toursenlair

"c'est officiel". Her departure has been officially announced and a specific date given.

I would definitely be interested to know if ballet subsidizes opera at the ROH. According to Zoe Anderson's history of the RB this was true from the immediate post-war years right through the sixties at least. Here in Canada everyone assumes that opera can make money while ballet is the poor relation. But the organizations are completely separate so one cannot subsidize the other The Cdn Opera Company does rely on the ballet to rent its opera house for a sizeable chunk of the year though.

this is interesting " le Ballet assurant une partie considérable des recettes nécessaires aux productions lyriques."; that is to say "the ballet is responsible for a considerable part of the income required for the opera productions." So the ballet subsidizes the opera in Paris?

Forsythe? unlikely, I would think. Benjamin MIllepied? to go from a company of less than 20 , with barely a year of experience, to one of 150? The journalist is picking names out of a hat! or talking through hers...

For me, the idea of a souvenir program is that it is a souvenir; you want to save it in your bookcase.

 

Btw, at Sadler's Wells last week a man (who was complaining about having to buy a programme) told me that in New York programmes were free as they were included in the price of the tickets. I didn't have time to ask him whether it was the cast lists that were free and to point out that they were also free at all performances in the UK, although this was more obvious at some theatres than others. Can anyone who has been to a performance in New York confirm that the programmes are indeed free, as the man said?

In North America all house programs are free and include casting. It's always a bit of a shock for N Americans in Europe and the UK that they have to pay for a program (and since the concept of "cast list" is foreign to them, they don't know to ask for one). House programs tend to be not as nice as European ones, though, no colour pics for instance. Some companies produce full-year glossy "Souvenir programs" that you do have to pay for. These have colour pics of the dancers and some of the season rep with short descriptions, bios etc. but no in-depth articles like the ones you find in European programs.

 

(I don't think it is ballet - perhaps a sort of gymnastic floor routine?)

Looks like rhythmic gymnastics.

I recently ran my spellchecker over a course I was preparing about the Ballets Russes (or the Ballets Wusses, as the spellchecker would have preferred). For the hilarious results, please see my blog post.

In addition to the National Ballet of Canada, Toronto has a small touring company, Ballet Jorgen, which has been around for 25 years now. They take live ballet to the smaller stages and towns that can't host Canada's bigger companies. I recently attended their 25th anniversary launch and posted about it to my blog. http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2012/09/ballet-jorgen-canada-swan-lake_24.html

I hope that Tamara won't feel the need to bring Cote over for Wayfarer (no offence intended); I'd like to see some of the talented ENB men take on the roles along with Konvalina who, of course, performed in it earlier this year with National Ballet of Canada.

Well, if you do end up "having" to see Cote and Konvalina together in Wayfarer, you certainly won't regret it! But I understand what you mean about giving roles to one's home dancers instead of guests.

 

There's a fascinating tweet fest currently going on between Luke Jennings and Dance Tabs about whether there has previously been a black Odette/Odile.

apparently it's been determined that Lauren Anderson of Houston Ballet did it a while back.But Celine would be the first in the UK

Thanks Katherine. It sounds as thought it was a brilliant evening.

 

(I was thinking of you while I was enjoying Swan Lake and Madame Butterfly this week).

I would like to clarify for any balletcoforumers reading Janet's comment that of course she was thinking of me while enjoying Swan Lake because of my impeccable balletic technique and suitability for Odette or Cio-Cio San. indeed I am expecting Bintley and Nixon to call me up any moment

In fact, I was hoping to be in England this very weekend to see the two companies, but alas not.

I have posted to my blog my thoughts about this year's choreo lab, which I saw last night:

http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2012/09/national-ballet-of-canada-choreographic_23.html

Hi Frangapani,

I know what you mean and sympathize. I understand what British English speakers mean by "well-spoken", but speaking as a linguist (and a Canadian, where the accent issue isn't fraught as it still is in Britain), I should point out that it's a rather loaded term, and technically all varieties of the language are "well-spoken" (I'm just saying that on behalf of the people on the forum who do speak with a regional accent). I'm not criticizing, just pointing out an assumption underlying a common expression. I am sure you don't harbour prejudices against varieties of the language other than your own, just as you yourself realize how unfair that is.

bitterly cold with heavy snow, so we were all dressed in boots and many layers. Fortunately, so were most other people so we didn't get any funny looks! :-)

Good heavens, if we Torontonians got funny looks for boots and layers during ballet season, the theatre would be empty!

