ksk04

This is how I feel about almost every Ardani production I've attended. I'm so glad I decided against going last year; they are just so condescending to the audience: "Oh we'll just throw whatever onstage with some 'stars' and you'll eat it right up!"

Interesting news...usually these are put online so hopefully we all can get a peek.

I looked up pictures and it would appear to be that the first movement is Tess Reichlen/Craig Hall, the second is Ashley Bouder/Joaquin de Luz, the adagio is Maria Kowroski/Tyler Angle, and the last is probably Tiler Peck/definitely Andrew Veyette. (edit: the "full stage" version of the video confirms this!) It is enjoyable, no? I remember liking it less when I saw Corella Ballet, but I think they had some sound problems with the recorded music because there was no sound (or hardly any that I could hear) for the duration of the adagio, so it went painfully slow and awkwardly as people in the audience couldn't figure out if it was intentional or there was a tech problem. I watched Les Carillions and only made it through a bit, but I will give it another go when I haven't watch DGV directly before it.

Seems that Mr. Wheeldon is embracing technology and giving us NYCB-starved dance watchers a look http://vimeo.com/user9778944 The channel has the very recently performed DGV (with Reichlen, Hall, Bouder, de Luz, Kowroski, Peck (?) of those I easily know--sorry some of NYCB men completely merge into one identity for me as I'm not very familar with them) and Les Carillions (Mearns, Remasar, Whelan, Peck and others), plus Mercurial Manouvers from 2001, Fool's Paradise with Morphoses. DGV was my first look at Tess Reichlen and wow, she is lovely to watch. Kowroski is also totally in her element--beautiful. I hope Wheeldon has some more uploads up his sleeve or at least shares this idea with Ratmansky

Good to see Gounod moving up to dance with Valdes. He was truly the best male dancer I saw when the BNC were here last year. They need him front and center, after seeing some of the male principals they were fielding who were not quite up to snuff with what you expect of the Cubans. He's beautiful onstage.

Stay away from Marcelo, Kekhman/Danilan!

I can see why it would be a potential problem if she tried to teach company class in an effort to get a look at dancers. Morning class is a very private time for most dancers to get their body working and they are also not required to be present. I mean, it all seems silly to "outsiders" but I can see why it would add up. If I had a boss who tried to talk to me about my performance on my break I'd be a little put off too! It's sad things like this had to be regulated at one time, so I wonder at California's statement if there was a specific reason on that one.

No, I haven't so I won't discount it. But what I was thinking re: Alice is that Wheeldon relied on computer generated visual tricks so much that there ended up being less actual dancing than many hoped (though supposedly he is adding dances in for the second run). Hopefully it was a learning experience!

I'm sure it feels restricting but what happens when the union rules aren't there? Just because people want to do more in less time doesn't mean it's good for the well being of the dancers, especially when they are so inherently suseptible to injuries or, for many, are struggling with nagging injuries. Or when the corps needs a break because they are going to be onstage all evening while the principal couple wants to keep going because they aren't scheduled to be onstage for another week or are only going to be there for one part of a triple bill. Or what if everyone is onboard for skipping breaks for two hours but on the third the choreographer wants to keep going, while the dancers need to refuel or sit down. "It was fine for the last two hours...why is it suddenly different now?" And the penalties aren't there for the dancers' reward, they are there to discourage the company from violating their contract. While Boal et al. may be wonderful and always keep the best interests of their dancers first (not intended to be a sweeping factual statement, I'm not familiar enough with the company to have an opinion), there's plenty others who won't be bothered to care unless someone slaps them with a financial punishment. They violate less, they have to spend less time figuring out the books. Also I doubt things are that much different in Europe for ballet companies that are protected by unions...don't we constantly hear of the unions at La Scala or the Paris Opera?

Just announced: http://www.sfballet....ldon_Cinderella From this: "Wheeldon and Crouch have opted for an almost cinematographic approach that will turn the thousand-year-old fairytale into a unique 21st-century experience" it sounds like it could veer toward the RB's Alice in Wonderland. Regardless, it's interesting news.

Excellent! Hopefully she will dance Swan Lake with the Bolshoi this summer on their trip to LA. An opportunity I would not have received when the Mariinsky comes with their Swan Lake a few months later!

I received my Hollywood Bowl calendar in the mail and it appears that a few dancers will be participating in the Tchaikovsky Spectacular w/ Fireworks on September 7-8, 2012. It says they will be doing "famous pas de deux from Swan Lake and from their new production of The Nutcracker"-- no other info. Bowl website w/ listing: http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/performance-detail.cfm?id=4885 and http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/performance-detail.cfm?id=4886

That's unfortunate...if an extra Gomes performance is to be spread around (even though it appears like Steifel is the issue) I wish it would go to poor Veronika who needs him...what an opening SL night couple they would be. I also don't like the idea of Myrtha being removed from her rep; it is, as Classic_Ballet said, one of her best roles.

