POB Season 2006-2007

[Estelle]

The official POB web site

http://www.operadeparis.fr/

will give the next POB season tomorrow (on March 15th).

There are already quite a lot of rumors, but let's wait until an official announcement...

[Estelle]

The 2006-2007 season is announced there:

http://www.operadeparis.fr/Saison0607/Ballets.asp

I have to leave now and so will comment later, but the "big" news are, in my opinion: some Lifar at last, Ashton's "La Fille mal gardée", and also "Napoli" (pas de six and tarantella) by the POB school...

[Leigh Witchel]

For travelers, mid December, early March and early May give you the opportunity to see more than one program - unfortunately some of the most interesting programs don't seem to be given at a time when something else is happening.

Time to start watching airfares.

[cygneblanc]

A very interesting season, and some far better choices than one year ago!

For me the highlights will be La Fille Mal Guardée, The Lifar 's works, La Dame aux Camélias and the Kabuki..

[Golden Gate]

For travelers, mid December, early March and early May give you the opportunity to see more than one program - unfortunately some of the most interesting programs don't seem to be given at a time when something else is happening.

Time to start watching airfares.

I'm heading off to London and Paris April 2nd; it'll be a nice trip (10 days), but I'm going specifically to see POB do Nureyev's La Bayadere... can't wait. Very excited! I will have to post details after I get back. The round trip airfare was $707.

[carbro]

For $707, plus nine nights of hotel and meals, that better be one great Bayadere! We'll look forward to your posts. Maybe you'll find a nice internet cafe to check back in while the ballet is still fresh in your memory.

[Golden Gate]

For $707, plus nine nights of hotel and meals, that better be one great Bayadere! We'll look forward to your posts. Maybe you'll find a nice internet cafe to check back in while the ballet is still fresh in your memory.

...ha ha ha... oops. Forgot to mention I am staying with a friend who danced at CB. No hotels. I will definitely do my best to take copious notes to report as soon as I am back!

Golden Gate

[Estelle]

Golden Gate, we're looking forward to reading your comments about the Bayadère when you're back from your trip- however, it'd be better to open a new topic about it, as this one is about the 2006-2007 season.

cygneblanc, will you see "La Dame aux camélias" at the end of this season?

The full length works of the season will be:

-Neumeier's "La Dame aux camélias" (already performed this season)

-"Giselle" (production by P. Bart and Polyakov)

-"Coppélia" (P. Bart's production)

-Nureyev's "Don Quichotte" and "Cinderella"

-Petit's "Les Intermittences du coeur" (1974, new in the repertory)

-Robin Orlyn's "L'Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato" (world premiere)

-Ashton's "La Fille mal gardée" (new in the repertory)

and the mixed bills with be:

-Lifar (Suite en blanc, Les Mirages)- Malandain (L'envol d'Icare, world premiere)

-Duato (White Darkness, 2001, new in the repertory)- Lock (Andréauria)- Millepied (Amoveo, world premiere)

-Balanchine (Apollo, Agon)- Brown (O złożny / O composite)- Forsythe (The Vertiginous thrill of exactitude)

So the new works in the POB repertory next season will be 3 full-length works (Ashton's "Fille", Petit's "Proust" and the world premiere by Robyn Orlin) and 3 shorter works (two world premieres by Millepied and Malandain and Duato's "White Darkness").

I'm really happy that they finally decided to program some Lifar again: "Suite en Blanc", which was last danced about 1996 or 1997, and "Les Mirages" which was last danced around 1990 or 1991 (I never saw that one- and I never managed to find its score on CD...) From the few things by Malandain I saw, I think it's a good idea to commission something from him, but I regret that they didn't show a third ballet by Lifar: "Suite en blanc" and "Les mirages" are his best known works, but it would have been interesting to stage another work, as long as there still are some living dancers who had worked with Lifar... Now only the school performs some of his works regularly.

I'm glad that we're going to see some Ashton at last (and by the way, it's a pity that "Rhapsody" was performed one season only !), but I wonder about the choice of "La Fille mal Gardée", as the POB already had performed at least two other productions of that work in the 1970s or early 1980s (Lazzini and Spoerli) and also the POB school performed it a few years ago (I don't remember which production). And I'm not sure something like the "chicken dance" will be received well by the audience, it might be labelled "for children" a bit fast... Well, let's hope that it will be successful and that it will lead the company's direction to stage some other Ashton works later !

I regret that once again, the season is a bit thin in Ballets Russes works (only "Apollo", which already had been programmed quite a lot in recent seasons, and no Fokine, Massine, Nijinska, etc.), and wouldn't have minded seeing for example some Robbins, some older Petit works (like "Le Loup" which hasn't been danced for a while), some Tudor, some more Balanchine (and what a strange idea to pair it once again with some works by Trisha Brown- and will they stage again "Liebeslieder walzer" ?) but on the whole it's quite an interesting season.