Dutch National Ballet opening gala online streaming

What a treat! DNB live-streamed their opening gala and it's available online, even in Canada (not sure for how long).
Here's the link:
http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1375883

Among others appearing:
Vito Mazzeo in van Manen's Five Tangos, Matthew Golding and Anna Tsygankova in the grand pas de deux from Ratmansky's Don Quixote, Marijn Rademaker in Edward Clug's Ssss, Remi Wortmeyer and Maia Makhateli in Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, and Mathias Heymann in Grand Pas Classique, and Igone de Jongh and Jozef Varga, Matthew Golding and Anna Tsygankova in Variations for two couples by Hans van Manen, Larissa Lezhnina and Artur Shesterikov in Krzystof Pastor's In Light and Shadow. The company performs David Dawson's Overture. Also appearing: DNB's new Junior Company, including "First Position" star Michaela dePrince, in Ernst Meisner's Lollapalooza.

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Emma Kirkby & Daniel Taylor to appear with National Ballet of Canada

At a donors' event last night, National Ballet of Canada Music Director David Briskin announced the exciting news that world-renowned countertenor Daniel Taylor and soprano Dame Emma Kirkby will be performing the Pergolesi Stabat Mater to which James Kudelka has set a new ballet … black night’s bright day … as part of the Innovation mixed program of three world premieres at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto, November 22-28.
To buy tickets and for more info on the other works on the program, visit the National Ballet's site.

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TV Broadcast of Balanchine's Jewels

British Columbia's Knowledge network will be airing the Mariinsky Ballet's performance of George Balanchine's Jewels on Wednesday November 6, 9:00pm Pacific Time (midnight Eastern Time), repeated Thursday November 7, 1:00am Pacific. It will most likely be available for online viewing afterwards. Ulyana Lopatkina and Igor Zelensky star in Diamonds.
 

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National Ballet of Canada Swan Lake casting

	Odette / Odile	Siegfried	Rothbart
November 9 at 7:30 pm	Xiao Nan Yu	McGee Maddox	Etienne Lavigne
November 10 at 2:00 pm	Sonia Rodriguez	Piotr Stanczyk	James Leja
November 13 at 7:30 pm	Greta Hodgkinson	Matthew Golding†	Jonathan Renna
November 14 at 2 pm	Xiao Nan Yu	McGee Maddox	Etienne Lavigne
November 14 at 7:30 pm	Sonia Rodriguez	Piotr Stanczyk	James Leja
November 15 at 7:30 pm	Heather Ogden	Guillaume Côté	Patrick Lavoie
November 16 at 2	Xiao Nan Yu	McGee Maddox	Etienne Lavigne
November 16 at 7:30 pm	Greta Hodgkinson	Matthew Golding†	Jonathan Renna
November 17 at 2 pm	Heather Ogden	Guillaume Côté	Patrick Lavoie

 All performances at the Four Seasons Centre, Toronto.

For tickets, visit the National Ballet of Canada website.

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Copenhagen-Hamburg Ballet trip now booking

Carlson Wagonlit Victor Travel

101 - 8800 Dufferin Street, Concord, ON L4K 0C5

TICO Ontario registration #1892647

presents

Tours en l'air

Ballet Holidays

escorted by

Canada's Word Lady,

Katherine Barber

Copenhagen and Hamburg

11-20 March 2014

10 days, 9 nights

6 ballet performances

The best of Bournonville performed by

Royal Danish Ballet, and the world-renowned Hamburg Ballet in works by Neumeier and Cranko

Tuesday 11 March

Arrive Copenhagen. Check in to 4-star Copenhagen Admiral Hotel: www.admiral-hotel-copenhagen.com, 7 minutes walk, 3 minutes by taxi from the Royal Theatre.

Wednesday 12 March

930: “Breakfast with Bournonville”. The Royal Danish Ballet's Junior Company presents excerpts from Bournonville's ballets, e.g. Napoli, A Folk Tale, The Kermesse in Bruges, as well as their own choreographies.

