20 replies to this topic

[Kathleen O'Connell]

GeorgeB fan, on 03 June 2012 - 04:42 AM, said:

Unless I'm mistaken - and I have no problem with correction - but this the first time I've ever seen an "ALL MARTINS" program.

On Tuesday, May 14th and on Saturday, May 18th at 2pm we'll be having:

Calcium Light Night
River of Light
Barber Violin Concerto
Fearful Symmetries

Pretty gusty I guess. At least he seemed to have put together some of his "best" ballets on the program. It certainly will be interesting to see how many seats will be filled on the days of those performances.

I think I saw an all Martins / Adams program at some point in the past ... I seem to recall that "The Chairman Dances" and "Harmonielehre" were on the program, but can't for the life of me dredge up what the rest of it might have been. There's probably enough Martins / Adams for a whole darn festival.

[sandik]

jsmu, on 02 June 2012 - 12:49 PM, said:

abatt, I believe Ballet West did Emeralds alone a couple of years ago (very bizarre thought, isn't that?), and several companies have done Diamonds on all-Tchaik programs, sometimes all-Balanchine Tchaik as well.

Nevada Ballet Theater is scheduled to perform Jewels in October, in combination with Pacific Northwest Ballet and Ballet West.  BW is dancing Emeralds, NBT is dancing Rubies and PNB is dancing Diamonds.  The whole thing is supposed to be sponsored by Van Cleef and Arpels, who were the original "inspiration" for the work, which seems very sweet.

[Natalia]

Ballet West's rehearsals for Emeralds are among the dance snippets being shown on the current reality TV series, Breaking Pointe (on CW). Alas, not enough was shown on the first episode. Maybe more will be shown later?

[jsmu]

sandik, on 02 June 2012 - 03:43 PM, said:

It seems that most companies that learn Jewels do it one section at a time, rather than adding the entire ballet from scratch.  (rather like Seattle Opera's Ring cycle, which they staged over 4 years -- like those old "add a pearl" necklaces.)

sandik, you are right--a very odd trend. Houston Ballet, which added the entire ballet a couple of years ago, seems to be the only one which recently has acquired it entirely at once.
'Rubies' is showy so perhaps it's understandable why it's done alone, but the triptych is far more compelling as its intended artistic whole. there are all sorts of correspondences and linkages in choreography, body shapes, patterns in the three ballets, and 'Rubies' works far better between its more lyrical bookends...

[Drew]

I had not gotten around to checking the programming for Fall--and this thread did not leave me feeling optimistic--until tonight. I'm rather excited. If there were ever a block program I could live w. (speaking as someone who usually has to arrange a weekend trip to see any ballet and wants to see as many ballets & dancers as possible) it's Stravinsky Violin Concerto/Monumentum-Movements/Duo Concertante/Symphony in Three Movements.

Actually I would under any circumstances want to see that program more than once since it's pretty intense to take in so much at one go...And if I can't make that weekend there is also an Apollo/Orpheus/Agon block which will decidedly repay repeated viewing. I'm not a fan of block programming per se...but I'm pretty pleased about my options in the Fall (assuming circumstances permit travel etc.).

I'm afraid to say that it will also be interesting to see if these intense Balanchine-Stravinsky modernism programs really do sell much better than Martins-Millepied or Double Feature--or for that matter than Wheeldon-Ratmansky or Sleeping Beauty. My guess is that the Apollo/Agon one will do well--not so sure about the Violin Concerto program...In any case both are programs decidedly aimed at the "old time" NYCB audience...

[ViolinConcerto]

Drew, on 19 June 2012 - 05:35 PM, said:

I had not gotten around to checking the programming for Fall--and this thread did not leave me feeling optimistic--until tonight. I'm rather excited. If there were ever a block program I could live w. (speaking as someone who usually has to arrange a weekend trip to see any ballet and wants to see as many ballets & dancers as possible) it's Stravinsky Violin Concerto/Monumentum-Movements/Duo Concertante/Symphony in Three Movements.

Actually I would under any circumstances want to see that program more than once since it's pretty intense to take in so much at one go...And if I can't make that weekend there is also an Apollo/Orpheus/Agon block which will decidedly repay repeated viewing. I'm not a fan of block programming per se...but I'm pretty pleased about my options in the Fall (assuming circumstances permit travel etc.).

I'm afraid to say that it will also be interesting to see if these intense Balanchine-Stravinsky modernism programs really do sell much better than Martins-Millepied or Double Feature--or for that matter than Wheeldon-Ratmansky or Sleeping Beauty. My guess is that the Apollo/Agon one will do well--not so sure about the Violin Concerto program...In any case both are programs decidedly aimed at the "old time" NYCB audience...

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