Comments on: Ballet mime in “Swan Lake”—a dying art

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 01:14:03 +0000

I was watching Japanese and Korean puppetmastery, and it was quite interesting.

The Japanese show was some kind of science fiction thing back in the 80s, I forget the name of. But the Korean, or at least I think it was Korean, show was called Thunderbolt Fantasy. It is designed for a Japanese audience, but the original source came from China/Korea. Why? Because some of the writing and lines are Chinese, plus Japan doesn’t use puppets any more for that kind of show.

For those that want to watch the episode, they can probably find Thunderbolt Fantasy online.

By: kevino

kevino — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:14:57 +0000

Thank you for posting this. My wife and I enjoyed it very much. We started going to the ballet thanks to your blog. We even saw Swan Lake last season.

Cheers.

By: DirtyJobsGuy

DirtyJobsGuy — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 15:01:46 +0000

My wife and daughter took me to see the ABT swan lake at the Met in June. This was the first real ballet I have seen (other than young girl dance classes) and I did notice the mime. Until you described it I didn’t know what it was called. I suppose you could consider it the equivalent of spoken lines in a musical.

The performance was very good but my favorite part of the show was the mad-man era sign at the bar for the handicapped. The sign showed a wheelchair with an arrow to a martini glass complete with olive! The wheelchair bound patron seemed to be rushing to get the drink.

By: eve

eve — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 21:06:04 +0000

Beautiful. Although not a dancer myself, I spent many evenings many years ago watching ballet dancers practice in a studio in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Ballet Borealis. The instructors were Anna Adrianova and Lorand Andahazy. They were former dancers with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Although I took a few classes, dancing just wasn’t my thing. (I was a competitive swimmer). I did learn a lot about the hard work, dedication, artistry, and commitment that ballet required. To this day, I love to watch.

By: Julie near Chicago

Julie near Chicago — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 18:58:26 +0000

Neo, thanks very much for posting these. I had no idea about the mime included in classical, story-telling ballet — call me a philistine in that regard. :>(

Interesting, and the information makes the ballet even more enjoyable to watch. Very much appreciated!