Jane Simpson

Her Twitter page now says October 2023.

Ulrik Birkjaer leads a group of SFB dancers for a short visit to Copenhagen in September - details and programme here

Well I'm glad I watched it yesterday, then! It's presumably a 'rights' issue.

Thank you, Anne - it's great to read a description from someone who's seen it in the theatre. From what you say I'd guess that the film lost a huge amount of the effect of the lighting and decor.  It's also good to read about a Sylph so very different from Ida Praetorius - not, at all, because I didn't like Praetorius -  but  showing that the production is strong enough to let its dancers choose their own way through to tragedy. From your description I'd really like to see Caroline Baldwin. If we ever can travel to Denmark again.

The Royal Danish Ballet season opens tonight, with a performance of Twyla Tharp's Come Fly Away.

Fingers crossed...

 I think they've only sold half the seats but I don't know how the are going to be spaced.

The company has just announced that John Neumeier's Mahler's 3rd Symphony - lost to lockdown 2 days before its planned Danish premiere - will replace La Bayadere in next season's progamme, opening on May19th 2021.

And the Royal Danish Ballet shows its current production of Giselle with Ida Praetorius and Andreas Kaas in the leading roles.

Unlike the rest of the RDB's streaming programme, Emeralds is only available until June 19th. But I think it's amazing they've been allowed to show it at all, particularly as it's an internal archive film, not intended for public showing.

And now a real rarity - Bournonville's A Folk Tale

NB this is from 2014 and it is a Hubbe/Englund production  - don't expect a re-run of the old and much-loved version.

The Royal Danish Ballet has added its Hubbe/Schandorff production of Swan Lake to its streaming porgramme. J'aime Crandall and Alban Lendorf have the leading roles.

Interesting that Hubbe is doing a back-to-Bournonville Sylphide, replacing the last all-grey version also by him.

I think a lot of people, including the dancers, were hoping to see Neumeier#s Mahler 3 - which was cancelled 2 days before its RDB premiere in March - getting another chance.

Also  I missed the announcement that Kizzy Matiakis is also retiring next season, and will give her farewell on April 22nd in the title role, created for her, in Blixen.

The RDB has announced its programme for next season, apparently in the expectation of being able to run a full season starting at the beginning of September.

Ballets  include:

Come Fly Away (Twyla Tharp)

Cinderella (Gregory Dean)

La Sylphide (new production)

Balanchine's Nutcracker

Romeo and Juliet (Neumeier)

Serenade/ Sibelius 4 (Jorma Elo)/Etudes

Blixen (Gregoery Dean)

Napoli

La Bayadere

Dans2G0 programme - works by Sebastian Kloborg, Peter Martins (Zakouski), Neumeier and Hofesh Shechter

Principal dancer Amy Watson will give her farewell performance as Teresina in Napoli

Full details in the season book

1 hour ago, Helene said:

The soloists look to be in alphabetical order.  Does anyone know the fourth soloist is?  She reminded me of Megan Fairchild in the best way.

I think they are in order of appearance as well as alphabetical, so the fourth one was Silvia Selvini.

Mark Morris used that ending in his R&J.

... and simultaneously (more or less, they're about half an act behind) you can watch another livestreamed Bayadere, this one from the National Ballet Company of Kazakhstan, whose director is Altynai Asylmuratova.

(Transmission is slow with lots of buffering)

https://tengrinews.kz/tv/#

London:

Given the developing situation with the COVID-19 virus, the Royal Opera House is currently closed

Kaas is recovering from an injury and has not been on stage for some months.

Robert Cohan actually is given a knighthood, isn't he?

All the casting for the first part of the season is now on the RB site.

The Sleeping Beauty run starts with four 'young' Auroras but Nunez and Cuthbertson as well as Ospiova and Lamb, each get at least 2 performances later on!

20 minutes ago, Drew said:

I have never seen the ballet. Do you think the problem was the production or that the ballet itself is not (or no longer) workable?  

 

It was the production, entirely - Schaufuss had made a cut-down version to tour in small theatres round the country and he brought it to the Coliseum, one of London's largest theatres -  I think he had about 12 dancers in all so he'd cut the mandolin dance completely and some nights he didn't have anyone to play the nurse's page and so on.... I though it was a travesty of a lovely ballet.  The good bits were that it showed Alban Lendorf (as Mercutio) in London for the first time and Osipova's Juliet came good in the second half and was really touching. But there must be hundreds of people who saw it and think that's what Ashton's like.

I should think it might look really good on the Sarasota company - though I do wish they could use Prokofiev's lighter version of the score - the one Mark Morris used: it would suit this version very well, I think.

It does need looking after, though - when Schaufuss acquired it for English National Ballet in the 1980s the first cast, coached by Ashton himself, was lovely but later casts quickly lost much of the detail and at a revival a few years later I actually left after the first act as I couldn't bear to watch what they had let it  become.

17 minutes ago, Drew said:

 

The Ashton Romeo and Juliet was danced in London in 2011 in a special production mounted for Osipova and.Vasiliev by Peter Schaufuss.

It was awful, truly awful

Excellent news! - can we read the citation somewhere?

August 14th, I think.

By the way I see there's a week in April when you can see 3 of the programmes in 4 days - Blixen, Ballet de Luxe and Mahler 3.

It was announced in Denmark this morning as part of the Royal Danish Theatre's plans for next season, but I also saw it here earlier in the week.

Also SFB is taking Romeo and Juliet to the Opera House in Copenhagen for 4 performances Oct 30/31 and Nov 1/2 2019.

Nice hometown opportunity for Birkkjaer perhaps?