California

I'm not all that crazy about the fall schedule either, but that first weekend actually looks pretty good for out-of-towners: Bukovi (which I'd like to see, given that I'm trying to keep up with Ratmansky), In the Upper Room (which I adore and haven't seen since the City Center season in 2012), Symphonie Concertante (haven't seen since the revival in 1983), and Other Dances (hoping for Lane/Cornejo, but Murphy/Stearns would be interesting, too). The Lang premiere might work out, too, I suppose, although I'm not holding my breathe. Given the paucity of male principals for this season, maybe there will be some interesting soloists or even corps members who get a chance to shine. All is not lost! EDITED TO ADD: I agree with others that Fancy Free is so overdone it really needs a rest. Regional companies all over the country do this (a good thing), so it's not like it's difficult to see. I'm avoiding that one!

I stumbled across something interesting in a 1967 tape of Baryshnikov and Eleonora Kuvatova in Don Quixote: She doesn't do the 32 fouettes, but instead does a series of -- wait for it -- chaîné turns alternating with pique turns. (It starts at 4:34) The other ladies in these clips all do the fouettes. So I suppose Copeland can claim some precedent for this alternative approach..

Just for the record, Colorado Ballet performed Pillar of Fire this spring. It was staged by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner, repetiteurs for the Tudor Trust and former principal dancers at ABT. They received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to stage it. They also staged Tudor's Echoing of Trumpets several years ago for CB. Here's a clip of an interview with them:

One thing that annoys me about programs at La Scala (and the Royal ballet): they don't list names of corps members, just "Artists of the X Ballet." So the only way to know is to count from those video clips!

Thank you! For several lengthy video clips, see: https://petipasociety.com/swan-lake-ratmansky-reconstruction/ Act I, Scene 1 is actually interesting (for a change). I can see why contemporary companies want to get rid of those little stools, but there's so much interesting choreography for the ensemble. I was fascinated with the use of eight child-swans in Act I, Scene 2, something I've never seen. The footage on this site also shows the white swan "pas de trois" with Benno. They omitted the use of the hunters mingling in formations with the swans, unfortunately.

It looks like they have 47 dancers on contract + a big school. Regional companies all over the country do just fine with less than that. As long as they have strong principals to carry the leads, they should not have any problems pulling this off.

Fascinating! Thank you. I wonder when the "pancake" tutu came into vogue. I've found it interesting that some of Balanchine's ballets use knee-length tutus -- e.g., Diamonds. That's what he would have seen in St. Petersburg before he left.

I'm wondering if the set was altered on the transfer from Zurich to La Scala. I'm actually looking at a picture I took during a tour of the adjacent museum when they let us see inside the theater while stage hands were preparing for the evening performance. The wall has a variegated color pattern matching the pillars on either side of the stage (sort of a marble look), and there are three large green shrubs/vines with white flowers on them, the full height of the wall, one on the left of the gate, two on the right. Three low steps across the width of the wall. It seemed to me this was a courtyard of the sort you'd see in a castle complex and it differentiated the royal venue from the surrounding area where they would go hunting. They did not have an exhibit showing evidence of the costumes in the original compared to what we saw in the reconstruction, but that would be appreciated.

But those costumes were significant -- to the extent they're accurate recreations and I think they tried. In the original, e.g., it was called "Grand Pas de Deux," not "Black Swan" and by golly her tutu wasn't black, but a strange mix of purple and green with a little black. (Which makes me wonder when it evolved into "black swan" - dance historians?) It was also interesting to see all those knee-length tutus, which seemed much more danceable than some of the heavy-seeming things in the Sleeping Beauty reconstruction. Not sure what the problem is with the "big wall" in the beginning - a solid fence about human height with an iron gate in the middle. I thought it was a nice set for an outdoor birthday party, inside palace grounds, with a lake in the distance with a swan.

Don't buy anything just yet! A few years ago, I noticed a lone Les Noces on the schedule and thought that was odd, given such an elaborate production. It was apparently a mistake, as it was replaced weeks later with something else.

I don't know how long ago SAB started their tuition-free program for boys, but I wonder if that has something to do with NYCB's apparently greater success at identifying and nurturing promising male dancers: "Boys Program: Tuition is free for all boys enrolled for the Winter Term in the Prep and Children’s Divisions (ages 6 to approximately 13). Boys Program participants pay only a $75 registration fee for 10 months of training." http://www.sab.org/school/diversity__inclusion/financial_aid.php Does the JKO school have anything like this?

The 1977 film The Turning Point will be shown on HBO-Signature HD-East on Monday, June 25 at 6:05 EDT. It looks like that is the only showing.

Wow - that's one I wish I could see, especially since she'll be partnered by Cornejo!

Just one suggestion: the first row in the first tier has a horrible bar in front of you interfering with sight lines. The second row is steeply raked and is much better.

Me, too, and I saw it four times in Milan lat year. Also hoping they record and release on DVD. Any more info on dates, theater?

I have some vague memories of seeing this at the Kennedy Center in 1983. I remember that a major criticism at the time was that it was too robotic or flat, which was blamed on the use of notation to reconstruct it, without bringing in people who had performed the original to add style. Still, it was heralded as a major revival of an otherwise "lost" work. Alas, none of the original performers from 1947 are alive today to remember anything about style, although I think they were in 1983.

Some time back, someone here said that it appeared from the casting they had given up on Hammoudi. He's another one I avoid. He just hasn't worked out as a must-see principal.

Ah, but somebody will have to give us a report on the Act III fouettes. I'm guessing she'll have a substitute ready for those, too.

When I saw Manon on the ENB schedule, my first thought was that they would be able to take advantage of Aaron Robison, who did this ballet in 2015 with Houston Ballet. I wish I could see him do it with ENB. Here's a rehearsal clip: https://www.instagram.com/p/6tB82IlJPB/embed/?v=4

Thanks for all these reports on Swan Lake. I wish I could have seen Shevchenko and also Simkin and Cornejo. But otherwise, I'm very glad I decided to skip it this year. How is the house selling? Isn't this the first SL for Copeland since that disastrous tape surfaced with her claim that it was just a "bad night"? I'm guessing she was afraid of adding to the collection of evidence with another bad performance.

Good grief - at a time when the dance world claims to be trying so hard to diversify in dancers and choreographers (at least the female ones), why would they go with Wheeldon?

Wow! I will be there, too. Very smart of Miami!

I saw their "Lest We Forget" (3 commissioned ballets to commemorate the start of WWI) in 2014 in London and I'm thrilled that I will be able to see it again this September. Their director, Tamara Rojo, who is still dancing, is spectacular. They also have some principals I'd want to see anywhere -- Aaron Robison, Alina Cojacuro. Still, I have the same impression as fondoffouettes that they don't have the broad range of rep. They are bringing their Giselle to Chicago next winter and wish they'd arrange some other stops in North America, but I haven't seen any announcements.

According to an e-mail just sent out by English National Ballet, Jeffrey Cirio is joining as Lead Principal. No indication of whether he will continue an affiliation with ABT. "Joining the Company Following his recent guest performances with the Company in Song of the Earth, La Sylphide, and Akram Khan’s Giselle, Jeffrey Cirio, currently Principal at American Ballet Theater, joins English National Ballet as Lead Principal."

It's on Netflix now. It's the Macauley Caulkins movie.