California

Both the workshop and the performance videos are now available on the White House site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2010/09/07/press-briefing

I missed the first few minutes of the Serenade section, so I didn't hear introductions. Several people in front were demonstrating for a crowded room of students, but none of them looked like Heather (although I haven't seen her in recent years). At the end, Damien called out "thanks" to several people, including "Heather," but the camera didn't focus on anybody in particular at that point. Did anybody else see the workshop section?

I just took a look at a 20-second clip of that old Tarantella at the White House. (It was part of a collage WETA used to promote its programming, shown in 1981. The only way to see the whole thing is at the Lincoln Center Library, as far as I know.) That chandelier was there, but the stage had a plain white backdrop with simple white flats on both sides of the stage. They didn't seem to have more square footage than at today's program, perhaps even less, but the plain white set made it easier to see them without all the distractions. Sarah Kaufman just posted a report on the show and the workshop that preceded it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706730.html I hope they post the tape of the workshop. It included a section teaching the young dancers the opening moments of Serenade, with lots of advice about Balanchine's direction. (E.g., the opening outstretched arm is to shield your face from the sun, followed by "melting" from the sun.)

If you missed the live video stream of the program, you might check later at the White House video site under "music and the arts." It appears they eventually post all of the live programs, such as the Paul McCartney program earlier this summer. I don't know how long it takes for them to post, but it's worth watching for. One nice touch: Damien Woetzel, in his introduction to "Tarantella," pointed out that Patricia McBride and Mikhail Baryshnikov did the very same piece at the White House in 1978! Oh, how I wish that they would show that clip, too, when they televise this on PBS. That show was never released commercially, although you can see it at the New York Performing Arts Library Dance Collection at Lincoln Center.

The performances will be live videostreamed on the whitehouse.gov/live site today, starting at 5 pm EDT. I just received the following e-mail from NCYB about this: -------------------------------------------------------------- We are pleased to let you know that New York City Ballet Principal Dancers Ashley Bouder and Daniel Ulbricht will perform Tarantella this evening in the East Room of the White House. Their performance is part of the Obama Administration's first White House Dance Series and will pay tribute to Judith Jamison, Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Damian Woetzel, is directing the presentation. Below please find a press release from the White House with more details on the event and visit whitehouse.gov/live to view a live-stream of the workshop at 3:00 PM and the performance at 5:00 PM. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA ANNOUNCES WHITE HOUSE DANCE SERIES BEGINNING WITH TRIBUTE TO JUDITH JAMISON On September 7th, First Lady Michelle Obama will invite world renowned dance companies to perform at the Administration's first event celebrating dance. The White House Dance Series: A Tribute to Judith Jamison will honor Jamison for her outstanding career as an American dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for the past 20 years. The event, featuring American dance from ballet, modern and contemporary dance, hip hop and Broadway will be held in the White House's East Room at 5:00 PM. The early evening event will feature performers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Billy from Billy Elliot the Musical, The Washington Ballet, Super Cr3w, and New York City Ballet. It will be directed by Damian Woetzel, former principal dancer at New York City Ballet and member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. In continuing the Administration's focus on supporting the arts and arts education, a dance workshop will be held in the White House East Room on September 7th at 3:00 PM. Each dance company will lead a segment of the workshop focusing on their genre. Students age 11-15 from the Alvin Ailey School, Ballet Hispanico, Cab Calloway School of the Arts (CCSA), Dance Theatre of Harlem, Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Washington School of Ballet, the National Dance Institute's New York, Colorado and New Mexico affiliates, the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center and the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts will participate in this 90 minute workshop and then attend the early evening performance as guests. Judith Jamison has been artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for two decades. One of the most renowned figures in modern dance, she was Mr. Ailey's muse for whom he created the tour-de-force solo Cry and other enduring roles. As a highly regarded choreographer, Ms. Jamison has created works for many different companies. She is also an author, whose autobiography was edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Ms. Jamison is the recipient of a prime time Emmy Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the National Medal of Arts, and she was named in TIME's 2009 list of the world's 100 most influential people.

