toursenlair

also there are some quite fabulous divertissements in the Aladdin's Cave section of the ballet , so you will almost certainly see your fave BRB soloists in those. The ballet isn't all about the two leading dancers.

Really, Ribbons, that would have been a terrible shame. We all have our favourite dancers but at one time THEY were new to you too. The fact that you have never heard of a dancer or even of their company doesn't mean anything. They could be fabulous dancers. The companies and dancers that get the publicity do so because they are in major media centres like London and New York and Paris, and then those dancers get invited to galas as guests, and have DVDs made featuring them, and it snowballs. The best Manons I've ever seen were Alessandra Ferri (whom I'm sure you've heard of) and.... Martine Lamy from the National Ballet of Canada, whom I'm sure you've never heard of. But if Martine had turned up to guest in England and you had not bought a ticket because you had never heard of her and the National Ballet of Canada isn't very famous, you would have missed out on something extraordinary.

or something Le Corsaire-ish?

also this may come as a surprise to everyone, but from the point of view of Toronto ticket buyers, where our best seats cost about three times what BRB's do, BRB tickets are so inexpensive that I'd be going to see every cast!

Well, Ribbons, I saw the video of the Tokyo performance and they were both very good. I'm sure you'll have more than enough opportunities to see BRB dancers in the roles, as they're not likely to retire the production!

I think the ordinary audience member (ie the ballet lover but not intense balletomane) is indeed very tribal about their home ballet company, especially if, as in Toronto, we almost never see any visiting companies. I think the analogy with the local sports team is very apt. I noticed this particularly when I volunteered as the person in charge of DVDs at the National Ballet of Canada's ballet shop. People would ask for, say, Swan Lake and I'd say, "Well, we have the Royal Ballet with ANTHONY DOWELL and NATALIA MAKAROVA..." and they'd say "Don't you have the National Ballet of Canada?" and walk away. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Vladimir Malakhov does still dance in Berlin, and did even more when he started. Most dancers have already retired from dancing before they are appointed AD's anywhere so it's usually an age thing.

this appeared in an interview with Chris Wheeldon in today's Washington Post: "The Royal Ballet has commissioned another made-from-scratch ballet by Wheeldon and Talbot. (He can’t reveal the title, but it’s Shakespeare.)" http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/wunderkind-ballet-choreographer-christopher-wheeldon-tells-a-story-with-alice/2013/01/10/49b081d0-59c1-11e2-b8b2-0d18a64c8dfa_story_1.html

In that same DVD the POB ballerinas explain that Nureyev's justification for the loud handclaps is that this solo represents Raymonda coming into her full authority as a princess and that she should have an assertive character.

I'm putting my lexicographer hat on again, because the definition of the word "dolt" does seem to be germane to this discussion after all. As someone who defined words for a living for almost 20 years, I would say that a) dolt means "stupid person". No dictionaries give any other definition. b ) "dolt" has decidedly negative connotations (it's rare that words meaning "stupid person" can have any other kind of connotations!) c) there is no difference in connotation between the noun "dolt" and the adjective "doltish". They are both disparaging. Perhaps Ms Levene has some personal meaning that she attaches to "doltish" , but that is not shared by the vast majority of the speakers of the language. Whether she is suggesting that Nehemiah himself is stupid, or whether he just looked stupid in the performance is, I would say, unclear. Probably the latter, I'm guessing. I did think the flat-pack wardrobe image was quite evocative and entertaining (whether it was accurate or not, I can't say, not having been at the performance) but the "doltish" uncalled for. If someone called me a dolt, or said I was doltish, I would indeed be insulted, and I think everyone on this forum would likely feel the same way. Imagine how you would react if I were to comment on someone's post on this site and call them "doltish"? Imagine she had used some of the synonyms given by thesauruses for "dolt": halfwit, idiot, dope, nincompoop, dumb-ass, moron, etc etc (you get my drift!)

Sometimes the "dance critic" at a newspaper is whatever reporter they have available to go to a performance. I would hope this is not true of the Telegraph, however.

