Rodeo

[Kathleen O'Connell]

I enjoyed Peck's 'Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes * but it's been decades since I've seen De Mille's Rodeo. I thought Peck's second episode was particularly beautiful. It's a pas de cinq that evokes a band of sylphs rather than a corral full of cowboys. The men get to show off their beautiful arabesques and port-de-bras rather than their athletic prowess, which is just fine by me.

It's the second excerpt here.

What you see first does make a difference. My first Dying Swan was Mme. Ida Nevasayneva, and let's just say her performance is the lens through which I see everyone else's.

*A title that demands to be cut-and-pasted, because who can remember how to type those diacritical marks and where the damn comma goes. I presume it's done this way so we say ro-DEE-o, not ro-DAY-o ... I guess we should be thankful he didn't randomly capitalize some of the other letters.

[Mme. Hermine]

I think Tulsa did it a number of years ago.

[California]

In fall 2009, Colorado Ballet did Rodeo as part of a four-city tour within Colorado. It's a great piece for cities that are not known for their love of ballet, and people have probably heard of Copland, even if they haven't of de Mille.

[kbarber]

I enjoyed Peck's 'Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes * but it's been decades since I've seen De Mille's Rodeo. I thought Peck's second episode was particularly beautiful. It's a pas de cinq that evokes a band of sylphs rather than a corral full of cowboys. The men get to show off their beautiful arabesques and port-de-bras rather than their athletic prowess, which is just fine by me.

It's the second excerpt here.

What you see first does make a difference. My first Dying Swan was Mme. Ida Nevasayneva, and let's just say her performance is the lens through which I see everyone else's.

*A title that demands to be cut-and-pasted, because who can remember how to type those diacritical marks and where the damn comma goes. I presume it's done this way so we say ro-DEE-o, not ro-DAY-o ... I guess we should be thankful he didn't randomly capitalize some of the other letters.

The stress marks (standard in dictionary transcriptions) suggest ROE dee oh. The comma is not a comma but a below-the-line secondary stress mark.

At LAST! a ballet where my lexicographer side and my balletomane side converge!

(But I think it's ridiculous too, to clutter the title of a ballet with phonetic transcription symbols. However, just be glad he didn't choose the International Phonetic Alphabet:

/ˈroːdioː/

or for British English:

/ˈrəʊdɪəʊ/

[sandik]

*A title that demands to be cut-and-pasted, because who can remember how to type those diacritical marks and where the damn comma goes. I presume it's done this way so we say ro-DEE-o, not ro-DAY-o ... I guess we should be thankful he didn't randomly capitalize some of the other letters.

The stress marks (standard in dictionary transcriptions) suggest ROE dee oh. The comma is not a comma but a below-the-line secondary stress mark.

At LAST! a ballet where my lexicographer side and my balletomane side converge!

(But I think it's ridiculous too, to clutter the title of a ballet with phonetic transcription symbols. However, just be glad he didn't choose the International Phonetic Alphabet:

/ˈroːdioː/

or for British English:

/ˈrəʊdɪəʊ/

You're right -- I'm very grateful for whatever blessings I get!

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Thank you kbarber!

IPA! IPA! I only know the subset of the symbols that appear most often in singers' diction guides, and keep promising myself to learn more, because it is a very cool system.

I'd used all caps for DEE and DAY mostly to emphasize the different pronunciations of the vowel sounds -- but now I see that that's confusing, and why we need expert systems!

My favorite example of different dances to the same music is Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco" and Paul Taylor's "Esplanade." (Taylor only uses the last two movements, however -- the Largo and Allegro.)

[sandik]

My favorite example of different dances to the same music is Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco" and Paul Taylor's "Esplanade." (Taylor only uses the last two movements, however -- the Largo and Allegro.)

Thanks for the comment -- I love them both!

[Amy Reusch]

It is sort of different when the music existed long before the choreography and when the music was specifically written for certain choreography. Nutcracker gets re-worked constantly... But they usually keep to the libretto more or less...