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Lincoln Center Festival 2017


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I remember a friend, a real Balanchine uber alles type, being very upset when NYCB first did Sleeping Beauty, since she loathed story ballets. I wasn't that excited either, since I didn't think they would be able to dance it.  We went to the first night, and loved every minute of it, especially the three Aurora solos, which looked very similar to the Royal Ballet ones I remembered.  My friend was amazed--"They look just like Balanchine" she kept saying.

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It would seem a foregone conclusion that most members on this wonderful Ballet Alert are infinitely more acquainted with the art form than I. Reading the expert and fascinating comments on this particular thread has more than underscored that assumption. Therefore, it is with great carefulness that I venture a comment. Only to say that after having perused so many erudite points of view concerning the Lincoln Center festival of Summer, 2017 - "to attend or not to attend, that is the question" - I realize that I have never once experienced the Bolshoi or the Paris Opera live. O how glorious for me  just to be there.! Surely that formidable legacy - that very aroma - of those great companies would infuse even the very air that I would breathe. Even if the event appears not to hold the promise of "the perfect storm", my heart and mind would be ablaze with wonder. Why, I might even catch a glimpse of Ana Turazashvili or Olga Smirnova (I call her the Evening Star) at the backstage door ! After all, these are my heroes !

Edited by altongrimes
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4 hours ago, altongrimes said:

. . . I wanted to say that after having perused so many erudite points of view concerning the Lincoln Center festival of Summer, 2017: "to attend or not to attend, that is the question", I realize that I have never once experienced the Bolshoi or the Paris Opera live. O how glorious for me to just to be there.! Surely the formidable legacy - the very aroma - of these great companies would infuse even the very air that I breathe. Even if the event appears not to hold the promise of "the perfect storm", my heart and mind would be ablaze with wonder. Why, I might even catch a glimpse of Ana Turazashvili or Olga Smirnova at the backstage door ! After all, these are my heroes !

 

I completely understand the "to attend or not to attend dilemma" when a trip to NY involves a (for me at least) big investment of money, time, energy. And, when I plan, I always try to look for "perfect storm" conjunctions (must see THAT ballet with THAT dancer and if THAT dancer is injured, LOVE the second cast, or I will at least get to see THAT other ballet or THAT other dancer I have long wanted to see etc.). But it's not always possible. Turazashvili and Smirnova "your heroes?" That's a pretty strong vote for "to attend"--and I bet you will have a very good time.

 

I had decided "not to attend," but have since learned that work/family obligations make my original summer ballet travel plans likely unworkable, so -- though I remain quite skeptical about aspects of the hype for this -- and am beyond disgusted with the Dmitrichenko business which kind of makes me want to boycott the Bolshoi on principle -- I am vaguely reconsidering. Smirnova and Stepanova are playing a role in my calculations and I suppose it may turn into a case of principals overcoming principles.

Edited by Drew
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Thank you, Drew! What a treasure is your reply ! I didn't realize that Yulia Stepanova may be at the festival, as well. Wow ! Just thinking about the confluence of these great companies has me singing: " Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon" and reflecting upon a little something I wrote recently.

"Oh, how I have come to delight in the countless facets of dance in live performance. From the two little angel faced girls having their photograph taken by their warm and effusive parents somewhere in a loge to the delightful woman sitting next to me at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion (who, it turns out had danced for Ballanchine - glory ! ) to the arresting brilliance of Richard Hudson's costumes on display in a Mariinsky Raymonda (why they threatened to steal the show ! ) I return from many a production awash in the subtle genius that made it's appearance on a stage, in an audience, somewhere through a lobby, out of a Manhattan bus window. In a face, in a mere few words exchanged, in watching Osipova transform THE DREAM..."

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On 12/28/2016 at 10:32 AM, altongrimes said:

... Only to say that after having perused so many erudite points of view concerning the Lincoln Center festival of Summer, 2017 - "to attend or not to attend, that is the question" - I realize that I have never once experienced the Bolshoi or the Paris Opera live. O how glorious for me  just to be there.! Surely that formidable legacy - that very aroma - of those great companies would infuse even the very air that I would breathe. Even if the event appears not to hold the promise of "the perfect storm", my heart and mind would be ablaze with wonder. Why, I might even catch a glimpse of Ana Turazashvili or Olga Smirnova (I call her the Evening Star) at the backstage door ! After all, these are my heroes !

 

So much of our connection to the arts is based in our emotional reactions -- our choices of what we want to see, and what we think we should see are highly individual.  Don't apologize about your desires, and see the things that you think will bring you the most joy.

