Emeralds - Prokofiev in this anti-Russian world? I wasn’t expecting that. Glad for what we got. Other segments had a classical flair - Bocelli & Terfel- or just plain fun - Richie - with most Royals bopping along. 

6 hours ago, alison said:

Lucky you, Jeannette - I hope you enjoy it.

Ive been enjoying it thoroughly! Yes, even the R&J “consolidation” or whatever it was called. Francesca & Marcelino were gorgeous in those lifts…almost made me cry! 😢 Well done! 💐 

Some US PBS stations will show it live! Our station serving Puerto Rico will show it live, starting at 3pm today (we’re the same as US eastern time). Go, Royal Ballet! 🎉 

I don’t know about the gala but the coronation was fabulous, especially  the golden carriage!

4 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

There's a photo of that,  and more about the 2006 'Homage to the Queen' here:

 

http://danceviewtimes.com/2006/Spring/11/rb75gala.html

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks! Beside McRae, my biggest remembrance is of the clear technique of Laura Morera in the Pas de Trois of Corder’s Water section.

On 03/05/2023 at 15:03, alison said:

Oh yes, the piece which was rejigged at the last minute due to Ed Watson sustaining an injury, IIRC - I think Steven was pretty much winging it, from what I remember!

I checked my notes of the performance and, whatever the situation with Watson, McRae was out-of-this-world magnificent as Spirit of Fire! It didn’t seem like floundering. His career really took off after that.  

I’m sorry that Homage was not revived. Even the corny ending (with all dancers turning their backs to the audience, to bow to the crest,) made its mark.

5 hours ago, Ondine said:

 

 

A little delving in the archives, the Coronation Ballet (Frederick Ashton) 1953 

 

Homage to the Queen programme, the Coronation Ballet, June 1953

https://www.roh.org.uk/photos/7302439844

 

 Further info here.  Fascinating. Look at the cast!

 

https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/12264/Homage-to-the-Queen--Malcolm-Arnold/

 

 

I know! I went to the reconstruction ca 2006, with segments by different choreographers + Ashton’s Queen of the Air section. I especially recall Steven McRae as the Spirit of Fire in Wheeldon’s Queen of Fire segment!

22 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 Queen Victoria didn't care for it, I suspect the bump-bump had something to do with it!  

 

 

 

Queen Elizabeth II said the same thing. That’s why I’m amazed that they’re using it this time (for one way only, after the coronation, I read). Wheels, please stay on!  

3 minutes ago, Ondine said:

It's really quite ridiculous though isn't it?

 

William Chambers, never a minimalist. 😏

 

 

 

 

ROTFL…. 🤣 I hope that the BBC installs an in-carriage camera…bump - bump - bump!

Not ballet but The Real Thing:

Dress rehearsals took place last night for the Coronation procession…golden carriage goes by at about the 9-minute mark! Exciting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQcUoeNa734&pp=ygUUQ29yb25hdGlvbiByZWhlYXJzYWw%3D

Its getting closer.

I hope that Evelina Godunova will go to a ballet company that’s close to the US…not further away. She’s a real gem.

59 minutes ago, Sim said:

Looks like it's going to be a 'collab', as the young people say!  This from I News:

 

It has also been announced that performers from the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal College of Music and the Royal College of Art will come together for the first time.  They will create a one-off performance based around themes of love and togetherness, featuring an arrangement of a classic song from West Side Story, bespoke choreography and a visual backdrop projected onto Windsor Castle.

So a West Side Story “redo”? Nothing classical…grrrr…. I was thinking the main pdd from Ashton’s Homage to the  King, redone. Silly me!

I’ll be watching live from my home in San Juan! Big weekend! 🎉 🥳 🎉 🥳 🎉 🥳 🎉 🥳 🎉 🥳 🎉 🥳 🎉 🥳 🎉 🥳 

Best wishes to the featured dancers…in whatever they may be performing…have the ballet and choreographer been revealed? 
 

Macmillan’s Requiem and Ashton’s Les Rendezvous!!!

Oooo…this is being shown in cinemas here in Puerto Rico!!! A 30-minute drive from San Juan to Dorado is ok!

