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2020: Free Streaming during COVID-19 Crisis


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5 hours ago, jeff-sh said:

Balanchine Ballets by Perm Opera Ballet Theater coming up at 10AM

 

I just watched the first part, George Balanchine's

"Serenade"

Absolutely Gorgeous  !

George Balanchine as  might be performed by the Angels.

Thanks, Jeff-sh.

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7 hours ago, jeff-sh said:

Balanchine Ballets by Perm Opera Ballet Theater coming up at 10AM

 

 

And once again.

Part II

“Ballet Imperial”    (Starts at 54:30)

Magical !

And once again, George Balanchine as might be danced by the Angels.

'Oh, give me the dream  boys and free my soul I wanna get lost in your rock 'n' roll and drift away'

(slightly changed  --  "Drift Away")

Edited by Buddy
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8 hours ago, nanushka said:

Good video of Ballet Imperial is always welcome, IMO. There's too little of it available. I do wish NYCB would include it in their spring line-up. We get to see plenty of Rubies. I'm hoping some of the gaps in the recorded Balanchine rep will be filled in by the end of all this.

Yes, I hope to see some different things too. I'd be happy to see a first rate Square Dance recording. Concerto Barocco, Mozartiana, Liebeslieder Walzer, Vienna Waltzes probably all deserve a permanent place in the digital world. But there's a number of less commonly danced ballets (outside of NYC) that it would be really entertaining to watch:
Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Donizetti Variations, Tarantella...but obviously NYCB needs a decent film of an exceptional cast to make these worthwhile.

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11 minutes ago, pherank said:

Yes, I hope to see some different things too. I'd be happy to see a first rate Square Dance recording. Concerto Barocco, Mozartiana, Liebeslieder Walzer, Vienna Waltzes probably all deserve a permanent place in the digital world. But there's a number of less commonly danced ballets (outside of NYC) that it would be really entertaining to watch:
Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Donizetti Variations, Tarantella...but obviously NYCB needs a decent film of an exceptional cast to make these worthwhile.

Yes to all! I'd add Symphony in 3 Movements to my personal wish list.

Edited by nanushka
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13 minutes ago, pherank said:

Yes, I hope to see some different things too. I'd be happy to see a first rate Square Dance recording. Concerto Barocco, Mozartiana, Liebeslieder Walzer, Vienna Waltzes probably all deserve a permanent place in the digital world. But there's a number of less commonly danced ballets (outside of NYC) that it would be really entertaining to watch:
Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Donizetti Variations, Tarantella...but obviously NYCB needs a decent film of an exceptional cast to make these worthwhile.

This isn't in HD but here's a recording by Miami City Ballet's Square Dance. I wish it was in higher resolution but one can still see how brilliant Delgado is.

 

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15 minutes ago, alexL said:

This isn't in HD but here's a recording by Miami City Ballet's Square Dance. I wish it was in higher resolution but one can still see how brilliant Delgado is.

Yes, it's a good performance. My main problem is with the backdrop, which actually makes the video difficult to watch, I find.

There's also a complete (as of then) video of Wilde and Magallanes around, with the caller.

Edited by nanushka
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20 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Yes to all! I'd add Symphony in 3 Movements to my personal wish list.

Yes, that one too. The Stravinsky Festival ballets are all favorites of mine. I just don't want to see 'average' performances of any of those ballets, because as one forum member put it, not so good videos do tend to teach the wrong things.

 

15 minutes ago, alexL said:

This isn't in HD but here's a recording by Miami City Ballet's Square Dance. I wish it was in higher resolution but one can still see how brilliant Delgado is.

That's one of the two(?) recordings of Square Dance that I've been able to see in the past. I thought it was a real public service for MCB to release it - especially given that NYCB was in no hurry.

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7 minutes ago, pherank said:

I just don't want to see 'average' performances of any of those ballets, because as one forum member put it, not so good videos do tend to teach the wrong things.