Afternoon: Private guided coach tour of Copenhagen (3 hours, including opportunities to get off the coach at major sights)

6 pm: Welcome dinner

8 pm: Royal Danish Ballet: Manon (MacMillan)

Thursday 13 March

Watch Royal Danish Ballet company class

Rest of day at leisure.

Friday 14 March

Morning: Visit Royal Danish Ballet School (to be confirmed)

Afternoon at leisure

8 pm: Royal Danish Ballet: Napoli

Saturday 15 March

At leisure. Evening: 3-course dinner at the award-winning SALT restaurant before Royal Danish Ballet: Napoli

Sunday 16 March

Depart Copenhagen by air for Hamburg.

Arrive Hamburg. Check in to 5-star SIDE hotel (20 minutes from airport, approx. 1-minute walk from opera house): www.side-hamburg.de/en/side-home.html

Monday 17 March

Morning: Visit to Hamburg Ballettzentrum, home of the Hamburg Ballet and Hamburg Ballet School

Afternoon: 2-hour private guided coach tour of Hamburg, including opportunities to get off the coach at major sights

1930: Hamburg Ballet performance of all-Neumeier program: Vaslav, At Midnight, Chopin Dialogue, Kinderszenen

Tuesday 18 March

130 pm: guided tour of Hamburg State Opera

730 pm: Hamburg Ballet performance of Onegin (Cranko)

Wednesday 19 March

(Optional, weather permitting) Day trip by train to Unesco World Heritage medieval town of Lubeck (one hour from Hamburg)

Farewell dinner

Thursday 20 March

Check out of hotel and depart Hamburg

GROUP SIZE LIMITED TO 20!

Total Package CA$3699 per person

based on double occupancy

Single supplement both cities: CA$1250

Single supplement Hamburg only (if sharing in Copenhagen): CA$550*

*only two twin rooms available

All prices valid till 15 December 2013

LAND-ONLY PACKAGE allows you the flexibility of arranging travel from your most convenient departure point,

on the dates and times you prefer,

and to extend your stay if you wish.

Victor Travel's experienced agents

will be happy to assist you with

flight arrangements.

Package includes:

9 nights double-share accommodation

Daily breakfast

Premium orchestra seats for 6 ballets

Royal Danish Ballet company class

Private guided bus tour of Copenhagen 

Private guided bus tour of Hamburg

Private guided tour of Hamburg opera house

Visit to Hamburg Ballettzentrum

Three 3-course dinners

Ballet enrichment program: ballet notes and informal pre-performance talks and post-performance reviews with tour leader

Please note that this program must be sold as a package. Extra hotel nights can be added on (subject to availability), but we cannot offer individual components separately or break the package into shorter installments. As a significant benefit of the Tours en l'air package is sharing the complete experience with those with common interests, we do not offer an “accommodation only” option.

Not included:

All airfares

Meals and transfers not specifically mentioned in this itinerary

Beverages with meals

Items of a personal nature, e.g. phone calls

Cancellation insurance

and hospital/medical insurance

All items and activities listed as optional in this brochure

For more information:

email toursenlair@gmail.com

phone: 416.693.4496

New doc chronicles creation of Justin Peck ballet for NYCB

If you loved the film NY EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ, you'll be interested to know about  a new project from the same team, BALLET 422. The team is seeking crowdfunding for its post-production costs.  Click HERE to see their project page with a 2-minute teaser on the crowdfunding site Hatchfund, and give a thought to donating to this worthy cause.

BALLET 422 is a feature-length documentary that follows the creation of a single new ballet, Justin Peck's Paz de la Jolla, from first rehearsal to world premiere at New York City Ballet.  With unprecedented backstage access, this totally observational (no talking heads!) documentary focuses on the creative process as young NYCB dancer and emerging choreographer Justin Peck works with costume designers, conductors, musicians, lighting designers and his fellow dancers to bring his vision to the stage.  This is the first time this process has ever been captured in its entirety at New York City Ballet. 

