Ballet Music http://www.dancemelody.com © DanceMelody.com Music for Ballet Class Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0600 en Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0600 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss rss@dancemelody.com (Boris Yakshov) rss@dancemelody.com (Boris Yakshov) http://dancemelody.com The Prince of Wales talks to dancers after the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. The Duchess of Cornwall was unable to attend the performance due to a bad back. The Prince, who is president of the Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB), enjoyed excerpts from The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Carmina Burana, and Ballet Changed My Life: Ballet Hoo! at the Birmingham Hippodrome. He was treated to performances from students of Elmhurst School for Dance - the Birmingham-based vocational school in association with BRB - of which the Duchess of Cornwall is patron. Dancers from the Royal Ballet School also took to the stage during the two and a half hour-long production. During the interval, the Prince unveiled a plaque at the theatre to mark the opening of a new exhibition of artwork commemorating two decades of the BRB. Ballet Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0600 http://dancemelody.com http://dancemelody.com One of the most beloved ballets of the holiday season returns to Sioux City when members of the Moscow ballet present the "Great Russian Nutcracker" on Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre. Principal artists Ekaterina Bortykova and Akzhol Mussakhanov star as Masha and the Nutcracker Prince. The pair last graced the Orpheum stage in 2007 when the Moscow Ballet brought its dancers to Sioux City. The ballet, based on E.T. A. Hoffman's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," is based on a holiday gathering in which a nutcracker is the premier present. When the toy is broken, it leads to a wondrous journey by the Nutcracker Prince through the Enchanted Snow Forest to the Kingdom of Sweets. The pace quickens in Act II with lively and fun presentations, including the Dance of the Reed Flutes, the Waltz of the Flowers, Spanish, Chinese, Arabian, and Russian dancers. QDPCWP4U7BR6 Ballet Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600 http://dancemelody.com http://dancemelody.com The Moscow Ballet's 'Great Russian Nutcracker' is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Maybe it's the company's roots. Maybe it's producer Akiva Talmi's visual art background. Maybe it's just his desire to stage the traditional holiday favorite in his own way. It's still about a young girl's dream that the nutcracker she received for Christmas comes to life and battles the Rat King. But it's certainly different from the one they brought here two years ago. 'The sets are radically different than the traditional sets,' Talmi said in a recent telephone interview. 'The pictures are very vibrant; pictures of exotic birds from the six time zones of Russia.' Drosselmeyer's workshop has gotten an extreme makeover, 'Pinocchio' style. It's a new visual, a new picture, a new set that's never been seen before. You see Geppetto in his workshop making dolls that actually come to life. There's more. Guests arrive at the party scene through a wintry Moscow skyline. The Rat King makes a grand entrance before doing battle, flying in on wings that stretch 35 feet from one end to the other. Another scene, inspired by 'Coppelia' - which, like 'Nutcracker,' is based on an E.T.A. Hoffmann story - allows some of the 54 local children recruited for the production their chance in the spotlight. It's a scene with a maypole, which symbolizes the beginning of spring after the winter, a new life emerging, who has been producing the Moscow Ballet tours of the Tchaikovsky classic since 1993. The emphasis on eye-popping visuals is one way to make this 'Nutcracker' a little different from all the rest. Opera netting is used in the set design because it's very transparent and you can light it with a great deal of depth. There are some additional dances, too, courtesy of choreographer Anatoli Emelianov, whose 'Land of Peace and Harmony' second act is unique to this company. With its roots in the former Soviet Union's freedom movement of the 1980s, the second act's message and images are consistent with the troupe's roots. It reflects the origin of this company, which started in 1986 as a free company in the glasnost era. It was an era where dancers and directors were afraid of leaving the state companies, so it was an idealistic reference to the period of glasnost (or a relaxing of restrictions in the former Soviet Union) and a yearning for peace and harmony. Though now based in the United States, the Moscow Ballet draws its principal dancers from top companies and schools across the Russian motherland. It's a little harder for Talmi to explain the enduring popularity, particularly at Christmas, of a 106-year-old Tchaikovsky ballet that has become a holiday staple in the United States over the past 40 years. Symphonies are closing and everybody in the arts is having challenges, yet rock 'n' roll arenas are selling 20,000 seats. That's when the San Francisco Ballet first started performing its version of the ballet, originally choreographed by William Christensen. The 1954 George Balanchine version is pretty much the standard. Others, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, have put their fingerprints on it. A new version by the San Francisco company is airing this holiday on PBS. Many national, regional and local companies make the 'Nutcracker' part of their repertoires. Why is it so successful? I think it's a combination of things. People don't go to the ballet but go to 'Nutcracker.' Everybody comes to a Christmas party on stage, with beautiful music. The troupes are augmented by local dancers. About 60 children auditioned, according to Bridget Smith, owner of El Paso's Ballet Performing Arts Center, and 54 made the cut. She rehearsed the dancers, who range in age from '6 to their late teens,' for the past seven weeks. It gives them the opportunity to perform on a professional stage with professional dancers, which is a really rewarding stage