California

Two new articles/reviews about Baryshnikov, on the occasion of his performances this week at BAC:

http://cityarts.info/2010/05/19/baryshnikov-is-back/

[This one mentions performances later this year in Israel and Paris, but no hints about additional performances that we didn't already know about.]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/arts/dance/21solos.html

Thanks for sharing this. It sounds like a really lovely tribute.

And your observations about the differences for dancers between the old Soviet Union and today's Russia are also insightful. Kolpakova was on the Canadian tour with Baryshnikov when he defected. I always wondered if the Helen Mirren character in White Nights drew (partially) from her experiences when she returned to the Soviet Union without him. Some interesting history along those lines is at the end of this article: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2008/11/03/0...a_talk_acocella

. . . And what a beautiful tribute to Natalia Makarova at the end. . . .

Can you tell us more about the tribute? Did they bring her out on-stage at the end of the performance?

I am actually more interested in the audience responses to the various dancer/alumni who were introduced, especially Baryshnikov and Makarova. Was the audience surprised and thrilled just to see them on stage? I didn't see any hints of their presence in the advance reports on the event. I also don't recall Baryshnikov's presence at an ABT gala (at least not on stage) since he left the company in 1990, although perhaps I missed it. His departure as director was reportedly less than completely amicable (I'm being diplomatic here -- the details, whatever they were, are not really of interest at this juncture), and I wonder what it took to get him back on this 70th anniversary occasion. Nudging from MacKenzie or Makarova?

I found an interesting report on the 60th anniversary gala on-line:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2000-05-10/ente...susan-jaffe-abt

It reports that when Alicia Alonso appeared on stage to make a few remarks the cheers were "deafening." It will be interesting to see what they have planned for her birthday celebration June 3 this year.

. . . Has any one seen a ballet performed to this score? Or know about its history?. . .

I saw this ballet, performed by the Slovak National Ballet, in September 2007. I'm looking at my program from that evening and it attributes the choreography they use to Tamas Juronics, who created this in 2003. In the essay he wrote for the program notes, he says that he tried to update the fairy tale to contemporary terms. He used 40 dancers for this production. Juronics is a Hungarian who now co-directs the Szeged Contemporary Dance group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53760111378

Although Bartok was Hungarian, he lived for a time in Bratislava, which was known then as Pozsony (sometimes also called Pressburg). For much of his life what we now know as the Slovak Republic was part of the greater Austro-Hungarian empire. He used folk themes from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and elsewhere in his music, and the Slovaks seem to have a special affection for him. A good biography with some of his geographical ties: http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/bartok.html

The Slovak program also included "Duke Bluebird's Castle" by the Slovak Opera. I'm not a big Bartok fan, so my memories of the evening are dim. I do remember sitting next to a couple from Vienna who were big Bartok lovers and had come over on the train specifically to see this performance. I also remember being impressed by the depth of talent in both productions.

". . . let's keep politics out of this board. . . "

Another commenter had said ". . . David Koch received surprisingly little applause from the audience considering how much money he has contributed. . ." I offered a possible explanation that's been in the news. It's also possible that the audience didn't make the connection between the David Koch being introduced on stage and the David Koch whose name is now on the (former) State Theatre next door. Or perhaps the audience was distracted by the presence of Baryshnikov or Makarova or other stars of the past and didn't realize how much $$ Koch has donated to the ballet. I suppose there are all sorts of explanations for the tepid response from the audience, some political, some not.

. . . David Koch received surprisingly little applause from the audience considering how much money he has contributed. . .

I'm sure I speak for many ballet lovers in being grateful for Koch's generous financial support of both ABT and NYCB. But his support for the "tea party" movement this past year has also been widely reported. Try googling "David Koch" and "tea party" and you'll see lots of reports. Here's one site in which Koch seems to acknowledge his financial support:

http://washingtonindependent.com/62318/tea...its-toward-2010

You have to assume a New York audience was aware of that side of Koch's largesse. Perhaps some agree with him politically, but it wouldn't be surprising if many are troubled by his views.

In the openning of last night's gala, dancers who were part of ABT's history were introduced including L Serrano, MV Hamel, N Makarova, Nina A, A Ferri, F Franklin and ,surprisingly, Misha B. . . .

Were all of those dancers physically present at the gala? There are certainly many other greats that could have been mentioned, if they were just reading names.

I started a forum under "Dancers - Baryshnikov in 2010?" a few months ago and have been posting performances that show up on Google-alerts. He has things scheduled in 2010 in Israel, Sarasota, and a fundraiser in LA with the Merce Cunningham troupe. If others see performances scheduled, please add them so the rest of us know.

I saw him with Ana Laguna at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica last September. For those of us old enough to have seen him in his "ballet prime" in the 1970s and 80s, it was a special treat. I was surprised at how many physically demanding moves were included in the choreography that night, but he does seem to be slowing down in 2010.

Baryshnikov will perform at a benefit with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on June 7 at REDCAT, the Cal Arts theater in downtown Los Angeles:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemon...-at-redcat.html

I don't see any additional information on the REDCAT site: http://www.redcat.org/

Programming will be announced in June:

http://www.nycitycenter.org/content/stage/ffd.aspx

Nice that this happens during NYCB's new fall season (September 14 - October 10) - this is looking like an attractive trip for out-of-towners.

They'll be in Ottawa February 24-27, 2011, with La Bayadere:

http://www.nac-cna.ca/en/whatson/results.cfm?EventID=6298

And at the Kennedy Center with Giselle February 8-13:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/ballet/home11.cfm

It looks like the National Ballet of Canada had to reorganize its plans for next year in view of the Kirov visit to Toronto:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/story/2010/...sky-ballet.html

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/artic...aux-pas-de-deux

I wonder where else they will tour while they're in North America. OCPAC hasn't yet announced its dance season for 2010-11, so with luck they'll make it to the west coast, too

We can only hope they will release some of the dance from Live from Lincoln Center. Here's the press release. There's a brief mention of this project on p. 4, but the only examples are from opera:

http://www.lincolncenter.org/press_release...2-08_FORWEB.pdf

I'd like to see them release the Kirkland-Baryshnikov Theme and Variations from the Live program in spring 1978.

