Drew
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Posts posted by Drew
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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:
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On 7/27/2022 at 9:22 AM, Papagena said:
I think Le Corsaire is off the repertoire for a long time. La Bayadere has much more artistic merit and iconic scenes across all acts to justify putting in the work to keep it. I imagine the most of the (for me, welcome) choreography changes would involve side characters - like the Fakir costumes and choreography need to go.
I would love to see the Corsaire pas de deux (Ali / Medora version) stay on mixed bills. I'm fine with tossing all other parts of the ballet. It was a fun McKenzie era favorite but it feels more and more dated each time they bring it back.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...
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8 hours ago, tutu said:
There’s a new video going around of Renata Shakirova’s debut in Paquita and Shakirova is just stunning — a throwback to another era. While there’s only so much you can tell in a video of excerpts, this seems to have been a debut to remember.
I don’t know if Americans and Europeans will have the opportunity to see these dancers on stage during the remainder of their careers — certainly the Kennedy Center tour days are over for those of us in the U.S. — so I’m quite grateful for videos like these being available.
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...
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Sorry to read about this....May he rest in peace--
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Thanks for the announcements--I am writing down dates...
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2 hours ago, balletlover08 said:
Here's an article that PointeMagazine did on Chloe Misseldine on her latest promotion to soloist. They have quotes from Nancy Raffe, Yan Chen (her mother and former soloist of ABT) and Kevin Mckenzie.
https://pointemagazine.com/chloe-misseldine-ballet/
There is a funny full circle moment. Yan was former principal of now defunct National Ballet in Washington. When Kevin came to ABT from national ballet as artistic director he brought one dancer with him, Yan as a corps member who he promptly promoted to soloist following her 1st met season. Now at the end of his tenure at ABT, he promotes Chloe (Yan's daughter) to soloist after her first corps member. Which means Yan was one of his first promotions and Chloe one of his last, I guess that puts into perspective what 30 years is.
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).
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1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:
I'm not at all convinced that a principal character artist category is needed. Except perhaps for the Royal Danish Ballet, it seems to have been a creation of the latter 1980s. Prior to that, many of the companies that have a substantial number of principal character artists today, such as the Royal Ballet or the National Ballet of Canada, included mime artists among their principals as a matter of course.
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.)
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3 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:
The one thing about Roman is that he makes the “smallest” role one of the most important.
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...)
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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...
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39 minutes ago, Helene said:
Ben Stevenson, the former and long-time AD of Houston Ballet before Stanton Welch, is the AD Laureate of Texas Ballet Theater.
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!
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Sounds such a wonderful evening!!
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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.
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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...
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1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:
Moscow's Gogol Center, the theater long associated with Kirill Serebrennikov, is being closed, apparently by the authorities. Serebrennikov's post notes that for the past four months its actors had not been coming out for bows at the end of performances to protest the war. Serebrennikov uses the word war even though it's illegal to do so.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfZrLylroCT
The theater is planning to close with a performance titled "I'm Not Participating in the War," based on the poetry of Yuri Levitansky.
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...
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On 6/5/2022 at 12:24 PM, silvermash said:
But of cause, as soon as the Boléro finished, a handful of POB dancers, new and past, ballet masters, etc. invaded the place and quite a few were drag on stage to hug Stéphane warmly. A lot of past Etoiles travelled from afar to be there such as Eleonora Abbagnato of course, now Rome Opera ballet AD, Manuel Legris, Milan Scala AD, Claire Marie Osta from Stockholm Royal Opera dance school, Jose Martinez from Spain, etc. Madame Dupont offered a bouquet, a long hug was dedicated to Agnès Letestu, one of his other beloved partner as well as Alice Renavand, his dance school mate who is retiring next month, a very moving moment.
The audience was hugely warm and welcomed Stéphane at the beginning of the performance with loud applauses that were quite unexpected and at the end, the farewell with confetti shower and flowers were in front of a standing ovation of more than 20 minutes. Stéphane Bullion is a discreet dancer, absent from social media, but it showed last night that it’s not necessary to constantly communicate to be loved by a huge crowd.Sadly, I am familiar with few of the POB dancers--and those few only via video--but this was very touching to read about.
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8 hours ago, abatt said:
Yes, when the roster had Vishneva, Gomes, Ferri, Bocca, Carreno, Corella, Ananiashvilli and so on, the house was almost always well sold. All of those dancers were full time ABT principals, not guest artists. None were celebrities outside of the insular world of ballet, but the ballet audience understood the quality of the work of these artists and showed up in droves to see them. So maybe poor sales are attributable to the general lack of high level dancers at the company, and not the rep itself. There are some wonderful dancers now at ABT, but many are untested in major lead roles. [...]
I agree that the box-office issue at ABT likely reflects the public's response to dancers more than to repertory. Generally, I've been thinking a lot about this discussion. Box office matters but the tail should not be allowed to wag the dog and I think it's to Mckenzie's credit that, say, he kept Ashton in the repertory when Fille and Sylvia are often reported as doing very poor box office at the Met. I can't bring myself to believe that the solution is "drop Ashton" -- or even to dance Sylvia or Fille only at the State Theater where, at the present time, ABT does not perform that much.
