YouOverThere

I guess that "Acting Artistic Director" sounds better than "Interim Artistic Director", but her role is the latter since there is no Artistic Director for her to act in place of. Nevertheless, this is interesting, and to me surprising, news (IMHO, it would make a lot of sense for Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel to take over the WB).

On 7/27/2023 at 2:42 PM, YouOverThere said:

The WB finally updated their website. Three of the four men who danced the role of Prince Desire last Spring are not listed on the roster (Gian Carlo Perez, Masanori Takiguchi, Rench Soriano), which currently lists only 25 dancers in the main company. Also missing is Alexa Torres, who took a turn dancing the role of Princess Aurora. All 4 of these dancers are 20-somethings.

All 3 joined the Houston Ballet (Perez as a First Soloist, Takiguchi and Soriano as Demi Soloists). Adelaide Clauss also followed Julie Kent to Houston (as a Demi Soloist).

In addition, Alexa Torres left for a position in the Boston Ballet.

On 5/7/2023 at 11:07 AM, YouOverThere said:

When it rains, it pours. The WB is short on men in general and leading men in particular (Andile Ndlovu did not dance at all this season after rupturing an Achilles tendon at the end of last season, so we don't know what his future is). And with no AD in place, or even announced, the WB would hardly be a magnet for dancers right now. 

The WB finally updated their website. Three of the four men who danced the role of Prince Desire last Spring are not listed on the roster (Gian Carlo Perez, Masanori Takiguchi, Rench Soriano), which currently lists only 25 dancers in the main company. Also missing is Alexa Torres, who took a turn dancing the role of Princess Aurora. All 4 of these dancers are 20-somethings.

I received an email from ABT informing me that I'm eligible to apply for a pass to a dress rehearsal for Giselle at the Wolf Trap on July 26. The pass allows 2 people to attend. As of 2 weeks ago, I no longer have a 2nd person to attend. I am leaning towards attending. so perhaps if there's someone who would like to go and doesn't have their own pass something could be arranged for being my "guest" (contact me via message).

4 hours ago, YouOverThere said:

For anyone planning to attend Giselle at the Wolf Trap and hasn't bought tickets yet, they are waving the online ticket fees for 1 day only - today, July 4. Offer ends at 11:59 EDT

And after buying tickets for the Thursday performance and for a National Symphony concert in August, I found out that people 65+ are eligible for half price "rush" tickets starting a half hour before the performance.

For anyone planning to attend Giselle at the Wolf Trap and hasn't bought tickets yet, they are waving the online ticket fees for 1 day only - today, July 4. Offer ends at 11:59 EDT

10 hours ago, Belka said:

I returned to KC to catch the other program on Friday night. It was, of course, much less of a slam dunk than the Balanchine/Robbins program, but I went in with an open mind. I saw Pictures at an Exhibition the last time City Ballet brought it to KC and liked it fairly well then and now. I agree with YouOverThere that the choreography would seem to fit better with an orchestra version of the music, rather than just the piano. Indiana and Roman were the biggest standouts for me, as was Ashley Laracey. I wish I had gotten to see more of her in this KC run, she is stunning. 

After the first intermission, the elderly lady next to me opened a container of...peanuts? Some kind of food item which she continued to eat/suck on for the entire second act. I’m usually not one to tolerate this, but she was so elderly that I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

 

Actually, what I was trying to say in regards to Pictures at an Exhibition is that it would have been more apparent that the mood of the choreography didn't always match the mood of the music if they had used an orchestra version. The 2 orchestra versions that I've heard (including the Ravel version that's performed 99.9% of the time) are somewhat dark and melancholic. The piece was composed by Mussorgsky after he attended an art exhibition honoring the memory of an artist who had been a close friend, and he definitely was not in the light-hearted mood that some of the choreography came across (at least to me) as being. I think that I stated when I first watched this work that I didn't get using ballerinas for Bydlo (aka The Ox Cart); there was nothing ponderous and plodding in their dancing.

At 2 performances I had to deal with people sitting nearby who were eating (presumably) some kind of chips out of plastic bags that crinkled quite loudly.

On 6/12/2023 at 10:12 AM, Mothrafairy0912 said:

The modern programming is awful lately.  They bring Alvin Ailey every year.

Alvin Ailey is a huge draw in DC, often selling out all their performances, so it makes sense for the Kennedy Center to book them every year.

7 hours ago, lacdescygnes said:

I was at the Kennedy Center for the second program last night - it seemed well attended, so hopefully some people took advantage of the discounts!

I found the program to be a mixed bag overall, but I don't get to see NYCB as often as I used to, so I was still glad to get a chance to see new dancers and new works.

