California

Whether or not Vorontsova or her boyfriend were justified in being angry at Filin is irrelevant to what happened. Violence is never the answer. Not only is it completely unacceptable as a way of resolving conflict, but it also is a career-ender once its perpetrators are discovered. I keep thinking of Suzanne Farrell's anger that Balanchine would not give her husband roles she thought he deserved. Their response was to resign from the company and perform elsewhere. Whether or not her anger was justified is not relevant. Her response was appropriate in this kind of situation.

A word of caution on the Bolshoi: when they came to the Orange County Performing Arts Center (now Segerstrom) in spring 2010, they announced they would be doing La Bayadere for the entire week. Late in the game (although before single tickets went on sale), they switched that to Don Quixote - probably a better choice for that audience, although they never gave any explanation for the change.

I found the page listing the companies. Has anyone found more information, most especially, dates? http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/newseason/#DBC

But the check-off to the Presidential Campaign fund does NOT reduce your tax refund and the arts check-off would. Some states (both California and Colorado) have long check-off lists of worthy causes on their state income tax forms where you can have some of your refund sent -- everything from the environment to the arts to battered women. I don't know how much they collect that way. California also tried a lot of different types of license plates (including one for the arts) for which you paid a higher fee, and the difference went to those organizations. So this can be done pretty easily on the state level, but I don't know how successful any of this is. The US is very good at allowing tax deductions (if you itemize) for charitable contributions to all sorts of groups with 501©(3) status, including the arts. Those are really tax expenditures of public funds, although we don't always think of them that way. In this regard, at least, the US is far ahead of Europe (and Asia) in support for worthy causes. It has always annoyed me that people complain that their tax money is being used on things they find morally objectionable (whether funding the arts or abortions). My tax money is spent on a lot of things I find morally objectionable (the Iraq war, Federal capital punishment, just for starters), yet nobody seems worried about that.

But you're likely to experience those same warm temps in December in southern California and south Florida (and elsewhere in the south), yet they have plenty of Christmas enthusiasm, trees, and Nutcrackers. The oddest thing for visitors is that the sun sets so early in December, when the weather feels summer-like.

Baryshnikov's Nutcracker premiered at the Met in May 1977, but that was an unusual situation. Kirkland had been too ill to participate in the December 1976 world premiere at the Kennedy Center (although Baryshnikov had originally hoped she would be the original Clara), but she was able to perform for the Met engagement. The production was so well-received in December 1976 that, presumably, ABT figured New York audiences were eager to see it, no matter the time of year, and especially with Kirkland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_productions_of_The_Nutcracker

The PBS News Hour just posted a 6-year-old feature on Baryshnikov on its YouTube channel. I don't know why they waited so long - perhaps they are going through their archives to see what is worth sharing.

Today there is an AP story that the Met Opera is cutting prices 10% due to a slump in sales: http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_22673171/met-cuts-ticket-prices-following-box-office-slump In one mention, somebody wonders if this decline in audience is due to their HD broadcasts. I hope this doesn't discourage ballet companies from pursuing new technologies so more people can see their performances!

Do you remember the elaborate marionettes in The Sound of Music, which was set in Salzburg, Austria? Those marionettes are very popular throughout eastern Europe. You see them at special stores and at the big Christmas markets in Vienna, Prague, and throughout the region. I don't know the history of this (perhaps someone else here does?), but they are very popular to this day.

Do remember that Colorado Ballet is the only show in town for classical ballet. No companies of any significance tour here, ever. Some major stars show up at the Vail festival in the summer, but that's just two weeks. The Washington Ballet has ferocious competition, both for audiences and fund-raising. It's not just the Kennedy Center dance series, featuring almost all the major companies on the planet, but also the easy train/plane ride to New York City to see everything there.

Here's the cast for this weekend: In Pieces: 2/22 & 2/23: Valentine-Ellis & Trubchanov; Kuykendall & Marks; Wehner & Ellis 2/24: Sasaki & Still; Mosina & Valdes; Benton & Moulton T&V: 2/22 & 2/23: Mosina & Tyukov 2/24: Wehner & Still Sacre: 2/22 & 2/23: Chosen One: Still; Earth Mother & Father: Mosina and Tyukov 2/24: Chosen One: Marks; Earth Mother & Father: Kuykendall & Trubchanov Interesting that Still is doing T&V and In Pieces 2/24, but Wehner is doing only T&V that day.