As for Ratmansky's ballets simply dropping out of repertory--Harlequinade is about to be done at National Ballet of Australia (and streamed--I'm getting a ticket); his Seven Sonatas is performed by other companies (I saw it at Atlanta Ballet and they are bringing it back a 2nd time) as is the Shostakovitch trilogy (San Francisco and they are bringing it back). National Ballet of Canada has done the Shostakovitch Piano Concerto no 1 on its own. Perhaps others know of other examples.
Many of his works were also brought back by ABT more than one season. That said, some of those were only brought back one time and two seasons for a new work is not meaningful. Still, I think it's very likely we will be seeing Serenade After Plato's Symposium and Whipped Cream in the future. His Sleeping Beauty as well. As a collaboration with a well-known contemporary artist, Whipped Cream also drew some new, younger audience members with interests in contemporary art.
There is also the question of big donors: they like prestige and they like press coverage. Some probably like being involved in new creative endeavors. And there is also the bigger question of ballet as an art form ...But let's say someone thinks Ratmansky is over-rated and that 'if he isn't going to sell tickets, then we don't need his mediocre new ballets and overly precious historically-informed productions.' (That's obviously not my position.) So, what ballet choreographer is not going to have the same or weaker box office other than Wheeldon? Or maybe McGregor? I'm not advocating either, just noting that they might draw audiences. It's not like Justin Peck is going to leave NYCB in a huff . . .
But the bigger point remains that new choreographers (we can all think of some including several who would speak to new and more diverse audiences) AND even revivals of works popular in the past or imports of works successful elsewhere are not alone going to solve box-office problems in this day and age and I don't think that task should be put on them either.
No new work at the Met at all? As long as the Met is such a big part of ABT's annual calendar, I think showing no new work there and/or keeping the rep completely predictable is its own recipe for problems -- including possibly with donors and audiences. The Met season "brands" the company. And as @nanushka has written, the ABT audience at the Met is not completely monolithic. (I'll add that even conservative audiences can get bored, and in the absence of exciting, known-quantity dancers, even balletomanes may not return to see multiple casts.)
New works and new productions will not always succeed--or they may be wonderful (Ashton) and still not draw in Met-sized crowds. But some variety in repertory should be part of a great ballet company's life--we're not talking NYCB levels since ABT is a different animal -- and for now, at least, the Met is at the center of ABT's performing life. I'm hoping that soon real "stars" will emerge as well...that is,"must see" dancers. Or be invited for Met appearances. (Several of the "full time principals" mentioned by @abattmostly danced with ABT at the Met and not on tour.)
If I had Jeff Bezos levels of wealth, then I would build ABT a theater in Manhattan seating about 2,200 with heavily banked seats throughout, a full studio complex for rehearsals, and more bathroom stalls for the ladies than any other theater in the world. Because I'm just a fan, I would promise never to bully the company leadership in artistic matters and...well...I'd try really, really, really hard to keep my promise
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1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:
This is a co-production with the National Ballet of Canada, and its brass attended the premiere. I wonder whether it will cut its losses and present some alternate Ratmansky, as it did in the case of The Tempest.
The initial 2020 run in California garnered some good responses. The video bits posted at that time looked rather fun. I'm nervous but my fingers are crossed that it will work as a ballet and that it will find its audience. I'll find out what people who post on Ballet Alert think soon enough.
As far as box office goes, the Four Seasons Center in Toronto lists its capacity as 2,071 -- that's just over half the capacity of the Met. It's not an apples to apples comparison because of all the other variables, but you can sell a lot of tickets at the Met and it still looks depressing.
(The Tempest was interesting enough in its own weird way --and, in passages, beautiful enough--that I think it deserved a chance with a new and different audience even if I understand why the National Ballet of Canada didn't want to take the risk. But that opinion is so much an outlier as to be safely ignored!)
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On 6/19/2022 at 8:58 PM, balletlover08 said:
Then ABT may be better off sticking only to the classic full lengths for the MET. They can do all the advance garde shows elsewhere, maybe segerstorm or on tour? I think there is an audience for newer modern, jazz works etc. Just maybe not for very conservative audiences.
There is a lot in between "classic full lengths" and "advance guard" and ideally there should be room for some of that 'in between' at the Met. There has been in the past. I also think big name dancers make a difference (whether developed in-house or invited from outside) especially when the repertory is less of a known quantity -- and such dancers are few and far between.
I'm actually very curious to see how Like Water for Chocolate does next season: a ballet based on a successful Book and, later, movie and choreographed by a multiple Tony Award Winner. That's a lot of name recognition even without a "big name" dancer.
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8 hours ago, California said:
Yes -- in the fine print in the box: 50% Off Tickets in Orchestra Prime and Side
8 hours ago, abatt said:Thanks for posting. I tried the code in a "cheaper" area of the house, and it didn't work. So once again there are unspecified restrictions in this offer. It apparently only applies to higher priced areas of the house.
In what was copied here to this thread, the limits on the seats available are very clearly in bolded print--by no means the "fine[st] print" in the announcement and they are placed immediately underneath the title of the ballet, which is the only thing in larger print. It's easy to get confused anyway--I do all the time with these types of pitches-- but I don't think ABT screwed this up particularly or was at all misleading.
