Dale Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 This was announced today: The Tempest, New Ballet by Alexei RatmanskyCo-Production with American Ballet Theatre October 29, 2013… Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced that The Tempest, which premieres at American Ballet Theatre on October 30, is a co-production between the National Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. The Canadian premiere will be in the 2014/15 season at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.The Tempest, a one act ballet adapted from William Shakespeare’s play, is choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky, who created Romeo and Juliet for the National Ballet in 2011 to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary season. Mr. Ratmansky’s Russians Seasons is also in the company’s repertoire.The Tempest features sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto, music by Jean Sibelius and lighting by Robert Wierzel. The sets for the highly anticipated production were built in Toronto at The Gretchen Ross Production Centre by the National Ballet’s production team.More information on The Tempest on American Ballet Theatre’s website >The Tempest is supported by The Producers’ Circle: John & Claudine Bailey, Susanne Boyce & Dr. Brendan Mullen, Gail Drummond & Bob Dorrance, Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan, Kevin & Roger Garland, Rosamond Ivey, Hal Jackman Foundation, Anna McCowan-Johnson & Donald K. Johnson, O.C., Judy Korthals & Peter Irwin, Mona & Harvey Levenstein, Joan & Jerry Lozinski, The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, O.C., Julie Medland, Sandra Pitblado & Jim Pitblado, C.M., Sandra L. Simpson and Noreen Taylor & David Staines, O.C.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 – Department of Canadian Heritage, through the Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages; and the Government of Ontario through the Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.David H. Koch is the Lead Underwriter of The Tempest. This production is generously supported through an endowed gift from the Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. Linda Allard, Arlene and Harvey Blau, Mary Jo and Ted Shen and an anonymous donor are Leading Sponsors. Emily and Len Blavatnik, The Gwendolyn & Austin Fragomen Fund, and Andrew J. Martin-Weber are Sponsors. Additional support has also been generously provided by Lloyd E. RiglerLawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, Linda and Martin Fell, Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton E. James, Howard S. Paley, and Michael and Sue Steinberg. Link to comment
mussel Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 It's unusual the co-producing companies are so close to each other geographically, usually they're a continent apart, some examples: Don Q: PNB & HET Firebird: ABT & HET Shostakovich Trilogy: ABT & SFB War & Peace: Mariinsky & Met Sylvia: ABT & RB Alice: RB & NBoC Cinderella: SFB & HET Link to comment
kbarber Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 on the other hand, American companies (ABT, PNB, SFB, Boston, Houston, Pennsylvania) have been renting NBOC productions for years: Onegin (previous production and new production), Merry Widow, The Dream, La Fille mal Gardee, Cranko R&J, Kudelka Cinderella, Taming of the Shrew, etc etc. Also I believe Kudelka's Firebird was a co-pro with Houston. Link to comment
mussel Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 NBoC probably earns more money from renting out the productions than from the productions themselves. Link to comment
Natalia Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Hopefully this means that the set of The Tempest will be substantial (not El Cheapo). The costume designs are promising (lovely). I have my ticket to one of the ABT performances. Looking forward to seeing it! Link to comment
sandik Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 It's unusual the co-producing companies are so close to each other geographically, usually they're a continent apart, some examples: Don Q: PNB & HET Firebird: ABT & HET Shostakovich Trilogy: ABT & SFB War & Peace: Mariinsky & Met Sylvia: ABT & RB Alice: RB & NBoC Cinderella: SFB & HET The Ratmansky Don Q was a production of the Dutch company -- PNB rented the sets and costumes after they were created in the Netherlands. PNB's production of the Balanchine Coppelia was a shared project with San Francisco Ballet (which is about twice as far away from Seattle as Toronto is from NYC, if we're looking at mileage) Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I missed something. Why did the National Ballet of Canada decide to "postpone" The Tempest and instead go with Symphony no. 9 and Piano Concerto no. 1 from the Shostakovich Trilogy? Did anyone from the media press for more details? http://national.ballet.ca/uploadedFiles/MediaReleases/Shostakovich%20Trilogy%20Part%201%20and%203%20in%202014-15%20Season.pdf Link to comment
California Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Why did the National Ballet of Canada decide to "postpone" The Tempest and instead go with Symphony no. 9 and Piano Concerto no. 1 from the Shostakovich Trilogy? Anybody who has seen both of these works (as, presumably, Kain has) already knows the answer...Chalk the silence up to diplomacy. Link to comment
sandik Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I haven't seen Ratmansky's Tempest, so cannot speak to aesthetics, but programming decisions include a wide variety of elements, including available casts, production costs and requirements, and the rest of the repertory. Kain may not feel that Tempest is a good fit for the company at this time, but she may also be making that choice based on other, more pragmatic considerations. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I'm curious precisely about production costs, since the National Ballet of Canada was the co-producer of The Tempest. Had it made its monetary contribution to production already? If not, is ABT making up for the missing money? What are the financial terms for presenting the Shostakovich ballets? Will there be a hole in the budget as a result? Link to comment
meunier fan Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I'm curious precisely about production costs, since the National Ballet of Canada was the co-producer of The Tempest. Had it made its monetary contribution to production already? If not, is ABT making up for the missing money? What are the financial terms for presenting the Shostakovich ballets? Will there be a hole in the budget as a result? I would have thought the co-production funds would be up-front (as I assume they would have been for both Alice and Winter's Tale with the RB) as support would have been for the original 'physical' production/mounting knowing that would be shared. Otherwise it would be rather difficult (and fearful) to budget against. If a discussion were had vis a vis a change in the rep, i.e., the exchange of other productions in the original's place (e.g., other Ratmansky pieces in this instance) they may well be delivered in kind in acknowledgement of the original investment made (or at least one would hope they were). Perhaps such was part of their original agreement. It would make sense - and I'm sure guidelines would have been established as towards a significant time frame for any NBoC performance decision post ABT premiere. I assume that the Canadian accounts (as a major non-profit organisation) are published and open to view. The investments for all I assume would be notated. That would surely give a definitive answer. Link to comment
Recommended Posts