133 replies to this topic

[papeetepatrick]

leonid, on Feb 13 2009, 03:13 PM, said:

Marisa, on Feb 12 2009, 11:43 PM, said:

I am new to Ballet Talk and forums in general.  Your synopsis of the Princess' talk is very interesting, thank you, and makes me wish for more.  I wonder if you know whether her talk was recorded.  
Marisa

As far as I could see the talk was not recorded. I did not write in detail every thing she talked about as I am aware that some of my posts are rather long which embarasses me.
Put it down to my age.

I only saw this just now.  NO, the longer the better!  I want all the details of something like hearing the Princess's talk that someone has time to notate.  My posts are often long, and I'm never embarassed about it even if I should be.  This was a great report.

[Amy Reusch]

Thanks so much for posting this info...   a little digging on the Wadsworth site produced this:

Quote

In addition the museum will present programs of related films and music plus special lectures by a leading Ballets Russes scholar, Lynn Garafola, and the dance critic of the New York Times, Alastair Macauley. For the 2009 Centennial, the Boston Festival will produce a lavish volume of reproductions and essays, including one by Atheneum curator, Eric Zafran, on the Russian Ballet in Hartford, which will be available in the museum shop.


Diaghilev and Style - Alistair Macaulay, Chief Dance Critic for the New York Times
Wednesday Apr 15, 09


Serge Diaghilev and the Adventure of Ballet Modernism - Public Talk
Sunday May 17, 09 - noon

Also,  it seems that this week , February 18-20, there are free “discovery” events from 1:30-3:00 for kids aged 7-12 (with adult):

Quote

Join the museum teachers for a morning or afternoon of galley explorations, interactive games, and art projects. This month, explore the special exhibition The Ballets Russes: Celebrating the Centennial

.

And there's something being done by Full Force dance theater, but as I try to find it again, I can't... perhaps someone else will.

[bart]

In today's Links, dirac has posted an article on the Wadsworth Atheneum show in Hartford, Connecticut:

http://www.courant.c...,0,742024.story

[leonid]

Boston Ballet's programme contribution to the Ballet Russe Centenary,  runs from 14 - 17 May 2009 with the following ballets being performed



The Prodigal Son
MUSIC: Sergei Prokofiev
CHOREOGRAPHY: George Balanchine

Afternoon of a Faun
MUSIC: Claude Debussy
CHOREOGRAPHY: Vaslav Nijinsky

Le Spectre de la Rose
MUSIC: Carl Maria von Weber
CHOREOGRAPHY: Michel Fokine

Le Sacre du Printemps
MUSIC: Igor Stravinsky
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jorma Elo (World Premiere)

[leonid]

HARRIMAN INSTITUTE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Although some events have already taken place there, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University is presenting a continuing series of events celebrating and linked to the Diaghilev Centenary as follows:

Diaghilev – era Russian Dancers on Film
Thursday 12 March 2009-03-06

EXHIBIT: Homage to Diaghilev: Enduring Legacy
Tuesday 31 March 2009 – 22 May 2009

The Fate of the Bolshoi and Maryinsky Theatres after 1917
Monday 13 April 2009-03-06

Between Neoclassicism and Surrealism: Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in the Context of the Russian-French Connection, 1900s-1920s
Thursday, 23 April 2009–Saturday, 25 April 2009

Celebrating Diaghilev in Music and Dance: Afternoon of a Faun and Les Noces
Saturday, 25 April 2009, 8:00pm

Check their website as the programme looks more than just interesting: http://www.harrimani...s.html?id=balle

[Amy Reusch]

I was at the Wadsworth today to meet some friends and watch the movie Ballets Russes again.  I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, but for different parts (must have been lost in thought first time around, I guess).   They did a wonderful job on the exhibit this time.  I went the last two times they've had some of their archive out, and it's really nicely done this year.  They've gone to the trouble of projecting reconstructions of the ballets on the walls of the galleries showing costumes & designs...  it makes the experience more accessible to the general public, I think (if you have no clue of the Ballets Russes oevre, you're not as in awe perhaps of seeing the original designs).   I was surprised not to see their original Bakst of Nijinski as the Faun... perhaps this is on loan to Boston??   Still very worth coming to see.  The designs are just so sumptuous.  I wonder if the lessor role costumes were more likely to survive as perhaps the dancers wearing them sweated less?  Some of the costumes look so hot, it's hard to imagine wearing them under stage lights... perhaps lighting was less intense in the old days?

[leonid]

Amy Reusch, on Mar 8 2009, 12:55 AM, said:

I was at the Wadsworth today to meet some friends and watch the movie Ballets Russes again.  I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, but for different parts (must have been lost in thought first time around, I guess).   They did a wonderful job on the exhibit this time.  I went the last two times they've had some of their archive out, and it's really nicely done this year.  They've gone to the trouble of projecting reconstructions of the ballets on the walls of the galleries showing costumes & designs...  it makes the experience more accessible to the general public, I think (if you have no clue of the Ballets Russes oevre, you're not as in awe perhaps of seeing the original designs).   I was surprised not to see their original Bakst of Nijinski as the Faun... perhaps this is on loan to Boston??   Still very worth coming to see.  The designs are just so sumptuous.  I wonder if the lessor role costumes were more likely to survive as perhaps the dancers wearing them sweated less?  Some of the costumes look so hot, it's hard to imagine wearing them under stage lights... perhaps lighting was less intense in the old days?