I'll take what I can get. At the very least, I like to have a watchable record of the basic choreographic structure and content to refer to, learn from, and appreciate. A great performance and good video quality of course make it even better.

I'm not looking to reproduce the works in my living room, so even if they teach me a few wrong things, I can live with that, and I'll trust my knowledge to be improved by live performances and other video records.

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9 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I enjoy the the solo and wildly creative I-have-too-much-time-on-my-hands little videos that pop up on TikTok, IG, and Twitter— e.g., Mary Neely's delightful recreations of famous musicals using whatever props and costumes she can cobble together from her own closets—but I agree that most of the "alone together" performing arts efforts can feel like rituals of grief even if their intention is to spark hope and community.

The Times reports on another sort of quarantine video I can really get behind:

Quote

In chaotic emergency rooms and intensive care units around New York City, coronavirus patients struggle to survive in isolation, with masked doctors and nurses keeping their distance and family visits barred. Alarms, monitors and overhead announcements blare incessantly.

But at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, the music of Bach, Brahms and even the Beatles has begun wafting through patient rooms, played by accomplished performers — recently out-of-work chamber music players; winners of international competitions and prizes; teachers at prestigious music schools.

They perform from California, Kentucky, Maine, Virginia, Massachusetts and New York, where they are sheltered in place. The music plays through an iPhone or iPad placed at the bedside of patients who indicated they wanted to hear a performance, using FaceTime’s audio-only feature to protect their privacy.

 

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21 minutes ago, nanushka said:

I'll take what I can get. At the very least, I like to have a watchable record of the basic choreographic structure and content to refer to, learn from, and appreciate. A great performance and good video quality of course make it even better.

I'm not looking to reproduce the works in my living room, so even if they teach me a few wrong things, I can live with that, and I'll trust my knowledge to be improved by live performances and other video records.

I totally understand. I've wondered for years why there wasn't a public online video/digital library of Balanchine and Robbins works being maintained by NYCB. But it just shows how much the thinking is that "this must be performed" that NYCB isn't even willing to show representative films of 95% of the repertoire.

 

14 minutes ago, nanushka said:

The Times reports on another sort of quarantine video I can really get behind:

"But at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, the music of Bach, Brahms and even the Beatles has begun wafting through patient rooms, played by accomplished performers — recently out-of-work chamber music players; winners of international competitions and prizes; teachers at prestigious music schools.
They perform from California, Kentucky, Maine, Virginia, Massachusetts and New York, where they are sheltered in place. The music plays through an iPhone or iPad placed at the bedside of patients who indicated they wanted to hear a performance, using FaceTime’s audio-only feature to protect their privacy."

This is great, pure and simple.

Edited by pherank
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34 minutes ago, nanushka said:

The Times reports on another sort of quarantine video I can really get behind:

 

Again your quote:

"In chaotic emergency rooms and intensive care units around New York City, coronavirus patients struggle to survive in isolation, with masked doctors and nurses keeping their distance and family visits barred. Alarms, monitors and overhead announcements blare incessantly.

But at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, the music of Bach, Brahms and even the Beatles has begun wafting through patient rooms, played by accomplished performers — recently out-of-work chamber music players; winners of international competitions and prizes; teachers at prestigious music schools.

They perform from California, Kentucky, Maine, Virginia, Massachusetts and New York, where they are sheltered in place. The music plays through an iPhone or iPad placed at the bedside of patients who indicated they wanted to hear a performance, using FaceTime’s audio-only feature to protect their privacy."

 

Seems like a very fine idea.

I know that when I walk into the large store where I do my shopping they are playing their normal, very pleasant 'pop' music. It's like a breath of fresh air.

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6 hours ago, Buddy said:

I just watched the first part, George Balanchine's

"Serenade"

Absolutely Gorgeous  !

George Balanchine as  might be performed by the Angels.

Thanks, Jeff-sh.

'Ballet Imperial' was even better!!  I can see Ananiashvilli's hand in that!  She was a brilliant interpreter of the role with ABT.

