13 replies to this topic

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San Francisco Ballet dancers visit the California Pacific Medical Center. Television feature with video. Thanks to Paul Parish for sending in the link!

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A feature on the Royal Ballet's costume department coping with Nutcracker season by Sophie de Rosée in The Telegraph.

Natalia Stewart, 40, who in her twenties danced the Sugar Plum Fairy with the Moscow City and Bolshoi ballets, is in charge of all costumes, plus heads and tails. 'My main priority is to preserve the designs and deliver them on stage in good order,’ she said. 'Seventy-five per cent of them are the 1984 originals that are restored each year. Each dancer is fitted into costume three weeks before the opening night and adjustments are made in the workroom. Principals have their own outfits, but everyone else shares.’ The costumes for the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince each have more than 500 sequins and stones, all checked and repaired in-house.

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An interview with Adam Sage, the founder of Missouri Ballet Theatre.

It's the third season for Missouri Ballet Theatre, which is based in Wildwood and has established itself on the local dance scene despite tough economic times. Its production of "The Nutcracker" runs through Tuesday at the Edison Theatre. The Sunday evening performance is a benefit for Wings of Hope, a Chesterfield-based charity.

"There are a lot of young dancers, and dancers in general, that don't have work," Sage said. "But they want to dance, whether they make a lot of money, or don't make a lot of money. For me, it's about what they can bring to the company, and to the stage." Missouri Ballet Theatre has 14 professional dancers, "from all over the country.


R

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Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky will guest with the Greenwich Ballet for its Nutcracker.

Ms. Dvorovenko and Mr. Beloserkovsky, principal dancers at American Ballet Theatre, will lead a master class for the students at Greenwich Ballet Academy, as well as assist in preparing the students for this year’s production. Mr. Vodolaga said, “This is a unique opportunity for our students to learn from the very best in their craft — not only the technical aspects of ballet, but also how to really perform on stage.”

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A television news story on Gabriela Schiefer, Next Generation Ballet's Clara, whose father is stationed in Afghanistan. Video.

Gabriela practices six days a week for about eight to nine hours a day. She says she is proud of her dad, but she knows he is proud of her too.

"I always tell him about how much fun it is and how happy I am to dance the role," Gabriela said. "He's proud of me for all that's happened."

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A list of memorable dance events and people of 2011 by Marina Harss in The Faster Times.

8. Alina Cojocaru and David Hallberg in Giselle, during ABT’s spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House. These two artists performed with total spontaneity and abandon. Cojocaru’s unmannered, seemingly natural interpretation of the role was profoundly touching; Hallberg’s ardor and amplitude were thrilling. Time stood still.

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A review of Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker by Luke Jennings in The Observer.

When Matthew Bourne approached the piece in 1992, a century after that St Petersburg premiere, he identified another problem. That for most present-day audiences, the wealthy 19th-century household in which the first act is set was itself a fantasy, greatly reducing the potential impact of the dreamland. So he reworked the story, positioning it in a grim, Dickensian orphanage. This works wonderfully well. The juvenile inmates are all played by adults, and their quirks are expressed in the magnified body language of which Bourne is a master. Everyone is sexually and emotionally repressed, and Dr Dross (Daniel Wright) and his wife (Madelaine Brennan), who run the institution, are tyrants.

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The Globe and Mail asks ballet professionals about "The Nutcracker."

Michele Wiles, principal dancer, American Ballet Theater and guest dancer in Goh Ballet's The Nutcracker:

Q: What is your favourite Nutcracker production?
A: Mikhail Baryshnikov's version because I admire the dancing of both Misha and Gelsey Kirkland. I loved watching Gelsey's variation in the second act - when I was around nine I would wear my hair like her and practise the variation.
It inspired me to want to become a ballerina.


Read more: http://www.calgaryhe...l#ixzz1gxOGkuha

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_{A review of Lincoln Midwest Ballet's Nutcracker.}

The ballet is truly an ensemble work (200 children participated in the performance this year), but some performers and sections did stand out. As the Nutcracker, Benjamin Behrends from Idaho gave an exuberant, athletic performance. Likewise, Racheal Hummel, who recently moved to Lincoln to become ballet mistress for LMBC, was a riveting soloist.

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An obituary for Mark Goldweber in The Miami Herald, with an assist from the NYT.

Goldweber grew up in Miami, entering the dance world as a boy eager to burn off excess energy. “My brother never walked. He skipped, he leapt and back-flipped,” said his sister, Ruth Annunziato, of Miami.

Goldweber began dancing at the age of 6. His neighborhood teacher at the Miss Gwen School of Dance in Westchester saw his potential and referred him to a Russian ballet instructor in Coral Gables. It wasn’t long before the youngster had won a Ford Foundation grant to study at the American School of Ballet in New York. By high school, he was recruited to the Joffrey Ballet, Annunziato said.

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A story on Northern Ballet apprentice Abigail Prudames.

Although Abigail is enjoying her time so far with Northern Ballet, she is only contracted with the company until March.

After that, she could be one of those to benefit from the new Sponsor a Dancer programme. Designed to fill a gap in government funding, the scheme offers individuals and organisations the chance to give anything from £30 per year to support a dancer, in exchange for benefits such as theatre seats, visiting rehearsals and meeting the dancer after performances.

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A Russia Today feature on the Mikhailovsky Theater's new production of "The Sleeping Beauty."

“Each time when The Sleeping Beauty is mentioned, people say, God, it's such a boring long ballet!” Duato explained.

So the Spanish choreographer took the risks changing the ballet's choreography, creating his fusion of classical and modern dance. For instance, in his signature version, Duato shortened one variation of Princess Aurora's variation, preserving the romantic and magic feel of the ballet.

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A feature on Nurzhan Kulybaev and Harrison James, both cast as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Nutcracker Prince.

Before he joined the San Francisco Ballet School's trainee program at age 17, James had only seen the Royal New Zealand Ballet do it once, and it was a modern version that included three guys dancing on crutches. "Clara gets hit over the head with the nutcracker and goes to hospital," he explains.

At the San Francisco Ballet, where James danced in some 28 gruelling "Nutz" performances in both 2008 and 2009, he recalls saying in disbelief, "You do 32 shows? And you do it every year?"

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Sarah Van Patten and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba appear in a Riverside, CA Nutcracker. Item in brief.

David Allan’s “The Nutcracker” at the Landis Performing Arts Center returns for a second year.