Haglund's Heel

observations 10-10

"The dancers, the stage hands and the New York Philharmonic musicians are donating their participation." This from an article in the online journal Paper City about the special performance being produced by Jared Matthews and Yuriko Kajiya at the Ailey Citigroup Theater on Sunday October 22nd to benefit United Way of Greater Houston's Relief Fund. Somebody pinch us -- NY Phil musicians will accompany the dancers? Just thinking about what those fine artists might do with the music for the Giselle PdD gives us the tickling shivers -- although no one has yet confirmed in words that it will be danced.

Among the 20 dancers performing will be Connor Walsh, Sara Webb, and Daniil Simkin. And a world premiere by Ben Stevenson O.B.E. to boot!

Info here. Tickets here. There are only about 250 seats in the theater which makes it about the size of the center orchestra section of the Joyce Theater.

Come on, people, let's go let's go let's go.

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Also on that same Sunday, at 12:55pm, Bolshoi in Cinema will livestream (on a delayed basis) Le Corsaire (Ratmansky production). We are a little confused about the casting. The Bolshoi website shows Ekaterina Krysanova as Medora on that date with Daria Khokhlova and Igor Tvsirko as Gulnare and Conrade. However, the Pathe Live/Bolshoi Twitter feed announced on September 22nd that Olga Smirnova would debut with Igor on October 22nd. The last time we saw Olga on the big screen a few months ago in Etudes, she really surprised us with her new strength and lovely calm. So, maybe she can pull off Medora, too.

It seems that the performance will be shown in most of the theaters that usually transmit Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema. But check your local listings to make sure.

 

Happy World Ballet Day!

http://worldballetday.com/

 

Australian Ballet

Bolshoi Ballet

Royal Ballet

National Ballet of Canada

San Francisco Ballet

 

Let's keep this tradition going strong.

 

Lincoln Center Festival 2017Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet Runnin' the Jewels at LC

Oh, Jeezle Pete, eyebrows are raising everywhere in Haglundville. Sorry, Mr. LL Cool J, your ballet-suggestive song is too tempting.

 

Pardon our absence these past few days, but we’ve been giddy as a giddykipper while running up and down 10th Avenue to see Lincoln Center Festival’s tri-company 50th anniversary production of George Balanchine’s Jewels. Paris Opera Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet have been sharing the stage each evening in what is turning out to be the most remarkable dance event of the season.

 

When choreographing Jewels, Balanchine chose a French theme for Emeralds, an American theme for Rubies, and a Russian theme for Diamonds. The three countries were important to him in terms of his birth and training as a dancer (Russia), his early development as a choreographer (France), and his groundbreaking work in America. Emeralds reflected the romanticism of the French; Rubies revealed the startling athleticism and easy sexuality found in New York City; and Diamonds harked back to Petipa’s classical ballets made in Russia.

 

So, the idea of having a French company perform Emeralds, an American company perform Rubies, and a Russian company perform Diamonds to celebrate the ballet’s 50th anniversary seemed like a good one. But as with all good ideas relative to ballet in New York City, expectations among balletomanes were high and complicated. We thought/hoped/expected/hoped again that we would see a French school style of dancing in Emeralds, an American school style of dancing in Rubies, and a Russian school style of dancing in Diamonds.

 

The problem is that Paris Opera Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet are not as different as they were back in the days when Balanchine made Jewels. Ballet style and repertories, unfortunately, are going through cultural homogenization that is reducing world interest in individual companies. When New York City Ballet dances Balanchine, Ratmansky, Wheeldon, or Millepied, what’s the point in seeing Paris Opera Ballet or Bolshoi or anyone else dance the same stuff, especially when so much of the choreographers’ stuff is similar, too? There are still a few reasons, though.

