miliosr

Florimond Lorieux has announced on his Instagram feed that he's returning to the Paris Opera Ballet after two years with Boston Ballet.

The POB just can't catch a break: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/message-to-spectators-629

I do like that Cathy Marston is committed to the narrative form with actual plots and named characters. Snowblind (a.k.a. Ethan Frome) could have come from Martha Graham or Antony Tudor. (Or Joan Crawford -- see the recent Feud series.) It would be perfectly legitimate for a reviewer to note that there are some things dance -- as a non-verbal, non-written art form -- cannot express easily, if at all. The choreographer may have the best of intentions but that doesn't mean the intentions translate into dance. As for Dores Andre, I read her Instagram post. My one cautionary note for her would be that there's no company alive capable of moving easily from the classical to the contemporary to social protest "art". The mixed reviews for the San Francisco Ballet's performances of Sleeping Beauty suggest that it's not so easy to exist in all those worlds simultaneously. To put it another way, Justin Peck sneaker ballets may not help you with Sleeping Beauty and may actually work against you.

I think you've hit on why I'm ambivalent about the Unbound Festival. 'Relevant' dances that are very 'Now' one moment can become very 'Then' the next. Or as Isadora Duncan said in a different context: "[It] dies as soon as it is made." I suppose my ambivalence also stems from this: What does this emphasis on "being relevant" mean for what I can only describe as the "white tights and tutus" genre of ballet? In the future, will anyone be interested in making new dances in that genre? Or is it now a spent field in terms of new work? [Note: I understand that cost may have prevented any of the Unbound choreographers from working "in the grand manner". But, in any event, how many of them are all that interested in making those kinds of lavish dances that don't make you think (to quote Croce)?]

One of our occasional polls here at Ballet Alert suggested by the Paris Opera Ballet 'malaise' thread. Feel free to explain your vote if you feel so inclined. Happy voting!

mnacenani beat me to it. Dupont was supposed to dance Manon with Herve Moreau. But, when he had to drop out, she had management bring in Bolle as her partner rather than rely on one of the other etoiles or premiere danseurs. This must be a lingering bone of contention but has nothing whatsoever to do with Dupont's management abilities. Yes, the Cranko estate maintains strict control over who is cast in his ballets. Of course, this brings into sharp relief the whole nature of the hierarchy. If an estate or trust (like the Cranko estate) or a living choreographer like William Forsythe can cast as they please regardless of rank, the value of the hierarchy diminishes.

The Merce Cunningham Trust has announced a year-long celebration to honor the centennial of his birth: https://mercecunningham.org/centennial/ And details: https://mercecunningham.org/mct/assets/File/MCTrust Centennial Announcement FINAL 041518.pdf Interesting to see how much of the centennial will be concentrated in France: Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris, CCN – Ballet de Lorraine, Chaillot Théâtre national de la danse, Compagnie CNDC d’Angers / Robert Swinston, Festival d’Automne à Paris, La Villette, Le Centre national de la danse, Lyon Opera Ballet, Montpellier Danse, R.B. Jérôme Bel, Théâtre de la Ville, Théâtre du Châtelet Arguably, France is now the true home of Cunningham's legacy. (I wonder if the Paris Opera Ballet will be reviving Un Jour ou Deux in Fall 2019?)

Poor Manuel Legris! After all the trouble he went to trying to secure the Peace of Vienna: https://www.instagram.com/p/BDQvpJooWWt/?hl=en&taken-by=manuel.legris Yes, I'm kidding . . .

Funny you should mention this. Writing in the April issue of Dance Europe about the recent Benjamin Millepied/Maurice Bejart double bill at the Opera, Francois Fargue had this to say: "Millepied ascended to the actual position of artistic director . . . , while Bejart, who never made it that high, still famously acted like he was the director as he once upped and named the young Manuel Legris and Eric Vu An etoiles on stage following the premiere of his Arepo on 22 March 1986. An all-the-more unorthodox initiative as both young men were only sujets. Bejart had only forgotten that he was just a demigod. True god Nureyev cancelled the 'nomination' the very next day. Those were fun, eventful times. Who's a god these days?" Speaking of Claude Bessy, how are she and Madame Dupont getting along these days?

http://www.dancemagazine.com/donald-mckayle-2558284019.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_McKayle

From the casting for Sasha Waltz's Romeo and Juliet at the POB Web site, I noticed that Herve Moreau is not listed. Has he decided to retire quietly without a farewell performance?

Clifford has posted the famous Bert Stern photo of Allegra Kent and Edward Villella in Balanchine's Bugaku (w/ interesting comments) on his Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgkQXF_l-PL/?hl=en&taken-by=john_cliff26 There's also a lively back-and-forth with commenters including Alastair Macaulay (!). But how accurate some of what Clifford writes is definitely open to debate. FYI -- Sarasota Ballet is performing Bugaku this spring. Now may be the time to see it because who knows if it will be performed again.

