Don Q Fan Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Thank you Petunia it's good to hear that. I love Berlin and Germany generally. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 Am I over-reacting? Oh YES! Don't go to the carneval at Cologne, but there's no problem with daily life!! Everything's fine, you can use the metros and trains and walk through town alone. I don't feel troubled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Glad to hear things are OK in Germany - we do seem to have daily reports online of troubles in various cities. I will consider Jewels in Berlin then - the thought of never seeing Berlin again did worry me! Thank you Angela and Petunia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Tamas Detrich is to succeed Reid Anderson as Director in Stuttgart w.e.f. September 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 I fear we already know that since July, capybara, check out the details here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Don Q Fan, I've just returned from a week in Germany, mostly spent in Munich where I saw two performances of Illusions like Swan Lake, but also travelling around a bit. No problems at all, even walking around late by myself. Do go! What a wonderful ballet Illusions is. I wish the RB would stage it, but I realise that is most unlikely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I LOVE Neuemeier's Illusions... One of my fave versions of Swan Lake. Worth a trip to Munich or Hamburg! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Trailer of the Ratmansky Swan Lake at Zurich Ballet: https://www.facebook.com/BallettZurich/videos/732935113475372/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Thanks Angela. I think it looks fabulous. I love the tutus too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 State Ballet Berlin has announced its next season today: a new (old) Nutcracker by Nacho Duato, replacing the reconstructed version by Medvedev and Burlaka, a double bill with "Daphnis et Chloé" by Benjamin Millepied and "Altro Canto" by Jean-Christophe Maillot, another double bill with a new work by Duato and "The Art of Not Looking Back" by Hofesh Shechter. So this makes just one new creation for the company, which will be heavily criticized in German newspapers, I'm sure. The repertory for 16/17: Onegin, Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Jewels, Duato’s Herrumbre and Multiplicity, a triple bill by Duato/Kylián/Naharin, a double bill by Duato/Kylián. The season includes a Young Choreographers Evening, a tour to Torino, a guest performance by the Ballet on the Rhine from Düsseldorf, a guest performance by the State Ballet School of Berlin and – very strange – a Coppélia by the new „Ballet School at the State Ballet“. So they founded another ballet school at Berlin, close to the company and a competitor to the huge, old State Ballet School? Season 2016/17 (only in German) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 It seems they published their next season by mail, without holding a press conference, which is another strange fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) State Ballet Berlin has announced its next season today: a new (old) Nutcracker by Nacho Duato, replacing the reconstructed version by Medvedev and Burlaka, a double bill with "Daphnis et Chloé" by Benjamin Millepied and "Altro Canto" by Jean-Christophe Maillot, another double bill with a new work by Duato and "The Art of Not Looking Back" by Hofesh Shechter. So this makes just one new creation for the company, which will be heavily criticized in German newspapers, I'm sure. The repertory for 16/17: Onegin, Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Jewels, Duato’s Herrumbre and Multiplicity, a triple bill by Duato/Kylián/Naharin, a double bill by Duato/Kylián. The season includes a Young Choreographers Evening, a tour to Torino, a guest performance by the Ballet on the Rhine from Düsseldorf, a guest performance by the State Ballet School of Berlin and – very strange – a Coppélia by the new „Ballet School at the State Ballet“. So they founded another ballet school at Berlin, close to the company and a competitor to the huge, old State Ballet School? Season 2016/17 (only in German) Here is the preview book of next season in English too Thank you Angela for the information, which is somewhat not very exciting (enough for a press conference). Looking at the tickets for the Giselle mini festival which starts in the next days, I took a look at the availability of the triple bill which is being shown in the larger theatre. Which has sold less than a quarter of the capacity, and it is on tonight?!?! I know there was some discussion about guesting etc., and the fees, but to have more of these works will lose more money than a sold-out guest performance, I would guess? Anyway, they do the classics well.... here is an interesting article about the Giselle Festival and focusing on the opening new act of Kapitonova/Vieira tomorrow night, by Ms Sonnenberg in Ballet-Journal Edited March 2, 2016 by SwissBalletFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Which has sold less than a quarter of the capacity, and it is on tonight?!?! I have checked several times over the last few months, all their mixed bills sell badly. In Malakhov's times, they had to cancel mixed bills that had 60 or 70 % capacity to bring on a story ballet instead, now it seems ok to have those empty theatres. Berlin is a tough, tough city for modern ballet - either they want the classics or they want contemporary dance, but the ballet audience there has even trouble with 20 year old modern classics by Forsythe or Kylián, which sell perfectly well in other cities like Stuttgart or Munich or Düsseldorf. Duato's contract lasts for another two seasons after that one, I'm not sure if they will keep him so long. