Nutcracker returns to Oz this month for another season of emperor mice, hand-made toys and little girl dreams.

By Paul Ransom.

NOTE: Please read the following with a heavy Russian accent. After all, it is ballet we’re talking about here.

Elik Melikov is still bubbling with energy, despite the fact he is on a late night shuttle bus somewhere in England returning to his hotel after another packed out performance. The company he founded in 1990, The Moscow Ballet of Classical Choreography (La Classique), are not only one of the flag bearers of Russia’s favourite artform but a phenomenally busy company, consistently racking up two hundred plus shows a year. Gruelling schedule notwithstanding, the first thing Melikov says is, “Yes, we are very much looking forward to Australia.”

The Moscow Ballet’s upcoming six-week tour of Nutcracker will feature an ensemble of 40 dancers, suitably lavish costumes and the grand staging of late-Romanov pomp. It’s all part of Melikov’s mission to keep classical ballet front and centre.

“The classical dance?” he begins. “For me every time is number one.” Not an unexpected declaration; but for Melikov and company the commitment is clearly everything. “We make other kinds of performances, we make neo-classical, modern things, but for me it’s like training, like another rehearsal for the dancer. Of course, it’s very interesting because it’s different but every time we are coming back to the classical ballet.”

Russia may well be in the news for Pussy Riot and fallen oligarchs but on the ground and in the dance schools the ballet is still supreme. Melikov contends that this is because ballet is anti-elitist. “Classical ballet is for all the people. You don’t have to have a special knowledge. Everyone can enjoy. This is why it must be saved.”

Melikov would doubtless suggest Nutcracker as a prime example of universal appeal and abiding simplicity. First performed at Moscow’s Mariinsky Theatre in 1892, it has become one of the definitive ballets. Driven by Tchaikovsky’s dramatic score it is ostensibly a G-rated Christmas fairy tale. Featuring the famous Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and The Waltz of the Flowers, it is almost defiantly old world, recalling a time of empire and gaslight.

How this all fits into the touchscreen universe of 2013 doesn’t overly worry the Moscow Ballet. “Nutcracker is a performance for all time,” Melikov states with undiminished pride. “Some people tell me, ‘Sorry, but it’s only for Christmas time,’ but no. Tchaikovsky didn’t just write music for Christmas, he wrote music for all the time, for all the people. For young people, for children, for even the grandmothers.”

As far as Melikov is concerned, tradition is strength not anachronism. “This is a classical performance and the history is important. History is necessary for us,” he argues. “Now we have many shows – modern, neo-classical, everything – and we have many companies coming to Russia and to Australia and we have many, many beautiful shows; but I think it is completely necessary that the old shows keep going. The classical dance is forever, not just for this year.”

However, there is another strain to the narrative, one that might raise eyebrows in some quarters. Melikov openly declares La Classique’s wholly Russian philosophy. “Now in Russia there are many companies with great names like National Ballet and Admiral Ballet but these companies maybe last for one day only,” he scoffs. “Or they are from other countries; not even Russian.”

The Russian-ness of the company and the artform are very much part of Melikov’s modus operandi. “Other countries do classical ballet performance, and they are very good sometimes,” he concedes, before concluding that, “Russia is the mother of classical dance, is the home of the ballet.”

And it couldn’t get much more Russian than Nutcracker (even if the characters have German sounding names).

Photos: Moscow Ballet La Classique performing Nutcracker. Photos by Nadya Pyastolova. Photos courtesy of Lionel Midford Publicity.

By Rebecca Martin.

Russia is arguably the home of ballet. Some of the world’s greatest stars, past and present have trained there and they are renowned for their gymnastic flexibility and dynamic technique. Russian ballet schools and companies are infamously difficult to get into and are incredibly demanding on the body and psyche. Add into that the volatile state of the arts and politics in Russia and you’ve got dancers who are willing to do anything to get to the top and stay there.

When news of an acid attack against The Bolshoi Ballet’s Artistic Director spread on January 17 this year, the dance world was stunned. Most shocking of all was that it wasn’t a random act of violence, but a calculated attack by a disgruntled theatre employee who was unhappy with the state of play at The Bolshoi Ballet.

Ballet has previously only ever dipped its toes into political matters, mainly when a dancer wished to defect from a country, as Li Cunxin famously did from China, but now the art form is knee deep in the political battles of a theatre in crisis.

