Olga

Sent them something.

They do have some interesting, in depth articles. Thanks for reminding me about the email. I deleted it without reading very much in it. Now I think I will send them a small contribution. 

On 7/13/2017 at 2:19 PM, sandik said:

 

Well yes, the Shades will always be there.  So will the Wilies -- they're all dead!

👏🏻 Funny.

6 hours ago, mussel said:

The 2018 American tour will cover 3 cities over 4 weeks.  NY will be the last leg of the tour with 3 programs over 2 weeks as part of Lincoln Center Festival.  The other city will be Dallas.

Thank you. Sounds like a substantial tour and a lot of it in New York. Also some interesting choreographers. I guess the precise dates are still unknown. 

Thanks Silvermash. It is very far off I know. 

Does anyone know the dates POB will be in New York in Summer 2018? I couldn't find anything on their website. 

6 hours ago, mimsyb said:

And please.  If there is ANY doubt out there about the sheer inventiveness, the imagination and the musicality of this great choreographer, it can be totally put to rest.  Every choreographer working today needs to study and study hard about how it all works.  Free of the clutter.  Empty of all false artifice.  No kitchen sinks in sight!   Pure dance, revealed in the most musical and magical of fashion.  I bow down to Mr. B. and humbly so.

Truth.

1 minute ago, canbelto said:

 

Now can the NYCB puh-lease release their own commercially filmed, HD version of Jewels? 

Yes! Before De Luz retires.

Also I think it's a question of professionalism. This kind of sloppiness doesn't speak well for the company. They can't even get their programs right. They have a lot of wealthy successful people on their Board, a large staff and what seems like constant fundraising efforts. It's an embarrassment.

The Met's language is more

problematic, I agree. I don't know the details of who there is writing what.  I've observed some sloppiness in ABTs playbills. One night it said three Pauses and one Intermission but were two intermissions and two pauses. Personally I don't read the descriptions on the Met website very much. The press releases look very carefully written, at least on this subject. 

Well, the first release may not be all that clear but yes I think it was saying those two diverts were originally choreographed by Nijinska. Note the comma. It credits Nijinska with creating those diverts. It left open the question of what precise choreo would be used. By June, the press release answers that extremely clearly. My guess, and it is a guess, is that Ratmansky concluded he didn't have enough info to do Nijinska's choreo. 

 I've reread both the October 2016 press release and the June 16 2017 release. The latter clearly states it will add Three Ivans with choreography by Nanette de Valois and that it will add the Porcelain Trio with choreography by Bronislava

Nijinska. The earlier release doesn't say that but neither does it actually claim it will use  Nijinska's actual choreo for Three Ivan's. It says it will "add ThePorcelain Trio and Three Ivans, divertissements originally choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska."

The generally accepted notion, at least in NYC, is that Board members of not for profits make special contributions, frequently in the form of money, and/or  in the form of publicity or expertise (for example, investment, financial, fashion). The direct sponsorship of artists however is another matter. I think there is something amateurish about ABT and it shows up in different places. This is one of them. So was the Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux on Monday night.

1 minute ago, Kaysta said:

I'm excited to see the new Ratmansky work.  I have enjoyed all of his works set to Desyatnikov.

Me too.

I think ABT needs to beef up its website in general.  It's not just the running times that are missing. There is very little information about the ballets. 

Yes, thank you Birdsall for posting. Also thanks to Peruanka for the Russian Seasons video.

My reference to Martins was by way of contrast, but actually in fact  he has cast new corps members as leads in full lengths. Not suggesting McKenzie should do exactly that. I totally agree NYCB is a different animal. That relates to what I described about structural issues,

not just the AD. 

46 minutes ago, Kaysta said:

Maybe the ABT principals are not "star material" because they lost all of their developmental years while guest artists were coming in and taking their opportunities.  Stella was lovely yesterday (personally she blew me away, but to each their own), but she debuted in this role at the age of 39, when she should have debuted in her 20's.  That is on Kevin McKenzie.  

 

 

 I don't disagree. While it's hypothetical to know what Abrera would be like today under different circumstances, certainly promoting dancers to principal when they are in their mid to late 30's is no way to build a company. Contrast this with Martins (and here I know I'm treading on a thin ice) who casts apprentices in lead roles of iconic ballets.

I think the problems at ABT are somewhat structural, even larger than the AD. Bringing Ratmansky in is a big step forward in my opinion, and we'll see what happens. 

As to foreign but not necessarily Russian dancers, seems to me ABT has relied on them for many years. It's 

not easy to turn a ship around, and I wish them the best of luck. I would be very happy if the soloists turned into stars.

Thank you for listening. I don't plan to say more on this topic until there is a new development. 

I don't think Macaulay would have much that is positive to say about either Corsaire or Onegin. I have my own issues with Macaulay, but from a larger dance perspective, the Isadora Duncan benefit at the Joyce and Sara Mearns' participation in it, as well as the stunning rise of Miami City Ballet, whose Jacobs Pillow performance this week he reviewed, are probably more significant, and certainly more interesting to him.I hope that doesn't raise too many hackles in this board. The Times did a big feature on Vishneva, and Macaulay has just done an article on Ratmansky's Aurora and will likely review it. He is a huge Ratmansky fan. As I said I have my own issues with him, so I'm surprised to find myself writing this. I am sometimes surprised by his lack of coverage of other ballet performances.

1 hour ago, nana said:

I also attended Saturday matinee with .... This forum loves Abrera so I'll be most likely a minority, but i still don't see what's so special about her ....

 

Alas, I don't see any female principal dancer in ABT who I'll choose without heistation now. I like solists more. 

I'm one person who agrees with you (but I don't post much on this board). For some time now I have been trying to understand the attachment and raves about Abrera. I think she is competent and lovely (if a bit stiff) but I wouldn't go out of my way to see her, or for that matter any other of ABT's female principal roster. Not a single one takes the breath away. Count me as one person who thinks relying solely on the in house dancers is a mistake for ABT.   As for the soloists, there are some intersting dancers coming up but time will tell if they can hold my interest. 

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/woodbridge-selects-long-time-executive-david-binet-as-president/article5817126/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&service=mobile

Profile of David Binet, Chairman of National Ballet of Canada and father of young Robert Binet. He manages $20 billion for Canada's wealthiest family. 

The contrasting videos of Nina and Boylston: graphic illustration of what separates a great ballerina from the rest. 

5 hours ago, miliosr said:

... On a happier note, I did make -- for the first time -- certain connections between Rubies and other forms of theatrical dance. I still don't think of it as a "jazz" dance but parts of it reminded me of a Busby Berkeley musical from the 30s. Balanchine almost certainly would have seen those musicals and stored away the best parts from them for future use. I was also intrigued by Balanchine's use of everyday movement. People forget that, in 1967, postmodernist dance (that is, presenting everyday movement as dance) was the rising tide in New York. Balanchine's use of this was almost like him saying to Yvonne Rainier and the other postmodernists: "Anything you can do, I can do better."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes -

Agree. Balanchine was making Broadway and Hollywood musicals at the same time as Busby. The influence of musicals on Balanchine is pretty significant. And I like that hypothetical image of Balanchine and Rainier.

Odessa premiered at the gala last

night. Utterly marvelous. Everything about it.