The on-line sales site for ABT autographed shoes (http://www.abt.org/Store/shoes.asp) says at the very bottom: "All proceeds benefit ABT and The Dancers' Emergency Fund." The Friends sales table at intermission seems to be staffed by very dedicated and hard-working volunteers and perhaps "Dancers' Emergency Fund" is what they intended. On-line, they also sell ABT Capezio dancewear: http://www.abt.org/Store/default.asp There it says: "All proceeds from American Ballet Theatre's on-line store sales directly support American Ballet Theatre's education programs and performances." So, perhaps younger dancers in their educational programs are benefitting and that's what the volunteers you spoke with were thinking of. Gift shops are big money-makers for all of the arts (museums, opera, ballet, etc.). More power to them!

I don't understand the objection to raising money by selling autographed shoes. I am the proud owner of shoes purchased 30+ years ago autographed by Suzanne Farrell, Merrill Ashley, and Heather Watts. They're not worth anything (as so many others were also sold) and I would never sell them anyway. After three decades they are stored (lovingly) in plastic bags, as the glue has long since turned to sand and drained out. But they are lovely souvenirs and if dance companies recouped a little money that helped shore up their budgets, where's the harm? I see this at NYCB, ABT, SFB, etc., so it must be worth the trouble for all of them. (And I wouldn't be surprised if many Ballet Talkers own treasured collections of autographed shoes and programs and pictures and other things themselves...) Fortunately, we live in a free country. If people want to boycott because they object to a group's finances (as many are now boycotting Target for its political donations), they are free to do that. As I've noted before, though, many of our most generous philanthropists had unsavory pasts for union-busting or anti-semitism or illegal activities, etc., etc. in accumulating the wealth they later gave away. But I don't see people boycotting the Carnegie libraries or the Ford Foundation or the many others who donated generously later in life.

Of course -- that makes sense. Thank you for the correction! I see that "Entente Cordiale" is not included in the NYCB repertory list. Does anyone know if all three were ever performed on the same program?

I agree with your conclusion and have deleted it from my original post. The status of Tricolore is very puzzling. The last movement (the sailors and the semaphore signals and British flag) were included in the 1993 Balanchine Celebration, broadcast on PBS and sold on VHS for a time. As you note, Martins, Bonnefoux, and Robbins did the actual choreography. With so much to choose from for that Celebration, why pick that? http://www.nycballet.com/company/rep.html?rep=424 I'm just guessing, but perhaps the Trust list only includes works which can be licensed and restaged?

Baryshnikov did a benefit concert with the Cunningham Company in Los Angeles on June 7. This article in the LA Times refers to a 1999 performance by Baryshnikov and Cunningham himself called "Occasion Piece." http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/05/mikhail-baryshnikov-to-join-merce-cunningham-dance-company-for-benefit-at-redcat.html In a review after the benefit in LA, it says: "Baryshnikov danced but three short Cunningham solos in the 35-minute "Occasion Piece2," which was assembled for this evening." http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/09/entertainment/la-et-baryshnikov-cunningham-20100609 I was out of town during the benefit, and I don't know anybody who attended.

The BAC site also just posted more information: http://www.bacnyc.org/events/performances/mcdc_benefit

Baryshnikov will perform October 4 with the Cunningham Company in a benefit concert at the BAC: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/baryshnikov-to-kick-off-special-collaboration-with-cunningham-company/ "On Oct. 4, Mikhail Baryshnikov will perform as part of a special benefit program to introduce a new collaboration between the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Baryshnikov Arts Center. “BAC Flicks: Mondays With Merce,” a new monthly film series and programming collaboration, is intended to educate audiences about Cunningham’s legacy and creative process. The event will feature a performance of “Occasion Piece2” by Baryshnikov and the Cunningham company, with music from John Cage’s “Song Books” performed by Joan La Barbara and John Kelly. It will also include a screening of Charles Atlas’s film “With Merce.” Tickets go on sale August 30.

