19 replies to this topic

[California]

The new season was just announced:
http://www.roh.org.u...eason-announced

[cinnamonswirl]

I'm interested to see how The Winter's Tale turns out!

[GianninaM]

Yes, does anyone know anything about it (The Winter's Tale)?  Classical?  Modern?

[kbarber]

GianninaM, on 13 March 2013 - 07:12 AM, said:

Yes, does anyone know anything about it (The Winter's Tale)?  Classical?  Modern?

It's a new creation by Christopher Wheeldon, so presumably in his neoclassical style.

[ksk04]

Well I guess the Bolshoi's loss (McGregor's Rite) is the Royal's gain? Wish they'd broadcast a few of their triples, but nice to see Winter's Tale get a viewing--I'm interested!

[puppytreats]

Why does Kevin O'Hare express a goal of having a rep of all new full length ballets in 10 years? Why would audiences want to give up the opportunity to see beloved favorites, even if not to the exclusion of new dances?

[California]

puppytreats, on 13 March 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

Why does Kevin O'Hare express a goal of having a rep of all new full length ballets in 10 years? Why would audiences want to give up the opportunity to see beloved favorites, even if not to the exclusion of new dances?

That struck me as odd, too, but I think he's saying he'd like new productions, along the lines of the "new Don Q" next season, which still uses the Minkus music, choreography "after Petipa," and presumably the same general libretto. So it's not "entirely new," but more refreshed, updated, etc.

[mussel]

Is this going to be RB's first DQ, ever?  I don't recall RB ever performed DQ.

[volcanohunter]

ksk04, on 13 March 2013 - 12:36 PM, said:

Well I guess the Bolshoi's loss (McGregor's Rite) is the Royal's gain?

It will be a revival of the MacMillan version.

[volcanohunter]

mussel, on 13 March 2013 - 03:59 PM, said:

Is this going to be RB's first DQ, ever?  I don't recall RB ever performed DQ.

They last staged the ballet in 2001, but the production didn't last. It was filmed with Tamara Rojo, Johan Kobborg, Zenaida Yanowsky and Alina Cojocaru.
http://www.rohcollec...tion=4455&row=0

Previously Anthony Dowell had staged a production in 1993.
http://www.rohcollec...tion=4452&row=0

[ksk04]

volcanohunter, on 13 March 2013 - 04:00 PM, said:

ksk04, on 13 March 2013 - 12:36 PM, said:

Well I guess the Bolshoi's loss (McGregor's Rite) is the Royal's gain?

It will be a revival of the MacMillan version.

Oops! I read that much too quickly since it's on a bill with a McGregor piece. Thanks for the correction

[Quiggin]

I wouldn't want to see The Winter's Tale as a ballet – it's such a perfect play. I'm afraid Wheedon is attracted to it so that Hermione can be carried around stage – as in The Unanswered Question.

The best ballets seem to come from modest folk and fairy tales – Cinderella, Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Giselle, Coppelia, Petrouska – or from slight intellectual conceits such as Parade, Apollo or La Chatte. Rarely from masterpieces.

[Mashinka]

Romeo & Juliet and Eugene Onegin weren't masterpieces in their orignal forms?

[Dale]

Since the question of this ballet arose on this thread, I'll post this here:

New Ballet by Christopher Wheeldon Announced Second Co-Production with The Royal Ballet
March 14, 2013... Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, is pleased to announce that the company will be creating a new full-length production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The same creative team behind the smash hit Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, composer Joby Talbot, designer Bob Crowley and lighting designer Natasha Katz, continue their successful collaboration to bring Shakespeare’s romantic play to dance.
The Winter’s Tale will be the National Ballet’s second co-production with The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, London, following the rewarding partnership between the two major companies for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Winter’s Tale will premiere in London in Spring 2014 and the Canadian premiere to follow. Details to be announced.
The Winter’s Tale follows the destruction of marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. It provides highly powerful material for a ballet and presents the opportunity for the National Ballet to bring to life a wealth of new characters.
This April, the National Ballet will tour to London for the first time in 26 years with Romeo and Juliet by Alexei Ratmansky. The ballet opened in Toronto yesterday and runs until March 17.
Lead philanthropic support for The Winter’s Tale is provided in part by The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation, Richard M. Ivey, C.C. and The Producers’ Circle.
The Producers’ Circle: John & Claudine Bailey, Susanne Boyce & Dr. Brendan Mullen, Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan, Hal Jackman Foundation, The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, O.C., Julie Medland, Sandra & Jim Pitblado, Sandra L. Simpson and Noreen Taylor & David Staines, O.C.
The 2012/13 season is dedicated to the memory of The National Ballet of Canada’s greatest patron Walter Carsen, O.C.
Thomson Reuters presents Romeo and Juliet.
Lead philanthropic support for Romeo and Juliet is provided by Sandra & Jim Pitblado with additional generous support from Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan, The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation, an anonymous friend of the National Ballet and Walter Carsen, O.C.
Thomson Reuters and RBC Wealth Management are co-presenting sponsors of the London Tour.
Air Canada is the Official Airline of The National Ballet of Canada.
The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Ontario Arts Council; the City of Toronto through the Economic Development & Culture Department; the Government of Canada through the Honourable James Moore, Minister, the Department of Canadian Heritage; the Government of Ontario; and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

[Quiggin]

Mashinka, on 14 March 2013 - 01:47 AM, said:

Romeo & Juliet and Eugene Onegin weren't masterpieces in their orignal forms?

Yes – I guess – Romeo & Juliet and Midsummer's Night Dream were successful ballets but derive from Ovid and an early Greek novella (as Dream did) and had cast-iron, almost generic, plots. Winter's Tale is much more subtle and mysterious – how do you transcribe it into mime and dance – it's all words, it'll fall apart.

(And for me Onegin irons out the tone and all the contradictions of the original – Puskin's novel doesn't quite know if it wants to be a romantic story or a parody of one. It's as if they share the same original source, rather than the ballet being based on the novel.)