WHO CARES? 4 men, 1971 newsphoto

[rg]

this scan of a performance photo of "Bidin' My Time,' the segment danced by 5 men in Balanchine's 1970 WHO CARES? is date stamped Aug 16, 1971 by the Chicago Daily News and may or may not have been taken in that year.

the dancers are, left-to-right, with what may or may not be Frank Ohman's hand barely caught in the frame on the left, Robert Maiorano, whose left hand is most crudely blacked out by retoucher's paint, Earle Sieveling, whose hair is crudely outlined by way of retouching, Bruce Wells, who's hair and pants are retouched, and who was presumably in the role first danced by Richard Rapp, the only member of the first cast absent here, and Deni Lamont.

the caption, now pasted on the back of the print, is unclear. perhaps the story that went with this photo told of inclement weather in some outdoor theater that prevented the shows from being well attended, or ???

[Ray]

Thank you for so meticulously identifying the dancers. This is something that everyone who deals with images should do consistently.

[Helene]

I wish companies would identify all of the dancers in every photo they publish, or at least every face. "And Company dancers" is so depressing.

[liebs]

and the original costumes with ties as belts a la Astaire were so wonderful

[pherank]

and the original costumes with ties as belts a la Astaire were so wonderful

Agreed. ;)

[Paul Parish]

OK, so the third guy from the left has his right leg turned in, the rest are all turned-out. Who's right?

[rg]

Bruce Wells was a rather scrupulous dancer, if mem. serves, but i suspect this is an 'in-between' moment caught by the camera that's not meant to be a decided turned-in statement, or intention.

hard to somehow believe all the others are wrong and he's correct, esp. as he's the replacement dancer.

is Wells still in and around Seattle? maybe you could find a way to communicate with him.

he might like a chance to see and discuss this.

[sandik]

He teaches at PNB school where he has made a series of very good ballets for high-level students -- a tricky specialty, and he does a wonderful job.

Doug would probably know where he is right now, though I imagine he's teaching in the summer session.

[Ray]

rg is right; bu I'm not sure how any dancer would feel about being called out on such an in-between moment, though! Perhaps over a drink would be best.

[rg]

another scan from around the time of premiere of WHO CARES? at NYCB.

shot-in-the-dark identifications of dancers' names might include, for the men Sieveling and Wells in the background (the crude retouching makes them harder than usual to identify) and for the women in the foreground, maybe Deborah Flomine, Bettijane Sills, Christine Redpath, Elise Ingles, Rosemary Dunleavy, Susan Hendl...

(unfortunately the usual, pasted-on caption with a few bits of data, helping identify time, place, etc. has fallen off this print)

[sandik]

I can't help with the identification, but what an amazing image -- so active!