Isn't it a shame that there (apparently) are no plans to bring the exhibit to the US next year -- perhaps to the Met or the National Gallery of Art in DC. It looks like a spectacular exhibit. If I'm wrong on that, please let us know.

As others are pointing out, successful fundraising (whether in the arts, education, or other cultural endeavors) depends heavily on a system of recognition. Some of that is healthy, if it creates peer pressure on others to contribute. (I'm thinking of Warren Buffett's current campaign to get the 40 richest people in the U.S. to promise to donate half their fortune to philanthropy.) Endowed chairs, named scholarships, endowed lecture series, named buildings -- would people have donated that money without the recognition? A few might, but the system works best when it finds ways to acknowledge people's support. It's a system that works for everybody, especially with dramatically declining goverment support (both Federal and state). There are exceptions. A really HUGE name in the movie industry regularly gives annonymous gifts to the nearby campus of a state university campus here. It's a poorly kept secret on campus, but all public statements insist on annonymity. People who already have plenty of recognition and stature don't need a press release everytime they contribute to a worthy cause, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are others like the one I'm thinking about, but others need a different motivation to give.

The U.S. has a long history of avoiding government support of the arts that might emulate a government-run "Ministry of Culture" more typical of Europe. So it evolved a complex mix of hands-off government support in which funding decisions were recommended by outside experts at the Arts Endowment (since 1965) combined with indirect government support (through tax incentives) of private donations and private foundations supporting artistic, cultural, and educational projects. The amount of money from NEA is a drop in the bucket compared with the indirect support from the tax code, but the decision on what to fund is being made by individual taxpayers, not government bureaucrats, and the American public seems more comfortable with that. Even Roosevelt's Works Project Administration supported the arts as a jobs program, not support for the arts per se, as jobs were the only things the public would swallow. With continuing economic stress, other developed countries in recent decades have looked to the American model to encourage more private support for the arts. We have a long history of wealthy people with histories that some consider unsavory, who donated huge sums of money that benefitted everybody. Andrew Carnegie built libraries all over the country. Andrew Mellon built the National Gallery of Art (and a lot more). Ford Foundation has supported numerous artistic and educational projects (including support for Balanchine and the Dance Theatre of Harlem). Rockefeller Foundation has a long history of support for the arts and education. For much of its history, PBS received about 1/4 of its funding from Exxon-Mobile. Texaco brought the opera to America with its radio broadcasts. Were some of these people buying good will or trying to clean up their reputations? Perhaps, but what are the alternatives? It's inconceivable, even in the best of economic times, that the government will step up and replace all that private funding, and we should be grateful that the tax code continues to provide some financial incentive for their generosity. And new generations of wealthy people are giving huge sums to philanthropy -- Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Ted Turner, and yes, the Koch brothers. Fortunately, they span the political spectrum. People forget that when David Stockman (Reagan's OMB director) tried to shut down both Endowments in the early 1980s, some of the loudest objections came from wealthy Republicans serving on the boards of museums, dance companies, and symphonies all over the country, and the Endowments were spared. Establishment of the NEA in the mid-60s had been genuinely bipartisan, with essential leadership from Republican Jacob Javitts and Democrat Claiborne Pell. There are actors whose politics are so revolting to me that I refuse to see their movies. Other people boycott artistic people who named names to the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s (Jerome Robbins, for starters). So people always have that option if the politics are just too awful to bear for an artistic group. Let's just hope a diversity of funders continues to support the arts in this country!

