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2016-17 season


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Attended the show this afternoon.

 

I have been known to complain a bit about Sunday mat casting  :angel_not:, however not this time!!  Today I was incredibly thankful to have my ticket today!

 

First of all I ran into some dear ballet friends I hadn't seen in a long while - that alone was priceless!

 

Next - we had the amazing cast of McKie, Lunkina, Frola, Lobsonova, and company.  What an amazing performance!  The audience just about leapt to its collective feet when the curtain closed, and I was right there!

 

I don't know if I even have the words.  McKie truly embodied the role, in every way.  Lunkina almost - my only possible criticism is that she doesn't always look as young as one expects Tatiana to be.  That said, none of the women cast in that role would have.  

 

Both lead couples were wonderful together - none of the awkward lifts that I noticed in Cinderella.  Speaking of Cinderella, also saw nothing today which would have suggested a lack of rehearsal.

 

At any rate, I have nothing but superlatives today - and thanks to the Ballet Gods that I had the opportunity to see this cast.

 

Slightly off topic - I do note that S Campbell, D Tedaldi, R Stephen have not been seen by me so far this fall and none of them were cast in significant roles in Onegin.  Don't remember about Cinderella now - would need to check my program but I'm not at home.

 

 

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Thank you mom2 for your writeup! I loved reading about it and am sad to have missed this cast. And I'm not familiar with the dancers you mention - perhaps they are injured? Or maybe there just isn't enough material right now to cast everyone?

 

A delayed something regarding the Onegin performance I saw last week - have been out of town the last few days. 

 

As expected I absolutely loved it. I've seen the ballet many times but thoroughly enjoyed this company's rendition. 

 

I saw the Rodriguez/Stancyk cast and was pretty blown away. They had a fiery chemistry and I was particular taken by their dramatic portrayals. 

 

The Lensky was Frola who was technically impressive with a jump to die for. The Olga was Koyasu and she seemed very young and somewhat lacking in strength. She has a remarkably lightness and air to her dancing that was lovely however. 

 

The female corps particularly in the first act was all over the place and not quite together. 

 

All in all it was a wonderful show though. I enjoy the sets and costumes very much here, particularly Tatiana's red dress in the third act. 

 

On a separate note it appears the terrible series of reviews from the Globe Mail newspaper regarding the National Ballet from last week and week before are receiving quite a bit of attention. Apparently the online versions have a comment section, and after a large number of readers complained (about her really quite awful and unsubstantiated Cinderella review in particular) they took to commentating... questioning both Schabs integrity and potential conflicts of interest. 

Unfortunately they have all been taken down now except for one - and even IT questions why the writer had the previous commentary removed. 

Yikes ?

 

Edited by JumpFrog
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Nutcracker casting http://national.ballet.ca/Productions/2016-17-Season/The-Nutcracker

 

The Sugar Plum Fairy
Sonia Rodriguez (December 10 at 2:00 pm/December 14, 17 at 7:00 pm)
Jillian Vanstone (December 10, 13, 22 at 7:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 1:00 pm)
Jurgita Dronina (December 10 at 2:00 pm/December 11 at 1:00 pm/December 14, 17, 23 at 7:00 pm/December 29 at 5:30 pm)

Greta Hodgkinson (December 11, 18 at 5:30 pm/December 16 at 7:00 pm)
Elena Lobsanova (December 15, 20, 21 at 7:00 pm/December 17 at 2:00 pm/December 18, 31 at 1:00 pm)
Tina Pereira (December 17 at 2:00 pm/December 20 at 7:00 pm/December 27 at 1:00 pm)
Svetlana Lunkina (December 24 at 1:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 5:30 pm)
 

Peter/The Nutcracker
Piotr Stanczyk (December 10 at 2:00 pm/December 14, 17 at 7:00 pm)
Skylar Campbell (December 10, 13, 22 at 7:00 pm)
Guillaume Côté (December 11 at 1:00 pm/December 23 at 7:00 pm/December 29 at 5:30 pm)
Harrison James (December 11, 18 at 5:30 pm/December 16 at 7:00 pm)
McGee Maddox (December 15, 21 at 7:00 pm/December 18, 31 at 1:00 pm)
Naoya Ebe (December 17 at 2:00 pm/December 20 at 7:00 pm/December 27 at 1:00 pm)

