Xiaoyi

Congratulations on the promotions! Sadly, I guess she will not stay on the roster for more than three seasons, as she said “I want to get out of North America and dance with every major company in the world. “ https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2022/06/10/interview-talking-karen-kain-two-dancers-highly-anticipated-swan-lake/

Maria Kotchetkova was sweet and gentle as Odette, a similar approach as Jurgita Dronina. She had great musicality and footwork to make up for the disadvantage of short lines. I found Maria's sweetness did not make ACT II sophisticated enough. (I preferred Lunkina's performance which was multilayered with sadness, attraction, fear and love.) Siphesihle November's natural acting also pulled her leg. However, ACT IV was good since the sadness was more dominant in this part. The highlight was her Black Swan pdd, as expected. She was enchanting with quick and clear footwork. She had the fastest variation and coda which excited the whole audience. Brilliant foettes with little movement on pointe. I hope Maria can guest more at NBoC in the future, like in Romeo & Juliet.

I went to the first two performances. I hated ACT III which was messy and vulgar both in choreography and design. The choreography of ACT IV did not respond to the music properly so it fell flat. I remember the goose bumps from the same music with Balanchine's choreography at the end. However, ACT I was okay. Although I could not tell who is who at first, the pattern was pretty and playful. ACT II was traditional overall. NBC corps did not look its best dancing white swans, as expected. Although I was disappointed after the premiere night danced by Dronina and James, the second performance by Lunkina and Saye was breathtaking. I gave up much on the corps with a side seat and focused on the main pdds. Lunkina made the story real with layered acting and effortless steps. At least the new choreography did not mess up the main pdds too much. I will go back for more NBC's Swan Lakes if the cast interests me.

Maxwell was fantastic, sharp and sexy. The audience loved her too. Chan was amazing too. I was not a big fan of The Cage from watching recordings. However, the dark power captivated me in live theater.

I take the two mixed-bill as reflection of Hope Muir's tastes. The other four programmes are all planned by Karen Kain, for cancelled 2020-21 Season ( (MADDADDAM, Cincerella, Frame by Frame) or cut short 2019-20 Season (R&J).

The Leo House https://leohousenyc.com/

National Ballet of Canada has cancelled two Nutcracker performances today: Please note, today's performances of The Nutcracker on December 21 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm are cancelled. Please check your inbox for further information about your options or click here and login to your account and select Ticket Options. We apologize for the short notice.

official announcement of 2021-22 Season https://national.ballet.ca/Tickets/Next-Season?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2122SeasonAnnouncement%26Promotions-BN%26SUBS&utm_content=version_A&cluid=827748&sourceNumber=57923 Sharing the Stage A Residency at Harbourfront Centre August 9 – 29, 2021 Angels' Atlas & Serenade November 11 — 21, 2021 The Nutcracker Performance schedule to be announced. A Streetcar Named Desire March 2 — 6, 2022 The Sleeping Beauty March 11 — 20, 2022 Elite Syncopations with New Work by Alysa Pires & New Work by Siphesihle November & After the Rain March 23 — 27, 2022 Swan Lake June 10 — 26, 2022

Some say that Bolshoi was considering Yulia Stepanova as Odette/Odile (who paired with Artem Ovcharenko in Swan Lake in the last two years). But out of uncertain reason, she went out of the game. So they got a different pair instead of filling in Nikulina or Krysanova with proper height to pair up with Ovcharenko.

https://national.ballet.ca/Tickets/Next-Season On Tour: London, UK July 28 – August 1, 2020 San Francisco Ballet November 11 — 15, 2020 Helgi Tomasson’s world-renowned San Francisco Ballet makes its Toronto debut this fall when it opens The National Ballet of Canada’s 2020/21 season. With this historic guest appearance, Toronto audiences will experience three acclaimed works from San Francisco Ballet’s recent repertoire, all from influential choreographers of today. Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes by Justin Peck Bound To by Christopher Wheeldon The Seasons by Alexei Ratmansky MADDADDAM November 21 — 29, 2020 This season, Wayne McGregor, the multi-award winning choreographer of Chroma and Genus, joins forces with one of the world’s greatest living writers, Margaret Atwood, to create a thrilling new ballet triptych for The National Ballet of Canada. MADDADDAM is based on Atwood’s acclaimed novel trilogy, Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam. Themes of extinction and invention, hubris and humanity are spliced together with aspects of Atwood's activism and her deep connection to the Canadian landscape, past and present. The Nutcracker December 10, 2020 — January 2, 2021 On Tour: Ottawa National Arts Centre January 4 — 6, 2021 A Streetcar Named Desire March 3 — 7, 2021 Swan Lake March 13 — 20, 2021 Frame by Frame March 24 — 28, 2021 Victoria June 5 — 12, 2021 Victoria turns the spotlight on a towering figure from Britain’s monarchical past, Queen Victoria, with fresh choreographic language from a rising star in contemporary narrative ballet, Cathy Marston. A first ever co-production with England’s Northern Ballet, Victoria presents the Queen through the eyes of her youngest child, closest confidante and posthumous editor of her personal journals, Princess Beatrice. The result is a sweeping production that weaves the mother/daughter relationship into the story of Queen Victoria’s long and glorious reign. Balanchine & Tchaikovsky June 18 — 24, 2021 George Balanchine set some of his most beautiful and compelling works to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, returning to the composer many times throughout his career. This programme revives three Balanchine ballets from The National Ballet of Canada repertoire set to Tchaikovsky, each a radiant visualization of music in movement. Serenade Mozartiana Diamonds - from Jewels

According to Victor Hochhauser's website https://victorhochhauser.co.uk/page/repertoires.php Principal Dancers include Elena Lobsanova Heather Ogden Jillian Vanstone Guillaume Côté Naoya Ebe Harrison James Brendan Saye (Subject to alteration) If there is any hope of Svetlana Lunkina, they would have put her in the list.

