observations 5/14

Well, this is great news!

Dance Week at Lincoln Center will present the following lineup of rebroadcasts of Live from Lincoln Center performances on the LC website and Facebook page:

(1) Saturday, May 30 at 2:00pm ET

 

CARMEN.maquia and Club Havana (2015)

Live from Lincoln Center
Ballet Hispánico

Ballet Hispánico will “whisk us away to contemporary dance’s hottest spot“ (Washington Post) in this showcase of Latin-inspired contemporary dance at its best.

 

(2) Saturday, May 30 at 8:00pm ET

 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1986)

Live from Lincoln Center
New York City Ballet

George Balanchine’s enchanting ballet based on Shakespeare’s comedy comes to magical life in this 1986 Live From Lincoln Center broadcast with the New York City Ballet. Ib Anderson is Oberon; Maria Calegari is Titania; Merrill Ashley dances the Divertissment.

 

(3) Sunday, May 31 at 8:00pm ET

 

American Ballet Theatre at The Metropolitan Opera House (1978)

American Ballet Theatre

An evening of repertory includes the Act III Grand Pas de Deux of Don Quixote, Fokine’s Les Sylphides, Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, and Fokine’s Firebird. This will include Kirkland & Baryshnikov in T&V, Bujones & Makarova in Don Q, Ivan Nagy & Marianna Tcherkaassky in Les Sylphides, AND Cynthia Gregory as Firebird!

 

(4) Monday, June 1 at 7:00pm ET

 

Virtual Workshop Performance Celebration

School of American Ballet

Outstanding highlights of SAB’s annual Workshop Performances, with commentary from the school’s leaders, faculty, and distinguished alumni Justin Peck and Maria Kowroski.

 

(5) Tuesday, June 2 at 8:00pm ET

 

Coppélia (1978)

Live from Lincoln Center
New York City Ballet

George Balanchine’s and Alexandra Danilova’s comic ballet, with music by Léo Delibes, centers on a mechanical girl with whom the hero falls in love. Patricia McBride, Helgi Tomasson, and Shaun O'Brien star.

 

(6) Wednesday, June 3 at 8:00pm ET

 

Tribute to Balanchine (1983)

Live from Lincoln Center
New York City Ballet

A month after the great George Balanchine passed away, New York City Ballet threw this loving tribute to its co-founder, with dances set to Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Gershwin. Vienna Waltzes with Bart Cook, Suzanne Farrell, Kyra Nichols, Sean Lavery, Peter Martins, Karin von Aroldingen; Mozartiana with Farrell; Who Cares with Patricia McBride, Sean Lavery, Heather Watts, Lourdes Lopez.

 

(7) Thursday, June 4 at 8:00pm ET

 

Chroma, Grace, Takademe, Revelations (2015)

Live from Lincoln Center
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Witness a masterpiece of American dance, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, in a program including Wayne McGregor’s  Chroma, Ronald K.  Brown’s  Grace, and Robert Battle’s  Takademe.

 

Comments

[Ellen]

Wow, just wow.! I want to watch it all.

[Haglund]

Thanks much to Jeannette for telling us about it. That T&V with Kirkland & Baryshnikov is stunning. Cannot wait to see Mozartiana, Bujones, and Fire-Eagle Cynthia Gregory--without the Youtube blur.

[Jeannette]

My pleasure, Haglund. It took me a couple of minutes to pick myself off the floor when I read it. So finally we video collectors may be able to see these extraordinary performances in crisp, sharp versions? I’m trembling with delight, LOL! That 1978 ABT all-stars quadruple bill should more than make up for the sadness of the “ABT Together Tonight” infomercial from two nights ago.

[Eulalia Johnson]

Three cheers for Jeannette and Haglund!

[Haglund]

Thanks to Lincoln Center for doing ABT's part for them by pitching in with some real classic & quality ABT programing. Meanwhile, I'm so enjoying this latest installment that NYCB has available through tomorrow night. I think I've watched it 10 times. Tiler Peck in Divertimento No 15 -- all I can say is good heavens, if I hadn't seen it in the theater with my own eyes, I might not believe it.

I noticed that tonight is the 67th anniversary of the premiere of Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun. Where have the years gone?

By the way, the azaleas in Damrosch Park are showing off just as much as Roman Mejia does in Western Symphony. Such great performances...

[Jeannette]

About the ABT 1978 Sylphides, let’s not forget that it also includes iconic star ‘69s and ‘70s Eleanor D’Antuono in the Waltz and pdd, and delicate Rebecca Wright (soloist at both the Joffrey & ABT) in the Mazurka. I believe that this Don Q pdd was Makarova’s return following maternity leave, making it all the more amazing. Firebird also featured 1979s ABT favorites John Meehan as Ivan, Marcos Paredes as Kotschei and recent “Turning Point” movie sensation Leslie Browne as the Beautiful Tsarevna. Lordie, it’s my high school graduation memories all over again! What an amazing gift this is from the Live from Lincoln Center folks.

[Diana]

Jeannette,

I bet you don't look a day over 28.

