Nos próximos dias 11 e 12 de dezembro, será apresentado em Campo Grande, o espetáculo “O que quero ser quando crescer?”.  Uma visão estética corporal de futuras profissões de atuais crianças, jovens e adolescentes tomará conta do Teatro Glauce Rocha. 

 Concebido em conjunto por bailarinos profissionais e alunos da Escola de Ballet Gisela Dória, o espetáculo “O que eu quero ser quando crescer?” marcará o encerramento das atividades do grupo em 2009 e servirá como uma mostra do aprendizado, desenvolvimento e aperfeiçoamento da dança ao longo do ano. 

 De uma forma ou de outra, as duas apresentações – que terão início às 20 horas – têm o objetivo de ajudar a participantes e integrantes da platéia a optar entre algumas profissões que serão motivo das coreografias assinadas por Gisela Dória e Flávia Siufi.

 Os ingressos para as duas apresentações – 11 e 12 de dezembro – custarão entre R$ 20,00 e R$ 30,00 – estudantes e idosos pagam meia entrada -  e podem ser adquiridos a partir desta segunda-feira (30/11) no período de 8h30min as 11h30min (segunda a sexta) no Ballet Gisela Dória – Rua da Paz, 693, Jardim dos Estados, em Campo Grande. Informações mais detalhadas podem ser obtidas pelo fone: (67) 3324-3887.

 Fonte: Ariosto Mesquita

50 tahun sudah sekolah ballet Namarina eksis di dunia ballet Indonesia khususnya di Jakarta. Tentu itu merupakan hal yang luar biasa dimana sebuah institusi dapat bertahan selama 50 tahun. Sedikit sejarah mengenai Namarina, didirikan pada tahun 1956 oleh Almarhumah Nanny Lubis yang pada awalnya hanya terdapat 7 orang murid namun sekarang dapat mencapai hampir 2000 murid dan telah mempunyai 7 cabang (1 pusat) yang tersebar di Jakarta. Namarina Youth Dance (NYD) pun berdiri dari cikal bakal sekolah ballet Namarina yang ingin menampung para penari khususnya lulusan Namarina yang ingin melanjutkan hidupnya di dunia tari.

Pada tahun 2006 ini akhirnya diresmikanlah Namarina Youth Dance yang bertepatan dengan ulang tahun sekolah ballet Namarina yang ke-50. Pada kesempatan tersebut, NYD menampilkan pertunjukkan “Pointe of No Return”. Suatu pertunjukan tari dengan akar tari ballet klasik.

Pertunjukan dibuka dengan tarian “Venice Journey” koreografi Dominique Genevois dari Lyon, Perancis dimana penonton diajak untuk menikmati keindahan kota Venice yang terkenal dengan wisata airnya begitu juga tarian ballet klasik mengalir begitu indah.

Setelah itu ada tarian “I’m Alive” koreografi Ryan Tan dari Chec O School, Singapura. Dalam tarian ini, NYD ingin menunjukan bahwa tidak hanya tarian ballet klasik namun tarian modern Hip Hop pun dapat mereka suguhkan dengan sangat menarik dimana jika kita melihat tarian ballet yang gemulai, di tarian Hip Hop ini menuntut mereka untuk lebih kuat dengan gerakan yang ‘patah – patah’.

Terakhir adalah tarian “limapuluhtahun” koreografi Sussi Anddri. Pada tarian inilah kita dapat menyaksikan perjalanan sekolah ballet selama 50 tahun. Koreografi ini dibagi menjadi 3 bagian yaitu “The Beginning”, “The Growth”, & “The Future”. Sesuai dengan namanya, maka kitapun dapat melihat bagaimana sekolah ballet Namarina berjuang dan telah mencapai usia 50 yang menurut saya pribadi tidaklah mudah. Dengan diiringi live music dari Irwansyah Harahap (Suarasama), duet piano ibu dan anak, Irawati M. Soediarso & Aisha S. Pletcher, maka tarian “limapuluhtahun” menjadi lebih hidup lagi.

“The Only Joy in The World is To Begin” by Cesare Pavese

No, I’m not talking about the Mouse King from the Nutcracker:

I’m talking about Rat Kings,  the pseudo-biological and folkloric phenomenon where a number of rats become intertwined, knotted, and stuck at the tails. The majority of cases have been reported in Germany. Historically, they were seen as a very bad omen, often associated with plagues. While some have discounted actual Rat Kings as a hoax (saying that the tails of found specimens were only tied together after their deaths), there have, in fact, been mummified remains of rats with their tails tangled together found (the largest was purportedly made up of twenty-seven rats). X-ray images of one Rat King group have even shown callouses at points in the tangles of tails, supporting the theory that Rat Kings could actually survive for extended periods of time in a tied-together state (although it’s pretty gruesome to imagine how a Rat King would continue to function as its members begin to die off). Pictures:

The start of a series with a dancing hippo

1. old school mariah carey

2. tigers. rawr!

3. coconut trees

4. i scream, you scream. we all scream for ice-cream!

