Another great ballet weekend

[puppytreats]

I had another great ballet weekend. I watched "Turning Point" and "Center Stage" on Netflix and the UStream broadcast of the ABT at the Guggenheim on "Works and Progress."

"Turning Point":

I remember falling in love with Misha Baryshnikov as a child when I first saw this movie (so very long ago!) Seeing his work again, many years later, I am astonished by his combination of technical brilliance and grace. Many dancers known for their technique or pyrotechnical feats now do not have the same grace or beauty. I was most impressed by the speed of his turns and the diagonal jumps. Does any current dancer boast the same combination of jump height, speed, and grace?

I thought Leslie Brown was lovely. Her big eyes made the casting perfect. I enjoyed her dancing. However, her quick rise to prominence in the plot was somewhat suspect, although understandable for the purpose of the movie.

I tried to notice the dancers in the classes and on stage, but had difficulty identifying them, which I was only able to do after reading the credits. Maybe another viewing is necessary.

I enjoyed being able to understand the ballets being performed and discussed in the movie and comprehend their role or significance in the plot. I suppose all my study recently has had some benefits in this regard. Thank you to board members for this.

Anne Bancroft was amazing, as usual. I think Shirley McClaine is great, but has performed her best in other movies.

The old, Russian ballet coach was a gem. She was a delight to watch.

"Center Stage":

I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. Of course, it contained many cliches, but was not entirely derivative, like most dance movies.

Julie Kent seemed to have a strong accent. I did not expect this. She delivered the best line in the film, and her delivery was perfect and comical.

Eric Stieffel's jumps and turns were fabulous. I wish his gymnastics were connected by more graceful sections; that would suit my personal taste better (see above regarding Misha). His character was not likeable and his lines were embarrassing. Nevertheless, I am sure performing in a bad boy role in the movie helped his career.

Are ballet students really not permitted to take dance classes elsewhere? In the movie, a student took a forbidden jazz class at Broadway Dance.

"Works and Progress":

This program was a gift. The glimpse into the coaching and character development was so informative, and helped quench my burning curiosity in this regard.

Susan Jaffe, as ballet mistress, corrected Sarah Lane in a demonstration of a rehearsal. Can someone explain the difference in the role of a coach and ballet mistress in this regard?

I was very impressed by Rachel Moore. I am curious to learn why her friend told her, so long ago, that she should not go to law school to pursue a career as a first amendment lawyer, because jobs were not available at that time. I also commend her work advocating for jobs for dancers based on their work ethic and traits.

The dancing by ABT II was impressive. Seeing the difference between the school kids, the ABT II dancers, and the company dancers answered many questions about the need for continuing, almost endless education, practice, and development.

[Helene]

I had another great ballet weekend. I watched "Turning Point" and "Center Stage" on Netflix and the UStream broadcast of the ABT at the Guggenheim on "Works and Progress."

Sounds like a dream weekend!

I thought Leslie Brown was lovely. Her big eyes made the casting perfect. I enjoyed her dancing. However, her quick rise to prominence in the plot was somewhat suspect, although understandable for the purpose of the movie.

Gelsey Kirkland, who was a phenom, was originally cast in the part, but as she describes in one of her books, she was too emaciated to take the role. I think if Kirkland had danced it, it would have been more obvious why she shot to the top. She had a very thick NY accent, though, and it would have been a stretch for her to have sounded like she grew up in Oklahoma City, with Tom Skerritt and Shirley Maclaine as her parents.

On the other hand, it was meant to be a real "Meet Suzanne Farrell, just been born" moment, and, sweetly, because she was in the movie, a Shirley Maclaine, a-star-is-born, after a big break moment. (Those were Balanchine's famous words to Stravinsky, after Stravinsky wondered at Suzanne Farrell's rendition of "Movement for Orchestra" after she took over the role from a pregnant, couch-ridden Diana Adams.) In this case she gets the role because Anne Bancroft walks out on it -- the choreographer realizes that he wants a talented, blank slate for it, which Browne was, but Kirkland emphatically was not -- rather than someone else's misfortune.

The "avant garde" choreography (lol) is the "Vortex" solo from Alvin Ailey's "The River", which premiered at ABT in 1970.

The old, Russian ballet coach was a gem. She was a delight to watch.

That was the great Alexandra Danilova, who was a classmate of Balanchine's at the Mariinsky school, and who was one of the small group of dancers and singers who left the Soviet Union with Balanchine and didn't return from their tour. Balanchine, Danilova, and the other dancers stayed in Paris and joined Diaghilev's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and was a great star of the later Ballet Russe, with Frederic Franklin her frequent partner. She taught at School of American Ballet from the 60's through the late '80's. I remember watching her SAB variations class with her advanced students. She was charming and completely focused on the dancer she was critiquing at any given time, while all around her was teenage girl chaos.

Julie Kent seemed to have a strong accent. I did not expect this. She delivered the best line in the film, and her delivery was perfect and comical.

I loved her in this. She made the film for me, just by raising her eyebrow.

Are ballet students really not permitted to take dance classes elsewhere? In the movie, a student took a forbidden jazz class at Broadway Dance.

It depends on the school whether they are discouraged from going outside the nest.