Talk:Kenneth MacMillan

Overhaul
As promised at October's Wiki-bash at the ROH I have overhauled the MacMillan article. Comments and amendments invited from everyone, and in particular I take the liberty of pinging and. Among the changes I have made is the deletion of the info-box, which didn't seem to me to add much, and rather cluttered up the lead: pray consider if this is OK. Also, I think (see, e.g., John Gielgud and John Gielgud, roles and awards) we might usefully hive off the list of MacMillan ballets into a separate linked article, but, again, guidance and comments on this will be most welcome.  Tim riley  talk    17:31, 1 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Excellent work! Yes, I agree that the infobox did not add anything and simply cluttered up the LEAD section. -- Ssilvers (talk) 21:23, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Informal review
An excellent piece of work which had me grasping at nits to pick. Here are my suggestions/recommendations: I would reorder the first paragraph so that his major claim to distinction – his work with the Royal Ballet – is mentioned first. A suggestion: "Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 1929 – 29 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Earlier he had served as director of ballet for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.  He was also associate director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1989, and artistic associate of the Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1992."
 * Lead
 * Early years
 * "After attending a local infants' school, Kenneth studied from 1940 at Great Yarmouth grammar school" – in my day, there was a step between infant and grammar school (unless he was preternaturally bright of course)
 * Dancer
 * "In 1946 while still a student MacMillan appeared..." There probably is a case for a little more punc here.
 * "At first he was an extra, and later he was promoted to a small dancing role". I'm not sure what extras do in ballet companies, but it sounds from your wording that they don't dance. Is that the case?
 * I imagine that the "little theatre" in Henley was the New Theatre (I lived for 15 or so years in Henley and knew it well). Does the source name the theatre?
 * Later: having got to my shelves I find it was called Kenton's Theatre. No connexion with Stan, in the line below this.  Tim riley  talk    16:59, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
 * "the first was danced to jazz by Stan Kenton" – some slightly amusing ambiguity here; perhaps to jazz "composed by" or "performed by" Mr Kenton?
 * Choreographer
 * Punc: I query the comma after "dramatic ballerina"
 * "The previous year, Webster and the Covent Garden board turned down MacMillan's proposal..." The phrasing has an American feel, and there is a tense issue. I would say, "In the previous year, Webster and the Covent Garden board had turned down MacMillan's proposal..." For consideration.
 * Slightly awkward close repetition of "the piece" in the final paragraph. (What would Mahler have thought, I wonder?)
 * Berlin, 1966–69
 * The words "than the opera" in the third line may be dispensed with.
 * "limited him in everyday life in general" → "limited him generally in everyday life" - possibly neater
 * "For his new company..." → "For the Deutsche Oper ballet..." It was not his "new company" for for all these productions. I also wonder whether it's necessary to name them all here, given the copious lists that follow the text.
 * Done the first bit; I'll stick with the list here, I think, as it's only a handful.  Tim riley  talk    17:12, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Royal Ballet director 1970–77
 * He didn't really "secure" the joint directorship of Davis and Hall, since Hall bunked off. Perhaps say he "arranged" Davis & Hall and "secured" MacMillan & Field – the latter did at least operate for a while.
 * Maybe mention when Cranko died.
 * "At the age of 42, MacMillan, hitherto unmarried, and enigmatic about his personal life, married the 26-year-old Australian painter Deborah Williams." Four commas in one shortish sentence. Personally I'd zap those after "42" and "unmarried". Or perhaps rearrange the sentence that doesn't invite quite so many
 * Royal Ballet principal choreographer 1977–92
 * No comments on this section which rounds off his career beautifully. Nothing on the Honours and awards section either, except for the title – no memorials included.

A quick glance at the citations reveals that no. 36 requires a pp. I'm not sure what constitutes a Good Article these days, but I'd be surprised if this fell far short. I wish you success wherever you decide to take it. Brianboulton (talk) 17:00, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Brian, thank you so much. Exactly what I was hoping for. I chuckled at what you rightly say about my surreal drafting in re Stan Kenton. I'll enjoy working through these points over the next few days, and will ponder what you say about GAs. As a ballet ignoramus (only ever seen two MacMillan works) I have no yardstick in re GAN for a dance article, but I have a good idea which ballet-savvy editor to consult about this in due course. Meanwhile, grateful thanks for your review.  Tim riley  talk    17:52, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
 * All these points now acted on, except for checking the Henley theatre, which I'll do when I have access to my bookshelves. Many thanks to Brian for these excellent suggestions.  Tim riley  talk    12:51, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Henley theatre now checked and linked.  Tim riley  talk    16:59, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140714185129/http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/julie-kent-robert-hill?ref=artist&refcar=%2Fartist%2Fk-l to http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/julie-kent-robert-hill?ref=artist&refcar=%2Fartist%2Fk-l

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External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100131052836/http://www.theinterviewonline.co.uk/library/books/jann-parry-interview.aspx to http://www.theinterviewonline.co.uk/library/books/jann-parry-interview.aspx

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External links modified
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I have just modified 9 external links on Kenneth MacMillan. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140509081118/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/kenneth-macmillan/maker-of-dances.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/kenneth-macmillan/maker-of-dances.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150303112635/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/house-of-birds.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/house-of-birds.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150303115317/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/noctambules.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/noctambules.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150303112828/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/turned-out-proud.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/turned-out-proud.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150303113044/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/tannhaeuser-venusberg.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/tannhaeuser-venusberg.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150303112822/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/solitaire.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1953-1960/solitaire.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150303113343/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1977-1992/different-drummer.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1977-1992/different-drummer.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150303115055/http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1977-1992/the-judas-tree.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1977-1992/the-judas-tree.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150215070413/http://kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works.html to http://www.kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works.html

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Wife and daughter
I believe information about his wife and daughter should be included. Mrs. MacMillan controls his work. Also, his death was very traumatic.

Update: Actually, Dec. 2011 version include a bit of this information and bio. material with the photo which was deleted. I think it should be restored.Lmlmss44 (talk) 18:53, 26 December 2018 (UTC)