I had somehow never seen Pictures at an Exhibition - Susan Walters had come with the company as the soloist for this piece (for the other works it's the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra that accompanies the company), so this felt very much like being at the State Theater! I liked the piece a lot, and I finally got a chance to see Chun Wei Chan dance. Beautiful quality of movement, I can't wait to see more of him. I enjoyed getting a glimpse of Mira Nadon is a non-Balanchine piece also, she is stunning.

Standard Deviation, the new Pires, was fine - I didn't enjoy the music, but I liked some of the choreography, and the simple costumes worked well.

Solo was a little uninspired I thought, although Naomi Corti danced beautifully - Barber's adagio is overplayed, so a different piece of music might have worked better

Love Letter on Shuffle had some of the most hideous costumes I've ever seen, and I found them distracting. but there were some parts that I really liked, especially whenever Taylor Stanley was on stage, the choreography really suited him. I found some parts a bit trite and repetitive - a gargouillade or a saut de chat set to pop music? how cute and innovative - repeated six times, less so. But I liked the ending.

Now to wait until next year!

The rear of the orchestra was pretty empty. I had a row to myself.

I have mixed feelings about Pictures at an Exhibition. I didn't always feel like the mood of the choreography matched the mood of the music (I think this would have been more apparent if he had used an orchestrated version).

I thought that Naomi Corti deserved a standing ovation.

My initial reaction to the music used for Love Letter on Shuffle was pretty negative, which made it difficult for me to have a lot of interest in the piece. The costumes didn't help.

Does anyone else question the scheduling, with what at least I would consider to be the lesser of the 2 programs (Program B - Pictures at an Exhibition, etc. ) scheduled for Friday AND Saturday evenings?

For those who don't know, the Kennedy Center now charges a 10 percent markup on tickets bought at the box office. They increased the fee for online and phone sales from 14 to 15 percent. [off topic]IMHO, there needs to be legislation for more transparency in ticket pricing. "Convenience charges", "facility fees", etc. seem to in general be increasing, and I find it really annoying to end up paying significantly more than the advertised price for a ticket.[/off topic]

I've found that some ballets I like looking down on while others I feel detached if I'm up high in the 2nd tier.

On 5/11/2023 at 7:34 AM, California said:

The Washington Ballet just posted its 2023-24 schedule on their web page: https://www.washingtonballet.org/seasons/2023-24-season/

Their 5th program is being produced by the Kennedy Center and is not part of their season ticket package, which is why it isn't mentioned on that page. It's possible that they will not perform an entire program but will split the program with 1 or 2 other companies. This production will spotlight the choreography of Choo San Goh.

10,000 Dreams: A Celebration of Asian Choreography | Kennedy Center (kennedy-center.org)

31 minutes ago, maps said:

 

Perez's last show with TWB is SB - an audience loss like Mack [contract] and Barkman [Rojo]   https://www.instagram.com/p/Crt0W8CvcKI/   https://pointemagazine.com/our-favorite-performances-of-2022/   

When it rains, it pours. The WB is short on men in general and leading men in particular (Andile Ndlovu did not dance at all this season after rupturing an Achilles tendon at the end of last season, so we don't know what his future is). And with no AD in place, or even announced, the WB would hardly be a magnet for dancers right now. 

2 hours ago, California said:

Thanks! Nothing on their web page yet. Programming by "themes" seems to be the current thing -- a marketing technique? It sounds like their Sleeping Beauty was a huge success. Wonder why they're not trying something comparable for next year -- Swan Lake or Giselle, e.g.

Any announcement of the new artistic director?

What I see as a "theme" is that they have a lot of choreographers working with them. As I understand it, choreographers get to cast their works, which would take the burden off the new AD or whomever is covering the AD's responsibilities in the interim.

All 5 performances of Sleeping Beauty essentially sold out, though there were only 5 performances instead of the usual 6 and the performances were in the Eisenhower Theater which only has 1,161 seats. Julie Kent did not give her usual speech before the performance.

If in fact the WB didn't officially advertise the AD position until mid-April, they wouldn't have begun interviewing candidates yet (unless they already knew who they were going to hire).

A concern is whether some of the dancers will decide that they don't want to spend a year in an unstable situation and move to other companies, especially those who auditioned for the WB specifically because they wanted to work with Julie Kent. Since the Washington Post no longer employs a dance critic, there is no one to report on what's going on with the WB.

The programs for Sleeping Beauty contained next season's schedule. There are 5 programs, though only the first 4 are included in the season ticket package:

Such Sweet Thunder: An Evening Inspired By Shakespeare  October 25-29

Quote

Includes pas de deux from Sir Kenneth MacMillian's Romeo and Juliet and Sir Frederick Ashton's The Dream and original choreography from Brett Ishida and Silas Farley

The Nutcracker  November 25-26 and December 2-30

Jazz Icons: Legends of the Golden Age   February 14-18

Quote

World premieres by innovative choreographers Jessica Lang and Dwight Rhoden

Beyond Boundaries: An Evening Curated by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa  May 22-26

Quote

Guest curated by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, featuring Ochoa's Delusional Beauty

10,000 Dreams: A Celebration of Asian Choreography  June 22-26  This apparently is part of a series on Asian choreography that the Kennedy Center is producing.

