California

Just announced via e-mail: Shelly Power will be the new Executive Director: http://paballet.org/welcome-shelly-power-named-executive-director-pennsylvania-ballet

Found it on YouTube!

And three different scores, all of which have been choreographed: Berlioz by Bejart: And Tchaikovsky's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pPOZLaJaa8

If you search Amazon for Romeo-Juliet-MacMillan, a 2010 release turns up with Corella-Ferri filmed at La Scala, but it's no longer available. https://www.amazon.com/Prokofiev-Corella-Villanova-Garforth-MacMillan/dp/B01I05NJPY/ref=sr_1_8?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1510408884&sr=1-8&keywords=romeo+juliet+macmillan Also interesting that there are no other companies on DVD, although several companies have recorded Manon and several perform the MacMillan R&J. I still wish La Scala would release a DVD of the reconstructed Swan Lake, but I'm not optimistic.

Really interesting -- I learned a lot! Thanks for posting. PNB does the best educational pre- and post-performance sessions of any company I've visited. SFB and Pennsylvania both do a wealth of pre-performance things and SFB has a traditional ballet history thing for supporters and others. But PNB outshines them all. Having Doug Fullington there seems to be a big factor. I think a session like this helps loyal supporters understand complexities of cost, touring, rep, etc., etc. And if it motivates them to give more, so much the better.

A minor heads-up that might impact a few people: SFB has been promoting November 16 as the date when singles go on sale to the public for the 2018 season. But Friends over a certain level are supposed to be able to buy theirs before the public. I repeatedly rummaged all over their web site in the last month and couldn't find the Friends date, so I sent them an e-mail. The answer? Well, why don't you just buy a subscription right now! Yesterday I logged in and thought I'd do some more searching when I discovered that I could actually buy singles now. (I had logged into the site for earlier rummaging, tried to buy a single, and was told "subscriptions only,") Recommendation to ballet companies: to treat your Friends right when you promise early access to tickets, please at least tell us the date when we'll be able to buy them and not do a bait-and-switch urging that we instead buy a subscription. This is especially important for SFB, which seems to have a huge subscriber base, as there usually aren't a lot of great options for single-ticket buyers.

Visiting Copenhagen for a genuine Bournonville festival is still on my wish list! Ditto PNB's reconstruction of the original Giselle.

Another flash sale - orchestra seats for $59 for the mixed bill Nov 9-12: http://tracking.wordfly.com/view/?sid=Mjk5XzQ3OTVfMTg2MjE5XzcxMDk&l=fe847312-d7c3-e711-8416-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FY18OnEdge(%2440Discount)&utm_content=version_A

I did notice one very slight slip near the beginning, but she recovered instantaneously.

Interesting! I suppose it makes sense if you need to raise more money to raise your prices and provide the same benefits - NOT!

I won't be surprised to see a lot of Ballet Alerters at the KenCen! If you are one of their Friends ($60/year), tickets go on sale next Monday, November 6 at 10 am EST. After 3 Cubas (and, I hope, an open rehearsal), I'm planning to head up to NYC for Hallberg's Bayadere, the SAB Workshop rehearsal, and the NYCB season closer on Sunday (all-Balanchine!). Also, the Teuscher/Ahn/Trenary Bayadere and, of course, the Harlequinade premiere on Monday. A worthwhile trip for out-of-towners.

Not sure this is the right forum... Like many others, I suspect, I just got a membership renewal form in the mail. I remember complaints a couple of years ago that they had raised their Friends prices without noticeably increasing benefits. So it's interesting that they've dropped prices this time around, mainly in the four lowest categories. For Dancers Circle: from $100 to $90; from $240 to $180; from $480 to $360; from $750 to $600. Those are pretty substantial cuts. Perhaps they hope to win some people back.

Dates have been announced for the 2018 Vail Dance Festival: July 28-August 11, 2018 https://vaildance.org/ I'm not finding any information about a new artistic director, so perhaps Damian Woetzel will continue, despite his new gig at Julliard.

Several nice programs across the plaza at NYCB's All Robbins programs the same week as the Osipova/Hallberg Giselle -- Dances at a Gathering, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Glass Pieces, Les Noces, etc. And I'm watching the Bolle Giselle Saturday night - looks like it might turn out to be a retirement performance. A worthwhile visit, even if Osipova/Hallberg doesn't happen. Who knows -- Lane/Simkin would be available to sub after their Wednesday matinee and would be a treat, too.