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Dresden Semperoper Ballet next season: Premieres: Don Quixote by Aaron Waktin and a triple bill with Balanchine (Symphony in C) / Kylián (Forgotten Land) / Forsythe (Quintett) Repertory: Nutcracker and Swan Lake (Watkin/trad.), Giselle (Dawson), Romeo (Stijn Celis), Manon, "COW" by Alexander Ekman, a triple bill "Nordic Lights" with Lidberg/Inger/Ekman, a triple bill "Theme and Variations" with Balanchine/Forsythe/Mats Ek ("She was black"), and a ballet for children by company dancer Joseph Hernandez: "Exit Orakel" Their many tours for next season are not up on the website yet. But they had a press conference today https://www.semperoper.de/en/whats-on/ballet/details/0/spielzeit/2016.html 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I must say that the Dresden restore sounds very interesting in terms of classical headlines, although I am not aware of how they are interpreted by the choreographic versions. I also checked today and saw that there are a lot of empty seats for the Bayadere on 5 March. Would you mind summarising how it is at Dresden if you can find the time please Angela? I am interested to see they have such big productions, and may go along to visit. Is the company good? Thanks S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I miss Esmeralda (Ratmansky) at Berlin I saw it once and would love to see it again. Malakhov did try to have varied rep and think did a better job. I'm not liking what Duato has done in Berlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Would you mind summarising how it is at Dresden if you can find the time please Angela? I am interested to see they have such big productions, and may go along to visit. Is the company good? Except for David Dawson's quite modern Giselle, the classics at Dresden were all staged by company director Aaron Watkin. I only know his Bayadère which is a bit shortened but true to the traditional versions, nearer to the Makarova production than to Nureyev's Paris version. It does not claim to be a reconstruction or true to the origins, but it is a practical version for the repertoire of an opera house where the opera is still much more important than the ballet company. The same goes for the fine, but rather economical sets and costumes - it looks nice, but it is a long way from the grandeur of the Paris version, for example. As I hear, Watkin's other adaptations of the classics take more or less the same approach. If you like modern ballet, I'd rather go and see a Forsythe evening at Dresden, they have his old "ballet-ballets", the ones in which they still dance on pointe and dance a lot! . Watkin was a dancer at Frankfurt Ballet and Forsythe often works with the Dresden company. "Impressing the Czar" was ravishing! As for the dancers, they have great women but with the male principals it depends on who you see, I guess. The female corps was excellent in the shadows scene. You'll be bowled over by the orchestra, the Staatskapelle is just wonderful - never heard such a Minkus! And of course Dresden is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Fittingly, here is the video presentation of next season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSarn2Ak2F4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Thanks Angela. Who is Odette at the beginning of the clip please? Is it Polina Semionova? She has the most beautiful arms! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 I don't think it's Semionova if that's any help. Funny you mention it but when I did a Dying Swan and make up workshop with The Trocks last year Robert Carter (aka Olga Supphozova)...told us that when Polina Semionova was learning to do Dying Swan she told him she watched his Dying Swan on YouTube to get the arms right! High praise indeed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Who is Odette at the beginning of the clip please? I think it is Yumiko Takeshima, who was with Semperoper Ballet until 2014, but I'm not sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMM1 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I think it is Yumiko Takeshima, who was with Semperoper Ballet until 2014, but I'm not sure. I've just read about her costume designing the new Dawson Swan Lake for Scottish Ballet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Thank you Angela, I will keep an eye on Dresden. Very informative post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilian88 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hello everyone, on Sunday 13. the Bayerische Staatsoper will present the upcoming season: https://www.facebook.com/events/175216166193964/ https://www.staatsoper.de/stueckinfo/spielzeitgespraech/2016-03-13-11-00-1.html I'm really curious to hear the projects of the new director Zelensky! