Le Corsaire Live Stream, Bavarian State Ballet, June 12 9am ET

[Helene]

Thanks to the heads up from volcanohunter, we have the update that the performance of "Le Corsaire" on June 12 will be the matinee performance instead of the early evening performance, and it will begin 9:00am ET (6am PT):

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/40730-le-corsaire-live-stream-bavarian-state-ballet/?p=370541

Click on the link for casting details, including the dancers who will be leaving the company with Zelensky's arrival next season.

[California]

Just a reminder that the live stream starts in a few minutes at 9 am EDT.

http://www.operlive.de/

I see in the credits that Doug Fullington of PNB did the reconstruction of the Petipa choreography.

[volcanohunter]

The stream has begun.

[California]

Well to answer my question, there's also a partial reconstruction of the Scene de seduction, so what does everyone think of this production so far?

I'm afraid that Simkin's truly extraordinary Ali (that I saw at the Met June 4) has ruined me for all future Ali's! This one is perfectly acceptable, clean, solid, but nothing astonishing once you have seen what Simkin does with that role. (But I have a hunch some of the young talent at Pennsylvania Ballet will give him a run for his money next March.)

The camera work is mostly good, although there have been a few brief moments when I was being shown the crowd instead of a nice variation by the principal.

Overall, a very nice, clean, easy-to-watch production. And, as always, I so regret that American companies never do this.

BTW - the clips of their very unorthodox Swan Lake at intermission look fascinating. Hope they live stream that one later this month!

[naomikage]

Boston Ballet will be doing this Ivan Liska Corsaire next season. (in October 2016)

http://www.bostonballet.org/16-17season/

[California]

Just a few additional thoughts: the sets seemed very minimalist to me, too minimalist. The ending on the ship was disappointing. And I missed the goofy humor of Pasha in ABT's version.

[sandik]

Doug Fullington reconstructed the Jardin Anime as a stand-alone work for the Pacific Northwest Ballet school in 2004 (not to blow my own horn, but I wrote a bit about it in danceviewtimes). He reworked that reconstruction here, and also staged it this year for the PNB family matinee performances.

[sandik]

Oh thank you sandik; love the article! ;)

I'm glad if it's helpful -- it's a fascinating topic.

[volcanohunter]

BTW - the clips of their very unorthodox Swan Lake at intermission look fascinating. Hope they live stream that one later this month!

There are no further ballet streams planned for this season (this was the only one all year), and the company isn't performing John Neumeier's Illusions - like Swan Lake next season. However, there is a film of the Hamburg Ballet performing it. It is an unorthodox approach, inasmuch as Neumeier turns the ballet into a semi-autobiographical piece about Ludwig II of Bavaria. However, the lakeside scene (staged by Alexandra Danilova) is more authentic than what you'll see in most conventional productions of Swan Lake, because Neumeier was aiming for a "period" feel, and he also retains the "black swan" pas de deux.

Unfortunately, the assurance that "diese DVD hat keinen Ländercode" comes with a disclaimer, because it was released on DVD as a region-free PAL disc, so while it will play just fine on your computer, you'll need a region-free player to watch it on an American TV set--or you can connect a laptop to your TV and project it onto the screen that way. It's available from the Hamburg Ballet and the European versions of Amazon. There's little available film of Elizabeth Loscavio, so her performance on this disc is a bonus.

http://hamburgballett-shop.de/epages/9681fdc6-2651-4b06-bcf7-658393ece38e.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/9681fdc6-2651-4b06-bcf7-658393ece38e/Products/2-4

[volcanohunter]

the constant dancing at every minute just gets really irritating, especially when it's obvious that there's dancing to music that's supposed to be for action and mime scenes

I have to agree with that entirely. Not only is it unmusical, without the mime the narrative becomes much less clear, and it flattens out the characters if they're all basically performing the same kinds of steps. And I don't like the bare chests, bare midriffs and bare legs.

But I was very grateful for the reconstruction of the pas d'esclave and particularly glad to find that the lifts in the entrée where the women tucks her feet under her before being lowered into an arabesque were absent. That move invariably makes her tutu fly up in front and looks indecent. I was sure it violated Ratmansky's maxim about not showing one's underwear to the czar, and sure enough, the supported croisé grand jetés looked much, much better. On the other hand, there was a moment in the jardin animé when Medora and Gulnare were kneeling on opposite legs, one woman in front of the other, and from the unfortunate camera angle, at least, it made Medora appear as though she were squatting in second position Mats Ek-style.