 

On opening night, the Paris Opera Ballet demonstrated that collectively its dancers still stand head and shoulders above the rest of the world in terms of uniform articulation and beauty in feet and legs. The commitment to the exacting demands of ballet positions and the shaping of feet on display when they danced Emeralds was a marvel. Every pointe shoe was shaped the same and broke at the same place in the shank to reveal identical glorious arches. Every fifth position in releve was identically shaped with the heel of the back foot articulated perfectly. There were no overly muscled calves that disrupted the uniform classical lines. The dancers’ neck lines were gorgeous and marked by lots of length from the earlobe to the shoulder. And of course, as Parisians, their cheek bones were to die for. So much to admire in their discipline and devotion to balletic form even if much of the original French style has been abandoned.

 

That said, our lead dancers Laetitia Pujol and Myriam Ould-Braham were quite the snoozes. Whatever perfume they were wearing was essentially scentless. Ms. Pujol was noticeably stiff in the neck and shoulders, sometimes seemingly arthritic. Ms. Ould-Braham conveyed a strange authority like she was dancing Myrta. Absent was the rapture that Violette Verdy and later interpreters conveyed when dancing Emeralds. In its place, a sort of introspective, intellectual interpretation of the choreography was dispensed by the leading women. The leading men, however, Mathieu Ganio and Mathias Heymann, delivered a more impressionistic coloring of the romance and mourning in Faure’s music. The three soloists Hannah O’Neill, Sae Eun Park, and Marc Moreau (replacing Francois Alu) imbued their dancing with vibrance and sweep – O’Neill, in particular, is a principal dancer who radiates the glamorous quality that characterizes most of the POB women who eventually rise to etoile. 

 

It was a long 24 hours until we got to the next Emeralds led by Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand with Leonore Baulac and Germain Louvet. Oh, lord, did Dorothee Gilbert wear the perfume — intoxicating as Chanel Coco. Every time she exited the stage, her scent lingered and the viewer was left anxiously awaiting her return. Rapturous in the sweep and bend expected in this ballet but still slightly introspective, Gilbert gave a unique and spellbinding interpretation. Hugo Marchand, who must be one of the most handsome men on any ballet stage today, was, himself, swept away in the romance on stage. Wherever he was in the world or beyond while dancing on the stage last night, he transported the viewer with him. Such a powerful presentation he made along with superb dancing and beautiful classical lines.

 

The simple truth is that you’re not going to get a better Rubies than with Teresa Reichlen in the Tall Girl role and Joaquin De Luz and Megan Fairchild in the PdD. Tess's octane level was off the charts the first night — and twice Saturday, we may as well add. She may have even had a demoralizing effect on Friday night’s Tall Girl, Yulia Grebenshchikova, who was clearly out of her element. Ekaterina Krysanova and Artem Ovcharenko could have used some 8th Avenue experiences to help them convey the idea behind the Rubies PdD – and we’re not talking about experiences with the Disney characters at 8th and 42nd Street either. The corps was clueless as to what they were supposed to be conveying. The stagers, Sandra Jennings and Patricia Neary, must have given them the wrong American movies to watch as sass-prep.

 

But oh my goodness, were the NYCB dancers on fire. Seeing as Jewels is not on the schedule for next year, we may have just seen 41-year-old Joaquin De Luz’s final salute to this role — no one but he and the boss know how much longer we will get to enjoy his incredible performances or how much longer his body can take the punishment. If tonight was that final salute, it was probably the most exciting that we’ve ever seen Joaquin in Rubies. He gave the choreography everything it demanded and deserved, and more. And what a rapport he had going on with Megan Fairchild. She simply uncorked right before our eyes. The energy on the stage has never been higher.

 

On to Diamonds.

 

The Balanchine Trust should make a rule that it can veto Gaynor Minden shoes in Diamonds and anything else that is licensed. Opening night, Olga Smirnova, despite her glorious Vaganova port de bras and scintillating drama, managed to make step after step look brick-like with shoes that were large, stiff, and so heavily shanked that even when her foot was pointed, the shoe wasn’t. Time and time again, she stood in fifth position on pointe and the back foot looked like this / instead of this ( . Sometimes it even looked like this | . It was shocking to see a dancer at this professional level require such re-enforcement in the shoes that they interfered with a respectable classical line. There are dancers who can wear Gaynor Mindens and make them look relatively nice. Olga cannot, and it’s clear that she relies on the heavy shoes because of weaknesses in her feet. During this first performance, some of her pirouettes and the measly three fouettes were as unstable as Putin with plutonium. Her second performance last night, however, found the turns and everything else much more secure.

