volcanohunter

Here's a recent performance of Merce Cunningham's Roaratorio performed by his company at the Montpellier Dance Festival.

http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Roaratorio_de_Merce_Cunningham_au_festival_Montpellier_Danse/

Arte will be streaming Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, Renard and Petites Pieces from Aix-en-Provence on Wednesday, July 7, at 19:55 local time (1:55 p.m. ET).

The Nightingale: Olga Peretyatko

The Cook: Elena Semenova

Death: Svetlana Shilova

The Fisherman: Edgaras Montvidas

The Emperor of China: Ilya Bannik

Chamberlain: Nabil Suliman

The Bonze: Yuri Vorobiev

Renard cast: Marat Gali, Edgaras Montvidas, Nabil Suliman, Ilya Bannik

Trois pièces pour clarinette seule: Jean-Michel Bertelli

Pribaoutki: Svetlana Shilova

Berceuses du chat: Svetlana Shilova

Deux poèmes de Constantin Balmont: Elena Semenova

The staging is by Robert Lepage, and the conductor is Kazushi Ono.

http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Le_Rossignol_et_autres_fables_au_Festival_d_Aix-en-Provence

Did Donna Anna have an illegitimate child, whom she farmed out to a peasant family, or does she live in the big house?

Everyone lives in the big house. The staging seems to be concerned primarily with turning the piece into a family soap opera. Obviously the idea of Don Giovanni trying to seduce his wife's niece is pretty creepy.

The opera's just started. I'm often surpised by the revisionist takes directors take with operas, particularly when you'd think the libretto wouldn't allow it. From what I gather, in this production the Commendatore is the father of Donna Anna and Don Ottavio is her fiancé. So far so good. But Donna Anna is a middle-aged woman and Zerlina is her daughter; Masetto is still her fiancé. Donna Elvira is Donna Anna's cousin, and she's married to... Don Giovanni.

Principal Dancer, Ivan Putrov, has announced his decision to leave The Royal Ballet after twelve years. During that time he has danced all the major classical repertoire, as well as works by many contemporary choreographers. Having danced on stage at Covent Garden for so many years, Ivan would like to have the time and freedom to develop new ideas for creative projects and realise these in a fresh environment.

http://www.roh.org.uk/uploadedFiles/Press_and_Media/Press_Releases/IvanPutrovtoleaveTRB.pdf

Here are a couple of TV reports about the production. I'm only slightly familiar with the work of director Dmitri Tcherniakov, namely the Bolshoi production of Evgeniy Onegin that Galina Vishnevskaya hated so much, but from what little I've seen, he sure seems to have a thing for setting operas in wood-paneled interiors.

http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-20h/don-giovanni-revisite-a-aix-en-provence-5904578.html

http://culturebox.france3.fr/#/opera/25033/le-don-giovanni-de-tcherniakov-ouvre-aix-en-provence

http://culturebox.france3.fr/#/opera/24907/aix-en-provence-s_ouvre-sur-don-giovanni

If anyone is flying via Air Canada in the near future, the film is available on the airline's entertainment system. It's located in the 'Franco-Cinema' folder in the movie section. I just watched it again returning home from New York.

La Petite danseuse is being taped this month. The expected cast is Clairemarie Osta, Delphine Moussin, Elisabeth Maurin, Mathieu Ganio, José Martinez and Benjamin Pech.

As of now, Dorothée Gilbert has replaced Delphine Moussin as the ballerina.

http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/live/onp/actualites/index.php?lang=en#news2345

According to the distributor, the Lady of the Camellias and Swan Lake screenings will of the existing performances already available on DVD. The other ballets will be beamed live.

http://www.cielecran.com/assets/files/font..._BALLET_BAT.pdf

There's also something of a trailer about the series, along with a list of participating French cinemas and stuff available for download at the bottom of the page linked below.

http://www.cielecran.com/index.php?id=16&fiche=96

Arte Live Web will stream Mozart's Don Giovanni live from the Aix-en-Provence Festival on Monday, July 5, at 21.25 local time, or 3:25 p.m. ET.

