REPERTORY IN REVIEW

[rg]

this hard-to-find book is on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/REPERTORY-IN-REVIEW-NA...1QQcmdZViewItem

[Amy Reusch]

I've always wanted but despaired of owning this book, since it always seems to go for a few hundred dollars. So when rg posted this, I quickly bid only to find my bids instantaneously outbid... I fairly quickly gave up, figuring I'd try once more the actual day of the sale. In the meantime, I went to see what it was selling for these days by checking it out through the Amazon link above. To my delight, there was a copy for sale at $29.95 which I quickly bought! The dust cover, if not in mint condition, was in excellent condition.

If you too have despaired of owning this essential Balanchine book, do check out the used listings at Amazon. As I write this, there is another one for sale for $28.

Comments: Clean EX-LIBRARY hardcover with the typical library stickers and stamps. The previous owner's bookplate is glued to the inside of the front board. The pages are white and clean and have no creases or tears. The jacket looks very good beneath a plastic cover that is taped to the boards (but could be removed easily). The binding is straight and strong. I doubt the book was checked out often (if at all).

.

Rather than post a link directly here, I recommend going through the Amazon search in Ballet Talk's banner as it will return some small amount to Ballet Talk.

[richard53dog]

If you too have despaired of owning this essential Balanchine book, do check out the used listings at Amazon. As I write this, there is another one for sale for $28.

Rather than post a link directly here, I recommend going through the Amazon search in Ballet Talk's banner as it will return some small amount to Ballet Talk.

Amy, thanks for the heads-up.

Richard

[Ray]

It's sad, isn't it, that there's never been a sequel or a regular update?

[sandik]

It's sad, isn't it, that there's never been a sequel or a regular update?

As a dance critic and occasional historian, it's a continuing frustration to deal with the lack of documentation in the field. People don't keep track of casting, repertory, choreographers (guest and otherwise), commissions, stagers, teachers, guests -- the whole collection of elements that go into the history of an organization. When I, a private individual with a basement, have a better collection of programs and press releases than a dance company does, something is seriously awry. My local ballet company has, over time, done well and less well with these things -- other local ensembles (and presenters) often take our recycling ethos much to far with their own records and archives.

Thanks for letting me vent -- I feel much better now.

[dirac]

It's sad, isn't it, that there's never been a sequel or a regular update?

As a dance critic and occasional historian, it's a continuing frustration to deal with the lack of documentation in the field. People don't keep track of casting, repertory, choreographers (guest and otherwise), commissions, stagers, teachers, guests -- the whole collection of elements that go into the history of an organization. When I, a private individual with a basement, have a better collection of programs and press releases than a dance company does, something is seriously awry. My local ballet company has, over time, done well and less well with these things -- other local ensembles (and presenters) often take our recycling ethos much to far with their own records and archives.

Thanks for letting me vent -- I feel much better now.

So true. I note the copy for sale is an ex-library copy, probably picked up for a dollar or two at a library sale. Shame on the library for throwing out such a relatively rare and useful book.

[bart]

As a dance critic and occasional historian, it's a continuing frustration to deal with the lack of documentation in the field. People don't keep track of casting, repertory, choreographers (guest and otherwise), commissions, stagers, teachers, guests -- the whole collection of elements that go into the history of an organization. When I, a private individual with a basement, have a better collection of programs and press releases than a dance company does, something is seriously awry.

Indeed.

The few companies I've observed in this regard seem to think that their history is expresssed quite adequately (thank you) by a combination of (a) photo collections;( b) the memories of those who have been with the company longest; © favorable blurbs from the press and (d) the material they themselves have chosen to print in their programs.

With comprehensive and accessible archives, it shouldn't be too difficult to reproduce the skeleton at least of R in R's format,:

-- performance details (choreographer, composer and music, scenario, costumes and design, key performance dates; original and revival casts)

-- thoughts and observations from reviews, participants, critics.

-- photos

Doing it well, of course, is a rather more difficult matter.

[Amy Reusch]

I suspect there's also a lot of archival material that goes missing in the confusion when administrations change... there is so much turnover in the dance world... not that necessarily the outgoing administration has absconded with the material, but the guard on the archives may be lax at these times. Also, it's really hard to find time to go back over old material... there are usually so many emergencies and deadlines that are being dealt with, that if stuff isn't well labeled and archived as it appears, chances are it won't ever be... unless there's a big "anniversary" at which point someone tries to make sense of the company's history. How many outside the major international companies have an archivist or librarian on regular duty? Does ABT? I don't see one on staff. Does that mean the marketing dept holds all the info? Or is it under Artistic? Or do different departments hold different sorts of things? NYCB has Serapio Walton working under the Production Staff (which is where I believe a dance archivist belongs). I believe it's hard to find funding for such a salary line... although I wish someone out there would realize the value of underwriting such staff.

Congratulations on the acquisition, Richard, I see the inventory at Amazon has dropped!

[sandik]

How many outside the major international companies have an archivist or librarian on regular duty? Does ABT? I don't see one on staff. Does that mean the marketing dept holds all the info? Or is it under Artistic? Or do different departments hold different sorts of things? NYCB has Serapio Walton working under the Production Staff (which is where I believe a dance archivist belongs). I believe it's hard to find funding for such a salary line... although I wish someone out there would realize the value of underwriting such staff.

PNB has an archivist on their staff list, and they've been collecting materials for several years, although I don't know how accessible those materials are to the general public. The company commissioned a history for their 25th anniversary that includes lists of repertory and dancers, but there's been nothing since then. They've got a list of "active" repertory on their website, but it's not clear to me what that actually means.

I don't mean to sound grumpy, though -- this is much more that many other organizations have.

[Amy Reusch]

I wish they would all do a sort of Repertory in Review format for souvenir books. They could add in the new rep each year. Someone should bring this up at a Dance/USA conference... that their audiences wish they'd do this! Isn't printing cheap enough yet to accomodate this sort of thing? How about a deck of repertory in review cards? It would make adding new rep not so difficult; it would be a collectible trading item; and it would help audience education (and an educated audience is probably a more supportive audience!).