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Sabine0308

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Everything posted by Sabine0308

  1. Yes, I was wondering as well. But the cast is subject to change, in both events maybe.
  2. I'm very excited about the new Berlin season. Christian Spuck explained in detail to us friends of SBB the new program. It's very diverse, fresh, and we finally get a Ballet Week! The wonderful "Tanz ist KLASSE!" Organization/society, founded in 2007 by former acting AD Christiane Theobald is now fully integrated into SBB as an extra branch. They offer so many opportunities for schools and kindergartens to discover and practice dance, every day kids/youngsters are in the theatre. Sadly, the planned Tour to Tel Aviv was cancelled for obvious reasons (rather shifted than cancelled, I shall say). Other invitations for the company are already in, so we have to wait and see when it will happen. Yes we lost Sleeping Beauty, but Giselle ans Swanlake are still there. And for the other pieces/ballets: the future looks bright. Last year, they sold 98% of Tickets. So if you want to see SBB, book early!
  3. Yes, it's good that his partner in life and dance Margarita is even smaller. Makes them a cute couple. I’ve rarely seen him partnering other female dancers in Munich, this is difficult.
  4. I've seen this production in Munich last year and wrote a review here (not my best since a day before, my best friend passed away, but the performance was a blessing): https://www.lanottemag.com/post/la-bayadère-in-munich I guess in Madrid, the Golden Idol will be danced by Shale Wagman and Antonio Casalinho. Antonio often studies the same roles as Shale in other productions, they are both great talents, with superbe technique. However, I prefer Shale's performances for his unique artistry. No matter who will dance the Idol, you will be in for a treat. Hope the 3 main characters (Solor, Nikija, Gamzatti) can hold the same quality.
  5. *Kammertänzerin But I love your version @FionaM 😉 I am currently scratching my head if there is a title Kammertanzpaar", since her husband Marian Walter also holds the title "Kammertänzer". ❤️
  6. Oh @Richard C you're very welcome, it's so nice to see that you had a great time. Yes Semper Opera House is a BEAUTY. I guess you went to Staatsoper Berlin but then found Deutsche Oper. Staatsoper is the beauty here, but in Deutsche Oper the view is good from every seat especially in the stalls. Good to know you made it in time, as there is quite a distance between the two Opera Hoses. Anyway, glad you enjoyed!
  7. Wow yes, what a surprise🙄. Also, and I will NEVER stop complaining...they mentioned the names of the opera singers but not the performing dancers!! If Hilaire would be more assertive, he would have told them afterwards, because he entered the stage right after their performance. My guess is Christian Spuck would have mentioned them. As of the next ballet season: convenience store comes to mind, I don't see an actual program/topic. La Sylphide (Lacotte) Giselle (Wright) Illusion like Swanlake (Neumeier) Onegin Romeo and Julia Ballet Festival Week Triple bill "Wings of Memory": Bella Figura (Jiří Kylián) Das Frühlingsopfer (Pina Bausch) Faun (Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui) Lost letters (Lucia Lacarra, Matthew Golding) Spheres 3, curated by Leon/Lightfoot
  8. And my guess is he will get about 5 minutes to do so AFTER all the Opera and concert stuff have been presented at length.🙄
  9. What a great review/report Janet, thank you. R&J music makes me always sob, as soon as I hear the first notes. So I can relate to the shivers you mentioned. Glad you enjoyed the performances so much!
  10. Thanks @Emeralds, I still need to see her finishing Swanlake afsin...I was so sick with the flu last time I went and had to miss the final 15 minutes because I left my seat (bad coughing🙈). But I feared it would be her last performance of O/O, so I went. I'm not sure if Swanlake will come back to the Berlin stage.
  11. So very well deserved and it's about time!! I'm very happy for her.❤️❤️ The sweetest Sleeping Beauty and a wonderful and strong Odette/Odile, as well as a moving Giselle. I wish many more years onstage!❤️❤️❤️
  12. I can speak only about how the process was for Shale Wagman. He is not very tall but was invited to Munich during the peak of Corona, they did everything to get him from Canada to Germany (which wasn't easy, entry into Germany etc but they made it possible). Igor Zelensky was not even present when he "auditioned" but was online and took him on the spot. So yes, the process can be special for future soloists. As for A. Casalinho who is smaller than Shale, I've rarely seen him dance with another partner than his tiny Margarita, and hiring process for them was...let's say different.
  13. I'm not sure if height is still an issue in companies. If I look only at Staatsballett Berlin, where the company has been "re-arranged" last year with Christian Spuck taking over the helm, then I see a lot of different height and body types in general. Like the very tall Martin ten Kortenaar, and the tiny Leroy Mokgatle. I think rather certain skills which would fit the best for certain choreographies are more important?
