volcanohunter

Lord knows there are no guarantees where casting for Russian companies is concerned. Casting for the Bolshoi's last London tour changed several times during advance and general sales (and casting for the Mariinsky's Swan Lake in Washington hasn't exactly been set in stone either). Once the Bolshoi did finally settle on casts, they did pretty much hold for the first week. But then injuries set in, and by the final performance three weeks later, casting for every major character in the ballet had been changed at least once; only one dancer appeared in his role as originally advertised, but not before being changed and then changed back again. During the London visit I was at least able to take advantage of the return-for-resale policy of the Royal Opera House. I bought tickets to just about everything as insurance and held onto them until the day of the show, though ultimately I returned tickets to four performances because, like you, I was not especially keen on the casting. Because it was the Bolshoi and because every performance was sold out, the tickets did resell, and I went to see something else on those evenings. It's a very enlightened box office policy I wish were more prevalent.

No, not yet.

No, but she is tall, which is the Russian preference, and she can perform the solo choreography without a hitch or wobble. Grigorovich's Odile variation, which incidentally uses the same music as Burmeister's, is based almost entirely on rapid turns, and Alexandrova whizzes through it with astonishing speed. She also puts the story across most effectively, though her Odette is no shrinking violet. But I think Jayne makes a valid observation. If, for whatever reason, the Bolshoi does not see Obraztsova as Odette-Odile, whether this is because Filin deemed her Stanislavsky performances unsuccessful or because Grigorovich does not think her suitable, then perhaps a company like the Royal Ballet, which fields Swan Queens like tiny Roberta Marquez, may give her the opportunity.

Other sources also name Anna Nikulina and Maria Vinogradova, who would dance Phrygia, Artem Ovcharenko, another Siegfried, and Denis Rodkin, the other Spartacus. http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Cate-Blanchett-Led-THE-MAIDS-and-More-Set-for-2014-Lincoln-Center-Festival-20140108

She hasn't danced it with the POB. Its online records go back to the 1989/90 season, and it appears that no Sujet is given the role. http://www.memopera.fr/

I believe Obraztsova danced Burmeister's version at the Stanislavsky, but she has never danced in Grigorovich's production. As you say, there are lots of active Swan Queens on the Bolshoi roster, and it's not a given that its primas will get the part, especially the small ones. For example, Nina Kaptsova only ever dances the pas de trois, and Natalia Osipova was never cast as Odette-Odile either. Ekaterina Krysanova and Kristina Kretova are on the small side, but they're rail thin, with very slender limbs. Anna Nikulina is also not especially tall, but her limbs are extremely long. http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/36/roles/#all

As far as I know it was just regular HD video, broadcast live on television and online.

Naturally. http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/41/roles/#all

Because she doesn't do Swan Lake or Spartacus, and with only three performances of Don Quixote, they've already got too many Kitris who also dance the other ballets: Alexandrova, Krysanova, Shipulina and Zakharova.

This could be subject to change, of course, but the site touts the participation of Svetlana Zakharova, David Hallberg, Ekaterina Shipulina, Vladislav Lantratov, Olga Smirnova, Ekaterina Krysanova, Mikhail Lobukhin, Ruslan Skvortsov and Maria Alexandrova, in that order. I certainly hope for the return of Alexandrova by then. http://www.lincolncenterfestival.org/bolshoi-ballet-opera

The Hamburg Ballet has posted a video of some young people getting a hands-on introduction to A Midsummer Night's Dream, including watching rehearsals and trying out some of the moves themselves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeEdBSQ9Jw

Yes, I watched it live yesterday, but I have to be honest and say I wasn't always paying attention that closely (and that I kept turning the volume down as the piece progressed). But since the premiere the audience has been allowed to come and go during the performance, so I was no different.

Can't speak about geo-blocks internationally, but in my neck of the woods it's possible to watch a complete performance--all 4.5 hours of it--of Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach, filmed yesterday at the Théâtre du Châtelet in the original production by Robert Wilson, with choreography by Lucinda Childs. Apparently, it's the first time the work has been filmed and broadcast. http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/einstein-on-the-beach-au-theatre-du-chatelet-146813

It's also used for some ballet performances, isn't it? I have little experience with ballet at the War Memorial, but during last year's run of Nijinsky, the ballet was projected onto the screens, though I didn't use them.

I hope you sent a note to this effect to the NYT.

Yay! Many thanks to everyone who keeps this site up and running. Y'all deserve an extra flute of champagne this New Year's.

I'm the daughter of a university professor, and having spent a lot of my childhood in the company of his colleagues, I know this is true more often than I'd care to admit. But I wouldn't want this discussion to veer toward those 'do' vs. 'teach' stereotypes.

Universities and colleges throughout North America have theater production programs that train stage hands and technicians. My almae matres had such programs, and they usually function alongside drama departments, providing in-house crews for student plays (and operas and dance performances, depending on a university's offerings).Those graduates who are lucky enough to get a union job, particularly at an institution or facility that functions year-round, really do have it made. Most, though, are not so fortunate. So theoretically an alternate work force already exists.

There is a recent film of the Alonso version, but the wrinkle is that it was performed in Canada with a local ballet school, so the children in the party scene, with the exception of Fritz, were danced by actual children. Clara was danced by an adult only in the battle and snow scenes; otherwise she was performed by a student who did all her dancing in soft shoes. There were mice performed by young children in addition to the main army of adult female mice, but no child toy soldiers. What I found most disconcerting is that at least in the film the tree does not grow, and therefore there is no sense of the proportions of Clara's world changing. And the Nutcracker undergoes no physical transformation following the battle; he looks "liberated" from the outset. But I have to emphasize that I saw a version edited to fit into a one-hour TV slot with commercials, and I cannot compare it with the ballet as it is danced in Havana. I saw a truncated party scene, complete battle and snow scenes, Chinese and Russian dances, Mirlitons, Flowers, Sugarplum Fairy variation and final waltz. Supposedly a complete performance also exists. http://www.tricordmedia.ca/entertainment

This video seems well on its way to going viral. Pretty damn funny.

A little bit of footage from the announcement, courtesy of AFP.

I've seen her only a handful of times, but I agree with silvermash that she is genuinely interesting.

Alice Renavand was named an étoile following her debut in Le Parc this evening. http://www.operadeparis.fr/en/blogopera/alice-renavand-nommee-danseuse-etoile

Although this video interview actually says very little about "the business of ballet," Kevin O'Hare suggests that in the UK, at least, The Nutcracker was the #1 film of the day. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/the-business-of-ballet-j8ldQouqRGG7W3laiuHfnA.html

This was also the official Bolshoi position, though not immediately. I wondered whether it was an attempt on the theater's part to mollify its dancers, who were in an uproar over Dmitrichenko's arrest. The initial "no one doubts Dmitrichenko's guilt" went over like a lead balloon.