ksk04

Well, no, Orange County is not exactly the dance hotbed of the world, but the Center has drawn big acts here for many years - compared to most places in the US we have been fairly lucky to see almost every year ABT, the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky, and other big companies (the Royal, BNC, etc). However, I think a change must have been made in whoever runs the dance bookings...the seasons have definitely changed direction over the course of the last two years and I think that almost certainly ties in with their apparently cozy association with Ardani Artists (beginning with the Kings of Dance and Diana Vishneva's Beauty in Motion). Also re: Bolshoi dancers not appearing, Zakharova had a hip injury and Alexandrova had a family emergency preventing their appearances - I think it would be quite rare to find a dancer so smug they would refuse leading performances like that especially when they both have appeared at the Center previously, numerous times. To suggest otherwise is implying Zakharova and Alexandrova are extremely unprofessional, and they are not.

Seriously! I want to ask why they are calling it the 2010-2011 season if there are no actual dates in 2010. And, really, where is ABT? I was almost certain they had an agreement with them for yearly performances, I can't imagine what would have changed that. I hope the (somewhat) poor selling Giselle run didn't make either party get cold feet.

It would seem like pressure would come from ABT, no? Kevin McKenzie does great farewell performances for his principals but their rep and star system are more tailor made for this type of thing, when a ballerina can pick Giselle or Romeo & Juliet as their big farewell, but have it still flow seamlessly with the rest of the season. Maybe it's because I am not a NYCB watcher (I don't live in NYC) but it seems like a bit of a bigger mess to create a farewell performance from a triple bill that has to fit within the predetermined programs (up until earlier this week wasn't Phillip Neal supposed to retire with Call me Ben on his farewell program, which pretty much everyone seems to hate??).

I hope they tour with this! You guys are making it sound even more enticing than I already thought it was.

I found this on the Ardani Artists page, I don't believe OCPAC has put out a release of their own yet. Why, oh, why another run of another version of Don Quixote?!?! I'm a little perturbed by the absence of ABT (I can't remember last time they were excluded from a season) and the Mariinksy (usually the Bolshoi and Mariinsky switch off years and this would be the Mariinsky's year on). Maybe they will be included in the full release from OCPAC and these are only the people associated with Ardani Artists. I was also hoping for La Sylphide from the RDB, but oh well.

Sascha went back to the Dutch Nat'l Ballet this year and danced Basil in Ratmansky's production for them, so he has also done it. I mean no offense to Cory, but it seems ridiculous to have him debut in almost every major male role in the same season - especially when, at ABT, the heft of the season is not spread out very well. I think Kevin is doing himself a disservice by not exploiting the male talent better. He got lucky with the last generation of guys - they would have been stars no matter how he developed their talent, but it won't always be that way. Also there's no reason why Sarah Lane couldn't dance Kitri with either Daniil or Herman.

Isn't T&V on for the Royal next year too? Did Kevin forget to check the schedules again!?

Announced today: Link to Dororthy Chandler page How exciting. I will hopefully be recovered from Don Quixote overload by then.

Looks like they will also be in LA at the Ahmanson Theatre Nov 5-7, 2010! They will perform a rep program of "works by choreographers as Christopher Wheeldon, Clark Tippet, Stanton Welch and the flamenco dancer and choreographer María Pagés" So I guess pretty similar to what City Center got.

Just announced today: Dorothy Chandler Homepage Sounds great! I was hoping we'd get this either at OCPAC or the Music Center. I guess OCPAC didn't want it again since they had it on the original Bolshoi tour??

I would assume Samodurov will be off the roster at the end of the year from what I've read in a few places, at the least.

Thrilled to see Veronika and Marcelo get an outing together! Will be there with a huge grin for them (and with sunglasses to tone down the garish costumes/sets)

Well I'm thrilled for Orange County! This will certainly break up our two year dirge of DQ's and Giselles. I hope we get to see a few items and not just Sleeping Beauty's for a whole week!

Well this is only for one year, hopefully the money they bring in from the Nutcracker will enable them to do a little longer season in the fall than their usual 2 1/2 week run.

There are two principal women and two principal men, I believe. There are some great clips of Maria Alexandrova and Nikolai Tsiskaridze (in drag as a sylph) on youtube if you do a search.

Wow, I hope OCPAC gets in on this for a tour here again. I loved it when the Bolshoi brought it here around when it premiered

I thought the portrait of Wheeldon that emerged was less flattering. I probably would have been as frustrated as Tsiskaridze (though perhaps with different, less vain reasons!) with how Wheeldon was handling the rehearsal process. However, I appreciate Tsiskaridze as a good old-fashioned diva, among many other reasons.

