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2020: Free Streaming during COVID-19 Crisis


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7 minutes ago, dirac said:

Buddy, it's Adam Luders dancing with Farrell in the waltz sequence from Der Rosenkavalier. Sean Lavery is Kyra Nichols' cavalier in "Tales from the Vienna Woods."

 

Thanks, Dirac. I caught that and corrected it just before you posted. I did think that Kyra Nichols and Sean Lavery were absolutely charming as well, but Suzanna Farrell and 'Sean Lavery' (just kidding)  and the entire ensemble were, well yes -- Magnificent ! 

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Last of the free streams from SFB - available until July 6th, 2020.

SF Ballet's 2020 Opening Night Gala

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1byNQHeIBw

Yuan Yuan Tan 25th anniversary solo variation created by Yuri Possokhov during shelter-in-place:
[also appears at 45:00 in the above YouTube stream as an "intermission"]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCEW4VRn6xg/

Edited by pherank
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Even better, it was the original intended cast.  Christopher d'Amboise danced the Gigue at the premiere, replacing Victor Castelli.  I have nothing against Christopher d'Amboise, but I was a very big fan of Victor Corelli, and Gigue was one of his greatest roles.

Half of each couple in Vienna Waltzes was original cast, too:  Sean Lavery (originally with Karin von Aroldingen), Helgi Tomasson (originally with Patricia McBride), Bart Cook (originally with Sara Leland), Peter Martins (originally with Kay Mazzo), and Suzanne Farrell (originally with guest artist Jorge Donn.)  von Aroldingen moved to the Mazzo role in Gold & Silver.

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19 hours ago, Buddy said:

Thanks, Dirac. I caught that and corrected it just before you posted. I did think that Kyra Nichols and Sean Lavery were absolutely charming as well, but Suzanna Farrell and 'Sean Lavery' (just kidding)  and the entire ensemble were, well yes -- Magnificent ! 

Agree with both of you @Buddy @dirac - I was struck most by Mozartiana. I have to check if the demis are the same as the piece was choreographed on but their section was just so beautiful and revelatory.  As lovely as I've found the ladies who have recently performed it (and performed it over the years) these dancers appeared so relaxed. Usually it's performed as if they're all afraid they might break something. But the video showed women who were absolutely secure in the piece. So much so, they ould play with it and were almost soloists in their interpreting (rather than just getting through and not messing it up). They appeared so free. Of course, all three ballets were magnificent. Nice trip down memory lane. Like some of you, I both watched the company then, have an old VHS recording and seen the previous posts on YT. There's something about the program being stream that made me sit and watch from beginning to end in nearly real time. 

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I still remember Heather Watts' Who Cares? solo with the WNET transmission interruption because I watched the VHS tape so many times...  (This was fixed in the repeat, but I was away and couldn't record it.)

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On 6/28/2020 at 7:28 PM, Buddy said:

For me, Julia Cinquemani ("One for the Road" 5:45) has more than a passing resemblance to Simone Messmer. Whatever goes on with her, I do miss her.

Now back to my newly, rediscovered passion for old Fred Astaire movies.   😊

For a split second I thought it was Messmer. Wishful thinking, no disrespect to CInquemani intended.

I  wish they would get rid of those awful de la Renta frocks. Those shapeless schmatte things make the girls look forty, and the others don't look much better. (I do rather enjoy the floofy scarlet number for "Forget Domani.")

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7 hours ago, Dale said:

Agree with both of you @Buddy @dirac - I was struck most by Mozartiana. I have to check if the demis are the same as the piece was choreographed on but their section was just so beautiful and revelatory.  As lovely as I've found the ladies who have recently performed it (and performed it over the years) these dancers appeared so relaxed. Usually it's performed as if they're all afraid they might break something. But the video showed women who were absolutely secure in the piece. So much so, they ould play with it and were almost soloists in their interpreting (rather than just getting through and not messing it up). They appeared so free. Of course, all three ballets were magnificent. Nice trip down memory lane. Like some of you, I both watched the company then, have an old VHS recording and seen the previous posts on YT. There's something about the program being stream that made me sit and watch from beginning to end in nearly real time. 

Beautifully said, Dale. The original demis were Victoria Hall, Jerri Kumery, Nina Fedorova, and Susan Freedman. I looked for their names in the listing of company members in the end credits and they were all there, although I'm not familiar enough with them to identify them in the video, although I thought I saw Fedorova.

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The Berlin State Ballet is closing its 2019-20 season with a "digital gala." With performances by Aurora Dickie, Ksenia Ovsyanick, Iana Salenko, Polina Semionova, Ross Martinson, Johnny McMillan, Daniil Simkin, Dinu Tamazlacaru, and Marian Walter.

 

Edited by volcanohunter
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3 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

The Berlin State Ballet is closing its 2019-20 season with a "digital gala." With performances by Aurora Dickie, Ksenia Ovsyanick, Iana Salenko, Polina Semionova, Ross Martinson, Johnny McMillan, Daniil Simkin, Dinu Tamazlacaru, and Marian Walter.