Evan McKie (December 24 at 1:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 5:30 pm)
Francesco Gabriele Frola* (December 28, 30 at 1:00 pm)
 

Snow Queen
Xiao Nan Yu (December 10 at 2:00 pm/December 14, 17 at 7:00 pm)
Alexandra MacDonald (December 10, 13, 22 at 7:00 pm)
Elena Lobsanova (December 11 at 1:00 pm/December 23 at 7:00 pm/December 29 at 5:30 pm)
Tanya Howard (December 11, 18 at 5:30 pm/December 16 at 7:00 pm/December 27 at 1:00 pm)
Emma Hawes (December 15, 21 at 7:00 pm/December 18, 31 at 1:00 pm)
Jenna Savella (December 17 at 2:00 pm/December 20 at 7:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 1:00 pm)
Hannah Fischer (December 24 at 1:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 5:30 pm)
 

Baba
Lise-Marie Jourdain (December 10 at 2:00 pm/December 14, 17, 20 at 7:00 pm)
Rebekah Rimsay (December 10, 13, 22 at 7:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 1:00 pm)
Tiffany Mosher (December 11, 31 at 1:00 pm/December 23 at 7:00 pm/December 29 at 5:30 pm)
Andreea Olteanu (December 11, 18 at 5:30 pm/December 16 at 7:00 pm/December 17 at 2:00 pm/December 27 at 1:00 pm)
Stephanie Hutchison (December 15, 21 at 7:00 pm/December 18, 24 at 1:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 5:30 pm)

 

Uncle Nikolai
Jonathan Renna (December 10 at 2:00 pm/December 14, 17, 23 at 7:00 pm/December 29 at 5:30 pm)
Robert Stephen (December 10, 13, 22 at 7:00 pm/ December 28, 30 at 1:00 pm)
Jack Bertinshaw (December 11, 31 at 1:00 pm/December 15, 21 at 7:00 pm)

Dylan Tedaldi (December 11, 18 at 5:30 pm/December 16, 20 at 7:00 pm/December 17 at 2:00 pm/December 27 at 1:00 pm)
Spencer Hack* (December 18, 24 at 1:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 5:30 pm)
 

* Debut

Jurgita Dronina and Guillaume Côté will be appearing in the Goh Ballet's Nutcracker in Vancouver on December 15-20.
http://www.gohnutcracker.com/


Svetlana Lunkina will be appearing in The Nutcracker with the Companhia Cisne Negro in São Paulo on December 15-18 opposite Thiago Soares.
http://www.cisnenegro.com.br/o-quebra-nozes/

Edited by volcanohunter
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On 30.11.2016 at 10:57 AM, JumpFrog said:

On a separate note it appears the terrible series of reviews from the Globe Mail newspaper regarding the National Ballet from last week and week before are receiving quite a bit of attention. Apparently the online versions have a comment section, and after a large number of readers complained (about her really quite awful and unsubstantiated Cinderella review in particular) they took to commentating... questioning both Schabs integrity and potential conflicts of interest. 

Unfortunately they have all been taken down now except for one - and even IT questions why the writer had the previous commentary removed. 

 

I don't read the Globe with any sort of regularity, but I did get the impression that the comments sections had cut-off dates, presumably so that the paper's staff wouldn't have to spend time policing completely unrelated online arguments about public libraries taking place underneath a four-year-old story about bicycle trails.

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2 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

 

I don't read the Globe with any sort of regularity, but I did get the impression that the comments sections had cut-off dates, presumably so that the paper's staff wouldn't have to spend time policing completely unrelated online arguments about public libraries taking place underneath a four-year-old story about bicycle trails.

