32 replies to this topic

[Estelle]

The next POB season will be announced on March 8.
The rumors I've heard so far (many modern works, increased prices...) don't make me feel optimistic. Well, let's hope it's not true!

[Estelle]

The season was announced today to the AROP members. It's not online yet, but here's what was announced (thanks to Françoise for the information)- unfortunately, the rumors were true and I find that season really dreary :angry:  

So here is the 2004-2005 season:

-a triple bill: Jérôme Bel (new work)- Harald Lander (Etudes)- Jerome Robbins (Glass pieces) in September.

The first performance will also include the défile and Balanchine's Sonatine (and, as it has become usual in the last few fews, will probably be overpriced )

-A Preljocaj double bill (with MC 14/22 and a new work)

-a triple bill: Trisha Brown (Glacial decoy and a new work)- William Forsythe (Pas/ parts), Francine Lancelot (Bach suite)

-Nureyev's production of The Sleeping Beauty

-Kader Belarbi's Hurlevent

-Nureyev's production of Cinderella

-a triple bill: Suzanne Linke (Les familiers du labyrinthe)- Michèle Noiret (new work)- Laura Scozzi (The seven deadly sins, premiered a few seasons ago during a homage to Kochno)

-John Neumeier's Sylvia

-Pina Bausch's Orphée et Eurydice

-Nureyev's production of Romeo and Juliet

-a Roland Petit triple bill with Carmen, Le jeune homme et la mort and L'Arlésienne

And that's all for the company. As you can see, there's a sad lack of classical works: only three big productions by Nureyev, and (in the neoclassical field) only Etudes, Glass pieces, Neumeier's Sylvia (which I don't find very interesting- and which was performed for a half-empty theater last season) and the Petit works. All the new works in the repertory are modern works.

There's a definite slant towards modern works. I don't know if it has anything to do with the arrival of Gerard Mortier as the successor of Hugues Gall... But that season sounds indeed like one of the Théâtre de la Ville, not one of the Paris Opera Ballet! And much of the repertory of the company is completely ignored: no Lifar (who was born in 1905),
no Balanchine, Tudor, no Ashton, no Fokine...

Also the two guest companies of the season will be modern: the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and Alain Platel's company.

The school program will include a new work by José Martinez, Balanchine's Le Tombeau de Couperin (the only Balanchine work of the season <sigh>) and Aveline's Les deux pigeons.

Well, I guess I'll save some money on ballet tickets next season.

[Estelle]

And one more little gift by the Paris Opera: the prices will increase quite a lot (more than +10% for some categories, and some seats will be in a more expensive category than before).

[Françoise]

Estelle, the programm is so clear  :rolleyes:  that it's not Suzanne Linke who choreographied Les Familiers du Labyrinthe but Michèle Noiret   .
It's a new work of Suzanne Linka that we will have in this evening consacred to women choreograph.

A very sad season too contemporary, no neo-classical   and always the same ballets in classical :angry:

[Estelle]

Thanks for the precision, Françoise.

Yes, it's a really sad season And I really wonder if they'll find enough people to fill the theater to see such programs...

[cygneblanc]

Well, for sure, I won't be contributing  a lot to the filling of the theater   ! Thank you so much to the new direction   ! I think I will save enough money to travel to London and have the chance to see some ballet !

[Naoko S]

Come along to London, folks (and the dancers too!) - you're all *very* welcome.  But be warned ticket prices are even higher here.....

....well I share your grief.  Too few classical works, total absence of ballets blanc and  Balanchine (nearly!) has made me speechless - surely the choice of repertoire is not dependent on financial reasons?  (I've been led to believe POB is the wealthiest ballet company in Europe.....)

[Alexandra]

Ah, now the Paris Opera Ballet is officially a modern dance company, it seems.

[Juliette]

Unfortunately, yes, POB is becoming a modern dance company and it really makes me sick; it's so unfair! It's like it's bad to love ballet in France.
There are already so many theatres here in Paris where people can see modern dance, but there was only one where we could still see classical works. Besides, if some dancers are well-at-ease in modern dance, most of all are only well-trained classical dancers and will not dance a lot next season.
People are very lucky in London and in the US!

[Estelle]

Juliette, on Mar 11 2004, 12:13 PM, said:

There are already so many theatres here in Paris where people can see modern dance, but there was only one where we could still see classical works. Besides, if some dancers are well-at-ease in modern dance, most of all are only well-trained classical dancers and will not dance a lot next season.

Oh yes, I agree with you completely, Juliette! Also, being required to switch so often between so many different styles and techniques often causes many injuries.

Naoko, yes the Paris Opera is very rich, however I think that in general more money goes to opera productions than to ballet productions. But I have no idea of what costs more... And there will be a lot of new works in the next season which usually costs quite a lot (new sets, new costumes, sometimes new music). A large majority of the modern dance works created by the Paris Opera Ballet during the last decade (e.g. Lionel Hoche's Yamm, Jean-Claude Gallotta's Nosferatu, Odile Duboc's Rhapsody in blue, Darde's Orison...) were not performed after their first season and are unlikely to be performed again- so even it they were less expensive than classical productions, that's not a wise investment...

Also what is saddening is that there really is some audience who wants to see more classics (for example, Lacotte's "Paquita" was received with much enthusiasm by the audience, the Bolchoi's performances were sold out, etc.) but the direction seems to pay very little attention to that, and seems to think now that the POB's role is to dance about any kind of dance.

[Alexandra]

If all of you would write to them and say what you've said here, it might make a difference!

[Juliette]

A lot of us intend to do something to tell the POB how we feel about it. And any people who would do the same and support us will be welcome!

[GWTW]

I wonder how the POB's income from tickets is divided up between 'regular' ballet-goers and between tourists/corporate, etc. Personally, when I was in Paris 3 years ago, I would have gone to anything being presented by the POB. Of course, I would have preferred to have seen Swan Lake or La Bayadere rather than Nosferatu  :shrug: but what could I do, Nosferatu was the only production on at the time. Perhaps management counts on 'drop-ins' more than on 'regulars'.
Also, as it is heavily subsidized, the POB can afford to ignore public opinion more than most companies. French posters, are there ever discussions of reducing its subsidy?

[Marc Haegeman]

It seems that Brigitte Lefèvre's idea about how to preserve classical ballet in Paris is limited to mount a two or three Nureyev classics per season, and that's it. A whole part of their classical repertory is completely overlooked and sacrificed to contemporary dance. The next step could be to stage their examinations with three minutes of Bausch or Brown.

[Herman Stevens]

Alexandra, on Mar 12 2004, 01:31 AM, said:

If all of you would write to them and say what you've said here, it might make a difference!

That is definitely not the way it works in France.

I suspect that would encourage the guys in charge to do more Bausch.