Archive for January, 2007
January 29, 2007 at 7:10 pm · Filed under backstage, ballet, tour, kennedy center, washington dc, DAVID, american ballet theater, cities, opera house, city tour
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| Posted by David
I always feel that when we go to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., it is one of the ideal theaters for dance.
Along with the plush red EVERYTHING in the Opera House, the stage, dressing rooms, and backstage area are very accommodating. The size of the Opera House is not as big as the Met, but just as beautiful, with the jeweled chandeliers hanging from the theater ceiling. It is always a pleasure to dance in the Opera House and the dancers from the company have a good feeling from the feel of the stage.
Although,
As big and intimidating as the Met seems to be, I feel most comfortable on that colossal stage (with 4500 people watching…)
Recent Posts by david hallberg
January 28, 2007 at 10:05 pm · Filed under architecture, CATHY, brazil, history, opera house, sao paulo, city tour
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| Posted by Cathy
Dear readers, I invite you all to join me on a tour around old São Paulo. As this big and cosmopolitan city has turned 453 years old on Janurary 25th, why not visit where it was born?
So, as I am sure most of you know, the Portuguese were the founders of the city, as they ‘’owned'’ Brazil at that time. Specifically, Portuguese priests, who came here to convert the Indians to Catholicism. Therefore, the first building in the whole city was a church and a school, that we call “Pátio do Colégio”, which translated means school’s yard, or something like that (unfortunately I don’t have pictures taken by myself, but you may open this link and see an official picture, found in the city hall’s website).
Of course, this is not the original building from 1554, it has been rebuilt in the past, but there you can still see some old walls preserved. Something curious about this place is that in the past you were able to see the sea, as it is located in a very high place (the city is over a mountain and therefore kind of far from the beach itself). Nowadays, unfortunately, that isn’t possible anymore, due to several reasons that you may guess (stuff built in front of it, pollution, etc etc).
Now that you know a little bit of the history (I’m not sure if you all already know this, but I’m a bit of a history geek, so I’m stopping here because otherwise I’d get very happy writing and this would turn into a monography 
).
Shall we see some of the beautiful old buildings then?
So, I got the subway in the station near my house, and got down right in front of the Mosteiro de São Bento, after around 15 minutes. This church and monastery was built in 1598 and it’s one of the oldest in the city. Its interior is VERY beautiful, too bad we aren’t allowed to take any pictures. Nowadays the monastery still works and they also have a university in which they offer theology courses.
Now, a block ahead we have an important place in the city. The very beginning of Avenida São Jõao (avenue).
This is Edifício Martinelli. By the time it was built (1922 to 1930), it was the biggest in the city. Nowadays this is not true, of course. A curiosity: the person who built it (the Martinelli guy, a rich italian), had a house on the top of it (a mansion, actually). No, not as a penthouse, but literally, a big house built over the “edificio'’. He did that so that he could prove it was safe.
New Yorkers, can you guess what the inspiration to this ‘’edificio'’ was?? Anyway, it’s not as big as the ‘’original‘’, but it also used to be one of the tallest of the city (it has 38 floors). A bank works there.
Looking at the opposite side of the same avenue, this pic shows the Post office. This building has just been restored. You can also see some old fashioned street lamps.
If we walk some more blocks… we end up in the very famous “Vale do Anhangabaú” , or “Anhangabau Valley”. See the thing with the green roof resembling a little bit L’opera de Paris?
Let’s take a closer look.
My favorite spot in the city! The THEATRO MUNICIPAL. Or, translated, Municipal Theater. Guess you can figure now why it’s my favorite!
And, if we take a walk inside of it… look who has been here!
Hey, Paloma! Too bad I was very young when it happened, it was in 1996.
Anyway let’s go back to the ‘’valley'’.
Here we are on the top of “Viaduto do Chá“, a bridge. Translating: “Bridge of tea”. And why is that? Well, back in the past, there used to be a plantation under it. And yeah, it was a tea one.
Now let’s look at the other side, opposite to the theater’s one:
That white short building is the city hall.
Wingers, our trip is over. I hope you have enjoyed it. This is just a small part, because I haven’t shown the cathedral yet, for example. But this will be some other time, another part of the ‘’tour”!
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
January 28, 2007 at 9:12 am · Filed under backstage, dressing room, costumes, theatre, SANDI, musical theater, los angeles, performing
| | Posted by Sandi DeGeorge
Sorry for the lack of Camelot News- we’ve been rehearsing changes to the show and the driving in California takes up so much of our day! I can’t wait to really be on the road and be able to walk to work! (it’s a union rule that the must be in walking distance of the theatre if possible). Anyway- Today the girl I understudy as “Nimue” got to watch the show because she understudies Guinevere-So I got to go on for the flying nymph!
Everyone was so wonderful to me, helping me get ready and cheering for me in the wings and backstage.
First, I had to practice with Merlin.
Here I look terrified realizing I still have no hair on and it’s getting close to my cue!
I’m more relaxed here because I know I’m almost ready, though there are a lot of people poking at me checking the harness/costume etc.
All done getting ready! The scene is so short (I sing a short song from the wings, fly on, get Merlin and we fly off together in an embrace) and the flying is so technical- I was thrilled to not mess up. If I turned my body too suddenly or too far, I would send us swinging and it’s impossible to recover.. not pretty!
After that, I had a quick change into my normal costume and on with my real part in the show!
And now, tonight I am packing the suitcase that will go on one of the tour trucks- we have our last show here tomorrow afternoon and fly to San Jose on Monday.
Recent Posts by sandi degeorge
January 27, 2007 at 9:49 am · Filed under ballet, dance, choreographers, dancers, modeling, designers, composers, art, japan, germany, fashion, EVAN MCKIE, dancing, athletics
Hi. My name is Evan. I am a bun-head. No denial.
