Drew

Someone asymptomatic is still contagious for some portion of time. And anyone who catches Covid from that person will not necessarily also be asymptomatic ... Of course all kinds of things could be driving the casting changes.

Big news--and shows, too, Boal is thinking about the future--congratulations to Kiyon Ross.

If one is waiting for “clean hands” money to support the performing arts, then one will be waiting a loooooong time. And State funding doesn’t solve the problem. Some private patrons, like some governments, may be worse or even much worse than others but the sources of that kind of wealth are all pretty bad, and many of them horrible....and going back millenia. I am not saying one can’t make distinctions, but I find many of those distinctions to be artificial. I may SAY “New York State Theater” on this website where almost everyone knows what I am talking about....but like it or not that theater (renamed the David Koch Theater) is now a monument to a man I loathe whose influence on the U.S. (and world) has been pernicious. As for where the money goes for some of these galas that are not attached to any company or high profile institutions, rumors abound and....nothing edifying. (To be clear: I have never heard rumors about the Nureyev gala specifically.)

Thank you for links. Marina Harss's NYTimes article also spoke about the important role of Igone de Jongh, and I thought it was one of the better pieces on this company and its efforts. In Harss's article, I liked the bit about Ratmansky trying to work with dancers in Ukrainian and having to switch to Russian because he was making so many mistakes the dancers were laughing. (I can't imagine there is ordinarily much laughing at Ratmansky going on during rehearsals!) Maybe once live performances are done, they might consider streaming a recording as some kind of fundraiser. I would pay for that....with whatever cast.

I had read a few days ago that Xander Parish would be dancing Albrecht with Norwegian National Ballet, but now it's official that he is joining the company: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch2vNBep7eZ/ Edited to add: I posted this but had not realized that @naomikagealready mentioned it in a longer discussion of the current Mariinsky season. I'll leave my post in case anyone else missed that discussion and because Parish's Instagram video announcing the move is rather touching. I'm also happy to celebrate the Norwegian National Ballet on its own thread.

Thank you for the information about the article and link....

This article on Kretzschmar appeared a couple of months ago--it mentions in passing a number of foot and toe injuries and talks a lot about her dance-related projects in outreach, teaching, and choreography. I hope she goes on to a great future: https://christiansforsocialaction.org/resource/waymakers-claire-k/

Very sorry to read this....

For me, the gala in Crimea is hard to see as no more than ballet-business as usual. As anyone reading this website likely knows, Crimea was annexed by Putin's regime just 8 years ago. Dancers can't participate there in a gala without de facto supporting his policies toward Ukraine--policies which include concrete plans for the arts in Crimea; they can't do so especially when Russia is in the middle of a war (or, if you prefer, "special Military operation") against the rest of Ukraine. To dance there is actively to help support Putin's plans whatever one's personal feelings about the matter. I don't know the pressures the dancers are under -- and anyway I do NOT expect most Russian artists either to see Putin as a villain OR to fall on their swords if they do. (All over the world most people live out some ideological contradictions in their lives.) But dancing at a gala in Crimea at the present time can't help but be bound up with Putin's policies these days. (And Taras Bulba? an excerpt from a ballet based on a Russian novel about Cossack warriors for Ukrainian freedom? That's some choice whoever picked it.)

Lankedem as mercenary/vicious Jew -- sort of a ballet Fagin -- most certainly did make it into the Ratmansky Burlaka staging. I saw it in London shortly after its premier. Gennadi Yanin performed it brilliantly and it made me quite queasy. I agree that the Ratmansky/Burlaka Jardin Animé makes for a very full, splended spectacle.

Sad to read this afternoon that Star Trek's first communications officer Nichelle Nichols passed away yesterday; The best known story about Nichols still seems worth repeating. At an NAACP function she met Martin Luther King who was a fan of the show. She told him about her plans to leave after the first season. He told her not to--what she was doing was too important....too groundbreaking: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/01/entertainment/nichelle-nichols-tributes/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0SFFsAx_8Ll21vYOij2B-xKF1ggl5BZOOSYfsBA-04tZ1XtssYNonGxgQ

Baryshnikov staged the Jardin Animé as a stand-alone one act -- It's not as wondrous as the shades scene in Bayadere but I wouldn't like to have it lost...

