California

The 2017-18 season was just posted: http://national.ballet.ca/Tickets/Next-Season?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017/18SeasonAnnouncement&utm_content=version_A&cluid=761651&sourceNumber=20653

More details just made it onto their web site: https://www.pnb.org/season/17-18/

Others have said it before me, but it's so true: Symphony in C is bread and water for ballet lovers -- never ceases to amaze and recharge. One thing I noticed about that 1973 recording: the men in plain black costumes against the very dark background. Even today, the men are in all black with some sparklies on the bodice. They almost fade into the background, reinforcing the feel of male dancers as merely "porteurs" in the old sense, even though they do have some nice bits in this choreography. Balanchine's ideal of "ballet is woman" is much in evidence here. And if people haven't yet read it, Nancy Goldner's analysis of this ballet in More Balanchine Variations will show you things you hadn't noticed before. E.g., in the fourth movement, the corps encircling the principals and soloists has some amazing moves - like a simple yet complex series of tendus in different positions.

Single tickets go on sale Sunday, March 26, according to ABT's Facebook posting. I haven't seen that announced anywhere else. https://www.facebook.com/AmericanBalletTheatre/

No, this choreography is by Derek Deane: http://www.broadwayworld.com/denver/article/Colorado-Ballet-Announces-2017-18-Season-20170206 This version was produced by ENB: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10895112/Romeo-and-Juliet-Royal-Albert-Hall-review-terrific-evening.html Yosvani Ramos, a new principal at Colorado, apparently performed Romeo with ENB, judging from his Instagram. ENB's was in the round. Colorado's version was at the Opera House. What I remember (and it's been quite a few years) was a very effective minimalist set that worked just fine for me. Perhaps Jones made the transition to a traditional stage. Here's Yosvani's Instagram - he did this with ENB in 2005:

Several years ago (fall 2010?) I saw PNB do two Kylian ballets back-to-back -- Petite Mort with Six Dances. I thought it was brilliant - both to Mozart, overlapping feel. I see many companies (including Colorado Ballet later this month) doing Petite Mort alone, but not with Six Dances. I don't know why - perhaps too expensive or too long. It's 17 + 13 minutes, so that might be the issue. But I'd love to see the pair again. Here's video of Six Dances: http://www.numeridanse.tv/en/video/1044_six-dances PS: PNB also does a fine Glass Pieces, which I think was on the same program. Can't get enough of that one!

The March performances of the Tharp and Tudor are at University of Denver's Newman Center - Gates Hall, seating 977. It's a lovely theater, but no orchestra pit! So they use recorded music and sometimes a small ensemble on the stage. http://www.du.edu/ahss/lamont/newman-center.html (All other performances are at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, with a full orchestra. http://www.artscomplex.com/venues/elliecaulkinsoperahouse/tabid/74/default.aspx)

