A very lengthy recap post
The dance festival has sadly come to a close… luckily the Winger lives on. Today I walked to the theater along a winding path through the Rockies; birds were singing, I was listening to a mixture of Norah Jones, Minkus, and the Beatles, and already feeling nostalgic. The day before yesterday was the big departure day; all the International Evenings of Dance couples as well as most of the staff, and today the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater feels eerily quiet.
On Thursday night, Damian and Heather Watts (Damian’s wife and legendary NYCB ballerina) led Up Close: International Evenings of Dance. Up first were Carla Korbes and Royal Ballet soloist Eric Underwood in the central pas de deux from Balanchine’s Agon. Heather – or Professor Watts, as she is sometimes called after a too brief interlude on the Harvard faculty several years back when Damian was getting his degree at the Kennedy School – spoke not only about Balanchine’s personal history from the Ballets Russes to the New York City Ballet, but also about the origins of Agon.
Heather Watts and Albert Evans rehearse Carla Körbes of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Eric Underwood of The Royal Ballet in Agon. Choreography by George Balanchine. © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Balanchine famously said that when you put a man and a woman on stage you already have a story; but what is not always acknowledged is the narrative power of putting a black man and a white woman together on stage in one of dance history’s most abstractly erotic dances during a time in America when racial separation, rather than symbiosis, was the rule. Thus Agon may be one of the abstract ballets but it is undoubtedly informed by the cultural politics of the time it was choreographed in – not only by the hyper-frenetic New York City of the Beat generation but also by the events at Little Rock and across the nation. The original casting of Arthur Mitchell and Diana Adams suggests the influence of this era on the ballet, if not in direct and purposeful rebellion than at least in some sort of subtle irony. So the pairing of Eric and Carla, with this knowledge, becomes even more striking; not to mention they are two of the most gorgeous people in ballet.
Carla Körbes of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Eric Underwood of The Royal Ballet rehearse Agon with Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans. Choreography by George Balanchine. © The George Balanchine Trust.
Damian spoke of the format of UpClose as conducive to creating footholds for the audience members, some of whom maybe be wholly unfamiliar with not just the history but also much of the choreography; it is so much more enjoyable to watch a performance and recognize musical and choreographical moments with more understanding and intelligent perspective. Heather, Carla and Eric worked on the famous sequence in which Carla is in a penchee and Eric drops to the ground on his back and promenades her as he lays on the floor; undoubtedly the public loved seeing it again on Saturday night and felt like privileged insiders when they got to see if Heather’s advice worked out for Carla and Eric…if it didn’t that might have been awkward but of course it did and Carla and Eric were nothing less than stunning in performance.
Carla Körbes of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Eric Underwood of The Royal Ballet rehearse the penchee from Agon. Choreography by George Balanchine. © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
The audience also got to see Joaquin and Daniil rehearse the Chopins/Robbins duet that was last danced by Damian and ABT principal Ethan Stiefel at the Bolshoi years ago, and before that, never since 1979…Then Herman and Misa came on for some Don Quixote and the open rehearsal version of the Keigwin world premiere, Rock Steady - with Tiler, Joaquin, Robbie and Sokvanarra - closed the evening.
Misa Kuranaga of Boston Ballet and Herman Cornejo of American Ballet Theater rehearse Don Quixote Pas de Deux as part of UpClose: Stars of International Evenings of Dance.
The gala on Saturday night had been sold out for weeks and was a huge success. In the New York Times, Alastair Macaulay likened the two international programs to a mini UN of dance and there is probably no more apt way to describe it. Countries represented on stage included Argentina, Japan, Russia, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Spain, Cambodia, Brazil and the United States; companies represented included American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Keigwin + Company, Tangueros del Sur, the Royal Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet. I will never forget the rousing standing ovation for the three Ailey men- Clifton Brown, Jamar Roberts, and Matthew Rushing - at the end of Sinner Man; three such powerful guys with so much intensity and ferocity, even, in their movement…yet that same movement is also so warm and organic and provides moments of calm freedom in an otherwise feverish dance.
Clifton Brown of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival as Tiler Peck, Joaquin De Luz and Daniil Simkin watch on. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Don Quixote with Herman and Misa of course brought the house down as did Daniil in his gala fare solo, Les Bourgeois. He’s young and cute and that’s what makes his parody of cynical French nonchalance charming; of course the solo is also inflected with ridiculous virtuoso tricks that no one can match Daniil in. Here is a an excerpt from the performance.
