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Ballet cinema broadcasts in Canada 2012-13


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Cineplex is offering a season including not just the Bolshoi but also the Royal Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. Here is the schedule:

2012 September, Sunday 30th : BOLSHOI: LA SYLPHIDE(Live) (Lacotte version after Taglioni)

2012 October, Sunday 21st : ROYAL BALLET: LA FILLE MAL GARDEE (Recorded)

2012 November, Sunday 25th: BOLSHOI: THE PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER (Live)

2012 December, Thursday 13th : ROYAL BALLET: NUTCRACKER

2012 December, Saturday 22nd : ROYAL BALLET: NUTCRACKER

2013 January, Sunday 27th : BOLSHOI: LA BAYADERE (Live)

2013 March, Thursday 28th: ROYAL BALLET: ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

2013 March, Sunday 31st : BOLSHOI: THE RITE OF SPRING (Live): new version by Wayne McGregor

2013 April, Sunday 7th: ROYAL BALLET: ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

2013 May, Sunday 12th : BOLSHOI: ROMEO AND JULIET (Live)

PLUS! Three broadcasts of Nederlands Dans Theater, dates to be confirmed but possibly 15 November, 20 December, and 7 February.

If you would like a "ballet buddy" to attend these broadcasts with in Toronto, please get in touch:

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kbarber, indeed, only if they would start the performances earlier. Movies starts at 6:30pm, 7pm, no one seems to have trouble showing up on time, I found it rather inconvenient when the show starts at 8pm. I got my season subscription nonetheless, if you decide to go to the Houston Ballet, message me, I can exchange my ticket to any date or seat available.

By the way, I don't find any live broadcast performance available from Emerging Pictures in Ottawa or Toronto area yet, where did you find the information above?

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kbarber, indeed, only if they would start the performances earlier. Movies starts at 6:30pm, 7pm, no one seems to have trouble showing up on time, I found it rather inconvenient when the show starts at 8pm. I got my season subscription nonetheless, if you decide to go to the Houston Ballet, message me, I can exchange my ticket to any date or seat available.

By the way, I don't find any live broadcast performance available from Emerging Pictures in Ottawa or Toronto area yet, where did you find the information above?

I wrote to the NAC to complain about late start times and no matinees (I think they're the only theatre in N America showing ballet that DOESN'T have matinees) and they were very dismissive, told me there was no demand. I find this mysterious since NBOC has THREE matinees out of 7 performances in Toronto for any given ballet. 8pm starts mean it's almost impossible for children or seniors to go to the ballet... or people who would like to come in to Ottawa from Kingston or Belleville, which would be quite doable on the train if there were a matinee.

I got the dates for the Cineplex broadcasts from a sheet that was handed out at Raymonda in June. I don't know why Cineplex is taking so long to post it to their website.

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There hasn't been much discussion about it, but this weekend the Bolshoi's La Sylphide will be broadcast in New York. starring Krysanova and Lopatin. For those who have seen this production, how were their performances, and is this a good production?

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It was broadcast last Sunday here in Belgium and I saw it. It's a nice production, but Ihaven't seen many versions of this ballet, so can't really compare.

Vyacheslav Lopatin was born for the role of James. He was amazing, I liked both his acting and his dancing.

Krysanova was nice, but didn't blow me away like I think Evgenia Obraztsova would have done.

They do seem to focus a lot on 'loose arms' in this production (if you compare videos of Obraztsova at the Mariinsky vs in this production, she clearly changed this), and I don't really like it. But that is a matter of taste, I'm sure some people think that fits the sylphs/romantic style better..

