84 replies to this topic

[iwatchthecorps]

Paris audiences seem to be embracing ballet social media much more that we do in the US....see comments from tonight's last performance at twitter.

[iwatchthecorps]

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I cannot believe that it has come time to write this post.  Our Paris tour is over.  These past three weeks were truly the highlight of my career and I am sure that every other company member would agree.  Three spectacular weeks, 14 ballets, 17 shows, amazing audiences, and packed houses every night.  There were lines out the door and around the corner for last minute tickets for our final shows.  Miami City Ballet really was the talk of Paris

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From the most recent Tendus Under a a Palm Tree

[cahill]

A u-tube video of the final performance.  The clip of Ballet Imperial is about 3 minutes the applause is the balance of the 8 minute video.


Final Performance

[bart]

If our past experience is any indicator, this will disappear rather quickly from YouTube.  So will another posting there, a segment of In The Night with Jeanette Delgado and Renato Penteado.  

So, if you want to see this, please click cahill's link quickly.  The Ballet Imperial clip is from the final performance of the tour, so the last minute or so of ovation is especially worth watching.

Bravo Catoya and Penteado, and Patricia Delgado, and the lively and impressive corps, in Ballet Imperial.  And Jeanette Delgado and Penteado in In the Night..

[Helene]

I know there were distortions from the angle, but Penteado seems to have wonderful ballon and hang time in the air.

[Jack Reed]

BRAVI!  BRAVI TUTTI!  BRAVI, BRAVI, BRAVI!  BRAVI TUTTI!

[iwatchthecorps]

From the NY Daily News...Ballet legend Edward Villella goes from stage favorite in NY-influenced works to beloved teacher

[bart]

Helene, on 26 July 2011 - 12:51 PM, said:

I know there were distortions from the angle, but Penteado seems to have wonderful ballon and hang time in the air.

On YouTube, Penteado is also seen dancing in the Robbins In the Dark, with Jeanette Delgado.  He is without a doubt the best over-all classical dancer/partner in the company.  He's quite versatile, too.  It's good to see him recovered from the injury issues that limited some of his time on stage last season.

Jack Reed, on 27 July 2011 - 05:32 AM, said:

BRAVI!  BRAVI TUTTI!  BRAVI, BRAVI, BRAVI!  BRAVI TUTTI!

Jack, isn't it nice to know that we have Ballet Imperial to look forward to this season?  In the Night, too. Did you get to see that clip on YouTube?

iwatchthecorps, on 27 July 2011 - 05:42 AM, said:

From the NY Daily News...Ballet legend Edward Villella goes from stage favorite in NY-influenced works to beloved teacher

Thanks, iwatchthecorps.   The writer address the "slow climb" that Villella has had to undertake in the years since founding MCB.  Villella's  long-term strategy has been paying off.  This past two years, with the City Center engagement, the Dance in America taping, and now a world-class triumph in Paris -- he must be thrilled.  As are, clearly and deservedly, the dancers.  

P.S.  The article incorporates a bit of news. soloist Amanda Weingarten (now Amanda Weingarten Goodwin) is retiring to go to Fordham in the fall.  Her goal:  public interest law.  Weingarten was my favorite of the new soloists.  It's a loss for Miami and for ballet, but I'm glad she is doing it for good reasons.

[kfw]

bart, on 27 July 2011 - 06:22 AM, said:

The writer address the "slow climb" that Villella has had to undertake in the years since founding MCB.  Villella's  long-term strategy has been paying off.  This past two years, with the City Center engagement, the Dance in America taping, and now a world-class triumph in Paris -- he must be thrilled.  As are, clearly and deservedly, the dancers.

I'm very happy for Villella, but not so happy that I haven't seen the company for five years (googling to find out just how long it had been, I found my own BA post!). I don't see any touring info on the company's site. Are they touring much domestically these days? Or has Villella said that isn't financially feasible? They used to come to the D.C. area every 2-3 years, and they even did a week at the Kennedy Center.

[Jack Reed]

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Jack, isn't it nice to know that we have Ballet Imperial to look forward to this season?  In the Dark, too. Did you get to see that clip on YouTube?

Not only that, bart, but Ballet Imperial (or Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, for our friends who know the Balanchine repertory) with Catoya and Penteado, maybe!  Not that I never want to see anyone else - who knows?  One of the pleasures of seeing the company - or any company - after an interval of six or twelve months is to see how someone has developed and has power and presence in roles they'd not have been right for before.  Or as good in, anyway.  (Speaking of Penteado, for example, impressive at first and generally gets better and better.)

But I look forward more to Square Dance than to In the Night next season.  But that's it for Balanchine in Florida.  Two ballets, right?  For our French friends, if they're still paying attention, we don't get the repertory in Florida MCB showed in Paris, nor does Florida show the company the enthusiasm Paris did.  The same thing was true in New York in January 2009.  (I knew it would be as far as audience enthusiasm was concerned.)  That's partly why I was happy to watch them in New York and why I wished I was in Paris.  (Maybe next time?)  

Villella has said in his pre-performance talks in Fort Lauderdale, where I usually see MCB dance, that Balanchine is hard to sell, which he has said also is why they use the name of the previous version of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, and whenever I hear that I wonder how they're going about it.  Whether the Balanchine audience isn't there or their marketers can't find it I don't know, and that's a subject - ballet marketing, or performing arts marketing - that deserves its own thread anyway.

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I don't see any touring info on the company's site.

I wish I knew about this, kfw, but evidently they self-produced, i.e. paid for their run, in New York, and so the expense of touring may be the explanation.  Who paid when they came to Chicago (just three performances) I haven't seen.

[Justdoit]

Thanks for the link.  It brought me to tears!  Can you imagine how each dancer must have felt?  A gruelling 3 weeks with everyone giving it their very best for 18 performances!  They've truly earned that response.  BRAVO from the states.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Jack Reed, on 27 July 2011 - 11:24 AM, said:

... we don't get the repertory in Florida MCB showed in Paris, nor does Florida show the company the enthusiasm Paris did.  

...nor is MCB the same company back home sans the touring adittions-(Cox, Baker, etc...).  At least, for me, there are two well denoted periods, BC/AC-( before Cox, after Cox).

[Jack Reed]

That's another very good point, Cristian, thanks for reminding us.

[CM]

Culturebox video - Miami City Ballet and Angelin Prejlocaj draw crowds in Paris.  First time ever at the ballet for the two audience members at the beginning of the clip:



http://culturebox.fr...-foules-a-paris

[Jack Reed]

CM, on 28 July 2011 - 02:30 AM, said:

First time ever at the ballet for the two audience members at the beginning of the clip:

That goes right to the subject of ballet marketing I touched on above.  CM - or anyone - is there any indication of how those two neophytes came to be in that audience?  (Yet another time I regret not having studied French!)