California

No kidding! I've always been amused that willis and sylphs survived the Soviet regime, but not heaven. But atheistic communism wasn't really a well-worked-out anti-theology. The main goal, I gather, was to crush the influence of organized religion in Russia. When rebellion struck in Poland and later the entire eastern bloc, it was religion that seemed to be one of the major driving forces to demolish communism.

Does anybody know who owns the rights on this? Perhaps she left that to the Balanchine Trust? If so, they could re-release it themselves. There are economical self-publishing options out there, via Amazon and other sites. If anybody is going to the Guggenheim program, please ask the program presenters about that. I looked at Amazon - seems there are four copies available for about $1000, so it's become a collector's item. Sadly, reading the comments, it appears that the NYPL copy was stolen! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006BOKE0/sr=8-1-fkmr0/qid=1501782577/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1501782577&sr=8-1-fkmr0 NEH has a program to digitize humanities books out of print, but this probably wouldn't qualify: https://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/humanities-open-book-program

The historic record is somewhat muddled, but I had understood that Tchaikovsky wrote that music to appease the ballerina in the 1877 Bolshoi version (which flopped), as he heard she didn't like his music and was substituting some of her favorites from other ballets. But she didn't like his substitute either and it was never performed, either by Bolshoi or Mariinsky. It was discovered in a Moscow library in the 1950s, Balanchine heard about it and purchased the rights, then used it for Tchai pas. So it does have the "feel" of Swan Lake, but was never actually used. I don't know that we know a lot about the 1877 version -- perhaps the red and gold was used in that one. But I assume the historical record is slim for a flop.

I love this! Wasn't this Baryshnikov's rationale for putting Odile in white in the ballroom scene -- that Siegfried would not be so stupid as to not recognize the difference between black and white? Of course, thanks to Ratmansky's reconstruction, we now know that the original Odile was in green and black with lots of sparkly things.

I thought the explanation for the Soviet ending was pretty clear in the historic record. The Communists were atheists, so they couldn't tolerate an ending that relied on a religious afterlife where people could find happiness. They needed to force an ending in the here-and-now, where good triumphed over evil in this world, not some fictional afterlife. Given the resurgence of religion after the fall of Communism in the early 90s, it has always surprised me that the Russian companies did not revert to the traditional ending, but perhaps they just got used to the Soviet version.

There is a list-serv for Philadelphia dance that you might want to sign onto: PhiladelphiaDANCE.org LISTSERV POST A MESSAGE...send an email to listserv@philadelphiadance.org LISTSERV USE GUIDELINES: http://tinyurl.com/24a3vmd UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tinyurl.com/29rkwmw VIEW THE ARCHIVES: http://tinyurl.com/233orvr TECHNICAL SUPPORT: http://www.philadelphiadance.org/support/

When I was at the War Memorial Opera House last spring, they had instituted a new policy allowing covered beverages into the theater. Alas, those ancient seats don't have cup-holders, so I found myself holding a cup of coffee during the performance and decided - never again. I love the little ice cream cups at Royal Opera house and they seem to be all the rage with audiences. I was most surprised at all the elegant dining tables tucked into every available lobby area, with people enjoying their food at intermission (oops - intervals) and then seeming to skip the next act so they could finish.

Here's a link to their history (in English). Given that Vaganova herself lived well into the 20th century, the place needed a name before that, viz., Imperial Theatre School. So we could still wonder if "Imperial Ballet School" is the same place. But note that they list Balanchine as a graduate (in 1921), so presumably it was one and the same. http://vaganovaacademy.com/A/History

Here's one source that puts the first Soviet Bolshoi tour of the US at 1959. I don't think anything in the cultural exchanges happened until after Stalin's death in 1953. http://theappendix.net/issues/2014/7/dancers-and-diplomats-new-york-city-ballet-in-moscow-october-1962 I'm not aware of any US tours by the Kirov prior to tours by Bolshoi Ballet. Of course, Ballets Russe in various forms toured decades earlier, but they weren't doing Swan Lake!

No disagreement from me - and also no criticism of any company that looks at the bottom line in various ways so they can survive for another season. I thought the focus of this discussion was Balanchine reverting to Russian classics to bring in revenue and I think the 1951 Swan Lake was his first (for NYCB). That company was only 3 years old at that point and it's pretty clear they were struggling financially.

