California

The Colorado Ballet just announced a 20% discount for the first week of the two-week Giselle season. The Promo Code: LOVE Performance dates and times: Friday, October 4, 2013 @ 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 5, 2013 @ 2 p.m. - Best availability Saturday, October 5, 2013 @ 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 6, 2013 @ 2 p.m. Thursday, October 10, 2013 @ 6:30 p.m. - Best availability http://tickets.coloradoballet.org/single/EventListing.aspx?promo=1330 This is a standard promotional technique for them, at least in recent years, and I think it's a good idea. The Opera House seats 2,225, which is a heavy lift in a city that doesn't have a major tradition of ballet-going. Subscribers get a 25% discount on all additional tickets for the year, which is also a great incentive for subscribing.

Two guest artists for fall have been announced, both dancing with Steven McRae: Iana Salenko and Evgenia Obratzsova http://www.roh.org.uk/news/cast-confirmation-iana-salenko-and-evgenia-obratzsova-to-perform-as-guest-artists-with-the-royal-ballet-this-autumn

Don't get me wrong - I love Roberto Bolle as a dancer. He's one of the dancers I look for in deciding which Met programs to see, and I own several of his DVDs from La Scala. I'm just skeptical of that marketing promo for one work and I wonder which came first, "Prototype" or "Years Later." Baryshnikov toured that program extensively for a few years, both in the U.S. and Europe, as well as Israel. So there were plenty of opportunities for others to see it.

I just received a promotional e-mail regarding Bolle's evening at City Center September 17. They describe one piece, "Prototype," by Volpino, as a "ground-breaking work combining both video and dance as Roberto Bolle duels his virtual double." (I don't see that language on the City Center site just yet... http://www.nycitycenter.org/tickets/productionnew.aspx?performanceNumber=7440 http://www.nycitycenter.org/content/misc/RobertoBolle-13a.pdf It does sound interesting, and I wish I could see it, but they must think we're all stupid with short memories. Just a few years ago, Baryshnikov toured extensively with a piece by Millepied, "Years Later," which featured old video of Baryshnikov with today's edition dancing in front. I saw it in Santa Monica, and it was delightful. Here's a NY Times report from May 14, 2009: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/arts/dance/17laro.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 I don't see a date on the Volpino piece. Do we know which came first? Has anyone seen the Volpino, which is described as an American premiere?

Balanchine's Birthday (January 25) is typically very special. Although not yet on the schedule, they usually have extra events of great interest to Balanchine lovers. Last January they had a panel discussion in the theater between the matinee and evening performances. Among the programming, Concerto Barocco and Kammermusik No. 2 are special (as is Union Jack on January 24). http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/SubscriptionDocuments/NYCB-Winter-2014-Repertory-Calendar.pdf

It appears that we'll get a little bonus treat at the Fall 2013 performances of Les Sylphides, viz., Britten's orchestration of the score, which has apparently just been located. I'm wondering if this might also bring in a few music lovers to those performances. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/arts/music/benjamin-brittens-lost-score-for-les-sylphides.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The program also just appeared on their web site: http://www.bostonballet.org/nightofstars/ Looks like a great way to attract new audiences with a nice sampler of what the company can do. I just told some Boston-area relatives who are ballet novices to go see it.

This all makes sense (and thanks for the links to the articles on Bass and Fry). The "bright lines" typically drawn at Universities for named endowed professorships are actually a good guide here -- e.g., the University's standard procedures for hiring and evaluation remain intact and donors are excluded. In recent years, an (in)famous wealthy donor (who also donates liberally to the ballet) has tried to dictate hires for their endowed chairs in economics and caused quite a flurry of controversy, but I won't go into that and take us too far onto a tangent. EDIT: I don't want to be accused of unattributed gossip. Here's one of many news stories about the economics controversy: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/1044:koch-brothers-fueling-farright-academic-centers-across-the-us

Something seems a little off on this...I can't imagine the dancers' union would allow them to perform without compensation. And it seems unreasonable to expect the dancers themselves to recruit a wealthy donor to sponsor them. Perhaps some could do that on their own, but all of them? I tried a little googling to see if anything turned up with these comments, but struck out.

Just to avoid any misunderstanding. . . The Times story was published in 2004, before the current artistic director, executive director, and development director at Colorado Ballet were hired. I agree that this was a very peculiar situation and unfortunate precedent.

