Past Links 2011

[Stecyk]

City Ballet's Small Troupe Sparks Union Action Amid Balky Contract Talks

 

Martins (the ballet master in chief of the New York City Ballet) earned $723,000 in salary and benefits in 2008, according to its latest tax return posted on Guidestar.org.

 

Dancers’ weekly minimum compensation ranges from $1,015 a week for members of the corps de ballet to $2,341 for principals, excluding extras such as overtime, according to their contract on the union’s website. Pay hasn’t changed since 2009.

(emphasis added)

[Stecyk]

WNYC

 

Dancers' Union Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against NYC Ballet

 

The requested improvements include provisions that force producers to post casting calls 14 days in advance of a performance, and to disallow producers to call rehearsals before noon, so that dancers can have time to warm up as well as get a full night's sleep. Gordon (the union's director) says they're not just being prima donnas. "Have you seen Black Swan?" he said. "You think it’s a lot of pressure in the movie? It's twice that in the real world."

[Stecyk]

Freakout in the Fifth Position

 

Please see complete article in Vanity Fair by following the link.

 

In City Arts, New York's bantam culture guide, Joel Lobenthal contemplates the cracked mirror of Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan and its blood-daubed feathers:

[Hans]

In order to keep the board organised, I have split this topic into a new one in Cross Talk: http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?...st&p=469982

 

Please feel free to continue this very interesting discussion there!

[Danielle DeVor]

Soothing Ballet Dancers' Agony of the Feet

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre...-of-beauty.html

 

A Smaller NY City Ballet Touring Company? Not So Fast, Says Union

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/...touring-troupe/

 

Qug'yuq: Swan Lake, Inuit-Style

http://www.adn.com/2011/01/15/1650434/ball...upik-dance.html

 

Behind The Improbable Success Of "Black Swan"

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/la-et-0116-...0,1256314.story

 

“GISELLE” REVISITED

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2011/01/giselle-revisited.html

[Stecyk]

19 Jan 2011

 

American Ballet Theatre's fitting salute to JFK at Kennedy Center

 

Jackie Kennedy was a fan of sleeveless sheaths, pearls and, apparently, sailors in tight pants. How fitting! An arbiter of what is classic and beautiful, the former first lady took ballet seriously, and named the seamen's hijinks in Jerome Robbins's 1944 work "Fancy Free" as among her darlings.

 

That, at least, is the story American Ballet Theatre is telling in the program that opened Tuesday and concludes Thursday at the Kennedy Center Opera House, which purports to feature Kennedy family favorites as part of a three-week initiative called "The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A 50th Anniversary Celebration." Kennedy took the oath of office exactly a half-century ago Thursday, ushering in, among other milestones, an era of enthusiasm for American arts. Jackie Kennedy's support of ABT is legendary - the company performed several times in the Kennedy White House, and she served on its board for many years, as daughter Caroline does now.

Please click on above link for complete article.

[Momof3darlings]

Sadly after a long wonderful history, many of our children went to the SI or to residency years ago and this is sad news.

 

 

VSA to close

[balletgirl22sk]

So sad! My oldest dd went there for the summer program when I think she was 12.

[tangerinetwist]

Very sad indeed. One of my former ballet instructors from Butler University, Martha Faesi, had served as VSA director of dance.

[Danielle DeVor]

Firecracker - Nutcracker, Hong Kong-Style

http://www.timeout.com.hk/stage/features/3...irecracker.html

 

Dayton Ballet Director Retires After 18 Years

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/conte...ton_ballet.html

 

Christopher Wheeldon Talks About Choreography

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...festyleArtEnt_4

 

Chopin, Our Contemporary

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2011/01/chop...ntemporary.html

 

Tabula Rasa

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2011/01/tabula-rasa-.html

[Victoria Leigh]

Lois Smith, National Ballet of Canada's first ballerina, died at age 81.

 

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theat...lois-smith-dies

[Victoria Leigh]

Story about the Cuban Ballet and Cuban dancers. Very interesting.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainmen...ew-stars-ballet

[Stecyk]

Nacho Duato, the Spaniard planning to revolutionize Russian ballet

 

St Petersburg, Russia (CNN) -- Most artistic directors' first day leading a new ballet company is all about meeting the dancers. But for Nacho Duato it's a challenge just to find the rehearsal room.

 

The mazelike corridors of the magnificent Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg prove confusing and inspire a few unchoregraphed twists and turns from Duato before he finally identifies the right room and his new company -- the 140 dancers of the Mikhailovsky Ballet.

 

It's unlikely the theater's floor plan will be the last challenge for the Spanish choreographer who, this month, took over leadership of the company.

 

He's the first foreigner to lead a Russian ballet company in over a century and has been charged with bringing modern choreography to the Mikhailovsky's classical repertoire.

 

Click above link for full article.

 

Be sure to watch the video in the article too.

 

Video 2: In the shoes of a ballerina:

 

Video 3: Ballet the 'The Big Apple': (featuring Peter Martins)

 

A hat tip to glissade_jete who found the link to the third video.

 

Also, see CNN Coverage of Ballet.

[cheetah]

Thanks for this. It will be interesting to see what happens. DS has several friends at the company - they are very classically oriented! I forwarded the links to him and am looking forward to hearing their thoughts on how things are as they move forward. Definitely an interesting experiment. The theater looks great, though!!

[glissade_jete]

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/inter...?iref=allsearch

 

That should work as the link to the final video (hopefully!)