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22 minutes ago, atm711 said:

'Ballet Imperial' was even better!!  I can see Ananiashvilli's hand in that!  She was a brilliant interpreter of the role with ABT.

I don't know if it's better, but I've watched it four times this afternoon. Haven't made my way back to "Serenade," which I'm sure that I'll love again, but this "Ballet Imperial" has had its effect on me.   😊

Possibly the best performance in terms of Everyone, that I've ever seen  !

Edited by Buddy
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13 hours ago, eduardo said:

The Dance in America Ballo never engaged me. I found the ballet much more interesting in the actual stage version currently available at www.nycballet.com.

Opposite to what nanushka said, I really liked Megan Fairchild in this, and also Catazaro. Definitely, watching this helped me to see many of the things you pointed at when I asked about Balanchine style. One more time, thank you all for that!

I appreciate having an alternate version of Ballo on video and the opportunity to see today's NYCB dancers in it, but for me Fairchild doesn't have Ashley's zip (or those gorgeous gams). There is something about a tall girl flashing fleetly through those amazing steps. I liked Huxley very much, and the fourth soloist - I don't know who she was. Did not agree with some of the shot selections.

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7 hours ago, canbelto said:

NYCB releasing a limited amount of recent films of performances is a huge game changer. Really. I was actually stunned when it happened. 

Here's something I've noticed though. NYCB's Tuesday videos are in effect competing for viewers with the videos English National Ballet posts on Wednesdays. And although the latter are available for a shorter window, they have been getting about twice as many views as NYCB classic rep. No doubt there are many reasons for this. On this thread performances of Balanchine and Robbins repertoire garner the largest number of comments. This board is heavily New York-centric, populated by lots of New Yorkers, ex-New Yorkers and others reared on Balanchine rep. But on most performance nights NYCB can't fill its theater. We have to acknowledge that making company performances available online on a regular basis could eat into that audience even more. And I'm not optimistic about the viability of paid streaming for the company, given the number of views its free videos are getting.

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6 hours ago, dirac said:

I appreciate having an alternate version of Ballo on video and the opportunity to see today's NYCB dancers in it, but for me Fairchild doesn't have Ashley's zip (or those gorgeous gams). There is something about a tall girl flashing fleetly through those amazing steps. I liked Huxley very much, and the fourth soloist - I don't know who she was. Did not agree with some of the shot selections.

I completely agree, Ballo really needs legs. The delightful, musical surprises of the choreography just don’t get pronounced enough on Fairchild, IMO.

Emilie Gerrity was the fourth, IIRC, and yes she’s fantastic.

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This has become a trend at NYCB.  There are a lot more short women in principal roles that would look better on a taller woman.  For me the most egregious examples of this trend is putting Tiler Peck in as Terpsichore. 

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Casting is cyclical, sometimes based on preference, and sometimes based on need.  For example, I don't remember Patricia McBride not being cast for most of the roles that now "require" tall women, especially in the years that Kirstein said she saved the company (when so many other women were out or leaving).  

In one of her essays, I think from the '80's, Arlene Croce said something like NYCB had an attack of the tinies, or shorts, or something along those lines.

Sometimes it's proportions, too.  I saw Nathalia Arja dance the lead in Ballo on tour in Vancouver.  I was certain she was tall, and then I was told, she is, most definitely, short.  She danced it tall and leggy, though.  Similarly, I was certain Wim Vanlessen was six feet tall or more after watching him dance Apollo.  I didn't realize that the man who came to visit the group I was with at the intermission bar and who wasn't that much taller than I was Vanlessen :wub:.  He also danced a lot with Aki Saito, who I'm not sure was even five feet tall, so the proportions, both of his body and the two of them together, plus the way they projected, made them look a lot taller than they were.

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4 minutes ago, Helene said:

Sometimes it's proportions, too.

Definitely. Not only is Fairchild not at all tall (she even makes Huxley look taller than he typically appears), she does not have the proportions that I really prefer in a dancer. She's a dancer I could at times admire but never love, I'm afraid.

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