toursenlair Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 what injury did he have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Thanks very much - that's what I already knew Maybe some news on this theme that maybe you didn't.... The hugely talented principal Arman Grigoryan is leaving as Zürich this season, and will join Staatsballet Berlin (as a soloist) for next season. Wishing him all the best. he was a real star under Spörli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 what injury did he have? He had problems with his knees, but was out all of last season, and has operations on both legs. That's as much as I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estreiiita Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Hello everybody; I'm also new here - a ballet fan from Denmark! Can't help adding some comments about Nijinsky Gala in Hamburg - to my mind, the most difficult part of ordering tickets is not to forget which dates should the order be placed. This year I tried the luck myself ( for Gala in July 2016) and of course I almost missed the right time to send my order, still managing to do it at the last moment. I got the tickets no problem, and my sister living in France also got her tickets, both of us being first time purchasers at Nijinsky Gala, so to my mind it's not that awfully difficult. One can be however a bit uncertain about sending all the details of credit card to Hamburg Opera house in a letter... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I believe there is also a limit of 2 tix per show. So if Jan wanted to go with three of her ballet-loving friends, they would have to order as two separate groups. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Welcome Estreiiiita! Please let us know what the gala is like, and also if you get to see RDB sometimes please report back. We have some big fans of the company post on the forum, especially JaneS who travels regularly to Copenhagen to see them! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 The hugely talented principal Arman Grigoryan is leaving as Zürich this season, and will join Staatsballet Berlin (as a soloist) for next season. Wishing him all the best. he was a real star under Spörli. So almost all of the former Spoerli principals and soloists have left Zurich now. What a pity. I don't know if Grigoryan will be happy in Berlin, that's another company where everybody's running away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 So almost all of the former Spoerli principals and soloists have left Zurich now. What a pity. I don't know if Grigoryan will be happy in Berlin, that's another company where everybody's running away... The only Spörli trained (and brought to Zürich) Principals left are Filipe Portugal and Viktorina Kapitonova. Filipe danced a great Hilarion in Patrice Bart's Giselle performances, and does well in some other roles, but it is now moving more into choreography in the the twighlight of his career. He has a good relationship with Spuck who has allowed him to choreograph pieces for Junior Ballet evenings and some Gala performances. He was never the big star under Spörli times either. Spörli brought Kapitonova and it was clear he was shaping her to be a star of the future, and gave her Odette/Odile in Swan lake after previously saving it for Polina Semionova. Spuck fired many of Spörli's dancers (around half of the company) on his arrival, and the repoitore changed from Neo-Classical (Swan Lake was still in the repertoire in Spuck's first season) to Modern Spuck (only Spuck in season 13/14) pieces that only Katja Wünshe and Will Moore (brought from Stuttgart with him) danced the lead roles. In season 14/15 to keep Kapitonova he choreographed Anna Karenina (which is a full ballet and quite an honour) for her, also bringing Giselle (where she danced with F.Vogel and R.Bolle), and next year Swan Lake is coming with Ratmansky (as the world knows) so, it seems that she will be staying here in Zürich as she is the star for Zürich classical ballet pieces. (Wünsche still dances the lead roles in his pieces except for Anna Karenina) Sorry for the long answer, but I guess it is a response to explain, that for Grigoryan, he wasn't seen as a priority for Spuck sadly, and he was allowed to leave, I do not think it is a case of him or any other principals running away from Zürich. Grigoryan was not dancing any 'Prince' roles because he is a bit shorter than many dancers in Zürich (although he danced one performance as Albrecht with his wife Milhaylova as Giselle which was good). I think he may feel he has other chances at Berlin where Iana Salenko may be a good partner for him. (join the queue) Also Zürich's classical repertoire in 14/15 and 15/16 looks to be better than we have ever had it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 The queue for Salenko may be a long one as she seems to be spending much of her time here in London!