It was very interesting to see the third odalisque variation performed without the interpolated pirouettes, and therefore danced much faster, although in general I wanted to shoot conductor Aivo Välja with a tranquilizer dart for racing through the ballet at a pace with which the dancers could not keep up. And I agree with California that the final tableau on the ship does not register nearly as strongly as it should.

I particularly admired Daria Sukhorukova in the jardin animé. Her departure is a real loss for the company.

I recall that when this production premiered, someone wrote that the printed program included a chart indicating the choreographic and musical provenance of each dance. I'm sorry that information isn't available on the company web site because I'd love to know it. I am glad the production is coming to Boston, because while I agree that it isn't perfect, it does strip away some tiresome accretions--albeit not Ali.

[Drew]

Unfortunately, the constant dancing is what has become of Petipa's ballets and revivals, primarily thanks to Soviet meddling and this production further proves that it just does not work.[...] In other words, it's time for a full Le Corsaire reconstruction.

What do you think of the Ratmansky/Burlaka reconstruction?

[Helene]

I'm not Amy, but I saw it a couple of times, and my favorite parts were "Jardin Anime," "Petite Corsaire," no Ali, and no bare chests.

[Helene]

Funny how memory plays tricks: I don't remember a pas de trois at all, just a pas de deux.

In DC, due to overtime rules, we got the very abridged last act. That meant no fan dance, which we got to see in Seattle in March, thanks to doug's work on the Family Matinee, the highlight of the season.

[Drew]

I don't remember the pas de trois in the Ratmansky-Burlaka production either. (I saw it in London). The pas des Eventails by Ratmansky was pure Petipa-esque pastiche, and I enjoyed the dancing, but found it odd to see Medora with a cavalier when she was at the same time supposedly guarded by eunichs. For me, the highlight was certainly the Jardin Anime along with some of the character dancing. And the costumes. I also had some questions about how the ballet hung together as a whole. Unfortunately I won't be seeing it again any time soon.

[volcanohunter]

For that matter, even men standing at the rear of the jardin animé scene with garlands is odd. What really strikes me as dissonant are those versions of the scene where Seyd apparently brings out his harem to provide entertainment for the faux pilgrims.

Not that one goes to the ballet with expectations of seeing accurate depictions of the Orient.

[sandik]

Actually here's what Alexei said about his and Burlaka's Le Corsaire staging in an interview last year:

... because both of us agreed that Petipa knew better.

yup!

Yes they did stage it as a pas de deux - they gave it to Conrad and Medora; it's perhaps the only staging of the so-called Le Corsaire Pas de deux that doesn't include the obnoxious Ali. Lol!

The fan dance that Doug reconstructed for the PNB family matinee, who else besides Medora dances in that passage, Helene?

Medora danced with her friends -- they all had fans (very large ones, like burlesque dancers), and were able to create several interesting tableaux with them.

[sandik]

Ah thank you; shame Doug wasn't commissioned to reconstruct that pas de six for the Bavarian State Ballet's production because I'd like to see it, or did he offer to reconstruct it and his offer was turned down?

And did any of those tableaux include one where the dancers made a kaleidoscope effect, reminiscent of a peacock's plumage?

I don't know what the circumstances were for the Bavarian production, but yes, the PNB family matinee included a peacock moment...

[sandik]

Oh lovely, I wish I'd seen that! And was it five coryphees who danced as Medora's friends?

I don't remember off the top of my head -- Helene?

[Helene]

Doug staged this for the PNB School, and the numbers couldn't always match the originals, but the program lists:

Seyd

Lanquedem

Conrad

Medora

Birbanto

Gulnare

Act I:

Merchants: 3

Buyers: 2

Pirates: 8

Townswomen: 8

Servant Women: 10

Pasha's Court at the Marketplace: 16 men

Act II:

Fan Dance: Medora plus 2 demi women and 8 more women

Forbans Dance: Birbanto and his girlfriend plus 2 couples

Act III:

Pasha's Court: 6 plus 8 women

Dance of the Arab Boys: 8 boys

Travellers: Conrad and 8 men

Le Jardin Anime: Medora and Gulnare plus 6 and 24 women and 16 men/boys

[sandik]

Thanks! I loved the production all the way through, but it was especially interesting to see the Jardin Anime again, in a fuller production.