16 hours ago, Benjamin said:

Phew! It’s only taken so long… Just wish it on ROH Stream. I assume it’s June 23rd because ABT opens it at the met opera house June 22nd.

 Yeah, it’s not on the US Amazon yet…waiting for ABT’s run to end?

On 17/04/2023 at 08:37, Stevie said:

I have just found the Opus Arte ad for the DVD & Blu-Ray

https://youtu.be/tq5MUR7qedM

 

Great! Release in June 2023. Hopefully worldwide.

Better late than never! Tonight at 10pm est, the US’ public television network will broadcast Ballet Hispanico’s Dona Perón (chor Anabel López Ochoa/mus Peter Salem) as filmed in Nov 2022 at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Some stations will repeat it later during the weekend.

https://thecitylife.org/2023/03/29/ballet-hispanicos-dona-peron-premieres-on-pbs/

Oh, this gets to me! What a lover of the great classical ballet traditions and excellent stager! I met him in 2003 in StP during the early ONDINE stagings. May he Rest In Peace.

Sad news. May she Rest In Peace. 

12 hours ago, FionaE said:

I haven’t yet found any info about a livestream ???

 

I do know Maria was a principal at Stanislavsky in Moscow before leaving for Hungary.  

She joined the company from the Moscow School according to her bio:

https://www.opera.hu/en/company/szemely/beck-maria/44667/

 

 

You’re  right, Fiona. There was nothing. I must have misread an earlier post on their FB…just advertising the early-starting matinee. Sigh.

The Hungarian Ballet will supposedly be live-streaming tomorrow’s 11am CET (5am eastern US) performance of Van Dantzig’s Swan Lake. If anyone could please provide details, they would be welcomed. Otherwise, I’d be poking around the Hungarian FB site at my 5am tomorrow.

casting/credits:

https://www.opera.hu/en/programme/megtekint/a-hattyuk-tava-2022/eloadas-202304081100/

O/O will be essayed by US-born Maria Beck, who studied, in part, in Washington, DC’s Kirov Academy of Ballet while I was there…I’d love to see her progress. She later moved to the Vaganova in StP. Any & all info welcomed!

On 10/01/2023 at 12:45, Jan McNulty said:

 

Press Release   Date of issue: Tuesday 10 January 2023   THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET ANNOUNCES LONDON TOUR IN AUGUST 2023   Returning to the Royal Opera House after 35-Year Absence   2–6 August 2023 / Royal Opera House, London

  

 

 

The Australian Ballet today announced that the company will tour to the Royal Opera House in London in August 2023 as part of its 60^th anniversary celebrations. 

 

The 2023 London Tour will be the first international tour for The Australian Ballet under the leadership of Artistic Director David Hallberg and will see the company perform Kunstkamer - one of the most ambitious contemporary dance productions ever to appear as part of its repertoire. Complementing Kunstkamer will be a one performance only 60^thAnniversary Celebration showcasing The Australian Ballet in some of its signature repertoire.

 

The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director David Hallberg said: “As celebrations for our 60th anniversary get underway and we set our sights on the next decade, we look forward to bringing The Australian Ballet back to our audiences in the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally.”

 

“The Royal Opera House was a special place for me during my career as a dancer and I am so excited to bring The Australian Ballet back to this storied theatre after an absence of 35 years, reinforcing the company’s reputation for excellence on the world stage.”

 

The rich tradition of The Australian Ballet performing in the UK began in 1965, with subsequent tours in 1973, 1976, 1988, 1992, 2005, 2008 and 2016.

 

Embarking on the international tour is set to involve a touring party of up to 100 people, including dancers, musicians, wardrobe, medical, technical, production and support staff, along with 3 shipping containers filled with staging and hundreds of costume items.

 

Federal Arts Minister The Hon. Tony Burke said: “As Australia’s national ballet company, The Australian Ballet has a long history of international touring that has taken the company to 37 countries and 88 cities since it was founded in 1962. This tour to London once again presents opportunities to showcase The Australian Ballet’s position as a great cultural ambassador for Australia, highlighting the skill and talent of Australian artists and creative talent.”

