kbarber

thanks for the heads-up, Bart

In my opinion the pirate solo is the best part of this piece.

Some of you may have heard his handiwork (bowiwork?) during Swan Lake. He was concertmaster for the National Ballet of Canada for a while. I think you will enjoy him. He's on twitter @bowmanviolin What a perfect name for a violinist, eh?

I came across this statement in a review of Daniel Ulbricht's group at Jacob's Pillow: "The second half of the program was devoted to Jerome Robbins 1944 classic Fancy Free, with music by Leonard Bernstein. This ballet (which inspired the musical On the Town) would never get past the 21st-century political-correctness censors. The three sailors pursuit of a couple of pretty women, meant to be playful, comes off at moments as threatening. " http://blog.timesunion.com/localarts/daniel-ulbrichtballet-2014-jacobs-pillow-71614/34032/ Do you agree?

I feel if Sylvie Guillem didn't want her performance live-streamed, for whatever reason, that is her right as a performer and she should not be reproached for lack of generosity or anything else.

I often see instructions for bowing posted backstage at the National Ballet of Canada, and the bows are also rehearsed by the stage managers at dress rehearsals.

I returned a Bayadere ticket to ROH on the day of a show last year and the box office guy said when he took it, essentially, "let's get this right back into our inventory so that people can buy it online". So a ticket that is returned goes back on sale both online and in person at the box office. My comment about tourists was in reference to how easy the ROH finds it to sell out. They have a tourist market in addition to the ballet lover market. Vienna, Paris, Sydney, and of course the Bolshoi and Mariinsky enjoy the same phenomenon. The Birmingham Hippodrome,e.g. does not!

I agree with Helene. What's the likelihood that Northern Ballet is going to find someone willing to underwrite (and provide the equipment for ) a live broadcast of their Cleopatra, for instance, or Birmingham Royal Ballet their Prince of the Pagodas, instead of the Royal Ballet's Swan Lake? David Bintley at BRB has gone on record as saying BRB essentially lost money on the live broadcast of their Cinderella. And that was CINDERELLA.

they took Bayadere to Ottawa the week before they brought Swan Lake to Toronto.

For those of you who speak French, I thought you'd like to see the text of Guillaume Gallienne's poem. Very clever. (this was printed in Le Figaro). In rhyming alexandrines, the twelve-syllable lines of classic French poetry. Bonsoir Eve et Tess et bonsoir Clairemarie. Bonsoir à tous, enfin bonsoir la Compagnie. Avant que d'enchaîner avec Caligula, Laisser-moi vous parler un peu de Nicolas, Si riche de talents que c'est son patronyme, Et si tous ses aïeux sont restés anonymes, (Et j'en profite ici pour saluer ses vieux Qui sans doute ont tous deux des larmes plein les yeux) C'est pour que brille mieux cette étoile si rare, Dont nous fêtons ce soir un tout nouveau départ, Que nous lui souhaitons aussi beau, aussi dense, Que celui qui lui fit se lancer dans la danse, Il y a déjà trente quatre ans de cela. Sa richesse pour moi se situe au-delà De son nom c'est certain, mais même de son charme ; Elle provient surtout de son art qui désarme, Tellement il paraît naturel, comme un don Du Seigneur et que lui dans un fol abandon, Dépasse chaque soir humblement, avec grâce, Pour nous faire voler dans ces airs qu'il embrasse. Avez-vous remarquez la finesse des doigts? Et sa délicatesse alternée quelque fois, Par une unique rage , une sauvagerie Terrible? Puis d'un coup, avec espièglerie, Il s'adoucit. Soudain, nous voyons cet enfant Qu'il est souvent encore à quarante deux ans. Il bondit comme un tigre et vole comme un ange, Il atterrit en chat et telle une mésange, Virevolte aussitôt sans même se soucier De savoir si nous autres avons pu respirer. J'ai vécu grâce à lui mes plus longues apnées, Et n'oublierais jamais ces acmés insensées Que dans tous ces ballets il a su nous donner. Mais ce n'est pas fini, tout ca va continuer… Ce n'sont pas des adieux, non, ce n'est qu'un passage. Ton génie Nicolas est plus grand que ton âge, Et puisque cet endroit te déclare trop vieux, Pour continuer ici tes grands sauts périlleux, Eh bien tu les feras ailleurs, sur d'autres scènes. Tu auras pour créer le soutien des mécènes Ou celui de l'Etat, ce serait pas mal çà… Que tu puisses transmettre. Enfin, c'est pas tout ça Mais j'entends en coulisses un cheval qui trépigne, Et n'ayant pu trouvé de belle rime en igne, Avant que ce canasson me dise allez oust, Je m'en vais pour conclure citer Marcel Proust. Il dit, pour définir un autre immense artiste, Ce qu'à mon tour je puis dire de ce soliste, Qui est mon ami. En toute simplicité, Il l'appelle «Novateur à perpétuité».

