volcanohunter
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Posts posted by volcanohunter
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May I ask why you prefer to sit off center? I'm partial to aisle seats myself for all sorts of reasons. I recently had an aisle seat on the house-right side of the ROH orchestra stalls, and I'd have to note that my view of the downstage left corner was obscured slightly by those sitting in front of me.
But I fell in love with row G smack-dab center. I know that many say the rake in the front part of the orchestra is insufficiently steep, but I had no problems whatsoever. For reference, I am 5'9" tall without an exceptionally long torso. A man of equal height would probably sit higher in his seat and have even fewer problems seeing. The only thing I'd add is that this row is in line with the side entrances to the auditorium, so the green lights above the doors will be in range of your peripheral vision. Nevertheless, I decided that, assuming I can afford the ticket price, it's the row for me.
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The very first time I saw a ballet broadcast into a movie theater I found out about it purely by accident: I saw a poster in a multiplex lobby, and that was extremely fortunate, because I hardly ever go to the movies. Maybe once or twice a year. The screenings are not advertised in playbills at local ballet performances, and apparently they're not advertised to ballet schools either. That's a real shame, because in comparison to the opera or theater series, the dance series here is the only one that offers a substantially lower ticket price for children. (There weren't any children at yesterday's screening, but then it was a weeknight, and the performance ran long into the evening.) It shouldn't be up to us rank-and-file ballet watchers to try and spread the word. My reach certainly isn't sufficient to have much impact.
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When watching Acosta's new choreography of the gypsy camp scene I thought of a lite version of Mats Ek's Carmen. In any case, it seems we're agreed that it doesn't work.
If you dislike John Lanchberry's treatment of the score, you probably won't like what Martin Yates has done to it either. I think the re-orchestration makes a mess of everything, with melodies now obscured under layers of "orchestral color," and trumpets popping out at all sorts of inopportune places. Amour's variation gets the worst of it. But despite the overhaul, the interpolated bits from La Bayadère sound as out of place as ever.
While I agree with Cristian on most points, I disagree about the sets. I thought the street scene was particularly problematic. The backdrop consists of a series of undersized building facades, which presumably were intended to give an illusion of great depth, and for all I know the effect may work in the theater. But in a two-dimensional video image I thought it flopped. It gave the impression of a set from a student production, as though the ballet were being performed in a theater that wasn't equipped with proper flies for proper backdrops.
I agree that the costumes in the dream sequence are pretty awful. The tutu of the Queen of the Dryads seems to have been inspired by the hat Princess Anne wore to her brother Charles' first wedding; every other dancer got stuck with the same basic idea in different colors. And it is a real shame that Amour has been deprived of her accoutrements. Without them it's not entirely clear what she's doing in the scene.
But there was a lot to admire from some of the dancers, especially Marianela Nuñez, who probably possesses the most universal technique in ballet; there are no weak areas. And I was very pleasantly surprised by Carlos Acosta. The last time I saw him he didn't perform as strongly. All 40-years-olds should dance this well. I thought that Beatriz Stix-Brunell as one of Kitri's girlfriends had a lot of style, and I liked Bennet Gartside's Gamache. But I was also underwhelmed by Ryoichi Hirano's Espada, especially since his posse of toreros included dancers like Valeri Hristov, Johannes Stepanek, Eric Underwood and Dawid Trzensimiech.
I didn't care for the reworked prologue and thought the casting of the always striking Christina Arestis as Dulcinea was a mistake; she managed to make the rather tall Christopher Saunders appear not tall by comparison. The ballet did seems to take a long time to get going, and the onstage whooping and hollering sounded forced. Right now I'm inclined to give the production three stars out of five, but I think many of the shortcomings can be fixed. Start with the music!
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I'd guess it's a reference to the Spartak soccer team.
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Sadly, this is not relevant for most North Americans, but the December 16 cinema broadcast of the Paris Opera Ballet's Sleeping Beauty is scheduled to star Eleonora Abbagnato and Mathieu Ganio.
In addition to a number of French and German cinemas, the ballet will be shown in a smattering of Austrian, Belgian and Italian cinemas, and at six movie theaters in Quebec.
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If this interview with Carlos Acosta has been posted elsewhere on the board, my apologies.
http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/octobernovember-2013/new-side-carlos-acosta
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This trailer was made for domestic consumption without subtitles, but the video shows Anna Nikulina rehearsing Phrygia in Spartacus with Lyudmila Semenyaka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do4LjPcezAw
The cast list for Sunday's broadcast: http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/47/roles/#20131020190000
Some relevant distributor links
A listing of distributors by country: http://www.pathelive.com/fr/bolshoi-worldwide
U.S. cinema listings, plus some background articles: http://www.emergingpictures.com/titles/spartacus-bolshoi-ballet/
A list of Carmike Cinemas showing the ballet: http://www.carmike.com/Showtimes/movie/3031
Canada (1pm local time): http://www.cineplex.com/Events/DanceSeries/Home.aspx
UK: http://tickets.picturehouseentertainment.co.uk/gb/bolshoiballet/
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It's not the most Christmassy DVD, but Kultur is releasing the Joffrey Ballet's film of Kurt Jooss' The Green Table on December 17, and that is fantastic news.
http://www.kultur.com/The-Green-Table-Kurt-Jooss-p/d4920.htm
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Boris Akimov, meanwhile, believes that Tsiskaridze's pupils will adapt to new coaches, noting that Denis Rodkin prepared the parts of Prince Kurbsky and Spartacus with other teachers.
