Helene

In the most recent PNB newsletter was this about Ariana Lallone's next role, in a production directed by Tommy Tune:

In the 6 June 2011 issue of "The New Yorker", p. 83, Alex Ross, while reviewing Spring for Music at Carnegie Hall, wrote,

Colorado Ballet also performed Pink's "Dracula" last October and in 2006.

Many thanks, valentina11!

So that a broader audience sees the discussion, I've moved the posts that discuss the broader issue of Marketing to a new topic in the Ballet News and Issues forum: Marketing Dancers

I'm reading it on a Kindle. Malcolm X was just shot, and the Kindle reads that I'm at the 63% mark. I've been afraid to see how much of the rest is book, and how much of the rest is index and sources. Rather than just try to shatter the myths, Marable has taken the myth-making and character-making as a main subject. I read the "Autobiography" over two decades ago. I'm reading this from a much different place, and it's pretty easy to read this now and to understand his point of view. A lot of the detail seemed to me to be repetitive and a bit tedious -- it could have been written with a lot more tension -- but I think Marable gives a good feel for what it's like to go down rat holes, hit dead ends, make the similar decisions again and again, and be lauded in new places and to return to the mundane. The man had extraordinary energy to have accomplished what he did. I'm glad to be reminded.

Laura Dean, Lar Lubovich -- who also did a long "Sleeping Beauty" for Rosalynn Sumners and Robin Cousins that was televised and at one point may have been available on VHS -- Eliot Feld, and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux in addition to Tharp and Martins choreographed for the John Curry Skating Company, documented by Jennifer Dunning and Anna Kisselgoff in their reviews of the company's Metropolitan Opera performances. http://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/28/arts/dance-john-curry-skating-troupe-at-met-opera.html?scp=3&sq=john%20curry&st=cse http://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/27/arts/dance-curry-s-ice-show-at-the-met.html?scp=8&sq=john%20curry&st=cse In addition, Curry choreographed many numbers, including an Ashton tribute, and company member Patricia Dodd also choreographed. Two of the top skating choreographers today, Lori Nichol and Sarah Kawahara skated for Curry at various times. Ice dancers traditionally work with non-skating choreographers and dancers off the ice, and at least over the last few decades, the more prominent skaters have made it a collaboration between the off-ice and on-ice choreographers (and coaches). Some singles skaters have done this as well, especially those working with Antonio Najarro, whose skating renown began with a Flamenco Original Dance for Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat in the 2002 Olympic season and continues to this day. The Bolshoi experimented with creating a production of "Romeo and Juliet" that was produced? assembled? directed? by the British theater director Declan Donnellan, described in Ballet.co.uk's Magazine: http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_04/jul04/interview_donnellan.htm This was not the most successful of experiments.

Wow, Rosa, you've been busy! I've had a slow summer of reading, but I'm nearing the end of Manning Marable's recent biography, "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention".

Next Friday, on 26 August 2011, the Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will open in Kansas City with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:30am, followed by a studio dedication, narrated company class, and tours of the new center: http://www.kcballet.org/support/capcampaign/grandopening.html This article summarized Bolender's contribution to dance in Kansas City: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/19/3084966/kcs-enthusiasm-attracted-bolender.html

In it's "5 things you didn't know" series, the Bellevue Reporter takes on Pacific Northwest Ballet, and, having to decide, Peter Boal chooses Ratmansky's "Don Quixote" as a season highlight: PNB's strong Teen Tix program bodes well for the next generation of ballet-goers. http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/bel/entertainment/128046018.html

In today's links there's a great interview/article in the NYT by Gia Kourlas on Ethan Stiefel (mainly) and Gillian Murphy's plans for New Zealand: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/34304-friday-august19/page__view__findpost__p__290840 Highlights are: Johann Kobborg encouraged him to apply for the job Murphy will dance with and coach for the company Stella Abrera will guest in his first production, "The Sleeping Beauty" He'll choreograph or stage at least one production a year, and his first will be "Giselle" with co-stager Johann Kobborg "Along with more Balanchine ballets, he is also eager to introduce works by Frederick Ashton, Jerome Robbins and Twyla Tharp. " Stiefel also said he would "reassess" his physical shape, one of the reasons he cancelled his spring ABT performances, to see if he could dance, but directing was his first priority. Last year the company season began at the end of February and ran to June, with a tour in July. "Sleeping Beauty" is part of the "Meridian Season", which runs November-December. The beginning of the regular season is a good fit for Murphy for the ABT season, and depending on what ABT's plans are for the Fall, the Meridian season might work, too, since "The Nutcracker" is already choreographed. Ashton -- yes! I wonder in which cities Abrera will dance; the company will perform the work in six cities in addition to Auckland, and has secured an alternate venue, the CBS Arena, in Christchurch for a mixed bill that includes excerpts from "The Sleeping Beauty".

