bart

Of course, there's the argument that "cross-over" encourage audiences to seek out the real thing. For instance, the Three Tenors were said to stimulate people to purchase opera CDs and tickets.

Who knows if this is true.

A few years ago the Three Irish Tenors visited our parts, and several neighbors were quite proud that they were attending this very serious musical event. Subsequently, I conducted an informal poll. Not one had been motivated to explore further into the world of serious music. In fact, quite the contrary. They seemed -- almost to a man and woman -- to feel that they had done their cultural duty for the decade. No extra dollars for classical music in THAT group.

HNB performs September-November -- they're currently touring the Netherlands with an all-Balanchine program -- before the NYCB season starts and during the March/April break, as well as overlapping part of the NYCB.  Sylve can be one busy dancer if she chooses to do so.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This seems like a good time to start a brand new thread for a new season.

Here's a LINK

to the company's website, which lists the entire season and has an excellent English translation.

The Balanchine tour -- under the umbrella title, Ballet and Broadway -- consists of Apollo, Symphony in C and Who Cares? There are 5 more stops on the tour: Groningen (Tuesday 9/27), Eindhoven (Wednesday 9/28), Arnhem (Tuesday 10/4), Utrecht (Wednesday 10/5), and Leeuwarden (Friday 10/7).

Following that they will perform a mixed bill at the Holland Dance Festival in the Hague (Oct. 30 and November 6). (A further incentive for a visit to the Hague -- though completely irrelevant to this thread -- might be Sylvie Guillem's scheduled appearance there with The Ballet Boyz in October 31 and November 1. Difficult to compete with that!)

Some of our posters live in or near the Netherlands. Others are planning to visit. Please share with us your thoughts, reactions and reviews.

Yesterday's Links include an interview with Victoria Morgan discussing the Cincinnati Ballet's version of Midsummer's Night Dream, scheduled this weekend.

Ballet's Victoria Morgan reinterprets a Shakespearean classic

How and why did she decide to develop her own interpretation? Surely Balanchine was a tough act to follow. The imaginative setting, the charming, almost cartoonish characters and the musical score were all attractions for Morgan. She also likes the structure.

"It's actually a good piece for someone who has not seen very much dance," she points out, "because it very clearly tells a story."

Anyone attending this? Any thoughts or reactions?

Morgan says she is familiar with the Balanchine and other versions but has made her own choreographic and musical choices. Two of these choices seem especially intriguing.

One has to do with the music:

QUOTE:

"Describing Balanchine's version with evident adoration and fond memories, Morgan cites several contrasts: His rendition contains many lovely divertissements and perhaps more additional tangents off the basic plot. She says he took a different approach. Although both versions share the rather short, 40-minute musical score composed by Felix Mendelssohn, Morgan had the freedom to incorporate additional music -- while avoiding Balanchine's musical choices. She stuck with Mendelssohn, opting for some of the composer's lush string symphonies and choral compositions. Calling his music "jubilant, yet sophisticated," she adds, "I really relate to him. He's got a lot of really fun rhythms and ideas in his music. You can pick up so many different kinds of accents ... this brings a lot of freedom to the choreography."

The other has to do with involving the dancers in choreographic decisions:

QUOTE:

"Because the dancers had familiarized themselves with the characters they were to portray, Morgan often discussed characterizations and motivations instead of telling the dancers exactly what steps to do. Most enjoyed the freedom of interpreting their own characters through movement, based on material from the play. Since this is the second production of Morgan's version, she has enjoyed seeing how dancers in different casts can take the same information and move it in new directions.

"They are extremely entertaining and I was just so amazed at what came out."

I took an 11 year old student of mine.  First time at a ballet performance.  I loved in the second act when they took off Giselle's scarf and I heard an audible gasp from her during the arabesque hop turns.  It was great.  And, then to hear her gasp again and say..."oh, how cool!" during the entrechat quatres series.  It gave me goosebumps to be passing on the love of a good, classic ballet.

It's fantastic when that happens. I really treasure those responses when I have them. You and your student are fortunate, b1.

To confirm the addition of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion performances in LA (from the updated company website).l

I've been impressed and very pleased by the way the company dances all of these. The Stravinsky was especially thrilling when I saw it in 2004. Dances at a Gathering -- a company premier -- is being set on the company (this month) by Susan Hendl and Ben Huys, for the Jerome Robbins Estate. Both are former NYCB dancers.

June 30, July 1&2, 2006

Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, Los Angeles Music Center

Los Angeles, California

www.musiccenter.org

Tickets: (213) 972-0711

Program A (June 30th: 7:30 p.m.; July 1st -- 7:30 p.m.)

Fancy Free

Nine Sinatra Songs

Stravinsky Violin Concerto

Program B (July 2nd -- 2:00 p.m.)

