Subject
Re: sapphic vorschmacks
From
Date
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A. Sklyarenko: "'But no sapphic vorschmacks,' mumbled Van into his pillow. (2.8)" From Ilf and Petrov's "The Twelve Chairs" (Chapter Eight Goluboy vorishka*) [ ]:Застенчивый Александр Яковлевич тут же, без промедления, пригласил пожарного инспектора отобедать чем бог послал. В этот день бог послал Александру Яковлевичу на обед бутылку зубровки, домашние грибки, форшмак из селёдки, украинский борщ с мясом первого сорта, курицу с рисом и компот из сушеных яблок.Without further hesitation the bashful Alchen invited the fire inspector to take pot luck and lunch with him.
Pot luck that day happened to be a bottle of Zubrovka vodka, home-pickled mushrooms, vorschmack of minced herring, Ukrainian beet soup containing first-grade meat, chicken and rice, and stewed apples. (ibid.)
Jansy Mello: Vorschmack indicates an aperitif, sure. But it wasn't food that which Van had in mind, it was lesbian foreplaying....
Carolyn Kunin: Alexey's swooney-balooney reminds me that the origins of the word balloon are not that well know. An 18th century ballet dancer by the name of Balon could float in the air seemingly defying gravity. His name entered the language, first as a way to describe that extraordinary ability of some dancers, in the 20th century Nijinsky is the preeminent example, to appear almost weightless, and then to describe that flying machine, first flown in Paris in 1787, causing the British to go into paroxysms of fear. Not sure they have ever gotten over it.
Jansy Mello: Fascinating postings. You made me remember ballet class with desriptive terms such as pas de chat, pas de bourree, jetee and sometimes a yell that sounded like "ballone". I decided to check it in a glossary of ballet expressions. I found the "ballon" and a correction about the link between the dancer Balon and the ballon (balloon)*. Your story is richer in wonders (it was Samuel Butler who decided the chicken-egg conundrum by stating that "the hen is only an egg's way to make another egg." (or was it the other way round?)
Mary Efremov: "sharivariii was what the riders of the step wore....tartars, kalmyks, ukraininas kazakhs etc..."
Jansy Mello: Brian Boyd's Annotations to Ada writes: 11.28-29: servant girls in sharovars (somebody had goofed-the word "samovars": sharovary are wide trousers; a samovar of course is the urn Russians use to boil water for tea, perhaps meant to be introduced for local color--it is a cliche of Russianness--despite its irrelevance to this scene, only for it to have been garbled into sharovary.[ ] Sharovary may also evoke the French "charivari" (discordant music), a word used in the opera chapter of Madame Bovary, and even another famous garbling, "Charbovari" (Charles Bovary's mumbled version of his name, taken up as a mocking chorus by his classmates in the opening chapter of Flaubert's novel).,.
btw: great explanation about Pierre Legrand. Reminiscent of PF's Beauchamp and Campbell
... .
.........................................
* Ballon (ballet)
Ballon means "to bounce," where the dancer can show the lightness of the movement. This is a quality, not the elevation or height, of the jump. Even in small, quick jumps (petite allegro), dancers strive to exhibit ballon. A dancer exhibiting ballon would spring off the floor and appear to pause mid-air before landing.[ ]
Ballon is the appearance of being lightweight and light-footed while jumping. It describes the quality, not the height or speed, of a jump. It is a desirable aesthetic in ballet and other dance genres, making it seem as though a dancer effortlessly becomes airborne, floats in the air, and lands softly. The name is widely thought to be derived from the French word ballon (meaning "balloon"), though it has been dubiously claimed that the name was inspired by French ballet danseur Claude Balon, who was known for performing exceptionally light leaps.[1]
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Pot luck that day happened to be a bottle of Zubrovka vodka, home-pickled mushrooms, vorschmack of minced herring, Ukrainian beet soup containing first-grade meat, chicken and rice, and stewed apples. (ibid.)
Jansy Mello: Vorschmack indicates an aperitif, sure. But it wasn't food that which Van had in mind, it was lesbian foreplaying....
Carolyn Kunin: Alexey's swooney-balooney reminds me that the origins of the word balloon are not that well know. An 18th century ballet dancer by the name of Balon could float in the air seemingly defying gravity. His name entered the language, first as a way to describe that extraordinary ability of some dancers, in the 20th century Nijinsky is the preeminent example, to appear almost weightless, and then to describe that flying machine, first flown in Paris in 1787, causing the British to go into paroxysms of fear. Not sure they have ever gotten over it.
Jansy Mello: Fascinating postings. You made me remember ballet class with desriptive terms such as pas de chat, pas de bourree, jetee and sometimes a yell that sounded like "ballone". I decided to check it in a glossary of ballet expressions. I found the "ballon" and a correction about the link between the dancer Balon and the ballon (balloon)*. Your story is richer in wonders (it was Samuel Butler who decided the chicken-egg conundrum by stating that "the hen is only an egg's way to make another egg." (or was it the other way round?)
Mary Efremov: "sharivariii was what the riders of the step wore....tartars, kalmyks, ukraininas kazakhs etc..."
Jansy Mello: Brian Boyd's Annotations to Ada writes: 11.28-29: servant girls in sharovars (somebody had goofed-the word "samovars": sharovary are wide trousers; a samovar of course is the urn Russians use to boil water for tea, perhaps meant to be introduced for local color--it is a cliche of Russianness--despite its irrelevance to this scene, only for it to have been garbled into sharovary.[ ] Sharovary may also evoke the French "charivari" (discordant music), a word used in the opera chapter of Madame Bovary, and even another famous garbling, "Charbovari" (Charles Bovary's mumbled version of his name, taken up as a mocking chorus by his classmates in the opening chapter of Flaubert's novel).,.
btw: great explanation about Pierre Legrand. Reminiscent of PF's Beauchamp and Campbell
... .
.........................................
* Ballon (ballet)
Ballon means "to bounce," where the dancer can show the lightness of the movement. This is a quality, not the elevation or height, of the jump. Even in small, quick jumps (petite allegro), dancers strive to exhibit ballon. A dancer exhibiting ballon would spring off the floor and appear to pause mid-air before landing.[ ]
Ballon is the appearance of being lightweight and light-footed while jumping. It describes the quality, not the height or speed, of a jump. It is a desirable aesthetic in ballet and other dance genres, making it seem as though a dancer effortlessly becomes airborne, floats in the air, and lands softly. The name is widely thought to be derived from the French word ballon (meaning "balloon"), though it has been dubiously claimed that the name was inspired by French ballet danseur Claude Balon, who was known for performing exceptionally light leaps.[1]
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/