Drew

5 hours ago, California said:

Recently on this site, people noticed that the choreographer's name for some of Ratmansky's work had been omitted in Bolshoi performances.

Looks like he is being obliterated for Giselle, too!

Yes, Ratmansky’s name has been removed from certain ballets, but that is not what I was basing my comment on. I was basing it on the video I saw. They are dancing Grigorovich’s production of Giselle.

Edited to add: it is far from Grigorovich's worst production.

39 minutes ago, California said:

Is the Bolshoi using the Ratmansky reconstruction we saw in the movie theaters in January 2020? That's the version the United Ukrainian Ballet showed in London in September 2022 and presumably will show again at the Kennedy Center February 1-5. It's interesting to think through the rights to this and we don't know what was in Ratmansky's contract with Bolshoi for this. In the publicity for London, they said he was developing a special version for the Ukrainians, but to my untrained eye, it looked like the January 2020 reconstruction. Key give-aways: the inclusion of the Wilis Fugue, the expansive mime, the return of Bathilde at the end, the earth swallowing Giselle at the end.

The excerpts I've seen all look to me as if they come from Grigorovich's production. 

Kokoreva and Sevenard also made debuts as well as Sergeyenkova.  I'm trying to pace myself watching video excerpts that have been posted of all these debuts.  At this point, I've only watched video bits of Sergeyenkova and a few seconds of Kokoreva (Giselle's Act II opening) but not enough of either to say much. Though anyone can see Sergeyenkova is a "no-go" zone for people who dislike extremely high extensions in Giselle.

I did watch and very much enjoyed  video of Sevenard's dancing throughout Act I and a bit of Act II.  Her classical simplicity gives her Act I a very natural quality.  I thought she was lovely and would be more than delighted to see her Giselle in the theater.

Thanks for the report on ENB -- I was especially pleased to read about Brooklyn Mack --

Very sad on reading this news--but she had a great, accomplished, long life making strong contributions to American ballet. I saw her as a child (my memory says Etudes) and also have vivid memories of a family member discussing a performance I did not see (unfortunately) of Swan Lake--apparently it was a rip-roaringly exciting night--one of those you-had-to-there evenings--and Royes Fernandez, too, danced at the very top of his game. (Actually my family member thought he was over the top of his game of his game that night, dancing the best she had ever seen him by some measure. But mostly she was raving about Serrano.)

May she rest in peace.

1 hour ago, BalanchineFan said:

 

It's nice to see that others remember Davidsbundlertanze fondly. My guess, sadly, is that they'll bring Liebeslieder back before they do Davidsbundlertanze again, but I hoe they don't wait too long. They should do the Schuman while Farrell and/or Watts can coach it.

Another vote for Davidsbündlertänze -- a beautiful, very moving ballet. I actually find it flawed too -- flawed because it almost seems overly personal or lachrymose at times. The shadowy "critics" are kind of kitschy as theater (and Schumann went mad from syphilis not mean reviews). But still a masterpiece --  with nothing else like it in the Balanchine repertory notwithstanding some similarities to Liebeslieder. Its complexity and even its rather peculiar (for Balanchine) tone seem to me very much reasons for NYCB to keep doing it. And yes, please, while Farrell and Watts and others are still around to coach it or otherwise offer advice.

Regarding what @Heleneand @vipa said about older audiences being replaced by 'younger' older audiences--more than by young audiences--I have a corroborating anecdote.  (Apologies to anyone who read it when I first posted about it): I was at the Met opera for Trovatore a few years ago and  found myself sitting next to an elderly woman who had come in from out of town as part of a visit organized by the Met for legacy donors. She told me she and her husband had become opera goers & fans only post retirement. I assume they knew something about opera before then, but basically, she had made a very deliberate decision once retired that she and her husband needed a focus for their energies and became interested in opera--traveling to see performances and becoming dedicated fans and donors to the Met. 

Of course, arts organizations need to do outreach to younger audiences--and making cheap tickets available to select performances etc. is a great idea as well as other kinds of outreach at schools etc. (which the major companies do). It's great for the sake of all involved and great to plant seeds for later moments in life--but it does not surprise me that research suggests that it is 'younger' old audiences who mostly replace the dying older audiences. They are the ones who have not just money but time. 

And, whether that's right or wrong-- yes to publicizing and advertising DANCING! I did meet a young woman in her 20s excited by the video posted some years ago of Justin Peck and Robert Fairchild in the NY Subway...where they were dancing.  (That was to publicize The Times are Racing.)