The National Ballet of Canada is doing Sleeping Beauty in June 2015, it would be nice to see something different from the Mariinsky, that we never see here. But the promoters in Toronto are notoriously unadventurous. When the Sony Centre reopened, we got the Mariinsky doing... Swan Lake, and the next year we got the Bolshoi doing... Swan Lake. Don't get me wrong, the Mariinsky Swan is beautiful, but we NEVER see a full-length Bayadere or Raymonda etc.

in the comments on the Arte site, someone from Arte says "several months"

Hi Bart, sorry to hear about your ribs. That's such an unpleasant injury, as it hurts with every breath you take (and I don't mean the Sting song either!). Glad it didn't prevent your trip to Russia though.

I don't think it's got anything to do with British kindness and good manners; it's got to do with the fact that the ROH finds it fairly easy to resell tickets, especially for something like the Mariinsky. A lot of tourists in London go to CoventGarden just to say they've been to Covent Garden; they may not even be ballet fans.

publicity pics of Robbie Fairchild and the Royal B's Leanne Cope: http://theatrechatelet.tumblr.com/post/91033052579/seance-photo-pour-an-american-in-paris-photos-c

I agree with mom2.

You'd think Mr. Gottlieb, if he claims to be knowledgeable about dance, would know that "somebody called Jose Martinez" was a brilliant etoile at the Paris Opera Ballet until he became the CND's artistic director a couple of years ago.

I just saw the second detail in Toronto in May and I didn't think it looked stale at all. I was flabbergasted by the negativity of Macaulay's review.

The Opera de Paris has now confirmed that star Nicolas Le Riche's farewell performance will be live streamed worldwide on www.operadeparis.fr Wednesday 9 July 2014 à 19h30 (330 pm Eastern time)***** [Admin note: please see two posts below] Program: Les Forains (Roland Petit), Excerpts from: Bal des cadets (David Lichine) Raymonda (Rudolf Noureev), Caligula (Nicolas Le Riche), pas de deux from Appartement (Mats Ek) LAprès-midi dun faune (Vaslav Nijinski), Le Jeune Homme et la Mort (Roland Petit), Boléro (Maurice Béjart).

Helene, is that the link you meant to include? It's for the Napa Valley gala. Which of these has been cancelled? LA Ballet in Seattle or Napa Valley?

From their website http://festivaldelsole.org/current-season/schedule/dance-gala/ July 18, 2014 5:30 PM Dance Gala: Polina Semionova and Friends Dede Wilsey Dance Series This years Dance Gala features eight stars of ballet firmament, including Polina Semionova from American Ballet Theatre and principal dancers from San Francisco Ballet [although none are listed???], StaatsBallett Berlin, Stuttgart Ballet and National Ballet of Canada. Among the programs highlights are pas de deux from Swan Lake, Onegin, and The Sleeping Beauty; Le Spectre de la Rose; and Romeo and Juliet. Additional solos set to music by Piazzola, Sarah Vaughn and Vivaldi round out one of the festivals favorite annual events. Dancers Polina Semionova, American Ballet Theatre Sarah Lane, American Ballet Theatre Svetlana Lunkina, National Ballet of Canada Herman Cornejo, American Ballet Theatre Guillaume Cote, National Ballet of Canada Cory Stearns, American Ballet Theatre Memet Yumak, Berlin StaatsBallett Friedemann Vogel, Stuttgart Ballet

lovely wedding pic of Tiler Peck and Robbie Fairchild on Chris Wheeldon's instagram: http://i.instagram.com/p/plWx5vHzJb/#

an attempt to market ballet to the iPhone generation? No, an interview by a not-very-knowledgeable blogger with Colleen Neary and Thorvald Christensen about LA Ballet's upcoming performances in Seattle. Good for a chuckle. http://blog.seattlepi.com/peoplescritic/2014/06/21/interview-thordal-christensen-and-colleen-neary-los-angeles-ballet/

no I think they were laughing at the competitive nature of the piece.

Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun is now streaming online, but not outside US: http://to.pbs.org/1jD2FH8