 

Enjoyed this very much.  I fear this is the closest we'll get to the theater until 2021, if then. If dancers are alone or in pairs on an empty stage, where presumably they have effective pre-performance COVID testing for everybody, there can be some lovely moments. I've never seen Salenko in Swan Lake so the White Swan PdD even under these circumstances was wonderful to see. A single musician on an instrument that does not involve blowing works for everyone's safety and is quite satisfactory. I would even be satisfied with recorded music if that's necessary. Still, how sad to see all those empty seats in that theater and in a country that is light years ahead of the US on dealing with this pandemic. If ABT doesn't have a library chock full of great things to stream, I hope they are at least considering this alternative presentation (if they can find a theater they can use!).

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21 hours ago, dirac said:

For a split second I thought it was Messmer. Wishful thinking, no disrespect to CInquemani intended.

 

Artistically, I'd consider it the finest of compliments, Dirac. Artistically, maybe she's part of Simone Messmer's 'legacy' at the Miami City Ballet.

Back to NYCB's Vienna Waltzes for a moment to which I'm transfixed. It's perhaps the most charming work by George Balanchine that I've seen. Then there are some of the most 'elegant' performances that I've seen from my NYCB viewing and when Suzanne Farrell takes the stage with her expressive prowess everything elevates. Then when you merge this with the gorgeous ensemble finale it becomes one of the most beautiful spectacles in dance that I've ever seen.

 

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11 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

The Berlin State Ballet is closing its 2019-20 season with a "digital gala." With performances by Aurora Dickie, Ksenia Ovsyanick, Iana Salenko, Polina Semionova, Ross Martinson, Johnny McMillan, Daniil Simkin, Dinu Tamazlacaru, and Marian Walter.

 

Thank you so much for this, volcanohunter. I would have missed it otherwise.

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On 6/28/2020 at 9:28 PM, Buddy said:

... Simone Messmer. Whatever goes on with her, I do miss her.

 

Simone Messmer has had an association with Ballet Chicago going back seven years, according to their current publicity, where she is listed (three times!) among the visiting summer faculty and which identifies her home company as Ballett am Rhein.  (This last item comes in an email I can't seem to link to.)

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39 minutes ago, Jack Reed said:

Simone Messmer has had an association with Ballet Chicago going back seven years, according to their current publicity, where she is listed (three times!) among the visiting summer faculty and which identifies her home company as Ballett am Rhein.  (This last item comes in an email I can't seem to link to.)

Thanks, Jack. I read the Ballet Chicago description and when I hopefully get back to Switzerland I’ll see about the Ballett am Rhein.

Check out Julia Cinquemani ("One for the Road" starting at 5:45). She looks like Simone Messmer reincarnated. She not only looks like her, she has the same manner and presence and she’s very theatrically proficient, like Simone Messmer, and seems to have the same inventive abilities. If she continues this well (I believe that’s she’s only in the Miami City Ballet Corps de Ballet) she may be something quite special.

I’m not sure how much longer this will be posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=IXtQ_Qz0PfE&feature=emb_logo

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Mozart, in turn, based his variations on some phrases from Gluck's "The Pilgrims of Mekka," traces of which can be heard here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MYX_fqERn4

The Mozartiana I know is Kyra Nichols'. She succeed Farrell in the role, partnered first by Ib Andersen and later by Damian Woetzel. In interview here in San Francisco she said that she had to strip away all of Farrell's ornamentation and start from scratch. Her interpretation as I remember it had fewer of Farrell's startling transitions and upbeats and was clearer, yet seemed as complex. Croce says of Farrell’s varied timings that it looked like a tape of herself run backwards – which doesn’t necessarily sound bad, but maybe that's something of what Nichols meant.

Fascinating to watch this and try to figure out its structure. Its "heavenlyness" is very complex. With respect to Croce’s comment, sometimes it seems as if it's both weaving and unweaving itself, writing and unwriting itself at the same time. Farrell and Andersen do such curious and clunky and "thingy" movements, on the verge of not being within the ballet vocabulary. They scratch the floor and pop up off it, tip like pitchers and straighten up, quote each other and the Castelli character as well. And everyone is dressed in black as if out of a Manet painting.

Edited by Quiggin
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On 7/3/2020 at 2:27 PM, California said:

If ABT doesn't have a library chock full of great things to stream, I hope they are at least considering this alternative presentation (if they can find a theater they can use!).

Alas, there is no shortage of empty theaters in New York right now. :( If pieces featuring a corps are out of the question at present, the stage wouldn't even have to be especially large. 

Edited by volcanohunter
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Quoting from the Fjord Review...next up for MCB -

"Miami City Ballet presents a digital season of performance in their Friday Night Spotlights program. Upcoming broadcasts are:

Symphonic Dances
July 10 at 8 p.m.

Alexei Ratmansky’s Symphonic Dances, set to Rachmaninoff’s arousing score of the same name, was made especially for MCB."

Don't miss the "arousing" score.  😉

 

Edited by pherank
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On 7/4/2020 at 12:57 AM, Quiggin said:

Fascinating to watch this and try to figure out its structure. Its "heavenlyness" is very complex. ...

