Leaping In The Dark

2009-08-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Alina Somova

The Maryinsky Ballet opens in London today:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/5931887/Alina-Somova-dancer-or-circus-pony.html

It is a curious feeling to go to meet a hated figure and find a delicate, blonde girl with a sweet face. On Monday, 23-year-old ballerina Alina Somova opens the batting for the legendary Mariinsky Ballet’s Covent Garden tour in Romeo and Juliet, needing to defy her critics who line up from West to East accusing her of vulgarising the majestic, poised St Petersburg style that defines classical ballet worldwide. (Ismene Brown)

2009-07-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Laura Thompson of The Telegraph reviews Adam Cooper's Shall We Dance:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/5940560/Adam-Coopers-Shall-We-Dance-at-Sadlers-Wells---review.html

All of a sudden, about three-quarters of the way through, Shall We Dance hits its stride and becomes so good that you want it to go on forever. Unfortunately it is nearly over by then. Nevertheless, the brilliance of its last half-hour ensures that it comes highly recommended; I would happily watch it every night if I could just slip in quietly at the end.

A remembrance of David Ashmole:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/an-inspiration-for-princes-in-his-footsteps-20090729-e1go.html

THE dance world has lost another star with the death of a former Australian Ballet principal David Ashmole.

The English-raised dancer, who was one of the company’s outstanding talents from 1984 to 1993, has died in London, aged 59, after a three-month battle with cancer.

2009-07-29T04:37:00.000-07:00

A Canadian company has been chosen to design a second stage for the Mariinsky Theatre:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jvPDdEM6IIYMjahmlcDy3WX9h3YA

Canadian architects have won the contract for the much-delayed project to build a second stage at Russia's renowned Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, officials announced Tuesday.

The awarding of the contract to Diamond and Schmitt Architects to develop the opera and ballet house comes after Russia annulled the initial 2003 contract given to French architect Dominique Perrault on the grounds of delays and impracticality.

2009-07-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Photo by Bruce Chinn for the San Francisco Chronicle

Helgi Tomasson has hired 2 assistants to replace one:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/27/DD3118UQ08.DTL

"We're still figuring out how to be a double act," says former Royal Ballet star Bruce Sansom, laughing with a nod toward Ricardo Bustamante, whose performing career spanned S.F. Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, between rehearsals at the Ballet Association Building. "It's early days."

2009-07-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

Robert Swinston and Cheryl Therrien of the Merce Cunningham
Dance Company perform "Fabrications".

The death of choreographer Merce Cunningham is reported today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8171036.stm

US choreographer Merce Cunningham, widely recognised for revolutionising modern dance, has died aged 90.

A statement from the Cunningham Dance Foundation said the New York-based dancer "died peacefully in his home of natural causes" on Sunday.

Alastair Macaulay writes for the New York Times:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/merce-cunningham-dies/

Mr. Cunningham ranks with Isadora Duncan, Serge Diaghilev, Martha Graham and George Balanchine in making people rethink the essence of dance and choreography, posing a series of “But” and “What if?” questions over a career of nearly seven decades.

2009-07-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

Daniel J. Wakin's article of the other day concerning the recent layoffs at the New York City Ballet of 11 corps de ballet dancers is accompanied by an article asking the public to offer advice to those dancers. Some of the responses will be surprising, some will not; it will probably depend on one's perspective.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/what-advice-would-you-give-a-young-unemployed-dancer/

2009-07-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Picture by Glenn Copus for The Evening Standard

Lord Sebastian Coe "participates" in a ballet class to publicize ENB's Ballet Insights program.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-olympics/article-23723848-details/Dancing+Seb+Coe+launches+London+2012+Open+Weekend/article.do

Former Olympic champion Lord Coe today proved his versatility as he made an impressive debut as a ballet dancer.

Displaying poise and balance to rival Wayne Sleep, the ex-middle distance runner launched himself several feet in the air surrounded by dancers from the English National Ballet in an event to mark the three-year milestone until the London Olympics.

2009-07-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

Sarah Frater reviews Carlos Acosta's performance at the Coliseum for the Evening Standard:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/show-23615652-details/Carlos+Acosta+And+Guest+Artists/showReview.do?reviewId=23723780

Carlos Acosta arrived on the dance scene a decade ago, and there’s been unreserved raving ever since.