Please don't rely on Wikipedia when other, much more reliable sources are available. (Some colleges now ban the use of Wikipedia as a research reference, as it is so unreliable.) Better options: The George Balanchine Trust: http://www.balanchine.com/content/site/ballets I'd also suggest the NYCB site listing all repertory (although Balanchine is mixed in with everybody else, it does include works no longer performed, even the "legendary" PAMTGG, which is omitted from the Trust site, interestingly): http://www.nycballet.com/company/rep.html

Early training in gymnastics before starting ballet doesn't seem to be all that unusual any more. Baryshnikov has often talked about studying gymnastics before discovering ballet. When you see those extreme stretches and the splits against the wall that he does in the practice sequences in White Nights, you have to wonder if that very early gymnastics stretching made some of that possible. This is the 1975 Time Magazine article about him with that reference to gymnastics and it's appeared in other biographies: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945404-3,00.html Natalia Osipova started in gymnastics training before switching to ballet because of an injury: http://www.natalia-osipova.com/osipova-2.html Her extreme extensions and airborne splits seem influenced by early gymnastics to me. I haven't done any sort of comprehensive survey on this question, but I wonder if the popularity of gymnastics in recent decades (which young children typically start by age 5 or so) might be having some influence on ballet training (which doesn't get serious until children are 8 or 10?). If you look back at critical writing in the 19th century, athleticism was typically frowned upon, but that seems to have reversed in the 20th century, at least in some circles in classical ballet. The move toward gymnastics seems consistent with that direction.

I have a "Google alert" set for "Colorado Ballet." While their recruitment announcement for an executive director has shown up on several jobs sites, no information about the reasons for the most recent departures have turned up. Here's the recruitment from their own site: http://www.coloradoballet.org/about/opportunities There were news reports over a year ago about staff lay-offs, but it sounded like financial problems, nothing else. http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=113018 http://www.denverpost.com/theater/ci_12059679 According to the public professional networking site Linkedin, the previous executive director, Jack R. Lemmon, was there less than a year. (For those of you who know this site, each person posts his/her own information.) http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-r-lemmon/7/9b7/2aa Here's the news story from the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News about his appointment in fall 2008: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/13/colorado-ballet-names-arts-veteran-as-executive/ It's tough all over in the arts.

I wish they would bring back San Francisco Ballet, last at OCPAC in November 2008. They brought a rich repertory that was perhaps a little too contemporary for the OCPAC audience (Fusion/Possokhov, Within the Golden Hour/Wheeldon, Four Ts, Fifth Season/Tomasson, Joyride/Morris, Doule Eil/Elo). I went to the Four Ts program and it seemed sold out and enthusiastic. But if the problem was the rep, SFB has plenty of old warhorses they could haul down. I somehow doubt that LA Ballet or San Diego Ballet could fill that big opera house. ABT has made several visits, but not since fall 2008, as I remember. Perhaps one problem is finding underwriters to make up the difference from ticket sales, which apparently is very substantial (40-60%?).

Are you talking about the Tour de Force II on April 28, 2011? http://www.ocpac.org/home/Content/ContentDisplay.aspx?NavID=796 Earlier in this thread we were trying to sort out "The Bolshoi Ballet Project," January 20 - 23, 2011, and when they would show Parts I, II, and III. Did they give you any guidance on that? I attended Tour de Force I on May 21, 2009. It was very strange -- billed as a non-fund-raising gala that would showcase the Center's commitment to presentation of dance. Indeed, they went out of their way to say they were not trying to raise money with this, which they easily could have. It consisted of 16 pas de deux and small ensemble showpieces. Osipova did 3 pieces: Giselle pas de deux (with Vasiliev), Don Quixote pas de deux (with Leonid Sarafanov), and Flames of Paris pas de deux (with Vasiliev). For Tour de Force II, I haven't seen any commitments about who will perform,although Osipova is listed for the January Bolshoi programs.

I took a close look at the subscriber options. They are not told anything about different programming for the four Bolshoi performances. I'm guessing all three Parts will be shown at each program, with some variation in Part II, as you suggest. It also seems unlikely that they are staging two new full-evening programs for Parts I and III.

