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[dirac]

Previews of the National Ballet of Canada's 2012-13 season.

Russian choreographer Ratmansky’s Romeo and Juliet, commissioned by the National Ballet, also will return to Toronto in March 2013. The new production replaced the 1960s-era version of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy choreographed by John Cranko, which was a long-standing favourite in the company's repertoire. The troupe will also take the production to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in January 2013.

The National Post

Debuting in Toronto for the first time this year will be The Man in Black, a piece set to the work of Johnny Cash helmed by former NBoC artistic director James Kudelka. Other additions include an expanded production of Carmen by Davide Bombana, and the company premiere of Nijinsky by John Neumeier, which opens the company’s 2013 winter season.

The Toronto Star

Nijinsky, by Milwaukee-born choreographer John Neumeier, opens the National Ballet’s 2013 winter season. It was originally made in 2000 for Hamburg Ballet, the German troupe Neumeier has long directed, to mark the 50th anniversary its subject’s death.

[dirac]

A visit to the San Francisco Ballet described by Beth Spottswood in The San Francisco Chronicle's blog.

We had taken the time during the day to Wikipedia “Onegin” which turned out to be very helpful. I am not nearly clever enough to figure out what is going on just through the magical art of dance. And “Onegin” is filled with twists and turns, including various letters being sent back and forth and then ripped up, a duel, the rudest romantic rejection I have ever seen and a fantasy scene in which Onegin emerges from a mirror.

All of this takes place in three acts, with two intermissions. During the first intermission, we wandered around the lobby, and explored the gift shop which was surprisingly packed. There was tons of mom-jewelry for sale, with lots of artsy scarves and handbags. They were selling SF Ballet yoga clothes and signed toe-shoes. Somewhere a woman is complimenting her friend on her artisan rubber handbag, to be met with, “Thank you! I got it at intermission at the ballet.”

[dirac]

A behind-the-scenes video of English National Ballet dancer Nancy Osbaldeston.

Her day begins at eight-thirty in the morning. Breakfast is followed closely by warm-ups and then a succession of classes which gradually increase in difficulty and skill. Competition is fierce amongst the dancers but they are ultimately united and support is generously given. It is clear that ballet is a job; the whole day is dominated by it. After classes finish, rehearsals begin and it's all rounded off by shows. Despite the gruelling nature of this daily routine, it is the life they have chosen. Osbaldeston smiles throughout the day obviously relishing an opportunity that few are fortunate enough to ever experience.

[dirac]

A story on Madoka Sugai, one of the winners at the Prix de Lausanne.

"I can't believe it," Sugai, a second-year high school student said after the awards ceremony. "I will call my parents, who are expecting to hear from me at home, and express my gratitude to them."


Renowned Japanese ballerina Miyako Yoshida, a former winner and one of the jurors this year, praised Sugai's consistency.

[Helene]

Michael Popkin reviews New York City Ballet in "All Wheeldon: 'Les Carillons,' 'Polyphonia,' 'DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse'" for danceviewtimes.

“Christopher Wheeldon returns to NYCB” proclaimed New York City Ballet’s mailing to its patrons this winter. The company made an evening of his ballets the highlight of its season, and only Balanchine and Robbins had been so honored. The moment was opportune: the company, founded on the premise of new work, can use his choreography and reputation right now, particularly with Alexei Ratmansky working at American Ballet Theatre. NYCB’s resources and prestige are welcome for Wheeldon after his split from Morphoses, the company he founded when he left City Ballet in 2008. But the program on stage didn’t live up to expectations. “Les Carillons,” the new ballet that opened the show, was dull, disjointed and long; and while the New York premiere of “DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse” and reprise of “Polyphonia” that completed the program were strong, the evening never got over its slow start.

[dirac]

Commentary on the sacking of Mariafrancesca Garritano from La Scala by Judith Mackrell in The Guardian.

Yet Balanchine was from a different era. Much more is now known about eating disorders, and companies understand they need to do more to educate dancers about nutrition, just as they use advances in sports medicine to take care of their dancers' bodies in other ways. When you do, occasionally, see a dancer who is half-starved, you can also see it in the quality of their dancing.
What exactly constitutes abuse, damage, or even abnormal behaviour? Sportsmen and women, musicians and singers have to take care of their bodies in ways that most people would find extreme.

The baritone Simon Keenleyside recently had to cancel performances because he had strained his voice – from talking too much to his children over Christmas. Instrumentalists who rehearse for hours a day have to take extreme care to counteract the skeletal and muscular distortions that can occur.

[dirac]

A review of Smuin Ballet by Ann Murphy in The San Jose Mercury News.

With spring in the air, Smuin Ballet opened its winter run last weekend at Walnut Creek's Lesher Theatre in a program of light, well-executed work that ranged from the sultry to the insouciant. The newest and most cheerful dance came at the end of the program -- resident choreographer Amy Seiwert's cheeky medley, "Dear Miss Cline," set to songs by the pioneering country singer Patsy Cline.
This was a ballet of apparent nostalgia, with the women outfitted in Jo Ellen Arntz's 1950s-style red and white shirtwaist dresses, middie blouses, the occasional neck scarf and low-slung pants, while the men were suited up in cuffed, short-sleeve shirts and bland trousers. In other words, it had all the elements to be temperamentally fitting for Smuin Ballet, where dance and sentimentality are inseparable.

