volcanohunter

I once attended a performance of Claude Magnier's comedy Blaise which includes a scene in which the hero, a painter, is trying to persuade a reluctant model to pose in the nude. The actress was standing on a stool and wearing a crochet shawl, and at that point an elderly man in the second or third row pulled out his binoculars and aimed them straight at her. He was so excited he was practically twitching. The irony was that the actress never actually took off the shawl, not at this performance and presumably not at any other either, which didn't stop the old geezer.

Alas Ballet Talk won't get a cut of the sale, but the DVD is on sale at ArkivMusic.com this month for half of Amazon's price. It's listed at #11 on the link below. http://www.arkivmusic.com/listpage/1764&am...e_size=100-E663

Arkiv Music is selling a number of Opus Arte titles at a 50% discount this month. Included are Giselle, Coppelia, Sylvia, La Fille mal gardee, The Firebird/Les Noces, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker (RB), Swan Lake, Jewels (POB), A Midsummer Night's Dream (PNB) and The Nutcracker (SFB) I know it's customary on this site to shop via the Amazon search box, so I apologize for mentioning the competition, but I'd suggest sending some of your saved money as a donation to Ballet Talk. http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/listPa...p;page_size=100 Shipping rates: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Page?p...ages/help.jsp#9

Turner Classic Movies will air Ray Enright's On Your Toes on Thursday, April 22, at 7:30 a.m. ET. Later that evening the channel will air Michael Powell's The Red Shoes at 8:00 p.m. ET. http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.jsp?star...e=EST&cid=N

The U.S. release date is May 25. The DVD and Blu-Ray can be ordered on Amazon.

You have me totally baffled. Since there is no commercial tape of the "Illusions Like Swan Lake", I had to resort to youtube to check it out. Sadly, there were only 3 clips there. Only one of them (the Black Swan Pas de deux - with Odile in a "white" tutu??) used Tchaikovsky's music from Swan Lake. The other two clips used music that is not from Swan Lake. Since you said that: "I believe pretty much all of that music in the ballet" is used, I remain confused. Neumeier uses more music from the score than most productions of Swan Lake, but not all of it. And a good thing, too, because some of Tchaikovsky's numbers (like the coda Ashton used for his pas de quatre) barely qualify as music. However, Neumeier doesn't always use it in the original order, and he also uses additional pieces by Tchaikovsky, such as the "Meditation" from Souvenir d'un lieu cher. Most of the ballet is rechoreographed, except for Act 2, which uses an older version of the choreography than most productions, and the "Black Swan" pas de deux. The ballet is reinterpreted as the story of a king very like Ludwig II of Bavaria (the one who built all those fanciful castles). "Odette" is actually a ballerina in a ballet within a ballet--a private performance of Swan Lake watched by the King. In the third act the pas de deux is danced by the King and his fiancée. Up until that point she had been unable to break through to the him (Ludwig is believed to have been gay), but after seeing him enraptured by "Odette," she decided to wear a similar dress to the third-act costume party. The King is overjoyed by her decision and apparent understanding of what makes him tick, and they dance the usual pas de deux together. http://www.hamburgballett.de/e/rep/schwanensee.htm The video is available commerically in Europe, but as far as I know, it's in PAL format. I can't be certain since I own an earlier version of the DVD. http://www.amazon.de/Illusionen-Wie-Schwan.../dp/B002DU7MEW/

There aren't any "re-enactments" as far as I can remember. It's a combination of old footage, interviews and what could be described as stock footage: a train station in Siberia, a boat floating along the Neva, a Parisian airport, London buses, New York taxis, and that sort of thing. As a matter of fact, I don't remember anyone from New York being interviewed, which makes me wonder whether the filmmakers were there at all.

Here is a link to a television report about Angelin Preljocaj's new work, Siddharta, for the Paris Opera Modern Dance Ensemble Ballet. http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-we/opera-de-paris-...se-5788516.html

The U.S. release date is April 27. Amazon is taking pre-orders.