Prior to the incident on January 17, The Bolshoi’s Artistic Director, Sergei Filin had been feeling under threat for some time, noting that his phones had been blocked, his car tyres slashed and his internet hacked, all of which he believed was a warning.

Bolshoi Ballet Artistic Director Sergei Filin. Photo courtesy of the Bolshoi Ballet. www.bolshoi.ru

Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko is the alleged mastermind of the attack, although he has said that he didn’t order anyone to throw acid at Filin’s face. Dmitrichenko complained about Filin to an acquaintance, Yuri Zurutsky, who then offered to beat up Filin. Zurutsky was paid 50,000 rubles (about $1,600) by Dmitrichenko to inflict harm on Filin because he was unhappy about the way money was distributed within the ballet company. “I told Yuri Zarutsky about the policies of the Bolshoi Theater, about the bad things going on, the corruption. When he said: ‘OK, let me beat him up, hit him upside the head,’ I agreed, but that is all that I admit to doing,” Dmitrichenko said in court.¹

It has been suggested that Dmitrichenko was upset over Filin’s refusal to cast his girlfriend in a lead role. However, Filin’s lawyer has said that the group of people involved in the attack is much larger than the two men charged by police.  Accusations and theories abound, with The Bolshoi’s general director, Anatoly Iksanov, accusing principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze of inspiring the attack. Filin’s appointment as Artistic Director has exposed the infighting at The Bolshoi Ballet, with many dancers resisting his attempts to bring more modern repertoire to the company.  He held an enormous amount of power, deciding matters of scheduling, casting, promotion and salary.

In Russian theatres today, defection and international travel are no longer the sources of drama. Instead, money is the main intruder aside from politics and professional rivalry. A dancer’s meagre salary is only boosted by Filin’s selection to perform leading roles. In Russia, lawlessness and corruption is the norm and what happens in the theatre is a reflection of what happens in the streets.“I feel like I’m on the front line of a war,” Filin said.²

In addition to the acid attack against Filin, The Bolshoi’s reputation has further been harmed by the recent revelations of former company dancer Anastasia Volochkova who claimed that it was a “giant brothel” with dancers forced to sleep with oligarchs and other influential members of society.

In a further twist to the tale, hundreds of dancers have sent a signed letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding an investigation into Dmitrichenko’s confession.  Filin himself believes that Dmitrichenko was party to something much greater than what has so far been uncovered and that the true mastermind is yet to be caught.  Clearly he is not alone in his assertions.

Where does all of this leave ballet in Russia? Does this spell the end of the Bolshoi?

Ballet in Russia is part of the cultural landscape and a benchmark for dancers around the world. But the Bolshoi as a whole is devoid of a cohesive corps de ballet and is populated by gymnastic lead dancers who lack any great artistry on stage. Many of the best dancers are leaving Russia to dance in the United States and Europe and the company’s stars such as Svetlana Zakharova have been poached from The Mariinsky Theatre. The current scandals within The Bolshoi may affect the way the rest of the world perceives the company. Yet while the acid attack was shocking and the allegations of forced sexual activities are appalling, these things are apparently the norm in Russia and the locals are accustomed to such events.

The Bolshoi has fallen a long way since its golden age in the 1960s but it continues to create some of the world’s best dancers, firstly through the ballet school and then the company. Despite this, The Bolshoi itself isn’t guaranteed to last the test of time. The infighting that not only lead to the acid attack but the ensuing conflict amongst dancers and administrative staff, in addition to the current lack of direction for the company, doesn’t suggest much hope remains for a once great company.

“There is no happiness in our past,” the Soviet Bolshoi Ballet star Vladimir Vasiliev once said. ”And there will be none in our future.”³

Sources
1. USA Today www.usatoday.com
2. The New Yorker www.newyorker.com
3. The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com

Photo (top): Photo: The Bolshoi Ballet performing The Bright Stream. Photo courtesy of Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and The Bolshoi Ballet.

We can all remember jazz ballet, jazz hands, lycra, sequins, lace-up jazz shoes and Flashdance, but what is jazz dance now and how has it evolved?

Jazz dance is no longer solely the domain of fan kicks and shimmies. The term “jazz” now incorporates a broad range of dance styles. Prior to the 1950s, jazz dance was a style that originated from African American dance and in the 1950s “modern jazz dance” emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance. Every individual style of jazz dance to this day has roots traceable to one of these two distinct origins.

Beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s, jazz became a form of dance that required the dancer to be highly skilled, and during this time, both modern and ballet choreographers including George Balanchine, Jack Cole, Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse experimented with jazz dance.

Jazz dance develops in parallel to popular music, with jazz being the physical embodiment of popular music of a given time.  It therefore continues to evolve and remain popular across the world and across age groups.

Dance Informa sought to uncover what is being taught as “jazz” in Australia’s leading dance programs and spoke with the directors of some of our country’s premier institutions.

Students at Urban Dance Centre, Sydney

Juliette (Jet) Verne
Urban Dance Centre, Sydney

What styles of jazz does your school teach?
Urban Dance Centre teaches traditional jazz with a taste of modern flavor. We believe and are very passionate about the classic technique, power and clean lines of traditional jazz and we include and are continuing to grow with today’s modern movement, music and styles.

What makes a great jazz dancer?
A great jazz dancer owns their dancing with power, technique, confidence and style. Someone who is unpredictable with outstanding technique and a whole bunch of fire!

Where do you draw your inspiration from when teaching and performing jazz?
I draw my inspiration from successful dancers/choreographers such as Desmond Richardson, Gil Duldulao and our very own Kelly Abbey. Plus my family, UDC faculty and students, and music inspire me every day!

How do you think jazz has influenced other styles of dance?
I think jazz has influenced many styles of dance and music. A lot of pop artists throughout the years have fused jazz and hip-hop styles together and have come up with some amazing dance routines in their music videos and live concerts. Lady Gaga, Madonna, Beyonce and Janet Jackson, to name a few, have all had a jazz influence within their repertoire and have produced some very exciting and inspiring work.

What do you think jazz is now and how has it changed?
I feel jazz dance styles have branched out to many exciting new and different styles like lyrical jazz and JFH (Jazz/Funk/Hip Hop) and is constantly growing and changing. Like any art form, jazz will continue to grow, morph and change which is why we as a dance community are so passionate about it and love it!

Dancers perform iconic Fosse jazz choreography in the Australian production of ‘Chicago’. Photo by Jeff Busby.

Todd Patrick
Patrick Studios, Melbourne

What styles of jazz does your school teach?
At Patrick Studios Australia we offer a number of different styles. In jazz particularly we teach jazz technique classes tailored to beginner, intermediate or advanced students. We also specialize in jazz classes that include a technical routine as well as Broadway jazz classes taught by Australia’s leading musical theatre choreographer – Andrew Hallsworth.

What makes a great jazz dancer?
A good jazz dancer has wonderful technique and lines with a good base in classical ballet. Men, in particular need a strong grounding and a masculine edge to their dancing.

All great jazz dancers dance with power and can interpret music well. These days there are some extraordinary dancers that master their technique. This is incredible to watch but I strongly believe that there is no point in doing 10 turns into an incredible jump combination finishing with a back handspring if you do it like a gymnast. I love all of that, I think it’s exciting, but I know that with a sense of performance and feel for your music you will make a connection with your audience that will far outweigh technical feats.

Where do you draw your inspiration from when teaching and performing jazz?
I am incredibly inspired by the dancers around me, especially my students, each and every day!

How do you think jazz has influenced other styles of dance?
Jazz is in every style of dance, it’s a natural way of moving.  You don’t have to have the perfect facility to be a great jazz dancer; therefore, jazz is a style that runs through many genres of choreography. More than anything, its influence is seen in every new generation coming through as they watch A Chorus Line or Footloose, or any show or movie that inspires children to take their first steps towards a dance studio.

What do you think jazz is now and how has it changed?
Jazz is IMPORTANT, that’s what I know.  The three major musical theatre auditions this year were all about technique and style; Lion King, Grease and Wicked are all shows that you must have a strong technical foundation for. If you want to be a successful dancer you must have jazz training. Sometimes I think lyrical becomes what younger dancers think is “in”. In fact, it is derived from a fusion of jazz and contemporary.

Real jazz is athletic and sexy, it’s full of energy and grit, it’s sweaty and exhausting, from the sensuality of Fosse to the strength of A Chorus Line. Personally, jazz for me will always be a Barbara Warren Smith class. She has taught most of Victoria’s jazz dancers how to roll a shoulder and tip a hip unlike anyone I know. She is still the sexiest woman strutting her stuff in the studio as she was when I first had the privilege of taking her class.

