Les Grands Ballets Canadiens 2016-17

[volcanohunter]

Gradimir Pankov, who has been artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal since 1999, announced his decision to retire a year ago. Today it was announced that he will be succeeded by former Stuttgart Ballet principal and former West Australian Ballet artistic director Ivan Cavallari, presently director of the Ballet of the Opéra National du Rhin.

The company's 2016-17 season:

October 13-15, 20-22, 27-28
Maillot/Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet

December 10-11, 15, 17-18, 22-23, 26-30
Nault/Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker

February 22-26
Makarova after Petipa, Ivanov/Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
Perm State Ballet

March 23-25, 30-April 1
Naharin/various: Minus One

April 26-29
Yaremenko/Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro

National Ballet of Ukraine

May 25-27, June 1-3

Kylián/Reich: Falling Angels
Kylián/Dvořák: Evening Songs
Thoss/Glass: Searching for Home

The company will also perform Stephan Thoss' Death and the Maiden at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris in March 2017 and bring the Minus One program to several Canadian cities after that.

http://www.grandsballets.com/en/

[sandik]

Interesting -- how many companies now are performing the Maillot Romeo? I know Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Atlanta Ballet...

[volcanohunter]

As you can see, these days Les Grands Ballets skews contemporary, so I'd almost be surprised to see it performing a version other than Maillot's. In that sense I suspect it's different from PNB or Atlanta Ballet. I do wonder whether the physical production is shared between them. Of course audiences want story ballets, and what I find interesting is that LGBC generally imports visitors to provide them. This season it's Coppélia from Shanghai and Don Quixote from Havana; last season it was the POB's Paquita and Eifman's Anna Karenina; before that it was La Bayadère from Kiev and Marie-Antoinette from Houston. I would think those would be expensive tours to fund, but it must be less costly for the company than expanding its own roster and staging big productions for itself. Apart from The Nutcracker, the company presents its programs at the 1,500-seat Théâtre Maisonneuve. Apparently only The Nutcracker and the visitors can fill the 3,000 seats of the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.

[sandik]

PNB and Atlanta shared expenses for the physical production of Romeo -- they own sets and costumes between them. I don't know that they are renting the physical production to Les Grands, but it wouldn't surprise me. (it's an expensive set to move).

Raphael Bouchard is with the company now -- he was here for a couple of years and before that with the Monte Carlo company. I don't think he stages yet, but he's a great Benvolio.

It occurs to me that this is, for R&J, a fairly small cast -- perhaps that's part of the dynamic here.

[mussel]

PNB and Atlanta shared expenses for the physical production of Romeo -- they own sets and costumes between them. I don't know that they are renting the physical production to Les Grands, but it wouldn't surprise me. (it's an expensive set to move).

If I remember correctly (saw it with PNB at CC), the set is just several white movable panels, so I can't imagine it's expensive to transport, at least not on the scale of ABT's Beauty.

[sandik]

It's deceptive -- yes, it's a series of panels, but as I understand it, they're relatively fragile and don't disassemble much. Certainly not as many moving parts as the SB, but still a pain.

Costumes, on the other hand, should be easier -- many of the dresses resemble Fortuny gowns, which were designed to coil up into a little hat-box.

[Jayne]

Pittsburgh Ballet also performs the Malliot version. Other companies include Northern Ballet (England) and Korean National Ballet. Not sure if there are more.

[JMcN]

Northern Ballet (UK) toured Maillot's R&J last Spring and will be doing some upcoming dates in the Autumn.

The set looks deceptively simple but I suspect it is devilish difficult to assemble and disassemble, particularly when the stages that NB tour to are all different sizes!

[sandik]

It has to work just so, as the transitions are mostly during the actual performing (no curtain down for change except at intermission) and in some cases are a part of the choreography. The ramp in particular needs to be absolutely right.

And yes, touring it would be a beast.

[volcanohunter]

Gosh. Why design such an impractical and delicate set?

[sandik]

It is very effective in action, but yes, it's tricky to work with. But the Monte Carlo company tours extensively with it, so they've figured out how it operates.

[mom2]

Saw the Nutcracker on Dec. 26.  Had forgotten how much I enjoy the "King of Candyland!"  Overall a great show, and a wonderful crowd on a very icy night.