volcanohunter

Because the promotion takes effect on May 18th.

The cast sheet listed only the three leads, and the final credits rolled by quickly, but from what I could gather, the dancers in this performance were: Nikiya - Tamara Rojo Solor - Carlos Acosta Gamzatti - Marianela Nuñez High Brahmin - Gary Avis Rajah - Christopher Saunders Aya - Genesia Rosato Golden Idol - José Martín Fakir - Kenta Kura Solor's Friend - Valeri Hristov 1st Shade - Yuhui Choe 2nd Shade - Lauren Cuthbertson (Hikaru Kobayashi in the ensembles) 3rd Shade - Helen Crawford I found the performance a little disappointing. If a third DVD of Makarova's production is to be released, there ought to be a very compelling reason to do it, but I didn't see it today. I expected more of Rojo. Technically she was very accomplished, and her balances were remarkable, but since her performance will inevitably be compared with those already filmed, I have to say that her earthly Nikiya was not Asylmuratova class, and her Shade Nikiya was not on par with Guérin. I wasn't entirely happy with the way her entrance was filmed because the camera seemed too focused on other characters, and the props weren't handled as well as they could have been. The scene with the dagger wasn't timed well (I think Rosato was too slow to grab Rojo's hand) and, more importantly, the snake bite didn't register strongly. The dropping of the antidote wasn't filmed properly either, the consequence being that a number of audience members who hadn't seen the ballet before didn't fully understand what had happened. It wasn't until they read the synopsis subsequently that they realized that Nikiya had already died. Perhaps Acosta's performance came across strongly in the theatre, but it didn't on screen. His dancing didn't take off until the engagement party, but while his jumps were very fine, the turns were less so. Since the film was a composite of two performances, I can only conclude that he didn't turn cleanly on either night. I was happy to forgo Bolle's slight, self-satisfied smirk at the end of his nailed pirouette sequence, but if Acosta's publicity machine is going to market him as the "world's greatest male classical dancer," I don't think it's unreasonable to ask why Bolle's solo dancing is more secure technically. It goes without saying that Nuñez had no problems with her turns. Her variation and coda were sensational. The women's corps was a little ragged, and in the D'Jampe dance they almost looked hunchbacked. Were their scarves too short for them to stand up straight? It wasn't until the last act that they seemed to get in sync. The POB this wasn't. Still, I was happy as soon as the curtain came up on the engagement party, because there at the front of the ensemble was Sergei Polunin executing wonderful entrechats six. At one point in the subsequent adagio, I was so struck by Hikaru Kobayashi's penché arabesque that I found my eyes veering toward her instead of Nuñez. Probably not the intended effect. Among the Shades, Choe was excellent, and if Cuthbertson wasn't Letestu calibre, she was more secure than Viviana Durante in the RB's previous film. Full marks to Gary Avis. The audience seemed to like Kenta Kura best, and he did whirl and jump very impressively. If I were to buy the future DVD, it would be primarily for Nuñez, and probably only if I could unload my Zakharova-Bolle disc first. I certainly didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it either. What would really be of greater interest to me at this point would be a film of Malakhov's production with Polina Semionova.

In the final report we follow the excitement of the audience attending the 'Jeunes Danseurs' program including, most touchingly, an accompanying husband won over to the art form and the parents of Héloïse Bourdon watching their daughter perform the White Swan adagio. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,4400717...a-l-opera-.html

I, for one, love these ballets, all of which I first encountered as a teenager, and wouldn't hesitate to buy a ticket to see them live or filmed. But while I'd like to think that Emerging Pictures is paying tribute to a Ballets Russes anniversary year and counting on the relative popularity of Stravinsky, at least in comparison to other 20th-century composers, to sell tickets, the simple reality is that this program was available, having been filmed by French television. http://www.arte.tv/fr/art-musique/Maestro/2090356.html If relatively few Mariinsky and Bolshoi productions have been filmed in recent years, this limits the options of distributors, who may be happy enough to screen the ballets, but probably wouldn't put up the money needed to film them in the first place. I think much the same situation surrounds the La Scala ballet presentations. I hardly think that Mediterranea and the forthcoming Pink Floyd Ballet are the most obvious audience grabbers, but since that's what RAI is filming, and since Emerging Pictures distributes La Scala performances, that's what we're going to get. Had it been up to me, I would have filmed their new Coppélia, but there you have it. http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/stagioni...elevisione.html

