brokenwing

There is a new article in the NY Times with Gia Kourlas interviewing Lourdes. No big revelations here, but a nice article nonetheless. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/arts/dance/lourdes-lopez-on-new-role-with-miami-city-ballet.html?pagewanted=all

I was under the impression that MCB did perform the full 'Apollo', and a google search turned up this article: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1988-01-10/features/8801020872_1_balanchine-ballets-edward-villella-apollo Bart, do you know if any explanation was given in 2004 as to why the 'new' version was being danced? Companies typically make these kind of changes without explanation or fanfare (much as Balanchine did himself), but I thought maybe Villella would have discussed it in one of his pre-performance talks or something...

Well, since she announced 3 new works and the Don Q, I'd expect that leaves us with about 6-7 other works that hopefully will be more Balanchine and less Duato. As for full-lengths, I'm with Bart in a preference for Balanchine's 'Midsummer'. It hasn't been mentioned yet that while the company could do a creditable 'Swan Lake' or 'Bayadere' or whatnot, and several of the principals would do a good to great job, these ballets don't always give the corps de ballet and soloists a great deal to do, particularly the men. Dancers who are used to the vigors of 'Square Dance' and 'Concerto Barocco' may be disapointed with being restricted to a mazurka in character shoes for an entire program. One has to wonder if this is a consideration against doing full lengths as well.

Natalia, do you know when NYCB changed to the all-black swan corps? Was it under Balanchine? Balanchine was, to me, usually a barometer of good taste, so it would perplex me that this would happen under his watch.

There is a new article on the upcoming season in the Miami Herald today. It hints at some of the casting, including Renan Cerdeiro and Carlos Guerra as Apollo. It also features some ideas for next season which include Robbins' 'West Side Story Suite', Wheeldon's 'Polyphonia' a piece by Nacho Duato, and a 'Don Quixote' that would bring in guest artists. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/12/3045783/miami-city-ballet-ready-for-new.html

Per MCB's website, http://www.miamicityballet.org/OpenBarre.php, there will be 2 Open Barres this year on November 9-10 and March 15-16. The first will feature selections from 'Apollo' and 'Duo Concertant' with Lourdes and conductor Gary Sheldon 'breaking down' the ballets. Apparently, some live music will also be featured, presumably for 'Duo'. Hoping for some good insight from Lopez and Sheldon! Anyone plan on attending?

Another bigger article in the Herald, this time about the hiring of a new executive director: The article is filled with encouraging quotes from Kaiser and the idea, from Lopez, of a potential Balanchine festival that I'd be eager to hear more details of. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/25/fullstory/3020888/miami-city-ballet-continues-revival.html#

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but there is an article in the Miami Herald stating the company has raised $3 million. It certainly is refreshing to hear some good news after the mess that this past year has been. Maybe some of this money is from the donors who were withholding funds until Edward left, as mentioned in the Miami Herald previously. http://www.miamihera...t-troubled.html

This is so sweet! Glad to see PNB participating in such a wonderful program.

Next season's roster has been updated on the website. Michael Sean Breeden and Neil Marshall return as members of the corps, while Jeremy Cox and Katia Carranza, who had both been acting as periodic guest principals, are gone.

I wanted to mention that perhaps one of the reason MCB doesn't do full lengths is that maybe most of the dancers actually do *not* like doing them. The principals love the challenge, sure, but what of the soloists down? MCB is used to doing very involved and demanding corps/demi-soloist work that pervades the Balanchine repertoire, so when they come into wilis and there is so much standing on the side, I'm not sure how much they like it. I know that one can argue that there is so much more than just standing on the side to wilis in terms of character and contributing to the greater picture, but MCB's dancers are PHYSICAL dancers and movers, so it may just not be as satisfying to them. I saw mentioned in another thread that Casey Herd left ABT years ago because he was sick of holding a spear in the back of full lengths, and I know I've heard other dancers with similar sentiments. To many corps members these days, full lengths might be deemed a necessary evil. Just a thought. Cubanmiamiboy- I wouldn't hold your breath on getting more classics in the rep. Lourdes has stated the LA Times that the kind of work she's interested in bringing and thinks would fit the company includes Forsythe and even some Graham and Limon. I'm also afraid I have to contest your statement that no one liked or remembered Liturgy, Symphonic Dances or Viscera. Those three choreographers are in huge demand all over the world and are critically adored. Those three works in particular have also garnered acclaim and seemed to be well liked by audiences. I will give you Nightspot though . I also completely agree with you that when they are doing full lengths, there is no excuse to not utilize the resources they have locally of the old guard from National Ballet of Cuba! If they have repetiteurs/experts setting and coaching the Balanchine, Robbins, Tharp and Taylor, why don't they afford the classics the same respect? Do people really want MCB to be taking on more full lengths? There are only four programs a year and if they increase their usual once-a-year dabbling in 19th century classics, that would make at least 50% of their rep full lengths classics. I personally would not want that. I think the only real solution here is just to add more programs.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Boal here. While I think MCB certainly would have benefited from more new works over the years, I have appreciated Villella's commitment to performing works that directly use ballet vocabulary. I also tend to define ballet, like Bart Birdsall, as something along the lines of what Balanchine did with it. He stretched it to its limits, but the classical vocabulary was still there. People like Wheeldon, Ratmansky and Scarlett seem to still be making ballets with the classical vocabulary intact, while people like Elo, Bigonzetti, Prejlocaj, McGregor, etc. seem not to be, in my very humble opinion. I think it is fine to program one ballet here and there that really takes the dancers outside their vocabulary, but a whole program of it can be a turnoff. I've been a bit surprised and a bit disappointed by how little prominence Boal gives Balanchine in his rep (2 ballets this season and Coppelia, out of 6 rep programs). I hope that MCB's rep does not follow this direction, although this season proved no better than PNB's with just 2 Balanchine and a Coppelia that isn't Mr. B's (granted, this is unusual for the company).

