volcanohunter

I am not at all convinced that Le Corsaire is great art, and it hasn't been so much fine-tuned as sledgehammered by multiple choreographers to even more composers than the five or so listed in most programs. It's Petipa and his successors who have done real violence to Byron, whose work is melodramatic, but nowhere near as silly as the ballet's plot would suggest. In the original Medora is never enslaved. She is Conrad's wife and never goes near the palace. Believing Conrad to be lost forever on the other side of the Aegean, she commits suicide. Gulnare is enslaved, but she is no damsel in distress. She's the one who kills Seyd in his bed and rescues Conrad from a dungeon. There is no slave market, no Lankendem, no Birbanto, no pirate mutiny and definitely no Ali. Just about the only element retained from the original plot is that Conrad gains access to the palace by dressing up as a pilgrim. So I think modern producers would be perfectly justified in adjusting the plot, if it were possible. Verdi followed it much more closely in Il corsaro. Naturally, Byron's tone is pro-Greek and anti-Turkish.

Very similar, but Smirnova was sometimes raising her foot higher than the ankle in the diagonal of turns--the height looks sort of indeterminate in her rendition--and her chaînés were on pointe.

It's not much to go by, but this looks more "reconstructionist" than what Ratmansky did in Moscow. At the Bolshoi it was probably hopeless to regulate leg or passé height or to have chaînés on demi-pointe.

Angela Meade and Francesco Meli star in Hugo De Ana's old-school production of Verdi's Ernani from the Opera di Roma, conducted by Marco Armiliato. Available until 29 January 2023.

Romeo Castellucci conceived his staging of Mahler's Second Symphony for the 2022 Aix-en-Provence Festival more than a year ago, but it ended up looking like an "atrocious prophecy," in his words.

Golda Schultz, Marianne Crebassa, Jeune Choeur de Paris, Orchestre de Paris, Esa-Pekka Salonen

On demand until January 2025. Not suitable for children.

https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/109365-000-A/resurrection-gustav-mahler/

Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar is available to watch on demand until July 22, 2023.

https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/109039-002-A/the-brutal-journey-of-the-heart-by-sharon-eyal-gai-behar/

17 hours ago, Josette said:

I think some of the problem in programming is that the larger companies are programmed three to five years out.

Yes, I think this is why it may take several years for international touring to return to some sort of normal rhythm. And hopefully by then the international shipping situation will normalize as well. In November a performance by Amran Khan in Chicago had to be canceled because the set didn't cross the Atlantic in time. Or shipping may become even less reliable and this will have to be factored into touring plans. (All blue cycs all the time.)

Possibly, the landscape may have changed permanently. In my childhood and youth, the Met was filled with touring ballet companies in the summer--from Britain and Denmark, France and Germany, Canada and Australia--and it was wonderful. Sadly, economic pressures put an end to this, and since they're unlikely to become cheaper, international tours may become even rarer going forward.

The Bolshoi last visited Los Angeles 10 years ago, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, as part of a North American tour. I imagine the pandemic has made the planning of any large tours difficult, and as much as I'd love to see the Royal Ballet cross the Atlantic, the cost of jet fuel makes that unlikely. Under the circumstances, it's not unreasonable to focus on West Coast companies. But if it's full-lengths that are lacking, and American productions won't do, perhaps the Segerstrom Center should consider importing the National Ballet of Japan. Yui Yonezawa is a wonderful ballerina, who deserves to be seen widely.

Classmates Malakhov and Ratmansky at rehearsals in The Hague.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgRkXl_opqN/

Timofej Andrijashenko proposed to fellow La Scala principal Nicoletta Manni on the stage of the Arena di Verona.

Roberto Bolle was obviously in on it.

This is what an intimacy consultant does: 

https://national.ballet.ca/Ballet-News-Plus/Archive/Intimacy-Consultant

Most dancers don't have formal acting training and may never have learned the tricks for separating themselves psychologically from their characters when what is depicted on stage gets rough or very exposed.

Darcey Bussell danced Aurora, so did Igone de Jongh. I think De Jongh was a more natural Lilac Fairy, but in the Dutch National Ballet production it's a purely mime role, and she was too big a star to do only the sixth variation. Agnès Letestu danced Aurora despite bring nearly 5'10" tall. Heather Ogden dances the part.

5 hours ago, Quiggin said:

I'm always curious about the arts being characterized as a neutral sublime space without political dynamics bearing down somewhere – someplace to escape to. But are they really?

I am also puzzled by the blind faith in art's supposed salutary effects, when history has shown repeatedly that terrible people can make and appreciate great art.

5 hours ago, Birdsall said:

I also think a young girl is going to say things and post pics of herself on Instagram and not quite think it through.

I have always been bothered by ballet's tendency to infantilize dancers by calling them boys and girls, the "girls" especially. Kovalyova graduated from ballet school six years ago. At what point does she cease being a "young girl"?

5 hours ago, Birdsall said:

When you see young people kissing, laughing, smiling, it is beautiful. I think our world needs that energy even if at times it seems deaf to the world. 

