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mom2

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Posts posted by mom2

  1. Thank you for your posts vipa.  I've been to the Vail Festival several times, and always feel a pang of sadness when it comes around and I'm not there!  I believe tonight Adji will dance with Lil Buck?  Do I have that right?  I would love to see that, and hope the Festival posts a video.

    I first got to see her dance when she was with NBOC.  Her facility really stood out, but I never felt the company used her potential.  When I saw her dance with Lines at Vail a few years ago she was very clearly a star - so beautiful to see!  That particular night we had the opportunity to go to an after-performance party with LINES so I got to meet her - she was incredibly kind and gracious.

    Oh wait - I see Lil Buck and Adji have already danced - for some reason I thought it was today.  Apologies!

  2. was at the performance today.  We saw 2nd cast.

    My observations were that the dancers did well with the material they were given.  I do not think this work should have been created as a ballet.  (My opinion).  There was a great deal of disturbing content - which may and probably should have a place in the art world, however it is not my comfort zone - cannibalism for example is not something I look for on the ballet stage.  I did enjoy a lot of the choreography, and the music (the parts that the orchestra played, not the narration bits).  The narration did help one understand the narrative, however it was a child's voice narrating some pretty adult content.

    volcanohunter:  my seat is quite close, and at times I couldn't make out all the text on the screen.  Wondered if I'd missed something.  I also hadn't read the Atwood books; but I don't think the theme is something I would gravitate towards...

    I guess I'm an old lady, but this was nuts in my opinion. I almost want to see Nutcracker.

  3. I logged into my account today to learn that the price has gone up fairly significantly (just over 20%).  On the one hand I'm not surprised, but I do wish NBOC gave subscribers a bit of a heads up about these things.  They did something similar a number of years ago when they changed the "zone" (and hence the price point) of my seat.

    I've been a subscriber for a long time and I really like the location of my seat, but I don't know if I want to pay $200 per performance...

  4. Canada is apparently working on something like a vaccine passport for future international travel.  So far the feds haven't talked about using this for access to businesses or theatres, however Quebec is apparently starting to provide digital proof of the vaccine (as of later this week), which that province indicates could be used by businesses.  So we'll see how that goes.

    Meanwhile in Ontario, the National Ballet of Canada has yet to announce plans for next season.  Subscribers were told to expect an announcement in June.

  5. Thank you for posting this sandik.  I "met" Jeff back in the days of danceart I think the website was?  There was a chat function way back in the day, and we often ended up moderating discussions at the same time.  He never tired of correcting spelling and grammar! 

    I did meet him in person one summer when we both happened to be in the NYC area at the same time.  It was very kind of him to come meet me - I think he was working a bit outside the city, so it was a bit of a hike for him.  A very special person who gave more of himself than his sometimes crusty presentation would let you know.

    mom2

  6. Thank you for sharing this sad news.  We did meet a time or two in person, but I was never lucky enough to take one of her tours.  I always enjoyed her "Ballet Talks" before NBOC performances - I felt I learned more from her than I did from some of the professional dancers who gave talks.

    I found this obituary online, it's a very nice tribute to a special person:

    https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/toronto-on/katherine-barber-10168613

  7. The school now has its own syllabus.  That said, the teacher training program does prepare candidates to teach Cecchetti and/or RAD.

    As a subscriber for many years I would have to say that my observation has been that in recent years more Apprentices/First year corps are taken from schools other than NBS.  I've no idea why, other than the company is truly searching for the best talent and fit for the company.

    Just doing a quick look - of the current corps of 26, 10 identified has having had some training at NBS.  Of the 13 principals, 6 were associated with NBS.

  8. I received an e-mail from the Company about retirements and promotions, but didn't see anything about leavers.  Can you give a link naomikage?  Curious to see where they are going.

    In terms of the racial issue - following the Dance Magazine article I linked to above, Mr. Rose did post that he had a positive meeting with the company - so that was good.  Next, Dance Magazine did a follow-up article, interviewing Ms. Daumec and and quoting Mr. Rose - it seemed as though they had interviewed Mr. Rose as well.... Not exactly.  He called out the publication on his Instagram feed.  Subsequently there was a follow-up article, which does quote Mr. Rose: It's been difficult to follow the situation, to say the least.

    https://www.dancemagazine.com/national-ballet-of-canada-diversity-2646194429.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4

     

  9. Yesterday a family member pointed me to the instagram feed of company dancer Nicholas Rose. See his instagram via link below, from a Dance Magazine article:

    Nicholas Rose and other dancers on racism

     

    Lately his posts have been quite critical of the way the ballet world in general treats dancers of colour, and he specifically criticizes individual staff and leadership of NBOC.  To say that I was very saddened to hear what he had to say is an understatement; and I hope that the company pays attention.

  10. I wandered over to the NBOC website the other day and read that the remainder of the season had been cancelled.  Although I've been a subscriber for over 20 years I did not receive notification of this via e-mail.  The company also messed up with notifying me of the March cancellations (sent the notice to an old e-mail address), which I subsequently clarified via telephone and the member portion of the website - so I really don't understand why they can't get my e-mail correct.  Perhaps they've downsized office staff at this time.  If this is the case, perhaps they should make that public and I'd adjust my expectations accordingly...

  11. I braved the crowds for the Santa Claus parade today and went to the ballet.  Has anyone else here seen this program?

    I enjoyed the Balanchine piece - new in NBOC's rep.  Heather Ogden and Harrison James danced the leads - nice to be able to see them for a Sunday matinee. 

    I should point out that Chaconne runs 30 minutes.  Binet's piece in contrast was 73 minutes.  In my view, 73 minutes for that work was way too much.  I could see 15-20 minutes, which would mean losing some of the random bits (such as the "kitchen" scene and the silly receptionists of the Underworld).  I understand what Binet et al were attempting to do - I think - which was to tackle a very dark subject in a variety of different ways.  In the end this was more of a play (yes there were speaking parts, so it's very clear that Eurydice has died and Orpheus wishes to have more time with her lover) with a bunch of dancing.  Binet has created Orpheus as a female role, and Eurydice as a male - just to clarify - it really doesn't change the story but does make it a little more difficult to remember character names. In this iteration of the story it appears that Eurydice's death was likely the result of suicide, however this is implied and not overt.  There was a small child in my row - she seemed to be about 5 years old - and I wondered how she felt being inside watching this and not outside watching the parade.  I can't imagine the questions she posed to her adult companions afterwards.  

    I don't recall getting an alert about content from NBOC, and perhaps everyone should have anticipated this because of the Greek Myth, but I'm thinking the people with the small child would probably not have chosen this particular program if they'd known.  Again, perhaps they should have but an alert from the Ballet would have been in order.

    The dancing itself was excellent - leads were Hannah Fischer as Orpheus, Brendan Saye as Eurydice and Tanya Howard as "Eurydice's mom."  This role in the program seems to be "Mourner."  Sometimes I find Ms. Fischer to be a bit stiff - this was not the case today.  She danced very well, and we could feel her emotion.  Brendan Saye also did very well - he didn't have the talking parts however that Fischer and Howard did.

    So.  Is it a ballet?  A play? A drama or a "comedy/drama"?  Who really knows.  I just know that for me it was too long, and a bit more to chew emotionally than I really care to do for an afternoon out.

    There were a lot of "Bravo's" in the audience at the end of Orpheus so clearly my lukewarm reception wasn't the only opinion out there.  I can only say that as a season's ticket holder for many years I am really going to think twice about renewal going forward.

     

    mom2

     

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