[Marta]

Haglund & Jeannette: I can't wait to see the 1978 ABT All Stars Hit Parade! I saw the original broadcast - long ago and far away! I still watch the T&V, Sylphides, and Makarova/Bujones DQ PdD on youtube. Also have rewatched the last NYCB Divertimento/Four Ts/Rondo etc. 4 times. What a great program that was! Tiler Peck! Teresa Reichlen! Roman Mejia! I can't say I love Faun as much as some others by Robbins, but I thought it was a wonderful performance from Hyltin & Gordon. Also, Hyltin's intro talk was so natural and delightful.

[LLF]

Thank you, Haglund and Jeannette, for this very good news!

[Georgiann]

Thank You, Haglund and Jeanette!! You made my day!! What a dream come true to see these wonderful ballets and artists from what I consider a golden time in ballet.

[Jeannette]

Not to jump the gun but, heck, I pulled out my DVD of the 1978 ABT quadruple bill — long ago transferred from my Beta tape — just to refresh my memory about the Sylphides casting...it was indeed Eleanor D’Antuono in the featured role that includes the pdd. Eleanor deserves her due! Among so many better known stars, she certainly held her own. Well, I cried from nostalgia and from the simple serene beauty of Sylphides as it was meant to be performed, without Soviet musical changes and Vaganova’s expansion of the corps. That old ABT version was staged by Fokine himself - his last staging before his death (‘41?). I also teared up for the dancers who’ve passed, Nagy and Wright.

By the way, among the many DVDs in my collection, this is #1..the first DVD case at the top of my shelves! It shares a plastic case with another early televised gem: the Disney film “Ballerina” set at the Royal Danish Ballet. That’s how Balletomania began.

I’m wondering if the upcoming Lincoln Center streams will include the intermission features? I can now kick myself for having omitted them to save tape space. They were wonderful: for ex, I remember Kirkland being very tough on herself after that performance, which looked so perfect to most eyes.

[Haglund Fan]

I concur with Georgiann, golden days indeed! Thanks for all the info here. Looking forward to this great escape from reality.

[jose]

Hoping Lincoln Center will also release other ABT Live from LC performances.

[Haglund]

Jose, do mean like that Romeo & Juliet in the late 1980s when McKenzie danced the last scene with his sweat pants on -- that is, until they started to fall off? I believe that the last scene was ultimately re-shot for an eventual tape, but the original version really deserves to be seen again. It kind of characterizes much of the last 30 years of ABT.

Live from Lincoln Center has an ABT Swan Lake with Makarova & Nagy from 1976 (Lucia Chase as the Queen Mother); a 1977 Giselle with Makarova, Baryshnikov, and van Hamel.( I wore out my tape of that Giselle.) They also have the Great Performances broadcast of Swan Lake with Murphy and Corella along with the greatest Pas de Trois of all time (Cornejo, Cornejo, Reyes). So they have a lot more stuff that they could pull out of the vault.

[Marta]

Hi Haglund,

Yes, so true about the other jewels by ABT. How I would love to see them in better technical versions than those on youtube. I also wore out my tape of the 1977 Giselle. You probably know that all the ballets you mention are available on youtube, including the infamous sweat-panted Romeo.

[Solor]

I don't believe they ever re-shot the last act of R&J. The Makarova/Nagy Swan Lake and the Makarova/Baryshnikov Giselle were released on tape and laser disc but never DVD, unfortunately. You can still find the VHS tapes on Amazon from third parties. The Murphy/Corella Swan Lake has been out on DVD for years. What I'd love to see is the Mary Skeaping Sleeping Beauty, which was also broadcast.

[Jeannette]

Haglund, Live fm LC also has a complete Sleeping Beauty with Gregory/Bujones, complete Bayadere with Makarova (who became ill after Act I, so Tcherkassky took over) and a wonderful Petipa mixed bill with Raymonda Suite, Fille pdd, etc. As for the R&J with Mackenzie and the leg warmers - oh yeah, that made my Betamax collection. Priceless!

[Jeannette]

More Balanchine! We now know that the June 1 SAB event will include the complete Scotch Symphony! https://sab.org/virtual-workshop-performance-celebration/

[Haglund]

Solor, I'd like to get another look at that Mary Skeaping Sleeping Beauty from 1979, too. It starred Fernando Bujones, Cynthia Gregory, and Jolinda Menendez as Lilac Fairy. And yes, we definitely need to see that premiere of La Bayadere. Since this was to have been its 50th anniversary, what a great time it would have been for LFLC to bring it out and dust it off. YouTubers really need to upgrade their clips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j87UdCrIgII

Jeanette, I believe that the SAB's Agon PdD from last year which will also be part of the program features Savannah Durham. She's currently still listed as an apprentice, but clearly is going to be an important Sequoia in our beautiful forest that includes Emily Kikta, Christine Clark, Miriam Miller, and Isabella LaFreniere.

[Jeannette]

Thanks, Haglund, for the heads-up on Durham! I’m wondering if the Scotch Symphony fm the 2017 workshop will be the cast led by Mira Nadon (the matinee)? I knew, even then, that Mira was headed for stardom...so stunning as “tall girl” in the recent webcast.

[FanPhyl]

Thank you SO MUCH for giving us a heads up on these available performances! Cant wait, especially the older ABT performances harking back to the way it was and the wonderful dancers. I've watched the grainy videos of those stars over and over on YOUTUBE. I am seeking out all of these others. THANKS HAGLUND!