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The casting for Hamburg Ballet’s revised version of Neumeier’s Sleeping Beauty:

 

Dec 19. and 21., Jan 6.: Ida Praetorius and Alexandr Trusch

Dec 29. and 30., Jan 13. Madoka Sugai and Alessandro Frola

Jan 7. and 9. Emilie Mazoń and Jacopo Bellussi

Jan 10. and 15. Alina Cojocaru and Alexandr Trusch

 

Principal dancer Hélène Bouchet will give her farewell performances in this production as "The Rose on Dec. 19. and 21.

 

The press release also states that this is Neumeier’s penultimate season as director, no further explanation.

 

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12 minutes ago, Angela said:

The press release also states that this is Neumeier’s penultimate season as director, no further explanation.

 

 

This was already planned: you posted about that in 2018  😊

"John Neumeier will stay Director of the Hamburg Ballet until 2023, when he will be 84 years old."

  https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/277-news-from-germany-austria-switzerland/?do=findComment&comment=239196

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5 hours ago, Angela said:

Here's a short portrait of Ida Praetorius, new principal dancer at Hamburg Ballet - it is in German, but with some excerpts of Neumeier's Sleeping Beauty. I hope it's not geoblocked. 

 

Ida has left Royal Danish Ballet??  Or is she just having two contracts (like Alina Cojocaru did at Hamburg and Royal Ballet, and Jurgita Dronina did at ENB and National Ballet of Canada)? I’m so out of the loop! 

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It is said that she left the RDB just for one year to be a part of the Hamburg ballet during this period. Her boyfriend Ryan Tomash had recently become a soloist at RDB, so there could be some challenges for both of them.

  I tried to find some information about the first Ida's performance in Hamburg (I couldn't unfortunately go there myself) and it looks like there was a positive response to the new version of the " Sleeping beauty", for example, this :
"Ida Praetorius from the Royal Ballet in Copenhagen starts as the new first soloist in January and took over the leading role in the new version in advance due to an illness. As a filigree Aurora, she made a glamorous debut. Alexandr Trusch, principal soloist with the Hamburg Ballet since 2014, embodies Prince Désiré powerfully elegant, agile and expressive. In addition to the three main roles, Christopher Evans was particularly convincing in the role of the snuggly steward Catalabutte. Again and again, the premiere, which was interspersed with many cabinet pieces, was accompanied by strong applause from the scene, which was by no means limited to the performances of the better-known dancers. The entire ensemble did its job excellently at a high level. Finally, so it can be said, is “Sleeping Beauty” after a sleepy 14 years in which it was not on the schedule of the State Opera stood, back on stage: fully bloomed and more beautiful than ever."

Edited by Estreiiita
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On 22/12/2021 at 18:03, Sabine0308 said:

Staatsballett Berlin has cancelled all performances until January 3rd 2022. Guess why.🙄 I'm so sorry for the dancers in particular, and for audience of course.

So sorry to hear this, Sabine. In Stuttgart, our luck still holds, for how much longer nobody knows, of course.

 

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The Stadttheater I know best (in NRW) has steadfastly remained open (it serves two cities so there's extra pressure), although the ballets are special distanced choreographies, made over the last 18 months by the Direktor. They are hanging in there, although the person I know who's in management there says there are issues with some dancers refusing vaccinations, or mask-wearing, and also about UK-based dancers and singers going home in the New Year, given that there's a 14 day quarantine coming back to Germany from the UK.

 

However, apparently the opera singers have thrived in the masked, distanced conditions - hardly any of the usual colds coughs etc over the last 18 months. Long may wearing masks and keeping away from people if you have any sort of cold last!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Stuttgart Ballet had to cancel its planned tour to Japan with Mayerling (which had already been replaced by Onegin) and Marcia Haydée's Sleeping Beauty in March due to travel restrictions caused by Covid (and possibly the costs to send all the decors and costumes to Japan without really knowing if the performances will go ahead). But a smaller group of dancers will go on tour to show a mixed bill with excerpts from Onegin, Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, with some modern pieces and Maurice Béjart's Bolero, danced by Friedemann Vogel and the Tokyo Ballet.

 

Dancers and programme here: https://www.nbs.or.jp/english/news/the-stuttgart-ballet-gala-2022.html

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Hamburg Ballet had to postpone four performances of John Neumeier's Sleeping Beauty due to Covid infections in the company. New dates to be announced.

The Semperopera at Dresden remains closed until Jan 14th.

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On 08/01/2022 at 11:23, Angela said:

Hamburg Ballet had to postpone four performances of John Neumeier's Sleeping Beauty due to Covid infections in the company. New dates to be announced.

The Semperopera at Dresden remains closed until Jan 14th.

