MCB 2013-2014 season

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart...besides Ashley, there was another lady in the studio, sitting on the wall watching the whole rehearsal. Every time Ashley stood up to demonstrate, she looked as if she was first doing it first to this lady and then to the other dancers, and I also noticed the woman speaking at times. The lady was younger than Ashley and older than the three dancers on the floor. I wonder if she is another ex dancer from City Ballet whom might have danced the role too and was helping the rehearsal process.

Next to me, in a corner inside, there was a camera man with a huge equipment. He was filming the entire thing.

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart...besides Ashley, there was another lady in the studio, sitting on the wall watching the whole rehearsal. Every time Ashley stood up to demonstrate, she looked as if she was first doing it first to this lady and then to the other dancers, and I also noticed the woman speaking at times. The lady was younger than Ashley and older than the three dancers on the floor. I wonder if she is another ex dancer from City Ballet whom might have danced the role too and was helping the rehearsal process.

Next to me, in a corner inside, there was a camera man with a huge equipment. He was filming the entire thing.

BTW...here's a pic of the school. All those panels on the sidewalk left are the studios windows. This is mainly a residential area, and the open ocean/beach is just two blocks away, walking toward the picture's camera.

[bart]

Next to me, in a corner inside, there was a camera man with a huge equipment. He was filming the entire thing.

I wonder whether this was for MCB's benefit alone, or possibly a version of the Balanchine Foundation's Interpreters Archive of coaching sessions.

Thanks for the photo. I love that location. We come down a couple of times a year for the Open Barre performances (matinees) and to stroll the beach and eat something in one of the cafes. There's always the hope of a dancer-sighting, of course.

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart...has Ballo been filmed already with Ashley for the Interpreters Archive collection...?

I would say this could be the time to do so, still with the role originator young, able to demonstrate, and the memories of the role still fresh. Delaying too much reconstructions and re stagings has proven sometimes too bad. Dancers forget.

[kfw]

has Ballo been filmed already with Ashley for the Interpreters Archive collection...?

Yes. She taught it to NYCB's Joaquin De Luz and Ana Sophia Scheller in 2005. Leigh Witchel wrote about it in the Spring 2005 issue of DanceView (which as you know, but some others reading may not is edited by - a plug here - Ballet Alert founder Alexandra Tomalonis).

[bart]

I just checked and see that Ashley has already done an Interpreter's Archive segment for Ballo, with Ana Sophia Scheller and Joaquin De Luz (NYCB), April 3-4 2005. Thinking about it, a single cameraman suggests something being done inhouse at MCB. The Archive series includes sound, with interviewers who include such figures as Nancy Reynolds, Arlene Croce, Francis Mason, Nancy Goldner, our own rg, Robert Gottlieb, Francia Russell, Anna Kisselgoff, Joan Acocella,etc. Deborah Jowell did the interviewing for Ballo.

An interesting sidebar is that Edward Villella did the next Archive's segment, in 2008. With Sara Esty and Alex Wong (Tarentella) and Jennifer Kronenberg and Renanto Penteado (Rubies).\

Here is the link to the complete list of projects. You can read accounts of a number of them if you have a collection of old numbers of DanceView. Several of the sessions were written up by Leigh Witchell.

http://www.balanchine.org/balanchine/03/gbfvideoarchives_videos.html

EDITED TO ADD: I see that kfw and I were cross-posting about the Ashley-Ballo filming.

Also: the first MCB Interpreter's Archive filming was in 1999: Maria Tallchief no less, coaching principal roles from Pas de Dix and Allegro Brilliante -- and Marjorie Tallchief coaching a variation from Pas de Trois (Minkus). Dancers were MCB's prima at the time Ileana Lopez, with her husband Franklin Gamero. And Deanna Seay, Mikhail Nikitine, and Melanie Atkins in the Pas the Trois..

[kfw]

EDITED TO ADD: I see that kfw and I were cross-posting about the Ashley-Ballo filming..

I should have known you'd know the answer, but I had fun searching through my old DanceViews.

[cahill]

Dancers Leigh-Ann Esty and Zoe Zien reveal the secrets behind George Balanchine's 'Serenade' in a new MCB blog post. Dancing included!

http://www.miamicityballet.org/blog/

[Helene]

I always when younger dancers describe "Serenade" as if the original students at School of American Ballet in 1934 were bunheads. The students 1934 were from a range of backgrounds, and in a Q&A at PNB, Doug Fullington explained that many were professional dancers/performers who wanted to hone their technique, and they had a wide range of body types. They were not intense teenagers training for a profession that didn't exist in America in its current form at that time.

[Buddy]

I just haven't had the time to follow the MCB recently. Under Edward Villella it was one of my favorite companies in the world, and I'm pretty much a Mariinsky lover, which is quite different. Could I possibly ask what may have been covered already. How does the company compare so far to its Villella days?

Added:

For instance Nathalia Arja from Jordan Levin's review yesterday is a completely new name to me.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/19/3698802/miami-city-ballet-opens-season.html