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World Ballet Day-Oct 1 2014

California

By California
in Ballet News & Issues

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Quiggin

Quiggin

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I agree about the tweets – there seemed to be fewer for the Royal, or they were read by the hosts from printouts, and I don't remember any, in my sleepiness, for the Bolshoi. Bolshoi also had the least distracting classroom, sort of an all-over ochre. Nice class with charming charming Boris Akimov. Rehearsal with steely Grigorovich who refused to be interviewed – pushed the microphone away. Actually two rehearsals with G, one of a pas de deux from Legend of Love and one of a group scene from the same (which I thought was more interesting, the pas a bit odd with the imprint of the toeshoe of the woman awkwardly made on the man's forehead). Yuri Possokhov of SFB & formerly Bolshoi made an appearance (prerecorded?) in conversation with Filin and set designer over the viability of a water scene on stage.

What I saw of Royal was nice – the rehearsal with the moving ping pong tables and then Wheeldon's Aeternum with attractive cast including James Hay as the odd person out.

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Drew

Drew

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For the rehearsal of Neumeier's Nijinsky they cut way back on showing the tweets (also on the talking over the ballet master and music). I confess I have been complaining all over social media including on twitter itself in the hope of sending a message. Unfortunately, must return to...uh...my job. But hope to catch some of San Francisco Ballet later.

What I saw of Royal Ballet -- Acosta rehearsing Muntagirov in Don Quixote -- was just fantastic: Acosta gave some very precise and detailed coaching and Muntagirov (whom I know only by reputation) looks a wonderful dancer.

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Terez

Terez

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Macnellie - I am so with you. So very frustrated that the SFB is giving this local newscaster so much chattering time during company class. I so enjoyed watching big chunks of class for Australian Ballet, RB, Nat'l Ballet of CA, and here I was thinking "my" company would be my favorite. Instead it's proving to be the most annoying one, with constant, constant voice-overs to interview people. During company CLASS? Really? Call me a too-long ballet student that I should find that poor etiquette, but it's really grating on me. It's almost like the SFB is dumbing down the whole process to maintain mainstream attention. None of the other companies did this with their classes, or did I just sit and watch all the right spots?

Biggest surprise enjoyment so far: really, really enjoyed watching Natl Ballet of CA's class. Loved the ballet master, loved the dancers' energy and efforts, loved the camera work.

Would love to hear others' comments about all the represented companies and their filming choices. (I've yet to see more than 10 mn of the Bolshoi, sadly. It's a West Coast problem...

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Drew

Drew

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I enjoy going on Twitter and seeing what people say about #WorldBalletDay...it's the tweets over the live-stream that I have found very irritating. During the National Ballet of Canada Manon rehearsal there was a lot of talking over the ballet master (who was giving corrections) which I wasn't crazy about.

I get that they are trying to reach a large audience; it's just a question of balance and trusting the material.

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volcanohunter

volcanohunter

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Watching Bolshoi class last night, they had running commentary from Filing, and the occasional English summary.

I was extremely relieved that most of what was said was not translated, because the collective unctuousness of host Alla Sigalova--determined to show off her insider knowledge and chummy relations with the dancers at every opportunity--and Filin brought me this close to retching. I actually developed a grudging respect for Yuri Grigorovich. He was a curmudgeon, he coddled no one's ego, and he was even nasty, but he was there to work and told Sigalova to get lost on two separate occasions.

There were no reposted tweets during the Bolshoi's segment, but there were some awful directing decisions, such as showing close-ups of dancers standing on the sides while others were dancing, and worst of all, repeatedly interrupting the feed from the studios to show footage of the square outside the theater for no good reason.

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pherank

pherank

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i'm a little confused; they keep saying it will be available for viewing for 2 days on each channel, but i can't find a link that takes me to anything but an announcement that it's over?

There may well be a delay before all the video is "stitched together" to form a finished piece for re-streaming.

I enjoyed the SFB rehearsal footage, especially the Possokov rehearsal of RAkU, featuring Yuan Yuan Tan, and also repetiteur Stefanie Ardnt rehearsing Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude.

Listening to Possokov rehearse, I realized that the ballet rooms are filled with people speaking English as a second language, often broken English with various accents, and it can't be easy to understand half of what is being said. ;) But that's daily life at a large ballet company.

EDIT: I see now that the SFB broadcast page is saying that the recording will be available later today...

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Helene

Helene

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One of the reasons I love to watch figure skating via TV Teka is that I can't understand much beyond "maladets" "ochi" "harasho" and the names of skaters, coaches, etc. Almost all commentary becomes annoying, aside from PJ Kwong when she's doing solo commentary, and I've been assured there are exceptions in Scandinavia.

Filin sounded like a proud grandfather, so I was glad to miss the gushing.

As David Sedaris said about the downside of learning French was that it shattered his allusion that the French sat around discussing philosophy and great issues intelligently, when he found that most conversation was as ordinary as in the English-speaking world.

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pherank

pherank

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Thanks VolcanoHunter - I see they've restored the introduction footage, so this is truly complete. And according to the SFB website:

For the next 48 hours (until Saturday, Oct 4 at 1pm PDT) you can watch the entire SF Ballet portion of World Ballet Day

So there's isn't much time left to see the footage...

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diane

diane

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Arrgh! SF's ballet-day contribution is gone again. :(

I was away for the weekend, so could only watch a few little bits on my phone; now i am back, and it is gone.

Oh, well.

I am sure it was wonderful!

It's a great idea to have all of this and broadcast it live - would be even nicer if done on a day when most of the potential viewers could be free from work and if the respective countries would not block everything due to rights-issues; but - hey - one cannot have everything.

-d-

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Pamela Moberg

Pamela Moberg

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I did enjoy World Ballet Day a lot - saw it in utter comfort on my big TV screen (with a cable from the computer) but must admit I had rather square eyes after that marathon.

Company class I always find most interesting - and works in progress gives you such an insight.

But for heavens sake, couldn't the Bolshoi find something more riveting than that awful Legend of love? I remember, as a youngster, seeing an old Soviet movie of that ballet, and I can assure you, if memory serves, that it was no better now. That is what I call old Soviet trash - that is what I thought then, and IMO it had not improved.

Oh yes, a gushing presenter - I couldn't agree more.

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volcanohunter

volcanohunter

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Yes, Legend of Love was the one new Bolshoi broadcast I had considered going to see, but after watching the rehearsals, I decided against it.

Actually, I'm not sure the Royal Ballet's rehearsal of Manon did a much better job of advertising its cinemacast. I watched the "re-run" of that rehearsal with my mother, who found it frustrating and unclear: "a complete failure to show off the company's two best dancers," was her verdict. She came away thinking that the trailer for Manon played at the end of the segment had done a more persuasive job of selling the ballet.

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