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SFB Romeo and Juliet in Theatres This Weekend


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Now that Kochetkova has retired from company life in favor of working with choreographers, galas, and the like - and Karapetyan has retired - SFB's Romeo and Juliet becomes a kind of nostalgia piece.

From Pointe Magazine:
"Tragedy, romance and world class dancing, all from the comfort of your local movie theater? Sounds like your weekend plans are complete. On May 12, 13, and 15, San Francisco Ballet's Romeo & Juliet will be playing in select movie theaters around the country as part of Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance. Choreographed by SFB artistic director Helgi Tomasson, this version stars Maria Kochetkova and Davit Karapetyan in the title roles, making it particularly special: Karapetyan retired from SFB in 2017, and Kochetkova gave her final performance with the company just last week. Click here to find a showing near you. "

https://www.pointemagazine.com/san-francisco-ballet-at-the-movies-2567985665.html

 

Edited by pherank
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5 hours ago, dirac said:

Thanks for the heads-up, pherank. Anyone who sees it, please tell us about it!

Due to the lack of availability, I recommend buying the DVD on Amazon.  ;)

4 hours ago, sandik said:

I wish -- there aren't any showings up here (Seattle)

The only Southern California showing I noticed was in Anaheim, which means that the students from Anaheim Ballet can go see Kochetkova (a frequent guest-artist at AB), and the kids at the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet (Masha trains with Marat). It's hard to know how these theater choices are made though.

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I'm still baffled by the distribution and marketing of these cinema broadcasts.  Back when they were first starting, I could understand the haphazard nature of the choices of distributors and venues -- I figured it would take some time for them to settle down and find their market.  And some of these do seem to have caught a rhythm -- Fathom Entertainment runs the Bolshoi and a few other cultural institutions, alongside their other film and entertainment series.  They have a regular relationship with theater chains, and seem to have made a commitment to the programming.  But the Royal Opera House (ballet and opera), along with the National Theater, seem to be throwing darts at a map when it comes to their venues -- the whole thing feels really random.  I was hoping that the series promoted by Lincoln Center would get a little traction, but it seems like it was a one-season experiment.

On one hand, since so many of these programs are transferred into DVDs, I can't really complain too loudly.  But I don't always want to watch a production created for an opera house stage on my home computer -- I enjoy seeing these in a cinema, with a big screen and better speakers than I have at home.  I hope that they're able to sort this out and find a good niche for themselves.

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2 hours ago, sandik said:

I'm still baffled by the distribution and marketing of these cinema broadcasts.  Back when they were first starting, I could understand the haphazard nature of the choices of distributors and venues -- I figured it would take some time for them to settle down and find their market.  And some of these do seem to have caught a rhythm -- Fathom Entertainment runs the Bolshoi and a few other cultural institutions, alongside their other film and entertainment series.  They have a regular relationship with theater chains, and seem to have made a commitment to the programming.  But the Royal Opera House (ballet and opera), along with the National Theater, seem to be throwing darts at a map when it comes to their venues -- the whole thing feels really random.  I was hoping that the series promoted by Lincoln Center would get a little traction, but it seems like it was a one-season experiment.

On one hand, since so many of these programs are transferred into DVDs, I can't really complain too loudly.  But I don't always want to watch a production created for an opera house stage on my home computer -- I enjoy seeing these in a cinema, with a big screen and better speakers than I have at home.  I hope that they're able to sort this out and find a good niche for themselves.

I can only speak to the California engagements - there are some strategic choices. The theater with the most showings is in Tiburon -  a very wealthy community across the bay from San Francisco. No doubt a place where some of the richest SFB patrons live. The rest are mainly clustered around Los Angeles. Very interesting.

I think a bigger problem is that this kind of 'art' event draws almost no audience in the U.S., unless it happens in a major city. Movie theaters are a dying business because film distributors are hard at work setting up streaming services that will be available on the day of release. So movie houses will no longer have an exclusive product. Anyone who wants to stay at home and stream a new release can do so for a price - it often costs a group of people a fair amount of money anyway to go see a film together at a theater. Film venues will lose out quickly, sorry to say.

Edited by pherank
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