Tamara Rojo at San Francisco Ballet

[miliosr]

On 17/02/2023 at 01:10, bridiem said:

 

I hope your hope is NOT forlorn, miliosr!

Alas, I think it is at least in terms of the Lew Christensen-Michael Smuin directorship (early-70s to mid-80s).

 

I was leafing through my copy of the San Francisco Ballet's (SFB) 50th anniversary retrospective book tonight. It contains a very thorough review of the repertory up to that point, which was 1983. Five people created the vast majority of the repertory during that joint directorship - Christensen, Smuin, Robert Gladstein, John McFall and Tomm Ruud. With the exception of Michael Smuin's works (which are kept in performable shape by his namesake company, the Smuin Ballet), so much of the rest seems unrecoverable to me - not least because of the fact that Helgi Tomasson didn't keep any of it in repertory when he took over in 1985.

 

What remains from that period are mostly the George Balanchine works that Christensen and Smuin brought to SFB. But the book also lists such intriguing oddities as Maurice Bejart's L'Oiseau de feu, which entered the SFB's repertory in the late-70s and is still very revivable. (The Paris Opera Ballet is performing it this spring.) Wouldn't it be wonderful to unite Bejart's L'Oiseau de feu (from the Christensen-Smuin era), Balanchine's Rubies (brought to San Francisco by Tomasson) and Pina Bausch's Le Sacre du printemps (from Tamara Rojo's time at the English National Ballet) in all-Stravinsky repertory bill?

 

 

[Sophoife]

5 hours ago, miliosr said:

Maurice Bejart's L'Oiseau de feu, which entered the SFB's repertory in the late-70s and is still very revivable. (The Paris Opera Ballet is performing it this spring.)

POB is presenting Béjart's L'Oiseau de Feu as a tribute to the recently deceased Michaël Denard, the original Firebird in this production, not for any other reason.

 

Interestingly they've also brought out the too-rarely-seen Songs of a Wayfarer, coached of course by Maina Gielgud, who brought so much Béjart to AusBallet during her tenure as AD, which (dragging this back on topic) has not been seen here since she left in the late 1980s. Changes of AD to first Ross Stretton then David McAllister saw a shift in the company's performance repertoire, with McAllister in particular showcasing the work of Graeme Murphy, all-but unknown outside Australia unless in the context of Sydney Dance Company. In McAllister's 20-year reign we saw Robbins as one mixed bill, Ashton twice, and Murphy every year.

[LinMM]

Absolutely love Songs of a Wayfarer and always wish could see this Piece more often! With so many fine male dancers around at the moment it’s definitely time to bring it back! 

Saw Maina Gielgud perform a few times in London a really striking dancer. 
I’m assuming she was with Bejart company…I don’t think she ever danced with the then London Festival Ballet. 
There was an amazing Bejart piece to I think Bach’s music….might have been the St John Passion?? 

[miliosr]

4 hours ago, Sophoife said:

POB is presenting Béjart's L'Oiseau de Feu as a tribute to the recently deceased Michaël Denard, the original Firebird in this production, not for any other reason.

L'Oiseau de feu is part of an all-Bejart program (also including Song of a Wayfarer and Bolero) scheduled for April-May 2023 at the Bastille and designed to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Maurice Bejart's death in November 2007. I imagine the performances of L'Oiseau de feu will become a kind of tribute to Michael Denard (as he was Bejart's original Firebird in the 1970 production) but the revival was already in the works long before Denard died on February 17th.

 

Song of a Wayfarer will also be part of the Patrick Dupond tribute evenings beginning tomorrow at the Garnier.

 

2 hours ago, LinMM said:

Saw Maina Gielgud perform a few times in London a really striking dancer. 
I’m assuming she was with Bejart company

Maina Gielgud danced with the Ballet of the 20th Century in the late-60s/early-70s. I have an old issue of Dance Magazine from spring 1971 with Rudolf Nureyev and Paolo Bortoluzzi (the original cast of Song of a Wayfarer) on the cover. Inside the magazine, there is a feature on Gielgud discussing her life with the Bejart company. So, she was still with the company as late as spring 1971. But by the time Bejart launched his full-company, full-evening extravaganza, Nijinsky Clown de dieu, in fall 1971, she was no longer part of the company. Nevertheless, Gielgud - like Suzanne Farrell - has remained extraordinarily loyal to Bejart. 

