Flash Reviews 2, 5-23: Saving the Dance & Strasberg Swan Song

From: Ilene Fox (notation@mindspring.com)
Date: 05/23/00


I just received this and thought it might be of interest to those who were
not able to attend.

Ilene Fox

>From: Paul Ben-Itzak <danceinsider@mindspring.com>
>Subject: Flash Reviews 2, 5-23: Saving the Dance & Strasberg Swan Song
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>
>Good Morning, Dance Insider!
>
>Still drizzly here in Gotham on May 23, 2000, but last night moi took a
>trip back in time, to 1940, when a few very special women founded a very
>special, dance-preserving organization, the Dance Notation Bureau. See my
>Flash Report on last night's Lincoln Center gala for the full story!
>
>Meanwhile, our Far-Flung Flasher, Tara Zahra, hied herself to Boston for
>the swan song of local legend Kyra Strasberg.
>
>Speaking of legends, 80-something Frederic Franklin reportedly returns to
>the stage tonight to dance a featured role in "La Sylphide" with American
>Ballet Theatre. I say reportedly because, unfortunately, ABT does not seem
>that interested in having us report to you on them and never sends us press
>releases (not to mention flowers) any more. But just because I don't feel
>welcome at the Metropolitan Opera House when ABT's in the house is no
>reason you shouldn't hie yourself there for what promises to be a very
>special evening, if you're in NYC. Mr. Franklin has been dancing
>professionally since before FDR was elected to his FIRST term and, natch,
>partnered most of the greats: Markova, Danilova, Slavenska, Toumanova,
>Baronova, and Chauvire among them. You might want to call ABT at
>212-477-3030 to confirm the performance.
>
>Oh, and if any of you DO go, we'd be happy to publish your Flash Review!
>Deadline is 7 a.m., and you can just send it to me.
>
>If something more intimate is more your speed, I suggest the final "Dance
>on a Shoestring" of the season, from New York Theatre Ballet. Curtain at 7
>p.m. Theater at 30 East 31st Street, 5th Floor. Info: 212-679-0401.
>
>To read the complete Flash Reviews, please go to or paste into your browser
>the following url: http://www.danceinsider.com/.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Paul
>
>
>Flash Report, 5-23: Saving the Dance
>Celebrating 60 Years of Preserving the Art
>
>By Paul Ben-Itzak
>Copyright 2000 The Dance Insider
>
>When Ann Hutchinson Guest first sent her notated score of "Symphony in C"
>to the U.S. copyright office, it was returned. "No story" was the written
>explanation for why the ballet created by George Balanchine in 1952 was not
>deemed copyrightable material. Guest, who had co-founded the Dance Notation
>Bureau in 1940 with a mission to record and preserve classic dances, took
>the problem to Balanchine. "So, make up a story," he suggested. Guest
>regaled an audience of fellow dance industry leaders with this and other
>recollections last night at Lincoln Center, where the DNB, one of dance's
>great unsung heroes, celebrated sixty years of preserving dances.
>
>Flash Review, 5-23: A Regal Farewell
>Strasberg Goes Out on Top
>
>By Tara Zahra
>Copyright 2000 Tara Zahra
>
>BOSTON -- Kyra Strasberg performed for the last time with the Boston Ballet
>Sunday afternoon, ending a fifteen-year career with the company. It was the
>first time I've seen a dancer's final performance, and for me watching
>Strasberg's family and friends and teachers and fans pay tribute to her on
>stage was by far the most moving moment of the afternoon. It felt almost
>inappropriate to be watching something that seemed so intimate, like spying
>on a stranger's family. But Strasberg's final performance was stunning, and
>left me wishing I had known her work better and sooner.
>

____________________________________________________
Ilene Fox, Executive Director
Dance Notation Bureau
151 West 30th Street, Suite 202
New York, NY  10001
Phone:  212/564-0985;  Fax:  212/904-1426
notation@mindspring.com     www.dancenotation.org



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