California

2018 - yes. But what an odd coincidence! I doubt we'll ever know the whole story, but it's more and more puzzling. Why was Kim given a visa, when he never publicly criticized the war and hasn't performed in the West since the invasion. Were these visa decisions rushed through by the state department without taking time to check things out on all of them? Did somebody say, well, we denied visas in 2018, must be something suspicious?

Here's the BBC story about Smirnova leaving Russia and criticizing the war. This one is the most baffling in this episode: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60767490

Two more sources on the YAGP gala: two Bolshoi dancers were denied visas - Smirnova and Tissi. https://pagesix.com/2018/04/18/acclaimed-russian-ballerinas-denied-entry-into-us/ Kimin Kim got a visa but did he perform? The On Pointe story says he did. Chloe posted a picture of her with Kim a few days ago. I don't see anything on her Instagram this morning with Kim, just Bell. https://pointemagazine.com/bolshoi-dancers-denied-us-visas/

On this morning's Instagram stories from Chloe, there are pictures of her performing with Aran Bell at the YAGP gala. No Kim. Nothing in the morning NY Times. But I did find a story from a NY state assemblyman objecting to the performance of Mariiinsky dancers in NYC. Not at all clear who ordered the cancellation. I hope the story comes out. Here's the letter:

I'm looking at old calendars from 2018, 19, 21, 22, 23: Yes, ABT always followed immediately after the NYCB fall schedule at the State Theatre. Of course, past performance is no guarantee of the future!

One of my favorite clips of Robison rehearsing Manon with Houston Ballet. He waits until the absolute last second to catch her under her arms. A bit of daring I find myself watching for in other performances. Note the gasps from the dancers seated at the side. https://www.instagram.com/reel/6ux3nBxdMz/

According to her Stories today on Instagram, Chloe and Kimin are doing Don Q at the YAGP gala.

Phil Chan and Doug Fullington did the modernized Bayadere for Indiana that was live-streamed recently. They were going to post on YouTube, but I'm not finding it. https://www.dancemagazine.com/friday-film-break/indiana-university-livestream/ I had trouble following the Hollywood story that replaced Act I (my fault), but Kingdom of the Shades was familiar (with some interesting changes in steps and tempo from the original score). I saw Mariinsky do Bayadere at the Kennedy Center in 2017. Tereshkina and Kim - Oh my! There was a local bou-ha-ha when the Kennedy Center demanded there be no blackface. But when they travelled to Berkeley after that they brought back the blackface. Ugh. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_danc/the-ballerina-who-fights-back-in-la-bayadere-she-wont-be-manhandled/2017/10/18/fc0ee978-b41d-11e7-99c6-46bdf7f6f8ba_story.html

I am most excited about Rojo's modernized Raymonda. I was expecting to see it in London in January 2021, but it was cancelled due to COVID. Mixed reviews, but a worthy endeavor. (Now do Bayadere!)

Yes - Sunday, May 25, for those who haven't seen the schedule. So he'll be dancing the entire season.

The complete schedules can be found here in PDF (scroll down): https://www.nycballet.com/season-and-tickets/subscribe/24-25-subscription-packages/ Single tickets go on sale August 5.

One new thing in the Press release: Cornejo's 25th anniversary at the end of the season. If they were going to announce a retirement performance, this would have been the time. Note also that Misty Copeland is at ABTKids.

I looked back at this site a year ago. The full NYCB schedule was posted on April 17.

The press is not a vanity press, as far as I can see, but with "peer review" of only a few weeks, it must be easier to get something into print fast with them. We'll never know, but if he had gotten rejections at more prominent publishers, he might just have decided to get the thing into print one way or another. Ballet books aren't big money-makers. I remember hearing Robert Gottlieb on a panel many years ago saying that when he was the editor-in-chief at Knopf, they were making so much money they didn't care that he was publishing lots of money-losing ballet books. And that was a major publisher during the "ballet boom." Martin is not a young academic trying to get tenure, so the prestige of the publisher doesn't matter so much. https://www.academicapress.com/

I see that the metronome was invented in 1815, so there could be an historic record of the original tempo. I don't know if it was in use in Russia, but that seems possible. https://www.wqxr.org/story/beat-goes-history-metronome/ Pas de cheval -- yes! Interesting that it was dropped at some point in later productions.

I just watched the Friday evening performance and urge that everybody take a look at the performances on Saturday. I confess that it was challenging watching Act I -- very familiar music, much familiar choreography, but I was confused by the characters and narrative (probably my fault). I kept wishing for a simultaneous split screen to remember what the original choreography looked like for different musical passages. I suppose this is a problem for people very familiar with the original, or what counts as the "original" that we've seen in recent decades. The second act after the intermissions was a relief in many ways! The entrance for Kingdom of the Shades, with dancers in short white tutus coming down the familiar ramp. The tempo seemed awfully fast to me and they seemed to add a little step-kick to the back with bent leg that wasn't familiar. I quickly pulled up on another screen the entrances by Royal Ballet and Paris and, indeed, much slower tempo and no kick-step. So now I wonder if that was something found in the Stepanov notation that we'd never seen before. The variations and ensemble work were familiar with slight differences. E.g., the skarf dance had her holding the scarf by herself. No sling up onto the man's shoulder. And that very fast tempo again. So I wonder if there is a basis for thinking that's from the original. And I did keep wishing for a split screen to compare changes. I'm going to have to watch this again tomorrow and encourage everybody to take a look. I'm curious what others think.