On 5/5/2023 at 5:28 PM, YouOverThere said:

Tickets occasionally become available (I managed to grab 1 for the Saturday evening performance). Given how fast tickets on the high side of $150 are getting gulped up, there must be a fairly large number of people who are motivated by it being Julie Kent's finale.

I'm glad that I got my ticket at a reasonable price. They have a few tickets left for the Saturday evening performance that they are selling at pretty steep prices, e.g., $150 for a seat in the balcony.

On 5/1/2023 at 2:06 PM, maps said:

Any input on the Eisenhower box tier high chair seats [only available]? 

 

Tickets occasionally become available (I managed to grab 1 for the Saturday evening performance). Given how fast tickets on the high side of $150 are getting gulped up, there must be a fairly large number of people who are motivated by it being Julie Kent's finale.

On 5/1/2023 at 2:06 PM, maps said:

Any input on the Eisenhower box tier high chair seats [only available]?

 

I bet the WB is wishing that they had opened on Wednesday as they usually do, given that all 5 scheduled performances have essentially been sold out for several days.

1 hour ago, California said:

Kent's appointment at Houston was announced December 22. 

Fortunately, this forum contains people who know everything, so our thread on her leaving was started 2 months earlier. 😉

8 hours ago, maps said:

Artistic Director | The Washington Ballet — Management Consultants for the Arts (mcaonline.com) 

 

What looks like a position announcement is dated April 14. I would have thought that they would have begun soliciting applicants months ago. Is it easy for people to get out from AD/assistant AD/ballet master/mistress contracts? Because I would think that everyone in those sorts of positions would have already signed a contract for next season, or at least would have to sign a contract very soon.

14 hours ago, California said:

Washingtonians: any word on the Washington Ballet schedule for 2023-24? Or, at least, when they plan to announce? Almost every other company has announced by now. I'm wondering if they are waiting until Julie Kent is actually gone from the company. Also, do we know who will be artistic director next year?

IIRC, last year they didn't announce this season's schedule until after last season ended.

I've been wondering if they will make an AD announcement at one of the Sleeping Beauty performances.

I've never been in, or even looked into, the box tier.

I received an email from the WB stating that a 15% discount on tickets is available by using the code FAIRYTALE. The email didn't specify whether the code was only available for online sales, but apparently is good for any seat. It's a bit surprising that they are offering a discount since there aren't a whole lot of tickets left.

Casting can be found here:

https://www.washingtonballet.org/the-sleeping-beauty-casting/

I suppose that I will end up going to at least one performance, but I'm not really in the mood. My long-time accomplice for ballets and symphonies has entered the home stretch of her life. By opening night, she will have been moved to a hospice.

On 4/17/2023 at 2:35 PM, FauxPas said:

I wouldn't mind regular visits if they could bring something other than Balanchine to New York.  I know the company has a full-length "Laurencia" which is a rarity and I think could be a success.  The story of an innocent girl who is raped (or nearly raped) by the corrupt General and incites the Spanish villagers to rebellion has a #MeToo female empowerment theme that would work well in the current cultural environment.

The abrupt stoppage of Bolshoi and Maryinsky touring after the invasion of Ukraine has left many balletomanes starved for traditional Russian Classical Ballet.  The Georgian and Ukrainian companies with their Russian dance heritage and tradition could fill the gap beautifully.  I wouldn't mind if these companies toured the West with opulently mounted Russian classics.

I second this. We don't need foreign companies to present the same works that our local companies present, unless they have a unique take (I have the same attitude about touring symphonies playing the standards, e.g., Dvorak's 9th [New World] Symphony, rather than perhaps something from their own region that North Americans might not be very familiar with). But perhaps they feel that they will get a bigger audience if they perform something that everyone is familiar with.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sagalobeli and wouldn't mind seeing it again. I thought that it was pretty original.

At GMU, they danced Mozartiana rather than Concerto Barocco. The performance also had a disappointingly small audience - I don't think that people from DC or Maryland have much interest in driving to GMU, though it isn't all that hard to get to (and parking is free!).

On 6/3/2022 at 10:07 AM, maps said:

Thanks for the GMU Georgia performance heads-up.  Fine mixed bill: Serenade – Balanchine
Concerto Barocco – Balanchine, Sagalobeli – Possokhov. 

The current listing has Mozartiana rather than Concerto Barocco.