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NiniGabriel

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  1. Last but hopefully not least (!): BBC Four Sunday 21st January 9.00pm Russell Maliphant's Vortex BBC Four Sunday 21st January 10.00pm Coppelia (with Michaela DePrince and Daniel Camargo, repeat from 2022) BBC Four Sunday 21st January 11.15pm The Magic of Dance Episode 6 😍
  2. Christmas is over, but we continue to receive gifts from the BBC (-: BBC Four Sunday 14th January 9.00-10.30pm Royal Ballet All Star Gala BBC Four Sunday 14th January 10.30-11.30pm The Magic of Dance Episode 4 BBC Four Sunday 14th January 11.30-12.30pm The Magic of Dance Episode 5 I am really looking forward watching these gems on TV!!!
  3. If I'm correct, there will be also "Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby" on BBC4. It's mentioned in the "TV Series" section...
  4. The Stuttgart Ballet also streamed a recording of last Saturday's stage rehearsal of John Cranko's 'Initials RBME'. Artistic director Tamas Detrich explained that the theatres in Baden-Württemberg are closed today because of the holiday. The same could apply to Munich, for example.
  5. As announced today on the Instagram channel of the Stuttgart Ballet, they will be streaming part of a stage rehearsal for 'Initials R.B.M.E.' on their YouTube channel, next Wednesday at 1pm, as part of the World Ballet Day 2023.
  6. You are absolutely right that Elisa Badenes IS a big name in Stuttgart. Here she is certainly the leading ballerina after the retirement of Sue Jin Kang and Alicia Amatriain (although I wasn't necessarily a fan of the latter...). What I meant by "not a big name" was more related to her standing in the ballet world, compared to, say, Nunez or Cojocaru.
  7. My personal choice for the Dancer of the year 2023 in the Critics Choice of Dance Europe Magazin: Elisa Badenes. Not a big name - yet. But a wonderful dancer and ARTIST!!! Deeply touching in every single performance. She is very well presented by the critics: Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxiGeOAILlS/ It's just a bit of a shame (in my humble opinion!) that the YouTube video shows her in a clip that doesn't really emphasize her skills. For example, the final pas de deux from "Onegin" (or at least an excerpt from it) would highlight it much better...
  8. I've only been to Stockholm once for a weekend. In any case, it is worth taking a trip to Drottningholm to visit the Royal Castle. In particular, I warmly recommend a guided tour of the Slottsteater (the palace theater), which is one of the best-preserved baroque theaters in Europe. The stage technology is still almost original.
  9. Tonight a new episode of Dance around the World with Eric Gauthier was shown on 3sat. This time it was about London. Among other things, excerpts from a rehearsal for "Jewels - Diamonds" with Marianela Nunez as well as excerpts from a rehearsal and the performance of MacMillan's "Mayerling" were shown (if I saw that correctly, probably Ryoichi Hirano and Natalia Osipova as Rudolf and Mary, also Marianela Nunez as Mitzi). There was a brief visit to the Royal Ballet School, Ballet Rambert, Wayne McGregor Studios, Hofesh Shechter and Akram Khan. If you want to get a taste of it and are not put off by the fact that it is a German documentary, here is the link to the 3sat media library, where you can access the program until August 4th, 2024: https://www.3sat.de/kultur/kultur-in-3sat/dance-around-the-world-london-102.html The show is not aimed specifically at a ballet audience, but aims to introduce the culturally interested viewer to various people from the contemporary dance scene in each location, so please don't expect in-depth discussions. I found it very entertaining nonetheless.
  10. Apologies for the somewhat late reply - the first attempt via cell phone was "lost in transmission". Let me just add some additional aspects to the excellent answers given already. While there was some fine-tuning of the rules - again - this season, as a general principle, about half of the seats (i.e. around 700) are allocated through written advance sales. Sales for the other half opens exactly two months before the performance (in case this is Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the start date shifts to the working day before), at the ticket office in Stuttgart, by telephone and online at the same time of 10:00 CE(S)T. In your case, online sales for November 4th start on Monday September 4th. Regarding SEPA: SEPA direct debit normally only requires you to provide your IBAN, Bank name and Account holder. Despite the statement on page one, the form at https://www.staatstheater-stuttgart.com/tickets_service/booking-information/ticket-reservation/ however DOES show a statement on page two "I do not have a bank account with IBAN in a EU country, please contact me via my email address". Disclaimer: While I live in Switzerland - and thus technically even outside the EU -, I still hold a bank account in Germany, which makes things easier. So no first-hand experience about the potential process snags. To make things worse - the ticket office is on summer break between now and September 3rd. Which makes it unlikely for you to get any authoritative answers to questions you might have - at least not before the start of the online sales for the November 4th performance. When ordering online in the webshop, you also can pay by credit card. Demand for tickets to the "Remember Me" performances in summer was not extremely high (i.e. they did not immediately sell out, with some remaining tickets still available for most performances until a few days before). This might be a precedent for next season - but "Your Mileage might vary". My two cents: If you have the time, get your account set up in advance, preferably do a "dry run" - and select your own tickets at September 4th 10:00 CEST. Alternatively, do the written order - ASAP.
