Robert Gottlieb
Robert Gottlieb
Robert Adams Gottliebis an American writer and editor. From 1987 to 1992 he was the editor of The New Yorker...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth29 April 1931
CountryUnited States of America
ballet earn money shall spends stuck
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. When a ballet company spends a lot of money on gimmicky pieces, it's stuck with them for a while - they have to earn their keep.
familiar filled italians russians sacred shakespeare whom
For Russians, to whom Pushkin's poem 'Eugene Onegin' is sacred text, the ballet's story and personae are as familiar and filled with meaning as, for instance, 'Romeo' and 'Hamlet' are for us. Russians know whole stretches of it by heart, the way we know Shakespeare and Italians know Dante.
december
When December comes, can 'The Nutcracker' be far behind? No, it can't - not in America, anyway.
above below bulbs centers chest concept large pattern strung
'Eclipse' is a concept piece, and its concept centers on 36 large light bulbs strung from above in a geometrical pattern and at different heights, some of them at times down below the dancers' chest level.
act best depends domestic elaborate features great house observe scenery seat second sit
The best seat in the house often depends on the ballet. For instance, much of the first act of 'The Nutcracker' is domestic and small scale, so it's great to sit up close. But the second act features elaborate scenery and choreography, which are better to observe from a distance.
relationship
Without a Prospero-Caliban relationship to balance the Prospero-Ariel one, 'The Tempest' loses much of its resonance.
bad ballets crucial good opposite respect tolstoy unhappy works
Tolstoy may be right about happy and unhappy families, but in ballet, it works the opposite way: All good ballets are different from each other and all bad ones are alike, at least in one crucial respect - they're all empty.
errors jarring
You have to surrender to a book. If you do, when something in it seems to be going askew, you are wounded. The more you have surrendered to a book, the more jarring its errors appear.
authors either russian
We see a new generation of Russian authors who are not divided from their Western contemporaries either culturally or philosophically.
hard-work dancer actresses
Diana Vishneva is not only a magnificent dancer but a magnificent actress - no one works harder or understands more.
meditation dying beloved
Beloved Renegade is a meditation on Walt Whitman, on tenderness, on dying.
endure transformed originals
Classics are constantly being re-imagined and transformed, and the originals are none the worse for it; they endure.
america nutcrackers december
When December comes, can The Nutcracker be far behind? No, it cant - not in America, anyway.
naughty boys english-love
How the English love playing at being naughty boys!