Spectucular performances all around on opening night 2/22/13. For anyone in the Denver area, I would recommend this without reservation. They have a 15% discount on their Facebook page: They opened with T&V, which had been set by Judith Fugate from the Balanchine Trust. One of my favorite ballets, this is also reportedly one of the most difficult to dance (at least, according to long-ago interviews with Kirkland & Baryshnikov -- he said he felt like his legs were going to fall off). Maria Mosina and Alexei Tyukov took the leads. She has remarkable technical prowess combined with attention to nuance that was as good as anyone I've seen (with the inevitable exception of Gelsey "gargouillades" Kirkland). He was a solid partner with just slight technical issues (travelling on a sequence of pirouettes, e.g.). The corps and soloists were also remarkably solid. The new piece by Val Caniparoli, In Pieces, was the second ballet on the program, with just three couples. It was also a great success, with innovative partnering and plenty of athletic dash for the ensemble, pairs, and solos. The music was Concerto In Pieces by Poul Ruders, a contemporary work that was at times driving and at times bizarre and otherworldly. I couldn't figure out the structure of either movement or music on just one viewing and look forward to seeing it again. Rousing audience response. The program closed with Glen Tetley's The Rite of Spring. This is the version ABT performed with Baryshnikov long ago and I had forgotten how driving and complex the choreography is for the large ensemble with endlessly fascinating group patterns and innovative and often gasp-inducing partnering. But the biggest surprise was that Mosina and Tyukov returned after their T&V performances just an hour earlier as the Earth Mother & Father -- and were fantastic. I can't imagine this kind of heavy duty performing in a larger company where there were more principals to draw from. This company only does four programs a year, including their Nutcracker, so I suppose the dual-duty casting is necessary and something the dancers put up with to get to dance great roles. Soloist Adam Still was impressive as The Chosen One. This performance got a standing ovation, almost instantaneously. The top two tiers of the Opera House were closed off. The orchestra was maybe 90% full, with the Parterre and first tier about half empty (at least). For reasons I don't understand, their opening nights seem to have weaker attendance than later performances - perhaps they get a lot of mileage from word-of-mouth. 65 musicians in the pit were first-rate. For classical music lovers, that alone should bring them to the theater. They have six more performances: Saturday, 2/23 at 7:30 and Sunday, 2/24 at 2:00, with four more the weekend of March 1-3. I gather it's difficult to sell tickets to any mixed bill, even in New York with its super-knowledgeable audience. Too bad -- so much great dancing and great music in this one program.

Wouldn't it be nice if they would videotape the whole thing and at least make it available in the future to visitors to the Library? Does anybody know if they are planning something like that?

It seemed to me that they are packing a lot of expensive ballets into one week. Just transporting the Valentino costumes alone will cost a pretty penny. And transporting all the children for Garland Dance seems expensive - unless they assume they'll sell lots of tickets to accompanying parents? Given the reduction in schedule, I suppose they want to pack the house and at least not lose money to help their arguments for future seasons? I'm curious if others had the same reaction.

In the press release, director Gil Boggs describes their Cinderella as "kid friendly" and "a way to introduce dance to a younger audience." http://www.coloradoballet.org/about-news/colorado-ballet-announces-2013-2014-season The other highlight of the mixed bill is Amy Seiwert's Traveling Alone, which I thought was the best of the mixed bill "Tribute" in spring 2012.

I'm so sorry to hear of your difficulty getting to the Washington Ballet. As a resident of Washington, DC, decades ago, I still miss the wonderful Metro system. Even long ago, it seemed that parking was priced high in town in hopes of encouraging people to use public transportation. The red line runs from Silver Spring to Gallery Place, a couple of blocks from the theater, but perhaps current DC residents could give you better advice on getting into town without all that hassle: http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm?

They do a lot of full-length "child-oriented" work, which is how Cinderella is characterized for next year. In 2011-12, it was Peter Pan. The year before, Dracula. It's probably a good strategy to attract parents who might not otherwise attend the ballet.

