volcanohunter

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.

Of all places, in John Neumeier's Illusions like Swan Lake. It's a revisionist production, but since he was aiming for a 'period' look in act 2, he had Alexandra Danilova stage it, complete with huntsmen, Odette's mime and a Benno figure in the adagio.

Additional Canadian dates: Sunday, April 19, at 4:00 p.m. Paradise Cinemas in Williams Lake, BC Saturday, April 25, at 3:00 p.m. Fox Theatre, Toronto, ON Sunday, May 3, at 2:00 p.m. Coast Capital Playhouse in White Rock, BC

Helene's comments about Cranko and Neumeier made me go back to the documentary M. for Marcia for Marcia Haydee's very brief observations on the creation of the ballet. My German is poor, so I'll rely on the subtitle translation. I don't think it's surprising that the ballet is vaguely Cranko-esque, given that Neumeier had done his dancing in Stuttgart and was making this ballet for the Stuttgart Ballet as a vehicle for Haydee. (The ballet is subtitled 'For Marcia.') His notes to the ballet suggest that it is something like a tribute to Cranko. (Here you'll have to pardon my lousy translation from German.) http://www.hamburgballett.de/d/rep/kameliendame.htm On the other hand, Cranko (and MacMillan) did things I don't think Neumeier would consider, such as using orchestrations of various and sundry pieces to cobble together a score. Neumeier will certainly use multiple composers in a single piece, but he usually uses their music as written. He may have only used the second movement of Choping's First Piano Concerto, but I was happy to get the Second Piano Concerto in its entirety. Hats off to the pianists for coping with the difficult assignment. It's interesting that what to many of us appears to be Letestu's upper-body stiffness strikes others as fragility and vulnerability. This was certainly the reaction of my (non-dancing) companion, who thought she was perfect for the part. But Helene's observation that Letestu lacks "the sensuality or charm to become a top courtesan" is a very interesting one. Do choreographers simply take it for granted that audiences know who Marguerite is supposed to be? Like Helene, I had difficulty getting a fix on Bullion's solo dancing because of his dark costume. But it does seem to me that several of the Hamburg Ballet's Armands dance it with greater virtuosity. I would be tempted to blame Bullion's greater height, except that from a technical standpoint Martinez eclipsed Hamburg's significantly shorter Des Grieuxs. Nevertheless, I found Bullion extremely affecting, and the fact that he's nearly a decade younger than Letestu helped put his character across on screen. By the end I was having the good cry I failed to have at a screening of the Royal Ballet's Manon a month earlier. I suppose it's also worth mentioning that when it came to the reaction of the screening audience at the final credits, the loudest applause by far was reserved for Neumeier himself.

This program will air on a number of CBC affiliates tomorrow, Saturday, March 28, at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT under the title "Bold Presents."

The Paris Opera Ballet's production of John Neumeier's The Lady of the Camellias will be shown at Canadian cinemas on Saturday, March 28. Marguerite Gautier: Agnès Letestu Armand Duval: Stéphane Bullion Monsieur Duval: Michaël Denard Manon Lescaut: Delphine Moussin Des Grieux: José Martinez Prudence Duvernoy: Dorothée Gilbert Gaston Rieux: Karl Paquette Olympia: Eve Grinsztajn Le Duc: Laurent Novis Nanine: Béatrice Martel Le Comte de N.: Simon Valastro 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 It's also showing at the Princess Twin in Waterloo at 1:00 p.m.: www.princesscinemas.com and the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver, www.festivalcinemas.ca, at 10:00 am PT. I'd post a link to the trailer, but it's too pokey, so here's the DVD preview from the Opus Arte instead. http://www.opusarte.com/pages/productVideo...VariationID=332

Yes, you're right, the seats at the State Theater never struck me as particularly luxurious, so I wouldn't expect too many changes on that score. At least their stuffing will be new.

My previous experience with the installation of acoustically friendly seats is that they usually have a great deal less padding. In the case of a renovation I'm familiar with, it also meant seats that were upholstered only on the seat and the back support, the rest--legs, arm rests, the part that faces the person behind you--being all wood. I can't say that I noticed a great deal more noise coming from patrons fidgeting in their pared-down seats, but such seats are a good deal less comfortable, and the acoustics are definitely improved.

Removing the carpets did a great deal to improve the notoriously dry acoustics at La Scala. Meaning, they're less comforatable.

On April 28 Arthaus Musik will be reissuing a Kylián triple bill featuring the Nederlands Dans Theater in Svadebka (Les Noces), Symphony of Psalms and Torso. The Amazon product number is B001U1L9LC.