 

Olga’s abilities to convey fantasy and move beautifully were wondrous. Frequently we were transported by her delivery of a phrase that was nearly spellbinding in its musicality and glistening authority, but then came the slap in the face and splash of cold water that were the Gaynor Minden shoes. We were very happy to see that the maturation of Olga Smirnova is clearly under way. 

 

Her partner, Semyon Chudin, could do no wrong. Paws as big as Baryshnikov’s ensured his landings were silent. He was an exceptional soloist and partner academically although less convincing dramatically.

 

Saturday afternoon brought the highlight of the festival so far in the debut of Alena Kovaleva and Jacopo Tissi in Diamonds. The partnering was so smooth and familiar that we thought for a moment that we saw Jon Stafford’s fingerprints all over it. Jacopo Tissi, a Bolshoi corpsman imported from La Scala where AD Vaziev discovered him, was like a Golden Retriever puppy happily cavorting around on the playground. The beauty of his dancing was undeniable. His physicality was as handsome as Roberto Bolle’s. He landed his jumps with loud thuds, just like a big pup, but his coordination was incredible. We immediately loved this dancer and cannot wait to follow his career.

 

Alena Kovaleva, a 2016 Vaganova graduate, represents another big loss to the Mariinsky. She is already a major ballerina, beyond what Olga was when she went straight from Vaganova to the Bolshoi. It is odd how the Bolshoi isn’t producing dancers the caliber of Olga and Alena in its own school. So tall and long-limbed with substantial control over her length, Alena had a Diamonds debut that may turn out to be historical. Freshness and youth enhanced her every step along with a willingness to take risks and a strong confidence in her partner, Jacopo Tissi. Her elegance of line and breathy port de bras gave Haglund heart palpitations. Nothing was overdone, over-dramatized, or over-accented. What stunning talent Vaziev has found in this pair of dancers!

 

The Friday evening Diamonds was a speedy, melodramatic affair with Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle. Time and time again, Sara went for the excessive positions and dramatic effect which in itself is not a fault; but when the positions are held so long that getting out of them and onto the next one looks like a football player pushing his way down the gridiron, it’s time to re-think. Nothing about her performance was measured. It was all gung-ho, here-we-go, let’s-beat-the-crap-out-of-the-other-team. While sitting in the orchestra, Bolshoi’s AD Vaziev probably observed more than a few similarities to Anastasia Volochkova during her prime years.

 

Tyler certainly got himself in shape for these performances. His manèges of coupé jeté were the best we’ve seen from him in a decade. Same with the turns a la seconde. His bright enthusiasm was a welcome contrast to Sara’s dour expression.

 

There were such differences between the Bolshoi and NYCB in the Diamonds corps de ballet. The Bolshoi ladies were gleaming in their uniform approach to the choreography, but danced it in a very small way. Their third performance last night was a bit more energetic, but still the movement was small. It seemed that the NYCB tempi for Diamonds on Friday night was even fast for NYCB, but it generated a tremendous effort by the corps de ballet dancers who were determined not to scale down their movement just because the music was fast. Bravo to these ladies for their exceptional performances.

 

We’re off to seeing the closing performance of the Jewels Festival and are as giddy as can be. What a tremendous success and treat this week has been. Even after seeing four straight performances of Jewels in 72 hours with a fifth one soon to come, we could do this all again next week.

 

Our Jewels Festival HH Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Alena Kovaleva, whose bedazzling Diamonds re-ignited our burning interest in the Bolshoi Ballet.

 

 

 

 

 

observations 5-21

Casting change for next week's Whipped Cream has been posted. Due to Herman Cornejo's injury, Jeffrey Cirio will substitute on Tuesday night. Let's hope that McKenzie doesn't drop to that very low default position and bring in guest artists for ANY of Herman's other performances. He should remove the struggling ballerinas whose performances were being carried by Herman in the first place and put in a crew who are actual ABT dancers and who can do the steps.

