ksk04

Not really; they don't usually start selling until 60 days-ish before the performance at SCFTA. Even for hotly anticipated ones, like the tour of Book of Mormon aside from subscriber rights to buy ahead of time and early promo deals. That's not to say that I don't have my doubts about this whole thing actually going through, but that is standard SCFTA policy.

I see on the Carpenter Center for Performing Arts (in Long Beach, CA) website that Wendy Whelan will be performing Restless Creature during their 14/15 Season, in February 2015. I'm not sure if other tour dates have been scheduled, but it seems like the motions are in place to tour Restless Creature in 2015, and to tour it to places that were not originally announced.

Agreed. In addition, I'd request a better distribution of dancers. They've already had Cuthbertson AND Lamb perform Alice for the screenings...and they are the only principals who do the role. Stix-Brunnell and Choe do it as well, but as they are soloists, I doubt they would be allocated a screening. So who is left for Alice next year (for the third time around)? I'm happy the screenings exist, but the RB has a very rich rep--let's see it!

I saw this yesterday evening at the cinema. First, they should really rethink Darcey Busselll for announcing gigs; she may have some allure to British audiences who "know" her, but she is not a very good on air host and her interview with Kevin O'Hare was bizarre. As always though, the interval features are well done and add a lot to the broadcast. Again, I was incredibly impressed with Yuhui Choe (doing double duty as Fairy of the Crystal Vine and Bluebird). She seems as if she's been in every cinema broadcast and she is completely radiant, at ease, assured, and lovely to watch. Londoners who saw her Aurora were incredible lucky and I wish (though understand why it's not possible) we would have been treated to it via the broadcast. She would have been an ideal Lilac Fairy, as Laura McCulloch seemed very miscast. She lacks the strong technique and radiance that is required of the Lilac Fairy. Beatrix Stix Brunell (as the Fairy of the Enchanted Garden and Florestan's sister) seemed to be having a real off night; she is usually a highlight (last broadcast of SB and in DQ) but she seemed very uncharacteristically messy and nervous. Kristen McNally as Carabosse was an absolute delight--what a stage presence; I got excited every time I saw her onstage and missed her when she was gone. Her comment about hoping to pass on her insights in the future is a harbinger of good things to come when she (though she's very young) decides to no longer perform the role. On to the main couple--I wasn't really taken with Sarah Lamb or Steven McCrae. They both have strong technique (though they each had a bit of a hairy moment in the the Act III coda during some turns). To me, however, she came across as very brittle and stiff with regard to acting (and she is so thin--a look that would be more at home with Mariinsky than the rest of the Royal who tend to be less skin and bones). She was girlish, and in the Act I solo there were some shades of development into her burgeoning womanhood, but overall not my type of dancer, perhaps. He was quite good in the Act II solo and has decent acting chops, but whenever he got to show off you could tell he was REALLY enjoying it. As for the production, everyone has probably seen it by now but I will add the highlight for me is always Ashton's Vision scene solo for Aurora. I wish this could be incorporated into other companies' productions. The other highlight is, of course, the seriousness with which almost the entire cast/corps commits itself to acting, even in the smallest roles.

This sounds great--I thought they were checking out of Segestrom in the past years (alternating their CA visits with Dorothy Chandler in LA), but this combined with Sleeping Beauty suggest a renewed commitment. I do hope, however, it's the Nutcracker + another program at some other part of the year and that they won't JUST be visiting during December for this yearly engagement. This might also indicate a filming possibility since they've filmed for PBS a few times here (and it's mentioned in the press release)?

I have my subscription tickets, though since they moved the show dates from February to July I have been operating under the assumption it may not end up going through.

I just want to thank Helene for trying to figure this out and dedicating the time to doing it!

Ok, I'll message you about the cast sheet scan. Here is the general program from the SCFTA website if you'd like to save that: http://www.scfta.org/home/Media/program%20assets/Monte%20Carlo-LAC.pdf

I went Saturday afternoon, or I would scan in my cast sheet for you. But I looked on the OCRegister online and it has this info included in the review about the Friday cast (which is not the cast I saw): Friday evening cast (as stated by OCRegister): Black Swan - April Ball (she was Her Majesty of the Night on Sat afternoon) Prince - Stephan Bourgond Her Majesty of the Night (lady von Rothbart) - Maude Sabourin (she played the Voracious one on Sat afternoon--the "princess" in the red dress with the high slit I believe) King - Alvaro Prieto Queen - Mimoza Koike You have to be a subscriber to see (maybe you are), but here is the link: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/swan-604792-maillot-black.html . LA Times did not review and I didn't see a cast list on SCFTA.org when I looked pre-show yesterday,

Extra thanks to volcanohunter as I won a set of tickets. I recommend entering! I can't imagine there is a huge pool to draw from daily. They did an encore of Swan Lake that wasn't announced in advance of the screening, so they might decide to do encores in the summer; they did last year or the year before, right?

Thanks for the link for the drawing for free tickets!