experience for them, adding that for her it's a way to give back to the community. Ballet Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://dancemelody.com http://dancemelody.com The final programme in New York City Ballet's London season is the populist one. Here we have George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins bringing the iconic images of popular American culture on to the ballet stage. In the case of Martins, it's the glamorous nightclubs of 1930s Manhattan that inspire his opening ballet, Thou Swell (2003), set to songs by Richard Rodgers, the king of Broadway. Some are sung (badly, as it turns out), others orchestrated (all credit here to conductor Fayçal Karoui for a lively performance). The choreography involves Martins trying to be chic and sultry and not quite succeeding on either count. Wednesday night's cast, with the notable exception of an energetic Sara Mearns, succumbed to the lethargy of his writing. The high kicks looked forced, the swoons faux and the sleek peacock poses for the men mostly passed them by. Pert cocktail waitresses tried to redress the balance, but elegance was elusive. The rest of the programme, though, is a total high. The two Balanchine ballets are brilliant crowd-pleasers, and performances were outstanding. In the tambourine-wielding Tarantella (1964), Ashley Bouder and Daniel Ulbricht proved that they are a pair of dynamos when it comes to showing off their scintillating classical technique. Their playful high jinks were a sensation, their enthusiasm was off the meter and, boy, can Ulbricht jump. Western Symphony (1954), which is set to Hershy Kay's orchestrations of classic American folk songs (Red River Valley et al), is like Symphony in C for cowboys. You can practically hear the clip clop of horses' hooves and the giggle of dancehall girls in Balanchine's deliriously pirouetting square dance. On opening night, Sterling Hyltin tantalised Albert Evans (and us) in the adagio, Teresa Reichlen kicked like crazy in the rondo and a terrific time was had by all. It has been 50 years since West Side Story electrified Broadway, yet Robbins's choreography has a thrill that defies the decades. Here it can be seen in his 1995 West Side Story Suite, which distills the musical's choreography into a vibrant one-act ballet that demands singing from the cast as well as full-on, power jazz dancing. The gentle love story of Tony and Maria (our modern day Romeo and Juliet) is set against the churning aggression of rival New York street gangs, and Robbins perfectly captures the mindless violence and restless hormonal energy of disaffected youth. The first cast were amazing. Damian Woetzel was a heroic Riff (the Mercutio figure), Benjamin Millepied a poignant Tony, Faye Arthurs all innocence as Maria, and Georgina Pazcoguin was explosive as the Latina firebrand Anita. Art - Ballet Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://dancemelody.com http://dancemelody.com ANTWERP, Belgium. Leny Rommers, a 14 year old student at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp was highly impressed with the Chinese Spectacular currently playing at Antwerpen Stadss ballet Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://dancemelody.com http://dancemelody.com With its exquisite ensembles, lyrical pas de deux and bravura solos, Birmingham Royal Ballet's Swan Lake opens at the Grand Opera House on Wednesday 6-th February for what promises to be a magical four day run. With Tchaikovsky's achingly beautiful musical score performed live by the Birmingham Royal Ballet Orchestra, it's essential you secure your seats early for what is undoubtedly the most famous ballet of all time. Peter Wright's and Galina Samsova's production has thrilled audiences around the world, breathing new life into the choreography of the two great creators of Russian ballet, Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Set against Philip Prowse's glittering black and gold sets that perfectly capture the oppressive melancholy world of the court and the sinister mysteries of the enchanted forest and the moonlit lake, this timeless story of good, evil and the all-conquering power of love enchants the eyes, ears and heart. Out hunting, Prince Siegfried watches in astonishment as a swan changes into a beautiful Princess. She is Odette, who, under the evil Von Rothbart's spell, spends her days as a swan, returning to human form as night falls. Only Siegfried's love - that of someone who has never loved before - has the power to break the evil spell. Ballet Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://dancemelody.com http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/arts/08arts-BALLETSTARTO_BRF.html Damian Woetzel, a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet, said Monday he would retire at season's end, making official what he had predicted a year ago. Mr. Woetzel's final performance will be on June 18 after 23 years with the company. He earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University last year and is artistic director of the summer Vail International Dance Festival. Mr. Woetzel said it was fitting to leave as the company commemorates the 10th anniversary of the death of Jerome Robbins by featuring his choreography. "His presence was the reason I joined" the company, Mr. Woetzel said. He said he will focus his energy "beyond the limited space of performing" in "areas where I hope to make an impact in the second part of my life." Ballet Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/arts/08arts-BALLETSTARTO_BRF.html http://dancemelody.com Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Orlando, FL Orlando Ballet lights up the stage with it's colorful rendition of The Nutcracker coming in December 2007. All performances with Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. The Nutcracker will be danced to the full Tchaikovsky score by the entire Company and will include more than 100 children from the Orlando Ballet School and Patel Conservatory. Under the direction of artistic director Bruce Marks with choreography by the late Fernando Bujones, this production is sure to delight audiences of all ages. Art - Ballet Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://dancemelody.com