 

[LinMM]

Yes it was Nureyev and Bortoluzzi who I saw in a particularly memorable performance of Wayfarer which had me in tears! 
I wish I could remember the name of the Bach piece Gielgud danced in …it was extraordinary. 
 

[Scheherezade]

4 hours ago, LinMM said:

Absolutely love Songs of a Wayfarer and always wish could see this Piece more often! With so many fine male dancers around at the moment it’s definitely time to bring it back! 

 

I absolutely agree.

[Scheherezade]

4 hours ago, LinMM said:

Saw Maina Gielgud perform a few times in London a really striking dancer. 
I’m assuming she was with Bejart company…I don’t think she ever danced with the then London Festival Ballet. 
There was an amazing Bejart piece to I think Bach’s music….might have been the St John Passion?? 

 

I definitely saw Maina Gielgud with a UK company in the early - mid 70s. Not sure whether with LFB or SWRB or even both.

[SheilaC]

Gielgud danced for a couple of years with LFB in the early to mid '70s. I remember seeing her dance one of the Tchaikovsky classics in Newcastle, with Adam Luders (later a luminary of NYCB)- not a predictable combination!

[Sophoife]

Miss Gielgud (I'd never dare call her Maina or just Gielgud 🤣) danced as a principal with London Festival Ballet from 1973 to 1976, then as a principal with Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (as BRB then was) until 1978. Source: John Larkin's biography of Miss Gielgud. @Scheherezade you've remembered accurately - it was both.

 

We audience love it when she comes to coach AusBallet because the improvement can be seen, especially in the corps work.

 

She owns Steps, Notes and Squeaks and seems to be the one person entrusted with staging Wayfarer plus several other Béjart pieces. She staged Wayfarer for AusBallet many years ago, on David Hallberg and Joseph Gordon of NYCB in 2019, and is the Paris stager, on Hugo Marchand and Germain Louvet (dream team), and on Audric Bezard and Mathieu Ganio (a completely different, being at a much later stage in their careers, and also life partners, dream team) for the Hommage à Patrick Dupond brief season.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Sophoife

[miliosr]

11 hours ago, LinMM said:

I wish I could remember the name of the Bach piece Gielgud danced in …it was extraordinary.

Could it be any of these? Bejart set all three to Bach:

 

Actus Tragicus (Dec 1969)

Sonate (Dec 1970) (Bejart made this for Suzanne Farrell and Jorge Donn.)

Offrande Choregraphique (Jan 1971) (Maina Gielgud was in the premiere cast w/ Paolo Bortoluzzi, Micha van Hoecke and Woytek Lowski.)

 

[Source: Marie-Francoise Christout's Bejart]

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by miliosr

[SheilaC]

I most associate her with a remarkable solo, almost certainly by Bejart, about a squeaky door, I think, quite extraordinary, unfortunately I can't recall, or find, the name.

The last time I saw Bejart in person he was sat at the opera house with Maina Gielgud in the Crush room, long before it became a restaurant. Their continuing affection and understanding radiated out.

[Pas de Quatre]

I think you may mean the one Sophoife mentions above, Steps, Notes and Squeaks. 

[Jane S]

Squeaky Door was a piece Bejart made for Gielgud - you can see it on her YoutUbe channel.  It was also known as Variations for a Door and a Sigh, I think.

 

Steps Notes and Squeaks was a multi-segment show Gielgud produced, with a varying cast of dancers and including a coaching session (Beriosova on Sleeping Beauty the night I was there).

Edited February 21, 2023 by Jane S

[FionaM]

Here is Maina Gielgud teaching Squeaky Door to Maria Khoreva.   Filmed by Dance Europe.  
 

 

[Emeralds]

 

The last time Song of a Wayfarer (not sure why Béjart put it in the singular when it should be plural: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen....4 songs) was staged in the U.K. was 2013 by English National Ballet. I went on the day when Vadim Muntagirov and Esteban Berlanga danced the Nureyev and Bortoluzzi roles respectively. They were technically very good, but I think both roles, especially the Nureyev one, needed older dancers who have seen more ups and downs as it’s quite an emotional and dramatic ballet, set to Mahler’s great song cycle, rather than a technical one. It would have been a great ballet for Edward Watson, Thiago Soares and Federico Bonelli before they retired (wrong ballet company unfortunately!) Also for Jeffrey Cirio, Joseph Caley and Isaac Hernandez.....except that they’ve left ENB!

