (our out on, as the case may be) the moment.  You were unaware of his work, because it never called attention to itself.  A true servant of his art.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But they had plenty of opportunities to see the films of Fred Astaire, whose contract stipulated that he always be shown in full-body shots -- no individual body parts. He was responding to the work of Busby Berkely (and B's less-talented imitators) who was a master at using the human body as a geometric element in surreal musical numbers. I love Berkley, but also love the straightforward dance action of Astaire's films. I've never heard him speak about it, but I would be very surprised if Ardolino wasn't very familiar with these earlier films.

I also wanted to speak up for Girish Bhargava, who was the editor on many of Ardolino's Dance in America programs. His work has an innate rhythmic life that was always used at the service of the choreography.