Lol! ! Yes I suppose that would be reasonable but then why only for select comments? And other publications usually just close the chance to write new comments after a certain period while keeping those already written visible. Odd. I am officially starting to agree with what I've heard regarding some questionable goings on with this writer and paper. If you look at her twitter right now the latest is a link to an article about misogyny in journalism. She stated above it that to have an opinion while female requires a thick skin. Uh, I'm pretty sure people are not disliking you because you're a woman with an "opinion" Schabs ... people dislike you because they think you're shady and have alleged under the table motives lol.

Too bad you didn't see all the commentary before it was removed volcanohunter. I would've been curious on your thoughts on them. People seem to have quite a lot of some pretty warranted issues with her. No doubt they'll come to light.

Anyway Thank you for such a detailed cast update above. I'm excited for Nut. Any particular cast people recommend? After seeing her Giselle in the spring I'd love to see Lobsanova. I can't believe that's it's Nutcracker already. It feels like the ballet season just began here.

Edited by JumpFrog
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1 hour ago, JumpFrog said:

... Odd. I am officially starting to agree with what I've heard regarding some questionable goings on with this writer and paper. If you look at her twitter right now the latest is a link to an article about misogyny in journalism. She stated above it that to have an opinion while female requires a thick skin. Uh, I'm pretty sure people are not disliking you because you're a woman with an "opinion" Schabs ... people dislike you because they think you're shady and have alleged under the table motives lol.

Too bad you didn't see all the commentary before it was removed volcanohunter. I would've been curious on your thoughts on them. People seem to have quite a lot of some pretty warranted issues with her. No doubt they'll come to light.

....

There is no doubt in my mind that women writers of opinion pieces are (in general) regularly subject to levels of abuse, dislike, and insinuation that men typically don't get on the same scale. In general--of course there may be exceptions.

 

The writer you are discussing may or may not be "shady" as you say. I know nothing about her and certainly wouldn't draw any conclusions from the comments written beneath her article (and written online no less where people feel especially free to say or insinuate or "allege" whatever insult or untruth they please...). But the point about misogyny remains in general plenty true.

 

There is research in other fields confirming the problem, or, at least related problems--e.g. experiments showing that if you tell students taking an online course the instructor is male, they react more positively to the course than students taking the exact same online course who are told the instructor is female.   Here is a link to an article about it:

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/12/09/gender_bias_in_student_evaluations_professors_of_online_courses_who_present.html

 

(This particular critic may also just be a horrible reviewer of course or have written some not very good articles or have her particular and peculiar taste--that's a different question. "Shady" is a pretty strong accusation.)

Edited by Drew
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Thank you for your response Drew. Yes unfortunately sexism is still very prevalent through our society and many others you are right. Thank you for the link. 

 

What I found fascinating however was the timing. Here was this avalanche of criticism toward her and the Globe Mail paper and the only response was literally the complete deletion of the written complaints - followed by her linking to an article on sexism.

 

I'm not convinced that from what I read at least that the people questioning her were based from there own sexism.

 

It really is unfortunate that all the readers commentaty has been taken down because there were some very real issues raised including: her own potential bias, her past involvement in dance before writing, the ownership of the paper she works for and potential conflict of interest from it, as well as simply people who seemed to hate her writing. 

 

Now to be honest I think it's really easy to criticize anything and anyone especially today. And not all criticism is warranted or even helpful. I bet no matter who writes for any publication they will have people complain. So people that just don't like her writing I wouldn't put too much thought to.

 

But if what was said other than that is true, the allegations that there is a direct conflict of interest to do with this national paper and the ballet company, well that's quite shocking. 

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4 hours ago, JumpFrog said:

I'm excited for Nut. Any particular cast people recommend? After seeing her Giselle in the spring I'd love to see Lobsanova.

 

I have particular admiration for Jillian Vanstone, Jurgita Dronina and Svetlana Lunkina. If you were to choose the cast with Dronina's SPF, you'd also get Lobsanova as the Snow Queen. Lunkina and Evan McKie are the platinum, AAA, Rolls-Royce pairing. If you have enjoyed performances by Lobsanova and McGee Maddox, by all means go with them.