Edited February 21, 2023 by Emeralds

[NiniGabriel]

17 hours ago, Emeralds said:

 

The last time Song of a Wayfarer (not sure why Béjart put it in the singular when it should be plural: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen....4 songs) was staged in the U.K. was 2013 by English National Ballet. I went on the day when Vadim Muntagirov and Esteban Berlanga danced the Nureyev and Bortoluzzi roles respectively. They were technically very good, but I think both roles, especially the Nureyev one, needed older dancers who have seen more ups and downs as it’s quite an emotional and dramatic ballet, set to Mahler’s great song cycle, rather than a technical one. It would have been a great ballet for Edward Watson, Thiago Soares and Federico Bonelli before they retired (wrong ballet company unfortunately!) Also for Jeffrey Cirio, Joseph Caley and Isaac Hernandez.....except that they’ve left ENB!

 

Yes, it's really interesting to think about why Bejart changed the original title of the piece of music in French and English and used it as a singular. For me in particular because the piece is always written in its original German name, i.e. in the plural, when it is performed in Germany (Stuttgart).

 

I assume that he wanted to express that the four songs together form ONE SINGLE "Song of Life", corresponding to the "plot" in this piece, which is not explicit but clearly to be understood in this way.

 

I absolutely agree that the piece needs experienced - or at least very expressive - dancers who have figured out why each step is being danced in order to convey the meaning of the choreography. But it doesn't have to be "older" dancers only. One of my all-time favorite casts was Richard Cragun and Tamas Detrich in Stuttgart in the 80s. At that time, Marcia Haydée (and thus the Stuttgart Ballet) had a special connection to Béjart.

 

Richard Cragun's portrayal of the role of "front" dancer touched me deeply every single time. How he expressed life in all its facets with his gestures, looks and of course steps. And "behind him" Tamas Detrich as a much younger dancer, as if he were the younger self (or at least the memory of it) and at the same time an angel of death.

 

Back then I watched every performance when I had the time. Each performance revealed different nuances. Lively and quite spontaneous. And unfortunately I am not able to put into words what I saw and felt. But I really miss not being able to experience the performances with these dancers again...

 

(Which doesn't mean at all that I'm not looking forward to new dancers bringing these roles to life!!!)

[Emeralds]

2 minutes ago, NiniGabriel said:

 

Yes, it's really interesting to think about why Bejart changed the original title of the piece of music in French and English and used it as a singular. For me in particular because the piece is always written in its original German name, i.e. in the plural, when it is performed in Germany (Stuttgart).

 

I assume that he wanted to express that the four songs together form ONE SINGLE "Song of Life", corresponding to the "plot" in this piece, which is not explicit but clearly to be understood in this way.

 

I absolutely agree that the piece needs experienced - or at least very expressive - dancers who have figured out why each step is being danced in order to convey the meaning of the choreography. But it doesn't have to be "older" dancers only. One of my all-time favorite casts was Richard Cragun and Tamas Detrich in Stuttgart in the 80s. At that time, Marcia Haydée (and thus the Stuttgart Ballet) had a special connection to Béjart.

 

Richard Cragun's portrayal of the role of "front" dancer touched me deeply every single time. How he expressed life in all its facets with his gestures, looks and of course steps. And "behind him" Tamas Detrich as a much younger dancer, as if he were the younger self (or at least the memory of it) and at the same time an angel of death.

 

Back then I watched every performance when I had the time. Each performance revealed different nuances. Lively and quite spontaneous. And unfortunately I am not able to put into words what I saw and felt. But I really miss not being able to experience the performances with these dancers again...

 

(Which doesn't mean at all that I'm not looking forward to new dancers bringing these roles to life!!!)

Ah, I said “older” as I didn’t want to imply that Vadim is not expressive in his acting 😉- clearly he isn’t, and in fact, when he danced Siegfried in Swan Lake at a young age (the start of many guest invitations around the globe) he was already very expressive and brought great nuances and artistry to the role of Siegfried.

 

He was 23 when he danced the Nureyev role in SOAW, which is very young for that ballet, and nowadays when he dances similar roles as a 32 year old, just being slightly older adds so much more - I suppose it’s both being older in life and experiencing more ups and downs, as well as being more experienced as a dancer and having learnt more from different roles, ballets, partners and coaches. Also, even if the coach tries to dictate how to approach the role (a friend who dances said he once had three different coaches -the ballet master, the artistic director, the choreographer- all saying conflicting instructions and everyone insisted they were right, eg “Act more”, “You’re overacting”, “Focus on the music here instead” 😂) maturity enables you to bring some depth and expression to the role even if the repetiteur/director/some other coach said “don’t act too much”. 

