California

Thanks to LaKarsavina, curtain calls June 19 - evening (Boylston-Simkin): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpNnJH4IAdw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhVDqSfNFe4

At least somebody had the good judgment not to cast Vasiliev at the Saturday matinee with Gomes as Siegfried. What an interesting third act that would have made!!! I think ABT audiences are seeing pretty clearly why the Royal Ballet did not offer a position to Vasiliev. I almost feel sorry for him. It's going to be hard to find appropriate roles and partners other than Osipova. He needs to invest in some serious coaching -- soon!

Curtain calls from June 17, thanks to LaKarsavina:

Most readers of this board probably already know this, but for those who don't: Gomes is purple Rothbart in the ABT Swan Lake on DVD from 2005 (along with Corella and Murphy): http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-American-Ballet-Theatre-Corella/dp/B000AYEI9A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371569322&sr=8-1&keywords=swan+lake+abt It's distressing that so few of Gomes' performances are available on DVD.

Publishers seem to have come up with good solutions for the physical media storage problems. E.g., Amazon is selling the Balanchine Essays-Arabesque as a "copy-on-demand" DVD. At least some textbook publishers (e.g., Wadsworth) print some texts with limited readership only on-demand, when ordered by a bookstore. So the cost of making and storing physical DVDs doesn't seem to be the issue. That takes us back to problems getting releases from all the performers and other groups involved in the creation of the work. Royal Ballet seems to have figured out how to make it work, so why POB doesn't release more is a mystery.

I have the impression that his interaction with soloists is so compelling because it reflects genuine friendship and respect, not acting (although he is a superb actor as well). One of his many endearing qualities is the way he always signals back to the soloists and corps to acknowledge their contributions during curtain calls. He himself worked his way up through the corps and soloist ranks, so that partially explains it, of course, but it always seems very genuine to me.

I saw the complete "Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project" (choreographed by Stephen Mills of Ballet Austin) last spring, performed by the Colorado Ballet. It is emotionally draining and exhausting. The last segment, "Hush," is a lovely and very welcome denouement from the 90-minute ballet, quite different from all that came before. I loved the Philip Glass music for that segment so much, I ordered it as soon as I got home from the theater. More information is here: http://www.txnp.org/Article/?ArticleID=15714 But let me hasten to add that overall it is an enormously important ballet. In Denver, it was linked to a wide range of community events. But "Hush" is not typical of the overall ballet.

Belatedly, I just want to point out how often (on this board and elsewhere), Vasiliev is described as "stocky" and "chunky" - words that are usually reserved for men who are a bit on the chubby or overweight side. It does seem appropriate to point that out, especially as it interferes with his line.

Thanks, Aurora, for the wonderfully detailed report on the Osipova-Hallberg R&J. I'm curious about one thing: I saw their R&J a year ago at the Met and the audience went wild at the end of Act I, demanding a quite unusual curtain call (which many found inappropriate, I later learned). Did that happen again this year? It's also interesting that this was apparently the only R&J of the last four performances that did NOT go on sale at the TKTS 1/2 price booth. What have the houses been like this week?

The TDF site has $31 tickets for both performances of Sylvia on Wednesday, June 26. I don't know if that means cheap tickets are also for sale at the Atrium, but it might be worth checking.

Oh, for sure, and I suspect that was the explanation. But why are the Met Opera ushers so fussy? Nothing is visible on the stage in the way of copyrighted designs until the curtain calls, which they do nothing to stop people from photographing and videotaping. I've noticed several episodes when visitors just wanted a photograph of themselves standing in the theater before the performance and ushers rushed to stop them.

This seems to vary by theater. At the Met, ushers are very fussy about the "no photography" rule before the performance, even just for audience members who want to record their presence in the theater. But during the bows, flashes go off constantly and nobody seems to be trying to stop that. At the State Theater, ushers are adamant before, during, and after about their "no photography" rule. I tried to take a picture of the theater for "Book of Mormon" long before the performance began, as there was a decorated stage exterior visible, and an usher immediately stopped me.

So sorry. The article is dated yesterday, June 11. Let me try this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/judge-rules-for-interns-who-sued-fox-searchlight.html

This has more to do with the use of unpaid interns than "Black Swan," but the interns just won their lawsuit that they should have been paid for the work they did on the film: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/judge-rules-for-interns-who-sued-foxsearchlight.html?_r=0 I would guess that dance schools and companies using unpaid interns will be taking a close look at this decision. EDITED: That link apparently expired. Try this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/judge-rules-for-interns-who-sued-fox-searchlight.html

According to the press release, this was her first time in the role in New York. I have no idea where she performed it before - does anyone know? http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=439

Dance magazine just sent out a tweet that Kochetkova is also replacing Cojocaru in SB: I don't see this yet on the ABT site.

Interesting! The "dead body hoist" from the floor occurs at the 0:47 mark. Is this the lift that others thought was off that night? I think they ordinarily do that move twice, and I don't know if this was the first or the second.

I wonder when those clips were filmed...I haven't noticed filming during a performance, but perhaps they were on that occasion. Or perhaps it was an earlier rehearsal for the opening night cast. I was struck by the "dead body" hoist that's shown in the clip where Gomes lifts her off the floor in the tomb. Someone here thought that it was awkward during performance. It did seem different from the way others do it, but okay.

This video on NCB-New York has some brief clips of Vishneva and Gomes. I'm guessing they were taken at the dress rehearsal Monday afternoon: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video/#!/entertainment/the-scene/Congresswoman-Appears-With-American-Ballet-Theatre/210947441

The Ardani web site is just a little out of date. They list him for two Swan Lakes (presumably as Aristocratic/Purple Rothbart) on June 18 & 22, but the ABT site lists him for a third, on June 20. I'm not seeing the Sleeping Beauties this year, but I think he'd be fascinating as BlueBird. And I'm glad to see him as what appears to be a "team player" in roles other than the most prominent principal roles. http://www.ardani.com/tours-vasiliev.php

In recent years, the spring Met season has been announced in mid-October, complete with principal casting! I suppose that could get pushed back this fall until after the fall season in NYC (October 30-November 10).

I got that impression too. During the balcony scene he danced very small and cautiously in his own solos. His partnering and acting were excellent, but I felt that his technique was significantly diminished compared to his prior performances of Romeo. Oh no...I wish he should have not dance Ali in Le Corsaire. I might be reading too much into those YouTubes of the curtain calls, but he did not seem as beaming and joyful as he usually does. We know he has had injuries in the past (he talks about them in some interviews). He has a lot of work ahead in the rest of this season -- three Swans (one with a new partner, Hee Seo, and one as purple Rothbart), two Sylvias, one Sleeping Beauty. Perhaps he's thinking ahead and trying not to exacerbate whatever the issue is now so he doesn't have to cancel.

But San Francisco Ballet co-produced it and will be performing it in SF in April 2014, so they won't want the competition. ABT definitely doesn't play cities like Peoria, but Chicago is a pretty sophisticated dance city now with visits from major companies. Isn't one big problem with the Trilogy its reliance on so many principal dancers? So few of the "guest artist" principals join that tour, it might be difficult to cast. I'm betting they'll show it at Met 2014 to get a little more mileage.

I always wonder why the first person in proximity to the item on the floor doesn't just swoop down and pick it up. These things are always a distraction for the audience, worrying about somebody slipping and falling, so it's just better to get rid of it. I noticed that Vasiliev kicked something onto the outer edge of the stage that had been sitting on the floor for some time (was that at Don Q or Corsaire - can't remember at the moment). It seemed long overdue and the right thing to do for the safety of the dancers.

LaKarsavina just posted three YouTubes of the curtain calls: