volcanohunter

Canada's Bravo network will air Strictly Bolshoi on Saturday, December 6, at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.

This film follows the world's most sought-after ballet choreographer, Christopher Wheeldon, as he becomes the first Englishman invited to create a new work for Moscow's prestigious Bolshoi Ballet.

www.bravo.ca

Thank you, volcanohunter, for "reviewing" the documentary. Does it have English subtitles?

Yes, you have your choice of English, German, Spanish or Italian subtitles.

The SFB production features two different dancers as Clara -- a child for the first act and most of the second, and then a magical transformation happens just before the grand pas which brings in the ballerina to finish out the role. You don't say who dances the adult Clara, nor the Nutcracker prince -- but then, they'd be principals, not soloists.

Sorry for the confusion. The principals are listed in the first entry.

Your explanation makes sense. I wonder who the fifth dancer in the Spanish dance is then. For that matter, I wonder who danced the Bear.

The National Ballet has lost quite a lot of money on the stock market, though its Nutcracker ticket sales are good.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/Entertainment

Let me reiterate that beaming ballet into Canadian cinemas is a wonderful idea, particularly since the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation lost interest in the performing arts a long time ago, cutting back broadcasts year after year until nothing was left. It's the choice of repertoire and the timing of the showings that I question. In the National Ballet's defence I will say that most available Saturday afternoons have been taken over by live Met broadcasts or their repeat showings, so you could blame the Metropolitan Opera's success for the National Ballet's limited access to movie screens. Under the circumstances, it may well be that the NBoC won't be able to broadcast anything other than The Nutcracker, which isn't exactly what I hoped the new digital entertainment universe would bring, which won't do anything to alleviate the resentment of other companies, and which is likely to bring diminished returns over time as the production becomes overly familiar.

Speaking strictly as a ballet fan, it irritates me to be forced to choose between simultaneous broadcasts and performances of The Nutcracker. Ideally I would like to have the opportunity to see them all, and for this reason alone I'd wish for better coordination. I don't think the Canadian ballet audience is large enough to sustain the present level of competition.

Perhaps it's time to consider Sunday matinees? For one thing the bunheads are less likely to be in class, boosting the potential audience pool.

TFO, Ontario's French-language educational network, will broadcast the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Le Tour du monde en 80 minutes on Sunday, December 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

http://www.tfo.org/television/emissions/se...26&c=45ABF0

The program, described as Béjart's last work, is more like a greatest hits collection, is not yet available in North America, though it hit the French market this month.

http://www.alapage.com/-/Fiche/DVDVideo/99...-80-minutes.htm

Recently the National Ballet of Canada announced that, as last year, it will beam its production of The Nutcracker live into movie theatres (of the Cineplex-Odeon persuasion). Last year this decision drew protests from the artistic directors of other Canadian ballet companies, who feared that the broadcast would poach viewers from their productions. Furthermore, the Empire Theatres chain had opted to show the San Francisco Ballet's version that same afternoon, all leading to a great deal of unnecessary competition.

This year the National Ballet will broadcast its Nutcracker on the afternoon of December 13. The San Francisco Nutcracker, though not a live broadcast, has been scheduled to run on the same afternoon since at least July. Both movie showings will interfere with the opening of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens' Nutcracker in Montreal, the Edmonton run of Alberta Ballet's new Nutcracker, and Ballet Jörgen's Group of Seven Nutcracker in Ottawa.

What gives? I understand Empire Theatres wanting to run the SFB Nutcracker before it airs on PBS the following week. Is there any particular reason why the National Ballet of Canada chose to broadcast its version on the same day at more or less the same time? Why didn't it heed last year's plea from the ADs of other companies to broadcast something other than The Nutcracker, say, Cranko's Romeo and Juliet in March or Giselle in May? At a time when Ballet BC is struggling to survive in a hostile economic climate, do we really need these Nutcracker wars?

For those of you who subscribe to Deutsche Welle's television service, DW-TV will be airing a half-hour documentary titled Dancing on the Big Stage about pupils of the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin as part of its Im Focus/In Focus series.

The English version of the program will air on

Sunday, November 30 at 20.30 UTC or 3:30 p.m. ET

Monday, December 1 at 12.30 UTC or 7:30 a.m. ET

Tuesday, December 2 at 00.30 UTC or Monday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET

The German version, Tanzträume, can be seen on

Sunday, November 30 at 17.30 UTC or 12:30 p.m. ET

Monday, December 1 at 07.30 UTC or 2:30 a.m. ET

http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_pdf/0,,3440788,00.pdf

P.S. I should point out that the schedules for Europe, Africa and Asia and Latin America are somewhat different.

I'm sure that regular patrons of San Francisco Ballet can help me out with this one. I'm trying to match the "soloists" listed in the final credits with their roles. The booklet to the DVD states that David Arce performed the Mouse King, but the order in which he's listed among the soloists suggests that it was actually Garrett Anderson. Could any of you offer some clarification?

You'll pardon me if I don't give the characters their proper names.

Ricardo Bustamante - Clara's father

Anita Paciotti - Clara's mother

Pascale Leroy - Clara's grandmother

Jim Sohm - Clara's grandfather

Rory Hohenstein - Harlequin

Clara Blanco - Ballerina Doll

Garrett Anderson - ?

David Arce - ?

Dores Andre - Spanish

Frances Chung - Spanish

Jaime Garcia Castilla - Spanish

Hansuke Yamamoto - Spanish

Anthony Spaulding - Arabian

Brett Bauer - Arabian

Mariellen Olson - Mirlitons

Elana Altman - Mirlitons

Jennifer Stahl - Mirlitons

James Sofranko - Russian

Louis Schilling - Russian

Matthew Stewart - Madame du Cirque

Your corrections would be appreciated.

Also, according to Opus Arte's website, the DVD includes cast gallery, illustrated synopsis, and a documentary "Cinderella goes to Hollywood." One can only assume (and hope) the documentary will be part of the DVD released in the United States.

The documentary is about an hour long and is included on the second disc along with Act 3. Generally I thought that the performance clips complemented the interview segments less well than they had in Reiner Moritz's previous film about the POB's Jewels. It was interesting to see the interview with Stéphane Phavorin because his real-life personality comes across as not at all threatening or flamboyant, unlike his outrageous Stepmother. I had always thought that Nureyev's idea to transpose the story to 1930s Hollywood was a rather good one since the score strikes me as poorly suited to the tutu approach. So imagine my surprise to discover that it was actually the idea of set designer Petrika Ionesco and that initially Nureyev hated it. Given that, it's a bit funny to watch the POB dancers gush, as they always seem to, about how brilliant Nureyev's concept was, how it came out of his lifelong love for movies, etc. My favourite quote, though, comes from José Martinez, who describes Nureyev's choreography as "abundant," which is much nicer than calling it "cluttered."

Please don't misunderstand me, though. I like Nureyev's Cinderella more than most other productions, and I think that the DVD is worth having, even though the two-disc format drives up the price, and I'm still hoping for a re-issue of the Guillem performance.

According to the jacket, the additional feature is Out of Line, "a documentary portrait of the influential British choreographer, Kenneth MacMillan, [the commas implying that he was the only influential British choreographer?] with extracts from many of his ballets including The Burrow, Romeo and Juliet, Gloria, Manon and The Prince of the Pagodas. Produced and Directed by Derek Bailey." My poor eyesight prevents me from reading the fine print.

http://estore.websitepros.com/stores/16526...g/D4438_fbc.jpg

The POB's Swan Lake will return to TFO on Sunday, December 7, at 8 pm ET.

http://www.tfo.org/television/emissions/se...26&c=45ABF0

On Sunday, November 30 (8 pm ET/5 pm PT) Canada's Bravo network will air a documentary titled Royal Winnipeg Ballet: 40 Years of One Night Stands. It's a curious title given that the company is 69 years old, and touring is still a crucial part of its identity.

Royal Winnipeg Ballet: 40 Years of One Night Stands recounts how a fledgling dance group from the Prairies survives challenge and misfortune to become one of the world's premier ballet companies. The impossible dream of British immigrants Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally comes to fruition as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company – the first professional ballet company in Canada.

http://www.bravo.ca/thearts/wednesday.asp

I would say that Kobborg is around 5'8" or slightly taller in height and not short for a leading ballet dancer if you think of other famous dancers.

Perhaps I should have been more specific and described him as short-legged rather than short, because I do find his body proportions distracting in the classics.

As for the heights of the other characters, I think that when you're starting with a Giselle who - at her own estimate - is slightly under 5'2", a 6' Albrecht and a 5'8" Myrtha would look badly out of proportion.

This is not unlike the casting on the POB's DVD, bearing in mind that Laëtitia Pujol is probably a bit taller than Cojocaru, and Marie-Agnès Gillot is a good deal taller than 5'8", and I can't say that it looked badly out of proportion. Mind you, I wouldn't want to see Pujol and Le Riche together in Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake.

I'd rank the DVD in the good but not great category. Among the strengths I'd include Marianela Nuñez as Myrtha, who makes up for lack of physical stature with ferocious dancing, and Cojocaru in Act 2, though she lacks a little stamina, cutting off sequences where other ballerinas keep going for another bar or two. In the first act I think she lacks the simplicity to make a convincing peasant girl.