Sorry if I'm nudging this thread off topic. Below is a link to a brief report on the Paris Opera Ballet School from today's news on TF1. http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-13h/exigence-et-ex...is-5783892.html

On the Great Performances site there is a poll asking viewers which Robbins ballet is their favorite. There are more than 20 candidates and only ten votes so far. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/

In Canada the film will air on TVO on Sunday, March 28, at 9:00 p.m. ET, with a repeat showing at midnight. http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?...801269824445000

The video is now available on demand on the Arte web site. Same link. http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Platee__a_l_Opera_du_Rhin/ I apologize for listing the incorrect start time in my first post. I'd forgotten that Americans and Europeans don't switch their clocks at the same time. Mea culpa.

Amazon has just listed a forthcoming DVD from VAI with a Petrushka and a Rite of Spring, apparently filmed in 1990. Running time: 76 minutes. No cover art yet. Does anyone have any idea what this video may be?

Ontario's TFO will broadcast Mauro Bigonzetti's Caravaggio, performed by the Staatsballett Berlin, on Sunday, April 4, at 8:00 p.m. ET. http://www.tfo.org/e...P056677&genre=3 Gosh, it isn't even Christmas time. TFO is available Canada-wide on Bell ch. 137. Click below for channel listings in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Manitoba. (in French) http://www.tfo.org/commentCapterTFO/

One more feature from French television, this time about The Firebird. http://culturebox.france3.fr/#/danse/20446...-champs-elysees

The Opéra du Rhin production of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Platée will be streamed live from Strasbourg on Thursday, March 18, at 20.00 CET, or 2:00 p.m. ET, on Arte's Live Web. http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Platee__a_l_Opera_du_Rhin/ Here's a link to some information on the production from the Opéra du Rhin web site. http://www.operanationaldurhin.eu/opera-20...2f560c84c34f52b

I don't like the revised site either, and in any case there doesn't seem to be a master schedule available. But for what it's worth, Thirteen has tentatively scheduled the opera for Sunday, April 25, at 12:00 p.m. ET. I know it's not much help, but the Met site also has a link to the PBS schedule that can be set to your station. (Well, it doesn't actually seem to be working at the moment, but perhaps it will later.) http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/bro...ex.aspx?id=7712 It's an unwieldy thing that isn't especially helpful for those of us who live north of the border and therefore don't have zip codes. I end up entering my former Manhattan code, pleading ignorance about my signal provider and then readjusting the schedule to the stations I actually get. I feel quite ridiculous having to 'outwit' a computer program in this way.

Here are some photos from the production: http://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/home2/d...p;id_language=2 The ballet does use the score by Burgmüller. Diana Vishneva danced the lead in the premiere, and Shoko Nakamura is scheduled to perform it twice this month. http://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/spielpl...&spielzeit=

The video clips are extremely brief, but Vladimir Malakhov's new staging of La Peri is DW-TV's top cultural pick of the week. http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single...end_824,00.html

I'll say up front I am particularly biased against tinkering with the peasant pas, such as turning it into a quartet or sextet, or altering the variations. But the second act of this production is wonderful, so I have seldom been as pleased with a filmed Giselle as I am with this one.

Opus Arte will be releasing a performance of the Royal Ballet in Ashton's Ondine filmed in June 2009. The UK release date is April 1. The North American release usually follows two months later. Ondine: Miyako Yoshida Palemon: Edward Watson Berta: Genesia Rosato Tirrenio: Ricardo Cervera A Hermit: Gary Avis Act III Divertissement: Mara Galeazzi, José Martín, Helen Crawford, Samantha Raine, Brian Maloney, Sergei Polunin and Artists of The Royal Ballet DVD: http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=341 Blu-Ray: http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=342

The film will air on Canadian Bravo on Monday, March 8, at 9:00 p.m. ET http://www.bravo.ca/SCHEDULE/Default.aspx?date=3-8-2010

Strictly Bolshoi will re-air on Canadian Bravo on Monday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. ET. http://www.bravo.ca/SCHEDULE/Default.aspx?date=3-22-2010

Well, I think it's horrid so I don't understand the repeat. But it would really make my day if, during the transmission, the people sitting in the box closest to stage left were to aim spitballs at the fussing "photographer" during the sextet.