So, this will be a week full of suspense. I've got tickets for the 15th, SB with Alina Cojocaru... that night's performance has not been cancelled yet.

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23 hours ago, Christine said:

So, this will be a week full of suspense. I've got tickets for the 15th, SB with Alina Cojocaru... that night's performance has not been cancelled yet.


on Hamburg website it now shows Emilie Mazon as Aurora for 15th January, with Jacopo Bellussi

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OK, thank you for this info, Fiona, I hadn't seen this yet. Yes, it is a bit of a disappointment, I admit, but in these times we have to be pleased if performances can go ahead at all, I guess. I've never seen Emilie Mazon so I do look forward to her Aurora, too - unless there's going to be another change thanks to the Covid lottery.

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2 hours ago, Christine said:

OK, thank you for this info, Fiona, I hadn't seen this yet. Yes, it is a bit of a disappointment, I admit, but in these times we have to be pleased if performances can go ahead at all, I guess. I've never seen Emilie Mazon so I do look forward to her Aurora, too - unless there's going to be another change thanks to the Covid lottery.


I’m sorry it’s not going to be Alina.  But agree that I’m grateful for any ballet to actually get on stage at this moment in the pandemic.
 

Casting at RB and ENB is getting changed right up to the last minute … it’s making for some impromptu partnerships and unexpected debuts for younger dancers.  Quite exciting!

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16 minutes ago, Angela said:

Hamburg Ballet is on stage again, but Munich Ballet had to cancel already one Giselle and now two others. The new date for the revival is the 22nd January.

For Stuttgart, the Mayerling casts are online.

Although Mayerling is not my favourite ballet - by some shot - (the brilliant Stuttgart relay did help to up its ante in my eyes certainly) I would LOVE to see Jason Reilly's crack on Rudolf.  I have a feeling it will be viscerally exciting.  

Edited by Bruce Wall
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On 14/01/2022 at 18:26, Bruce Wall said:

Although Mayerling is not my favourite ballet - by some shot - (the brilliant Stuttgart relay did help to up its ante in my eyes certainly) I would LOVE to see Jason Reilly's crack on Rudolf.  I have a feeling it will be viscerally exciting.  


I too would like to see Reilly’s Mayerling … hoping for a repeat run 

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Assuming this extract is accurate, it’s completely understandable:

 

************
Apparently there was an incident last month during a rehearsal of John Cranko’s Onegin.

 

Tamas Detrich, Artistic Director of the Stuttgart Ballet, said: ‘Due to past and current events, I feel compelled to protect my dancers. If dance and music are no longer in harmony, then we miss our goal. I am deeply disappointed.’ 
************

 

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33 minutes ago, FionaE said:

Assuming this extract is accurate, it’s completely understandable:

 

************
Apparently there was an incident last month during a rehearsal of John Cranko’s Onegin.

 

Tamas Detrich, Artistic Director of the Stuttgart Ballet, said: ‘Due to past and current events, I feel compelled to protect my dancers. If dance and music are no longer in harmony, then we miss our goal. I am deeply disappointed.’ 
************

 

 

If you follow the "It Appears" link in the article, and translate it, there is a bit more information

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3 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

The link in the comments is also interesting.

 

On the face of it, this is very troubling, but I don't know if there's another side to it.

 

I'm sure there is and would very much like to hear it. 

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Nicely objective report on the matter.  NOT.

 

I've just skim-read the whole thing, and am not much the wiser.  A difference of opinion about tempi?  From what I'd read on page 57, I'd expected something a lot worse.

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Apparently Mr. Agrest conducted too fast during a rehearsal of Onegin with a new cast, the only stage rehearsal for the revival after the different, long Covid lockdowns. He had never conducted this ballet before, and Reid Anderson, who has coached Cranko ballets since the 1980s, apparently asked him to go slower and care for the dancers. Apparently Agrest said that we don't want to hear funeral music, the orchestra applauded, and after a dubious hand gesture of the conductor, Anderson left the rehearsal. Two days later, Agrest was dismissed by the State Theatre, now the lawyers try to find a financial solution. Agrest made the mistake of going to the press even though the two parties had agreed not to disclose their legal battle. Very clever, he chose a blogger who notoriously hates Stuttgart Ballet. And though hardly any critic ever cares about the orchestra and the conductor in German reviews (your English critics are much more thorough in that regard), we now have a scandal. 🙄

Edited by Angela
typo
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Hmm, the next Mayerling performance is scheduled for June, so that’s a whole new ballgame. Only a single Mayerling was performed thus far - it must be a crushing disappointment, most of all for the dancers, of course. On the other hand cancellations because of Covid cases in the company are not unusual occurrence these days… and so far we have been rather „lucky“ in Stuttgart in this respect.

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