Alexandra Posted July 6, 2003 Author Share Posted July 6, 2003 There's isn't a formal trust a la the Balanchine Trust for Ashton ballets; he assigned ballets to certain people, yes. (I don't know if there's a difference between who gets royalties and who has responsibility for staging them.) Michael Somes did have responsibility for Symphonic, and other Ashton ballets and was reportedly an excellent stager -- and certainly seemed to be one from what one saw on stage. There's quite a bit of footage of Somes coaching ABT in Symphonic, as well as the ballet in performance, on the Frederick Wiseman TV documentary "Ballet." (I'm never sure of the spelling of his name.) I don't think this is commercially available, but some will have taped it off the air, I'm sure. Link to comment
bingham Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 There's isn't a formal trust a la the Balanchine Trust for Ashton ballets; he assigned ballets to certain people, yes. (I don't know if there's a difference between who gets royalties and who has responsibility for staging them.) Michael Somes did have responsibility for Symphonic, and other Ashton ballets and was reportedly an excellent stager -- and certainly seemed to be one from what one saw on stage. There's quite a bit of footage of Somes coaching ABT in Symphonic, as well as the ballet in performance, on the Frederick Wiseman TV documentary "Ballet." (I'm never sure of the spelling of his name.) I don't think this is commercially available, but some will have taped it off the air, I'm sure. i just read in the Balletco. site that in Ashton's bequest, the rights to S Variations and Cinderella were given to M Somes and as his widow, Wendy Somes has the rights to stage these ballets. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the honchos at ABT get the Ashton's Cinderella.Dowell and Barysnikov would be perfect as the ugly sisters(if they could convinced Misha to return ) Joe Link to comment
Dale Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 I doubt Baryshinikov will return but I would like Ashton's Cinderella at ABT, replacing that boring version by Stevenson. Graffin and Kirk Peterson would make good Ugly Sisters. Link to comment
klingsor Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 Are they ever going to do Petrushka again? Link to comment
Alexandra Posted July 13, 2003 Author Share Posted July 13, 2003 Hi, Sveiglar -- welcome to Ballet Alert! Glad you delurked and joined us I can't answer your question. There are a lot of the old Ballet Russe ballets that ABT used to do that disappeared in the 1980s -- there's always hope for revival! There are several dancers in ABT whom one could imagine being quite fine in Petrushka. Maybe someone will read this.... Hmmm. Maybe companies should have a suggestion box, where ticket buyers could write in and say, "When are you going to revive Petrushka?" Until that happens, I'll start a thread here. Link to comment
bingham Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 Carbro hits the bullseye again w/ the casting of Michele w. and Irina D. as Raymonda at the City Center season .Monique M. is not mentioned in anything yet.Casting still incomplete( see Sunday's Times Art and Leisure section) Joe Link to comment
Farrell Fan Posted August 31, 2003 Share Posted August 31, 2003 Family Friendly? What is it about this program -- Theme and Variations, a pair of pas de deux, Three Virgins and a Devil, and Fancy Free -- that caused the marketeers at ABT to label it Family Friendly and schedule performances ONLY on Saturday and Sunday matinees? Phooey! Link to comment
carbro Posted August 31, 2003 Share Posted August 31, 2003 Uh, to differentiate it from the program with Sechs Tanze (is that what it sounds like?) and Petite Morte, perhaps. I think it is specifically intended to hold the attention of children, FF. Light, varied, highly kinetic, nothing too obscure or inaccessible. It has to do with developing a young audience. And it is a good program. Joe, should I post my wish list more often (Where's Monique)? Seeing those casts was oh, so gratifying! Link to comment
Big Lee Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Sechs Tanze only means six dances, so nothing non-family friendly in the title. I'm actually really looking forward to the Kylian program, as I've never seen any of his works. Anyone have an idea as to what I'm going to see? By the way, where are you all seeing this casting information? Is this on the internet? Link to comment
carbro Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Not on net last night, but in ad on pg. 3 of New York Times Arts & Leisure section of Aug. 31. Thanks for the translation, BigLee! Link to comment
Estelle Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Sechs Tanze only means six dances, so nothing non-family friendly in the title. I'm actually really looking forward to the Kylian program, as I've never seen any of his works. Anyone have an idea as to what I'm going to see? I saw "Sechs Tanze" by the Nederlands Dans Theater (Kylian's company) and the Lyon Opera Ballet, and it is one of my favorite ballets by Kylian, and one of the funniest ballets I know. It is a piece for several couples of dancers (if I remember correctly, three couples), with white costumes looking a little bit like 18th century costumes, and powdered wigs for the men. There is no plot, it is just a succession of humorous, joyful and slightly absurd scenes between the characters. I also saw "Petite mort" and liked it, but my main memory is that I absolutely loved the music (one of Mozart's piano concertos), and also the opening scene with male dancers holding swords (well, the French word for it would be "fleuret", the lightest kind of sword, but I don't know the English name for it). Link to comment