Also, some footage of Sarah Lamb and Eric Underwood in rehearsal for International Evenings of Dance; on Friday night they danced Wayne McGregor’s Limen and on Saturday night they danced Christopher Wheeldon’s Tryst. The two of them are capable of such lyrical plasticity and have gorgeous physical chemistry together; she is so angelic and frail, and he is quite the opposite- dark and powerful - and when they are together they are otherwordly.
Eric Underwood and Sarah Lamb of The Royal Ballet rehearse Tryst Pas de Deux. Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
After the performance, patrons and dancers danced and mingled until midnight at a tent flowing with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries, set up at the Betty Ford gardens. Memorable moments included Sarah sliding across the floor in her platforms Jackson-style, Keigwin/New York City Ballet dancers freestyling, and tango star Gabriel Misse leading a train through the tent, seducing men and women, and being the general Argentinian life of the party.
Saturday night’s international evenings of dance was punctuated by the special brand of live theatrical spontaneity that isn’t easily produced or replicated. Nothing has stopped festival performances this summer. Audiences huddle in parkas through thunderstorms, assembled together in bunches under rare umbrellas; dancers perform way above sea-level in the midst of the mountains, with oxygen masks resting on benches in the wings for use in rare pauses during pas de deuxs. On Saturday, Herman and Misa were to close the first half of the show with the second act pas de deux from Giselle; after a breathtaking opening pas de deux, Herman came on for his solo and was greeted instead with the closing coda music. He smoothly walked off but upon his return it was the same coda music. So the coda music played for a bit, and then Damian, who had run like I didn’t think was possible backstage after Herman’s first entrance, came onstage and announced that due to a technical mishap we would break for intermission. The whole thing was handled so smoothly and graciously that most of the audience weren’t positive anything was amiss. After the intermission, we saw Wendy in the Ratmansky solo, Fandango – the ending is unforgettable, a deep backbend on her knees with her arms flat on the ground behind her, chest upward to her band of seven as the flamenco reaches a climax (watch for footage soon). Then Damian came back on to announce that Herman and Misa have generously insisted on dancing the opening pas de deux of Giselle once more to lead into Herman’s solo and ultimately, the coda. I was imagining this happening at the MET Opera House and concluded that NYC balletomanes would die happy if they got to see a Giselle encore and after reading this would probably pay off stagehands to pull a Tonya Harding and injure the forearm of the first violin or something to that effect. Herman and Misa are both so amiable and giving; all smiles, they kept repeating “It’s okay, it happens!” I was blown away by their artistic and tenchnical consistency; their second time around they were better than the first, and when Herman flew on with his unparalleled cabrioles everyone went wild. All were so poised and composed, especially Damian, ever the hero, who brilliantly turned the malfunction into a real dance event that the balletomanes would kill for.
Herman Cornejo of American Ballet Theatre and Misa Kuranaga of Boston Ballet rehearse Giselle at the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Misa Kuranaga of Boston Ballet and Herman Cornejo of American Ballet Theater perform Giselle. Photo by Erin Baiano.
And then Misa, as though she hadn’t just danced the Giselle pas de deux twice along with all its other constituents, came on with Daniil to deliver the most sensational Le Corsaire pas de deux I’ve seen since Noche Latina at ABT; thirty-two spot on fouettes with doubles and triples casually thrown in…it was unbelievable. Daniil as the slave is something I am sure we will be seeing for many years to come; he may be blond (cough cough) but is he fierce… I would say I’m well-versed in ballet vocabulary but I doubt if there are names for half the things he effortlessly throws in there.
Misa Kuranaga of Boston Ballet and Daniil Simkin of American Ballet Theater perform Le Corsaire Pas de Deux. Photo by Erin Baiano.
Other highlights of Night Two included Carla and Robbie Fairchild in the White Swan Pas de Deux, Sarah Lamb in the Dying Swan, Tiler and Joaquin in 3 Chopin Dances and an always ethereal Wendy with a fresh out of retirement Albert Evans in Wheeldon’s After the Rain. I loved this when Rachel Foster and Jeffrey Stanton danced it last week but there is nothing like Wendy in that soft pink leotard, her blonde hair keeping pace with the wind and the piano and her famously sculpted legs carving out the heartbeat of the music.
