Even More Ballet Quibbles and Bits . . .

Video for SAB's Winter Ball

Here's a new video that was produced for The School of American Ballet's Winter Ball on Tuesday, March 3rd:

https://vimeo.com/122016655

It features three advanced students from the 2014-15 Winter Term -- Alicia Holloway from Morgantown, WV; Jocelyn Dolson from Superior Township, MI; and Thomas Davidoff from Atlanta, GA.

Peter Walker, an SAB alumnus and NYCB corps member, choreographed a piece for the intermediate students that was also performed at the Ball.

SAB's Intermediate Students in Peter Walker's piece d'occasion for The Winter Ball.
Photo from SAB Facebook page

SAB Workshop: Who's Staging What?


Jock Soto has begun working with the advanced men on the Third Campaign from Balanchine's 'Stars and Stripes'.  Getting all of those rows lined up military style looks like the biggest challenge at this point.

Yvonne Borree and Jonathan Stafford are working with at least two couples on the Wedding Pas de Deux from the last act of  'Sleeping Beauty'.  Tschaikovsky's melodies float out of the studios most afternoons.  (In my earlier 2015 Workshop post I neglected to mention that Ms. Borree danced Aurora during her career at NYCB.)

Suki Schorer is in the midst of teaching two casts of female students Balanchine's 'Valse Fantasie' to the music of Glinka.  Schorer, SAB's senior Balanchine stager, usually teaches the entire work to all of the girls before she selects the casts.

Susan Pillare is working with the individual sections of the 'orchestra' for Jerome Robbins' 'Fanfare' -- some days the reeds, some days the strings, but not yet the brass and percussion sections.

Justin Peck's Ballet 'Heatscape' for Miami City Ballet:

Miami City Ballet cast in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape' with decor by Shepard Fairey.
Photo by Daniel Azoulay for Miami City Ballet.

Here's a promotional video for Justin Peck's new ballet for Miami City Ballet -- a collaboration with the well-known Miami street artist and muralist Shepard Fairey to the music of Bohuslav Martinu (Piano Concerto #1).

https://youtu.be/L_w11RwHYuw?t=13

It's great that today's hot new ballet choreographer collaborates with artists and musicians to create many of his new works.  

I'm reminded of how exciting Twyla Tharp's 'Deuce Coupe' was when it was first staged by the Joffrey Ballet at City Center (1973) with five street artists spray painting graffiti tags on three rolls of paper as they were slowly raised across the back of the stage while Erika Goodman danced the ballet vocabulary at the front of the stage and the rest of the company (plus some Tharp dancers) danced Tharp-isms around her -- all to music of the Beach Boys.

 

Joffrey Ballet in Twyla Tharp's 'Deuce Coupe' (1973) with United Graffiti Artists painting backdrop.
Photo from Dance Magazine archives by Herbert Migdoll

Unfortunately, the fumes from the spray paint were toxic for the dancers, so the backdrop was later replaced by a stationary backdrop for 'Deuce Coupe II'.      

Guest Teachers at SAB in March:

During March there have been guest teachers at The School of American Ballet.  Jason Beechey is the head of the ballet school associated with the Semperoper Ballett in Dresden (the Palucca Hochschule fur Tanz Dresden).  He taught the advanced men's class (and probably others).  Mr. Beechey trained at Canada's National Ballet School and also studied under Stanley Williams at SAB and at the Vaganova School in St. Petersburg.  Mr. Beechey danced with the London City Ballet and Charleroi/Danses (Belgium).  He came to the Dresden school in 2006 and has been expanding its program of global student exchanges and implementing its apprentice program with the Semperoper Ballett.  He has also been involved with Youth America Grand Prix and the Prix de Lausanne.

Aaron Watkin, the Artistic Director of the Semperoper Ballett Dresden, also taught classes.  Mr. Watkin also studied at the National Ballet School of Canada and attended summer sessions at the School of American Ballet.  He went on to perform with the National Ballet of Canada, the English National Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet before working with William Forsythe at the Frankfurt Ballet.  He has been Artistic Director of the Dresden company since 2006.  

Nikolaj Hubbe, the Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Ballet, taught classes from March 28th through April 1st.  When Nikolaj was a principal dancer at New York City Ballet (from 1992 to 2008) he used to teach occasionally at SAB.  He's always very patient with the students and carefully explains the mechanics of the movements he wants.  Schooled in the fast, light, precise Bournonville style, Nikolaj adds yet another dimension to these students' technical skills.

Hopefully, these gentlemen were also looking at the students as candidates for their schools and companies.