World Ballet Day 2020 - 29th October

[Lynette H]

It is back.  Details here

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/news/worldballetday-returns-on-29-october-2020

 

Participants include the Royal Ballet, Bolshoi, the Australian Ballet. 

[pherank]

On 10/6/2020 at 8:25 AM, Lynette H said:

It is back.  Details here

https://www.roh.org.uk/news/worldballetday-returns-on-29-october-2020

Participants include the Royal Ballet, Bolshoi, the Australian Ballet. 

This tells us which companies have easier restrictions in place. I assume there's going to be various companies pre-filming shorter segments as well, but I don't see a listing of those extra participants yet.

And there's the cost to consider - it takes money to pay for video crew and editors, and money is one thing dance companies don't have right now.

Edited October 10, 2020 by pherank

[Buddy]

These are all the companies in order of time with links for tomorrow, Oct. 29.  It’s in french but should be easy to understand. I believe that the times are for France, which would be five hours earlier EDT. The Mariinsky, for one, will be appearing for the first time.

https://www.dansesaveclaplume.com/hors-scene/1106872-world-ballet-day-2020-le-programme-du-29-octobre/

(Thanks to Naomi M at BalletcoForum)

Edited October 28, 2020 by Buddy

[pherank]

13 hours ago, Buddy said:

These are all the companies in order of time with links for tomorrow, Oct. 29.  It’s in french but should be easy to understand. I believe that the times are for France, which would be five hours earlier EDT. The Mariinsky, for one, will be appearing for the first time.

https://www.dansesaveclaplume.com/hors-scene/1106872-world-ballet-day-2020-le-programme-du-29-octobre/

(Thanks to Naomi M at BalletcoForum)

Thanks, that helps.

[maps]

Happily watched The Mariinsky class!  It's on FB - while there check out Gabe Stone Shayer rehearsing DQ with Skylar Brandt and coached by Corella!  Sunshine through the gloom. ABT's on at 3:45 and this is a great addition for WBD viewing:  https://www.facebook.com/gabe.shayer/videos/10159274649659575/?__tn__=%2CdCH-R-R&eid=ARBlbseUGyQFUYLi8opkVz5VrGWH1gtGyUjpKoJiA__uTbBfMFQnwmzgNgxRXH6V-FZAN4WtoMhro_Iv&hc_ref=ARRoaCL_2d-JHazvq6hAld_yKr98fOFHtLebnpiFu2HZ8It-edBvTk-5tdK1fsmImtY&fref=nf

Realistically what will I see live in 2021?  Each month increases the chances so by late April and May might be ABT DQ and TWB SL?  Miami is doing a 2020 live Nutcracker outdoors which is a good prototype for venues like Wolf Trap [has state of the art equipment ] :  https://www.miamicityballet.org/nutcracker?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI44Wv2tjZ7AIVwtSzCh3dFwsEEAAYASAAEgJGGfD_BwE

I loved the broadcast of the Arja FB especially since the Bouder FB was my first cancellation.  Miami also had a fun pop up studio with tutus in the windows on Lincoln Road.  

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by maps
*8 am+

[Buddy]

13 hours ago, maps said:

Happily watched The Mariinsky class! ....

 

Liked it too, Maps. Also enjoyed footage from the Bolshoi and the Royal Ballet. I've posted comments and links at their 2020/2021 Season topics.

 

(Whoops, can't make this go away.)

13 hours ago, maps said:

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2020 by Buddy

[Drew]

Have only been able to watch a few fragments --all very enjoyable (including the excerpts of the Gracheva company class at the Bolshoi and a bit of Vetrov's.) I also found Lantratov and Turazashvilli's interview with Denis Savin quite charming. (As dazzling as it has been to watch the very professional Novikova year after year play interpreter to the dancers and their coaches etc. seeing a soloist with the company able to play that role was pretty dazzling in itself.) I also enjoyed the rehearsal footage of Tereshkina with Kunakova -- a ballerina I remember from the Kirov tours of the Reagan era and into the eighties...

[Buddy]

11 hours ago, Drew said:

Have only been able to watch a few fragments --all very enjoyable (including the excerpts of the Gracheva company class at the Bolshoi and a bit of Vetrov's.) I also found Lantratov and Turazashvilli's interview with Denis Savin quite charming. (As dazzling as it has been to watch the very professional Novikova year after year play interpreter to the dancers and their coaches etc. seeing a soloist with the company able to play that role was pretty dazzling in itself.) I also enjoyed the rehearsal footage of Tereshkina with Kunakova -- a ballerina I remember from the Kirov tours of the Reagan era and into the eighties...

