Nederlands Dans Theater canceled at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
November 10, 2008



The latest economy-related casualty in the arts: The planned June 26-28 performances of the Nederlands Dance Theater I, part of the ongoing Music Center dance season at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, have been canceled. There will be no replacement.

The other Dance at the Music Center engagements -- the Kirov Ballet and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre's "Nutcracker" (Dec. 17-20), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (March 18-22), Ballet Hispanico (June 5-7) and American Ballet Theatre performing "Romeo and Juliet" (July 16-19) will be performed as planned.

Josephine Ramirez, the Music Center's vice president of programming and planning, said in a statement today that there were reduced donor giving, a decline in investment revenue and a shortfall in ticket sales for the dance series' most recent engagement, Miami City Ballet (read our review), Oct. 24-26. "After weighing the options, we have made the decision to cancel the Nederlands Dance Theater I solely on the basis of our desire to manage our resources in the most prudent fashion."

The Music Center is contacting ticketholders to tell them their refund, donation and ticket transfer options. For information call (213) 972-0711.

The Sweetest Holiday Tradition - The Nutcracker

Canadian Ballet Theatre Presents
THE NUTCRACKER
Three Performances Only with Special Guest Ballet Superstars
Alina Somova & Anton Korsakov, Kirov Ballet
Zhong-Jing Fang, American Ballet Theatre
December 20 & 21, 2008, Winter Garden Theatre

Toys magically coming to life, a young girl, a mysterious prince, elegant dancing snowflakes and Christmas wishes fulfilled: it's no wonder THE NUTCRACKER is the most beloved ballet in the world and the most delightful of holiday traditions! Canadian Ballet Theatre (CBT) is thrilled to present an elegant, traditional Russian mounting of this classic piece with international ballet superstars performing alongside shining young stars-in-the-making.

The role of Clara will be alternated between Victoria Harding and Alys Shee, to be partnered with Eugene Dokoukine as the valiant Nutcracker Prince. All of these superstars in the making are senior students with the Academy of Ballet and Jazz, the school of Canadian Ballet Theatre.

Alina Somova is a St. Petersberg native who graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 2003 and joined the Mariinsky theatre the same year. A glittering ballerina, Ms. Somova is famous for her impeccable fouette turns and grands jetes.

A past winner of the esteemed Helsinki International Ballet Competition, Anton Korsakov is widely renowned for his dramatic intensity, technical prowess and spectacular elevation.

A rapidly rising star, Zhong-Jing Fang has been with American Ballet Theatre since 2002. Trained at the Shanghai Ballet School, where she was accepted at the age of 10, Ms. Fang won the very first competition she entered, the Prix de Lausanne 2000.


Zhong-Jing Fang

Canadian Ballet Theatre students have the unique opportunity to work with the award-winning and world-famous Artistic Director Nadia Veselova Tencer. With her husband and producing partner, Solomon Tencer, Ms. Veselova co-founded the Canadian Ballet Theatre, and it's school, the Academy of Ballet and Jazz, both committed to the traditions of Russian classical ballet. A master teacher, Nadia is a graduate of the world-renowned Vaganova Choreographic Institute, the school of the Kirov Ballet, class of Alla Osipenko.
The Tencers produce the worldwide dance phenomenon, Stars of the 21st Century. For more than ten years these international ballet galas, a tribute to excellence in the art of classical dance, have been the hit of the season around the world. Recently, Nadia judged and choreographed at the Youth America Grand Prix dance competition finals in New York and was a judge at the Prix Benois De La Danse, at the Bolshoi Theatre in Russia. This faithful and classic rendering of THE NUTCRACKER is staged by Nadia Veselova Tencer.

THE NUTCRACKER begins on Christmas Eve with the young Clara and her beautiful nutcracker. As the clock strikes midnight, Clara falls asleep under the Christmas tree and dreams the most marvelous dream of a winter wonderland with dancing snowflakes, a defeated Mouse King, and a magical sleigh ride with her Prince.

Canadian Ballet Theatre presents
THE NUTCRACKER
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Vasily Vainonen
Set and Costumes from the Bolshoi Ballet
Staged by Nadia Veselova Tencer

Winter Garden Theatre, 189 Yonge Street (north of Queen Street)
Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 2:30pm and 7pm
Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 1:30pm

Мария Кочеткова танцует Жизель в Вашингтоне в Кенцентре на открытии гастролей балета Сан Франциско 28 ноября в пятницу вечером.

