135 replies to this topic

[GianninaM]

Teriffic!!

Giannina

[RUKen]

Jane Simpson, on 26 February 2010 - 03:07 AM, said:

News from the RDB press conference: the company will visit the USA in 2011:
Orange County 23 - 29 May
Berkeley, San Francisco 30 May - 5 June
Washington 6 June - 12 June
New York 13 June - 19 June

Limited information is available about their performances in Orange County (Southern California), Berkeley (northern California), and Washington, DC:

Orange County Performing Arts Center
http://www.ocpac.org...D=1062&NavID=86
They will perform the Nordic Choreography Project (short pieces) and Napoli

Zellerbach Hall, University of California, Berkeley
http://www.calperfs....1/dance/rdb.php
They will perform La Sylphide and The Lesson the first two evenings and Nordic Modern Choreography (three short pieces) during the weekend

Kennedy Center
http://www.kennedy-c...ent&event=BLBSH
They will perform Napoli and A Folk Tale

Only the Koch Theater in New York is keeping us in suspense regarding the performances.

[Helene]

According to the venues, the performance dates are:

OCPAC -- 24 May-25 Map, and 27 May-29 May
Berkeley -- 31 May-1 June, 3-4 June
Kennedy Center -- 7 June-12 June

and, as RUKen noted, nothing for the NYC performance.

I suspect the press release dates included the arrival day for each run.  The 13 June is a Monday, and could be the NY arrival date.

I have a question though:  the Kennedy Center site says only that the rep is "Napoli" and "A Folk Tale", but doesn't have a date range for each, nor mention that only the third act of "Napoli" will performed.  Each ballet is a full-length according to the RDB site.  Should I assume they just haven't told us which days each ballet will be performed?

Argh, that RDB is dancing in Berkeley the same weekend that Ballet Arizona does its all-Balanchine program (and is doing its first "Monumentum pro Gesualdo") and the opening weekend for PNB's new "Giselle".  Argh.

[RUKen]

RUKen, on 09 July 2010 - 10:05 AM, said:

Only the Koch Theater in New York is keeping us in suspense regarding the performances.

Finally, the performances at Lincoln Center have been announced:

Tues. June 14 and Wed. June 15: Bournonville Variations, Lost on Slow, The Lesson, + Napoli, ACT III
Fri. June 17 and Sun. June 19: The Lesson and La Sylphide
Sat. June 18 matinee and evening: La Sylphide and Napoli, Act III

[Waelsung]

RUKen, on 03 February 2011 - 02:00 PM, said:

RUKen, on 09 July 2010 - 10:05 AM, said:

Only the Koch Theater in New York is keeping us in suspense regarding the performances.

Finally, the performances at Lincoln Center have been announced:

Tues. June 14 and Wed. June 15: Bournonville Variations, Lost on Slow, The Lesson, + Napoli, ACT III
Fri. June 17 and Sun. June 19: The Lesson and La Sylphide
Sat. June 18 matinee and evening: La Sylphide and Napoli, Act III

Thanks! I wonder when the tickets will go on sale.

[liebs]

The Lesson - OMG I am amazed that this very mediocre ballet is still in their rep.  Thoroughly unpleasant.

[abatt]

liebs, on 03 February 2011 - 04:52 PM, said:

The Lesson - OMG I am amazed that this very mediocre ballet is still in their rep.  Thoroughly unpleasant.

I saw The Lesson a few years ago as part of the Kings of Dance program in New York.  I didn't care for it either.

[California]

Tickets are now on sale on-line:
http://www.davidhkoc...org/events.html

Prices look comparable to NYCB.

[Jane Simpson]

liebs, on 03 February 2011 - 04:52 PM, said:

The Lesson - OMG I am amazed that this very mediocre ballet is still in their rep.  Thoroughly unpleasant.

Far from droppping it, the Danes are very proud of it - it is one of only three ballets enshrined in their official 'cultural canon'! When I saw them do it 3 or 4 years ago I found it rather less exaggerated than for instance the Royal Ballet version, and they had some very convincing dancers - though of course that makes it even more horrifying. (Actually I've been told that some Danes think it's a comedy.)

