JumpFrog

I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season. I finally got a chance to see the Nutcracker here and was totally mesmerized. I think years of seeing not so good versions had set my standards so low that seeing such a treat of a production you have here just blew my socks off! I loved it. Only thing lacking was that I didn't get to see the dancers I had hoped to. Oh well. I saw Lunina and McKie who really aren't my favorite at all. They both looked a little shaky in the grand pas - especially her solo and foetee turns from the corner but other than that the show was wonderful. I also noticed a bit of what others have about the battle scene and was wondering as watching it if it might have to do with the size of the stage. As in maybe the theatre it premiered in was different in measurements and so the sets might be somewhat squished now. Anyway it was just wonderful and the show I was at appeared to be completely sold out and very responsive. Interesting link posted above from the Art Gallery of Ontario volcanohunter thank you for sharing it. Vanstone seems remarkably down to earth which is refreshing. I heard she is a splendid SugarPlum. There seems to be a real connection between the ballet company and art gallery here. Is the art gallery the countries national one also? Happy New Year all!

So happy to see Karapetyan back. Also I have tended to assume that when dancers are scheduled for less performances than you would think it could be because they are working back from injury and don't want to take on too much too soon. But I suppose in this case yes its simply because they are guesting elsewhere. I'm also hoping for some debuts of new talent

I personally find it amazing when hearing of dancers continuing to dance when pregnant at any stage let alone perform something like Balanachine at four months. I suppose everyone's pregnancy is different but woah that's incredible

So volcanohunter just to be clear, I'm guessing you don't like the Nutcracker? I'm still so excited to see it here because now apart from you I've heard nothing but good things. Funny enough I heard from a dancer himself in the troupe here that Kudelka is one of the most musical people he's worked with. Gos to show you won't please everybody! I would love to see the film you mention. Is it viewable online?

It seemed for a little there I couldn't find anyone who actually went to the event but I enjoy reading this write up thank you Ms. Sum! http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2016/12/on-the-shoulders-of-giants.html

Thank you volcanohunter. I also admire Vanstone and Dronina from what I've seen. Lunkina and McKie I'm not so into but to each there own. I just find them kind of the same in everything. And I love versatility. I think your idea of seeing Dronina and Lobsonava in the same show is the best bet. Thank you!!

Thank you for your response Drew. Yes unfortunately sexism is still very prevalent through our society and many others you are right. Thank you for the link. What I found fascinating however was the timing. Here was this avalanche of criticism toward her and the Globe Mail paper and the only response was literally the complete deletion of the written complaints - followed by her linking to an article on sexism. I'm not convinced that from what I read at least that the people questioning her were based from there own sexism. It really is unfortunate that all the readers commentaty has been taken down because there were some very real issues raised including: her own potential bias, her past involvement in dance before writing, the ownership of the paper she works for and potential conflict of interest from it, as well as simply people who seemed to hate her writing. Now to be honest I think it's really easy to criticize anything and anyone especially today. And not all criticism is warranted or even helpful. I bet no matter who writes for any publication they will have people complain. So people that just don't like her writing I wouldn't put too much thought to. But if what was said other than that is true, the allegations that there is a direct conflict of interest to do with this national paper and the ballet company, well that's quite shocking.

Lol! ! Yes I suppose that would be reasonable but then why only for select comments? And other publications usually just close the chance to write new comments after a certain period while keeping those already written visible. Odd. I am officially starting to agree with what I've heard regarding some questionable goings on with this writer and paper. If you look at her twitter right now the latest is a link to an article about misogyny in journalism. She stated above it that to have an opinion while female requires a thick skin. Uh, I'm pretty sure people are not disliking you because you're a woman with an "opinion" Schabs ... people dislike you because they think you're shady and have alleged under the table motives lol. Too bad you didn't see all the commentary before it was removed volcanohunter. I would've been curious on your thoughts on them. People seem to have quite a lot of some pretty warranted issues with her. No doubt they'll come to light. Anyway Thank you for such a detailed cast update above. I'm excited for Nut. Any particular cast people recommend? After seeing her Giselle in the spring I'd love to see Lobsanova. I can't believe that's it's Nutcracker already. It feels like the ballet season just began here.

Wonderful links, thank you for sharing. I've always wondered about just how much time dancers actually spend in a gym considering how much physical activity they already have in the studio. Interesting to see Mathilde in this context.

