News from Germany, Austria, Switzerland

[capybara]

I didn't say this, Angela. I was quoting someone else.

[Angela]

I know, capybara. I always have doubts when people think that a couple is especially emotional when they are together in real life too. I've seen the most passionate, fluent, magical performances with dancers who are just good partners - with him gay and her married to some other principal, whatever. It depends on the dancers' ability to immerse themselves in a role, not on their private feelings.

[Angela]

A short report from Dortmund, from a gala where everything went wrong. I bought a ticket because I wanted so see Béjart's Songs of a Wayfarer which was cancelled weeks before the gala (it seems that Oscar Chacon, who should have danced with Friedemann Vogel, has left Béjart Ballet, instead he will be dancing in Akram Khan's Giselle with ENB). When I arrived, Francesca Hayward had been replaced by Iana Salenko in Giselle (who was scheduled to dance DQ with Steven McRae), Ekaterina Kondaurova had suffered an injury the night before in Scheherazade, so the glorious Fokine pdd was cancelled and replaced by Eric Gauthier's Solo "Ballet 101" which I know by heart because it was created at Stuttgart - but I'm happy I saw it there, turns out that Xander Parish has a surprisingly wide range of facial expressions that I never noticed when he danced classical.  The Diamonds pdd of the Mariinsky couple was also cancelled, as was the modern pdd with Alicia Amatriain and Friedemann Vogel which had replaced the Béjart piece, as also Amatriain was injured. Just as a was dozing off after yet another modern solo, regretting that I missed out a Giselle with Shklayrov at Munich, the conferencier started to talk about Ashton - and he told us that for all that we did not see on this evening, they had found a a very special replacement: we would see "Marguerite et Armand" with surprise guest stars Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg. I almost fell from my seat. Cojocaru and Vogel, who will appear at a Fall for Dance gala in New York in the whole piece, danced the pdd, Kobborg was appropriately grim as Monsieur Duval. I'm not sure, but I guess it was the German premiere of the piece, in any case it was Vogel's debut. It was everything you would expect from this couple: heart and soul and passion. I am in heaven.  Bravo to Xin Peng Wang, director of the rather small classical company at Dortmund, who stages two galas for the start and two for the end of his season every year, this was number 26. McRae is a regular there, as is Cojocaru, we also saw Hernan Cornejo, dancers from Flanders and Ballet Rambert.
 

[Jan McNulty]

Oscar Chacon did indeed dance Hilarion in Akram Khan's Giselle on Friday night in Manchester. I was very impressed!

 

Thanks for the gala report Angela.

[Bruce Wall]

A short report from Dortmund, from a gala where everything went wrong. I bought a ticket because I wanted so see Béjart's Songs of a Wayfarer which was cancelled weeks before the gala (it seems that Oscar Chacon, who should have danced with Friedemann Vogel, has left Béjart Ballet, instead he will be dancing in Akram Khan's Giselle with ENB). When I arrived, Francesca Hayward had been replaced by Iana Salenko in Giselle (who was scheduled to dance DQ with Steven McRae), Ekaterina Kondaurova had suffered an injury the night before in Scheherazade, so the glorious Fokine pdd was cancelled and replaced by Eric Gauthier's Solo "Ballet 101" which I know by heart because it was created at Stuttgart - but I'm happy I saw it there, turns out that Xander Parish has a surprisingly wide range of facial expressions that I never noticed when he danced classical.  The Diamonds pdd of the Mariinsky couple was also cancelled, as was the modern pdd with Alicia Amatriain and Friedemann Vogel which had replaced the Béjart piece, as also Amatriain was injured. Just as a was dozing off after yet another modern solo, regretting that I missed out a Giselle with Shklayrov at Munich, the conferencier started to talk about Ashton - and he told us that for all that we did not see on this evening, they had found a a very special replacement: we would see "Marguerite et Armand" with surprise guest stars Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg. I almost fell from my seat. Cojocaru and Vogel, who will appear at a Fall for Dance gala in New York in the whole piece, danced the pdd, Kobborg was appropriately grim as Monsieur Duval. I'm not sure, but I guess it was the German premiere of the piece, in any case it was Vogel's debut. It was everything you would expect from this couple: heart and soul and passion. I am in heaven.  Bravo to Xin Peng Wang, director of the rather small classical company at Dortmund, who stages two galas for the start and two for the end of his season every year, this was number 26. McRae is a regular there, as is Cojocaru, we also saw Hernan Cornejo, dancers from Flanders and Ballet Rambert.