Many thanks for posting Amy. Great to hear your views on the event and it sounds successful from what you have told us. Hope it encourages everyone who saw it to learn more about the history of the Ballet Russe without which I doubt we would have the classical and neo classical ballet we know today.

[phenby]

Three more Ballet Russes scheduals of performances not yet listed:

Ballets Russes
Les Sylphides
Apollo
The Dying Swan
Schéhérazade
The Rite of Spring (chor Kenneth MacMillan)
L'Après-midi d'un faune  (chor David Dawson)
Le Spectre de la Rose
June 16 - 20, 2009
English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells, London

100 Years of Les Ballets Russes
Les Sylphides
Scheherazade (chor Krzysztof Pastor)
Le fils prodigue
June 19 - 27, 2009
Het Nationale Ballet, Amsterdam

Soirée  Ballets Russes
program not announced
Dec 12 - 31, 2009
Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris


The total number of exhibitions announced numbers 10.  And plans for the promised Paris show are yet to be unveiled!
To recap and update those already mentioned:


The Ballets Russes: Celebrating the Centennial
Feb 19, 2009 - June 21, 2009
Wadsworth Atheneum, New Haven

Homage to Diaghilev: Enduring Legacy
Mar 31, 2009 - May 22, 2009
Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1909 - 1929: Twenty Years that Changed the World of Art
Apr 15, 2009 - Aug 28, 2009
Pusey Library, Harvard University, Cambridge

Ballets Russes in Paris, 1909 - 2009
May 15, 2009 - Jan. 10, 2010
Dansmuseet, Stockholm

Étonne-Moi!: the Ballets Russes and the Art of the New
May 20, 2009 - ?
808 Gallery, Boston University

Tanz der Farben.  Nijinskys Auge und die Abstraktion
(Dance of Colours. Nijinsky's Eye and Abstraction)
May 20, 2009 - Aug 16, 2009
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

Diaghilev's Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and Its Aftermath
Jun 26, 2009 - Sept 12, 2009
Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Étonne-Moi!
July 9, 2009 - Sept 20, 2009
Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Villa Sauber
Oct 27, 2009 - Jan 24, 2010
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Ballets Russes: The Art of Costume
Dec 4, 2009 - Apr 26, 2010
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1900-1939
Sept 18, 2010 - Jan 16, 2011
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

[leonid]

phenby, on Mar 11 2009, 01:39 AM, said:

Three more Ballet Russes scheduals of performances not yet listed:

Thank you phenby for your most useful contribution.

I would ask that if any balletalkers visit the exhibitions or performances now listed, do give a report and please describe catalogues or programmes.
I said it before and I will say it again, without Diaghilev, ballet would not exist in the manner it does today. It is not just the works he produced, its the countless
people he inspired in all fields related to ballet and his legacy, makes a fine partner to the legacy of the Imperial St. Petersburg Ballet repertoire.

[Amy Reusch]

Slight Correction:   The Wadsworth is in Hartford

Quote

The Ballets Russes: Celebrating the Centennial
Feb 19, 2009 - June 21, 2009
Wadsworth Atheneum, New Haven

With Lectures by Alistair MacCaulay (Wed. April 15 & Lynn Garafola Sun, May 17) and videos of the ballets projected on the walls next to the costumes & set designs

[leonid]

Celebrations in St. Petersburg, Russia


Programme of the international festival "Diaghilev P.S."
Saint Petersburg 12-19 October 2009
12 October, Mnd
Alexandrinsky Theatre

Opening of the Festival. John Neumeier´s Gala Tribute to Diaghilev
Hamburg Ballet Company
Vaslaw – Nijinsky – Le Sacre.
13 October, Tue
Great Philharmonic Hall

Opera Gala Tribute to Diaghilev
Conductor Alexander Titov.
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of St Petersburg.
14 October, Wed
State Russian Museum

Opening of the Exhibition Diaghilev. The Beginning.
15 October, Thu
State Hermitage

Opening of the Exhibition Dance. Homage to Diaghilev.
16 October, Fri
State Hermitage

Russian Ballet Academy Performance at the Hermitage theatre.
17 October, Sat
State Museum of Ethnography

Opening of the Exhibition Silver Age in Gold
Gala Dinner and Ball Jewels in Ballet.
18 October, Sun
The Sheremetev Palace "Imperial Collection"

Concert of young soloists playing unique musical instruments
19 October, Mon
Alexandrinsky Theatre

Closing of the Festival
Ballet Gala featuring International Stars including performance by the Bolshoi theatre of Russia

Further information at
http://www.theatremu...v/programm.html

[phenby]