The filmmaking team includes many key collaborators from OPUS JAZZ - director/cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes, producers Ellen Bar and Anna Rose Holmer - and the new addition of our amazing editor Saela Davis and talented cinematographer Nick Bentgen. 

Ballet 422 has been awarded a $10,000 challenge grant from The Jerome Robbins Foundation.  The Foundation will give one dollar for every two raised. A total of $30,000 is needed for post-production costs. 

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National Ballet of Canada announces 3 World Premieres

Four Canadian Choreographers Three World Premieres Plus a New Work The National Ballet of Canada’s Innovation series features three world premieres that will debut November 22, 2013, along with a piece by Choreographic Associate Guillaume Côté. José Navas, a Venezuelan born choreographer who now works in Montréal, created his piece in August;  and Choreographic Associate Robert Binet, in September. Former Artistic Director James Kudelka is currently working on his creation in the studio with the dancers. Watershed – A World Premiere by José Navas “I’ve long been interested in Benjamin Britten’s works and life. When I first heard Four Sea Interludes, I knew I wanted to use a big group of dancers and I wanted the work to be on pointe – perfect for the National Ballet’s amazing artists. I hope I can emulate in my choreography what Britten did in music – to make it formal and structural, but also emotional and true.” - José Navas Choreography: José Navas Music: Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes, Op. 33 – Four Sea Interludes Op. 33a Costume Design: Sonya Bayer Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls Being and Nothingness (Part 1) by Guillaume Côté “The music of Philip Glass has always fascinated me. Its repetitive structure is somewhat hypnotic and evolves in seamless ways. This particular section of Being and Nothingness is based on a concept called “The Great Human Stream" explored in Jean-Paul Sartre’s book. The Great Human Stream arises from a singular realization that nothingness is a state of mind in which we can become anything that we desire. Glass's Metamorphosis is the perfect musical reflection of this theme, filled with emotional weight. It provides a lot of room for telling the story of someone coming to terms with their own ‘nothingness’.” - Guillaume Côté Choreography: Guillaume Côté Music: Philip Glass Costume Design: Krista Dowson Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls Unearth - A World Premiere by Robert Binet “I love Owen Pallett’s music and I always thought, ‘one day…’ So when Karen Kain asked me to create a new work, I contacted him. Even though it’s his first composition for dance he understands the energy, colour and rhythm of ballet and also the needs of the dancers.” - Robert Binet Choreography: Robert Binet Original Music: Owen Pallett Set and Costume Design: Hyemi Shin Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls ...black night's bright day... - A World Premiere by James Kudelka “I have known Pergolesi's Stabat Mater for some time, having seen a work done to the first section of it in the 1970s. It a very beautiful piece of musical composition to listen to although it is about a very tragic subject - the loss of a dear one in horrible and unjust circumstances. Sometimes we have to make difficult subjects beautiful in order to be able to look at them.” - James Kudelka Choreography: James Kudelka, O.C. Music: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Stabat Mater Costume Design: Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell for Hoax Couture Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls If you love ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here. GET MORE BALLET OUT OF LIFE WITH TOURS EN L'AIR Use the buttons below to share this post on facebook, twitter, by email, or other social media. You can sign up to have my ballet updates delivered directly to your inbox here.

A poppy in a field of daffodils: Michaela DePrince

A great interview with a very thoughtful Michaela DePrince, one of the dancers in the YAGP documentary First Position and now dancing with Dutch National Ballet's junior company:
http://dancetabs.com/2013/10/michaela-deprince-junior-company-dutch-national-ballet/

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Bolshoi Ballet to perform in Saratoga Springs

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, has announced that its dance program for summer 2014 will include its long-time visitors, New York City Ballet, from July 8-12, but also the Bolshoi Ballet with Don Quixote for four performances July 30-August 1. This is quite a coup for SPAC. The Bolshoi will add their Saratoga visit on to their July 12-28 tour to  New York , where they will be performing Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and Spartacus.
The Bolshoi will also be performing Giselle at the Kennedy Center in Washington May 18-25.

If you love ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.

