Jack Reed
-
Posts
1,925 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Events
Blogs
Store
Posts posted by Jack Reed
-
-
1 hour ago, canbelto said:
RDB is streaming Rubies. There's a geo-block but I was able to access it easily via some VPN program.
Available until July 3, too. Generous for those of us not blocked, at least. (This is just an image from the page listing their live-streams; sorry for the arrow in the middle, which looks like a clickable "start" button. Presumably, if you're not blocked, it works. This link may take you to that page: https://kglteater.dk/xtra/forestillinger/?section=33179 )
-
This page seems to have been recently updated, as it gives the new repertory for the NYCB program scheduled for next Monday, the 22nd, as well as their reasoning for the change:
http://lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home/show/coppeacutelia-858
Of the original Coppelia, only the third Act is now planned, preceded by other Balanchine repertory in more recent performances. It may be interesting to compare the way NYCB danced Balanchine in 2004 with the way they danced his choreography in 1978.
(Apologies to rg and Dale, who have posted in another thread.)
-
On 6/5/2020 at 3:14 AM, volcanohunter said:
... we need the transcendent striving of art now especially.
I think so. The experience of art is like a trip; it takes us away, out of our ordinary existence; it changes us - maybe permanently. Artists understand that, at least some of them do: Speaking at the Skirball Center of NYU during the last season of TSFB, Suzanne Farrell remarked, "It's not, we come down to you; we invite you to come up into our world."
-
The Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts of the 1978 NYCB Coppelia and the 1983 Tribute to Balanchine have lately been re-scheduled for Monday, June 22nd and June 29th, respectively, at 8:00 PM eastern time:
http://lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home/series/live-from-lincoln-center
I'm looking forward to seeing these at last, especially to the second program, for Mozartiana, with Suzanne Farrell, Victor Castelli, and Ib Andersen.
Evidently the 1986 Balanchine A Midsummer Night's Dream continues to be available there.
-
2 hours ago, Helene said:
A heads up that Dance Theatre of Harlem's Giselle is streaming tonight (Saturday, June 6) at 8pm EDT, 5pm PDT from Dance Theatre of Harlem's Facebook and YouTube channels:
In one of these places, it's said - as California wrote while I was posting - the video - actually, available on Vimeo as well as on YouTube - will be available until 11:59 PM Eastern time Sunday, June 7.
Personally, I think it's appropriate for various presenters to shuffle their original schedules in light of our current tragic circumstances, to give more prominence to Black performers (though I agree that they might better have made some announcements). In connection with the Dance Theater of Harlem, shown here, I recall that one of the founders, Arthur Mitchell, was motivated to do so by his circumstances: Deeply saddened by the shooting of Dr. King in Memphis in 1968, Mitchell wanted to do something affirmative, resulting a year later in the founding of DTH; and here is some of that affirmation.
-
There is a technical bobble at the end there; not only in the video, but I believe the curtain is just a bit early, too. Luckily, in spite of those, we do see and hear, in sync, the ballet, right to the curtain, if not through the last notes: The final pose, with the three boys on one knee.
And what a performance! To everybody's credit, including Sandra Jennings and her two assistants, identified in the credits below the video window as the people who staged it. I'm grateful for this.
-
Art, the experience of art, "takes us away" from our ordinary existence. That is much of its value. Some say, Art should change you, maybe permanently.
-
10 hours ago, California said:
Watching it now for the second time. One of my top ten Balanchine ballets. I'm pretty sure this is the first complete recording available. Lots of snippets here and there, but not the complete thing.
I did watch some archival tape at NYPL Dance Collection to see original casts in the early 70s. I think they all wore white leotards (or was it all black?). The pink-white-black contrast didn't come in until later.
One of my top Balanchine ballets, too! (But I can't get the number down that small!)
I missed the 1972 Stravinsky Festival itself, but when I did start to gorge on "Symphony Three," as we called it, in 1973, part of the fun was to see what colors the three solo girls, especially Sara Leland, in the most prominent role, had on at each performance. It varied among pink, pale orange, scarlet, and so on; but the large corps of 16 girls who start the ballet always wore white, and the smaller group of 5 demi-solo couples were always in black and white - the girls in black leotards, the boys in white tee shirts - as in the final image here.