Thank you mom2 for your writeup! I loved reading about it and am sad to have missed this cast. And I'm not familiar with the dancers you mention - perhaps they are injured? Or maybe there just isn't enough material right now to cast everyone? A delayed something regarding the Onegin performance I saw last week - have been out of town the last few days. As expected I absolutely loved it. I've seen the ballet many times but thoroughly enjoyed this company's rendition. I saw the Rodriguez/Stancyk cast and was pretty blown away. They had a fiery chemistry and I was particular taken by their dramatic portrayals. The Lensky was Frola who was technically impressive with a jump to die for. The Olga was Koyasu and she seemed very young and somewhat lacking in strength. She has a remarkably lightness and air to her dancing that was lovely however. The female corps particularly in the first act was all over the place and not quite together. All in all it was a wonderful show though. I enjoy the sets and costumes very much here, particularly Tatiana's red dress in the third act. On a separate note it appears the terrible series of reviews from the Globe Mail newspaper regarding the National Ballet from last week and week before are receiving quite a bit of attention. Apparently the online versions have a comment section, and after a large number of readers complained (about her really quite awful and unsubstantiated Cinderella review in particular) they took to commentating... questioning both Schabs integrity and potential conflicts of interest. Unfortunately they have all been taken down now except for one - and even IT questions why the writer had the previous commentary removed. Yikes ?

It looks like from the program notes it used to take place once every three or four years on average but since the current direction of the NBOC has taken over they do it very very often. I was surprised it didn't get more attention or coverage from press this time round but I suppose people lose interest when you do something a lot. I too wonder how the judging works and why this year it seems you are now allowed to nominate people more than once.

This makes me very happy. I saw her years ago in Paris when she was not yet promoted and was taken by her special quality. How wonderful she is now getting the opportunity to really be seen.

An unexpected visit from an out of town friend seemed like a great opportunity to go check out Cinderella once more. We saw last nights performance and even though we were quite high up I really appreciated the change of perspective as I was able to see patterns and aspects of the sets I wasn't before. I believe this was the cast you saw mom2 and after seeing it i can definitely appreciate your commentary even more. Young Emma Hawes is beautiful and has quite a special calmness to her if that makes sense. I would say I was even more impressed with Maddox though. He was clean and solid in his dancing and his natural presence and princely stature worked to his advantage here I felt. The two stepsisters were good but I definitely preferred the opening night cast I saw. Last night I found the height difference between Fisher and Mosher distracting. I feel like so much of there choreography together would work better if they were closer in height. I now understand exactly what you mean about the Mean Girls superficiality of Fisher. However I would say that to be fair the age difference betweeem the two casts i saw is substantial. I mean you have a literal character artist as the first cast and then a young up and coming soloist so of course they will be different with perhaps the older character artist being more let's say dramatically refined. So I would say give her time and hopefully trust that she is getting the artistic coaching necessary to learn to develop roles dramatically properly and she'll come along. I found the end of the first act as well as the officers to be a little off with this cast but am not sure if its maybe because there were some new people. It definitely seemed underrehearsed, again who knows how. . Did anyone else read the review of the show in the national paper? The Globe And Mail. It just seems really negative. It is (again) from this Schabs lady. I can't help but wonder why she dislike things here so much. Her writing makes it clear she doesn't like things for kids, she doesn't like things for families, she doesn't like current story ballets, she doesn't think classical ballets are new enough, she doesn't like the direction of this company or its programming of performances. She liked one thing only since I've been here and it wasn't even at the ballet it was at the art gallery. But she released multiple pieces on it lol. It just makes you wonder. I'd be curious to hear more about her background history and affiliations etc Hopefully see you all at Onegin. Can't wait. Is anyone seeing Lunkina? If so please report back if you can. We will be out of town and sad to miss it.

Just heard back from a friend who volunteers for ABT and the number quoted is apparently inclusive of the second company, galas, tours and "outreach performances/events". She didn't have the actual number. So that's why it probably seems high. I also am curious what there main stage performance numbers are. Also, volcanohunter thank you for your thoughtful responses. I enjoy reading your thoughts very much. I think all you've said above is so very true. Especially about adding two additional programs here at the NBOC . We would al jump for joy - I bet the dancers would too!!! There are just too many months of nothing during the year. And kbarber I know you said that the 15 performances isn't that much a difference but I think if you consider what could be done here with 15 additional it may be more substantial than you think. Alas we can dream!

It probably has to do with when they consider the beginning and end of their season and if they include tours/outreach programs/performance initiatives/ second companies / gala'etc. As for researching the companies you mention, no. Thanks though

American Ballet Theatre: 170 San Francisco Ballet: 100 New York City Ballet: 112 Canada's Ballet Jorgen: 120 ☺️

Unfortunately no kbarber Here are some numbers. Royal Ballet: 150 Paris Opera Ballet: 180 Australian Ballet: 250 (Melbourne + Sydney) Royal Danish Ballet: 115 San Francisco Ballet: 100 I don't know how to attach links but they are easily Google. I guess you're right if you want to compare to Houston. . .

