California

Demotions were discussed on this site back in 2015: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/40888-demotion-in-ballet/ The one big example of demotion within the same company was Leslie Browne, demoted from principal to soloist at ABT.

Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/arts/dance/pennsylvania-ballet-angel-corella-hires-17-new-dancers.html?_r=0

Daniil Simkin announces a live stream from a Gala in Havana on August 20, 4 pm EST https://www.instagram.com/p/BIpnf-vBBXw/?taken-by=daniil Looks like you need to buy a ticket for $14.95 for the live stream: http://www.improvedance.com/balletroyalty/

This has also been reported in the Dance Journal: http://philadelphiadance.org/blog/2016/08/03/pennsylvania-ballet-extends-artistic-directors-contract-welcomes-17-new-dancers-and-promotes-seven-dancers/ He has completed one season and perhaps he has a lot of bargaining power just now.

In the US, the minimum wage for most people was also $2.00/hr in 1974. But I blame the rise in the number of hours needed to buy a ticket on the serious decline in government support for the arts in the US and the shameful failure to raise the minimum wage consistently with inflation. And in the late 70s, ABT could count on selling out every house, even before casting was announced (at least at the Kennedy Center), because people were so desperate to see Baryshnikov. Here's a chart showing the minimum wage in the US: https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm

This is a wonderful regional company, with a lot of energy, interesting rep, and a terrific artistic staff. Kristi Capps and Dmitry Trubchanov (who also happen to be married) were in Denver until last year. Dmitry was trained at the Vaganova school. We miss them both! https://www.kcballet.org/company/artisticstaff/

If you were planning to get a ticket to Letter to a Man (Robert Wilson-Mikhail Baryshnikov), don't wait. Singles went on sale at 10 am EDT this morning and there are only a few scattered tickets left. Looks like subscribers and members grabbed most of them. Here's the link: http://www.bam.org/theater/2016/letter-to-a-man (I couldn't find this topic elsewhere on the site. Please move if something already exists.)

Who is the woman dancing with him?

I visited the exhibit today and would recommend it highly. It's in Denver until October 2 and then moves on to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas October 22, 2016-January 16, 2017. It has already visited the Detroit Institute of Art. http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.com/2016/02/rhythm-and-roots-dance-in-american-art.html "The exhibition will feature about 90 paintings, photographs, sculptures and costumes relating to American dance from 1830 to 1960." I was delighted to see that this is supplemented with brief video clips of historic dancers -- Pavlova in Dying Swan, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson demonstrating his step tap dance long ago, rare footage of Isadora Duncan, etc. They also have a lengthy color film showing of Lil Buck doing his Dying Swan with Yo-Yo Ma as the accompaniment. The costume displays included some designed by Warhol for Merce Cunningham and Pavlova's Dying Swan tutu. One section shows the interplay of the arts at the Ballet Russe. Here's a sampling of the images from the DAM web site: http://denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/rhythm-and-roots All in all, a very nice interdisciplinary display bringing together visual art and dance. It's a shame it won't be touring after next year.

I have not seen published reports about the explanation for Aaron Robison's departure from Houston (as a first soloist) to join San Francisco Ballet as a principal - but I'm delighted (much easier for me to visit SF...) He caught my eye in an Instagram video clip last summer in rehearsals for Houston's Manon (and gives me hope that SFB might do Manon in the coming years...): https://www.instagram.com/p/6tB82IlJPB/embed/?v=4

The box office just opened. You need to go to the Koch site and use that account. Same one you use for NYCB. Plenty of seats to choose from and you do get to pick your own seat. https://davidhkochtheater.com/ http://davidhkochtheater.com/Season-Tickets/16-17-Season/American-Ballet-Theatre.aspx Pricey -- prime orchestra and first ring are $160. Ouch! But it looks like there are a lot of seats to choose from. Frustrating that there's no hint of casting on the ABT site, but I suppose they think you're buying the ensemble for this kind of rep.

Does Cornejo have performing agreements with other companies? That one is puzzling.

Just posted: http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=556 "Principal Dancers for the 2016 Fall Season include Stella Abrera, Isabella Boylston, Jeffrey Cirio, Misty Copeland, Marcelo Gomes, Alban Lendorf, Gillian Murphy, Veronika Part, Hee Seo, Daniil Simkin, Cory Stearns and James Whiteside."