5. stunning views

6. ballerinas

7. victoria’s secret fashion show

Manhattan’s East 7th Street at Avenue C has a new name: “O’Donnell Way.” This naming honors May O’Donnell (1906–2004), pioneer modern dancer, choreographer, and teacher. The honor was conferred by legislation signed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on June 14, 2007. A new signpost was installed in a ceremony in October 2008. O’Donnell lived on 7th Street between Avenues C and D with her husband, composer Ray Green.

May O’Donnell danced with the Martha Graham Contemporary Dance Company from 1932 to 1938. In 1939, she returned to California and, with her husband and another former Graham dancer, Gertrude Shurr, founded the San Francisco Dance Theater. There she established a school and became a co-choreographer with José Limón, touring as a successful duo-concert team, 1939–1941.

She returned to New York and danced there while Green and Limón served in the military during World War II. Martha Graham welcomed her back and entrusted her to create the role of The Pioneer Woman in Appalachian Spring, (1944) and the Attendant in Hérodiade, (1944), as well as in other Graham works.

In collaboration with her husband, O’Donnell created more than fifty works using her own dance technique, one still taught in colleges in America and Europe. Some of her famous pupils included Robert Joffrey, Robert Arpino, Dudley Williams, Ben Vereen, and Daniel Lewis. In 2003, O’Donnell was presented with the Martha Hill Lifetime Achievement Award.

O’Donnell’s biography May O’Donnell: Modern Dance Pioneer, by Marian Horosko, was published by the University Press of Florida in 2005. Horosko is also the author of Martha Graham: The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and Training (rev. ed., 2002) and the second edition of The Dancer’s Survival Manual: Everything You Need to Know from the First Class to Career Change, written with Judith F. Kupersmith, M.D.

Click here to preview a selection from May O’Donnell: Modern Dance Pioneer.

*This article originally appeared in the print version of The Florida Current.

Today’s the day. We thought it might never come but now it’s finally here. Today Zelda and I are going to see New Moon. Wow, just writing it down makes me almost go completely fangirl-crazy… But of course this is a special occasion and you cannot simply walk into the theatre, sit down, watch the movie and then leave again. For something this huge you need to be prepared properly! So this is why we came up with a “ten things we absolutely need for the New Moon premiere” checklist. We tried to pick only stuff you can hide away in your handbag easily so no one will envy you because you thought it all out so well… uhm, actually we thought it out so well, but whatever. So now we proudly present the ultimate New Moon premiere survival package aka everything Zelda and I are trying to stuff in our handbags before we leave tonight.

I may or may not have disguised our New Moon premiere tickets as swan lake ballet tickets...

1. Our tickets! Most important of all and therefor our number one. Because if we forget them we’re going to get into huge trouble when we try to sneak in undetected… I got them four weeks ago just to make sure we get the best places, the VIP-seats so to speak.

2. A camera so we can take pictures of ourselves kissing the Edward and Jacob cutouts all the crazy fangirls, wearing their best Twilight-outfits, which are sure to be there.

3. A paper-bag in case we’re going to hyperventilate because of all the half-naked smoking hot guys in New Moon aka the wolfpack. Okay, and maybe also because of Edward in the Volterra “I wanna get killed because I sparkle” scene.

Are you already hyperventilating? Because I know that I am...

4. A pen and

5. A note block so we can write everything important down in order to write an amazing post tomorrow with at least 100 details you couldn’t remember after seeing the movie for the first time. But in reality we will write zero stuff in it, absolutely nothing at all. Because we will be so occupied watching Chris Weitz’ masterpiece that we will completely forget about the awesome note blocks we brought. And then we will have to write a typical “What we thought while seeing the movie for the first time” post and go to the cinema again to catch up on all the details… which we will, trust!

6. Our Team Edward (probably Zelda) and Team Jacob (probably Soul) hankies in case we have to cry during the whole breakup scene (*false, we don’t have special hankies but I bet if you search through the internet you’re sure to find someone who will sell them*)

7. Our special Tayrob tribute movie meal consisting of a bottle of Heineken (for Rob) and a bag full of meat-patties (for Taylor). Yeah, who wants popcorn if one can have this?

8. A pillow to muffle up a.) your sobs during the breakup scene and the “Bella’s a zombie now” part b.) your screams during the birthday / jasper’s hungry scene, the Volterra scene and everytime Taylor Lautner or any other member of the wolfpack (ahem…Alex Meraz…ahem) takes off his shirt and shows us his awesome abs for basically no reason. Hey, you don’t hear me complaining…

The Rob Pattinson plaid earmuff collection

9. Very important: earmuffs! Just in case ,plaid earmuffs,Rob Pattinson collectioneveryone goes completely fangirl-crazy about the huge amount of abs shown in the movie and you can’t bear it any longer without becoming deaf. Simply put your earmuffs on and enjoy the picture on the big screen. Best get them out every time as soon as Taylor / Jacob’s hands go anywhere near the rim of his shirt…

10. Okay, this one does definitely not fit into our handbags but I got to mention it anyway: my mom! Yes, my mom will come with us to watch the movie. And since she’s one of those people who absolutely hate spoilers, she hasn’t even seen the trailer yet. And didn’t have time to read the book. And therefor has zero idea what’s going to happen. Another reason why I absolutely need number one, the camera. So that I can take super sneaky pics of her anytime something unsuspected (well, for her at least…) happens. Like Jasper trying to eat Bella. Or Edward leaving. Or Jacob taking his shirt off (probably not so unsuspected after the 5th time…). Or like Paul and Jacob transforming into wolves. That’s probably my favorite, cause she doesn’t even know there are wolves at all in that movie… This is gonna be great! I will write a post about that for sure! Souls mum freaking out during New Moon, coming soon… for sure!

