Jeannette Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 One of my favorite Balanchines will be revived by ABT next year - as Ballet Imperial…not Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto…so maybe with tutus & tiaras for the ladies? I loved their old majestic Ballet Imperial, as danced by Susan Jaffe! https://www.scfta.org/events/2024/american-ballet-theatre I also noticed that ABT will dance Gerald Arpino’s Sea Shadow within Program A in Chicago’s Auditorium Theater next September, during the Arpino Centennial Festival! https://arpinofoundation.org/centennial/ 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 A bit about the iconic Sea Shadow, to Ravel (with clip of the pdd included): https://arpinofoundation.org/ballets/sea-shadow/ The Imperial look of Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, danced by DNB…as the old ABT version looked: https://www.francoisnoelcherpin.com/portfolio/ballet-imperial/ I may travel just to see this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 13 minutes ago, Jeannette said: One of my favorite Balanchines will be revived by ABT next year - as Ballet Imperial…not Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto…so maybe with tutus & tiaras for the ladies? I loved their old majestic Ballet Imperial, as danced by Susan Jaffe! https://www.scfta.org/events/2024/american-ballet-theatre I thought the new Paris costumes (as Ballet Imperial) were beautiful. There are some pictures under "gallery" here: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/season-22-23/ballet/george-balanchine#media 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 13 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said: I thought the new Paris costumes (as Ballet Imperial) were beautiful. There are some pictures under "gallery" here: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/season-22-23/ballet/george-balanchine#media Thanks! So lovely. I wonder if these are the same designs by M. Cherpin, used by DNB? The Imperial look really adds to the ballet, IMO, despite Balanchine having simplified the costumes at NYCB in the ‘70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 43 minutes ago, Jeannette said: Thanks! So lovely. I wonder if these are the same designs by M. Cherpin, used by DNB? The Imperial look really adds to the ballet, IMO, despite Balanchine having simplified the costumes at NYCB in the ‘70s. The credits are for Xavier Ronze (costumes) and Paul Gallis (set). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 I can't remember who was responsible for the Royal Ballet's version - the tutus reminded me a bit of those for Scènes de Ballet. Actually, might they have been Berman? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondine Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 Naturally Alastair Macaulay has an 'essay'! https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/dry6w74i5lw1ze3n9gjgd1vm8z2y2e And a photo worth seeing The concluding tableau of George Balanchine’s “Ballet Imperial”, as staged by Balanchine for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet at Covent Garden in 1950, with new designs by Eugene Berman. There were eighteen curtain calls. Margot Fonteyn is the ballerina, Beryl Grey (kneeling) the soloist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 28 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said: The credits are for Xavier Ronze (costumes) and Paul Gallis (set). ...and I've just found the cast sheet, which says that the Who Cares? sets are presented with the authorisation of DNB; and that the sets and costumes were made by the ONP studios with the exception of the Who Cares? sets. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 1 hour ago, Ondine said: Naturally Alastair Macaulay has an 'essay'! https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/dry6w74i5lw1ze3n9gjgd1vm8z2y2e And a photo worth seeing The concluding tableau of George Balanchine’s “Ballet Imperial”, as staged by Balanchine for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet at Covent Garden in 1950, with new designs by Eugene Berman. There were eighteen curtain calls. Margot Fonteyn is the ballerina, Beryl Grey (kneeling) the soloist. Thanks and most fascinating! Oh…I usually love tutus but the Berman ones are unusual…with a little Comedia Dell’arte bite? The recent POB & DNB ones are more mature and regal…as were ABTs from the early 1990s, with the gorgeous imperial Russian tiaras (kokoshniks). Oh well, let’s see if ABT might restore the Imperial look next year. It might be too expensive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondine Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 3 minutes ago, Jeannette said: the Berman ones There is a short and rather dark clip of Deborah Bull & the Royal Ballet in this, with those 'white' wigs, it looks very dated and to me, detracts from the choreography. 1999. However it might grow on me, though ditch the wigs! I won't post the link as it's not an 'official' one but it's YT and title is simply Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: "Ballet Imperial" posted by @ear8002 so a Google search will find it. Coincidentally I was looking at this last week. Many shock horror comments under. I think it's best as a 'tutu and tiaras' ballet but maybe not THOSE tutus. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Ondine said: … Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: "Ballet Imperial" posted by @ear8002 so a Google search will find it. Coincidentally I was looking at this last week. Many shock horror comments under. I think it's best as a 'tutu and tiaras' ballet but maybe not THOSE tutus. Oh, I remember that excerpt from a gala during the ROH’s closing, around 1999. My main problem isn’t the white wigs but the little pointed peplum (with bells?) on the corps ladies’ skirts. Like little harlequins? Also, I don’t care for the dark nightmarish background! A complete opposite of the calm & serene blue-sky and Neva River embankment in the 1960s NYCB & 1988 ABT Imperial versions. I need to find a photo of Susan Jaffe in her magnificent Tsarina Tutu! No wig on Susan Jaffe. That ABT production looked 100% perfect. I hope that ABT can replicate that look. Edited May 23, 2023 by Jeannette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondine Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 5 minutes ago, Jeannette said: Susan Jaffe in her magnificent Tsarina Tutu! Digital collection photo https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/26439/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Ondine said: Digital collection photo https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/26439/ Oh yes!!! Thank you. This was the 1988 production, with Rouben Ter-Arutunian designs. Best of the best! Edited May 23, 2023 by Jeannette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 In looking at my archival materials, I see that PNB used the Imperial-tutus version at least through the 1990s. I saw Patricia Barker as the lead in this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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