Sim Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Angela, thank you so much for all the information you regularly give us on this forum. It is much appreciated, so please keep it coming! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fadedhour Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Ah, so this is where the Hamburg Ballet fans are! I almost never see any reviews or information on them in English, so I am pleased to see this thread. I first saw them when they toured the US some years ago (they were my introduction to ballet) and I am lucky enough to now be able to see them every few months or so. This season, I've seen Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and The Little Mermaid, and I'll be heading to Hamburg for the Ballet Days in the summer as well as seeing Lady of the Camellias in May. On the topic of new dancers: I think there are a few promising names. In the corps, I like Sasha Riva, Lennart Radtke, and Marcelino Libao, and Emanuel Amuchastegui shows promise as well. I don't really know the rest of the corps men well enough individually to say. I just saw Sasha Riva in The Little Mermaid last month and I don't think he could have been any better. Of the women, Xue Lin performed the lead in The Little Mermaid recently, which must mean someone has confidence in her - I didn't see it, so I don't know how she did. Emilie Mazon, who is an apprentice, impressed me in Othello. I think Alexandr Trusch is just wonderful and I'm really pleased he was promoted. I saw him in Romeo and Juliet last year and he was amazing (with Florencia Chinellato who was also great). As Angela and annamicro point out, though, they have some really special principal dancers at the moment. I'll be so sad when pretty much any one of them retires. Especially Alexandre Riabko who is my favorite. I do think, re: the earlier comment on younger vs. older principals, that Edvin Revazov is pretty great - I've seen him in roles as different as Tadzio and Romeo and Diaghilev and he was great each time. I haven't seen Anna Laudere in that much so I don't really have a strong opinion, but for the one lead role I did see her in, I admired her dancing but found her acting to be lacking. Anyway, my point in all this is that I feel that while Hamburg does have some legendary, irreplaceable principals, I do have faith in the future of the company from the younger dancers I've seen so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hello, fadedhour. Welcome to the forum, and thank you for posting. It's always good to hear about other companies around the globe. Would that more people would post about them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fadedhour Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thank you - yes, I'm still waiting for the rest of the world to catch on to how wonderful they are! Maybe part of it here is the very puzzling fact that in 40 years they've performed in 30 countries, but never the UK. Here's hoping that changes soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I'm a huge fan of Hamburg and cannot WAIT to see Riabko-Azzoni-Trutsch in Onegin in March, as well as the Neumeier mixed program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fadedhour Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Wow, that sounds like a great Onegin cast! I bet Alexandr Trusch makes a wonderful Lensky. And I think he and Riabko play well off each other - I saw them in Othello, as Cassio and Iago, a few months ago. By the way, I don't know if you've seen Riabko in any villainous roles - I hadn't until this season, and he's actually amazing at it. I would never have chosen those roles for him but he's been great. And I always like seeing him and Azzoni together Please let us know what you think of the performances! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 (edited) Maybe part of it here is the very puzzling fact that in 40 years they've performed in 30 countries, but never the UK. Here's hoping that changes soon! The UK, as wonderful/comfortable as it can sometimes be, is - no matter what Alistair Spalding might otherwise suggest in his projections - a very strange balletic bird. Unless the chick was/is initially allowed and ultimately willing to fly, perspectives - of necessity - are often more limited/insular than by rights they might/should otherwise be. Ashton spoke of this. Relatively cheap airfares (historically speaking) have become, at least in my book, a key educational tool in this regard. They have staked out our time for those who are determined to take advantage of this cherished and affordable avenue for growth every bit as much as Youtube has/can wet the appetite (albeit without ever yielding the intrinsic excitement of actually sharing in the cultural space). 'If the mountain won't come to Muhammad ... ' Education, as ever, remains key. That is the greatest gift I personally thank my own parents for. May they rest in peace. Edited February 6, 2014 by Meunier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Wow, that sounds like a great Onegin cast! I bet Alexandr Trusch makes a wonderful Lensky. And I think he and Riabko play well off each other - I saw them in Othello, as Cassio and Iago, a few months ago. By the way, I don't know if you've seen Riabko in any villainous roles - I hadn't until this season, and he's actually amazing at it. I would never have chosen those roles for him but he's been great. And I always like seeing him and Azzoni together Please let us know what you think of the performances! I first saw Riabko in Neumeier's Sleeping Beauty (my favourite production of that ballet) in 