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Hope this new thread is welcome... though starting with sad news:

 

According to her Facebook account, Polina Semionova will leave Berlin State Ballet after this season - no idea so far where she's going.

 

"Dear friends,

I would like to announce that the 2011/12 season will be my last season at the Staatsballett Berlin.

Sincerely,

Polina"

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Angela: Your starting this thread is certainly welcomed by me. Much as I enjoy the Royal Ballet, I'd like to see this forum explore far beyond London and, hopefully, encourage new users to bring news and comment from any of the centres of excellence that exist in Europe and, indeed, elsewhere.

 

Your inclusion of Switzerland in the title intrigues me as I now have interests in both Bern and Zurich, although I cannot see me indulging them more than very occasionally. So, anything from either city will always be welcome!

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It’s John Neumeier’s 70th birthday today, with congratulations in all national newspapers. Though in truth he is already 73, which was published three years ago when his Catholic parish in Hamburg accidentally congratulated him on his 70th birthday. Next year will be his 40th year with Hamburg Ballet, he received practically every German dance award, many other prizes and every honour that the town of Hamburg has to offer.

His latest acquisition is the Bundesjugendballett („Federal youth ballet“), a youth company like NDT 2, but with only eight dancers, starting over right now with performances all over Germany. There’s also a new youth company in Munich, the Bavarian State Ballet 2 with 16 young dancers.

Edited by Angela
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Lovely topic. My son dances with the Bavarian State Ballet. Semionova was meant to dance with them last week but could not. Unwell I think. I have been lucky enough to go over to see the main company a few times now and so enjoyed it. The last thing was "Scenes de Ballet". Wonderful. (obviously i am a bit biased:-))

 

There are now 3 ex Elmhurst dancers with the company.

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Julie, it was Osipova (not Semionova) who should have danced Sleeping Beauty in Munich last Monday; she cancelled, due to illness. She's still on the schedule for another guest performance with Vasiliev on April 9th.

 

There's a review of "Scenes de ballet" in the last issue of the Dancing Times.

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Angela of course you are right. Senior moment for me!

 

Yes there was a review in Dancing Times. (And great excitement here as included a pic with my son:-))

 

Ian over the last few years I have seen Vienna State Opera and Bavarian State Ballet simply because my son was an apprentice with the former and now dances with the latter. I've always held off giving proper reviews due to my connection and inherent bias. Also not sure I am knowledgeable enough.

 

Munich are doing a "British Season" and Ashton's "Steps and Times" is not one I know. As I saw it a while ago I'm afraid I cannot name specifics but I will say I enjoyed the whole programme.

 

For me what makes the Bavarian State Ballet so watchable is the depth of talent throught the whole company. From the corps to the principals there is a cohesiveness which binds the company together. They tackle both classic and contemporary pieces and do both well. Last season they did "Mein Ravel" and "Multiplicity in Form" which they are reprising this season. My own view is that some companies do either classical, or contemporary well but often not both.

 

So apologies for not giving a proper review. If this forum is still going when I next visit I will correct that.

 

Every year they have a "Ballet Week" which is a great experience. I would have no hesitation in recommending anyone who is in Munich to try to watch the company. The National Theatre is beautiful, though I have not visited the Princeregenten theatre which is the other venue. The atmosphere is "smart" but more relaxed than Vienna.

 

The web site is www.bayerische.staatsoper.de.

 

Julie

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Great topic as I regularly travel to Berlin to see SBB - my next trip will be in May to see R&J and Onegin, so I really hope in the light of the above news that Polina will be cast in one or other of the performances I have tickets for. What a shame to hear she is leaving.

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Just to add some further info to this thread, there are also a number of RBS trained dancers who are flying the flag in this part of the world.

 

At Stuttgart Ballet, there are two UK brothers, one recently has been made a Principal.

 

While at the Vienna State Ballet there are three dancers who trained at RBS, two specifically from the UK. Since Manuel Legris became the ballet director in 2010 the company appears to have found a new direction, I myself had the pleasure of attending two performances last year at the Opera House.

