California

I just saw the all-Robbins program (In G Major, Fancy Free, The Concert) at today's Sunday matinee. It's not the sort of must-see program I'd jump on an airplane for, but I was in town for a conference and scheduling worked out. I last saw this company in the 70s and have no sense of what difference Corella's coaching is making. The rep this past year (for the most part) had already been selected, so he is working with what was left him. A few tips for those of you thinking of taking a train to Philadelphia for future programs: They do a free pre-performance talk one hour before most performances. Today it was the conductor. But the real treat was seeing Corella teach the last 30 minutes of company class on stage while we waited for the talk. In making corrections, he himself would often strike a pose, to show correct placement and projection. Even in jeans and clunky boots, he does have such a nice presence. He doesn't seem to miss any opportunities to connect with his new audiences and supporters. Today he came out before the curtain with a mike (now in a nice suit) to greet us and urge us to subscribe for next year. On Thursday, at the Friends open rehearsal, he was in the lobby greeting everybody. He didn't conduct the rehearsal himself, but was sitting in the audience with the Friends. The house today looked good (maybe 80%?), but it's Mother's Day, so perhaps that has something to do with it. I had what should have been a great seat --side orchestra, on the aisle, fifth row back. I could barely see feet! The tiers are all steeply raked and would seem a better option.

I actually wish I could have seen that train wreck of an Apollo - sounds like one for the record books. It will certainly make people appreciate fine performances after seeing that one.

Casting for the fall season was just announced: http://static.roh.org.uk/news/Autumn-Ballet-Casting-2015-16.pdf?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2015_May_FOCG_autumn_ballet_casting&utm_content=version_A&emailsource=23743 I suspect people assumed that Osipova would do the live cinema broadcast (with DVD to follow later), but she's not. Instead that will be Lamb and Pennefather

Here's the report in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/arts/dance/maya-plisetskaya-ballerina-who-embodied-bolshoi-dies-at-89.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone

The company page has been updated, although no new hires have been announced as yet. The big news so far: Francisco Estevez has been promoted to soloist. Among other things, he danced with the Barcelona (Corella) Ballet. http://www.coloradoballet.org/company/dancers http://www.coloradoballet.org/company-dancers/francisco-estevez

A really lovely video promoting this event on April 27: https://player.vimeo.com/video/118718377

Goldstar is advertising discounted tickets for the NYCB La Sylphide May 23 & 24. http://www.goldstar.com/events/new-york-ny/la-sylphide-tickets?mal=1

Sales for tickets to the Royal June 9-14 at the Kennedy Center are a good guide for any engagement. Kennedy Center members could buy Monday, March 23. All others, starting Wednesday, April 1. The membership eligible for early purchase is only $60 and gets you discounts at the restaurants and bookstore, as well as first crack at open rehearsal sales. http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/BPBSH

The Guggenheim has just posted all three Works and Process Programs from Sunday and Monday to YouTube. Best of all: no commercials! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ08rQmWB63RWbFoFHRPv5zs1OdSTX7hL&utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=wp

I've never lived in San Francisco, but have visited several times to see SFB. It's much harder to get decent single seats for their performances than I ever encounter for ABT or NYCB in New York - which suggests there is a very strong subscriber base. One nice thing SFB does that encourages visitors: they overlap two different programs throughout the season, so in a typical three-day weekend visit, you can see several performances of two different programs.

Great news! And they're doing the final movement, which has the entire cast on stage (normally). If they were only going to do a one-time snippet for the gala, the opening to Scott Joplin with just Cornejo and two women would have been easier (and would have stood on its own -- that was the opener in 1976 at Wolf Trap, although it didn't make it onto the DVD). Have dates for the fall Koch been announced? If they work with my schedule, Push will be enough to get me there.

We have no way of knowing from the public reports how much revenue has been generated from each performance. But we do know that there's no correlation between bodies-in-seats and dollars-received. We know that ABT is selling tickets for the mixed bill next month on the TDF site. I've seen NYCB tickets at half-price down at the TKTS booth on Times Square in the past. Reports on this site suggest that when sales are really awful, the house is "papered" with free tickets to local schools. Taylor gave away more information than most of us knew before, about the differences in sales between at least one guest artist and "in-house" principals.

He said that Vishneva on a Monday night did well on sales and an in-house principal the next night only brought in 40% of those sales. Out of curiosity, I looked back at schedules for recent years to see when Vishneva had performed on a Monday. I found two! Taylor is quite the diplomat - there's no way of knowing which in-house principal he was referring to. Here's what I found (I might have overlooked other Mondays, if others here find anything.) Monday, June 4, 2011: Vishneva/Gomes in Onegin Tuesday, June 5, 2011: Seo/Hallberg in Onegin Monday, June 16, 2014: Vishneva/Gomes in Giselle Tuesday, June 17, 2014: Semionova/Hallberg in Giselle I'm not sure Semionova is considered "in-house," and it's puzzling that Hallberg wouldn't help with sales. Has anybody found other Mondays I overlooked?