  11. Unfortunately, last night I didn't get around to writing a short summary of the interview for all those who speak little or no German. And now I'm almost on my way to Stuttgart for the gala. I'd be happy to transcribe what John Cranko said, alas, I won't have the time before next week. (After all, a detailed report about the gala is expected here... 😉 ) Executive Summary: Much of what Cranko says should be known to us. However the interviewer does manage to elicit a few interesting statements, in an obvious attempt to bring the person and work of John Cranko closer to the broader German audience.
  12. @ Ettore Thank you very much! It's so nice to see how many people around the world have been touched by John Cranko and his work. I just remembered that SWR (the regional television station of the state of Baden-Württemberg) recently opened up its archives and made available various reports of its regional news from the 1960s, including this portrait of John Cranko from 1965. There is an interview with Cranko - unfortunately in German -, and excerpts from some ballets are shown, including "Onegin" with Haydee/Barra and Cardus/Madsen, "Jeu de Cartes" with Egon Madsen, and "Swan Lake" with Keil/Cragun. This report can be found in the ARD media library: https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/swr-retro-abendschau/das-portraet-john-cranko/swr/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzExNTkxNzc In Switzerland I can watch the report without any problems so hopefully it will work in the UK and elsewhere. If not, I apologize in advance if I disappointed your anticipation!
  13. @Sim Thank you for your extremely kind words regarding my posting and my English skills! I must confess that I could not have written yesterday's post without the help of my husband, whose English is far more precise than mine. I, too, had wondered for a long time how the dancers got through the first pas de deux in Cranko's Taming without bruising. A number of years ago I had the pleasure of seeing a rehearsal at "Behind the Scenes" where Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun rehearsed the pas de deux with two younger soloists (Marion Jäger and Tamas Detrich). Well, it's all a matter of technique... If it's okay, I'll be happy to report on Friday's gala. I hope I can organize my thoughts well! It should help that over the past 40 years I've seen quite a few pieces from John Cranko's oeuvre, some of which were quite unknown, such as The Seasons (Autumn), for example. Or the narrative ballet Carmen, which unfortunately remained unfinished. The very first scene, however, is sensationally theatrical and quite simply perfect. Of course, I'm a bit excited to see whether exactly such pieces are among the surprises that have been announced. One must never forget that John Cranko made the pieces for his company, which he gradually built up over twelve years, and that he therefore adapted the requirements of the individual pieces to the capabilities of his dancers at the time. This is probably why he later revised some of the pieces, such as his Swan Lake. Other pieces had some dramaturgical weaknesses in the first version, which he then eradicated, as in his Onegin. But all in all, his creative output during his time in Stuttgart was so great that he rarely bothered to adjust anything again. You should always keep that in mind when you see his pieces. Nevertheless, originality and great musicality can always be seen in his steps and figures, and often enough a good pinch of his special Cranko humour...
  14. Thank you @Sophoife for your kind reply! There was a strong connection between the Australian Ballet and Stuttgart at the time, because John Cranko's ballet mistress (and first director of the John Cranko School!) Anne Wooliams, together with her husband Jan Stripling, were the directors there for some time. Pineapple Poll and The Lady and the Fool were rarely performed in Stuttgart, maybe because they didn't premiere in Stuttgart but at Sadler's Wells, maybe because the story is very "English" (Pineapple Poll) or because both pieces belong to Cranko's early works, which in their action and drama could not hold a candle to the later narrative ballets from Cranko's time in Stuttgart... I don't know. I personally really enjoyed The Lady and the Fool - and I think the ending is very unusual, especially for the time. John Cranko was extremely good at questioning social conventions, there are one or two anecdotes about this in Stuttgart... Anyway, I think there are nice roles for dancers in both ballets. In addition, for historical reasons, it is always interesting to see where an artist comes from and how he has developed... And I can understand your wishes very well!!! Taming and Initials are also two of my favorite ballets. Both will be performed in Stuttgart in July, which I'm really looking forward to. It only struck me back in lockdown 2020/2021 that Initials R.B.M.E. is practically never performed outside of Stuttgart. On the one hand I was of course very happy about the enthusiastic comments about the streaming, on the other hand I think it's kind of a shame that so many ballet lovers are denied the opportunity to experience this piece live...
