Tag: 05.08.00

TRADITION

The Kirov Ballet has been dancing “La Bayadère” for 123 uninterrupted years. “The staging is blessed with design as old-fashioned and as marvelous as the dramatics of the piece itself: the Kirov retains the meticulous scenery made for a 1904 production, with all the magic of painted backdrops and illusionistic perspectives, soaring palaces and abundant greenery. (The sets now in use are scrupulous copies of the originals.) The ballet also honours something sadly ignored in the current performance style of the 19th-century repertoire: the power of dramatic gesture.” – Financial Times

THE FRENCH VERSION

Paris Opera Ballet christens new Lowry Center with its own “Bayadere” For its first British visit in 16 years the Paris Opera Ballet brought Rudolf Nureyev’s staging of La Bayadère, the last production Nureyev worked on before he died in early 1993. Nureyev had already given the Parisians half a dozen stagings of the Russian classics, but this was to be his grandest vision yet for the company. – The Times (London)

PRETTY GOOD, EH?

Canadian artists are invading Berlin and giving premieres and winning awards. “Why this sudden cultural blossoming from a nation generally assumed to be locked in snow, overridden with grizzly bears and obsessed with hockey? The Canadian government announced in February that the budget of Berlin’s cultural section will increase fivefold in the upcoming year. From a pittance of less than forty thousand Canadian dollars last year, Canadian culture in Germany will now be supported at a “top priority” level. With the German capital’s move to Berlin, Canada now has the opportunity to perform on stages that are at the center of much of the world’s attention. An opportunity it is taking.” – Die Welt (Germany)

LIP SERVICE TO THE ARTS

Two weeks ago Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced a new set of arts initiatives aimed at boosting the city’s support for the arts. But: “The mayor picked off the things that were immediately doable, that we could get the biggest splash for” and disregarded much of the substantive recommendations (such as a percent for art program) of a 13-member task force appointed to study arts support. – Boston Herald

DANCING WITH THE TRUTH

Most writing about Marcel Duchamp focuses on what he said or wrote. But “through most of his subsequent career, Duchamp worked harder at burnishing his persona than he ever did at creating art. And he certainly spent more time plotting ways to expand an extremely limited oeuvre than he did poring over his signature accessory, the chess board (but that’s another story).” – The Idler

MAKING A MOVE IN THE PASSING LANE…

The spring auctions are on this week in New York, and while Sotheby’s and Christie’s still dominate, some attention is going to No. 3, Philips, recently bought by Bernard Arnault, the “billionaire French entrepreneur and bitter rival of Christie’s proprietor François Pinault. The works to be auctioned at the American Craft Museum, away from Phillips’s own inadequate saleroom, are impressive. The auctioneer that has traditionally sold pictures of five- and six-figure values has moved into a new league.” – The Telegraph (UK)

AWKWARD TRANSITION

A familiar face will be absent at this week’s Sotheby’s auctions. Diana Brooks was the face of Sotheby’s as its president and chief executive before she resigned amidst widening auction house investigations in February. But “so big was her role at Sotheby’s that it was impossible for her simply to walk away, officials at the company say.” – New York Times

MORE R&D THAN FEEDING FRENZY

With no single title or star generating advance buzz, acquisition execs at Cannes seem to have little to get excited about so far. “The 2000 Cannes Film Market looks a lot like this year’s Sundance: There’s little in the way of white-hot films, but plenty of unknown quantities…it’s more about finding the next generation of filmmakers.” – Variety 05/08/00