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naomikage

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Posts posted by naomikage

  1. 1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

    The people I really feel for now are dancers in Japan, because if I understand correctly, most companies don't pay them for rehearsal time. They are paid per performance. Even their shoe allowances are only for performance footwear. So presumably if shows aren't taking place, they're getting nothing. Perhaps @naomikage can clarify this.

    Yes you are right. It is especially a difficult time for artists in Japan especially ballet dancers. The only two companies that pay dancers regular salary is National Ballet of Japan and K-Ballet Company, and even the dancers from the 2 companies have low pay if they are not participating in performances. There are many ballet companies that are private and some don't receive public funding at all so they have to pay huge cancellation fee for the venues they have rented, they staff they employed and so on. So I am afraid some companies might have to disband.  The government are NOT going to offer any help for art sectors affected by the coronavirus situation, or the people who work there, many are freelance artists/staff. 

  2. 10 hours ago, canbelto said:

    This is more akin to a Japanese soprano singing Madama Butterfly. She wouldn't be wearing yellowface but Madama Butterfly is a Westernized fantasy of Japanese geisha. Very different from, say, Kenji Mizoguchi's films about geisha (his own sister was sold into a geisha house and he was close to her and took his inspiration from many things he witnessed).

    Japan's K-Ballet Company premiered their Madama Butterfly last fall. There were mixed reactions to this piece but they tried to eliminate the awkwardness that many Japanese audience might feel, such as the westernized fantasies of the Japanese Geisha.

    https://youtu.be/ZqL6morcC_c

  3. 16 hours ago, California said:

    Seems like a really great time for every ballet company to restage Green Table! Just saying...

    Star Dancers Ballet of Japan has staged The Green Table last year which was so successful that they are going to perform it again this February.  They also did a whole evening dedicated to Tudor, including The Leaves are Fading, Lilac Garden, Romeo and Juliet pas de deux and Pillar of Fire. 

  4. It is true that there is not so much "ballet" in this documentary but the small La Bayadere rehearsal scene with Makarova and Nunez is valuable and also the modern part and Osipova's many confessions are very interesting.

    Especially how she rehearses Arther Pita's work The Mother and also Cherkaoui's Medusa are thrilling and knowing how her passion comes through (how she was not  happy at the Bolshoi) are quite eye-opening.   

  5. 4 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

    Nah. For some maybe, but not for all. Bayadere is everything. The Grand spectacle, the elephant, the Gamzatti-Nikiya cat fight, the parrots dance, the jumps, paint and sexiness of the Golden Idol, the temple destruction and even Gamzatti's fouettes for those who still have Makarova's or Nureyev.  

    I wish a long life to the whole production and for the reconstruction to take rooting in other companies! 

    Edited to add: And I TRULY hope that the Kingdom of the Shades never becomes a pseudo Symphony in C . 

    I agree with you Christian. Bayadere is everything.  I remember seeing the Nureyev version at Paris Opera Ballet a few years ago, in the Millepied era, he insisted of avoiding the blackface of the children at the Bronze Idol sequence so all the children were without tanning makeup. it did not look strange at all.  

  6. On 11/3/2019 at 4:24 AM, ECat said:

    What a lovely dancer to discuss!  It looks as though he is on the shorter side and perhaps he thought he would be limited at the Mariinsky.

     

    I agree Viktor Lebedev is a beautiful, fabulous and elegant dancer, and although Mikhailovsky Ballet is a good company I do miss him at Mariinsky, he should have been glorious there with more international exposure.  I don't think he is not on the shorter side (of course not as tall as Yermakov), he has long, lean lines and suited for many roles. I saw him in La Fille mal Gardee in St Petersburg a couple of years ago which was a warm, lovely performance and look forward seeing him in Duato's Sleeping Beauty during their Japan tour later this month. 

  7. 8 hours ago, sandik said:

    Not sure why you think this is good news -- could you elaborate?

     

    Volcanohunter's views are completely the same that I think. What an uninspiring, boring company is the current NBoC. She has been in the company for too long and almost every new creation is a disaster regarding quality.  The roster is also very poor. 

  8. On 10/11/2019 at 2:00 AM, Dreamer said:

    Smekalov might be unknown to some (or many) in the US but he is quite a prolific choreographer with his own dance company in St. Petersburg.

    And he also choreographs for famed figure skaters such as Evgeny Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin. Especially Plushenko's Tribute to Nijinsky was a very popular program. 

    I have not seen the full Smekalov Paquita so I cannot comment on that but Smekalov's The Bronze Horseman is an epic work worth seeing.  

    At least Smekalov is not an unknown choreographer.

  9. Sorry I am terribly late in noticing this topic one year old, but I saw this performance.

    it is by NBA Ballet Company, and here is the flyer for the performance

    http://www.nbaballet.org/performance/2012/1202_Les_Millions_dArlequin.pdf

    it lists as Evgenia Obrastsova and Alexei Timofeyev as guests  but Obrastsova cancelled because of injury and Ekaterina Osmolkina replaced her in  the performance, so I think it is Osmolkina here. (I saw the performance)  Alexander Mishutin is a former soloist at Stanislavsky Music Theatre and he also reconstructed Awaking of Flora for a Japanese company. 

  10. Now you can watch the full documentary of 4 students at Vaganova Academy graduating class of Nikolai Tsiskaridze on  demand here (until September 21th, 2020)

    Four students are Mikhail Barkidjidja, Marko Juusela, Arron Osawa Horowitz and Kirill Sokolovski. You can watch how they prepare for the diploma, the auditions and graduation concert, and how Tsiskardze coaches them.

    Part 1

    https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/3004617/?fbclid=IwAR2io-wybLojjTbHJL_JYoDo26NE3Riw9ATWuLbDFxgSRO3Z_-se7JgcV8g

    Part 2

    https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/3004618/?fbclid=IwAR1Xg3jHgC1NttU75lE06Fc1qBQ2tcgSRdPFrH9m1aDzHLDlZ5fVBKLTD0Q

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