2005, and he impressed me so much that 8 years later, when the National Ballet of Canada announced he would be guesting here in Nijinsky, I was literally bouncing around the house saying "Alexandre RIABKO is coming!!!". He was so amazing in that role, it completely possesses him. I am not surprised that he would be good at villainous roles too, he is just a great dance actor. So.... when I arranged my Copenhagen-Hamburg trip for my group of 10 ballet lovers, I was just so hoping we would see him as Onegin... and couldn't believe my luck when the casting was announced. I will report back. Unfortunately Hamburg doesn't tour to Toronto, either, so it's been a slog convincing balletomanes here that it's worth the trip to Hamburg to see them. Seeing Nijinsky last year woke a lot of people up to Neumeier. Also, most people don't know anything about the city of Hamburg; I myself was surprised at how pleasant it is when I first went there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fadedhour Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Ha, your story sounds familiar. I first saw them in 2004 (this was my first ballet other than a couple Nutcrackers when I was younger), with Alexandre Riabko performing Nijinsky. What an introduction! You're right - he really does become the character. I love that ballet - every time I see it, I discover some new reference or allusion that I hadn't noticed before. It's a crime that it's not on DVD (although quite a bit of it's been recorded now, fortunately). I'm really pleased that the National Ballet of Canada picked up Nijinsky (and they're doing it again this year!). I was wondering whether someone might, given that lots of Neumeier's ballets are performed elsewhere. I'm really impressed that they've done it because it's a complicated one and it's not for everyone. Did it get a good reception in Toronto? I'm jealous that you got to see their Sleeping Beauty - I don't think they've done it in a little while because I can't really find any information about it. I did find this clip which I just put on YouTube recently. What was it like? I would love to see it. If you ever get the chance to see Alexandre Riabko as Iago in Othello, definitely go for it. I wrote a review of it here if you're interested, but basically I was just amazed at the depth of his characterization, having not seen him in anything like that before. So cold, so cruel, and even quite funny. It was astonishing. I was surprised about Hamburg (the place), also! The first time I went, I just spontaneously arranged a trip without knowing anything about the city. It was hard coming back to snowy Boston after a beautiful week in Hamburg. Are the people in your group familiar with the company? They're in for a real treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaneEH Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Nijinsky was very enthusiastically received by Toronto audiences, fadedhour, and I believe the houses were quite full for most shows. Mr. Neumeier's Seagull had previously been performed by NBOC, and well received, so I think the audiences have absorbed enough of his choreographic vocabulary to "get it" and appreciate it. I was very fortunate to also see Mr. Riabko perform Nijinsky. He was extraordinary (as was Sonia Rodriguez in partnership with him: in fact, I found the whole cast really followed his lead, and the energy of that Sunday matinee was off the charts). What I found most extraordinary in Mr. Riabko's performance was his ability to make us, the audience, feel complicit in his/Nijinsky's destruction. There was a moment I still remember vividly when the audience burst into applause at some part of his performance and he madly came toward us, soaking it up, and you really felt how such a reaction was part and parcel of Nijinsky's descent into madness. Definitely one of those transcendent moments in art. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hello Jane, and welcome to the Forum out of the lurking shadows. I hope you will continue to post - it would be fantastic to hear more from Columbus and Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Big news from Munich: Igor Zelensky will be appointed Artistic Director of the Bavarian State Ballet from season 2016/17 on, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports today. That’s only in the print edition until now, I’m trying to find a link – but the source is reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) Big news from Munich: Igor Zelensky will be appointed Artistic Director of the Bavarian State Ballet from season 2016/17 on, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports today. That’s only in the print edition until now, I’m trying to find a link – but the source is reliable. This is extraordinary. He already runs two other ballet companies: the Stanilavsky and the Novosibirsk, I believe. Edited February 17, 2014 by capybara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Probably he will have to give them up, I don't think the Munich National Theatre will accept a part-time director. But who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Here's the link finally, in German of course: Süddeutsche Zeitung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Still unofficial, though? Thanks for this, and for generally keeping us abreast of events in the German-speaking world, Angela. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stucha Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 If he does give up the directorship of the other companies, it will be interesting to see if Polunin follows him to Munich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 No, it's official now, the Bavarian Ministry of Cultural Affairs confirmed the appointment yesterday: http://www.km.bayern.de/pressemitteilung/8790/nr-053-vom-18-02-2014.