volcanohunter

Jann Parry's logic is screwy. Osmolkina is not vulgar; some Russian ballerinas are. Neither category does the fish dives in Russian productions. Their exclusion doesn't make the vulgar Auroras any less so. And no doubt Osmolkina wouldn't look vulgar if she did attempt them.

There are some additional Landmark locations in Canada: Alberta - Spruce Grove (April 18 only) BC - Campbell River (April 18 only), Courtenay (April 18 only), Penticton, Surrey Yukon - Whitehorse (Qwanlin; April 18 only) As far as I can tell, UBC is showing the Royal Opera, but not the Royal Ballet, and the Vancouver International Film Centre has not shown any of this season's productions.

It's true, there is every indication that this was Herrera's own decision. But a Wednesday afternoon farewell is a strange end to 24 years of service to the company. I'm not sure how ABT is being generous in the situation. By not forcing her to go on in Sleeping Beauty?

The Royal Ballet has posted synopses/cast sheets in several languages as PDFs. (They do appear to have confused Kiswahili and Swedish.) The casting is not very detailed, but there is a bit more information. Siegfried's Mother - Elizabeth McGorian Siegfried's Tutor - Alastair Marriott Benno - Valeri Hristov Ryoichi Hirano pas de trois - Francesca Hayward, Yuhui Choe, Alexander Campbell cygnets - Francesca Hayward, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Emma Maguire, Yasmine Naghdi big swans - Melissa Hamilton, Itziar Mendizabal http://www.roh.org.uk/showings/swan-lake-live-2015

Wow, this is really clumsy, even by ABT standards.

Yes, it is impossible to reconcile a heightened sensitivity to vulgarity with tolerance and even encouragement of crotch splitting during the Rose Adage. If the aversion to the fish dives stems from a devotion to historical choreographic purity, great, although there is little evidence of this. But an argument that "the Russians" oppose them on aesthetic grounds doesn't fly.

I also suspect it's a young Miyako Yoshida doing the fish dives.

In a week's time the Royal Ballet's production of Swan Lake, with Natalia Osipova as Odette-Odile, Matthew Golding as Siegfried and Gary Avis as Rothbart will be screening live in cinemas. http://www.roh.org.uk/showings/swan-lake-live-2015 International screening dates are staggered. Participating cinemas in Europe will be showing the ballet live on Tuesday, March 17 at 7:15 pm GMT. Japan: Wednesday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. local time. U.S.: Thursday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m. local time http://www.fathomevents.com/event/roh1415-swan-lake http://www.carmike.com/Events/Event/393 Canada: Saturday, April 18 & Monday, April 27 http://www.landmarkcinemas.com/en.aspx Brazil: April 23, 25, 26, 28 South Africa: May 2, 3, 6, 7 http://www.cinemanouveau.co.za Australia: May 8, 9, 10, 13 http://www.palaceoperaandballet.com.au/production/swan-lake It will also be screened in a number of countries of Central and South America on May 16, 17 & 19. The Royal Opera House cinema season link at the top includes a screening search box to find the showing closest to you.

Peter Schaufuss' Dancer series from the early 1980s featured footage of David Drew teaching partnering classes at the Royal Ballet School. A good chunk is devoted to the grand pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty. Natalia Makarova's Ballerina series which followed included more footage of Drew and the pupils of the RBS, though the excerpts were less specific.

I understand that many dancers come to ABT with motley training backgrounds, and this can be particularly problematic when a male dancer had scant access to pas de deux classes as a teen, but if Stearns received the last part of his training at the Royal Ballet School, I would have expected him to catch up on that score. And it would also be interesting to know where Ananiashvili first encountered the fish dives and how she adapted to them, because she wouldn't have performed them in the Bolshoi production of Sleeping Beauty.

Well, that's borderline ridiculous. If small dancers like David Wall and Steven McRae could do it properly, a big guy like Stearns should be able to manage.

Thanks for the clarification. What do you know, those dancers from 60 years ago weren't so technically inferior after all. I am a little surprised that ABT would have fielded a group of Désirés who couldn't all pull off the maneuver, or that Ratmansky wouldn't have given Gorak the option of doing the notated version without the fish dives if it was clear he couldn't manage them. Have you seen a lot of dumbed-down versions? I can't recall every live performance I've seen, but I went to my video library and found that Somes, Wall, Bonelli, Polunin, McRae, Legris, Ganio, Heymann, Bujones, Ashmole, Lambiotte and Bolle had all done them one-handed. It's true that some held out their right arm more confidently than others, but no one was cheating.

