chrisk217

It's from Ferri's Farewell in Japan. She also danced the R&J pdd and the Manon swamp scene pdd with Bolle while Gomes partnered Julie Kent in the White swan adagio. My copy is from tv but there might be a dvd released in Japan, you might try checking the Japanese sites.

wow! that's very high praise - i'm now very much looking forward to it! Based on how casting evolved on similar occasions in the past I'd say that Osmolkina is far more likely to appear than Lopatkina - but that doesn't say much of course... If you decide to come and want to say hi before performance PM me. I'll be there both nights

Of interest to ballettalkers planning a vacation or passing through Greece this summer: there are two planned Swan Lake performances at the Herodion Casting was just announced (for what it's worth): Uliana Lopatkina, Danila Korsuntsev (July 6 2009) Yekaterina Osmolkina, Ιgor Kolb (July 7 2009) More info and tickets (after June 15th) can be found here: http://www.greekfestival.gr/show_event?id=322〈=en /slightly off topic mini-rant: This was very exciting but at the same time vaguely irritating. In the context of this particular festival, programming a Mariinsky Swan Lake is a highly unusual move (the closest it's gotten to ballet in the last three years has been Forsythe's Limb's Theorem). That they only allowed ballet in when the budgets evaporated and the crisis-hit sponsors backed out reeks of desperation and cynicism. That can also be said for the selection of the perennial cash-cow when there were other Mariinsky programs that would sell decently and fit better with the rest of the festival. The prevailing mind-set seems to be that ballet is the silly thing you do to help finance the Serious Artistic Endeavours that are the rest of the festival. Maybe I'm wrong about this, at least I hope I am... /end rant On a less grouchy note: let's hope for good weather and no unpleasant casting surprises!

I don't understand. The dancers aren't supplied with shoes from the company? Or do they try things on in the store and then tell them what to order? It still seems strange to me. I understand coming in to buy leotards, etc... but shoes? Is it a different system and the dancers are expected to supply their own shoes? For many years now Vishneva's guest performances with companies around the world easily outnumber the ones with the Mariinsky. In recent years she even had her own touring ensemble. It's not inconceivable that a dancer who spends so much time away guesting, travelling and moving around might have to buy her own shoes at some point.

I somehow have the idea that this is the studio film of the Kirov's Sergeyev production, filmed in Moscow somewhere around the late 70s and subsequently mislabeled. If so the dancers are Gabriela Komleva, Marat Daukaev and Margarita Kulik. Cheesy special effects, good choreography and excellent dancing all around. I can't for the life of me remember where I base the idea that this is mislabeled, so I hope someone else can post and shed some light...

here it is: PAL -> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paris-Opera-Ballet.../dp/B000FS9JBI/ NTSC -> http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%99%BD%E9%B3%A5.../dp/B000EMH5VG/

One advantage of the Bessmertnova recording is that it's not shot as closely as the Semenyaka one. For example you can see Taranda's Abderahman dance quite clearly and to full effect. The image quality of my (PAL) Bessmertnova dvd is marginally better than that of the Semenyaka (NTSC) disk, but since you're looking at the stage from further away the overall improvement in clarity is not significant. This is the only one of Bessmertnova's later recordings that I like - but that might be because for me, as for you, from the 19th century ballets Raymonda is second only to Sleeping Beauty. Between the numerous variations, the character dancing and the glorious third act I find enough fascination to almost never notice the absence of plot. If you like the ballet you'll probably enjoy watching another take at it. What Bessmertova lacks in warmth or upper body lushness she makes up for in footwork and grander manner . The suggestion for the Balanchine Pas de dix is a very good one - they all dance with remarkable élan. Also since you like the ballet you might want to have a look sometime at Plisetskaya's thrilling adagio and variation (they can be found in more than one Plisetskaya compilation)

To add to what Hans suggested: if you're going to buy the Sizova/Solovyov (and you should, both for Sizova and for Solovyov) you might want to try and find the restored version. It makes a lot of difference. It is widescreen so you see a great deal more of the dancing around the principals and there are no parts of the action happening out of frame, which makes the whole thing easier to follow. Most importantly there's almost no feet or hand cutting. My restored copy comes from tv but i've heard that a restored version was also released on dvd in Japan (?). Unfortunately the extensive cuts (more than 30') persist.