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 the dance and ballet events at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden for season 2016/17 include: - Hamburg Ballet with "The World of John Neumeier" and his Romeo and Juliet in October - the Mariinsky with Giselle, Swan Lake, the usual Gala and a Fokine evening on Christmas - Béjart Ballet Lausanne - Cloud Gate Dance Theatre - María Pagés http://www.festspielhaus.de/en/program/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilian88 Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hello everyone, on Sunday 13. the Bayerische Staatsoper will present the upcoming season: https://www.facebook.com/events/175216166193964/ https://www.staatsoper.de/stueckinfo/spielzeitgespraech/2016-03-13-11-00-1.html I'm really curious to hear the projects of the new director Zelensky! "The new director of the Bayerisches Staatsballett, Igor Zelensky, has revealed his plans for the Munich company: Yuri Grigorovich's Spartacus continues the Munich penchant for presenting productions which have broken new ground throughout the history of ballet. Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will open the 2017 Ballet Festival, during which the Staatsballett will also play host to the Stanislavsky Theatre Ballet, with their performance of Mayerling. A contemporary mixed bill evening, repertoire performances of Giselle, La Fille mal gardée, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Symphony in C / In the Night / Adam is and La Bayadère complete the programm" Personally I'm particularly happy for Spartacus and Mayerling, especially because even if the cast has not yet been announced is reasonable to think that there will be Sergei Polunin; those who saw him play both Spartacus that Rudolph speaks of it as something exceptional and the few videos I've seen him quite confirm... I can't wait! I hope also to see Lucia Lacarra and Marlon Dino, I love them toghether! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Yeah, Marlon Dino in Spartacus, that will be peculiar... This is going to be one unbelievable season at Munich, either one way or the other 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilian88 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) Yes Angela or even in the role of Crassus! I also read that Polunin finds interesting the role of Crassus and would like to interpret it and I think it would be interesting to see in the same season an artist to play two different roles... Sure of course in this case the risk is that Crassus overshadow Spartacus and well, despite my origins I didn't ever cheer for the Romans against the poor slaves, but I guess there's a first time for everything! ???????? Edited March 18, 2016 by Lilian88 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Vienna State Ballet has a new principal dancer: Kiyoka Hashimoto from Japan was promoted by Manuel Legris after a performance of Le Corsaire two days ago. Link to the German press release here 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) Going to Germany in the summer this year and I was wondering if there's likely to be anywhere we could go to see some dance? This is late July and we'll be in the Cologne..Stuttgart area. Looking at the Stuttgart ballet site, it would appear that the last show is on 24th July - just before we're likely to be there. Edited March 28, 2016 by thewinelake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Stuttgart goes later than just about any other company. End of July is a bit of a wasteland everywhere for dance. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 German theatres align their holidays to the school holidays of the federal states, which begin at different dates in most of the 16 states. Traditionally, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have very late summer holidays, so the theatres play until the last week of July. It's possible that Hamburg or the Northern German states already start again in August, check it out on the theatre websites. We have lots of summer festivals in old German castles or ruins, but they all do plays or musicals, not dance. Cologne, one of Germany's biggest towns, has not ballet company since decades, it's a sad, sad story. Frankfurt has the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, formerly known as The Forsythe Company, they do modern ballet. Check out Wiesbaden, Mannheim, Heidelberg and Karlsruhe, their are on your way from Cologne to Stuttgart and they all have dance companies located in the State Theatres. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 Germinal Casado, former dancer with Béjart's Ballet du XXe Siècle at Brussels and then ballet director at Karlsruhe for over 20 years, has died. He was 81 years old. Link in German only: http://www.staatstheater.karlsruhe.de/aktuell/news_id/235/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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