The works in BalletMet's opening program are based on audience votes, and the company has just sent a press release with the results: THE VOTES ARE IN! BALLETMET KICKS OFF THE 2011-2012 SEASON WITH “ON DEMAND” A PROGRAM OF AUDIENCE-CHOSEN FAVORITES COLUMBUS, OH – The polls have closed, the final votes tallied, and BalletMet audiences and fans have selected some of their very favorite works to kick off the 2011-2012 season with BalletMet OnDemand – an eclectic mixed bill of classical gems and contemporary classics. BalletMet OnDemand performances run Friday, September 23 through Saturday, October 8 at the company’s intimate 225-seat Performance Space (322 Mount Vernon Avenue). Tickets start as low as $20 and may be purchased through CAPA (614.469.0939) or Ticketmaster (800.982.2787, ticketmaster.com). For season subscription and ticket information go to balletmet.org. College students with ID can purchase $15 Student Rush tickets at the door beginning one hour prior to show time. BalletMet OnDemand is a dance-lover’s sampler featuring ten works that showcase the strength, agility and interpretive prowess of the company’s exceptional corps of dancers, and which highlight the deep relationships Artistic Director Gerard Charles has established with many of today’s leading dance makers. “When voting began I was fascinated to find out how close my thoughts were to those of our audiences,” said Gerard Charles, who in 2011-2012 marks his 10th year as BalletMet’s Artistic Director. “It was amazing to see the solid support that the top vote getters received from our audiences, and also to see the good programming choices they made. The result is a great cross section of classical and contemporary works that will inspire, make you think, touch your soul, and make you laugh.” BalletMet OnDemand Program Raymonda Pas de Dix (Gerard Charles after Marius Petipa, choreography; Alexander Glazunov, music) Ad Infinitum (Jimmy Orrante, choreography; Simon & Garfunkel, music) Gershwin Dances (David Nixon, choreography; George Gershwin, music) Square Off! (Darrell Grand Moultrie, choreography; Karl Jenkins, Kenji Bunch, music) Night Music (Laurie Eisenhower, choreography; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, music) Two of Us (Ma Cong, choreography; Hugues Le Bars, music) Way to Blue (Amy Seiwert, choreography; Nick Drake, music) Return (Stanton Welch, choreography; Benedetto Marcello, music) Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Adam Hundt, choreography; Sonny Bono, music) Black Swan Pas de Deux (Gerard Charles after Marius Petipa, choreography; Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, music) Tickets start as low as $20 and may be purchased through CAPA (614.469.0939) and Ticketmaster (800.982.2787, ticketmaster.com). Additional ticket and subscription information is available at balletmet.org. College students with ID can purchase $15 Student Rush tickets at the door beginning one hour prior to show time.

The Met HD broadcasts are always the matinees, which generally start at either noon or 1pm EST. Stockholm is usually 6 hours ahead of NYC, which means that live Met HD broadcasts are like seeing a regular evening performance. I saw "Orpheus ed Eurydice" just after dinner when I was in Helsinki for the European Championships a few years ago, and Helsinki is an hour later. This info was posted earlier on another thread: I'm going to close this one to avoid confusion.

These should be streamed, like the Guggenheim presentations.

Oh, excellent. Thank you!

This article by Alice Kaderlan has quotes by Wevers and some details about the work he will choreograph for Spectrum Dance Theatre: http://crosscut.com/blog/crosscut/20473/Seattle-choreographer-awarded-prestigious-fellowship/ Wevers has worked with some past and current Spectrum dancers in his own company, including the splendicious Kylie Lewallen, Ty Alexander Cheng, Kelly Ann Barton, and Hannah Lagerway. It will be interesting to see with whom he works and how many dancers he'll use for this new piece.