Do any of you have favourite mis-prints that have appeared in programmes, reviews, etc.? I have a Kirov programme that explains in the plot of "Fountains of the Bakziserai" that " ... the sultan is in hove with Maria". Hove is a small town just outside Brighton on the south coast of England - the type of place people used to go for an illicit weekend.

However, my favourite was the tabloid gossip column, referring to Derek Deane (at the time a Royal Ballet dancer, and later director of English National Ballet) which stated "Mr Deane (31) is a principal danger of the Royal Ballet".

They are out there - what have you seen?

Jane

I love "principal danger". I haven't seen this but was told about it by a colleague. It's more the work of an over-eager copy editor than a misprint, but once in England a review of "Coppelia" featured the ever lovable Swan Hilda.

Is she any relation to Ivan the talking porcupine?

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

I saw one in Ballet Alert! that referred to Sylvie Guillem dancing in her production of Giselle. I don't have the article right now, but it went something like this:

"It looked as if Giselle had developed an unfortunate tic that caused her to toss her log up at odd moments."

More a misspeak than a misprint, but Iowa public TV's announcer had a lovely moment where he said that Cinderella and the Prince were embarking on a tender and romantic potty dew.

We guessed it was the condensation on the bowl in the morning.

This is opera, but it was funny. The late Princess Diana was visiting New York and went to a performance of the Welsh National Opera at the Broooklyn Academy. The local CBS news anchor said that she attended a performance of Verdi's opera, Flagstaff.

I once saw a programme for a mixed bill which included Les Sylphides. The theatre management had evidently been given the company cast sheet as after the Waltz, Mazurka, etc dancers were listed the two demi solists were identified as 'Miseries'!

I've heard them called that though I am not sure they are usually listed in the program as such.

Maybe Victoria can give us more information about that title.

Well, I have a shirt that says "dancer" on it, but it's spelled out of "ballet", "jazz", ect. (different types of dance) So it's kind of hard to read. And my friend's Mom though it said danger. She wondered what I was doing hanging out with HER daughter with a shirt advertising my danger. ;)

The two demi-soloists are called "miseries", but I don't think they are usually listed that way in the program. Not sure why or where that comes from, but I do remember them being called by that name.

I have always reasoned that they are called Miseries because they have to stand still with their arms overhead for so long during the Prelude.

That's the reason, all right. And the demi-soloists aren't always the only "miseries". At a certain point, there are four of them standing around with their arms in first arabesque. Their feet could be any way they like because they are surrounded by other dancers, kneeling.

Leigh, I do hope you heard correctly, that they were not in fact dancing a potty doo. :eek:

One classic was at NYCB, listing among the nine (?!) corps members of Concerto Barocco one Lisa de Ribere, who had since joined ABT. This was not corrected until the following season. :confused:

I'm probably a bit late jumping on board here, but I once attended an English National Ballet charity gala which had one item listed on the programme as 'Donkey Shot'. It was 'Don Quichotte' (or Don Quixote) of course. I still have the programme somewhere.

I remember a newspaper ad for auditions my old civic company submitted once, that got proofread, and corrected.

It announced that the major new offering that season would be "Less Sylphides" - actually we needed MORE sylphides, and told the female candidates to bring "pointed" shoes. (Tijuana Cucaracha Crunchers with stiletto heels maybe?)

We had a smaller Russian company visiting once and according to the programme the leading ballerina was one of the finest interpreters of "Swan Lake" and "Belvedere".

This is also a true story. A German company was doing a performance on some island in Scandinavia (can't remember Sweden or Denmark) and they needed special passes to access the island. So to whole troupe got passes, but there were two left: the pass for Mr. Petipa and for Mr. Tchaikovsky. These guys never showed up .

good one, marc! ;)

I seem to remember the same thing happening in London once, but on that occasion it was Mr Bournonville who was the no-show.

AWOL due to overwork and low pay, I bet. ;)

There is a cute one just posted on the Pointe Shoe forum from a teen asking about "split soul pointe shoes." I have known some dancers with split souls, but pointe shoes!?!?

PS I knew I should have quoted it because now someone has gone and changed it!!! ( The forum list is now spelled correctly but the original post remains.)

I dunno - some of my students have claimed that they have schizophrenic shoes, so from the psychological to the theological....;)

"split soul" : :rolleyes:

Many years ago, when Miami City Ballet was starting out, they appeared at Brooklyn College. The music was listed in the program thusly: "Peter Eliot's Tchaikovsky".

There's a good one in the Columbia, SC paper about Sara Mearns, a new member of NYCB. (Ari posted the article on today's links.) One of the things Mearns performed in South Carolina was "The White Swan pas de deux, in which she had an ensemble role." The same sentence also mentions her performance as Swan Hilda in Coppelia.

This is more a charming malapropism than a mis-print or printed bit of misunderstanding, but on alt. arts. ballet several years ago, a hapless poster wanted advice about a ballet called "Akita." Specifically, if I recollect, he or she wanted to know what the music for it was. Someone kind nicely told the person about Paquita, while everyone else wrote the scenario about a Polar Ballet with Sled Dog Chorus. Those were lively days before spam wrecked that forum, from which so many have arrived here. One also recalls the phrase "guise of truth" rendered as "guys of truth," but that's another story....

Then there was the NYCB program back in the City Center days that announced that the first movement of "Scotch Symphony" was led by "Patricia Nearly"...once.

This is more like a ballet faux pas.

My friend received a DVD player along with several DVDs for her wedding. One of the DVDs was GISELLE. I think it's a bad form to give somebody GISELLE as her wedding or engagement gift. We had a good laugh about it.

Sleeping Beauty would be more appropriate