Whipped Cream is a delightful ballet well worth forking over the bucks to take all the kids you know to it. Haglund missed the Whipped Cream float that was driving around Manhattan yesterday, but the video of it looked pretty cute. Some of us are old enough to remember how the circus used to parade the elephants and clowns through the streets to drum up excitement for its big top circus show. What a thrill that was as a kid to see. The irony of yesterday's parade of ABT's characters was that it occurred on the weekend during which the Ringling Bros. circus comes to its fateful end. Its very last performance will be tonight at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

From the video on ABT's social media page, it appeared that the Whipped Cream float might have been headed toward 9th Avenue yesterday where the 9th Avenue International Food Festival was in full swing with all its sugary funnel cakes, fried ice cream, chocolate covered crepes with powdered sugar and some of the world's best freakin' chicken empanadas from the famous Freakin' Puerto Rican Catering Company. All goodies will be available again today. Come on down to 9th Avenue!!!

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Casting for the tri-company performances of Jewels at the Lincoln Center Festival has been officially announced. The Paris Opera Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet are treating us to more variety in the performances than New York City Ballet. What a shame that we will not see Maria Kowroski in one of the Diamonds performances. It's a real lesson to those of us who snapped up tickets to all five performances while anticipating variety.

While the casting doesn't mention the corps dancers for Emeralds, we hope to see some more of the beautiful Paris Opera Ballet dancers on stage. Welcome back, Paris Opera Ballet!

Thursday, July 20 at 7:30pm

Emeralds, Paris Opera Ballet
First Pas de Deux: Laëtitia Pujol, Mathieu Ganio
Second Pas de Deux: Myriam Ould-Braham, Mathias Heymann
Pas de Trois: Hannah O'Neill, Sae Eun Park, François Alu

Rubies, New York City Ballet
Leading Couple: Megan Fairchild, Joaquin De Luz
Soloist: Teresa Reichlen
Four Men: Harrison Coll, Spartak Hoxha, Ralph Ippolito, Giovanni Villalobos
Eight Women: Sara Adams, Likolani Brown, Baily Jones, Meagan Mann, Jenelle Manzi,
Kristen Segin, Sarah Villwock, Claire Von Enck

Diamonds, Bolshoi Ballet
Leading Couple: Olga Smirnova, Semyon Chudin
Soloists: Olga Marchenkova, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Ana Turazashvili, Alena Kovaleva,
Vladislav Kozlov, Artemy Belyakov, Klim Efimov, Ivan Alekseev

Friday, July 21 at 7:30pm

Emeralds, Paris Opera Ballet
First Pas de Deux: Dorothée Gilbert, Hugo Marchand
Second Pas de Deux: Léonore Baulac, Germain Louvet
Pas de Trois: Valentine Colasante, Sae Eun Park, Marc Moreau

Rubies, Bolshoi Ballet
Leading Couple: Ekaterina Krysanova, Artem Ovcharenko
Soloist: Yulia Grebenshchikova
Four Men: Mikhail Kemenov, Batyr Annadurdyev, Anton Savichev, Mikhail Kochan
Eight Women: Margarita Shrainer, Xenia Zhiganshina, Anastasia Denisova, Daria Lovtsova,
Ilona Matsiy-Kiryushkina, Xenia Kern, Bruna Cantanhede Gaglianone, Victoria Litvinova

Diamonds, New York City Ballet
Leading Couple: Sara Mearns, Tyler Angle
Soloists: Emily Gerrity, Laine Habony, Mary Elizabeth Sell, Lydia Wellington, Devin Alberda,
Daniel Applebaum, Aaron Sanz, Andrew Scordato

Saturday, July 22 at 2:30pm

Emeralds, Paris Opera Ballet
First Pas de Deux: Laëtitia Pujol, Mathieu Ganio
Second Pas de Deux: Myriam Ould-Braham, Mathias Heymann
Pas de Trois: Hannah O'Neill, Sae Eun Park, François Alu

