Shale Wagman to Paris Opéra Ballet

[Naomi M]

Slightly off-topic but Julian MacKay will be guesting in K-Ballet Tokyo (Kumakawa's company)'s Nutcracker in December and Cinderella in January. 

He has already guested in their Madam Butterfly and a contemporary piece last year, Giselle this spring. So he is almost like a guest principal there.  

[FionaM]

I guess Julian has established a following for himself in Japan.  
 

The promoters / companies there do themselves and their audiences a disservice by not inviting others … there are so many quality dancers that Japanese audiences would appreciate, and not only from Munich.  

[Sabine0308]

Shale Wagman shared his thoughtful musings about his time in Munich here, together with some unseen rehearsal snippets with David Dawson, Marco Goecke and Alexei Ratmansky:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9Stjy9sCb2/?igsh=amFtYWN6aHdlNGVs

 

[Amelie-DALP]

On 05/07/2024 at 16:27, Sabine0308 said:

@Amelie-DALP A little clarification: Shale was hired in December 2020 by Igor Zelensky (then AD until May 2022),to join Munich-Bayerisches Staatsballett in January 2021. It was mid Covid time.

 

Yes, you are right, thank you for the clarification.

 

And thank you @Sophoife and @MAX that's so kind! 

 

On 05/07/2024 at 12:46, MAX said:

May I ask what you think are the reasons behind the lack of male soloists ? 

 

Is that a problem in the school ?

 

From my point of view as an outsider:

- Medical care for dancers arrived very late in Paris (around 2015 with Benjamin Millepied). Several male dancers suffered hard injuries that hindered their careers. Mathias Heymann, of course (I unfortunately doubt we will ever see him on stage again 😪), as well as Arthus Raveau, who was seriously injured in 2014, a very promising soloist. 

- The disastrous direction of Aurélie Dupont over six years. Several great male dancers left well before their 42 years due to lack of motivation: Etoile Josua Hoffalt, Etoile François Alu (a big case all by himself 😅), but also soloists not necessarily "étoile-able" but who were significant in the company: Vincent Chaillet, Allister Madin.

That’s a lot.

- Under Aurélie Dupont, there was not a lot of classical ballet. So, some very promising male dancers did not a lot of opportunities to perform. There was also Covid. Pablo Legasa and Francesco Mura, so promising when they left school, saw their careers stagnate.

 

Of course, there is a generational issue. Sometimes you have a lot of talent in one generation, sometimes not. Among the female dancers, the future great talents arrived in the company at the same time as José Martinez, who encourages them a lot. That makes all the difference.

[Sophoife]

Allister Madin is one of my absolute favourite dancers ever. He was very much appreciated in New Zealand, and he's been involved in some excellent projects, as you would know @Amelie-DALP. He's probably more fulfilled in life and dance life not dancing with POB.

[Garnier]

8 hours ago, Sophoife said:

Allister Madin is one of my absolute favourite dancers ever. He was very much appreciated in New Zealand, and he's been involved in some excellent projects, as you would know @Amelie-DALP. He's probably more fulfilled in life and dance life not dancing with POB.

My daughter did a few classes with Allister Madin recently and found him very inspiring 😀

[Sabine0308]

This July 14th at Place de la Bastille, POB invited 200 amateur dancers for an open-air dance class, led by Andrey Klemmstage. Also, 32 swans from Nureyev's Swan Lake ballet joined the event, before the charity performance scheduled for the evening at the Opéra Bastille began. The Olympic Flame was brought by the Stars Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand to Place de la Bastille in a very moving ceremony. July 14 is the National Holiday in France, so the participation of POB in the torch ceremony shows how much of an integral part of French culture the POB is. I doubt that this would happen in Germany.

[Garnier]

1 hour ago, Sabine0308 said:

This July 14th at Place de la Bastille, POB invited 200 amateur dancers for an open-air dance class, led by Andrey Klemmstage. Also, 32 swans from Nureyev's Swan Lake ballet joined the event, before the charity performance scheduled for the evening at the Opéra Bastille began. The Olympic Flame was brought by the Stars Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand to Place de la Bastille in a very moving ceremony. July 14 is the National Holiday in France, so the participation of POB in the torch ceremony shows how much of an integral part of French culture the POB is. I doubt that this would happen in Germany.

I was there and it was indeed lovely! The flame was brought it on the music of Swan Lake (together with the swans and the two danseurs étoiles), which gave a real sense of drama and excitement. It was nice to see the dancers - both professionals and amateurs - outside in the open air, although I did wonder how their shoes were coping with the concrete floor! I also very much appreciated that both José Martinez and Alexander Neef were there and very « present » (JM spoke twice if I remember correctly).

[Sabine0308]

@Garnier yes!! My first thought was: the shoes!!😱🤩. But it was a wonderful ceremony, Bravo POB!

[LinMM]

@FionaM just trying out your suggestion FionaM and it seems to work!! So thanks for info as have been wondering how people do this for ages…..I thought it was something to do with having Instagram!! 

[Sophoife]

On 12/07/2024 at 02:22, Jan McNulty said:

And in an update email from BRB Eric Pinto Cato, who has been a crowd favourite since he joined, is also going to POB.

 

He did not get engaged full-time, he is not in the just-announced Junior Company, so I'm guessing it's a short-term supernumerary contract. Congratulations to him!

[Ingrid]

On 13/07/2024 at 13:07, FionaM said:

I guess Julian has established a following for himself in Japan.  
 

The promoters / companies there do themselves and their audiences a disservice by not inviting others … there are so many quality dancers that Japanese audiences would appreciate, and not only from Munich.  

 

I guess fitting the japanese aesthetic doesnt hurt him either.

 

9 hours ago, Sophoife said:

 

He did not get engaged full-time, he is not in the just-announced Junior Company, so I'm guessing it's a short-term supernumerary contract. Congratulations to him!

He placed quite high on the external competition so hopefully he can get a contract with them in the future.

Edited July 16 by Ingrid
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