kbarber Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The Australian Ballet 30 Sep - October 1 2015 22:00 - 3:00 EDT, 19:00 - 24:00 PDT Melbourne Website ProgrammingThe Australian Ballet once again kicks off World Ballet Day LIVE from its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. Company Class RehearsalArtistic Director David McAllister’s brand new production of The Sleeping Beauty Behind the ScenesThe Australian Ballet SchoolAudience Engagement ProgramsBallet PhilanthropyThe Magical Wardrobe Department Sneak PreviewTake a sneak peek at a new ballet for children Bolshoi Ballet01 Oct 2015 03:00 - 06:00 EDT, 00:00 - 03:00 PDT Moscow website Programming Enjoy a tour of productions from the past year, and a preview of what is to come as the Bolshoi Ballet heads into it’s 240th season. Morning Class Recent ProductionsRadu Poklitaru’s HamletYuri Possokhov’s Hero of Our Time Rehearsals Preview of Upcoming SeasonWorld premieres, revivals, special projects, festivals, international tours, guest company presentations on the Bolshoi Theatre stages, and a gala dedicated to the memory of Maya Plisetskaya. Interviews Throughout the Day Interviews Throughout the DayVladimir Urin, Sergei Filin, Yuri Possokhov, Boris Akimov, Brigitte Lefevre, Azarii Plisetski, and more! The Royal Ballet 01 Oct 2015 06:00 - 11:00 EDT, 03:00 - 08:00 PDT London Website ProgrammingGo behind the scenes of The Royal Ballet’s production of Romeo & Juliet, and listen to a discussion about the future of ballet in the United Kingdom. Company Class Behind the ScenesSir Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo & Juliet Discussion: The Future of BalletHosted by The Royal Ballet and featuring experts from Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, and Scottish Ballet The National Ballet of Canada01 Oct 2015 11:00 - 16:00 EDT, 08:00 - 13:00 (PDT) Toronto Website ProgrammingJoin The National Ballet of Canada at the Place des Arts in Montréal as they take audiences behind the scenes during their fall tour. Company Class RehearsalChristopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale Behind the Scenes: On TourGo behind the scenes at dress rehearsals of William Forsythe’s the second detail, Marco Goecke’s Le Spectre de la Rose, and Wayne McGregor’s Chroma San Francisco Ballet 01 Oct 2015 16:00 - 21:00 EDT, 13:00 - 18:00 (PDT) San Francisco Website ProgrammingSan Francisco Ballet will finish off the broadcast with a preview of their upcoming season and interviews with some of ballet’s most well known choreographers.Host: Former SF Ballet Principal Dancer Joanna Berman Company Class Rehearsals Featuring ballets from San Francisco Ballet’s upcoming Repertory Season and tour to China Interviews Throughout the DayArtistic Director & Principal Choreographer, Helgi TomassonThe Royal Ballet Artist in Residence, Liam ScarlettAssociate Choreographer of the Paris Opera Ballet, William Forsythe Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The Royal Ballet's release also indicates that the stream will include recorded segments from the Bangarra Dance Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Houston Ballet, Northern Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Scottish Ballet. http://www.roh.org.uk/news/world-ballet-day-2015-to-take-place-on-1-october San Francisco Ballet adds Boston Ballet, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, National Ballet of China, Nederlands Dans Theater and Royal New Zealand Ballet. https://www.sfballet.org/about/media_center/press_releases/World_Ballet%20Day_2015 Link to comment
sandik Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Oh excellent -- this is such a good idea, and last year's inaugural effort was great fun! Link to comment
pherank Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Agreed - it was fun to watch WBD live last year. I see we will get to hear from Yuri Possokhov and Brigitte Lefevre, but not in the expected places. I would like to see some footage of Possokhov's Hero of Our Time (sounds very Soviet, does it not?). It would be even better if SFB showed performance footage of Swimmer (which is full of Americana), but that probably isn't possible (or planned). Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I would like to see some footage of Possokhov's Hero of Our Time (sounds very Soviet, does it not?). I don't see why. Lermontov's novel pre-dated the Soviet Union by some 80 years, and that's longer than the USSR itself lasted. I don't think there's any reason to expect anything Grigorovichean. Link to comment
MadameP Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I enjoyed watching this last year - but if only Mariinsky could be one of the companies taking part! Link to comment
stuben Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Can't wait and know where I will be those days wonderful chance to see so many companies within two days without have to travel all over the world Link to comment
