New York City Ballet will help launch this new series with a nationwide cinema encore presentation of The Nutcracker which was originally broadcast in 2011 on PBS. Cinema tickets officially go on sale tomorrow nationwide on the Fathom Events website for screenings on Saturday, Dec. 5th at 12:55 pm and again on Thursday, Dec. 10th at 7pm. Go to the above link, observe the lovely Rebecca Krohn leaning in attitude under the bright spotlight, click on More Info and follow the link to Theater Locations throughout the U.S.
We don't recall that Rebecca was actually in this performance, but we do remember Ashley Bouder, Tiler Peck, Megan Fairchild, Joaquin De Luz and Daniel Ulbricht – totally worth a trip to the cinema if you're not able to get to Manhattan to see them perform live during The Nutcracker season.
We've got to thank Fathom Events for their continued support of presentations of ballet in their cinemas. We sure have seen some fabulous events in the past couple of years.
Meanwhile, we await word on who the other three dance company participants will be in this series.
Update:
Scratch that last sentence.
Thanks to CMM and Kristen for digging out the info from the Fathom site. Here are the dates and companies that will comprise the Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance Inaugural Season:
9/24 – San Francisco Ballet: Romeo & Juliet
10/22 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Chroma, Grace, Takademe, Revelations
11/12 – Ballet Hispanico: CARMEN.maquia and Club Havana
12/5 and 12/10 – New York City Ballet: George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™
It looks like the other three are San Francisco Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Ballet Hispanico:
http://www.fathomevents.com/event/lincoln-center-at-the-movies/more-info/lincoln-center-at-the-movies-events
Posted by: CMM | July 07, 2015 at 05:03 PM
If you click on the Fathom events calendar, they have SF Ballet's Romeo and Juliet, a mixed Ailey bill and Ballet Hispanico as the other three companies under the Lincoln Center at the Movies heading. Good news, I'm especially excited about R&J.
Posted by: Kristen | July 07, 2015 at 05:15 PM
CMM and Kristen:
Excellent sleuthing. I will update the post.
Posted by: Haglund | July 07, 2015 at 05:19 PM
Looks like a major US ballet company is missing from this program...
Posted by: M&M | July 07, 2015 at 08:13 PM
Taken from SFB news letter: " SF Ballet Principal Dancers Maria Kochetkova and Davit Karapetyan perform the title roles of Juliet and Romeo, with Company Principal Dancers Pascal Molat, Joseph Walsh, and Luke Ingham performing the roles of Mercutio, Benvolio, and Tybalt, respectively"
NOOOO, not Kochetkova, I can't stand her. She has pretty feet but it stops there, in my book she is not an artist. I don't understand what is all the hype about her anyway. Tomasson's R&J, IMO there is nothing to rave about, a lot of running around doing nothing. The last act in the tomb, there is barely any time for acting. I can't wait to read your blog about SFB R&J. Davit is an excellent dancer, only SFB would give us Sara Van Patten as J, or Yuan Yuan Tan...sigh..not a dreadful Kochetkova.
Posted by: justanotherdancer | July 07, 2015 at 08:13 PM
M&M,
Yes, indeed, America's national ballet company is missing from the inaugural season of Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance, which begs the question: Not great enough or not American enough?
Posted by: Haglund | July 07, 2015 at 10:03 PM
justanotherdancer,
I feel much the same as you. I don't plan on seeing this particular cinemacast. I could tolerate underwhelming choreography, but I can't tolerate Kochetkova. I would sit through Helgi's choreography any day in order to see a remarkable artist just like I would sit through Peter Martins' works. While both are frequently underwhelming, neither ever offends the audience or ballet or the dancers. For that, in this day and age, we can be grateful and should be more appreciative.
