14 replies to this topic

[dirac]

More on Vasiliev and Osipova.

The Independent

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In 2007, the Mikhailovsky was taken over by tycoon Vladimir Kekhman, who made his fortune importing fruit to Russia and has been dubbed "the banana oligarch". He has thrown more than £30m of his own money at the theatre, funding renovations, star acquisitions, and lavish sets, all with the aim of transforming the Mikhailovsky from a plucky also-ran to a force to be contended with. The signing of the Bolshoi's two stars this week is the biggest indication so far that his plan is succeeding. "We are the most experimental, the most creative and the most exciting theatre in Russia," Mr Kekhman told The Independent yesterday. "We match the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky in quality for most of our productions, and on occasion we better them."

AFP

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Rumours have also swirled in the Russian press that Osipova -- seen by many critics as among the very greatest performing ballerinas alive -- was mightily offended to have been excluded from the cast for "Sleeping Beauty".

Filin revealed that this was a decision of Yuri Grigorovich, the legendary 84-year-old Bolshoi ballet supremo from Soviet days who has returned to revive the production.

The Guardian

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The creative freedom that's most likely to be sought after by Osipova and Vasiliev is not so much the range of available repertory but the chance to travel. When Sergei Filin was appointed the Bolshoi's new artistic director earlier this year, he announced his intention to limit the number of guest appearances with foreign companies his principal dancers could make. That must have sat badly with Osipova and Vasiliev, especially after this last summer, when they were not only gaining critical accolades as guests with the American Ballet Theatre but tackling the challenge of learning and dancing Ashton's Romeo and Juliet here in London, where I spoke to them.

[dirac]

A "Weekend of French Dance Videos" is presented in Moscow.

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Each of the films offers a unique choreographic and cinematic style, beginning Saturday with Olivier Assayas’ dynamic film “Eldorado Preljocai” that follows the choreographic process of French dancer and contemporary dance choreographer Angelin Preljocai.

That is followed by Frederick Wiseman’s sumptuous and full-bodied “La Danse — Le Ballet de l’Opera de Paris,” the widely acclaimed look at the Paris Opera Ballet. Sunday starts with an intimate portrait of Genya Polyakov, the former Bolshoi dancer in Vladimir Kara’s “Genya Polyakov: maitre de ballet, choreographe” followed by Regis Obadia’s “Dominique Mercy danse Pina Bausch,” an intensely intimate homage to Dominique Mercy, assistant to Pina Bausch for 35 years.

[dirac]

A whatever-became-of story on Stephanie DePierro, the protagonist of Jill Krementz's book, "A Very Young Dancer" by Helene Stapinski in The New York Times.

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According to Amy Bordy, the school's director of public relations, the two Russian women who ran the school and knew the details of Stephanie's tenure are no longer living: Nathalie Gleboff, the associate director, died in 2007; Natalie Molostwoff, the executive director, in 1994. However, Stephanie's attendance record shows excessive unexcused absences. Ms. Bordy also added that she had to repeat two consecutive class levels. She stressed that a student's performance onstage has no relation to a student's progress in class at the school, and that dancing with City Ballet is a perk.

[dirac]

The Chicago Festival Balletprepares its Nutcracker.

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Von Heidecke’s Chicago Festival Ballet production of “The Nutcracker” will be presented Nov. 27 at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet. Set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score, “The Nutcracker” tells the whimsical tale of young Clara and her magical Christmas Eve journey to a land where she encounters a dashing Nutcracker Prince, swirling snowflakes, sugar plum fairies, waltzing flowers and giant mice.

What makes things more difficult for Von Heidecke is that the entire company does not perform together until the week or so before the performance. Traditionally, Von Heidecke invites professional dancers to be part of each year’s “Nutcracker” and then the rest of the roles are filled via open auditions and with dancers from his school. In addition, local students are added to the cast.

[dirac]

A preview of San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker by Janos Gereben in The San Francisco Examiner.

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Year after year, with thousands of performances around the country, “Nutcracker” keeps its fascination for new audiences, serving as an introduction to ballet for each generation. But what is it like for dancers and orchestra musicians to give two dozen consecutive performances?

“Far from being a chore, conducting Tchaikovsky’s astonishing score over and over is one of my true pleasures,” San Francisco Ballet Music Director Martin West says. “Every year I am amazed how much there is still to discover in this masterpiece.”

[dirac]

An interview with Dominic Walsh, who's making a new work for Diablo Ballet.

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A Chicago native, Walsh joined the Houston Ballet as a teenager, immersing himself in a repertoire of classical and contemporary works under then-director Ben Stevenson.

"During that time - in the late '80s, early '90s - he was bringing in a lot of wonderful work from Europe, and that opened me up to different kinds of theater," says Walsh. "I came to understand narrative, understand the stagecraft from different angles than just ballet technique. He was a great believer in telling the story through the choreography - that a ballet is not just the mise-en-scene and then you bust out all your tricks."

[dirac]

A review of the National Ballet of Canada in "Romeo and Juliet" by Michael Crabb in The Toronto Star.

