American Ballet Theatre

Dear readers, followers and friends. It is now finally official. As of fall 2008 I am joining American Ballet Theatre as a soloist.

Beside this I am currently in Toronto for the Gala Stars of the 21st Century.
Everything is fine and I will get back to my blog when I have some more time

La Spectre de la Rose

Before I start, I have to set something clear, preferably from the mouth of the master himself:

From Wikipedia:

“Le Spectre de la Rose is a ballet of the Ballets Russes based on a choreographic poem by Théophile Gautier. The music, by Carl Maria von Weber, was taken from his short piece Invitation to the Dance. Choreography was by Michel Fokine and set and costume design by Léon Bakst. It premiered on April 19, 1911 by the Ballets Russes in the Théâtre de Monte Carlo.

The story is about a debutante who falls asleep after her first ball. She dreams that she is dancing with the rose that she had been holding in her hand. Her dream ends when the rose escapes through the window. The dancers at the original performance were Vaslav Nijinsky as the Rose and Tamara Karsavina as the Girl. …”

Youtube was a great help. I was able to watch so many great dancers performing that piece. I could see, compare and decide what I like and what I don’t like in every performance. You get a couple of clips right beside here, so you can get an idea about the piece:

Manuel Legris:

Baryshnikov:

Nureyev:

Ruzimatov:

These are just a few and there are even more on Youtube to watch.

This piece of dance is pretty delicate to dance since it’s pretty different from what I’ve done. It’s far more important how you move and involve your arms and hands.
What is really dangerous is that all the big names of ballet history (starting with Nijinsky) danced that piece already and as an audience it is really tempting to just be lazy and start comparing. Who is jumping higher, who is doing which version etc…, but in the end please keep in mind there is no perfection possible in any art form and therefore comparison is useless.
I don’t know how about you, but for me it’s important if a performance/photo/painting/show, plainly said any art piece, gives something or not. This giving may be private or public, strong or weak, delicate or bold, but if you’re satisfied with this ‘present’ please be satisfied. There is no need for comparison.

Oups, I got kinda drawn away from my main subject, but whatever…just my two cents ;-).

If everything goes right I will be able to perform it the first time in Taipei on June 20th and 21st.

Changes and Schedule…

I just returned from my last performance in the Vienna State Opera.

I am sorry again that I was gone from blogging for some time. Last weeks have been nice. I was working on La Spectre with my mother and sorting out a lot in my life besides ballet. One thing is sure now. I am leaving Vienna as my residence and the ballet company as of May.
…
Here is a list of my performances in the months of May and June:

• May 04th - Stars of the 21st Century in Toronto, Canada
• May 14th - Hommage a Rudolf Nureyev Gala in Malaga, Spain
• May 20th - Full Don Quixote in Kasan, Russia
• May 23rd & 24th - Gala in honor of Rudolf Nureyev in Kasan, Russia
• June 1st - Full Don Quixote in St. Peterburg, Russia at the Mikhailovsky Theatre (Maly Opera)
• June 4th & 5th - World Ballet Stars in Seoul, Korea
• June 20th & 21st - World Ballet Star Gala in Taipei, Taiwan (premiere of ‘La Spectre de la Rose’)

I am preparing another post about ‘La Spectre de la Rose’ in the moment. Stay tuned!

At the Vienna Airport on my way to Russia…

Just a quick entry this time.
Right now I am sitting in the Vienna Airport waiting for my flight to Munich and then I am flying further to St. Petersburg, Russia. Actually it is going to be the first time I am dancing there, so if you want to see it like this, it is a debut. There I am dancing tomorrow in the ‘October’ Hall. The repertoire includes ‘Les Bourgeois’ and ‘Moorhuhn’. No Pas De Deux this time. It’s a pity :-/.
Well that is pretty much it.
I still cannot make any statement about my news I want to bring to you. The only thing is that it will probably be great news to the biggest group of people visiting this website (according to my site’s statistics ;-))
Well I probably will not be able to be Twittering (the status updates on the right side of my blog) in the next days, so please excuse me and understand that (unless I have a steady Internet connection there in the hotel). Bye!