Since Royal Ballet has so many great Auroras, the regular ROH audience might not bother with NBC (I heard that they do not care for Mariinsky or Bolshoi). I guess the target audience for NBC in summer is the tourists.

Totally agree. Svetlana Lunkina is superb. Finger crossed for London audience.

Rehearsal Casting for Washington DC in January, 2020: Princess Aurora: [Dronina] / Hawes / Lobsanova / [MacDonald] / Ogden / Vanstone ([ ] means possible) Prince Florimund: Cote/ Ebe / Frola / James / Saye London casting will not be far from this. I have not watched NBC's Sleeping Beauty. From my experience of watching NBC, Vanstone / Frola is the best.

Although this is amazing impressive technique, I found it quite unnecessary if the ballerina struggles too long for it, like the second one Tereshkina did. It broke the emotion of the variation which is so important to this particular one.

Casting for Giselle: Giselle Svetlana Lunkina (November 6 at 7:30 pm/November 9 at 2:00 pm) Elena Lobsanova (November 7 at 2:00 pm) Heather Ogden* (November 7 at 7:30 pm) Sonia Rodriguez (November 8 at 7:30 pm) Greta Hodgkinson (November 9 at 7:30 pm) Jillian Vanstone (November 10 at 2:00 pm) Albrecht Harrison James (November 6 at 7:30 pm/November 9 at 2:00 pm) Naoya Ebe (November 7 at 2:00 pm) Brendan Saye* (November 7 at 7:30 pm) Francesco Gabriele Frola (November 8 at 7:30 pm/November 10 at 2:00 pm) Guillaume Côté (November 9 at 7:30 pm) Hilarion Piotr Stanczyk (November 6, 7, 9 at 7:30 pm/November 9 at 2:00 pm) Skylar Campbell (November 7, 10 at 2:00 pm/November 8 at 7:30 pm) Queen of the Wilis Heather Ogden (November 6, 9 at 7:30 pm) Chelsy Meiss* (November 7 at 2:00 pm) Hannah Fischer (November 7 at 7:30 pm/November 9 at 2:00 pm) Jenna Savella* (November 8 at 7:30 pm/November 10 at 2:00 pm) * Debut Casting for Orpheus Alive & Chaconne Orpheus Alive Orpheus Jenna Savella (November 15, 20 at 7:30 pm) Heather Ogden (November 16 at 2:00 pm/November 21 at 7:30 pm) Hannah Fischer (November 16 at 7:30 pm/November 17 at 2:00 pm) Eurydice Spencer Hack (November 15, 20 at 7:30 pm) Harrison James (November 16 at 2:00 pm/November 21 at 7:30 pm) Brendan Saye (November 16 at 7:30 pm/November 17 at 2:00 pm) Eurydice’s Mother Sonia Rodriguez (November 15, 21 at 7:30 pm/November 16 at 2:00 pm) Tanya Howard (November 16, 20 at 7:30 pm/November 17 at 2:00 pm) Chaconne Heather Ogden and Harrison James (November 15, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 17 at 2:00 pm) Koto Ishihara and Naoya Ebe (November 16 at 2:00 pm/November 21 at 7:30 pm) Heather Ogden and Brendan Saye (November 20 at 7:30 pm)

He is good in solo technique (which declined a bit after his recent injury. His golden idol was more impressive in 2015 than Costa Mesa tour two weeks ago). However, I have to say, he not good at partnering and acting. If you can find his video clips with Anastasia Lukina, his disadvantages were obvious. Lukina nearly fell off his arms in Act II and he knocked her off pointe in Act III. He jumped around like a kid to accept the applause after Act III variation when he was supposed to keep the royal charm of his character.

I totally understand the situation of individual dancers. However, in a situation like this, when both advertised artists cannot show up, the organizer BiletRu. Us should inform the audience in advance and give the option of refund. It is not a casting change of Mariinsky Ballet, when you can see another high level Mariinsky dancer instead of another.

Don’t go if you have not bought tickets. Think again even you have bought them. Just came back from Toronto performance. The worst ballet GALA I have ever seen. No Igor Kolb, No Aleksandra Iosifidi. No printed program. The only dancer I could recognize is Vitaly Biktimirov, first soloist of Bolshoi. The other half besides Carmen include Russian Dance, Raymonda dream scene, Harlequinade, Dying Swan, Don Quixote pdd. Almost all lousily performed.

I watched it yesterday in the cinema. I found Olga did not respond to the music well in Act I, especially in her multiple variations. At first, I thought it might be the broadcasting problem. But her previous video clips on Youtube show the same problem. It turned better for Act II and III. I love her Grand Pas with nobility and femininity. The overall arrangement of Act I was so boring. Fortunately, Igor Tsvirko spiced it up in Act II. Elizaveta Kokoreva, a new graduate of Moscow State Academy of Choreography, was very lovely in Grand Pas Variation.

I saw Ishihara today at the company class for Canada Culture Day. She was so impressive with superb technique and beautiful lines. I cannot wait to see her live in peasant PDD in Giselle.

I want to give a different recommendation on Somova. She is THE best Aurora in Mariinsky IMHO. Super beautiful and sweet with great technique and musicality. Her weakness in arms is not obvious in Sleeping Beauty. She was cast in dvd and online broadcast. I have to agree with Fateev on these decisions although disagreeing on many others. Askerov may not look so handsome as Parish but his technique is no worse. You can check out her and Novikova's video online as other fans to find out your own preference.

According to the podcast interview, she will be back to studio in September or October. She will probably miss the fall season.

This website might help with real seat photos with audience in the front to feel the rake. https://aviewfrommyseat.com/venue/segerstrom+hall/