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1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

 

I have particular admiration for Jillian Vanstone, Jurgita Dronina and Svetlana Lunkina. If you were to choose the cast with Dronina's SPF, you'd also get Lobsanova as the Snow Queen. Lunkina and Evan McKie are the platinum, AAA, Rolls-Royce pairing. If you have enjoyed performances by Lobsanova and McGee Maddox, by all means go with them.

Thank you volcanohunter. I also admire Vanstone and Dronina from what I've seen. Lunkina and McKie I'm not so into but to each there own. I just find them kind of the same in everything. And I love versatility. 

I think your idea of seeing Dronina and Lobsonava in the same show is the best bet. Thank you!!

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I am a huge admirer of Lunkina and McKie but I have to say when I saw Nut a couple of years ago I found Vanstone a better SPF than Lunkina, I suspect because Vanstone has grown up with Kudelka whereas for Lunkina it was a struggle adapting. However, Lunkina might have been having an off night and may have got the Kudelka choreography more in her body since then.

I love Dronina but haven't seen her SPF yet.

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The male lead is more important anyway, since he does at least twice as much dancing as the SPF. I'm completely baffled by the stable boy-->Nutcracker-->Sugar Plum Fairy's Consort idea, especially in light of the confused and cluttered battle scene, but that's how Kudelka has chosen to place his emphasis. :dunno:

 

It so happens that I will be in Toronto again this month, so I re-watched the film from 2008 to decide whether to see the production while visiting, but I disliked it as much as ever. So garish, gimmicky, busy and musically unsatisfying. Weird to pass on the company while in town, but I know I wouldn't enjoy it. The fact that Vanstone, Dronina and Lunkina will all be absent just then makes walking away much easier. However, Stanczyk's performance in that film was truly admirable.

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So volcanohunter just to be clear, I'm guessing you don't like the Nutcracker? :lol: I'm still so excited to see it here because now apart from you I've heard nothing but good things. Funny enough I heard from a dancer himself in the  troupe here that Kudelka is one of the most musical people he's worked with. Gos to show you won't please everybody!

I would love to see the film you mention. Is it viewable online?

On 2016-12-03 at 11:42 AM, volcanohunter said:

The male lead is more important anyway, since he does at least twice as much dancing as the SPF. I'm completely baffled by the stable boy-->Nutcracker-->Sugar Plum Fairy's Consort idea, especially in light of the confused and cluttered battle scene, but that's how Kudelka has chosen to place his emphasis. :dunno:

 

It so happens that I will be in Toronto again this month, so I re-watched the film from 2008 to decide whether to see the production while visiting, but I disliked it as much as ever. So garish, gimmicky, busy and musically unsatisfying. Weird to pass on the company while in town, but I know I wouldn't enjoy it. The fact that Vanstone, Dronina and Lunkina will all be absent just then makes walking away much easier. However, Stanczyk's performance in that film was truly admirable.

 

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I haven't seen the film on YouTube. It may be there, but well-disguised to keep it from being taken down for copyright violation.

 

The production was beamed into cinemas twice. In 2007 I think it may have been the first live-to-cinema ballet broadcast (with Ogden-Côté-Stanczyk). (The Royal Ballet was already doing cinema screenings, but of pre-recorded performances.) In 2008 it was livecast a second time (with Rodriguez-Stanczyk-Bowles), and it aired on Canadian Bravo a few days later, which is what I recorded at home. There were no cinemacasts from the company after that. The Canadian market turned out to be too small to make that sort of enterprise financially viable.

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I admit that I do like this Nutcracker, though it's been a few years since I've seen it.  There is something for everyone - but it does have a LOT of roles for children - I agree that the battle scene is quite busy - it's hard to know where to focus your attention - but also a reason to see it more than once.

 

For me, it's hard to justify the expense when I've seen the production a number of times, and have nobody special to share it with.  I will be going to Nut in another city though.