That would explain it! I hate non-compete contracts. I think it is an attempt to "own" people, which, in my opinion, is ridiculous. I worked part-time years ago for a Pilates studio and was actually certified to teach it, and when the owner decided to make us sign non-compete contracts, I quit. I don't believe in it unless it is the type of job where you have access to top secret info that would totally destroy the business (like being a top dog at Apple or Microsoft) b/c you know all the secrets. Pilates and/or ballet are careers in which anyone can obtain access to the knowledge. No secrets to steal and destroy a company by working elsewhere, so I think non-compete clauses are simply pure greed on company's part. By the way, the owner of the Pilates studio wanted us to sign that we could not work for any direct competitor and included a list of competitors which named every Pilates studio and gym in the entire county. I think that is crazy. So I quit. I bought my own studio reformer for my house and I keep looking at it and wishing I would get back into it, but I like yoga more and do that. Well that's a slightly different situation, no? The knowledge of ballet isn't at question, but the ability to draw people into buying tickets is. ABT presumably booked Osipova and Vasiliev for the MET season under the impression they would exclusively present them for the summer of 2012. Vasiliev and Osipova's move to the Mik changes that--no question. If they are to perform at theaters across the street from each other at the same time it would (presumably) draw audience away from ABT. I would completely understand ABT's position for having a noncompete clause in this situation, but Osipova and Vasiliev's sudden move does put both companies in an awkward position, because the contract at ABT would have been drawn up before the move to the Mik happened. Hopefully ABTs lawyers didn't mess around, as I doubt the Mik wants to do a major tour w/o its newly crowned jewels.

I read an interview from him last summer about how he received an invite from ABT and was not allowed to go by the management at the Royal. I'd assume that type of stuff has something to do with it. He did have his pick of casting though this season, and honestly, while he is clearly a talented up and comer he's not at the level of many international male dancers. If he is to continue dancing he needs a lot of coaching at this time in his career and I hope he picks wisely.

Congrats especially to Anna Nikulina! I've been hoping for her since the last promotion spree.

Well I'm just thrilled, we haven't had a Mariinsky Swan Lake here in quite awhile so I can forgive the solid week of SL and no triple. So many wonderful casting opportunities!

If anyone is looking for a specific Firebird cast, the SCFTA website shows this info: Firebird Casting: Natalia Osipova March 29th & 31st eve Misty Copeland March 30th & April 1st Isabella Boylston March 31 mat

I think what everyone in this thread has said is that this is clearly a personal matter between the three parties and it doesn't need inflammatory comment from those privy only to what is revealed to the press. Saying that people here have a "lack of principles" because they are unwilling to sit in total moral judgement of those we do not know and regarding a situation we do not know details of is rather ludicrious. I think most people, if asked, would say "adultery is bad" but few would want the parties involved tarred, feathered, and kicked to the curb from their job over it.

I would guess his retirement is imminent, but ABT may keep him on the payroll as long as they need to in order to secure Irina continuing with the company. So I also wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't retiring and just hangs on like Steifel has been doing for the last few years.

Best: San van Patten in The Little Mermaid and Romeo and Juliet, Sofiane Sylve in Symphony in C, everything about ABT in The Bright Stream (most especially the pairing of Part and Abrera), Anette Delgado in everything I saw her in, Diana & Marcelo in Lady of Camelias pdd, the advances in live streaming, Thomas Lund on the RDB tour, the delightful people (especially our Russian friends with sneaky cameras) on Youtube who continue to share rare treasures with us Worst: Reflections (I am still having flashbacks), The Mariinsky Giselle in 3D (save Kondaurova), SFB substituting Trio in for Chroma on their triple bill at SCFTA, the Metallica piece from the RDB tour, ABT continuing to act like the internet/youtube/movie theater streaming does not exist

I finally watched my recorded version. The whole thing seemed a bit soul-less to me, honestly. I had high hopes for Bouder's Dew Drop after everyone's comments, and was impressed with the facility of her technique (which is undeniable), but her upper body and arms were staccato, not fluid, and she, overall, seemed very "hard". She did play with the music but it came off, to me, as jerky rather than particularly musical. I thought her best section was her entrance on the diagonal where the choreography is mostly jumps and turns--she was effortless rather than forced. I did enjoy watching it, but like Jack I just felt like putting on the Kistler/Nichols production afterward.

The sets/costumes and the opening scenes remind me a bit of Preljocaj's Le Parc (which I love)--a lot of the Duato-ized movements do as well. I, too, loved Carabosse and how she wasn't played for camp. I have to admit, I've really enjoyed the parts I've seen (Prologue and Act I so far). There haven't been many moments so far where I've hated the changes. In fact, I quite loved the changed variation for the Canary fairy. I loved her running through the courtiers, disrupting them (I also highly enjoyed the way the courtiers reacted to the fairies across the whole of the prologue). Zakharova is infinitely more effective in this production--she was quite stunning in Act I and her acting was much better. It seems like the company needs a bit more time for it to settle in their bones, which is understandable. It's hard to learn a variation one way your entire life and then switch. During Zakharova's Rose Adagio I was trying to think how hard it would have been to be intensely rehearsing the standard version for the Bolshoi, and then suddenly switch in a fairly short amount of time (especially with something as engrained as the Rose Adagio). One of the best parts was that none of the Mik females dancers had their entire skeletal structure on display. They all had lovely bodies and developed muscles. The Lilac Fairy reminded me of Polina Semionova in look--she seemed nervous though, but had a really strong, beautiful arabesque.

As of now you can still view the broadcast on the Mikhailovsky website, now as a streamable video. Hopefully they keep it up for awhile so everyone can catch up!

Sarah van Patten, who should be playing The Princess in the TV broadcast, was SUPERB as the Mermaid when I saw her last season (her background as a dancer from Neumeier's company clearly showed through). Her performance was haunting. Yuan Yuan Tan will have very large shoes to fill for me--from my limited viewing of both dancers I find van Patten to be the more dramatically expressive but I have also read that this role is rather groundbreaking for Tan in regard to her dramatic ability. I hope to get around to watching my recording this weekend; I'm very excited to see it over again as I quite loved it too. So much dance on TV this fall/winter, I hope we can keep up the pace.