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Yes, William Moore and Alexander Jones, both graduated the same year als Xander Parish and Liam Scarlett from RBS, if I remember right. Great dancers - tall, good actors, musical, fine technique, handsome guys. I could never understand why Mrs. Mason did not do everything to get them into the Royal Ballet - good for Stuttgart :)

William Moore, one ot the best dancer-actors I've seen in a very long time, is leaving with Stuttgart resident choreographer Christian Spuck for Zurich Ballet at the end of the season, where Spuck will follow Heinz Spoerli as director. Big mistake for Moore, if you ask me, because he got every role he could wish for at Stuttgart, he was in most creationes by choreographers working there and hugely popular with the audience.

Also dancing at Stuttgart: Elisa Badenes from Spain, Prix de Lausanne and YAGP winner, who trained at the RBS and danced her first Odette/Odile in December - an incredible performance, better than all the senior ballerinas of the company. Calm and serene, not a little bit nervous, wonderful arms, and a very dangerous, sensual black swan. Like she was born to dance that role - I could not believe it, she was 19 years old!

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Mmm, I remember keeping an eye on Jones for several years prior to graduation - rather unusual for me, since I don't really follow the dancers as students that much - and possibly Moore, too. Good to know that Badenes is doing so well.

 

Do keep us posted with any performance reports if you feel like it.

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The season 2012/2013 at Zurich ballet, with new director Christian Spuck:

13.10.2012 "Romeo and Juliet" - choreography Christian Spuck, new creation

16.2.2013 „New Sleep“ by William Forsythe, New Piece by Edward Clug, „Sleight of Hand“ by Lightfoot/León.

27.4.2013 „Leonce and Lena“ by Christian Spuck (after Georg Büchner’s play), music by Johann Strauss, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Amilcare Ponchielli, Alfred Schnittke and Martin Donner - created 2008 for Aalto Ballet at Essen, Germany

 

Spuck will only keep Heinz Spoerli's Swan Lake for next season but promises to do some more Spoerli ballets in the future.

 

Whereas Spoerli has 42 dancers now, Spuck's company has only 35 names (maybe more to come) - most dancers will stay, but principals Vahe Martirosyan, Stanislav Jermakov and Aliya Tanykpayeva are leaving.

 

check out the whole Zurich season (opera and ballet) here:

http://www.opernhaus.ch/de/index.php?book=1

 

With opera director Alexander Pereira leaving for Salzburg Festival, the renowned Zurich Opera house will be directed by Andreas Homoki from 2012/2013, who until recently was at the Komische Oper Berlin, doing very, VERY modern opera productions. Zurich audiences are a little bit afraid what will happen...

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Angela - thanks for keeping us up to date. I would love to go to Zurich, specifically to see Lightfoot/Leon's Sleight of Hand which is one of the most visually stunning works I have seen in recent years (NDT2 @ The Lowry a couple of years ago). Please keep this thread up!

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Angela - yes, this is a is a great topic - more coverage from Germany - and elsewhere in Europe - is very welcome, so thank you for the news and your thoughts. I hope you can see that lots of people are interested.

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Angela: Many thanks for the link to the Zurich 2012-13 season. With changes to both Intendant and Ballet Director coming up in the summer, I can imagine that some locals may fear the worst. Herr Spuck is presumably intending to make his mark by taking on R&J as his first ballet - I must confess to not being familiar with his past work and I'm guessing that this will be in contemporary guise, rather than in period Cranko/MacMillan vein. And if I have it right, he intends to give additional prominence to the Junior Ballett? I'll be interested to hear how that develops.

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Hello Angela, and many thanks for starting this thread. It is already very interesting, and much appreciated. We don't hear enough about what is happening in the European dance scene, so for you to cover Germany, Austria, Swizterland etc. is fantastic. Please keep up the good work of keeping us informed!