I watch little video of Russian dancers these days, but vividly remembering how fabulous Shakirova was as the villainess in Smekalov’s version of Paquita when the Mariinsky brought the ballet to Kennedy Center I did decide to watch the video of her debut as the ballet’s heroine—and I agree that she looks wonderful in this...

Sorry to read about this....May he rest in peace--

Thanks for the announcements--I am writing down dates...

Thank you for the reference....It is a nice story, but I think the full circle is not exactly as you describe it. Mckenzie came to ABT as a dancer after the National Ballet folded, but he became artistic director many years later. According to her ABT biography, Yan Chen was a principal dancer with Washington Ballet (not the same as the National Ballet of Washington and indeed she is quite a bit too young too have been a principal with the National Ballet which folded in 1974).

Absolutely! (I think the existence of that category does though confirm that there is nothing particularly outré about ABT promoting Zhurbin to principal or the idea that a character dancer could/would/should get such a promotion.)

Oh yes! I posted about Zhurbin on a different thread discussing the promotions...I will repeat what I said there, though others have been making similar points here: ...let me voice a big thrill at Zhurbin's promotion. The Royal Ballet has a category called "principal character artist" -- ABT doesn't have that specifically, but character dancers at the highest level deserve the recognition that comes with the title "principal" (and the raise that I trust comes with that recognition). At ABT Zhurbin has filled that role, bringing added dimension and depth to numerous ballets. Having artists like that is part of what makes a ballet company great. Bravo! (And Congratulations to all of the promoted dancers. There are a few I have never seen and I'm eager to do so...)

I remember the Stevenson Cinderella from my childhood! I saw it with the (now defunct) National Ballet--a performance with Fonteyn as guest artist. I'm not sure who her partner was but probably Desmond Kelly as he partnered her guest appearance in La Sylphide. Most of my memories of the ballet are of Fonteyn in Act I...but I remember loving the seasons sequence as well--which featured many of the dancers I was most familiar with in the company. Mckenzie had danced for the National Ballet at one point in his career and when the company folded Stevenson bitterly but correctly pointed out that he had top male ballet dancers (he named Mckenzie and Kirk Peterson) as good as ABT's. Of course they both ended up at ABT! I remember ABT taking up the Stevenson Cinderella briefly--but I never saw it with them or had a chance to form an adult or Fonteyn-less opinion, but I can easily imagine it is suited to a number of companies' needs and budgets. I think ABT tried Kudelka's before Goldilocks-like finding the one that was "just right"--I was delighted when they aquired Ashton's. I hope it returns soon--seems like it would be a great fit for a number of its principals--I'm thinking especially of some of the newer principals--and, given all the featured roles, for soloists as well...

Thanks for that information--of course, Stevenson has a great track record spotting and developing talent. Congratulations to all the dancers and let me voice a big thrill at Zhurbin's promotion. The Royal Ballet has a category called "principal character artist" -- ABT doesn't have that specifically, but character dancers at the highest level deserve the recognition that comes with the title "principal" (and the raise that I trust comes with that recognition). At ABT Zhurbin has filled that role, bringing added dimension and depth to numerous ballets. Having artists like that is part of what makes a ballet company great. Bravo!

Sounds such a wonderful evening!!

Very happy to read about Seo's performance. In the right role (and/or on the right night) I have found her a beautiful classical dancer.

I was rather moved by Dvorovenko's Dame Aux Camellias. The question of whether someone is a good acting coach may be a different one, anyway, from whether they were themselves a great dance-actress. And, as others have mentioned, the issue is really Brandt not her coaches. So in defense of Brandt -- whose performance I did not see -- and other still-developing ballerinas I will say that I think of Odette-Odile as the most daunting and difficult of ballerina roles; the genuinely great performances of it that I have seen are few and far between and they have all been by experienced ballerinas who had been dancing the role for years...

I had thought Serebrennikov himself was in Germany--he posted something from there shortly after the war began. But without a doubt, he and his team of artists have been very brave. I wonder if that last performance will be permitted...

Sadly, I am familiar with few of the POB dancers--and those few only via video--but this was very touching to read about.