Cameron Mitchell
Brent Street, Sydney

What styles of jazz does your school teach?
Commercial jazz, Broadway jazz, JFH (jazz/funk hip-hop), lyrical jazz – basically every form of jazz.

What makes a great jazz dancer?
Versatility is the most important thing for any dancer. You must be able to adapt to any choreographer’s style.

Where do you draw your inspiration from when teaching and performing jazz?
The music! That’s where it all begins. I let the music tell my body what to do and feel.

How do you think jazz has influenced other styles of dance?
I think in this day and age all the styles influence each other. Hip-hop has a jazz flavor, yet jazz is heavily hip-hop influenced.

What do you think jazz is now and how has it changed?
If it’s really good it is because it has evolved. All jazz can have the feeling of times past but it really has to be modern – even Broadway, if it has a new spin. It’s great.

Top photo: Talia Fowler and the Australian cast of FAME. Photo by David Wyatt.

By Rain Francis.

Rudolf Nureyev was one of the single most influential people in the history of dance. This year marks 20 years since his untimely death, but also 75 years since his birth. In celebration of this great man, special events, gala performances and tributes are taking place worldwide in 2013.

There has been so much written about him, and he has become something of an enigma. But what was he really like? We ask two professional dancers who knew him personally, Frederic Jahn and Patricia Ruanne.

Jahn and Ruanne are both involved with The Nureyev Foundation, and worked with Nureyev for many decades during their illustrious careers.

Tell us, how did your involvement with The Nureyev Foundation come about?

Patricia Ruanne
In 1986, I was asked by Rudolf to stage his Sleeping Beauty in Istanbul. This led to my appointment as ballet mistress for The Paris Opera Ballet, at the time when Rudolf was director of the company. I was specifically brought in to help Sylvie Guillem in Rudolf’s new production of Cinderella. Initially I was responsible for all the principals in all of his productions, extending later to other selected choreographers and full company staging.

Frederic Jahn
We, and other principals of The English National Ballet (then London Festival Ballet), created Rudolf’s Romeo and Juliet. He was filming Valentino at the time, so we would start working after nine every night, when he returned from the studios. He was plotting the ballet, and we all changed characters to help him set it. This eventually taught us every role in the ballet, and later he gave Patricia and I sole responsibility for this production.

Will you be involved with any of the events or production in this year of celebration?

Frederic Jahn
In Toulouse, France, we will be doing a Nureyev Gala programme. It will be a selection of his works, including the Balcony Pas De Deux from Romeo and Juliet, the third act of Don Quixote and La Bayadere Act 3.

Rudolf Nureyev with Patricia Ruanne and Frederic Jahn. Photo courtesy of Patricia Ruanne and Frederic Jahn.

There has been much written about Rudolf Nureyev, but how would you describe him?

Patricia Ruanne
Passionate, incredibly hard-working, relentless in the studio but at the same time very tolerant of people’s short-comings, as long as they kept working to improve. He had no tolerance at all for those who gave up or rejected the opportunity to change their habits to their advantage.

He had an endless curiosity about everything related to theatre, from how a costume is made, to which lamps give which effects, to how a conductor controls the orchestra. This acquired knowledge stood him in excellent regard from the point of view of all backstage staff – the man knew what he was talking about.

Rudi was quite childlike in some ways; uninhibited in his enthusiasms, wonderful with children, animals and other people’s parents. He had a great sense of humour and a tangible interest and appreciation of his colleagues.

He was very generous with assistance and information for all levels of the company. He was very demanding of the people who worked closest with him, but never more than he was willing to invest himself. Stimulating, exciting to work with, an unforgettable personality.

What is your favourite of his ballets and why?

Frederic Jahn
Romeo and Juliet was my favourite of his ballets. He made this ballet for a company, and not as a vehicle for himself. Nureyev was a mega-star when he was alive. He was the most photographed person in the sixties; Margot Fonteyn and Nureyev were household names. When he did his own productions he marketed himself in them, hence the numerous variations in Sleeping Beauty. The public and the theatre agents got over and above their money’s worth when a Nureyev production was presented.

In Romeo, he attempted his own choreography for the first time. For Juliet, it was Martha Graham on pointe; extremely difficult choreography. For the corps de ballet, there were real punch-ups created by a fight director. Rudolf did so little for himself and gave the production to the company, so much so that the first night, ballet critics called the ballet, Tybalt and Mercutio. It wasn’t until the theatre critics came that all was revealed. They thought it was a masterpiece – particularly a section in the ballet where Mercutio fakes a false death, which leads his friends to laugh at him, when he truly is dying after his fight with Tybalt. This was his concept, and it’s subsequently been copied in theatrical productions.

