California

The 2014-15 ballet season at the Kennedy Center has just been announced: http://web.kennedy-center.org/~/media/Files/KC/Press%20Releases/Season%20Announcement%202014-2015/press%20release%20FOR%20PRINT%20-%20Ballet%20Season%2014-15.pdf November 28-30, 2014 The Suzanne Farrell Ballet December 10-14, 2014 Ballet West’s The Nutcracker January 27 – February 1, 2015 Mariinsky Ballet March 24-29, 2015 American Ballet Theatre April 7-12, 2015 New York City Ballet May 28-30, 2015 Scottish Ballet June 9-14, 2015 The Royal Ballet

Indeed! As I was reading about possible sanctions that western nations might take against Russia, cancellation of visas for Russians visiting the U.S. was on the list and my heart sank. Lincoln Center would refund my tickets, but I doubt the airline would refund the ticket to get to NYC. More importantly, though, I can think of several dancers trained in Kiev now working in the U.S. It must be horribly difficult for them to watch the news about Ukraine. I also just got e-mail from a friend in one of the former Warsaw Pact nations and they are very, very worried about this, too. They remember the last time Russians invaded their country.

Some time ago, somebody asked when single tickets go on sale. I couldn't find an answer anywhere on the ABT or Met sites -- but I just got an e-mail from ABT with a last-minute plea to order a subscription: ". . . for best available seats before individual tickets go on sale to the general public on March 30. " So, I guess that's it!

That's odd -- I'm not a subscriber. You might try again. Eifman: West Coast premiere of an American story, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Tender Is the Night,” choreographed by artistic director Boris Eifman Mikhailovsky: Flames of Paris (but the original, not the Ratmansky version) Spain: no information

Here's the LA Times story, with the rest of the season at Segerstrom: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-segerstrom-center-season-ballet-broadway-abt-eifman-20140220,0,7054190.story#axzz2uTG3pWiz Nov. 28-30 is Thanksgiving weekend, an odd time for a major show like Mikhailovsky. Given the airport chaos that weekend, it won't be encouraging for out-of-towners. The rest of the season: *ABT: March 3-8, 2015 - The Sleeping Beauty (Ratmansky) *National Ballet of Spain: April 24-26, 2015 *Eifman Ballet: June 5-7, 2015 The Times story notes that the Koch gift of $2.5 million for SB is a matching grant. I don't recall that his previous gifts were matching gifts that would require a huge fund-raising effort by ABT in addition to their regular fund-raising.

Yes. Both are members of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities: http://www.pcah.gov/members

The news release about the upcoming season was just posted: http://coloradoballet.org/about-news/colorado-ballet-announces-2014-2015-season-adds-special-halloween-production I believe Dracula was last performed in fall 2010 and was a huge hit. (I've never seen it.) It looks like a good idea to do this again on Halloween weekend and edge back to five programs a year after having to cut back to four.

The Colorado Ballet has announced the 2014-15 season: http://tickets.coloradoballet.org/subscription/packages.aspx A Midsummer Night's Dream (Wheeldon): September 26-October 5, 2014 Dracula (Pink): October 31-November 2, 2014 The Nutcracker: November 29-December 27, 2014 Ballet Masterworks (Concerto Barocco, Fancy Free, New-TBA): February 20-March 1, 2015 Peter & the Wolf (Smuin) and Bruch Violin Concerto (Tippet): March 27-29, 2015 (at University of Denver)

And a very busy fall season too. Parade of ballet companies in chronological order: NYCB ABT Boston Bolshoi National Ballet of Canada NYCB ABT Mikhailovsky NYCB Do we have any dates for these, especially Canada and those following?