Colorado Ballet just announced their 2017-18 season. The press release is here: http://coloradoballet.org/about-news/colorado-ballet-announces-2017-2018-season?platform=hootsuite The most interesting thing for serious balletomanes is Tudor's Pillars of Fire next March, funded by a grant from NEA. In the past, Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner have staged Tudor ballets for this company, so I hope they do again. As the press release notes, the only other American company to perform this work is ABT. I saw their Romeo and Juliet when they did it about six years ago and it's a lovely production, with the Prokofiev score. I haven't seen Dracula, but they did several performances over Halloween weekend a few years ago and I understand it was a big hit, sold out. If Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet can do Frankenstein, I guess Dracula isn't so far-removed. Dracula October 6 - 15, 2017* Ellie Caulkins Opera House Colorado Ballet opens the season with crowd-favorite Dracula with choreography by Michael Pink and music by Philip Feeney, performed live by the Colorado Ballet Orchestra. Count Dracula, the King of the Undead torments the living in Transylvania and London during his quest to steal his beloved Mina from her husband Jonathan Harker. Based on Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror, Dracula features seductive vampires, frightening mental patients and the king of the undead himself, Count Dracula. Performance Dates Friday, October 6, 2017 – 7:30pm Saturday, October 7, 2017 – 2pm Saturday, October 7, 2017 – 7:30pm Sunday, October 8, 2017 – 2pm Thursday, October 12, 2017 - 7:30pm Friday, October 13, 2017 – 7:30pm Saturday, October 14, 2017 – 7:30pm Sunday, October 15, 2017 – 2pm Domenico Luciano and Viacheslav Buchkovskiy by Mike Watson The Nutcracker November 25 - December 24, 2017* Ellie Caulkins Opera House The 57th annual production of The Nutcracker features timeless choreography paired with Tchaikovsky’s extraordinary arrangement performed live by the Colorado Ballet Orchestra. In addition to being the largest production of The Nutcracker in the state, Colorado Ballet’s 2016 production was named the best-loved Nutcracker in the U.S. in the 10th Annual Goldstar National Nutcracker Award contest. Morgan Buchanan by Mike Watson Performance Dates Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017 – 1pm Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017 – 6:30pm Sunday, Dec. 26, 2017 – 1pm Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 – 1pm Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017 – 1pm Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017 – 6:30pm Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 – 7:30pm Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 – 7:30pm Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017 – 1pm Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017 – 6:30pm Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017 – 1pm Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017 – 6:30pm Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017 – 7:30pm Friday, Dec. 15, 2017 – 7:30pm Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017 – 1pm Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017 – 6:30pm Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017 – 1pm Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017 – 6:30pm Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017 – 6:30pm Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017 – 6:30pm Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017 – 6:30pm Friday, Dec. 22, 2017 – 1pm Friday, Dec. 22, 2017 – 6:30pm Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017 – 1pm Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017 – 6:30pm Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017 – 1pm Romeo and Juliet February 16 - 25, 2018* Ellie Caulkins Opera House In the spring, Colorado Ballet will present the Shakespearean love story Romeo and Juliet. Star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet fall in love despite their families’ longstanding feud in Shakespeare’s most famous romantic tragedy.The ballet features choreography by Derek Deane and music by Sergei Prokofiev, performed by the Colorado Ballet Orchestra. Prokofiev’s music serves as a melodic substitute for Shakespeare's poetry and Jones' staging of the ballet focuses on the characters’ relationships. Performance Dates Friday, Feb. 16, 2018 – 7:30pm Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 – 2pm Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 – 7:30pm Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018 – 2pm Friday, Feb. 23, 2018 – 7:30pm Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 – 2pm Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 – 7:30pm Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018 – 2pm Sharon Wehner Ballet Director's Choice March 30 - April 1, 2018* June Swaner Concert Hall at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts Colorado Ballet will close out its season with a collection of ballets. Ballet Director’s Choice includes Pillar of Fire by choreographer Antony Tudor and music by Arnold Schoenberg, a Brief Fling by choreographer Twyla Tharp with music by Michel Colombier and Percy Grainger, and a third work to be announced. Performance Dates Friday, Mar. 30, 2018 – 7:30pm Saturday, Mar. 31, 2018 – 2pm Saturday, Mar. 31, 2018 – 7:30pm Sunday, Apr. 1, 2018 – 2pm Artists of Colorado Ballet by Sue Daniels Photography

