California

Substitutions for Hallberg have now appeared: Stearns with Semionova on 5/27; Matvienko with Murphy on 5/29; Matvienko in the Corsaire's 6/5 and 6/8

http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx?startdate=5/1/2013

http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx?startdate=6/1/2013

So a dancer who signs on for an 8 weeks stint with ABT is forbidden from working in NYC for a total of 8 months! Outrageous. I guess Roberto Bolle got a waiver, since his Roberto and Friends gig is mid September.

I can't find that restriction in the earlier message or the article in Time Out. I'm only seeing 3-months before and after. Where does it say that?

That was 2005 and the Bolshoi tour as part Lincoln Center festival occurred after ABT Met season ended. Consider Bolshoi was Nina's home theater back then and there's no overlap with ABT Met season, that wasn't a non-compete covenant issue.

Do we know when the 3-month before & after clause was first used? Is it possible that this 2005 visit triggered it?

A few people on the thread have indicated that there would not be any conflict in timing betweent the ABTspring season and the Royal Ballet season going forward (2014 Spring Season and beyond). Doesn't the Royal normally perform during April- early July at the ROH? (ABT rehearsals for the spring season for the leading dancers often occur in April, I believe.) Isn't that why, as the article notes, McKenzie is angry and frustrated about these developments?

The schedule for 2013-14 has been announced. http://www.roh.org.uk/productions

The only casting for Osipova so far is R&J and Nutcracker. She has done Giselle, but that's in Jan-Feb. (Tickets for Giselle go on sale in September, so presumably we'll know some casting by then.) Their Beauty is Feb-March. The season in April-June includes a new full-length by Wheeldon and lots of mixed bills. What is she likely to dance?

Encouraging news about Ananiashvili... McKenzie has to balance recruiting top talent for the Met season (as abatt noted) with the issue of NYC tourists attending Met performances. I don't know how much of the audience is from out-of-town, but I seem to meet a lot of people (like me) who plan a trip or two in the summer to take in as much as possible. If it's a choice between ABT in June and Royal in July...tough call. Then again, perhaps the out-of-towners are such a small part of the audience that it won't matter to ABT's ticket sales.

Well, it could mean that the Royal might give her "La Fille Mal Gardee", and then perhaps it might be able to transfer to the Met for a Summer run here. One can hope. ABT has a few others who could also do the role on Osipova's "night off"

Lincoln Center Festival has hosted major international companies in previous summers (alas, not this year) and could plausibly sponsor a visit by Royal in future years. The issue will be the fine print in Osipova's non-compete clause with ABT. The Mikhailovsky wanted to play the State Theater during the final weeks of the ABT season in 2012. If Royal came in late July, would ABT permit her to perform with them? Stay tuned...

The Arts Desk just sent out more details: She will not be dancing in the Royal's Don Q (due to other commitments, unnamed). That is scheduled from September 30 - November 6. Vasiliev was not offered a contract.

http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/ex-bolshoi-star-natalia-osipova-joins-royal-ballet

Is she still going to dance with ABT as well?

She's still listed for the spring season at the Met. The ROH news release says her next performances with Royal will be in R&J. Those are scheduled from October 19 - December 7, but no casting is listed for those as yet. I'll be very surprised if she dances in the fall ABT season at Lincoln Center, but the high-profile guests never seem to dance in the fall season anyway.

The Opera House just sent this link out on Twitter:

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/natalia-osipova-to-join-the-royal-ballet-as-a-principal-dancer

Note that they refer to her as "principal dancer," not "guest."

It appears that ABT's "dynamic pricing" has been put into effect today. They warned long ago that this could happen as early as April 8 for the most popular programs. I didn't check everything, but programs headlined by Osipova-Vasiliev are seeing a big price increase. For their Don Qs on May 25 and 28, there is a $20 price increase for remaining seats in the Grand Tier, e.g. Same thing for their Corsaire June 4.

Others probably just received the same e-mail from ABT with a link to a new "micro-site" on Onegin:

http://www.abt.org/onegin2013/

I'm confused -- I'm not seeing any cast for SB on August 7 or 9 -- is it posted somewhere else? That's one of his roles with them. http://www.roh.org.u...yuri-grigorovic

Follow the link to Facebook.

https://www.facebook...475849139138467

But do note that casting is missing from several performance.

No, it appears that the list is more or less complete. The only one missing is the August 15 performance of Swan Lake, which had previously been announced to star Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin.

I'm confused -- I'm not seeing any cast for SB on August 7 or 9 -- is it posted somewhere else? That's one of his roles with them. http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-sleeping-beauty-by-yuri-grigorovic

TCM is showing Dr. Coppelius next Tuesday, April 9 at 8:15 am EDT. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/559120/Dr-Coppelius/

My read on these comments is that Hallberg has been unable to rehearse w. the Bolshoi due to his continuing injury. He is appearing w. the Bolshoi in London, I believe, this summer. It would appear that he had to give up some of his ABT time in order to rehearse w. the Bolshoi in preparation for his upcoming performances with the company.