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Season 2012/2013 at Bavarian State Ballet

 

Bavarian State Ballet will present José Limón‘s „The Moor's Pavane“, together with Léonide Massine’s „Choreartium“ (never danced by a German ballet company before) in an evening called „Forever Young“.

 

Australian choreographer Terence Kohler, who was resident choreographer of the company for a short time, will present an evening called „Helden“ („Heroes“).

The Ballet Week in 2013 will bring another Terpsichore Gala and the Mikhailovsky Ballet with Nacho Duato’s „Sleeping Beauty“.

 

The double bill „Exits and Entrances“ in June then combines Merce Cunningham’s „Biped“ and a new creation by Richard Siegal, former Forsythe dancer.

 

Also in the repertory: Jiří Kylián‘s „Zugvögel“, Ashton‘s „La Fille mal gardée“, Neumeier‘s „Illusions – Like Swan Lake“ and his „Nutcracker“, „Steps & Times“ with Asthon/MacMillan, „Goldberg Variations“ by Jerome Robbins and Kylián’s „Gods and Dogs“.

 

online only in German version here

 

 

Russian Guests in Munich for the next performances:

 

Ekaterina Osmolkina from Mariinsky Ballet als Odette in Neumeier’s „Illusions – Like Swan Lake“ on March 10, 12 (the role of Odile is played by another ballerina in this version)

Oxana Skorik, also from the Mariinsky, in the same role on March 22

 

Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev in „Sleeping Beauty“ on April 4

 

Ekaterina Borchenko from Mikhailovsky Ballett as Aurora on April 12

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Hi Angela ... Much thanks for yours .... Was wondering about Osipova and Vasiliev in Sleeping Beauty??? I would love to see it ... but on the company website it is showing them as dancing on 9th April (which sadly I can't make) ... If NOW they are dancing on the 4th, I could. Grateful if you could confirm if you have heard that they switched to the 4th (which still shows Licarra/Dino) or added the 4th to their schedule ... Will have to book airfare if they are dancing on 4th April ... Much thanks for all.

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My mistake, Meunier - a typo, I'm very sorry!! Of course the website is right. But I also heard that Osipova is injured, that's why she cancelled her first Aurora at Munich some weeks ago - so who knows if they will be dancing at all.

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Season 2012/13 at Dresden Semperoper Ballet (Director: Aaron Watkin)

 

http://www.semperoper.de/ballett/premieren/premieren-201213.html

 

27.10.2012 „Bella Figura“

Triple Bill with „Bella Figura“ by Jiří Kylián, „Minus 16“ by Ohad Naharin and a new creation by Helen Pickett, former Forsythe dancer at Frankfurt Ballet. She will use Hans Werner Henze’s ballet music „Das Vokaltuch der Kammersängerin Rosa Silber“ („The vocal cloth of chamber singer Rosa Silber“). Henze will be composer-in-residence of the next season at the Semper Opera

 

19.01.2013 Young Choreographers

Location: Volkswagen Glass Manufactory at Dresden

 

22.03.2013 „Romeo und Julia“ – New choreography by Stijn Celis

 

22.06.2013 Ballett Junge Szene

A story ballet for the young audience by Michael Tucker, American dancer at the Semperoper Ballet

 

10.07.2013 Ballet Gala

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After an article in the Berliner Zeitung declared the Berlin State Ballet „lying in ruins“, another one of the main Berlin newspapers, the Tagesspiegel, confronts director Vladimir Malakhov about being vain, just caring for his own career as a dancer and selecting pieces he wants to dance himself, about the many out-of-date story ballets that his company assembled in its repertory in the last years, about not finding enough modern choreographers.

According to the article, no dates are fixed yet for further performances of Polina Semionova after this season at Berlin State Ballet.