(It occurs to me that Alexander Calder, whose work was much admired by Stravinsky, liked color schemes like these, too.)
-
10 hours ago, fiddleback said:
This video is pretty much a fixed ‘balcony view’ of the performance. This is the price we pay in order to see these archival videos which were almost certainly never intended to be shown to the public.
Actually, if I may disagree, the video doesn't look to me like the camera was that high, and whenever I've been in the theater, I've seen one or two cameras set up on tripods at the back of the center of the main floor. The main criticism I'd make is that the image of the stage is too loosely framed, so that there's a lot of wasted black area around it, compared, for example, to the still image of the last "totem pole" pose posted here, which is just about ideal. The effect is to make the ballet less immediate, to make the dance "remote," as someone said about the Square Dance video, though, again from familiarity with the theater, which is pretty level, I wouldn't want the camera moved closer to the stage; aside from blocking some spectators' view, it would go even lower relative to stage level. A little zoom in would have helped. But the height is very much to my liking.
I think this video is very good - the camera doesn't move - the movement is left to the dancers! The camera shows their space and they move in it. The camera controls our point of view, and dance videos where I'm bounced around the theater give me fits. (I will say the the advantage of a video you can see more than once is that you have a chance to reassemble the event in your mind; but that shouldn't be necessary.)
I'm glad we have this.
-
4 hours ago, Dale said:
... They not only have everything they've recently recorded (which is you look at those "Anatomy of a Dance" or "Flash Footage" series, is quite a bit) but all the old house camera library (which dates back to the late 80s/early 90s). If they can get people/unions to sign off, they could have a pretty deep library.
Is that all the farther back it goes? In my years watching NYCB in the State Theater - 1973 into 1986 - the live monitors were already active on orchestra level and in the lobby, and when I sat in the Second Ring I noticed a small camera in the west end of the technical booth window. Casual inquiry of company employees brought forth the explanation that not only were late-comers cared for by feeding the camera to the monitors, but the company recorded that feed as well.
-
Spoiler
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EeY8jv1Chx0/Sc9kDYxOIlI/AAAAAAAAAR0/yLOvqwoFmso/s1600-h/bscap0019.jpg
SpoilerIf you search, you can find it for $9.99! Not the VHS tape either, apparently; it's the DVD.
Reading mention of "Elusive Muse" reminds me of one of the many valuable insights in it:
Remember that when Balanchine fired her and her husband Paul Mejia, no one would hire them for fear of getting on Balanchine's bad side, until they got to Maurice Bejart, who was not afraid. In "Elusive Muse," Bejart looks into the camera and tells us, "I knew she was from Balanchine and she would go to Balanchine, but I could see the music in that body."
Some of the music he saw in that body had been written by Hector Berlioz, and there has sometimes been available a good Italian television production of the result: Bejart's "Romeo et Juliette," available on Hardy Classic Video sometimes. We had a short discussion of it here:
https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/33877-farrell-donn-in-bejarts-romeo-juliet/
I'm sorry I don't remember the other Italian dealer I got my copy from years ago, but it was listed as Berlioz, not as Bejart, and you didn't know it was the ballet until you looked at the list of performers. That may help searchers.
Meanwhile, there are a few still images from the video here:
https://contemporarydance-db.blogspot.com/2009/03/maurice-bejart-romeo-e-giulietta.html
such as this one:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EeY8jv1Chx0/Sc9kDYxOIlI/AAAAAAAAAR0/yLOvqwoFmso/s1600-h/bscap0019.jpg
but the old Rapidshare files seem to be gone. That's a shame, because these few still images don't begin to suffice - you need the quality of movement.
-
Speaking of on-line video about Farrell's life, we remember dancing is her life; and in another thread here, there is a post lacking details at present, but which looks like it might signal a brief on-line appearance of the PBS broadcast of October 1983, including the performance taped that Spring of Mozartiana, with the original cast, headed by Suzanne Farrell, Ib Andersen, and Victor Castelli:
So here may be an opportunity to see her live her life, as it were, rather than reflect on it. (The broadcast included the whole program, beginning with Orpheus.)
