sandik

Congratulations indeed!

The company is indeed on a high ledge right now, but are working hard on several fronts to keep their doors open. The fundraiser on June 12 won't balance the budget on its own, but it is a tremendous show of support from the dance world -- my understanding is that performers from around the country are volunteering to appear almost before they are asked. The comments on the oregonlive.com piece are indeed a wild slice of opinion, with some pretty vitriolic posts from the "ballet is elite/antique/boring" side. The one comment that really frustrated me, though, was the (I assume) young snowboarder who didn't or couldn't understand that the list of skills he claims for snowboarding (balance, speed, rhythm, control, clarity and "stones") are all found in dancers. All elite athletes are pushing their bodies beyond pedestrian limits -- even if he isn't interested in the formal or aesthetic components of dance, I was surprised that he wasn't able to see the virtuosity involved.

As I understand it, Midsummer won't be performed live, but will appear in the guise of the film.

There was a separate insert, glossy paper and full color, but not a complete half-sheet. The front is a lovely statement from Russell and Stowell about Jodie T, the reverse has both Weese and Pankevitch on it, with a NYT quote for Weese and some general remarks on Pankevitch.

Oh dear -- I hadn't noticed that. I hope it's a mistake -- I love the other sections of the work, but it's Nadeau's night really, and she just shines in that part.

Oh, this is just perfect!

Just a reminder about casting -- as the press rep reminded me last night, things change swiftly with people going in and out of parts and performances as needs must. The website listings are a great tool to think about casts, but aren't the last word in who we'll actually see on stage.

The "bon voyage" insert in last night's program (which was quite sweet) also listed Anton Pankevitch as leaving the company, but no information on what he might be doing next. He's moved around a great deal, considering that he's only been professional for about 10 years), and I'm not sure why.

And we see her In the Night, which is a great role for her. If only Christophe Maraval would come back to dance it with her...

You can also find video of the Joffrey's performance (from the Dance in America program) on YouTube here, part 1 part 2 and part 3 I think it's an excellent performance and television production.

Second week casting is up here Imler, Lallone and Gaines get chances at Dances, Rachel Foster and James Moore get the Wheeldon, Nakamura and Orza, Chapman and Stanton, Porretta and Dec (not partnered), and Foster and Moore get Symphony in C.

I think part of your response comes from the camera work here. I started watching dance on television with the wonderful Dance in America/Balanchine works, and my preferences are influenced by them, but having done a little film work in the past I know how very difficult it is to balance the near and the far view of something. One of the most powerful tools film and television has is the close-up, and yet a ballet is rarely choreographed with that in mind. Bringing the camera in close on a moment that's really designed to be seen from further away creates an odd tension, and yet, keeping a wide shot for any length of time makes the dancers seem like ants in a colony. The fact that they're shooting a live performance, and the limitations that places on camera setups as well as the overall tension of getting it right the first time makes for a very constrained kind of production.

For anyone who saw this, you might want to take a look at this clip from the Paris Opera Ballet in Sacre with Marie-Claude Pietragalla as the Chosen One. I think she's more convincing in the part (the journey from terror at her selection to frenzy and death) but I also think the camera work supports the choreography much better than the Maryinsky version. (edited to add) I am so embarrassed -- I forgot to add the link! it is.

This was interesting -- I'm not sure it's a rehearsal per se, but a class where he uses that particular sequence from the ballet as an exercise in partnering. It's the fastest I think I've ever see it, which makes the choreography seem almost perky -- an adjective I would never have thought to apply to this ballet!

This was interesting -- I'm not sure it's a rehearsal per se, but a class where he uses that particular sequence from the ballet as an exercise in partnering. It's the fastest I think I've ever see it, which makes the choreography seem almost perky -- which is an adjective I would never have thought to apply to this ballet!

Her feet are flat out, but you notice we can't see her lower back or the front of her pelvis, so I'm not sure where the rotation is coming from. His feet are almost flat out as well, and though it's not clear if it's his pelvis or his leotard, it looks like he's tilted forward in the pelvis. I think it's interesting that her right arm in 5th is so straight.

