Stecyk

She is beautiful, isn't she? We're lucky to have her performing for us.

Regarding Jaciel Gomez, the program states: We're fortunate to have our Cuban born dancers.

cubanmiamiboy, thank you for your reply and your enclosed YouTube of Gutierrez. Alberta Ballet is lucky to have her. The whole ballet company seemed to enjoy performing. Don Quixote was one of Alberta Ballet's stronger performances. Unfortunately, our ballet company lacks sufficient resources for live music. Given how well everything was presented--including a live horse--the lack of live music was notable by its abscence. For those that might be attending in Edmonton this coming week, the two dancers for Kitri are Hayna Guitierrez and Nicole Caron and the two dancers for Lorenzo are Jaciel Gomez and Garrett Groat. Guitierrez danced all three evening performances and Caron danced the one matinee. Gomez danced one evening and one matinee; Groat, two evenings.

Calgary Herald: Review: Alberta Ballet dazzles with Don Quixote (see excerpt below) As a layperson not versed in dance, I enjoyed Thursday's performance. I particularly enjoyed Hayna Gutierrez as Kitri and Jaciel Gomez as Lorenzo. And, I thought the costumes were gorgeous and the lighting was very good.

Yedlin: Arts organizations pay the price for flawed federal rules (see excerpt below from Calgary Herald) And here is a link to a podcast "Alberta Ballet and temporary foreign workers" from Calgary CBC Eyeopener. For all arts organizations, these federal laws for temporary foreign workers are not helpful. If you have a moment, please consider contacting your member of parliament.

At the Scotiabank Theatre Chinook in Calgary where I usually view ballet theater performances, the Bolshoi performances were usually better attended than the Royal Opera House performances. Assuming volancohunter's count is correct with a reduction from 65 to 24 theaters, it's likely that fewer people in Canada will see ROH performances. For example, I am unlikely to make a transition to a different theater. Depending on the contractual terms, ROH might earn less than it did before. Of course, without knowing the actual terms and the number of viewers, it's all just speculation. I plan to write a quick email to Cineplex stating that I hope that it and ROH are able to come to terms next year. It's an unfortunate situation.

I am not sure if this is correct location for the following Washington Post link Bolshoi Ballet’s Sergei Filin, nearly blind but unbowed: ‘The dancing, I see perfectly’. If this location is incorrect, please forgive me and move it to its proper location.

For those interested, BBC Hardtalk has a 23 minute interview with Tamara Rojo. According to the website, there remains, "7 days left to listen," and today is March 26, 2014.

For Alberta Ballet patrons, here's an Edmonton Journal article that might be of interest: Dance preview: Alberta Ballet’s production of Giselle a premiere for the company.

Yes, there are many great photos. Below, I have selected a few of those that I like. Beatriz Stix-Brunell in Ballo della regina Carlos Acosta and Natalia Osipova in Romeo and Juliet Yuhui Choe as The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker Carlos Acosta as Basilio and Marianela Nuñez as Kitri in Don Quixote Melissa Hamilton in Sensorium Marianela Núñez and Artists of The Royal Ballet in Serenade Sarah Lamb and Federico Bonelli in DGV Eric Underwood and Zenaida Yanowsky in DGV This list is by no means exhaustive. Rather, I just wanted to demonstrate that there are other worthwhile photos in the Flickr account.

I searched this site for "Flickr" and didn't see any posts. So I thought you might appreciate knowing about Royal Opera House Covent Garden's Flickr account. For example, here's a post from today, showing a picture of Carlos Acosta in Romeo and Juliet.

Figures in Flight - A documentary about dance in prison Above link takes you to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio Program site called the Sunday Edition. Once you go to the CBC website, you can hit a link to listen to the documentary.

Here's yet another sad tale. Justine Sacco, the communications director for InterActiveCorp, is alleged to have made some rather unfortunate comments on Twitter that resulted in her termination of employment. For those interested, you can read the New York Times article A Twitter Message About AIDS, Followed by a Firing and an Apology. If the article is unavailable, you can find lots of other stories by Googling her name.

Bloomberg Video Interview with Kevin O'Hare The Guardian references this interview in the following article Royal Ballet plans reality TV-style live broadcast for 2014]. Please note that the Bloomberg link in the Guardian ariticle is incorrect; however, I have provided the correct link at the very top of this post.

Alberta Ballet postpones new work with Joni Mitchell Source: Calgary Herald

http://www.ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/2013/11/26_Bolshoi_dancers%2C_teachers_demand_to_rebut_Tsiskaridze_in_court.html Helene's link didn't work for me. I am posting a slight modified link above. Perhaps the blog changed its link afterward. Mods, if desired, please feel free to update Helene's link and delete my post.

For those interested, an article by Melanie Trottman of the WSJ: When a Facebook Rant Gets You Fired.

American steps into Bolshoi Ballet corps By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times October 12, 2011

After your comment, I looked to learn more about reactions to the interview itself. I don't watch Sun News, and I am not even sure it's available. In any event, its viewership was and likely remains small. Analysis: So far at least, this Sun doesn’t shine on TV I believe the interview occurred 1 June 2011 and the station began broadcasting mid April 2011. Your point about the station possibly wanting to garner attention, however, survives. It's interesting to note that the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council was overwhelmed with complaints. Complaints re interview with Margie Gillis on Sun News Network Here's an informative response: Sun News, Margie Gillis and misinformation I encourage you to view the last link that outlines five key benefits or factors for supporting dance. I also encourage you to read some of the readers' comments to the article. While some objected to the interview, there were a couple of responses out of the 12 that questioned tax payer funding. (There were 13 responses, with one being a blank edit.) It was definitely a hard-hitting and uncomfortable interview. I hope it causes people to discuss the role of the arts in our society.

Perhaps. I would expect, though, that this interviewer (and I don't even know who she is) is known for her aggressive style. So then the questions become, a) Should Gillis have expected or anticipated a difficult or challenging interview? and b) Should Gillis have known the numbers and been able to speak to them regardless? I do agree with you, cubanmaimiboy, that the interview looked unfair. Gillis was clearly overwhelmed and likely not even able to think clearly during the heat of the interview. That goes to my opening quote from my email.

I echo your comments. It was uncomfortable watching, wasn't it? And this video came from a Canadian new station. Canadian news tends to be polite. Everyone knows of the financial difficulties that most economies are facing, so there's no need to rehash them here. In my email conversation, the other person made the same point you made--that is, those receiving funding need to be prepared to discuss and defend their funding. And it shouldn't be a matter of special preparation. It should be just part being a publicly funded artist. When I saw the interview, my first reaction was like yours. That is, it was an ambush. But then on reflection with my email friend's comments, I agreed that those who receive funding should know their numbers and should have some strong talking points. I hope we as a society do not become so mean spirited that we fail to recognize the benefits of our artistic communities.

Here's a video interview of Margie Gillis concerning artist funding. I found it a harsh, uncomfortable interview. But an interesting interview, nonetheless. I found it harsh because Gillis seemed unprepared. In an email to a friend, I wrote the following: (excerpt) As I pondered over this interview, I thought about were the points that the interviewer raised and the responsibility of artists who receive funding to support their positions. In essence, should Gillis have been more prepared to articulate his viewpoints? Reflecting on the interview was the interesting part. Anyway, I will let you view the interview, which lasts for about twenty minutes, to reach your own thoughts and conclusions.

Here's another article for those interested: A recent New York court ruling alerts employers about social media policy

The Bolshoi Ballet picks up an American accent By RIA Novosti commentator Olga Sobolevskaya

I've added a link to a podcast concerning the Hallberg/Bolshoi at Bart's link.