[dirac]

The Trocks visit Austin.

But despite their best drag efforts, The Trocks know the day will never come when one of their own will be mistaken for a female ballerina. “Women in ballet have to pull off what we're not even going for, a kind of finesse," artistic director Tory Dobrin recently told the Chicago Tribune. "In terms of dancing en pointe, in toe shoes, we're going for the brute strength, the force, the male attack."

"There are still those who want to laugh and tease," dancer Paul Ghiselin continued. "But once they see how committed we are, it cracks open a door to perceive the world in a different way. And just to enjoy."

[dirac]

A review of New York City Ballet by Leigh Witchel in The New York Post.

Rebecca Krohn and Janie Taylor were at their best in “Stravinsky Violin Concerto.” Krohn’s long and angular physique embraced and fed on the oddities in her role, including a series of backbends that wound her round the stage.

Taylor lives for the weird. In her duet with Ask la Cour, she was spectral, seeming to not even notice him, but you could see the longing in her back as she walked away. Finally, she relented and nestled under his chin as he wrapped round her, gently directing her back and forth. The whole cast turned the driving and irregular folk rhythms of the finale into a brilliant puzzle — the solution sliding elegantly into place.

[dirac]

The nominees for the 2012 Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards are announced.

The 2012 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominees are Dimity Azoury (Queanbeayn, NSW), Calvin Hannaford (Camberwell, VIC), Amy Harris (Ararat, Vic), Ako Kondo (Nagoya, Japan), Jarryd Madden (Wauchope, NSW) and Jake Mangakahia (Sunshine Coast, QLD). In 2012 real-life ballet couple Amy Harris and Jarryd Madden will go head-to-head in their quest for TBDA glory, a first for the Award.

Introduced in 2003 to encourage young Australian ballet dancers to reach their full potential, the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award has catapulted some of The Australian Ballet’s brightest stars into the stratosphere.

[dirac]

A preview of two dance documentaries to be shown in Chicago by Zachary Whittenburg in Time Out Chicago's blog.

While White City can only go into so much detail in its half-hour time slot (10:30–11pm), and Mavericks isn’t as thorough with recent Joffrey history as it is with the company’s early years, both films are must-sees for local dance buffs. See the trailer for Mavericks and special guests at both Siskel screenings after the jump.

[dirac]

Reviews of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 'Don Quixote.'

The New York Times

Audiences at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall here with memories of the company’s previous version might have felt somewhat disoriented by the opening moments of this newest interpretation, which gives far more weight to the title character and his trusty sidekick, Sancho Panza. This is not a departure from tradition, but a return to it. Mr. Ratmansky, a devoted student of ballet history, has done a good amount of research for this production, poring over what documentation remains of Marius Petipa’s original Moscow "Don Quixote" (1869), his subsequent St. Petersburg revision (1871) and two later adaptations by Alexander Gorsky (1900, Moscow; 1902, St. Petersburg). He has similarly reassessed the Ludwig Minkus score, with its many interpolations. (Three acts of Minkus, clocking in at three hours including intermissions, still proves a little crazy-making).

The Seattle Times

On Friday's opening night, the couple — Kitri and Basilio — was played by Carla Körbes and Karel Cruz, who danced with a thrilling, catch-me-if-you-dare bravado. The "Don Q" pas de deux are historically an athletic tour de force, filled with press lifts held for longer than seems humanly possible (while high in the air, Kitri nonchalantly shakes her tambourine), lightning-fast spins and trademark jumps, and Körbes and Cruz attacked the steps with glittering confidence. Their chemistry was playful and charming — she swats him with a fan; he grins wickedly — and their spirit irresistible

[dirac]

A review of Pacific Northwest Ballet by Alice Kaderlan for Crosscut. Thanks to sandik for forwarding the link!

Ratmansky has staged “Don Q” almost as a three-ring circus (in the best sense); there is always something happening on stage in addition to the main action. In the background or off to the sides villagers walk back and forth, girls fan themselves, Gamache makes faces, and Quixote reacts to everything going on around him.

At both performances the PNB troupe was as sure-footed as ever in their dancing, with lovely variations by Sara Ricard Orza, Rachel Foster, and Leta Biasucci in particular. But this “Don Q” also requires a great deal of acting from the cast. It was a treat to see PNB’s dancers rise to the occasion, clearly having the time of their lives.

[dirac]

A story on eating disorders in ballet.

But in a profession which demands an asthetic of extreme thinness, along with a punishing physical regime, stories of young girls driven to disordered eating are not hard to find. David Kinsella's documentary A Beautiful Tragedy, charted the "size zero" mentality of Russia's ballet schools, where girls were told to maintain dangerously low body weights, which might land them in hospital over here.

One young dancer he featured, a teenage anorexic, now dances with the Mariinsky Theatre. One can only hope her health is now under control.

[dirac]

A story on Miami City Ballet's reality show, "En Pointe."

The crux of "En Pointe'"s drama, however, revolves around the company's money trouble. While on the phone, Villella describes his predicament: "It's always hard to raise to money. Now that we are at this level, we need more."

Despite the palm tree graphics and LMFAO soundtrack, "En Pointe" appears to be more documentary than sensational reality show. It manages to capture the company's actual drama as it turns the corner into its uncertain future.