I saw Symphony #9 at City Center (several times) when that was the only one completed. Fortunately, they changed the costume colors for the spring Trilogy at the Met. But it can definitely stand alone and remains my favorite of the three.

Dale - the evening show started at 7:30 EDT. First came three Shades from La Bayadere, then the PdTrois from Swan, then Giselle. If you follow Works and Process on Facebook, they posted the entire show with casting.

I understand that the ads are needed to cover costs for the live stream for the Guggenheim programs, but the interruptions are bizarre. They should do what they do at the "live" award shows, like the Oscars and Emmys -- ads during the applause, perhaps some lengthy bows. Instead they cut literally into the middle of dances, like Rodeo this afternoon! I can't believe that our tiny glimpse of Stella in Giselle was interrupted with two ads! Are those ad placements being dictated by the commercial service that wants us to buy ad-free viewing??

I was struck by Taylor's off-hand remark that "Los Angeles doesn't have its own company" (something I've heard before from ABT). I'm sure Colleen Neary, Co-director of the LA Ballet, loved hearing that. Certainly they are not in the same league, by a long shot, but she's entering their tenth year and has an unusually rich rep of Balanchine ballets. They also depend (as does everyone) on their Nutcracker. Still, given the massive drive times for so many people in that metropolitan area, LA Ballet will probably hold its own audience, so long as they don't venture into Orange County. http://losangelesballet.org/

Indeed! At one early point, a revival of Push Comes to Shove was on the mixed bill for the Kennedy Center (and, I hoped, the Met season). I would have crawled through glass to see it again - especially if they cast Cornejo in the Baryshnikov role. But once that disappeared from the rep, well, never mind.

Let me compliment the Colorado Ballet for posting both informative Annual Reports, as well as their 990s: http://www.coloradoballet.org/about/MissionandReports

Do we know when SFB will actually announce their 2016 schedule? What has been the practice in the past?

The program has been posted for the SAB Workshop May 30 (and benefit June 2): http://www.sab.org/news_events/workshop_performances/program_information.php Interesting mix of choreographers and styles: HARLEQUINADE (“Ballabile des Enfants”) Music by Riccardo Drigo Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust WILLIAM TELL (pas de deux) Music by Gioachino Rossini Choreography by August Bournonville THE SLEEPING BEAUTY (pas de deux) Music by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky Choreography by Peter Martins (after Marius Petipa) VALSE-FANTAISIE Music by Mikhail Glinka Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust STARS AND STRIPES (3rd Regiment "Thunder and Gladiator”) Music by John Philip Sousa, arranged by Hershy Kay Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust FANFARE Music by Benjamin Britten Choreography by Jerome Robbins

A 3-minute clip was just posted on the WSJ site: http://www.wsj.com/video/exclusive-clip-american-ballet-theatre-a-history/52FAA9EA-5642-4E18-AECF-B7E52B56D45A.html

I cannot find the online donation form. Where on the home page is it located?

Dmitry was rehearsing Fancy Free at some open Friends rehearsals I attended earlier this year and he seemed to land badly in one jump at the theater. The rehearsal mistress asked if he could go on. I learned afterward he had to cancel due to injury, so that turned out to be my last opportunity to see him. Such a loss!! He was trained at Vaganova and was fully invested in every role. Special treats were Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream last fall and Hilarion a year ago. (His Hilarion is now my "gold standard" for that role.) He was a great role model for the younger dancers. Every role matters. Slava has been out with injury, and I was glad he could come on stage for a standing ovation and cheers yesterday. His Albrecht (partnering Sharon Wehner) a year ago was truly superb. He also did Oberon in Midsummer Night's Dream last fall. Jesse raced through the repertory and could always be counted on to invest every role with dramatic detail and often great comedic effect. Yes, they will all be missed.

I attended the final performance of the season today (sold-out!) at the Gates Concert Hall at University of Denver. It was both a great crowd pleaser and a wonderful opportunity for the company to show off their considerable range. Clark Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 has great staying power, and it's a well-chosen ensemble piece for this company, both corps and principals. Premiered in 1987 by ABT, one of the dancers posted an Instagram showing the label in his costume for Mr. Corella. I've seen clips of this on YouTube, but don't recall seeing it in the theater. The partnering is innovative, often risky - always a treat to see. Tippet seemed to have a knack for moving groups around in interesting ways. I see this ballet programmed around the country from time to time and it makes you wonder what more Tippet could have contributed to the ballet world if he had lived longer. They also did Michael Smuin's Peter and the Wolf, which ABT premiered in 1982. The ABT costumes were used and it must have been fun for director Gil Boggs to do a work in which he was Peter in the world premiere over 30 years ago. We brought my sister's grandchildren (5 & 8) and they were spell-bound. But I also enjoyed the virtuoso show-off opportunities for so many of the dancers. Sadly, the retirements of three male dancers were announced: principals Viacheslav Buchkovsky and Dmitry Trubchanov and soloist Jesse Marks. I will greatly miss all of them.