 

 

Thanks so for this, Angela.  Might one ask what Cornjeo danced?

[Angela]

Of course! The Gisellle pdd with Salenko and then a very virtuoso Tango solo, "Amigo", choreographed by himself - which of course suited his smooth Southamerican sense of rhythm very well. I liked it.

[capybara]

Thank you for the report, Angela. Alina's and Johan's appearances at the Gala in Marguerite and Armand have been showing on her forward schedule for a couple of weeks.

 

And she not only danced two of the ENB Giselle previews in Manchester (Thurs/Sat) but is cast for the official opening night (tomorrow, Tuesday).

 

Oscar Chacon is listed as a guest artist with ENB.

[capybara]

Osipova danced Giselle in Munich last night with Osiel Gouneo.

 

Google the above information to find a longish film clip.

[Angela]

Thank you for the report, Angela. Alina's and Johan's appearances at the Gala in Marguerite and Armand have been showing on her forward schedule for a couple of weeks.

Oops, I did not see! I only checked the Dortmund Theatre web site, were they were not mentioned - hmm.

Interesting that Osipova's official twitter account links to a "pirate" youtube clip... I'm not sure what to think about that.

[capybara]

Munich casting for Giselle now up on their website is as follows:

 

29th Sept eve: Zakharova/Shklyarov

 

2nd Oct mat: Shirinkina/Gouneo

 

2nd Oct eve: Ryzhkova/Muntagirov 

[alison]

Interesting that Osipova's official twitter account links to a "pirate" youtube clip... I'm not sure what to think about that.

 

Dancers often seem to be perfectly happy to link to videos which they feel are beneficial to them in some way, regardless of provenance.  It tends to be rights holders and people who run the sites who are more sensitive to such things.

[balletsoccermom]

Stuttgarter Ballet just announced they will be a guest of Royal Ballet for World Ballet Day from 2:00-2:30...

[capybara]

Did anyone see Muntagirov dance Albrecht in Munich last night?

[Angela]

Not me, I'm sorry.

Stuttgart Ballet will show a rehearsal for Cranko's Taming of the Shrew.

[Angela]

The Stuttgart bit of World Ballet day is up on their Facebook Page, and here is Vienna State Ballet

 

Munich: Casting for the mixed bill evening with Symphony in C and Into the Night is on the website now.

 

Casting for the Bayadères in October:

 

15. October: Ksenia Ryzhkova, Osiel Gouneo, Ivy Amista

16. October mat: Maria Shirinkina, Vladimir Shklyarov, Ivy Amista

16. October eve: Ksenia Ryzhkova, Sergei Polunin, Prisca Zeisel

29. October: Ksenia Ryzhkova, Osiel Gouneo, Prisca Zeisel

[annamk]

But no casting yet for 19th which was the date Zakharova  originally put on her website but has since removed ..... 

[Angela]

Casting for Hamburg Ballet's tour to Baden-Baden with Neumeier's Romeo:

14. October Cojocaru-Revazov

15. October Bouchet-Trusch

16. October Mazon-Bellussi

[annamicro]

Casting for Hamburg Ballet's tour to Baden-Baden with Neumeier's Romeo:

14. October Cojocaru-Revazov

15. October Bouchet-Trusch

16. October Mazon-Bellussi

 

I would love one day to see Cojocaru-Bellussi...

[Angela]

Igor Zelensky has quit his position as ballet director of the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Music Theatre at Moscow to fully concentrate on his job at Bavarian State Ballet. He will continue as ballet adviser to Anton Getman, the new general director of the Stanmus Theatre.