  15. Additionally: The German-language website of the Stuttgart Ballet already mentions: Pineapple Poll, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet (Balcony Pas de deux), Initials R.B.M.E. (3rd movement), Brouillards, Opus 1, Hommage au Bolshoi and Holberg Pas de deux with dancers from the Stuttgart Ballet. The John Cranko School is also involved (the current repertoire includes Jeu de cartes, 2nd movement, Salade and the Pas de huit from Cranko's unfortunately lost Nutcracker). Further surprises have been announced, an open secret is that an excerpt from his last work, "Spuren", will also be danced. I'm full of anticipation of seeing many pearls again, which have been danced less often on the Stuttgart stage lately, and I'm very excited to see whether there will be any new discoveries for me (the "Spuren" are definitely one of them...) !
  16. It´s 50 years to the day that an English choreographer from South Africa left us - much too early, as many ballet lovers not only in Stuttgart, but all over the world would say. He passed away in the middle of life, at the height of his success, revered by the audience and always supported by the directors of his Stuttgart theater in his numerous plans. A people catcher, valued and loved by his artist colleagues, a teacher and true master in discovering talents and promoting others selflessly and without envy, a visionary and a man of action who managed the almost unbelievable feat of building up a ballet company within just over ten years, receiving worldwide recognition. I hope I'm not being too brash in opening a thread about JOHN CRANKO here on this UK forum on this special date?! This had actually been a plan of mine for a long time, especially because I had repeatedly read small discussions or thoughts on John Cranko and his works in very different subject areas, but then rarely or not at all dared to answer or to go into more detail, because the threads were often about completely different topics. As someone who grew up in Stuttgart - I was seven at the time of John Cranko's death - , and only found his way into ballet ten years later, I would like to share some personal thoughts on how it affected me as a ballet lover and enthusiastic fan of the Stuttgart company to grow up with John Cranko's pieces and of course also with John Cranko's dancers. My love for ballet as well as my passion for this art form was awakened - somehow quite typical for Stuttgart - by John Cranko's ballet "Onegin". Back then, on that special day, the current artistic director of the company, Tamas Detrich, danced the leading role, while his long-time partner, the French Annie Mayet, danced the role of Tatiana. (Later I was also able to experience Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun several times! And so many other, younger dancers who continue to live the legacy of John Cranko in "Onegin" and continue to keep it alive!) As someone who in his youth only rooted for classical music, I was completely overwhelmed by the perfect symbiosis of music, movement (i.e. dance) and theater. Of course, as a young woman, the topic also appealed to me at the time. At this age, who hasn´t been unhappily in love and rejected (OK, maybe with less fatal consequences...)? Who can't understand what it's like when the old love reappears after a while and you're completely emotionally agitated and therefore only have the desire to give up everything for this great love? Funnily enough, my attitude towards Tatjana's decision has changed over the years: while at first I couldn't understand at all how one can show your great love of all times the door, I now understand Tatjana both in her inner turmoil and in the final rejection and I would probably act the same way now. In addition to this theatrical moment, which reflected in the best sense the "movere" and "docere" of ancient theater (of course also the "delectare"... Please forgive me for using the Latin terms, but unfortunately I don't know ancient Greek), I was immediately fascinated by the additional level that dance (and by that I don't mean the classical ballet only) establishes in the communication with the audience: The language of movement - if one can call it “language” at all - completely bypasses the linguistically formed intellect, it touches more deeply on the non-verbal level. (That's why it's so difficult to write about dance, because a lot of things can't be put into words...). Coming back to the topic of John Cranko and the dance legacy he left Stuttgart... My enthusiasm for dance was fueled precisely by the fact that in Cranko´s works, movements always have meaning, and to dance Cranko´s works well means chiselling out the meaning: the movements describe characters, emotions, relationships, and thus make life and people visible in their individuality in a non-verbal way. There are so many examples that one could list, from Onegin's hand movement in his solo act one as an expression of ennui to the point of world-weariness, or the three very different pas de deux in The Taming, depicting the development of the relationship between Catherine and Petrucchio. Similar to Cranko´s pieces, works from choreographers like John Neumeier, Jiri Kylian and Maurice Bejart were more appealing to my taste, as they share the small moments in which the character, the feelings and the relationships between the people become visible. In comparison, Russian classics or George Balanchine´s works did not speak to me in the same way: I would admire the the technical virtuosity, but they would leave me emotionally rather - for lack of a better word - cold. (Fortunately