Overall, an enjoyable performance. Not as impressive as their broadcast of Esmeralda and Corsaire were (to me).

edit: and also I saw Yelena Pankova in the audience at my cinema, she was looking truly gorgeous... wub.png

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I found the performance both enjoyable and disappointing. I'm with those who would have preferred to see the Obraztsova-Skvortsov cast. We've already seen his "Sylph," so it would have been rather nice to have his James to complement it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez_DVidVYks

My biggest complaint was with the camera work, which was conspicuously worse than in previous relays. Much of the ballet was shot far too close, which meant not only that toes and hands were cut off on occasion, but more importantly, that it was difficult to gauge how dancers were moving through space, much the same way that close-ups of speed skaters give television viewers a very poor idea of just how quickly they're moving. Frankly, when your leads aren't especially photogenic, the close-ups don't do them any favors either. Some important moments in the mime were also missed by the camera.

Krysanova's Sylph was certainly airy, but she gusted rather than floated. I also think she generally raises her arms much too high, especially the one that crosses her body. I seem to recall that on the DVD of the POB's Sylphide, Aurelie Dupont related how Pierre Lacotte pointed out to her that the off-the-shoulder design of Romantic dresses would have prevented ballerinas from lifting their arms especially high. Today the sleeves on Sylph costumes tend to be purely symbolic, so this posture is frequently lost.

Perhaps because of his build--with his short, bandy legs--Lopatin, a beautiful dancer, tends to jump horizontally rather than vertically, and I found this disconcerting in Bournonville. I was disappointed by his first act solo, primarily because I couldn't make heads or tails of what he was doing musically, but his second-act variations were excellent.

Where I think the performance failed was dramatically, and this was primarily the fault of Irina Zibrova as Madge. Lord knows there are countless ways to play the part and make it unforgettable, but for whatever reason she opted for an indistinct "let the audience decide" approach that gutted the drama. The grainy footage of Johan Kobborg's Madge that exists suggests that Moscow has seen much more compelling performances of the part.

At the end I also found Lopatin lacking in the dramatic aspect. Perhaps he was hobbled by the fact that he doesn't have experience dancing parts like Albrecht, Solor or Siegfried.

There was a giggle from an audience member then the Sylph floated up to the heavens because the wires were all too visible on the movie screen. This was a design flaw that could have been prevented if she didn't have to pass over a patch of open "sky" at an inopportune moment. And I really have to lodge a complaint about the poor quality of Bolshoi wigs. There's nothing remotely unreasonable about a Scottish witch with red, curly hair, but it would have been nice if Zibrova's ringlets didn't look as though they were made of cotton batting.

Denis Savin as Gurn was delightful, as always, Anna Rebetskaya was was well cast as Effie, Marianna Ryzhkina's son Klim Yefimov jumped impressively in the pas de six, and Yevgeny Golovin was vivid as one of James' friends. In the second act I was very pleased with Anna Tikhomirova, along with Yulia Lunkina and Chinara Alizade.

The Muscovite audience, it has to be said, loved it and kept calling back Krysanova and Lopatin again and again. For me, though, it did nothing to erase memories of the London Festival Ballet telecast with Eva Evdokimova and Peter Schaufuss, a performance that shouldn't be languishing in the BBC vaults.

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Saw it this morning. I thought it was great overall. Only thing that I would have improved is Lopatin's portrayal. Not his dancing -- it was very fine, but I feel as if James should be more moody and introspective from the start of the ballet. Lopatin seems pretty happy with Effie, and more curious than actually entranced by the Sylph. I thought Krysanova was absolutely lovely.

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I didn't like Madge being so vengeful and evil and then showing the white under her ragged skirts. I like the Mariinsky's version better where she is an old woman and James is sort of mean to her, so her revenge seems almost justified and really his own fault. Afterall, he's dreaming of an ideal creature and not content with Effie, so he is sort of a jerk. In this Bolshoi one Madge just seemed like she was purposely meddling in all the proceedings. And it was just weird that she tried to show him her white tulle under her rags. The dancer said during intermission it is to let the audience guess whether she herself was the sylph or a past sylph, but I thought that detail added nothing to the story.

The dancing was good, but I think the Mariinsky corps dances this ballet much better.

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