The company is paying the price now for the overreliance on guest stars in the first half of this decade. Dancers either left to pursue opportunities elsewhere or had to tread water for years. Julie Kent and, to a lesser extent, Paloma Herrera were the most egregious examples of this. The problems this caused were twofold: Kent and Herrera clung to spots that would have been better used to prepare younger ballerinas (see point #1) and, in Kent's case, her continuing presence led McKenzie to program ballets that suited an older, more experienced dancer like Kent but were ill-suited to twentysomething ballerinas. This manifests itself in dancers being cast regardless of whether or not they are suited for the role. We all remember 'Hee Seo Ballet Theatre'. Of all your excellent points, this is the only one I disagree with. Baryshnikov tried this in the 80s and a portion of the audience drifted away. The ABT audience didn't want to see Karole Armitage, Merce Cunningham and David Gordon. Paul Taylor (!) was considered radical enough!!! In any event, the sheer size of the Met works against programming a lot of these one act wonders who make works for the companies you cite. (It will be interesting to see just how well Wayne McGregor sells.) I don't know that their unconcerned about developing dancers. There are very real problems with the number of coaches on staff relative to the number of dancers. But that's a resource issue. I don't think management is wrong to have a "take it or leave it" approach. You cited Messmer, Matthews and Kajiya as departures. I would add Sterling Baca, Roddy Doble and Matt Golding. But there was always someone to replace them. We can argue about whether the replacements are as good as what might have been if the departing dancers had stayed. But the continuing willingness of people to join the company tells me it's still a buyer's market at ABT rather than a seller's market.

Setting aside the issue of mediocrity, this group is problematic in its own right. Bolle is in his 40s and barely dances with the company any more. Hallberg and Lendorf are injured more often than not and also have loyalties elsewhere (the Australian Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet respectively.) Murphy is increasingly beset by injuries. Simkin will be spending a big portion of his time with another company. That leaves Cornejo as a major part of the company's backbone and he's past 35 as well. I know these two have taken up the old 'Veronika Part - Divided Opinions' mantle but the company needs them. They are workhorses, especially now that Gomes is gone.

This is the only review I've seen of the recent performances: http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2018/03/in-the-mood.html Now that the New York Times is moving away from comprehensive dance reviews, I wonder how small successor companies like the Sokolow company are going to attract attention.

Another de Havilland article: http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/olivia-de-havilland-101-on-suing-feud-tv-show-put-false-words-in-my-mouth/ar-BBKj7jP?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=ientp

I think that may be part of it. The other thing to consider is that Angel Corella jettisoned the old company in order to bring the new company into being. Presumably, he wants the big jumps and non-stop turning. You are correct that Instagram videos are not the best measure of a company's health. However, Instagram videos are a form of advertisement for the company. Unfortunately, the impression being left from all the turning videos is that all the guys want to dance is Don Q.

I don't disagree with you. It may be that the male dancers are picking up on the most obvious strand in Corella's career and no one is getting them to see Corella (if he is indeed the stylistic model they're all looking toward) in a more nuanced way.

I follow some of the Pennsylvania Ballet male dancers on Instagram and I would concur with the comments made by other posters. From what the dancers post on their Instagram feeds, they come across as a company of mini-Angels. I don't know if they're being pushed in that direction by Corella himself or, as canbelto notes, they've collectively decided that imitating Corella is the road to advancement. The impression they're giving via Instagram is a very one-dimensional one, though.

And the 'Stars -- They're Just Like Us!' feature replete with a photo of someone doing something mundane (i.e. Sara Mearns pumping gas.)

The Bonnie Fuller-ization of the Times . . . (Regular "readers" of US Weekly and Star will know what I'm talking about.)

https://www.vogue.com/article/jane-fonda-oscar-red-carpet-hair-and-makeup-los-angeles Red carpet pictures!

I wouldn't worry too much about Jeremy Loup-Quer as he's young (mid-20s) and most likely next in line for promotion. The dancers who competed and are in the 30-32 range -- Allister Madin, Marc Moreau, Fabien Revillion and Daniel Stokes -- are the ones who should be asking themselves, "How likely is it that I will be promoted?" If the answer is "unlikely," then they either have to make their peace with being a soloist at the Opera or strike out in new directions.

No surprise at all about Varna winner Paul Marque. Short of his falling down, I couldn't imagine the promotion escaping him. I read that Sebastien Bertaud was competing even though he's what -- mid-30s? Good for him for staying in the competition even though the likelihood of advancement is slim. Is Legasa the new Alu?

The annual concours for promotion is today and tomorrow.