Rubies, New York City Ballet
Leading Couple: Megan Fairchild, Joaquin De Luz
Soloist: Teresa Reichlen
Four Men: Harrison Coll, Spartak Hoxha, Ralph Ippolito, Giovanni Villalobos
Eight Women: Sara Adams, Likolani Brown, Baily Jones, Meagan Mann, Jenelle Manzi,
Kristen Segin, Sarah Villwock, Claire Von Enck

Diamonds, Bolshoi Ballet
Leading Couple: Alena Kovaleva, Jacopo Tissi
Soloists: Olga Marchenkova, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Ana Turazashvili, Angelina Karpova,
Vladislav Kozlov, Artemy Belyakov, Klim Efimov, Ivan Alekseev

Saturday, July 22 at 7:30pm

Emeralds, Paris Opera Ballet
First Pas de Deux: Dorothée Gilbert, Hugo Marchand
Second Pas de Deux: Léonore Baulac (Étoile), Germain Louvet
Pas de Trois: Valentine Colasante, Sae Eun Park, Marc Moreau

Rubies, New York City Ballet
Leading Couple: Megan Fairchild, Joaquin De Luz
Soloist: Teresa Reichlen
Four Men: Harrison Coll, Spartak Hoxha, Ralph Ippolito, Giovanni Villalobos
Eight Women: Sara Adams, Likolani Brown, Baily Jones, Meagan Mann, Jenelle Manzi,
Kristen Segin, Sarah Villwock, Claire Von Enck

Diamonds, Bolshoi Ballet
Leading Couple: Olga Smirnova, Semyon Chudin
Soloists: Olga Marchenkova, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Ana Turazashvili, Alena Kovaleva,
Vladislav Kozlov, Artemy Belyakov, Klim Efimov, Ivan Alekseev

Sunday, July 23 at 2:30pm

Emeralds, Paris Opera Ballet
First Pas de Deux: Laëtitia Pujol, Mathieu Ganio
Second pas de Deux: Myriam Ould-Braham, Mathias Heymann
Pas de Trois: Hannah O'Neill, Sae Eun Park, François Alu

Rubies, Bolshoi Ballet
Leading Couple: Ekaterina Krysanova, Vyacheslav Lopatin
Soloist: Olga Marchenkova
Four Men: Mikhail Kemenov, Batyr Annadurdyev, Anton Savichev, Mikhail Kochan
Eight Women: Margarita Shrainer, Xenia Zhiganshina, Anastasia Denisova, Daria Lovtsova,
Ilona Matsiy-Kiryushkina, Xenia Kern, Bruna Cantanhede Gaglianone, Victoria Litvinova

Diamonds, New York City Ballet
Leading Couple: Sara Mearns, Tyler Angle
Soloists: Emily Gerrity, Laine Habony, Mary Elizabeth Sell, Lydia Wellington, Devin Alberda,
Daniel Applebaum, Aaron Sanz, Andrew Scordato

 

 

observations 3-20

What a fabulous Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema transmission on Sunday – and impressively attended! The Bolshoi dancers did fairly well with their two company premieres, Robbins' The Cage and Lander's Etudes, and showed that they are as fluent in Ratmansky's lexicon as any other company with their extraordinary performance of his Russian Seasons.

If the lady insects in The Cage weren't as bitingly aggressive as what we enjoy seeing at NYCB, just give them a little time. They'll come around. Let's hope they don't invite trouble by using theatrical makeup to make either of the intruders look like a less-than-beloved local politician. Uh-oh, we probably shouldn't have said that, but it's too late now... Perhaps our own home company could do something similar, especially if the NEA gets slashed and dismantled. The audience and the dancers would derive much more satisfaction from that than a simple burning in effigy.

Olga Smirnova acquitted herself well in Etudes. Bolshoi Superwoman spokesperson Katerina Novikova explained beforehand that we would be seeing the "1952 version" but didn't explain what that meant. We figured it out though, oh yes, we did. It was the pre-Toni Lander version of Etudes, you know, the one without the bells and whistles. But honestly, Olga was a pleasure to watch in what she did. In this ballet, her extensions a la second were a lot more turned-out and properly placed than what we saw during her unfortunate visit to ABT some years back. She also had those ribs under control.