…I have tried to be less-bunheady and I have millions of other hobbies but still, put a hard2find vintage dance vid infront of me and I become kind of a sucker…
…which is why I, ummmm, shamelessly troll through youTube.com when I get a chance. (am I the only one?..) It would be literally impossible to gather all of the golden gems (legal or not…) that the mega-site has to offer.
I found this random clip of the old Frankfurt Ballet having fun doing some Stephen Galloway choreography for an Issey Miyake show in the early 90’s (?)…. I know a few of the dancers(§$%&ing fantastic still..) and it’s so cool to see them rocking out! I love this time when Frankfurt Ballet wasn’t just on-the-map, it kind-of WAS the map! Because so many artists were so inspired by the Forsythe brand of movement from that period, there has been alot of similar stuff being produced all over the world ever since. Infact, I think we’ve sort of come full circle now in Europe…where old is new is old is new is….yeah so either way, I wish I coulda been there at that moment! I mean, I was like 8 but whatev!…
hmmmm maybe we should have a vintage youTube(or whatever tube your watching) week where everybody posts a rare clip that they’re kinda fond of for whatever reason….!!! (nice sentence-structure, thx)
sound fun?? yes? ok!
:)
-E
Recent Posts by Evan McKie
January 26, 2007 at 6:32 pm · Filed under SLOAN, culture, art, new york city, arts funding, politics
Posted by Sloan
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, with Roy Lichtenstein’s “Element E”.
Photo courtesy NYTimes.com
Good news for New York City cultural institutions!
From AM NewYork:
“NEW YORK — The hundreds of cultural groups that fight for public funding from City Hall each year will now get equal access to a larger pool of money, officials said Wednesday.
A day before Mayor Michael Bloomberg was set to outline his preliminary budget for the next fiscal year, he and his cultural affairs commissioner, Kate Levin, announced along with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn that they are revamping the funding scheme for the scores of arts groups that rely on city support.”
Sounds like the city will both simplify the process by which cultural organizations apply and receive funds (no more lobbying), and increase the pool of money available to those organizations. They are also using a peer review system as a fair way of choosing which organizations are awarded funding, and are requiring a more transparent view of how this money is being used.
“The Bloomberg administration also is increasing the pot of money that it spreads to the 34 city-owned cultural facilities for operating support. Those include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York City Ballet and Carnegie Hall. […]
However, those groups will be more accountable, the city said Wednesday. With this budget, the data-reliant Bloomberg administration also is creating a monitoring program for them.
They will be graded on such criteria as how well they manage their own finances and maintain their facilities. How much information and access they grant the public also will be considered.”
There is so much creativity in this city. New York draws the best of the best in their creative fields and is a world stage for anything taking place within its bounds. To cultivate and nurture this environment, it only makes sense for the city to try to support these organizations in a bigger and more efficient way.
Reviewing the financial and business practices of organizations receiving money is also important to help those organizations be more efficient, as well as give fair opportunities for everyone seeking funding. Sounds like a step in the right direction to me. But then again, I don’t know what it’s like to manage a cultural institution. Any thoughts?
“Public arts funding is important—for better or worse, money is how government signals what it thinks is important.” - Douglas McLennan
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
January 26, 2007 at 9:08 am · Filed under ballet, gala, MEGAN, san francisco
| | Posted by Megan Kurashige
(I LOVE this light fixture)Yesterday I went to San Francisco Ballet’s opening night gala. It was a fun evening. I always love going over to the opera house. It has these beautiful high ceilings and it’s absolutely full of gilding and marble. It was a bit of a lonely adventure though because my usual performance seeing cohort (the lovely Melanie Freeman) was out of town. Nobody to share the gasps of amazement at the extravagant couture and precarious hairstyles with! My favorite sight was a group of young people dressed up in costumes, complete with bright wigs and holographic glasses, as if they were headed to a Mardi Gras party. Fantastic!
The program was fun, not too heavy or one-sided, a little party mix of tutu ballets and more contemporary work. L’Air D’Esprit (Gerald Arpino/Adolphe Adam) was one of those ballets that look so difficult that I was thinking “that looks terrifying” the whole time, but Tina LeBlanc breezed right through it. She has the most beautiful jump and sparkly feet. The second act pas from Giselle made me laugh—not because of the dancing, the dancing was lovely—but because they had this “freshly dug grave with cross” sprouting out of the bare stage. It reminded me of those Styrofoam decorations you can plop on your lawn at Halloween. I was giggling when Albrecht draped himself across the grave and I think my neighbors thought I was a horrible person, but it looked like it came in a box labeled Insta-Grave Complete With Mournful Bouquet or something. I wish I could supply a photo!
My favorite piece was a pas from Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain danced by Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith. It’s a gentle, thoughtful pas to this beautiful Arvo Part music. He seems like the most incredible and sympathetic partner… Through all the unusual lifts he made her look like an extension of his own body. Terribly impressive and the audience was so hushed once it was underway, but really enthusiastic with the applause at the end. I loved the opening when they stand side by side and sway from one foot to the other, very simple and affecting.
(these make me think of UFOs)
I’m really looking forward to seeing some of SFB’s programs this season, especially Artifact Suite and Eden/Eden. Forsythe’s company is coming to Berkeley next month and I’m curious about them as I’ve never had the chance to see any of his new work. Lots of performances to get to.
Oh and my latest thrill is GOOD Magazine . GOOD is a company that is encouraging media with “the sensibility of giving a damn.” On top of very cool design and great articles like “Sleeping With Strangers,” the magazine donates 100% of subscription fees to twelve organizations (including Unicef and WWF). I love it.
Recent Posts by megan kurashige
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