volcanohunter

Alice is coming to South African cinemas on March 28, 29, April 1 & 2. http://www.cinemanouveau.co.za

Congratulations to her. But keeping in mind Abrera's own experiences with ABT, I hope she isn't depriving a deserving Australian Ballet dancer of an opportunity.

A perfect production of Swan Lake is as elusive as the Holy Grail. At this point I would settle for a decent production. More than that, they intend to put it on DVD. I guess Osipova sells, and that's what matters. http://www.roh.org.uk/news/swan-lake-starring-natalia-osipova-and-matthew-golding-to-be-released-on-dvd

Manon and Mayerling couldn't be described as Shakespearean in any way, shape or form. (Sorry, I studied literature at university, and I bristle at the comparison. "...Hyperion to a satyr.")

Then the Royal Ballet's Swan Lake should suit you very well, since the designer insisted on setting the ballet in the late 19th century, when the music was composed. (Personally, I am against the idea and I detest Yolanda Sonnabend's designs; they're almost as ugly as Simon Virsaladze's.) I'm curious. Does this mean you think Romeo and Juliet should be dressed in mid-20th century costumes to reflect Prokofiev's score? I'm also curious about which of the Royal Ballet's Shakespeare ballets you dislike, because they have been choreographed variously by Ashton, MacMillan and Wheeldon, and there is no uniformity in approach among them. Alastair Macaulay does not like the 19th-century setting of the Royal Ballet's production, but in his review for the NYT he enumerates what he sees as the production's virtues where choreography and mime are concerned. I do not like the production as much as he does, but I do agree that choreography and dramatic coherence are more important than production design. (There is always a faint hope that bad designs will be replaced. A bad staging is much harder to fix.) Traditionally the Royal Ballet's productions are notable for their dramatic integrity.

Such a shame, because the music is worthwhile, and I think it's the music the audience cheers, not the rather silly ballet.

Canadian TV providers generally give their customers an Eastern PBS station and a Pacific station from a city close to the border. As I've switched providers I've had experience with several PBS stations. Cobbled together thay make a pretty good channel, though I've found that no one station is adequate on its own. But even an iffy PBS station is nice to have, because today there is practically zero arts programming on Canadian television.

The Royal Ballet has also posted more casting, although not all the roles are accounted for, presumably because many of the women performed multiple parts. But we now know that the csardas was led by Claire Calvert and Bennet Gartside, and that Laura Morera and Ricardo Cervera did Ashton's Neapolitan dance. (They seem to hold a patent on that one.) http://www.roh.org.uk/showings/swan-lake-live-2015 Odette/Odile Natalia Osipova Prince Siegfried Matthew Golding Rothbart Gary Avis Regent Elizabeth McGorian Tutor Alastair Marriott Benno Ryoichi Hirano Pas de trois Francesca Hayward, Yuhui Choe, Alexander Campbell Chaperones Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, Nathalie Harrison General Erico Montes Young Girls Emily-Rose Holland, Manon Forsell Pyk Waltz Christina Arestis, Fumi Kaneko, Kristen McNally, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Sander Blommaert, Tristan Dyer, Ryoichi Hirano, Fernando Montaño, Emma Maguire, Paul Kay Cygnets Francesca Hayward, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Emma Maguire, Yasmine Naghdi Big Swans Melissa Hamilton, Itziar Mendizabal Lord Chamberlain Erico Montes Princesses Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, Olivia Cowley, Nathalie Harrison, Mayara Magri, Yasmine Naghdi, Beatriz Stix-Brunell Spanish dance Christina Arestis, Kristen McNally, Kevin Emerton, Thomas Whitehead Csárdás Claire Calvert, Bennet Gartside Neapolitan dance Laura Morera, Ricardo Cervera Mazurka Jacqueline Clark, Sian Murphy, Demelza Parish, Lara Turk, Sander Blommaert, Nicol Edmonds, Fernando Montaño, Donald Thom

Some backstage features have been posted.

I know just how you feel. It is a "use it or lose it" proposition, and I reckon I've been banging the drum for these kinds of broadcasts for the last 6-7 years. But this season's offerings from the Bolshoi were so awful that I couldn't bring myself to go. I did go to see one repeat from a previous season, and I caught a bit of some of the other broadcasts on You Tube, which only convinced me that I'd done the right thing by not going. How does one support a project in principle, while also registering a protest against bad content?

