Ismene Brown's Dance Writings

[drb]

The Daily Telegraph's dance critic Ismene Brown has collected her dance writings on this site:

http://www.ismeneb.co.uk/

You first click on the pretty opening picture. Next, click on anything that clicks, and you'll get to a practical list of what seems hundreds of writings. An interesting comparison of ABT vs NYCB in 1998, for instance. And there is more than just Telegraph articles.

One of the site's recent gems is her Dance Now article on Johan Kobborg's Bolshoi production of La Sylphide. It includes interviews with Mr. Kobborg and others, including his unexpected Sylph choices, Osipova and Krysanova. Ms. Osipova on Mr. Kobborg:

...But I wasn't expecting him to give us such freedom in our interpretations. Johan is such a clever man that he

helped me to search and find my own way, he wasn't pushing us to be these unearthly creatures. He said here is

James and you are his dream. You are the embodiment of what he dreams of. So you can be totally different, very

feminine and very desirable from James's point of view. In a certain sense, she IS playing with him, because she

was probably with him all his life from his childhood, but she chose to turn up on his wedding day! So I'm sure

she came with bad intentions! But at the same time she is a fairy and she doesn't understand how serious the results can be.

The essay concludes with Ms. Brown's take on the development of a vocal anti-Osipova faction in Moscow:

The Vremya Novosti critic Anna Gordeeva wrote that the wives and girlfriends of Moscow's businessmen sitting in the stalls were clutching their men to them, so shamelessly was Osipova flirting with the audience. Hostile as the comment was intended to be, it raised a vision of Russian businessmen escaping all their Effies in the stalls, and dashing out to chase Osipova through Theatre Square. I don’t think that critic realised she was acknowledging a true Sylphide.

[Paul Parish]

Thank you drb -- news of Osipova is big news to me, and to have it come through such an intelligent critic as IB is very welcome. THanks for hte link, and thanks for hte excellent samples. She got insight: look how powerful Osipova's spell is, and how true it is to the character of hte Sylphide

The Daily Telegraph's dance critic Ismene Brown has collected her dance writings on this site:

http://www.ismeneb.co.uk/

You first click on the pretty opening picture. Next, click on anything that clicks, and you'll get to a practical list of what seems hundreds of writings. An interesting comparison of ABT vs NYCB in 1998, for instance. And there is more than just Telegraph articles.

One of the site's recent gems is her Dance Now article on Johan Kobborg's Bolshoi production of La Sylphide. It includes interviews with Mr. Kobborg and others, including his unexpected Sylph choices, Osipova and Krysanova. Ms. Osipova on Mr. Kobborg:

...But I wasn't expecting him to give us such freedom in our interpretations. Johan is such a clever man that he

helped me to search and find my own way, he wasn't pushing us to be these unearthly creatures. He said here is

James and you are his dream. You are the embodiment of what he dreams of. So you can be totally different, very

feminine and very desirable from James's point of view. In a certain sense, she IS playing with him, because she

was probably with him all his life from his childhood, but she chose to turn up on his wedding day! So I'm sure

she came with bad intentions! But at the same time she is a fairy and she doesn't understand how serious the results can be.

The essay concludes with Ms. Brown's take on the development of a vocal anti-Osipova faction in Moscow:

The Vremya Novosti critic Anna Gordeeva wrote that the wives and girlfriends of Moscow's businessmen sitting in the stalls were clutching their men to them, so shamelessly was Osipova flirting with the audience. Hostile as the comment was intended to be, it raised a vision of Russian businessmen escaping all their Effies in the stalls, and dashing out to chase Osipova through Theatre Square. I don’t think that critic realised she was acknowledging a true Sylphide.

[Dale]

Thanks drb. Great site. It beats looking her stuff up on nexis.

[Alexandra]

Thanks, drb! And thank YOU, Ismene Brown. It's wonderful to have an on line collection -- and I like the design, too.

[bart]

I was unable to reach the website. (Tried just a minute ago.) Anyone else having problems?

[carbro]

It's a v-e-r-y slow loader, bart, but worth the wait to see a beautiful home page. However, it isn't so easy to read the linked names.

[kfw]

It's a v-e-r-y slow loader, bart, but worth the wait to see a beautiful home page. However, it isn't so easy to read the linked names.

Hmm. You might try it in Opera if you have that. I didn't experience either problem. Thanks, drb!

[drb]

It's a v-e-r-y slow loader, bart, but worth the wait to see a beautiful home page. However, it isn't so easy to read the linked names.

I think the following link cuts through the two layers of pretty pictures to the article list:

http://web.me.com/cijc/ib/A-K.html

(there's an obvious click to the rest of the alphabet)

And this should get you through to the Kobborg Sylphide piece, which is full of history and even shows how difficult a job Alexei Ratmansky had running the Bolshoi:

http://web.me.com/cijc/ib/L-Z_files/Made%20of%20Air.pdf

[bart]

Thanks carbro and drb. It turns out that there must have been a temporary problem with the site. Everything works smoothly and swiftly now.

I love the alphabetical index. Entering the site at that point definitely saves time.

[sandik]

thanks so much for the link -- I've enjoyed Brown's work when I've seen it, but it didn't always cross my desktop. The site is lovely, though not really a quick read. I'm not sure I would want to have to watch all the photos load over and over again.

[Alexandra]

I just think it's fantastic that Ismene B is now a net head

[Mashinka]

I just think it's fantastic that Ismene B is now a net head

Thanks for busting the myth that Americans don't do irony