Carla Körbes of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Robert Fairchild of New York City Ballet in a White Swan lighting rehearsal during the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Wendy Whelan of New York City Ballet rehearses Fandango, the new Alexei Ratmansky ballet at the Vail International Dance Festival. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Afterwards, the entire cast gathered at Pazzo’s restaurant in Vail Village for pizza, pasta, salads and for some, shots. Lots of photos were taken, toasts were made, numbers exchanged. Around midnight most were shuttled back to the hotel to get some rest for their early flights; Herman, for example, was due to dance with Angel Corella’s company in Spain in the following forty-eight hours, and Daniil was soon en route to Japan where he is guesting with Tokyo Ballet.
Curtain call at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. Photo by Erin Baiano.
Heroes all around.
Stay tuned for more about closing night, with Gabriel and Natalia leading Romper el Piso, as well as more video and photo footage/reportage from International Evenings of Dance and UpClose: Tango with Damian, Natalia, Gabriel and Suki Schorer. And don’t forget about the hundreds of photos on the Vail Valley Foundation Flickr.
Erica
Gearing up for premiere next week!
Hi Wingers!!
It’s been a long time now! I promise it’s not because I have been lazy!! We have been SOOOOOOOOO busy making this new work that I became totally saturated! It is just about finished now after nearly a year (WOW!). The title of the piece is “Toward Home” and it involves the 8 dancers of SYREN, and 7 musicians of Steeplechase Arts & Productions who are playing a completely original score composed by Damon Ferrante. It’s been a wild journey to say the least, but I am thrilled, and a bit in awe, of how it’s all coming together!
Here is a little video about the process: click here!
The show goes up for it’s premiere on Wednesday August 18th at the beautiful Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY. It’s interesting to be performing in the Hamptons! We will be back to NYC very soon, but we are enjoying getting ready to share the work with the great, enthusiastic crowd out there!
Below are some pictures from an open rehearsal we did at Ballet Tech a couple months back when we were still in the thick of creating this baby. It was a fun day where we shared a bunch of the piece and had a Q&A after with the students and faculty.
Hope to see you all soon!
If you are near the Hamptons, come join us for the premiere!
“Toward Home”
Wednesday August 18th at 8pm
www.smarttix.com
And all about SYREN news and events here:
www.syrendance.org
Thanks so much! Hope you are all doing great during this busy summer season!
The Half-way Point
It’s officially past the exact middle of the festival and as I’m sitting on the lawn overlooking the stage, tech crew is sanitizing the marley and setting up barres for Damian’s 10am company class onstage. Damian and Suki Schorer have been trading off teaching in the mornings; the Vail Mountain School and the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater have been overflowing with starpower as Whelans trade off rehearsal space with Simkins to better accomodate their respective Ratmansky and Robbins dances.
- Carla Korbes, Daniil Simkin and Joaquin de Luz in class with Artistic Director Damian Woetzel for the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival on 8.2.10. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Herman Cornejo arrived late last night from Madrid, directly from a performance with Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon, and was greeted with a hot dinner, chocolate and a Heineken. Today he will rehearse with Boston Ballet principal dancer Misa Kuranaga; other than a week of rehearsal at the ABT studios at 890 Broadway in NYC, they have never danced together before but have always had the one degree of separation in Herman’s sister, Boston Ballet principal dancer Erica Cornejo. They are so perfectly matched physically and stylistically and I am so excited to see them dance the Act Two Pas de Deux from Giselle as well as the Wedding Pas de Deux from Don Quixote. Yesterday, Misa was in the studios choosing between three different versions of Kitri’s solo music; that opening with the pique arabesque into the glissade and saute de chat is intense if the music is too fast but she chose to stick with it as she’s done it in the past. Daniil and Joaquin rehearsed their Robbins/Chopin duet; I think they bring out the best in each other, a very thrilling sort of competitiveness and comraderie. Daniil and Misa will also dance the Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire; they are both two of the most ridiculous virtuosos today and are also dancing together for the first time. It’s been too fun watching all the guys outdoing each other and fooling around at the back of the stage… where else can you see all of them share a stage performing works from Bournonville and Petipa to Wheeldon and MacGregor?