I think it helps here to remember that Macaulay is from Great Britain, where kids can take school exams in dance/dance history. I've seen some of the prep materials for the O and A level exams, and they were a thoughtful combination of technical analysis and general dance history. With the exception of a few (mostly private) arts high schools and a few innovative public programs, we have nothing like that here in the US It's been a few years since I've been to an ABT gala, and even longer since I've been to the Royal at all, but in my experience, the Royal (and most European companies) do a much more thorough job with program notes, essays, and general information than we do in the US. At Pacific Northwest Ballet (my hometown company) we get an excellent precis on each work in the program (either from Doug Fullington or his predecessor Jeannie Thomas) that includes a general description as well as specifics like premiere dates. Peter Boal's "letter" often includes what you might think of as fun facts, but the company doesn't seem to commission program essays anymore (the rest of the content is provided by the publisher and is the same for the other arts organizations in town that they serve). Those essays, which usually were based on some aspect of the programming, were a place to include the background details and connections that I think Macaulay is pining for here. I've heard of a couple of these in the US, but they were mostly one-off events, rather than an ongoing program from a tour company specializing in cultural tourism. Which is indeed too bad, since that is (or was, before the recent economic unpleasantness) a fast-growing part of the travel world. Here in Seattle this summer, the opera company will do two weeks of the Ring, with fully half the audience coming from somewhere else. They fly, they stay in hotels, they eat in restaurants, they do other touristy things during the day -- unlike me, who drives to the theater after eating dinner at home, and does laundry during the off time...

Millepied's "3 Movements" to Steve Reich! It's a very intriguing dance -- I hope to see it again soon.

Scroll down to 1985/86. http://www.ballet.ca/thecompany/archives/1981-1990.php It was also filmed by the CBC, but never released commercially. If I'm not mistaken, the cast consisted of Kimberly Glasco as Young Alice, Karen Kain as Alice Hargreaves, Rex Harrington as Lewis Carroll, Peter Ottmann as Reginald Hargreaves and Owen Montague as the White Rabbit. Thanks so much for finding the link! When Patricia Barker was retiring, she did a number of interviews around town and spoke about working with Tetley on this and on his Rite of Spring.

I'd be thrilled with a "bright and lively evening of dances" as well! I'm curious to see what happens with this -- I think Wheeldon could do a lovely job with it. Pacific Northwest Ballet used to do the Glen Tetley Alice in the early 90s, and I seem to remember that it was in the National B of C repertory, but now I can't find a reference. Does anyone else remember this, or am I hallucinating?

My refresh button is also shopworn now. Many thanks for all the YouTube links -- this will keep me occupied for awhile. I was at part of a rehearsal today, and from what I could see, it's looking very lovely.

And the appearance of Leonid Massine!

I went this Thursday -- the camerawork seemed busy to me (with more closeups of pretty faces than I really need, and an overhead camera that was very reminiscent of the June Taylor Dancers) but the it's always a treat to see these works, and the dancers did a good job overall. I'm curious to hear what others think of the film.

I remember this was a big topic of conversation in the late 70s and early 80s. It has to do (at least partially) with the original position that modern dance pioneers held, that they were diametrically opposed to ballet, and that their work owed nothing to that dance form except the inspiration to rebel against it (the fact that they were formed in reaction to something, thereby becoming a kind of polar opposite, didn't really come up) One of the goals of modern dance was to create a whole cloth, to make a philosophy, a grammar, a vocabulary and a set of works that reflected and utilized all those elements. (Helen Tamiris was always considered a bit suspect, because she'd studied with Fokine alongside her other work.) I think at the beginning the work that Humphrey and Weidman did was as cleanly developed as Graham's, and indeed the philosophical and anatomical underpinnings were more comprehensive, but as Graham continued to make work long after Humphrey stopped the Graham technique became more widely known. Limon did continue to develop the materials he originally learned from Humphrey and Weidman, but didn't achieve quite the same level of fame/acclaim. Graham's potency as a dancer reinforced the sense of mission surrounding everything she did, as did her collaborations with other artists. I can't really prove or disprove Tobias' assertion -- historically there were many dancers who became professionals through training in a single style without the addition of ballet, but that doesn't really apply in the contemporary world. I can't think of a single performer today who hasn't 'cross-trained' (in terms of dance styles), either in combining different modern disciplines or by including a large helping of ballet in their schooling. (and this doesn't even touch on the current use of non-dance physical training like Alexander, Pilates, Gyrotonics, etc...) The 'purity' element that I find more potent right now is that of performing itself -- how does the addition of these other practices influence the accuracy of the works they are dancing. Is Lamentation different today because the performer has been doing Pilates as well as Graham technique?

Oh ouch! I haven't seen it yet, but everyone I've spoken with who has liked it. But I will certainly circulate this comment, for the twinge factor if nothing else!