Very well stated volcanohunter. I also thought Schab ignoring the Neumier, Robbins, Mcgregor was telling. In terms of balanced programming you are certainly right. They perform so little but somehow spend many shows with questionable choices and then sometimes few shows of something that deserve more. Really from what I tell and hear it seems like that the company here has over this last decade done really well financially; and some really talented dancers have been invited from around the world to join. But in terms of the art itself for example nurturing new generations of dancers, choreographers or even keeping the level of the current work being performed held high, it's . . lost something. Like mom2 said when you see things that are quite possibly under rehearsed you can't help but wonder "is that possible?". How could this company be under rehearsed? Anyway I never made the connection between the dancers being older here and the Blanche in ASND thing. That really makes sense. I guess you might as well use what you have. And I'm holding off on my Nutcracker and Swan Lake talk until I've actually seen them. As I mentioned before though the Nut here is I have been told from multiple people "the best in the world" it's hard not to be excited lol.

Who want to bet she'll suggest something in an art gallery ???

I think it's easy to complain. It's really easy to say what you don't want and why what is currently on offer just isn't good enough. But it's not helpful. She's got the complaining part down. Now let's hear from her exactly why Onegin, Swan Lake or Cinderella just aren't "exciting" enough. Let's hear some programming you think would thrill. Let's hear some names. Let's brainstorm on some programming that works. Let's actually move forward. Game on Schabi. Lol

Woah, I just read the article. Thx for sharing naomikage! This Martha lady seems bitter. What a negative writeup. Is this the same woman that wrote the mean-spirited review of LPP last season? And then followed it with an over the top positive one for the ballet in the painting hall project? If she is so displeased why doesn't she say what could be performed here that is currently missing from the repertory? How are classics not timeless? Should we just forget Shakespeare? How is her writing helpful? All she seems to reference is this Binet person. Or things already performed before like Cacti. Why? Is she the only writer for this paper? So many questions for this sad, sad lady.

I also thought it was interesting mom2. Im surprised not more people are talking about it as when there have been leadership shifts in other company's i follow it has always been a topic of interest. I think you are probably right that it is merely carving out more opportunity and or clarity for present people and their roles are in the company. Plus from their website it appears they already have five ballet masters. For a company this size and who performs so little I can't image why they need so many. I would be shocked if they felt a need to add even more and make it six even if there role is assistant AD because it reads like the role is also ballet master. Another addition would suggest someone isn't doing their job. Or maybe they just really really need a ton of people to get ballets on stage here lol. Edit: I have just been corrected that there are already actually 6 ballet master's as there is one "assistant ballet mistress" Lorna Geddes a longtime member of the company as well. So an additional one and or assistant AD would bring the total to seven. And that doesn't include a director. ?

I absolutely loved Cinderella last night. Was anyone else there? What a magical performance. This is the best version of the ballet that i have personally seen and I have now seen a few. Reflecting on it today I came to realize that I think what makes it so special is that all pieces come together. Sometimes with shows there is a feeling of liking the movement but not the music or the costumes but not the sets etc but somehow I felt that this show got it right on each. The design is so beautiful and the choreography so smart and of course the music is so special also. All the pieces came together for me and it made for such an enjoyable experience. Yes it does appear as referenced earlier in this thread that this company is older or at least consisting of more senior people. That was definitely noticeable but somehow I felt like everything else was so good I forgot about it pretty quickly. Maybe with the new assistant artistic director coming in there will be some new energy injected into the mix instead of the same old same old and with great roles like the ones in this version it will be exciting to see new talent develop.

http://national.ballet.ca/Meet/Join-Our-Team/Career-Opportunities/Job-Postings/Associate-Artistic-Director

I definitely agree with the objections stated above. As a pretty avid ballet go-er I don't think I have ever seen a company give one show only to the degree that they give them to dancers here. First of all, think of the work involved in preparing a role like this!! And then to have it be over like that? Also, it's not like they could look forward to other shows or stay busy with something else because there is nothing else!!! Next month November will be the premier of this season! The only way to stay busy would be to guest because honestly what else are you going to do? Another that springed to mind when reading this casting was how the Olga's are "to be announced". What? Seriously? Are you for real? What have you been doing all these months? How do you not even know the casting? Honestly mind boggling. The issue of booking Lunkina on the same day as her cinema screening is just lazy planning and they'll disappoint many because of it. Across the board I have to agree with you all as said above, this is just bad artistic management. Also is it normal to "celebrate" so many "anniversaries" here? Is this a thing? Or do they think it makes people buy tickets? There seem to be so many who have been here for a century decade lol.