[NiniGabriel]

46 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Also, even if the coach tries to dictate how to approach the role (a friend who dances said he once had three different coaches -the ballet master, the artistic director, the choreographer- all saying conflicting instructions and everyone insisted they were right, eg “Act more”, “You’re overacting”, “Focus on the music here instead” 😂) maturity enables you to bring some depth and expression to the role even if the repetiteur/director/some other coach said “don’t act too much”. 

 

Oh dear. Three different opinions on how to carry out the steps... That means: High time to find your own way!

 

But it's often easier said than done...

[NiniGabriel]

And to avoid misunderstandings here: I don't mean it in the sense that a dancer can do whatever he wants. But more in the way that the creator of the choreography should be open to the individual interpretation (= creation) of the dancer. The same should also apply to the artistic director or the rehearsal director.

 

After all, everyone is individual and that should also be seen on stage. IMHO...

 

(Unfortunately, there's no denying it: I'm speaking more from the point of view of John Cranko than George Balanchine...) 😉

Edited February 22, 2023 by NiniGabriel

[Josette]

It’s interesting how this has veered off topic. 

[miliosr]

4 hours ago, Josette said:

It’s interesting how this has veered off topic. 

It's all good. The reality is that there's nothing much to discuss 'on-topic' until Tamara Rojo announces her first programmed season in April.

[Emeralds]

9 hours ago, Josette said:

It’s interesting how this has veered off topic. 

The repertoire (including that Song of a Wayfarer performance we’re discussing) was presented when Tamara Rojo was artistic director at ENB and the anecdotes are from Tamara Rojo’s old company so quite relevant to the topic, although I must add that the artistic director in the anecdote wasn’t actually Tamara herself- that happened before she took over. But she never programmed Squeaky Door at ENB though. It will be interesting to see how the SFB dancers get on under Tamara’s leadership. 

[LinMM]

Thanks for your suggestions Miliosr re Bejart and the Bach Piece 

The problem is it’s a long time ago around the mid 70’s 

On YouTube clips of Bejart’s work the music I remember seems closest to Cantate 51. 
Perhaps I’ve been at a performance where Gielgud was dancing but the music I’m thinking of was danced to be other dancers but somehow I’ve associated it with Gielgud. 
I always thought this Piece was to the St John Passion but could be mistaken. 
Better let this thread get back on track now though!! 

[Josette]

Tiit Helimets gave his last performance with SFB two weeks ago and has retired as an outstanding and beloved principal dancer with the company. He is not continuing as a principal character dancer, as was announced, and is no longer  with the company in any capacity. 

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, Josette said:

Tiit Helimets gave his last performance with SFB two weeks ago and has retired as an outstanding and beloved principal dancer with the company. He is not continuing as a principal character dancer, as was announced, and is no longer  with the company in any capacity. 

 

Oh what a shame.  Do you know what Tiit will be doing?

 

I have very fond memories of Tiit's performances when he was at Birmingham Royal Ballet.

[Benjamin]

On 20/02/2023 at 18:39, Sophoife said:

POB is presenting Béjart's L'Oiseau de Feu as a tribute to the recently deceased Michaël Denard, the original Firebird in this production, not for any other reason.

 

Interestingly they've also brought out the too-rarely-seen Songs of a Wayfarer, coached of course by Maina Gielgud, who brought so much Béjart to AusBallet during her tenure as AD, which (dragging this back on topic) has not been seen here since she left in the late 1980s. Changes of AD to first Ross Stretton then David McAllister saw a shift in the company's performance repertoire, with McAllister in particular showcasing the work of Graeme Murphy, all-but unknown outside Australia unless in the context of Sydney Dance Company. In McAllister's 20-year reign we saw Robbins as one mixed bill, Ashton twice, and Murphy every year.

Enough Graeme Murphy to Revive Ross Stretton. David’s programming 2016 and on was wonderful, everything before that 😐 But he never did La Fille Mal Gardée (We can asumme 2004 was scheduled by Ross and they had everything all ready so the kept it on) No Romeo and Juliet except Graeme Murphys which was performed in one season and never revived again. Songs of A Wayfarer is a beautiful piece, I wish it was performed a lot more. 