 

 

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Casting for Onegin at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa

 

Eugene Onegin
McGee Maddox (January 19, 21 at 8:00 pm)
Piotr Stanczyk (January 20 at 8:00 pm)
Evan McKie (January 21 at 8:00 pm)

 

Tatiana
Xiao Nan Yu (January 19, 21 at 8:00 pm)
Greta Hodgkinson Sonia Rodriguez (January 20 at 8:00 pm)
Svetlana Lunkina (January 21 at 8:00 pm)

 

Olga
Jillian Vanstone Jurgita Dronina (January 19 at 8:00 pm)
Miyoko Koyasu Jillian Vanstone (January 20 at 8:00 pm)
Elena Lobsanova (January 21 at 8:00 pm)

 

Lensky
Harrison James (January 19 at 8:00 pm)
Naoya Ebe (January 20 at 8:00 pm)
Francesco Gabriele Frola (January 21 at 8:00 pm)

 

Prince Gremin
Ben Rudisin (January 19, 21 at 8:00 pm)
Jonathan Renna (January 20 at 8:00 pm)
Nan Wang (January 21 at 8:00 pm)

 

Madame Larina
Stephanie Hutchison (January 19, 21 at 8:00 pm)
Lise-Marie Jourdain (January 20 at 8:00 pm)

 

Nurse
Lorna Geddes (January 19, 21 at 8:00 pm)
Rebekah Rimsay (January 20 at 8:00 pm)

 

 

http://national.ballet.ca/Productions/2016-17-Season/Onegin-Ottawa-2017

 

Edit: Since Sonia Rodriguez does not yet seem to be stage ready, and Jurgita Dronina is presently appearing with English National Ballet in Giselle, the women's casting has been shuffled.

 

Further edit: Owing to an indisposition, Evan McKie and Svetlana Lunkina won't be performing in Ottawa either.

Edited by volcanohunter
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I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season. I finally got a chance to see the Nutcracker here and was totally mesmerized. I think years of seeing not so good versions had set my standards so low that seeing such a treat of a production you have here just blew my socks off! I loved it. Only thing lacking was that I didn't get to see the dancers I had hoped to. Oh well. I saw Lunina and McKie who really aren't my favorite at all. They both looked a little shaky in the grand pas - especially her solo and foetee turns from the corner but other than that the show was wonderful. I also noticed a bit of what others have about the battle scene and was wondering as watching it if it might have to do with the size of the stage. As in maybe the theatre it premiered in was different in measurements and so the sets might be somewhat squished now. Anyway it was just wonderful and the show I was at appeared to be completely sold out and very responsive. 

Interesting link posted above from the Art Gallery of Ontario volcanohunter thank you for sharing it. Vanstone seems remarkably down to earth which is refreshing. I heard she is a splendid SugarPlum. There seems to be a real connection between the ballet company and art gallery here. Is the art gallery the countries national one also? Happy New Year all!

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JumpFrog,  I'm glad you were able to see the show, and that you enjoyed it.  :)  It really is nice entertainment!  Because I've been around for a while now I have the odd piece or two of trivia.  One of these is that I remember seeing Robert Binet (now choreographic associate) in Nutcracker - one of the roles he played was a little chef - and I remember that he was so incredibly cute, and really seemed to enjoy the stage!  Curiously I don't recall him being overly tall for his age then (he's quite tall now as a young adult).

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Rob Binet was also Misha one year. It's true he went through a major growth spurt - he's now 6'4" or 6'5". With a mop of curly hair on top, as well.  I happened to be sitting behind him at a performance once and tapped him on the shoulder to say "Could you please be a bit shorter?". (I've known Rob since he was 12).

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On 15.11.2016 at 10:43 AM, naomikage said:

 

It seems they have added Tarantella to that program. Indeed it is a short Balanchine program. They might be reading here. 

http://national.ballet.ca/Productions/2016-17-Season/Genus

 

Self and Soul, the piece Robert Binet created for the most recent Erik Bruhn Prize competition, has also been added to the program.

Edited by volcanohunter
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They seem to do a fair bit of midseason repertoire editing here. Odd. Is that every season?

Did anyone actually see this piece? I hope it's not like that gala work from last season or the art gallery installation ?

Can't wait for Tarantela though. I here the mcgregor piece is basically chroma with darker lighting.

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