The schedule has now appeared on the ABT site. No casting, but tickets go on sale July 25: http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx?startdate=10/1/2016

For those of you who love Symphony #9 as much as I do, ABT just posted a lengthy Instagram of today's rehearsals: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHf8AEug_Ce/?taken-by=abtofficial

Good news for those of us hoping that PNB gets it!

Thank you! Gorgeous! I can't wait to find out which American company will produce this. I'm still hoping for PNB. Among other things, that company offers a rich array of complementary events -- pre- and post-conversations for the audience with every performance, dress rehearsals, interviews with the choreographer. And they offer these over the long opening weekend, so it's worth a trip for out-of-towners. And this is a reminder of how threadbare ABT's final act is. The only advantage ABT has: giving Marcelo an opportunity to show off his glorious swan dive into the lake.

The Colorado Ballet posted its 2016-17 roster today: http://www.coloradoballet.org/company/dancers Principals: No change (same seven as last year) Soloists: Two new promotions from the corps: Morgan Buchanan and Kevin Gael Thomas + three continuing (Dyer, Estevez, Sasaki) Corps: No new additions; two from last year's corps are now listed in a new category of Apprentices (Dessens and Padgett) Apprentices: This is a new category. Along with Dessens and Padgett, two members of last year's studio company are included (Kucera and Rhoads). The fifth is Fernanda Oliveira; although her bio says this is her second year with the company, she wasn't listed last year in either the studio company or corps, so I'm not sure about this one. Studio company: This will be announced in August 2016

I was curious about this and did some searching on YouTube. If you search: Sleeping Beauty ballet fishdive, you can find plenty of great-looking one-armed fishdives (e.g., Bolle-Vishneva). But I didn't realize that it seems to be common among the Russians to start with a two-handed supported pirouette and then a deep backbend - no fishdive. That passage starts about 2-3 in the various clips. I'm wondering if that's the alternate version that apparently Lane-Cornejo do. Here's Baryshnikov-Makarova: Zakharova-Hallberg:

Thanks for this context. It's hard to think of another American company that has the size and wealth to stage the Ratmansky Swan Lake -- Miami? Joffrey? Boston? Houston? Guess we'll have to wait for the official press announcement from the chosen company!

I don't think Macauley would mention this unless he knew something - but that company surely would want to be able to make the official announcement itself. PNB's current Swan Lake dates to a 1981 production by the previous directors: https://www.pnb.org/repertorylist/swan-lake/ Doug Fullington of PNB worked with Ratmansky on the La Scala reconstruction. (This was mentioned in reviews, not rumors.) And Fullington has been in NYC this summer as a fellow of the NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts, giving him more opportunities to consult with Ratmansky? https://balletcenter.nyu.edu/cba/summer-2016-fellows/ SFB's Swan Lake premiered in 2009 and is by their current director, Helgi Tomasson. It was presented in 2016 and is scheduled again for 2017. The timing doesn't seem right to abandon that for a new version. https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/production/overview/program-6-2017 That history gives us reason to think PNB is at least a strong contender for the Ratmansky reconstruction. I hope it's for their 2017-18 season - I'll be there, for sure!

Yet, sometimes taking a chance pays off. The Colorado Ballet (to their credit) gave a young Chris Wheeldon a chance in 1997 to create his first full-length ballet, A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was a great success and it has been shown several times over the decades, most recently in 2014. As I posted at the time, you could see the early glimmerings of a Broadway musical in his production. http://coloradoballet.org/_blog/balletblog/post/about-the-choreographer-of-midsummer/

Gorak will be her Romeo at the Wolf Trap performance. Have they done this anywhere else? Simkin won't even appear as Mercutio, undeniably a superb role for him.

If you are visiting Colorado this summer (perhaps for the Vail Festival?), take a look at the exhibit "Rhythm & Roots: Dance in American Art" at the Denver Art Museum July 10-October 2. http://denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/rhythm-and-roots The exhibit on "Why we Dance: American Indian Art in Motion" continues through August 15. Another exhibit shows posters created for various dance performances: July 10-January 8 The Museum also has several interactive activities in dance to complement these exhibits. http://denverartmuseum.org/dance DAM has reciprocity with major art museums all over the country for free admission to members.

Indeed! Although that move was not particularly strong with Cornejo or Hammoudi either this week. Marcelo can pull it off. And if you're in the mood to look at old recordings, see what Baryshnikov does with it in The Turning Point, which thoughtfully included much of the balcony PdD.