May I recommend the discussion going on here in 2007 about Mozartiana's heavenliness and complexity?  Like other great art, Mozartiana is inexhaustible.

Edited by Jack Reed
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The Vail Festival has announced a Digital Festival that coincides with the original dates for 2020. They'll show highlights from the past ten years. A welcome treat, as I missed most of them:

AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT
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We are thrilled to bring you the Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition July 31-August 7, 2020! This special online series of events will feature unique performances from the past 10 years including debuts and revivals that have only been seen in Vail, a world premiere choreographed by Bobbi Jene Smith made in, and for, the virtual space, plus a range of educational programming including Passing Balanchine On with Heather Watts and Damian Woetzel, and Conversations On Dance with Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden. The Digital season is generously underwritten by Jody and John Arnhold. The Festival will be available for a limited time on our Facebook and YouTube channels. See the schedule below! 
 
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OPENING NIGHT
Friday, July 31, 6pm MST

The Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition begins with a specially curated selection of performances from the past 10 years including debuts, revivals, and new works that have rarely if ever been seen outside of Vail. Hosted by Artistic Director Damian Woetzel, with appearances by a range of the extraordinary dancers and musicians who have made Vail a summer laboratory for creative collaboration.  
| LEARN MORE |  
 
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VIRTUAL GALA
Sunday, August 2, 6pm MST 

The Virtual Gala evening will feature stars of the Vail Dance Festival from the worlds of ballet, tap, modern, and street dance. Among the highlights of this dynamic program will be The Personal Element, a 2019 Vail world premiere from revered choreographer Alonzo King, with an original score composed and performed by jazz luminary Jason Moran, danced by artists from Alonzo King LINES Ballet and New York City Ballet. 
| LEARN MORE |  
 
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PASSING BALANCHINE ON
Monday, August 3, 6pm MST
Heather Watts and Damian Woetzel on mentoring, coaching, and curating George Balanchine's works at the Vail Dance Festival, with Tiler Peck, Herman Cornejo, and Calvin Royal III, and featuring archival films of Balanchine repertory on Vail stages.   
| LEARN MORE |  
 
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NOW: PREMIERES
Tuesday, August 4, 6pm MST
New works and collaborations made in Vail by a selection of today's most adventurous voices in dance, featuring a world premiere choreographed by Bobbi Jene Smith with dancers Melissa Toogood, Calvin Royal III, and Smith herself joining in this dance made in and for the virtual space. This evening also features Rise Wait Climb Through, a 2018 world premiere choreographed by Justin Peck, with a commissioned score by Caroline Shaw.  
| LEARN MORE |  
 
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CONVERSATIONS ON DANCE WITH REBECCA KING FERRARO & MICHAEL SEAN BREEDEN
Wednesday, August 5, 6pm MST
Join Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden from the popular podcast series Conversations On Dance, as they host in-depth discussions from afar with Festival artists including Lil Buck, Calvin Royal III, and "the Cindies" Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside. 
| LEARN MORE |  
 
 
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CLOSING NIGHT
Friday, August 7, 6pm MST

Closing night of the Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition brings to the screen the extraordinary 2017 world premiere, we seem to be more than one, choreographed by Michelle Dorrance in collaboration with Dario Natarelli and her extraordinary cast. This piece captures the unique collaborative spirit of the Festival, bringing together dancers from tap, ballet, contemporary, jookin', flamenco, and modern traditions. Hosted by Damian Woetzel, the evening will open with the 2019 world premiere piece d’occasion Carolina Shout with jazz pianist Jason Moran and dancers Michelle Dorrance and Lil Buck.  
| LEARN MORE |  
 
- OPENING NIGHT SCREENING IN VAIL -
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Join us at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater on July 31st at 6:00pm to watch Opening Night of Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition! This event is free, but due to limited capacity and seating, you must reserve a ticket.
 
LEARN MORE
 
 
 
- FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL -
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First: Roman Mejia performs Alexei Ratmansky’s Fandango. Photo by: Christopher Duggan. Dancers from Alonzo King's LINES Ballet and New York City Ballet perform Alonzo King's The Personal Element. Photo by Christopher Duggan. Heather Watts coaching Tiler Peck and Herman Cornejo in Apollo. Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Erin Baiano. Rise Wait Climb Through. Choreography by Justin Peck. Photo by Erin Baiano. Conversations On Dance with Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden and guest James Whiteside. Photo by Brian Maloney. we seem to be more than one. Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance. Photo by Erin Baiano. Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. Photo by Jon Resnick.


Our mailing address is:
Vail Valley Foundation
90 Benchmark Road Suite 300
Avon, Colorado 81620
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On 7/6/2020 at 12:46 PM, Jack Reed said:

May I recommend the discussion going on here in 2007 about Mozartiana's heavenliness and complexity?  Like other great art, Mozartiana is inexhaustible.

Thanks, Jack, it's concise and has some good observations, such as about the three-voiced writing for the Gigue. Also about Andersen's beats off his Bounonville drum-stick legs. I see that AG has just amended the "sunny version" Franklin/Davilova pas turtorial from the Balanchine Foundation to it.

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