Paris has finally released the schedual for their Ballets Russes festivities.  For the ballet perfmances:

The Three-Cornered Hat'
Le spectre de la rose
L'Apres-midi d'un faune
Petrouchka

Dec 28 - 28, 2009
Ballet de l'Opera de Paris

The Paris exhibition at the Bibliotheque-Musee de l'Opera de Paris, Salle Garnier
Nov 2, 2009 - April 30, 2010  
Les Ballets russes

[MJ]

This is a review I wrote for the Friends of Connecticut Ballet Newsletter:

Several Friends of Connecticut Ballet went to the Wadsworth Antheneum to see
the Ballet Russe Collection owned by the Wadsworth. The exhibition included
real costumes worn by Nijinsky and the Ballet Russe, along with costume and
set drawings. This exhibition is part of the Centennial anniversary of
Diaghilev's Ballet Russe company. In the 1940 Wadsworth Director Chick Austin
purchased drawings, costumes, and posters for 10,000 dollars. The Wadsworth is
now the de facto center of research for Ballet Russe.

The exhibition,
http://www.wadsworth...amp;type=Future
included drawings by Joan Miro, Picasso, Matisse (no, not our wonderful
Company dancer from Hartford!), Baskt, and others. Drawings were hung next to
original costumes, one could see repairs and stains that all ballet costumes
go through. I spoke to a retired curator at the Wadsworth, and mentioned how
different current ballet costumes are: the hand work was amazing, everything
was hand painted and embroidered, no sequins and sparkly bits.

Several Ballets Russe performances were shown on projection screens, including
L¹Après-midi d¹un faune, Firebird, Petrushka, and Le Sacre de Printemps.

In another Gallery, I had a brief moment to see Couture inspired by The
Ballets Russe including drawings by Erte', and fashion inspired by
"Orientalism." Certainly worth a few moments to view. So much to see, so
little time.

After a delightful, but brief, dinner in the museum cafe, (One of our servers
danced with the Hartford Ballet!) We proceeded down to the Historic Aetna
Theater, A basement theater with and Art Deco wall paintings that reminded me
of Cavemen drawings in France. The theater is doubly significant as it is the
first American stage George Balanchine performed on, with the Wadsworth
sponsoring "Mr. B's" immigration to America.

We attended a short discussion by NY Times Ballet Critic Alistair Macaulay,
who discussed the history of the Ballets Russe and the relationships between
Diaghilev and his Dancers.  Alistair discussed the scandal that accompanied
Nijinsky and the Company and the influence the company had on ballet since.

More details about the Centennial celebrations are in the current issue of
Forbes Life Magazine:
http://www.forbes.co...rt-culture.html
A copy is in the Periodical room of the Darien Library,  which has some exceptional photographs.

The Wadsworth exhibition continues through 12 July 2009, and the Costume
exhibition until 2 August 2009. The New York Public Library for the Performing
Arts in Lincoln Center will have an Exhibition from June 26 through September
12 (www.nypl.org/research/lpa). The Friends of the Connecticut Ballet and
Director Brett Raphael will attend a performance of ABT's Swan Lake in June,
I'm planning on including extra time to visit the Exhibition at the NYPL
across the plaza.

My friends and I enjoyed the evening and all agreed we would do it again.

-Mike Young

[leonid]

MJ, on Apr 20 2009, 10:30 AM, said:

This is a review I wrote for the Friends of Connecticut Ballet Newsletter:
-Mike Young

Thank you for your full and interesting report. For someone across the pond who could not attend, it is most useful to get some idea of what the event is like.
Thank you for the Forbes link which also publishes events elsewhere.

[phenby]

I have yet to visit the Wadsworth exhibition and won't make it to the Harriman Center (Columbia University) but in the meanwhile I'll add my two thumbs up for the current Ballets Russes exhibition in the Pusey Library at Harvard University.  The scope of the decor and costume designs displayed is breathtaking (most from the Howard Rothschild collection).  Various portraits of the dancers (many of these are frequently reproduced in books).  A smattering of programs, letters and signed contracts (the Harvard Theatre Collection has a large archive of these).  Several manuscript/autograph scores of the music for the ballets (Rieti's Le Bal, Dukelsky's Zephyr et Flore. etc).  The exhibition space in the library is a bit cramped but it's hard to complain with so much available to view.
The exhibition opened during the 3-day symposim organized by the Harvard Theatre Collection: Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: Twenty Years that Changed the World of Art. (April 15 - 17).  Some 30 speakers coming from various disciplines, everyone had something interesting to say.  Topics that I rashly presumed would bore me proved interesting after all.  Among the many, that of Prof. Thomas Forrest Kelley on The First Night of The Rite of Spring was outstanding in content and delivery.  
If you have any interest in the Ballets Russes you HAVE TO make it to this exhibition.  It's on view through August 28.  You might wait 'til June though, as nearby Boston University opens their Ballets Russes exhibition in late May following their symposium (I'll be there).

PHENBY