Don Gionanni: Bo Skovhus

Leporello: Kyle Ketelsen

Donna Anna: Marlis Petersen

Donna Elvira: Kristine Opolais

Zerlina: Kerstin Avemo

Don Ottavio: Colin Balzer

Masetto: David Bizic

Commendatore: Anatoli Kotscherga

Conductor: Louis Langrée

http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Don_Giovan...ix-en-Provence/

If you're unable to watch it live, Arte streams are usually available on demand within 24 hours of being broadcast.

In anticipation of tomorrow's broadcast, PBS has posted some excerpts from the film.

Paquita rehearsal

Genus rehearsal

Lefèvre/Gat meeting

Here are two video reports about the POB's new production of Jiří Kylián's Kaguyahime.

http://culturebox.france3.fr/#/danse/24256...e-de-kaguyahime

http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-we/ballet-le-tcheq...is-5880445.html

For Francophones, here's an interview with Bullion from the French morning news (interrupted pointlessly with info about new CD releases).

http://videos.tf1.fr/infos/2010/une-etoile...ur-5878688.html

Armand is definitely reading Marguerite's diary at the end.

Armand has now reached the end of his narrative to which his father, much moved, has listened. They part. When Armand is alone Nanina brings him Marguerite's diary. Armand starts to read it and learns of her deep and sincere love and of the rapid disintegration of her health. Reading, he seems to accompany her on her last visit to the theatre to see Manon Lescaut. In the ballet, Manon impoverished dies of exhaustion in the arms of her faithful lover Des Grieux, who had followed her into exile.

Ill and despairing, Marguerite must leave the theatre, but the ballet's characters appear in her feverish dreams. She longs to see Armand one last time but dies alone and in poverty. Armand silently closes her diary.

http://www.hamburgballett.de/e/rep/kameliendame.htm

I still have my doubts about this prize cause fine in the movie industry you are watching a movie but with dance it's not the same to see a videotape of somebody dancing or see the live performance.

As well is the jury reviewing the full performance or just excerpts?

Anyhow dance is an art form so hard to judge. Do you know who decides about the years members of the jury? Cause seems like it determines the the nominees and the outcome.

I would love to see an award that has a mixed jury of audience and professionals is there any? That in my opinion would give a more balanced decision.

Thank you again

I can understand your doubts, smokeyjoe. Two years ago Kirk Peterson was nominated for his ballet Othello. I can't imagine that any of the jury members actually traveled to Calgary or Edmonton to see it, but I did have the misfortune of sitting through it, and the ballet was perfectly dreadful, a complete waste of time and space. I can't see Alberta Ballet reviving it, no matter how much was spent on the production. Of course the ballet didn't win the prize, but I was absolutely astonished that it was nominated in the first place, and I have to admit that its inclusion pretty much exploded any idea I may have had about this prize being some sort of ballet "Oscar."

B.C's Knowledge Network will air three ballet-related programs on Wednesday, June 9, starting at 9:00 p.m. PT.

9:00 p.m. - Royal Winnipeg Ballet: 40 Years of One-Night Stands is a documentary about the early years of the company.

10:00 p.m. - Flamenco at 5:15 is a documentary about flamenco classes taken by senior students of the National Ballet School of Canada. I haven't seen this film in years, but as I recall the students included future National Ballet principals Martine Lamy, Owen Montague and Rex Harrington.

10:30 p.m. - A Delicate Battle is the filmed version of Matjash Mrozewski's ballet featuring the National Ballet of Canada.

The programs will repeat starting at 1:00 a.m. PT.

Knowledge Network is available outside British Columbia on satellite service from Bell (ch. 268) and Shaw Direct (ch. 354).

Now I'm officially envious. Over the next year six performances by the Paris Opera Ballet will be beamed to more than 100 cinemas in France and Europe.