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Off to pack a coke and mushroom ravioli in case my mum goes into shock

Saveyoursoul

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What will do you take with you to watch New Moon? What will Mama Soul say about the movie? Will she be Team Edward or Team Jacob? Or will she surprise us all with her review? We’ll know soon! Meanwhile leave us a comment or e-mail us!

(images: google and me)

From the Nutcracker, featuring the Bolshoi Ballet

The Washington Post recently ran an article Breaking Pointe, which kind of trashes The Nutcracker cash cow and you know I’ll like any article that shoots it down.  I have to say though, for those who cherish The Nutcracker as a holiday tradition, please continue to do so.  I just have some Scroogian issues that make me a little cranky, and sure I’ll complain about it but I would never try to convince someone that they should stop going to go see it, because it’s any and every audience member’s right to like what they will (although secretly I’m convinced many people don’t like The Nutcracker as much as they think they do, or would like other ballets much more instead!).  Regardless, I wouldn’t want someone trashing my bizarre and unconventional holiday traditions (it’s a long story, we’ll talk about it never) and even I will admit some of Tchaikovsky’s score for the ballet puts a little bounce in my step, like the ubiquitous Russian Dance.  And speaking as a flute player, the Dance of the Reed Pipes IS fun to play.  Sure, many professional flautists roll their eyes and groan at the tune, but hell, I’m a person that is not afraid to admit that I enjoy Pachelbel’s Cannon.  I’m fearless (sort of).

At any rate, I was on board for much of the article, and agree that it’s somewhat regrettable that The Nutcracker is necessary to please the masses and make money.  However, at the same time, I don’t think pleasing the masses is all that awful of a thing to do.  For many, it’s nice to know that a familiar ballet rolls around every year and because that’s generally something that would make me sick of it, I’m glad it’s a ballet that isn’t all that great that occupies that spot.  Although it would be nice as the author pointed out, to have some more diversity in holiday activities.  Although I’m sure she’s thinking more contemporary, daring works, I’m a little more basic…like why not have a Hannukah ballet?  Personally, I would love it if someone with an Ashton-esque ability to work with costumes would do a ballet to Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.  For reasons unknown to man, this has been one of my favorite books dating back to second grade, even though I’m far from Jewish.  Or even a different Christmas themed ballet would be a welcome change…but Nutcracker has such a vice grip on the holiday season there’s no way any company can take that kind of risk.

Is anyone up to the challenge of turning this story into a ballet?

Taking risks was one of the author’s points in the article, noting the economy is backing companies up into their safety zones.  I can’t remember if it was last year or this year, but ABT was planning one of the most unimaginative season lineups I’ve ever seen.  It was all war horses.  But this was where the article got weird for me and segued into things that I really didn’t think The Nutcracker was responsible for.  Like American dancers being held back from principal roles in favor of foreign born dancers.  That was an unexpected turn that made me run into a wall, but after thinking about it I found the undertone of the article to be a little unnecessarily defensive and whiny.  What the author calls “outsourcing” (poor word choice, in my opinion), the Royal Ballet would call “principal guest artist.”  I fail to see the problem in hiring the right person for the job.  In fact, if anything, I would say the US is OVER-networked, where far too many people are getting hired based on connections and who you know rather than ability (which is one of the things I love about dance…everyone can audition.  It’s much more democratic.).  The author then talks about grooming American dancers…but that’s the point of the corps-soloist-principal progression?  A principal is to be tweaked, not groomed.  It was oddly contradictory for the author to encourage diversity in ballet companies, but then promote the idea of favoring American dancers.  I certainly don’t define diversity as Americans and _____-Americans.  I don’t think the “field lacks commitment to its own dancers.”  I think America in general lacks commitment to its dancers.  After all, ballet is treasured in Cuba and Russia.  As someone who has been to Asian countries many times, I have seen first hand how classical arts are highly valued in those societies (which has its merits and demerits unfortunately).

For me, I agree with what Carlos Acosta had to say about “the issue.”  For many dancers in other countries, there’s a sense of desperation that comes with the job, because they don’t have a plan B, whereas an American dancer can go to school later or even make an okay living just working any full-time job.  For Americans, dance almost always starts out as a hobby that might turn into a job, but for a Cuban child entering a ballet school, the circumstances are much different.  I don’t think American dancers are held back at all; in fact, there are many fine technical American dancers.  But perhaps it is that lack of desperation, the “art is a hobby” philosophy that is so unfortunately ingrained into American culture that has left many of these dancers kind of dry of passion and artistry.  It’s like when I get complimented on my dancing, it’s not because I have great lines or an ability to execute virtuoso maneuvers, because I have neither of those things; I’m complimented for my expressiveness (and it feels SO damn good!).  For those who know me more intimately, they also know I’m one of the nuttiest and most “desperate to dance” people they have ever met, so I would absolutely say that desperation is a big part of what makes me enjoy the opportunity to dance, which translates into the completion of a movement itself.