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How to get ballet tix cheap in Toronto

Contrary to popular belief, it needn't cost you an arm and a leg to see all those beautiful arms and legs at the ballet.

Ballet is not the elitist event the media would like you to believe. Especially not when you compare it to the $400+ top ticket prices for the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games (but that's the subject for another post).

So herewith: my guide to how to see ballet for cheap in Toronto. And bear in mind, you're paying over 70 dancers and the same number of musicians to entertain you for more than two hours. Not to mention the backstage crew, wardrobe staff and so on.

1) National Ballet of Canada

a) Subscriptions
Seniors, students, and children get the best subscription deal, 45% off full price for Saturday afternoon subscriptions. This means $219 (or $36.50 per show) for seats in the fifth ring. For only $12 more ($231) you can choose any day for your performance rather than being limited to Saturday afternoons.

Once you have a full six-show subscription, another great deal is that you can get extra tickets for half regular price ("subscriber rush") anywhere in the house the day before a performance.

Thursday matinee subscriptions are even cheaper, 4 shows for only $122 in the fifth ring ($30.50 each).

For those who are too old or not old enough for those categories, there is a new "rush subscription" for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, 6 shows for only $357 (just shy of $60 a ticket). For this you are guaranteed a seat in the 5th ring, but you get upgraded to the best seating left in the house as of 5 pm the day before a performance. In my experience. there are often really good prime orchestra seats left 24 hours before a performance (the ones that cost $184!), so this is a fantastic deal.

b) Single tickets
You can get a ticket to the ballet for $25 if you sit in the back of the 5th ring. Bring your binoculars. It's still better than not going to the ballet! 

c) Rush tickets
The National Ballet reserves some seats in the house (along the sides of the 3rd and 4th ring) for public rush, at $35 each. You have to go in person to the box office as of 11 am the day of the performance. Although your view will be a little bit obstructed, it's still a good deal.

Standing room at the back of the 3rd and 4th ring is also available on the day of the performance, for $12. There are railings to lean on, and most ballet acts don't last longer than an hour. If your legs get weary, remind yourself that your spot is right behind people who have paid about $150 for their ticket!

Dancebreak rush: If you are between 16 and 30, sign up for www.dancebreak.ca. As of midnight on the day of the performance any remaining seats left in the house are released for dancebreak members for $35 each. Again, a fantastic deal.
Tickets are not guaranteed for every performance and are subject to availability at the discretion of the National Ballet.

2) Ballet Jorgen

Ballet Jorgen is a small company that performs without live music. Tickets for its Toronto shows, at the Betty Oliphant Theatre on Jarvis Street, start at $30 for students and seniors ($36 regular price). The theatre is small so even in the cheapest seats you're not far from the stage. Top price is $76.

3) Sony Centre Under-30 Rush

Sony Centre offers rush tickets for $15 if you join their under-30 club. If you're not under 30, make friends with someone who is, because the under-30s can get tickets for one guest of any age at the same price.

4) Ballet in the suburbs
You can often catch visiting companies in Burlington, Mississauga, Brampton, etc., where ticket prices rarely top $75. To see who's visiting in 2013-14, check out my Toronto Ballet and Dance Outings tab.

5) Ballet at the movies
Be sure to check out the schedule of broadcasts from the Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and other companies at the cineplex theatres.   Top ticket price is $23; discounts are available for multiple shows and for seniors. But be sure to still support our companies performing live right here!

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What you have no idea is going on in the wings

From Birmingham Royal Ballet's tour blog:

"Hearts stopped as César Morales, who was Prince Florimund, exited the stage with a well-executed flourish during the Grand Pas de deux to leave the spotlight for Natasha Oughtred, Princess Aurora before falling to the ground with excruciating cramp pains in both his legs. Principal dancer Jamie Bond was on standby, Diana (Senior Stage Manager) and John Beadle (Orchestra Director) assessed the situation and everyone took position ready to complete whatever was decided. As a true professional César recovered and finished the performance with perfection,"

If you love ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.

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