That's interesting. All the dictionaries give only the "stupid" sense. I wonder if the "heavy" sense is a new one. Anyone else use it this way? I agree it's insulting.

Forgive me for putting my lexicographer hat on for a moment and going off topic, but may I ask what your understanding of the two meanings of "doltish" are? (Poor Nehemiah!!)

I don't understand what you mean? V+O did not dance in Vancouver, and yes, the performances were badly attended. a) Vancouver, despite being a city of over 1 million, does not have a very good audience for ballet. I think Vancouverites prefer to go skiing or hiking! b ) The Mikhailovsky has no name recognition in Canada. Even if V+O had been dancing (which they couldn't, because they were in NY at the time), they don't have great name recognition with the general public, and even with the ballet audience (except for the really ardent knowledgeable balletomanes) in Canada either. Also, because the booking was more or less last minute for the ballet company I don't think they had much time for advance publicity to counteract the problem. c) I believe the National Ballet of Cuba had performed Swan Lake a few months earlier as part of Ballet BC's subscription package. I don't know.

They had to cancel their NY engagement because ABT exercised a non-compete clause they had in their contract with Vasiliev and Osipova (V+O were also guesting with ABT at the same time the MIkhalovsky was supposed to be in NY). The Mikhailovsky ended up going to Vancouver instead.

Yes, go and see BRB's Coppelia! It's gorgeous.

Casting for the Bolshoi Bayadere on January 27 is up (Zakharova again): http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2013/01/bolshoi-live-broadcast-la-bayadere.html

wandering off the topic a little I'd just like to rant about new opera houses that still aren't designed with ballet in mind. We got a brand new opera house here in Toronto five years ago (owned by the opera company, but assuming the ballet would be a tenant, which it is), and they STILL sank the front rows below the stage so you can't see the feet. And the ballet company charges top dollar for those seats in spite of it. It's true, who cares about an opera singer's feet? But they KNEW people would be watching ballet in this theatre. What were they thinking? In a theatre that doesn't have this problem I am happiest in the front row, especially for a story ballet, because I want to get swept up in the action. It always frustrates me that I have to choose between feet and feeling the passion.

I certainly wouldn't mind eating pavlova everywhere I went!

I've posted on my blog (http://toursenlair.b...nner-party.html) a menu I recently served for a ballet-themed dinner party. I'd love to hear more suggestions.

The first few rows also seem to be sunk below the level of the stage a bit (hence they are also a bit cheaper than the other orchestra stalls). Better raking of the orchestra stalls seats starts at about row L. Or if you're lucky enough to get an aisle seat looking inward across the aisle then you don't get the heads in front of you problem. But I suspect those seats sell first to Friends before public sale starts.

Maybe I'm too literal minded, but is anyone else mystified as to how this promotes ballet? Will people be rushing out to buy tickets to Bayadere as a result of watching it?

Here's a nice glimpse of NBOC's great Nutcracker (choreography by James Kudelka). Northern Ballet fans will recognize Jonathan Renna as an Arabian dancer. http://youtu.be/Hj_2ve-x5o0 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.c...ed/Hj_2ve-x5o0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Also I love that the orchestra gets some appreciation woven into the ballet!

Isn't that funny, Julie, I was looking at those jesters in the intermission and wondering if one of them was Martin! Watching this Nut reminded me how beautiful it is and brought back many memories of seeing it in Winnipeg... where it always was a hit with children and adults alike. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet retired it because the theatres where they tour demanded a Christmas tree... Seeing it now, knowing much more about ballet, I appreciate the allusions to all the Petipa ballets. When I used to see it the Arabian dance was as I recall more Arabian and not a Pharaoh's Daughter takeoff. Also the Chinese costume was more Chinese rather than a tutu, though the choreography is the same (I think, it's getting on 20 years since I saw it in Winnipeg). I just think the whole idea of the "sweets" being the wonderful "Treats" that classical ballet provides us with is such a wonderful interpretation of it. I don't miss the rats one bit!