Dances at a Gathering

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

bee2, if you'd like to write a review of the Beijing performance(s?) you saw (preferably in a separate thread), I'm sure many people here would be interested in reading it ! 

Yes, please ! And a description of the reactions of the Beijing audience to the POB program(s) would be especially interesting. With the increase in the number of (1) western tours to Asia, (2) Asian company tours to the US, and (3) Asian dancers joining American companies, ballet seems to becoming mroe gobal than ever.

Sounds like it was really exciting, atm7ll. The radio broadcast of Samson and Delilah -- with Domingo and Olga Borodina -- is scheduled for February 25. There also broadcasting Figaro (April 22), but with John Relyea instead of Terfel.

The Met website tells us to "stay tuned" for a TV schedule for the season, whatever that means. I don't know whether the series "The Metropolitan Opera Presents" even exists any more. I guess that means no TV performance of the new Tobias Picker "American Tragedy" (radio broadcast on Christmas Eve). Other than the Picker, only two post-19th century works make the radio list: Wozzeck and Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac (a revival for Domingo).

It's hard to remember that it wasn't so long ago that a new opera, Ghosts of Versailles, DID receive a highly publicized TV broadcast. But that had Marilyn Horne, Teresa Stratas, and Hakan Hagegard -- and a very young Renee Fleming.

New(ish) music really needs tv to bring it across to most audiences.

I remember several scenes of lovers embracing passionately -- followed by a cut or pan away from the bed(s) and to the firepace. The flames burst upward.

On the other hand, there are rules about the depiction of violence that might enhance the pleasure (and social utility) of movies today.

QUOTE:

"Particular Applications

1. Murder

a. The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will not inspire imitation.

b. Brutal killings are not to be presented in detail.

c. Revenge in modern times shall not be justified.

2. Methods of Crime should not be explicitly presented"

Thanks, Mme. Hermine, for the link to the fascinating artifact.

Here's a review of one of the Miami programs, by Guillermo Perez (Sun-Sentinel).

REVIEW

I dont know about any of my fellow dancers, but Ill tell you I'd rather dance to an old variation by Pugni or Minkus or Drigo any time over Stravinsky!

I can imagine that this is widely shared by dancers and also by audiences, especially if you include as "ballet music" the modern, Broadway and pop or even rock music with familiar melodic styles and relatively uncomplicated 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4 beats that is used by so many choreographers today.

I recently spent 90 minutes watching a group of 19 dancers learning a section of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. All that counting. It demanded enormous concentration from all the dancers. And -- something which surprised me -- it was also exhausting to be sitting and watching from the sidelines.

I am often in wonder when I see dancers able to perform to very "modern" music (early 20th century or last week's) or even to silence or near-silence. And I'm not surprised that audiences (me included) may feel extremely uncomfortable -- or even cheated of the simpler and more accessible pleasures of, say, a waltz.

With modern music, there's so much that can go wrong. And -- most humiliating for this ballet watcher -- I might not even notice if something DID go wrong.

The audience sounds more thaqn worthy of a rant. At West Palm we were spared that. There were quite a lot of young people in the audience. Some, I assume, were dance students from the Dreyfoos School for the Arts, Ballet Florida, maybe some from Harid, etc., and dance students in my experience tend to contribute maturity and decorum to an audience, however young they might be. The audience was very attentive and, I think, responded to each piece appropriately and with respect for the artists -- including the best of the contemporay pieces. I didn't realize how rare this can be.

Otherwise, I concur with your feeling that the production and management of the event left a LOT TO BE DESIRED. The mispronunciation of "Verdy" at Miami and the 3-minute Rasta Thomas headliner solo at West Palm defy belief.

...  if a girl in a tutu came out and did some fouettes, the audience went crazy. It was worse than a circus.

the willingness of people to christen someone an instant star because they can do 32 double fouettes that finish with a backflip is something that I find disheartening.

I noticed this too. It is fun to cheer such things. But I wondered a few times what the audience felt they were roaring FOR?

Good pointe, Cliff.

vrsfanatic, you're right. I should have made that more clear.

By "management" I meant the promoters. The Kravis handled the mechanics of ticket sales, but did nothing else.

Generally the Kravis actively promotes only those performances and productions that it presents itself It merely rents the hall to Miami City Ballet, Ballet Florida and Palm Beach Opera. These companies are a responsible for their own publicity and maintain their own box offices.

What a great ballet experience Sympony in three Movements provides. Such a difficult score -- but the choreography does seem "inevitable," Helen, just as you describe Nakamura's performance.

I go back to NYCB's performances in the 70s. It's Villella I remember best from the early days -- and the corps. Villella's Miami City Ballet did it in 2003-04, brilliantly.

