volcanohunter

While on tour in South Korea, Guillaume Diop has been made an étoile, leapfrogging over the rank of premier danseur. It's his fifth season with the company, and he had been promoted to sujet after the most recent concours.

The Mariinsky has a legal obligation to credit Ratmansky for his work. If it doesn't, it's engaging in theft.

Like Water for Chocolate is coming out on DVD. Here is the trailer.

(I'm not a big fan of Joby Talbot's ballet scores. They're like the musical equivalent of toxic positivity.)

Early in this video Kevin O'Hare mentions that the Royal Ballet's new production of Frederick Ashton's Cinderella is a co-production with the National Ballet of Canada, which confirms that the current run of James Kudelka's version is its last.

A public rehearsal of the Royal Ballet's new production of Ashton's Cinderella, with Wendy Ellis-Somes and Laura Morera coaching.

Yes, that's true. There's an ensemble of 12 women and 8 men. Plus 9 female and 8 male soloists/demi-soloists in the POB version.

I also saw it performed by the Australian Ballet years and years ago, and there may have been a some doubling up of soloist roles.

May she rest in peace.

I saw her live only during her comeback in the late 1980s. During a London Festival Ballet tour to New York in 1989 she danced the one-act version of Anastasia and Veronica in Napoli, and was, of course, unforgettable. 

It is a little surprising given that Somova had not previously given indications of political dissent. I remember an election-day TV report a few years ago in which she extolled the benefits of stability. But when political forces, which engage in repression and tight control in the name of stability, unleash global instability, the honest thing to do is to reevaluate and change one's position.

(Regardless, I still detest her dancing and find her utterly unwatchable. )

Under the circumstances, the Mariinsky may consider it more important to demonstrate that it has not been isolated internationally--war, anti-LGBT laws and Gergiev notwithstanding--and that an EU citizen is willing to work for the company. And I guess Toni Candeloro has decided that it's okay to work for a theater than has erased Ratmansky’s and Ilya Jivoy's names from their ballets, and is willing to appropriate the work done by Ratmansky, which is truly shocking.

3 hours ago, Josette said:

Peter Wright’s production has a pas de quatre  for the National Ballet of Canada and, if I recall correctly,  a pas de six for The Royal Ballet instead of a peasant pas de deux but using the same music.

Wright's pas de quatre version divvies up the traditional choreography between four dancers. His pas de six version has four extra dancers, but at the center there is a main couple that performs the bulk of the choreography. 

I think these recombinations are a mistake. A happy peasant couple acts as a foil to the doomed romance of the protagonists.

3 hours ago, California said:

Interesting modification of the Peasant PdD - one element of Giselle that wouldn't trigger complaints for a major change from the standard version.

So I'll beg to differ.  Messing with the peasant pas de deux is one of my pet peeves. 

I thought so also. It's a pity it didn't happen.

Yes, I can think of a few cases where heroic service to the company in time of need has sped along a promotion to étoile.

Hannah O'Neill and Marc Moreau were made étoiles following a performance of Ballet Imperial.

I'm guessing O'Neill is the first New Zealander and first graduate of the Australian Ballet School to become a POB étoile.

Today, March 1st, at 19:45 CET (1:45 pm Eastern), La Scala Ballet will stream Manuel Legris' production of Le Corsaire. The cost is €9.90 for HD and €11.90 for Ultra HD. The stream will be available for a week, and each rental has a 72-hour viewing window.

https://lascala.tv/en

Streams of Giselle, Mauro Bigonzetti's Madina and Legris' Sylvia are also available to rent for €4.90.

P.S. I have to wonder how Legris is spending the company's money. He replaced the Makarova Bayadère with the Nureyev production. Now he has replaced the (imperfect) Holmes Corsaire with his own (imperfect) production. There's no compelling reason to do this, but I suppose he earns staging and choreographer fees. 

Exactly. The last run of Sleeping Beauty before the pandemic was also a bit ragged, though I thought the one before that was excellent. 

Symphony in C will also be a big test.

Etudes is more straightforward and possibly less pretentious. Suite en Blanc is more "artistic" and the music is more sophisticated. It also has a lot more soloist roles, there basically is no corps; everyone gets a demi-soloist role at minimum. Both ballets coexist just fine at the Paris Opera Ballet. 

Suite en Blanc is very demanding technically, and since the company's technical standards have slipped conspicuously over the past five years or so, I suspect the ballet is intended to get them back up.

I agree. There are no dud programs. I'm not the biggest fan of Alice's Adventures, but it is a chance to see Svetlana Lunkina's zany Queen of Hearts.

I am a little worried about whether the company has enough convincing Basilios.

Since I have to travel for the performances, I am sorry there is a big gap between Don Quixote and Jewels.

When I read the plot of Of Love and Rage, I suspected it might not be to the liking of Hope Muir. She did attend the New York premiere, so whatever she decides, it will be based on first-hand experience. 

Ratmansky’s Of Love and Rage is notably absent.

Onegin hasn't been done in Toronto since 2016. The previous production of Don Quixote was last presented a really long time ago. And to be honest, I'd much rather see Helen Pickett's one-act take on Madame Bovary, than Cathy Marston's full-length Victoria, which was canceled by Covid.

The parade of legends: 2023

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co94lNCoXJ5/

A photo of the défilé today at a gala honoring the memory of Patrick Dupond. The company and school were joined on stage by almost 40 retired étoiles.

Ratmansky's version of the "finger fairy" variation, based on the notations from 1903 (if I'm not mistaken), includes the pointed index fingers, so it's safe to assume they've been part of the choreography all along.

One of the differences in Ratmansky's staging is the sequence where the fairy extends her arms to her right four times going from low to high (and then repeats). In Ratmansky's version the elbows are bent and the hands remain at shoulder height every time.

9 minutes ago, Marta said:

If you google that question, it says the finger pointing was first seen at the Paris Opera, after the opera house had just been electrified.

I'm pretty sure Google is mistaken. By the time The Sleeping Beauty reached the Paris Opera, it had been running on electrical power for a long time. More likely Petipa was inspired by the recent electrification of the Mariinsky Theater.

1 hour ago, Balletwannabe said:

What's with the finger pointing in the courage fairy choreo?  Why?? It's distracting. 

It's symbolic of an electric current.

The Vienna State Ballet livestreamed this program in January 2022, and it was terrific.