The Cuban ballet star is, at 36, probably past his virtuoso peak, but he still has an almost magical combination of technical polish and theatrical restraint. When he knocks off multiple spins and airy leaps there is a double surprise — you can’t quite believe the brilliance of his dancing, nor the modesty of his manners.

2009-07-23T03:37:00.001-07:00

Photo by Kyle Froman for the NY Times

Daniel J. Wakin of The New York Times reports that the New York City Ballet will lay off 11 corps de ballet dancers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/arts/dance/26waki.html?ref=dance

"The corps, like the chorus in an opera, is the body of workhorses who provide the backbone for most of the repertory. Individual members often have featured roles and some may nourish hopes of achieving principal status someday. While listed in the program, they rarely receive the spotlight of soloists and principal dancers, who are often showered with flowers and recognition when they retire.

In this case City Ballet tried to keep a lid on information about the dancers, refusing to release their names or even to ask them if they wanted to be interviewed, for what it called reasons of privacy. The ballet master in chief, Peter Martins, who was the subject of grumbling by the laid-off dancers, declined to be interviewed, although when he announced the layoffs he called the decision “the hardest thing I’ve done my entire professional career.”"

SPAC ballet numbers decline overall, but up on average:

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=823216

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center announced today that it pulled in 24 percent more people on a per-performance basis for this summer's residency of the New York City Ballet, which concluded Saturday night. Total attendance dropped by 18 percent, from about 42,000 people in 2008 to 35,000 this year, but because City Ballet's stay was shortened to two weeks instead of three, the per-performance audience average climbed to about 2,500 from 2,000.

‘Kings of the dance’ going to Estonia

http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/23246/

“Kings of the Dance” is the joint project of arts groups “Orange County Center of Performance Arts”, from California, “Ardani Artists” out of New York, and “Adolf Käis Company” from Estonia, featuring world-famous ballet stars David Hallberg (USA), Nikolay Tsiskaridze (Russia), Marcelo Gomes (Brazil), Jose Manuel Carreno (Cuba), Denis Matvienko (Ukraine) and Joaquin De Luz (Spain).

2009-07-22T03:23:00.001-07:00

Bloomberg News reports on salaries at the New York City Ballet, including a report that Peter Martins took a salary cut from $706,000 to $699,000 this year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aJjj8nuW0VKI

"City Ballet is one of several New York cultural institutions that paid top dollar for experienced managers, particularly before the contracting U.S. economy put pressure on donations.

The 62-year-old ballet master in chief’s annual compensation fluctuates due to royalties and commissions he earns for his choreography, said Robert Daniels, a spokesman. Martins, who took over in 1981, oversees both the artistic and business sides of the company."

2009-07-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

An MSNBC report on the Royal Ballet in Cuba, with some interesting behind-the-scenes video:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here is a link to a CBS News report on the Royal Ballet's visit to Cuba:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYf4miZSB-U

It appears that at least 5 members of the company contracted the swine flu but have recovered, according to this report from Reuters:

http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSN20135408

A link to a segment of a 1978 performance of Kenneth MacMillan's Elite Syncopations featuring Monica Mason:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-P08VxyIXY&feature=PlayList&p=B6952BD9DB31FAC8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=19

2009-07-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

Today is Jacques d'Amboise's 75th birthday:

A photo of d'Amboise as Apollo:

Photo from the New York City Ballet archive

A report from Periodic26.cu on the last performance by the Royal Ballet on their trip to Cuba:

http://www.periodico26.cu/english/culture/july2009/royal-ballet071809.html

"Between ovations, accompanied by the dancers of the Royal Ballet of London and Cuba’s National Ballet Company (BNC) that had participated in the Tribute to Alicia Alonso, the Maestra, filled with happiness, received a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a symbol of her life devoted to dance, from the hands of Monica Mason, director of the British troupe, on the stage of the García Lorca Hall of Havana’s Grand Theater (GTH). "

Time Magazine with a feature on what might be next for the Bolshoi Theatre after its musical director's resignation:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1910930,00.html

"The rose-and-white-columned façade of Russia's famed Bolshoi Theater has stood shrouded in construction curtains and spiky scaffolding for four years — and it looks to stay that way longer still, as the sudden resignation of the theater's musical director has pitched the future of the theater and its multi-million-dollar renovation into disarray. "