There is some evidence that Balanchine's 1951 one-act Swan Lake was produced for financial reasons. It would take me awhile to find the source on this, but originally Balanchine was going to omit the four little swans and Kirstein objected, as that's what ticket-buyers want to see, so it stayed in. Note in the contemporary summary that they mention producing this version in hopes they could do something more daring later. To me, that means they needed to survive for a better day and this was one way to help ensure that. https://www.nycballet.com/ballets/s/swan-lake-(balanchine).aspx His Nutcracker was in 1954 and there is quite a bit of historical evidence that he knew he needed a money-maker to bring in revenue to support the rest of the repertoire.

The Vail Festival is showing some performances free on Facebook Live. Right now, it's a free concert in the park by Colorado Ballet. Tuesday night is an all-Star Fancy Free and Serenade, although I'm not sure if they're showing the paid performances on Facebook. Here's the link:

I don't see a better place to post this...we have long-lamented the disappearance of serious published criticism of dance and all the arts. I noticed an interesting plea in the program for Central City Opera this weekend and wonder if other performing arts companies might try something like this: "The current landscape has limited the amount of coverage the local arts community is receiving and we need your help. Please share how much you enjoy Central City Opera by reaching out to the following editors. By hearing from you personally, they will understand the importance of the continued coverage of Central City Opera and other arts organizations throughout Colorado. Thank you." They then list editors and e-mails for the Colorado Spring Gazette, Daily Camera (Boulder), and the Denver Post. Can't hurt!

These reports about Copeland's performances in Orange County and Milan sadden me. She's not the first dancer to struggle with the hops nor the first to wear clunky/noisy shoes (Cojocaru comes to mind, e.g.). But she seems to be the first dancer many have seen who represents the effort to diversify dance in North America and she, most unfortunately, confirms for some their worst stereotypes of "affirmative action," viz., dancers promoted for reasons other than artistic merit. Bolle knows how to sell tickets, but this casting didn't do American ballet supporters any favors in the continuing effort to diversify dance.

New York and Dallas. Do we know the third city?

A factor we'll likely never know for sure: the details of the supposed negotiations for her to make occasional appearances next season. Perhaps she thought she was worth more money or more appearances than McKenzie was willing to offer. Until they both come clean in their memoirs some day, all we will know are rumors and speculation about why she was cut off this year.

Another report, this from The Guardian-US edition: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jul/09/shock-as-bolshoi-cancels-world-premiere-of-nureyev-ballet

Dance Magazine just sent out a Tweet with a link to this article: "Six things you should do if you get fired" http://www.dancemagazine.com/the-six-things-you-should-do-if-you-get-fired-2453750607.html?utm_campaign=RebelMouse&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=Dance%2BMagazine Interesting coincidence!

I heard constant complaints about this when I was in town for Onegin. The problem is funneling everybody through just a few ticket takers. I assume they worry about security, with bag checkers and the bomb-sniffing dog. But there's an easy solution: open the doors an hour before curtain, as the State Theater started doing a few years ago. That would relieve some of the crowd pressure and I'm puzzled they haven't made that change.

Here's a thought: If Part doesn't want to publicly announce her retirement until the last minute, or make a big fuss over it, it might make sense for all the announcements to be made after company class that Saturday -- her retirement + promotions.

When they held a company class on stage for Friends last week, the class was noon-1:15. Let's hope somebody in the company videos the announcement and posts on Instagram, as they did with Abrera and Copeland.

When Abrera and Copeland were announced (on June 30, 2015), Abrera looked genuinely surprised, but Copeland did not. There was video footage circulating widely when the announcements were made at what seemed to be a company class. So I wonder if they are routinely notified beforehand or if Copeland was an exception.

A bit off-topic -- but the Colorado Ballet did Tippet's Bruch this spring. Love that ballet! I was thinking everybody had forgotten about it. Gil Boggs acquired it for Colorado in 2006, the year he took over the company.

Sarasota is performing a world premiere of a new work by Gomes December 1-2, so it makes sense for him to miss the October NYC season with ABT: https://www.sarasotaballet.org/events/2017-2018-season

Very glad I decided to go with the Mariinsky's La Bayadere at the Kennedy Center this October for my fall trip. If I lived in NYC, there are a few interesting things, but nothing so exciting to make a special trip worthwhile. Now I'll look forward to the October announcement of the 2018 Met season!