sandik

Not to mention Alone in the Wilderness! KCTS is running this on Tuesday 20 December at 8 pm, and re-running it on the 21st at 2:30 am (which is just later that same night)

This kind of marketing seems to have worked quite well for them -- I can understand why they would want to keep working this angle. I do like that they've included a student work on the series. I wonder, though, what would happen in a year when the program length works aren't necessarily fairy stories. Romeo and Swan Lake are coming back next year -- I don't know that they are necessarily candidates for a family series.

Not an especially positive review, but I'm glad to know the work is being seen. Sokolow always scared me to death!

And Jeffrey Stanton is back, guesting as Drosselmeyer on the first Sunday

I'm sorry I missed it -- I think the two men in particular would do an excellent job together. That trio really rocks when the guys are the same size and style.

Voila, the press release: Pacific Northwest Ballet Announces New Hires and Promotions SEATTLE, WA – Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal is pleased to announce that he has hired Joshua Grant to join the company as a member of the corps de ballet. Mr. Grant was a member of the company from 2001 to 2004 before joining National Ballet of Canada, followed by five years with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. He returned to PNB on November 14. Additionally, two new apprentices will join the company on November 21: Angelica Generosa and Charles McCall, both of whom were most recently members of the PNB School Professional Division. Mr. Boal has also announced three additional promotions, which will take effect at the start of the new year: Corps de ballet dancers Kiyon Gaines, Kylee Kitchens and Jerome Tisserand will all be promoted to soloists, beginning January 9. Joshua Grant is from Niceville, Florida. He trained at Northwest Florida Ballet, Harid Conservatory, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and he attended summer courses at Virginia School of the Arts, the Rock School, Harid Conservatory, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Mr. Grant joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2001 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2002. In 2004, he joined National Ballet of Canada, and in 2006, he joined Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. He performed as a principal dancer with Trockadero until 2011 when he rejoined PNB. With Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Mr. Grant performed leading roles in Chopiniana, Gaîté Parisienne, Giselle, Go for Barocco, Majisimas, Paquita, Pas de Quatre, Swan Lake, Trovatiara, Vivaldi Suite, and La Vivandiere. He also performed the solo Dying Swan, as a guest artist on the Titus Command Gala in Dallas and for PNB’s Laugh Out Loud! Festival in 2008. At National Ballet of Canada, he performed leading and featured roles in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Michel Fokine’s Petrushka, and James Kudelka’s Désir and Nutcracker. He also originated the role of the Horse in Kudelka’s An Italian Straw Hat. At Pacific Northwest Ballet, he performed leading and featured roles in Lew Christensen’s Il Distratto, Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries, and Lynne Taylor Corbett’s Ballad of You and Me. In 2008, he performed on the Royal Variety Show at London’s Palladium Theatre in the presence of HRH Prince Charles. Angelica Generosa is from South River, New Jersey. She studied on scholarship at the School of American Ballet and Princeton Ballet, and she attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet, Chautauqua Summer Program, and New Jersey Ballet. She also studied with Gina Forcella in Sayreville, New Jersey. While a student at the School of American Ballet, Ms. Generosa performed leading roles in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Bourée Fantasque, and Stars and Stripes, as well as roles in Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie and Christopher Wheeldon’s Scènes de Ballet. She performed works choreographed by Justin Peck for the New York Choreographic Institute, and she also performed as Clara in the 2005 Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York. Ms. Generosa was the recipient of the Youth American Grand Prix Regional Hope Award in 2005, and she was a YGAP New York finalist in 2007. She was also the recipient of the School of American Ballet Mae Wien Award for Outstanding Promise. Ms. Generosa has performed as a guest artist with American Academy Ballet. Charles McCall is from St. Louis, Missouri. He trained on scholarship at Alexandra Ballet, Ballet Chicago, the School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and he attended summer courses on scholarship at Ballet Chicago, the School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and Chautauqua Summer Program. While a student at the School of American Ballet, Mr. McCall performed leading roles in George Balanchine’s Bourée Fantasque and Christopher Wheeldon’s Scènes de Ballet. At Pacific Northwest Ballet School, he performed leading roles in Balanchine’s Western Symphony and Paul Gibson’s Menuet and Allegros. He also originated roles in Kiyon Gaines’ A Piece in P-I-E-C-E-S, Barry Kerollis’ It Gets Better, Margaret Mullin’s Forward, and Pride Suddarth’s All the Reich Moves, all for PNB’s 2011 Next Step performance. Mr. McCall has performed as a guest artist with SD/Prism Dance Theatre. Full bios for Kiyon Gaines, Kylee Kitchens and Jerome Tisserand are available on PNB’s website.