12 hours ago, On Pointe said:

 

If you want to attract new audiences to ballet you have to show them ballet dancers dancing in your advertising,   not flowers,  not dancers walking outdoors in street clothes.  People actually like dancing - two of the biggest current pop culture hits,  Wednesday and M3gan, 

 

I've only read about the Ratmansky Swan Lake -- and seen some video -- but I'm puzzled by the enthusiasm for bringing it to NYCB -- perhaps those who have seen it can say more. My issue is that I can't picture their dancers and, honestly, don't want to picture them, adapting to an aesthetic based on capturing nineteenth-century norms of ballet dancing and pantomime (at least as Ratmansky interprets those norms and as necessarily adapted in some ways). He may be giving up on enforcing his approach as strictly as he used to--something he said in an interview a few years ago, alluding to the amount of rehearsal time that his approach requires, suggests that he is less insistent on it than he used to be...But still, wasn't the whole premise of that production a return to Petipa/Ivanov as very much nineteenth-century choreographers?

Personally, I have mixed feelings about NYCB dancing a full length Swan Lake, even if I accept that they need box office, and I respected Martins for bringing a major 20th-century artist to design his version and trying to bridge tradition with the company's neo-classical aesthetic. I didn't love Martins' production--I didn't even much like it in some sections--but I still kind of respected what I thought he was trying to do. It made sense to me at THIS company.

I do love and admire Ratmansky's work: I am hugely thrilled and just plain relieved he will continue to have New York as a base of operations, even if my own traveling days have been curtailed. And while I've always been an outlier on Concerto DSCH (even on repeated viewing I find it frantic and the playful competition moments don't speak to me) and while I also have a lot good to say about his work for ABT (which I think people dismiss too quickly), still I remember my pleasure in seeing Russian Seasons for the first time and then...Namouna!!! I was overwhelmed with delight....And he has gone on, as everyone has written, to do more great work with the company. So yay! Even if I'm not voting for his Swan Lake at NYCB. (At a different company, well....that would be different.)

Plus a big yes to this:

10 hours ago, abatt said:

NYCB has been hiring a lot of modern dance choreographers who have limited knowledge and understanding of ballet.   [...]  Even if you don't care for some of Ratmansky's works, at least they will utilize the ballet idiom in a sophisticated manner.   

 

2 hours ago, California said:

 

Is NYCB a Giselle kind of company?

I have to think NYCB is hoping for more new work, not reconstructions seen elsewhere.

I hope the answer  to the first question remains NO.  (Perhaps you meant it rhetorically anyway....)

And I hope your second remark is indeed the case--I imagine it is!

Hi @dec.lilinyc --welcome to Ballet Alert and happy new year. I think you will probably get your wish about the dancers you have mentioned. For my taste, video suggests that Sevenard seems to be developing very beautifully too. But there is a special section on Ballet Alert devoted to to talking about the Bolshoi and you are likelier to get responses if you post your query there as that is where Bolshoi fans are likeliest to read and post. (Probably there is less posting than in the past due to the war and lack of touring.) If you go to the home page and scroll down, then you will see a menu item for European ballet companies and if you click on that you will see a Bolshoi ballet category with many threads. You can start a discussion there or join a previous discussion.

I thought this story in Pointe Magazine belonged under "News and Issues" rather than "Atlanta Ballet;" It's an article on Atlanta Ballet's decision to get rid of its "apprentice" program --it is keeping Atlanta Ballet II. 

"Apprentice programs are easy on company budgets, but are hard on young dancers eager to prove themselves. Atlanta Ballet dancer Ashley Wegmann, who is one of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) delegates for Atlanta Ballet company dancers, says that apprentices without outside financial support usually work second jobs and triple up in apartments to make ends meet."

https://pointemagazine.com/atlanta-ballet-strikes-apprentice-program-in-move-toward-pay-equity/

24 minutes ago, cobweb said:

.. and since we're dreaming about casting, I know this will never happen, but Ashley Laracey in 2nd movement, Symphony in C.

Even if it happened I probably wouldn't get to see it. But I hope it happens....

I enjoyed being able to see Alizade in the National Ballet of Poland's Giselle -- recently broadcast. (Wasn't able to watch the whole thing but enjoyed what I did see.)

This sounds like a piece of very good news...

I saw the Ratmansky Don Q on video and loved it. Another selling point for ABT trying to appeal to a wide audience might be that it is not committed to 19th-century performance styles...and it is a thrilling bravura evening for a contemporary audience. But  the Dutch National Ballet production I would most like ABT to get is their Raymonda which has traditional choreography but jettisons the most problematic parts of the "Crusades" story line by drawing out an element in the story that can be seen as potentially implicit in the original anyway. (Not implicit in its creators' intentions, but in the way that the story plays in the theater. Most of us are pretty ho-hum about Jean de Brienne--but an exciting Abderrakhman?)