His research was impeccable, to the extent that practically every line of the play is interpreted in his ballet. He was right in not making Romeo and Juliet into a romantic ballet – it’s not. It’s about two feuding families, the offspring of which fall in love, in an era of great violence, intolerance and disease.

In what other ways did Rudolf have an influence over dance and theatre?

Frederic Jahn
This story was told by Eugene Poliakov. He was Rudolf’s ballet master at the Paris Opera, as well as the director of Teatro Comunale in Florence, Italy. I was his Ballet Master, and Poliakov and I shared an apartment when he came down to Florence once a month.

These were in the days before Rudolf defected and was still with the Kirov. He was dancing Siegfried in Swan Lake, and in those days all the men wore bloomers over their tights. It was not a particularly attractive look, as it cut the line of the leg. Rudolf was in his dressing room after finishing the first two acts, and refused to do the third act of Swan Lake if he had to wear bloomers over his tights. The management were furious but over a barrel, but they let him do it, as he was already an up-and-coming star in the Kirov.

After that incident, the fashion changed in that theatre, and without doubt, the rest of the theatres in Russia. This change was only in Russia; the West was already showing gents’ legs.

For more information about Rudolf Nureyev and the list of tribute events taking place this year, visit www.nureyev.org.

Photo (top): Rudolf Nureyev dancing with Frederic Jahn, courtesy of Frederic Jahn and Patricia Ruanne. 

By Rain Francis.

Rudolf Nureyev was one of the single most influential people in the history of dance. This year marks 20 years since his untimely death, but also 75 years since his birth. In celebration of this great man, many special events, gala performances and tributes are taking place worldwide in 2013. There has been so much written about him, and he has become something of an enigma. But what was he really like? We ask two professional dancers who knew him personally, Frederic Jahn and Patricia Ruanne.

Jahn and Ruanne are both involved with The Nureyev Foundation, and worked with Nureyev for many decades during their illustrious careers. In Patricia’s case, this relationship began in 1964, when Raymonda was presented at the Spoleto Festival in Italy, during the epoch when Margot Fonteyn’s husband was shot. For Frederic, it began in 1969, when Rudolf staged Don Quixote for The Australian Ballet.

How well did you know Rudolf Nureyev?

Frederic Jahn
I began to know Rudi better when we were working on Romeo and Juliet. I had worked with him before, as a very young corps de ballet member of The Australian Ballet. I was cast as the Old Don in Don Quixote, as Helpmann’s second cast, so I was privy to a lot of personal information, which was a tremendous learning curve in stagecraft.

Rudolf advised me to go to Europe, indicating that I should benefit from a wider professional platform than could be found in Australasia. This interest in a young dancer’s future was typical of the generosity he showed to fellow artistes. In my mind, I didn’t understand why he should single me out, but he clearly recognised some potential in me that I didn’t know I had. These ‘good old days’ were the platform of our relationship.

We discovered that most of the time he was by himself in London when he was choreographing Romeo and Juliet. Everybody thought that being a celebrity, he was wined and dined every night, when in fact he was just in his flat by himself. We would drop by and go to lunch or dinner. We established a close relationship, but I don’t know if we could say we were real friends. I felt he had trouble trusting people, and rightly so, as many used him for their own political ambitions, and still continue to do so.

I once dressed him in Italy; the dressers were scared of him so the management asked me if I would do it. I was the interim Ballet Master in Naples for the time Nureyev was there. I felt I was a friend, and it felt just as if you were helping a chum next to you do up his costume. The performance was already 20 minutes late, and a public of 3000 excited Italians were all clapping in unison to get the open-air show going. Italians can be very rowdy. He wasn’t going to be rushed, and the more noise they made, the gigglier he became. The management was knocking at the door, and I had to keep telling them he needed a few minutes more, at which point he said, “Ricky, have you heard the story about Bear and Rabbit sitting on edge of the wood?” I said I hadn’t, and he proceeded to tell me this scatological tale. We both left the dressing room giggling like schoolgirls, passing the fuming theatre management. Needless to say, when he came on stage, the audience was in a frenzy. He had in fact calculated that being late would drive the audience to this point, and he would give a performance that would be, for many people, a life-long memorable event. I felt that incident bonded us, and became the origin for many dinnertime anecdotes.

