observations 12-13

Hold on, folks.

If you were planning to watch the encore cinemacast of the Bolshoi's Nutcracker in Manhattan next Sunday, be aware that it seems to have disappeared from the Bolshoi in Cinema's local schedule for that date on its website and disappeared entirely from the major 42nd Street and Union Square cinemas that usually show these presentations. Hopefully, it's just a website malfunction, but being that this is the Bolshoi, well, ....

Stay tuned. We're trying to check the situation out for everyone.

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Simone Messmer will return to the New Haven Ballet for Nutcracker performances at the Shubert Theater December 18-20. Her partner this year will be Miami City Ballet principal Rainer Krenstetter. Tickets here.

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Ana Sophia Scheller will perform the role of Aurora in the Syracuse City Ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty next March 11th and 13th. Having witnessed her Aurora debut with New York City Ballet a couple of seasons ago, Haglund recommends that nobody miss either of her performances next March. Do. Not. Miss.

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Li Cunxin hasn't wasted any time plumping up the profile of the Queensland Ballet and securing its foundation beyond the foreseeable future.

The new artistic director has secured an additional governmental investment of $1.2 million each year beginning in 2016, a $5 million gift from the Ian Potter Foundation, and a 50-year renewal, yes 50-year renewal, on the company's contract with their performance space at the Thomas Dixon Center which also gives them scope to redesign the facility. Cunxin plans to increase the size of the roster by more than 25% over the next four years with the addition of eight new dancers.

Cunxin's vision, with the strong support of the Aussie government, is to build the Queensland Ballet into an "Asia Pacific powerhouse" that can leverage the growing cultural tourism market in Queensland.

One imagines that Cunxin, the acclaimed Houston Ballet principal–stockbroker–inspirational speaker–Australian Father of the Year–artistic director makes one heck of a convincing presentation whenever he gets in front of a group of number-conscious potential donors. He's probably fairly hard to resist - like, the donor whisperer.

One of Haglund's favorite Tharp "bombers" from ABT's In the Upper Room is a principal down there now - beautiful Laura Hidalgo.

 

Comments

[JW]

I think you'll appreciate this "Reason to Love New York Right Now"--I know I do: http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2015/stella-abrera-made-history/

[Haglund]

Thanks much for the link, JW! This is nice to see.

Some of the media's coverage of Stella has had a mea culpa tone to it for initially overlooking her achievements while pleasuring itself over Misty Copeland's lurid PR. It's a shame that NY Mag had to insert Copeland's name into a headline of an article about Stella whose talent, beauty, and integrity stand on their own. But I guess a second thought is better than no thought at all.

[JW]

I know that I scrolled down the list of "reasons" with trepidation, expecting yet another breathless Copeland plaudit. I too was bothered by how the headline was phrased, as though they needed to mention Misty to get people to click through for Stella.

But I appreciated various aspects of the story itself, not just its subject--the (yet too brief) highlighting of her elegance and form, the subtle digs at the Copeland fans as compared to Stella's, the less subtle references to the media's muck-up of its coverage, and the focus on Stella's humility, perseverance, and appreciation by her fellow dancers.

McKenzie can never make right his tardiness with this promotion, but Stella is the reason I will never forget this year of dance.

[Haglund]

Amen, JW.