I bet that PNB's is one of the best -- at least it sounds that way. I wish technology allowed me to say "Beam me out there, Scottie" so I could see.

On Friday I saw the West Palm Beach program of the 10th Anniversary of the International Ballet Festival of Miami. Three other programs (some duplications) were held in Miami during the week.

I hope that others who saw one of the programs will also post their impressions.

First of all, I have to say that Rolando Sarabia did NOT perform in West Palm. He was listed in the program for Nutcracker Pas de Deux in Miami. The headliner for West Palm was Rasta Thomas -- so there should have some excitement. You might expect. However ... read on.

Thomas received virtually the ONLY publicity for the event here (an interview with him in the Palm Beach Post) so possibly some of the younger people in the audience were there for him. He performed a clever and energetically executed non-dance to "Flight of the Bumblebee" -- approximately 3 minutes worth of action (a man swallows a bumblebee and reacts). There were roars from one section of the audience (I guess he is a media star). But those I talked to were in a state of shock about the almost insulting brevity of his appearance.

Bernard Courtot (formerly of SF Ballet, POB, English National, and lots of guesting and galas) was scheduled to dance something from the Bejart Firebird but did not appear. The disembodied voice that announced his non-appeareance mentioned "visa delays." Visa delays were apparantly also responsible for the absence of Ballet do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro.

So, there were some ... (shall we say?) disapointments in the program. Especially when you could read what Miami was getting: Sarabia plus Thomas in Le Corsaire pas de deux (the 3-minute version?).

Enough of that. The highlights for me were the chance to see a mix of young and mature dancers in repertory that was either very familiar (the same old Corsaires, Don Q's, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty pas de deux) or unfamiliar: including work by Complexions, the newly formed Balleteatro Nacional de Puerto Rico, something from the Cranko version of R&J, and a new male pas de deux from Germany. The excitement of this -- and the enthusiasm and even giddiness of the audience -- made the event very worth while.

It's difficult to know what kind of standards to applyl to such an event, especially when there are so many different kinds of dance (classical and contemporary) and dancers. I'd done some homework the day before by revisiting videos of world-class dancers peforming most of the famous war horses. I mean Dowell and Sibley in Sleeping Beauty pas de 2, Corella and Kent in le Corsaire, Herrera and Corella in Don Q, Ferri and Bocca in the Macmillen R&J, etc. Nothing on the Kravis stage was in that league. But a number of the dancers at the Kravis seemed to be doing something that (for me) is often more important than perfect technique --- they were investing every part of themselves in the performance and in the movement. That made the best of the evening very exciting.

Highlights:

1) Our local troup, Ballet Florida, revisted Twyla Tharp's Baker's Dozen as the curtain-raiser for the evening. I really love this classy, joyful, fast-moving and "smart" ballet -- especially the way individuals and groups move on and off the stage, interact, swtich partners, move on to be replaced by others. The performance was a big improvement over their first effort with it last season. Some dancers who were stiff then seemed more comfortable with the speed and lightness required, and actually seemed to be enjoying themslves rather than thinking about "what happens next"? I especially liked Leah Miles (new last year to the company from Cincinnati) and Mauricio Canete (formerly of Houston), who lived IN the steps and the style.

2) Three men from Complexions -- Clifford C. Williams, Jason Jacobs, and Leyland Simmons -- performed something from "Gone" (choreography by Dwight Rhodes; song by the great Odetta). It was incredibly fast, athletic, and strongly danced. There were enough balletic elements, including grand jetes, to make me especially comfortable. Lots of cheers at the end.

3) Balleteatro Nacional (Puerto Rico) performed "Tangos" (choreography: Rodney Rivera) to music by Astor Piazolla. Piazolla's music is thrilling, and it carried the choreography along. (Unlike Taylor's Piazolla Caldera, where movement and music are of equal quality.) The piece starts with a formal and intense pas de deux for two men. A woman enters. Then a second women. The women especially (Laura Valentin and Marena Perez) were strong, muscular, and very effective.

4) Stuttgart's "Romeo and Juliet" suffered from the absence of a balcony, so the dancers seemed a little disoriented and out of place at the beginning. The Cranko choreography is more conventional and (to me) less emtionally powerful than MacMillen's. But Stuttgart soloist Katja Wunsche was a beautiful Juliet, especially when showing confusion about all the new feelings that she was experiencing, and Mikhail Kaniskin was extravagently and touching in love. Big audience response.

5) A modern pas de deux for two semi-naked Speedo-clad males -- Kaniskin of Stuttgart and Ronald Savkovic of Staatsballet Berlin -- to a strange but beautiful score by Eclectic, was one of the hits of the evening. Savkovic was choreographer. The brief, rough kiss at the end -- cut off abruptly as the two men separated -- evoked audible gasps from round the audience. (Including me.)

