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2021-2022 Season: Washington Ballet


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48 minutes ago, ECat said:

Is it just me, or does the 2021-2022 rep seem a bit boring?  Perhaps one less full length and another mixed-bill.

That Swan Lake was in the works for a long time. If they looked at other options in DC next season, Giselle must have seemed like it had great potential as a safe money-maker after the long drought of serious revenue. Not something I'd jump onto an airplane to see, but still...

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14 hours ago, California said:

That Swan Lake was in the works for a long time. If they looked at other options in DC next season, Giselle must have seemed like it had great potential as a safe money-maker after the long drought of serious revenue. Not something I'd jump onto an airplane to see, but still...

Good points for sure!   I hope that their rep brings in the revenue that they are hoping for.  But I do agree that nothing they're performing warrants a plane trip.

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I went to their season opener, which was actually a fundraiser rather than a formal performance (the cheapest tickets were $80). It was held in an unlikely place: the National Building Museum. The program consisted of various excerpts with only 1 full dance: a roughly 15-minute long effort from one of their dancers, Andile Ndlovu (it was surprisingly sophisticated coming from a beginning choreographer). Since the program was only available via a QR scan and I didn't have time before the show to scan it in owing to malfunctioning credit card reader, I didn't bother to make any mental notes about the performance since I was too far from the stage to recognize most of the dancers (whom I hadn't seen for almost 2 years), other than that a studio company member named Rench Soriano was impressive in the Flames of Paris pas de deux, showing extreme athletic ability. The one item that some people might be interested in is that Rolando Sarabia has retired (and is now the AD at the Roanoke Ballet Theater).

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Like YouOverThere, I too was at Thursday night’s performance and had trouble accessing the program.  I understand the reasons for digital programs, but at a minimum the cast should be posted on a board (one can at least take a picture of that) and the program should be available online afterwards.  Thankfully, I see TWB has done the latter:  https://www.washingtonballet.org/events/opening-performance-celebration.  Hope this is helpful!

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26 minutes ago, YouOverThere said:

According to the Live Nation website, proof of a covid vaccination will NOT be required for attending Giselle at the Warner Theater. I didn't see any mention of a change in the mask requirement.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is dropping both vaccination and mask requirements as of April. Both Colorado Ballet and Opera Colorado will be performing this month (along with touring Broadway shows, Colorado Symphony, and live theater groups). I'm not crazy about that and I have a hunch many will stay with masks, even if not required. Political pressures are enormous in Colorado (not that Lauren Boebert is a big ballet/opera fan, as far as I know...)

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On 6/18/2021 at 12:19 PM, California said:

Washington Ballet has just announced their 2021-22 season: https://www.washingtonballet.org/seasons/2021-22-season/

Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Next steps

The WB has only 11 male dancers (out of 31 in the professional company), several of whom are early in their careers, so perhaps they felt it best to program ballets that don't require a lot of experienced men.

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6 minutes ago, YouOverThere said:

The WB has only 11 male dancers (out of 31 in the professional company), several of whom are early in their careers, so perhaps they felt it best to program ballets that don't require a lot of experienced men.

Hoping Washington Ballet announces their 2022-23 season soon.  Ditto for Boston Ballet and NYCB for next year. Almost all other companies have announced. ABT usually announces their fall season in July.

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On 4/4/2022 at 8:17 AM, YouOverThere said:

According to the Live Nation website, proof of a covid vaccination will NOT be required for attending Giselle at the Warner Theater. I didn't see any mention of a change in the mask requirement.

The Warner Theater did not enforce a mask requirement at tonight's Steve Hackett concert.

Edited by YouOverThere
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On 4/4/2022 at 8:17 AM, YouOverThere said:

According to the Live Nation website, proof of a covid vaccination will NOT be required for attending Giselle at the Warner Theater. I didn't see any mention of a change in the mask requirement.

The Live Nation website how states that vaccinations ARE required!

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On 4/24/2022 at 11:31 AM, YouOverThere said:

On their Facebook page, the WB has a post about a discount code - SPRING - that is supposed to allow you to buy tickets for $40. I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know if it's for all seats or for all performances.

I tried the code, and it didn't work. A couple of people have posted on the WB Facebook page that they also couldn't get it to work.

I had also received an email from the WB with this code.

Edited by YouOverThere
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6 hours ago, YouOverThere said:

I tried the code, and it didn't work. A couple of people have posted on the WB Facebook page that they also couldn't get it to work.

I had also received an email from the WB with this code.

The promo code DID work at the box office (after standing in line for 20 minutes - the wait was just as long for the will call).

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On 4/28/2022 at 4:35 PM, YouOverThere said:

I tried the code, and it didn't work. A couple of people have posted on the WB Facebook page that they also couldn't get it to work.

I had also received an email from the WB with this code.

How stupid of me! I was trying to enter the promo code in the box labelled "Add Credits / Promo Code / Gift Card". It should have been obvious that this would not be the right place to enter a promo code. Anyone with any brains at all would have figured out that you click on the "Unlock" button and enter the promo code there.

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At the Sunday evening performance, Andile Ndlovu dancing as Albrecht suffered an apparent major injury during the next-to-last solo in the forced dance sequence. After Ayano Kimura as Giselle held things together with a little improvising, they sent out Hilarion (Ariel Martinez) to take over Albrecht's parts (no chance for a costume change). This was very unfortunate, as Kimura and Ndlovu really fit together well.

Ndlovu is scheduled to choreograph a piece for the WB's performance at the Wolf Trap in September. His injury could potentially impact his ability to teach his choreography (if he hasn't taught it already).

 

Edited by YouOverThere
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Cross-posting from the promotions thread, since this truly belongs here. I'm attending the Saturday matinee (June 25). Some of my friends want to know more about the ballets before buying tix, especially about the music and general style (ballet, modern, etc.).

 

We now have titles for all three ballets for NEXTSteps, which begins on June 22. According to Jessica Lang's Instagram, her piece is titled Beethoven Sonata.  In sum:

New Ballet 1 - Brett Ishida's home-coming (music still unknown)

New Ballet 2 - Jessica Lang's Beethoven Sonata 

New Ballet 3 - Mthuthuzeli November's Where Do We Go Now? (Music still not announced...but Gloria Estefan's All Night Long was in the background of a Facebook clip last March)

The company's website's page for NEXTSteps is still not updated...but Ballet Alert has it. That's why we are Ballet Alert.

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40 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Double Eureka about the upcoming NEXTSteps2022 program of new choreographies!

Not only do we now have all of the vital information on the three new works but TWB has posted the digital version of the playbill-program, with castings and other details!

NEXTsteps | The Washington Ballet

(scroll past the photo of Julie Kent)

So the way to view the program is to click on the faint arrow next to the photo of Andile Ndlovu that is accompanied by the caption "Header photo of Gian Carlo Perez and Abigail Granlund by Spencer Bentley".

They've added a 4th work, a duet by the retiring Tamas Krizsa that will be danced by himself and his fellow retiree Sona Kharatian (both of whom have already been working as rehearsal assistants).

Speaking of Andile Ndlovu, I don't see him listed in any of the casts, which might well mean that his leg is in a cast owing to his injury in Giselle.

Edited by YouOverThere
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