I've had such trouble keeping the shifts in casting straight in my head for this rep, so I didn't realize Tisserand was cast in quite this many roles for the Sunday show -- what a tour de force. And having his family there makes it just that much more sweet. And yes, promotions -- well, there he is!

Oh, the infamous Giselle shorts! Or "culottes," as they are listed in the text. I love the photos of the costumes, but I'm even more intrigued by this "Another important aspect of this collection is a rare and unusually comprehensive record of Nijinsky and his fellow dancers from the 1911 to 1921 London Ballets Russes seasons with photographs by the Edwardian photo-modernist Emil Otto Hoppé. These intimate largely unpublished portraits represent a body of work that depicts Diaghilev's Ballets Russes dancers in their prime." You can see some of the photos here -- I can't find any additional information about the text they list (One Hundred Photographs: E.O. Hoppé and the Ballets Russes, essays by John Bowlt and Oleg Minin (2011)) -- does anyone here have any references?

I emailed the author of the paper, and asked if she would be willing to share, but have not heard back from her. (and indeed, if the paper is supposed to come out in a conference proceedings document, she may need to wait until that is past) I agree that we have only the Atlantic description to read here, but I am very interested in hearing more about her research. While I don't agree that pointe shoes have led exclusively and inexorably to a monoculture in ballet, they have had an incredible affect on the development of technique, and that absolutely has had an affect on aesthetics. Historians of technology have contributed to some excellent work in other fields, particularly in sociology and political science, and art historians have done fascinating work linking the changes in style and topic to industrial chemistry -- I think there are a lot of things that we could examine in dance history related to cultural and scientific development.

Every year I put an all-regions player on my Christmas list, but somehow it has not happened yet! Many thanks for the update.

Can anyone tell me what format this is in? And if it's planned to release it in the US?

I saw the Stuttgart Company in Cranko's Romeo in the early 2000s in NYC. I remember liking the production a great deal, but not many details. And yes, the telecast of the Smuin production for San Francisco was very affecting. At the end of the first big fight scene, a townswoman comes straight downstage carrying the body of her young son who was killed accidentally. It was a surprising and powerful image, and has stayed with me since that broadcast, which was how many years ago? I think I like the film version of the Lavrovsky better than the actual stage version. The only time I've seen it live it's seemed very cramped on the stage -- the film has much more freedom. (not to mention Ulanova!) But I think that you've put your finger on a very important element here We do live in ironical times, and the self-commentary of much post-modern dance makes it difficult to take a big, sweeping interpretation of a role. I see this in classical ballet, certainly, but also in older modern dance. Thinking about Humphrey's moral individuals in her abstract choreography, the larger-than-life Graham characters, and the Limon repertory -- it's so difficult for a dancer to stand still and command attention now.

Your lips to the gods' ears!

I am so sorry to hear of his death -- he was part of a wonderful generation of dance historians and writers. His book on the Suedois is worth looking for -- a fascinating company that doesn't get as much attention as they deserve.