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The Season 2012/2013 at Vienna State Ballet offers three premieres:

„The Nutcracker“ by Nureyev on October 7 (the third different Nutcracker in ten years for Vienna, if I’m counting right)

 

„Dance Perspectives“ on February 20 with „A Million Kisses to my Skin“ by Dawid Dawson, „Eventide“ by Helen Pickett (former Forsythe dancer), „Windspiele“ by Patrick de Bana, „Vers un pay sage“ by Jean-Christophe Maillot

 

a Nureyev Gala on June 29

 

further in the repertory: MacMillan’s „Manon“, Cranko’s „Romeo and Juliet“, Lacotte’s „La Sylphide“, Nureyev’s „Don Quixote“

 

and the mixed bills:

„Balanchine / Neumeier / Robbins“ with „Stravinsky Violin Concerto“, „Theme and Variations, „Bach Suite III“ and „The Concert“

„Masterpieces of the 20th Century“ with „Suite en blanc“ by Lifar, „Before Nightfall“ by Nils Christe and „L’Arlesienne“ by Roland Petit

 

this was published in the press conference for the opera - a special press conference for the ballet season will be held on April 3.

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No new works for Berlin State Ballet in 2012/2013, Artistic Director Vladimir Malakhov declared that they want to save money for the next season, which will be the tenth birthday of this young company.

 

The premieres in 2012/2013 will be revivals of Maurice Béjart’s "Ring around the Ring", a four hour evening with music from Richard Wagner’s "Ring des Nibelungen", and a revival of Malakhov’s "La Bayadère".

 

According to German newspapers Polina Semionova will not dance with Berlin State Ballet next season, "maybe later", as Malakhov said. He is still angry with her because she declared her decision to leave his company by Facebook and not through official channels, also this seems to be a question of money. Semionova will dance some guest performances at Dresden Semperoper Ballet.

 

Longtime Berlin principal dancer Bettina Thiel finished her career. She has been with the Ballet of the State Opera Unter den Linden since 1991 and with its successor, the State Ballet, since 2004.

 

 

 

 

No new works for Hamburg Ballet either, which presents a „Jubilee season“ in 2012/2013, when John Neumeier will be director of the company for an unbelievable 40 years (since 1973).

 

The season will see five revivals: an evening called "Nijinsky Epilogue" with Neumeier’s version of "Le Pavillon d’Armide" from 2009 and his "Sacre" from 1972, then "Shakespeare Scenes" with key moments from Neumeier’s Shakespeare ballets, his "Romeo and Juliet" and his "Préludes CV". The revival of Cranko’s "Onegin", which has not been seen in Hamburg for a very long time, is announced as a premiere.

 

The Ballett-Tage in June will be three weeks long, presenting two guest companys: The Bavarian State Ballet and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, both being led by former Hamburg dancers Ivan Liška and Jean-Christophe Maillot.

 

A special evening called "Gala for Piano, Voice and Dance" will unite Neumeier’s "Vaslaw" (music by Bach), a new version of his "Rückert Lieder" (music by Mahler) and "Kinderszenen" (music by Schumann), with pianist Christoph Eschenbach and baritone Matthias Goerne at the Philharmonie in Essen in May and at Hamburg in June.

 

Principal guest Alina Cojocaru will dance "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", "Liliom" and "Lady of the Camellias", dates to be announced.

 

The Hamburg Ballet will tour to Brisbane with "Nijinsky" and "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" in August/September 2012, to Baden-Baden with "Liliom" and "Illusions – Like Swan Lake" in October 2012, to St. Petersburg (Alexandrinsky Theater) with "Lady of the Camellias" in November 2012, and it will tour the US in February with "Nijinsky" (Chicago, San Francisco) and "The Little Mermaid" (Orange County).

Edited by Angela
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Re Ring around the ring: I thought it was longer than 4 hours when I saw it in Edinburgh! From my recollection (including a "supper break interval) it was well over 5 hours. It was so long that the huge firework display had well finished by the time we got out! I did enjoy it tremendously and would love to see it again.

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Did anyone see The Bavarian State Ballets "Goldberg Variation" and "Gods and Dogs"? Premiered on Sunday.

 

Also their ballet festival starts this week. Sadly I'm not able to go this year but hope to get out later to see "La Fille" and also "Goldberg Variations".

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