[Lizbie1]

I'm an admirer of both Rojo and Marston, so this is not meant to slight either, but it seems likely there is a "push", in whatever form, as well as a pull going on here.

 

IMO now is the worst time for anyone from outside to be drawing conclusions about the new directors: it's a bit like football pundits trying to predict the outcome of the season based on the summer transfer market.

[capybara]

36 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

I'm now thinking of the dedicated Ballet Zurich audience who will have seen so many of their own favourites depart - Still, that is the way of life - and change - in and of itself - is no bad thing.  We all have to keep breathing.  If it is any relief for you, miliosor, there was one season at ENB under Ms Rojo where 18 dancers (if I remember correctly) decamped - including the much loved Summerscales and (Y.) Acosta team - and there was much anxiety at the time but then Tamara filled many of those spaces with totally magical artists - some of whom are delighting us today - like Daniel McCormick (a CA/SF reared boy himself), Emily Suzuki, Rhys Antoni Yeomans, Francesco Gabriele Frola and Noam Durand - and all was soon forgotten.  You are in good hands.  

 

I still struggle with the loss of Cirio from ENB - but will so look forward to seeing him with Boston in Paris next May.  

 

 

 

(Just for info.) Emily Suzuki and Rhys Antoni Yeomans were ENB School graduates who had long been ‘spotted’ as extremely talented.

 

ENB is now in need of ‘strengthening’ at the top and, no doubt, Aaron Watkins’ plans will create further turbulence.

 

Interesting times!

[Sophoife]

1 hour ago, Benjamin said:

Enough Graeme Murphy to Revive Ross Stretton. David’s programming 2016 and on was wonderful, everything before that 😐 But he never did La Fille Mal Gardée (We can asumme 2004 was scheduled by Ross and they had everything all ready so the kept it on) No Romeo and Juliet except Graeme Murphys which was performed in one season and never revived again. Songs of A Wayfarer is a beautiful piece, I wish it was performed a lot more. 

 

@Benjamin, without wishing to trample on your comment, I feel a little further information on The Australian Ballet under David McAllister's artistic direction is warranted.

 

McAllister scheduled everything from mid-2001 onwards, and 2004 was most definitely a McAllister schedule. See his memoir Soar for details:

 

"...because he [Ross Stretton] wanted to keep his tenure until the end of 2001, while starting with The Royal Ballet in September of the same year and effectively running two companies at once. The board eventually kyboshed this, and set the changeover date at midyear.

 

"...Shortly afterwards, Ross came to me about the schedule he had prepared for the 2001 season; he wanted to include La Fille mal gardée. I pushed back: it felt as though he was trying to pigeonhole my first months in charge by scheduling a ballet that I had been closely aligned with, and I knew he would never have programmed that ballet during his tenure. We reached agreement by replacing it with a mixed program that I felt more comfortable with."

 

McAllister seasons for information purposes:

 

2012: triple bill of 3 world premieres, Cranko's Onegin (first time since 1996), triple bill of 3 old ballets (The Display Helpmann 1964, Beyond Twelve Graeme Murphy 1980, Gemini Tetley 1973), new Swan Lake. Fifth season replaced by "showcase of Australian dance" while company in New York.

2011: Madame Butterfly Stanton Welch, triple bill (de Valois' Checkmate, Macmillan's Concerto, Wheeldon's After the Rain), double bill of Stephen Baynes (Requiem, Beyond Bach), Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow, Graeme Murphy’s Romeo & Juliet.

2010: The Silver Rose (Graeme Murphy), Coppélia, gala bill to celebrate founding AD Dame Peggy van Praagh (Giselle peasant pdd, Garland Dance from Sleeping Beauty, pdd Act III Ashton Cinderella, Gala Performance, other stuff I can't remember), triple bill (At the Edge of Night (Baynes), Halcyon (Tim Harbour), and Baynes' Molto Vivace), and Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker.

2009: Welch Sleeping Beauty (2005, 2009), Murphy Nutcracker: Story of Clara, triple bill (Petrouchka, Les Sylphides (2006, 2009), Graeme Murphy's Firebird), triple bill (Ratmansky Scuola di Ballo, Por vos muero (Duato), and the McGregor Dyad 1929), double bill (Suite en Blanc (2006, 2009), Welch's Divergence - last seen 2001).