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 (edited) Principal dancer Yen Han was also hired by Spoerli and she is still with the company, I guess. Also Galina Mihaylova. But I miss Vahe Martirosyan or Sarah-Jane Brodbeck, longtime Spoerli dancers. Edited June 19, 2015 by Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Principal dancer Yen Han was also hired by Spoerli and she is still with the company, I guess. Also Galina Mihaylova. But I miss Vahe Martirosyan or Sarah-Jane Brodbeck, longtime Spoerli dancers. Yen Han is still with the company, though she was at Zürich Ballet before Heinz Spörli joined (1993 vs 1996). Mihaylova is also still at Zürich Ballett, my bad, she is on maternity leave which is very exciting news for her too. I guess Sarah-Jane Brodbeck was a similar case to Arman, though she danced a very lovely Governante in Spucks Leonce and Lena. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Principal dancer Yen Han was also hired by Spoerli and she is still with the company, I guess. Also Galina Mihaylova. But I miss Vahe Martirosyan or Sarah-Jane Brodbeck, longtime Spoerli dancers. If you miss Vahe Martirosyan and Sarah-Jane Brodbeck you can see them on Monday (22nd June) in Münich. They will be performing with Tigran Makayelyan, Arsen Mehrabyan and other dancers at the "Forceful Feelings" gala. Miss them no longer https://www.gasteig.de/veranstaltungen-und-tickets/veranstaltungen/forceful-feelings.html,v36567 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 John Neumeier was awarded the prestigious Kyoto Prize, also regarded as Nobel Prize of the Arts. The prize is endowed with 50 million yen, around 360.000 Euro, which will probably allow Neumeier to buy more Nijinsky memorabilia for his Hamburg museum. Former recipients in dance include Pina Bausch and Maurice Béjart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Berlin State Ballet issued a warning about further strikes by its dancers yesterday. The press release says they offered a labour agreement especially taloired to the situation of the Berlin dancers, which was worked out with representatives from the dancers, but not accepted in a full meeting. German text here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 (edited) Things are heating up at Berlin: the revival of La Bayadère was cancelled today due to another strike of the dancers. The ballet direction issued a statement (which you can download here in German, "Stellungnahme"): "We are obviously dealing with quarrels of collective bargaining policy for which the union Ver.di misuses the dancers of Berlin State Ballet to extend its own claims to power – to the grief of us all. If the dancers should not change their blockade tactics, we increasingly see the existence of Berlin State Ballet in its current state endangered." Edited June 21, 2015 by Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 This is not a political point, but I wonder how long Berlin State Ballet can go on cancelling performances and warning of cancellations before this starts to affect bookings. If the company loses a lot of money job losses are likely to follow, which is likely to lead to a further decline in relations between dancers and management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Bogdan Nicula died yesterday, he was one of Martin Schläpfer's finest dancers, first at Mainz and then at Düsseldorf in the Ballet on the Rhine. He was only 37 years old and suffered from a fast-developing case of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease that the Ice Bucket Challenge is about. Nicula was from Bukarest, one year ago he was still dancing with the company. Schläpfer already dedicated his latest ballet "verwundert seyn – zu sehn" to Nicula, all remaining performances of this season at Ballet on the Rhine will also be dedicated to his memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 This is so very sad, Angela. So young, so talented. Condolences to Bogdan's family, friends and colleagues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Dreadfully sad news Angela. Sincere condolences to Bogdan's family and friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 The awards of 'best ballet dancer of the year' have been given in Zürich. As voted by the Friends of the Ballet of Zürich, a prize fund of CHF 10,000 was given for their performances this season, their impressions on the audience, and characterisation in ballet. The winners were: Best Ballerina: Viktorina Kapitonova, danced Giselle will Bolle and Vogel, and Anna Karenina (choreographed for her) and others Best Male Dancer: Denis Vieira, Pretty much all male principal roles due to injuries to the principals. Best Junior Ballerina: Clarissa Pace, a bit of a surprise but nice dancer Best Junior Male Dancer: Surimu Fukushi, danced Les Bourgeous in Galas and is a great 'jumper' Photos can be found here: https://www.opernhaus.ch/presse/detail/?themeId=3&sid=2 Video interviews (in German/ English) here: http://www.srf.ch/play/tv/redirect/detail/f96e1094-1e29-4c26-8997-c6a90f6a5285 Congratulations to all. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Breaking News: Tamas Detrich new director at Stuttgart Ballet from 2018, will follow Reid Anderson. More later 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Congratulations to Tamas. Not a big surprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Sorry for the delay. Tamas Detrich will succeed Reid Anderson as Artistic Director of Stuttgart Ballet from summer 2018 and continue in the Cranko tradition of the company. Detrich was a dancer at Stuttgart from 1977, principal from 1981 until 2002, then he worked as a ballet master and since 2009 also as Associate Artistic Director. He has coached the Cranko ballets all over the world. Detrich was born in New York and is 55 years old. In other news from Stuttgart, Eric Gauthier will stay as director of Gauthier Dance until 2022. His company at the off-location Theaterhaus had started with 6 dancers in 2007 and has been growing continuously, it will count 16 dancers from next year on. They just finished their first, very successful Colours Dance International Festival with 12 guest companies and an attendance of 93 %. New name for a differenct company: The company formerly known as The Forsythe Company is now The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, directed by Jacopo Godani. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Angela, I've had a look at the website and all the dancers seem to be joining in Summer 2015. Do you know what has happened to the dancers who were with the Forsythe company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 It seems that some (or most?) of the former dancers wanted to finish their careers anyhow, some were still from the old Frankfurt Ballet. Another reason for hiring new dancers is that Godani wants to return from concept dance to „Tanz-Tanz“, as they call it in Germany (meaning „dance-dance“). He wants to concentrate more on movement, also in pointe shoes, which had been gone for more than a decade from the former Forsythe Company, I guess. The new company will dance one Forsythe piece per season, but not the works from the last ten years – so it might be the same old, well-known ballets we see all over the world, In the middle or Second Detail, who knows. In an interview with a German newspaper Godani said that the works of the Forsythe Company will not be revived because they were made on these special dancers. So yes, it seems the Forsythe Company is gone forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 From Munich I hear that new director Igor Zelensky has dismissed more than 30 dancers, including many principals. He'll start in 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 From Munich I hear that new director Igor Zelensky has dismissed more than 30 dancers, including many principals. He'll start in 2016. yikes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 From Munich I hear that new director Igor Zelensky has dismissed more than 30 dancers, including many principals. He'll start in 2016. Gulp! That's out of how many dancers? Must surely be a third of the company, at least? In fact, now I've looked at the company listings, it might be as many as 50%. See here: https://www.staatsoper.de/en/staatsballett/ensemble.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Can he do that? I thought that the (dance) unions were strong in Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletsoccermom Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Wonder if the new director at Stuttgart will also bring up dancers from Cranko. Why is Reid Anderson leaving? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Wonder if the new director at Stuttgart will also bring up dancers from Cranko. Why is Reid Anderson leaving? Reid Anderson is 66. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Reid Anderson will be 69 when he is leaving in 2018. Tamas Detrich will continue in his tradition and he is very unlikely to dismiss any dancers. Aileen, every new artistic director who comes to a theatre in Germany has the right to bring his own artists with him, so he can dismiss most of the people his predecessor had hired - there are some exceptions, but it happens very often, f.e. with playhouse directors, and also with dance companies. In smaller theatres they sometimes change the whole company. The rule exists to ensure the freedom of the arts, I guess, even if it's bad for actors/singers/dancers. It doesn't apply to orchestras, of course, they have very different (and much better) employment agreements than everybody else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I'm really surprised that German culture allows this. Everything I've ever picked up about German employment conditions would seem to contradict it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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