The author also discusses segregation in ballet, and although I am a huge proponent of role models and visibility, I think claiming ballet to be the most segregated of the arts is…a “misdiagnosis.”  Surely there are racist directors and audience members, but I don’t think the institution of ballet itself is racist (well, maybe the enforcing of pink tights could be considered racist).  After all, Acosta was the Royal Ballet’s first black Romeo and Miyako Yoshida was probably their first Japanese Ondine.  It’s not always rosy, since former NYCB dancer Aesha Ash did mention in some article that she felt certain castings she got were in favor of a particular “powerful” image, but I still think the opportunities are there in many companies.  There is often an argument that money is what prevents many black people from experiencing ballet and certainly ballet does cost money, but it costs money for everyone and doesn’t discriminate.  Now poverty on the other hand IS a result of racism and perpetuates wrongful stereotypes that prevent mobility.  But poverty is a separate issue from racism in ballet.  Call out racist directors but be weary before labeling ballet, which is merely a dance, as being segregated when there really isn’t any intention of segregating anyone.  It may very well be for reasons I don’t comprehend, but I have a tendency to believe it’s people that are always at the root of a problem, so there’s no need to generalize.

So as much as I would like to blame everything in life on The Nutcracker, the truth is, it isn’t the root of problems facing ballet today.  Those are much more complex and require great minds to change.  Not mine…I mean, what do I know about getting into a ballet company?  All I can say is, those who know their place, find it.

So I missed my weekly ballet class last Saturday due to a grave illness called “hungovs” (see post Office Xmas Party + Boyfriend = Destroyed for more info) and opted to make it up today, Tuesday. I knew that my iron-fist-in-a-velvet glove Russian ballet teacher would of loved to seen me cuz she misses me. I just know cuz she calls me “Strong Legs”. Anyways, my make up class started at 5:30PM but when 4PM roll around, I bailed. I was tired, hungry and grumpy. What did I do instead? I went home, made sausage links and drank sparkling wine. Yes, good ballerina I am.

I danced as a child and then I quit to play sports. I came back to dance in high school when I got involved in musical theatre. Pilates came into my life in college, after dance, but I wish that would have been different! 

Pilates not only strengthens the core but creates long, lean muscles  that look beautiful on stage. The Pilates stance (leg turned out from the hips) is a “lower modification” of ballet’s first position. 

Many ballet studios cross train with Pilates exercises to increase flexibility and core strength. Here are some tips for teaching Pilates to dancers from Sonia Rodriguez. I fond this on the Peak Pilates Blog. Check out the rest of the article! 

Here are some tips from Sonia for teaching dancers:

1. Work with props, such as the Power Circle or Triad Ball. I use this to help dancers find specific connections and then take the prop away and have them create the same connection imagining the prop is still there.

2. Many times I will work with a prop throughout an entire mat session. During their next session, I have the student/dancer find the same connections as the last session, this time without the prop.

3. If you have dance experience, take the student into a short dance phrase or barre work. As I take them through the dance movements, I cue their bodies with the Pilates vocabulary. This is amazingly affective.

4. Ask the student/dancer what movements in dance they are struggling with. Then determine what the fundamental issue at hand is. This then becomes a theme you can thread throughout their session.

5. Remember that dancers want to make movements big then find control, thus Joseph Pilates frustration in working with dancers. Teach them how to work in a smaller more controlled range of motion, encouraging healthy movement patterns. Once they find control and centering, go for bigger ranges.

6. Work with the jump board on the reformer. This is a great way to teach and correct hip, knee, and foot alignment during jumps and hops. It also provides an opportunity for educating foot articulation and propulsion.

7. Don’t be fooled by a dancer’s gracefulness and ability to learn “choreography” quickly. You have to look closely and make sure that the movement is truly coming from their center and the right firing patterns are being performed.

The lovely and talented Pia Reyes, Miss November 1988, was the first Filipino model to appear in Playboy.

“I am an ethnic jumble,” says Pia Reyes. … “My parents had their Filipino friends — my Mom was always cooking this smelly fish — but I grew up like a white suburban kid. I played lacrosse, basketball and tennis. (“Thrilla from Manila,” Playboy, November 1988)

They called her article, “Thrilla From Manila,” but actually she grew up in Havertown, Pennsylvania. In case you don’t get the title (which makes you absolutely no son of mine), it is a reference to the third and final fight between heavyweight boxers Cassius “Muhammad Ali” Clay and Joe Frazier for the title of Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, which took place in the Philippines on October 2, 1975.