Were others doing it differently? I can't recall seeing them done in a way other than what you described.

Thank you for the reminder. I've cleared my schedule and am very much looking forward to the stream.

There is a DVD of San Francisco Ballet performing Lar Lubovitch's Othello which could help you decide whether it's your kind of thing.

Just to be certain that I'm not misrepresenting her point, Platel made a similar observation. She basically stated that the Rose Adage, with its transition from unaccompanied harp to full orchestra playing at something like fff, is where Aurora's transition from adolescence to womanhood is accomplished.

Tero Saarinen's stage adaptation of Sibelius' Kullervo, performed by the Finnish National Ballet, the Tero Saarinen Company and the forces of the Finnish National Opera, can be viewed on demand until June. http://concert.arte.tv/fr/kullervo-de-jean-sibelius-par-tero-saarinen-helsinki

Uwe Scholz's The Creation, set to Haydn's oratorio and performed by the Ballet of the Opéra national du Rhin, is available for viewing on demand until August. http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/live/danse/danse-classique/la-creation-duwe-scholz-a-la-filature-de-mulhouse-211193 Die Schöpfung choreography: Uwe Scholz music: Joseph Haydn Ballet of the Opéra national du Rhin Hanne Roos, soprano; Mark Van Arsdale, tenor; Norman Patzke, bass Chorus of the Opéra national du Rhin La Follia Chamber Orchestra Vincent Monteil, conductor

In Nureyev's version the suitors go chasing after Carabosse and draw their swords, but she confuses them and they inadvertently run each other through, after which they kindly fall into the wings, where their remains will presumably decay out of sight. I don't know what happens to them in the Royal Ballet's version after they carry Aurora up the staircase, but I'm pretty sure they're not around when she comes to. I'd sort of assumed that the Lilac Fairy sent them back home to get on with their lives. It would seem very unfair to keep them around to watch another prince get the princess.

That's interesting, because I have to admit that I've always been a little put off by "giddy" Auroras. I was strongly persuaded by Élisabeth Platel's argument that the Rose Adagio, like the variation that follows, is a reflection of her self-possession and poise. But I will try to be more open-minded about more exuberant interpretations in the future! Presumably all of those suitors went off and found different princesses for themselves. Perhaps you can think of Federico Bonelli as Avis' great-grandson, so in a way, his line gets the prize in the end.

Let's hope PBS doesn't decide that Ric Burns' documentary is sufficient to mark the occasion. Remembering past accomplishments is important, but if ABT has finally started to snap out of its artistic torpor with this production, that's something worth celebrating.

I hope PBS steps up and films an ABT performance, because it's been a long time since the last telecast. On the other hand, RAI broadcasts La Scala's ballet company once a year, and a new production would be a strong candidate for 2015. Zakharova certainly sells DVDs and show tickets. When I elected to pass on the Bolshoi's last visit to New York and put my tickets up for resale, Zakharova's performances were snapped up lickety-split; the others took quite a bit longer. But I'm still mildly traumatized by memories of the cinemacast of Sleeping Beauty from the Bolshoi, a performance I never revisited on video. I cringe every time a clip of her Aurora whacking her legs around shows up in a trailer. A webstream of Nacho Duato's production from the Mikhailovsky wasn't any better. Perhaps I'm not giving her a fair shake. When the Bolshoi brought its production to London I had tickets to her performances, but ultimately couldn't stomach using them, although I did go to see the remaining casts. I would like to hope for the best and the possibility that Zakharova will conform herself to Ratmansky's conception, but I have to admit that the prospect of another film of her Aurora fills me with dread.

At the moment La Scala has scheduled nine performances in the autumn, of which four are to be danced by Zakharova and Hallberg, assuming he has returned to performing by then. No other guest artists are listed at the moment, so presumably the plan is to give the other performances to La Scala's own dancers. (Incidentally, La Scala has not yet announced who will replace Hallberg in Giselle opposite Osipova in April.)

Vishneva was filmed as Aurora more than a dozen years ago, at La Scala in Nureyev's production with Roberto Bolle. The telecast was never released on DVD, and it really wasn't her finest hour. But if La Scala thinks it can do better with Zakharova...

Thank you also to Josette and Andre Yew for your reports. I can't help but wonder how willing Svetlana Zakharova will be to play along with this approach once the production reaches La Scala. I love the idea of not seeing the underside of the ballerina's tutu.