Rudolf Nureyev and Patricia Ruanne

Patricia Ruanne
I came to know him as well as he would allow. We had a good working relationship as dancers, and certainly he never gave me personally any ‘grief’ as a partner, which was not always the case with other dancers!

This agreeable understanding intensified once I went to join him in Paris. There was much discussion about the development of his dancers and I began to learn things on an entirely different level. Equally, he was always generous enough to listen to my thoughts on a subject, acknowledging that being on pointe was one asset he had never mastered. His demonstration of professional respect and affection to both myself and also to Frederic when he was there was naturally very helpful towards the Paris Opera dancers’ perception of us.

He frequently asked me to be hostess to his host at his home in Paris, so I met some fascinating people and we had a lot of fun. He couldn’t bear pretentious posturing; some folk were never invited back, or we would retire to the kitchen on the pretext of checking whether his cook was drunk yet, and try to dream up some plausible excuse for getting rid of someone who was boring him to tears. His proposals were generally along the lines of something dreamed up by Sweeney Todd; rather gory, but very funny. Lord knows what his guests made of the shrieks of laughter echoing from the back pantry!

He trusted me quite early on with the knowledge of his illness, and I spent every Sunday with him once he was obliged to be hospitalised towards the end of his life – something I remain glad to have been able to do.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about him?

Frederic Jahn
That he was bad tempered and rude and had no respect for others. He was not. It takes two to tango. Rudolf reacted to how people reacted to him, full stop.

Patricia Ruanne
I agree. I have seen him explode, but it was never without just cause. He had no time for laziness, indifference or lack of commitment to our profession. ‘Wasting time’ appalled him, given the brevity of a dancer’s performing life and he was incapable of understanding a lack of enthusiasm for anything related to the stage.

What was his greatest legacy?

Patricia Ruanne
This is an almost impossible question to answer. For my generation – and those who were able to see him perform at his best – there will forever remain the image of just how much can be accomplished by sheer hard work, dedication and never falling into the trap of believing your own publicity.

Personally, I think the strongest link to future generations will be the fact that he was also a great teacher, and instilled this care for others into so many younger dancers, some of whom are now directing companies. Watching them coach dancers in roles they once performed themselves, one can see the influence of Nureyev quite clearly.

He once said to me, when I was struggling with an exceptionally difficult company who appeared incapable of coping with his challenging choreography, “Are they doing the best they can? If so, and even if it’s not the standard you would like to see, you have to love and respect them for giving all that they are capable of.” I think that says a lot about the kind of man he was, and I try to apply this great advice always.

What can students today learn from him?

Patricia Ruanne
Don’t waste time – there’ll never be enough of it. Never give up on yourself. Always work to the best of your ability, but don’t let yourself sink into a depression when in a bad patch. Just keep at it – it will come back if you don’t frustrate yourself mentally. Keep your sense of humour and care about yourself.

Rudolf did not have a perfect physique and had to overcome many technical problems. Nonetheless, he had the most sensational career. It’s a perfect example of belief in self, dedication and determination.

For more information about Rudolf Nureyev and the list of tribute events taking place this year, visit www.nureyev.org.

Photos courtesy of Frederic Jahn and Patricia Ruanne. Top photo: Rudolf Nureyev and Frederic Jahn in rehearsal.

This year is the 75th anniversary of ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev’s birth, and 20 years since his death. How much do you know about one of the most celebrated dancers of the 20th century?

1. With which ballet did Nureyev make his directorial debut?

a) The Afternoon of a Faun

b) Petrouchka

c) Pineapple Poll

d) Don Quixote

2. Nureyev’s first performance in Britain was held to support which organisation?

a) The Royal Academy of Dance

b) The Royal Ballet School

c) The Royal Ballet

d) The Royal Opera

3. Giving his mother a shock, Nureyev was born prematurely in a

a) boat

b) train

c) car

d) plane

4. Nureyev danced with many of the best ballerinas of his time, but with whom did he say he danced with “one body, one soul?”

a) Eva Evdokimova

b) Margot Fonteyn

c) Gelsey Kirkland

d) Antoinette Sibley

5. Nureyev danced with Miss Piggy on the Muppet Show (check it out on YouTube – it’s a classic!). Which ballet did they perform a parody of?