According to his Bolshoi bio, Denis Rodkin is now under the tutelage of Yuri Vladimirov, whose most prominent pupil is Dmitry Gudanov.
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March is a long way away, but the Royal Ballet has announced that its broadcast of The Sleeping Beauty is to star Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae.
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The remaining mixed bill casting is up.
Program B OPENING NIGHT – Saturday, October 19 – 2:00PM
Trio
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Martin WestMathilde Froustey*, Joan Boada
Dana Genshaft, Ruben Martin Cintas
Damian Smith*
Frances Chung, Taras DomitroINTERMISSION
Ghosts
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Composer: C.F. Kip Winger
Conductor: Martin WestMaria Kochetkova, Vitor Luiz
Lorena Feijoo, Ruben Martin Cintas, Shane WuerthnerINTERMISSION
Suite en Blanc
Choreographer: Serge Lifar
Composer: Édouard Lalo
Conductor: Martin WestVanessa Zahorian, Tiit Helimets, Sofiane Sylve [This, no doubt, is a mistake; it ought to be a second male dancer]
Frances Chung, Esteban Hernandez*, Francisco Mungamba, Wei Wang, Lonnie Weeks
Sarah Van Patten
Davit Karapetyan
Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets
Sofiane SylveProgram A – Saturday, October 19 – 8:00PM
Trio
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Martin WestVanessa Zahorian, Vitor Luiz
Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets
Anthony Spaulding
Maria Kochetkova, Davit KarapetyanINTERMISSION
Ghosts
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Composer: C.F. Kip Winger
Conductor: Martin WestYuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith
Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets, Shane WuerthnerINTERMISSION
Borderlands
Choreographer: Wayne McGregor
Composer: Joel Cadbury and Paul Stoney
Conductor: Martin WestMaria Kochetkova, Jaime Garcia Castilla
Sarah Van Patten, Pascal MolatFrances Chung, Carlos Quenedit
Sofiane Sylve, Anthony Spaulding
Koto Ishihara, Lonnie Weeks
Elizabeth Powell, Francisco MungambaProgram D OPENING MATINEE – Sunday, October 20 – 2:00PM
Suite en Blanc
Choreographer: Serge Lifar
Composer: Édouard Lalo
Conductor: Ming LukeMathilde Froustey, Vitor Luiz, Davit Karapetyan
Simone Messmer*, Esteban Hernandez, Francisco Mungamba, Wei Wang, Lonnie Weeks
Vanessa Zahorian
Taras Domitro
Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit HelimetsINTERMISSION
From Foreign Lands
Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky
Composer: Moritz Moszkowski
Conductor: Ming LukeRussian: Sasha De Sola, Jaime Garcia Castilla
Frances Chung, Gennadi Nedvigin
Italian: Joan Boada, Mathilde Froustey*, Dana Genshaft, Dores Andre
German: Jennifer Stahl, Anthony Spaulding*, Luke Ingham, Lonnie Weeks
Spanish: Frances Chung, Joan Boada
Mathilde Froustey, Gennadi Nedvigin
Polish: Jennifer Stahl, Sasha De Sola, Dores Andre, Dana Genshaft
Jaime Garcia Castilla, Anthony Spaulding, Luke Ingham, Lonnie Weeks*INTERMISSION
Symphonic Dances
Choreographer: Edwaard Liang
Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov
Conductor: Martin WestFrances Chung, Jaime Garcia Castilla
Sarah Van Patten, Anthony Spaulding
Lorena Feijoo, Vitor Luiz -
PDF versions of the program for the screening are now available on the ROH site. In addition to English, they are available in German, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch.
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According to Mathilde Froustey's Twitter feed, she will dance in Trio at the October 19 matinee, and in Suite en Blanc and From Foreign Lands on the 20th.
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Casting for three of the mixed rep performances has yet to be posted. Don't despair just yet.
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For Francophones. On the eve of her official retirement, Agnès Letestu was interviewed on the midday news today.
http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/les-adieux-dagnes-letestu-etoile-eternelle-143075
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How is the Bolshoi's version different from most other Giselles? I've never seen it. Also, I like to go to the Bolshoi performances to see the dancers, and tend to be less focused on the production values.
