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7 minutes ago, Tapfan said:

Here's link to an interesting interview with the sublime Debra Austin, former principle dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet. She has really lived the issue of diversity in ballet. I'm also taken with the remarks from Sherry Holmes who remarks that change as far as diversity is concerned, seems to be coming about because audiences are demanding it.

 

http://wunc.org/post/black-ballerina

Thanks for posting.  Debra Austin was one of my favorite dancers in NY and Philly-we all loved her performances.  Another great dancer I just posted about was Judy Tyrus.

I think Dance Theatre of Harlem did an expanded Corsaire Pas de Deux  staged by Karel Shook.   Judy Tyrus is archiving the company's work.   https://www.instagram.com/p/BGW8TEBEAM6/?taken-by=judytyrus

14 hours ago, Drew said:

 

I enjoyed the Bolshoi reconstruction, albeit with a few caveats, and if ABT were to present that production, then its audience could admire it, as mentioned above, as a work 'of its time.' But it does add potential fresh offensiveness.... But I can also respect some of Anne-Marie Holmes' choices. 

 

I suppose, too, with any production, some issues could also be addressed in program notes--nothing too intense or scholarly but maybe a short piece which could also compare Corsaire to some of Rossini's and Mozart's comic operas on related themes

 

Byron did not write Corsaire in a vacuum and it sold 10,000 copies the first day.  The Mediterranean/Aegean were dangerous and pirate ballets existed  since at least 1826.   Galzarani and an 1857 ballet by Guisseppe Rota based on Uncle Tom's Cabin:  https://books.google.com/books?id=RH87XE25bCEC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=Giovanni+Galzerani&source=bl&ots=O5V8Ty-iFE&sig=Ib5QRd6uJMW0ztXZ_35HSR1wuH0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikwZqx6brUAhVDxoMKHSJFCVQ4FBDoAQgsMAI#v=onepage&q=Giovanni Galzerani&f=false

Corsaire, Bayadere, Raymonda, etc should not be removed from repertory but companies should not have dancers in blackface.   [http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_18_October_2013/28.pdf ] . 

Balanchine's Don Quixote in 1965 had a publication  including essay by Auden, excerpts from the 1605 Miquel De Cervantes Saavedra novel, photos, illustrations [woodcuts by Gustave Dore from the 1869 French edition].  

Program A Sun-  Appreciated Square Dance, Tarantella, Odessa. Rodeo was, as I expected, athletic teams.  Costume budget?   The lyrical section needed women [lines extended on point] combined with men.  The music carried the work.

Program B-Sat. Times Are Racing -The KC had nothing on the website about earplugs and they should have been passed out on entry for free.   Surreal that this was NYCB .

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I see via internet search that la Scala was engaged and oddly not listed but is on  the linked pdf update 7-26-16.  The full calendar, all genres, all venues has lots of open slots.  IDK.  

Press release 2016-17 links to a pdf showing the addition of La Scala in late July to it's category International Dance:   https://www.scfta.org/About/Media/Season-Announcements/16-17-Dance-Series.aspx   The full calendar 2017-18 has empty dates.  Check ticket sales at venues. Mik?  La Scala?  You get ABT Nutcracker-the KC has gone regional since any Nut sells and presents an opportunity for companies to perform at the KC that would not produce revenue to justify a booking. 

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KC Open Rehearsal tickets [no donor presale] are now on sale for  Mariinsky La Bayadere [and ABT Whipped Cream].  That contract expired in 2012 so I'll binge watch the Mariinsky La Bayadere regardless of cast.   This annual engagement is a handshake deal.  http://tass.com/society/927956   Is this a who decides what we see issue? 

The undersold Ballet Across America  should have resembled Woetzel's Vail or Benois.  Annual ballet "anchor tenants" at the KC:   booked  Mariinsky/ABT/NYCB, site rental WB, phased out sponsored Farrell. Thanksgiving Nutcracker is  now regionals.  2017-18 season includes Cuban's Don Q/Giselle.  Old but good article on the KC:  http://www.performingarts.jp/E/pre_interview/0706/1.html

How long is Odessa?  The runtime for the actual dancing for the KC2 seems very short.  Do you think they'll add a 4rth short piece? Rodeo costumes look like rugby uniforms and men's/woman gymnastics while the sneaker looks like underarmour. 

I saw her perform several times in the eighties including Les Sylphides and Rose Adagio.   Ms Gillian Murphy has posted a beautiful video on Instagram of Kolpakova and David Hallberg.  Love ABT. 

2 hours ago, Drew said:

As best I can remember, ABT has recently done a successful all Ratmansky mixed bill -- two, if one counts the Shostakovich trilogy.  I'm defining 'success' as 'substantive and varied ballets that held my interest and I would be interested in seeing again' not as 'is as good as Balanchine' and not as 'everyone agrees all the ballets are masterpieces.' 

 

Companies do need to take risks now and then, even if they are....risky. The one thing that should never be put at risk is the long term health of the vast Balanchine repertory as far as that can be sustained over time. (That's a truism on this thread. I hope it's a truism everywhere.) These four weeks on their own won't do that .... 

Companies also should sell tickets.  The Ballet Dance Across America at the KC was undersold and a fill in was a Peck piece.   Tickets also became cheap.   A few years ago at the KC NYCB did 2 programs:  1. Serenade, Agon, Symphony in C; 2. Symphonic Dances, Pictures at an Exhibition, This Bitter Earth, Everywhere We Go.    Splitting the Balanchine on this Kennedy Center 2017 trip should improve sales.    

I've also noticed the shift in programming.  I was considering going Monday to see the Abrerra-Gomes but ...  I also enjoyed getting early access to the very limited Open Rehearsal tickets-now all have to wait for the sale to the general public.  2013-2014 was a very good year  http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/newseason/PressRelease.pdf   Is it really the same theatre? 

Bolshoi Ballet - Giselle [ the last G I 've seen had a super cast of Zharkarova, Hallberg, Tsvirko, Allash];  Mariinsky Ballet Swan Lake; ABT mixed bill After Effect, The Dream, Don Quixote; NYCB Jewels and mixed bill; Boston Ballet; Pennsylvania Ballet with Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Joffrey Nutcracker; Suzanne Farrell Chaconne and Mozartiana.

My favorites were ABT's Baryshnikov [ Wolf Trap with Tcherkassky],  Shlyarov [dress rehearsal with Shapran], and ABT's Cornejo video.  Note the variation in costumes from ABT to Mariinsky etc.  Having seen the same dancer go full out with and without the Mariinsky costume - headdress and more body suit floral appliques-  the ABT costume and the lack of the headdress are my favorites for capturing the essence of the poem.   Baryshnikov with ABT :

These 3 are not androgynous in the role but to me exemplify the poem.  There's a video of Baryshnikov with Fonteyn and again he doesn't come off as androgynous.  That Mariinsky run I also saw Kim and Latypov .  Kim was androgynous.  

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NEA has an OIG-Office of Inspector General and some reports online with partial audit info.   Project grants with links to categories and jurisdictions:    .  

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There have been comments on at least one thread about the NEA and I was surprised at the low amount of money granted by the NEA for major companies, productions, and schools.  Have there been changes in NEA grant limits?  Policies?  On the link I posted to Ballet Theatre Foundation [ABT] some FYs had as much as 1.25m. https://apps.nea.gov/GAAG/frmStart.aspx   ABT requested reimbursement of 900k leaving 350k. 

General Information   Grantee: Ballet Theatre Foundation, Inc. Grant Period: 09/01/1985  -  08/31/1988 Grant Amount: $1,250,000