yes it did happen around 2000-2001. I think it was presented last in the 2005-2006 season. It's hard to say whether it's still in the repertory. The company changed ADs twice in recent years (right now Irek Mukhamedov has the post). The production hasn't been seen for a few years but since the company is rather poor they probably wont do away with a successful and popular production without good reason. In any case I hope they'll keep the gorgeous costumes (by Lacotte, as where the sets) Lacotte kept close to the original libretto except for some points in the last act. The mime parts were rather glossed over and not worked very closely or at least not very well taught. The first act used children in the children roles. As with most Lacotte productions the individual dances were pleasant but the parts didn't fit together to make a theatrically coherent whole. Still, it was better paced than other Lacotte ballets - but perhaps the credit for that ought to go to the libretto and the small size of the company - which did not allow him to pad the thing with dances (as he later did to exasperating effect with Ondine) To my non-historian, non-expert eye it looked like a pleasant production inspired by the original rather than a reconstrution. When questioned in interviews about his reconstructive method I remember he was rather vague and talked about his teacher Egorova from whom he got the right feel for the dancing style of the era (I'm paraphrasing wildly, it's been many years now) Reconstruction claims aside, the production was a success with the audience and was repeated by popular demand the following years (up to 2006).

Yes, it is Liane Dayde - thank you for you help! I had seen the previous thread but the name didn't stick She also danced the second movement of Palais de cristal.

I'm trying to find out the name of a POB dancer from the 50s. Her name as the russian narrator pronounces it sounds like Leanne(?) (surname). I know that she danced Giselle and other roles in Moscow. Can someone help?

bart, neoclassical has a looser definition in continental Europe. But there have been Balanchine performances. Most were in the years right before 2004, when the pre-Olympic cash flow made it possible for an unprecedented number of touring companies to visit. In those few, glorious pre-Olympic years we saw Agon (NYCB, 2001), Agon (SFB, 2002), Rubies pdd (Mariinsky 2002), Theme and Variations (Vienna Ballet, 2002?), Apollo (Mariinsky with Zelensky, 2003), Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (Bavarian Ballet(?), 2004), Agon again (SFB, 2004). Tchaikovsky pdd several times. Zelensky danced Apollo in the ancient theater of Delphi. Unfortunately the pre-Olympic cash flow was followed by a severe post-Olympics capital shortage. Then Loukos took over the festival and that was the last we saw of Balanchine apart from the Mariinsky. They danced Rubies pdd and Tchaikovsky pdd in 2007 - I think the only performances of his work after 2004 In September of 2007 it was announced that Roberto Bolle would dance Apollo on the island of Delos, birthplace of Apollo. Visiting Delos is controlled in the daytime and not permitted after sunset, but for this night a small audience was allowed. The performance would be filmed and broadcast live. Bolle like most dancers trained in Europe has phrasing that's different from a Balanchine dancers' But I can't think of no one else who looks the part of a Greek god more - he simply looks magnificent :blush: And for once his reticent stage personality could have been used in the service of the role. The performance, like all theater performances, was canceled after wildfires burned a large part of Greece, leaving about 60 dead and thousands homeless in Peloponnesos. The audience is open to new things and very accepting but it is a matter of expectations, a matter of ticket prices and of course the particular works chosen. Also 100 people per night might be a respectable turnout for an experimental group performing in an old warehouse somewhere west of Iera Odos; but in a theater that sits a thousand (correction: a rented theater that sits a thousand) it's dismal...

For those interested in how Irek Mukhamedov is doing in his second year as director of the ballet of the Greek National Opera here's a link to an interview he gave to promote his new choreography/production of Onegin. In Greek Automatic Translation An interview with one of his Tatianas, one of the very few greek dancers who have made a career abroad. In Greek Automatic Translation The programs they'll give this year are the new production of Onegin in November, a gala program in late January, a series of Giselle performances in February and the Ashton La fille mal gardee in May. La fille is a new acquisition - IIRC some past director had tried to acquire it but the proposition had stumbled because back then they only used recorded music.

There's this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dutch-National-Bal.../dp/B00008O8BR/ (but it's PAL)

Episodes was one of the ballets filmed in Berlin in 1973 (the horribly edited ones). So you were probably not dreaming Ray. Allegra Kent & Bart Cook were in the Concerto part, not sure about the rest of the cast. Ballets from that recording tend to be broadcasted at infrequent intervals on German theater sat channels. Perhaps jonelle you could find someone in Germany or with access to sat TV in Europe that might be able to help?

oh black and white does it no justice - the best part is how his brown tights contrast with the green/grey sweatpants

At the Kirov I've only heard of the old production (Fokine revised by Sergeyev/Dudinskaya, which is the one on DVD) and the recent reconstruction by Vikharev. When did the Hodson Archer reconstruction you mention take place?

