41 replies to this topic

[sandik]

Helene, on 11 March 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

The sets and costumes for "Swan Lake" have gotten a wake-up for performances by Los Angeles Ballet next week:
http://www.burbankle...0,7466124.story

I think these are the sets from the old production, before the Opera House was remodeled into McCaw Hall, not the current Ming Cho Lee sets and Paul Tazewell costumes.  The company lent them to Oregon Ballet Theater when they staged the work, and now it looks like they've made their way further down the coast to LA.

[sandik]

Helene, on 11 March 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:

• The September 2012 (opening) program will be a tribute to Francia Russell ("Agon" staging) and Kent Stowell ("Firebird" choreography)

I think that this will be an all-Stravinsky program, as well as a tribute to Stowell and Russell.

[Helene]

sandik, on 11 March 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:

Helene, on 11 March 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

The sets and costumes for "Swan Lake" have gotten a wake-up for performances by Los Angeles Ballet next week:
http://www.burbankle...0,7466124.story

I think these are the sets from the old production, before the Opera House was remodeled into McCaw Hall, not the current Ming Cho Lee sets and Paul Tazewell costumes.  The company lent them to Oregon Ballet Theater when they staged the work, and now it looks like they've made their way further down the coast to LA.

Thank you!  I thought PNB sold the old "Swan Lake" sets.  I didn't realize they kept ownership.

sandik, on 11 March 2012 - 12:31 PM, said:

Helene, on 11 March 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:

• The September 2012 (opening) program will be a tribute to Francia Russell ("Agon" staging) and Kent Stowell ("Firebird" choreography)

I think that this will be an all-Stravinsky program, as well as a tribute to Stowell and Russell.

Yes.  I forgot to clarify.

[sandik]

Helene, on 11 March 2012 - 07:31 PM, said:

sandik, on 11 March 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:

Helene, on 11 March 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

The sets and costumes for "Swan Lake" have gotten a wake-up for performances by Los Angeles Ballet next week:
http://www.burbankle...0,7466124.story

I think these are the sets from the old production, before the Opera House was remodeled into McCaw Hall, not the current Ming Cho Lee sets and Paul Tazewell costumes.  The company lent them to Oregon Ballet Theater when they staged the work, and now it looks like they've made their way further down the coast to LA.

Thank you!  I thought PNB sold the old "Swan Lake" sets.  I didn't realize they kept ownership.

I'm not really sure who owns them now, though the LAB review does make it sound like they're still PNB's -- very mysterious.

[sandik]

Ok, they handed me a schedule last night, with "Subject to Change" all over it -- budgets are still being negotiated.  But here is the gist -- let the speculation begin!

Rep 1  (all Stravinsky -- Russell/Stowell tribute)
September 21-30  (7 performances)
Circus Polka
New Gaines (Dumbarton Oaks and Octet)
Agon
Firebird

Rep 2  (all new work)
November 2-11  (7 performances)
New Bartee  (music - Barrett Anspach)
New Mullin
New Gibson
New Morris  (Hindemith: Kammermusik #3)

Rep 3
February 1-10  (9 performances)
Romeo et Juliette

Rep 4
March 15-24  (7 performances)
Concerto Barocco
Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven
In the Upper Room

Rep 5
April 12-21  (11 performances)
Swan Lake

Rep 6  (all Tchaikovsky)
May 31-June 9  (7 performances)
Allegro Brillante (Boal staging)
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux  (Boal staging)
New Wheeldon
Diamonds

[Helene]

I think it great that Kiyon Gaines is taking on Stravinsky.  That will be a great challenge: "Dumbarton Oaks" is a tricky piece.  It's fitting that Gaines' work will be on the Russell/Stowell Tribute program:  of the choreographers in the company, he's the last one to be trained and nurtured by them.

"Allegro Brillante" is a wonderful ballet.  I hope Christina Siemens gets to play the Tchaikovsky.  I saw Peter Boal dance "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" with Suzanne Farrell Ballet.

[sandik]

It looks like there have been some changes in the season schedule for 2012-13 -- at the lecture before the dress rehearsal of Apollo/Carmina, music director Emil de Cou mentioned that Cinderella was coming back next year.  I didn't remember that being on the list, so I checked the website and sure enough -- Cinderella is in as the opening ballet of the season, and Circus Polka, Firebird, Allegro Brillante, and Tschaikovsky pas de deux are all out.  The order of the rest is shifted around a bit (no all-Stravinsky or all-Tschikovsky programs) but all the new commissions seem to be there.  The opening program was originally going to be a tribute to Stowell and Russell as a part of the company's 40th anniversary year, so perhaps Cinderella felt like a more substantial nod.

This does mean that, of the non-Nutcracker programs, half of them are program-length works and half are mixed reps.  I went back and did a little arithmetic -- in the current season there will have been two program-length works (Don Q and Coppelia) and four mixed reps, in 2010-11 it was half and half (Giselle, Midsummer and Cinderella were the program-length), in 2009-10 there were two program-lengths (Coppelia and Beauty), in 2008-09 there were two (Swan Lake and Jewels, if you think of it that way), and in 2007-08 there were two (Midsummer and Romeo).  We've had the program-length/mixed rep conversation in many different places on Ballet Alert, but perhaps it's time to have it again...