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When the evening’s Juliet, Elena Lobsanova, took a tumble in Act 1’s famous “Balcony pas de deux” — in Tony Ward-winning designer Richard Hudson’s conception it’s actually more a “Front bedroom pas de deux” — you could believe it had been deliberately choreographed to communicate the sheer fervour of her love for Romeo, danced with matching ardour by the famously romantic Guillaume Côté.

For the 24-year-old Lobsanova, still one rung below principal dancer, being cast as the opening-night lead in a major new production is a big deal. If anyone doubted her capacity to meet the challenge their concerns have now been firmly laid to rest. Lobsanova is a radiant presence with a physical suppleness of expression that captures every dimension of Juliet’s fast-maturing character.

[dirac]

The Montgomery Balletpresents its Nutcracker.

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With new choreography for 2011 by Stevan Grebel, the story of The Nutcracker will be brought to life by more than 100 dancers. Emma Slawson of the Montgomery Youth Ballet will perform the role of Clara, who has Christmas Eve dreams of The Land of Sweets and Kingdom of Snow. Kyana Goodyear will dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, partnered with Max van der Sterre, her Cavalier.

[dirac]

A preview of BalletRox's "Urban Nutcracker" by Iris Fanger in The Patriot-Ledger.

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Williams’ desire to change “The Nutcracker” grew out of his love for the ballet. He danced in Boston Ballet’s first production of “The Nutcracker” in 1965, directed by Arthur Fiedler, and over the years performed many “Nutcracker” roles with the Boston Ballet, as well as ballet companies in Canada and Norway.

“It meant a lot to me as a young dancer and I felt it was very special and healing,” said Williams, who was born in Naples, Italy, and grew up in Boston, the son of an African-American soldier and an Italian mother. “It’s in my DNA, so I was able to gauge whether I was going too far on the edge and to pull it back. I’ve retained the essence of the traditional, but given it an inner-city twist.”

[dirac]

A review of American Ballet Theatre by Michael Popkin for danceviewtimes.

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With Cunningham's company disbanding at the end of the year, we need to get used to seeing his dances performed this way. Going forward his raison d'être will be watching dancers often trained in other styles encounter his choreography as an unanswered question he's left for them. The only wrong answers will be dishonest ones.

Taylor's "Black Tuesday" was made in 2001 as a commission from ABT and for this reason raises fewer issues of translation. The music is eight popular songs (by Irving Berlin, Yip Harburg and others) that evoke depression era America in a tinny Great Gatsby sound like an old Victrola. The choreography mixes period-based steps (for example, Charleston or Turkey Trot) for the social dance numbers with weightier movement at the end of the piece in an expressive, modern dance technique that shows Taylor's roots in Martha Graham's company.

[dirac]

Alabama Balletrehearses Balanchine's Nutcracker.

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The other thing that strikes me again watching the rehearsals is how hard the girls work. They hit the floor hard and in the rehearsal room you can hear the pounding and see that they risk doing real damage. I remember my ballerina friend always having pulled hamstrings and surgery for bone spurs. It was a lot like playing in the SEC.

What you also see at the rehearsals that doesn’t show in the performance is the girls falling down on their backs with their little hearts palpitating and their chests heaving after a particularly strenuous pas de deux.

[dirac]

David Hallbergwill appear in a simulcast of the Bolshoi's Sleeping Beauty this weekend.

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One of American Ballet Theatre’s most dynamic performers, Hallberg joined the legendary Moscow ballet company this season, and these theatrical broadcasts will capture his premiere turn with his new troupe, partnering with prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova and the massive company corps on the newly restored Bolshoi stage.

[dirac]

The West Australian Ballet presents "Cinderella."

Smeulders decided against basing the ballet on the fairytale by Charles Perrault. She said she wanted to make something that was family friendly and accessible to everyone. ‘‘It has a strong storyline with morals and values and love where evil always loses in the end and goodness triumphs,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s got a lot of humour and many different styles of dance in a classic production.’’

Cavallari said Smeulders, also a mother of three, was an exceptional artist and strong dancer with great musicality, but he also said she injected something special into the company.

[dirac]

A review of the Australian Ballet in "The Merry Widow" by Lloyd Bradford Syke for Crikey.com.

Of course, even with superlatively realised performances, it’s hard not to keep coming back to Helpmann’s opulent, evocative, no-expense-spared design, which, quite rightly, inspired as much applause as anything else. If one should’ve harboured the slightest doubt about the versatility or prodigy of his talent, it would’ve been extinguished from curtain-up. And one could be seduced into thinking it’s still 1975: yes, that is Colin Peasley, as Baron Mirka Zeta, reprising his opening night role of that year, without missing a beat. One can reminisce, too, thanks to the suggestions of the sets and costumes, of the heydays of belle epoque and rococo; the ornamental, for ornamental’s sake.

[dirac]

An interview with dancer and choreographer Robert Glumbekby Kevin Griffin in The Vancouver Sun.

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By the time he was 19, he was a soloist with the Polish National Ballet, the country's main ballet company with 110 dancers. As his mother predicted, he was travelling all over the world with the company, performing as a character dancer.

What changed his comfortable life was seeing the ballets of John Neumeier, the American-born head of the Hamburg Ballet. Seeing performances of Neumeier's Love and Pain and World in the Dream rocked Glumbek's world.