Former NYCB principal Charles Askegard has been appointed Associate Artistic Director at Minnesota Dance Theatre in Minneapolis. The company which was founded back in the '60s by Loyce Houlton is now directed by her daughter, Lise Houlton, who used to dance with the Stuttgart Ballet and ABT. Charles' affiliation with BalletNext appears to have ended – at least on its website.
This is such a great opportunity for Charles to return to the company and school where he got his start. And Minneapolis is an idyllic land in which to live if you're an artist or happen to love extreme winter weather. Haglund has plenty of cold and snow stories from his dozen years living there. He hopes to have a good reason to return for a couple of days in March/April when ABT presents Giselle at the State Theater – that is, if some well-deserved, long delayed debuts are on the schedule. Fingers crossed.
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The Paris Opera Ballet's 2013-2014 season includes a rep program of Miss Julie and Fall River Legend – an evening of razors, axes, and brutality. Is the outgoing AD sending a subliminal message to the incoming AD?
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The music of Jean Sibelius' The Tempest is quite beautiful but not nearly as danceable as Tchaikovsky's version, which is equally stirring.
Here's hoping that the new ballet by Alexei Ratmansky which will premiere during ABT's fall season will be a lot more than the Ariel character hopping around like Puck in a different headpiece.
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NYCB single tickets go on sale on August 5th. If anybody out there has even the slightest little inkling as to which Swan Lake will be Ana Sophia Scheller's debut, Haglund would appreciate hearing about it. That first week of NYCB coincides with not only Roberto Bolle's gala at City Center but also the Royal Ballet's Edward Watson at the Joyce Theater in Metamorphosis. It's going to be a very tough week for devoted balletomanes to schedule. Maybe NYCB will help us all out by posting casting a bit early – but let's not count on that.
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