The fight finally brought to a conclusion a bitter rivalry that had been going since 1971, that for my money is one of the best stories in the history of sports (where is its movie, Hollywood???). This one’s got it all, guys: draft-dodging, personal jealousies, the backdrop of major historical events, the freaking President getting involved, even. And through it all, two very different but very contentious personalities, Frazier and Ali, duking it out verbally and physically, in the press and in pre-fights. In the Thrilla in Manila, they went fourteen grueling, brutal rounds, both fighting to the point of almost total physical exhaustion before boxing official Eddie Futch declared Ali the victor (he said at the time it was to spare Frazier’s life, although really either could have gone).

Frazier protested stopping the fight, shouting “I want him boss,” and trying to get Futch to change his mind.

Futch simply replied, “It’s all over. No one will forget what you did here today”, and signaled to the referee to end the bout. Ali was therefore declared the victor.

He would later claim that this was the closest to dying he had ever been, and also stated, “Joe Frazier, I’ll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I’m gonna tell ya, that’s one helluva man, and God bless him.”

In a brief post-fight interview with one of the commentators, Ali announced, “He is the greatest fighter of all times, next to me.” (the wiki)

Do you even understand how major all of that is? Boxing is not as violent as you think, and it’s not always just big fat guys hugging (I always say, “Get a room or start punching”), not when you have two men in the ring as skilled as Frazier and the Greatest. Though you seldom see it at the heavyweight level, you see it more often with middle and welter (not bantam as much cause they’re so quick it’s like the cockfight from which their category’s name comes), it’s a graceful and carefully plotted series of moves, like a bloody ballet, it’s like … like art. It’s a dance. And you have these two combatants who are so equally matched that they are like hell-soul-mates, made to fight each other. That’s just, it’s just — like… god… oh, man, I honestly get misty just thinking about that event. That is some great motherfucking sports right there. I wish I had been born to see it firsthand, but I’ve watched clips of it on ESPN classic. (Boy, I miss having that) Le sigh.

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As an epilogue, this story gets even better, in my opinion, because dig this: In June of 2001, guess who met for a grudge match on the Thrilla in Manila fight? Their freaking daughters. The fight was re-enacted, sort of, in New York by Laila “She Bee Stingin’” Ali and Jackie “Sister Smoke” Frazier-Lyde in what the press called Ali/Frazier IV. Laila, sixteen years younger than Jackie and with a little more training under her belt, took it in eight. But I love that both of them went for it! What a great story.

Finally, dig the Jessica Rabbit cover! God bless ya, Roger Rabbit and all of 1988. And to Pia Reyes, about whom this entry is not even at all remotely concerned, sorry. It’s not your fault that I think boxing is more interesting than whatever your little turn-ons and ambitions were. I feel kind of badly now. How about this? I will try to make it up to you another day, I swar to gar. You will get more attention from me later. Unless I forget.

Every Tuesday and Saturday morning streets all across Milan are closed off for the markets.

Carts line up through the streets with men screaming “un euro, un euro, tutto solo un euro! una carta solo due euro!” Vegetables, cheese, meat, make up, cashmere sweaters, and boots for €20 euro – all sold at a discount price in these open air markets. After my first week in Milan I wondered how the Milanese could afford to pay for everything at such an escalated price – there was no Target, no Wal-Mart, no Costco. Then I found out about these markets. They are packed every time.

I stood behind a grandpa who just bought literally three bags of large green apples, which the vendor dropped into his shopping cart. I bought a bag of tomatoes, garlic, pears and clementines all for €5. I love these small moments when I feel so very Italian.

After dropping off my purchases, I tossed  a few Clementines into my purse before heading out to La Scala.

La Scala is a name known worldwide. Even my uncultured self knew of it before coming to Milan. As an opera house, the theater shows ballets, operas, and classical orchestra and is home to world renowned ballet dancers and opera singers. “La Scala” literally means The Ladder, and can be found on the family crest of Regina della Scala, wife of the Duke of Milan during the 16th century, who built many of the city’s important features including a church which then took after her name, Santa Maria alla Scala.

Centuries later Milan’s theater Regio Ducale burned down after a gala and the rich box-holders clamored for a new theater. The then empress Maria Theresa of Austria decided to destroy the Santa Maria church and build the new theater there instead, which adapted its name from the church and was called La Scala.

It was much different in the 1700s. The wealthy box holders would decorate their own boxes according to their liking while a gallery was built above the boxes for the common people called the loggione. Here everyday commerce happened with horse dealings, gambling salons and kitchen foyers where servants cooked meals and refreshments for the box-holders and their guests. Since then La Scala has undergone a thousand renovations, once after the bombing of World War II, which tore through the roof and the walls. During this reconstruction, an enormous blown-glass chandelier was added that had 365 lights, one for each day of the year. They say it’s so large that a man can fit inside of it.

Because the original layout of the house didn’t have seats in the loggione or even the main floor, not all the seats in the theater actually have a view of the stage.

And as luck would have it, I bought a ticket for the loggione (where the poor people used to sit and still do, i.e. me) and was in the topmost corner of the U. The theater seats are in the shape of a U with the center being the base. From where I was sitting I had a fabulous view of the chandelier, but the stage was absolutely nowhere in sight. Like at all.