This can't be good...a flash sale for Pennsylvania Ballet performances November 9-12: buy one-get one free. Ends Sunday http://tracking.wordfly.com/view/?sid=Mjk5XzQ3NjhfMTg2MjE5XzcyMTE&l=d2a3ef53-99bc-e711-8416-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FY18OnEdge%233.5(FlashSalereminder)&utm_content=version_A

After reading that NYTimes article, I'm struck at the absence of imagination in bringing in more subscribers. We've discussed before that ABT's approach to subscriptions (and ticket sales generally) seems to be constrained by the Met's approach to everything. Almost all other ballet companies in the US have creative subscriptions: create-your-own (with the ability to pick out your own seat) + reduced prices for additional tickets are big attractions. ABT's create-your-own is very limited -- you pick the dates, but they pick the seats, and no discount for buying additional seats. I have to assume the Met has looked at these things and rejected them, but they seem to work for everybody else! At a minimum, create-your-own (with ability to pick out your own seat) seems to work for NYCB and it's puzzling that the Met doesn't try this. Summer opera festivals elsewhere are thriving. Santa Fe and Central City (Colorado) sell-out. I'm not an opera buff but tag along with my sister and we always notice the paucity of children, at least compared with ballet performances. I guess there aren't that many 10-year-olds who dream of being opera singers, but there are plenty who dream of being ballerinas!

I just assumed this had something to do with the contracts for support staff at the Met. There are never any operas on Sunday either. And Sunday seems to be the big day for changing sets for the next week's performances, with closed rehearsals on Sunday (at least, judging from the occasional Instagram post). But if you're visiting NYC and trying to cram in as much as possible, this works out well. Sunday mat for NYCB. Monday night for ABT. Wednesday mat for ABT.

Great list - I'd add Symphony in Three Movements.

I was thinking the same thing. In 2017, they had Vishneva's ABT-retirement and Marcello's 20th anniversary. Perhaps somebody was thinking ahead and realized a third "event" with Bolle might make more sense a year later.

Vishneva is still dancing, too, just not at ABT. It might be that he was becoming too expensive for the tickets/prices he sells. I thought it interesting that Ferri is not doing anything this year.

That lone Bolle performance on Saturday night 5/19 is peculiar -- I wonder if they'll announce later that this is his ABT-retirement performance.

I can't find the season schedule posted anywhere on the ABT site (news, performances). Has anyone found that yet?

But with their white-skinned faces, those leggings and arm coverings just look like dark costumes, which is what they are. At least they didn't use black paint on their legs and arms (a la the Golden Idol). I do think racial sensitivity (which I prefer to call it, rather than "political correctness") is important to try for throughout the arts. It's not easy in those 19th century ballets, which reflected Czarist Russia's views about the rest of the world -- heathens and evil-doers, tied to particular religions and regions. But at least we can try.

If you have Amazon Prime, note that the Bolshoi's La Bayadere is free on-line right now (with Zakharova and Alexandrova): https://www.amazon.com/Bayadère-Marius-Grigorovich-Bolshoi-Theatre/dp/B00V40M70G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508811595&sr=8-1&keywords=la+bayadere+bolshoi Especially if you just saw the Mariinsky's, it has a few interesting differences. E.g., Mariinsky ends with the entire ensemble of Shades framing Nikyia and Solor. In the Bolshoi's, Nikyia and the shades all disappear into the wings, Solor wanders around alone, then sees her again as a vision as he did at the beginning of the act. Somewhat more coherent dramatically, although without the destruction of the Temple, it still doesn't resolve everything. Also interesting that the Bolshoi uses black face for the six children with the Golden Idol. That really is such an atrocious remnant of the past, it's shocking to see. I'm glad Mariinsky didn't inflict that on us (although I'm curious if they use it at home in Russia!).

I was puzzled by those gloves and leggings and wondered if they were remnants of a blackface production. Thanks for confirming that. I also thought the make-up on the two students in the water-jug variation was very peculiar. I didn't notice this from the first tier, but was up front in the orchestra on Sunday. They had very dark "tanning" make-up that was a mismatch from their arms. I wondered if this was a half-baked effort at "blackface" of some sort. Better to just skip that, I thought. I don't disagree with the assessments above. I was fortunate to see the last four performances, including two with Tereshkina and Kim, who were fabulous beyond all expectations. Skorik at the Saturday matinee was a disappointment after seeing Tereshkina. And I wonder how ABT's La Bayadere will look next spring at the Met! For this ballet, the view from the first tier of the corps is quite extraordinary -- the straight lines and formations, the perfect symmetry in position from head to toe (and, yes, the occasional wobble in the arabesques). The scrim with opium "smoke" works better up high, too. I love how the corps makes several deliberate moves and poses during the bows. No one mentioned the caliber of the male corps members, especially in the Act II drum sequences. Powerful techniques from all. I also wondered if the Mariinsky stage is bigger than the Kennedy Center's. It seemed that many principals and soloists were super-careful in their various menage because they were used to more space. Some ended on the dark stage in front of the Mylar floor. Another historical tidbit: the program states that this version premiered in January 1941. The Nazi seige of Leningrad started in September of that year and the company and school were evacuated to Perm for the remainder of the war. I wonder how much of the Nazi threat was known in January. The show must go on!