Johnny Eliasen staged Etudes on the Bolshoi at Lise Lander's request. (She was the 3rd Mrs. Lander immediately after Toni Lander. Without question, Toni is the ballerina most identified with this classic, but Lise didn't mention her during the intermission interview with Novikova.) Eliasen still has some clean-up to do with the ladies in the early tendus section.

The men, Semyon Chudin and Artem Ovcharenko, had mostly successes with their variations but were not especially brilliant. Poor Semyon – the tempo of his first grueling variation was at a pace slower than a Pestov men's class. After that test, though, he was fine. Ovcharenko muffed his series of double tours, but impressively saved them.

All during Etudes, Haglund thought about Devon Teuscher, Christine Schevchenko, and Gillian Murphy. Since ABT now has enough ballerinas who can dance this spectacular piece, why aren't we seeing it? At yesterday's Bolshoi screening, some people were standing up at attention in the aisles to watch the last half of it. We need to see this ballet again in New York, and ABT needs to dance it in order to toughen up and clean up the ranks. These days every dancer there seems to have his or her own version of tendu and personal placement of legs a la seconde. The reality is that a la seconde is a la seconde. Side is side. If the dancer can't get the leg there, he/she shouldn't be in the ballet. At the screening yesterday, those dancers were so perfectly placed to the side that their legs looked like they were plotted on graph paper.

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Speaking of lapses of discipline in today's ballet dancers, Diana Vishneva has now followed Paloma Herrera in publicly criticizing the current generation's distractions with the internet and over-focus on its own happiness rather than classical ballet. She also inferred that the students and young dancers are being coddled.

Most importantly, Diana ripped Nikolay Tsiskaridze and Makhar Vaziev for claiming that the Bolshoi and Mariinsky styles are "the same." In recent years, we've seemingly lost a lot of the cherished Vaganova style and perfume in the Mariinsky. That's lost art. To hear that Tsiskaridze and Vaziev claim that the styles are the same is like hearing someone claim that churches, mosques, synagogues, and all houses of worship are the same. Hopefully, when Diana finishes her flirtation with contemporary dance, she'll settle down and help restore Vaganova at the Mariinsky and wherever else in the world they value it – before it's too late.

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After the Bolshoi in Cinema screening yesterday, Haglund ran up to Lincoln Center to catch the evening performance of Paul Taylor Dance Company with guest company Lyon Opera Ballet performing Merce Cunningham's Summerspace. Also on tap was Martha Graham's Diversion of Angels. Both were danced in the spirits of their creators and revealed the distinct paths that led to Taylor's own brilliant, very American choreography. Our greatest joy of the evening, however, was in seeing the season's single performance of Taylor's Promethean Fire to music by Bach. Created in the months following 9/11, this dance still packs an emotional punch after 15 years. As the dancers swirled in darkness, piled atop one another, rose from their human rubble, and lifted their arms, the most haunting images of the past still came to mind.

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Haglund was unable to get to the Ashley Bouder Project over the weekend but he spoke with people who saw it and who were quite impressed with both Bouder's own choreography and Liz Gerring's. The NYT review of it, however, raises certain serious questions:

Why does Alastair Irrelevant plop down in his theater chair and proceed to watch every ballet on stage through his penis instead of his eyes? He spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on where his big boy might fit in the action on stage. Most every review these days obsesses over whether or not there is same-sex partnering in the choreography. When there is same-sex partnering in the dance, he now questions whether it's sincere or simply gratuitous. He needs to open his eyes when watching ballet and leave his zipper closed. And that's the straight up truth.

My goodness, we've covered a lot of territory on the blog today.

observations 3-3

ABT has posted some Whipped Cream costume photos on its website. There are some very imaginative designs including the costume in which Justin Souriau-Levine seems to have graduated from the Little Mouse in Nutcracker to the Master of Ceremonies in Whipped Cream. How time flies.