I made a quick trip to San Francisco to see Programs 1 and 2 this weekend. A few general observations: As I've noted before, I love that this company schedules overlapping programs so out-of-towners can see a lot in a few days. And I was stunned that both programs were sold out (or nearly so). Is there any other city in the US that could sell two mixed bills of contemporary work for an opera house seating 3126? In February, on week nights? This is one very loyal fan/subscriber base, for sure. I was mainly interested in seeing Justin Peck's In the Countenance of Kings, which premiered last season and was reportedly a big hit. I loved it (and the Sufjan Stevens score). It's very much in the style of his several earlier pieces for NYCB - amazingly imaginative movement of groups in shapes, patterns, like moving sculptures. Individual movement ideas that always seem fresh, surprising, innovative, never gimmicky. I wondered how many in this audience had seen several other pieces by Peck, and this company might want to acquire another one in the coming years. I didn't get the story, but that didn't matter. Bubenicek's new piece, Fragile Vessels, was a puzzle. Set to Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, the music overwhelmed the movement, especially for anyone well-versed in classical music. It was almost like he loved the music and just cooked up some ideas to fill it. The choreography on its own was imaginative and mostly interesting, with a lot of complicated partnering for the ensemble, but it felt forced to fit the music. E.g., the second movement of the music is poignant, so how about a woman torn between two lovers. Well, okay. The music was part of the problem with Tomasson's Haffner Symphony. This is such a familiar and much-loved Mozart symphony that the choreography just seems to skate over it. Others have observed that Tomasson is not a choreographic genius. This was workmanlike to me, a frothy program opener that relies mainly on an obvious classical vocabulary and hitting the beat. But sometimes I would catch glimpses of distinctive Balanchine ideas; e.g., the principal woman supported by two women hinted of T&V. Nice to see Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas, with the pianist on stage for the Scarlatti. The balance between music and movement is so perfect here, it heightened the disconnected feel of other pieces on the program. Possokhov's Optimistic Tragedy was strange, although it did provide a lot of opportunities for the male corps to show off, which isn't all bad. Aaron Robison and Yuan Yuan Tan (the only female in the work) had some truly bizarre partnering - contortionist, gimmicky, risky. Both were strong enough to make it work, but it was painful to watch. I was fascinated with the projections of black-and-white photographs and other images of ships at sea across the back. This seems to be a trend -- Baryshnikov's Letter to a Man used photo projections of soldiers dying outside Nijinsky's window during the war. Wheeldon's American in Paris used photo projections of Paris. The Ballade of Baby Doe (an opera shown at Central City last year, but reportedly produced around the country) uses historic photo projections of 19th century Colorado. Much cheaper than building traditional sets and a nice bit of stagecraft in all of them. I don't know when this took hold but I expect we'll see more of it. And finally, Pas/Parts 2016. Yuk. At a pre-performance interview with a soloist, we learned that Forsythe almost completely re-choreographed this from the original version for Paris. This dancer raved that he was brilliant at identifying each dancer's strengths and making the most of them. But I found that sound track of special effect noises, at high volume, truly unbearable and I skipped a second performance. Someone here noted that he seems to randomly juxtapose movement and sound. Cunningham, of course, explored this territory extensively. But I did occasionally glimpse a movement pattern or beat that sort of matched the noise pattern. But others will have to explore this one in the future - I simply could not bear to sit through that cacophony of intolerable noise ever again.

I can't find the schedule for next year on their Web site. Is it posted somewhere?

I'm very glad to see a respected critic suggest that Copeland find a substitute for the fouettes and cite Plesitskaya as a model. This isn't a new problem, for sure.

It's always sad to see professional dancers lose their jobs (no matter the reason), but many of the regional companies in the US do a lot with 26 dancers. They sometimes fill out crowds and corps with advanced students from area schools, but that's fine. Still, this is ominous - France has a robust Ministry of Culture (or used to...) and it's unfortunate they couldn't help out.

http://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-4 the live stream...

It sounds like they had a few unclaimed house seats that they released at the last minute. Always worth checking!

The schedule for 2017 is available on the Festival's web site: http://www.vvf.org/arts/vail-international-dance-festival The New York Times has a story today, noting the emphasis on female choreographers: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/arts/dance/-vail-dance-festival-women-2017.html Tickets for the general public go on sale February 28.

Yes, nicely done. Thanks for posting. With a straight-up lift and no switch in direction by the woman, it seems not so horrendously difficult as the other versions. We saw these recently in the live-stream from Munich. I don't know that many of us are familiar with this piece. This performance looks to be the gold standard.

Gillian just posted on Instagram that she has a calf injury:

I'm surprised that Aaron Robison isn't listed for either program. I'm looking forward to seeing him with this company. Any (published) reports on what he's rehearsing?