2008: Visit to Paris with Murphy Swan Lake and another Bangarra collaboration, Rites. Plus Manon, Murphy Swan Lake, triple bill (new pieces inspired by the Ballets Russes: Mrozewski Semele, Fonte, Baynes), Robbins tribute (Australian premieres of The Cage and A Suite of Dances, plus Afternoon of a Faun and The Concert), mixed bill (Ballet Imperial, pdd from La Bayadère, pdd from Act 3 of Sleeping Beauty, Grand Pas Classique, Esmerelda pdd and Paquita pdt), plus visit to Brisbane with Giselle and Adelaide with a mixed bill (Afternoon of a Faun, Symphonie Fantastique, Ballet Imperial).

2007: Nureyev Don Quixote, Peter Wright Nutcracker, mixed bill featuring Paquita pdt etc etc, mixed bill (After the Rain, Constant Variants (Baynes), Apollo), mixed bill (Les Présages (Massine), Symphonie Fantastique (Pastor), and something else I can't remember), Japan tour.

2006: Baynes Raymonda, Fokine tribute (Les Sylphides, Spectre de la rose, Schéhérazade), Bangarra collaboration (Rites, Amalgamate), Giselle, RNZB triple bill (while TAB buggered off to the UK with, guess what, Murphy's Swan Lake).

2005: Bournonville 200th birthday tribute (La Sylphide, Le Conservatoire, Flower Festival in Genzano PdD, and Walter Bourke's Grand Tarantelle), Welch Sleeping Beauty (premiere), WA Ballet La Bohème, mixed bill (Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère, Suite en Blanc, new Adrian Burnett), mixed Kylian bill (Forgotten Land, Stepping Stones, Petite Mort and Sechs Tanze).

2004: La Fille mal gardée (first time since 1993 plus we got Angel Corella as Colas!), Murphy Swan Lake, Balanchine tribute (Serenade, Symphony in C, Agon)...you get the idea.

[Sophoife]

2004 cont: triple bill by Stephen Baynes: Imaginary Masque, Unspoken Dialogues and El Tango, mixed bill Continuum Adrian Burnett, Almost Tango Nicolo Fonte, Aesthetic Arrest Christopher Wheeldon.

2003: Murphy Swan Lake, Cranko Romeo and Juliet, Meryl Tankard Wild Swans, mixed bill American Masters (Voluntaries Glen Tetley, In the Night Jerome Robbins, The Four Temperaments Balanchine), mixed bill Bella Trilogy (Jiří Kylián Bella Figura, Baynes Molto Vivace, Welch Velocity), The Three Musketeers by André Prokovsky.

2002: Seregi Spartacus, mixed bill United! (Black Cake by Hans van Manen (West Australian Ballet), Mercurial Manoeuvres by Christopher Wheeldon (The Australian Ballet) and Adrian Burnett – Subtle Sequence of Revelation), mixed bill Ballet Blokes: Totem (Stephen Page), Catalyst (Baynes), The Sentimental Bloke (Robert Ray), premiere of Murphy Swan Lake.

2001: Giselle, Carmina Burana (co-prod with State Opera of South Australia, choreographer Natalie Weir), Baynes Requiem, Tivoli (Murphy), Derek Deane arena Romeo and Juliet, Coppélia, triple bill Baynes Personal Best, Lander Etudes, Welch Divergence.

 

Post-2012 next post 😈

[miliosr]

14 hours ago, Sim said:

Ms Marston seems to have a lot of pulling power

Based on her programming for the upcoming season, I would say that Cathy Marston is possessed of an independent dance mind - she's willing to break with the herd-like mentality so prevalent elsewhere. That may be a draw for some dancers.

 

2 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

If it is any relief for you, miliosor, there was one season at ENB under Ms Rojo where 18 dancers (if I remember correctly) decamped - including the much loved Summerscales and (Y.) Acosta team - and there was much anxiety at the time but then Tamara filled many of those spaces with totally magical artists - some of whom are delighting us today - like Daniel McCormick (a CA/SF reared boy himself), Emily Suzuki, Rhys Antoni Yeomans, Francesco Gabriele Frola and Noam Durand - and all was soon forgotten.  You are in good hands.

I'm actually neutral about any large-scale changes in the roster (beyond mild disappointment that two products of the San Francisco Ballet school - Benjamin Freemantle and Max Cauthorn - have decamped/will decamp elsewhere.) I consider this to be a natural occurrence once there's a change in artistic directors.