Yes, this is on the OCPAC site. http://www.ocpac.org/home/Content/ContentDisplay.aspx?NavID=796 But it's very confusing. Should we assume Part I will be performed on the first night, Part II on the second, etc.? At first, it looked like all three would constitute an evening's program, but Part II has too much listed for that. Presumably this will be clarified (along with casting!) before single tickets go on sale. But subscribers might be wondering now. At least in the past, if you bought even a single ticket the year before, they give you an early opportunity (a week early or so) to buy singles before they go on sale to the general public. Judging from the size and enthusiasm of the Russian emigre community when Bolshoi was here in February, tickets will go very fast, especially for the Osipova performances.

Do you mean the one they did in 2003? I had that on Tivo, but then the Tivo died I loved the "Liebeslieder Walzer" excerpts from that. The Balanchine Celebration, Parts I and II, was shown on PBS in 1993, on the 10th anniversary of his death. According to the Balanchine site, it was released commercially by Nonesuch. http://www.balanchine.org/balanchine/videography.jsp I don't know if it's still for sale, but perhaps used copies will show up on e-Bay From the Balanchine.org site: The Balanchine Celebration, Part One The Balanchine Library. Nonesuch, 1996. Selections from live performances (1993) at the New York State Theater. With members of the New York City Ballet and guest artists. Includes Scherzo à la Russe and excerpts from Apollo, Square Dance, Theme and Variations, Union Jack, Vienna Waltzes, and Walpurgisnacht Ballet. The Balanchine Celebration, Part Two The Balanchine Library. Nonesuch, 1996. Selections from live performances (1993) at the New York State Theater. With members of the New York City Ballet and guest artists. Includes excerpts from Agon, Stars and Stripes, Western Symphony, and Who Cares? Part 2 ended with the vodka toast with Martins, Kirstein, and Robbins served vodka by Baryshnikov. An entirely different release is still available on DVD, the two-part Balanchine documentary first aired on PBS in 1984. From the Balanchine site: Balanchine Kultur, 2004. A two-part documentary film telecast on the Dance in America series on May 28 and June 4, 1984. Includes excerpts from more than thirty Balanchine ballets, including appearances by him as a Tartar Nomad in Jealousy, in the film Dark Red Roses, in 1929 and as Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker in 1958. The two programs have very different selections, although nothing is complete. For the Balanchine Celebration, everything is in excerpts, usually the last movement or two.

The Boulder Ballet has announced its 2010-11 season: http://www.boulderballet.org/cperfs.html The Nutcracker With the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and Boulder Children's Chorale November 26 - 28, 2010 Macky Auditorium on the CU campus, Boulder with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra December 4 - 5, 2010 Vance Brand Civic Auditorium, Longmont Stepping Out 2011 February 18-20, 2011 Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder Storybook Ballet - Wizard of Oz Student Production March 11 -13, 2011 Jump to School Performances for info... The Little Mermaid Mother's Day, May 8. 2011 Boulder Theater Ballet in the Park June 18 -26, 2011 Various locations throughout the metro region

The Los Angeles Ballet has just announced their 2010-2011 season: http://www.losangelesballet.org/html/performances_season5-.htm http://www.losangelesballet.org/html/company.htm "The Nutcracker" Alex Theatre, Glendale Dec. 4 7:30 pm Dec. 5 2:00 pm Royce Hall, UCLA Dec. 18 1:00 pm Dec. 18 5:00 pm Dec. 19 1:00 pm Dec. 19 5:00 pm Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center Dec. 24 2:00 pm Dec. 26 1:00 pm Dec. 26 5:00 pm "Celebration" Raymonda Variations (Balanchine/Glazounov) World Premiere by Sonya Tayeh Western Symphony Alex Theatre, Glendale Mar 5 7:30 pm Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center Mar 12 7:30 pm Freud Playhouse, UCLA Mar 19 7:30 pm Mar 20 2:00 pm "Giselle" Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center May 14 7:30 pm Alex Theatre, Glendale May 21 7:30 pm The Broad Stage, Santa Monica May 28 6:00 pm May 29 1:00 pm May 29 5:00 pm