that changed a bit later... (-: ) Secondly, I am very happy that John Cranko placed so much value on versatility, on very different styles, not only by engaging different choreographers, but also in his own work. In addition to the well-known multi-act narrative ballets, there are also bizarre things like " Presence", humorous to cartoonish pieces like "Salade" (as a homage to Balanchine's Apollo) or some pieces from "Brouillards", as well as neoclassical choreographies, which are always filled with a lot of humanity, e.g. his "Initials R.B.M.E." or his "Concerto for Flute and Harp". On the one hand, John Cranko broadened the spectrum of his dancers. On the other hand, he educated his Stuttgart audience to be open to the new and unusual - a heritage that lasts until today: Advertise a production consisting only of world premieres - and it still sells out almost immediately. This curiosity and willingness to venture into new territory and to engage in unfamiliar dance languages was awakened in me and many other Stuttgart ballet fans in the tradition of John Cranko. Last but not least, the love and humanity of John Cranko lives on to this day in the Stuttgart company and the Stuttgart audience: in every performance you can feel the unconditional devotion and emotionality of the dancers, who reveal their hearts on stage. Over the years, it has been a pleasure for me and many other Stuttgart ballet fans to observe the individual dancers, how they develop and grow in their roles and how they sometimes interpret them very differently and individually. At a time when there is a lot of discussion about how contemporary interaction in ballet should look like, Stuttgart can rightly claim that respect, collegiality and friendly cooperation were already practiced in the 1960s. The word "Stuttgart Ballet Family" keeps coming up when dancers are asked about what is special about Stuttgart. So my perception of dance was shaped by my encounter with John Cranko's oeuvre and the dancers of the Stuttgart Ballet. I hope I haven't bored the willing readers with my very personal and sometimes meandering explanations! Especially since it's not always easy for me to express my German thoughts in English... I would be very, very happy if many forum members would use this thread to share their thoughts and experiences with John Cranko's work!!!
  17. BBC Four Monday 5th June 11:50 pm: Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet It's only a rerun but I love watching the fabulous boys from the Royal Ballet. Sometimes I look at London with a little envy, how much footage (training, rehearsals, performances, even if only excerpts) is published by the Royal Ballet. "My" Stuttgart Ballet is unfortunately much more stingy in this respect...
  18. I seem to remember that at the beginning of the 2012/13 season Elisa Badenes was also appointed principal at the Stuttgart Ballet at the age of 21. At the age of 19 she danced - still as a demi-soloist - a very mature and touching Odette/Odile and a year later at the age of 20 she presented a stunningly brilliant Kitri. But she could also have been a year older, unfortunately I don't know her exact date of birth. In any case, for me and other Stuttgart Ballet fans who were lucky enough to witness the debuts, it quickly became clear what an extraordinary dancer became part of our company. I will never forget her role debut as Cranko's Juliet, back then alongside Daniel Camargo. She showed - as in all her other roles in narrative ballets - such a natural and touching and utterly individual performance that for the first time in years I sat there with tears in my eyes at the end of the performance and it took quite a long time for me to feel my feelings calmed down. As much as I like the other soloists of the Stuttgart company, I still try to attend at least one performance with Elisa Badenes in every series of performances, most recently as Tatiana in October (which I think was also discussed here) and as Marguerite in Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias in February. And I've been completely blown away every time I've been lucky enough to see her dance... If I remember correctly, Stuttgart Ballet's Friedemann Vogel and Alicia Amatriain were promoted to principals at the age of 22.
  19. Unfortunately, it is also announced that Gabriel Figueredo from the Stuttgart Ballet will not be taking part. He is replaced by Principal Adhonay Soares da Silva, who does not take part in the competition. 😭
  20. The program in Zurich sounds very exciting and I'm really looking forward to it. In particular, I haven't seen Les Noces by Nijinska, Nijinski and The Cellist live on stage so I have some catching up to do.
  21. It's just been described a little awkwardly. In German, this happens from time to time when trying to describe something in a particularly original way. And yes, it means that Cathy Marston will be given a five-year-contract (which can of course be extended afterwards hence the word "zunächst") succeeding Christian Spuck who becomes director of Staatsballett Berlin.
  22. That would indeed be very interesting and exciting, also for another reason: As I have just researched, this recording dates from 1966. So it would probably still consist of excerpts from the first version of "Onegin" from 1965, which was then replaced in 1967 by the version that is still valid today. That way you might be able to spot differences and see how the piece has evolved. Unfortunately, I fear that the Cranko heirs will probably not allow it to be broadcast again... 😞
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