pherank Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I don't see why. Lermontov's novel pre-dated the Soviet Union by some 80 years, and that's longer than the USSR itself lasted. I don't think there's any reason to expect anything Grigorovichean. Ah, Lermontov - thanks for those details. That makes more sense given Possokhov's personality. But I can't see him really trying to do an Onegin-type story ballet. I'm guessing Yuri finds a way to make the structure more 'experimental'. Has anyone seen the actual production of Hero of Our Time? Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The novel is written using multiple narrators and therefore multiple perspectives. To try to put this across, Possokhov uses three different dancers as Pechorin. Link to comment
yudi Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Last year they said that the 3 hours live-broadcasting of each theater in WBD would be abstracted to 1 hour video and leave it on YouTube after WBD. Why SFB has only 15 minutes left? I was in a time-zone where I could not hold up to see SFB's program. I was hoping I could make it up later. However, they cut too much. Link to comment
Helene Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I don't remember SFB's content. Was there a lot of Balanchine, Morris, or Tharp, etc. where permission to broadcast was limited to the initial broadcast? Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 No, I don't think so. I remember there was quasi-Petipa/Gorsky, Tomasson, Possokhov and an itty bit of Forsythe right at the very end. http://www.sfballetblog.org/2014/09/sf-ballet-watch-world-ballet-day-live/ Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 It's strange that four of the participating companies are scheduled to broadcast for five hours--particularly challenging for the National Ballet of Canada while it's on tour--but the Bolshoi is planning only three. Between company class and all those promised interviews and previews, this leaves relatively little time for live rehearsal footage. But then I wasn't very impressed with the company's participation last year either. The segment began with a voiceover describing the vast size of the company, but what followed was an oh-so-pristine class featuring about two dozen handpicked dancers. It begged the question, where were the other 200? During the entire stream I'd venture to guess we didn't see more than 40 of them. The company seems happy to get the international advertising, but doesn't really want to show how it works. Too controlled, too phony. Link to comment
sandik Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 The company seems happy to get the international advertising, but doesn't really want to show how it works. Too controlled, too phony. Of course they don't want to show how it works -- they've never wanted the outside to see inside their structure. And really, a lot of how it works is tough to show in a live feed. I'm thinking of the meetings we watched in the Wiseman film about the POB (which I love). That was just a sliver of how that world works, and it was a tricky piece of filmmaking. I understand your frustration (who wouldn't want to be a fly on those walls, really) but I guess I don't really expect an un-managed view of the participants. Link to comment
Helene Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Last year's Bolshoi segment struck me as a cross between a chatty lovefest and an info-mercial. But then again, for the most part, the Burns ABT documentary struck me as an infomercial for McKenzie's (far fewer than) two-dozen cherry-picked dancers. Of course they don't want to show how it works -- they've never wanted the outside to see inside their structure. And really, a lot of how it works is tough to show in a live feed. I'm thinking of the meetings we watched in the Wiseman film about the POB (which I love). That was just a sliver of how that world works, and it was a tricky piece of filmmaking. While for the most part, the business aspects of Wiseman's film were the most interesting to me -- that scene between Lefevre and Emmanuel Gat was a miracle; the scene between Lefevre and the young dancer at the end was grotesquerie -- there were substantial segments of rehearsal footage, and there's nothing in a multiple-hour shoot that would preclude something similar, were the companies willing to take a risk on the live rehearsal experience. If I were an AD allowing video of a rehearsal, I would be sure to schedule my most even-tempered dancer-and-choreographer/stager combination for it, drink a big glass of wine, and hope for the best. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 The thing is that last year I didn't get that contrived feeling from the other participating companies. Of course the view couldn't be comprehensive, and naturally everything had to be well planned, but no one came across as inauthentic, and generally I thought those companies did a great job of making ballet and ballet dancers seem friendly, accessible and un-neurotic. The only thing authentic about the Bolshoi feed was cranky old Grigorovich, who wouldn't give the unctuous hostess the time of day. (He may even have used foul language during rehearsals; I'd have to go back and check, but have little desire to do it.) Everything else the Bolshoi showed came off as stagy and opaque. Link to comment
