9 replies to this topic

[Farrell Fan]

Toni Bentley does her usual wonderful job in this article about Suzanne and Balanchine's Don Q (I'm sure a link will be posted tomorrow.) I'd like to point out one minor mistake, however. The production opens June 22 and runs for seven performances through June 26, not six as the article has it. There are matinee and evening performances on both Saturday and Sunday. June 25 and 26. Last time I checked the Kennedy Center website, tickets were available for all performances.

[carbro]

Here it is, FF, you shameless shill!  

It's great to know that NBoC has concrete plans for the ballet, including the possibility of touring, and the last sentence of this paragraph -- how sweet!

Quote

Ms. Farrell's new production is a million-dollar venture between her company, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, which operates under the aegis of the Kennedy Center, and the National Ballet of Canada, which will perform the work in Toronto in November 2006. The entire production, including new sets by Zack Brown and costumes by Holly Hynes (all being made in Canada), has been designed to fit into three trucks for touring. For the Washington engagement, featuring 37 dancers from Ms. Farrell's company and 17 from Canada, the original cast of dancers from the 1965 premiere has been invited to opening night.

[Paquita]

Yes, it's great to know that they have set a date for the Toronto premiere! I can't wait! Fall 2006 is also when the NBoC will move to the new opera house- Four Seasons Centre for the Arts. It will be wonderful to see this production in the new venue.

[Cliff]

Don Quixote was mentioned as one of only four full length Balanchine ballets.  Others would be Nutcracker and Midsummer Nights Dream (I think).  What is the fourth?  Is Jewels considered a full-length?

[Helene]

Cliff, on Jun 12 2005, 08:54 PM, said:

Don Quixote was mentioned as one of only four full length Balanchine ballets.  Others would be Nutcracker and Midsummer Nights Dream (I think).  What is the fourth?  Is Jewels considered a full-length?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don Quixote, Nutcracker -- except for the Prince's mime and Candy Cane -- and A Midsummer Night's Dream are original Balanchine full-length ballets.  Coppelia was a collaboration between Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova.  According to Choreography by George Balanchine, Acts I and II were "after Petipa," with the exceptions of the mazurka and czaras in Act I, and,

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[B]ecause the leading role was originally danced by a woman, there is no provision for male variation or supported pas de deux in the score.  Using music from Sylvia, Balanchine created a male variation for Act I and a complete pas de deux for Act III, in which the male variation is taken from his [Balanchine's] Sylvia:  Pas de Deux.

Back to the same reference for Jewels, the same source says, "Each section is a separate work...The ballet lasts a full evening."  (That's clear as mud.)

[Farrell Fan]

I've always been bothered by the term "full-length ballet." How long must a ballet be? Are Apollo, Who Cares, and Mozartiana not full-length ballets because they don't last all night? I think the term "full-evening ballet" is preferable.

[Natalia]

How about Jewels?  It is a full-evening production.

[ssteinbe]

Harlequinade.

[rg]

i'd lobby to excise 'full-length' ballet from ballet lingo.
tho' it's far too late now; this 'term' came into being after years of companies presenting portions of longer works, such as SWAN LAKE, as 'swan lake, act 2' or 'the magic swan' (fedorova's self-standing version of the ballroom act.) so when funds and forces permitted and all of SWAN LAKE (or NUTCRACKER) was presented, the billing included an indication of 'full-length'
some people get bothered about 'full-evening' by asking 'what about matinees?'.
if i must, i tend to use 'multi-act' in print, however graceless that may seem.

[sandik]

rg, on Mar 16 2006, 02:27 PM, said:

i'd lobby to excise 'full-length' ballet from ballet lingo.

Absolutely!!!!!

rg, on Mar 16 2006, 02:27 PM, said:

tho' it's far too late now; this 'term' came into being after years of companies presenting portions of longer works, such as SWAN LAKE, as 'swan lake, act 2' or 'the magic swan' (fedorova's self-standing version of the ballroom act.) so when funds and forces permitted and all of SWAN LAKE (or NUTCRACKER) was presented, the billing included an indication of 'full-length'
some people get bothered about 'full-evening' by asking 'what about matinees?'.
if i must, i tend to use 'multi-act' in print, however graceless that may seem.

I often use "program-length" which is equally graceless.