volcanohunter

The performer's union is working on a new collective bargaining agreement. Svetlana Lunkina is involved from afar. Ruslan Pronin may remain at the Bolshoi as the full-time union head, if elected to the post. http://izvestia.ru/news/550435

Act 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgmgqOurRsk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRzZU0UAKU4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPCQKXgXP6c

Here you go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iODcsXvRgwE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs65ODvlpYk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdkYGMBxoxk

Perhaps Clement Crisp's description of the Royal Ballet style would be helpful. It comes from the souvenir program for the company's U.S. tour in 1981, marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Vic-Wells Ballet. For generations of dancers the image Ashton made of them is the truest, most flattering. The identity of the dancing British--lyrical, neatly musical, well-mannered and sweetly placed, with a seeming mildness to their classicism which disguises for some viewers an essential strength and a deep-running passion--is a catalogue of Ashtonian virtues... In MacMillan's ballets we see how the academic manner which he accepted from both Ashton and Petipa, has found fresh force and impetus, and how the English style has learned to cope with some of the central problems which concern the theatre of our time: matters of identity, of psychic and emotional isolation...His achievement has been to take the ballet on journeys of psychological and technical exploration which yet retain essential links with the classic nature of the company. Part of that nature lies in the excellence of ensemble performance. To those visitors who ask: "What should I see to get the real favour of The Royal Ballet?" I always reply: "Watch the corps de ballet". Further, he explains that the corps' excellence was to be found in its "coherent style and sensitivity," and also notes that the "distinction of British theatrical acting needs no rehearsing here. In this fiftieth year of The Royal Ballet, though, it is worth noting that the company has accepted those standards as its own."

This is a non-issue. The Paris Opera Ballet and the Bolshoi also went through "lacklustre" periods that had nothing to do with their French-ness or Russian-ness. Mackrell implies that the Royal Ballet pushed through this phase by importing talent, but the POB and Bolshoi managed it without internationalizing. It had more to do with company leadership and promoting young talent. But strictly speaking she's probably correct that there isn't anything inherently "national" about a ballet style, The "Danish" style was formed by the son of a French immigrant, the "Russian" style was formed by a Frenchman, the "American" or perhaps "New York" style was formed by a Russian immigrant, and the "English" style was formed by an Englishman born in Ecuador and raised in Peru. But that doesn't mean that these styles don't exist. If it makes Mackrell happy, we can all refer to the "Royal Ballet" or "Ashton" style instead, and we'll still be left with the problem of its conspicuous deterioration.

This telecast of The Sleeping Beauty from 1978 features a number of the Royal's outstanding ballerinas. I think it's entirely relevant to the discussion. I'm only sorry the video quality isn't better. I believe this is the cast sheet for the performance. http://www.rohcollec...rformance=25286 P.S. Sarah Lamb is American with Russian-school training.

Since both the performances have already taken place, you can rest assured on that score. Just remember that the Romeo is Grigorovich's version, which, to my mind, is one of the worst out there.

I agree with Mashinka. A number of years ago I remember Lis Jeppesen saying almost exactly the same thing about the state of the Bournonville style now that so many dancers of Royal Danish Ballet were outsiders who'd never trained at its school. I don't think either was saying that foreigners were inherently incapable of dancing Bournonville or Ashton properly, but how could they be expected to if they haven't been thoroughly trained to do it? Another level of Brind's point is not that different from recent discussions about ABT and its failure to develop the talent within its own ranks. It's not only that most of the Royal Ballet's principals are not British; most spent little or no time at the Royal Ballet School, and many were hired directly to principal rank, having acquired their not only their training but also their performing experience elsewhere. The Royal Ballet continues to hire RBS graduates for its corps de ballet, but do they have any chance for advancement when management continues to hire glamorous, fully developed free agents to dance lead roles? And I don't think it's unheard of to discuss the "national" qualities of classical musicians. Whenever you read praise about a particular performance being "idiomatic" it suggests that this quality is not encountered all that frequently. Some of the best operatic performances I've heard have featured all-French, all-Russian or all-Italian casts in their "native" repertoire. They're exceedingly common in North America, but multinational casts of singers are usually too eclectic to achieve the same electrifying results. I, too, mourn for the loss of the English style. It has really struck me that in the brouhaha surrounding the Royal Ballet's hiring of Natalia Osipova, discussion about whether she would fit in stylistically hardly seems to have come up at all. It implies that the Royal Ballet no longer has a distinct style, and that's a crying shame.

Merkuriev will be in Moscow making his debut in Anyuta. He wasn't filmed in The Bright Stream, which hasn't yet been released on DVD, but he did have the lead in the film of Ratmansky's Bolt, if that's what you're thinking of.

I noticed that in the written introduction to the Bolshoi Ballet that always precedes its cinemacasts, Lunkina's name has been removed from the shortlist of the company's current stars. Tsiskaridze is gone, too, replaced by Artem Ovcharenko and Semyon Chudin. (You've got to be kidding me.) Ruslan Skvortsov's surname is still misspelled.