San Francisco Ballet............................................Nov 25 - 30, 2008


From unconfirmed sources…
.............The opening night of SFb Giselle belongs to its newest Prima Ballerina Maria Kochetkova

Мария Кочеткова и Джоан Боада в Жизели


©Eric Tomasson


©Eric Tomasson

http://www.mariakochetkova.com/

Giselle Returns to the Ken-Cen




Choreography: Jules Perrot, Jean Coralli, Marius Petipa (some new choreography and staging by Helgi Tomasson).
Music: Adolphe Adam (additional music and orchestration by F. Burgtmuller, Ludwig Mincus, Emil de Cou).
World Premiere: June 28, 1841. Paris Opera Ballet, Theatre de l'Academic Royale de Musique. Paris, France.

NOVEMBER 28, EVENING

Giselle ..... Maria Kochetkova
Albrecht ..... Joan Boada
Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis ..... Soviane Sylve

Hilarion ..... Pascal Molat
Berthe, Giselle' mother ..... Anita paciotti
Duke of Courland ..... Ricardo Bustamante
Wilfred, Albrecht's squire ..... Martyn Garside
Servant to the Duke ..... Auber Vanderlinden

Pas de Cinque ..... Frances Chung, Clara Blanco, Elizabeth Miner, Taras Domitro, Isaac Herhandez
Solo Wilis ..... Dana Genshaft and Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun

Giselle saw the light of day on Jun 28, 1841 and was an instant success. Some 167 years later it is still being performed to packed opera houses and Giselle is one of the most sought out roles in all of the classical repertoire. Respectful towards the original choreography, but not stale, the SFB version bristles with vibrant colors and stylistic peculiarities reminiscent of the times of Henry the 2nd of France and his beautiful lady Diane de Poitier. The Iceland born dancer Helgi Tomasson, turned choreographer and now SFB artistic director can be indeed proud of high level of the company in general and this fascinating production in specific.

Among the best Giselles to have graced the current production were luminous Lucia Lacarra and exquisite Yuan Yuan Tang. The evening of the 28th featured a newly acquired principal dancer, Bolshoi trained Maria Kochetkova. Having moved to tears part of the audience with her highly original interpretation of the Mad Scene where Giselle runs in a circle, touching with her fingers the invisible boundaries of her rapidly shrinking world, she shone even brighter in the 2nd act where Maria had ample opportunity to display her extraordinary lightness and mastery of petit batterie.

Another revelation of the evening was Sofiane Sylve. Known for her formidable technical prowess she portrayed the role of Myrtha with sensitivity witch only a real artist is capable of. Cuban trained Joan Boada was confident if somewhat lacking luster Count Albrecht. Anita Paciotti (Berthe), Ricardo Ustamante (Duke), Pauli Magierek (Bathilde) and Pascal Molat (Hilareon) ... they all kept the audience at the edge of the seats with excellent interpretation of their respective parts.

Corpes de ballet deserves special mention. Although not as turnout and stylistically uniform as the Mariinsky ensemble, it moved with precision that is far superior to what I have seen in ABT.

S.F. Ballet production of 'Nutcracker' on PBS

Rachel Howard Friday, December 5, 2008



San Francisco Ballet was the first company to dance the full "Nutcracker" in North America, in 1944. But it was George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet that turned the then-relatively unknown Tchaikovsky score into a holiday tradition - and the ballet world's bread and butter - in the 1950s. Now San Francisco Ballet is about to reclaim the "Nutcracker" mantle in a big way with the nationwide PBS "Great Performances" broadcast of Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson's "Nutcracker" - set in 1915 San Francisco - on Dec. 17.

With its softly fog-shrouded sets and sumptuous Edwardian-era costumes, the Ballet's "Nutcracker"- also soon available on a DVD from Opus Arte/Naxos - looks tailor-made for its close-up. But Tomasson wasn't thinking about television when he conceived his widely acclaimed $3.5 million production, which premiered in 2004.

"After the fact, so many people said, what a beautiful production, and it takes place in San Francisco," said Tomasson, who devised a scenario in which the teenage Clara dreams about the fantastical sights she's just seen at the city's World's Fair. "That got the ball rolling."

Tomasson's "Nutcracker" was filmed over three performances last December, with eight cameras capturing every angle of glamorous Yuan Yuan Tan as the Snow Queen and technically virtuosic Vanessa Zahorian as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Emmy-winning director Matthew Diamond, who also directed the Ballet's 2003 recording of "Othello," said filming the gorgeous Act 2 divertissements of waltzing flowers, French cancan girls and a wild Chinese dragon was the easy part - it was editing the story-packed Act 1 that posed a challenge.

"The most difficult part was the battle between the mice and the soldiers, by far," Diamond said from Los Angeles. "Helgi has created so much dramatic richness in that scene. It's hard to get to everything, because he's done such a complex job."

But television allowed Diamond to highlight ingenious details an audience might miss in the vast War Memorial Opera House, zooming in on set pieces and objects, such as the dancing bear and Clara's glittering doll cabinet, that turn up in Clara's Act 2 dream world. As for the scenery and sparkling tutus, by Tony winners Michael Yeargan and Martin Pakledinaz, "when you have that much for the eyes to bask in, it makes the director's job a whole lot easier," Diamond said. "The amount of opulence onstage is just amazing."