Before anyone begins grumbling about this production being copied off of The Nutcracker, please be aware that the original Whipped Cream ballet, under the German name Schlagobers (1924), preceded the popularity of The Nutcracker which had its first performances in the U.S. in 1944.

The costumes from 1924 were pretty outlandish. Here is a link to an image of the original production at the Vienna State Opera maintained at the U.K.'s Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Digital Library. Here's another one from Theatermuseum - Straus und die oper.

Here's hoping that ABT knocks it out of the park with this production and that it draws a lot of interest from the family-oriented audience. It's odd how there is no mention from ABT that Ratmansky already choreographed this ballet in 1994 with Tatiana in the lead. We're wondering if this is all new or if it is part revision. It doesn't really matter. Today's choreographers don't seem too keen on revising their works after the initial publicity dies down; so, if an important one shows that it can be done successfully, that will be a plus – maybe even start a trend.

Looking forward to the premiere.

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Reminder about the Lincoln Center Festival Jewels jubilee tickets:

Pre-sales are in process for donors. From LCF:

This is the schedule:
Monday, February 27: Member levels $1,000 and above
Monday, March 6: Member levels $500 and above
Monday, March 13: Member levels $100 and above
Monday, March 29: General Public

We will be announcing the full lineup for Lincoln Center Festival on March 20, so stay tuned.

This is going to be such a huge event!!!

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Speaking of huge events, don't forget about the April 14th YAGP tribute to Julio Bocca which will also mark his 50th birthday. What a perfect year it would be for him to move back home to New York. What a perfect time it would be for ABT's board to do something about the sorry state of the company's directorship.

Look at this video of Julio as he speaks (in Spanish) so articulately and passionately about his company Ballet Nacional Sodre. He is so youthful and full of energy. Imagine all of the glorious Latino talent from around the world that would be beating down the doors at ABT to get in if Julio were the director here. (Print summary here.)

If more of ABT's board members would get out to see the quality of dancing at NYCB, they would realize what a piss poor job McKenzie is doing. Very few of the ABT dancers, regardless of rank, would qualify for a corps position at NYCB. The difference in institutional achievement is that stark.

 

observations 12-2

The few comments that we've been able to find so far on social media after last night's Iowa City preview premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's new Nutcracker for the Joffrey Ballet are pretty ecstatic. Here's a shot from inside the brand new Hancher Auditorium on the U of I campus courtesy of the alumni association Twitter feed. Haglund is proud to be a U of I alumnus:

This new theater, a replacement for the Hancher Auditorium that was destroyed in floods several years ago, looks stunning. The old one was pretty spectacular also. When Rudolf Nureyev came to Iowa City to perform in Sleeping Beauty, he had the gall to complain that the wings were too big and too drafty for him.

So far, it sounds like the only major glitch in the new Nut has been our choreographer breaking his ankle last week after a backward step into the pit – apparently not while excoriating a dancer as happened with Jerome Robbins.

This video about Basil Twist's contribution was just uploaded yesterday. The rats, omg ...

Current forecast for the December 10th world premiere in Chicago includes 23 degree temps, mild winds, and a 20% chance of snow. That doesn't look so bad – on paper.

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The Royal New Zealand Ballet is searching for another new artistic director to replace Francesco Ventriglia who has decided not to renew his contract when it expires in the coming year. There have been dancer complaints of mistreatment by the AD, and several artists and staff have left or are about to leave the company, including Lucy Green who blossomed so dramatically under the direction of Ethan Stiefel. She has announced that she has accepted a soloist position with the Queensland Ballet which is led by the legendary Li Cunxin.

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It's very exciting to hear that the Lincoln Center Festival will once again present some fantastic ballet next summer. With the NYC Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet sharing the stage for five performances of Balanchine's Jewels, you can bet that the demand for tickets will out of the universe. Hopefully, the Bolshoi will seize the opportunity to get some NYCB advice for their Diamonds team which has kind of gone off the deep end lately, although we have some of the same problems here, too. Where, oh, where did the idea come from that Diamonds is about the pain of giving childbirth?