Yes I saw that too, I think the writer got confused because it was coming down from the press lift into the fish. I didn't see the snit either or whatever snarling was supposed to be happening and I was in the front of Tier 2. I even thought Vasiliev kissed her cheek after her put her down as an apology and they went on their way. I agree, they seemed to be concentrating on getting through the partnering rather than emoting together. However they probably had a max of a two days or so rehearse together and it's not like they've had an opportunity to dance together before to know each other styles as Lobukhin just switched to the Bolshoi.

Just back from tonight's show. I give complete credit to both Ryzkhina and Lobukhin for putting on a great show despite the last minute casting changes, and in the middle of it I remembered how nervous Lobukhin must be as this has to be his first show with the Bolshoi since the switch! They each had a falter or two in the first act and we lost Marianna for a bit in a duel with the scrim in the second, but they definitely pulled through and gave a great show. Ryzhkina is a very, very different ballerina than Osipova - for one she is probably at least 15 yrs her senior - much more lyrical with one of the most beautiful arabesques I've seen, she shined in the Dream Scene. She is also the queen of the props, deploying more throughout the ballet than I thought were possible (castanets galore, a tambourine, fans in both her third act variation and for her fouettes). I hate to use it as a qualifier, but for her age she is in fine form - nice high light jumps and beautiful balances - she really went for the fouettes too, which I wasn't expecting, throwing in doubles with fan action. Lobukhin was not at the level of dancing that I saw him at last year when he partnered Vishneva in DQ, though I will chalk that up to nerves and I would expect them both to get more comfortable over the next two shows this week. He still gives one of the best faux suicide scenes around. Aside from a weird lift in the first act, he seemed to partner her quite well - she really threw herself at him and they did some interesting variations on the overhead lifts that I know are trickier to pull off, especially with someone you just started dancing with. If the casting held as in the program, Anna Leonova was a superb street dancer, I would love to see her Kitri. And now I can hopefully retire Don Quixote for a season, though with how well the run sold I wouldn't be surprised if we get stuck with it for a third year in the row.

Well the crowd clearly loved Osipova and Vasiliev last night, I have never seen so much clapping and bravo'ing. Of course, they are technical whiz kids - they have power to burn and have great chemistry together, but after watching a full ballet with them (I've only seen them live in gala setting) I find myself liking Osipova a lot less. She is engaging and quite exciting on stage and a lot of what she does is truly a marvel but I find some of her characterization too broad and her feet and legs are often quite ugly, left as an afterthought to whatever trick she is trying to pull off. While this is all fine in Don Quixote (let's be honest not the most serious of ballets), I don't think I would want to see her Aurora or Odette, for example. So though the show was a fun ride, truly worth seeing (I dropped my mouth in awe more than a few times as Vasiliev's huge jumps), I am not sure I am fond of so much spectacle in my classical ballet. Hats off to Kristina Karaseva as Mercedes who did some of the most beautiful, melting back bends in her tavern scene dance. And I hope Anna Nikulina warms up a bit as the Queen of the Dryads, since she is scheduled to perform in this role at every show during the run (a feat in itself I'm sure). She was most definitely upstaged in the Dream Scene by Nina Kaptsova as Cupid, who was infinitely more relaxed and exuded warmth.

Disappointing, but understandable. I will miss seeing her quite a bit.

Just to update, I've heard student rush may be only available on weekdays due to how well it's selling. Who knows, that may just be a PR move...they certainly don't like to leave seats unsold if possible and I've never not seen a rush during a ballet residence. Like I guessed, Osipova/Vasiliev will be on the first night to replace Zakharova. With how deep the ballerina ranks are at the Bolshoi (or are in my estimation) this is almost disappointing.

Well cinnamonswirl posted this article in the Kennedy Center thread, so I'll throw it in here as well since it concerns this visit: Zakharova injured. I bet we'll see one of the existing casts move to opening night and another new cast put on one of the weekend matinees. I'd imagine they want a "name" for the reviews. I called OCPAC today and they don't know who will be replacing her yet.

As far as I know, Maria is one of the most reliable dancers around...I rarely hear about her missing a show or being out for injury, so I wouldn't worry about her being able to do both shows. However I am no expert! I don't even know which day I'll be going yet (though probably Friday night and the Saturday matinée for Osipova), though I will certainly be on board for her as she is a favorite. Lobukhin is fantastic as well...I saw him in DQ with Diana Vishneva last year, and from youtube clips he has only gotten better and better since then. I think they will be great together.

Maybe with him as director someone will actually tour with his lovely reconstructions!