canbelto

Scottish Ballet:

For those who wondered about Sam, who suffered that debilitating foot injury in the middle of the series: he's been accepted to Brown University. https://www.instagram.com/p/CI9YBQ2gmZj/

I think some of the lesser performed Balanchine ballets suffer from the fact that the choreographer was so prolific and efficient. There are so many great, non-problematic Balanchine ballets for companies to choose from. In fact Merrill Ashley in her recent interview with Megan Fairchild lamented how Ballade has become sort of a lost Balanchine ballet as performances become rarer. Merrill says companies ask for Ballo della Regina and she wants to advocate for Ballade. I do think that Bugaku could benefit from a Very Special Presentation -- a one and done affair, with Allegra and Eddie coaching the roles, and then a digital video performance, and a discussion on yellow-face afterwards. Or it could be presented in a festival of Lost Balanchine Ballets. We could see Bugaku with Figure on the Carpet, the original 1945 Mozartiana, Caracole, The Card Game ... One can wish.

Ballet Collective's streaming right now:

I think it will be a "special event" that only subscribers will get tickets to but they're holding off on selling.

I actually shed tears at the second episode -- the Nutcracker casting. Such dedication on the part of kids so young, and their parents too.

Birmingham Royal Ballet streaming their Nutcracker: https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-nutcracker-at-the-rep-online

I'm watching it now. Love it,.

Tiler Peck danced the SPF variation on CBS this morning: https://fb.watch/2rqP8aXR-8/

Here is the Brooklyn Ballet's Nutcracker:

Ballet Memphis streamed excerpts:

St. Louis Ballet is also streaming their Nutcracker:

The Cavalier variation appears to be the one originally choreographed for Nicholas Magallanes:

The Merrill Ashley interview was wonderful. Loved her reminisces about the Bolshoi. Also about her relationship with Balanchine, and how she found out she was promoted (a pay raise). I think this interview is different because Merrill was sort of Meghan's mentor so there's this respect there and the interview doesn't wander off into tangents. I was also interested in Merrill's reminisces about how she never got to do the "easy" ballets like Serenade or Concerto Barocco. Merrill is so intelligent and has so much to offer that I hope she flies up for coaching even though she now lives in Florida.

It's really interesting that the Royal Danish version of the Balanchine Nutcracker restores the Cavalier's solo and puts the SPF solo back in the grand pas de deux after the Cavalier solo.

I really enjoy Billy Elliot. I think that counts as a ballet film right?

That documentary was not flattering to the Reagans' legacy on AIDS and racial equality.

Maria K suffered a knee injury in spring 2019 and after that wasn't the same. I remember her Diamonds in fall 2019 being rather careful. She reinjured herself midway through the Nutcracker season. This performance seems danced rather gingerly.

Send me a PM if you want to get around the geo-block.

There's a VPN blocker that allows you to get around the geo-block. I use expressvpn.

Of course ABT streamed their grand pas de deux:

NYCB is streaming their Nutcracker for $25 on Marquee TV. https://www.nycballet.com/season-and-tickets/george-balanchines-the-nutcracker-streaming-2020/ RDB is streaming theirs (also Mr. B's Nutcracker): https://kglteater.dk/xtra/forestillinger/forestilling-noddeknakkeren?section=37309 PNB is streaming their version (ALSO Mr B's Nut): https://www.pnb.org/nutcracker/ And finally PABallet is streaming their Nut (ALSO Mr. B's Nut): https://paballet.org/nutcracker/ Ballet AZ is streaming theirs today for 24 hours and on Dec 19. It's a socially distanced shortened version. https://balletaz.org/performance/nutcracker-suite-digital-performance/

The RDB is also streaming Mr. B's Nutcracker: https://kglteater.dk/xtra/forestillinger/forestilling-noddeknakkeren/?section=37308

Well I saw the Nutcracker on Marquee. I saw four other Nutcrackers last season and honestly, they were all better performances overall than the one that is streaming. Maria Kowroski has a gorgeous arabesque and many lovely moments but overall the celesta variation seemed wooden and the grand adagio very careful. Megan Fairchild was lovely as Dewdrop, but last year I thought Indiana Woodward and Emilie Gerrity were just as good. The four SPF's I saw (Sterling Hyltin, Tiler Peck, Lauren Lovette and Tess Reichlen) were all lovely -- regal, gracious, but faster and more dynamic than Maria K. Don't get me wrong there's lovely things about Maria's SPF but the effort was very visible. I really enjoyed all the divertissements. Georgina Pazcoguin's Coffee and Lauren King's Marzipan were wonderful.

Not streaming but Katie Williams uploaded the Winter section of Ratmanskys The Seasons. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CIiuStSjIE8/?igshid=i9bjvbofkjrz