I'm not sure it's such a big risk, and I certainly don't think it's aimed at the general public. In most cases the triple bill will receive one screening only, and movie theatres don't fit nearly as many people as opera houses. The program is playing at cinemas that have been screening operas and the occasional ballet for some time, so the presenters are probably fairly confident that an audience for this programming is already in place. I'm glad that someone is finally taking a chance on a triple bill. Where I live we've been getting Opus Arte programming for a little over a year. We've been offered the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker; the Royal Ballet's Sylvia, Romeo and Juliet, Tales of Beatrix Potter, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, La Fille mal gardée and Manon, with La Bayadère screening this weekend and, I'm guessing, Swan Lake coming soon; the POB in Cinderella and La Dame aux camélias, the Bolshoi in Spartacus and the National Ballet of Cuba in Don Quixote. To be honest, I am beginning to worry about what will happen once Opus Arte, which has been "borrowing" ballet programming from other distributors already, "runs out" of evening-length narrative ballets to screen. The ballets alternate with opera presentations, and while the operatic repertoire is nowhere near exhausted yet, there are only so many story ballets out there. So I'm very curious to see how this bill fares because I would very much like to see more programs like it.

In Thursday's report, we follow Richard Wilk as he prepares for his final performances before retirement, Brigitte Lefèvre as she inspects rehearsals that seem to take place in every available nook and cranny, and Clairemarie Osta and Manuel Legris as they rehearse the "mirror" pas de deux from Onegin, culminating in the ballet's premiere. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,4399210...a-reveles-.html

On May 19 on the Supraphon label is releasing a DVD of Jan Kodet's Goldilocks, set to a score by Vladimir Franz and performed by the Ballet of the National Theatre of Prague. http://www.qualiton.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?S...RAPHON+DVD+7018 http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx...b=3&ic=4995 The Amazon catalogue number is B001RIGCEW.

In Wednesday's report, the costumes head for Australia, Jean-Guillaume Bart gives class, Dorothée Gilbert gets a costume fitting and shows off her dressing room, and Fabien Révillion takes to the stage. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,4396199...a-passion-.html

As I recall, the Palais Garnier was built over a subterranean lake, which undoubtedly made construction difficult. The lake figures in Gaston Leroux's Le Fantôme de l'Opéra. I have to say that the real thing is nowhere near as grand as the soundstage lake used in the 1943 Claude Rains film.

David Allan used it for his ballet Masada, made for the National Ballet of Canada in 1987. It didn't stick in the repertoire. Hollywood's modified The Gay Parisian is included among the extras of the 3-disc set of The Maltese Falcon. The BBC filmed Ashton's Daphnis and Chloe, with Alina Cojocaru and Federico Bonelli, as part of the Fred's Steps bill by the Royal Ballet in 2004. Sadly, this program has yet to be made available on DVD, a great pity since it also included Scènes de Ballet and Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan.

Tuesday's installment on the Palais Garnier shows us the wardrobe department preparing to ship Bayadère costumes to Australia, Manuel Legris coaching Fabien Révillion in the Foyer de la Danse, the fish living in the theatre's basement and company class in the cupola. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,4395202...a-garnier-.html

The trailer, curiously devoid of the leads, or the Shades, for that matter, is now up and running. Gary Avis fans will love it. http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...p;date=05022009

This is a brief report from French television about the pupils, or as they put it, the "petits rats," of the Vaganova school. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,4393341...tersbourg-.html

Here is the first in a weeklong series of backstage reports from the Paris Opera by TF1. Monday's report takes us backstage during the "Jeunes Danseurs" program. It clocks in at about six minutes. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,4393757...a-garnier-.html

Thus far Emerging Pictures' ballet screenings in cinemas have featured performances already available on DVD, such as the Mariinsky's Swan Lake and Nutcracker, the Bolshoi's Pharaoh's Daughter and Bolt, and La Scala's Mediterranea. Now I think there's finally a triple bill to get excited about: the Mariinsky Ballet performing Fokine's Firebird, Millicent Hodson's reconstruction of Nijinsky's Rite of Spring and Nijinska's Les Noces. http://www.emergingpictures.com/stravinsky...lets_russes.htm The screening dates presently listed are: May 14 in Seattle, WA May 17 in New York, NY May 31 in Brooklyn and Kew Gardens, NY May 31 & June 4 in Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Encino, CA June 3 & 7 in Cleveland Heights, OH June 13 in Coral Gables, FL and Napa, CA June 28 in Wilmington, DE June 29 in Brunswick, ME July 5 & 8 in Cary, NC July 21 & 23 in Fort Lauderdale, FL July 23 in Campbell, CA August 19 in Tewkesbury, UK http://www.emergingpictures.com/opera_dates.htm