La Petite Danseuse de Degas (Patrice Bart/Denis Levaillant) - 8 July 2010

La Dame aux camélias (John Neumeier/Frédéric Chopin) - 16 September 2010

Swan Lake (Rudolf Nureyev/P.I. Tchaikovsky) - 2 December 2010

Caligula (Nicolas Le Riche/Antonio Vivaldi) - 8 February 2011

Coppélia (Patrice Bart/Léo Delibes) - 28 March 2011

Les Enfants du Paradis (José Martinez/Marc-Olivier Dupin) - 9 July 2011

Presumably all of them, except Lady of the Camellias, which was performed earlier this seaon, will be beamed live.

I do wish they would take pity on those of us living on the other side of the Atlantic!

http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/live/onp/...dex.php?lang=en

I'm always grateful to quick-thinking people who capture these moments on their cell phones and the like.

Personally, I find this nomination particularly inspiring. I may be wrong, of course, but I'm guessing that Bullion is the first cancer survivor to become an étoile.

http://www.culturekiosque.com/dance/inter/...Bullion367.html

Congralutations to him!!!

I have to see the Graeme Murphy "Swan Lake" someday, which looks like a hoot.

A bit but I came across a listing for Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake on British Amazon today.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tchaikovsky-Graeme.../dp/B003O2AHSG/

Here's the info we've been looking for. It's the recent TV biopic, plus Fonteyn dancing the second act of Swan Lake, The Firebird and Ondine. If I'm not mistaken this Royal Ballet film hasn't been available on DVD in the U.S until now.

At age 40, Dame Margot Fonteyn (Anne-Marie Duff – The Virgin Queen, Shameless) was one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th Century. At her creative peak, she was a woman torn between her loyalties to the Royal Ballet and her marriage to unfaithful Panamanian diplomat, Roberto de Arias (Con O’Neill – Criminal Justice). Under mounting pressure to retire, Margot’s unexpected pairing with young Russian émigré Rudolph Nureyev (Michiel Huisman – The Young Victoria) caused a global sensation and created one of the most enduring and stunning ballet partnerships of all time. Also starring Lindsay Duncan (Alice in Wonderland), Derek Jacobi (Endgame) and Penelope Wilton (Pride & Prejudice), Margot is a timeless tale of love, performance, passion and self-sacrifice.

BONUS PROGRAM: The Royal Ballet

Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes dance scenes from the ballets, Swan Lake, Firebird and Ondine.

http://www.bfsent.com/item_detail.asp?number=31000

I have the first pressing of the DVD released by EMI Classics. Assuming you have the newer edition, it would seem that both version have the same options. Does your DVD also include Neumeier's English and German introductions? The background on how the ballet came to be is very interesting and basically tells you everything you need to know about the production. If anyone's unfamiliar with the staging I'd suggest watching it first.

Where Peter Wright's Nutcracker is concerned, he has said that "there's very little of the original Nutcracker remaining" in his production, only 10 mintues or so of the original choreography.

http://www.ballet.co.uk/dcforum/happening/7094.html#49

For Francophones, here is a nine-minute television interview with Agnès Letestu. There are also a number of clips from the POB's current run of La Bayadère which obviously don't require any knowledge of French.

http://videos.tf1.fr/infos/2010/agnes-lete...ev-5859992.html

The infrequently used Sapphire variation from Sleeping Beauty is written in 5/4 time.

Nureyev changed the gemstone to gold and turned it into a male role, but he used the music.

Have you, as audience-(or maybe as a dancer)-ever been faced with a company that doesn't fulfill your needs...?

The short answer is, yes. So I'll admit to jumping on planes to New York also.

Are the MCB dancers really capable of performing the 19C classics? Is the company large enough to do them justice?

Ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, &c require an enormous cast and a very large budget in order to be performed properly. They also need dancers who are familiar with Petipa's stately style, who are strong actors, and who can mime at least competently.

Yup. Consider what I have to look forward to season: a company of 30 dancers, not remotely competent in the Petipa style, attempting Sleeping Beauty, a lousy production of The Nutcracker and a trashy pop extravaganza for the third year in a row. If not for a program that includes Balanchine's Serenade and a couple of touring (modern) companies, it wouldn't even be worth the effort.