They will do Giselle in October, Nutcracker in December, Cinderella in February and a mixed bill (at DU) in March, including Edward Liang's Feast of the Gods. http://www.coloradoballet.org/about-news/colorado-ballet-announces-2013-2014-season The Denver Post also has a nice write-up today of their plans for a new building in the Santa Fe arts district, which is close to downtown. http://blogs.denverpost.com/artmosphere/2013/02/06/colorado-ballet-unveils-season-and-a-sleek-new-building-for-the-santa-fe-arts-district/8539/

Colorado Ballet is announcing the 2013-14 season on Wednesday, February 6 at their studios, in an event announced on their public web site: http://www.coloradob.../special-events I can't attend, but the e-mail announcing this has a photo from the second act of Giselle.

Sara Mearns just sent this on Twitter. Looks like she'll be out for the rest of the week:

Fascinating, but I can offer a contrast with the situation in Slovakia, post-Communism. I taught there for five months on a Fulbright lecturing award a few years ago. The only Africans/blacks/African-Americans I saw in all that time were African students studying at the medical school and the very rare black American tourist. So they have very little first-hand experience, much like the Russians. But my very fluent English-speaking students were eager to learn our cultural sensitivities, slang, etc., as so many hoped to work for multi-national corporations in western Europe. They had been taught that "black" to refer to a person is extremely offensive and should never be used. Well, not really, I explained. It's sometimes appropriate to refer to a person as "white," and then "black" is also acceptable. Meanwhile, nobody had impressed upon them that the n-word is absolutely taboo and should never be used. They had noticed that it sometimes shows up in rap music here (they have fabulous Internet access), but I urged them to refrain from ever using it. I also explained that the late Justice Thurgood Marshall preferred "Negro," as he believed it was analogous to "Caucasion," but that this was not common in our language now and many find it unacceptable. Afro-American is dated, but African-American acceptable, indeed, preferred. (We also spent some time on the evolution from American Indian to Native American and back.) So much of this reflects shifting cultural norms and it's hard to come up with a clear explanation for most of it. I don't recall ever seeing black face in the theater or on products like chocolate bars and don't know how to explain that. They loathe Russia and admire Britain, so that might be part of it. They are wary of Germany(although some might consider working there), due to the lingering memories of the Nazi occupation, something even young University students are painfully aware of.

In the second group, should we assume you mean only the full-length versions? E.g., several companies have a "Raymonda Variations" (or some such) with excerpts. For a time, ABT only did the second act of Bayadere. PdD from Don Q, Coppelia, Corsaire, etc. are widely performed on their own.

Indeed! PNB is unionized, and the standard dancer's contract in this country provides for 2 rest days before being required to perform at any elevation over 5,000 ft. Denver is just over that, as is Salt Lake City, which might be why you don't see much in the way of touring ballet companies in those cities. Vail is at 10,000! Moves is not unionized (part of the controversy in travelling separately from NYCB), so they didn't have that requirement, and I heard that they flew in the day before having to perform. These are athletes, of course, but the altitude can really have an impact on people until they have acclimated. The Vail festival does have a lot of "extras," like open rehearsals and community events, so perhaps they have ways to involve the PNB dancers in that before they have to perform. The stage is fairly small so it's possible they'll bring a small corps. And the tiny orchestra pit couldn't handle a big orchestra, so I'm guessing they'll be using recorded music.

The schedule has been posted for this year's Vail International Dance Festival: https://www.vaildance.org/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::name=VIDF-Schedules-LandingPage Pacific Northwest Ballet, but no NYCB/Moves. The International Festival includes Sergei Polunin.

I don't begrudge any dancer taking advantage of opportunities to earn more money. Baryshnikov has been a master at that himself (perfume, clothing line, children's books, e.g., in addition to an array of dance books, videos, etc.), although this started when he was already an established name. Actresses and athletes of both genders also tend to have very short careers and do the same thing. Having spent half my adult life in southern California, the self-promotion patterns can be pretty oppressive, though. I do wonder if she's also signalling (perhaps inadvertently) that she knows she won't make principal at ABT, so she's opening up other career possibilities for herself, which is also okay. ABT is reportedly weak on providing coaching, but we know that at least some dancers find that on their own if classical dancing is a main aim in life. All that extra stuff does take time, so one must make decisions about priorities. I do remember a gala (in Florida?) where she cancelled "due to injury" but turned up a few days later at a gala in another part of the country in fine form. I don't know the story behind that but it hints at least at the possibility of being over-extended. As for Simkin...oh, boy...let's not go there...