Since I don't think this has been made available in English yet, here is casting for the Bolshoi's upcoming visit to Australia Le Corsaire Medora – Maria Alexandrova (May 30, June 1e, 5e); Ekaterina Shipulina (May 31, June 2, 5m); Ekaterina Krysanova (June 1m, 4) Conrad – Vladislav Lantratov (May 30, June 1e, 5e); Mikhail Lobukhin (May 31, June 2, 5m); Ruslan Skvortsov (June 1m, 4) Gulnare – Nina Kaptsova (May 30, June 1e, 4, 5e); Kristina Kretova (May 31, June 1m, 2, 5m) Birbanto – Vitaly Biktimirov (May 30, Jun 1m, 1e, 4, 5e); Denis Savin (May 31, June 2, 5m) Pas d’esclaves – Kristina Kretova (May 30, June 4); Anna Tikhomirova (May 31, June 1e, 2, 5e); Chinara Alizade (June 1m, 5m); Denis Medvedev (May 30, June 1m, 2, 5m); Andrei Bolotin (May 31, June 1e, 4, 5e) Seyd-Pasha – Alexei Loparevich Lanquedem – Egor Simachev Danse de Forbans soloist – Anna Antropova (May 30, June 1e, 4); Anastasia Meskova (May 31, June 2, 5e); Anna Balukova (June 1m, 5m) Odalisques – Maria Vinogradova, Yulia Grebenshchikova (all performances); Anna Tikhomirova (May 30, June 1m, 4, 5m); Chinara Alizade (May 31, June 1e, 2, 5e) The June 4 performance will be simulcast to venues throughout Queensland. The Bright Stream Zina – Nina Kaptsova (June 7, 8e); Ekaterina Krysanova (June 8m, 9) Pyotr – Mikhail Lobukhin (June 7, 8e); Denis Savin (June 8m, 9) Ballerina – Maria Alexandrova (June 7, 8e); Ekaterina Shipulina (June 8m, 9) Ballet Dancer – Ruslan Skvortsov (June 7, 8e); Vladislav Lantratov (June 8m, 9) Accordionist – Denis Savin (June 7); Denis Medvedev (June 8m, 8e, 9) Old Dacha Dweller – Alexei Loparevich (June 7, 8e, 9); Alexander Petukhov (June 8m) His Wife – Anastasia Vinokur (June 7, 8e, 9); Anna Antropova (June 8m) Galya – Ksenia Pchelkina Gavrilich – Egor Simachev (June 7, 8m, 8e); Alexander Petukhov (June 9) http://www.qpac.com....shoi/index.html http://www.bolshoi.r...cles/2013/2569/

You watch. She’ll dance it the conventional way this year, and my experiences will turn out to be outliers.

What if a dancer were injured (or pregnant) during the examination period? If a dancer at the POB is indisposed during the annual competition, he will have to forgo the chance at promotion that year, but he is not at risk of losing his job.

I'll be a bit of a dissenter on Part. What I found extremely disconcerting about her Odette the first time I saw it is that unlike the vast majority of ballerinas, who phrase the adagio to the violin melody, she phrases it to the harp accompaniment. I still think it's wrongheaded.

This is being billed as the "first ever global 3D live theatre event," but so far the live 3D is limited to parts of Europe.

Of course the ROH system would be better and more realistic if the sightline view included an open curtain so you could see the stage behind it. As for Mariinsky II, we'll rely on you to give us the skinny on sightlines.

During the "Big Ballet" show on Russian TV I remember Azari Plisetsky scolding Kristina Andreeva from Kazan for allowing her elbows to droop slightly during a sequence of turns. I am, frankly, astonished that at the Mariinsky it's now considered okay to press the elbows into the sides of the torso while turning. If dancers like Tatyana Terekhova and Nina Ananiashvili could support their arms while turning super quickly, I don't see why we can't expect the same of the current generation. But I'll admit that ungainly elbows during pirouettes are a pet peeve of mine. It drives me insane in Tamara Rojo, Paloma Herrera and Gillian Murphy, too. I don't care if they do quadruple pirouettes in the process, if a dancer's arms are an afterthought, the art is diminished.

Personally, I hope that Wayne McGregor is lobbying on her behalf at the Royal Ballet.

Perhaps Ms. Dupont just lacks the correct agent.

Yes, it would be the ordinary kind of film. No glasses required.

There is now a listing of participating North American cinemas. In Canada Swan Lake will be shown in 3D, but apparently not live. Most U.S. locations will show the 2D version. No dates or times available yet. Grouping the screenings by movie chain rather than location does not make the list very easy to use. http://www.mariinsky...ickets_americas It's probably easier to use the search function. http://www.mariinsky...d-download.html

I didn't like either one, but Martinyuk's elbows were the most egregious violation of classical style.

Initially I was getting a geo-block on this stream. For now it`s become accessible to me. Hopefully, you`ll be able to watch it wherever you may be. http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Le_Lac_Jean-Christophe_Maillot_Ballets_de_Monte_Carlo/

The performance did begin about a half hour late after people had finally seated themselves and Putin gave his speech. The new version includes the part of "Diamonds" that disappeared during the original stream. Sadly, there's not much of it. I'm disappointed they chose not to show the complete last movement. (I can't imagine Gergiev saying to one of his singers, "Just skip ahead to the cabaletta.") The dancers begin with the great unison promenade toward the end. It's probably my favorite moment in all ballet, but it doesn't mean much without the preceding swirling counterpoint. Ultimately Shklyarov wasn't given much to do (an entrechat-six, some temps levés, a bit of partnering). That's a bit of a waste. The moving stage was overused in the end. Better to do things the old-fashioned way by bringing down the curtain instead of watching a lot of dancers standing in formation and waiting for the massive contraption to reach its destination.

Petit related the details in the bonus feature on the POB DVD of the ballet. Apparently, it was Jean Cocteau who insisted that the music should be changed. The final tableau against the Paris skyline was also added after Petit was able to acquire a used film backdrop. Makes you wonder what the ballet would have been like otherwise.