I am glad to have finally seen this work, and enjoyed it well enough. I would like to hear from people who have seen live performances of this as to what they think of this one. I thought much of it moving, but somehow always wanted something a little more high-energy in both the dancing and the orchestra (Danish Radio Symphony, I believe). I am sure that I had in mind something that would be more full of tension in the way the Graham classics are as I've seen them performed by the Graham company. I kept wanting more speed, more sharp edges, and less softness. Is that reasonable? or is this the way it is usually performed? It just seemed slightly too slow and gentle.

Thanks in advance.

I saw ABT do it a lot and never much liked it (but this was very early in my ballet going). I don't remember those performances clearly enough to answer your questions. But then I saw Carla Fracci, at about 55 (!!!) do it and....a ballerina does wonders She looked very Italian (I figured she was adopted, which added to the domestic tensions) and the moment she looked at that hatchet and realized what she could do with it is something I'll never forget. ("She took my Mama! She took my Mama's chair! She took my Mama's SHAWL!!! She's not going to take my man!!!")

I saw DTH dance this as well and my clearest memory is of the juice they put into the church service. That was electric.

Perhaps in the '40s, the ballet had that edge. I never saw a "Pillar of Fire" that lived up to what I read about it, either.

ABT revived FRL for a fairly recent (4 years +/- ?) City Center season. As with so much of ABT, I went to see pet dancers rather than the ballet. Gillian Murphy, who seems to have become less expressive in classical works over the years, turned my blood cold in this.

I keep saying, "I never have to see this ballet again," but somehow every now and then, for better or (more often) worse, I simply find it in front of my eyes.

I saw Sallie Wilson do FRL with ABT some time in the 70s (the only time I did see it live) and remember being very moved.

I saw the ballet during its early days and it had the 'edge' Papeete mentions. Both Alicia Alonso and Nora Kaye danced the role of Lizzie and each had a unique interpretation. Alonso had a softer 'edge' and came away as a sympathetic figure; with Nora Kaye it was easy to believe she committed the dastardly act. Both were r iveting performances. The Dance Theatre of Harlem DVD doesn't come close, but I suppose it is valuable because it gives a sense of the ballet.

thanks all thus far, and atm answers what I imagined. I thought Virginia Johnson's despair was very moving, but that there was not enough menace to the whole atmosphere of the piece. Also, the music needed somebody like Leonard Bernstein to conduct it, and this reminds me of the excellent post of a few months back Alexandra wrote explaining some of the subtleties of Danish art, Bournonville in particular, when I was having some difficulty entering into these sensibilities. While I don't know if the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra would have a hard time getting a more electric sound, precisely the word for what was needed and was rarely there: You saw it more in the stepmother's face than anywhere else. That was definitely a part of what wasn't there, because the quietness and non-ferocious quality of the Danish music is obviously not the same as what the Morton Gould score needed. Ms. Johnson seemed to be trying very hard, but as if working in a kind of vacuum because things needed to be vertical, shocked and more urgent. I've only seen old PBS broadcasts of DTH, and wasn't too conscious of them at the time; so I don't know what the general style of DTH really is, but can also imagine that the quickened look you see in some Kylian dances would have made this stand up more, as would some aspects of Graham company even when something as grave as murder is not involved.

People recently spoke of Nora Kaye, and I just looked at some of the photos of her in the role. That does sound as though it most have been exciting. It's now interesting that DeMille used 'legend' in the title, because not only has she changed the verdict, but you don't really suspect that matters of property dispute in a well-to-do New England family may have been the much more mundane matters causing much of the bitterness, at least to some degree. The ballet doesn't really tell you about the real Bordens that much, who were probably distinctly unromantic. The ballet is very much a fable, and needs to bristle with a sense of urgency throughout, not just once in a while as in this DVD.

I don't know when they revived it, but they did it last (2007) fall City Center season. I thought Julie Kent was chilling.