Announced yesterday, they will be at SCFTA in November 2014--I think 11-28-11/30--with Flames of Paris. Whether or not that means Flames for NYC, I don't know. I'm just glad it's not Don Quixote (though I would like to see Laurencia too)!!!

Music to my ears! Excellent news.

Should be soon--I don't remember them ever announcing after the beginning of March, but I suppose it depends on signing the dotted lines for the contracts. I am assuming it's SCFTA/ex-OCPAC as well due to the Ardani connection. Usually the Mariinsky (Ardani also runs their tours) goes to Berkeley as well on their West Coast runs, so maybe the Mik will do the same, though they may not have quite the drawing power.

From an outsider's perspective, I wouldn't want to continually cast a dancer who seems overly committed to guesting while at the same time becoming repeatedly injured. I remember an interview with Cojocaru after her neck injury that took her over a year to recover from where she stated she was going to be more careful about her commitments/rep and choosing her partners (to prevent further injury) and her schedule suggests that neither of these things is a dominant consideration, despite still battling frequent injuries. I don't begrudge her wanting a change in leadership (or for Neuemier to create ballets for her), but I've never seen an interview with her that suggests her own desire to perform in many places, with many partners, might have led to some of the current problems she faced both with the Royal and with her own body. That said, I hope she is with the Hamburg Ballet when they perform in Costa Mesa this winter, and that I have a chance to see her.

I've never understood why there isn't a giant flyer posted in local dance studios; the one I take classes at (catering to adults who have the expendable income to go to these events) never has any publicity up for ANY dance events, let alone these movie screenings. I don't get it either. There is a woman at the ones I go to that passes out flyers with future dates which is nice for those who may have only happened into the broadcast by chance. I liked the production overall, but the first act was overlong. I liked Nunez and Acosta and many of the RB's soloists continue to distinguish themselves throughout these broadcasts: Gartside (Gamache) and Whitehead (Lead Gypsy) particularly, as well as Yuhui Choe. I thought Melissa Hamilton and Mendizibar were both brittle, this made clear against the pliancy of the rest of soloists/principals. However it feels like the company is holding back; I respect the restraint that comes naturally to the RB (and quite like it actually), but I noted particularly in the back bends that frequent the choreography a stiffness that was not welcome. And having seen many of these dancers in Macgregor works, they can bend quite well. So while some of it is good (like the fact that Hamilton resisted whacking her ear during each developee in the Dryad variation), a little bit more in the character dancing might go a long way. I missed the crazed gypsy woman solo from Bolshoi, but enjoyed the addition of the guitars (seems a waste to have them onstage for only a few minutes though) edit: why is Laura Morera not dancing Kitri? It seems like an obvious choice and her talents are clearly wasted on Mercedes (hated, hated the revisions to that variation. Probably the most visceral dislike I felt throughout the production)

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Emerging Pictures dropped the Royal Ballet this year due to the fact that they "had to" to choose between the Bolshoi and the Royal: they chose the Bolshoi. I'm happy that Fathom picked up the Royal as I really want to see their new DQ and a Winter's Tale later next year.

Nice that SCFTA bothered to inform their subscribers about this switch...Thanks mussel.

Since Canadian Cineplex shows both, it wouldn't appear to be a demand made by the ballet companies. Yes, I saw that and thought the same. With these complicated contracts, who knows honestly? I would suggest (if anyone has the urge) taking the time to contact them via their Contact page on the website. A company that still personally answers those form submissions may inclined to be more swayed by a group request.

I emailed Ballet in Cinema today about the fact that they have appeared to drop the Royal Ballet broadcasts from their lineup for the 13/14 season. Apparently they needed to pick between broadcasting one company exclusively for the year (not sure what prompted this--the companies or Ballet in Cinema themselves) and chose the Bolshoi. So unfortunately, any one in America who receives their cinema screenings through Emerging Pictures/Ballet in Cinema are out of luck for the (more interesting, in my opinion) Royal Ballet line-up this year. I will say that I appreciate that they responded very quickly to my email.

I wonder if they'll be touring with this -- for those of us on the left coast, it would be a chance to see the work I am hoping too, after SFB didn't bring it on tour with them as announced a few years ago.

I thought so too...They were supposed to bring Apollo the year the Firebird premiered in SoCal and it got yanked at the last minute, so we'll see. I was really hoping for A Month, but I'm guessing neither Seo nor Kent are making the trip.

Alright we finally got the mixed bill listing! No casts though (of course). APOLLO Choreography by GEORGE BALANCHINE* Music by IGOR STRAVINSKY ("Apollon Musagéte") * © The George Balanchine Trust The performance of Apollo, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® Services standards established and provided by the Trust. CHAMBER SYMPHONY Choreography by ALEXEI RATMANSKY Music by DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH ("Chamber Symphony Op. 110a") SYMPHONY IN C Choreography by GEORGE BALANCHINE* Music by GEORGES BIZET * © School of American Ballet, Inc. The performance of Symphony in C, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® Services standards established and provided by the Trust.

Hope they are as warmly received as MCB a few years ago. They deserve it.