a) Cinderella

b) The Nutcracker

c) Swan Lake

d) Manon

6. In which company was Nureyev director, dancer and chief of choreography during the 1980s?

a) The Royal Ballet

b) The Paris Opera Ballet

c) Dutch National Ballet

d) American Ballet Theatre

7. Which ballet by Sir Frederick Ashton was premiered by Fonteyn and Nureyev, and would become known as their signature piece?

a) Marguerite and Armand

b) Baroque Pas de Trois

c) Romeo and Juliet

d) Les Sylphides

8. To which country did Nureyev defect in 1961?

a) America

b) United Kingdom

c) Austria

d) France

9. In the 1970s, Nureyev toured the USA in a production of which musical?

a) Fiddler on the Roof

b) Cats

c) Kiss Me Kate

d) The King and I

10. Nureyev played a violinist in the 1983 film Exposed, alongside which Hollywood actor?

a) Harvey Keitel

b) Marlon Brando

c) Robert De Niro

d) Russell Crowe

Answers:
1 – d; 2 – a; 3 – b; 4 – b; 5 – c; 6 – b; 7 – a; 8 – d; 9 – d; 10 – a

Photo: Rudolf Nureyev by Jack Mitchell. Photo source http://onlyartimages.blogspot.com/2011/04/rudolf-nureyev.html

How strong is your Broadway Brain? Test your knowledge of the world’s greatest musicals.

By Rain Francis.

Jersey Boys is a documentary-style musical based on the story of which band?

a) The Who

b) The Four Seasons

c) The Four Tops

d) One Direction

What is the longest-running show on Broadway?

a) Cats

b) Les Miserables

c) The Phantom of the Opera

d) Wicked

Which of the following was NOT based on a film?

a) The Lion King

b) Chicago

c) Saturday Night Fever

d) Sweet Charity

What do Movin’ Out, Moonshadow and Mamma Mia have in common (besides all starting with M)?

a) They were all directed originally by Bill T. Jones

b) They were all adapted from novels

c) They are all ‘jukebox’ musicals

d) They were all choreographed by Twyla Tharp

True or false: Grease the movie came before Grease the musical?

Cabaret was based on a book by which author?

a) Christopher Isherwood

b) Emily Bronte

c) Charles Dickens

d) William S. Burroughs

Which of the following is NOT a character from Annie?

a) Miss Hannigan

b) Rooster

c) Molly

d) Annie Oakley

In which musical would you find Peggy Sawyer, Dorothy Brock and Julian Marsh?

a) The Producers

b) Hello, Dolly!

c) My Fair Lady

d) 42^nd Street

Who choreographed Gypsy, West Side Story and On The Town, among many others?

a) Bob Fosse

b) Jerome Robbins

c) Twyla Tharp

d) Steven Sondheim

Which Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is derived from poems by T. S. Eliot?

a) Cats

b) Starlight Express

c) Evita

d) Jesus Christ Superstar

ANSWERS:
1 – b; 2 – c; 3 – b; 4 – c; 5 – False; 6 – a; 7 – d; 8 – d; 9 – b; 10 – a

Top photo: West Side Story. Photo by David Wyatt.

How much do you know about George Balanchine, one of the 20th century’s most famous choreographers?

By Rain Francis.

1. George Balanchine was born in which country?

a) USA

b) Germany

c) Russia

d) Poland

2. With which composer would you MOST associate Balanchine?

a) Tchaikovsky

b) Stravinsky

c) Ravel

d) Gerhswin

3. Which of the following is NOT represented in Balanchine’s Jewels?

a) Sapphires

b) Rubies

c) Emeralds

d) Diamonds

4. Which group of dancers was Concerto Barocco choreographed on?

a) New York City Ballet

b) Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

c) Julliard School of Dance

d) School of American Ballet

5. How many times did Balanchine marry?

a) none

b) twice

c) four times

d) five times

6. Which dancer created the lead role in The Prodigal Son?

a) Serge Lifar

b) Vaslav Nijinksy

c) Leonide Massine

d) Mikhail Baryshnikov

7. Which ballerina created the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker ?

a) Maria Tallchief

b) Suzanne Farrell

c) Gelsey Kirkland

d) Patricia McBride

8. Which was the first ballet Balanchine choreographed in America?

a) Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux

b) Serenade

c) Agon

d) Apollo

9. Which of the following Greek muses is NOT present in the ballet Apollo?

a) Terpsichore, muse of dance

b) Caliope, muse of epic poetry

c) Clio, muse of history

d) Polyhymnia, muse of mime or hymns

10. Theme and Variations is choreographed to a score by which composer?

a) Stravinsky

b) Prokofiev

c) Satie

d) Tchaikovsky

ANSWERS: 1 – c; 2 – b; 3 – a; 4 – d; 5 – d; 6 – a; 7 – a; 8 – b; 9 – c; 10 – d

Photo: English National Ballet. Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks performing Balanchine’s Apollo. Photo by Patrick Baldwin.