The schedule has been posted for the 2014 Vail Dance Festival: http://www.vvf.org/content/events/vail-international-dance-festival.aspx Tickets go on sale to the general public March 25, 2014

The schedule for the NY visit has been posted on the Koch Theater site: http://www.davidhkochtheater.com/moreinfoBB.html Wednesday, JUNE 25, 2014 7:30 PM The Second Detail, Martinez World Premiere, Cacti Thursday, JUNE 26, 2014 7:30 PM The Second Detail, Martinez World Premiere, Cacti Friday, JUNE 27, 2014 8:00 PM Symphony in Three Movements, Afternoon of a Faun, Plan to B, Bella Figura Saturday, JUNE 28, 2014 2:00 PM Symphony in Three Movements, Afternoon of a Faun, Plan to B, Bella Figura Saturday, JUNE 28, 2014 8:00 PM Symphony in Three Movements, Afternoon of a Faun, Plan to B, Bella Figura Sunday, JUNE 29, 2014 2:00 PM The Second Detail, Martinez World Premiere, Cacti

Along with her many talents, I've always admired her courage in the 1930s for her insistence on dancing with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in a couple of her films and holding his hand! Think of it -- in the worst of Jim Crow America, a little white girl holding hands with a big tall black man. I understand from various biographies that she insisted on it and that many theaters in the old south refused to show the films. Thank you, Shirley, for helping nudge the long struggle for civil rights forward in your own way. The NY Times Obituary reports that she danced with Bojangles in four films: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/arts/shirley-temple-black-screen-star-dies-at-85.html?hp&_r=0

What a treat! It's nice to get a glimpse of what all the excitement was about in the UK reviews of her performances. But for all the praise deservedly heaped on her, I'm also impressed with Acosta's partnering - very unobtrusive and smooth in the most difficult passages in Act II. But I am puzzled at one small dramatic point: the clip labeled "Change into a Wili" (a labeling we see in other performances of Giselle). By refusing to go along with the Wilis and force Albrecht to dance to his death, doesn't she escape the fate of the Wilis, viz., joining their ranks through eternity? She "rests in peace," not in their eternal torment of revenge and hatred. I'm just curious if all versions of Giselle say she becomes a Wili. Note that in many productions, the actual Wilis wear some kind of crown of flowers (remnants of the wedding that never happened for them?), but she's bare-headed to the end when she re-enters her grave.

To its credit, the National Geographic Channel broadcast a wonderful documentary last week. I don't know when/if it will be rebroadcast, but it tells the story very nicely: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/galleries/monument-men/at/hitlers-vision-2077987/ In Clooney's film, the Cate Blanchett character is derived from Valland. As there was only one of her (no need for a composite), it's odd they changed her name for the film. I would also recommend Edsel's book on this. http://www.amazon.com/Monuments-Men-Thieves-Greatest-Treasure/dp/1599951509/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391983604&sr=1-1&keywords=robert+edsel I haven't seen the film yet, but plan to, despite all these negative reviews and comments.

Ivan Vasiliev just tweeted a link to a brief clip of him in the opening ceremonies:

National Ballet of Canada just announced its 2014/15 season: http://national.ballet.ca/performances/season1415/ Here's Karen Kain's video annnouncement: http://national.ballet.ca/interact/video/2014-15/?utm_content=buffere2c65&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Fun fact: In the January 2014 program, in the back, is a list of the NYCB "Family of contributors." In the category $6,500-$9,999: Julia and David Koch. In the January 2013 program, in the category $100,000-$249,999: Julia and David Koch. They have a Koch Foundation, which has donated to ABT in the past, along with their individual donations, but I couldn't find the Foundation on the NYCB lists. This is for programs, both years, in the Koch theater, for which he donated $100 million for renovation. I did some googling to see if there were any published reports or if reporters had asked him about this and I could not find anything. If anyone sees published reports addressing this (no speculation or rumor, please), let us know.