 

My preference is for any attrition to take place naturally rather than to have a new director initiate a bloodletting at the first opportunity. (People forget that this was exactly what took place after Helgi Tomasson's first season - he didn't renew a lot of contracts. That part has been airbrushed out of his 37-year story at San Francisco Ballet.)

[Sophoife]

2013: Nureyev Don Quixote, mixed bill Vanguard (George Balanchine The Four Temperaments, Kylián Bella Figura, Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929), double bill La Sylphide and Paquita, Ratmansky Cinderella, Murphy Swan Lake, Baynes Swan Lake, mixed bill Garry Stewart Monuments and Lander Etudes.

2014: Manon, mixed bill Chroma (McGregor) Art to Sky (Baynes) Sechs Tänze and Petite Mort (Kylián), mixed bill Ballet Imperial and Suite en Blanc, Wright Nutcracker, La Bayadère (Welch).

2015: McAllister Sleeping Beauty, Murphy Swan Lake, Giselle, Ashton triple (The Dream, Symphonic Variations, Monotones II), Ratmansky Cinderella, mixed bill (Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements, Twyla Tharp's In The Upper Room, Tim Harbour's Filigree and Shadow).

2016: Ratmansky Cinderella, mixed bill Vitesse (Wheeldon DGV, Kylián Forgotten Land, Forsythe In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated), Baynes Swan Lake, mixed bill Balanchine Symphony in C, Alice Topp Little Atlas and Richard House From Silence, Neumeier Nijinsky, Coppélia, plus Houston Ballet in Welch's Romeo and Juliet.

2017: mixed bill Faster (Faster David Bintley, Squander and Glory Tim Harbour, Infra Wayne McGregor), Murphy Nutcracker: The Story of Clara, McAllister Sleeping Beauty, mixed bill Balanchine Symphony in C, Alice Topp Little Atlas and Richard House From Silence, Wheeldon Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

2018: Murphy homage called Murphy (bits of lots of his work for both Sydney Dance and AusBallet), The Merry Widow, Giselle, Lucas Jervies' Spartacus [aka the Haka and the Fake Blood Buckets], mixed bill Harbour Filigree and Shadow with Baynes Constant Variants and Alice Topp's fabulous Aurum, Ratmansky Cinderella, McAllister Sleeping Beauty.

2019: the Harbour/Baynes/Topp mixed bill (confession time: I went up to Sydney, watched the Baynes and the Topp, then left as wanted to hold Aurum in my mind), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Wheeldon), Cinderella (Ratmansky), Giselle (Gielgud after everybody else), Les Ballets de Monte Carlo with Lac (Maillot) while Australian Ballet in Paris, Sylvia (Welch), The Nutcracker (Wright).

2020: as planned: Murphy Happy Prince, mixed bill McGregor Chroma and Dyad 1929 with Alice Topp Logos, Possokhov Anna Karenina, mixed bill Molto (Baynes Molto Vivace, Ashton A Month in the Country, and Harbour Squander and Glory), Ratmansky Harlequinade.

 

The 2021 and 2022 seasons were largely planned by David Hallberg, who chose to honour some of the McAllister commitments (okay, well, Anna Karenina was a co-production with the Joffrey and the dosh had already gone so it had to be done), but not others (Australian premiere of A Month in the Country).

 

Please, fellow forum members, feel most free to have your own opinions on whether the pre-2016 McAllister programming was wonderful, terrible, simply meh or somewhere in between 😉

 

PS now that I've compiled all this, I'll be using it probably again in about five years...

 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Sophoife
format

[Sophoife]

Final PS re AusBallet rep: Hallberg also kept Harlequinade as it was a co-production with ABT and see Anna Karenina for why.

 

Most sad for me was that the McGregor/Topp mixed bill only got three performances before The Great Lockdown began and my subscription night was the scheduled fourth performance. Also no Ashton.

 

Most disgraceful over the 20 McAllister years: 2001 Natalie Weir Carmina Burana, 2002 Meryl Tankard Wild Swans, 2016 Alice Topp Little Atlas, 2018 Alice Topp Aurum and 2020 Alice Topp Logos. Five main-stage commissions for female choreographers in 20 years, with a 14-year gap. In the same period no less than 33 main-stage commissions for male choreographers.

 

Of all the other productions, Miss Gielgud's Giselle was seen multiple times, and the only other female choreographers whose work appeared on the AusBallet stage were Twyla Tharp (Upper Room) and Ninette de Valois (Checkmate).

 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Sophoife
Added comments regarding female vs male choreographers