 

The London tour will be supported by The Australian Ballet’s Principal Partner Telstra, Official Airline Partner Qantas and Media Partner Times Media Limited.

 

Created for the pioneering dance company Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in celebration of its 60th anniversary, The Australian Ballet become the first company outside of NDT to perform Kunstkamer in April 2022 with the company’s performances receiving critical acclaim and standing ovations in Sydney and Melbourne.

 

“Kunstkamer showcases the rich diversity of the dancers of The Australian Ballet, while also highlighting the groundbreaking work of four of the most sought-after choreographers working today - Sol León, Paul Lightfoot, Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke,” Hallberg said. 

 

The Australian Ballet – 2023 London Tour

2 – 6 August 2023
Ticketing information will be released in the coming months 

 

ABOUT KUNSTKAMER

Kunstkamer, which translates from the Dutch as ‘chamber of art’ or ‘art cabinet’, draws inspiration from The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, a 1734 book in four volumes by Dutch pharmacist, zoologist and collector Albertus Seba. At the intersection of science and art, a cabinet of curiosities brings together fascinating objects from around the world, displaying seemingly disparate items in ways that give them new meaning.

 

The result is a two-act contemporary ballet comprising many short movements, woven elegantly together with key dance motifs and recurring characters. This artfully arranged selection of pieces wittily interrogates the possibilities of dance, from the most poetic pas de deux to the mesmerising, intricately choreographed group scenes, involving the entire company of dancers.

 

An eclectic musical roster includes a mix of live orchestral pieces, recorded songs, and works played at an old upright piano stationed onstage alongside the dancers. 

 

Kunstkamer features music by Beethoven, Janis Joplin, Schubert, Arvo Pärt, Joby Talbot and Ólafur Arnalds, among others. Set design by Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot places the action within a vast space enclosed by grand neoclassical-style facades, with dancers entering and exiting through many different doors on two levels. Elements of song, film, and spoken word add further texture to the world of curiosities created in this mysterious hall.

 

PRODUCTION CREDITS

 

Choreography: Sol León, Paul Lightfoot, Crystal Pite, Marco Goecke

 

Composers: Ólafur Arnalds, Béla Bertók, Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Christoph W Gluck, Lorenz Hart, Janis Joplin, Arvo Pärt, Henry Purcell, Richard Rodgers, Jose Sandoval, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss Jr., Joby Talbot, Willie Mae Thornton

 

Costume design: Joke Visser, Hermien Hollander

 

Original lighting design Tom Bevoort, Udo Haberland, Tom Visser

 

Set Design: Sol León and Paul Lightfoot

Film concept, direction and choreography: Sol León

Filmed and edited by Rahi Rezvani

 

World Première 3 October 2019, Zuiderstrandtheater, The Hague, the Netherlands

Australian Premiere 29 April 2022, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Sydney

Glad that they’re touring. Yet - No classics…no Harlequinade? I would’ve traveled for that or for Ratmansky’s Scuola di Ballo (to Boccherini…based on the comedic 1930s Massine-Ballet Russe work).

Hats off to Pierre Lacotte, who achieved his 1999 version at the Bolshoi via old-fashioned “foot-to-foot” research. What he achieved is amazing. I just watched the full Bolshoi DVD, as well as the 1999 films of Ananiashvili/Filin and Gracheva/Tsiskaridze. The only negatives are the exclusion of three River solos (Bolshoi is missing Tiber, Rhine and Thames…Bolshoi has the Neva, Guadalquivir and “Congo”-to the Yellow River solo’s music used at the Mariinsky).  

Today marks Lacotte’s birthday- joyeux anniversaire!  What a great job he did!!! We are so blessed for his treasures. 💕 

Most early clips were removed.

An interesting TV-news report with new clips of the mummy’s-awakening scene, another look at The Monkey (with bees), The Lion, live camels & horsedrawn chariot in the Hunting scene, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyPUxcWOMi8

i hope that the geopolitical situation is solved so that anybody in the West might someday see this production live and in person.