[alison]

From the title of this thread, when I read the start of your post I expected you to say that he'd quit the BSB, Angela

[SwissBalletFan]

I think it is more accurate to say that he is no longer AD at Stanislavsky, rather than he quit his position. 

 

 

Igor Zelensky has quit his position as ballet director of the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Music Theatre at Moscow to fully concentrate on his job at Bavarian State Ballet. He will continue as ballet adviser to Anton Getman, the new general director of the Stanmus Theatre.

[Angela]

This is the German Press Release from his Munich company, and it says he resigned from his office as AD at Stanmus - I think we can dare to say he quit.

"Der neue Ballettdirektor Igor Zelensky wird fortan ausschließlich im Dienst des Bayerischen Staatsballetts stehen. Er hat sich dazu entschieden, sein Amt als künstlerischer Leiter des Balletts des Stanislawsky und Nemirowitsch-Dantschenko-Musiktheaters in Moskau niederzulegen, um sich nun auf seine Arbeit in München zu konzentrieren."

[Angela]

Alison, I'm sorry - we have enough turmoil at Berlin, nice to know that Munich is stable

[Angela]

John Neumeier was asked by dancers from Berlin State Ballet for a statement about their situation and this is what he wrote:

 

"Dear dancers’ representatives of the Staatsballett Berlin,

 

Thank you very much for your message which reached me the day before the revival of my ballet “Nijinsky” in Hamburg. I have, of course, been following – through the press – the news and the discussions that followed the announcement of a new directorship for your company.

 

However, to comment officially on your situation puts me in a delicate and extremely sensitive position. Without criticizing this political decision, I can however remark that this decision does appear extremely surprising to me. Although a double directorship is proposed, the more well-known name of the team, Sasha Waltz, suggests that the thrust and especially the defining creative aspect of the company’s direction would be one of “Tanztheater”, while classical ballet, in Waltz’s words, would be delegated to the “Old Masters” department of the repertoire.

 

Johannes Öhman is lesser known, and lesser known are also his intentions. To my knowledge, his work with The Royal Swedish Ballet is primarily defined by an outreach to more contemporary influences in relation to the classical repertoire – for example, the internationally successful creation of Mats Ek’s “Juliet and Romeo” as well as the revival of “Swan Lake” by the same choreographer.

 

However, it is impossible for me to give an opinion about the consequences of a co-directorship that has not yet presented a program or which has not in practice begun.

 

Aside from this, to criticize a questionable or at least critically controversial decision would be particularly difficult for me, as the preparation for my first season in Hamburg as designated Ballet Director was under the shadow of extreme negative publicity from the press as well as serious doubts on the part of the ensemble of the Hamburg Ballet. The experience of that first season however, changed drastically the acceptance of my vision and the future of The Hamburg Ballet.

 

John Neumeier, Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer of The Hamburg Ballet"

 

online here 

[aileen]

A very clever statement.

[ElenaF]

I just do not understand, why did the Berlin authorities even start this whole mess by sacking Malakhov, who was doing such an outstanding job?

 

And rather than adding to their first mistake, why wouldn't the Berlin authorities own up to it and invite Malakhov back? Or at least tap someone from Berlin's storied legacy days for the post, someone like Steffi Scherzer or Oliver Matz? Or even Sajdakova herself, whose stage days are probably counted, but who has been with the company forever, dancing both the classics and the contemporary pieces, and who surely knows how to strike a proper balance between the two and maintain the company's identity?

 

From the scandals around the reconstruction of the government buildings district, to the new Berlin airport and now around the Berlin State Ballet, this city creates an impression of one of the most corrupt places in Europe, and that's including Eastern Europe or Russia. 