  14. If Rojo doesn't want to continue with gala performances for retiring dancers in the future, as it is custom in a company, in another country...ummm...OK she's the boss. BUT to deny it a dancer who was an icon for this company for such a long time, a beloved dancer for countless audiences, this is a shame. Since she was herself a dancer and was granted a farewell performance, she should know how this hurts, and so it's a double shame. Maybe she doesn't care and it says then a lot about her lack of respect.
  15. Here are some VERY short videoclips: Approx. Sonata with Weronika Frodyma (Green pants, the dancer who recently starred as Madame Bovary) and partner, and then follows the stunning Michelle Willems with partner, but the Clip is too short to show her skills. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxhWNS8dVFk OFTR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOHPeg4o3C4 Blake works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nni__f1XMtY
  16. To describe One Flat thing..I said to my friend it's a mixture of a crazy classroom mates and Tetris😀. Yes please look it up on Youtube. Unbelievable speedy moves, I adore the dancers!!
  17. We had an AMAZING PREMIERE last Friday February 16 with Staatsballett Berlin, performing William Forsythe pieces Approximate Sonata 2016, One Flat Thing, reproduced and Blake Works I. Since I assume that you are familiar with the pieces, I don't go into detail but will say some words about the company. It's been a while, that an ENTIRE ensemble took my breath away. BRAVO to everyone involved!!!!! What a GORGEOUS evening❤️❤️❤️ The energy coming from stage was so strong that for example the amazing trio (corps de ballet dancers Marina Duarte, Leroy Mokgatle, Gregor Glocke) in "I need a forrest" (in Blake Works) got a long applause in the dark, while we were waiting for the next dancers to take the stage. Let me say some words about corps de ballet member Gregor Glocke. Forsythe decided to give him the opportunity to shine also as partner for Polina Semionova, as well as in other solo parts that evening. I was so happy for him. He graduated from Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin in 2017, joined SBB and was a very promising young talent, e.g. he danced the title role in Goecke's "Pierrot Lunaire" and other solo parts, but then a nasty injury put him on hold for 3 long years. Seeing him now, alongside Polina, was such a joy!! I also would like to mention corps dancer Gustavo Chalub (graduate from APG Monaco, then Zurich, then Dresden) who did 2 remarkable solos. And first soloist Michelle Willems, who came with Christian Spuck from Zurich. A stunning dancer!! But it was actually a night of the company rather than for praising principals or soloists. The bows were all done in one row, nobody was asked to step in front of the others. At the Premiere Party afterwards I spoke briefly with William Forsythe and thanked him for bringing back the Berlin company to Ballet's Worldmap.🙏🙏🙏 He praised them and the new AD later in his short speech, he was most impressed with the work atmosphere ("there is no fear"). Also, thank you to him and Christian Spuck for surprising the Berlin audience with the casting. I was also very pleased that at the party, Christian Spuck introduced every dancer and asked them on the little stage one by one. I took some Videos, please check my instagram account https://www.instagram.com/berlinsabine So far, I'm very happy with the new AD Christian Spuck, I just hope he also keeps some of the classical ballets for the new season (will be revealed in March). All in all: Highly recommended, go watch this when you’re in Berlin!!
  18. I've been to a stage rehearsal yesterday for Blake Works 1, we saw 2 different casts. How interesting to have the direct comparison!! All dancers were full of energy and the interaction between them and W. Forsythe was friendly, attentive and full of mutual respect. Forsythe was also VERY patient and kind when the Tech guys failed to get the "light - then follows the music" routine again and again and again🙈. Well it was rehearsal. Looking forward to the Premiere on Friday.
  19. I was pleasantly surprised that the TV hosts (for the TV audience) mentioned the names and ranks of the dancers of Wiener Staatsballett, more than once during the entire performance. Usually, it's just a "and now we see dancers of the Staatsballett".