Yesterday I also got a chance to see the two huge world premieres slated for International Evenings of Dance. The solo choreographed for Wendy by American Ballet Theatre Resident Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky is set to a brilliant flamenco score that brings out Wendy’s earthy fluidity. I remember Ratmansky’s last ballerina piece d’occasion- a tour de force for ABT ballerina Nina Ananiashvili in her farewell season set to Khachaturian’s “Waltz Masquerade” in which she jeteed back and forth across the stage and tempted each of her former star partners at ABT. That was something I will never forget and I am so excited to see a special partnership with another brilliant ballerina come to fruition again. I also got to see Tiler, Joaquin, Robbie and Sy Sar rehearse Larry Keigwin’s Aretha Franklin ballet, now called Rock Steady. There is so much chemistry between Tiler and those three guys and its such a sassy, sexy romp; I hope it will have a long life beyond the festival because it’s hard to imagine having more fun watching a piece.
Joaquin de Luz and Tiler Peck in rehearsals for Larry Keigwin's Rock Steady at the Vail International Dance Festival on 8.2.10. Photo by Erin Baiano.
Stay tuned for video of Daniil, Misa, Wendy, Joaquin, Robbie, Sy, Tiler and Royal Ballet dancers Eric Underwood and Sarah Lamb in rehearsal.
Tuesday night was one of the most exciting nights at the Amphitheater, Dance for $20.10; every Pavillion seat was $20 and every Lawn seat was $10. One thing that I have really admired about this festival is the emphasis on education and outreach that has been instituted. Before each performance Damian speaks to the audience about each of the works to be performed. Tuesday evening featured a kaleidescopic array of dance from Balanchine’s Who Cares?, danced effervescently by Tiler and Robbie, to Black Swan Pas de Deux danced by Carla and PNB Principal Karel Cruz, to Larry Keigwin himself and partner Ashley Browne in an excerpt from Love Songs and a surprise appearance by tango stars Gabriel Misse and Natalia Hills. We were taken from New York to Buenos Aires, from Imperial Russia to contemporary US of A and provided context for each shift.
- Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild rehearsing with Artistic Director Damian Woetzel for George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, as part of the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival on 8.2.10. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Speaking of geographical shifts, BeijingDance/LTDX, led by Artistic Director Willy Tsao, took the stage on Wednesday night; the company became, in 2005, China’s first professional dance company founded independently from the government and has quickly grown into a pioneer of cutting edge choreography. Artist in Residence Sang Jijia created the world premiere of Solitude in Numbers for the festival. The program note read, “You don’t need to be alone to be lonely” and Damian seized the moment to make the apt observation that this was the first visit to America for most BeijingDance/LTDX members. Liu Bin and Song Tingting’s piece October, set to Tchaikovsky’s emotional piece of the same name, was very moving, but I think the heart of the evening was All River Red, set to Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” Having studied the 1913 premiere at the Theatre Chatelet in Paris in a Russian Avant-Garde class at school, it was really fascinating to see this music employed to suggest not historical Slavic ritual and pagan sacrifice but rather violent oppression in 20th century China, through largely parallel patterns of narrative progression and similarly primitive, earthy and primal movement. And that incredible music in that setting…you feel it in your bones in a way that maybe only the Parisians did when they rioted inside the theater in 1913.
BeijingDance/LTDX rehearses as part of Vail International Dance Festival. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
I’ve now been transported to the Vail Mountain School where the Argentinian imports playing in the band for Romper el Piso are rehearsing my favorite tango in the world, “Invierno Porteno” by Astor Piazzolla. I can sit here and listen to this forever…there is nothing as seductive as the bandoneon….but in two hours we will be taking Natalia and Gabriel to a radio interview at the theater, after which the first Up Close (Stars of International Evenings of Dance) will commence.And finally, a video montage of Pacific Northwest Ballet - with some surprise guests - in class and in rehearsal for Benjamin Millepied’s 3 Movements and Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels:
Until later,
Erica
The Beginnings of a Whiplash Week Two
I don’t think I will ever forget the afternoon of Sunday, August 1.
I knew that the weather would be somewhat menacing and I was a bit concerned about how the Celebrate the Beat kids would fare that night, opening for Pacific Northwest Ballet in their Broadway tribute. The festival had provided each child with two vouchers for lawn seating, and I was terrified that all those parents who had waited weeks to see their kids perform for the first time would drown in a torrential downpour and swear off dance forever (…ultimately quite the opposite). So a bit apprehensively I went on my way to the amphitheater on Sunday and resolved to spend as much time inside as possible, getting everything ready for the children.
