Dale

Nantucket Dance Festival is going to hold a free digital festival from June 20-25. It's unclear what that means but they've been releasing videos of remote rehearsals on their landing page (including an interesting bit of coaching Divertimento No. 15 by Suki Schorer). They've also posted videos and text chats on their Facebook and IG pages: https://nantucketdancefest.org https://www.facebook.com/nantucketdancefestival/ In addition, organizer Tyler Angle does a lecture demonstration and those from past years have been recorded: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdHmguMzblXUfP11flAvM1qQ0QAdFak2Q

<sigh> Yes, that's always a risk. I hesitate posting these. It's been up for a bit and I weighed the good of people seeing it. I think it was posted by the production company.

For lack of a better place to put these. Came across them. They probably weren't meant to be public, so enjoy them while you can: Ashton Celebration: https://vimeo.com/324004369 Joyce program: https://vimeo.com/324004369

I think this was kept public by mistake, so enjoy while you can: https://vimeo.com/324004369

Yes, I wish Lincoln Center would have made an announcement like, "we're holding other offerings back to shine a brighter spotlight on black artists. Please enjoy the The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater" etc... It would also direct people's attentions to this offering. I guess everything is moving so fast, institutions don't know which way to go.

Many of us have guessed that NYCB, with all that's happening on the national stage, has chosen to hold their offerings for a later date. And maybe they are choosing to amplify a group such as DTH's offerings as that company is showing its Creole Giselle this week. I would guess (and it's just my opinion) that we'll be seeing those videos (Coppélia, Tribute to Balanchine) later in the month or summer as streaming performances appears to be good fundraisers.

Yes, this story explains the how and why the production came to Miami: https://wwd.com/eye/lifestyle/george-balanchine-firebird-miami-city-ballet-1203486055/

@California I won't say they don't but I haven't heard that they do. I think the Chagall Firebird would be very special to NYCB and it's also probably fragile. I noticed that when ABT added Symphony in C to its rep, it rented the costumes from National Ballet of Canada. I think NYCB would want to keep their Firebird proprietary so audiences come to see it in NY. But also, Miami has redesigned several Balanchine ballets recently to make them more Miami-centric. They moved Midsummer underwater and this is like Tsar in the Tropics. I don't think either worked. ETA - NYCB doesn't have the license to the ballets. Those belong to the Balanchine Trust. We have threads about it on the board somewhere but he left the ballets to people, not the institution.

Tallchief was certainly not 5'9". There's a picture out there of Tallchief, Le Clercq and Adams in Apollo with Eglevsky and you can clearly see she's shorter than the other women. Wow, I missed a lot. I follow Kathryn Morgan and I did not see this on her feed (I follow way too many people and I miss things!). This is a real shame. It was the costume that should have been jettisoned, not the dancer. That unitard was tacky and distracting. All the costumes looked like they came from the Fredericks of Hollywood clearance rack. [I should apologize for missing the small children in the production when I talked about it on another thread. Evidently I missed them in the profusion of hot pink and yellow on the stage] I think Kathryn Morgan has something that can't be got with a diet or a tacky costume - she has a special way of moving and responding to the music. It should be nurtured. She would have looked smashing in a red tutu.

I thought I read that the SAB workshop stream was going to be part of a celebration where former SAB students talk about their experience. (some of these videos are up on SAB's YT channel) NYCB dancers have been amplifying the company's offerings on social media. It wouldn't surprise me if this is something that's encouraged, even expected now that they're not dancing, in order to help the company and raise money. All good things, not saying this is a bad thing. But in light of the last week's events and the current goings on, some dancers might not have their heart into that sort of social media campaign. Many of us follow the dancers and they - like many of us - have been upset and angry and hurt. This SAB workshop was very important, especially as it had a tribute to Arthur Mitchell and featured two African-American dancers in the pas de deux of Agon. Something we haven't seen at NYCB. This was something to be celebrated and I can certainly understand why they'd want to put a pause on it until a time when it can be fully appreciated.