(Personally I am dying to see Of Love and Rage and very sad to be missing it. And I think it's a shame there isn't more of an audience for a new full length ballet by one of the best classical choreographers around.)
Box office? It's very depressing. But ABT is stuck with the Met this season....As I understand from reading this site, NYCB--which seems to be on a high in terms of talent and has a fantastic repertory and a loyal audience and (at times) nifty marketing--regularly closes cheap sections of its considerably smaller house to make sure the lower sections fill up. I think classical and neo-classical Ballet is far more accessible to the uninformed/uninterested than many other high art forms but getting people to come and getting them to keep coming for anything other than Swan Lake seems to be a bit of a conundrum everywhere. Not to let ABT off the hook entirely--ABT does need better marketing--but ....
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2 hours ago, volcanohunter said:
Interesting that she expects her post to be "banned" by authorities, rather than deleted by her.
Skorik's post doesn't specify whether she was entering or leaving, but Russia is just about the only country in my experience that asks more questions of people upon exiting than upon entering. Exit visas went the way of the Soviet Union, but evidently some habits die hard, and oddly this one extends to foreigners as well. The way Adrian Blake Mitchell described leaving Russia with Andrea Laššáková was quite terrifying, even though you'd think an American and a Slovak would be entitled to leave Russia whenever they pleased. Perhaps the border guards were suspicious because they couldn't imagine a Black man and a White woman traveling together. He deleted text messages that could be seen as anti-Russian, and pretended not to understand Russian well. (I've done that too.)
Those adventures to get out of the country sound harrowing.
I kind of like to picture you pretending not to understand Russian well...
During the cold war a college friend was traveling in the Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany" for anyone who might be confused) and somehow didn't know she needed a visa to take the train to West Berlin because it passed through the German Democratic Republic ("East Germany"). She was/is a smart woman--but at the time she was about 20 and just made a silly, albeit serious mistake.
She ended up arrested by East German police who did not know any English. They were clearly not amused nor were they treating the situation lightly. She later told me she had never been so frightened in her life and since she DID know Russian and communication with the East Germans was proving impossible, she kept actively reminding herself "do NOT let them know you can speak Russian; speaking Russian in this situation would be a bad idea." (Of course probably they wouldn't have known Russian either, but in a less fraught situation it might have been worth a try. In that one...not so much.) They did let her go. After all these years I can't remember if she made it to West Berlin but I don't think so.
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Like many Russian artists Skorik continues to post on Instagram -- using a VPN I guess or some other way -- and of course the posts from Russian artists that I have seen all stay away from the topic of the war. Not today however....
Because Skorik was born in Kharkiv/Kharkov (she gives the Russian name) she was interrogated at an airport and had to unlock her phone for the security people to look at. And she was not happy about the experience. Almost I could laugh at her outrage over the "violation of her rights" in a Russian airport--"violation of her rights" in all caps on Instagram--but the situation is too horrible for everyone. And she almost comes out against the war, though it's not clear that that's what she really thinks rather than that she is just really (really, really) pissed off. Here is the link--I think cooler-headed friends may tell her to take this down [edited a day later: the photo is there but the text of the post and all the comments on the post that I saw yesterday have been deleted]:
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4 minutes ago, Roberta said:
Not a surprise. Sadly, last night's opening Visionary Voices triple bill at the Kennedy Center was sparsely attended, with maybe 20% of Tiers 1 and 2 occupied. I counted about 30 audience members remaining in Tier 2, after the second ballet of the night, Sidra Bell's SUSPENDED ANIMATION. That's a shame, as those who left early missed the far-and-away-best work of the night, Peck's newest sneakers ballet, PARTITA. On the whole, a rather sad opening with a (mostly) poorly-chosen program of ballets. I suppose that certain boxes were ticked.
Wishful thinking perhaps, but I guess a few of those Tier 2 audience members may not have left but grabbed empty seats in the orchestra--seats that can usually be spotted from high up. In my (much) younger days, that's what I would have done with a sparsely attended house, and I sometimes even deliberately waited for second intermissions so I knew it wasn't late arrivals in those empty seats. Uh...I don't have the nerve for that kind of seat hopping now....
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4 hours ago, volcanohunter said:
Laura Fernandez on leaving Russia, her family's hell in Mariupol and how lack of exposure to contemporary repertoire has limited her career options.
One really feels for her and her family as well.....I hope she has great success in Tblisi and elsewhere...
[A few minutes after posting I saw that Oxana Skorik had posted on Instagram about being stopped and interrogated at an airport--I opted to post more detail and the link in the Skorik discussion forum (page 20 of that discussion).]
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During the cold war a college friend was traveling in the Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany" for anyone who might be confused) and somehow didn't know she needed a visa to take the train to West Berlin because it passed through the German Democratic Republic ("East Germany"). She was/is a smart woman--but at the time she was about 20 and just made a silly, albeit serious mistake.
Susan Jaffe named artistic director of ABT
in American Ballet Theatre
Posted · Edited by Drew
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.