[ElenaF]

 

BSB munich

 

https://www.staatsoper.de/staatsballett/ensemble.html

 

 

Principals

 

Ladies

Ivy Amista

Ksenia Ryzhkova

Maria Shirinkina

Natalia Osipova (guest)

Svetlana Zakharova (guest)

Gentlemen

Javier Amo

Osiel Gouneo

Tigran Mikayelyan

Vladimir Shklyarov

Dmitri Sobolevskiy

Sergei Polunin (permanent guest)

 

 

Remarkably underwhelming so far. You do not build a world-class ballet company by turning your theater into a platform for traveling guest artists (and Shklyarov by the looks of it is still a guest). So unless Ryzhkova is supposed to be the second coming of Semionova, I am hoping to see more to offset the loss of Lacarra. But then Rome was not built in a day (nor destroyed in a day either).

[Angela]

I just do not understand, why did the Berlin authorities even start this whole mess by sacking Malakhov, who was doing such an outstanding job?

Elena, for some people Malakhov did not do enough to bring Berlin State Ballet into the future, which means he did not succeed to establish an interest in modern ballet choreography with his audiences, not even on a smaller scale. German ballet companies normally are a bit more modern than the RB or ABT, and Berlin State Ballet (or the former Berlin companies) always was. For other people he himself danced too much, even when it was clear that he was not fit to do the classics any more. In some Berlin newspapers there was bad mood against him for some time, so the politicians thought they must react to it. It seems to be hard for politicians to see the quality of a ballet company, I mean the dancers. Polina Semionova, by the way, had her part in Malakhov's decline, too.

 

 

Or at least tap someone from Berlin's storied legacy days for the post, someone like Steffi Scherzer or Oliver Matz? Or even Sajdakova herself, whose stage days are probably counted, but who has been with the company forever, dancing both the classics and the contemporary pieces, and who surely knows how to strike a proper balance between the two and maintain the company's identity?

If I remember correctly, but I may be wrong, Scherzer and Matz had applied for the job before Malakhov was appointed. Sajdakova could be an interesting solution right now, but I fear she is just not spectacular enough for a city that still thinks it has an important ballet company.

 

 

From the scandals around the reconstruction of the government buildings district, to the new Berlin airport and now around the Berlin State Ballet, this city creates an impression of one of the most corrupt places in Europe, and that's including Eastern Europe or Russia. 

I think you are exaggerating a little bit here.

 

 

Remarkably underwhelming so far. You do not build a world-class ballet company by turning your theater into a platform for traveling guest artists (and Shklyarov by the looks of it is still a guest). So unless Ryzhkova is supposed to be the second coming of Semionova, I am hoping to see more to offset the loss of Lacarra. But then Rome was not built in a day (nor destroyed in a day either).

 

Shklyarov is still dancing at St. Petersburg, that's true, but until now, he is in every production or triple bill at Munich. And you might give Mr. Zelenksy a bit more to build his company, until now it was a very impressive line of casts! Lacarra had various roles she did not dance anymore, and by the way, she also was a traveling guest artists, based in Munich - so no great difference there.

 

ed. for typos

Edited October 29, 2016 by Angela

[Angela]

The Berlin dancers have made a video - which is a little awkward in comparing the Sasha Waltz decision to global warming, and which stole copied the script of a "Save The Day - Celebs Vote" for Hillary Clinton, how embarrassing...

 

[Sim]

Oh dear oh dear oh dear! Surely there must be a better way??!

[ElenaF]

A better way probably would have been to keep Sascha Waltz at her dance theater, Ohman in Stockholm and to bring back Malakhov. Under him Berlin rivaled London and Paris as one of the best classical companies in the EU, without him it started rapidly disintegrating.

 

And, yes, he also brought a lot of modern choreography to Berlin while he was here, with programs that featured Naharin, Spoerli, Bigonzetti, Preljocaj plus Savkovic and other home grown talent.

Edited November 1, 2016 by ElenaF

[capybara]

Zelensky's Munich Company is looking for new dancers:

 

http://dancingopportunities.com/audition-notice-bayerische-staatsballet-munich/?utm_content=buffer6b25a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[Quintus]

deleted - duplicate post, please remove

Edited November 16, 2016 by Quintus