volcanohunter

Yes, it was a nonsensical decision for precisely the reasons you mentioned, and anyone familiar with Bournonville's ballet would certainly not have expected to see the mortal women on pointe.

You probably noticed that the National Theater has continental seating. If the crying child was on the orchestra level, making an exit from there wouldn't have been that easy. This particular performance was also aimed at families, with discounted tickets and a special pre-show introduction for children.

I guess he was playing to audience expectations rather than aiming for historical accuracy.

Does Lacotte's staging include a full 32 fouettés? That would be anachronistic for a divertissement first staged in 1881. I must say, after this I'm going to have a hard time returning to Lacotte's staging, and any Kirov-based grand pas, for that matter. There have always been elements of quasi-Petipa "Spanish" style that I have found puzzling. With those stripped away, many aspects of the choreography make more sense to me now. While it was not the most stupendous performance I could have imagined (Cyril Pierre's Inigo excepted), I loved the production itself. DVD, please!

Perhaps we ought to begin a separate thread about the live webstream, but the Bavarian State Ballet has posted casting. Paquita - Daria Sukhorukova Lucien d'Hervilly - Matej Urban Inigo - Norbert Graf Cyril Pierre Count d'Hervilly - Peter Jolesch Countess - Elaine Underwood Don Lopez de Mendoza - Cyril Pierre Norbert Graf Doña Serafina - Emma Barrowman As for the stream link itself, I find this one works well for me. http://streaming.staatsoper.de The stream takes place Sunday, January 11 at 18.00 CET, which translates into 12 noon Eastern and 9 am Pacific. Be warned that streams from the Bavarian State Opera and Ballet are not available for viewing afterward. It's live or never, so clear your schedules accordingly.

Regardless, the photos are dreadful. I find it hard to imagine how they could be appealing to balletomanes, fashionistas or anyone else.

For Francophones: Nicolas Le Riche recently gave a lengthy television interview in which he discussed his career past and present. In the second half of the interview he was joined by iconographer Hélène Bléré, at which point the conversation took on more theological themes (KTO being the TV network of the Archdiocese of Paris), especially about the body and incarnation.

He was personally involved in that staging. Strangely enough, though he insisted that the POB could not dance Palais, but only Symphony in C in black and white costumes, he apparently had no objections to the Mariinsky's costumes. I remember seeing a Russian TV feature from the premiere, at which he was present and spoke glowingly of the company. He also approved Tatiana Terekhova as repetiteur of the piece, even though she'd never danced it, and a few years later she staged the ballet for the Bolshoi, though they performed it in (rather tinselly) black and white costumes.

It appears the two versions are regarded as a single work. The credits of Palais de Cristal looked like this: Le Palais de Cristal 1947 Chorégraphie George Balanchine © School of American ballet [sic] Followed by the BT blurb: Le représentations de "Palais de Cristal" sont données avec l'accord du George Balanchine Trust, conformément aux normes d'exécution relevant du style Balanchine, ainsi que de la technique Balanchine, qui sont établies et fournies par le Balanchine Trust.

I would hope not. He's just a few days away from his 26th birthday, but he does put his body through a lot.

The rights to the ballet now belong to the School of American Ballet, so I was a little suprised when the Paris Opera Ballet's broadcast of Palais was accompanied by the usual blurb about the Trust signing off on style and technique. If anyone has seen Symphony in C performed recently, do you remember that note being included in the program?

If anything, Vasiliev's ties to the Bolshoi seem to be weakening. A year ago, by this point in the season he had made a half dozen guest appearances at the Bolshoi, including a debut in Coppelia. This season a performance in The Nutcracker was scheduled for December, but Vasiliev was replaced at the last minute.

Perhaps, but I watched the Vienna State Ballet's stream of The Nutcracker on December 26, and the company I saw was not top flight, lacking in technical and stylistic consistency. Of course Davide Bombana's confections are one thing, and Nureyev's clotted mass of steps is quite another.

I'm glad you complained, kbarber. This sort of treatment could turn people off donating to ABT if not permanently, then at least for a long time. Still, given that they usually cling like leeches, it's some sort of accomplishment to be hung up on by a telemarketer. For all the fine descriptions, it does seem that the telemarketing companies are not as well versed as all that. Does it really make sense to fish for donations in another country? Has ABT not considered that the "benefits" it offers to donors will be of little use to someone who lives far from New York? Have they not considered an alternative for distant patrons? For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has separate membership categories for people who live beyond a 200-mile radius of New York City. The national/international "associate" receives the same benefits as the "individual" supporter, but for $40 less, because the museum knows perfectly well that an out-of-towner won't be able to avail himself of the perks with much regularity.

