sandik

I'm going to the matinee tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing Korbes in La Valse

I am so sad to realize that I thought she was already gone.

Sounds just about right to me!

Well, drat! I made a cheerful reference to him once in one of those season wrap-up things as the perennial friend -- I think that year he'd danced friend to Romeo, and friend to Prodigal Son, and friend to who knows who else, but on one level it's a sincere comment. He's been a stalwart presence on stage, and from the comments that people make, off stage as well. I'm glad to hear that he's got the next few steps figured out, but so sorry to hear that he's leaving this one behind soon.

The theater where Joffrey gave his first recital as a young dancer/choreographer has since become a movie house, but has for many years been rumored to be haunted. Perhaps RJ has arrived back home.

I'm sure that the titles were granted with the best of intentions, but it is a rather awkward re-writing of the recent past. Technically, there were no other previous "artistic directors," but it is a semantic distinction which could easily be mistaken by someone unfamiliar with the founding story of the organization.

Ballet companies are more often than not named after their patron or their location, which is a kind of patron. There are certainly anomalies (the Joffrey is probably the longest lived right now), but unlike modern dance companies which are frequently named after their founder and/or cheif choreographer, ballet companies affiliate themselves with a place or an entity. Historically, this seems to come from their antecedents -- many of the oldest companies were part of an opera or theater company supported at least in part by the state, so that you have La Scala, Paris Opera Ballet, the Bolshoi and the Maryinsky (after its various transfomations!) with the "real estate connection, and the Royal Ballet and the Royal Danes with the patron connection. In the US, ballet companies are, like symphony orchestras, often seen as a community enterprise or institution -- a great deal of energy is put into nurturing that identity in hopes of leveraging local support (money and attendance) They are, in an odd kind of way, a bit like sports teams in that they often work in city facilities, receive local tax breaks as well as arts agency funding and are promoted as a local amenity. Naming an arts group (an organization that doesn't necessarily have a long track record or a substantial bank account) after something that has pre-exisiting substance has been seen as a smart choice. In the past groups were frequently named after an individual (sometimes an impresario but usually an artist) like the contemporary "_______ and Friends" example, but these groups didn't last very long.

Absolutely!!!!! I often use "program-length" which is equally graceless.

What an astonishing list. And I remember big bunches of them -- I must be older than I think! The Baryshnikov/Kirkland Theme and Variations is indeed a revelation, but there's so much to choose from. (is this the Makarova/Mackenzie Romeo where he has his warmups on during the crypt scene?)

The Classic Arts network had an excerpt of her in Falstaff last night -- it was a gloriously wonky staging and she sounded great.

The company just sent round their press release for next year -- here are the highlights: OBT Exposed!  August 2006  South Park Blocks  Free Fall Program  October 14 ˆ 21, 2006  Keller Auditorium  with Full Orchestra The Four Temperaments (1946) George Balanchine/Paul Hindemith Adin (2004) Christopher Stowell/Serge Rachmaninov The Concert (1956) Jerome Robbins/Frederic Chopin 4T’s and The Concert are company premieres -- Adin is a revival George Balanchine‚s The NutcrackerTM  December 8 ˆ 24, 2006  Keller Auditorium  with Full Orchestra Winter Program  March 3 ˆ 10, 2007  Keller Auditorium A Peter Martins Ballet Company premiere A Helgi Tomasson Ballet World premiere A Kent Stowell Ballet World premiere Spring Program  April 27 ˆ May 5, 2007  Newmark Theatre Apollo (1928) George Balanchine/Igor Stravinsky il nodo (2004) Julia Adam/Renaissance dances Eyes on You (2005) Christopher Stowell/Cole Porter Apollo is a company premiere, the Adams and the Stowell are revivals Early Summer Program  June 8 ˆ 10, 2007  Keller Auditorium  with Full Orchestra Firebird (2004) Yuri Possokhov/Igor Stravinsky Sleeping Beauty, Act III (1890) Christopher Stowell after Marius Petipa/ Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky Firebird is a revival, SB is a new version

Robert, you made my day -- I hadn't seen that particular picture of Karsavina! I have no historical details to add to the conversation, but just wanted to chime into a discussion about one of my favorite ballets. I'm sorry to hear that it was a bad day for ribbons when you saw it, Amy, since they are such a neat trick, and add so many lovely accents to the work (I cannot off the top of my head remember who wrote about kisses in Fille, mentioning that the ribbon "x"s could stand for even more kisses.) I have to go find my video now...