DanzaBallet reviews Corella Ballet's production of La Bayadere:

http://www.danzaballet.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3026

"Corella Ballet’s corps managed to get through the opening night but needed greater technical security and were not always well synchronized. This is still a young corps, requiring time and greater experience to move as one body and with greater aplomb. In general, there is a certain stylistic diversity within the group and the technical level is not all that it could be. "

The Royal Ballet performed Manon in Havana:

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-17774--5-5--.html

"Cuba's leading dancer Carlos Acosta, invited by the prestigious British company, and Spanish Prima Ballerina Tamara Rojo took on the leading roles of Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, showing their maturity and virtuosity in the perfection of their moves and the harmonic interrelation in between them."

American Ballet Theater's Paloma Herrera and David Hallberg performed Romeo and Juliet with the company in Kenneth MacMillan's production, in Los Angeles, reviewed by Laura Bleiberg:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/07/dance-review-murphy-and-hallberg-in-romeo-and-juliet.html

"Paloma Herrera, who appeared as Juliet Friday night, returned to the role opposite Hallberg Saturday evening, replacing Gillian Murphy (out with an injury). If the wear and tear of this challenging part, performed two nights in a row, was a trial, the steadfast Herrera didn’t show it. But her partnership with Hallberg was merely satisfactory, never rising to tragic levels."

2009-07-19T01:44:00.000-07:00

A still image from Frederick Wiseman's upcoming documentary "La Danse".
Credit: Sophie Dulac Distribution
______________________________________________

Frederick Wiseman is producing a documentary about the Paris Opera Ballet:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/07/frederick-wiseman-returns-to-ballet-world-with-new-documentary.html

Reuters reports on Alexandra Ansanelli's last performance with the Royal Ballet, which occurred in Cuba yesterday:

http://www.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUSN1851953220090718

The Havana Times has a nice gallery of photos:

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=11721

Jenny Gilbert reviews Anastasia Volochkova's performance at the Coliseum:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/anastasia-volochkova-the-coliseum-london-1752169.html

"She needs acting lessons; she needs advice; she needs some better material, a change of career ... these were just some of the opinions floating about as a bewildered and mildly stunned audience exited the latest showcase for a ballerina known as "the Paris Hilton of Moscow". "

The Associated Press weighs in on a series of American Ballet Theater performances of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-abt_0719gd.ART.State.Edition1.4b658d3.html

And:

A great historical link to a Canadian Broadcasting Company video of the first television coverage after Baryshnikov's defection. The clip was broadcast June 30, 1974:

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:7Uvw2wyRBxEJ:archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/dance/clips/13363/+date+of+baryshnikov%27s+defection&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

2009-07-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

A photo of Carlos Acosta in Le Corsaire:

Copyright MSNBC.Com

The Royal Ballet are in Cuba; a report from CBS News:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYf4miZSB-U&feature-channel_page

The National Ballet of Canada is reporting a $1 million deficit:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/story/2009/07/18/national-ballet-deficit.html

The National Ballet of Canada, in a photo from Rudolph Nureyev's Sleeping Beauty:

Photo by Bruce Zinger for the National Ballet of Canada

Tony Hall discusses the Royal Ballet's Cuban trip in the Financial Times:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6f11edde-7260-11de-ba94-00144feabdc0.html

Alastair Macaulay discusses American Ballet Theater's recent Metropolitan Opera House season for the New York Times, and is favorably impressed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/arts/dance/19maca.html

DanzaBallet discusses the coming season for Morphoses, Christopher Wheeldon's company:

http://www.danzaballet.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3024

Laura Bleiberg writes for the LA Times on Ballet Theater's Romeo and Juliet:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/07/dance-review-abts-romeo-juliet-at-the-dorothy-chandler-pavilion.html

The lawyer for the union that represents Ballet Theater's dancers has been arrested for embezzling funds:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/arts/dance/15abt.html?em

Queen Margrethe of Denmark has designed costumes for a ballet:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/15/entertainment/e040650D65.DTL

The LA Times profiles Roberto Bolle:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/07/roberto-bolle-ballet-dancer-as-international-superstar.html

John Alleyne has won a lawsuit against Ballet BC:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/former-ballet-bc-director-wins-in-court/article1221625/