Casting for the Bolshoi London season was posted on the Facebook page of its presenter today, and no appearances by Hallberg are scheduled.

https://www.facebook...475849139138467

But do note that casting is missing from several performance. Isn't this Hallberg in the photo for Sleeping Beauty? http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-sleeping-beauty-by-yuri-grigorovic

David Hallberg sent out a puzzling Twitter yesterday:

David Hallberg ‏@DavidHallberg 10h

breathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathe

The schedule has now appeared on their web site: http://www.sfballet.org/tickets/2014_season_announcement?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=twitterclickthru

Details about affiliated programs (concerts, films, etc.):

http://www.nga.gov/press/exh/3413/related.shtm

The 'Garden Cafe Ballets Russes' opens for business on May 7!

http://www.nga.gov/press/2013/cafe_ballets_russes.shtm

So impressive! I hope they find a way to release that new documentary film commercially:

A Gallery-produced documentary film will explore Diaghilev's Russian roots and early cultural forays, his genius for orchestrating avant-garde composers, dancers, painters, and designers, and the legacy of the Ballets Russes. New performances from productions of Afternoon of a Faun, Scheherazade, and The Prodigal Son, will be featured as well as music by Igor Stravinsky, Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, and Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. The film includes archival footage spanning 1909 to 1929 and new interviews with dance historian Lynn Garafola and and conductor Leonard Slatkin.

The catalog is available for pre-order with a nice discount on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Diaghilev-Golden-Ballets-Russes-1909-1929/dp/1851777490/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364908595&sr=8-1&keywords=diaghilev+and+the+ballets+russes

(Timing of our trip is dictated by Mr. Drew's work taking him to Finland, so we are talking about the first week of June.)

If you'll be in Helsinki for a few days, do take a walking tour of the historic architecture, especially around the University. The architects also worked in St. Petersburg and they look strikingly similar. Those areas were often used for location shots to stand in for Russia when it was difficult to film in the Soviet Union (e.g., Warren Beatty's "Reds"). The Sibelius memorial park and gorgeous performing arts center are worth seeing. Great public tram system, so it's easy to get around. Also worthwhile: the daytrip to Tallinn, Estonia. It's an easy ferry ride (which is an international duty-free zone, with plenty of shops on-board) to see the best-preserved medieval city in northern Europe.

Anyone know anything about Ratmansky's "Symphony #9" ballet?

I saw this at the City Center premiere last October. It's spectacular and worth seeing several times -- innovative, clever, funny. The other two new Ratmansky's on that program will premiere at the Met in late May. I didn't realize ABT had this partnership for the new work with SFB, but it makes sense. Also makes one wonder if it won't be shown during ABT's visit to the LA Music Center, to avoid the competition.

The recession has surely hit ballet companies, but I can't believe NYCB is in real trouble... Concerned, sure... Making unwelcome adjustments, sure... but more than that?

I don't know. As a non-profit organization, their financial records are supposed to be publically available, but I don't know if that means they're online.

The Audited Financial reports for NYCB for 2010 and 2011 are posted on their web site. Can others more conversant in this type of reporting tell us if they see problems? http://www.nycballet.com/About/Annual-Reports.aspx

Is the NYCB "financially troubled"?

There has been quite a bit of public discussion of NYCB's financial deficits overall in recent years. I don't know where they stand right now. Their financial reports (as recently as 2011) are on their web site, but I'm not sure how much you can figure out from those. Perhaps others can. http://www.nycballet.com/About/Annual-Reports.aspx

Another play starring Baryshnikov, co-starring Willem Defoe:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/175428-Manchester-Interational-Festival-to-Feature-Kenneth-Branagh-Rob-Ashford-Robert-Wilson-Willem-Dafoe-Mikhail-Baryshnikov

The Old Woman will run July 4-7 at Manchester's Palace Theatre. Directed by Robert Wilson and developed with and starring dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, it is an adaptation of the work of the same name by Russian author Daniil Kharm, written in the 1930s. It will co-star Willem Dafoe, and follows the story of a struggling writer who cannot find peace with himself. Commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival, Spoleto Festival dei 2Mondi, Théâtre de la Ville-Paris/Festival d’Automne à Paris and deSingel, Antwerp, it is a Baryshnikov Productions, Change Performing Arts and The Watermill Center project.

It was only in 2006 that Congress designated ABT as "America's National Ballet Company": http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=160

I'd love to know the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to this designation, rather than NYCB.

I thought ABT added the "American" long ago to clarify their status before they went on tours during the Cold War, but that is different from the "National Ballet Company" designation and I don't see any explanation on the company's web site: http://www.abt.org/insideabt/history.asp

who will be Magallanes and Tallchief?