The company dancers and the artistic team has done wonders with Orchis. When I watched rehearsals a little while ago and posted some photographs I mentioned the awkward moments, difficult to master moves, pain, and persistence of this fine group of dancers. Yesterday I watched another rehearsal, and what a difference. It was amazing how quickly they mastered their moves almost to the stage-ready form. Yes, there are still rough edges, yes Mindaugas called it “work in progress” when I told him how much I liked the pas de deux they did with Vilia. It is very difficult for me to explain how moved I am when I see all the dancers mimicking the flowers in their artful movements. It is an incredible thrill for me.
If you have not yet purchased your tickets for the Orchis première, do so and put it on your calendar. You are in for a double treat, I promise you will be delighted. Remember the discount code BALANCHINE to get 15% off your tickets. If you purchase the tickets at the box office you will also avoid the $7 convenience fee. Read more about Agon & Orchis on FBP site. Here is my post on the ticketing and seat selection suggestions.
Here are some photographs from the rehearsal on February 23, 2013. These are not meant to be ideal ballet photographs, but photographs that show what goes into making those ideal poses possible. My deepest thanks to the FBP, Misha, entire company dancers, Viktor, and Sonya for putting this exciting performance together. And at the actual performance, you will see what Toots and Beth have been doing with the costumes, I saw parts of the material; really cool! And Alan has a few surprises, literally behind the scenes. Come, join us on March 8-10 and see the results of the collaborative effort.
(The image at the top is an animated GIF showing an abbreviated version of their great sequence. If it does not play, it may be the browser, try a different one. To see it again, refresh your browser, Shift-Ctrl-R.)
How Do They Do That?