Helene Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I agree with you: the other companies looked very natural. The moment Filin started to cackle with the way-too-caffeinated hostess, I knew we were in for a very long info-mercial, and not in a good way. The tone back-and-forth reminded me of an over-the-top Russian New Year TV special I saw with friends in Tallinn. Link to comment
Fraildove Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 One thing to remember about Russian companies... All 200 members would not be in one class. Dancers are assigned to coaches that are retired artists. So the morning classes are broken up into several different classes. It's not like most western companies where the entire company has one class, altogether, with the AD or ballet master. I agree that for the broadcast they probably did handpick a group and put them in a class together for that day, but even if the hadn't, you wouldn't generally see everyone together, unless on tour. Just a side note Link to comment
Dreamer Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Four out of the five ballet companies represented in WBD are from English speaking countries. Conversations conducted in a foreign language might sometimes come across as unfriendly, unauthentic or staged if one doesn't understand it. Besides a lot of details get lost in translation. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 One thing to remember about Russian companies... All 200 members would not be in one class. Dancers are assigned to coaches that are retired artists. So the morning classes are broken up into several different classes. It's not like most western companies where the entire company has one class, altogether, with the AD or ballet master. I agree that for the broadcast they probably did handpick a group and put them in a class together for that day, but even if the hadn't, you wouldn't generally see everyone together, unless on tour. Just a side note In fairness, the Australian Ballet also showed only one of its two classes, although David McAllister joked that most of the dancers had opted for the studio with the cameras that day. One of the extremely frustrating things about the Bolshoi's camera work was that for no reason at all the shot would change from the studio to a view of the square outside the theater. To give at least some idea of the scope of the company, it would have been much better to have a roaming camera look into the other studios to show a bit of the other classes taking place simultaneously. This was a missed opportunity. As it stood, viewers really could be left wondering where all the other dancers were hiding. In any case, the extremely sparse and orderly class during the stream was very different from the shots of overcrowded barres seen in the Bolshoi Babylon trailer. Four out of the five ballet companies represented in WBD are from English speaking countries. Conversations conducted in a foreign language might sometimes come across as unfriendly, unauthentic or staged if one doesn't understand it. Besides a lot of details get lost in translation. I know Russian and was actually extremely relieved that most of what was said was not translated, because the effect would have been even more nauseating. Link to comment
Dreamer Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I know Russian and was actually extremely relieved that most of what was said was not translated, because the effect would have been even more nauseating. I enjoyed Akimov's class, rehearsals of The Legend of Love and discussions around A Hero of Our Time between Possokhov and Serebrennikov. The hostess was annoying at times and the overall presentation could've been less discursive. But other than that I can't think of anything that can be characterized as nauseating. And yes, sparsely attended morning classes are not uncommon. The class at SFB was also far from full; among the principals I only saw Yuan Yuan Tan. But I might be mistaken. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I remember seeing a few principals in the San Francisco class. Certainly Maria Kochetkova was hard to miss. The studio wasn't empty because portable barres were used to accommodate all the dancers. The Bolshoi's was the only class without them. Link to comment
Josette Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 For the San Francisco Ballet class, I recall seeing principal dancers Vanessa Zahorian, Jaime Garcia Castillo, Yuan Yuan Tan, Maria Kochetkova, Lorena Feijoo. I'm blanking on what other male principal dancers were in class, but I noticed that Tiit Helimets was not there. I enjoyed noting the differences in the various company classes. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Also Davit Karapetyan and Gennadi Nedvigin, I think. Link to comment
Dreamer Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I looked through the available vieos of SFB on youtube and this time spotted all the mentioned principals (Tan, Kochetkova, Zahorian, Feijoo, Chung, Karapetyan, Nedvigin, Garcia Castilla) whom I failed noticing during the live stream. I guess after 12 hours of nonstop watching my brain stopped paying attention. Link to comment
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