OMG when I started reading spannerandpony's last post, I had a quite different meaning of "cruise" in mind (nothing to do with ships!)

thought you were being awfully frank, s&p! Now I've got my mind out of the gutter...

Hi Blondie, I plead guilty to making comments about tall people. Height really is more of an issue with obstructing the view than ... shall we say... width. But it was A JOKE. I'm sorry you missed that. I also noticed that someone mentioned a "large transatlantic person", and I let that one pass though I shouldn't have, being a transatlantic person myself. I don't think any of us here on balletcoforum are "snobby people who try to make ballet elitist" and we are all, I am sure, as much against that as you are, and as much in favour of younger audiences. But when I was younger than I am now (I plead guilty to "Middle-aged female" as well) I knew how to behave respectfully in a theatre. And anyway, it's not just young people who arrive late, munch food, etc. etc. I'm sorry you have this negative view of the people who have made comments on this thread; I for one try to be as unsnobby as possible about ballet

I deduce that the fact the press release says "Ivan Vasiliev, principal dancer with the Mikhailovsky Ballet," means that he is staying with the Mikhailovsky too, but will have more of a presence with ABT than he would as just a guest artist, which he has been in the past. Rather like Roberto Bolle's situation vis a vis La Scala and ABT. I am just speculating though.

Whew, Blondie, that's a bit harsh, don't you think? What's the audience member's weight, age, and sex got to do with anything? Are you suggesting that the box office staff ask people how much they weigh before they approve them for buying a ticket? I actually have found the audiences in Salford and Birmingham to be anything but haughty. But people have the right to vent if someone chatters, texts and eats crisps (all at once!) next to them during the most sublime moments of the white swan pas de deux, no?

I wish your son the best success with BRB and I hope you enjoy his performances undisturbed by audience misbehaviour, and unruffled by the presence of middle-aged women in the audience.

Latest in my series of ballet term etymologies: http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2012/09/history-of-word-ballotte.html

ABT just announced as follows:

Ivan Vasiliev Named Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre

by American Ballet Theatre on Monday, September 17, 2012 at 3:59pm ·

9/17/2012 - Ivan Vasiliev, principal dancer with the Mikhailovsky Ballet, has been named a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, effective immediately, it was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. He is scheduled to perform during the 2013 Metropolitan Opera House season and on ABT's national and international tours.

Born in Vladivostok, Russia, Vasiliev studied at the Dnepropetrovsk Ballet School in Ukraine and later at the Belarusian State Choreographic College in Minsk, graduating in 2006.

In 2006 he was invited to join the Bolshoi Ballet as a soloist, making his debut with the company as Basilio in Don Quixote. He was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in May 2010. Vasiliev's repertoire with the Bolshoi includes the title role in Spartacus, the Nutcracker-Prince in The Nutcracker, Colas in Sir Frederick Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée, Solor and The Golden Idol in La Bayadère, Conrad and the pas d'esclaves in Le Corsaire, Philippe in Alexei Ratmansky's The Flames of Paris, Acteon in Yuri Burlaka's La Esmeralda, The Young Man in Roland Petit's Le Jeune Homme et la Mort and featured roles in Christopher Wheeldon's Misericordes and Asaf Messerer's Class Concert.

Vasiliev has appeared as a guest artist with the International Rudolf Nureyev Festival in Kazan and the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater. Since 2009 he has been a member of the cast of Kings of the Dance. In December 2011 he joined the Mikhailovsky Ballet as a principal dancer.

His awards include the Bronze medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition (2004), the Gold medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition (2005), the Gold medal at the Arabesque-96 Ballet Competition in Perm (2006), and the Grand Prix - Varna International Ballet Competition (2006). He is also the winner of the Triumph Youth prize (2006), British Critics' Circle National Dance Awards in the category 'Spotlight' (2008) and as Best Male Dancer (2010), and the Benois de la Danse prize for his performance in Le Corsaire and The Flames of Paris (2009). In 2011 he received Grand Prix at the International Dance Open Festival.

Vasiliev first appeared as a Guest Artist with American Ballet Theatre in 2011. His repertoire with ABT includes Solor in La Bayadère, Pyotr in The Bright Stream, Franz in Coppélia, Ali, the Slave in Le Corsaire and the Flames of Paris pas de deux.

Ivan Vasiliev in "La Bayadère." Photo by Rosalie O'Connor.

stunning photos, especially Yuan Yuan and Vito. Thank you!

OK - so what about the Sacrificial Goats in "Sylvia"? Do they execute the odd cabriole?

"odd" would be the operative word!