I can't imagine that this type of 'sponsoring' is actually related to visa sponsoring, which is a complicated process that involves the employer. Actually, are we sure that all three dancers are non-US citizens? In any case, since so many dancers in the US are from other countries, I would imagine that it's just chance that the three dancers in this case happen to be. Of course I was referring to financial 'sponsorship' in this case. Tan now lives with her parents in the Bay Area, and I don't know if her father was able to get work in this country, so it has to be expensive for the Tan family to remain here each year. I can't see it being coincidental that Kochetkova, Tan and Karapetyan are being helped in this manner - they are arguably the biggest draws for the company. Whether Karapetyan has gotten dual citizenship is a question (now that he is married to Zahorian). I would expect Tiit Helimets to get a sponsor as well, but I'm not sure of his citizenship standing (assuming that has anything to do with it). I really just think that the SF patrons are trying to help make SFB a rewarding place to be for these dancers, so they are less likely to leave the nest. We don't know how the financial arrangements work at SFB (at least from what I've read here), but from that old NY Times article, it seems that it would be unusual for the sponsorship to consist of extra compensation over and above the salary paid by the company. I saw this mainly as a way to shore up company budgets by recruiting donors to pay some or all of that dancer's salary/benefits, although perhaps that's not always the way it works. Major donors like to have their names on things (buildings, theater chairs, classrooms, etc., etc.) and get recognition, so sponsoring dancers fits right in with that incentive. The comparison with endowed professorships at Universities would not necessarily be helpful here. At some schools, the named endowment is buying a supplemental salary, research account, reduced teaching load, etc. in combination with the base university-paid salary. At others, the revenue from the endowment pays the full salary and perks of the professor who occupies the chair. So those professors with endowed chairs are getting extras one way or another but (as someone noted with endowed "chairs" in orchestras), the endowment stays with the institution and a succession of professors occupies the chair over time. Finances are difficult for many U.S. dancers, not just those who are foreign-born, especially corps members. We had a link a few weeks ago, as I remember, to stories about how young dancers survive -- waiting on table, sharing apartments with several other dancers, teaching, etc., etc.

Funny that you would mention this PeggyR - I just noticed these designations myself last week on the SFB website. Note that these dancers also happen to be non-US citizens, so understandably may require sponsorship. Or their position is financially more precarious? But I do think this sponsorship may be necessary to help out the foreign national dancers. I would imagine that if Froustey stays with SFB past the 1 year trial period, she will become 'sponsored' as well. I'm a little confused by this. My former employer hired some foreign citizens periodically and it's true that getting the right kind of visa is treacherous and time-consuming (especially after 9/11), but the employer as an institution was the sponsor. Wouldn't SFB be the sponsor for the right kind of visa to work in the U.S.? Is there a new requirement that they also now find an individual to "sponsor" them for visa purposes?

And if you can't get there, the one-hour documentary and the huge catalog (both for sale at great prices on Amazon) are also fabulous. http://www.amazon.com/Serge-Diaghilev-Ballet-Russes-Swinton/dp/B00CLUME24/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377541186&sr=8-2&keywords=Diaghilev http://www.amazon.com/Diaghilev-Golden-Ballets-Russes-1909-1929/dp/1851777490/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1377541227&sr=8-3&keywords=Diaghilev (Be sure to go through the Amazon box at the bottom of the page, so Ballet Alert earns some revenue.)

Private fund-raising has gotten ever more urgent as government funding has continued to decline dramatically. The NEA request for FY 2014 is only $154 million (see p. 4): http://www.arts.gov/about/Budget/NEA-FY14-Appropriations-Request.pdf The "high-water" mark in NEA funding was $176 million back in 1992 (and remember that these are actual dollars, not inflation-adjusted): http://www.nea.gov/about/budget/AppropriationsHistory.html Support from almost all states and cities has also declined over the past two decades. I don't have a problem with dancer sponsorships, although some of the techniques are really creepy (e.g., auctions) and it seems at least some companies are avoiding such approaches. Wealthy donors sponsor productions, performances, special events, costumes, rooms in buildings, etc., etc. Why not dancers?

Colorado Ballet does this. In the spring 2013 print programs, every single principal and every single soloist is sponsored by a named individual. They don't include that information on their current web site, but I'm thinking that they might still be lining this up for the 2013-14 season (which opens in October 2013). In the 2011-12 print program, all three female principals were sponsored, but none of the three males and none of the soloists. EDIT: Let me add that in the 2010-11 print program, nobody is sponsored. But the Colorado Ballet hired a new Executive Director and new Development Director in 2011, so that probably explains this. I have no idea what they charge for that kind of sponsorship and it's not indicated on their web site as an example of "sponsorship." Development officers are always looking for new incentives for donors and this one seems like a good idea if they can manage it so nobody is embarrassed by omission. Is it the Royal Ballet that has a policy that nobody gets flowers on stage unless the principal that night first gets them, so somebody set up an endowment to ensure that principals always get flowers? Something along those lines to avoid embarrassment to anybody seems like a good idea.

