Ballet Russe

Marc Platt was a redheaded "rowdy" guy who wanted to work with pretty girls. Paul Maure was a skin-and-bones opera singer who discovered he'd rather take ballet class three times a day. Andrei Tremaine's mother brought him to his first class against his will, while Victor Moreno took his doctor's advice to "get more exercise." As for George Zoritch, teenage heartthrob extraordinaire, discovering ballet proved both humbling and intoxicating.

George Zoritch, an international ballet star who had a second career as a well-respected teacher, died Nov. 1 at Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson. He was 92. His death was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the law firm representing his estate. The cause was not given. Zoritch had retired in 1987 from teaching dance at the University of Arizona. He also taught at his studio in West Hollywood and had several stage and film credits. Zoritch was best known for his work with the Ballet Russe companies starting in the 1930s.

George Zoritch, an international ballet star who had a second career as a well-respected teacher, died Nov. 1 at Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson. He was 92. His death was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the law firm representing his estate. The cause was not given. Zoritch had retired in 1987 from teaching dance at the University of Arizona. He also taught at his studio in West Hollywood and had several stage and film credits. Zoritch was best known for his work with the Ballet Russe companies starting in the 1930s.

One hundred years ago, on May 19, 1909, Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes debuted in France and redefined dance for the 20th century. Toiling for le tout Paris in front of the hot footlights of the Theatre du Chatelet were ballet superstars Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova -- artists whose names resonate around the world. Among this galaxy of luminaries, however, only one was destined to achieve his fame in Los Angeles, where today he is all but unknown.

A restaged, refurbished "Coppelia" may be no substitute for the new and original, full-length jazz ballet originally announced to end the American Ballet Theatre's 1997 visit to the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

American Ballet Theatre's new production of "Coppelia" has a legendary history. The dancers are learning the ballet from Frederic Franklin, once premier danseur and later ballet master of the famed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. "I have been associated with this ballet since 1933, when [Kirov Ballet regisseur] Nicholas Sergeyev came out of Russia," Franklin, 82, said by phone during a break between recent company rehearsals in New York. "We staged the first and second acts, but not the third.

A Christmas tree grew in Glendale. Kind of. Even with the help of Sterlyn Steele of the Magic Castle as Drosselmeyer, the Media City Ballet production of "The Nutcracker" at the Alex Theatre on Sunday evening was a clunky, cluttered, way too kiddie-infested affair. This version was choreographed by Media City artistic director Natasha Middleton after one staged by her father, Andrei Tremaine (he danced with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and is the company's coach).

Harold Lang, a ballet and Broadway dancer who created the role of the First Sailor in Jerome Robbins' "Fancy Free" in 1944 and revived the title role in "Pal Joey" in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, has died. Lang was 64 and died July 26 at his home in Chico, Calif., after a short illness. A native of Daly City, Lang delivered telegrams as a youth and in 1940 took one backstage at a San Francisco theater where a ballet company was rehearsing.

Harold Lang, a ballet and Broadway dancer who created the role of the First Sailor in Jerome Robbins' "Fancy Free" in 1944 and revived the title role in "Pal Joey" in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, has died. Lang was believed to be 60 and died Friday at his home in Chico, Calif., after a short illness. A native of Daly City, Lang delivered telegrams as a youth and in 1940 took one backstage at a San Francisco theater where a ballet company was rehearsing.

The feature documentary "Ballets Russes" brought audiences glimpses of a vanished classical era company (actually two companies) and repertory. And now Media City Ballet's program "The Men of the Ballets Russes" brings to the Wilshire Ebell Theatre major Russes stars as well as film clips of them in their prime.

With its red carpet, videographers and autograph seekers, the event Saturday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre looked like a movie premiere. But call it a ballet ruse: an attempt to lure an audience to a mixed bill by Los Angeles' own Media City Ballet (now beginning its sixth season) by making that program a onetime-only tribute to five male stars of a bygone classical era.

Marc Platt was a redheaded "rowdy" guy who wanted to work with pretty girls. Paul Maure was a skin-and-bones opera singer who discovered he'd rather take ballet class three times a day. Andrei Tremaine's mother brought him to his first class against his will, while Victor Moreno took his doctor's advice to "get more exercise." As for George Zoritch, teenage heartthrob extraordinaire, discovering ballet proved both humbling and intoxicating.

The feature documentary "Ballets Russes" brought audiences glimpses of a vanished classical era company (actually two companies) and repertory. And now Media City Ballet's program "The Men of the Ballets Russes" brings to the Wilshire Ebell Theatre major Russes stars as well as film clips of them in their prime.

BEFORE the Royal Ballet was royal, before the Kirov and the Bolshoi ever toured outside the Soviet bloc, before American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet were more than fledgling projects in the dance world, the zenith of classical artistry, glamour, success and influence belonged to the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.

A Christmas tree grew in Glendale. Kind of. Even with the help of Sterlyn Steele of the Magic Castle as Drosselmeyer, the Media City Ballet production of "The Nutcracker" at the Alex Theatre on Sunday evening was a clunky, cluttered, way too kiddie-infested affair. This version was choreographed by Media City artistic director Natasha Middleton after one staged by her father, Andrei Tremaine (he danced with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and is the company's coach).

Meredith Baylis, a former dancer in the fabled Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo who went on to become a noted teacher in the Joffrey Ballet School and then taught for two decades in Southern California, has died. She was 73. Baylis died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank on July 26 of complications from heart surgery. Of Scottish-Irish descent, Baylis was born in Burbank on April 4, 1929, and came from a theatrical family.

Meredith Baylis, a former dancer in the fabled Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo who went on to become a noted teacher in the Joffrey Ballet School and then taught for two decades in Southern California, has died. She was 73. Baylis died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank on July 26 of complications from heart surgery. Of Scottish-Irish descent, Baylis was born in Burbank on April 4, 1929, and came from a theatrical family.

Ballet Preljocaj, which danced a vivid reinterpretation of "Romeo and Juliet" last month in Los Angeles, comes to Irvine this week with an equally radical "Hommage aux Ballets Russes" program at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The title refers to Serge Diaghilev's famous company, which launched a revolution in dance in Paris in the early decades of this century.