6) Good, more-than-competent and very popular versions of Corsaire from Vanessa Lawson and Jaime Vargas of Royal Winnipeg and Don Q from Silvina Perillo (I liked her a lot) and Alejandro Parente of Ballet Estable Teatro Colon.

7) The chance to see two new, very young dancers from Cincinnati bravely stepping in at the last minute to fill the programming gap left by the absent Courtot and the Brazilian troupe. A voice in the dark announced the replacement, so I don't have as much information as I should. The pas de deux was from Victoria Morgan's version of Midsummer Night's Dream, though the costumes (white tuto, white satin) seemed out of Sleeping Beauty. I did not get the young woman's name, but the man was Joseph Gatti, a Cincinnati soloist who was a Gold Medal winner in the 2005 New York International Ballet competition. (I looked this up on their web site.) The choreography was not memorable, but the earnestness, joy, compatability, and sheer pleasure that the two dancers conveyed made this a treat for me. They were 100% invested in their dancing and deserved their very big round of applause.

The Festival has a place in West Palm, and I hope they will be back next year. It will take more communication and publicity in Palm Beach County -- and programming more comparable to what they are doing in Miami. There's a big dance audience here, and it can be very enthusiastic and supportive, as Friday night showed. But to sell out the house -- management needs to do some extra work.

Today's Links has an article discussing the issue of extra pay nudity.

Performers question cost of nudity

Thanks, Helene.

The Google site is a record of so many small steps towards reestablishing life, work, and relationships. It's a tribute to the power of survival and rebirth that we humans -- and especially artists, it seems to me -- are capable of.

There's a brief article in today's LINKS about the enormous consequences of arts institutions and workers in the New Orleans area as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

KATRINA'S EFFECTS ON THE NEW ORLEANS ARTS COMMUNITY

At least 10,000 New Orleans workers in the arts have been displaced. Many have been driven far from the area or are indeed still missing. The offices of major institutions (symphony, opera, and dance copanies) have had set up temporary camp in other cities. It goes on and on.

There are so many questions in this tragedy. How can these people and companies cope? How can they survive as arts institutions and individual artists? Can the experience of other arts communities which HAVE risen from destruction (brought about by nature or war) be an encouraging example for New Orleans?

Please post your thoughts, experiences, memories, and/or suggestions about such questions here.

Solor, I'd be grateful some specific descriptions -- of moves, combinations, etc. -- as to what constitutes "sloppy" versus "clean" dancing.

This is something I often wonder about when I observe all sorts of companies. Something I love often turns out to be technically wrong or stylistically controversial. Conversely, things that make me uncomfortable have their passionate supporters. Often, specific descriptive examples help me to figure it out.

Thanks.

I'm looking forward to the discussion about this!

My immediate reaction to the idea of nudity in most dance is: distracting.

My reaction to the idea of nudity in ballet: VERY distracting.

By definition, something that is "distracting" does not enhance whatever you're setting out to do.

An exception might be if the dance or scene is in some sense "about" the state of being unclothed: as possibly in Salome's dance. Quite distracting,however, would be a mad scene in which Giselle ripped off her own dress just because the choreographer told her to.

It seems to me that nudity is much less distracting or jarring on film, where a sense of intimacy can be created that includes the viewer, than in a live performance in a theater where the sense of physical separation between viewer and performer is inescapable.

I guess I agree in theory with the this position cited in the article:

Steven Heathcote, principal dancer at the Australian Ballet, says: "For me, nudity in performance of any kind is all about context. It's very obvious when nudity is gratuitously included ... when appropriately used, however, it can create a sense of vulnerability and intimacy for audience and performers alike."

However, "all about context" is one of those truisms which, on examination, tends to be without meaning. As for "appropriately used"? -- that's the question.

Great news!

I've always been curious about one thing: what is it like to create, choreograph, and rehearse a ballet -- and then to dance in it as well. Obviously the experience must be very different from standing in the wings and watching.

Did you enjoy the actual experience of dancing as much as if the choreography were someone else's? Was there any frustration in not being able to watch the whole thing from a distance? Did you tape the performance to have something to watch (from a distance) later on? Please, tell us more about the whole experience.

it is in the literal sense of the now-popular catch-all term: awesome.

And awe-inspiring.

I also don't like tutus that are really huge stiff platters.

I wonder: where did that style originate? And why? I guess I'm used to the look, but a non-fan once told me that it looked like the dancer had stepped halfway through a frisbie.

Excellent.

Jeanne Moreau, alternating the roles of Sleepwalker and Coquette in Sonnambula.