There is a DVD with the Kirov called Ballet Miniatures that contains Carnaval, Egyptian Nights and Romeo and Juliet (not the Lavrovsky work, danced by the Choreographic Miniatures group) More details and cast in this thread: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=26134

Osipova (as long as she keeps away from La sylphide) Obraztsova or Kondaurova?

thank you for the info, rg

Aren't you being a bit unfair to Divertimento Brillante? Not everything has to have the impact of Tchaikovsky pdd to be appealing and likeable. What you see "hectic geeky spastic choppiness" I see as a conversational rhythm. She says, he says, she says, sometimes they talk together, sometimes they stop talking for a moment. They say rather clever things to each other and it's all inventive and light, if a bit rambling and disjointed. His variation has some trully lovely and virtuoso moments. That's appealing and likeable enough for me and I can understand how others too might find DB a refreshing change to a steady diet of the Tchai pdd, as bart says. A bit off-topic, but I've been wondering how Baryshnikov with his russian way of phrasing things danced Divertimento Brillante. It's the only one of Villella's roles that musically and choreographically seems imho better suited to Baryshnikov than to Villella. His breathing, legatto phrasing might even smooth out some of that feeling of "choppiness". Has anyone seen him in this?

Assuming that you've tried different playing equipment, haven't succeded and don't want to buy new equipment, here are some ideas: a/ the region thing If the dvd is regioned use AnyDVD as Katalina says. Rip and burn a regionless copy. There are other similar applications like DVD Region. They are not always successful, depending on dvd player model, player firmware, operating system etc you might not be able to bypass the region lock, but they generally work. If none of the aforementioned applications work: you can change the region of your computer's dvd player temporarily to the region of the dvd, rip a regionless copy on your hard drive with something like AnyDVD, DVDFab or similar ripping application, and then change the region of your computer's dvd player back to the original value. Try to avoid this if possible. The region of an RPC-2 firmware drive can be reset a total of 5 times, then it locks to the last value. So try to avoid. Perhaps it would be easier/better to find someone with a dvd player set in the region of the dvd, who, with a ripping application, will rip you a regionless copy (a student from Europe with a laptop, perhaps?). A shop might be able to do this too, but they might have legal objections (?) b/ the PAL/NTSC transcoding thing Three words: DON'T DO IT! (if we're talking about dance) With out going into much detail to transcode from PAL to NTSC you have to go from having 25 frames per second to 29.97 frames per second. This is usually done by inserting 5 duplicate frames per second into the series of already existing frames. The already existing frames correspond well to the music, each of them was sampled at the exact appropriate point in music. But when you insert the duplicate frames you are moving the already existing, well timed frames to places in the music where they don't exactly belong, in order to fit in the duplicate frames. It's the teensiest difference but it will surprise you to know that it can be perceived. You can always tell the transcoded dance vids, there's something a bit off in their flow. No big deal when you do this to a movie with people sitting around talking, but kind of a big deal when you do it to dance, where musicality and phrasing matter. Also apart from the musicality issue, be prepared for image stuttering, artifacts and the like. Those problems are more obvious in case of fast or very slow movement. Professionals (production companies) do this more subtly so the result is good, but so far all the video tools I've come across do this the crude way, by duplicating a frame every 5 and moving the rest around to fit in the duplicate. If my passionate plea against transcoding dance did not convince you, there are many applications you can use to do this vile thing. NeroVision, TmpgEnc are two. Most applications retain chapters, a few retain subtitles but i don't know any that retains menus. If you want menus you'll have to transcode all titles on the dvd separately and then put them together with an authoring application (where you'll create your own menus etc) All this is involved and the result dubious. By far the best and easiest thing would be to rip and burn a regionless copy (if needed) and then sit at her computer and watch.

It's the Divertimento Brillante from Glinkiana. Lovely

I think the clips are from the 2005 Alina & Johan South Bank Show documentary (small reservations due to sleep deprivation related memory fog - I hope someone else can confirm)

would that perhaps be cantilena?