Jasper

What an exciting calendar!

Haven't been to London for far too long - but this will most probably make me travel again. It's such a pity that you hardly get to see any of Ashton's ballets elsewhere, particularly the full-length ones apart from La Fille - plus this gives me some hope that the focus may switch back to that typical English ballet style that seemed to have gone a bit in the most recent past?

I've now seen two performances of Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias with Lucia Laccara and Roman Lazik in the leads - and this is the first time I was convinced and really moved.

Lucia Laccara IS Marguerite - one point I had always felt as weak in the recent past was that she was always Laccara, the star, for me - but in this role she is as vulnerable as I haven't seen her before. At the beginning, she's already sick, but still pretending to be the glamourous girl - then she's loving woman - very strong the scene when Armand's father (Ivan Liska) asks her to leave his son, and broken and dying at the end.

Her partner was supposed to be Lucas Slavicky, also winner of the prix Benois de la danse - but unfortunately he's injured, so Roman Lazik stepped in, also as a debut.

Roman Lazik has made an incredibly quick rise through the ranks - but justified! His Armand matches Laccara's Marguerite so well - not just physically, but also how he treats her, it's a joy to watch. This Armand falls in love so deeply that it's a very narrow gauge between caressing and being almost violent - but always in a convincing way and also very touching.

Lots of "Bravo" and applause for this couple plus also for the rest of the cast for memorable performances.

On 7 March, Alen Bottaini will partner Lisa-Maree Cullum's debut as Marguerite (she danced a lovely Manon last night) - another cast I am looking forward to, and probably an entirely different performance!

Thanks, jorgen, especially for the link to the Munich photos which I had not seen before!

Polina was indeed a very young, very fresh Aurora, and her personality suits this role ideally.

Sometimes in first act she looked a bit unsure of where to go next (between her variations), but this fits so well into the role of a young excited girl it was more an advantage than a disadvantage. She did not behave like a star at all (something I have noticed with other Aurora casts), and her bright smile seemed to come right from her heart - a friend of mine compared this smile to Julia Roberts!

Roman Lazik was a very attentive partner and a charming prince (and, by the way, danced a memorable Armand in his debut of Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias last night)!

He's also back in "Endstation Sehnsucht" - sorry, this link is only in German... (and I'm sorry to have missed this performance!)

http://www.tanznetz.de/koegler/koegler.pht...d=408&tid=21368

Guess who danced Hilarion last night??

DOUGLAS LEE!!

(Listed was Ibrahim Önal, at first without a note, but the moment when he came on stage I noticed the change - well, a few moments later.)

Don't know Ibrahim Önal well, but it was a VERY nice surprise!

Re the rest - will try to write a bit more later in the Giselle topic... But I had a great time!

Good health and good luck, Douglas!

Reinhard, did you happen to attend the rehearsal or the first night of Giselle?? So far, I have not been able to find any reviews, not even in newspapers (but maybe I am blind??)

Thanks for bringing up this name!!

When turning my old Stuttgart Ballet Calendar to February (to a rehearsal photo of Douglas Lee) I had the same thoughts...

Doug, thanks for this quick reply!

Still surprising Alicia seems not to get to dance in the first run (and Maria two performances in less than 24 hours...)

Looking forward to comments on the 5 Feb!

...did not know Sue Jin Kang had not danced this version of Giselle before! (And I haven't seen it before.)

On Stuttgart Ballet website today I found that suddenly Alicia Amatriain has dissappeared from the cast list...??? I hope this is just a typo, nothing serious? Now Maria Eichwald is listed for both, Saturday evening plus Sunday matinee - isn't this a bit too much??

Polina Semionova will be guesting as Aurora on 6 February, partnered by Roman Lazik (Munich Principal).

I have seen the video "Demo" (wanted to post a link but shame - cannot find it any more) where she dances and have heard she has toured a lot despite of her still very young age - anyone has seen her Aurora before?

Will try to report!

Friederike, thanks so much!!

This would be my dream, to see three different casts - plus the three Giselles I was hoping to see... Let's keep our fingers crossed that everyone will be fine!

Reinhard,

thanks for this information. I saw Alicia and Friedeman last year in Swan Lake and would love to see their Giselle and Albrecht. I have tickets for performances on 7 and 8 Feb, so I hope to catch at least 2 different casts...

Will you go on 4 Feb and/or 5 Feb? Would be very interested in your opinion!

Reinhard,

would you have any idea of casting? No information available yet on Stuttgart Ballet website, unfortunately...

PS: So sorry to hear Sue Jin Kang is not cast in "Endstation Sehnsucht"...

Would you have any additional cast info for Endstation Sehnsucht?

I heard that Maria Eichwald is supposed to dance in the ballet, but don't know any more details...

Keeping my fingers crossed for Sue Jin Kang, too - she's such a lovely actress!!

Last Friday Maria Eichwald was supposed to dance Juliet in Stuttgart for the first time. It's been a while since I saw her Juliet last time - and I would be very curious to hear how Stuttgart audience responded to her performance! Guess it's never easy to join a company as principal - but on the other hand, Maria has such a warmth and charm one can hardly be left untouched.

Wishing her every possible success!!

John Neumeier uses quite some bits of music that are not in any "common" Nutcracker recording.