Many of the dances are re-ordered in sequence, invariably to the detriment of the drama. But nearly all of the bits are still there, except the mime, of course. Your approach of going in order to see the dancers is absolutely the correct one. But it might still be a good idea to watch the production in advance on video, just to get the shocks behind you. Otherwise you may find yourself so distracted by the irrationalities of the staging that you won’t be able to enjoy the performances fully.
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The DVD and Blu-ray versions of the Royal Ballet's 'Ashton Celebration,' which includes La Valse, Meditation from Thais, Voices of Spring, Monotones I & II and Marguerite and Armand, with Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin, will hit the North American market on October 29. Amazon is taking pre-orders.
LA VALSE - Hikaru Kobayashi, Ryoichi Hirano, Samantha Raine, Bennet Gartside, Helen Crawford, Brian Maloney
‘MEDITATION’ FROM THAÏS - Leanne Benjamin, Valeri Hristov
VOICES OF SPRING - Yuhui Choe, Alexander Campbell
MONOTONES I AND II - Emma Maguire, Akane Takada, Dawid Trzensimiech; Marianela Nuñez, Edward Watson, Nehemiah Kish
MARGUERITE AND ARMAND - Tamara Rojo, Sergei Polunin, Christopher Saunders. Gary AvisThe performer information on the Opus Arte site does not match the DVD's jacket, but the site does provide a trailer for Marguerite and Armand.
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There also used to be a lot more government and non-profit money around. Those Royal Ballet tours were paid for partly by the British Council. However, corporate money was also an important factor. The company was forced to cancel its U.S. tour in 1990 when Barclays Bank balked.
The NBOC very rarely sold out (or anywhere near it) its former venue, except for Nutcracker, and it rarely sells out the Four Seasons Centre (except for Nutcracker and things like Cinderella, Alice, etc.). For most programs, it offers the same 7 performances it always did. They made up for lost revenue in the orchestra seats by upping the ticket prices significantly.I was relying on an old article from the International Journal of Arts Management.
The Hummingbird Centre has 3,200 seats and played host to 68 performances in the 2005 season. The new venue has 2,000 seats and will require 83 annual performances. If one excludes performances presented outside of Toronto (as part of the company's tours or its Community Outreach program), the question becomes: how will the company be able to match the revenues generated at its previous home venue?
[Kevin] Garland's plan of attack in this regard can be summarized in a single word: increase. The number of performances will be increased from 68 to 83, which explains the $1.4 million annual increase in fixed costs.Apparently a 50% increase in ticket prices was part of the plan all along. If the company found that it had overestimated ticket demand, then naturally it made little sense to give that many performances. The current total of 77 performances in Toronto (if I've counted correctly), including 23 of The Nutcracker, falls in between the old Hummingbird total and the initial Four Seasons projection. ABT also seldom sells out the Met, so it's entirely possible that its audience could fit into a smaller venue without increasing dramatically its number of performances. But what makes very little sense to me is ABT and NYCB continuing to compete head-to-head when neither is filling up their venue.
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Yes, the POB performed at the Met; Manuel Legris was made an étoile on its stage. Lots of companies visited in the 1980s: the Kirov, Royal Danish Ballet, Australian Ballet, London Festival Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, among others. (For whatever reason, when the Bolshoi visited in 1979 and 1990 they performed at the State Theater.)
In the spring of 1990 Anna Kisselgoff even wrote a piece in the NYT that began: "Imagine the unimaginable – the Metropolitan Opera House in the summer without companies like the Royal Ballet from Britain, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Netherlands Dance Theater, the London Festival Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Roland Petit's National Ballet of Marseilles and so on." http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/15/arts/dance-view-ballet-at-the-met-a-british-bundle-of-fresh-ideas.html
I really miss those days.
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Filin has formally returned to work as artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet. Galina Stepanenko is now company manager, a post that had been vacant since Ruslan Pronin's dismissal.
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Presumably ABT could break up its usual spring-summer season into two parts. A 'spring' season (March-April) following NYCB's winter season, and a 'summer' season (June-July) after NYCB's spring season. I would think that for New Yorkers having access to live ballet year-round would be a great boon. Such a schedule might also be easier on ABT's corps de ballet.
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ABT spends quite a bit of time on the road, so its sets have been made to fit into a variety of venues.
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When the National Ballet of Canada moved from the O'Keefe/Hummingbird/Sony Centre (3,200 seats) to the Four Seasons Centre (2,070 seats) it accommodated its subscriber base by increasing its total number of performances. The company had to deal with a significant decrease in available orchestra seats also, but the move hasn't bankrupted the National Ballet, so obviously it can be made to work.
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This is a French television report about the imminent retirement of Agnès Letestu.
Flying over to see Marianela
in Royal Ballet
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Certainly by row G and further back the conductor would not be in your way.