Pas de Quatre Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 (edited) Hardly revolutionary to ask that dancers respect the music. It is not a good idea to cram in too many turns and then be off time. I also noticed that in the classes Elizabeth Platel had to tell the girls to keep their legs lower in fondus rather than lifting them too high, and thus use correct technique as opposed to flashy extremes. Edited February 4 by Pas de Quatre 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DD Driver Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 (edited) 1 hour ago, MAX said: What do you mean by "if judges are aware of /agree with these choices" ? The choice to ask for musicality ? No,it is not unexpected for coaches to ask for less turns. In Australia, dancers that I know, have been drilled to be responsive to the coaching at PdL. Show that they can adapt to new coaches, rather than perform their solo in the way they have practised for months with their own teachers. Their teachers are often ex-principal dancers. I have seen, however, some dancers - ok I'm thinking of some Americans - who opt to continue their practised version e.g. no. of turns, when they perform their solo on stage. They are assuming that they will not be judged badly for this, so long as they 'pull it off'. I don't know if any of the judges notice this decision anyway as they are not present for the individual coaching sessions. I'm not saying the choices are right or wrong as for example, people turn at different speeds and ADs also have different artistic interpretations. All dancers who did the same variation as my DD, when she did PdL, were told to reduce the turns down to doubles. My DD is a skilled but 'slow turner'. There are however fast turners who can, on their good days, fit more into the music. Edited February 4 by DD Driver 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAX Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Thank you for your answer. I am sure the PdL judges are not counting the turns but are focused on the quality of dancing, musicality, potential, physical abilities... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 However I did notice that in one of the classes …I think for those who’d reached the finals ….when the girls were dancing in two groups in one of the groups one of the girls put more turns into the enchainement but each time finished well after the music. When there was some clapping from the audience the teacher said “at last some applause for the girls!! I’m sure all the girls in that group could have put in more turns but were phrasing the music correctly. It’s okay to put in an extra turn or two of course ….but they still have to be timed to fit the music phrase! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DD Driver Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 ...sometimes a dancer makes the assessment that this is the moment to show what they can do. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 10 hours ago, Sabine0308 said: Since sooo many finalists had chosen "do you care?" as their contemporary piece, it bored me a bit. 10 hours ago, Birdy said: As an aside about American schools training more for competitions…Natalie Steele only started at ABT this fall, coming from a school known for doing well at YAGP. ABT doesn’t train students for competitions and generally doesn’t allow students to compete. An exception must have been made for her. I've reproduced Stella Abrera's post-competition Instagram post below. The photo shows Cynthia Harvey, Julio Bocca, Alessandra Ferri, Stella herself, and Sascha Radetsky. All ABT alumni/alumnae, and Harvey was Abrera's predecessor at the ABT JKO School. Ms Abrera's comments in the post informed me that Do you care? was an ABT dancer's piece, and she also (and this is rare from a school AD) acknowledged Natalie Steele's previous teacher before she joined the ABT JKO School last year. I'd guess that her previous school was preparing her for PdL and when she was offered a place at JKO it was negotiated that she be permitted to compete, if selected from the video auditions. Note that Miss Abrera herself trained for a time in Sydney, and won the gold medal at the Genée competition (as it was then) in 1995. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 That was a lovely post by Stella. Yes, Aleisha Walker was in the Studio Company at ABT when she won the Young Creation award at the 2023 Prix for choreographing Do You Care? on ABT student, Madison Brown. She was invited back this year to teach it to some of the dancers. The Young Creation choreography competition is only open to dancers and junior company members from Prix partner schools. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Can I please ask what the JKO stands for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 DD Driver….yes I absolutely sensed that this young lady was doing just that….showing what she could do in that moment …However was pointing out the teacher didn’t mind a little bit of “flashy” dancing occasionally even if a little off the beat! There’s always got to be that time when you’ve managed an extra pirouette turn or tours en l’air in class for the very first time! However when introducing into performance that has to honed to fit the music eventually. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 28 minutes ago, Peanut68 said: Can I please ask what the JKO stands for? Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Oh I see, is this US thing whereby benefactor makes get added? I’m amazed our RBS isn’t now called something unpronounceable!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverdancedjustamum Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 58 minutes ago, Peanut68 said: Oh I see, is this US thing whereby benefactor makes get added? I’m amazed our RBS isn’t now called something unpronounceable!! I always thought the school had JKO in its name since it was established but I could be wrong. I don’t recall ABT School as being anything else but ABT JKO School. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 (edited) 1 hour ago, Neverdancedjustamum said: I don’t recall ABT School as being anything else but ABT JKO School. The ABT school has a long, interesting and complex history. https://www.kennedy-center.org/artists/j/ja-jn/-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis-school-at-american-ballet-th/ The School was eventually renamed in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was the Honorary Chairman of ABT for more than 25 years. https://www.abt.org/training/dancer-training/jko-school-pre-professional/ There's a short film included in that link, of students rehearsing and talking and it's certainly worth watching. ...the JKO School follows the ABT National Training Curriculum, co-authored by Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens Raymond Lukens, with a link to the ABT National Training Curriculum here. https://www.abt.org/raymond-lukens-named-directorof-abts-national-training-curriculum/ Franco De Vita https://www.abt.org/people/franco-de-vita/ Edited February 5 by Roberta 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 4 hours ago, Neverdancedjustamum said: I always thought the school had JKO in its name since it was established but I could be wrong. I don’t recall ABT School as being anything else but ABT JKO School. I always thought it was SAB...School of American Ballet....is that another establishment altogether? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 School of American Ballet is the school affiliated with New York City Ballet and therefore has a very Balanchine focus. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Peanut68 said: I always thought it was SAB...School of American Ballet....is that another establishment altogether? Yes. Totally different. Two different companies, two different schools. The Royal Ballet's Meaghan-Grace Hinkis had a major part of her training at ABT's JKO, via a YAGP scholarship, then she was with ABT2 and the main company. https://balletassociation.co.uk/pages/reports-2021-meaghan-grace-hinkis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 So SAB is not the feeder school of ABT company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academicdancer Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 6 minutes ago, Peanut68 said: So SAB is not the feeder school of ABT company? SAB is the feeder school of New York City Ballet company JKO is the feeder school of American Ballet Theatre company 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBC Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Prix de Lausanne 2024 is over, now it’s GradPro 2024! Essentially a similar format but for those who’ve finished or are finishing their training and haven’t yet got jobs, so 18-19 year olds typically. This is the last chance to book to watch the candidates in class and performing their solos, at the London regional - Clore Studio at the ROH - Sunday 11 February 2024 - 1600-1800 An audience is invaluable! The esteemed jury in London is Brenda Last OBE and Stephen Wicks, both former RB dancers, plus current first soloist Isabella Gasparini. Book here … open to both members and non-members. https://www.tlbc.org.uk/events/Visit-to-GradPRO-London-Regional read more about GradPro here https://www.instagram.com/p/C2FuYDnIlvX/?igsh=MXU2N25hYndkbXN2bQ== Over £5000 of award money A week working with the Royal Ballet Company A week working with Birmingham Royal Ballet A week on tour with Northern Ballet Four regionals with 12 regional judges Seven incredible Artistic Mentors A final with six expert judges. Two wonderful faculty Four amazing pianists Julie, Brandon, Louise & Laura https://www.gradpro.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Well the Prix is not quite over for me … nearly there with some final thoughts coming! Really sorry can’t make the above event LBC ….I would enjoy that! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabine0308 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 13 hours ago, LBC said: Prix de Lausanne 2024 is over, now it’s GradPro 2024! https://www.gradpro.co.uk/ I suggest to open a new thread for this event, otherwise it can be overlooked, with a thread header Prix de Lausanne. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Well finally finished the Prix!! I’ve watched it in a very disorganised way this year and all mostly in the wrong order!! Like Day 4 before Day 1 etc. So today was watching the Friday selections day after watching the finalists day already! Still this did give me a better over view of the candidates in the end and also saw more contemporary variations than the Piece Who Cares which seemed to dominate the finals day! It’s not that I don’t like this Piece but watching so many I was nearly tempted to fast forward on one occasion but just wanted to see if any dancer had caught a different aspect but in the end didn’t form a favourite for this Piece even after watching so many. However I think the two favourite female contemporary dancers for me were Paloma L Vidart ( Argentina) who danced that song …Joani Mitchell I think…to perfection and Airie Kobayashi……the latter I thought actually showed the best contrast between her classical and contemporary Pieces…Kobayashi so soulful and delicate in her classical but amazingly explosive and powerful in her contemporary Piece ….the other one with black shorts not the Who Cares Piece!! I thought the two best male contemporary dancers were the Italian Giuseppe Schillaci and Martinho Lima Santos ….again the latter dancer being a great all rounder as loved his classical as well. My Audience prize would have gone to Taichi Toshida ….very engaging and promising I wonder what he will do next? Juliann F Malard ( France) is a very stylish dancer and had an interesting contemporary choice which he did well ….perhaps a little more classical in style than the other Pieces and classical is his forte but think lacks a little strength just at the moment. I think he got the Aud Jebsen prize. Aud Jebsen is very much associated with the RB so don’t know whether this is auspicious or not…he would certainly fit in there. Personally I’d like to see more of Martinho L Santos and the Italian dancer Schillaci who didn’t win a major prize. Other dancers I liked were Crystal Huang ( USA) and E-Eun Park from Korea …who I don’t think got any special prize. All these dancers are so talented for their ages but I didn’t really have any real special favourites this year and as I said earlier I wonder if there could be a way of such young dancers not over practising the same Pieces especially in the classical section literally for years sometimes!! I had thought earlier that there seemed to be more girls this time than boys which was not correct but I wonder if there are just too many competitors!! Less competing altogether ….but seeing more of those who are …and perhaps a category where have to learn Pieces they’ve not done before ( either contemporary or classical) that they can only choose when they get there so will not have hours of coaching for it and can show how quickly they can learn something new and bring to performance. Or Some form of collaboration so are given group dances to learn and perform so have to be shown working with each other to achieve this. I wonder who the RB Prix person will be this year? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 On 06/02/2024 at 15:41, LinMM said: I’ve watched it in a very disorganised way this year and all mostly in the wrong order!! Like Day 4 before Day 1 etc. Or, for those of us of a certain age: "All the right notes but not necessarily in the right order." 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 😂yes definitely having a bit of a Morecambe and Wise week!! I don’t suppose anyone took a liking to a dancer who didn’t win a prize or make the final 20? Having said I haven’t been as inspired as usual this year I watched some of the finals pieces again today!!! I really do like Martinho L Santos contemporary piece (Who Cares) there were a few moments in the dance moves and music that he drew attention to that others did not ….though most found their own special moments in it. It’s obviously a Piece that is very satisfying to dance as so many chose it. Look forward to seeing where the prizewinners end up going anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 2 hours ago, LinMM said: I don’t suppose anyone took a liking to a dancer who didn’t win a prize or make the final 20? Natalie Vikner — France — Semi-finalist Très Elégante ! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Thanks for that Buddy! Yes there are quite a lot of competitors at a very similar standard so interesting who they choose for the final 20… definitely some are more obvious choices than others. I noticed the Ukrainian girl always got rapturous applause from the audience but not sure if it was purely for dancing skills or whether it was because she was from Ukraine and may have been dancing in difficult circumstances. She didn’t make final 20 anyway and I thought she might. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 (edited) 3 hours ago, LinMM said: Thanks for that Buddy! Yes there are quite a lot of competitors at a very similar standard so interesting who they choose for the final 20… definitely some are more obvious choices than others. I noticed the Ukrainian girl always got rapturous applause from the audience but not sure if it was purely for dancing skills or whether it was because she was from Ukraine and may have been dancing in difficult circumstances. She didn’t make final 20 anyway and I thought she might. There were actually two young women from Ukraine, LinMM, that I noticed in the semi-finals and they were in my top ten list. I have to say immediately that I tend to go by overall impression and beauty more than technical precision. In the case of this competition, I was fairly lighthearted in my choices because of the youthful freshness of these young dancers, especially, for me, the Juniors. Yelyzaveta Lazovska from Ukraine was very well received, whereas the other young lady less, so I suspect actual ability was more of a factor. Here’s her Contemporary which I really liked, as well as this work by Cathy Marston. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXDQI5kOzVI Anna Haidai, the other young lady from Ukraine, struck a very sympathetic note for me, most felt in her Classical, although her Contemporary may have had more appeal. When I factored in the part of the world that she’s from and all the news headlines that I see each day, her sympathetic loveliness represented the alternative side of things, the beauty and warmth in being alive. Contemporary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtBiVCKaYOA Classical https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNcSwhmKTCQ Natalie Vikner from France was probably my favorite because of her overall beauty in her Classical performance. I think that it might be good to have an award for just Classical, as there is for Contemporary. If I’m not mistaken, there have been some contestants from Russia that didn’t win prizes, but went on to stardom and world renown in Russia. They might at least have won the Classical, where they are perhaps unequaled, overall. And again in the somewhat lighthearted department, there were no dancers from South America (Argentina and Brazil) when I attended this competition regularly about twenty years ago. I think that they add a delightful touch of sunshine and their technique looks quite fine. The obvious example this year is the very popular, winner of several prizes, Paloma Livellara Vidart from Argentina. Here’s her Contemporary, which l really liked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBuylGqZPxM&t=2s And here’s another of several from South America who made my ’smile’ list. Antônia Manrique, Brazil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NctScDJkWsQ Edited February 8 by Buddy typo correction 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverdancedjustamum Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 The winners have chosen their schools/company. So glad to see Paloma joining ABT Studio Co. https://www.prixdelausanne.org/schools-companies2024/ 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 The Royal Ballet will welcome Airi Kobayashi from Japan as its PdL apprentice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Also coming to the UK, to ENB, Martinho Lima Santos from Portugal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Was just re reading my Prix de Lausanne musings from February and apparently mentioned these two lol!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabine0308 Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 7 hours ago, Neverdancedjustamum said: The winners have chosen their schools/company. So glad to see Paloma joining ABT Studio Co. https://www.prixdelausanne.org/schools-companies2024/ Good choice! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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