When it comes to ABT, I have long been team Ratmansky, but I can't say I'm convinced his Swan Lake is the best choice for them. 

Presumably money as well as legal rights will dictate many of the decisions to be made.

2 hours ago, Papagena said:

Very true. For full/half lengths, his Sleeping Beauty and Firebird seemed to be the only pieces with staying power.


 

I expect Shostakovich Trilogy will have staying power, if not at ABT then at other companies -- other companies already perform it. (I think the Piano Concerto no 1 on its own works very well. Possibly a case can be made for the other acts as stand alone ballets.)

For my taste, Whipped Cream is another full length that deserves a long term place in the repertory. (I haven't seen Of Love and Rage.)

Was very sorry to learn this news....not least because Ratmansky's choreography and interests are so intimately bound up with a deep knowledge and love of classical ballet.  I think it's a terrible loss for the company and depending on what he does next could be a loss for the larger American Ballet landscape.

I do agree that ABT should not rush to "fill" the position and would love to see them hire more coaches....

(I always thought the backlash against guest artists that @abattmentions was excessive, but they could use guest artists who will appear with the company with some regularity not just one-shot wonders.)

2 hours ago, Balletwannabe said:

I'm referring to cancel culture as a new phenomenon, where instead of a proper (private) review process of behavior that might end in a firing, the public has become the judge & jury and companies unfortunately let them decide more often than not.  I think it's awful, but as I said, it's not going anywhere.  

One reason for the problems we have now is that the "instead of" you mention was not a consistent reality by any means. "Proper private review"processes," all too often were derelict in workplaces even, or especially, when they were needed.  What we are discussing as "cancel culture" didn't replace a system that was working just fine. 

(This is not a comment on NYCB or Waterbury and Finlay. But a general comment.)

16 hours ago, Anthony_NYC said:

There's an interview with Jennifer Homans in The Nation.

Didn't know about this -- thank you.

May she rest in peace...

2 hours ago, AB'sMom said:

I bought tickets for Swan Lake since I’ll be in Amsterdam this spring, but have no idea yet of the casting. Weekend performances are already selling out. Fingers crossed I get to see Olga Smirnova.

Whoever you see, it would be gread to read about. (They have several wonderful ballerinas--but yes, I hope you get to see Smirnova.)

15 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

A video report on Laura Fernandez in Tbilisi from Canada's CTV News, including rehearsal footage and tiny performance clips of Giselle.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2572415

Very interesting story -- thank you.

On 11/25/2022 at 6:00 PM, Buddy said:

“Olga Smirnova - Dance Europe Dancer of the Year” — Congratulations !

(Thanks to Annamk at BalletcoForum)

Another lovely variation. It would be interesting to see the production (I don’t know if Rojo will try to bring it to San Francisco) —I had a mixed reaction to what I read about it, but I would certainly be very happy to see it in the theater.

Thank you for posting this and thank you @doug for further information.

When I saw ENB live a few years ago in Sleeping Beauty Conway was hands down my favorite of the featured dancers in secondary roles -- she was in the corps de ballet at the time, very new to the company. And I loved this Henriette variation and loved her performance!

7 hours ago, YouOverThere said:

 I felt like for some scenes the mood of the music didn't fit the mood of that particular part of the story.

Thank you for the report on this production. If I were in D.C. then I would definitely have tried to see it.

I LOVE Prokofiev's music for Cinderella, but the whole score kind of strikes me the way you describe feeling at this production. In other productions (that I have seen), I often feel the mood of the music doesn't "fit" the story I'm watching). The edge of melancholy and even cruelty is too strong.

In Ratmansky's version, Cinderella appears to be having some kind of PTSD episode in the middle of her romantic pas de deux with the Prince at the end....The first time I saw Ratmansky's verstion, I remember thinking that  however oddly that episode sits in a "fairy tale" ending (and as part of the ballet's final pas de deux), it does correspond to the agitation of the music at that moment. I do realize that today's choreographers are not trying to tell the traditional story or channel The Sleeping Beauty the way, say, Ashton does--but the mood of the score sometimes still seems a bit strange to me.

(I know that that the fairy tale Cinderella' story has sad elements, but they are sad elements in a fairy tale; the story is not an explicit exploration of the psychological impact of losing your mother too young.)