When the theater lights shut off and the doors closed at exactly 8 pm I left my seat and walked towards the center of the U. Everybody else was also standing in the back and as I was thinking how awful it would be to have to watch Giselle standing up I found a seat in the front row! Yay me!

Giselle was beautiful! I can’t underline, bold or italicize it enough. 

It’s about a girl who is sought after by two men (of course). The first is a peasant boy who leaves flowers at her window. The second suitor, however, is richer, handsome, and a better dancer (he was the male lead). As the story goes, the richer, better looking one gets the girl. They fall in love, they wish to be together. Then something terrible happens. It’s confusing, it’s dramatic, Giselle gets heartbroken and in a whirling crescendo of twirls and faints, she dies by the end of Act I. 

I nearly cried. 

The second act begins with the lover visiting her grave and is haunted by beautiful ghost ballerinas all in white dresses. The scene ends with the ghost of Giselle and her lover having one final dance together before she disappears.

This was my favorite part.

 Oh I wish I were a ballerina. 

Is this ballet for you?

Go if: you want to treat your kids, godchildren, nieces and nephews or even perhaps the kid in you.

Skip if: Bah humbug!

Dream Cast

Sugar Plum Fairy: any ballerina who can do proper gargouillades

Alina Cojocaru as The Sugar Plum Fairy. Photo: Bill Cooper / ROH ©

Background

The Nutcracker is a major example of a balletic twist of fate. The very thing critics and audiences objected to at the time of its premiere 117 years ago – its appeal to children – is what turned it into such a bankable classic. From your local end of the year ballet school presentation to the most lavish productions for the big companies and every kind of thing in-between (even Nutcracker on Ice), Christmas season has now become saturated with Nutcrackers everywhere.

Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the same Imperial Theatre Director who had brought together Tchaikovsky and Petipa for his ambitious project The Sleeping Beauty had imagined a new ballet to be based on the book L’Histoire d’un Casse Noisette by Alexandre Dumas père. This was a story he knew from his time in Paris as a diplomat and which Dumas himself had adapted from Ernst Theodor Amadeus (E.T.A.) Hoffmann’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig (The Nutcracker and the Mouse King) from 1816.

Vsevolozhsky managed to secure Tchaikovsky and Petipa’s collaboration again but Tchaikovsky only agreed to write for The Nutcracker on the basis that he would also be able to work on his opera Iolanta. Because Petipa had fallen ill he ended up working mostly with the choreographer’s assistant Lev Ivanov. Although Tchaikovsky’s music was appreciated (but again thought too symphonic for a ballet) the production was criticized, mainly for the lack of logic relationship between its two acts. The Nutcracker received only 14 performances initially. Some critics thought there was not enough complexity in the story and “no subject whatever”. To critics and audiences alike, the Nutcracker was a luxurious piece but one that was “made for children”.

The Nutcracker in the West

Although it was not considered much of a hit in Russia The Nutcracker kept being performed throughout the theatre year (at that time it was not yet heavily associated with the Christmas season). In the West, however, it boomed. First seen in scattered pieces, with the Arabian dance transplanted into the Ballets Russes’s Sleeping Princess and with Anna Pavlova’s take on The Waltz of the Snowflakes, London audiences soon got the first full version.

Most versions have some links back to the original but by the time they were staged much of the choreography had been lost and/or changed. This meant that Ivanov’s original Waltz of the Snowflakes had to be reconstructed from notations (presumably incomplete) made in St. Petersburg before WWI.  Likewise, Ivanov’s Grand Pas De Deux in which Prince Coqueluche (Koklush) spread out a veil gently gliding the Sugar Plum Fairy as if she were on ice (or icing sugar) has been revised or scrapped in most versions although Balanchine’s Nutcracker still pays homage to it.

Elizabeth Harrod as Clara and Alastair Marriott as Drosselmeyer, in The Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker. Photo: Johan Persson/ ROH ©

Perhaps the biggest downside to so many different Nutcracker versions over the years has been the progressive watering down of E.T.A Hoffmann’s original story and its aura of mystery, rooted in the German Romantic movement. Hoffmann’s tales often include fantastic elements coexisting with folklore (another example being Coppélia) which are sometimes ignored in favour of the ballet’s child friendly aspects. However, some versions of the ballet seek to preserve the Romantic layers and its mystery, notably Nureyev’s version for the Paris Opera Ballet (POB) as well as Sir Peter Wright’s for The Royal Ballet and for Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Versions

The first complete Nutcracker was staged in London by the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1934, based on choreographic notation by Nicholas Sergeyev. Ten years later saw the first US version by San Francisco Ballet (1944) and another ten years brought George Balanchine’s blockbusting version for NYCB (1954), now staged every year by several US ballet companies. By the 1980s, 300 separate productions were touring the US.

Sir Peter Wright’s versions

Sir Peter’s 1984 version of The Nutcracker for The Royal Ballet, still performed by the Company, stays close to Hoffmann’s original tale. It emphasises Drosselmeyer’s mission to find a young girl – Clara – who can break the curse imposed by the Mouse King on his nephew Hans Peter and thus restore him to human form. References to Nuremberg and German Christmas traditions are present in the settings, with a kingdom of marzipan featured in Act 2. Equally successful is his 1990 version for The  Birmingham Royal Ballet, this one closer to the Russian tradition of having Clara double up as the Sugar Plum Fairy, but with a slight twist: it is Clara’s alter ego ballerina doll who turns into the Fairy.