The most effective thing you can do is write to your senators and your representative and tell them why NEA (and NEH) matter to you and your community. Signing petitions makes people feel good, but is not too effective at this point. We're also learning, though, that direct phone calls on issues in the news that day are having an impact (cf. the proposed abolition of the ethics office). And do remember that NEH funds many arts-related projects in the history, theory, criticism, and philosophy of the arts. E.g., planning money for the International Encyclopedia of Dance came from NEH, not NEA. NEH also funded the reconstruction of Hitler's Degenerate Art show in the early 90s, as well as the PBS documentary about this.

He is friends with Andrea Bocelli, according to the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/arts/andrea-bocelli-wont-be-singing-at-the-trump-inauguration.html?_r=0 But we don't know what he actually listened to -- classical opera or Bocelli's pop things? Americans for the Arts has a good briefing report. See especially pp. 2-3. The story about his destruction of Art Deco reliefs on the old Bonwit Teller building has been widely reported. The report has (at least) one factual error. He did not "purchase" the Old Post Office; he is leasing it from the federal government. And the decision to move the Endowments was made before that. http://afa.3cdn.net/2fcccc8e4901fbfa61_xnm6iyphs.pdf

I don't disagree with MadameP, but I'm so pleased that a company would share their gala with the world on-line, it's hard to complain. I wondered if they were mainly working on the technique in all these pieces, but hadn't progressed to mastering the distinct style of each. E.g., one that struck me in this regard was Raymonda. Their movements were too pretty, too classical -- I didn't pick up the accented Slavic feel one does when NYCB or Mariinsky does their version of this. But I was still happy to see it. Can you imagine any major American companies sharing their galas with the world on-line? Dream on!

We saw the famous torchlift twice -- in Spartacus, where he actually turned several times while holding her overhead. The big surprise was that it appeared at the very beginning and very end of Ashton's Voices of Spring (to Strauss). I don't recall anyone other than the Russians choreographing that move and I wonder where he got the idea. Shklyarov had an interesting moment: at the end of one turning variation, he wobbled a little, ended on one knee -- but he was facing the back of the stage, arms outstretched to nothing. He immediately went into a very deep backbend so the audience could see his face. Nice save, I thought! Then, at the end of his next variation, he ended in the same position, facing the audience - and again did that deep backbend, perhaps to camouflage the first goof? Or is that the way he always does that? I thought the ladies were smart not to go overboard in embellishing the fouettes. In Corsair, just clean singles, which was fine. In Don Q, a few slight touches, like holding her fan to her waist a few times, but nothing extravagant. Kaysta: I saw the complete Spartacus once when the Bolshoi was in New York a couple of years ago. Never again! What a tasteless, over-the-top monstrosity. From the intermission notes, it sounds like the company is preparing to do the whole thing themselves. But it was a strange selection for this gala -- not much of the fireworks you see in the whole thing. Angelica: Yes, Gounea was spectacular. Love to see more of him. Overall, it was fun to see these warhorse gala excerpts by dancers we don't see here in the US.

Thank you. Excellent video quality coming through in Denver!

I have three other Manon DVDs (2 of Royal, 1 of Australian), but this is my favorite. Along with exceptional performances, especially Dupont and Bolle, the DVD has some nice production values. The camera is almost always looking where I would want to look -- close-ups, full-body, full-stage. The opening has you "driving" up the street to the theater and walking through the magnificent lobby and down to the orchestra seats. At the beginning of each scene, there is a brief introduction of major characters in costume, with identifications, a nice help to people not familiar with the ballet.

Another thing to watch: how many great artists and scholars will want to go to the White House to accept the National Medal of the Arts and the National Humanities Medal next year? Here are a couple of stories on the 2016 presentations: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2015-recipients-of-the-national-medal-of-arts-and-national-humanities-medal/2016/09/22/2dbd4a70-80d3-11e6-8327-f141a7beb626_story.html?utm_term=.11afcf921a18 http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/22/495011305/at-white-house-a-golden-moment-for-americas-great-artists-and-patrons