There are additional dates posted on the Emerging Pictures site. May 6 & 10 in Cleveland Heights, OH May 24 in Brooklyn and Kew Gardens, NY May 31 in Wilmington, DE June 7 in San Francisco, CA June 7 & 10 in Cary, NC June 18 in Campbell, CA June 22 in Brunswick, ME The ballet will also be screened in Poland in December. http://www.emergingpictures.com/opera_dates.htm

Cinemas and show times: Screenings will take place at Empire Theatres at 1:00 p.m. local time. Participating cities: St. John's, Halifax, Sydney, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Charlottetown, St. Catharines, North York, Mississauga, Ottawa, London, Kitchener, Kingston, Richmond Hill, Burlington, Bolton, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria. www.empiretheatres.com/opusArte Screenings will also take place at Landmark Cinemas in Winnipeg, Calgary, Kelowna and Nanaimo at 11:00 a.m. local time. www.landmarkcinemas.com/index.asp?pageID=42 Possibly showing at the Princess Twin in Waterloo at 1:00 p.m.: www.princesscinemas.com (Digiscreen says yes, but no confirmation on the Princess site) Showing at the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver, www.festivalcinemas.ca, at 10:00 am PT. http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...p;date=05022009

Interesting difference of opinion. I like most things about the Mariinsky 'Swan Lake' except for Gergiev's conducting. I don't like the 'Nutcracker' one bit. Definitely. For example, I'm very fond of the Australian Ballet's 'Coppelia,' but the orchestral playing leaves a lot to be desired.

The DVD will be released in North America on July 21 and can be pre-ordered at Amazon. The ASIN to enter into the Amazon search box up top is B0025Z4Q4E.

For the Francophones out there, here is a television interview with Manuel Legris, about 10 minutes in length. Among other things, he discusses dancing the title role in Cranko's Onegin (there are a couple of clips with Clairemarie Osta as Tatiana), his imminent retirement, the POB's new étoiles, his own promotion in New York, his new position in Vienna and what makes working at the Paris Opera so special. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/spectacles...-a-vienne-.html

Manon will be screened at five UltraStar locations in California and Arizona in early May. Sunday, May 3 at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 6 at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m. The participating cinemas are located in San Diego, CA; Carlsbad, CA; Apple Valley, CA; Surprise, AZ; and Lake Havasu City, AZ. Here is the trailer: http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...p;date=05032009 http://www.roh.org.uk/cinemas/manon/index.aspx

Congratulations to them both! It's nice to see both Heymann's youthful talent and Ciaravola's perseverance rewarded.

When Peter Schaufuss was director of London Festival Ballet, he revived Ashton's version. His emotional attachment to it was strong since his parents had danced Juliet and Mercutio in the original production. LFB brought it to the Met in 1989, which is when I saw it. Anna Kisselgoff's review: http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/27/arts/rev...seem-prosy.html I think the work fell out of the repertoire after Schaufuss left the company. I would hope, though, for the existence of video footage and notes from the revival process, which took place under Ashton's supervision. I hate to admit it, but what sticks out most strongly in my memory is how dreadful Schaufuss' Romeo was in his final confrontation with Paris in the Capulet vault, waving his hands back and forth, shaking his head and mouthing 'no' repeatedly. Yikes, I thought, aren't Danes supposed to be really good actors? It was so incongruous with the rest of his performance.

I am deeply saddened by the passing of this great artist. I'm also very sorry that I had so few opportunities to see her perform, because judging by what I did see, she was a Romantic ballerina nonpareil. Her line, her lightness and her jump were absolutely astonishing. My wretched old pirate of the Evdokimova/Schaufuss/Larsen La Sylphide is one of the ballet films I prize most. May she rest in peace.

Yes, EMI released a DVD, but it's presently out of print. The Hamburg Ballet performs the ballet regularly. It's also in the repertoire of the Dresden Semperoper Ballett, though I understand they're planning a new production of Swan Lake for next season. http://www.hamburgballett.de/e/rep/schwanensee.htm Unfortunately the linked photos don't include any of the huntsmen.