Jamie Bond as The Prince in Birmingham Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker. Photo: Bill Cooper / BRB ©

The Odd Ones

Nureyev’s production for POB has a clear emphasis on symbology and the subconscious: Clara wanders down the stairs at midnight to find her family and friends turned into rats and bats while Drosselmeyer transforms into a handsome prince.

Mikhail Baryshnikov’s 1976 popular version for ABT turns the Christmas dream into a coming-of-age tale. There is no Sugar Plum Fairy nor Prince Koklush, the focus being Clara’s encounter with the Nutcracker Prince as orchestrated by her Godfather Drosselmeyer. As the ballet ends so does Clara’s fantasy.

More recently the ballet has seen a flurry of ironic takes. In Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut (1991) the Stahlbaums are a suburban family with a fake Christmas tree, bad hairdos and too much to drink, the second act Arabian divertissement being a trio for oil sheiks. In Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! (1992) Clara lives in an orphanage run by Mr. and Mrs. Dross and tries to win the heart of the hunky Nutcracker prince.

Story

These myriad versions make it impossible for us to list all the differences and twists in the various Nutcrackers around the world but the storyline is more or less always the same:

Characters

• Herr Drosselmeyer
• Clara (or Marie, or Masha)
• Nutcracker Prince (or Hans Peter)
• Sugar Plum Fairy
• Her Prince Cavalier (Prince Koklush)

Act 1

A Christmas party is taking place at the Stahlbaums’, parents to Clara and Fritz. Drosselmeyer brings his goddaughter Clara a gift of a nutcracker doll.  Children being children, Fritz eventually grabs and breaks the Nutcracker doll much to Clara’s dismay. Drosselmeyer fixes it restoring peace amongst the youngsters. Guests depart and Clara suddently sees herself surrounded by a fantasy world, where the Christmas tree grows giant and dolls and soldiers come to life to battle with the mice who have also grown to Clara’s own size. She sees her Nutcracker doll leading the battle and being attacked by the Mouse King. She throws her slipper at the Mouse, liberating the Nutcracker who turns into a Prince. They embark on a magical journey, their first stop being the Land of Snow where snow flakes waltz around them in patterns, as if blown by the wind.

Act 2

Clara and her Nutcraker Prince arrive at the Kingdom of Sweets where they are greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince Cavalier. They are invited to watch a series of divertissements representing exotic travels and various different sweets: Chocolate (Spanish dance) Coffee (Arabian dance) Tea (Chinese dance), the Russian Trépak (Cossacks), Mother Ginger & the polichinelles (in certain versions), along with the dance of the little pipes/Mirlitons and the Waltz of the Flowers. The celebrations close with the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince dancing a grand pas de deux. The curtain usually falls on Clara waking up back at home wondering whether it was all just a dream.

Roberta Marquez and Valeri Hristov in The Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker. Photo: Dee Conway / ROH ©

Music

Tchaikovsky died in 1893 not knowing what a big success his work would achieve. He had been burned twice before writing for ballet (with Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty) so he was less than enthusiastic to do so again but Vsevolozhsky convinced him on the basis that he would also be able to write the opera Iolanta which interested him more and which premiered on the same day as the ballet. Paradoxically, his Nutcracker score became, over the years, the more celebrated of the two works.

Having received the joint commission, Tchaikovsky started on The Nutcracker writing to his brother Anatoly in March 1891 that “the main thing is to get rid of the ballet; as to the opera I am so fascinated by it that if I could have two weeks of peace I would be sure to finish it on schedule”. As he embarked on a trip to Berlin and Paris en route to an American tour that same year he heard of the death of his sister Sasha.  Perhaps for this reason a hint of sadness  and nostalgia permeates The Nutcracker’s haunting score.

He finished composing the ballet on 6 July 1891 having added to it a novelty instrument which he had bought during his tour in Paris, the celesta, which he used to give The Sugar Plum Fairy her characteristic sound of heavenly bells.

An essential Nutcracker Spotify/Ipod playlist should include the below tracks:

Op.71 – Overture
Op.71 – Act 1 – No. 1 The Christmas Tree
Op.71 – Act 1 – No. 2 March
Op.71 – Act 1 – No. 6 Clara and the Nutcracker
Op.71 – Act 1 – No. 7 The Nutcracker Battles the Army of the Mouse King
Op.71 – Act 1 – No. 8 In the Christmas Tree
Op.71 – Act 1 – No. 9 Scene and Waltz of the Snowflakes
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 10 The Magic Castle on the Mountain of Sweets
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 12a Character Dances: Chocolate (Spanish Dance)
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 12b Character Dances: Coffee (Arabian Dance)
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 12c Character Dances: Tea (Chinese Dance)
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 12d Character Dances: Trépak (Russian Dance)
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 12e Character Dances: Dance of the Reed Pipes
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 12f Character Dances: Polchinelle
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 13 Waltz of the Flowers
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 14a Pas de deux: Intrada
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 14b Pas de deux: Variation I (Tarantella)
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 14c Pas de deux: Variation II (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy)
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 14d Pas de deux: Coda
Op.71 – Act 2 – No. 15 Final Waltz and Apotheosis