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Lincoln Center Festival just sent out e-mail with sale dates for Jewels this July:


Monday, February 27: Member levels $1,000 and above
Monday, March 6: Member levels $500 and above
Monday, March 13: Member levels $100 and above
Monday, March 29: General Public

 

No mention of the Bolshoi engagement. I saw an announcement some time back that they will announce the entire series on March 29.
 

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4 hours ago, abatt said:

Looks like Lincoln Center needs a competent  proofreader.  March 29 is a Wednesday, so did they mean Monday Mar 27 or Wed Mar 29.

 

I have to say this is a very easy mistake to make -- I get press releases from all sorts of groups that have these kind of errors.  Yes, they should have caught it, but they're certainly not alone.

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I just wonder what makes it so difficult for them to announce the entire programs. They usually announced it in mid-January in previous years. But I have been visiting the website everyday for 2 months now, still reading the same old piece of Jewels, which we probably all have known about more than half a year ago when Bolshoi announced their 2016-17 season. 

 

So it's because they really have big trouble raising fund?  

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Unclear -- for all that Lincoln Center has a specific and distinct identity, it's actually more a collection of independent organizations -- the parent institution is not as powerful.  One of the reasons that they launched this summertime program is to have something of their own, and if you look back on their programming, it's been quite eclectic.  I don't know if they're having difficulties with fundraising, though it wouldn't surprise me in the current climate.  But as far as announcing their schedule, this is indeed late in the season for a destination project like this.

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On December 10, 2016 at 1:12 AM, Quiggin said:

[Continuing OT]

 

 Interesting about Ashton and Cechetti and the upper body, and being an heir to Petipa that way.

 

I think of Balanchine continuing Petipa architecturally. Compare the corps of Kingdom of the Shades to the corps in Symphony in C with the long lines and diagonals, and how everyone alternatingly faces one direction, then the other, continually changing register. I don't think Ashton had that command of space, it was more a kind of balletic intimacy with him, maybe it was a cross of Petipa and a bit of English music hall for leavening. It definintely depends on a certain "high" or slightly ironical sensibility to bring off.

 

But Balanchine is both an heir to Petipa and to the anit-Petipa  Soviet cubo-constructivism and biometrics of the 1920's,. You see that in Agon (the pas de deux half on the floor) and The Four Temperaments (the opening figures which come directly from Balanchine's New Ballet work) and in general how things quickly flick unexpectedly from one figuration to another. Petipa and Meyerhold are like his estranged parents or grandparents, and he's sometimes loyal to one and sometimes loyal to the other and sometimes, when no one's looking, he mixes them up together.

I'm only now getting around to reading this, but the mention of Balanchine's command of space is so right, as is seeing him as heir to both Petipa and the anti-Petipa Soviet 1920's choreographers. One doesn't get to see much of the latter so it's easy to forget that aspect of Balanchine - and he was in fact an active participant in some of those productions. Wasn't a lot of that experimental Soviet choregraphy purged, so to speak, under Stalin? 

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16 hours ago, Olga said:

... Wasn't a lot of that experimental Soviet choregraphy purged, so to speak, under Stalin? 

 

The choreographers who survived seemed to have been relegated to more mundane assignments. In "Theatre in Revolution" Nicholetta Misler gives the example of Goleizovksy being "reduced to designing choreographies for the Stalin parades, such as the banal flower bed for the 1938 May Day celebration."

 

Interestingly the Taganka Theatre of Yuri Lyubimov, founded in 1964, claimed to have connections to the Meyerhold Theatre (Nicolai Erdman 1900-1970 worked in both). Also to Moscow Art Theatre and later ideas of Berthold Brecht. Alexei Ratmansky in his NY Public Library interview mentions the Taganka as a favorite place of refuge when he wasn't taking ballet classes – so in some very roundabout way Ratmansky may have been plugged into some of the same influences as Balanchine had been.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Quiggin said:

 

 

The choreographers who survived seemed to have been relegated to more mundane assignments. In "Theatre in Revolution" Nicholetta Misler gives the example of Goleizovksy being "reduced to designing choreographies for the Stalin parades, such as the banal flower bed for the 1938 May Day celebration."

 

....Alexei Ratmansky in his NY Public Library interview mentions the Taganka as a favorite place of refuge when he wasn't taking ballet classes – so in some very roundabout way Ratmansky may have been plugged into some of the same influences as Balanchine had been.

