FionaM

It is a new book … author Ashley Killar was planning to come over to UK from Australia for the launch in October 2022, but that got postponed due to his age and health and rising Covid cases. He was planning a launch and presentation at the old RB School buildings in Barons Court to which the London Ballet Circle @LBC had been invited. More info here https://www.tlbc.org.uk/events/book-launch-of-cranko-the-man-and-his-choreography-members-only

The Prix De Lausanne Gala will be streamed free on Sunday 5th February 2023 at 4.30pm Lausanne time on Medici and Mezzo tv and PdL website https://www.prixdelausanne.org/live-streaming/ GALA PROGRAMME: Alina Cojocaru and Friedemann Vogel Lady of the Camellias Choreographer: John Neumeier Music: Frédéric Chopin Laura Fernandez and Xander Parish Closure Choreographer: Juliano Nunez Music: Franz Schubert Matthew Ball Dance of the Blessed Spirits Choreographer: Frederick Ashton Music: Christophe Willibald von Gluck Madison Young and Julian Mackay Giselle Choreographer: Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot Music: Adolphe Adam Marcelo Gomes and Alejandro Azorin Faun(e) Choreographer: David Dawson Music: Claude Debussy Elisa Badenes and Vadim Montagirov Black Swan pas de deux 
 Choreographer: Marius Petipa Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Maria Kochetkova 27 Zero Choreographer: Ella Rothschild Music: Franz Schubert Partner School Choreographic Project BOLD Choreographer: Goyo Montero Music: Owen Belton and Claudio Frasseto Marcelino Sambé and Francesca Hayward The Dream pas de deux Choreographer: Frederick Ashton Music: Felix Mendelssohn Steven McRae Czardas Choreographer: Steven McRae Music: Vittorio Monti Mayara Magri and Victor Caixeta Don Quixote Choreographer: Marius Petipa Music: Ludwig Minkus Alejandro Azorin Solo 01: 3 Parts Ligeti Choreographer: Houston Thomas Music: György Ligeti Precious Adams and Eric Snyder This Bitter Earth Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Music: Max Richter, Clyde Otis, interprété par Dinah Washington de la bande originale du film Shutter Island Max Richter, Clyde Otis, performed by Dinah Washington from the motion picture soundtrack for Shutter Island Mackenzie Brown Limelight Choreographer: Katarzyna Kozielska Music: New Tango Orquestra Margarita Fernandes and Antonio Casalinho Diana and Actaeon Choreographer: Agrippina Vaganova Music: Cesare Pugni and Riccardo Drigo Mizuka Ueno Dying Swan Choreographer: Michel Fokine Music: Camille Saint-Saëns Olga Smirnova and Victor Caixeta Nutcracker pas de deux Choreographer: Jean-Christophe Maillot Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

@Thelittleswansyou asked about why there are no candidates from the UK this year. My guess is that’s because anyone decent enough is already at a vocational school. Of course there may have been candidates who applied and didn’t make it through. I asked Christopher Powney a similar question on the zoom interview hosted by the London Ballet Circle@LBC last week. He had three parts to his response: Firstly he said the PdL was originally designed to gather students from lesser schools to gain access to companies and premier schools like RBS. And of course this is still its main purpose. Secondly, the RBS and other top professional schools … Paris, Amsterdam, many German ones, San Francisco, ABT, Canada, see it as a recruitment opportunity. And those schools tend not to send candidates either. Thirdly, on a practical note he said he would not be able to choose candidates to send and therefore would have to offer the opportunity to all 30 students in all 3 years at the upper school and that would be impossible to coach with the staff they have!!! I thought the last excuse was a cop opt. Of course he and the staff could choose to enter a few across the whole school if they wanted to. They do selection anyway for soloist roles in annual performances. Of course, there is then added pressure on those selected students to perform well …what if they didn’t make the finals or win any prizes? That would not reflect well on the school. In fact Diana Vishneva talked about that in an interview today. She is deputy head of the jury this year and was the first candidate to represent the Vaganova Academy in St Petersburg. She talked about the expectation and pressure of performing back then, in order not to let her teachers or school down. (She won).

@Jan McNulty can you source a full cast list so we can learn about all these lovely dancers? 🤞

Whilst watching the Prix de Lausanne, one of the presenters quoted Aaron Watkins who apparently has said that watching a petit allegro exercise tells him everything he needs to do know about the dancer. This bodes well for the types cast in the Neapolitan 😉

Casting for Illusions - like Swan Lake is announced. Alina performs the role of Odette (there is no Odile in this version) on 11 & 12 February 2023

urgh … the TV people are so uneducated in dance 🙈

I would have liked to seen others tackle the Anastasia role. There are so many dramatically strong principals … Fumi, Yasmine, Akane

There was an announcement … no performance this year 2023. There will be a video produced … compilation of performances from the prior years.

