Haglund's Heel

RNZB coming to the Joyce Theater 2014

The Royal New Zealand Ballet will close out the Joyce Theater's Winter 2014 season with a rep program February 12-16.  

The company's debut performances in New York will include Millepied's 28 Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Banderillero by Venezuelan choreographer Javier De Frutos, and Of Days by Andrew Simmons.

Back in November when Haglund first broke the story that the RNZB might visit NYC, he had hopes that the company would bring its spanking brand new Giselle.  Unfortunately, it looks like Ethan Stiefel has chosen to pass us by for the new Giselle, although the company will perform it elsewhere in the U.S. on this particular tour, including in Los Angeles.  So, gloat-on, L.A. – but, please, not too loudly.

RNZB getting closer to NYC

In addition to the January 31 - February 2 dates in LA, the Royal New Zealand Ballet will perform a mixed rep program in the Twin Cities on February 8 as part of the Northrup MOVES Dance Season. 

Anticipating some NYC dates.

RNZB and Giselle coming to L.A. in Jan/Feb

The Royal New Zealand Ballet will bring its acclaimed new Stiefel/Kobborg production of Giselle to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion January 31 through February 2.

Okay, now we're waiting impatiently (really impatiently) for the expected New York area dates.

 

RNZB – Hops on Pointe brew

The Garage Project in Wellington, New Zealand describes the beauty of its new RNZB signature brew:

Hops on Pointe was brewed with premium German malts, Nelson Sauvin hops and finished with champagne yeast; the result is a pale gold lager with a crisp, clean palate, rich tropical fruit aromas and tight champagne bubbles forming a dense white head of foam.

Familiar ballerina at the brewery:

from RNZB's FB page

RNZB – Made to Move opens

The Royal New Zealand Ballet opened its Made to Move repertory evening in Wellington last night with three brand new works including one choreographed by Ethan Stiefel entitled Bier Halle to waltzes by Johann Straus II with Gillian Murphy and Qi Huan in the leads.  To mark that occasion along with RNZB's 60th anniversary season, the local Wellington brewer, Garage Project, debuted a new craft beer, Hops on Pointe. 

Here are a few of photos from the RNZB FB page of Stiefel's new work.  Click to enlarge:

Javier de Frutos choreographed Anatomy of a Passing Cloud to Pacific Island sound clips, and Andrew Simmons created Of Days to music by Dustin O'Halloran, Ludovico Einaudi and Olafur Arnalds.  Here's an Of Days pic from the RNZB website:

 and Anatomy of a Passing Cloud:

Meanwhile, it sounds like the new RNZB Giselle feature film is coming together quickly.  There has got to be some kind of a trailer in the works, and Haglund will keep his eyes out for it.

Foam and cleavage

Gillian Murphy hoists a half dozen beer steins in a promo photo for Ethan Stiefel's new one-act ballet about a Bavarian beer hall for the Royal New Zealand Ballet's upcoming Made to Move season.  The program which includes premieres by Andrew Simmons and Javier De Frutos opens on February 27th in Wellington and tours the country through March.

from RNZB website

 

UIEX: RNZB bringing Giselle to NYC!

Whoa, this almost got by old Haglund. 

We knew that the Royal New Zealand Ballet planned to take its new Stiefel/Kobborg production of Giselle to China next year, but now it seems that there is a trip to NYC planned also.  In a filmed interview for TVNZ,  AD Ethan Stiefel and the director of the new RNZB feature film, Toa Fraser, spoke about filming the production while the company tours New Zealand "before heading to China and New York next year."  

The interview includes some brief footage of Gillian Murphy in Acts I & II (watch the huge lift by Qi Huan's Albrecht) and, of course, what would an interview with Stiefel be without footage from Center Stage - except this footage shows Radetsky!

Who could possibly be surprised that Stiefel is bringing RNZB and its Giselle starring Gillian Murphy to NYC?  Well, possibly Kevin McKenzie who has never given her the chance to dance the title role in her 16 years with ABT.  There's nothing like having your bad decisions shoved in your face in the center of Manhattan. 

 

RNZB's new Giselle opens in Wellington

Continually updated

Photo: Ross Brown

The Royal New Zealand Ballet's brand new production of Giselle opened last evening in Wellington with Gillian Murphy's debut in the title role.  Haglund will link to the reviews as they come in.

Lucire News  Giselle Another outstanding production for the Royal New Zealand Ballet

Twitter feed

Update 11/7:

Dominion-Post  [Gillian Murphy] may have the reputation of being a fast dancer but believe me, she does slow too. Balances are held, arabesques developed, port de bras sustained, pirouettes gifted, all speaking of love. Lucky RNZB, and they know it.

Update 11/8:

New Zealand's Theatreview

Update 11/8: 

New Zealand dance critic Raewyn Whyte has seen the first two casts of Giselle (Murphy/Huan and Antonia Hewitt/Andrew Bowman) and has been kind enough to share her exclusive comments with H.H. in the Comments section of this post. 

Update 11/8:

From Valerie Lawson's website dancelines:   [Giselle] is big in scope, in its sweep of narrative, its adherence to the spirit of the story and most of all in the impact of the performance as Giselle by Stiefel’s fiancée, Gillian Murphy.

Update 11/9:

This is a fabulous and very detailed 10 minute audio review of the opening night of Giselle by Deirdre Tarrant on Radio New Zealand.   "Beautifully done....They got it 200 percent."