[Jayne]

I thought there was going to be some sort of "choreographer in residence" for Twyla Tharp?  I guess not?

[Helene]

According to the press release/announcement in the Seattle Times, Tharp's new work will premiere in the 2013-14 season:

Quote

And choreographer Twyla Tharp will return to PNB in a new capacity: as artist in residence for the year 2013, during which she will create a new work for the company, to premiere in the fall.

http://seattletimes....2362_pnb11.html

I think that "Cinderella", "Nutcracker", and "Swan Lake" are Kent Stowell's active full-lengths, and "Cinderella" and "Nutcracker" especially show Stowell's mastery of story-telling.

And there we were, sandik and I, speculating about who would perform as Ringmaster in "Circus Polka" and what letters would be spelled.  (I think we were both hoping for Francia Russell.)  Alas, it's not on the program anymore.

[sandik]

Well, instead of rehearsing for Circus Polka, the summer kids will be getting ready for Cinderella, where they have those great hats that make them look like pumpkins.  The last time the company performed this I mentioned that they should be selling adult versions in the gift shop -- perhaps they will take up the idea this time around.

[SandyMcKean]

sandik said:

It looks like there have been some changes in the season schedule for 2012-13

I have definite mixed feeling about these changes.......I am particularly struck by sandik's analysis of full vs mixed reps over the last few years.  I confess I am not as large a fan of full lengths as many others are (every time I hear an audience member "complain" that there are not enough "real" ballets in the schedule anymore, I cringe).  I love the mixed reps which give me the opportunity to see many different conceptions of what choreography can be, and to experience a wider range of emotion than I find in the typical full length evening.  So the substitution of "Cinderella" is a bit of a disappointment.

Last night at opening night's Q&A I heard a bit of Boal's explanation of the changes.  Altho I didn't catch all he said (I was a bit late getting to the lecture hall), it seemed clear to me that the change was forced by budgetary considerations.  That tells me that in these tough financial times, programming has to serve the mistress of "putting butts in the seats" (to use one of my favorite Helene expressions ).  Full lengths sell and are far easier to market (especially ones that have "child" appeal).  I guess that is necessary when the budget demands, but I hope we return to the more common 2:4 full:mixed ratio as soon as finances allow.  Peter Boal has spoiled me.....I would not want to go back to the pre-Boal programming.

[Helene]

SandyMcKean, on 14 April 2012 - 10:15 AM, said:

Full lengths sell and are far easier to market (especially ones that have "child" appeal).

They also tend to have kids in them, which means relatives and friends of the relatives and the kids buying tickets.

[sandik]

SandyMcKean, on 14 April 2012 - 10:15 AM, said:

Peter Boal has spoiled me.....I would not want to go back to the pre-Boal programming.

I share your preference for mixed rep shows, but I just want to say that Russell and Stowell produced many of those as well.  Over the course of 20 + years they did oversee a number of program-length works, but the majority of the work they added to the repertory was mixed rep fodder.

[Helene]

Off the top of my head, the full-lengths I remember from 1994 on are:

The Nutcracker
Cinderella
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Swan Lake
The Sleeping Beauty
Coppelia
Don Quixote
The Merry Widow
Silver Lining

sandik mentioned the Tetley Alice in 1992.  Even if there were more, that still wouldn't be much more than one every three seasons on average over 27 years.

[SandyMcKean]

sandik said:

I share your preference for mixed rep shows, but I just want to say that Russell and Stowell produced many of those as well.

Absolutely!

I did not mean to imply that Boal has a higher percentage of mixed vs full length programs.  Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if the statistics show that Stowell/Russell did a higher percentage of mixed compared to Boal; however Boal has definitely programmed differently than the years prior to 2005........and I prefer his programming to that of the past.  (I likely gave you the wrong impression by making my comment as the last sentence of a paragraph on mixed vs full; I should have made a new and separate paragraph out of that comment.)

As I remember, the easy majority of the Stowell/Russell programs were mixed rep, but those mixed programs did not range over as wide a field as does Boal's.  Many, many of Stowell/Russell programs contained mostly Balanchine and Stowell mixtures with the occasional well known names in choreography thrown in (e.g., Tetley, Petipa, Martins).  There was a certain "consistency" IMO to the Stowell/Russell programming......a consistency that the audience was lulled into expecting.  Don't get me wrong, I am one for sure who can never get enough of Mr B so I'm not complaining about that, but I do prefer the more wide ranging pieces that Boal has brought to our audience; and I also think his choices have greatly increased the skill set of our dancers (especially in the acting and dramatic power departments).

Of course, none of this would be even remotely possible without the heroic work that Stowell and Russell did over 25 years to build PNB into the thoroughbred that Boal is now riding.