I also enjoyed the Bolshoi’s Gracheva class very much. I’ve watched it a second time and may watch it again. I was particularly focused on Olga Smirnova. No surprise. Her rehearsal of “Oregon" with Ruslan Skvortsov was also very fine. I agree with you about the charming Lantratov and Turazashvilli interview with Denis Savin and they both did a fine job all evening. Their segments were the only live ones.

I hope to see the rest of Yuri Fateev’s Mariinsky class as it was the only live one that I saw.

At the Royal Ballet, Marianela Núñez’s and Vadim Muntagirov’s rehearsal of George Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux”, coached by Christopher Saunders was another highlight. Christopher Saunders was quite impressive as a coach and he made the rather surprising observation that he thought that all the dancers returned with better ability at detail. He attributed this to their lack of distraction during their time away. Vadim Muntagirov, on the other hand, said that he was very glad to be back as he was really losing his ability to partner.

It’s very good to see so much ballet activity everywhere. I hope that it can continue at a healthy pace. The Royal Ballet seems to have one of the more sensible overall formats. The Bolshoi, which is operating at full steam, does seem to be trying its best to make things as healthy as possible.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Buddy

[Marta]

On 10/30/2020 at 3:11 AM, Drew said:

Have only been able to watch a few fragments --all very enjoyable (including the excerpts of the Gracheva company class at the Bolshoi and a bit of Vetrov's.) I also found Lantratov and Turazashvilli's interview with Denis Savin quite charming. (As dazzling as it has been to watch the very professional Novikova year after year play interpreter to the dancers and their coaches etc. seeing a soloist with the company able to play that role was pretty dazzling in itself.) I also enjoyed the rehearsal footage of Tereshkina with Kunakova -- a ballerina I remember from the Kirov tours of the Reagan era and into the eighties...

I enjoyed everyone in this same interview very much, and Turazashvili's English was so impressive!  Tereshkina is one of my favorite Mariinsky dancers, and it was also easy  to see her in Fateyev's class.

[Drew]

I had a chance to watch more of the Bolshoi video--was that Chenchikova coaching Denisova as Aurora? I looked at the photos on the website and in photos she seems the only coach with those bangs. I ask because she came across as very caring and supportive even as she was working adamantly on certain details. I found myself really liking her, or at least, her way of conducting the rehearsal. Anyway--if someone knows, I'd be curious (perhaps @volcanohunter?)....I found it almost unbearable to watch Allash coach Smirnova and Skvortsov because she was wearing her mask incorrectly--but that says nothing to what kind of coach she is! The dancers were beautiful to watch.

Vaziev was a like a parody of the ballet martinet--it's as if he reads the criticisms of him that appear every World Ballet Day (at least on English-language websites) and decides to double down when the next World Ballet Day comes around. I have to add that his take-down of the young woman who wore a black tutu to snowflake rehearsal rather reminded me of the sort of thing one of my ballet teachers might have said to a student he thought was trying to stand out inappropriately. He was, at any rate, not wrong in what he said to the dancers about the importance of getting the timing right etc. If Bolshoi watchers think the corps de ballet standards are up, I guess he must have something to do with it...

Edited November 1, 2020 by Drew

[volcanohunter]

1 hour ago, Drew said:

I had a chance to watch more of the Bolshoi video--was that Chenchikova coaching Denisova as Aurora

Yes, Denisova is coached by Olga Chenchikova.

[Drew]

1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

Yes, Denisova is coached by Olga Chenchikova.

Thank you.

[Drew]

Delete (sorry)

Edited November 1, 2020 by Drew

[Buddy]

7 hours ago, Drew said:

I had a chance to watch more of the Bolshoi video--was that Chenchikova coaching Denisova as Aurora? I looked at the photos on the website and in photos she seems the only coach with those bangs. I ask because she came across as very caring and supportive even as she was working adamantly on certain details. I found myself really liking her, or at least, her way of conducting the rehearsal. Anyway--if someone knows, I'd be curious (perhaps @volcanohunter?)....I found it almost unbearable to watch Allash coach Smirnova and Skvortsov because she was wearing her mask incorrectly--but that says nothing to what kind of coach she is! The dancers were beautiful to watch.