>> No, I was wrong; Orpheus was on another broadcast, in October 1982, with Apollo, led by Farrell and Martins. Mozartiana was preceded by Vienna Waltzes, with Farrell and Martins in the final movement, and followed by Who Cares?
-
First, yes, it is a magnificent cast! And second, yes it is a magnificent cast! And thirdly, it's a good video, no "partials", etc., but pretty intelligent and tasteful use of one camera. (Not easy, with so many dancers on stage! I've tried it myself, with fewer.) But fourthly, watching the video some more, and having a look at the thumbnail images in the program, I definitely agree, this is Mendez. If there was an announcement, it went by me, as they tend to.
Just adding: This cast numbers about 28 or so; the roster in the program adds up to 29; everybody is in this - that points to my point about this being a true repertory company - everybody, the company, dances - it's a magnificent company. (I miss 'em, quite frankly.)
-
Whoops! This is what happens when fans start talking at once. Thanks, fiddleback, we're in agreement except for the Harlequin: Do you recognize Mendez? My cast list has Santos in Magnicaballi's cast, but I don't know the company that well.
-
And for Magnicaballi fans (like me), this is she. (No complaints about the excellent Jillian Barrell, who opened the run.) No dancer credits on YT so far, so: her Poet is Helio Lima. If this is the performance of May 4 (2018), The Coquette is Mimi Tompkins; Brian Leonard is The Baron. Eric Hipolito's partner is Arianni Martin. Harlequin is Ricardo Santos; and the Pastorale dancers are Kaelyn Magee, Alison Remmers, Annier Navarro, and Erick Garnica. (I'm posting from one of my cast lists, where I noted no substitutions; apologies for any inaccuracies.)
It would be interesting to post the Guests, inasmuch as many dancers alternated in soloist roles, to show the repertory-company nature of this unranked company of 29, but I'm not absolutely certain which of Magnicaballi's three performances we see here. You'll also notice the musical credits below the video window on YT; BA's Balanchine weekend is typically danced to recorded music, although their other programs may get live accompaniment.
-
I found the imperfections in the Ballo recording slight, much too slight to prevent it from giving me just the lift I needed! Dazzling esprit, yes! Very true to the original. So much of the original is here I could quibble abut the conspicuous absence of any suggestion of a grotto like the one made by the original mother-of-pearl backdrop - just an infinite arctic space. But oh what dancing! So often, it's Balanchine in the local style; here, it's Balanchine very close to his style.
And good to see Merrill Ashley, who originated the ballerina part, come out with a smile at the end, too; having staged this, she had a lot to smile about.
Many thanks, Anne!
nycvillager, speaking of grottoes, was that Napoli you just saw in this RDB list? I couldn't find it here.
-
Thanks, volcanohunter, nice to have my guess confirmed. With California, I admire how they do things there. (Where did I see that PBS doesn't broadcast ballet currently because they can't figure out how to market it? What did they forget?)
-
It looks like part of that page has been changed again. At the top it says:
QuoteAfter the cancellation of all performances at the Bayerische Staatsoper from March 11 to April 19, we will try to provide individual performances as live stream or video-on-demand on www.staatsoper.tv. We will keep you informed about further online offers at this point.
What now looks out-of-date speaks of live-streaming only the Monday Concerts, themselves now canceled at least until April 20. As for video-on-demand, it's hard to imagine how this announcement, half-way down the page under the heading, "Videos-on Demand coming soon:" will be honored in those circumstances, i.e. if there are currently no performances to record for on-demand viewing:
QuoteJEWELS
28 hours video-on-demand
Available Sat, 21 March 2020, 7.30 pm (CET) until 22 March 2020, 11.59 am (CET)7:30 pm Central European Time is 1:30 pm Central Daylight Time, so this Chicagoan will look here again a little before then, to see what's on offer - something from their archive? - but I'm not holding my breath.
-
They are included in a limited edition hard-cover book, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet - A Celebration, published by the Kennedy Center in 2017, along with short essays by others, a list of the dancers' names, and pictures of some of the performances.