For the barre pdd of Louise and Drosselmeyer, for example, it's an entr'acte taken from "Sleeping Beauty".

But there are more variations which I do not know - mostly interesting for me would be the little "gigue" Marie dances with Drosselmeyer - I heard that this is/was a piece for piano solo, but that's all I could find out.

Any more information (maybe also if there is any recording) would be greatly appreciated!

Glad to hear she gets the chance to perform this wonderful pdd at a gala!

To me she looks perfectly at home in the classical pieces - a natural way of dancing one doesn't see that often since ballet is not natural at all.

Good luck for your travel plans!

Doug, she's the one I had picked out at once when I first saw her in a school performance!

Plus she did a terriffic job in the German round for the European Young Dancers competition (sorry, don't know the exact name) when that was held in Munich some time ago - felt so sorry she did not win, but then it was only modern stuff the jury seemed to be after!

Hope you'll be able to see her live on stage soon!

A charming start into the new season

Marie (Maria Eichwald)

Apart from sparkling dancing as always Maria has improved her acting since the performances in 1999 and now is a true young girl, shy and unsure – just when she’s dancing it’s like a true dream. I love the moment when Drosselmeyer leads her on stage from the orchestra pit, when she holds tight the wooden nutcracker and is horrified when noticing the audience and realizing she only wears her nightgown, but then is convinced to try some dance steps – it’s like in a real dream where things like that don’t count.

Louise (Lucia Laccara)

Big stars require some changes… at the end of the barre pas de deux with Drosselmeyer, she did not bourré out backwards but stopped in a pose to get the applause… She has the ballerina attitude and nice lines, long limbs and lovely technique – still I haven’t warmed totally to her perfomance, sorry.

Drosselmeyer (Roman Lazik)

Well done! He’s not a very funny Drosselmeyer, but a dreamy one, someone who lives in his own world, the world of ballet and theatre – this Drosselmeyer has a dignity I found missing in some interpretations – almost reminded me a bit of Cranko! Lovely stage presence – with some other casts I had not realized how much he is on stage, but yesterday I did. Even the allegro sections looked easy – and I was totally amazed how well he danced with the great number of different female partners! I especially loved Chinese which he made look unbelievably easy, “throwing” his partner around and also her looking really light.

Günter (Cyril Pierre)

Was good. Oliver Wehe is still my all time favourite Günter, but Cyril Pierre was nice. Lovely grand jetés and nice acting – embarrassed when asked to dance with little Marie, abashed when found flirting with Louise by his friends.

Company

This was the first performance after summer break, so not all timings and details were in place, but it was nice to see some new faces – and I am sure the whole ballet will become fresher and more alive when everyone knows his/her place better.

Maria Eichwald is supposed to dance most performances, but now we are looking forward to the other cast, including Lisa-Maree Cullum as Louise, Alen Bottaini as Günter and Kirill Melnikov as Drosselmeyer!

When I checked the website www.bayerisches.staatsballett.de today, to my big surprise I found the company list updated, although with the header still reading 02/03 season.

Without any notice, Judith Turos has dissappeared - she did not dance throughout the last season due to injuries, but still I cannot imagine her being gone without any further note... Will post a note on the site's blackboard and see if anyone replies - or maybe we get a reply in this forum here?!

From the female soloists I don't see anyone up to being promoted - I don't know anything about neither Felicia Palanka nor Natalia Kalinitchenko yet, both new soloists, and although Sherelle Charge occasionally dance principal roles, I think she's more more at home in solo parts. Beate Vollack to me is no classical dancer at all, and with such a classical repertoire I don't think she's up to a principal.

Funny that for the first time, the male side of the company looks stronger

So finally Lacarra and Pierre stay with the Munich Ballet. What's the reaction of the Munich audience?

Well, we'll get an idea of that tonight, I suppose. Of my friends, feelings are a bit mixed - especially with ballets like Lady of the Camellias or Neumeier's "Summer Night's Dream" (yes, we do get a lot of Neumeier here...) to come - we are still not sure about her acting abilities.

With only one other "real" principal female dancer left (Lisa-Maree Cullum) from January onwards, quite frankly I have no idea how this company will cope with the work load, especially with ballets like Sleeping Beauty to come...

Reinhard, thanks for this information!

Company news are always interesting - and not always published "officially"!

Please keep on reporting what's going on in Stuttgart (so I know which performances are "worthwhile" travelling there from Munich!)

Tonight will be the first performance of Bavarian State Ballet's new season - starting fairly early with "Nutcracker". This is not as strange as it may seem since the production is the one by Neumeier, where Marie celebrates her 12th birthday and thus is not the typical Christmas tale.

Leads will be danced (if all are well) by

Marie - Maria Eichwald

Louise - Lucia Laccara (who has not left after all)

Günter - Cyril Pierre

Drosselmeyer - Roman Lazik

Will try to report tomorrow!

Betrande,

thanks so much for this hint - on Australian Ballet website I found some more information!

In a leaflet for 2003/2004 season in Munich I found to my surprise the names of two new female soloists:

Natalia Kalinitchenko

Felicia Palanka

They are not internal promotions but must come from other companies, but I haven't found any further information yet. Anyone to whom these names ring a bell??