A release: AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE, HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO AND ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER JOIN TOGETHER FOR COMPANY CLASS, TUESDAY, JUNE 2 and THURSDAY, JUNE 4 at 12 Noon ET CLASSES TO STREAM LIVE ON FACEBOOK LIVE AND INSTAGRAM ABT BALLET MASTER CARLOS LOPEZ AND HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO ARTISTIC DIRECTOR GLENN EDGERTON TO LEAD CLASSES Dancers from American Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will come together for two virtual company classes on Tuesday, June 2 and Thursday, June 4. Each hour and a half class, beginning at 12 Noon ET, will stream on Facebook Live and Instagram @ABTOfficial. Classes will include both ballet barre and center work. The first class on June 2 will be conducted by ABT Ballet Master Carlos Lopez. Lopez launched a virtual ABT Company Class on March 14 of this year and has held more than 35 classes thus far, with additional classes taught by ABT colleagues and alumni. The class will be accompanied by pianist Michael Scales. Glenn Edgerton, artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, will teach the Thursday, June 4 class. The class will beaccompanied by pianist Michael Roberts. “A silver lining from the pandemic has been to connect with other great artists,” said Edgerton. “It’s ironic as we are socially distancing locally, we are virtually connecting around the world like never before. The camaraderie and the energy of sharing our common passion of dance has given us solace.” “What a wonderful opportunity for dancers from these three companies to come together, share and learn from one another,” said Kevin McKenzie, ABT Artistic Director. “Participating in daily class reminds us of our common needs and basic connections.” For more information on American Ballet Theatre’s digital offerings, please visit www.abt.org/abtoffstage.

Thankfully we won’t have to wonder where the next Lincoln Center dance offering is, SAB has posted the link on their YouTube page:

Happy birthday, Alexandra!

I've been very impressed with the company and the stagings. I feel the intention is there with each of the three Balanchine ballets they've shown.

@California You are probably right. It's interesting that they posted it "unlisted" on YouTube. I mean, what's the point of making it available, even for a limited time, if people can't find it readily? Lincoln Center's own videos are put up very clearly on its YT channel. Even old Live from Lincoln Center videos. The Midsummer was posted in a similar way as the other NYCB videos for its digital season and even featured an introduction by Jonathan Stafford. It will be interesting to see if the other offerings get put up in similar ways. My guess is the SAB and NYCB will follow form. The original broadcast featured backstage interviews. This is the way the recording is listed at the NYPL: Cassette 1 (ca. 72 min. total). Les sylphides (ca. 36 min.) / choreography, Michel Fokine; music, Frédéric Chopin, orchestrated by Benjamin Britten; scenery, Alexandre Benois; lighting, Nananne Porcher; danced by Eleanor D'Antuono, Rebecca Wright, Marianna Tcherkassky, Ivan Nagy, and corps de ballet. Grand pas de deux from Don Quixote (ca. 15 min.) / choreography after Marius Petipa; music, Leon Minkus; lighting, Nananne Porcher; danced by Natalia Makarova, and Fernando Bujones. Backstage interviews (ca. 17 min.) with Natalia Makarova, Fernando Bujones, and Erik Bruhn. Cassette 2 (ca. 93 min. total). Theme and variations (ca. 24 min.) / choreography, George Balanchine; music, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky; costumes, Desmond Heeley; lighting, Jennifer Tipton; danced by Gelsey Kirkland, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and others. Backstage interviews (ca. 17 min.) with Gelsey Kirkland and Erik Bruhn. The firebird (ca. 46 min.) / choreography, Michel Fokine, restaged by Christopher Newton; music, Igor Stravinsky; scenery and costumes, Nathalie Gontcharova; lighting, Nananne Porcher; danced by Cynthia Gregory (the Firebird), John Meehan (Prince Ivan), Marcos Paredes (the immortal Kostchei), Leslie Browne (the Princess), and others. Cassette 3. Backstage with Live from Lincoln Center [interview with Mikhail Baryshnikov] (c1977; ca. 14 min.) / taped and telecast on June 2, 1977, after a performance of Giselle. Director, Robert Schwarz; producer, John Goberman; interviewer and new introduction: Dick Cavett.

The YouTube video is "unlisted," which is why it didn't come up on their YouTube channel. I had to sign in with my email address on the Lincoln Center website to get the option of seeing a video box. But it's all good now. God, I've never seen this video so clean. I own a watery tape of a tape, same as the bits and pieces on YT.

Ah, you have to sign up for it. YouTube:

Nope. Why wouldn't they put it on YT like the others?