I saw the first three performances plus the rehearsal Tuesday. I was mainly interested in getting a good look in person (something other than DVDs) at the legendary corps and they didn't disappoint. (Was it just me or do these people have the noisiest pointe shoes on the planet? Even just crossing one foot over the other made a loud clunk.) But some of the partnering by the principals seemed odd to me, especially lifts. The Seigfrieds (and Rothbarts) squat deep and lift from the legs, as they should. But then they do what looks like a strenuous push upward to get Odette into position. It felt like "heave-ho" to me again and again and you could see the strain and struggle with the men, especially if they had to promenade. There's another awkward moment near the end of the white swan PdD. He kneels on one knee and she stands on one foot on his forward leg. He then holds her precariously with one hand at the waist. Very impressive. But getting out of that position was akward for all three of the couples. She swung one leg forward and off, like jumping off a ledge. Nobody made it work well. After being spoiled by the likes of Gillian Murphy and Natalia Osipova, the fouettes were all pretty disappointing. Nobody should be throwing in doubles if they can't do the sequence well. Esina was the worst, even though she stayed with singles -- she has a strange way of bending her whipping leg around that just seemed clumsy to me, like her foot was at an odd place. I was disappointed in the management of the rehearsal. No announcement. No hand-out to tell us who was dancing, like they do at both NYCB and ABT. I saw a lot of people with audio sets, but have no idea where those came from or what they were hearing. They weren't handing them out as you walked into the theater. Maybe I need new glasses, but I thought the dark-haired Odette at the rehearsal was Kolegova.

A news item today from the Independent says Vasiliev and Osipova will be dancing together in New York in 2014. Could it be that they will be surprise guests at the Bolshoi in July in NY? Or that she will be a surprise addition to the ABT Met season? Of course, the article could also be wrong... http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/backstage-no-wedding-bells-for-ballets-brangelina-9097309.html

After mussel reported on being able to buy all the tickets desired at the box office, even if they were not part of the 3-ballet package, I called the box office again to say how unhappy I was that people were being treated differently over the phone and at the in-person box office. The operator said the box office people were wrong and a glitch in the software had allowed a few to slip through, but all had been fixed! The phone operators, box office personnel, and the software were all following the same rule, viz., that you can only buy the 3-ballet packages and not additional tickets. Hah! I was in NYC this past weekend for Balanchine's birthday weekend and stopped at the box office to pick up the 3-ballet package I had ordered by phone. I then asked: by any chance can I go ahead and buy the rest of my tickets for the season, even though they're not part of a package? She called somebody and then said, "sure." I proceeded to buy everything I wanted. With the discount. It's a crazy situation, as Drew just pointed out, and very unfair to out-of-towners. It would have been easier for them just to say, if you buy a 3-ballet package, you can go ahead and order singles for the rest of the season and be done with it.

You don't say which city you are living in, but please don't overlook the Slovak National Ballet in Bratislava: http://www.snd.sk/?ballet-3 It's shockingly cheap (4-20 Euros), thanks to state subsidies, with a nice mix of classics and contemporary Slovak-folk-tale based repertory. One hour from Brno in the south, 4 hours from Prague by high-speed train. Reasonable hotels nearby in Old Town.

Here's one article from the San Jose newspaper: http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_24980549/ballet-san-jose-moves-cut-costs-before-feb The shortfall came from (1) $75,00 less in revenue from their Nutcracker than they expected and (2) a cut in support from their biggest donor, John Fry. To compensate, they are using recorded music at the next programs, cancelling the Saturday matinee, and postponing a planned premiere until 2015.

I logged in out of curiosity to see what seats were available. On the first two nights, they have four seats together in the back row, far side of the first tier. That's it. Does Kennedy Center accept donations of tickets people can't use? That might explain it. Nothing else is available for the run, but if other donations come in, that might change.

It appears Messmer did Myrtha with ABT at the 2009 Met season, at least. I don't know if she did it in earlier seasons or after 2009 at ABT: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/simone-messmer

The Colorado Ballet has participated in the "United in Orange" support for the Broncos in recent months. Here's a photo showing the ballerina sculptures in front of the downtown Sheraton, with Gil Boggs (the Ballet's Artistic Director) in the center of the front row. http://www.examiner.com/article/sheraton-denver-ballerinas-united-orange