By Rain Francis. 

Test your ballet knowledge!
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Which of the following characters is least likely to be classed as a ballet villain?

            a) Rothbart

            b) Petrouchka

            c) Carabosse

            d) Myrtha

In which ballet would you find Swanhilda?

            a) Pineapple Poll

            b) The Nutcracker

            c) Cinderella

            d) Coppelia

In Act III of Petipa’s Swan Lake, several national dances are performed.
Which country is NOT represented, traditionally?

            a) Spain

            b) Poland

            c) Germany

            d) Hungary

What name is given to the evil spirits in Giselle?

            a) Wilis

            b) Nymphs

            c) Faeries

            d) Sylphs

In which ballet would you find Oberon, Puck and Titania?

            a) Onegin

            b) A Midsummer Night’s Dream

            c) Manon

            d) The Moor’s Pavane

In Romeo and Juliet, who kills Tybalt?

            a) Romeo

            b) Juliet

            c) Mercutio

            d) Benvolio

Who is Hilarion’s rival for Giselle’s affection?

a) Franz

b) Bathilde

c) Albrecht

d) Wilfrid

Who created the role of the film producer in Nureyev’s Cinderella?

a) Mikhail Baryshnikov

b) Rudolph Nureyev

c) Anton Dolin

d) Peter Martins

The character of Petrouchka is a WHAT?

a) puppet

b) ragdoll

c) clown

d) scarecrow

In which ballet would you find the ‘Kingdom of the Shades’?

a) Scheherezade

b) Le Corsaire

c) Don Quixote

d) La Bayadere

Answers: 1 – b, 2 – d, 3 – c, 4 – a, 5 – b, 6 – a, 7 – c , 8 – b, 9 – a, 10 – d

Photo: The Australian Ballet’s Lucinda Dunn and Robert Curran in Onegin. Photo by Georges Antoni

Test your dance knowledge…

By Rain Francis.

With which name would you MOST associate Ginger Rogers?

a) Gene Kelly

c) Mikhail Baryshnikov

c) Fred Astaire

d) Donald O’Connor

For which ballerina was the Dying Swan choreographed by Mikhail Fokine?

a) Anna Pavlova

b) Natalia Markova

c) Alicia Makarova

d) Anna Karenina

Who did Lucette Aldous dance alongside in the 1973 filmed version of Don Quixote?

a) Mikhail Baryshnikov

b) Rudolph Nureyev

c) Anthony Dowell

d) Carlos Acosta

Which of the following names would you LEAST associate with contemporary dance?

a) Martha Graham

b) Jose Limon

c) Cyd Charrise

d) Merce Cunningham

Which king is best associated with the origins of classical ballet?

a) Louis XIV (King of France from 1643-1715)

b) Henry VIII (England, 1509-1547)

c) Ferdinand III (Italy, 1637-1657)

d) Phillip III (France, 1270-1285)

Which of the following was Gene Kelly the star of?

a) Singin’ in the Rain

b) An American in Paris

c) Ziegfeld Follies

d) All of the above

Which American ballerina wrote Dancing on my Grave?

a) Maria Tallchief

b) Gelsey Kirkland

c) Darci Kistler

d) Cynthia Harvey

Who’s daughter is Liza Minnelli?

a) Elizabeth Taylor

b) Debbie Reynolds

c) Margot Fonteyn

d) Judy Garland

Who choreographed Cabaret, Chicago and Damn Yankees?

a) Bob Fosse

b) Jerome Robbins

c) George Balanchine

d) Alvin Ailey

What nationality is renowned dancer Sylvie Guillem?

a) Italian

b) English

c) French

d) Canadian

Answers:

1 – c, 2 – a, 3 – b, 4 – c, 5 – a, 6 – d, 7 – b, 8 – d, 9 – a, 10 – c