This isn't quite how NYCB does the production (which was a revival in 1985 of the version done for Tallchief). The corps dance in front of the scrim (Chagall's, of course) to give time for the last set change) and then we get the tableau in all of the artist's glory. And rather than static, Balanchine uses stage craft. As the music swells, the lights get bright, brighter, brightest until all that color is saturated. The stage fills with people, including the monsters. And when the brass section comes in one last time, the young children come running in with platters of food and drink, racing to and fro as the music is whipped into one last frenzy. The main couple move forward, with some of the children holding on to the Princess's train (she's wearing the most magnificent blood red jeweled dress with a long train. I believe the curtain comes down and then back up so we get one last glimpse of it all.

That is very beautiful. Now, that, makes me want to see the ballet in the theater (in a couple of years!).

I had the opposite reaction. I mean, I love the ballet, and ironically Lourdes Lopez was one of my favorites in performing the lead role. First, I think the re-costuming is just off. The firebird now looks like one of the failed experiments Balanchine had. The big feathered tail just seemed to get in the way with a lot of the partnering. The shiny material, which I guess was supposed to convey fire, just looked a little cheap. The color scheme for the rest was ... I know MCB has started trying to make these Balanchine productions more of their own by tailoring them to its "tropical" location. I just don't think it works. I didn't think their Midsummer worked thematically. And I don't think it works here - why are women in a tropical place wearing Russian-style tiaras? I also was surprised at some of the choices in the choreography. The firebird's last solo seemed to have accents and exaggerations missing from Maria Tallchief's interpretation and the subsequent productions at NYCB. And finally, they did not include the small children at the end (is the thought that they are servants and the ballet seems to be promoting child labor?) and the princess did not wear a different gown. I'll have to watch it again and maybe move past these visual things. I feel almost churlish to complain since I am so happy MCB allowed the video to be seen for free.

Jack and Helen, from what I read is in the 70s and early 80s, they were allowed to film but no orchestra. So you'll find videos in the NYPL collection in practice clothes with a piano but taking place on stage. There are some stage performances here and there from earlier. And the library also has catalogued donated pirated video. One year, recently, a whole pile of DVDs of Farrell in performance from the 80s was added to the catalogue. Maybe it was from the company; maybe from an admirer. I know from the mid-80s there were house cameras recording. They recorded a "close" version and a "wide" version. The lighting is a little bit dark. The "close" was to record the soloists and the "wide" the whole stage. The large-scale celebrations of Robbins and then Balanchine were recorded. Even if they couldn't get the rights to things that were on Great Performances or Live from Lincoln Center, they have a treasure trove of material, that if signed off on, could supply a sexy enough catalogue to entice people to subscribe long-term, even without new performances to add. Oh, and SAB, too. I do believe that there would be close to 40 years of workshop performances filmed. And speaking of Great Performances or Live from Lincoln Center - I was told that they would film dress rehearsals and/or other night's performances so the director and camera people could workout the shot selections. So there's some of that footage out there, too.

Yeah, I would say the quality at NTL is a bit better. I went to a few in-theater screenings of productions that wound up on Digital Theatre. Good shows. I think it's the difference between offerings/libraries. Like, I think Met HD streaming service is a good example. They have a huge catalogue. Not just of the Met Live in HD theater broadcasts but all those years of the productions that would get filmed for PBS. And audio/radio recordings. It really does make it worth the price. Whereas, say, Medici TV - doesn't have that big library. I will say that, for example, Amazon Prime Video makes it very easy to pick up and then drop services (easier than with cable - they call it "churning"), so I could see myself add Broadway in HD for a month or so and then drop it when I've exhausted my possibilities. [forgive my long-windedness on the topic - the streaming television industry is one of my specialties at work] NTL has a smaller library than Met in HD - they've been at it a lot less time and do fewer productions a season than the Met. Still, with their star power (not just in actors - Tom Stoppard and David Hare have shown off their latest plays on NTL), they could do well, especially if they partner up with other British theaters. ETA, a deep catalogue is another reason NYCB might be successful. They not only have everything they've recently recorded (which is you look at those "Anatomy of a Dance" or "Flash Footage" series, is quite a bit) but all the old house camera library (which dates back to the late 80s/early 90s). If they can get people/unions to sign off, they could have a pretty deep library.

The National Theatre Live screenings are very popular where I am, even without big name actors. Of course, when there is a popular actor starring, they get wider releases (mainstream theater vs. art house or college cinema). To me, the series seems to have a stamp of approval. You know you'll get a quality product, even if you like one vs. the other. People have been clamoring for an at-home way to rewatch the shows for years.