I was going backstage when I heard the strains of a violin playing Arvo Part’s “Spiegel im Spiegel.” There are a few pieces of music that always make me cry; this is one. Of course I dropped everything and ran to the stage. There, PNB Soloist Rachel Foster and Principal Jeffrey Stanton had just begun to rehearse Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain Pas de Deux. Before my eyes the wind grew more and more forceful, the trees behind the two swayed with the rhythm of the breeze, and every strain of the violin was suddenly complemented with this haunting swoosh. Rachel’s hair billowed in the wind every time Jeffrey rocked her in his arms in those carousel-like spinwheels. There were about twenty people in the audience and you could hear a pin drop. As Rachel and Jeffrey stood facing each other motionlessly, Jeffrey gave her a silent kiss on the forehead and I heard the first bolt of lightning. Then the thunder came. No one dared move. The downpour had instantaneously become so strong that it was hard to hear the violin, but magically and very naturally it became a necessary extension of the music. As they lay on the floor at the end, a final clap of thunder resounded in the mountains, and all I could make out on the faces around me was otherwordly awe.
Rachel Foster and Jeffrey Stanton of Pacific Northwest Ballet rehearse After The Rain during the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival. Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Here is a video I compiled of those unforgettable moments:
PNB Rehearses ‘After the Rain’ in a Thunderstorm
In summary: weather hasn’t stopped the dance. Yesterday at the performance of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, all audience members with lawn tickets were upgraded to regular seats. I would even venture to say that the thunder only heightened the drama. A ballet needn’t have a name like After the Rain to benefit from some precipitation; Paul Taylor’s Promethean Fire is a lesson in atmospheric dance. Dancers shot up into the sky to Bach’s “Prelude” and it was as though thunder was written into the score. What an exhilirating and passionate performance by all the Paul Taylor dancers; it was justly rewarded by one of the most instantaneous standing ovations I’ve observed here yet. Promethean Fire was preceded by Company B and Piazzolla Caldera - lucky for me as The Andrews Sisters’ “Bei Mir Bist Du Schein” and Astor Piazzolla’s “Michelangelo 70″ top ninety percent of my On-the-Go playlists. Company B evokes the vibrations of the 1940s as America was drawn into the Second World War; my favorite section is still “Rum and Coca-Cola” which was danced with so much instinctual charm. Piazzolla Caldera got me really excited for the tango program next week, Romper el Piso, brought here by Natalia Hills and Gabriel Misse from Buenos Aires. When I was 16 I traveled to Buenos Aires with my parents and fell in love with the tango- my mom and I spent 6 nights straight at tango clubs then, so I am very excited for the public milonga in the Betty Ford Gardens on Saturday, led by Natalia and Gabriel.
The Paul Taylor Dance Company performs "Promethean Fire" at the Vail International Dance Festival. Photo by Erin Baiano.
Several PNB dancers are still in the house for either International Evenings of Dance or Tuesday’s $20.10 program, which will feature a range of dances from Black Swan Pas de Deux to Balanchine’s Who Cares? PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal has remained in Vail with his six dancers who will perform this week; this morning he taught company class on stage, which was joined by several of the dancers who have already arrived to prepare for the gala, including American Ballet Theatre Soloist Daniil Simkin. PNB had a fantastic residency; I loved watching Damian coach PNB Principal Lucien Postlewaite as Riff in ‘Cool’ from West Side Story Suite and I could watch millions of interpretations of Tharp’s ‘That’s Life’ section from Nina Sinatra Songs. Corps dancer Carli Samuelson’s fuschia tulle dress in “Forget Domani” was gorgeous and I’ve been listening to “One for my Baby (and One More for the Road)” on repeat for the past two days. I’m beginning to think that all ballet should be seen only in the mountains.
Damian Woetzel coaches Lucien Postlewaite of Pacific Northwest Ballet in "Cool" from West Side Story Suite. Choreography by Jerome Robbins. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Check back for a video montage of PNB in class and in rehearsal.
Olivier Wevers and Carla Körbes of Pacific Northwest Ballet rehearse Duo Concertant during the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival. Choreography by George Balanchine. © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi.
Lastly, School of American Ballet (SAB) Faculty Member Suki Schorer arrived on Sunday and taught two morning master classes for dancers in the Vail area. Suki was my teacher at SAB for five years and I never in a million years could have believed that I would take her class once more.The dancers loved Suki’s Mr. B anecdotes- i.e. the $10 note in between a dancer’s thighs to ensure that the fifth position stayed nice and compact back in the days when a $10 bill actually amounted to something - and now there’s word Suki might teach company class this week. She’s also been dancing the tango - in New York and in Buenos Aires - for over a decade and will be joining Natalia and Gabriel at the Up Close: Tango rehearsal this Saturday.
