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1.  Which ballet was created for the POB by George Balanchine in 1947?

        Palais de cristal (later Symphony in C)

2.  He was the first Albert (or Albrecht) of Giselle in 1841. (Additional clue: he was the brother of a famous choreographer).

        Lucien Petipa.

3.  These two principal dancers were famous for their partnership in the 70s and 80s, especially in Swan Lake, Giselle, and La Sylphide. She is the wife of the choreographer Pierre Lacotte and still teaches at the Paris Opera Ballet; she danced with the NYCB as a guest for a few seasons. He created Bejart's Firebird in 1970 and danced as a guest with the ABT in the 70s (especially partnering Cynthia Gregory), and was the director of the Staatsoper Ballet in Berlin a few years ago.

        Michaël Denard et Ghislaine Thesmar

4. This former dancer of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes was the POB's director between 1929 and 1945, and again between 1947 and 1958.

        Serge Lifar

5. This ballerina, whose 80th birthday was celebrated last year by the POB, was famous for her Giselle. She also created leading roles in Istar and Suite en blanc.

        Yvette Chauvire -- who will be in New York in late November at the Alliance Francaise, as part of their showing of three French films on ballet.

Ballet Alert Quiz No. 5
September 21, 1998:

Great Ballet Partnerships

1. Superstars among superstars, they reigned over England's Royal Ballet in the 1960s and danced together around the world for nearly 20 years.

    Fonteyn and Nureyev

2. Clive Barnes once described them as "Danish fire and Italian ice." ABT's great partnership of the 1960s.

    Erik Bruhn and Carla Fracci

3. New York City Ballet doesn't have stars, except when they do. These two were the "golden pair" of the mid-1970s and '80s, leading Chaconnes, among other ballets, to glory.

    Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins

4. The stars of America's Original Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, they were household words in the 1940s and '50s. They were especially known for their sparkling Coppelias.

    Alexandra Danilova and Frederic Franklin

5. A couple on and off-stage, they never danced together in the West, but were beloved by Kirov audiences in the '40s and '50s. They were especially identified with Raymonda.

    Natalia Dudinskaya and Konstantin Sergeyev.  (These two dancer/coaches are mentioned in biographies of both Makarova and Nureyev. Dudinskaya was a very respected coach of young dancers; Sergeyev directed the company.

Answers to Ballet Alert! Quiz Number 4
September 14, 1998:

A Cinderella Quiz

1.  Who choreographed the first production of Cinderella mounted by American Ballet Theatre?

    Mikhail Baryshnikov and Peter Anastos, in 1984. We didn't intend for this to be a trick question, but several Quizzers checked the ABT site and found only the second production, Ben Stevenson's. Which just goes to show you, you can't trust everything you read on the internet!

2.  Who danced the roles of Cinderella and her Prince at the premiere of this production?

    Magali Messac and Patrick Bissell.

3.  Who danced the role of Cinderella in the version choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton in 1948?

    Moira Shearer

4.  Name one other composer besides Prokofiev who composed music for a Cinderella ballet.

    There have been many Cinderella ballets.   We would have been happy with Strauss (Johann II) whose Cinderella was danced on these shores by the Cuban National Ballet last season. Other Quizzers came up with more. Estelle Souche submitted the most complete answer, namely: Baron Schell (used by Petipa), Johann Strauss II (used by E. Graeb), F. d'Erlanger (used by Fokine), Zor (used by Albert in 1822 (?)), S. Jones (used by Fred Farren in 1906).

5.  What step sequence danced its way into ballet history from the version of Cinderella choreographed by Marius Petipa in 1893?

    The 32 fouetees [NOTE: we haven't figured out yet how to do accent marks in HTML!] Wewere surprised this stumped so many, as it's so often written about in program books when there's a new production of Swan Lake. But, then, there haven't been all that many new Swan Lakes around, lately, hve there?)

Answers to Quiz Number 3
September 7, 1998

1. Who was the first Western (i.e., non-Soviet, Russian, or Eastern European) choreographer to create a ballet to Prokofiev's score for Romeo and Juliet?

        Sir Frederick Ashton for the Royal Danish Ballet, 1956. (Romeo, Henning Kronstam; Juliet: Mona Vangsaae; Mercutio, Frank Schaufuss.)

2. In 1975, Antony Tudor created a new ballet for American Ballet Theatre after a long period of inactivity.  What was the name of the ballet?

        The Leaves are Fading.

3. Who were its two leading dancers?

        Gelsey Kirkland and Jonas Kage.

4. Who is currently director of the Paris Opera Ballet school?

        Claude Bessy.

5. Name one of the predecessor companies of  the New York City Ballet.

        Ballet Society.   (We would also have accepted American Ballet Caravan.)

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Answers to Ballet Alert! Quiz Number 2,
Monday, August 31, 1998:

1. What is the name of the first ballet that Balanchine choreographed in America?

   Serenade. First performance, June 10, 1932 at the estate of Felix Warburg near White Plains, New York. This was also the first ballet Balanchine began work on in America.

2. Who was the first prominent or featured ballerina of the Sadler's Wells (later Royal) Ballet?

    Alicia Markova.

3. Name three foreign-born principal dancers on American Ballet Theatre's current roster.

    Nina Ananiashvili, Julio Bocca, Jose Manuel Carreno, Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, Guillame Graffin, Paloma Herrera, Vladimir Malakhov.

4.  What major American ballet company is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year?

    New York City Ballet.  Happy birthday!

5.  Name a ballet that Antony Tudor choreographed for New York City Ballet during his brief tenure there.

    La Gloire or The Lady of the Camelias

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Answers to
Ballet Alert! Quiz Number 1, Monday, August 24, 1998:

1. What three "schools" of ballet did Antony Tudor feature in his 1938 Gala Performance, and how were the three ballerina characters exemplifying those traditions identified?

    Answer:  La Reine de la danse from Moscow, La Déesse de la danse from Milan, La Fille de Terpischore from Paris.

    Note:  There's a resurgence of Gala Performances performances. At least a half-dozen revivals are scheduled this season in companies around the world.

2. In what school did Angel Corella and his sister Carmen Corella and her husband Joaquin de Luz all train?

    Answer:  The Ullate School in Madrid.

3. Which male dancer has the distinction of being the only one to have to his credit two world premiere ballets on the same night by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins and what were the ballets?

    Answer:  Ib Andersen, at the Tchaikovsky Festival. The ballets were Balanchine's Mozartiana and Robbins' Andantino (originally called simply "pas de deux" in the program).

4 What Paris Opera Etoile was so named from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, rather than, as is the tradition, from that of the Paris Opera?

    Answer:  Manuel Legris.

5 Who were the pallbearers at the funeral of Vaslav Nijinsky?   

    Answer:  Frederick Ashton, Anton Dolin, Serge Lifar and Michael Somes.