Mini-Biography

Original Choreography: Marius Petipa/Lev Ivanov
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Original Designs: M.I. Botcharov with K. Ivanov wit costumes by I.A. Vsevolozhsky
Original Cast: Antoinetta dell’Era as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Pavel Gerd as Prince “Koklush” (also known as Prince Coqueluche or Orgeat), Nikolay Legat as The Nutcraker Prince and Timofei Stukolkin as Drosselmeyer.
Premiere: 6 December 1892 Mariinsky (also credited as 17 December 1892)

Where to see it in the UK

The Royal Ballet – The Nutcracker is in repertoire at the Royal Opera House from November 26 to January 1st. For booking details visit the ROH website.

Birmingham Royal Ballet – The Nutcracker is in repertoire at the Birmingham Hippodrome from November 27 to December 13. For booking details visit The Birmingham Hippodrome’s website.

English National Ballet – The Nutcracker, with choreography by Christopher Hampson, is in repertoire at the London Coliseum from December 16 to January 3. For booking details visit the ENO website.

Sources and Further Information

1. Royal Opera House Nutcracker podcast
2. The Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker Programme Notes.
3. The Nutcracker History by Gerald Charles. Ballet Met Notes for The Nutcracker, November 1998 [link]
4. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker/Swan Lake/The Sleeping Beauty Highlights. Naxos Recording with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra. [link]
5. The Refined Product of a Great Artist: Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta by Hugo Shirley. Opera Holland Park. [link]
6. Nuts, Sluts, Rats and Bats by Judith Mackrell. The Guardian, December 2001. [link]
7. How to Design the Nutcracker by Ismene Brown. The Arts Desk [link]
8. Breaking Pointe: The Nutcracker is a Gift that Takes More than it Gives by Sarah Kaufman. The Washington Post [link]
9. Wikipedia entry on The Nutcracker [link]

A lost narrative

A site specific performance installation by Beatrice Jarvis

Winter Dance Gathering

 December 4th 2009 Dartington College of Arts

 A space of peace. The city for lost dreams desires and fears. A movement of solace and empathy for the lost ideals. Whispers, echoes, the imprinted memory in my camera of a thousand forgotten footsteps, a candle burns bright in homage to a fallen utopia, a wasteland as playground for the disaffected.

This piece will explore the emotional and architectural aspects of performance space in a practical and ideological form, seeking to reflect the death of a part of the human soul in a era of hyper modernity. The total narrative of urban structure a seeking to form an understanding through constructions of multiple narratives of the interpretation of complex infrastructures.

This is an exercise of documentation of human experience of urban form to generate a softness through choreographic semiotic that strives to overcome the complexities of the comprehension of daily life. An investigation of the affects of architecture of on the individual. Cities which are constructed and deconstructed through myth and reality that defies cartographic navigation and seeks instead a creative expression of sympathy to overcome such monumental questioning of the nature of being.

This is the first piece of work I have made from a specifically sociological theoretics perspective and its a venture into a new realm of performance interdisciplinary genre within site specific spaces.
 
I would like to invite an open critique of work and will be making a video presentation of my work as a source of open debate and research stimulus to which I have asked a few to attend.
I am aware Devon is far for many; so I see this an exercise of performance making documentation, how to translate work through conversation to over come geographic boundaries to allow greater open access for artistic collaborative opportunity.
 
I am keen to use this new work as spring board for a new creative conversations network I aim to start this month; a series of small events/ collaborations and conversations held between arts professionals and emergent artists as to the nature of the future of the arts for young emergent artists; a platform for dialogue and discussion; for which I would like this new work be subject and stimulus. 
 

For further information please mail urbanresearchforum@googlemail.com

credits: Bestiz | yuilyuil@Soompi
up by tohojess

(Image via We Heart It)

What are yall fixin’ to do for Thanksgivin? My sister and brother-in-law and I are all headed down south to visit my parents and younger brother in Tennessee. I haven’t been home in awhile, and occasionally I get strange pangs of longing for my home town (or really for southern drawls, chicken biscuits, real sweet tea and big parking spaces). Z has yet to really experience my hometown so I’m pretty excited he’s coming home for the holidays this year! He’s a cali boy so we grew up in completely different environments so it’ll be fun showing him things like the small all girls school I attended for 15 years (where ballet was a required class and chapel was a daily activity), old school plantation homes, graceland, and these ducks (they are awesome).

Leanne Marshall Helene Wedding Dress ($1,295)

Leanne’s Etsy shop has been empty for months but this ethereal dress recently appeared and I’m drooling over the airy layers of ivory organic silk blend fabric. Not that I’d want it as a wedding dress, or really to wear at all – I sorta just wanna look at it and pet it and maybe prance around my apartment like a ballerina in it… with shoes like these:

Rene Caovilla Jeweled Sandals ($1,480)

Swoon.

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