Just curious: at the public presentation, did Freedman himself say anything about what he's doing next? (I'm not asking for gossip or speculation - just whether he himself said anything to the public audience at this event.)

"Wow" is indeed the word! What an impressive first year -- and that gala! That rep would be challenging for an experienced, well-established company. I certainly hope he can pull this off.

The article cited above mentions the new Colorado Ballet building. I don't know if this has been posted before (apologies if it has), but here's more information on it: http://www.coloradoballet.org/newhome

Another source on the Balanchine Swan Lake: Nancy Reynolds' wonderful Repertory in Review (1977). On p. 131, she includes a photo from the mid-1950s, with Tallchief and Eglevsky. Odette is in a short white tutu, and the corps is in knee-length white tutus with atrocious swan-wings (or whatever they would be called). Also on p. 131 is a photo from "mid-1960s (new production)" with McBride and Villella. All the women are in white again. The corps tutus seem to be just above the knees and the swan-wings seem to have disappeared. I don't find any discussion of the black tulle mentioned on the NYCB site, again suggesting that this idea came later. An intriguing footnote on p. 130: "Balanchine staged a Swan Lake for Spessivtzeva in 1929 (Diaghilev's Ballets Russe)." It would be interesting to learn what that looked like. Was it all the acts? How was Odile dressed (if she was included)?

The 1940s is interesting for the timing of the black swan. Balanchine's one-act Swan Lake dates to 1951. He put all the swans, except Odette, into black and gave a puzzling explanation: "there are black swans as well." I wonder what influenced Balanchine, both in Russia and elsewhere. Had he seen (or heard about) another production that used black? Do we know which production first put Odile into black? Here's the NYCB site on Balanchine's version, with that quote: http://www.nycballet.com/ballets/s/swan-lake-(balanchine).aspx

Am I understanding this correctly: Odile is in a white dress? Was this modeled after an historic production that used a white dress? Or was Samaritani just trying to come up with something new and startling?

It's Odette the person/princess, not Odette the Swan Queen. I once saw a version that had all the swans and Odette revert to human status with long flowing gowns, after Rothbart was killed off (the Soviet ending). But that hasn't caught on, for better or worse...

Even worse, I've been to far too many theaters where ushers think it's fine to seat people during the overture, right up until the curtain starts to go up.

I'm always wary of the accuracy of Wikipedia, but I found a pretty impressive and detailed list of all the changes Drigo made in 1895 to the 1877 Tchaikovsky score. Apparently, Tchaikovsky, before his death in 1893, liked Drigo's idea of importing several other Tchaikovsky works into Swan Lake -- music not originally intended for Swan Lake. But it doesn't appear Tchaikovsky knew about the extensive re-ordering of the score Drigo eventually settled on. The version we are most familiar with today is the Drigo version, which is why it's so startling to hear a recording of the 1877 original. I don't think we know what Tchaikovsky was thinking dramatically when he wrote his original score and apparently Drigo thought the score wasn't working well, which is why he did such extensive reworking. Whether or not overtures should be performed exclusively with music intact and no choreography ever is a specific question worth discussing, I suppose. But I don't know that overtures have to be sacrosanct. In the film version of West Side Story, we see some very interesting visuals during the overture, e.g. Why do we have the tradition of applauding Odette's entrance in Act II? Because she is entering as Odette The Swan Queen -- a character we haven't met before, who dominates the rest of the ballet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Lake_(1895)#Drigo.27s_edition_of_Tchaikovsky.27s_score

Are the Wilis appropriately called "vampire women"? The PNB site quotes Gautier's source on the Wilis: PNB refers to them as "Vampire-like." Yes, they come out after dark, but they don't have the literal blood-sucking quality we associate with vampires. Also, Heine says they just died before their weddings. I thought they had a more tragic end -- brides jilted on their wedding day and thus dying of grief. But perhaps that nuance was added later in the retelling of the Wilis story. I do think it's interesting that we still have an expression today: "That gives me the wilis." I've asked people if they know where that expression came from and non-ballet-lovers generally don't have a clue!