Oh yes- Wendy Whelan, officially landed and checked-in. So looking forward to seeing her in After the Rain again…
That’s all for now, check back soon! Remember to check the Vail Valley Foundation YouTube Channel/Vail Internation Dance Festival Playlist for lots more performance footage, as well as the Flickr channel for photos from the resident photographers, Caitlin Kakigi and Erin Baiano.
Erica
Help save Dance New Amsterdam
a pic from a piece that i rehearsed at DNA before it went onstage
Dancers, lovers of dance and the Arts in general! The downtown New York based dance Studio Dance New Amsterdam is in threat of being possibly evicted. This would affect a lot of the dance world because DNA is such a huge supporter of dancers, choreographers and companies by providing wonderful classes, rehearsal space, residencies and performance oppertunities. Personally i always enjoy working at the DNA studios because there is such a wonderful air about the space and the studios are all beautiful. Please take the time to help out by signing this online petition to keep DNA alive and kicking. click on link.
hope all is well.
b
Class time
I realize I tend to put up posts after events which can make it seem like all we do is get ready to perform or compete. This couldn’t be further from the truth! I have some of the hardest working students around who spend the majority of their free time in class. I have a nice group of high achievers at the STUDIO, many of them excel in much more than dance. All of them aspire to be the best they can be and I am truly lucky to be surrounded by young people who have such high hopes and bright futures. Those hopes weigh heavy on me as a teacher sometimes-it can be a great responsibility. When you run a small school you can run a danger of stagnating, dancers can at times get a false sense of how good they are, they can forget there is a whole world out there besides the 4 walls of our little studio! I make my best efforts to get them out there and see themselves in a different light. I love bringing in great teachers too. Last night we had the pleasure of hosting Valery Lantratov, he is the Artistic Director of the Russian National Ballet Foundation. He is from Moscow and had a career with the Moscow Stanislavski Ballet and was also named the “People’s Artist of Russia” in 1997 and spent some time as a guest teacher at Boston Ballet. He was an incredibly warm teacher, who stressed strong technique alongside expression.
It was a very rewarding class for my students.
Mr. Lantratov saying "hello" to his hand
Isabel, Mimi and Alston at the barre
Katie and Katrina
Happy dancers and teachers!
San Francisco Ballet is jumping into the world of new media
I’m very excited to share a new section of San Francisco Ballet’s website that is dedicated strictly to new media!
http://www.sfballet.org/interact/index.asp
I believe that new media is a wonderful way for the ballet world to connect and I’m very happy to be part of a company that is exploring everything new media has to offer. Within this new section you can find videos, pictures, blogs, podcasts, and more. I would definitely suggest you check it out!
Ballet Austin - Season Opener!
It seems like the beginning of the season has just flown by and all of a sudden we’re back in production week! Tonight we have our final dress rehearsal for our Season Opener which includes Swan Lake (Act II) and a world premiere of Stephen Mills’ new Firebird.
Pei-San Brown, our amazing Community Education Director, has created these awesome interactive sites for audiences to get more background about each ballet, some behind the scene images, and casting. Check them out here! (If your in the Austin area you can also get ticketing info via the link)
Ballet Austin last performed the full length Swan Lake my second season with the company. Honestly, when I heard Act II was coming around again, I was a little nervous because I remembered how difficult it was. This type of corps work is so gratifying when it all goes well but can be terrifying at the same time. No one wants to be the swan that is out of line or on the wrong music! Being on the shorter side has put me in front quite often and for most of the act I am one of the “line leaders”. I have to admit that earlier in the rehearsal process I led my line to the wrong stage markings. But my line diligently followed me, seemingly unphased! I was embarrassed and proud all at the same time and then promised not to do it again. =)
For the Firebird I’ve been lucky enough to create the role of the Tsarevna. It’s been a fascinating challenge creating a character from scratch. In some ways it’s a daunting responsibility, but then it can be freeing as there is no precident set for you to compare your interpretation. As usual, Stephen has been absolutely great. First, we lay the groundwork of movement, most of which he choreographed from the beginning to the end of the ballet this time, then we layer the characters on top. He gives us tidbits early on for us to contemplate, we go away and think about it, then bring something new to it the next day. He then says “yes”, “no”, “more of this”, “less of this” and so on.
