volcanohunter

Oh yes, the backstage area at City Center is almost nonexistent. The building wasn't designed to be a theater, after all.

Yes, there's no reason why Ailey should make any sort of changes or concessions. Judging by diagrams, the largest performance space there seats about 450 people and has no orchestra pit, so I have doubts about its suitability for a Nutcracker.

Today marks the centenary of Roland Petit's birth.

As the Royal Ballet prepares for a 50th-anniversary run of Kenneth MacMillan's Manon, the company streamed a public rehearsal, with Laura Morera coaching Yasmine Naghdi and William Bracewell in the post-card game duet, and Joseph Sissens in Lescaut's solos.

A performance of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Noetic, Faun and Bolero, the last choreographed with Damien Jalet, filmed at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva. The video will be available until 10 July 2024.

So she plans to retire on her 48th birthday. Remarkable longevity!

My memories of the films with Le Clercq, Alexopoulos (Dance in America) and Jaffe are very strong, so the next time around when I saw the ballet with a young Sara Mearns in the rondo, the breakneck tempo just about gave me whiplash. At that point I thought that NYCB's quest for speed had gone too far.

Also Susan Jaffe from ABT

Well, it is a crapshoot, and I say that as a former modern dancer.

It will be interesting to see how Ratmansky deals with those pieces of music, which are very slow and not emphatically rhythmic. When choreographing Wartime Elegy he decided to use not only Silvestrov, as originally intended, but added some archival dance music to speed things up a bit. It's difficult to imagine a Ratmansky ballet without allegro.

On the one hand, the stream on January 9th is a great way for those who haven't seen the production to familiarize themselves with it. But from the point of view of the distributors of the new film, the timing is unfortunate. I suspect a lot of people would rather watch at home free of charge rather than trek out into the snow, big screen and Olga Smirnova notwithstanding.

Yes, the AARP site indicates that this is the Giselle from 2009 starring Anna Tsygankova, Jozef Varga, Igone de Jongh and Jan Zerer, with Michele Jimenez, Maia Makhateli, Mathieu Gremillet and Artur Shesterikov in the peasant pas. https://watch.aarp.org/aarptheater/play/65679f809567650044d0c703

This may be the earlier film of the same production with Anna Tsygankova, Jozef Varga and Igone de Jongh (on balance a stronger cast, actually).

It certainly helps to have a dancer like Shale Wagman to anchor the piece. The ballet was more literal than I expected, but definitely successful.

The link to the stream when it goes live:

I have a feeling that Potskhishvili alone is worth the price of admission.

Certainly it was Bel Air Media that chose to distribute this film. It could have elected not to distribute it. It's dipping its toes back in the ballet-in-cinema market after a two-year hiatus, but it hasn't yet gone full-in by broadcasting a complete season from the Dutch National Ballet (which I would welcome!) or by broadcasting the ballet live, the way it broadcasts the Comédie-Française live. Then there's the marketing, with a poster of Olga Smirnova and her name across the top, and the Dutch National Ballet logo in the lower left-hand corner. And the blurb begins with the text "The ultimate romantic ballet, performed by former Bolshoi Ballet principals Olga Smirnova and Jacopo Tissi, who fled Russia and joined Dutch National Ballet, where this ballet is filmed." Never mind that Tissi was a Bolshoi principal for less than two months, that's how the film is being sold to audiences. Although I would have certainly attended, does anyone honestly think that Bel Air Media would have broadcast a performance starring Jessica Xuan and Davi Ramos? Actually, the published clips don't make me inclined to see Smirnova's performance. But I will be there with bells on, not just because I like the production, but because ballet-in-cinema is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. It's frustrating and heartbreaking that the Royal Ballet no longer has distribution in the North American market. The Paris Opera Ballet disappeared from American cinemas almost as soon as it appeared. If this reboot fails, it's unlikely that American distributors or even Pathé Live will try again.

A number of clips have been posted: Giselle - Olga Smirnova Albrecht - Jacopo Tissi Myrtha - Floortje Eimers Hilarion - Giorgi Potskhishvili https://www.giselleballetcinema.com listings for Canada: https://www.cineplex.com/movie/giselle

A thread had been started by @AB'sMom here: I am very glad that Pathé (Live) is returning to broadcasting ballet performances. Smirnova and Tissi had danced in the final Bolshoi live cinemast two years ago. It does show a certain lack of imagination on the part of Bel Air Media that it thinks such a broadcast requires ex-Bolshoi dancers in the leads. There's a lot more to ballet out there.

Exactly. Which is why I would be categorically opposed to ABT horning in on Los Angeles Ballet's turf and attempting a return to the Dolby Theater, for example. I wasn't keeping track of ticket sales for LAB's Nutcracker this season, but if its four-venue run can co-exist with ABT's, then more power to Greater Los Angeles. As for New York, it's possible that between NYCB and Ailey's month-long run at City Center, the market for dance is saturated in December. I also wouldn't discount the effect of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. I saw it only once, when I was invited by members of my extended family, but for many New York families it may be their one big Christmas entertainment splurge.

Doesn't Los Angeles Ballet perform a Nutcracker at various venues in Greater Los Angeles, including the Dolby Theater in Hollywood (which ABT also tried with the McKenzie production when the theater first opened)? https://www.losangelesballet.org/the-nutcracker

On Sunday, January 7th, the Bavarian State Ballet will stream Ratmansky's Tchaikovsky Overtures, set to the Hamlet, Tempest and Romeo & Juliet overtures. The stream will be available for 24 hours starting at 10:00 CET (4:00 am Eastern). My guess is that a YouTube link will appear on the site. https://www.staatsoper.de/en/tv trailer: behind the scenes:

Yes, this is an important point. In the past I inevitably had some hiccups watching ballet streams from Vienna on computers and laptops, and this was the first time I didn't have to resort to the app for a smooth stream.

Although this is a slip into a cultural stereotype, some children may abandon ballet lessons in order to focus on academics and training for a more practical, secure and longer-lasting career. (I'll admit I'm thinking back to my days as a young string player and seeing a lot of prodigious musicians electing to become medical doctors or engineers.)

I loathe the music. It's Mozart abuse. The Preghiera makes me want to retch. There's nothing I can do about it. I have no objections to Orchestral Suite no. 3.