Of interest to our board members:

HARRIMAN INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM OF RUSSIAN BALLET
October 12-13, 2007

Scholars from Russia, England, the Netherlands, and Austria will join colleagues from the United States for the International Symposium of Russian Ballet taking place at Barnard College and Columbia University on October 12-13, 2007. Sponsored by the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, and the Slavic and Dance Departments of Barnard College, the Symposium will bring together senior and junior scholars working in the area of Russian ballet, broadly defined to include both ballet in Russia and Russian ballet elsewhere. Lynn Garafola, Professor of Dance at Barnard College, and Catharine Nepomnyashchy, the Chair of the Slavic Department at Barnard College and Director of the Harriman Institute, are the organizers.

Among the Symposium highlights are the keynote lecture by Elizabeth Souritz, Russia's most distinguished living dance historian, analyzing the differences between ballet in late nineteenth-century Moscow and St. Petersburg through the career of the choreographer Alexei Bogdanov, a paper by Sjeng Scheijen of Leiden University that draws on major new research for his forthcoming biography of Serge Diaghilev, Tim Scholl's discussion of Soviet ballet debates of the 1920s, and a presentation by Robert Greskovic featuring images from his well-known postcard collection of Russian dancers. Papers on Balanchine's correspondence with the Russian émigré community, his muse Lydia Ivanova, Akim Volynsky, the designers Sonia Delaunay and Natalia Goncharova, the ideologies of the Soviet ballerina, Russian dancers in Hollywood, the "thaw" of the late 1950s and its impact on "symphonic" ballet, Petipa performance traditions in Russia and the West, and the original happy ending of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet will round out the program. See the attached program for the full schedule of events. A list of participant "bios" is also attached.

The opening program on Friday evening will take place in Sulzberger Parlor, Barnard College, located at 117th Street and Broadway. The Saturday sessions will take place in 1501 International Affairs Building, Columbia University, located at 420 West 118th Street. The symposium is free and open to the public.

The Harriman Institute, formerly the Russian Institute, is a leading center for the advancement of knowledge in the field of Russian and Eurasian studies through the research conducted by its faculty, students, fellows, and visiting scholars and the training of scholars and professionals.

International Symposium of Russian Ballet

P r o g r a m

October 12-13, 2007


Friday (Sulzberger Parlor/Barnard College)

5:00-5:15
Welcome
Catharine Nepomnyashchy (Barnard College/Harriman Institute)
Lynn Garafola (Barnard College)

5:15-6:00
Elizabeth Souritz (State Institute for Research in the Arts, Moscow), "Moscow vs. Petersburg: The Petersburg Choreographer Alexei Bogdanov in Moscow"

6:00-6:45
Round Table
Lynn Garafola (Barnard College)
Tim Scholl (Oberlin College)
Simon Morrison (Princeton University)

6:45-7:05
Robert Greskovic (Wall Street Journal), "Russian Dancers of Diferent Worlds: Postcards from St. Petersburg and Moscow"

7:05-8:15 Reception

Saturday (1501 International Affairs Building/Columbia University)

9:00-12:30
Diaghilev, the Diaspora, and Beyond

9:00-10:45
Chair: Joan Acocella (The New Yorker)
Sjeng Scheijen (Leiden University), "A Place to Dream, A Place to Rest: Diaghilev and Venice"

Jane Sharp (Rutgers University), "Natalia Goncharova and the Post-Orientalist Avant-Garde"

Juliet Bellow (Drew University), "Sonia Delaunay's Cleopatra and "the Light of the Orient'"

Discussant: Elizabeth Valkenier (Columbia University)

10:45-11:15
Break

11:15-1:00
Chair:
Irina Klyagin (Harvard Theatre Collection), "'My precious genius of a friend': George Balanchine's Correspondence with the Russian Emigré Community"

Harlow Robinson (Northeastern University), "Russian Dancers and Their Image in Hollywood Cinema"

Gunhild Oberzaucher-Schüller (Salzburg University), "Bare Facts of a Greater Order: On the Performance Tradition of Petipa Ballets"

Discussant: Nancy Reynolds (The George Balanchine Foundation)

1-2:15
Lunch

2:15-6:15
Ballet in the Soviet Era

2:15-4:00
Chair:
Stanley J. Rabinowitz (Amherst College), "The Short and Fitful Life of Akim Volynsky's School, 1920-1925"

Elizabeth Kendall (Eugene Lang College, New School), "In Search of Lydia Ivanova"

Tim Scholl (Oberlin College), "Piety or Blasphemy? The Soviet Ballet Debates of the 1920s"

Discussant: Tatiana Smoliarova (Columbia University)

4:00-4:30
Break

4:30-6:15
Chair: Rebecca Stanton (Barnard College)

Simon Morrison (Princeton University), "Romeo and Juliet's Happy Ending"

Christina Ezrahi (University College, London), "The Thaw in Soviet Culture and the Return of Symphonic Dance"

Catharine Nepomnyashchy (Barnard College/Harriman Institute), "Ideologies of the Soviet Ballerina"

Discussant: Boris Gasparov (Columbia University)

Yes, of interest! How does one find information on attending? It sounds fascinating indeed.

the event is open to the public, and free.
this graf gives the particulars of place, etc.
The opening program on Friday evening will take place in Sulzberger Parlor, Barnard College, located at 117th Street and Broadway. The Saturday sessions will take place in 1501 International Affairs Building, Columbia University, located at 420 West 118th Street. The symposium is free and open to the public.
no doubt the two venues will have signs with directions posted in their respective lobbies. also i suspect each has a security guard on hand to point in the proper direction.

the following message came from lynn garafola concerning the upcoming symposium:

Please note that the International Symposium of Russian Ballet will open on Friday night at Barnard College in Room 306 Barnard Hall (Held Auditorium) rather than in the Sulzberger Parlor as stated in the original. (The two are actually on the same floor.)

For the full program, please google the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, and look for the Symposium on the Website.

The Symposium is free and open to the public. Registration is not required, but you may want to arrive a little early for the Friday evening program.

Wow, what a delight...i surely envy those who will be taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Among all the topics, "The Ideologies of the Soviet Ballerina" sounds really interesting...Mr. Greskovic, as usual, thank you for providing the world with your wonderful collection! Please, i would love to read some reports from those who can attend...

what i've heard about recording/publishing the proceedings is unofficial but a friend has told me that there is a good chance the conference texts etc. will be posted on line. i don't know if this means pix or just text or both.
if i learn something more official i'll post it here.