Change for June 22 stream from Lincoln Center

[rg]

F.Y.I. the following has come in from the p.r. of Lincoln Center at Home:

<<Lincoln Center at Home’s June 22 stream of a 1978 Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of New York City Ballet performing George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilov’s full-length production of Coppélia will be replaced with a stream consisting of the third act of Coppélia only, preceded by three highlights from the 2004 Live From Lincoln Center Broadcast of the Balanchine 100 Centennial Celebration: 

• Balanchine’s Brahams-Schoenberg Quartet (fourth movement) with Wendy Whelan and Damian Woetzel; 
• Concerto Barocco with Maria Kowroski, Rachel Rutherford, and James Fayette; 
• “The Man I Love” pas de deux from Who Cares? with Alexandra Ansanelli, Nilas Martins and featuring a special performance of the Gershwin score by Wynton Marsalis. 

The decision was made by New York City Ballet and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts not to show the complete Coppélia after reviewing the footage from the 1978 Live From Lincoln Center broadcast. >>

 

[Dale]

Thank you, rg. I think people (you?) used to call the filming of Coppelia as "dancing matchsticks" because the director chose to film from way above in the fourth/fifth ring. Maybe that's the reason they thought it wouldn't come across well. 

[volcanohunter]

Couldn't they show both? I'd happily take the matchsticks and the centennial. 🥺

[Dale]

2 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

Couldn't they show both? I'd happily take the matchsticks and the centennial. 🥺

I had originally edited my comment to add that we know that the Balanchine Trust does not like having videos of complete ballets out there as they think it will lead to unauthorized performances. If that's the reason, frustrating. They could have shown both shows (as we discussed, that Who Cares excerpt is undermined by not using the usual version of the music). But then I re-read that note about Lincoln Center and NYCB reviewing the footage...Maybe its possible the master copy isn't in great shape. I don't know. Maybe I have a skeptical nature! 

[California]

What's really frustrating: The Balanchine Celebration originally scheduled for June 29 was to include: 

three of Balanchine’s ballets. Vienna Waltzes features dancers Kyra Nichols and Sean Lavery, Heather Watts and Helgi Tomasson, Elyse Borne and Bart Cook, Karin von Aroldingen and Peter Martins, and Suzanne Farrell and Adam Lüders. Mozartiana, set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky, is led by Suzanne Farrell, Victor Castelli, and Ib Andersen. Who Cares?, 

[California]

9 minutes ago, Dale said:

But then I re-read that note about Lincoln Center and NYCB reviewing the footage...Maybe its possible the master copy isn't in great shape. I don't know. Maybe I have a skeptical nature! 

I remember Robbin being so appalled at the TV broadcast of Coppelia that he soured on having his own work shown on TV if filmed in the theater. His "Live from Studio 8H" (1980?) was a studio presentation, not in the theater.

[Dale]

@California Wait? Is that no longer the case? I thought this pr note was just about the Coppelia broadcast.

[California]

4 minutes ago, Dale said:

@California Wait? Is that no longer the case? I thought this pr note was just about the Coppelia broadcast.

I'm confused. If the people now are worried about the matchstick look of Coppelia, it's consistent with Robbins' complaint about it in 1978. So they are only going to give us Act III.

Is the June 29 show still on? I hope so! Very  hard to keep up! It's not on the Lincoln Center page anymore.

Here's the page I bookmarked for June 29 -- but I can't find it elsewhere: 

http://lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home/show/tribute-to-balanchine-1983-926

Edited June 16, 2020 by California

[Dale]

1 minute ago, California said:

I'm confused. If the people now are worried about the matchstick look of Coppelia, it's consistent with Robbins' complaint about it in 1978. So they are only going to give us Act III.

Is the June 29 show still on? I hope so! Very  hard to keep up! It's not on the Lincoln Center page anymore.

Yes. Here's the page on LC's website: http://lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home/show/tribute-to-balanchine-1983-926

[Dale]

A note on the change from the website: 

 

A note on this performance of Coppélia
The decision was made by New York City Ballet and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to stream the third act of Coppélia instead of the full-length production. The production from that time included, in the second act, the character of a Chinese doll wearing a mask and making movements that were ethnically and racially insensitive. In recent years, New York City Ballet has changed the costume, make-up design, and movements for this character to eliminate the Yellowface signifiers. The program that will stream on Monday better aligns with the values of NYCB and Lincoln Center. We commit to continued examination of this alignment moving forward.

So it nothing to do with dancing matchsticks. This reason is understandable. 

[canbelto]

Well I'm bummed. I've never seen any footage of the Coppelia except in excruciating video quality, and I was looking forward to seeing Patricia McBride as the doll.

Edited June 19, 2020 by canbelto

[Jack Reed]

On 6/18/2020 at 10:03 PM, canbelto said:

Well I'm bummed. I've never seen any footage of the Coppelia except in excruciating video quality, and I was looking forward to seeing Patricia McBride as the doll.

Unh, unh.  Swanilda!  That was something to see.  Not just her sparkling dancing but her animation of the action in Act II.  *sigh*  I'd love to see that again, too.  (Nichol Hlinka took the role of the eponymous Doll.) 

But at least McBride and Helgi Tomasson (Frantz) do dance the "Peace" pas de deux (to some music Mr. B. imported from Sylvia, for the male variation and the coda).  It's the last of the divertissements, in Act III, before the Finale wrap up.   Don't despair!