Tomasson had final word on all choices of the dance performance footage: "If he liked the pirouettes on Thursday night instead of Sunday, that's what we used," Diamond said. Still, having three tries at perfection didn't alleviate the extra pressure on 24-year-old principal Maria Kochetkova, who found herself cast in the climactic Grand Pas de Deux opposite hunky, buoyant Davit Karapetyan as one of her first assignments with a brand-new company.

"It was a new stage, a new audience, a new ballet to me," said Kochetkova, who trained at Russia's Bolshoi School and joined the San Francisco Ballet from the English National Ballet. "I found out I was cast for this two weeks before. In that pas de deux, you have to walk right into the spotlight, you have to dance right away."

Taking a break after the daily company class, the doll-faced Kochetkova was critical of her sparkling performance after seeing the video a few days earlier. "The film is really beautiful, though of course for myself I see things I would do better," she said. Still, she was full of praise for the choreography - "It's really big, and I like big movements" - and gratitude to Tomasson: "He really believes in me and believes I can do it better onstage than in the studio," she said. "I felt before him I hadn't realized the things I can actually do."

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Powell, only 15 when she filmed her lead role as the young Clara, hadn't seen the film yet but didn't sound too worried. "Up onstage it was so magical, I wasn't even thinking about being on camera," said Powell, an advanced student at the San Francisco Ballet School. "It was just like a normal performance."

Her face - gasping in delight when she receives the Nutcracker, fearful when the mice attack, relieved and then starry-eyed when her Nutcracker doll becomes a flesh-and-blood prince - has now been immortalized in close-ups. But of the principal dancers who sweated the camera time, and the younger ones who waltzed through it, Tomasson is equally proud.

"I think the dancers did very well," he said. "They came off fabulously. I had no doubt they would."

Dance in America: San Francisco Ballet's "Nutcracker": The PBS "Great Performances" presentation airs at 8 p.m. Dec. 17 on KQED and on other PBS stations nationwide.

Toys magically coming to life, a young girl, a mysterious prince, elegant dancing snowflakes and Christmas wishes fulfilled: it's no wonder THE NUTCRACKER is the most beloved ballet in the world and the most delightful of holiday traditions! Canadian Ballet Theatre (CBT) is thrilled to present an elegant, traditional Russian mounting of this classic piece with international ballet superstars performing alongside shining young stars-in-the-making.

The role of Clara will be alternated between Victoria Harding and Alys Shee, to be partnered with Eugene Dokoukine as the valiant Nutcracker Prince. All of these superstars in the making are senior students with the Academy of Ballet and Jazz, the school of Canadian Ballet Theatre.

Alina Somova is a St. Petersberg native who graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 2003 and joined the Mariinsky theatre the same year. A glittering ballerina, Ms. Somova is famous for her impeccable fouette turns and grands jetes.

A past winner of the esteemed Helsinki International Ballet Competition, Anton Korsakov is widely renowned for his dramatic intensity, technical prowess and spectacular elevation.

A rapidly rising star, Zhong-Jing Fang has been with American Ballet Theatre since 2002. Trained at the Shanghai Ballet School, where she was accepted at the age of 10, Ms. Fang won the very first competition she entered, the Prix de Lausanne 2000.

Canadian Ballet Theatre students have the unique opportunity to work with the award-winning and world-famous Artistic Director Nadia Veselova Tencer. With her husband and producing partner, Solomon Tencer, Ms. Veselova co-founded the Canadian Ballet Theatre, and it's school, the Academy of Ballet and Jazz, both committed to the traditions of Russian classical ballet. A master teacher, Nadia is a graduate of the world-renowned Vaganova Choreographic Institute, the school of the Kirov Ballet, class of Alla Osipenko.
The Tencers produce the worldwide dance phenomenon, Stars of the 21st Century. For more than ten years these international ballet galas, a tribute to excellence in the art of classical dance, have been the hit of the season around the world. Recently, Nadia judged and choreographed at the Youth America Grand Prix dance competition finals in New York and was a judge at the Prix Benois De La Danse, at the Bolshoi Theatre in Russia. This faithful and classic rendering of THE NUTCRACKER is staged by Nadia Veselova Tencer.

THE NUTCRACKER begins on Christmas Eve with the young Clara and her beautiful nutcracker. As the clock strikes midnight, Clara falls asleep under the Christmas tree and dreams the most marvelous dream of a winter wonderland with dancing snowflakes, a defeated Mouse King, and a magical sleigh ride with her Prince.

Canadian Ballet Theatre presents
THE NUTCRACKER
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Vasily Vainonen
Set and Costumes from the Bolshoi Ballet
Staged by Nadia Veselova Tencer

.........