 

 

Livestream events upcoming

Per the Wall Street Journal, Lincoln Center will run a livestream all-day event on its Facebook page and its constituents' FB pages next Friday, October 7th. The broadcast called From Sunup to Curtain Down will include:

A day in the life of NYCB Principal Megan Fairchild
A visit to SAB
A behind the scenes look at Lincoln Center Theater's production of Falsettos
A visit with actors and directors involved with the New York Film Festival
A pre-performance meeting with Lang Lang who will be banging out Beethoven's PC No. 4 with the NYPhil that night.

Surely if it's going to run all day, there will be a lot more than this. But why can't we find the info on Lincoln Center's FB page or website? Maybe it will show up today.

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Don't forget the 20-hour livestream of World Ballet Day Day that begins on Tuesday, October 4th. It actually begins late on Monday, October 3th for those of us in the U.S. The Australian Ballet opens the celebration which progresses through Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, and concludes with the San Francisco Ballet.

Details and times are on the World Ballet Day Live website from which you can also watch the livestream.  It will broadcast on FB as well.

The regional guest companies invited to participate by the Big Five are Hong Kong Ballet, Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Northern Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Nederlands Dans Theater.

Don't forget. Here's the link: WORLD BALLET DAY LIVE

 

observations 8-30

We've got everything in Manhattan including a brand new sink hole on the Upper West Side. That's right, a sink hole has developed in the middle of Manhattan as the result of flooding from a water main break last night. Unfortunately, the flooding spread into the home of Ballet Hispanico in addition to the sink hole swallowing up somebody's white BMW. The two studio floors in the company's headquarters have been destroyed and the basement where all of their costumes were kept has been flooded as well. Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro reminded us through the NY Daily News that when SuperStorm Sandy hit a few years back, their costume warehouse in New Jersey was destroyed.

This handsome company will need our help in the coming months. We'll post details for any fundraising benefits that we hear about.

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There is chatter about town that the Bolshoi Ballet will return to New York next summer with Balanchine's Jewels and that they will use guest dancers from NYCB and POB for the Emeralds section. We'll keep our ear to the ground for any sound of hooves.

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We need more details about the Ashley Bouder Project performances at Symphony Space on March 17 & 18. All we know is that the New York Jazzharmonic will accompany the dancers and that there will be a premiere of a commission by Liz Gering to a commissioned score by Miho Hazama. Send us your tips, please.

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While ABT is in Paris readying their Sleeping Beauty, it would be helpful if they would do a little wooing of Pierre Lacotte with the goal of persuading him to allow ABT to dance his wonderful Marco Spada that he set on the Bolshoi a few years back with David Hallberg in the lead. That would be a fabulous addition to the repertory.

Mes amis Parisiens – 6  September & 10 September (2:30pm) Ce sont des performances à ne pas manquer.

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Sorry about all the updates this morning, but the news just keeps coming.

The Joffrey Ballet will offer a first glimpse of its brand new Nutcracker by Christopher Wheeldon in a YouTube rehearsal on Thursday, September 8th at 11:30 am - we're pretty sure that's Chicago time which would be 12:30 pm in New York. Here's a link to the Joffrey's YouTube channel.

 

 

observations 4/6

What a busy week on the blog!

NYCB has posted the first week of casting, and there is much to look forward to including Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Tiler Peck and Rebecca Krohn in Emeralds, Ashly Issacs' debut in Tschi PdD opposite Chase Finlay, Emily Gerrity's & Adrian Danchig-Waring's debuts in Robbins' Moves, Joseph Gordon's debut in Symphony in Three Movements which will be led by Sterling Hyltin in one of her best roles.

Unfortunately, Haglund has to miss the opening Tuesday night, but he has a fistful of tickets for the rest of the week.

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There are some updates on Julia Bocca's situation with the Ballet Nacional del Sodre in Uruguay in the post comments here. Not all good news.

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Reminder: this Sunday is the final Bolshoi in Cinema broadcast. Don Q with Ekaterina Krysanova and Semyon Chudin. Check here for local times and venues.

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Tickets for Miami City Ballet (4/13-17 @ Lincoln Center) are still on TDF.