Have you noticed an increased appetite for Bruckner and Mahler? We do know that in the United States classical music concerts have an audience four times larger than that for opera, which may partly be explained by availability. I haven't seen much to suggest that the hegemony of the short new work-concerto-symphony format is in danger of being replaced. "Lighter classics" programs featuring famous bits and pieces still seem to be the primary avenue to attract new audiences.

And for the life of me I don't understand why this is the case. Generally speaking, a mixed bill involves more dancing, less padding and a chance to see a larger number of principals in one evening. What's not to love?

The mixed bill is largely dead at the Bolshoi. And its website is very helpful in compiling the necrology since it lists when a ballet was performed last. Apartment - 1 February 2015 Classical Symphony - 1 February 2015 Rite of Spring - 28 February 2014 Apollo - 19 February 2013 Dream of Dream - 19 February 2013 Chroma - 19 October 2012 Cinque - 19 October 2012 Symphony of Psalms - 19 October 2012 Carmen Suite - 11 July 2012 Chopiniana - 11 June 2012 Herman Schmerman - 28 February 2012 Remanso - 28 February 2012 La Dame de pique - 10 April 2011 Serenade - 10 April 2011 Class Concert - 23 January 2011 Paquita grand pas - 8 December 2010 (shortened version performed at a gala) Symphony in C - 8 December 2010 (gala performance) Petrushka - 30 July 2010 (in London) Russian Seasons - 30 July 2010 (in London) That list doesn't include the ballets that haven't been performed for even longer, including Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, Agon, Concerto Barocco, Gaîté Parisienne, In the Upper Room, Ratmansky's Jeu de cartes and Leah, The Lesson, Possokhov's Magrittomania, Wheeldon's Misericordes/Elsinore, Mozartiana, Passacaille, Les Présages, Le Tricorne... The company hasn't taken a mixed bill on an international tour since the summer of 2010. (Not counting a program of flashy pas de deux it took to Norway in 2014.) That's a lot of repertoire going to waste, and yet it always seems to find time for another run of Legend of Love or Ivan the Terrible. From a programming point of view, it's too depressing for words.

A nice long list of participating theaters can be found by clicking on the gray "more info" button and then selecting "theater locations." http://www.fathomevents.com/event/roh1415-swan-lake/more-info/theater-locations

Yes, and they danced Giselle together a couple of weeks ago in Moscow.

Alexei Ratmansky does tend to speak of his own dancing in self-deprecating terms, especially when comparing himself to classmate Vladimir Malakhov, but no, he was not a second-rate dancer, and people shouldn't take him at his word on the matter. In the most recent season of city.ballet. a number of NYCB dancers spoke glowingly of the expressiveness of his body. As for his wife, I sincerely doubt the speaker had seen enough of her in performance to make an informed assessment on the subject.

Thank you so much for your vivid report.

Presumably the reference is to this: http://www.nbs.or.jp/english/contents/schedule/world-ballet-festival-2015/

At this point the Bolshoi basically does only one mixed bill, consisting of Yuri Possokhov's Classical Symphony and Mats Ek's Apartment. And even that they feel compelled to fill out with more "accessible" numbers because there isn't exactly a stampede for tickets. http://bolshoi.ru/en/performances/834/

The film will be released on DVD on May 26. Amazon is taking orders.

Oooh, that's a loaded idea considering Golding's own background with ABT and the company's conspicuous failure to develop his talent. I'm not sure McKenzie could bear to showcase a dancer he allowed to get away.

Yup, that's a good question, because based on the famous "Take Me to Church" video Judith Mackrell had concluded that he wasn't in peak condition. P.S. I rather like the parody with the guy dancing around in his garage.

Polunin will replace David Hallberg as Natalia Osipova's partner in Giselle at La Scala on April 10 and 11. http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/opera-ballet/2014-2015/giselle.html

Pathé Live has given first indications of the Bolshoi's next cinema season. October 11 - Giselle November 8 - Jewels (repeat) December 6 - The Lady of the Camellias December 20 - The Nutcracker (repeat) January 24 - The Taming of the Shrew March 13 - Spartacus (repeat) April 10 - Don Quixote http://www.pathelive.com/fr/saisons/ballet-du-bolchoi-2015-2016

Well, if the distributor doesn't know where it's screening, I don't know what to say. Start from scratch? Where else are they going to go? Cineplex and Landmark are basically the only chains on the Canadian market. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I haven't seen a lot of collaboration with local ballet companies. The distributor provides a pair of free tickets to every Shakespeare's Globe screening, and my local Shakespeare festival happily gives them away and promotes each screening. No such signs of life on the ballet or opera front. But perhaps a good turnout for Swan Lake will change things.