Best During one weekend I saw Ruslan Skvortsov in Giselle and Sara Mearns in “Diamonds” give the most musically transcendent performances I’d seen in I don’t know how long. They seemed to have absorbed the music on a cellular level and sang it back to the audience with their bodies. A rare and wonderful thing to behold. Although I was heartbroken to see him go, Nicolas Le Riche retired from the Paris Opera Ballet in grand style, and the international internet community was lucky enough to watch. Personally, seeing Alina Cojocaru and Alexandre Riabko dance together was a [Midsummer Night's] Dream come true. Now I'm desperate to see more. Volumes 1-5 of the New York City Ballet in Montreal series. It is a great gift to have these films readily available on DVD and raises hope of more such treasures emerging from the vaults into the light of day, where they belong. The return of the original Palais de cristal to the Paris Opera Ballet. Fiona Tonkin during the Australian Ballet’s segment of World Ballet Day Live. I recall that she retired from the stage fairly early, and watching her teach class and coach dancers, I could understand why Maina Gielgud had begged her to reconsider her decision; frankly, Tonkin looked as though she could step out on stage tomorrow. What an inspiring example and positive mentor. Worst The ticket shenanigans at North American venues: seating charts that appear to have been dreamt up on weaving looms, yo-yoing ticket prices, various and sundry promo codes, variable exchange procedures. All of this leaves ticket buyers wondering whether they’ve gotten a good deal or been bamboozled, and sows distrust and dissatisfaction among the people with whom arts organizations ought to be cultivating the best possible relations: subscribers. The continuing ramifications of ABT’s rent-a-principal policies, which are turning the company into a place where many promising young careers go to die. The Bolshoi’s revival of Legend of Love. Bombast, incomprehensible narrative, pasties, spangles, silly walks, lots of hugging of lower extremities. By the time Ferkhad emerged for his third-act dream sequence looking an awful lot like Conchita Wurst, all levels of absurdity have been surpassed. Poor Maria Allash. This is one ballet that should have stayed in the mothballs. Disclaimer: I watched it on YouTube and not at the cinema. Perhaps it looked better on a large screen. Grigorovich’s Nutcracker, Nureyev’s Nutcracker, Béjart’s Nutcracker… My fervent wish for 2015 would be for all joyless and charmless versions of the piece to vanish, because everyone, especially children, encountering ballet for the first time through The Nutcracker deserves to see a beautiful, enchanting production.

Here's the first of the last-minute changes. On December 29 Nuñez and Soares replace Osipova and Golding. http://www.roh.org.uk/news/cast-change-marianela-nunez-and-thiago-soares-to-dance-in-don-quixote-on-29-december-2014

;) And they can just keep on doing them, if that is what "Russian art" requires. Meanwhile, back in the real world - we continue to create... And somewhere in the next world there is a Frenchman who is, no doubt, positively thrilled that a jester has been inserted into Swan Lake, and some terribly, ahem, "Iberian" gypsy dances have been interpolated into Don Quixote, and loads of pointe work has been added to La Bayadère, which are all, if you can imagine, passed off as his work.

I can't help thinking it would be better to ignore him. We all know Tsiskaridze is an inveterate publicity hound. By translating and disseminating these stories, Ismene Brown is giving him exactly what he wants and inadvertently acting as his enabler. We ought to care only about the quality of Vaganova graduates. The rest is bluster, and I'm not going to give Tsiskaridze the satisfaction of paying attention.

Ashton's pas de deux ended Act 2. It replaced the Prince's grandiose introduction to his future in-laws. Skip ahead to the one hour, 31-minute mark.

Not in its original context, but Nureyev used it for an extended solo for the Prince in Act 2, replacing the music for the initial scene between him and the Lilac Fairy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqWVYie0c3s I have also seen it played between Acts 1 and 2, so that one can follow the other without a break. That's not the original context either, but it does a pretty good job of suggesting the passage of time, and at least the music for the mime scene between the Prince and the Lilac Fairy is left intact.

Les Enfants de Scaramouche, a film adaptation of José Martinez's ballet Scaramouche for the pupils of the Paris Opera Ballet School, is available on demand for the next three months. http://concert.arte.tv/fr/les-enfants-de-scaramouche

The Winter's Tale is being released in Canada after all. It will be available throughout North America on January 27.

The re-orchestrations usually do more harm than good. John Lanchbery made a mess of the score by burying it under a mountain of ornamentation, and Martin Yates' version is that much worse.

The live webstream of The Nutcracker on December 26 is to star Liudmila Konovalova as Clara and Vladimir Shishov as Drosselmeyer/Prince. I wonder what sort of effect this casting may have on viewership. A performance with the same pair is already available on DVD, and it can be viewed in the library of the Staatsoper Live web site for a substantially lower price than the live broadcast. I mean, maybe someone really wants to see a different pair of lead snowflakes... http://www.staatsoperlive.com/en/live/130/der-nussknacker-2014-12-26/#tab_0 http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/spielplan/Spielplandetail.en.php?eventid=961874857&month=12&year=2014

Today I was at a well-attended screening from Shakespeare's Globe, and while the trailer reel advertised only forthcoming screenings from the same series, everyone coming into the movie theater was handed a little stack of shiny new flyers and brochures about its other cultural offerings. That's some sort of progress.