Watching that unfold was fascinating -- there seemed to be so many differences in the employment culture than the models I know here in the US. Some of their practices seemed to really support the idea of a ballet company (mostly issues having to do with longevity, which always makes me think of dancers as the repository of history/repertory) and others seemed very arbitrary. It's an interesting distinction -- in the contemporary dance world most people seem to work with pick-up groups now, dancers who job in for a project and then leave when it's done. To me, it seems to be a marker of artistic longevity -- choreographers who are in it for the long haul seem to have more permanent relationships with their dancers, or at least a core group of them. And in the ballet world, where so many companies market themselves on an annual, seasonal basis, I would think that some form of the employee/long term contract would be very important.

Many of the standard roles have been notated, in Labanotation and in Benesh (not to mnetion some older systems as well!), but unfortunately, the percentage of dance enthusiasts who are able to read notation is considerably less than music fans who can read music notation. Most people who want to reflect on these works have to rely on video, which can be very exciting when it comes to issues of interpretation, but not as helpful when you are trying to nail down the actual details of the choreography. The analogy that notation people often use comes from music -- the difference between learning a new piece by listening to someone else play it for you (over and over again), or being able to read it from the score. It will be many years before dance catches up to music and theater in terms of literacy, for several reasons, and I would not want to lose the resources that we have in film/video/DVD. But as someone who teaches notation, I realize the drawbacks as well as the advantages of that media.

Ah, the Wayback Machine -- this has saved my sorry self on many ocassions, when I keep muttering "I know I saw this somewhere online..." I miss the Professor and Sherman.

I must say that this including for taking care of children under 7. is very appealing to me! Many thanks for doing the homework here, but I still wonder if there is a difference in esprit in an organization that considers their artists to be employees than one that hires contract labor. I realize that this distinction is more psychological than economic, but it makes me curious nonetheless.

I'm very interested in this legal decision at the Royal Winnipeg http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006...uling-arts.html deciding that their dancers are independent contractors rather than employees. From the article That means the Royal Winnipeg Ballet does not have to pay an employer's contribution on their employment insurance and Canada Pension. The dancers instead pick up the full cost of those universal benefits. At the same time, dancers become eligible as contract workers to deduct expenses, including agents' fees, special clothing, shoes and equipment, and physical training costs. I know that here in the US, it's considered an accomplishment to work under contract, for a company that "employs" its dancers, making that financial commitment. I'm wondering if other Canadian companies will take the chance to re-categorize their dancers, and what affect that might have on those organizations.

I may be in Chicago this June, but it's likely just after this series of performances -- drat!

No, no -- aesthetics, not aesthetes!

"Trig" -- I haven't seen that in awhile, and am grateful for the use! A very apt description of the home improvements here.

I've seen her in it before, in the old version of the Opera House. She was very affective, seemingly frail and easily swept away by the powers around her. I don't know if that's how she's approaching the role now, but I'll be interested to see. She's doing a lecture demonstration with Francia Russell on the 21st at the PNB studios talking about La Valse -- certainly worth the detour.

Casting for both weeks is up on the PNB website http://www.pnb.org/season/pov-casting.html There's just one cast for all performances of the new Dominique Dumais work, but some interesting rotations and pairings elsewhere.

Those of us that read it will learn a great deal, and perhaps, eventually, some of it will be distributed to the population at large. I've taught dance history in a couple of different college programs, and every time was a bit non-plussed to realize that in many cases this was going to be the only college-level history course a student would be taking. And that for more than a few of them, they hadn't had that much history in high school. I know it's dangerous to see the whole world through your own particular specialty, but this made me very sad, and I wound up trying to insert as much general history in my syllabi as I could, in part to ground the art form in the world around it, but also in part to help fill in the blanks for the students.

And what is that expression on Benjamin Agosto's face? This shot makes it look like her partner is staring right at her breasts.

If we're looking at male roles that are exclusively partner-oriented, then I would suggest the man in Concerto Barocco (though he is perhaps too vestigial) If the man can actually dance alone as well as with his partner, how about the male lead in Theme and Variations (especially imagining it with its original casting)