Posted by: Haglund | July 07, 2015 at 10:22 PM
justanotherdancer, I think the hype is the one created through social media. It seems to be the thing to do these days. Making a "name" for yourself, not necessarily making a name for yourself through dance. Also, I think that in a very general sense, the public that follows these dancers on social media have no idea what a remarkable dancer looks like or dances like. They see a leg wacked up high and think "oh, you are so amazing". Most of the amazing dancers are usually too busy honing their craft to be posting all the time or at all.
Posted by: SM | July 08, 2015 at 10:06 AM
I'm disappointed that it's Kochetkova in the performance as well. We have too much exposure to Kochetkova in the NY area, but I have only seen rare video footage of Yuan Yuan Tan and find her utterly stunning. Also, isn't it a bit weird that the series is titled "Lincoln Center at the Movies" but they are showing something filmed in SF?
Posted by: Kristen | July 08, 2015 at 11:04 AM
Regarding time spent on social media and other such popular endeavors, I've heard it said (and admittedly, this may be apocryphal), that when the Beatles were all the rage, someone asked Suzanne Farrell whether she liked the Beatles and her response was, "Who are the Beatles?"
Posted by: Angelica Smith | July 08, 2015 at 03:11 PM
SM, I completely agree with you. There are those who are in service of their art and then there are those who are in service to themselves. The former cultivate their artistry; the latter cultivate celebrity.
Posted by: Haglund | July 08, 2015 at 07:22 PM
SM, I agree with you completely. Nowadays the majority of audience would rate dancers based on how high the legs go. You have no idea how many times patrons who sit next to me at SF Opera House ask for my opinion on certain dancers: " oh look at her leg, her knee almost touches her ear, she is so amazing, should have been principal ... What do you think?" Not wanting to spoil their excitement, often I reply : would you want me to be honest or be nice? Remember when that dreadful Somova bursts into the scene, her solo in Queen of the Dryads was all about acrobatic moves without any substance, she hopped all over the place ( I am sure you can find it on YouTube). I am a huge Sylvie Guillem's fan, IMO Sylvie is one intelligent artist who always pushes boundary.
Haglund, I love your comment about about " certain dancers who are in service for their art, and others in service for themselves. The former cultivate their artistry, the later cultivate celebrity". When I mention this to some dancers, their excuse is the dance career is short, might as well make the best of it (more money) while it lasts. However, when artists are too busy making money, often they don't spend time honning their crafts, they are just too busy global hopping, doing galas after galas... And turn Ballet into a circus act. The same holds true to musician, Sarah Chang is such an example . Last time I heard her play, she made many mistakes, thus I decided I had enough of her. I know you might hate me for saying this, I hope Kochetkova relocates in NY so I don't see her in SFB anymore ( too bad her husband works in the Bay Area, unless he moves too)
Kristen, Yuan Yuan Tan's J is amazing. Last season, she performed it with Vito Mazzeo, former SFB principal/current DNB. Helgi Tomasson's R&J leaves much to be desired. The last act is supposed to showcase SFB dancers' acting skill, to let us see who is the true artist and who is not. However, Helgi brutally cuts the last act so short, there is barely any music left. If you can, watch Yuan Yuan Tan in Little Mermaid Ballet (Available on Amazon), she is quite good there.
Posted by: justanotherdancer | July 09, 2015 at 06:27 PM
Oh my . . . . For three years I've been hoping Kochetkova would leave SFB and go to ABT. As long as she is with SFB, I cannot purchase tickets to full-length ballets because I adamantly don't want to see her and SFB waits until one week before performances to give the casting. I love Pascal Molat as Mercutio and have decided that I will see Romeo and Juliet in September in the local cinema and leave after the second act to avoid Act III, which is pretty much Juliet's act. I would have been happy with any of the other SFB Juliets. And yes, I have sat through Kochetkova's performance as Juliet live. Sigh.