[California]

California, on 03 February 2011 - 08:23 PM, said:

Tickets are now on sale on-line:
http://www.davidhkoc...org/events.html

What happened? I just checked the web site and the links to buy tickets are all missing! Was anybody able to buy anything on-line? Were those links posted too early by mistake? I'm also wondering if the pricing I saw yesterday (which seemed identical to NYCB pricing) was correct.
http://www.davidhkoc...org/events.html

Let me add: last week, I asked a clerk at the Koch box office when they expected these to go on sale. He said he didn't know, other than sometime in February. Stay tuned!

[papeetepatrick]

Yes, they are missing as of now, and they were still on there this morning.  I called the box office to ask about buying in person, she said call back Monday, that you couldn't buy them at the box office as of today.  I doubt it's serious, although at the time she thought they were available online.

[Waelsung]

I went to the box office today and was told that the tickets would not be on sale until at least Monday or maybe even later.

When I said that they were available online last night, the girl in the window replied "Not anymore."

Guess we'll all have to wait and see  

[Millie]

I called as well, and was told they had no idea when the tickets would go on sale, but to ask them on Monday again.

My dancer is with RDB, and this will be the first time that the whole family will make an effort to go and see him dance, ever!   I live far away, and have never been to the Koch.  Could someone please let me know where is the best place to be sitting.   Is the stage high, so the first few rows only see the feet and we are looking up?   I am hoping to buy tickets near the front of the orchestra if I can, so we can recognize him.   How close can we sit in this theatre and still have a good view of feet and faces?   Any guidance will be much appreciated.

[Anne]

Jane Simpson, on 04 February 2011 - 07:54 AM, said:

liebs, on 03 February 2011 - 04:52 PM, said:

The Lesson - OMG I am amazed that this very mediocre ballet is still in their rep.  Thoroughly unpleasant.

Far from droppping it, the Danes are very proud of it - it is one of only three ballets enshrined in their official 'cultural canon'! When I saw them do it 3 or 4 years ago I found it rather less exaggerated than for instance the Royal Ballet version, and they had some very convincing dancers - though of course that makes it even more horrifying. (Actually I've been told that some Danes think it's a comedy.)

Yes,we are very fond of it in Denmark, and one of its greatest assets is the music (not Danish I’m sorry to say), which I think is absolutely thrilling. I must admit, that I haven't yet met anyone who thought it was just a comedy in the more harmless sense of the word. What appeals to the Danish sense of humour might be the absurdity and the grotesque quality of the ballet. The original source of the ballet is Ionesco's one-act play "La leçon", a famous example of absurd theatre, and therefore the ballet shouldn't be performed in a too realistic manner. It must be performed with some artistic distance and irony, or else it will end up being just a "shabby little shocker", like Puccini’s opera ”Tosca” was once called by a critic. The ballet is, admitted, far more macabre than Ionesco's play. Ionesco's play is immensely funny in all its horror because of his absurd play with words, but dance hasn't that same metaphoric power. Body language is less ambiguous, and therefore the murder becomes more realistic and, yes, more unpleasant, than in the play.

It is possible to watch two very different Danish performances of the ballet on the internet right now. On youtube you can see the ballet chopped into 5 parts with Gudrun Bojesen and Johan Kobborg. It is the performance from the official celebration of the "cultural canon", which Jane mentioned above. And on the homeplage of the Danish National Broadcasting you will find an older version with Flemming Flindt himself and Anne Marie Vessel. The latter is the far more scaring of the two!:

Youtube: The Lesson (not complete - the beginning misses)

Danish Radio: The Lesson

[carbro]

Millie, on 05 February 2011 - 07:51 AM, said:

How close can we sit in this theatre and still have a good view of feet and faces?   Any guidance will be much appreciated.

If your dancer is doing featured roles, you should be fine in the orchestra, although I can't vouch for seats very near the stage.  I have sat in Row R Orchestra a couple of times (four rows from the back) and faces were clearly visible.

However, if your dancer is in the ensemble, perhaps you'd prefer to be able to look down on the stage.  If I were in your position, I'd want the First or Second Ring, Row AA.  Those are equivalent to the box seats in other theaters, and you will not want to sit to close to the stage, because those seats can have less than full view.  You%2