Denver

ENB has only announced their schedule for the 2017-18 season through January 2018. Does anyone know when they typically announce their spring schedule? (I'm planning a trip to London next spring and am hoping I can combine visits to the Royal Ballet and ENB.) https://www.ballet.org.uk/whats-on/season-overview/

And some of us are really disappointed! I saw him in some spectacular Instagram clips with Houston and was so pleased to see him in a couple of performances this spring with San Francisco Ballet. I was so looking forward to seeing more of him with SFB. Now I'm hoping ENB announces their spring schedule for 2018 soon, so I can see about planning a trip to the UK to see him there!

The theaters at Lincoln Center (Met Opera House, State Theatre/Koch) have been checking bags for many years. They also "wand" every person entering. New this year at the ABT spring season at the Met: a bomb-sniffing dog stationed at the entrance. The museums also have been checking bags for many years. Some (e.g., the Neue Galerie, home of Adele) have you walk through a metal detector, too.

The most intriguing puzzle: why did Balanchine put all the swans in black, except for Odette? He reportedly ordered the black fabric himself. When asked why he was doing that, he only answered, "well, there are black swans, too." That's all I've been able to find in various sources. If others have discovered more explanation from Balanchine, please share! http://www.nycballet.com/Slideshows/Ballet-Detail-Slideshows/Swan-Lake-Balanchine.aspx

Friends of Covent Garden just sent out e-mail that they will announce the 2017-18 season on April 5.

Her 1976 Push Comes to Shove, had a prelude by Joseph Lamb and a four-movement Haydn symphony: http://www.twylatharp.org/content/push-comes-shove-dance I wonder if she's thinking of something along those lines. Whatever...this might be worth a trip across the Pond for some of us later in the year! Please keep us posted.

The New York Times just posted this story on-line: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/arts/dance/romanian-ballet-companyloses-its-leading-lights.html?smid=tw-share

I saw most of this on a good high-speed cable internet connection. The visuals were okay, but the sound was atrocious throughout. I attribute that to inadequate equipment for this ambitious venture. Still, I want to applaud their efforts and encourage other organizations to try this, though perhaps on a more limited and realistic scale.

I'm just hoping he brings CarMan with Marcelo Gomes to City Center in NYC!

Steven McRae will take over the Pennefather roles, in the first week of Romeo & Juliet this September. Three in one week! This just appeared on the Royal's web site: http://www.roh.org.u...nneth-macmillan

It's valuable intellectual property. When you acquire rights, you pay different amounts for North American vs. worldwide, live performance vs. recordings, etc. The Balanchine Trust is very fussy about unauthorized use of their copyrighted choreography, as are the copyright owners of work by Robbins, Ashton, MacMillan and others. It's all valuable property.

Perhaps others here know more details, but there is a problem performing the complete Vienna Waltzes anywhere other than North America, as NYCB only obtained North American rights for the Richard Strauss music. In the 2008 tour, they got some sort of last-minute agreement from the R. Strauss estate, but they would need to do that again for a 2016 tour to Paris.

I was in the audience, sitting orchestra-right so I had a clear view of the fall, which was stage right in the back. She was doing the zig-zag entrechats. She was down for several seconds. Loud gasps from the audience. Huge cheers when she got up and finished the variation. Do take a look at the Ballet Alert thread, which has more detail. E.g., they omitted a few things at the very end at the grave, which might have been a decision to let her get off-stage for good at the end. She was clearly limping when she came on for the curtain calls. Myrta (Veronica Part) rushed over to escort the conductor onto stage, a task usually handled by the lead ballerina. No announcement this morning (Friday) about cancellations of the remainder of her engagement here (two Bayaderes and one R&J), so we'll stay hopeful that she's okay. (She had already cancelled her performances in Ratmansky's new Sleeping Beauty.) I don't think most were impressed with McCrae, but we had just seen Marcelo Gomes, Herman Cornejo, and Roberto Bolle in recent days with other partners, so those comparisons were unavoidable.

Those of you with a philosophical interest in dance might appreciate a brand-new article on "The Philosophy of Dance," just published in the on-line Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanfor.../entries/dance/ SEP is a very well-respected source in philosophical circles. It began with a major grant from NEH and continues with a panel of editors who conduct serious peer review of submissions. This is the first time SEP has published an article specifically on dance. The author (not me!) studied classical ballet at New York's LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts before deciding to pursue a more traditional academic education in philosophy. She is currently a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Dayton.

Gridley, CA, is a small town located near Cal State Chico to the north and Cal State Sacramento to the south. Both have dance programs with beginning ballet classes. Many California State University campuses have a generous program allowing anyone over 60 to enroll in classes for a modest ($3) registration fee. I suggest he get in touch with either of those departments by e-mail to see what he might do. It's a safe bet that those dance programs have (at a minimum) student recitals now and then. http://catalog.csuchico.edu/viewer/13/THEA/MTHDNONEUM.html http://www.csus.edu/dram/ But the best option seems to be the Sacramento Ballet, both for performances and some open adult beginner classes at their school: http://www.sacballet.org/