-
As it happened, space opened up at the last minute for me at the wonderful Maricopa Manor both for Napoli and for some Nutcracker performances, but Maricopa Manor is no more. In December, they told me the property was being re-purposed, and it comes up now as Olivette Place, a developmental enrichment center for intellectually disabled adults. Great concept, and I certainly wish them well!
The couple who ran Maricopa Manor mentioned a "boutique" hotel of 30 rooms or so about to open nearby on Camelback Road, but it doesn't come up on Google Maps, and Camelback is a heavily-trafficked street for this light sleeper to stay on.
In the meantime, has anyone got an update on the theme of places for visitors to Phoenix? I appreciate Marquis de Carabas's suggestion above, though Maricopa Manor will be a hard act to follow. But this forum is where I learned of it!
-
I'm glad to know about this book, too, and "representing" Kisselgoff by a book introduction rather than a review speaks well of Aloff's book. Kisselgoff's career on the New York Times pretty well coincided with the years I watched ballet most intensively, especially in New York, but comparing what she wrote with what I saw, as I did with everybody, I never learned much from her reviews, and soon gave up reading them.
Surprising for a critic in the arts, a field where where style is important, her writing lacked style - compared to the direct "All The News That's Fit to Print" clarity and directness of the news reporting, to say nothing of the Times's sports writers - and I noticed pretty soon after her promotion to chief critic after Barnes left, she seemed musically unaware too. Before her promotion, though, and after her retirement, she contributed some historical background for ballets on view, and I think that's where her real interest and ability lay.
It'll be interesting to see what Aloff has selected from Croce, already much published in her own collections; Croce I personally rank with Edwin Denby and Alastair Macaulay as writers who write so well they help me to get more out of watching ballets they haven't even written about specifically, like good tutors do. (Excuse me if I don't plow through the contents pages of those collections right now to see if Aloff's selections are there. I don't recognize the titles, though, except for Denby's "Against Meaning in Ballet.")
Thanks for the good news, dirac.
-
Agreeing with rg, it does. Pilarre sometimes turned up in (open) rehearsals of TSFB at the Kennedy Center. It's giving me some of the same joy already expressed above! Monumentum/Movements too? Time for this Chicagoan Old Audience member to come see NYCB again. Haven't done that much in recent decades...
-
Not to mention the place itself. One evening after a performance I talked with a ballerina I know. We were in the wing, the curtain was back up, but the house lights were still on, and she took in the spectacle. "I've danced in a lot of theaters but this one is the most beautiful", she said.
You can get almost this this perspective next time you're at a performance there by making your way down to the orchestra pit and turning around to look up into the house; or better yet, make your way to one of the side entrances into the auditorium from the a side hall, and look at it profile, and not incidentally appreciate how the upsweep, the rake, of the rows of seats gets steeper and steeper toward the back, more steep than necessary for good sight lines, but also for acoustics too.
The Civic Theater (it's the Lyric Opera Company, easy to confuse), said to be a more modern theater, has nether virtue in the house but is said to have a more modern, better-equipped stage house, with deeper wings, which dancers might appreciate, but I think both houses, seating nearly 4,000, are too big for ballet. (The Harris Theater on Randolph Street is about the right size, 1,500 or so, and has good sight lines and acoustics, though it's nothing to look at, IMO.)
For me, it matters more how well you can see and hear in a theater than what it looks like. It's a mystery why the Joffrey is moving to the lesser of our two oversize opera houses, unless it's for that more-modern stage house in the Civic.
-
His passing is sad, yes, but he made his time count. An important man, as Alexandra says, and a kind man: One of those who knew, who got it, and wanted and worked to help us to get it. Thank you, Don, may peace be with you, and thank you, rg.
Change for June 22 stream from Lincoln Center
in COVID-19: Ballet and the Arts
Posted
Unh, unh. Swanilda! That was something to see. Not just her sparkling dancing but her animation of the action in Act II. *sigh* I'd love to see that again, too. (Nichol Hlinka took the role of the eponymous Doll.)
But at least McBride and Helgi Tomasson (Frantz) do dance the "Peace" pas de deux (to some music Mr. B. imported from Sylvia, for the male variation and the coda). It's the last of the divertissements, in Act III, before the Finale wrap up. Don't despair!