  20. Next week, Staatsballett Berlin presents its premiere of a William Forsythe triple bill. Those pieces are: -Approximate Sonata 2016 (staged 1996 for Ballett Frankfurt; Staatsballett Berlin performs the newer version from 2016 staged for Paris Opera Ballet) -One Flat Thing, reproduced (staged 2000 for Ballett Frankfurt) -Blake Works 1 (staged 2016 for Paris Opera Ballet) So I took the chance to see this legend in person in a Matinee talk last Sunday. The Foyer of Deutsche Oper was packed, surprising all people on the small stage, it was a Sunday morning, after all. It was a very entertaining talk, where the hosts Christian Spuck (AD) and Katja Wiegand (dramaturgy) asked some interesting questions and Spuck shared some memories from his earlier encounters wirh Forsythe during his days as dancer at Stuttgart Ballet. Forsythe owned the talk, it was amusing to listen to his lengthy replies in a German/English mix and we even saw a lecture, performed live, for Christian Spuck how to do a proper epaulement. 😁. Such elegant arms and hands, it was a joy to see. Spuck told us the story that he had been only THIRD cast in Stuttgart for a Forsythe piece, and Forsythe chimed in and said "but look where you are now"! Forsythe also made us laugh when he suddenly admitted he had been irritated about Christian and Katja wearing the same earrings, until he realized that it was actually a microphone. I took some notes during the talk, so here is a summary in no particular order, because William Forsythe danced around vividly in his memories and musings about his work: He admitted that he often changes everything in a choreography after dress rehearsal. Sometimes dancers came in in the morning for warm up/rehearsal and didn't know that he had changed the choreo for the evening. So Spuck reminded him that in Berlin, after the General rehearsal, only 2 hours are left for some more stage rehearsal time (ends around 2pm, then the technical staff prepares the stage for an opera performance that night). Forsythe already changed Approximate Sonata for Berlin because he wanted to use the great skills of every dancer. About dancers: Dancers are the most important, he never says this is wrong but asks instead "How could you dance this part faster?" It's a hard job so why make it harder. (What a great work ethics). He also said that being a Choreographer means having a wonderful job. Everyone in the studio wants to be good, is willing to learn the piece and deliver a great performance. A ballet company to him is not a company but an ensemble, not an organization but a living organism. That's why he always strives to adapt a choreography according to the dancer chosen for a certain role. E.g. Herman Shmerman for Tiler Peck in NYCB. He shared a (now) funny memory about staging this piece in New York: The composer Thom Willems (he works since 1985 with Forsythe, after he presented Forsythe a 6 hour long composition as a student in The Hague back then) gave him the music on a cassette!!! before he got on the plane to New York. He said he listened to it on the flight and cried because he didn't know how he should memorize it for the next day for the rehearsals. Willems doesn't write a score!! If you are familiar with Willems' Works, the many layers in his electronic pieces where sounds meander, you understand his desperation. But he made it! Some personal information: His Grandfather was an Austrian Concert master, who taught him playing violin, but told him also to let go of the violin and rather become conductor. Forsythe says he prefers to work backstage or from the backrow in the stalls in all premieres (giving directions via microphone from the stalls about Sound, stage Settings, etc) because then he is not afraid. Then he is part of the performance himself and has no time to be afraid. Some more info on the music: often, he created his Choreography without the final music but presents the final music on a very short notice! The music is often mixed live backstage. He completely changed Approximate Sonata for SBB, because of the great dancers. He shared some thoughts about Blake Works: B. Millepied was still AD in Paris, the piece was commissioned but Millepied left. Dancers were like children who feel guilty about their parents' divorce, so he especially wanted to do a good job. He had the French ballet style shown/explained to him for 3 weeks, by great ballet master Elisabeth Platel, then created the piece. Surprised everyone and people would say: oh Forsythe is doing ballet again!!! Fun memory about a female dancer, rehearsing "One Flat thing" some years ago: she was so afraid of all the high-speed moves and work with partners and tables, she always wore a bike helmet during rehearsals. He then also said that he loves to watch new dancers, choreographers etc on social media like Instagram and is somehow glad that isn't young anymore. Adores the new generations. I look forward to the stage rehearsal next Tuesday, and then to the actual performance soon.
  21. I suggest to open a new thread for this event, otherwise it can be overlooked, with a thread header Prix de Lausanne.
  22. I watched the finals yesterday and was a bit surprised about the prize winners "ranking". Paloma did stand out for me with her contemporary piece (smooth, sexy, fluid) more than with the classical. Not because the classical variation (Gamzatti) was "bad" but because it didn't give her much chance to express herself, I noticed that only with a wink of her hand. Since sooo many finalists had chosen "do you care?" as their contemporary piece, it bored me a bit. Some people complained that M. Mcintire (from the US, and a well-known prize winner there) was not even among the finalists. From my point of view, she has a good technique but obviously her teachers told her to include some "acrobatic" moves, rather than focus on artistic expression. And the jury did not approve. To me her classical variation (La Esmeralda) didn't look like a dance at all, it was more about a calculated step by step variation and acrobatic leg poses. Where was the passion? Sad. A junior dancer from Japan (207, Taichi Toshidi) who won scholarship no. 9 was on my "😁list" from the beginning and was the exact opposite. Jumping onstage with such a bravado and energy for his "La fille mal gardee" variation, it was pure joy to see him dance. He DANCES was my first note about him, during coaching. Bravo. Overall, I missed a stand out talent in both categories. I support the idea of either doing a male/female competition (this would be my first thing to change if I had a say about it). Or junior/senior competition. Although some Juniors make it into the finals, it seems a bit unfair to compete as a junior against people with longer education and more experience.
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