AmandaNYC Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 I may have missed it or just can't find it, but has casting been posted for the City Center engagement? If not, when should they announce it? thanks. -amanda Link to comment
carbro Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 I know many of us have been waiting anxiously: ABT.org has posted complete casting for the season. :huepfen: Now that I've passed the news along, I must go study it and plan my autumn. Link to comment
Alexandra Posted September 17, 2003 Author Share Posted September 17, 2003 Thanks for posting the link. But unless I've missed something, it's not really casting. It's a list of the dancers who will be performing -- without saying what roles, or even in which ballets, they'll be dancing. I wrote them yesterday asking for casting and was told a press release would be out soon -- I'm sure that will be more complete! Link to comment
carbro Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 Whoops. Sorry. I saw the lists of names and assumed . . . :shrug: Anxiously await posting of the press release, then. Thanks, Alexandra. Link to comment
Alexandra Posted September 17, 2003 Author Share Posted September 17, 2003 No apologies necessary, carbro! I hope this isn't a trend, an assumption that people only care who is dancing and not what they're dancing taken to its logical, but unfortunate, conclusion! Link to comment
bingham Posted September 26, 2003 Share Posted September 26, 2003 Most of the casting for the fall season is in their website now.Corp members Halberg, Salstein and Tidwell are cast in many ballets including the debut of Halberg in Theme and Variation. Joe Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted September 27, 2003 Share Posted September 27, 2003 I hope this isn't a trend, an assumption that people only care who is dancing and not what they're dancing taken to its logical, but unfortunate, conclusion! Speaking for myself (well, who else would I be speaking for?), I do find casting for ABT more important in terms of ticket buying than repertory. Not so with NYCB. Might this be worthy of a thread or even a poll? Link to comment
carbro Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Corp members Halberg, Salstein and Tidwell are cast in many ballets including the debut of Halberg in Theme and Variation. :huepfen: :bouncing: :hyper: :party: Gosh, you leave town (and your net connection) for a few days, and look what happens! Link to comment
glebb Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Too bad ABT doesn't have Crankos "Holberg Pas de Deux" (which Kevin McKenzie danced at Joffrey) in the rep. They could cast Halberg in Holberg. Link to comment
BW Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Speaking for myself (well, who else would I be speaking for?), I do find casting for ABT more important in terms of ticket buying than repertory. Not so with NYCB.Might this be worthy of a thread or even a poll? zerbinetta, it does make a difference to me who is dancing at NYCB...but I have to admit, that unless there is a particular dancer I can't stand , I do look more at what is being performed at NYCB than by whom...as opposed to ABT where I am generally more interested in who is dancing what. That said, I do care what is being danced at ABT...and will try to avoid certain ballets sometimes. How's that for a confusing statement? I suppose this brings us back to the feeling that ABT is more "star" driven. :yawn: Link to comment
bingham Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 For me, casting counts in my choosing to go to ballet. When one is not able to see many performances during the season, one tries to choose what to see. As lovely as D Kistler in the role of Titania, wouldn't one want to see K Nichols or M Weese or C Korbes etc. in this role? Joe Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 zerbinetta, it does make a difference to me who is dancing at NYCB...but I have to admit, that unless there is a particular dancer I can't stand , I do look more at what is being performed at NYCB than by whom...as opposed to ABT where I am generally more interested in who is dancing what. That said, I do care what is being danced at ABT...and will try to avoid certain ballets sometimes. How's that for a confusing statement? I suppose this brings us back to the feeling that ABT is more "star" driven. :yawn: BW, I did not mean to imply that casting was unimportant to me at NYCB nor that repertory was unimportant at ABT. What I said was "more important" in both cases. I definitely agree that there are dancers I avoid at both companies & repertory I avoid at both companies but NYCB is more repertory driven &, as you mentioned, ABT more star driven, as it has always been & not such a bad thing. I feel pretty lucky to have such an embarrasment of riches. Link to comment
carbro Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 As long as ABT has six weeks of full-lengths, I would say that casts are more important there. I once went to see a (NYCB, actually) Sleeping Beauty with an Aurora I would normally leave town to avoid, but since I was a big fan of her Prince, the Lilac, and several other prominent soloists, I thought I could manage to derive enough pleasure from the performance to justify attending. WRONG! Mixed bills make it easier to endure cast disasters. Ergo: Mixed bills (which predominate at NYCB) are less reliant on casting than evening-length ballets, where you're stuck with the leads all night, so you better like them at least a little. Link to comment
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