More fun facts (am writing actual review, but that takes me longer...) Friday night: Boal used the curtain speech to "officially" welcome new music director Emil deCou (even though he's been here since last spring) He (deCou) was very smooth, said he wasn't used "to being up this high" standing onstage, and referred to the ensemble as "the finest ballet orchestra in the United States." Maria Chapman gave the donation appeal for Second Stage during the pause before Romeo -- this is the 13th year that dancers have donated their opening night salary to the fund. In the Q/A Boal answered a question about corps members cast in more featured parts by saying that otherwise, in a program like this one, there wouldn't be much for them to do. In Aurora's Wedding the corps gets "a big wig and a mazurka." Tisserand wasn't scheduled to dance Faun for this performance -- he was actually closer to 4th cast, but injuries moved him up the roster. In discussing the physical challenges of big roles like Black Swan, either Rausch or Boal (can't remember and my notes don't say) described Carrie Imler's coordination as a "freak of nature." But in a good way! Saturday matinee: Brittany Reid did the Second Stage talk, in a very shiny silver dress. She is taking the arts management program at Seattle University (they've been running it for a few years, but it's only recently been tailored for the Second Stage students) and will finish her freshman year credits by the end of the season. There were lots of debuts in this performance (Sarah Orza as Aurora, Lindsi Dec as Odile, Elizabeth Murphy, Kyle Davis and Eric Hipolyto - all in Gold and Silver trio). A couple of people asked about items in Steven Manes' new book, but Boal didn't comment other than chuckling "it's a long read." Ryan Cardea and Carli Samuelson were the guests -- spoke about the transition from their earlier training to PNB. Cardea said that his training in the Professional Division at the PNB school was much more rigorous than his time at SAB. Someone from the audience asked about the excerpts in the program and possibilities for others -- Boal apparently danced a Corsaire when he was 14 in a program at Goucher College. Answering question about promotions, Boal said there would likely be a couple more announced in January and that we could "speculate away." Saturday night: In Doug Fullington's pre-show talk, he said that Bart Cook, who came to stage Faun, said that there were some intentional quotations from the Nijinsky version of the work. Leah O'Connor did the Second Stage appeal, in her Baiser costume. Even more debuts in this performance (Leta Biasucci and Kyle Davis in Baiser, Leslie Rausch and Seth Orza in Faun, Laura Gilbreath as Odile, Maria Chapman as Aurora, Kylee Kitchens as White Cat, Sean Rolofson as Puss in Boots, Leta Biasucci as Red Riding Hood, Mathew Renko as the Wolf) Jessica Anspach laughed at herself when answering a question about how not to run into the stage set -- "I've had issues with spatial awareness." And interestingly, there was a change in program order between Friday night and Saturday. Friday opened with Baiser and Black Swan, intermission, Faun and R&J, intermission, Aurora's Wedding. On Saturday, Baiser opens, followed by an intermission, all three duets (Faun, R&J, Black Swan), intermission, and Aurora's Wedding. Personally, I thought the Saturday order worked better, but I don't know why the switch. Will ask around.

I'm glad to hear that they are working towards a season after Nutcracker, but was sorry to read that they're not going to be performing their original Diaghilev-era rep. From the website

Well, the Lilac Fairy does a much better job for Prince Charming that Mama does for Siegfried!

This is great news!

The official word is that Moore and Korbes are both injured, but "hope to be back by the second week." Don't know if that means more shifting performances around to give them their turn next week, if they are indeed back in dancing shape. Other fun facts from the Q/A Friday night. The current plan (always subject to change) is to bring back Swan Lake and Romeo next year, so looking at these excerpt performances adds extra zest to speculations! And last night was Lesley Rausch's first performance as a principal dancer -- she was the post-show dancer, and it was lovely to hear her talk about how much that milestone means to her.

Oh golly, I'm going to have to do some homework about this -- thanks so much for the thoughtful discussion starter here!

Oh, please -- someone do!

Thanks so much -- I didn't have time to rummage around on the NYCB site.

This event doesn't seem to be on the Fathom website yet -- has anyone purchased tickets from some other source?

The video tribute was very sweet -- thank you so much for posting it!

Gish was indeed rocking the cradle, and Mae Marsh was "The Dear One" in the modern story, but Love played the bride in the Wedding at Cana section. Seena Owen was "The Best Beloved" in the Babylonian section (don't know her work -- she looks very much like Love) and Constance Talmadge was "Mountain Girl," who sacrifices herself for the Babylonian leader. Margery Wilson was "Little Brown Eyes" in the St. Bartholomew's Massacre section, and Howard Gaye was doublecast as Christ and the Cardinal of Lorraine... "The Dear One" and "Little Brown Eyes" played very young and sporty -- lots of kicking up heels, skipping and playful fighting with their leading men, who seem to skew older. Compared to contemporary images of girls and women, they both appear pre-pubescent -- there is a child bride vibe to both of them. In contrast, Seena Owen was very womanly, as were all the women in the Babylonian court. In that context, Talmadge was almost asexual -- she reminded me of Leni Riefenstahl's early work as an actress. And Gertrude Bambrick apparently also worked as a choreographer on the project -- I don't know anything about her dance background, but IMDB says she was a choreographer on Judith of Bethulia as well. The film actually felt shorter than I knew it to be, and the switching between stories and settings was relatively easy to follow, though a bit arbitrary at times. I can certainly understand how early audiences could be confused by the parallel plots -- I think we've learned a great deal about following that kind of structure over time, but this was pretty early in the process. The 'action scenes' had a fairly contemporary feel, which isn't to say I enjoyed them (I'm not a big fan of screen violence), but it seems that many of the camera and editing techniques that are used with that kind of storytelling today were already available to Griffith and his colleagues -- they are not that new.