Is the ROH now going to investigate and ditch all sponsors with questionable or objectionable origins of their money ??? That’s a very short route to complete shutdown. Most money is made by questionable morals or exploitation somewhere. Perhaps an alternative route would be to get the questionable people to double-up their arts investment whilst also pressuring them to change.

I loved the relay of LWFC. The trailer shown before was informative too. Having only seen one live performance (Takada/Campbell), I was interested in how the original creators (Hayward/Sambe) would be. Superb is the answer. Such great dramatic and beautiful dancers. I was heartbroken for them. LThis was a ballet where cinema close-ups of facial expressions really enhanced the experience. It’s such a great story and it is not so complicated that it can’t be understood by just watching without synopsis. You don’t even have to know why Tita is not allowed to marry Pedro … it’s pretty clear from the storytelling on stage that the mother is in control and makes Pedro marry another daughter than the one he wants. And from there events are obvious. I hope it returns soon … it’s got more layers and I’d full of music, story and dancing … plus vibrant sets / visuals and costumes. I think it’s a winner.

I didn’t know Liam Scarlett had made a ballet about Carmen. Is there more info on it?

Illusions like Swan Lake in Hamburg is sold out … without casting information

She is also performing the lead role in Neumeier’s The Glass Menagerie with Hamburg Ballet in Chicago on 23,24,25 February (it’s not stated that she does all 3 performances, although I note there has only been one cast to date) https://www.harristheaterchicago.org/performance/theglassmenagerie We also await casting for ‘Illusions - Like Swan Lake’ in Hamburg 11-19 February.

apologies for typos Aneme … should be …. and ??? IIIRC … should be … IIRC

I noted a few changes on the cast list for Sunday 15/1 which is at home. I’m away for 5 days so can’t check. There were more changes in the Spanish than Ivana. I think it was Ivana Bueno, Giorgio Garrett, Erik Woolhouse aneme ??? (It’s correct on my sheet) IIIRC Neapolitan was Francesca Velicu and Victor Prigent. Both brilliant 👏👏👏 Francesca was replaced by someone I did not know in the Czardas partnered by James Streeter

Interesting Bluebird duo … Sae Maeda and Calvin Richardson. New roles for these two?

the prince’s solo in Sleeping Beauty Act 3 has a manége which is a combination of jetés and chaîné turns. It sounds similar to what you have described.

The Swan Lake pointe shoes with Francesca Velicu https://www.instagram.com/p/CnUNavqosN0/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I prefer the versions where they both die, as in ENB where they both jump and drown in the lake … it shows Siegfried would rather die with Odette, than be left alive alone. in the RB version … the ending is too similar to Giselle … to have Siegfried mourning Odette’s death.

Olga is guesting in many places … Monte Carlo .. R&J in January, Sleeping Beauty in April https://www.balletsdemontecarlo.com/fr/actualites/olga-smirnova-invitee-ballets-monte-carlo-2023 Rome Opera … in new Bayadere production partnered by Jacopo Tissi … 25 & 28 February 2023 https://www.operaroma.it/spettacoli/la-bayadere/ Hamburg … in Neumeier’s Nijinsky … 27 & 28 June 2023 https://www.hamburgballett.de/en/schedule/ As well as performing with Dutch National Ballet … casting not yet announced for Swan Lake in March/April 2023 And galas of course: - Prix de Lausanne gala … 5 February 2023 https://www.prixdelausanne.org/artists-of-the-gala-stars/ and no doubt others! Please add below

in the Uk the 2022/2023 season runs from September 2022 through August 2023. If that helps ‘accept’ the fudging. 🤣

Do read these tips on ‘going to the ballet’ from Australian Ballet’s website … even if it is not your first time. Delightfully explained. https://australianballet.com.au/ballet-101/first-time

do we know if it’s Reece or Natalia that is indisposed? Either way this could cause a problem for her show in New York in 11 days time … Reece was supposed to participate https://youtu.be/vf6uB_WxIdY

I really enjoyed Kunstkamer … I paid to watch the livestream, so I can only imagine the full effect of a live show. There is a wide range of emotions on display ... not only angst as is often the case with contemporary dance, Because of the multiple choreographers … I suppose you could argue it’s a four part full length. The set and other commonalities running through it do hold the pieces together. I found it inventive and entertaining and uplifting.