Yesterday the actor Anatoly Bely confirmed that he had resigned from the Moscow Art Theater and left the country. He had been open about his opposition to the war from the outset, but had decided to finish the season, despite the hate directed at him, so as not to leave the theater in a lurch. Part of his statement goes like this:

"Because I can no longer remain in a country waging a vile, unrighteous, terrible bloody war. I cannot pretend that nothing is happening, I cannot look at people laughing on café patios, I cannot listen to happy music pouring out of open doors. I cannot be silent anymore."

https://www.facebook.com/100008321987694/posts/pfbid0CKzK44aQRGGpL23yyv4D4QCXdYaGNNirhv8V7AQHLf2bkB3TqrRFEPcB7XLZmgdBl/

He is a lot older than Kovalyova, nearly 50, has adolescent children to think about and probably has more money, since film work everywhere pays better than ballet. On the other hand, it will be a lot harder for him to work abroad than it would be for a ballet dancer.

Well, then perhaps it is better not to mention unpleasant topics.

The point is that in the cited post, Kovalyova did not say that she is opposed to the war. Opposed because killing, maiming and destruction is wrong, because the fragile world order has been upended, because Russia has turned into a pariah state and Russian society is regressing, because bombing cities into nonexistence and raping and pillaging are criminal. Rather, she just wants her old life back, when she used to go on cool tours to cool places and meet cool people, including photographers who took cool pictures of her.

Mourning the loss of her ability to travel against the backdrop of actual events comes across as tone deaf at best. Even people who are not obviously affected by the invasion mourn what we lost as a result of the pandemic. We generally don't illustrate this by posting glamour shots of our past, which would trivialize the great and genuine tragedies. Moaning about the fact that she can't tour the world anymore, just like grumbling about the loss of these tours on our part, is egocentricity and just so much "First-World problems."

A little girl with Down Syndrome was among those killed by a Russian cruise missile in Vinnytsia today.

Facile statements on Instagram won't do anything to make that change. So you'll pardon me if I don't fret about the fact that Kovalyova has been deprived of photo sessions in London. 🐊💧

Julian MacKay is joining the Bavarian State Ballet.

Renavand had four successful performances earlier in the run. As far as I could make out from the audio, this performance was completed by Bleuenn Battistoni.

I know the audience had come to see Renavand, but I can't help but think that she shouldn't have had to hobble out at the end.

Mathieu Ganio carried her out for her bows regardless.

This is a bit of a doozy. Because Alice Renavand was injured during what should have been her final performance of Giselle, her retirement performance will take place next season.

Last week the Paris Opera Ballet had posted a lovely interview about what it was like to debut as Giselle for her final performances.

I'm not at all convinced that a principal character artist category is needed. Except perhaps for the Royal Danish Ballet, it seems to have been a creation of the latter 1980s. Prior to that, many of the companies that have a substantial number of principal character artists today, such as the Royal Ballet or the National Ballet of Canada, included mime artists among their principals as a matter of course. In the early 1980s, the Royal Ballet's principals included Gerd Larsen, who was exclusively a mime artists, David Drew and Leslie Edwards, who specialized more in villains and were a bit older at that point, as well as Derek Rencher, Brian Shaw and Michael Somes, who had previously been "dancing principals."

When the National Ballet of Canada created its principal character artist category in 1985, it incorporated three principals--two of whom had always done mime roles and another who had transitioned to them prematurely because of catastrophic injury--and one career-long mime soloist.

I rather like the idea of "principal dancer" indicating especially distinguished artistry rather than a specific Fach.

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

This flabbergasts me. I love Zhurbin - he is a remarkable and invaluable actor. But, to principal? Have they ever promoted someone to principal before who only does character roles and rarely ever actually dances?

 

Victor Barbee?

On Hans van Manen's 90th birthday, the Dutch National Ballet has posted a video about the recent festival of his works.

1 hour ago, vipa said:

I've seen two men at NYCB, over the years, take a longer walk around to get into place for the first double tours, and therefore do fewer jumps and turns.

Josua Hoffalt did the same thing on a POB broadcast. 

I have not seen a statement by McKie on the subject. Anything else would be speculation or a violation of board rules.

He did have many injury spells, and there were several times I traveled to see the company when he didn't perform because of injury: Manon in November 2014, Sleeping Beauty in June 2015 and March 2018, Giselle in June 2016 and November 2019, Onegin in Ottawa in January 2017.

He last appeared with the company in The Merry Widow in June 2019. Between March 2020 and November 2021 the company didn't appear at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto because of the pandemic. The company didn't do any touring during the 2021-22 season, but it presented a full season at home. However, McKie didn't return to the stage. 

There was a strange interim period between Karen Kain's official retirement on 30 June 2021 and the official beginning of Hope Muir's tenure on 1 January 2022, but as of now Muir is making all of the decisions.

The company is facing a major overhaul in its principal ranks. Jillian Vanstone retired after more than 20 years and Sonia Rodriguez retired after more than 30. Skylar Campbell and Brendan Saye left to dance elsewhere. Four of the company's principals have crossed the 40 year mark, and a fifth will be 40 soon.  Koto Ishihara spent the entire season injured. No doubt this depletion contributed to Genevieve Penn Nabity's fast-track promotion. (Plus the noises she was making about leaving for Europe. Sure, she could audition for a company and get a contract, but as a principal? Highly unlikely, being only four years out of school and with a year and a half of that period wiped out by Covid lockdowns.) The situation among the men is more perilous.

Perhaps not surprising news, given that it's been almost three years since Evan McKie stepped out on stage.