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie 2 Milner Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 The Company have also put it on their Facebook page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 ... and the Bavarian State Ballet also: http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/861-ZG9tPWRvbTImZmxhZz0xJmw9ZW4mbXNnX2lkPTE2NzMz-~Staatsoper~bso_aktuell~aktuelles_detail.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 technically this isn't news FROM Germany, but it's about the Hamburg Ballet, so I;m putting it here: An electrical fire broke out at the Harris Theater in Chicago yesterday forcing the cancellation of both scheduled performances of Hamburg's 3rd Symphony of Gustav Mahler. Subsequently this announcement was made (from Hamburg Ballet's facebook page)Hamburg BallettHAMBURG BALLET ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CHOREOGRAPHER JOHN NEUMEIER SPEAKS ON CANCELLATIONCHICAGO (February 19, 2014) Internationally-acclaimed and Milwaukee-born choreographer John Neumeier speaks on the subsequent cancellation of Wednesday and Thursday nights presentation of Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler.Says Neumeier: To cancel a performance is a particularly devastating moment for me, especially after the great success of Nijinsky last season at the Harris Theater. Chicago is not just another city. Chicago, for me, is very special because it is here that I attended my first professional ballet school. Its incredibly significant, for me, to return with one of my works.To move a company of 60 dancers and 50 staff members is an enormous undertaking. That we were able to do it is a miracle in itself. We are very thankful that the Harris Theater invited us again, and we sincerely apologize to all the peoplefriends, relatives, and audience members. Ive never had to do this in 44 years as a ballet director, but the security of my dancers and staff, as well as the audience, must always be the highest priority.After all the troubles we had with the costumes and the containers from Germany, and after the great help we received from Brigitte Lefèvre, Director of the Ballet of the Paris Opéra, we were so looking forward to this weeks performances. The rehearsals were going wonderfully until we had to evacuate the Theater. The worst thing that can ever happen is to cancel a performance.Im very grateful that weve formed a special relationship with the Harris Theater. Im confident that well be returning very soon in the future.HAMBURG BALLET ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CHOREOGRAPHER JOHN NEUMEIER SPEAKS ON CANCELLATION CHICAGO (February 19, 2014) Internationally-acclaimed and Milwaukee-born choreographer John Neumeier speaks on the subsequent cancellation of Wednesday and Thursday nights presentation of Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler. Says Neumeier: To cancel a performance is a particularly devastating moment for me, especially after the great success of Nijinsky last season at the Harris Theater. Chicago is not just another city. Chicago, for me, is very special because it is here that I attended my first professional ballet school. Its incredibly significant, for me, to return with one of my works. To move a company of 60 dancers and 50 staff members is an enormous undertaking. That we were able to do it is a miracle in itself. We are very thankful that the Harris Theater invited us again, and we sincerely apologize to all the peoplefriends, relatives, and audience members. Ive never had to do this in 44 years as a ballet director, but the security of my dancers and staff, as well as the audience, must always be the highest priority. After all the troubles we had with the costumes and the containers from Germany, and after the great help we received from Brigitte Lefèvre, Director of the Ballet of the Paris Opéra, we were so looking forward to this weeks performances. The rehearsals were going wonderfully until we had to evacuate the Theater. The worst thing that can ever happen is to cancel a performance. Im very grateful that weve formed a special relationship with the Harris Theater. Im confident that well be returning very soon in the future. More (translated and summarized from the Hamburg Ballet blog, where there are some pics): http://www.hamburgba...chtet.html#moreAround 1 pm two loud bangs were heard and then smoke was seen. Within minutes the stage and dressing rooms were evacuated. People grabbed only what was closest to hand. There was some consternation because the stage is about six storeys underground at the Harris Theater, but the evacuation up the stairs (about 90 people) was orderly. The dancers, however, were wearing only practice clothes and ballet slippers, and it was just above freezing in Chicago, somewhat chilly to be standing outside the emergency exit of the theatre. They did a quick inventory of who was wearing what, and jackets, sweaters, socks, etc. were redistributed out among the company. The sidewalks were covered with puddles.After a few minutes, it became clear that the situation in the theater was really serious and they would not be let back in, they moved a few hundred meters to a subway station , where it was a little warmer . Many of the male dancers and staff of the company carried ballerinas over the puddles, because they had only slippers and leg warmers on. They waited in station in the hope of being able to at least