Vaziev was a like a parody of the ballet martinet--it's as if he reads the criticisms of him that appear every World Ballet Day (at least on English-language websites) and decides to double down when the next World Ballet Day comes around. I have to add that his take-down of the young woman who wore a black tutu to snowflake rehearsal rather reminded me of the sort of thing one of my ballet teachers might have said to a student he thought was trying to stand out inappropriately. He was, at any rate, not wrong in what he said to the dancers about the importance of getting the timing right etc. If Bolshoi watchers think the corps de ballet standards are up, I guess he must have something to do with it...

Thanks, Drew, for your comments. I'm glad that you enjoyed the Bolshoi broadcast. I liked much of it as well. In regard to your comments about Makhar Vaziev I really feel that ballet is about human beings and the beauty of human beings. The beauty of a human performance loses its beauty and meaning, for me, if it’s the result of ‘inhuman’ behavior.

 

[Drew]

That’s a wonderful perspective.

I admit I don’t find Vaziev inhuman (at least not what we saw) and I don’t believe that anyone who isn’t preternaturally tough could run the Bolshoi for long. I also doubt getting yelled at is the cruelest thing that happens to dancers. There may be better ways to discipline a corps—let’s hope so—though none of them are likely to be gentle.

Was glad to see Filin acknowledged and thanked a couple of times including by Smirnova.

Edited November 1, 2020 by Drew

[Buddy]

46 minutes ago, Drew said:

That’s a wonderful perspective.

I admit I don’t find Vaziev inhuman (at least not what we saw) and I don’t believe that anyone who isn’t preternaturally tough could run the Bolshoi for long. I also doubt getting yelled at is the cruelest thing that happens to dancers. There may be better ways to discipline a corps—let’s hope so—though none of them are likely to be gentle.

Was glad to see Filin acknowledged and thanked a couple of times including by Smirnova.

Hi Drew. Thanks so much for your response and interest. May I respectfully disagree and offer this as one example.

Tatiana Legat, now répétiteur at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, married to Yuri Soloviev and hailing from a dynasty of famous Russian ballet artists. She recalls some of the most famous names in ballet history. 

. “Word has it that you are exceptionally kind to your girls.

“I rehearse with the entire corps de ballet. Everyone knows that this is the hardest thing to do, and no one wants to do it. You must hold the line, whilst having your legs perfectly turned out at the correct angle and staying in time with the music. Every day, it’s the same drill. A corps de ballet dancer’s work is hard, but essential. There is no theatre without the corps de ballet.

“I think our corps de ballet is just about beginning to come into its own. The girls are so lithe, graceful, and energetic! Our girls have good form. I work hard on them, but without shouting. I go up to them, talk, and explain how I used to do it. And I feel that bit by bit I am winning them over. Being strict is all well and good, but you have to love them.”

https://mikhailovsky.ru/en/press/media/interview/tatiana_legat_interview/

(thanks to Katharine Kanter at Dansomanie)

[Drew]

That's a lovely example. Nor are we in as quite as much disagreement as you imagine; much better if one can guide the corps de ballet as Legat says she does at the Mikhailovsky. (I will add, though, that when I saw the Mikhailovsky in Giselle and Flames of Paris at the Koch theater in New York, I did not see a classical corps de ballet that was comparable to the Bolshoi's.)

 

 

[Buddy]

4 minutes ago, Drew said:

That's a lovely example. Nor are we in as quite as much disagreement as you imagine; much better if one can guide the corps de ballet as Legat says she does at the Mikhailovsky. (I will add, though, that when I saw the Mikhailovsky in Giselle and Flames of Paris at the Koch theater in New York, I did not see a classical corps de ballet that was comparable to the Bolshoi's.)

 

 

Thanks again, Drew.

I was just going to add this to my previous post.

I've written several times how pleasantly surprised I was by the Mikhailovsky Corps de Ballet two years ago just before attending that Mariinsky Festival. It was a pure delight, so natural and so magical. I went as far as to say that I may have been in heaven for a few moments. After seeing the entire Mariinsky Festival I still considered the Mikhailovsky Corps de Ballet perhaps the highlight of the trip. Granted they are different, certainly in size, than the Bolshoi or Mariinsky, but I'd go back to see the Mikhailovsky in an instant because of that.