Update 11/12:

Raewyn Whyte's first formal review of Giselle is out, a second one is due out after the Auckland performances:

The dancing is demanding throughout the work’s 110 minutes, and the company has never looked better – technically poised and polished, lyrically perfect, and expressively convincing.  The majority of dancers are younger than 32 and have come from all over the world to be in this company. Most have been here at least five years, and are highly committed to staying. That they are at their best right now is hardly surprising, given the input they have had over the past six weeks  from Stiefel and Kobborg, Gillian Murphy (of ABT and who is the Royal NZ Ballet’s Principal Guest Artist), and coach Amanda McKerrow.

Thanks, Raewyn!

Update 11/23

Raewyn Whyte previews RNZB's upcoming visit to Auckland in the New Zealand Herald.

 

RNZB creating feature film Giselle

The tip received by the UIEX three weeks ago about a new film of Giselle by the Royal New Zealand Ballet appears to have been a good one.

An article dated tomorrow and appearing online tonight is the official announcement by The New Zealand Film Commission of a feature film of Giselle in collaboration with RNZB.  The feature film, which is being produced by Matthew Metcalfe and stars Gillian Murphy, will "capture performances, rehearsals and much more."  So we can expect Ethan Stiefel, Johan Kobborg, and the beautiful Amanda McKerrow to be featured prominently as they piece together this new production.

"Our film is an interpretation of the Royal New Zealand Ballet's beautiful, moving production of Giselle," says [Director] Toa Fraser. "The film will move in and out of the theatre, through time and space, to create a truly cinematic, poetic retelling of the story".

Wow.  Gillian has gone from having no chance to dance Giselle in 16 years at McKenzie's ABT to dancing the title role in a brand new production and starring in a ballet feature film that will surely rekindle the heat under scores of Center Stage fans who as of last summer were still streaming into the Met Opera House to scream their lungs out when Stiefel and Sascha Radetsky performed on the stage together.

Maybe Stiefel will grant McKenzie a complimentary private screening and a continuous update of how much money the commercial release is making for RNZB.

RNZB's Giselle premieres next Wednesday night in Wellington. 

 

UIEX: RNZB's Giselle on the big screen!

The Unofficial Information Exchange (UIEX) ticker is whirling around in the wee hours of the morning after getting a tip on an interview with playwright and filmmaker Toa Fraser in which he confirmed that he is "working with the Royal New Zealand Ballet to bring a version of its production of Giselle to the big screen." 

Could this possibly mean that we all may eventually get to see Gillian Murphy's Giselle?

RNZB – Gillian Murphy as Giselle!

Early promo picture. 

Here are Gillian and the RNZB's wonderful Qi Huan (Albrecht on his knee) with Dimitri Kleioris in the foreground as Hilarion.

Gillian makes her debut as Giselle in the RNZB's brand new production on November 7th in Wellington.

 

RNZB – Now hair this!

Royal New Zealand Ballet's beautiful Abigail Boyle was just announced by Proctor & Gamble's Head & Shoulders Division as its brand new Ambassador:

Head & Shoulders sponsorship of New Zealand’s Got Talent will be led by the brand’s new ambassador, highly acclaimed Royal New Zealand Ballet dancer Abigail Boyle, who will also attend and perform at the wildcard competition.

It's hard to find another company that year in and year out plows more resources into worldwide philanthropy and uses cause marketing with such expertise than P&G.  What a boon it will be for RNZB to have one of its exquisite dancers aligned with such an important company and worldwide brand.

There's another P&G Ambassador who you may have heard about:  Michael Phelps.

Terrific news!

Here's Abigail in Balanchine's Who Cares? which was presented this past season as part of Ethan Stiefel's NYC program for the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

 

Ballet Boy New Zealand

Ballet Boy New Zealand is a new blog authored by 12-year old Salem and his mother.  Salem has appeared in numerous productions of the Royal New Zealand Ballet including Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, and is currently appearing in Cinderella.  He's studying ballet (RAD course) and contemporary dance and works with a personal fitness trainer to improve his balance, coordination, and strength.  He aspires to be a member of RNZB when he gets a little older.  Salem has Asperger's Syndrome.

 

RNZB – Cinderella

The Royal New Zealand Ballet opens its run of Christopher Hampson's Cinderella on Thursday in Wellington.  Following performances through August 11, the company takes the production on a month-long tour throughout the country.  Designer Tracy Grant Lord has updated the costumes and added 90,000, yes 90,000 Swarovski crystals to Cinderella's tutu.   Young Lucy Green, who joined the company in 2010, carries the weight of those crystals and the weight of performing the title role on opening night.  We'll try to find some performance photos.

Photo Ross Brown

Oh, gosh, Haglund just noticed that RNZB's heartthrob, Sergio Torrado, has left the company.  Perhaps he would like to come here and dance with our Stella again.  He could sleep on Haglund's couch - with or without the kitty.

 

RNZB - Secret Lives of Dancers - technical issue

Flowerbomb reports that her Vimeo channel encountered some technical difficulties.  It seems that the technicality marshals may have deleted her channel which is why we're getting the "Sorry" message.  However, she utilizes multiple hosts and may be able to upload the deleted episodes to one of them. 

Whatever you can do, F'bomb, will be appreciated.  Thanks so much.  We enjoyed the episodes immensely!  And we'll still buy you dinner when you can get to New York.

Update:  See explanation three posts down.  Woohoo!