Great post. I'm beginning to think my concerns about the new rep she'll bring are silly. A mention of two or three new choreographers and Wheeldon (whose work I often like) does not mean she's going to inundate the rep with bizzare, alienating non-balletic rep. Also, I love all the ideas you spouted off at the end there! Keep 'em coming! I'm betting the Lopez will be someone who is willing to experiment with those sorts of things. I'm really hoping she gets MCB on the Art Basel bandwagon in some way. That festival has become so big, it seems ridiculous that MCB doesn't take advantage of it each year!

I have to say, I had similar thoughts/worries about Lourdes (though I am generally very excited by her appointment), but she does say repeatedly in the NYTimes article that she is deeply committed to Balanchine. I'm willing to think that Morphoses was/is a specific project and Lourdes will be fine switching gears back to her roots. Then again, she also says she's thinking of two or three contemporary choreographers she'd like to commission and she would add Wheeldon, so.... What do you think of the article, Jack?

Per the MCB blog, the following dancers have been promoted: Callie Manning- Principal Soloist Kleber Rebello- Principal Soloist Renan Cerdeiro- Principal Soloist Chloe Freytag- Corps de Ballet Lexie Overholt- Corps de Ballet Kara White- Corps de Ballet Congratulations! Now, how about some promotions to soloist? Zoe Zien? Leigh-Ann Esty?

Casting alert! Jeanette Delgado and Penteado are performing the leads in Giselle on the Saturday matinee at Kravis this weekend. Other debuts this show include Sara Esty/Cerdeiro in Peasant Pas, corps members Christie Sciturro in Myrtha and Adriana Pierce in Berthe. Hope someone can make it and report on it!

Per the MCB website, the new season is as follows: Program I: Les Patineurs (Ashton/Meyerbeer) Apollo (Balanchine/Stravinsky) Piazzolla Caldera (Taylor/Piazzolla) George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ Program II: Divertimento No. 15 (Balanchine/Mozart) Duo Concertant (Balanchine/Stravinsky) Don Quixote Pas de Deux (after Petipa/Minkus) World Premiere by Liam Scarlett (Scarlett/TBD) Program III: La Valse (Balanchine/Ravel) The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Balanchine/Bizet) Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (Balanchine/Tchaikovsky) Symphonic Dances (Ratmansky/Rachmaninoff) Program IV: Dances at a Gathering (Robbins/Chopin) Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (Balanchine/Rodgers) The season has some interesting works, including some long out of the repertoire, but I was honestly expecting something a bit more spectacular for Villella's final season (Jewels? Maybe a new production of Balanchine's Midsummer, for which he was the original Oberon, to go out with a real bang?). Perhaps they didn't have the money.

Casting for Giselle is up! For opening weekend, we get Kronenberg/Guerra, Catoya/Reyes and Albertson/Cerdeiro. Myrthas are J. Delgado and Manning. http://miamicityballet.org/performances.php

Note that the company is bringing back its 4th program that was cut a few years ago, presumably due to the recession. However, "Holiday Revue", Christopher's adult counter-programming for "Nutcracker" gets dropped. An all Balanchine program, several world premieres, the company premiere of Forsythe's "Second Detail" and the return of the full-length "Swan Lake" highlight the season. http://obt.org/12-13/index.html

Casting is up for this weekend at Kravis, should you need any help in deciding which shows to attend: http://miamicityballet.org/performances.php

The website has been further updated to add that Sara Esty has been promoted to soloist as well.

Link to the press release here: http://miamicityballet.org/news.php?NewsID=159

Casting has been posted for West Palm Beach weekend of Program II.

The Balanchine catalogue online at balanchine.org says this about Diana and Actaeon: 363. DIANA AND ACTAEON PAS DE DEUX Made for Television Music: By Cesare Pugni [? ] Choreography: By George Balanchine after Petipa (Le Roi Candaule) Cast: Patricia McBride, Edward Villella. First Telecast: June 2, 1968, Ed Sullivan Show, CBS. Note: Petipa's dance, inserted into Le Roi Candaule sometime after its premiere in 1868, was a pas de trois, which Balanchine may have performed (see ROLES PERFORMED BY BALANCHINE, Love of Diana, 1922). In 1935, Agrippina Vaganova reworked Diana and Actaeon as a pas de deux, and in this form it has been frequently danced by Soviet and Russian dancers ever since. Balanchine may well have been familiar with both versions.

Seeing that rundown is exciting, minus the two full weeks of Sleeping Beauty. Good to know that Swan Lake and Coppelia are limited to 4 shows a piece, and that there is still going to be some Balanchine in the spring season, rather than just 'Heritage'.