44 replies to this topic

[Estelle]

nikyia79: there can be some returned tickets in Paris as well, so sometimes there are some tickets which are sold on the evening of the performance. If I remember correctly, the box office opens 45 minutes before the beginning of the performance (so usually at 6:45 PM as performances start at 7:30 PM), but when a performance is sold out people start queuing long before, so to have a chance to get a ticket one should go there much earlier (sometimes as early as 2 hours before the performance- better bring a book !)

Actually it makes me wonder why the POB hadn't scheduled more performances "Giselle", as the tickets have been sold out so quickly...

[Azulynn]

Do try on the day of the performance if you're in Paris, but as Estelle stated, you need to come very early. I'm not even sure two hours before is enough during the holiday season, a lot of people who couldn't book in advance try to get returned tickets (and they will be few I think for Giselle).
It is indeed a shame that only people who are aware of that (mostly regular ballet goers) are able to get tickets in advance... If the POB doesn't want to make a run last for too long, and it's understandable, given how tiring it must be for the dancers, they should do two runs of the same ballet in the season as they used to (split between December and late January/February for instance).

[Mashinka]

Not a mystery to me Estelle, the Parisian public is fairly starved of classical works at the POB these days.  They probably go crazy when they see Giselle scheduled.

[Estelle]

Mashinka, on Nov 20 2006, 07:35 PM, said:

Not a mystery to me Estelle, the Parisian public is fairly starved of classical works at the POB these days.  They probably go crazy when they see Giselle scheduled.

Yes probably... The other performance in the same period is "Coppélia", but it is not Patrice Bart's recent production, not a traditional production (and the next full-length classics this season will be Nureyev's production of "Don Quixote" in February-March and "Cinderella" in April-May). All that makes me think once again about the logic of the programming at the POB, with so many modern works And also, for example, it seems to me that "The Nutcracker" hasn't been performed for years (in France it doesn't have the same status as in the US for example, however I think it would surely attract quite a lot of audience, especially in the holiday season).

[Azulynn]

Now Manuel Legris is injured as well, after Hilaire and Moreau. Aurélie Dupont will dance either with Matthieu Ganio or Nicolas Le Riche. See the POB website for detailed casting...
There's one new injured dancer every day, it seems, and we haven't even got to the opening nights of Giselle and Coppélia - wonder how the company will manage to survive until January !

[volcanohunter]

Azulynn, on Dec 6 2006, 04:59 PM, said:

There's one new injured dancer every day, it seems, and we haven't even got to the opening nights of Giselle and Coppélia - wonder how the company will manage to survive until January !

Do you have any idea why this happens? Should the company be performing at both theatres simultaneously? I realize that with 150 dancers the POB has the numbers to perform at two opera houses at the same time, but it does seem to run out of soloists along the way.

[cygneblanc]

Yes, the compagny has about 150 dancers, but a lot of them don't perform in  classical productions, so even in the corps they aren't enough healthy dancers and school pupils and or/ dancers with non permanent positions are performing in most of the classical productions.

And for the soloists, I guess there can be a lot of possible explanations, but one can wonder if dancing in so many different styles in a very short time is good for their bodies ? And aren't they dancing too much ?

[volcanohunter]

cygneblanc, on Dec 7 2006, 06:31 PM, said:

And aren't they dancing too much ?

That would be my question as well. I don't really understand why the company would schedule two full-scale works simultaneously, especially since the promotion exams also take place in December. Theoretically, the exams shouldn't be a problem, but when injuries to the top ranks force members of the corps to assume larger roles, it becomes an issue. I see that the company has been reduced to 4 Albrechts for 18 performances of Giselle and 4 Swanildas for 17 performances of Coppelia. I suppose that ABT principals would be envious of that work load, since most of them get only 1, maybe 2 performances of a given ballet during their season at the Met, but when etoiles and premiers danseurs begin dropping like flies, there's something very wrong.

[cygneblanc]

Well, I think that featuring two full scales work in december is a financial issue, but to my mind that can be asserted because it bas been shown in the past that both Giselle and Coppelia always attract wide audiences and are almost always sold out, whenever they're scheduled.

[volcanohunter]

Azulynn, on Dec 6 2006, 04:59 PM, said:

Now Manuel Legris is injured as well, after Hilaire and Moreau.

I see that Legris has been scheduled to dance one performance after all. Thank heavens his injury is not serious.

[volcanohunter]

There was a brief report on the POB's Giselle on the evening news of France 2 today. Click on the link and use the menu on the right to skip ahead to 34 minutes past the hour to see Aurelie Dupont and a little bit of Nicolas Le Riche. It will also be available under "Les éditions précédentes" for the next week.

http://jt.france2.fr/20h

And Johnny Hallyday is moving to Switzerland for tax reasons. (Seriously, I don't understand why producers of news programs think stories like this merit top billing.)

[Estelle]

Thanks for the link, volcanuhunter (now I'll have to install the suitable stuff to be able to read it...)

Well, the media always seem to spend a lot of times about any detail concerning Johnny Hallyday (a sixty-something French singer, for all the readers unfamiliar with that name- very famous in France), and perhaps even more now as he also is a bit involved in the presidential campaign as he publicly supported a candidate.

[Azulynn]

For those interested, the POB website now has the updated Giselle casting with the peasant pas de deux and the 2 leading Wilis. Manuel Legris will be dancing two performances.

The Hurel/Ganio pairing was a real treat last weekend - they looked lovely together and they both acted their parts incredibly well. Aurélie Dupont the next day was a wonder in Act 2 - her dancing was flawless, truly ghostly - unfortunately, she has a hard time playing the peasant in Act 1, and Nicolas Le Riche is not the best partner for her...
Emmanuel Thibault and Myriam Ould Braham are close to perfection in the peasant pas de deux, warm, sunny, technically amazing (Thibault's jumps made the audience gasp) - I'm so glad they are scheduled to be on the DVD.
More to come later, I will see other casts as well, including one of the recorded performances. If anyone went, tell us what you thought ;)

[volcanohunter]

Azulynn, on Dec 14 2006, 10:02 AM, said:

The Hurel/Ganio pairing was a real treat last weekend - they looked lovely together and they both acted their parts incredibly well.

I have heard Ganio express admiration for the Albrechts of Baryshnikov and Le Riche. Does his performance resemble theirs in any way? I have a difficult time imagining that it would since he doesn't resemble either one of them physically.

[Azulynn]

volcanohunter, on Dec 15 2006, 10:42 PM, said:

I have heard Ganio express admiration for the Albrechts of Baryshnikov and Le Riche. Does his performance resemble theirs in any way? I have a difficult time imagining that it would since he doesn't resemble either one of them physically.

I haven't seen Baryshnikov's Albrecht and therefore couldn't comment... But Ganio's take on the part didn't resemble Le Riche's IMO. Matthieu Ganio has a much more restrained bearing, which fits his physical appearance, and he was very much the prince who has fallen in love unexpectedly. Le Riche always seems to be giving his all when he's on stage (not that Ganio wasn't of course, but it shows differently) - he's more of a virtuoso, and his Albrecht appears totally spontaneous, less aristocratic, but his relationship to Giselle wasn't as strongly portrayed as in the Hurel/Ganio cast. I'm looking forward to his performance with Laëtitia Pujol, as she was his original partner.

And if anyone can watch French TV, France 3 will be airing Giselle on January 1 (Pujol/Le Riche/Gillot).