Among the demerits I'd list Wright's production, which I've always disliked (so I'll admit to bias); Kobborg's lack of height (which may sound like a petty criticism, but in my defense I'll say that when I took my mother to see this production at the cinema, she couldn't even look at him because his appearance reminded her of Shrek--her words, not mine!; her verdict was that she would've chosen Martin Harvey's Hilarion, no contest); and Genesia Rosato, who is simply too old to play Bathilde on television: her interaction with Albrecht came off exactly like Siegfried's scenes with his mother. The corps is not as good as the POB's, and what Wright does with the peasant pas de deux is an abomination (though I like Ricardo Cervera).

If I'm willing to give this DVD four stars out of five, it's on the strength of Cojocaru and Nuñez in Act 2. Otherwise I'd give it three stars.

Kultur will be releasing Kenneth MacMillan's Winter Dreams on January 27, 2009. As far as I know, this is the first time it will be available on DVD. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon, and the product code is B001KL3H0I.

http://estore.websitepros.com/1652646/Detail.bok?no=1390

Glad to see Kultur back in the dance business after a dry spell of two months.

The charitable view of the new ROH site is that it's not finished yet, and that company information (for the opera as well) will be added before the season starts. Even if this is true, though, I think it's poor planning that they haven't left some stubs to tell us that.

The good news is that some semblance of a Royal Ballet site is now up. So far only bios of the principal dancers have been posted, but at least each is linked to a listing of the dancer's scheduled performances, which should be helpful to his or her fans.

http://www.roh.org.uk/discover/thepeople/t...llet/index.aspx

For future references, how in the world does one free up the image so that it's not obscured by boxes and text?

I think it's a matter of clicking on the Xs and downward-pointing arrows. I found that if I kept the cursor off the screen, most of the graphics disappeared altogether.

One final note. The opera is available on demand at www.medici.tv until December 31.

Let's hope that POB broadcasts will follow soon.

Watch right now. It's terrific. (And the subtitles are in English.)

http://www.medici.tv/#/festival/169/164/

Here is a link to a television report about the ballet, featuring brief comments from Mathieu Ganio and José Martinez.

http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,4136670...a-garnier-.html

My thanks to sophia for this one, because I confess that I'd been completely unable to find it.

Collectively, the worst set of accents I've run across is in Black Hawk Down, a film I've never seen in its entirety. Whenever I run across it, I'm reminded of the NYT review: "...a cast of non-American actors like Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom try out their Yankee soldier accents, with vowels so oddly enunciated that you expect them to be singled out as foreign spies." When I do catch a bit of the film on television, I always stop for a few mintues for a good howl and to award the anti-prize for least convincing accent to one of the poor sods on screen. At present I'd be inclined to give it to Jason Isaacs.

On Tuesday, November 4, the Paris Opera will broadcast its production of The Cunning Little Vixen live on the Internet at 19.30 CET. In addition to its own website, the opera will be available on medici.tv and france2.fr. I don't know how easy it will be to maintain a fix on the live stream, but I'm watching medici.tv right now without any difficulties.

http://www.operadeparis.fr/Accueil/Actualite.asp?id=726

You all know what I'm thinking.

A marginally cheaper version of the same Region 2 PAL DVD can be found here:

http://www.alapage.com/-/Fiche/DVDVideo/56...e_appel=ALAPAGE

Uwe Scholz's Le Sacre du printemps performed by the Leipzig Ballet will be released on DVD on November 18. The Amazon product code is B001HBX8PA. A trailer is available on the Euroarts web site.

http://www.euroarts.com/artikel/dvd/?id=00...pher_uwe_scholz

There certainly will be a lot of dance DVDs coming out that day: San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker, Paris Opera Ballet's Cinderella, Royal Ballet's Tales of Beatrix Potter, and Blu-Ray discs of Lopatkina's Swan Lake and Acosta's Spartacus.

I may end up caving in and getting it, mainly because I'm curious to see how Nureyev's production looks performed live. Also, according to Opus Arte's website, the DVD includes cast gallery, illustrated synopsis, and a documentary "Cinderella goes to Hollywood." One can only assume (and hope) the documentary will be part of the DVD released in the United States.

I saw this film at a movie theatre and enjoyed it more than I expected to. I'll admit that going in some of my anxietes were pretty darn shallow. I was worried that Letestu and Martinez, being in their late thirties, would look too old for their roles on a large screen. They didn't. I was also worried about Letestu's yellowish teeth, given that she was playing an aspiring movie actress. Not a problem. I wasn't distracted by the strangeness of her body proportions, with her super long torso, because she wore a longer skirt throughout. Mentally I'm sure I was measuring her against Guillem, but I enjoyed her Cinderella on her own terms. For his part, Martinez is one the few dancers that can handle Nureyev's choreography without awkwardness. No mean feat.

She's no Guerin, but temperamentally Romberg is well suited to her role, Pujol is very funny, and Romoli, as always, is charismatic. Best of all is Phavorin, who dances the Stepmother like a deranged Forsythe ballerina.