Arts Talk

By JOHN FLEMING and MARY ANN MARGER

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 17, 2000

Balanchine project to document his popular work

George Balanchine was one of the greatest and most famous ballet choreographers -- millions of Americans grew up on his Nutcracker -- but less well known is his work for Broadway and Hollywood. From the 1920s to the '50s, Balanchine choreographed musical comedies (including Babes in Arms, Louisiana Purchase and Song of Norway), movies (including On Your Toes and Star Spangled Rhythm) and even a circus ballet for elephants and chorus line.

Now the Balanchine Foundation has mounted Popular Balanchine, a research project to document his choreography for the popular stage and screen, much of which has been lost. Researchers are seeking to interview performers, backstage crew members and others involved in the shows or movies.

"These people are now in their 70s or 80s or 90s, and we think it's likely many of them have retired to Florida," said Claude Conyers, the project director. "We're interested in their photographs, their scrapbooks, their memories. This is sort of our last chance to interview them and see what they remember about the choreography. We might try to get some of them into a studio with some young dancers and a video camera and see if they can help us to recreate the staging of some numbers."

Ultimately, the results of the project could wind up in revivals of musicals on which Balanchine collaborated with the likes of Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin, Vernon Duke and Harold Arlen.

Popular Balanchine is seeking contact with people who worked in the choreographer's musical theater and movie productions. Write to Conyers at 116 S White Rock Road, Holmes, N.Y., or call (845) 878-9451 or send e-mail to cconyers@balanchine.org.

Around the bay

Artists Robyn Hillary (Tarpon Springs), Chris Giuffre (St. Petersburg) and Melissa Miller Nece (Palm Harbor), author Timothy Juhl (Dunedin), and performing artists Jai Hinson (Clearwater), Elizabeth Neily (St. Petersburg) and Edward T. Woltil (Largo) have won awards from the Pinellas County Arts Council's Artists Resource Fund grant program for 2001. Amounts range from $1,444 to $1,996 and will be used for specific objectives, such as tuition or equipment, that will help them further their careers.

Fame game

St. Petersburg watercolor artist and teacher Mary Alice Braukman is guest editor of a special issue of American Artist magazine devoted to water media. She selected 36 artists to be profiled, including Nan Griffin, Norma Lewis and Jack Barrett of St. Petersburg, Shirley Frank of Seminole, Jeffrey Kronsnoble of Tampa and Craig Rubadoux of Bradenton. ... Former Tampa resident Josette Urso, now living in New York, is exhibiting at Galerie Industria, Wuppertal, Germany, through Jan. 27.

Competition for artists

Tarpon Springs Arts & Crafts Festival, Craig Park, Tarpon Springs, April 7-8. Contact Tarpon Springs Chamber of Commerce, 11 E Orange St., Tarpon Springs, FL 34869; (727) 937-6109. Deadline: Jan. 19.

Compiled by Times performing art critic John Fleming and art critic Mary Ann Marger

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