retrieve their clothes from the theater .Nothing doing. The theater was closed for several hours. For over 90 company members another solution had to be found. They all took taxis to the hotel where one team was waiting with money, another with new room keys , because most of them were still in the theater. After about an hour all were in their hotel rooms.One of the Harris Theater's founders laid on a dinner for the whole company at the hotel, and that was when John Neumeier announced that Thursday's performance was also cancelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 If he does give up the directorship of the other companies, it will be interesting to see if Polunin follows him to Munich. That was the very first thought that occurred to me, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Katherine: Your post certainly amplifies the fairly brief Chicago Tribune report in this morning's Links! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Principal dancer Alicia Amatriain from Stuttgart Ballet will be dancing Tatiana in Cranko's Onegin at Paris Opéra on 25.2. and 4.3. with Karl Paquette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 At Bavarian State Ballet, soloists Ivy Amista and Ekaterina Petina will be promoted to principal dancers from next season on. Other promotions in 2014/15: Léonard Engel to soloist; Dustin Klein, Luiza Bernardes Bertho and Mia Rudic to demi-soloists. Nagisa Hatano, Alisa Scetinina, Marta Navarrete Villalba and Lisa Gareis will move from the junior company to the main company. Mariinsky dancer Timur Askerov will be guesting as Solor in Munich on March 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 Next season at Bavarian State Ballet in Munich (can't find it online yet): - Paquita in a choreography by Alexei Ratmansky after Petipa, announced as a reconstruction/new creation considering all historical sources. In December 2014 - a full-evening creation by Richard Siegal for the Ballet Week 2015 (usually in April) - a triple bill with Artifact II by Forsythe, the central part of Kylián’s Zugvögel (Migratory Birds) plus, as a company premiere, the pas de deux The Exiles by José Limón Repertoire: Neumeier’s Lady of the Camellias and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cranko’s Onegin and Romeo, a double bill with Bohner/Schlemmer’s The Triadic Ballet and Mary Wigman’s Sacre (premieres still to come this season), Les Ballets Russes, Der gelbe Klang (The Yellow Sound) by Aszure Barton, Russell Maliphant, Michael Simon (premiere April 2014). Guest Company during the Ballet Week 2015: Ballet on the Rhine with Martin Schläpfer’s "7" to Mahler’s Seventh Symphony 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 Next season at Zurich Ballet (for an overview press 14/15 on the left, or find the whole brochure here) - new creation: Anna Karenina by Christian Spuck - Giselle by Patrice Bart - triple bill "Strings" with a creation by Edward Clug, workwithinwork by William Forsythe and das siebte blau (The Seventh Blue) by Spuck - triple bill "Balanchine" with Four Temperaments, Frank Bridge Variations by Hans van Manen and Falling Angels by Jiří Kylián - triple bill of new creations for the Junior Company by Filipe Portugal, Eva Dewaele and Christian Spuck Repertoire: - triple bill "Forellenquintett" with works by Martin Schläpfer, Douglas Lee and Jiří Kylián - Leonce und Lena by Spuck - Romeo and Juliet by Spuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Today is the live streaming of Peter Wright's Sleeping Beauty from Vienna State Ballet from this page: http://www.staatsoperlive.com/de/ It costs 14 Euro, the cast is here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Farewell performances of Natalia Sologub and Yumiko Takeshima at Dresden Semperoper Ballet: http://www.semperoper.de/en/ballett/aktuell/abschiedsvorstellung-natalia-sologub.html http://www.semperoper.de/en/ballett/aktuell/abschiedsvorstellung-yumiko.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I've had a bad experience trying to watch Vienna State Ballet. I paid 14 Euros, could not access the live stream, which seems to have started much earlier than I thought it would despite the 'countdown' on the site (there's only 40 minutes remaining now), and I couldn't get a refund because I had apparently booked a live ticket which had to be picked up from the BO! I won't be attempting to watch any paid for live streams again. I advise everyone to be very wary. The site is impenetrable, even in English, and at one point it said that there were no live streams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Bayerische Staatsoper live video stream:15 March 2014 at 7:30pm CETLa Bayadere (Petipa/Bart)Lucia Lacarra (Nikiya), Marlon Dino (Solor) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Sad news from Dresden: William Forsythe will step down from the Artistic Direction of his Forsythe Company because he has fallen gravely ill. The Sächsische Zeitung (behind paywall - scroll down here for the headline) writes that the 64 year old choreographer is so ill, that „very probably he will never create pieces again“. He will stay Artistic Adviser to the company, which shall be directed from September 2015 on by choreographer and former Forsythe dancer Jacopo Godani. The company’s contract with Festspielhaus Hellerau at Dresden will be extended for two more years until 2018 – a link to the Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten in German here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 How terribly sad. This must be an awful shock for all involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now