 

 

Quiggin, Thank you very much for this information. Both very interesting points and the first is very sad. Lucky for dance, and for Balanchine, that he left Russia. Probably another thing Ratmansky has in common with Balanchine. Thanks again for your helpful response.

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No. Absolutely not. No way, no how. At these prices I'm much more inclined to fly to Paris to watch the POB do it there in the autumn, having already seen NYCB and the Bolshoi perform the ballet. As for this, I'll watch the film instead.

 

I'll admit that in comparison with usual NYCB prices, the 3rd and 4th rings are not as overpriced as the rest, although $75 for a seat along the side still strikes me as an awful lot.

Edited by volcanohunter
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16 hours ago, mussel said:

Jewels pricing:

 

Orchestra and 1st ring: $110-$500
2nd ring: $100-$200
3rd ring: $75-$150
4th ring: $55-$75
And the performances will be filmed.

 

Geez!  Lincoln Center Festival tickets are always considerably higher than regular NYCB or ABT tickets, but this takes it to a whole new level. But I will still go, because I love Jewels, because I saw it that first season and want to honor that memory and because I am really looking forward to seeing the Bolshoi's Diamonds live. However at these prices they had better be bringing Smirnova and Zahkarova. or I will be very disappointed.

And even though I know that Obraztsova usually dances Emeralds I'd love to see her in the Rubies PDD.

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When you think about what Broadway shows are charging these days, the LCF ticket prices are not necessarily so overpriced by comparison.  Yes, when measured against ballet tickets for ABT and NYCB, the Jewels ticket prices are absurd. However, those companies perform 7 shows a week for numerous weeks every year.  They could never get away with charging those prices for that many performances.  In contrast, there are only 5 Jewels performances, and it is a unique multi company event.   However, at these prices they should definitely be publishing casting info now.

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Is Taming of the Shrew (which is announced for the next week, also at the former NY State theater, on the Bolshoi website) part of Lincoln Center festival or a separate event. I am contemplating whether it is worth it to me to make a last minute donation to Lincoln Center -- I know I should give for the sake of giving, but most of my ballet budget goes to travel expenses and buying tickets. Any idea? I called Lincoln Center members office today, but no-one was there. 

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11 minutes ago, Drew said:

Is Taming of the Shrew (which is announced for the next week, also at the former NY State theater, on the Bolshoi website) part of Lincoln Center festival or a separate event. I am contemplating whether it is worth it to me to make a last minute donation to Lincoln Center -- I know I should give for the sake of giving, but most of my ballet budget goes to travel expenses and buying tickets. Any idea? I called Lincoln Center members office today, but no-one was there. 

 

I believe that its part of the LC Festival but beware - they usually sell subscriptions before single tickets so you have to buy several of the LC Festival offerings

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32 minutes ago, Drew said:

Is Taming of the Shrew (which is announced for the next week, also at the former NY State theater, on the Bolshoi website) part of Lincoln Center festival or a separate event. I am contemplating whether it is worth it to me to make a last minute donation to Lincoln Center -- I know I should give for the sake of giving, but most of my ballet budget goes to travel expenses and buying tickets. Any idea? I called Lincoln Center members office today, but no-one was there. 

I've been a member of the Friends of Lincoln Center for several years (at the lowest level - $100 - mainly to get some slight priority in buying tickets). They are really awful at sending out information to Friends about upcoming summer Festival events. I usually find out about them some other way (this site, e.g.!) We have been told about Jewels (repeatedly!), but nothing else.

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20 minutes ago, nysusan said:

 

I believe that its part of the LC Festival but beware - they usually sell subscriptions before single tickets so you have to buy several of the LC Festival offerings

 

Oooh thank you. I hadn't even thought about the "subscription" issue. With the last Bolshoi visit, it made sense for me to join Lincoln Center as I was coming up for nearly a week of performances and, now I think of it, I essentially "subscribed" to the Bolshoi. Any trip I make this summer will likely have to be much shorter...

 

2 minutes ago, California said:

I've been a member of the Friends of Lincoln Center for several years (at the lowest level - $100 - mainly to get some slight priority in buying tickets). They are really awful at sending out information to Friends about upcoming summer Festival events. I usually find out about them some other way (this site, e.g.!) We have been told about Jewels (repeatedly!), but nothing else.

 

That's sort of what I thought I should do (and just not let it lapse this time)...But then -- partly because of the increasingly high base-level ticket prices and partly for other reasons, I'm thinking of focusing more of my ballet-travel budget on Kennedy Center. It might make more sense for me to become a Kennedy Center friend!

 

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