Once again I get to have the unique opportunity to dance with my husband, as Prince Ivan, and this ballet will also mark my first stage kiss. Early rehearsals of this were kind of amusing because Paul and I generally keep PDAs to a minimum at work, then suddenly we’re kissing in the middle of the rehearsal studio! But as rehearsals moved on, and we started running the whole ballets and we had developed our characters a bit more, it all seemed perfectly natural.
Each of these ballets brings entirely different challenges. It’s sure to be both an exhausting and fulfilling weekend!
This afternoon I’ll be doing an internet Live Chat for “Avant le Weekend” at 3PM (Central) with Michael Barnes about this weekends upcoming performances. Stop by and post your questions and comments if you have the time!
Here are a few images from our last production of Swan Lake. All of these were actually taken by Paul while I was on “Swan Duty”.
Inga Lujerenko and Jim Stein as Odette and Prince Siegfried in 2005
2005: Michelle Thompson, Lisa Washburn, Allisyn Paino, & Ashley Lynn (who will make her Odette debut this weekend!)
2005: Margot Brown and Aara Krumpe (who will make her debut as the Firebird this weekend!)
First Tour - Bucharest!
Me and Gaby Baars working on just simply walking in the ball. It’s actually quite difficult!!
Just a quick post to let you know what les Ballets de Monte-Carlo is up to! This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to re-work La Belle on our first tour this season in Bucharest, Romania. Like every ballet you revisit, there is a chance raise the level since the last performance. Quite honestly, it was really tough starting the season with such a hard ballet. It takes a bit to get fully back into shape, so by the next time we do La Belle I will have better stamina and shape, and raising the bar will not be so tough! La Belle is really one of the hardest ballets I have ever done - It’s right up there with Swan Lake. Nevertheless, I felt pretty good going into it by the time the day of the show came around, and was SO relieved and grateful to be able to get through it. At the heart of it though, I still have so much to work on. As I explained in my last post about La Belle, by the time third act rolls around, there are only three people carrying the ballet, and this is the major chunk of that I have to work on. Keeping the audience engaged for a full act and just three dancers is not an easy task. I have to be able to show different levels in my dancing, and I have a tendency to keep things square in terms of musicality and choreographic phrasing. I think every dancer does this in order to try be at ease in a piece, but that is the very thing I need to get away from. Otherwise, I will never advance. And what’s the point of repeating something if you’re just trying to make it easier for yourself? Pushing boundaries is what dance is about for me lately, and I am so happy to have this chance. It’s good to be back!!!
Working in Washington
So I am in my third week with the Washington Ballet and my third week as a professional dancer. I arrived in DC a week or so before my contract started to get settled in and take the company’s optional “get-in-shape” classes. Taking class with out a dress-code and getting paid weekly are two things I am really liking about the company life. Everyone I have met has been so nice and the other dancers have been very welcoming and helpful while I adjust to my new life. Right now we are working on Don Quixote (staged by Anna-Marie Holmes) and a few light rehearsals for the world premier of Septime Webre’s “The Great Gatsby”. Being in a smaller sized company compared to SFB has given me 0ppurtunites to learn many parts in one ballet so I have had my brain full learning 4 different roles in Don Quixote. I have never really been around another company besides SFB so it is interesting to see how a “ensemble” or “non-ranking” company like The Washington Ballet works. In some rehearsals dancers will be doing a principle part then in the next rehearsal be in a corps spot while someone else gets there chance at a soloist role. It creates a atmosphere where everyone feels equal and part of a team.
The website of The Washington Ballet has been re-designed and launched last week. The new site is really great and has some cool videos and photo galleries to check out (….as well as my bio and headshot). Pretty soon we will start rehearsals for ballets in programs after Don Quixote in October.
To summarize the 09-10 season:
Don Quixote (October)
The Nutcracker (chor: Septime Webre, December)
The Great Gatsby (chor: Septime Webre, February)
Bolero(+) (with Nicolo Fonte’s Bolero, Karol Armitage World Premier and Edwaard Liang’s Wunderland)
Genius3 (with Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove, Mark Morris’ Pacific, Nacho Duato’s Cor Perdutand George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments)
I hope to keep you updated soon on how everything is and what is going on. Until next time!