A new Ratmansky work will be premiered on Aug. 6, performed by Wendy Whelan.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/...dance-festival/

The Spring 2010 print NYCB NEWS, which arrived in today's U.S. Mail, has a little more information about the new fall season. It will be September 14-October 10, with a gala on Thursday, October 7. Subscriptions will be available in June, with single tickets available in August.

Ballets for the programs include Serenade, Concerto Barocco, and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, along with unnamed works by Robbins and Martins, as well as some unnamed works from the spring season Architecture of Dance. Photos with the story about fall include Glass Pieces, Fearful Symmetries, Serenade, Barber Violin Concerto, and The Four Seasons., so perhaps we can hope they will be on the program (especially Glass Pieces!).

I don't see any of this information on the NYCB web site yet.

The All-Balanchine program scheduled for May 7-9 has been postponed to November 5-7. This was reported in the San Diego News Network April 29:

"The premature end to the season brings back concerns about the financial stability of the Pacific Beach-based company. Though it has dealt with shaky finances in the recent past, all seemed well until the surprise announcement, which came less than two weeks before the scheduled performances.

In a press release, City Ballet attributes the rescheduling to “insufficient funding.” Artistic director Steven Wistrich explained in the document that “we have decided to reschedule ‘Celebrate Balanchine’ in the fall simply because we were not able to secure the funding needed to put the ballets on stage… Tickets were sold for the show, and our dancers were fully prepared and excited to perform these amazing ballets, but ticket sales are not enough and without sufficient donations we could not continue.”"

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-04-29/bl...ine-celebration

The Company's web site: http://www.cityballet.org/index.php

It was announced back in January that NYCB would have a four-week fall season in September and October:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/arts/dan....html?ref=dance

Has anyone seen any announcements about dates, repertory, etc.? Any predictions on when they'll announce that?

. . . It doesn't say explicitly in the article that these the following ballets from this season will be on Program 7, but the article states they'll be part of next season, and they aren't listed anywhere else: "Petrouchka" (Folkine), "Underskin" (Zanella)

Thanks for this schedule. I don't yet see anything on the SF Ballet web site.

In the article, Petrouchka and Underskin are listed for Program 7:

Program 7: Zanella's "Underskin," Wheeldon world premiere, Fokine's "Petrouchka," April 8, 10*, 13, 14, 16* and eve., 19.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...L#ixzz0lk9NEaoV

I think I found it in a book I have: Bernard Taper's Balanchine: A Biography, p. 155. (Times Books, 1984)

caption: "The first known photograph showing Balanchine working with American dancers - June 1934, at White Plains." The women are scattered about, wearing bathing suits, daytime. According to the photo credits on p. 428: "Courtesy, Anatole Chujoy"

If you go to books.google.com, you can bring up text for the 1996 edition of this book and the same text appears on p. 155, but the photo has been removed as "copyrighted image." I tried searching google-images and regular google and nothing is turning up. You might have to head to a library to see if you can get the book. It's possible it's also in some of the other books people have mentioned here.

I don't know if this is the one you're thinking of...

http://danceviewtimes.com/dvny/aloff/spring04/041904.htm

Here's the caption at the bottom of the page:

"Photo; The premiere of Serenade, given June 10, 1934 on an outdoor platform at Felix Warburg's estate near White Plains, New York. This was George Balanchine's first American work and was originally made for students at the newly founded School of American Ballet. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jerome Robbins Dance Division. "

This turned up under Google-Images: serenade balanchine warburg

Thanks for the tip, but Amazon is only a starting point. I always check Barnes and Noble before ordering anything. They have a lot of sales (50% off, 3-for-2, etc.). Shipping costs are as good as Amazon. And if you're a frequent-flyer-miles fanatic, B&N usually has great offers if you go through the airlines' sites (United, Delta, American, etc.):

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/u/DVD-Movi...DVDs/379000696/

On-line ticket sales are supposed to start today, but the form keeps rejecting my order for the matinee June 5. Has anyone else succeeded in ordering today? Is the matinee sold out or is the site malfunctioning?

I haven't received my several subscription tickets yet either. . . .

Same here. Frustrating as the box office is open and I want to swap some of my subscription tickets as soon as they come!

My single tickets, ordered on-line Monday morning, April 5, and post-marked April 5, just arrived in U.S. Mail (Thursday, April 8). I'm surprised that subscription tickets were so slow in arriving. But I do wish they would switch to the on-line ticket printing system used at the Met (and also at San Francisco Ballet, Vail Dance Festival, OCPAC, etc.).

The BAC has just posted an announcement of "Unrelated Solos," performed by Baryshnikov, Neumann, and Paxton, May 19-22, 2010.

http://www.bacnyc.org/index.php/events/per...-UnrelatedSolos

While I understand why people want to see Osipova, I'm confused by the characterization of Ryzhkina and Lobukhin as "fourth-string", as they got a number of positive comments in the Osipova at OCPAC in Feb thread in the Bolshoi Ballet forum.

I used "fourth-string" because Ryshkina was cast only after the cancellations of Alexandrova and Zakharova, leaving only Osipova of the originally announced Kitri's.

Yes, there were positive comments about Ryshkina and some preferred her more restrained approach. Dazzling pyrotechnics were missing in the Saturday evening performance I saw. It was great fun to see Osipova push the envelope on the technical possibilities, but not everyone shares that view.