Here's the ballet company's web page: https://www.bostonballet.org/home/tickets-performances/ Note that the World Figure Skating Championships are in Boston March 23-30, overlapping a very nice program at Boston Ballet that week! I wonder how hard it is to get tickets to the skating.

Studio 5: Celebrating Arthur Mitchell Free on YouTube: Wednesday, March 27 - 6:30 pm EDT https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2023-2024/studio-5/ Free on-demand through April 9 Join Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) Artistic Director Robert Garland and New York City Ballet (NYCB) Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan in a celebration of the legacy of iconic dancer and choreographer Arthur Mitchell, who would have turned 90 on March 27. Mitchell was the first Black principal at NYCB under George Balanchine, and Mitchell went on to found DTH in 1969, in the height of the Civil Rights Movement and as a response to the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the year prior. The evening will feature performances by DTH and NYCB as well as conversations about the Black aesthetic and its impact on Balanchine's ballets.

Friday, March 29 at 7:30pm EDT: livestream of the world premiere of Phil Chan and Doug Fullington’s Star on the Rise: La Bayadère Reimagined! featuring Marius Petipa’s choreography revived from notation, and a newly orchestrated Ludwig Minkus score by Larry Moore. Indiana University’s website: https://iumusiclive.music.indiana.edu/#/

Rehearsal clips of Aran and Chloe in White Swan. https://www.instagram.com/p/C4-k4r6A8T5/

Notice was just sent out by email that ticket sales for the public for the ABT Met season start Monday, April 22. Friends will be able to start purchasing on Monday, April 15.

I follow @aran_bell on Instagram. He sometimes posts Stories, which only last 24 hours, and also on regular postings. So we see some things.

Bell was featured in galas last year in Japan, Australia, and the Hamptons. He'll be featured at Vail in August. He danced with Boylston last weekend in Connecticut in Cinderella. He did Other Dances in August at the outdoor festival at Lincoln Center. But it was a mystery why he danced so little at the fall ABT season. He was listed for several things and then several of those disappeared. No hint ever of injury, fatigue, exhaustion. I do wish we had more opportunities to see him.

I saw the eighth and final performance of Coppelia by Colorado Ballet this afternoon. It is a very nice production, with well-played comedy touches and pleasant dancing by all. It's not really fair to single out just a handful of dancers, as I didn't see the other casts, but two stand out: Liam Hogan was the lead in the Mazurka (partnering Sara Thomas). He is a new corps member from 2020 and I hadn't noticed him before. I have now! Presence up the gazoo! Very strong technique, commanding presence. I will be watching for him in the final program, a mixed bill, next month. https://coloradoballet.org/Liam-Hogan Principal Jennifer Grace was Swanhilda. She admirably knocked off several technical feats: Italian fouettes, turns a la seconde, super-fast chaines, more. She had a little trouble on those difficult turning balances at the opening of the wedding PdD, but got through them. She was partnered by principal Chris Moulton, a late sub for Mario Labrador. He has a strong presence and impressive technique, but seemed a bit tired, having danced this role just last night! https://coloradoballet.org/Jennifer-Grace

I'm a four-hour plane ride away, but plan to go to La Sylphide/Etudes and maybe Swan Lake. Alas, I have an impossible schedule conflict with Corsaire, or I would go to that, too. Casting hint for Swan Lake: Yuka Iseda. I saw her debut in the role when she was a soloist. Blew me away. Can't wait to see her again. https://philadelphiaballet.org/dancers/yuka-iseda/ EDITED TO ADD: I just found what I wrote about Iseda's SL in March 2018. She was in the corps!! Johnson has now retired, of course. Saturday night was Yuka Iseda (a corps member!) with Jermel Johnson (the only African-American member of the company and a long-time principal). What a knock-out performance - truly memorable. Johnson has the stage presence and experience to exude confidence, command, and calm. His technique was a cut above the others. Iseda was a wonder and I hope to see her again some day in another lead role. Every detail was extended, pushed, held, faster, higher, you name it. The white swan PdD was breathtaking -- it was like seeing it fresh all over again. Her Odile was the same - higher, faster, longer, crisper. Oh my. Just gorgeous. And her acting was spot on throughout -- haunted, almost trance-like as Odette, with a sinister, smirking Odile. But she also let us know that Odile was also under Rothbart's spell with furtive glances ("Am I doing what you want?").