Posted by: J | July 09, 2015 at 10:20 PM
J, it may be that Kochetkova's much-less-than-100% popularity in the S.F. area was a factor in driving her toward ABT, although she's been making the effort to move here ever since Simkin arrived. She would show up for every gala, City Center Fall for Dance, every little pickup group that she could belong to - all just to get her face in front of New Yorkers. Well, we've had enough of her, too.
However, there are total idiots who will squeal like little ballet piglets when she does a set of fouettes with a rotating spot, completely oblivious to the fact that our own Yuriko Kajiya was doing that for a decade. She appeals to the teenybopper YAGP-bound competition dancer who wants so badly to do a 220 degree developpe to the side. There is a reason that she was not hired by the Bolshoi after school and why she was let go by the Royal Ballet: she lacks artistry, she lacks classical aesthetic, she lacks charm, she lacks classical sensibilities. Ugh, it just makes me sick to think that she's coming here and will most likely show up in every one of Herman Cornejo's performances which means that I will continue to avoid them.
Posted by: Haglund | July 10, 2015 at 08:36 AM
"it just makes me sick to think that she's coming here and will most likely show up in every one of Herman Cornejo's performances which means that I will continue to avoid them."
Oh, please don't say that or let it be true. Because watching the rapport between Lane and Cornejo in SB was one of the few things I enjoyed about that ballet.
Truthfully I have a bad feeling about it all. As in they will use Kochetkova as a road block to Sarah Lane. Lane should totally take precedence over her in casting. She rightly deserves to be part of the Monotones I & II production in the fall. But I doubt she will get it. So frustrating.
Posted by: melponeme_k | July 10, 2015 at 10:54 AM
I stopped going to see SFB due to seeing Kochetkova so much. I now go to see their new French principal Mathilde Froustey and also Vanessa Zahorian is wonderful too. Sorry we had to give you NYC ballet fans Kochetkova because while technically impressive, she never progressed beyond competition dancer when it comes to artistry. Funny thing is after her time in England ended, she tried to lobby to join the Marinsky, she even mentioned it in an old interview prior to joining SFB. But why would the Marinsky take her in when Bolshoi bypassed her in the first place, not to mention Marinsky is notoriously anti-petite ballerinas to the point where their shortest ballerina dancing principal roles then, Obraztsova (a good 3 inches taller than Kochetkova) was constantly discriminated against there. They did not let 5'4" Vishneva dance Odette/ Odile until ten years into her career there. No wonder Kochetkova had no luck getting into Marinsky, why would they want her? They're not gullible like ABT.
Cornejo would look better IMO with ballerinas in the 5'2" height range like Sarah Lane, not 4'11" Kochetkova who likes to tout herself as 5 feet tall. I have stood next to her and no way she is 5 feet tall, she is less than 5 feet with Olympic gymnast proportions, aptly so since she dances like a gymnast as opposed to ballerina.
Posted by: Genna | July 12, 2015 at 10:19 AM
Thanks, Genna, for saying that Vanessa Zahorian is wonderful. She is one of my favorites.
Posted by: J | July 12, 2015 at 09:06 PM
We (former) ABT fans are paying a huge price for Stella's promotion.
Posted by: Angelica Smith | July 13, 2015 at 09:47 PM
Hopefully all of the offshore work that Herman Cornejo and Luciana Paris have done together over the years will finally convince McKenzie that despite a small height difference, they are a compatible duo and that we don't need the freakin' Kochetkova. Julio Bocca recognized Luciana's talent early on and gave her fabulous experience. McKenzie just let her rot in the corps for over a dozen years. Hopefully, we will now finally get to see her dance.
Herman & Luciana in Black Swan PdD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnEyuPexMEU
Herman & Luciana in La Bayadere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQxtPWbIp6E
(the guys taping don't shut up in this clip)
Herman & Luciana in Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXpK6ojahGM
Julio Bocca & A Fearless Baby Luciana in Don Q PdD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SVYN9X1V8I
Damn, I miss Julio....
Posted by: Haglund | July 13, 2015 at 10:25 PM