Ballet in Cinema

[abatt]

Here is a link to an interview w. Natalia Osipova. She and Ivan Vasiliev will be in a movie broadcast on Sun. Mar. 6 of Don Q live from the Bolshoi.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/a-real-ballerina-hits-the-big-screen-a-conversation-with-natalia-osipova/?ref=arts

It appears that the only theater in Manhattan showing this will be Big Cinemas Mahhattan, with a showing on Mar. 6 at 11 AM. However, the Big Cinemas website refers to a showing of Don Q. on Mar. 6 at 11 AM starring Vladimir Ponomarev, Anton Lukovkin, Igor Petrov, Olesia Novikova. Is this a mistake?

Any info is appreciated.

[Lidewij]

And according to the interview, she will also do Coppélia and Esmeralda (next year). Happy as I am to get to see these productions, I was secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the other great Bolshoi soloists/principals in the leading roles..

Not that it matters that much to me; the fact that we get to see 'Esmeralda' alone makes me feel

[EvilNinjaX]

Here is a link to an interview w. Natalia Osipova. She and Ivan Vasiliev will be in a movie broadcast on Sun. Mar. 6 of Don Q live from the Bolshoi.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/a-real-ballerina-hits-the-big-screen-a-conversation-with-natalia-osipova/?ref=arts

It appears that the only theater in Manhattan showing this will be Big Cinemas Mahhattan, with a showing on Mar. 6 at 11 AM. However, the Big Cinemas website refers to a showing of Don Q. on Mar. 6 at 11 AM starring Vladimir Ponomarev, Anton Lukovkin, Igor Petrov, Olesia Novikova. Is this a mistake?

Any info is appreciated.

Here in Chandler, AZ, it's listed as Kirov Don Q w/Terekhova at 9am (Mountain Time).

My guess is that their website backend uses a movie database and they had to picked from items that were available from there. So that's why we get a previously released Don Q. Since there's no entry (presumably) of the current Osipova one, they just picked one that is "close."

I am still planning on going w/the assumption that this is the correct one.

-goro-

[EvilNinjaX]

Here is a link to an interview w. Natalia Osipova. She and Ivan Vasiliev will be in a movie broadcast on Sun. Mar. 6 of Don Q live from the Bolshoi.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/a-real-ballerina-hits-the-big-screen-a-conversation-with-natalia-osipova/?ref=arts

I went to the movie theatre this morning to watch the performance and it was an interesting experience.

Just a few things:

* There was a fixed camera set up filming the stage behind the closed curtain. Before the performance, they were streaming that video, so while you were sitting in the movie theatre, you didn't have to watch those awful Movie theatre ads and nonsense. Instead, you saw Osipova stretching or vasiliev goofing with Don Q, etc. etc. That was very cool.

* During the intermissions, the hostess interviewed a person regarding aspects of the ballet. The first intermission was with a former danseur (Genndy something?) regarding the origins of Don Q, and the versions that were created after the initial one. The second intermission was with a former character danseuse regarding the spanish flavor to the gypsy dance etc. The interviews took place on stage behind the curtain, so again, you saw the preparation going on backstage as well as the scenery change effort.

* There were a few connectivity and bandwidth/buffering issues. I recall 3 distinct times when audio dropped out entirely. About 5 other times with slight breakups. Picture was pretty solid, though there was some digital smearing on some fast motion (noticeable on arm "sweeps"); at times, there was very noticeable artifacting. Overall, the image quality was very good.

* Audio sync seemed to be off at times. Sometimes it was just hard to tell, others, it seemed fine, but there were some moments when it was clearly 200ms or so off. For instance, Don Q pounds his spear butt on the ground and you hear the *thud* a slight moment later.

* Camera work was pretty standard and also a bit disappointing. THere were some times when they made, what i would consider, EGREGIOUS camera mistakes (or at least poor judgements). That is, they would fixate on a person on the side and EXCLUDE actual dancing. THe other camera work that was dissapointing to me was the somewhat too-close closeup. No, not to the point to cutting off feet or hands, but in framing the dancer and following him/her, you lose so much of the effect of how high they jump and how quickly they move and what a big space they are in. It's not terrible, but the times when they pull back and show more of the stage and the dancers dancing across it are far more engaging and beautiful. I presume this stream is going to be edited and then authored into a Bluray and DVD. That's a vertical integration and cost optimization, but really, a 30' movie theatre screen with HD (4k?) projection allows you to compose the ballet differently than a 720x480 standard DVD to be viewed on a 30" TV, which is also different from a 1920x1080 Bluray to be viewed on a 46-80" TV. I would LOVE if they would have composed this particularly for the THeatre screen/Bluray and then had a separate set of cameras for the DVD. Of course they can't really do this, but still, if I had one wish... ;)

* Music/audio was excellent. The theatre filled with sound and the Bolshoi orchestras sounded fantastic.

* The experience was surprisingly good. I have a 73" tv at home with Bluray and a $15k audio system. It is good, but it still doesn't compare to this experience. Going in, I debated just waiting it out and getting the Bluray when it releases ("If they're just going to show the same thing, how different can it be?"). And yeah, while it's not as good seeing it live, it was a great show and I had to restrain myself from clapping at times!

This is my 3rd time seeing Osipova/Vasiliev do Don Q. The first time, I saw them a couple of years ago in the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow when i visited Russia. It was amazing. The second time was last year in Orange County. That was disappointing, mostly b/c the stage was far too small for them and many dancers seemed uncomfortable and unnaturally restrained. In some ways, This was better than the OC live performance b/c the performances were excellent. Osipova and Vasiliev were just awesome. I was glad to see some of the crazy tricks that they did before. Notably, the one-armed lift, balance, releveee, then arabesque all while balanching Osipova with the one arm. Vasiliev also did those crazy cabriole derrieres to 180degrees, the entre chat six while doing double tour (or at least that's what it seemed like to me), etc.et c.

Yeah, it was worth the time and effort and $15. I will go back on May 29th for Coppelia.

-goro-

[volcanohunter]

The interviewees were Gennadiy Yanin during the first intermission and Yuliana Malkhasyants during the second. Fascinating stuff, though what they said could basically summed up as: there is no Petipa left in this ballet. Malkhasyants was particularly helpful in pointing out who had choreographed what to whose music. (There used to be a hornpipe in the tavern scene?!!)

I guess my venue wasn't the only one with the image disruptions. It was particularly frustrating in the first act since it left the audio and picture badly out of sync. I agree that much of the camera work was terrible, starting right off with close-ups of the dancers as soon as the curtain went up rather giving the audience a nice long shot for orientation. Kitri's entrance was also atrociously filmed. They had trouble keeping Osipova in the frame. Had the cameramen not been warned that she would move big and jump high? Far too much time was spent focusing on ancillary goings-on on the sidelines. If there is going to be a DVD release, I certainly hope the film can be re-edited.

I don't know whether this problem was present elsewhere, but I'm pretty sure that the aspect ratio was off at my venue, making the dancers appear more squat than they actually are. This sort of gave them a retro look, and in the case of small, muscular dancers like Osipova and Vasiliev, it did them no favours. (Since Anastasia Stashkevich looked "normal," I have to assume she's a very skinny thing.) On the other hand, every time dancers extended arms and legs to the side, their limbs looked freakishly elongated. The one upside of this was that every manner of split leap, and lord knows there's no shortage of them in this ballet, looked preternaturally spectacular.

It almost goes without saying that Osipova and Vasiliev were sensational. She threatens to make even Ashley Bouder appear earth-bound. I do wish, however, that there were a bit more variety to her dancing in the each act. I'm not looking for Aurora-like differentiation, but I thought her Dulcinea was too much like her Kitri, and in the last act I would have liked a bit more epaulment in the pas de deux. She powered her way through her fouettés with such force that she couldn't quite control the ending. And I really wish she hadn't twisted her torso so out of shape to get her foot to point at the ceiling in à la seconde.

Vasiliev was doing all sorts of crazy, gasp-inducing stuff, though his character didn't register as strongly as it could have. I suspect the camera work was to blame (like not focusing on him during the "suicide" scene, for crying out loud).

I thought Kristina Karasyova's Mercedes was ravishing, but Anna Antropova's Gypsy came across as unhinged rather than mysterious and sexy. As much as I enjoyed Stashkevich's Cupid, I would rather she and her adorable sidekicks hadn't reappeared in the grand pas.

I wonder whether anyone could enlighten me about the provenance of the Queen of the Dryads variation. I'm accustomed to the one with the jetés and développés à la seconde rather than the Bolshoi's Aurora-esque version.

The ballet played at two venues in my city. Where I attended there were about 25-30 viewers and perhaps only 2 or 3 younger than 18. What a missed opportunity for young ballet students. The people who did come out seemed to be thoroughly enchanted.

[abatt]

Yeah, it was worth the time and effort and $15. I will go back on May 29th for Coppelia.

-goro-

I guess they are varying prices based on your city. In New York City it was $25. It was a small theater, and every seat was sold. There was a line of people waiting for returns/cancellations.

[EvilNinjaX]

I don't know whether this problem was present elsewhere, but I'm pretty sure that the aspect ratio was off at my venue, making the dancers appear more squat than they actually are.

...

The ballet played at two venues in my city. Where I attended there were about 25-30 viewers and perhaps only 2 or 3 younger than 18. What a missed opportunity for young ballet students. The people who did come out seemed to be thoroughly enchanted. [/size]

The aspect ratio was an item that i forgot to mention. Yes, at our location, it was also off and it did make them look a bit strange. ALso, the projection at our venue was slightly off so that part of the image was on the curtain.

There were < 20 people at mine (probably closer to 10-15) and one high school aged person.

-goro-

[Kristen]

I'm glad to know it wasn't just me regarding the distortion of their bodies -how does one make dancers look short, wide and in need of a diet?

Oh, well, on the other hand, I was thrilled to see it. I did see Osipova dance Don Q with ABT last season and was dazzled. However, I was totally unprepared to be equally stunned by Vasiliev - phenomenal! Despite the intense closeups depriving the audience of the "big picture", I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the costumes, fans etc. at close range.

I think it's a shame that this Ballet in Cinema series is so poorly advertised. I live in Florida and there are no Carmike theaters located in some of the most heavily populated areas (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach etc.) I drove three and half hours round trip to see it in a pathetic little theatre in central Florida and there were only 2 other people there. I even bought my ticket in advance in case every ballet school in Florida decided to bus in their students. Sadly, that didn't happen - but you can't go if you don't know about it.

Despite the problems with filming, the satellite blips etc, you'll find me at Coppelia.